by Julian North
“What did you learn?” I asked.
Alissa frowned. “Less than I’d hoped. However, I got a detailed scan of the drone. But the key equipment is shielded. I’d have to disassemble it, and I think it has a self-destruct. With just the scan data, I haven’t been able to figure out precisely how they’ve been modified or what they are being used for.”
“You’ve got guesses. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t bother to eat or walk if you weren’t making some progress.”
Alissa’s lips twitched in wry acknowledgement. There was sadness there too as she looked at me, longing for a friendship lost. I understood the feeling. “Those black boxes on the top of the hull have a temperature of around forty microkelvins—almost absolute zero.”
“What does that mean?”
“I think it’s a quantum transmitter of some kind.”
I shook my head. “Lost me.”
Katrina answered, “An impenetrable communication network. Massive amounts of secured data can be transmitted, and it just appears. Theoretical stuff—there is no telling what it could be used for.”
My hairs stood up. I knew we were getting close to something dark. “So, we still don’t know what this means or what it has to do with Virginia’s plans?”
“We need to read their communications,” Alissa told me.
“You just said that’s impossible.”
“Yes, but we need to know what they’re transmitting. There has to be a way. We need to understand the source of the transmission.”
I realized where this was headed; it was the reason Alissa had been so relieved to see me, to hear about my friends. We needed the same thing.
“Tell me.”
“My father will have the information we need. And he’s at Fulton Fishkill—I know it. If you want to know what is going on with those drones, get my father out of there. Get him out, and then get us to California, and we’ll get you what you need.”
Chapter 9
Katrina didn’t want Alissa coming with us. No surprise there.
“She’s worse than useless. She can’t fight, and she’ll draw attention to us. Look at her—she’s like a fine porcelain doll.”
There were girls at Tuck who might’ve taken the last bit as a compliment, but not Alissa. “I know more about fighting than you think, and brains win battles. I can help you.”
“Enough,” I told them both. “Katrina, I expect you have a safe house somewhere nearby, outside the city ideally?”
“Yes.”
“Alissa, Katrina will arrange to have you transported to a secure location to be reunited with your father after we get him out of Fishkill. We’ll get you to Cali, but we need to know what your father can tell us about those drones. We’ll keep you together until we can arrange transport and you can both be debriefed.”
Alissa shook her head. “We’d be hostages of a different government if I agree to that. Get us to California. Then you’ll get my drone schematics, and everything else my father can tell you. That’s the deal.”
I groaned with frustration. “Alissa, I obviously don’t speak for the South. All I can promise is that I’ll do my best to get your father out—I would do that anyway. I hope you know that.”
She nodded curtly.
“After that, if you help us, I’ll do whatever I can to help you get to California or wherever else you’ll be safe. That’s all I can promise.”
To my surprise, Rhett chimed in. “I don’t know you, Alissa, and you don’t know me. But my uncle is a man of influence down south. For what it’s worth, I will do what I can to make good on Daniela’s promise to you.”
“Katrina, will you make the arrangements?”
I had put her on the spot. She looked at Alissa. “You better deliver the goods, girl. We don’t have an unlimited amount of resources. But, okay, I’ll give you an address in New Jersey. You need to get yourself out of the city. Someone will meet you there and take you to your father once we’ve got him.”
“That’s the best I can do, Alissa.”
Alissa looked at me, then Rhett, then back at me. “I’ll take it. Give me the location. I’ll find a way to get my mother there.” She placed her hand on the door handle. “Thank you, Daniela.”
“Wait.” I wrapped a hand around her wrist. “I’m sorry, Alissa, but I need to be sure we can trust you.”
She understood what I was asking. I saw the disappointment in her eyes. “You don’t believe me. You think I might betray you, trade you for my father.”
“I don’t believe that. But there are many lives at stake besides my own.” The words tasted bitter on my tongue. “I’m sorry. It will be quick.”
Alissa closed her eyes. Her chin dipped a fraction, giving her assent to the horrible indignity I had demanded of her. I steeled myself, reaching into her mind. She let me. I could’ve taken anything from her memory; I could’ve controlled her. A voice that sounded like Kristolan whispered that a mind so open could be turned into a true follower—a slave for all times. Imagine the possibilities, it said to me. I did none of those things. I left Alissa’s mind. That she had exposed herself in this way was proof enough of her sincerity.
“It’s done.”
Alissa opened her eyes. She gazed at me strangely. She knew I hadn’t trilled her. “I’m sorry I asked that of you.”
She managed a weak smile. “We all do things we regret when we think we have no choice. I certainly have. Just get my father out of there.”
Alissa opened the door and stepped onto the street without looking back.
Katrina glared at me. “I doubt her information is worth the risk. We got nothing substantive from her. That power of yours better be reliable.”
It was a good thing Katrina didn’t know my history with Alissa. “She wasn’t lying about taking down that drone or about her father being missing. She isn’t going to do anything to jeopardize his safety.”
“It’s an unnecessary risk. She’s not a highborn, so I presume her father isn’t either. You could have just taken what we want. We don’t need to make deals.”
