right?” He steps toward me with his hand extended.
I jerk back. “Don’t.”
He stops and a hurt expression crosses his face. “Sorry.”
“It’s not that. I touched the light. I might be contaminated.”
“Oh. Okay.” Beau dashes away.
The muscles in my legs decide to quit working. I sit on the ground. And by the way my heart is racing, I fear a panic attack is imminent. Why does this keep happening to me? As if answering my question, the ice in my arm disappears. I wish I’d never touched that black Warrior heart and instead listened to my mother.
“What in the world could be so—” My mom skids to a stop with her mouth open.
“Ming, what—” My father’s brown eyes widen until they’re as big as twin moons.
They gape before pulling their gazes from the glowing glyph. It appears to be an effort, and, while my parents peer at me, I don’t think they’re really seeing me. Almost immediately, the spectacle recaptures their attention. I wait, but it doesn’t take them long to partially recover from the shock.
“What…how…” Mom steps closer with an arm outstretched. She halts centimeters before the glyph as her archeological instincts kick in.
Normally, I’d be amused to see my mother in such a state. This time, it just adds to my panic.
“I touched the Warrior by accident.” I explain what happened.
My dad blinks then shakes his head as if waking from a daydream. “That’s it?”
“HoLFs?” Beau asks me.
“No.”
Mom holds out her palm in front of the light. The symbol shines on her skin. “It doesn’t burn.” Mom leans with her head to the side. “No hum or other mechanical noise.”
“Did you hear anything when it turned on?” Dad asks me.
“No, just felt a stab of cold.” I’m still clutching my wrist.
“Like when you touched the heart?”
“Yes.”
Mom presses her bare hand to the Warrior. Nothing happens. Then she tries the one next to it. Still nothing.
“Spencer, gather the techs and have them search all the Warriors for more glows.”
Dad takes off, shouting for the techs to assemble.
“Do you want me to try?” I ask, pointing to the second one.
She clasps her hands together. “We don’t know if this is…benign, or dangerous.”
Her comment sends my thoughts spiraling. What if I just turned it on and it is going to explode? No, there would be evidence of explosives in other pits, especially the ones that have broken Warriors. Seems my imagination has ventured out from where it fled.
“What if I touch that one again? See what happens.”
My mom glances at Beau.
“Is there any way to tell what might happen?” he asks.
“No,” Mom says.
“Then it’s the only way to figure it out. Go ahead, Lawrence.” Beau draws his pulse gun and flashlight.
Bracing for another zap of intense cold, I brush my fingertips on the Warrior. The glow dies. No spark or zap or anything. It’s rather disappointing. And that’s when the techs appear.
“What happened?” Dad asks.
Instead of answering, I touch the Warrior again. The light returns and the techs gasp in unison. I flex my fingers a couple times, but they’re fine. It takes a few minutes to update the techs. A few try “turning on” the other Warriors, but nothing happens. Guess you need to have touched a Warrior heart in order to wake them. But now the big question is: can I do it again?
I stand, brush the sand from my pants, and tap the Warrior beside the glowing one. Icy pain shoots up my arm. Yelping, I step back, just as the alien glyph flares with green light. Gasps ring and I need to sit down again.
“Go check to see if any others are lit,” Mom orders the techs.
They scatter in twelve different directions.
My dad crouches next to me. “You okay?”
“Just need…a minute.”
He settles next to me, rubbing my upper arm. “Deep breaths.”
By the time the pain dissipates, the techs have returned. No others are glowing.
“The Warriors around the gap must be important,” Mom says to no one in particular. “Any conjectures?” she asks the techs.
They offer a few guesses, but I’m no longer listening. Since I’m sitting on the ground, I’ve a good view of the smooth spot of sand that use to be marked with a pair of boots. What if the lights have something to do with those prints? I scan the Warriors around me. What if I wake all eight of them? Would a person appear in the center? Yes, I know it’s a big leap in logic and doesn’t follow any known laws of physics.