He closes his eyes and then, finally, he nods. “We’ll help you find the ship.”
Chapter Seventeen
[Asher]
When I open my eyes, Samuai’s warm brown gaze focuses directly on me. Is this some kind of afterlife? The thought lasts as long as it takes to blink my bleary eyes and realize it’s just another picture. And if my memory’s correct, Samuai might not be dead. Or Zed.
I fight the flicker of hope in my heart. It’s been weeks without a sign of either of them.
I’m in Samuai’s room and somebody’s turned one of the memorial pictures on its side. Deliberately? If so it had to be Davyd.
Davyd, who kissed me with a gentleness I can’t bear to remember. Who pointed the Remote Device at me, begging on my knees, and pressed the trigger. But somehow I’m alive.
“How do you feel?”
I sit up so fast at the lilting voice that my head pounds in protest.
“Lady, I didn’t see you there.” I stretch my arms and legs beneath Samuai’s blanket. Everything works. I’m still wearing the white dress and the edge of the plate’s cut into my thigh, but other than that, “I’m okay.”
“Davyd told me what happened.”
“Really?”
She leans toward me, all clear-eyed and intent. The dress she wore to the ball seems faded from the bright yellow of before and her lipstick’s smeared at the edges. “You made the Control Room but Maston surprised you there.” Her lip curls into a little smile at the mention of the head Naut.
No wonder. I remember Mother saying they once fought over a boy, I suspect Davyd and Samuai are proof that Lady won the battle. Does Huckle know his wife cheated on him for years?
“How did I get here? How long ago?”
“Davyd carried you in an hour ago.” She says it like I should know, but her version doesn’t mesh with what I remember. “He told Maston you reacted badly to too many tubes and you weren’t yourself.”
Only a father could be conned by that lame story. Could Davyd really have been pretending in order to protect me? It’s hard to imagine him carrying my unconscious body through the halls. The idea of him killing me was easier to comprehend. I didn’t know the Remote Device even had a stun function.
“Where is he?”
She shrugs. “He said he had something to do. Questioning the kidnappers or something.”
The kidnappers. Lifers. My mother. “Was anybody hurt?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, what did you find?”
I close my eyes as the fuzziness in my head starts to clear a little. The words that her son could be alive get caught on my tongue. When I open my eyes she’s staring at me. Expectant. Waiting.
Only the truth will do. “You were right. Samuai didn’t die that day.”
She doesn’t look surprised. “The logs were fudged.”
“Yes.” This isn’t news. All I’ve done tonight is confirm something she already expected.
There’s a hint of a smile on her face. “You know he has to be here somewhere.”
“Maybe.”
It’s not in the existence of a Lifer to believe.
“He’s with the Nauts. In Maston’s quarters.”
I hold up my hands to stop her following through to ask me something impossible. “We’re never going to get past the Control Room. They have the Remote Device.”
She grins in that crazy way I recognize. “They don’t have this one.”
In her wrinkled hands is the device Davyd pointed at me in the Control Room.
I shudder, unable to react with the glee I think she expects.
“Maston has another.”
Her shoulders slump a little but I haven’t completely deflated her. “We’ll need some help.”
“Who?” I ask, even as I’m thinking Davyd. But he knew about Samuai and Zed and didn’t tell his mother. He might not have killed me yet but he’s not going to go against Maston.
“I was hoping you’d have an idea.” She stares at me. Wide-eyed and hopeful.
The weight of thinking mixes with the after affects of the Remote Device. The room’s fuzzy at the edges. Something’s wrong.
“Where did you say Davyd is?”
She brushes me off. “He said something about the cells.”
Her obsession with Samuai doesn’t leave any room for the son who’s still here. Despite what he did to me in the Control Room, a twinge of sympathy tugs inside me. No wonder he didn’t tell her what he knew.
I would tell my mother about Zed. I will tell her at the first opportunity. My mother! I hope the excitement sizzling through my veins isn’t showing on my face.
“My mother could help us.” The Lifers have been preparing to fight the Nauts my entire life. With Lady to give us access to every level of the ship we might have a chance.
It might mean revealing that she’s the leader of the rebellion, but to reach the Naut’s quarters we’ll need control of the ship.
Lady hesitates. “Elex won’t help me.”
There’s an edge of vulnerability in her voice. She’s right to feel that way. My mother’s in no hurry to forgive this woman the wrongs of the past. “But she’ll help me. For Zed’s sake.”
Surprise lifts Lady’s brows. “Your brother. He didn’t die either?”
“No.”
Part of me rails against someone being so self-absorbed that she didn’t spare a thought for the other missing boy, but most of me expects it now. If we succeed in our attempt to get past the Control Room she’ll have to change; my mother and the other Lifers won’t return quietly to the levels below.
There will be change. The change Samuai and I once dreamed of together. The change that will let my brother grow into a different life than the one slated for him.
I thought I was dead an hour ago. Staring at a hot boy with death in his eyes changes the game forever. I’m no longer afraid. But Lady has more to lose.
“If we try to get into the Naut’s quarters there will be no going back.”
