“Don’t scare me like that,” he whispered in my ear.
I hugged him back, feeling my strength return. The bullet was going to leave a nasty bruise, but I was otherwise unharmed. And we had gotten Aurora back.
The mission was a success. As long as we could get back to Brightbirch safely.
“Ready yourselves for takeoff!” Sy shouted.
The airship lurched and then began to rise.
“Let’s move!” Alexy shouted from the control deck. “Before company arrives!”
Suddenly the airship was shooting forward and away from Chanley. I braced myself to avoid putting strain on my injury. I had never been so happy to leave a place before.
It seemed like everything was going to be okay. And we had saved Aurora.
Then I realized that I hadn’t seen her since we got to the escape ship. I sat up slowly and painfully, Jace taking a step back, and started to look around the ship.
I spotted her. She was crying and holding on to Nathan tightly in relief and gratitude, just a few yards away from us at the control panel of the ship. Nathan, to my surprise, also had tears in his eyes. I had never seen him display so much emotion.
And then Aurora pulled back and looked at Nathan. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said through her tears, in a sweet, sing-song voice.
“I’m glad to see you, too,” Nathan replied, wiping away a tear. “But no one will be happier to see you than your mother. Corona has missed you so much.”
My jaw dropped. Jace looked over at me as if to confirm that I had just heard the same thing he had. But I was still staring straight ahead at Aurora and Nathan. And the more I looked, the more obvious it became.
Aurora’s eyes, her nose, her lips. They all looked so familiar suddenly as I looked at her in the bright light of the airship cabin. I had seen all of them on someone else before.
They were Corona’s features. Aurora was her daughter.
23
We landed back in Brightbirch that night without much fanfare. Nathan and Aurora had retreated to the cabin office for the flight from Chanley, leaving the rest of us out in the main cabin of the escape airship. But after changing out of our second-skin suits, we had been too exhausted and shell shocked to speak much. Zion, Luka, and Bridge had attempted some small talk when we took off but were quickly overcome by tiredness. They snoozed lazily in their seats while Jace and I quietly held hands in our own.
I was tired as well, but much too wound up to consider sleeping. Though, the thoughts were so jumbled and loud that it was hard to focus on any one thing.
When we stepped out onto Brightbirch’s tarmac, with Nathan and Aurora leading us, I was finally able to process my thoughts again.
“Why do you think she never told us?” I asked Jace as we walked back toward Brightbirch’s main road. Nathan and Aurora were far enough ahead that we didn’t have to worry about being overheard.
“You mean Corona?” Jace asked.
“I mean, she started to tell me about her once,” I continued. “She told me that she and Nathan had found her, but by then she was already so entrenched in her new life that they made the decision to leave her there. But she never told us it was Aurora.”
“It seems like she was trying to be as cautious as possible,” Jace replied. “Especially once she learned there was a mole in Little John. And even as secretive as she was, it didn’t work.”
I thought about his response. It was true that Aurora was in a dangerous position, and I knew that Corona didn’t owe us sensitive information like that, but it would’ve been nice to know just how much was at stake before our rescue mission started.
And were they going to tell us now? I had overheard Nathan speaking emotionally, and that was the only way I knew. Would they continue the ruse or announce Aurora’s true identity?
The night was lit by the bright light of the moon and millions of twinkling stars, giving us the ability to see a good distance ahead, and I watched Nathan and Aurora in front of us. Even Aurora’s gait was similar to Corona’s. She had the long, graceful strides of a beautiful woman with a lot of money and clout. But I had seen my share of awfully rich people before, and Aurora didn’t seem like them. Her genuine smiles and the resilience she displayed after such a traumatic event made me instantly like her. I smiled as I watched her take in the sights of Brightbirch and talk to Nathan. Nathan seemed just as thrilled to have her here with us.
And I couldn’t wait to formally meet her. She had risked so much to help us and had experienced the horror of a near-execution at the hands of the regime. And not only that, she had also worked closely with regime employees and executives in Chanley. I was only just coming to terms with having to go up against the actual regime in the not-too-distant future, rather than continuing to fight in the shadows. Aurora would undoubtedly be a huge help in that regard. She probably had a lot of sensitive information that could help us against Burchard and his ilk.
And maybe she knew something about Mavis Preston, too.
As we reached the administrative building, Nathan turned to look back at us. Aurora turned too, her blue eyes swimming with joy and gratitude.
“We’ll reconvene in the morning, so keep an eye out for messages. But for now, return to your dwellings for food and rest. And thank you for your bravery and success,” Nathan said happily.
“Yes, thank you. I can’t put my appreciation into words,” Aurora added, looking at each of us in turn. Her voice even reminded me of Corona’s.
We briefly made eye contact, and I smiled at her. She smiled warmly in return, tilting her head down in a small bow of thanks. Then she turned to follow Nathan into the administrative building, leaving the rest of us staring after them.
“Good job, Robin,” Luka said, patting me on the back.
