Ten.
Karalyn and Mikki crouched behind the small wooden crate. Karalyn peered around the right side at the huge white ship carrying the small silver sphere. She turned back around and nodded at her sister. The sun glinted on the shiny surface of the Orb, and Karalyn’s stare intensified. Mikki popped her head up slightly so she could see over the box. There it was, nearly within reach. After years of hunting it, years of sleeping on the streets and stealing food, they had found it.
All they had to do was sneak onto the ship, grab the ball, and get back off without anyone noticing. And they had to do it in ten minutes or less, before the ship set off, sailing away to some exotic foreign destination with Karalyn and Mikki’s only hope.
“We need to go,” Mikki whispered. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she rubbed them gently to clear her vision.
“Then let’s go,” Karalyn replied. She took a deep breath and pushed all of her fear and doubt down into the deepest, darkest regions of her heart. She couldn’t let her emotions get in the way of this.
They smiled simultaneously and stood up. Mikki prayed that their black outfits would conceal them within the shadows. She could feel herself sweating, but she resisted the urge to pull off the mask.
“Remember the plan,” Karalyn whispered before scampering off. She pressed her body against the hard brick wall of the dockhouse wall until its shadow met that of the Regalia. The sun was in her eyes, but she looked up and made eye contact with her sister. A strand of light blonde hair had fallen out of the mask, the only distinguishing factor that Mikki could see from where she stood, still crouched in the shadows.
Her role was to distract the Regal Guards. Their best friend, Jana, stood in silence at the railing of the dock, just another citizen come to see off the Queen. Her curly red hair was hanging loose around her shoulders, and the pastel floral dress that she wore fluttered in the wind. Mikki was going to “kidnap” her right in front of the guards, keeping their attention just long enough for them to call in reinforcements. Which was conveniently just long for Karalyn to sneak around them and onto the ship. Step One.
Nine.
Mikki darted out of the shadows and grabbed Jana’s arm, dragging her right past the guards as she screamed. Just as hoped, both of the guards ran towards her, guns raised. Mikki kept running, dropping Jana’s arm and sprinting away before the guards could actually catch her. She snuck a quick glance behind her and saw Karalyn scampering up onto the main deck of the Regalia. Step one complete.
Eight.
Ducking into a dark alley, Mikki waited a few seconds for the guards to resume their posts at the entrance to the boat. Tearing off the mask and black clothing, she stood for only a moment in just her new disguise, dyed black hair and glasses and a short green dress, before rushing up to the guard that she had just tricked.
“Ex-excuse me? Sir?” she begged, fake tears welling up in her eyes. “My fiance just got on here without saying goodbye! He’s going to be gone for six months, and I won’t be able to see him until then! Oh, please, sir, can I just go on quickly and say goodbye? I’ll only be a moment!”
“Of course, miss. Captain Wylon will escort you on board,” the guard replied,smiling and gesturing to his counterpart.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary, I only need a moment. I’ll be right back,” she assured them before darting past them onto the ship.
Karalyn squatted in the shadows under the railing of the Regalia. She waited until she heard her sister’s fake heartbroken cries and then sprinted towards the Orb. Hearing footsteps around the corner, she halted and pressed her body against the cool metal wall of the ship. She prayed that she was covered in shadows and that whoever was coming around the corner wouldn’t see her.
Seven.
Mikki slowed her pace as she walked up the gangway, taking a deep breath. She knew that her sister was hiding just around a corner, and it took every ounce of willpower for her not to run to Karalyn’s side and start crying. They were so close, and now Mikki was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to do it.
Six
Karalyn took in a deep breath and peered around the corner, and saw her sister talking to Cam. He was a childhood friend of her and her sister. When he had been Appointed as a Regal Guard three years ago, Karalyn had locked herself in her room and cried at the loss of her best friend besides her sister. When she and Mikki had been planning their heist, they had risked everything to ensure that they could contact him. He was playing the role of Mikki’s fiance, a perfect ruse to get her on the boat. But watching him kiss Mikki’s cheek, when only a few years before it had been her that he was holding hands with, made Karalyn sick to her stomach.
I’m going to change this. I’m going to get Cam out of that hellhole and then we’ll finally be back together, she thought.
Mikki leaned in close to Cam’s face, then whispered, “I need you to keep your friends from interfering. You know which friends. He smiled and nodded, then tightly hugged Mikki before backing off.
Karalyn felt tears welling in her eyes, and she saw a straight line of shadows directly into the hallway Cam had just entered. She wanted nothing more than to scamper along the cool metal wall and to find him and embrace him for the first time since he had been Appointed. But she didn’t know who else was waiting in that hallway. And even more terrifying, she didn’t know how Cam would react to seeing her, three years after he had been torn out of her hands without a single word.
She had to focus on the mission. She narrowed her eyes at the pedestal and waited for the perfect moment.
Five.
