Just looking at the sky itself, I could almost convince myself that we were still on Terra. The sun was slightly smaller than back at home, but the clouds were still fluffy and the sky was still blue. The air was breathable, too, albeit a little thinner than what I was used to.

Then, I looked down at the alien trees below and I remembered where we were. As far as the eye could see, every tree was like the ones we encountered on the ground, twisting and intertwining like an overgrown bramble. We were flying just above the treeline, but the shrieks and grunts of animal wildlife rose up from the jungle, the cacophony of alien fauna that probably wanted to eat us.

Nessie, Tanvir's nickname for his Summoned beast and our ride, flew quickly over the trees, the air gliding off its wings like a blade sliding through water. Calvin was steering, seated at the base of its neck. I was near the back, clinging to one of Nessie's fins for dear life. Every patch of turbulent air we slipped through made it feel as if I was a breath away from falling off.

"Relax, Charlie," Tanvir called over the wind. He'd found a seat between two spines where he was safely wedged on the creature's back. "You look like you're about to hurl."

"I am about to hurl," I snapped. "There aren't any good seats!"

"You'll get used to it," he said.

"Just relax," Bekah advised, balancing on the balls of her feet. "It's not that hard."

"Exactly what an aerokinetic would say," I countered, glowering at Bekah. "And Tanvir's got a good seat, so he's got no complaints either."

The wind picked up, and I ducked my head. This ride had better be short, because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

"Been summoning Nessie since I was six," Tanvir said. "I summoned Nessie for the first time when I was being tested for the Ogun Academy, just the way you see her. Needless to say, Nessie got me the spot."

"You're a Nethermancer?" I asked, incredulous.

Nethermancers were a special class of Psychics that were capable of summoning spirits and manipulating extradimensional matter. There was even a whole guild dedicated to them, back at home.

"Yeah," Tanvir said. "Nessie's my favorite by far, but she's not the only one I can summon."

"How'd you do the thing you did before?" I asked. "When you did stuff to the shadows."

"Aethereal matter," he said.

My confusion must have been clear on my face, because Tanvir and Bekah both laughed. I gave them a look, and Tanvir explained.

"It's the same thing Nessie's body's made of," he said, rapping his knuckles against the creature's hide. "Nethermancers can manipulate aethereal matter. The only difference between that and summoning is when you summon a spirit, you get the spirit to animate the aethereal matter for you. Like so."

"Oh," I said, pretending it made complete sense.

Tanvir cocked his head, the wind mussing up his hair.

"What about you two?" he asked. "I don't know anything about you guys."

"Well, there's not much to tell," Bekah said. "I'm an aerokinetic, like Charlie said. Been on the Dirga gladiator team for two years. Won regional both times, but last year we came in second for national."

"Yeah, that's because we took national both times," Tanvir countered as Bekah scowled. "How about you, Charlie? Which Academy are you from?"

"Actually," Bekah said, "Charlie's from the Institute. The Cadmus Institute."

"Wow, really?" Tanvir asked, sitting up. "They don't have any gladiator teams there, do they?"

"Uh, no," I said, averting my eyes. I quickly changed the topic. "You're both from Career Schools? What kind of test did you have to take to get in?"

"Depends on the school," Tanvir told me. "For mine, individual proctors paired off with us and presented a series of tasks to complete depending on our Psychic skillset. Although to be honest, I would have gotten into the school anyway. My dad's a hotshot in the Nethermancers Guild back at home, and he was a favorite student of the headmaster."

I rolled my eyes.

"What about you?" I asked Bekah.

"A mock battle," she said simply.

I waited for more, but she changed the subject quickly.

"So, Charlie," she said. "Since you go to the Institute, you've never received any combat training?"

"No," I said, looking away.

"Nothing at all?" Bekah pressed, sounding surprised. "No phys ed, or learning how to use your Kinetic abilities, or even a self-defense class?"

I hesitated, thinking back home to my gym class. I had a medical note that allowed me to sit out during gym because of my disability. Gym was for Kinetic training, and I didn't have Kinetic abilities.

"Nope," I said. "None at all."

"Oh," Tanvir said. He sounded disappointed. "Well, that's okay. Assuming Calvin is from another Career School, that makes three trained Kinetics. We should be more than a match for any Krakoshans we encounter."

"You're not worried?" I asked incredulously. "You do realize we're stranded on an alien planet, right?"