“I knew she’d shoot true,” Zion said with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” Alexy interrupted playfully. “But don’t forget that you guys wouldn’t have been able to shoot your way out of Chanley. So it’s a good thing you had me and Jace.”
We stood around for a few seconds in quiet but profound appreciation that we had all survived another dangerous mission.
But I didn’t think the fact that we might not be that lucky forever was lost on any of us.
“It’s pretty late,” Bridge said, looking up the road toward our camp. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
We split up, and Bridge, Zion, and Alexy began the journey to the tents. Luka waved and turned the other way to head to the houses where the Brightbirch citizens lived with their families. Jace and I were left alone outside of the admin building.
“Don’t tell me you’re not tired,” Jace said with a smile.
“I’m always pretty wound up after a mission,” I replied.
It was hard to just lie down and go to sleep after being shot by a government agent. With my second-skin suit off and the adrenaline of the mission starting to fade away, I finally thought to lift my shirt and peer at the sore spot on the side of my chest where I had been shot. Even in the moonlight, it was easy to see the large purple-and-black bruise.
“Robin!” Jace half shouted in fear and surprise. “That looks terrible!”
“It’s just a bruise,” I said in response. “Lucky we had those second-skin suits.” Without the suit on I obviously wouldn’t have been standing here at this moment.
“There could be internal bleeding, Robin,” Jace admonished me. “We’ve been down this road before, with both you and Jackie. We need to get you to the hospital.”
I looked up the road at the hospital building glowing off-white in the dim light. Juno was in there. But if I got admitted, they’d confine me to a room, and then Nathan would probably leave me out of any missions for the foreseeable future. I wouldn’t be with Jace and the rest of Team Hood in the tents. I wouldn’t get to hear intel from Nathan and Corona in our meetings. I would effectively be shut out of the base until I had recovered.
And I couldn’t risk that. Not when we were
so close to actually going up against Burchard and his regime directly.
“I’m fine,” I said resolutely. “I promise, if I feel ill or faint at all in the morning, I’ll go. But we have too much to do now for me to just sit in a hospital bed.”
Jace stared at me intently for a few moments, and I could tell he wanted to argue. But he seemed to think better of it.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re one of the most stubborn people on the planet?” he quipped.
“Maybe a few times,” I replied with a mischievous smile. My side hurt, but not enough to keep me from flirting with Jace when the occasion arose.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close. I grimaced slightly as his arm pressed against my side, and he gently eased his grasp.
“So, have you considered my proposal any further?” he asked breathily.
“I’ll consider if further when you actually propose,” I shot back. Then I twisted my fingers up into his hair and pulled his face down to meet mine.
We walked back to the camp hand in hand.
* * *
There was no need for Nathan to call us to a meeting the next morning, because we were in a base-wide meeting the second we woke up.
Jace and I stumbled groggily out of our tent, having slept in due to our late night, to see the camp abuzz with news. Judging from the conversations we could hear around us, it was obvious that everyone had seen the televised execution attempt the night before, which meant they had probably also seen the executioner drop before the broadcast would’ve cut out.
And everyone knew it had been Nathan’s doing. Even the government, which at that point must’ve publicly and in no uncertain terms denounced the act and the organization. They knew that Aurora had been communicating with Nathan, and they had posted so many agents at the square that I knew they were on the lookout for us.
But they hadn’t been prepared for the mini-airship. Or for the bravery and tenacity of a group of young people who were trying to make a difference.
“Was that you guys?” Ant asked excitedly as we walked up to the fire.
The leaves were changing in Brightbirch, and the mornings had been chillier, so there was already a fire in our pit before Jace and I woke up. I was glad to see it.
“Robin, specifically,” Jace replied with no shortage of pride.
“Wow, Robin, I didn’t know you were a sniper,” Denver added.
“That’s because you haven’t seen her in action,” Jackie replied.
I smiled, but the attention was making me feel uncomfortable. I tried to change the subject.
“What happened after the executioner went down?” I asked, taking a log beside the fire.
“The broadcast didn’t last much longer,” Nelson replied. “There was no word for over an hour. Then all of the news sites started putting out prepared statements about Little John and Nathan being terrorists and murderers.”
“As if they weren’t about to murder an innocent girl,” Gabby interjected, rolling her eyes.
“So what was Aurora like?” Jackie asked.
“How’d you know we got her?” Jace asked back.
Jackie gave him a look like he should’ve known better. “Well, for one, because we’re Team Hood and we’re good at what we do.”
“But mostly because the news said so,” Ant interrupted. Jackie smiled and elbowed him.
“She was—”
I was cut off by the booming sound of Nathan’s voice over a megaphone.
“Little John teams!” Nathan called out, drawing our attention to where he was standing at the front of the camp. Nathan, Corona, and the base leaders were standing at the forefront of the tents and looking out over our group. Brightbirch teams were streaming around them to join the Edgewood refugees and hear this message. Nathan was gathering all of us together in one spot.
“Let’s get closer,” Cloyd said.