“I’m prepared.” She stands and seems taller and straighter than I’ve ever seen her. The girl my mother remembers might still be there after all.
I throw back the covers. “We’ll go now. While everyone feels the affects of the tubes.” Hopefully the Lifers’ celebration was more restrained.
“Yes. Huckle passed out twenty minutes ago.” She sneers at the mention of the man she’s emasculated their whole marriage. She flaunts the head Naut’s sons without shame. Why has no one noticed?
Because it’s easier not to.
I hope Huckle isn’t the only one unconscious. Assuming Lady’s right and Davyd’s at the cells, he’s on the far side of Farm level. If I get to Mother quick enough it might be all over before he returns.
“You’re sure Davyd’s down at the cells?” I check as she swipes her wrist for us to leave the apartment.
“Why would he be there?”
“Questioning the kidnappers.”
“Oh. Yes. Everyone else is too intoxicated for the job.”
We don’t see a single Fishie on our way to the elevator. The late hour and the effects of the tubes work in our favor. As I walk next to the woman I serve, I think of a way to ask for the Remote Device that Lady carries. She might be on our side for now, but if Samuai isn’t in the Naut quarters she could change her mind in a heartbeat. I don’t want her taking out her loss on any Lifers.
The elevator doors are about to open on the Lifer level when I blurt the question. “Lady, may I look at the Remote Device?”
She raises it to eye level like she forgot it was in her hand. Her fingers curl around it. “I think I’ll keep it for now.”
Crap. Just what I need. I cross my fingers that Mother will be able to keep her scorn for this woman to herself and not bring up their falling out. If they refuse to work together we won’t get as far as the Control Room, let alone beyond.
The doors to the Lifers’ quarters swish open.
The presence of Lady at the entrance creates a silent ripple of interest and tension in the low-lit space. Lifers lounge on beds in small groups stopped mid-conversation while others rest. This isn’t a party. Lady sniffs the air beside me and I bite down on an apology for the smell. We don’t have access to a clean room like she’s used to.
I wait for Mother to join us. It’s not my place to bring this woman any further into the Lifer’s domain. Not tonight, when we’re here to ask for their assistance.
It doesn’t take long.
Mother strides across the room, bright-eyed and alert. She’s the embodiment of the unrest in the air after the failed fake kidnapping.
“Asher, is everything okay?” She doesn’t embrace me but her hand seeks mine for a brief squeeze. Her narrow-eyed gaze fixes on Lady.
“We’ve come to ask for help,” I say with my head high. It feels strange to stand here united with a Fishie, especially the one my mother hates so much. I should be with the Lifers.
Mother doesn’t look away from the woman standing just behind me. “What could we lowlife scum possibly have to offer Lady?”
“I should never have used those words to describe you,” Lady says before I answer. “I never thought you were scum.”
Mother folds her arms. “You’re about eighteen years too late for an apology.”
Lady steps forward to stand beside me. Her arms are crossed exactly like Mother’s. “I didn’t come here to apologize.”
Mother looks to me and her eyes are shadowed. “Why did you bring her here?”
Neither of them lifts a hand in anger but I feel like I should step between them to stop a brawl. They need to grow up. This isn’t about the past.
Our future hinges on these two women working together. I’ll not fail because they’d rather bicker over the memory of a boy.
The small, imaginary, hands of my brother shove me as I step forward between them. Time to put everything on the line.
“We’re here because I went to the Control Room tonight, in part thanks to your diversion.” I pause to let my news sink in. Mother’s mouth opens in surprise but she says nothing. Guessing my plan and helping is one thing, but no Lifer’s ever gone there and returned. I search for pride in her expression but it’s carefully blank. “And the logs showed neither Zed nor Samuai died that day.”
Now she reacts. Her lips press together and the blood drains from her face. “They’re alive?”
A murmur rises from the darkened beds around us. I’d almost forgotten our audience. Well, they need to hear this too. If we’re going to breach the sanctity of the Nauts’ domain, some of them will need to risk their lives alongside Lady and me.
“That’s what we need to find out.”
“How? We’ll do anything.”
Mother’s back in control. She’s the leader I counted on.
Lady holds up her wrist. “With my DNA I can open any door on this ship. But I can’t fight whatever we find on the other side.”
I take over. “The only place the boys can be is the other side of the Control Room. In the Naut’s quarters. I haven’t been to the meetings, and I don’t know your plans, but with Lady’s access we have our best chance at the rebellion finally succeeding.”
Mother says nothing. Her eyes, so like mine, flick to Lady and then back to me.
I meet her gaze dead on. “It’s our best chance.”
She nods and I finally exhale a breath I didn’t realize I held.
“We’ll take control.” Mother’s gesturing to other Lifers before she’s finished her sentence. She turns to face the room.
“Tonight is the night,” she says. Her voice is strong and sure and carries to every corner of the Lifer’s quarters. “Come morning we’ll be in charge of the ship and setting a course for freedom and equality.”
There’s a cheer from those gathered on or next to beds. It’s a wave of raw, hungry sound.
Lady’s breath catches and I wonder if she’s suddenly realized what she’ll unleash tonight.
Kaih is first to Mother’s side. She flashes me a grin. “Dress looks good.”
