Pearson’s face was like an unreadable desert map. “You think?”
She’d doubted he’d be sympathetic toward the cryptogens. She didn’t think anyone in this room would, including Petra.
“We’re still learning how to talk to each other. Sometimes it’s not words. It’s pictures, or sensations.”
“That you had when you were asleep,” Pearson stressed.
“Half asleep, yes, but—”
“We did suspect there were three distinct species,” said Dr. Weber, “given the nature of the children. But, Anaya, you’re saying two of these species, the runners and the swimmers, have been conquered and forced into labor by the flyers.”
Anaya nodded. “Absolutely.”
“How can you possibly know,” asked Mr. Sumner, “if they, it, whoever you talked to, is telling the truth?”
“Exactly what I said,” Petra chimed in.
Anaya knew how weak her answer would sound before she even uttered it. “It feels like the truth. I know it’s the truth.”
She saw the doubt in her parents’ eyes. Mom turned to Dr. Weber.
“I don’t like this at all. We have no clue what the cryptogens might be doing to her. We don’t want these things in her head!”
Dad asked, “Is there any way we can block these transmissions?”
“That’s what the bunker was for,” Colonel Pearson said dryly. “I’m not sure our basement here would be adequate to block transmissions. These are very powerful signals.”
“At the bunker, Ritter had these hoods—” Petra began.
Anaya shot a furious look at her friend, but Petra carried on anyway.
“They were for the flyers so they couldn’t use telepathy or their sound weapon. Something like that might work.”
“I don’t want to be blocked!” Anaya said, and realized she must’ve shouted, because everyone was suddenly looking at her in surprise. She forced herself to take a breath. She hadn’t known how attached she’d grown to having the cryptogen’s voice in her head.
“This is important,” she said, appealing to Dr. Weber. “This is a direct link to the cryptogens. Some of them might be allies. And we could learn a lot from them. You can’t cut me off.”
“I need a full, written account of this,” Pearson told her. “And I thank you for your honesty.” The colonel took in the room as a whole. “Has anyone else had communications with the cryptogens?”
Anaya looked around the room and saw not a single hand raised.
“Strange that you’re the only one who’s had contact,” Pearson said, and Anaya felt her armpits prickle with sweat. Probably this made her suspicious in his eyes. A sympathizer, possibly even an enemy?
“I think it’s because they reached me first,” she said. “When Ritter used me for signal-tracking tests at the antenna farm.”
“If any of you are contacted,” Pearson said, “do not speak to them. Tell them nothing. Share nothing with them. They are a hostile force.”
“Why would they bother lying to me, though?” Anaya asked. “What’s in it for them?”
“I don’t know,” said Pearson, looking at her carefully. “Maybe they want something from you.”
“Yes, our help!”
“Hard to believe we could be any help,” said Pearson, “to a species so much more advanced than us. More likely they’re trying to trick us into thinking they’re friendly.”
“It’s not a trick,” she said. She turned to her parents, but they didn’t look very supportive.
“Anaya,” Dad said gently, “these things might be brainwashing you. Look what they’re doing to the planet. They want to destroy us.”
She felt suddenly childish, like she’d been caught believing in garden faeries. But her instincts told her that her cryptogen wasn’t a liar, and that they could help each other.
“If they contact you again, Anaya,” Pearson said, “do not speak to them. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she lied.
“WE NEED TO DECIDE where we’re going,” Seth said.
He’d put off thinking about it, lulled by the clattering momentum of the train, hoping it would never stop. But it would.
“My mom and dad—” Siena began.
At her words, Seth felt a surge of shared longing pass through the other kids.
“Your mom and dad are probably locked up somewhere,” Esta told the other girl. “As parents of an evil cryptogen hybrid. Even if they weren’t locked up, you think they’d be happy to see you? With your wings? And the power to explode people’s brains? I saw you back at the bunker, Siena—you were ferocious. You liked it. Your parents would be terrified of you.”