"Charlie, we're Kingsfielders. Let's be a little more realistic here."

"Yeah, and I distinctly remember being captured by a small army of Gholians," I pointed out. "Whoever we were delivered to, they must have a lot of resources and manpower. We need to be smart about this."

Bekah stopped rocking and dipped into a roll, coming up in a cross-legged sitting position.

"That's exactly what I said earlier," she reminded us, as she settled herself comfortably on Nessie's back.

"There are those Gholians again," Tanvir said. "I think we should compare notes. What's the last thing you two remember?"

Bekah and I shared a look.

"You first," she said.

"Okay," I muttered. "Well, there was an evacuation triggered at the Cadmus Institute."

"Go on," Tanvir said.

I told them about how we boarded shuttles, and how the Gholian warship had appeared out of nowhere. Then, I told them about how they'd started firing on us, and how they'd docked and boarded the surviving shuttles and hit us with energy charges.

"My brother said they might have been looking for something," I recalled. "That maybe one of the shuttles had something, but they weren't sure which shuttle had it."

"Odin's crows," Bekah whispered. "That's horrible."

"They only left a handful," I said. "I only made it because I was lucky."

Tanvir looked thoughtful.

"At least you're alive," Tanvir said. "They were looking for something, you said?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"What about you, Bekah?" Tanvir asked. "What's your story?"

"I was in one of my school's gyms," Bekah said. "I couldn't sleep and it was pretty late at night, so I tried meditating. Gas started coming through the ventilation and I tried clearing it. A group of people stormed the gym before I could finish clearing the gas and I got hit with an energy blast. I never even got a good look at them."

"They were probably Gholians," I said.

"My story is pretty similar," Tanvir said. "I went back to my dorm between classes and gas came through the vents. I collapsed before I could get out. Whatever the Gholians wanted from our Academies, sounds to me like the Institute was the special case."

We flew in silence for a while after that. For a while, the only sounds were the rushing of the wind and the beating of Nessie's wings. Finally, Bekah broke the silence with a question.

"What do we do when we find another ship? Attack it?"

Tanvir shook his head.

"No, we follow it. I think that ship we saw earlier was for atmospheric travel only. We need to locate a center or base where they keep interstellar ships."

"What happens if we find one?" I asked. "What then?"

"Then we get the hell out of here," Tanvir said. "Like you even had to ask."

"None of us can pilot a ship, genius," Bekah said.

My mind raced. I'd only ever been in simulated cockpits; this was my chance to sit in a real one. To fly a real ship. I couldn't pass this up.

"I might," I said, the words slipping past my lips before I could stop myself.

The other two turned to me, regarding me with a strange expression. I immediately regretted speaking. I wasn't a pilot, not by a long shot. Neither said anything right away, and I almost thought they didn't hear me over the sound of the wind rushing past.

"You're a pilot?" Tanvir finally asked, sounding surprised.

Oh no.

"I, uh," I said, trying to find a way to refute my slip. Knowing how to pilot a ship in a simulation game was nothing like piloting a ship in real life. Just because I wanted to grow up to be a pilot didn't mean I was qualified to fly one right now. What was I thinking?

"That's...handy," Tanvir said before I could say anything else. "Alright, it's settled then. We'll follow one of their ships and find their base of operations. Then, after we get some rest, we'll hijack one of their interstellar ships and Charlie will pilot us to safety."

"Wait, what?' I said, but the others didn't seem to hear me.

"Easier said than done," Bekah snorted. "I don't know about you, but my powers are still spotty. I can barely fly right now."

"Maybe we ought not to try stealing a ship," I suggested, feebly attempting to avoid the situation. I couldn't show them that I didn't actually know how to pilot a ship. "W-what if their base is too heavily fortified? Or, uh, if you guys aren't at full strength...maybe we might not be able to do much. And besides, what if, you know, their base doesn't have an interstellar ship? And what about the other kids?"

"One problem at a time," Tanvir said firmly. "Charlie, c'mon. Bekah and I have been trained for Kinetic combat for most of our lives. These Krakoshans won't stand a chance."

"And if they don't have an interstellar ship," Bekah added, "we'll figure something out then."

"What about the other kids?" I asked again.

"What other kids?" Tanvir said, lounging against one of Nessie's back spines.

"There must be more kids out there," I reminded them. "Stranded, like us. If we ended up like this, there are almost definitely more out there. Maybe we ought to try finding others out there instead of stealing a ship for ourselves."

