Chapter 1
(Chapter song ‘Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken’ by Ramin Djawadi, ‘Song No. 2’ by Blur)
Chapter 1
ZANDER
“This is not in the best interest of the crown.”
“Everything I do is in the best interest of the crown, Andrew. You should know that.” Our boots strike the cold stone floor of the Council tower hall in a heavy, echoing rhythm. Arched windows blur past as I walk with purpose; urgency hangs thick in the air.
Aides, document holders, and pages weave around us, preparing for my absence. I don’t know how long I will be gone, and the council needs to be secure in my absence.
“I understand that, Zander. But I think it would be more prudent—and frankly safer—if we sent a governing delegation in your stead. There’s no reason you should go to America personally.”
Andrew Striker, High Council representative for the Humans. Entirely human. Entirely irritating. He’s been trying to talk me out of this since I made my decision. After my… corrective measures against the British government, he’s been stuck to my hip like a moral barnacle. He thinks I’m going to start an incident.
I might, if he keeps talking.
“No. I need to see to this myself. From what I was shown, the place is falling apart.” I push through the doors to my office, robes sweeping behind me, and cross to my desk. I grab my carry-on and head straight out, brushing past him.
“Zander, listen to reason.”
“My mind is made up.”
“Alright. But you must understand—Americans don’t take kindly to authoritarians. They prefer freedom and will fight you.”
He lengthens his stride to keep up, lecturing me on geopolitics as if I hadn’t been ruling longer than he’s been alive.
“If you show up under a British seal, they will retaliate. You need to understand the culture. At least, take me with you. You’re taking half the council anyway.”
“No. I need you here in case the uprisings happen again. Sentinel can’t run without you.” I don’t look at him. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I truly believe you don’t. Maybe a negotiating team? They can talk to them in a way they would understand. They can work with Americans, then report back. An invasion of your kind will only make them upset and—”
My hand shoots out, stopping him mid-stride. I turn slowly, deliberately, meeting his eyes. The hall stills. Even the air seems to hold its breath.
“My entire reign has been negotiation. I have negotiated the worst swamp treaties in history. I have settled disputes older than this land itself. I have fought battles for years. Do not question my diplomacy. I’m sure I can handle a bunch of Americans.” I turn sharply, robe snapping behind me and walk away.
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, King!”
I lower my chin, eyes darkening. “Trust me, Andrew, your warnings mean nothing…”
“There is nothing in that country that could possibly be a threat to me.”
RICKY
“Gorgeous day for a flight!”
The repeated thumping of the blades vibrates through my chest as I check my gear. The sky is a perfect blue, stretching past the horizon with only a few lazy clouds floating by. The desert sun is heating everything up, but I’m not sweating it at all.
I yank the final buckle of my shoulder strap into place and turn my head—only to find a grown man glued to his seat like a petrified jackrabbit.
His eyes are bugged out.
His knuckles are white.
And I think his soul left the chat somewhere around takeoff.
I slap his arm and pull my headset mic to my lips. “Did you hear me?”
He jerks his gaze to me. “Yes, I heard you!” He stiffens even more, and I think he’s going to crap his pants soon.
“Declan, relax.” I shake my head and lean back. “You’re perfectly safe.”
He whips his head to me, glaring like I just said the most unhinged thing in the history of unhinged things. “Do you know the stats on the number of helicopter crashes each year? Because I do!” He jabs his finger into his own chest, then slams his hand back on the seat like he’s bracing for impact.
Declan Churchill. If there was a kingdom for agoraphobics, he would gladly wear the crown. The guy would chain himself to his desk for fear of hurting himself. Which is weird that he’s my best friend. You’d think he’d avoid me like the plague, knowing that I can cut his life expectancy in half. I guess he just likes to bear witness to my stupidity.
He’s a smart guy—a little nerdy—but his black hair, thin fit frame, brown eyes, and tanned skin give him a cute, innocent boy look… when he’s not wishing he wore a bubble suit.
But if you’re looking for a therapeutic way to get over your irrational fears, look no further.
If it won’t kill me, or at least maim me in some way, it’s not exciting enough. The adrenaline must kick up to 1000 before anything moves. The riskier, the better. Declan hates my guts because I drag him with me. I need someone coherent enough to call 911.
I wasn’t always like this. I could have been Declan at one point. I wasn’t his level of apprehension, but I wasn’t the risk taker I am today. My brother—when he was alive—used to call me ‘scared little mouse’ because I wouldn’t do anything that came with a risk. I buried myself in school and work, stayed home… stayed safe.