Seth watched the girl’s face crumple. Her collarbone was clearly giving her a lot of pain, but she wasn’t complaining about it, and his heart went out to her.
“Hey, Esta,” he said quietly. “Easy.”
“My mom and dad would still want me back,” Siena said, on the verge of tears.
“Okay, sorry,” said Esta. “Forget what I said. Your parents are fabulous people. But there’s no way we can go back and live a happy life in Smallville. We’d get turned in and end up in a different bunker.”
Seth could sense Esta’s anger. It was like a hot steel girder inside her, and maybe sometimes it was the only thing holding her up. He understood it because he shared it. They were the only two without a family that might want them back.
“What about Deadman’s Island?” said Darren.
“Are you serious?” Esta said. “Another military base?”
“They came to rescue us,” Charles pointed out.
“They handed Seth over to Ritter in the first place,” Esta countered.
“That was Colonel Pearson,” Seth said.
“And he was on those helicopters, too,” she reminded him.
As if he’d forgotten. He’d been thinking about it, trying to puzzle it out, this whole time.
“Look, maybe Pearson’s working with her now,” he said. “Maybe he’s changed his mind about us.”
“Or maybe Dr. Weber has,” Esta replied. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but they all might be against us. Ritter. Pearson. Weber. Maybe it only looked like a rescue.”
The idea was so terrible that Seth had no words. He was grateful when Darren spoke up.
“No way,” the other boy said. “The guys from the bunker were firing at the helicopter! And those dudes were firing back.”
Esta shrugged. “It was pretty confusing down there. Maybe they were all just firing at the giant worms.”
Seth felt the fault lines in his heart crack a little wider. Despite himself, he still wanted to trust Dr. Weber, but it was getting harder.
“Look,” said Charles, “I agree that trying to get back to our homes is not a good idea. That’s the first place they’d look for us, right? But we need somewhere safe. And I still think Deadman’s Island makes the most sense.”
“Who says those helicopters even went back there?” Esta asked. “Either way, I’m not going to another military base. You guys can do whatever you want.”
Seth looked at her in alarm. Was she serious? He didn’t know if he was strong enough to lose someone else. Especially Esta.
“We’ve got each other,” he said, “and that’s the most important thing right now. We do need to find a safe place. Where we can get food and water, and take care of each other, and . . . weather this.”
“Weather this?” Charles said. “Like a bad storm that’s going to blow over?”
“And then what?” Darren asked. “We pop back up when the cryptogens have taken over the world?”
“So what if they do?” Esta mumbled.
Seth sensed the shock rising off everyone, like heat off pavement. He felt startled himself. Darren was the first one to give voice to it.
“What’s wrong with you, Esta? You actually want cryptogens taking over the world?”
“Don’t you guys get it?” she said. “There’s nothing left for us in this world. The humans will n
ever stop hunting us.”
“We’re still humans!” Darren said.
“They don’t think so!” Esta said. “Maybe the cryptogens will treat us better.”
“Our enemy?” Darren said, incredulous.
“Those people we just escaped from?” Esta said. “They’re the enemy! Ritter and all those guys. They didn’t care what happened to us. If we lived or died. They were going to cut Seth’s head open! And then all of ours, probably. The cryptogens are coming, and nothing’s going to stop that. They’re going to win. You want to survive this? You might want to reconsider which side you’re on.”
Seth could still taste the sweet insect meat in his mouth. He wanted more. He had a dangerous feeling of free fall—something from a flying dream, half terrifying, half exhilarating.
“You’re crazy,” said Darren, glancing around to Charles and the others for support. “You actually—”
“Who says the cryptogens didn’t help us escape?” Esta said.
“How?” Charles demanded.
“The vines in the cafeteria. The pit plant that swallowed a guard. The worm that inhaled the other one.”
“They also ate through our elevator!” Charles told her.
Esta shrugged. “Maybe they were sent to bust apart that bunker and let us escape! Maybe the cryptogens are looking out for us!”