My eyes locked with hers. “We do, otherwise we’re no different from Virginia Timber-Night. I do not fight this fight to be the lesser of two evils.”
Katrina stared at me as she might an ignorant child. “If only our choices were so simple.”
I arched a brow at her, daring her to explain. She didn’t.
“If you have no more class reunions planned, let’s get out of Manhattan. I’m itching to get my hands on a force pistol.”
I stared out the window at the denizens of wealth around us. People at Tuck were searching for me? I thought about Headmaster Frost-Bell. Alexander had defended him as a man of honor. I considered making contact, then banished the thought. He was still highborn. “There is nothing else to do here. But there is someone I need to meet in BC.”
Katrina shook her head. “Jalen must have been desperate to allow this kind of free rein. We’ve got a way into the facility, we know where the research compound is, we’ve got a list of names of people we want. We take what we need, then we go. No unnecessary risks.”
“You forgot to mention getting my friends out,” I reminded her.
“I haven’t forgotten. The extraction team has room for four additional persons. But finding them is your responsibility—after we have what we want. That’s the deal.”
“I need to make sure that happens, so I’ve got a stop to make in BC. Let’s get moving.”
There were weapon scanners leaving Manhattan as well as coming in, but the checkpoints were automated. It was clear that the Authority’s security priorities were focused on people entering Manhattan, not departing. The aged Broadway Bridge led to a place highborn didn’t care about. Except for me—I was home. I could scarcely believe it.
As we crossed the bridge, I sent a message to Kortilla: meet you at Nacho’s bar. She would know it was me, and she’d show if she could. My worry was that something had happened to her.
I
waited, imagining Kortilla’s reaction on the other end. The reply came quicker than I dared hope: gracias. I smiled. Leave it to Kortilla to say everything with simple thanks.
The day faded as our sedan bumped along Bronx City’s torn streets. I looked behind us at Manhattan, glittering like an elegant mistress beside BC’s dirty gloom. The aftermath of recent battles scarred my home. Damaged facades, charred roofs, and broken windows abounded on too many buildings to count. Drones were thick in the air, but I spotted no enforcers on the ground. I guessed they were needed elsewhere. Curfew had been lifted and the streets once again teemed, but there was something different about the people who were out and about: the hollering and horseplay, the energy and vibrancy seemed to be missing. People looked wary. Even the inked boys on the corners—normally the lords of these streets—wore expressions of concern.
“Drop me off at Elm. I can take it from there.”
Katrina huffed. “No way, girl. You think I’m here to be your chauffeur?”
“I need to meet my friend. She’ll know way more about what is going on than any of your satellites. I need a barrio perspective, not the cold data of viser intercepts and satellite images.”
“There are drones everywhere. You might be spotted.”
“I’ve got a cap and I’ll keep my head down. It’s ten feet down an alley. The Authority’s machines aren’t that good. Trust me. I grew up here. I’ll meet you at the safe house at midday tomorrow.”
Katrina turned around to look at me, her expression earnest. “Jalen says to give you your way on these things, so long as what you do doesn’t endanger my part of this mission. I’ve been trying to give you slack. But none of this works if you get nabbed by the Authority before we get started. Letting you wander around Bronx City meeting friends and family is a step too far. You think this place isn’t rife with informants? I need you to make our plan work, but you need us to get into and out of that facility to save your friends. We’re partners in this. And your partner is drawing a line here—it’s too risky for you to be on your own.”
I chewed on my lip, thinking. “I’ll take Rhett with me. He’ll stick out like a white thumb on a Latina hand, but I can manage if it makes you feel better.”
“Your boy might be handy with a pistol, but that’s not enough. If you need to go, I need someone I can rely on keeping an eye on you. That means me, or someone from the extraction team. You won’t even know we’re there. Tell me where you’re going.”
My blood temperature rose. “I agreed to trust Jalen, not you. I don’t need the Southern States spying on me.”
“No eavesdropping,” Katrina promised. “I just need to know you’re safe.”
“It’s not unreasonable, Daniela,” Rhett chimed in.
I fixed Rhett with a look that conveyed how unhelpful he was being. He stood his ground. Dammit.
“Fine, Katrina. But neither I nor anyone I meet sees you or your team. You had best be careful as well. These people aren’t stupid. You’re on my turf now.”
Katrina dropped Rhett and me off at Elm, less than a block away from the alley that led to Nacho’s bar. The cold, polluted air burned in my lungs. It was as if my home rejected my return. I headed for the alley with long strides, my head cast downward. Rhett stumbled along behind me, trying not to gape at the mass of underprivileged humanity swirling about him without quite succeeding. After ten steps I stopped and wrapped my arm around his, dragging him with me at a hurried pace.
“Keep your head down, gringo,” I urged. “The wrong kind of eye contact from a pale face like you will get you poked in places that aren’t supposed to have holes.”
When we got to the recessed-alley door that led inside the bar, Manny Tae was unusually quick to let us inside. He stared down at me, his face huge and fat but somehow gentler than the wicked-looking spiked bat in his hand would’ve otherwise suggested.
