Planet Heist (The Dunham Archives Book 1) (22 page)

“You really shouldn’t be.” I told them solemnly, “You two need to know that I’m not afraid to slice you open and break your bones. Rowan and I will bring you within an inch of your life to teach you a lesson. So, who wants to be the guinea pig?”

Ross jumped up, only a moment before Iesleen.

“Alright, Ross, get ready. Hand-on-hand first, weapons later.” I pulled off my black blazer and threw it to my brother, “I’ll even take off my heels so you won’t get impaled.”

“Thanks,” He replied as I pulled off my extra-spiky heels, and, just to scare him, thrust them at the drywall. They stuck a few inches into it and stayed there.

I smiled.

“Alright, come at me.”

He threw a fairly hard, mostly coordinated punch at my ribs.

“Too slow.” I grabbed his fist, and, fast as lighting, whipped him around, leaving him dazed. In just a moment, I punched him in the chest and held my clawed hands, tense, against his neck, “Don’t leave your guard open like that. Every moment, you have to be ready for the next move. Try again.”

This time, he tried to punch me in the neck, too lightly to be a real jab. I jumped up, anticipating his kick to my knee-cap. As he tried to kick, I dropped down and grabbed his ankles out from under him, snapping him onto the floor. “Too obvious. Feints should look like real moves, so that your opponent falls for them.”

He struggled to get back up, staggering as he got to his feet. I felt almost bad for him, and offered him my hand in truce. But, the second he had a firm grip on my hand, he yanked me back, and I heard a dull thud as my arm popped out of its socket. I preformed an old trick and grabbed his long hair with my other hand, yanking his head back. Holding my long, perfect nails against his throat yet again, I relaxed a bit. “Your moves have to be fast, unanticipated, harsh, and show no mercy. Rowan, come here.” I commanded, “Ross, sit down.”

Rowan immediately came to my side.

“Alright,” I said, “watch how Rowan and I fight. One move at a time, okay?”

Rowan nodded. He threw a flat handed jab at my side, what would have been a solid blow if he didn’t stop directly before impact so that I could explain it, “Rowan went for one of the only places I wasn’t blocking, and put in a lot of force.”

I began narrating every point in our fight as it was happening. He flung his foot at my knee cap, but I jumped up and crushed his it under mine. But, he still came back strong. He shot his fist out and cracked my shoulder blade. I gritted my teeth and elbowed him in the neck. He gagged, and I used his moment of weakness to grab both his wrists and flip him onto his back.

“Iesleen, come here. I have faith in you.”

Rowan sat down, and immediately started talking to Ross.

I smiled at the thought of Rowan
actually
getting along with someone.

“Boys, why don’t you two fight…over there,” I suggested, and they left Iesleen and I.

“I take it you’re more coordinated than Ross?” I asked sarcastically.

“Always have been. I’m already a fairly good fighter, and I’m strong…or at least stronger than most people I know.” She took an impressive fighting stance.

“Come at me whenever you’re ready.” I said.

I waited for only a moment.

She punched me straight in the stomach and I almost doubled over due to the sheer force of it. I groaned, but still managed to kick in her knee, and she fell to the ground. In utter strength, Iesleen jumped back up to elbow me right where Rowan had cracked my shoulder. Wincing, I fought back with a barrage of excruciating punches to her stomach. My fists almost bounced off her muscled stomach, but then I took advantage of what was her automatic weak spot. I jabbed my index finger into the pressure point next to her neck. She was on the ground in a moment, pressed down by intense pain. I left her on her knees.

“I’m impressed. I’ve never seen anybody fight that well on their first run at me.” I told her, almost awestruck.

She shrugged modestly, “I do take over ten physically demanding extra-curriculars at my school.”

It went on like that for another few hours and I emerged battered, but still undefeated.

June 25
th
4:15 pm

Dunham Mountain Lodge, Loco, Neolis

Later, just before sundown, I went back to my room. My room was themed to one of my personal favorite places – the New Zealand cliffs of Earth. There was a brilliant painting of the view from the top, looking down on the crystal ocean. Simply being in there made me think of Cal, and, inevitably, Salah.

A wave of emotion hit me with a ton of bricks. My heart seized up and jumped into my throat and my eyes stung with heat. Burning tears slid down my cheeks, almost stinging where they hit my arm. Sobs racked out of my chest, so loud that the entire planet must have been crying with me. I tried hard to make the steel wall in my brain fall down and shut out the emotion, but I couldn’t. My body shuddered with every tear I shed, as if an earthquake was setting off inside of my heart.

And then a knock on the door snapped be back.

I immediately smudged the tear tracks off my face and tried to breathe normally.

The door creaked open and I stood to meet my twin.

“I noticed something…strange today.” Rowan said ominously.

“What is it?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. Row shut the door behind him – with his mind, as usual – and looked me straight in the eye.

“When Cal killed Salah, what
exactly
happened?” He said the words as if the rest of our lives would change with my answer. And, knowing my brother, they probably would.

I had been living over the scene a hundred times, and I relayed it to my brother.

“There was a woman with him?” Rowan was suddenly quiet and, if I didn’t know better, afraid.

“I think it was his mother. Why does that matter?”

“Kairee, you might want to sit down for this.”

When he told me, I almost had a heart attack.

June 26
th
7:35 am

Dunham Mountain Lodge, Loco, Neolis

“Concentrate.” I commanded.

Ross, Iesleen and I were in a dimply lit closet, performing mental exercises. Iesleen wore a blue, feathery fedora that made me smile every time I saw it. Today, Ross wore a T-shirt that said ‘Cereal Killer,’ with a picture of a bleeding cereal box.