I almost forgot I’m still wearing the white creation. The ball seems a lifetime ago. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you.” Her hand reaches into her pocket and comes out with the dead, dry petals of the flower I gave her. She glances down and then slides it away before I say anything. Then she’s off at a run, following an order from Mother I didn’t understand. Something about the material store. In Manufacturing?
A hand grips my wrist. Lady. Her other hand curls tightly around the Remote Device. I spare her a glance and there’s naked fear in her eyes. Of the task ahead or of the Lifer force I’m not sure.
“It’s too late to back out now,” I say as gently as possible.
It’s taken all of Mother’s authority to keep some of the men down here from attacking before the Lifers were ready. They’ll use Lady’s wrist to get access tonight now whether it’s attached to the rest of her or not.
“I know. It will be worth it to see Samuai again.”
I nod.
Mother orders a group of Lifers to the care center where the smallest children are looked after. They must be protected from any Fishie retaliation. When she’s finished delegating, she turns her attention back to me.
“I need details of the exact layout of the levels above.” Someone arrives with parchment to draw on and I sketch a quick map while answering Mother’s rapid-fire questions. “Did you locate the second Remote Device?”
This is where things get tricky. I take my time to answer, aware of Lady’s hand ready for action and Lady’s mind, always a delicate balance between rational and crazy.
“I did. And I learned it has a stun function.”
Mother’s brows shoot up. The memory churns my belly too much to go into detail so I shake my head at the question in her eyes. “We have it now.”
“We?” Mother asks.
“I have it.” Lady corrects me.
Mother’s gaze drops to her enemy’s hand then she sighs. “And you’re keeping it like the traitor you always were.”
Lady’s fingers convulse. “He chose me.”
“Look how well that turned out.” Bitterness underlines every one of Mother’s words. “He’s keeping our boys.”
Or not. I don’t dare point out that Zed and Samuai might not be waiting for us if we succeed.
They stare at each other. Lady pushes the Remote Device into my hands. “Asher can have it.”
The weight of the thing in my palm is almost enough to bring me to my knees. I don’t show the two women watching me the affect it has, slipping it into one of the secret folds in my dress like it’s nothing.
When Davyd pointed it at me I believed it was the end. I shake my head to dislodge the memory from my mind. I don’t care where he is and whether he’s okay.
Only a few minutes pass before an older Lifer approaches Mother. “We’re ready,” he says.
Mother looks to me. “We’re ready,” she repeats.
It’s two words. Nothing, really, in the scheme of things, but tears well in my eyes. She’s waiting on my command. The person I admire most in the world is looking to me to lead.
A good leader wouldn’t dissolve into tears so easily. I blink them back. “We need a diversion. The fewer Fishies standing between us and the Control Room, the better, and none must be free to attack from behind.”
“Fire,” Mother says simply.
The chill spreading across my nerves is hard to ignore but I manage. “It could kill us all.”
Mother nods. “Yes.” She gestures to a nearby Lifer who holds out a strange looking cube. “But we’ll burn these instead of the ship.”
My nose wrinkles. The dark green and brown material reeks of rotting food. I take one from her. They are rotting food, dried and compressed into hard bricks. “Food scraps?”
“It’s taken months to collect the ingredients but they bur
n with lots of smoke and respond well to a bucket of water.”
Dangerous, but not insane. I hand it back. “Distribute them outside Fishie doors. Don’t let the ship catch alight.”
“You heard her,” Mother says. “Will she open the intercom panels?” Mother barely looks Lady’s way.
“She will,” I answer for her. I don’t look at Lady, feeling a weird tug of guilt by reporting back to Mother. “What will that do for us?”
“The intercom system links to the main life support functions of the ship. By hacking in we’ll disable the sprinkler systems on the Fishie level, and we’ll create more fear there with less widespread damage.”
“Good. It would be nice to have a ship intact at the end of this.”
“Trust us,” Mother says.
“I do.” Mostly because I don’t have a choice.
I pause to think about the layout of the Control Room itself and the small hallway I glimpsed when Davyd convinced the Naut to leave. “There are thirteen Nauts and they have one Remote Device. What weapons do we have?”
Mother gestures to a waiting girl and it’s Kaih. I’ve been so focused on planning I didn’t see her approach. She steps forward and holds out her hands. One contains a wickedly long knife and the other a club made from a piece of old pipe. “We’ve been storing them behind the material for a long time.” Her anger the day I nearly knocked a pile over makes sudden sense. “There aren’t enough for everyone.”
I nod, taking the offered knife and feeling its weight in my palm before handing it back for someone who might be able to use it better than me. “I’ve seen the training rooms. I believe we’ll take most of the Fishies with our bare hands.” Except Davyd, but he’s occupied with Neale in the holding cells.
Mother and Kaih flash knowing grins. Those who’ve returned to wait for the go ahead chuckle in appreciation. They’re all looking at me. Looking to me.
I clear my throat. “It’s time. The herding point for the Fishies is a large room above Manufacturing where they had their ball earlier tonight. The room’s called the Commander’s Lounge.”
Lifer Page 21