Mikki stood by the railing of the boat, facing the dock. To any passerby, she was a normal passenger on the Regalia. To the guards by the dock, she was a lovelorn fiancee of a soldier. And while neither of those were true, it didn’t matter what was true, only what people thought was.
She placed a hand naturally on her hip, discreetly feeling for the small knife hidden in the folds of her pleated dress. She pushed it deeper in, praying that she wouldn’t have to use it. She took a deep breath and waited.
Karalyn pressed her back into the metal wall of the dark alley. The cool that she felt seeping through her black shirt was a welcome change from the heat building up inside the mask and clothing. She reached down and pulled the handgun out of her boot. She tucked it into the pocket that Mikki had sewn into her mask. Taking a deep breath, she peered around the corner of the hallway and saw Cam walking towards the Orb guards.
Four.
She watched his face change from careless to desperate in a matter of moments, and she saw him grab two of the guards and pull them away from their duties to some other part of the ship. She waited until she saw them running around the corner before starting to move, still pressed against the wall, towards the pedestal.
Three.
Mikki watched as Cam pulled two guards around a corner and into a hallway. That left two guards patrolling around the Orb. She took a deep breath and replayed, in her head, the instructions Cam had given her months ago by letter. If a passenger is in danger, the two nearest guards are to do whatever they can to help them. It’s protocol. It’s also protocol that at least one guard be on each post at a time, but it’s your only hope. I can only get two guards away at a time without breaking the Appointment Code. You have to hope that the two others will come to you.
She glanced down at her watch and saw that she only had a few minutes left. Less than three. She had to hurry.
She slowly started to walk away from the railing towards the sharp piece of glass that Cam had dropped. She prayed that he had sharpened it enough to dig through the thin sole of her sandal. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slammed her foot down on the glass. Immediately, she knew that the glass had been sharp enough. A searing pain shot up her leg. She watched the white crocheted lace of the shoes fade to red as blood blossomed out of the gash. She tried to restrain from crying out, but biting her lip did nothing to dull the pain. She screamed, louder than ever. She felt tears rushing down her cheeks, and tried to take in deep breaths, but found herself gasping regardless.
Two.
She saw the first guard, a pale, blond boy probably not much older than her, that she could easily incapacitate, glance at the second guard. This one would be the one that she and her sister would have to be careful with. He was hulking, his tanned arms bulging with muscles that reminded Mikki of the old superhero movies that she and Karalyn had watched as children. The first looked unsure, but after a few seconds of hesitation, darted to Mikki’s side.
“Are you alright?” He asked hesitantly, obviously unsure what to do.
“No!” Mikki cried out, not even having to pretend to be desperate and hurt. “I can’t move! My foot…” She begged.
Karalyn watched the boy frantically digging through his bag for the first aid supplies. She saw him look helplessly back at his counterpart, pleading with him to come help.
“Joey, you know one of us has to be watching the Orb. Sorry, brother,” the muscular guard apologized. Taking a second look, she realized how similar the boys looked and realized that they were related.
“Then you take her, York! I’ll watch it! I can do it myself! I’m not a child anymore,” the younger brother, Joey, replied.
Karalyn silently cheered from the shadows as Joey stood up and puffed out his chest with his arms crossed in front of him, and as York wrapped Mikki’s foot in gauze and picked her up and walked out of the vicinity.
One.
Karalyn turned her head from side to side, but saw no one besides her and Joey. She rushed out of the shadows and tackled him. Ensuring that her one hand was securely over his mouth, she pulled the gun from her mask. She glared at him, and held the barrel to his temple.
“Speak, and I blow your brains out,” she hissed.
He nodded and blinked back terrified tears. She gestured with her head for him to stand up, and slowly, he did so. The fear was evident in his eyes, but he tried to keep a brave face.
“Get the Orb,” she ordered. He shook his head, pleading silently with her to let him live another day. “Get it. Now.”
“I can’t. Please…” he whispered, begging for mercy. “My brother… He can’t lose me too…” Karalyn’s gaze softened a bit, knowing exactly what it felt like to have a sibling as the only thing you have left. Nodding, both to Joey and to herself, she lifted the gun slightly, and, with just enough force, smacked him across the head and knocked him unconscious. She hoped that she had judged right, and not killed him accidentally.
She ran forward and wrapped her hands around the smooth silver surface of the Orb. Her hands were just big enough to cup around the bottom half, and she smiled, knowing that she had won this battle. They said the Regal Guard was impenetrable, but she and her sister had proven them wrong.
She rushed, gun aimed out, into the hallway where both Cam and Mikki had gone. Noticing an open door, she saw a young woman standing over Mikki, wrapping her foot in gauze while York watched. Taking note of exactly how far into the hallway she was, she vowed to come back for her crippled sister.
“Drop your gun,” a voice behind her commanded. Her eyes widened, and she turned to aim her gun at him as well.
