Sora’s helmet stared at him with empty eye sockets and a sarcastic expression—as though a helmet could have expressions. Ronnie chewed on his unlit cigarette irritably and picked through his cable drawer for a type C adapter.
He knew the armor radio systems were housed in the helmets, but he’d never tried hacking into them before. There’d been no need. The five of them had only ever tried using the radios while they’d been in the same general vicinity.
But surely a high-tech, super-powered armor from another dimension had a radio that could transmit across the United States.
Surely.
Was that too much to ask for?
Ronnie snorted.
Maybe an instruction manual too? Could he ask for one of those while he was dreaming?
The door to the workshop creaked open, and the shuffling footsteps told him that Uly was approaching.
“Kid, grab my soldering iron on your way over.”
After three years of knowing each other, Uly had stopped asking how Ronnie could identify everyone in the house by how they walked. He just did what Ronnie asked.
The teenager brought Ronnie’s soldering iron to the work table and sat down in the stool next to him.
“Making any progress?” the black-haired boy asked.
Ronnie pointed to Sora’s helmet. “Got the helmet to stick around.”
Uly eyed him. “Impressive. How’d you swing that?”
“Put the armor on and took it off eight times before I got it to understand I needed the helmet to stay put.”
Uly smiled. “Well, I’m glad Sora listened.”
“Piece of junk is generally unhelpful.” Ronnie reached for his soldering iron and switched it on.
“What are you trying to do?” Uly folded his arms on the table, his wide dark blue eyes so much like his big sister’s.
Ronnie sighed and sat up, cracking his back. “I’m trying to find a way to connect the radio system in the helmet to my computer.” He pointed to the desktop computer on the other end of the table. “But it ain’t like I got an adapter for whatever the helmet has to a USB port.”
“So you have to make one?” Uly raised his eyebrows.
“Something like that.”
“Gosh, doesn’t it have Bluetooth?” Uly winced.
Ronnie grumbled. “It’s got something like that, but it’s encrypted. I can’t get in. Not with the time we got.”
Ronnie paused and glanced at the teenager. “How is Ryan?”
Uly looked down. “Pacing a hole in the carpet. He’s a wreck. I think he’s going to buy a flight.”
Ronnie shrugged. “Might be best.”
Uly sat up. “You think so?”
Ronnie fished a pair of tweezers out of his utensil bin and tipped the Sora helmet up so he could look inside. “He ain’t doing any good here, and he’s just wearing himself out. Plus I don’t think Thallia’s gonna attack us here.”
“You don’t?”
“No. Something fishy’s going on.” Ronnie poked at a tiny panel in the side of the helmet’s interior. “Thallia’s focused on DC and not here for the first time. Otherwise we would have seen more soldiers in the last few weeks, and we ain’t. Or, if he was going to attack DC for the distraction, he would have attacked here by now. It’s been hours.”
Uly nodded slowly. “I guess you’re right.” He laughed softly. “We haven’t seen Shirotaro either.”
Ronnie snorted. “Yeah, that’s the other part of it. If we was gonna have trouble here, we’d have had it by now.”
“So don’t you think you both should go?”
Ronnie paused and glanced at the young man. “Somebody needs to stay. I’ll get the radio figured out. That’s what I can do. Ryan can pack his bag and go make a bigger mess in DC.”
The workshop room door swung open with the strength of Ryan’s arm. “Ronnie?”
“Yeah.” Ronnie waved his tweezers at him.
Ryan approached Ronnie’s worktable, his hair wild and his eyes wide and worried.
“Any progress?” Ryan asked.
“Some.” Ronnie held the tweezers up. “Not enough. Was just talking to Uly. I think you—”
“—should go to DC.” Ryan nodded. “I’ve got a call into the Doc’s travel agent. If she can get me a flight, I can be there in six hours.”
Six hours. Ronnie grimaced to himself. That’s still a long time to wait.
Ryan took a steadying breath and squeezed Ronnie’s shoulder. “I think you should stay here.”