"Nothing we can do about it," Tanvir said, shrugging. "When it comes to survival, it's every man for himself. Besides, even if we tried rescuing other kids, we have no way of finding them. Tell you what though - if we find another kid out there, we add him to our party."

"Or her," Bekah said.

I thought about Peter and shook my head.

"No, we can't," I said. "My brother might be here. I can't leave him behind."

"Charlie," Tanvir said. "We can't help him now. He could be dead, for all we know."

"I have to try," I insisted.

"Finding a way home should be our first priority," Tanvir said firmly. "At least, if we make it home, we could get help and send people to rescue whoever's left."

"But by that time, it could be too-"

Suddenly, the beast lurched and took a dive, crashing into the trees headfirst. I barely had time to shut my mouth before long branches started whipping at my face. Beside me, a thicker branch caught Bekah at the waist, yanking her off Nessie's back in a flash. I could hear Tanvir crying out as the branches whipped past him, thrashing us around as Nessie continued her descent through the trees. Another sudden impact jarred us loose, throwing me off the creature's back.

I gasped as I plummeted toward the ground, but my fall was cut short when my shoulder bounced off the nearby trees, rolling off a bumpy surface. Tree roots. Somewhere nearby, I heard another similar impact, followed with a groan mirroring mine. The impact that had knocked us off of Nessie must have been our landing on the jungle floor. I raised a hand to my jacket pocket, feeling for the lump. It was still there.

Something touched my uninjured shoulder lightly, causing me to flinch in surprise, but I settled down when Calvin's little face loomed into view. He stared at me questioningly.

"I'm good," I groaned, propping myself up with Calvin's help. "How's Tanvir?"

The child pointed past Nessie, where Tanvir was already propped up against a tree. The older boy glanced up at the creature and nodded, releasing the creature from his bond. I watched, fascinated, as Nessie's body dissolved into shadow before my eyes, returning to the Netherworld.

"I'm alright," Tanvir said, a hint of exhaustion creeping into his voice. "I just need a moment. Summoning Nessie took a lot out of me."

I glanced around, looking for Bekah. When I didn't find her right away, I sat up, suddenly recalling how the branches had swept her off of the creature's back. The movement made me wince in pain, reminding me of my own bruises, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Bekah," I gasped. "The branches. She's-"

"-fine," Bekah's voice called from the trees. "I got caught up back there, but it was easy enough to figure out where you guys landed."

A strong wind blew through the clearing, blasting away the broken branches littering the ground. As the gusts picked up, I braced myself against a tree, shielding my face with an arm.

Bekah appeared above us, lightly hopping from branch to branch as the winds carried her through the air. When she was near enough to the ground, she leaped off, landing hard. As she stood up, I could see the whirlwind around her, swirling with dust and tree limbs.

"Where'd Nessie go?" she asked, brushing herself off as if nothing had happened.

Tanvir pushed himself to his feet, picking out the twigs in his hair.

"I released her," he answered, shaking his head out. "We landed."

"More like we crashed," I corrected. Calvin offered me a hand and I took it, allowing the kid to pull me to my feet. That child was a lot stronger than he looked.

"Calvin, what happened up there?" Tanvir demanded.

The kid pointed to the sky wordlessly.

"You saw something," Tanvir interpreted.

The boy nodded enthusiastically, and lowered his finger dead ahead.

"And it went over there," he continued. "A Krakoshan ship?"

The boy nodded.

"That way then," Tanvir said nonchalantly, waving us to follow as he began walking in the direction Calvin had indicated.

The kid leapt through the brush eagerly, dodging around and between trees. The rest of us followed, doing our best to keep Calvin in our sights. The gnarled tree roots and limbs made the going slow, but soon, we fell into a silent rhythm.

As we moved deeper into the jungle, an eerie feeling crept over me. I never saw a small pile of dark pellets on the ground, or a tiny footprint in the dirt, or even a scratch on the scaly bark of a nearby tree. I never caught sight of any flash of vibrant color in the canopy, or a glimpse of something gliding through the air. At least the local fauna were staying out of our way. I didn't want to run into this planet's equivalent of a bear or deer.

Suddenly, Bekah froze, causing me to trod on her heels. She gave me an annoyed hiss, but Tanvir shushed us.

"Calvin just stopped," he said. "We must be close. Be quiet."

