“I don’t know where they are!” Grey swung around to face her. “Do you want me to make something up? You can torture me all you want, but the answer’s still the same.”
“Did I say I didn’t know where they are?”
Grey struggled to keep her emotions from her face.
Yurkutz studied her for a moment, then laughed. “You really did think they were dead, didn’t you?”
She would not answer this woman. Would not. But inside, Grey was screaming. They were alive. Alive!
“What I actually asked you earlier was where are they hiding?” The general leaned closer, her spicy perfume almost causing Grey to sneeze. “There’s a difference.”
Grey turned toward the window again as they blew through an intersection. Even though the air inside the car was warm, a chill spread through her body. She focused on the pain in her sore muscles and tried not to think about what methods a woman like Evangeline Yurkutz could use to pry things out of her. At least for a prisoner with information, relief would come if they shared their secrets.
The general tapped Grey’s leg again, like she knew how much it creeped her out. “But even birds can be flushed out if necessary,” she said.
***
Mrs. March had been examining Tevah’s exterior for the past hour. She’d climbed the scaffolding Rin had never even noticed along the silo’s walls, using a strange eyepiece that allowed her to zoom in on every crack and crevice as if she was directly on top of it. She was checking the ship’s surface for any faults without even touching it.
“Looking good, darling,” Mrs. March cooed affectionately to the ship as if it could hear her, and more than once Rin mistakenly thought she was speaking to her.
“Does this thing actually fly?” Rin called up to where she’d last seen the old woman.
“I hope so.”
When Mrs. March finally finished her inspection, a satisfied smile spread across her face. She dropped down from the scaffolding in front of Rin, and Rin shook her head at how lithe the eighty-plus-year-old was.
“Why is this thing even in our silo?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask me sooner.”
“When I would ask Dad, he’d tell me to forget I’d even seen it. Kinda hard to do, you know?”
Mrs. March chuckled. “Tanner should never have allowed you down here.”
“You’re letting me,” Rin said.
“I wasn’t given much choice.”
“Please answer my question.”
Pulling a rag from her pocket, Mrs. March wiped her soiled fingers. “Did you ever wonder what your father was working on late at night in his shop back here?”
“He loved to tinker with things.”
Mrs. March stared up at the ship, and Rin watched in awe as the outline of a huge opening appeared in the hull.
Mrs. March waved toward it. “Care to join me for a tour? I’ll explain as we go.”
***
“Where are you taking me?”
The car seemed to speed even faster through tunnels, over bridges, well beyond the city limits. They’d twisted and turned through the streets until the road widened. Years ago, vehicles like these were actually driven by their occupants. People were always crashing into each other. Now, the vehicles moved in concert, traveling as close as three inches apart but never colliding.
Evangeline Yurkutz stared straight ahead, her eyes twitching. Grey shut up. The general could’ve had any drone transport her, and yet she was personally escorting Grey.
“Why do you care so much about my parents?”
Yurkutz blinked but gave no other indication she’d heard Grey.
“I deserve to know.”
“You deserve nothing.”
“What have they done?”
A sneer came to her lips, but she said nothing more. Grey knew she was toying with her life by pressing the issue. She looked out the window again. A desert even more vast than hers at home shot past, and she longed to be curling up in one of their plush chairs watching a movie with Rin like they had the other night. She felt light years away from home. Was her sister okay, or had they captured her too?
Oh, God, please keep Rin safe.
The traffic thinned, and Grey tried to guess where they were going. She knew little about the geography surrounding Mazdaar City, but when she spotted long, concrete airstrips, she guessed this was their destination. Maneuvering onto a secondary road, the car slowed to approach a guardhouse. An armed human—she could clearly see his eyes—walked up to Yurkutz’s side of the car. Her window opened, seemingly on its own.
“Good evening, General.” The man saluted, and the chain-link gate opened. Grey tried to take in as much detail as she could in case the opportunity to escape presented itself. The fence would probably be electrified like the one at the border—impossible to dig under with just her hands.
The vehicle slid through, and dread gripped Grey as she watched the gate close behind them.
“There is no escape,” Yurkutz said.
Grey was starting to believe her.
* * *
Chapter 13
Rin stared up the metal ramp that led into the cosmoship. Mrs. March beckoned her to follow, but she hesitated. How could Dad have been working on this giant vessel for so long without talking about it?
Mrs. March looked over her shoulder. “I need to inspect the interior, dear.”