“One step ahead of you, old man.”
The doorbell rang, the cheerful chimes echoing through the castle-turned-house. Ryan and Ronnie traded a confused look.
“I’ll get it.” Uly bounded out of the room.
“Doc don’t want anymore Girl Scout cookies!” Ronnie shouted after him.
Ryan moved to the window and stared outside. “What if this is some new strategy?”
“Girl Scout cookies?”
Ryan glared at him.
Ronnie snorted and returned to poking the tweezers into his helmet. “Thallia ain’t changed his strategy in years, Ryan. Why would he start now?”
“He did start in DC, remember?” Ryan crossed his arms. “Ten years ago.”
Ronnie scowled but didn’t answer.
“Sam fought the soldiers first,” Ryan said. “By himself. And they were all in DC before they were here. What if Thallia is going back to some original strategy we didn’t know about.”
Ronnie sighed. “There’s a lot we don’t know, Ryan. Thallia’s got a plan, and none of us know what it is. Best we can do is just—not give up.” The tweezers slipped beneath the protective panel in the helmet. “Gotcha.”
Ronnie pulled the panel out and grabbed a set of magnifiers so he could see into the helmet’s systems.
“Ryan! Ronnie!” Uly shouted down the hallway.
Ryan moved away from the window.
“Must not have been the Girl Scouts.” Ronnie spat.
Ryan threw the door open and stepped into the hallway, but he didn’t leave. He stood in place, staring.
Ronnie’s heart sank.
Old man staring, that’s a bad sign.
A clanging noise drifted down the hallway, like brass chiming in the wind. In the doorway, Ryan backed up a step to make room for Korin Sado to step into the room.
No, that’s a very bad sign.
“Kazan. Sora.” Korin bowed to each of them as he entered the room, the rings of his tall brass staff clanging with the motion.
“Ancient One,” Ryan whispered, his eyes wider than before.
“Forgive the abruptness of my arrival,” Korin said as he leaned the staff against the wall and pulled the broad thatched hat off his head. “But time is short.”
He turned to them, his black eyes fierce and his silver hair shining in the overhead lights.
“Something happened in Washington DC,” Ryan said. “It’s all over the news. Soldiers. And the others are there, fighting them.”
“Yes.” Korin turned to Ryan, a weathered hand gripping his elbow. “We do not know the source of the disturbance, but what I can tell you for certain is that Hinode is is grave danger.”
Ronnie’s stomach flip-flopped. “What do you mean?”
“How do you know?” Ryan straightened.
Korin’s gaze shifted between them before he reached for the staff. “As you know, the shakujo is connected to your armors.” He lifted it, the nine brass rings in the staff’s ornament jangling cheerfully. “A short time ago, the shakujo alerted me to—activity—within the Hinode armor.”
“What does that mean, Korin?” Ryan squared up with the old man. “I don’t know what that means.”
Korin lifted his hand. “There is too much to explain and not enough time.” He held up the staff. “I ask you, Kazan, to please trust me as you always have.”
Ryan peered at the shimmering staff and closed his eyes, calming his breathing. Ronnie stood up and approached.
“So the staff told you Sam was in trouble.” Ronnie lifted his chin.
“I thought to find him here.” Korin gazed around the room. “Yet you tell me he is where I found him at the first.”
“He’s there,” Ryan said. “With Stan and Karl. We don’t know what’s happening, but we know Jinosku is there as well.”
Korin paused, the skin around his dark eyes wrinkling and his nostrils flaring. “Jinsoku, you say.”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “The Doc called.”
“We stayed here,” Ronnie said. “Thinking Thallia might attack here. That DC was a diversion.”
Korin shook his head fiercely. “Thallia does not use diversions. He does not need them. If he is moving in your nation’s capitol, then your world is truly out of time.”
Ronnie scowled.
Korin had always been cryptic. Personally Ronnie expected it was a language barrier. The old man wasn’t the best at English, which Ronnie always found amusing since he wasn’t the best at English either.
“Korin,” Ryan started. “What’s happening?”