Seth felt dizzy and took a breath, trying to stop the free-fall feeling.
“First things first. Let’s focus on finding somewhere safe,” he said, hoping his slow, careful words would steady him.
With a faint shriek of metal on metal, the train began to slow.
—You know I’m right, Esta said.
He didn’t trust himself to reply.
Chapter Sixteen
ENVIOUSLY, PETRA WATCHED AS Anaya wiped hair removal cream from her cheek. Even with only a small part of her face clear, she already looked more normal.
“Such a relief,” said Anaya.
“Geez, I wish it were that easy for me. A little shave, a little manicure.”
“They needed an electric saw to cut off my claws, Petra!”
“Still, basically a spa treatment.”
She and Anaya were in the same bathroom, in the same little apartment they’d shared when they’d first arrived at Deadman’s Island, a million years ago. Anaya had already made it messy again with all her creams and damp washcloths. Still, the bathroom was theirs alone, same as the bedroom—and it felt like a luxury after the crowded bunker dorm.
She liked being alone with Anaya, watching from the edge of the bathtub. She was glad to be back with her parents, but they stressed her out. They kept checking on her, being concerned about her, looking at her. She felt way more like a freak with them than with Anaya—even if her friend was looking more normal by the second.
So unfair! A little cream, and back came Anaya’s lovely face, swipe after swipe. And she was still dolphin girl. Maybe scorpion girl now. And also snake girl, since her skin was still molting.
She touched a hand to her neck and felt how scaly the skin was getting. She’d checked in with Nia and Letitia and a couple of the other swimmer hybrids, and a few had the same thing happening. It meant the skin on her neck was going to shed soon, and after that, her face? She wasn’t ready to see her entire face peel off.
“Is it weird that I kind of miss the claws?” Anaya asked, inspecting her clipped fingernails.
“Yes.”
“I just feel less . . . powerful.”
“I get it,” Petra said, thinking back to their escape. They’d needed all the fight they had in them. “Still, I’d lose my tail in a second.”
“What did Dr. Weber say?” Anaya asked.
“It’s going to be weeks before they can take it off.”
“I’m really sorry,” Anaya said. “That sucks.”
“Colonel Pearson said his surgeons are too busy with real emergencies to deal with cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery! Even after I told him it’s got a stinger with venom! I should give him a little poke, see how he likes that.”
Morosely, she picked at the Band-Aid on the inside of her elbow. After lunch, they’d all given blood—because what could be more fun than being stuck with needles?
Dr. Weber wasn’t wasting any time. She wanted to see if she could isolate a substance in their blood to create a pesticide. Petra was starting to feel like they really were lab rats—to everyone. Dr. Weber hadn’t even taken the time to set up a special shower for her yet, though she promised they’d have one for her tomorrow.
With a bitter laugh she said, “Bet Ritter would’ve gotten my tail off sooner.”
“Not even funny,” said Anaya as she swiped cream off her other cheek. She looked at Petra in the mirror. “Is that why you told them stuff? You hoped they’d somehow make you normal again?”
Petra had been dreading this conversation, but mostly she was glad. Back in the bunker, she’d sensed Anaya drawing away from her. She wanted a chance to clear the air.
“When I told them about your conversations with the cryptogen—all that stuff about the flyers and the war—honestly, I thought they should know. I thought it was stupid to keep it secret. I mean, they were supposed to be the good guys! I was trying to do the right thing.”
Anaya nodded. “I know. I believe you.”
Petra let out a breath. She’d promised herself she’d be totally honest. “And yes, maybe I also thought if I cooperated, Ritter might take my tail off sooner. Or let us out faster! I swear, I had no idea he was a lunatic.”
“I don’t think anyone did,” Anaya said. “Not at first.”
“And when I told Paul what happened to Darren, I was only trying to protect Seth.”
“Well, by blaming it on Esta.”
“I wasn’t blaming it on her. She really did it!”
She couldn’t bring herself to admit how much she hated Esta. That was too shameful.