He began to step delicately through the undergrowth, prompting Bekah and I to follow his lead. We crept up to where Calvin was, bending low to keep ourselves hidden by the thick brush.

When I pushed my head through the brush, I found myself staring at a large enclosed compound, sitting in a flattened pit roughly two or three meters deep. The sides were fenced in with wire, occasionally broken by a guard tower with a quad-cannon on top, swiveling back and forth slowly. Beyond the perimeter, several encampments had been set up, appearing as long metal rectangles jutting out of the dirt. Wide open space covered much of the base, wide enough to have ground vehicles around and a tank yard with a dozen armored vehicles, shaped almost like arrowheads. I noticed one particularly large building that was taller than the encampments and had a massive door. A hangar.

I surveyed the base further, noting the activity. Krakoshans were everywhere, most bare-chested, their dark green scales glistening in the sun, but a scattered few wore more. I saw a few wearing light brown uniforms, probably officers, and a few others in yellow jumpsuits or white lab coats.

"Anti-aircraft cannons," Tanvir breathed. "Nice job, Calvin."

"The fence," Bekah hissed. "Look."

We followed her finger to the fence, where it fed into a pole, mounted with a box on top. A thick grounding wire ran from the tip of the box to the ground, indicating a strong charge running in the fence. More poles of the same kind ran along the perimeter of the fence.

"What do we do now?" I demanded. "No way in."

"Alright guys," Tanvir said. "Let's pull back a bit before we're spotted and go over a plan."

Together, we crawled along the jungle floor, heading backwards. After a while, Tanvir held up his hand and motioned for us to get up and walk. Entering a clearing, Tanvir kicked a pile of branches out of his way and sat down on an exposed root.

"Now what?" he asked. "The base is surrounded with an electrified fence, anti-aircraft cannons, and there's a small army of Krakoshans down there."

"Still confident we can take on any Krakoshans we come across?" I said, taking a seat nearby. "We're in pretty bad shape compared to them."

Calvin looked back in the direction of the base and held up two fingers, moving them in a scissoring motion. Then, he glanced back at Tanvir, waiting expectantly.

"I could cut through the fence no problem," Tanvir agreed. "But it's also likely alarmed. There's no way for us to squeeze through without them finding-"

Calvin held up another hand, mirroring the same cutting motion as before with both hands.

"That...could work," Tanvir said. "But I'd need time."

"How about a distraction?" Bekah asked. "I could draw attention to a certain sector while you cut the fence all around. How many Nether creatures can you summon?"

"For cutting the fence? Enough."

"What about me?" I asked. "Maybe I can help Bekah with the distraction."

Tanvir shook his head.

"No," he said. "We need you to pilot the ship, remember?"

I swallowed nervously. "Hey, you know, about that, I don't think I can-"

"Good, don't think about it," Tanvir said. "It'll help you not to feel nervous. Once my Nether creatures have finished their part, the base will be in chaos. I'll assist Bekah with the distraction and hold off their troops until you and Calvin get to the hangar. You'll have maybe five minutes to clear the gate, reach the hangar, and power up the ship, before Bekah and I come to you."

"The cannons," Bekah warned. "We'll have to take them out before we can escape."

"Not a problem," Tanvir said grinning. "Leave them to me."

"We can do a quick recon to see which side of the base is most vulnerable," Bekah said. "That should only take a few minutes."

"And if we spring an attack on the base, they might not be prepared to deal with us right away," Tanvir mused. "We have the element of surprise on our side."

"Wait!" I hissed.

The others glanced at me, but I didn't shrink back at their stares.

"We can't react so fast," I warned them. "It's not a good idea."

"Why not?" Bekah asked. "There's no better time than now. What if they get reinforcements between now and later?"

I hesitated, trying to come up with a reason other than 'because I can't actually fly our ship to safety.'

"No," I said slowly. "You guys need rest."

I met their gazes.

"You guys aren't fully recovered from cryosleep," I reminded them. "Your powers aren't at their full strength. If we attack now, we'll probably get creamed."

Bekah held out her hand, a miniature cyclone whirling to life in her palm. She looked back at me and grinned.

"I'm good to go," she reassured me. "Don't worry."

"Then it's settled," Tanvir said. "We're going in after dusk. Any more objections?"

I racked my brain looking for another excuse, but Tanvir already seemed satisfied.

"Great. Let's all get some rest and plan this out. We've got a busy night to prepare for."

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