Korin’s expression didn’t change, the deep wrinkles in his ancient face stony and serene.
The phone on the workbench rang loud enough to make them all jump. Ryan sagged into his hands, and Uly collapsed against the far wall. Ronnie snatched the receiver up.
“What?”
“Dude, Blue Jay, is that any way to say hi?”
Ronnie nearly dropped the receiver in relief at the sound of Karl’s voice. “Karl.”
“Karl?” Ryan yelped and hurried to his side.
Ronnie lowered the receiver so they could both hear.
“Karl?” Ryan shouted.
“Geez, Old Man, take it down a notch.” Karl complained, his voice tinny on the other end of the line.
“Karl, don’t be a prat.” Stan fussed at him faintly in the background. “Give me the phone.”
After a brief rustling sound, Karl whined sadly, and Stan came on the line. “Sorry, mates. Had a bit of a day over here.”
“Stan, what is happening?” Ryan snapped.
“City’s full of soldiers, mate,” Stan said. “They came at us with Jinsoku. Made quite a mess.”
“And an earthquake?” Ronnie spat.
“Oh, that was me.” Karl’s voice sounded far away.
“Karl, would you get back? Someone will see you!”
“Karl made an earthquake?” Ryan blinked at Ronnie.
Across the room, Korin sighed heavily and shut his eyes.
“Where are you two?” Ronnie asked.
“At a pay phone outside a drugstore near Dupont Circle,” Stan said. “Do you know how hard it is to get to your quarters when you’re in armor?”
“Stan, where is Mia?” Ryan asked.
The line was quiet for a moment. “We don’t know, Ryan. It’s been me and Karl together this whole time. I thought she made it out.”
“The Doc called, kid. She ain’t with him.” Ronnie sighed. “What about Sam?”
Karl and Stan fell quiet again. If neither of them had anything to say? Well, that was the worst sign yet.
“Korin is here.” Ryan glanced up at the old Kayosen man.
“He is?” Stan yelped.
“Well, Shiro is here,” Karl said.
Ryan’s eyebrows raised. “What about Sam?”
“No,” Stan answered. “We all got separated. Been down in the underground since it started.”
The line warbled, and a female voice started asking for more money.
“Buttons,” Stan muttered.
“You guys, hold tight.” Ryan gripped the receiver. “We’re coming to you.”
“Fish Face, where are your quarters?”
“I haven’t got anymore, you great lout.”
The line went dead.
Ryan ran a hand into his hair and handed the receiver back to Ronnie. “I’ll call the travel agent.”
Korin held up his hand. “I may have a more expedient solution, Kazan.”
Ryan glanced at Ronnie, and Ronnie folded his arms.
“More expedient?” Ronnie asked.
Korin held out the staff again. “As the staff brought me to your world, I can send you to another place within your world. In mere moments.”
Ronnie straightened. “You mean, like an intradimensional gate?”
Korin regarded him in shocked silence. “That is what our technicians call it, yes.”
Ryan turned to look at him. “How did you know that?”
Ronnie took a slow breath. “That’s what—well, some friends of mine introduced me to the technology a few months ago.”
“Friends?” Ryan said quietly. “Right. Texas?”
“Texas.” Ronnie nodded.
“It always goes back to Texas, doesn’t it?” Ryan sighed. “Fine.” He turned back to Korin. “And all you can tell us is that Sam is in trouble?”
Korin held the staff out again. “The shakujo is connected to your armors. It is a conduit between them, and it can serve as a beacon for them. It will also issue warnings when one of them is—activating its abilities.”
Ronnie leaned forward. “What do you mean? Sam activated Hinode ten years ago.”
Korin hesitated. “Samuel summoned Hinode ten years ago, but he has never activated it. Not until today.”
Ronnie’s mouth felt dry. “But that’s good, right? We’ve been waiting for him to figure out how to use it for years.”
Korin wasn’t telling them everything. There were too many holes, too many hesitations, too many slow, deep breathes.
