“Oh, Min. You’ve done enough, you hear me? We’ll take you somewhere safe. Just let me come get you. I’ll do it tonight. I’ll leave right after this call.”
“But I need to be here. I’ll pass on information. I’ll be useful. I’ve made friends with the head of Project Sky, and she thinks Lexi has a mutation.”
“I don’t give a shit about Project Sky. I want you out of there.”
Could it be so simple? Could Mineko really step out a side door, jump into Callie’s van and be driven into the night, rescued from this torment? She opened her mouth to form the reply she wanted most to give—but no, it couldn’t be. Her parents would hunt Lexi forever if they thought she were connected to Mineko’s disappearance. Whoever gave Mineko refuge would never know peace. And eventually, Code Intel would find her, and those who sheltered her would have their minds erased.
“I can’t,” said Mineko. “Like I said, it’s too dangerous.”
“I already told you, danger doesn’t matter to me.”
“Callie, don’t. You’re only making this harder. I didn’t call to be rescued. I only wanted to hear your voice, that’s all, because it’s so lonely here, and so quiet…” Another tear welled, hot and prickling. “Would you describe where you are now, so I can imagine it?”
Callie sighed. “Sure. We’re in a grotty basement bunker that feels like something out of a horror movie. It’s a little cement cubicle with two bunks and a sink that looks like somebody bled to death in it.”
“Is it cold?”
“A bit. I found a heating system, but the pipes are in such bad shape, I don’t dare turn it on.”
“You mentioned somebody named Riva. Will you describe her?”
“Oh, sure. She’s about Lexi’s height and super skinny. She’s a real looker, a total babe, and she’s got this amazing Mohawk. And now she’s blushing, so imagine her bright red. Also, she just waved to you.”
“Please wave back. Does she work for Nikolas? I spoke to him earlier.”
Callie giggled. “You really never do run out of questions, do you?”
The sound of Callie’s laughter, edged though it had been by concern, revived a little of Mineko’s happiness—enough at least to get her smiling again. “I’m sorry. Do you have a plan yet?”
“We’re leaving for Port Venn in the next few days. Please come with us.”
Port Venn, where Codists were shot on sight… “I told you, I can’t.”
“What if I said I wouldn’t leave Foundation without you?”
Heat burned across Mineko’s face. “You couldn’t possibly mean that.”
“I can take you where your people would never think to look. Consider it, Min. And meanwhile, you stay out of trouble. Turn the key on that watch. Remember, they don’t own you and they never will.”
What could Mineko possibly say to that? She blinked away more tears. “I’ll remember.”
“I think Lexi wants a word with you. I should say goodnight, but we’ll talk again soon, okay?”
“Okay.” The words came out in a near-croak. “Goodnight, and thank you. I’m so grateful.” She fumbled for some final remark, something to demonstrate how sincere she was. “I loved our trip together in the van. All that desert, the road stretching forever, how happy you looked. I’ll remember that always. Or for as long as they let me keep the memory, anyway.”
Had that been too much? The line had gone silent. “Callie?”
“Call me soon, Min. Please.”
There was a distant exchange of chatter, and Callie’s voice—was she crying?—receded.
“Hello, Minnie.” Lexi’s sultry tone provoked an incriminating flutter in Mineko’s chest. “I don’t know what you said to Callie, but Riva’s handing her some tissues.”
“Hello, Lexi. Are Kade and Zeke okay?”
“They’re fine. Forget about them. Eavesdropping on you two, I got the impression you were in trouble.”
“I was in trouble from the moment you met me.”
“If you need help, say so. I’ll give you the addresses of some places to stay.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not possible.”
“So what’s your plan? Live your shut-in life, do whatever the hell it is shut-ins do? For that matter, what do you do?”
“We play non-competitive sports and read approved Codist romances.”
“Approved Codist romances? A man in a uniform meets a woman in a uniform, and they marry and have a uniformed baby. Is that about right?”
“Yes. There’s no sex in them whatsoever. You just turn the page and there’s the baby.”