We all stood and began to walk toward the front, along with lots of other Edgewood citizens. Anything that was important enough to bring Nathan to us, instead of the other way around, was going to be worth hearing.
“I’m sorry for my absence,” Nathan said. “But thank you for your patience. As you have undoubtedly seen by now in your news broadcasts, Little John hasn’t been stagnant in the wake of the government’s attack on our base.”
Cheers rose from our crowd, and I myself was clapping at that sentiment, proud to be involved in a group that wouldn’t roll over and die, no matter how much the government took from us.
“You saw the news of Aurora’s rescue only because the government wasn’t able to stop broadcasting in time,” Nathan went on. “Otherwise that news would’ve been suppressed and hidden from you, just like so much other news is every day. Burchard and his regime want everyone to think that the United Nation of America is thriving and prosperous, filled with contented workers and no dissenters. But that’s simply not the case.”
I looked over at Jace, who shot me a puzzled look in return. I was feeling the same way. Where was Nathan going with this?
“I’m here to share with you the things that the government doesn’t want you to know,” Nathan said.
More cheers went up from the crowd. I focused on Nathan and his executives. I knew this was going to be important, and I wanted to hear every word of it.
Nathan put up a hand, and we were quiet again.
“The government news sites would like you to think that nothing happened after our broadcast, but that’s a lie. The truth comes from my scouts, who tell me that the middle class has been staging widespread protests, and the lower classes have begun to revolt in certain factory towns,” Nathan said.
My heart leapt into my throat. Protests? A revolt? No wonder the government didn’t want this information getting out. I had been afraid that Nathan’s broadcast had fallen on deaf ears, but this sounded like just the opposite.
Maybe we were actually getting somewhere. Was Little John really going to accomplish its hopes of expanding so quickly? Or had the citizens of the UNA always been so ready to rise up?
“For the middle classes, this might mean arrests and fines. It could mean damaging their social status or risking their jobs. And while that is still a sacrifice and a great show of bravery, it’s nothing compared to what the lower classes are experiencing at this very moment,” Nathan said darkly.
The excitement and joy I had just felt quickly melted away. What did he mean by that? I thought of the friends I had made back in Trenton, friends who were probably all still slaving away in the factories. If they had tried to revolt, what had happened to them?
“The government is showing these uprisings no mercy,” Nathan said.
People in the crowd began to gasp and murmur. Jace was looking at me with concern and fear in his eyes. Ant and Abe looked at each other the same way.
“People are dying. They are dying because they believe in our message but don’t have the means to fight. They have no weapons, no way to mobilize, and they barely even have their health. But we’re not going to let these people die on our behalf and without our assistance,” Nathan said, his voice rising to a frenzied crescendo. “From this point forward, Little John is no longer an organization working from the shadows. We will be an organization on the front lines. We will help our fellow man and fight the regime directly!”
There was another round of applause that rose up from the crowd. But there was an obvious undercurrent of fear and suspicion. We all knew that Nathan was leaving something out.
How could we move forward if there was still a traitor among us who was at constant risk of exposing us or our plans again?
Nathan, ever observant, seemed to pick up on our trepidations.
“I know that there is still doubt and discord here. I feel it, too. But a traitor can only work through fear and intimidation. And so, from now on, we will strip that person of their power. We will be an organization united by trust and purpose. And we will fight Burchard and end his evil regime once and for
all!”
The cheers from the crowd drowned out all other noise. There was no birdsong, or fires crackling, or wind rustling the birch boughs. It was only the single cheer of hundreds of people united. If Nathan could trust that we were succeeding in spite of the Edgewood attack, then we trusted Nathan.
Looking at him, I felt more confident and prepared than I had since we had gotten back from the Helping Hands mission. I felt like we had a leader and a goal again. The regime would fall. The mole wasn’t going to divide us any further.
We had our Nathan back.
I turned to see all of our team members smiling and applauding Nathan. It looked like we were all feeling similarly. But as I looked around at the cheering and celebrating Little John members, I was struck with a feeling of unease.
Even if Nathan was back to his full potential and the camp was uniting, it didn’t change the fact that someone in this group was probably still a traitor. And that person might ruin it all by inviting the government to a second base.
Little John might not survive a second attack. And if Nathan was killed, that might mean losing everything. And that meant not just losing against Burchard, but also losing the chance of us ever reuniting with our lost family members.
As I tried to look into each person’s face individually, scanning the large crowd, I realized something else that made me feel uncomfortable. I didn’t see Robert anywhere.
And I didn’t see Henry, either.
24
I didn’t know how I felt about Robert or Henry. I distrusted Robert because my instincts told me that he was guilty. And I distrusted Henry because my instincts told me he wasn’t guilty but the evidence wasn’t on his side.
And neither of them had been with the rest of the Edgewood teams for Nathan’s announcement. Why?
The team interrupted my thoughts before I could get too lost in them.
“How many uprisings do you think there have been?” Alf asked from his seat by our firepit.
The Child Thief 6: Zero Hour Page 19