Rin finally followed, boots clanking on the huge ramp and echoing through the silo. Sensory lights flicked on at their approach, and Rin found herself entering the bottom hold of the ship. She blinked at the sight. Strapped down and poised as if waiting for them were two Jeeps that looked like they were made in 2012. So old they might even run on petroleum.
“How long has this stuff been in here?” Rin turned around in a circle, taking in the crates of equipment. There were even several stalls that seemed ready to hold animals.
“Since before you were born,” Mrs. March said, and for the first time, Rin felt like maybe she could actually call her Commander. The woman stood erect with her head high, as if she was used to giving orders. Rin had always thought of her as an eccentric, elderly, and maybe even frail neighbor. She was anything but.
Mrs. March gestured toward a set of spiral stairs. “How much do you remember of the Scriptures, Rin?”
“Only a little.” Her sister had just about given up on God even being real after Mom and Dad had disappeared. Grey figured if He hadn’t been able to keep their family together there wasn’t much point in trusting Him with anything else.
But Rin wasn’t so sure. Sometimes she still whispered prayers.
“Noah was a man who lived thousands of years ago. God called him to build a great ship to rescue as many people as he could from a worldwide flood. He obeyed, and we’re all descended from him.” Mrs. March glanced back at her. “The Yien Dynasty built this cosmoship to rescue people too. Not from a flood of water, but a flood of evil. Mazdaar is determined to wipe us off the face of the earth, and it’s our mission to survive.”
Mrs. March swiped her palm over a scanner by an entryway, and it opened for her. Rin caught a glimpse of a room full of bunks.
“But how?”
Mrs. March crossed the floor. “This isn’t the only ship we’ve built. There are hundreds more, all strategically placed in various parts of the world. There’s even another one in the northern part of the Preserve.” Mrs. March paused. “Do you know who Jet really is?”
Rin shook her head.
“He is Emperor Yien’s son and heir.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Mazdaar grows stronger every day. So far, they have not directly challenged the Yien Dynasty. If Mazdaar tries to overthrow them, which they probably will soon, we must have somewhere to evacuate our people. That’s why we cannot afford for Mazdaar to claim Jupiter like they have conquered most of Earth. And Mars.”
Her words made sense, but all Rin really cared about was her sister. “Why did they have to tak
e Grey? Was it because of the patroller she shot? That was my fault, Mrs. March. She was protecting me.”
“It might have nothing to do with that. We think they took her because they are desperate to find your parents.”
“But . . . they’re dead.”
Saying out loud the fact she’d tried so hard to deny caused a weight to press down on Rin. She’d hoped beyond hope for years, but Grey was probably right. She’d been naive to keep it up all these years. They weren’t coming back.
Mrs. March rested her hand on Rin’s shoulder. “Remember when I told you there was a lot you didn’t know?”
She nodded. That was an understatement.
Mrs. March hesitated, glancing upward for a moment. She seemed to be weighing her words.
“What is it?”
The old woman squeezed her shoulder. “We think your parents may be alive.”
Rin blinked. Then blinked again. “What?”
“I’ve wanted to tell you, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Are you serious? They’re alive?”
“We think so, but I don’t want to give you false hope, Rin. We don’t know for sure.”
Rin suddenly felt like she was five years old in a summer rainstorm, wanting to dance at the sheer joy of feeling cool water droplets hitting her flushed cheeks.
“I can’t believe it!” Rin threw her arms around Mrs. March, spinning them both around in a circle. “I mean I want to, but . . . I can’t!”
Mrs. March laughed. “The fact that they took Grey might confirm Mazdaar believes it as well.”
Rin tried to concentrate on Mrs. March’s words, but her mind was whirring in a million directions. What would they look like now? Would they be proud of her?
“What happened to them? Where did they go?”
“They weren’t on a hunting trip.”
“Where do you think they are? Why haven’t they come back?”
Mrs. March leaned close, cupping Rin’s chin with her hand. “I may have said too much already, but you needed to know that much. Without Tanner and Sue, Operation Noah wouldn’t exist here. They joined us to save lives. Your dad is the reason this ship is even here, and your mom . . . well, she would’ve been the one to fly it.”
Rin pictured her mother kneeling in the dirt, carefully watering her herbs up on the bluff. “Mom?”
“Captain Alexander was . . . is the best pilot we have.”
“This is just . . .” Rin let out a sharp exhale. “Wow.”
With a wave, Mrs. March escorted Rin into the sleeping quarters. It seemed like over a hundred beds were crammed inside, some stacked four high.
“But if Mom’s not here, who’s going to fly it?”
Commander March grinned. “The second best pilot we have.”