“I cannot explain.” Korin set the staff on the carpet, the rings jangling. “All I can tell you is that Hinode has partially activated its systems, and that somehow Jinosku is involved.”
“How do you know that?” Ryan wailed.
“There is too much to explain, Kazan,” Korin snapped. “And there is no time. You must find Hinode at once. If you do not, Jinsoku may complicate matters.”
Ryan and Korin held each other gazes for a long time.
“Jinsoku may talk him over to Thallia’s side,” Ryan said. “That’s what you’re saying.”
Korin’s expression faltered for the first time. “I pray not, my friend. But Samuel has always been willful. And that he has only now learned to activate Hinode while he is in the presence of Warlord Jinosku indicates that there is a strategy in play.”
“A strategy?” Ronnie caught his breath.
“Thallia has never wanted to kill any of you. His designs require your allegiance.” Korin planted his feet on the carpet and gripped the staff with both hands. “I have long suspected he would strike at your weakest link.”
Korin met Ryan’s eyes first and then Ronnie’s.
“You must help him. Without you, Samuel will fall. If he falls, you will not be able to stop what is coming.”
“But Sam’s never wanted our help,” Ryan said sadly.
“No.” Korin’s eyes shone. “But he needs it, Kazan. He needs you.”
Korin took a long breath and shook the staff, the nine rings jangling deafeningly. The ornament on the top of the staff flared with blinding light, and the air pressure in the room shifted. Korin’s voice echoed strangely in the room, and then—as though the room itself had been holding its breath and then suddenly released it—the fabric of reality split open.
A single, jagged tear in the skin of the world peeled apart to reveal a churning portal of darkness and lightning. It was like looking down the throat of a tornado from the sky.
“Whoa.” Ryan breathed.
Uly peeked his head around Korin to stare wide-eyed at the rip. “Incredible.”
“Yeah. Fan-frickin-tastic.” Ronnie grumbled.
He turned back to his desk and grabbed his toolkit and his cell phone.
“I shall monitor San Francisco until you return,” Korin said, relaxing into a more casual stance beside the churning portal. “I suspect that it will be quiet. Ulysses and I shall notify you if that changes.”
Uly nodded from where he stood next to Korin.
Ryan paused next to them. “What, we just walk through it?”
Korin gestured. “Preferably quickly. I am not confident that it has not drawn attention.”
“Great.” Ronnie muttered. “Okay, go, Ryan, go.”
“But it’s—”
Ronnie set his hand at the base of Ryan’s spine and shoved him through the rip with a nod at Korin. The things they did for their psycho little family.
The rip closed around them, sparkling and tingling and shivering as he embraced them with darkness and the rush of static and spit them out on the other side of the country.
Ronnie stumbled forward, his ears ringing and the world spinning. He crashed against a cold brick wall and leaned there until the alley stopped tilting.
Beside him, Ryan bent over with his head between his knees, gasping. Ronnie thumped him on the back as the portal faded behind them.
“Breathe, old man.”
“That’s awful.” Ryan choked.
“It gets easier the more you do it.”
Ryan groaned.
Ronnie glanced at the sky, but he couldn’t see many stars. The dumpsters in the alley weren’t branded, so they didn’t give any location away either.
Quietly, breathing deeply, Ronnie shut his eyes and let the sensation of Sora’s power wrap its arms around him.
Hey, pal. Ronnie sank into his armor’s consciousness. Can you tell if anybody we know is close?
Sora didn’t answer with words. They didn’t know each other well enough for that yet, or so Stan claimed. But Sora did tingle at the back of Ronnie’s neck, a shivering sense that was almost like the feel of a blood sugar crash.
Yes. The others are close.
His stomach clenched.
And so are the other-others.
Ronnie opened his eyes. “It worked,” he muttered.
“Sora tell you?”
“Yeah.” Ronnie thumped Ryan’s back again. “The guys are near. And the soldiers are too.”
Ryan straightened and cleared his throat, stretching out his arms and his shoulders.
“All right then,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”