The Gender War (The Gender Game #4)(14)

I shot an apologetic look at Violet, who had been listening closely and was clearly asking herself the same question. “I guess I’m just going to have to complete my mission,” I said.

There was a long pause, and then Violet’s concerned look bloomed into a wide grin. “Viggo… that is brilliant,” she announced.

I had just opened my mouth to reply when a strange whirring noise seemed to rise out of the twilight, gathering on the Matrian side of the river. At the same time, Ms. Dale gave a shout of alarm.

I turned in time to see her pointing at a massive heloship coming straight for us. It looked like a boat hovering in the air, with four long beams coming off the sides attached to massive propellers. Its body was painted a deep mottled green, probably to better blend in with trees and grass. I’d never seen the inside of one, but I’d read that they were typically armed with .50-caliber machine guns—and rocket-propelled missiles.

The next thing I knew, a bright red-orange flash had exploded from the heloship’s nose, a long line of smoke trailing behind it as the missile blasted forward faster than I could articulate the words look out. My mouth was barely forming the ‘k’ sound when it slammed into us.





6





Violet





I hooked my right elbow around the rail and grabbed Viggo, locking my arm around his. He was trying to say something, but I could hear nothing over the roar of the rocket as it struck the bow of the ship—hard. The deck seemed to ripple beneath our feet, and I felt my knees hit the deck. I clutched Viggo and the railing tightly as a wave of heat washed over us. Pain flooded through my hand, but I didn’t stop clenching my arm inward to keep my elbow hooked.

Smoke invaded my lungs, and I coughed, trying to find a clean pocket of air to breathe. My ears were ringing from the intensity of the explosion, and I shook my head repeatedly, trying to clear the sound. It took me a second to realize my eyes had closed, and I opened them, fearing what I would see.

The smoke clung thickly to the ship, making it difficult to see anything. It was only by feeling Viggo’s hand tightening around my arm that I knew he was alive. As for Tim, Jay, or anyone else… I couldn’t tell. Gravity seemed to wobble; the deck tilted, tipping down toward the bow. I couldn’t tell how bad the damage was because of the smoke, but it was clear that it was extensive. “Tim!” I shouted. “Jay!”

The smoke shifted, and I made out the figure of Ms. Dale. Her mouth was moving, and I assumed she was shouting something, but the high-pitched ringing in my ears drowned out everything else. She had a long tube thrown over her shoulder, and, as I watched, fire and smoke exploded from the end. The streak of fire cut a path through the smoke still clinging to the ship, and I followed its sharp line as whatever she’d shot slammed into one of the approaching heloship’s propellers.

The heloship reared back from the blow as if it had hit an invisible wall. Smoke and flames erupted from that side of it. I watched as it tilted, slowly pulling back toward Matrus. I continued to track it, but with the smoke and distance, it disappeared within seconds, heading toward the ground. I couldn’t see a corresponding explosion, but I hoped—I prayed—that the heloship was grounded.

The ringing in my ears had lessened, and now I could hear Owen shouting something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. “Tim!” I shouted again, and I was relieved to see the flash of his head come out from behind where Alejandro clung to the helm, his eyes wild. There was another shout, and I saw that Jay was clinging to the railing behind—and now slightly above—us. I saw a thumbs-up flash between him and Tim, signaling to each other that they both were okay.

Alejandro looked over at Viggo and me and yelled something, pointing to the bow. As I turned, I saw that it was slowly, but inexorably, tilting deeper toward the river, trying to submerge itself rather than float, the waters of the river lapping hungrily around us. We were sinking. Slipping on the slanted deck, I scrambled to my feet, looking around for anything that could get us out of this mess.

Alejandro continued to shout, and now I could make out the words raft and cabin. It took me another too-slow moment to piece together what he was saying, panic making me freeze in shock. And then an old memory of Amber and me going into the cabin flashed in my mind. I recalled a bright yellow and red duffel bag sitting on a built-in shelf.

Beside me, Viggo was getting to his feet, using the railing to steady himself against the slight slant of the boat. His grip on me was like iron, and as I tried to dart toward the cabin, he kept me close to him.

“What is he saying?” he asked me.

“There’s a life raft in the cabin! I’m going to go get it!”

Viggo’s gaze burned into me like I was going insane. “Violet, what if it’s flooding down there? You’ve only got one hand! You can’t go down there.”

As if to prove him right, my hand gave a fresh wave of pain, and I groaned. But couldn’t he see— “It’s the only way we’ll all get out of this alive!”

Viggo didn’t let go of my arm. “Don’t be stubborn, Violet. Just because you can’t get it doesn’t mean it’s lost forever. One of us—”

Just then a young voice cut into our conversation: “I’ll go! I remember where it is!” We both whirled in time to see Jay, who’d moved down the railing closer to us, scrambling carefully toward the raised alcove that held the door to the cabin, his steps uneven on the tilted deck.