When my brother was killed in combat—I don’t know—something in me snapped. It was like I woke up to the fact that I was just wasting my time on this rock. I wasn’t living. My brother’s death showed me that time is too short to be ‘chained’ to a desk.
I started small. Doing things that were fun and getting the heart pumping, but then it escalated. I guess you could call it a rush addiction. I don’t know if I’m trying to get myself killed, but I do know that I’m constantly chasing that feeling that I am alive. And the more I skate that razor edge, the more I feel like I’m taunting Death himself.
After securing my amber brown ponytail through a back hole in my helmet, I turn to the window of the helicopter door. I lean close, look down and preen. Thousands of feet below is my pride and joy. Phoenix Mountain City. A bustling metropolis buried in a valley surrounded by Phoenix Mountain. The skyscrapers, busy roads and snow-capped mountain peaks are all mine to command since Falcon Ridge occupied it two years ago. Since then, we took control, rebuilt, and now, I’m Head Alpha of the Phoenix Security Unit and the city until it can find an Alpha to run the pack house.
As the shadow of the helicopter circles the city, my eyes sparkle, and my smile brightens seeing our biggest monument.
The completely repaired glass dome over the Lazarus pool. The Alliance’s greatest asset, and the reason why 20,000 of Falcon Ridge’s best scientists, techs, and citizens moved here. The pool brings people back to life after death. Don’t ask me how. We haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ll get to the bottom of it.
The dome takes up a third of the mountain bowl the city sits in. The other two-thirds is a sprawl of urban greatness.
Yeah, we rock.
I scan the rest of the area, then turn to the pilot, thumbing up. “Go higher!”
He turns and gives me the okay, and the helicopter starts to rise.
“Don’t you think we’re high enough?!” Declan yells as he watches me go through the final flight checks.
“The Flyer C19 personal flight suit is the most advanced flight suit on the planet. If this test works, our flyers will be able to drop into the middle of cities undetected for more stealthy surveillance. It’s time for wolves to take to the air.” I grin, clinching up my last buckles on my boots.
“That’s great and everything, but why you? Someone else can test it.” His brow furrows like a concerned grandfather.
I sit up and place my hand on the handle of the helicopter door. “Why not me?”
“You’re Head Alpha!”
‘Alpha, you got a green.’
I give the pilot a thumbs-up. “I’m the best one to take the C19 out for its first flight!” I grin as I rip open the door. Wind blasts in and he cringes back. My ponytail whips as I stand and place my ear buds in.
“You’re insane!”
I cue up ‘Song 2’ by Blur and give him a smirk. “Come on, Declan. Live a little.” I wave, bend my knees, and back flip out the door into the open sky. “WOOO-HOO!!”
My body flips through blasting wind 5000 feet above the mountains. My cheeks ripple as I right myself into a horizontal free-fall. I put my arms out, then tuck in a barrel roll and curve out. Even with goggles on, I squint at the force of air hitting my face.
The silver fabric of the suit flaps against my body as I fall a hundred feet per second. The city seems to float under me, and I feel like the eagles that like to circle the dome.
I fight the force, bring my arm up and tap the small computer screen on my arms. I input the test flight number, and the screen fills with trackers and monitors.
The mountains get a little closer, I tap the side of my helmet, turning on communication with the AI assistant in the lab. The pressure on my chest increases, and my stomach’s in knots as I fight my survival instincts.
We’re having fun, brain. We’re not going to die… I hope.
‘Approaching 4000 feet. Prepare to deploy.’
“Okay. No problem.” I reach down on both sides and release the safeties.
‘Deploying in 3… 2…’
I angle myself the way I did in training to not get whiplash and cross my arms on my chest.
‘1. Deploying now.’
I close my eyes and wait for the sudden grab of the wind, but nothing happens. I open one eye. “Deploy?” I’m met with silence. “Damn it. I’ll to go manual.” I lift my other arm to my face which holds a control panel for the suit. I pop the cover off and smile. “Let’s see what this baby can do.” I push a button on my arm and my smile fades. I look down at my sides and do a flip. “Shit. This is a problem.”
With the ground coming up fast, I flip on my back. I rest my arm on my chest and pry the control panel off. It flops on my arms and hangs by wires as I look for what’s going on. My fingers push and move wires and components until I see a wire that came loose. “Oh, you’re the bad boy.” I scowl.