“No wonder you’re so straight-laced. You definitely need to come out.” Lexi gave a sly chuckle. “From behind those walls, I mean.”
Mineko had to end this. Talking to Lexi stirred too many dangerous thoughts. “I have to go. I’m sure being on this line is risky.”
“Sure, real risky. You might get addicted to the sound of my voice. But before I let you go, I want to say something. There’s nothing wrong with looking out for yourself, okay? Don’t let them swallow you up. You’re better than they are.”
Mineko had never heard Lexi sound so serious, and for an instant she was speechless. She cleared her throat, and her voice returned. “Say goodnight to Callie again. And Riva. Goodbye.”
She released the transmit button and dropped the phone. Her hands had resumed trembling, but some of the fog had lifted from her mind, making it possible once more to imagine waking to another day.
She lay back and gazed at the ceiling. Her fear had subsided, taking with it the memory of Lachlan’s menace. It was time to undress, to shower and sleep, but she was too drained to move. Easier to lie here and think of Callie’s gentle voice. To imagine being in her arms again. To dream of the freedom that meant.
Murmurs rose and faded in the corridor, a breeze swept leaves across the courtyard, petals produced papery whispers and pipes rattled overhead. It was as close as the dormitory ever came to silence. As near, for now, as she could find to peace.
* * *
The bar’s lighting shifted like the beat of a failing heart—strobing at one moment, pulsing slow the next. Instead of the slinking, scattered drone Mineko remembered, the speakers were screaming the music Callie had given her, every note vibrating like a saw.
Kaori and Gaspar stood near the bar, sipping from wine glasses, while Valerie served the drinks. Mineko leaned over the counter and placed a kiss on Valerie’s lips. Neither parent noticed. They were blind that way.
“I brought you chocolates,” said Mineko. “Where’s Alexis Vale?”
“She’s in the corner,” said Valerie. “But you don’t want to disturb her. She’s with somebody, and she doesn’t like being interrupted.”
Frowning, Gaspar emptied his glass onto the floor before turning to Kaori. “We have to do something about our daughter.”
“Lachlan will take care of it.” Kaori had a forked tongue, just like a snake, and scales down her neck. Someday, when Mineko was older, she’d remember to ask why. “Min, where are you going?”
“Social Ethics.” Mineko stepped in the wine puddle as she walked away.
As she crossed the dance floor, the dancers whirled faster, becoming a frenetic blur of faces and limbs. Zeke took her hand and dragged her out of their way.
“Be careful, kid,” he said, the lights glittering from his spikes. “Nobody’s watching out for you over there.”
“I want to see my friend. Alexis Vale.”
“In the corner.” Zeke lowered his voice to a whisper. “Like a roller coaster.”
It was too far to walk, so she let Kade drive her. There was no road, and the wheel moved despite his hands not being upon it. That made sense, because it was really Mineko turning it.
“You going to Bare Hill?” said Kade. “They used to call it the Rail District.”
Empty subway stations flickered by, separated by cement strips and ghostly panels of light. “I’m going to the mesa to watch the sunset.�
�� As she spoke, Mineko watched his face in the rearview mirror. “My friends are waiting for me there.”
“Your old friend, Lachlan Reed? But he’s right here.”
Sure enough, it was Lachlan reflected in the glass, his face a glistening rictus. Shiny skin, shiny hair, shiny eyes.
“I’m not afraid of you,” said Mineko, not looking away from his mocking gaze. “And this is my stop.”
“Brave new world.” Lachlan tapped the side of his nose. “Remember, Mineko Tamura, true resistance is involuntary.”
No, that wasn’t right, but he was already gone, leaving Mineko to follow the worn carpet to the corner of the lounge. Lexi and Callie were sprawled together on red leather, embracing while kissing. As Mineko stared, her body became weak in a pleasurable way. A way she wanted to remember.
“Alexis,” she said. “Alexis Vale.”
Lexi broke from the kiss and gave Mineko a glazed look. “Minnie-Min.” She licked the length of Callie’s neck from collarbone to jawline, and Callie smiled. “You’ll have your turn, don’t worry.”