“I’ll detonate it,” she threatened in reply, holding up the Orb. He tried not to show fear or defeat in his eyes, but the evil glint in them twinkled out of existence, and he dropped his gun.
“Kar--” Cam shouted as he ran up to her, suddenly stopping.
A foghorn suddenly pierced the air, silencing everything around it and causing Karalyn, Cam, and the guard all to clap their hands over their ears.
Zero.
The watch around Karalyn’s wrist buzzed, and she could faintly hear Mikki’s doing the same, although she was unsure whether that was just the air still ringing from the foghorn.
The ground under her feet began to move, and she fell forward.
The boat was leaving. She had one last chance to get the Orb off the boat. One last chance to survive.
One last chance for Cam. One last chance for Mikki.
One last chance for the two people she couldn’t live without.
She dug her fingernails into the small crack around the circumference of the sphere and pulled. She heard the hiss of the chemicals being released and felt it begin to vibrate. She threw it as far away from her as possible, and watched it ricochet off the walls of the hallway before rolling onto the open deck.
She felt the ground around her open up, and her whole world shook as the bomb inside the Orb exploded. It pushed her away with the force of ten thousand people, and she knew that her screams for Cam and Mikki could not be heard over the booming of the collapsing ship.
She felt the water envelop her as she sunk into the harbor’s waters. She tore off the black mask, jacket, and boots, kicking towards the surface.
Suddenly, a piercing scream that Karalyn was all too familiar with filled the air. “Mikki…” she whispered and swam towards the sounds. She didn’t have to swim far before she saw the bright green dress surrounded by black hair dye and blood. Mikki was clutching her foot and screaming in pain instead of focusing on swimming, and she was about to go under and get a huge lungful of water. Karalyn started to move towards her to help her to shore when another voice joined the chorus of screams.
“Karalyn! Help!” A deeper, yet similarly recognizable voice called out. She turned around and saw Cam pulling at his shirt. At first, she thought that it was only his shirt that was stuck and pulling him down, but she quickly realized that a cloud of blood, much like the one around her sister’s foot, was forming around his torso. She saw a slash in the middle of his shirt and knew that he must have been impaled by a piece of debris.
He was thrashing in the water, tearing at his collar and screaming as tears of pain rushed down his face. She realized that both of them were about to go underwater, and that neither of them would be able to swim with their injuries.
Neither Mikki nor Cam was close to her, and she would have to swim for a few precious seconds away from one to reach the other. There was no way she would be able to get to both of them before one of them had sunk too far into the harbor for her to reach without drowning herself.
Who to save? How could she decide? She had the power to save and to kill, and in a split-second decision, she had to kill one of the two people she loved most.
Her sister or her lover? The person who had been given no choice but to be her best friend, or the person who had willingly held her hand in dark times? Which partner-in-crime? Which confidant?
Which pair of eyes would see another sunrise? Which pair of hands would embrace her again? Which feet would walk on land again?
Which life would she save?
“I can’t…” she whispered to herself, looking at the sky and praying for a sign from any higher power. They were all so young, and none of them deserved to die.
She looked down, and looked to her right, where Mikki was, and saw an empty patch of water. She gasped and looked underwater. Her sister was floating down, her eyes closed and her body motionless, not a single bubble of air leaving her mouth.
She pulled her head above the water and whipped it around to where Cam had been writhing just a few seconds earlier. If she couldn’t save her sister, then she would save him.
But the water where Cam had been floating was bare too, and when Karalyn put her head underwater again, Cam was so far underwater that she could only see his silhouette and the light reflecting off of one of his buttons.
For her to swim underwater that far, with debris and enemies lurking nearby, would be a suicide mission. She turned again to see that her sister’s limp body was pinned to an underwater cliff by a huge steel rod that, even with the fact that everything felt lighter underwater, would be impossible to move.
Then it hit her.
She had lost them both. She had taken the few precious seconds to decide which of the people she loved the most to save, and now she had lost both of them. Her sister and her lover, both dead.
Because of her. Because of her indecision and her lack of urgency. She wouldn’t have a single shoulder to cry on as she mourned their deaths.
She debated letting herself sink down into the depths too, to join them in whatever afterlife they had gone to. But when she put her head underwater and thought hard, she realized that, had she been watching her sister, her last words would not have been to remember her or to please save her life. Her last words, knowing and accepting her fate, would have been to tell Karalyn to keep living without her.
Karalyn pulled herself out of the water and found a large rock with a long shadow to sit underneath. She had kept herself silent until she had been in the cover of a shadow and a secluded area, but now that she could not be easily seen or heard, the tears came. Uncontrollable streams of saltwater flowed down her face. Saltwater, like the ocean that Mikki had loved, like the bay that Cam had sailed in for three years, like the port where they both lay forever.
Her younger sister, always wiser, even forever silenced by waves and steel, echoed in her head, and Karalyn stood up to face the rest of the world, a new passion and vengeance burning in her chest.