I push the wire, and mechanical wings shoot out of my sides with a thud. The wind catches me, flipping and spinning across the sky.
“YEAH!! WOOOHOOOO!”
The flight suit raises into the air and then starts its designated flight path. I bank left and corkscrew up then dive sharply. My computer console beeps, and I raise my arm. It flashes, ‘Commence Landing,’ and a triangle floats to show the path.
’3800 feet.’
My body rocks as I try to keep level, and the buildings tower closer. The floor of the valley is a slope. The dome sits at the bottom, and at the top: the Phoenix Mountain Security Unit. It’s not the tallest building here, but it still hurts to hit it, so… Time to stop the fall.
On the control panel, I push a black and blue button at the same time.
’Now switching to pilot controls.’
“Thanks!” I shout.
A pair of arms fitted with handles extend out from under the wings and stretch out in front of me. I grab each handle, assuming full flight control. I can now manipulate my own way to the Unit.
I’m freaking flying!
‘Turn west to landing target.’
I lean right and dive between the skyscrapers like a target. The shadows cover me and I blast past as windows shake in my wake. My legs spread, opening a piece of fabric that acts as my rudder. I lift and drop my legs to create stabilization as I flip sideways, turn around a building, then flop to my belly. Air propulsion motors activated under the wings push me forward.
On the computer screen, I swipe to open my scanners. As I fly over the people of Phoenix, the suit scans them all. Heat signatures float across the screen, with points of data whizzing by. I pick a dot on my screen, and it brings up the photo and personnel file of that person. “Gotcha.” I chuckle “Facial recognition works.”
I clear the screen and focus on the next stage.
Landing my ass on solid ground.
I blast around another building, and the sounds of the city start to be heard and I do a few somersaults… just to show off.
This is the best rush ever!
’Landing target approaching at 550 feet…500 feet…450 feet…Deploy parachute now.’
I line up in the middle of 1st Main Street and see the Unit building up ahead. I twist and turn through the air as my descent decreases rapidly. “Alright, time slow this down.” I push another button and nothing happens. I push it again… and again… my eyes dart up to the building and push it again. a parachute flies out the pack on my back, billows open and I’m snapped back with a groan.
The console screen flashes red with a wind gust warning, and I grab the handles of the parachute. The suit shuts down, the wings tuck in and I look up with concern..
The suit automatically shuts down and I use the handles of the chute to guide myself in for a landing.
I’m coming in and I realize I undershot.
I try to turn the shoot and correct the fact that the wall of the Unit is now my landing spot.
“OH SHIT!” I slam into the side of the roof; my body bounces, and my arms flail and my hand catches the edge. My side hits the wall hard and I cringe. “Ow.”
The wind blowing up the road leading to the Phoenix pack house catches my parachute, pulling me with it. Every time it dies down I hit the wall again. “Ugh.” I pull the console on my hanging arm up to my nose and hit a button. The parachute sucks into the pack on my back by the auto pack feature.
I look down past my dangling feet to thirty floors below. “Um…This is a problem.” I look up to the roof edge. “I guess I should have deployed a landing crew.” I look back down. “Okay. Note for later.” I heave a breath. “30 floors… 300 feet. One broken leg, some ribs. Maybe a skull fracture… Yeah, I can do this.”
I cross my chest with a prayer, press open the emergency screen with my nose and prepare. “Here goes nothing.” I let my hand go, plant a boot on the wall and push myself away from it; all while pressing the button for my emergency chute. The small chute deploys and I almost choke at the sharp yank as it grabs air and starts a fast glide to the ground. As much as I don’t want it to, this is gonna hurt. The sidewalk comes up fast, I hit it and crumple into a roll. Yelps and screams surround me as I get tangled in ropes and fabric. My body bursts into pain, and I feel sick with dizziness until I come to a stop on my stomach.
I plant a hand on the pavement, lift myself up and rip off my helmet and goggles. “Ugh… That could’ve gone better.” I grit as I slowly sit back on my calves and feel if I need to emerge. In the dark, all I hear is whispers and low talking.
With my hair a mess, my skin is wind-whipped, and buried in fabric and rope, I grin at the eyes blinking at me. I stumble to my feet and try to untangle myself. “It’s a… great day for a fall…” I gather the parachute as the crowd remains speechless, then flop a hand to them, pain on my face. “You… uh… you should try it.” I grit at the shooting pain in my back. “See ya in there.”
All eyes watch me limp inside.