“I need to speak to you. It’s about Project Sky.”
Callie disentangled from Lexi, removed her tank top and tossed it aside. Her breasts were untanned, her nipples pink, her bare skin the promise of something soft and thrilling. “I don’t give a shit about Project Sky.” She sauntered closer. “It’s you I want.”
Mineko’s breath became shallow. “I want you too.”
Callie pulled Mineko close and kissed her. “Turn the key,” she said, her breath hot on Mineko’s lips, and she guided Mineko’s hand down the front of her shorts. She wore no panties, nothing to stop Mineko’s fingers plunging into that slippery heat…
Dizziness took her. She opened her eyes to find herself on the couch, straddled by Lexi’s bare thighs. Lexi was naked, her body an exquisite wisp of white smoke, and her dark-rimmed eyes shimmered as she stared into Mineko’s mind. As the music whispered, her parents drank wine and Kade drove the nowhere road to Bare Hill, Lexi fucked Mineko, fucked her lying on her back and dazed with lust, and Mineko writhed on the leather as she let it happen.
Now Callie was kissing her while Lexi rode her, and the music was becoming louder, a single steady beat repeated over and over, a rapid note matching each motion of Lexi’s hips. Why was this happening? Despite her own best judgment, she still hungered after this pale apparition, this inscrutable cyborg, this herald of truth and shame…
Mineko woke, her body twisted in her sweat-soaked sheets. The sound from her dream was still there: a swift, chopping noise. She slipped from the blankets and padded to the window. A black helicopter was moving across the sky.
It was headed east.
CHAPTER 18
Lexi dreamed of railroads, and of smoke, and of Riva Latour.
She escaped her bunk before sleep could catch her again. Her hair had become a fluffy white mess in need of a wash and a little gel, and she fussed with it, to no effect, before dressing in yet another borrowed item from Riva’s wardrobe: a white button-down shirt. The jeans were still her own. Good jeans never had to be washed. They were the cockroaches of fashion, designed to survive anything.
Callie mumbled. She was face-down, butt sticking out of the sheets. Sweat covered her bare shoulders. Something was seriously wrong with the way this girl slept.
Lexi touched Callie’s warm forehead and searched for the odd, shifting shape of a mind dreaming. She was chasing roads beneath a black and orange sky. A dark shape swooped overhead, casting a wide, deformed shadow. Beyond the mountains, dead things opened their eyes to the night. Her mom was sitting in the back seat, and she didn’t dare turn around, because that old bitch was dead too…
Lexi dissolved the nightmare and coaxed forth better memories, which mingled in the haphazard manner of dreams. Now the sun was out. She was following a trail near some abandoned mines, looking for little things—springs, screws, cogs. Mineko was helping, turning rocks and peering at dust. As she knelt beneath an overhang, the afternoon light streamed through the gaps in the rocks, dappling her thoughtful face.
Lexi stroked Callie’s cheek as she withdrew her hand. “Sleep well, kid.”
As she walked the silent halls of the bunker, it seemed at first that nobody but her was awake. She paused in the galley. The lights were on, suggesting she hadn’t been the first to rise after all.
She took the steps to the surface slowly, tracing the rough wall with her fingertips as she climbed, and sauntered down the long hall.
The front door was open.
It was just before dawn, the sky still dark but tinged with an early hint of sunlight. Riva stood on the footpath, her arms folded against her chest and her face turned upward. She seemed somehow to belong out here, a thin, Mohawked silhouette against a black sky streaked with red. A natural element of this melancholy hour that was neither morning nor night.
Lexi held her from behind, and they watched the morning emerge. Even sunrise couldn’t make this street attractive, but the shadows were deep enough to conceal the worst of the decay, and the glow rising above the fractured cityscape held a certain tragic grandeur. After all, the sun didn’t give a damn what it rose on. It had risen on worse and would set on better.
“I didn’t sleep well,” said Riva, still staring at the sky.
Lexi planted a light, nuzzling kiss on her neck. “I hope you know it’s dangerous out here.”
“Don’t worry. I’m still within shrieking panic of the front door.”