Ross’s intelligent face was twisted, his eyebrows knit together in deep focus, obviously trying to move the pen I had set in front of him with his mind. Iesleen was hardly trying to move her pencil, but it was waving back and forth. She dropped it from an inch, and then she lost wind, gasping for breath. I knew the kind of concentration it takes to move things on your first try.

“Iesleen, go rest. Great job.” I told her.

She nodded wearily and walked out of the room.

“Come on, Ross.” I whispered, inching closer to his face, “Focus.”

“I’m trying, Kairee!” He exclaimed, exasperated, “I just don’t think I can do it.”

“I’m going to ask you a question.” I told him, thinking of the most uncommon trivia question in America, to test his vast mental capabilities, “When you answer, concentrate on the pen, okay?”

He nodded.

“What’s the capital of Liechtenstein?” I asked, naming one of the smallest countries on his home planet.

His answer was immediate.

“Vaduz.” He replied effortlessly. When he thought of the answer, the pen jumped into the air. I smiled, happy that my thought process was correct.

“Just like me.” I told him, “When you find something deep in your brain, when that spark lights, your will jumps. It’s like when you’re at a trivia tournament, and you feel confident when they tell you the answer’s right.”

“I don’t understand,” He replied, confused.

“When you stuff all those facts into your brain and then spew them out again, your brain waves spike, and so does your psychic ability. So, if you want to move things using telekinesis, all you have to do is increase brain productivity.” I explained.

“How do I do that?” He pondered, the wheels clearly turning in his brain.

“Well, contact your strongest emotions – love, hate, and fear. I recommend channeling something you love – a girlfriend, a dear relative, or maybe a puppy?” I suggested with a laugh. He thought for a moment.

“Got it.” He grinned, and I got the strange feeling he wasn’t thinking of a puppy.

“Now, think of that and concentrate on moving the pen,” I advised.

He squinted hard at the pen. It took a few moments, but then he lifted it with his mind a foot into the air, and I was immensely impressed. When I started training, I could hardly move a paper-clip a centimeter high.

“Amazing,” I whispered in awe.

He was hardly breaking a sweat, and beaming like a kid in a candy store.

“I have something I need you to do for me, okay?” I told him almost ominously.

“Okay?” He said, perplexed, “Why me, though?”

“I need a brilliant liar with a rich knowledge of Saizian history that can pass as a completely normal person. It’s the most critical role in the theft. The strategist interprets the maps, figures the puzzles out, and convinces all the guards that we’re good. And I want you to do it.” I told him.

His eyes widened, and he nodded fervently, “I’d be honored.”

“Good, because I have some things for you to looks at, bur first I need you to do some thing with me – just the two of us.” I said.

His eyes widened further, and it almost looked like he was blushing, but it was hard to tell in the dark “What do you mean?”

I got right next to him so that when I spoke, anyone trying to hear wouldn’t.

“Don’t get too excited now. We have to sneak out of the lodge and to Saize, to the Saizian National Archives. Without anyone seeing us.” I whispered, making sure that nobody would overhear.

“That sounds dangerous.” His voice was as soft as mine.

“That’s how I like to do things. You need some real-live action, not just training.” I explained.

“Then…why aren’t we bringing Iesleen?” He asked.

“I need to bring you – and only you – with me because I need someone who’s good at working the system – literally. I’ve only requested twenty minutes in the Archives, so after that, they’ll send guards after us. I’ll take care of them if you can find the information we need. If we brought Rowan and Iesleen, I would be too distracted trying to control them to concentrate. I need someone who knows about Saize and can find information in the vastest library in the universe quickly.” I told him, “And that person is you, Ross.”

He turned red, “Thanks. I try to be adept at my abilities when it comes to…working the system.”

“You seem nervous.” I smirked.

“Is there anyone you
don’t
make nervous?” He chuckled, “I can’t help that the most beautifully dangerous girl in the universe makes me…admittedly a little tense.”

I grinned at him, “Well, you’ll have to get over that because we’ll be spending a lot of time together from now on. Get ready, and I’ll come to your room in ten minutes. Wear something nice. If you don’t have a suit, talk to Rowan – he’s good with clothes.”

We stood up.

“I’ll see you then.” He said, and walked out of the little room. When I heard his steps down the hall, I exited and went to my rooms.

I pulled out a black, ruffled blouse and a shimmery gold pencil skirt. I went a little more punk, I suppose, than normal with black fishnet tights and gold studded black heels.

Of course, the outfit was much less important than the weapons. I was worried about what the Prime Minister had said about guards. It was clear that I could handle ten or so guards, but any more and they would easily overtake me. I simply wasn’t feeling on top of it today, and unless Ross could somehow, magically take out a legion of highly trained officers. Plus, they would be worse because I had
just
killed Dmitri Ivanov, their fearless leader. I still had the awful burden of knowledge on my mind that the entire police force of Saize was working for Zenda.

Anyways, I covered my body in as many concealable weapons as possible. My classic Rizer under a sparkly bracelet, a sharpshooter gun in my large handbag, a long knife and my dagger strapped to the small of my back, and a set of throwing knives all protected me as larger weapons. Smaller weapons for simply injuries included my razor pins, the family ring, and sharply filed nails.

Quickly painting my nails bright gold to match my skirt, my mind raced with all the possibilities of how the next hour could go. We could arrive unexpected and it could go completely smoothly. Or, they could be waiting for us with a host of guards armed and ready to kill. We might not make it in to the Archives or get shot the moment we step out of the
Wasp
. And there could easily be a mix of both.

I looked at myself in the mirror while brushing out my hair, clearing the thoughts from my head. I had to keep my head clear.

Perfect.