“Anyway, that was how I found out Paul was on our side.”
“You were right about that,” Anaya said.
“So you don’t hate me?”
Anaya gave her a hug and got hair removal cream on her cheek. “Of course I don’t hate you! I never did. Half the time I didn’t know what to think myself. It was terrible in there.”
“The worst,” Petra agreed, dabbing the cream off with some toilet paper.
“Probably the worst bunker we’ve ever been in,” Anaya added with a grin.
“I am totally giving that bunker a one-star review,” Petra said in a petulant voice that made them both laugh.
Then she felt a sudden stab of guilt. Here she was, joking around with her best friend, safe, and Seth was still out there. If only she hadn’t lost sight of him in all that chaos. If only they could’ve waited longer.
“I keep wondering,” she said, “do you think he saw us take off in the helicopters? And thinks we abandoned him?”
Anaya winced. “That’s too horrible.”
“I mean, we kind of did.”
“There was nothing we could do, Petra.”
Sometimes when she had a quiet moment, she tried to call Seth silently. Concentrating and waiting for his light in her head, and even if she couldn’t find it, calling out anyway. Never had an answer come back.
“He won’t be alone,” Anaya said. “He’s probably with Esta and the others.”
“Yeah, you’ve said as much,” she replied, feeling the usual stab of jealousy. “But where’ll they go? Where’s safe for them now? Pearson’s such a jerk, not going to look for them.”
“Seth’s really strong now,” Anaya said. “All those guys are. If anyone can make it out there, it’s them.”
She pictured the fierce faces of Siena and Vincent and Esta. The guards crumpling before them. Ritter twitching on the floor until blood pooled in his ears.
As if reading her mind, Anaya asked, “Do you think differently about Seth now?”
“Because of the sound weapon? It’s pretty scary. I mean, Esta jabbed me once, and
it really hurt.” Petra remembered the sharp poke of pain, and how quickly it might have become unbearable, enough to curl her up into a whimpering ball. “But Seth wouldn’t kill anyone with it.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
“Anyway, what about my tail? I might’ve killed one of those guards.” She felt an overwhelming urge to explain herself, to be forgiven. “I didn’t mean to. I hardly knew it was happening!”
“It’s okay, Petra. It was self-defense.”
Petra wished she felt more reassured. “What if we’re more like them than we think? Especially the flyers. I mean, maybe not Seth, but Esta seems so angry, it makes me worry. She seems to get off on all the slashing and blasting.”
Anaya was silent, and Petra wondered if her friend was remembering those images of the winged cryptogens crumpling cities, killing the runners and swimmers.
“What’s she like, the one you talk to?” Petra asked.
“Terra?”
Petra blinked. “That’s her name?”
Anaya looked embarrassed. “No, that’s just how I think of her. You know how when we talk silently, there’s light and a smell or maybe a taste? I think those are their names. Anyway, she smells like soil, so I think of her as Terra.”
Petra smiled. “Latin for ‘earth.’ Very scientific. And she’s a runner, right?”
Anaya nodded. “And she seems kind. That’s my sense of her. And scared.”
“So there’s millions of cryptogens on that ship, and she’s the only one awake?”
“She can’t be,” Anaya said. “I was thinking about it. If the flyers are the leaders, why would they leave a runner in charge? There’s got to be a big team of them awake, with the flyers running the show. So she’s got to be contacting me in secret, trying to get help.”
“With their Resistance, right? So we’ll just get rid of the flyers and live in peace together?”
Anaya wiped the rest of the cream off her face.
“I know you think this is crazy, but Terra doesn’t want to destroy Earth.”
“She actually said that?”
“No, but it’s obvious. She’s not in charge. She has no say in what’s happening. She wants freedom, and she has a plan that needs us.”
Petra looked at her friend. It was unnerving to hear her talk so confidently about what the cryptogen thought. How could she really know all this? She worried that Anaya was being way too trusting—or getting brainwashed somehow.
Hatch Page 19