Lexi tightened her hold on Riva’s skinny waist. “I’m going to tell you a story. Three years ago, Callie had a girlfriend. A cute little brunette who worked behind the bar at Zeke’s. Now, Callie loved this girl. Spoiled her rotten. But she’s a smuggler, you know. Odd hours, long trips. And this girl, she wasn’t immune to getting lonely.”
“And that’s where you come in?”
“I used to frequent Zeke’s place back before him and me fell out. It’s the best queer club in Foundation. The only one, really. The other places are just gay and dyke bars. Anyway, every night, this gorgeous girl served me, and of course I’d flirt, because that’s how I’m wired.”
“Oh, Lexi…”
“I thought it’d be harmless, but it turned out I hadn’t read the girl right. She was out to detonate the relationship, and she used me. She fucked me so that she could fuck over Callie. I’m still not sure why.”
“You didn’t use that chip on her?”
“No. That would be disrespectful. A violation, in fact.”
“And now, three years later, Callie still won’t forgive you?”
“I won’t apologize. That’s why.”
Riva looked toward the horizon, where a line of ruined towers was highlighted by a soft red glow. “Pride?”
“Principle. In the aftermath, Callie called me a slut. That crosses the line. A grown woman issued me an invitation to fuck her. I took it. Why should I apologize? The sex wasn’t wrong. It was the woman’s motive that was wrong, and that’s not my problem.”
“I said sorry to you last night, but not because I didn’t have a good reason to react the way I did. I apologized because hurting me was the last thing you intended to do. Did you want to hurt Callie?”
“No.”
“Yet despite your best intentions, you did.”
“I get your point.” Lexi sighed. “Did somebody hurt you?”
“In a sense. At first, I didn’t have the words to explain why I was hurting. Then, when I finally found the words, nobody wanted to hear them.”
“It’s a new day.” Lexi took Riva’s hands and entwined their fingers, their cold palms finding warmth together. “Maybe that’s nothing special. Happens every twenty-four hours. But if you want, you can make this particular sunrise mean something.”
“I’m too scared. I don’t want these memories to become so many scars. I love the way you look at me now, and if I confess to you, there’s every chance I’ll never see that look again.”
“It won’t e
nd that way. Not with me.”
Riva took an unsteady breath. “Those pills you saw in my room. Some were hormones. Estrogen. The others were anti-androgens. Do you know what that means?”
Yeah. Lexi knew. Would forever remember the day she’d found her best friend shirtless and weeping. Lexi, they’re coming through.
Those dark, puffy nipples. They’d been coming through all right.
She’d put an arm around him, held him close. It’s no biggie. I’ll get you a binder.
It won’t help. He’d cried the way people cried for the dead, choking and shaking. I don’t want Ash to see.
“Lexi,” said Riva, her voice broken. “Please say something.”
“I understand. Babe, it doesn’t make any difference.”
Riva sobbed, and Lexi hugged her tight. “You can cry,” she said. “I’m here.” As she waited for Riva’s weeping to subside, she felt the convulsions in that delicate chest and thought of the boy who’d used to cry the same way, held in these same arms.
* * *
It was just the right wall from which to observe a sunrise. They sat pressed close for warmth while the sun crested distant towers and the sky faded to a moody shade of gray.
“I once told a woman who then accused me of having lied to her,” Riva said. “I couldn’t make her understand that I’m living truthfully every day. Deception is what I’ve decided against.”
“Don’t feel you need to bring up bad memories. I’m not like the others. I already understand without you telling me.”
“You do realize I have a…” Riva turned her face away. “I know you expected something else. That’s one reason I was afraid.”
With a gentle touch, Lexi tilted Riva’s head until their eyes met again. “Every woman’s body is different. For me, finding something unexpected is part of the fun.”
“Most hate the unexpected. I’m comfortable with the way I look and dress, but all I get is abuse for it. I don’t gender myself clearly enough for some people. They project their expectations onto me and get angry when they’re wrong.”
“Been there, done that, fuck them. We don’t exist to satisfy anyone’s expectations.”
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