“People thought something bad happened to you, Dee,” he told me. He sounded relieved. For a moment I thought he might even give me a hug. Then the old Manny returned. “You got another gringo? I swear, you’re fickle, and a whitey-lover too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is Kortilla here?”
Manny’s giant head shook, a gesture that sent the layers of skin on his face jiggling. “Nope. Nacho ain’t here, neither.”
“She’s coming. Can you let her in quick for once, Manny? And I’d appreciate it if you’d not mention my being here to anyone. Anyone.” I slipped one of Jalen’s silver coins into his pocket.
He took a long look at me. “If the boss man asks, I gotta tell. But I don’t need to offer it up. Nobody expects me to do that.” He gave me a wink. “I’ll set you two up in the back, and I’ll send your little Kortilla to you when she arrives so long as she minds her manners.”
Rhett and I slid into a dimly lit circular booth in the back of the gloomy, windowless space.
“Charming in here,” Rhett commented. “But aren’t you worried about being recognized?”
“You sound like Katrina. No one who knows about this place is going to speak to the Authority. We police our own in the barrio. Besides, they aren’t even open. We only got in because I know Manny. Kortilla will be able to arrange the rest, someplace less public.”
“Hermana!” came the shout from across the bar.
I leaped to my feet as Kortilla plowed into me with enough force that I had to step back to steady myself. She put a hand on each side of my face.
“I just need to squeeze a bit to make sure you’re real.” Kortilla smiled. “That rich, pale stick Jalen kept his word, it seems. I’m sorry I told—”
I placed my hand over her mouth. “Sister, I know you only wanted to protect me.”
Kortilla glanced at Rhett, who stood awkwardly next to the table.
“This is Rhett, the young man who truly saved me.”
That was enough to earn him a hug from Kortilla. Rhett had a silly grin on his face as we all sat.
“Any word on your papa or brother? Or Mateo?” I asked.
A wave of worry washed away the joy that had been there a moment before. “As far as anyone knows, they are still in there. But…” Kortilla looked down at the table. I didn’t need to see her eyes to know tears welled up.
“What is it, hermana?”
Kortilla sucked in a breath and picked her head up. “Transports leave that place every two or three days, along with one of those giant drones. Rumor has it that there are people inside those damn vehicles. Chipped. They turn them into robots.” Her voice cracked. “I’ve seen…”
She stopped speaking, and I yanked her toward me.
“We’re here to put a stop to that,” Rhett declared.
He meant well. His words might have meant something in the South, but in here he was just another white boy making promises. Kortilla drew herself back up. “You got an army with you, then? You think we didn’t try to stop those trucks, eh?”
Rhett looked surprised by the anger in her voice. “I, ah—”
“You think we’ve just been waiting for you? The black boots got drones, giant ones that see in the night. Missiles, guns… the boys and girls who try to stop it, they wind up dead. If they live, they end up in that camp. Same for anyone who gets out of line. The black boots are done with correction. When they take you away now, you go to Fishkill to be made into property. Like the old days, where you come from, no?”
Rhett flushed, his jaw hardening. I hadn’t seen him angry before. But he kept his mouth shut. Smart boy.
“Kortilla, he’s one of the good ones. He’s not from around here, but he spent days hiding in a fusion reactor water tank on that platform to save me, to try to save Nythan and Alexander too.”
Kortilla’s anger melted away as quickly as it came. She turned to me. “Tell me about Nythan. Then let’s decide how we’re going to make those bastardos pay for this. Because I know that’s why you’re here. And the whole barrio is ready to help.”
Chapter 10
After night fell, Kortilla arr
anged for a car to take us to her Aunt Lucinda’s apartment. Her home was typical barrio, located in a cramped tenement a couple of blocks from where Kortilla’s home once stood. One of Kortilla’s cousins had been killed in an attack on a transport leaving Fishkill, and his picture hung in each of the apartment’s three rooms. The rest of Kortilla’s family was staying there as well; the absence of her father and brother was another open wound, even when no one talked about them.
“You can go back to the safe house,” I told Rhett. “I’m with my blood here. Besides, Katrina’s got someone watching, I’m sure.”
He managed to find that grin. “A man cannot break his word. Besides, you said that highborn are clueless. Perhaps you’re right—I need to be here to learn something.”
Dinner was a thin soup of synthetics and a lot of brave faces that scarcely concealed the pain underneath. The conversation was in Spanish, but even if he’d been able to understand, I doubted even Rhett would’ve had anything happy to add. Each time someone squeezed my shoulder or pumped a fist at me, it was like being punched in the gut. Whether or not they believed that it was Mateo rather than me who had lit the fire that had cost so much, I couldn’t escape the guilt that I bore some responsibility for this, for the deaths, for the loss. And I had no chance to cure the Waste without Nythan.
I’d begged everyone not to tell Aba that I was there. She was staying with Uncle Santiago somewhere in the northern part of the city. I was thankful that he’d managed to persuade her to take that precaution. They had all agreed it was best not to tell her, but I guess I should’ve known they wouldn’t listen. My people are more afraid of family than the Authority. Blood is blood.