“And that would be?” she asked, already guessing the answer.
Climbing the circular staircase in the center of the ship, she was almost at the top before Rin could catch up with her.
“That would be me,” Mrs. March said.
***
Massive jets and cosmoships silently passed overhead, and Grey could feel her pulse throbbing against the wrist restraints. They maneuvered through a second guard post even more imposing than the first with razor wire topping the fence. For a second she thought this guard was human too, but then she saw its metal-claw hands. The drone wore the typical green fatigues of the Mazdaar MPs, and its gun was casually slung across its back. She recognized the muzzle as a blueflare laser. Not as powerful as the greens, which could kill instantly, but definitely more potent than the violet handhelds. She’d never survive a direct hit.
By the time the vehicle pulled up to a hangar that could’ve housed every single person Grey knew in the Preserve, panic took over. Briefly, her hopes had glimmered when Jet rescued her from the Council chamber, but they were long gone, replaced with the dread of what General Yurkutz had in store for her. Did Jet know she was gone? Would he rescue her again? Had they killed him?
As the statuesque woman got out, Grey contemplated making a run for it. But they were completely surrounded by guards. Whether they were human or drone Grey couldn’t tell, because their eyes were covered with silver, opaque goggles, and they all wore gloves with no skin visible. One guard dragged Grey from the car, and the rest fell into step around her and Yurkutz as she was marched across the black pavement toward the hanger.
They passed through the manual door, which was opened from inside, and a dark-skinned, muscular man met them. He clicked his heels and saluted.
“General Yurkutz.”
“When is liftoff?” Yurkutz asked.
“We are on schedule, General.”
Evangeline Yurkutz gave a slight nod of her head. That’s when the man turned to look at Grey. His eyes narrowed.
“Will she cause trouble?”
“She knows what will happen if she does.”
“Good. Because I have the other passengers to think about.”
He saluted again, then turned on his heels and walked across the hangar. A forklift zoomed past, loaded with cargo in metal crates marked with stenciled white numbers, and the Mazdaar general prodded Grey to walk. She stumbled forward. The restraints dug into her flesh, but she didn’t dare ask her to loosen them.
The drone deposited Grey in a cell along the perimeter of the hangar and finally removed her restraints before slamming the door on her. It was nothing more than a five-by-five cage with a small, barred hole high in the door. If she stood on her toes, she could just see out into the huge building.
Grey ran her fingers through her dirty hair. She’d do anything to be back home with Rin right now, but Grey also knew if she kept thinking about her little sister her resolve would melt. It was better to focus on the here and now. And escape if possible.
Leaning against the wall, Grey slid down and crumpled to the floor. This was about her parents. They’d made that very clear. But why did Mazdaar even care about Tanner and Sue Alexander? Sure, they had been outlaws, but hardly worth pursuing like this. Did they know something about the regime?
She thought about the cosmoship in the missile silo. Was that what they were after? She would never tell them about that. It would lead them straight to Rin, something Grey would rather die than do. With a sigh, she climbed back to her feet and peered out into the hangar.
Grey watched the crews bustle about with supplies, loading them into various vessels. Occasionally, she’d spot an armed guard watching from the sidelines, but most of the personnel seemed to be civilians in plain clothes. At one point, a tour group even passed through, their guide pointing out the vastness of the facility and the elite Triangle squadron, which flew to points all over the world in minutes.
Once Grey thought she spotted Jet, and her heart leapt. But when the man in the dark coat turned around, she saw it wasn’t him. Would they dare to kill the emperor’s son? She cringed at the thought. It would be her fault if they did, and she already had one man’s blood on her hands.
Finally, Yurkutz and her entourage returned. Grey backed up against the wall as the door unlocked, and a female drone stepped inside. Her face was covered in dark bioskin, but the back of her skull was metallic.
“Bind her hands in front,” the general said to the drone. Then to Grey she warned, “Don’t think I will hesitate to terminate you if necessary.”
Grey raised her chin. “If you kill me, you will never find my parents.”
“Ah, but there’s always Rin.”
She almost lunged at Yurkutz again, but the drone’s fingers gripped her with no mercy.
The general laughed. “You Alexanders certainly have little regard for self-preservation. That will be your undoing, I’m afraid.”
They walked across the hangar, passed through another guarded entrance, and headed down a hallway until they came to a dead end. General Yurkutz faced the wall for several seconds, and Grey guessed it was scanning her features. An automatic door silently bisected the wall, and they walked through.
&nbs
p; This space was double the size of the last one. In the center was a class of cosmoship Grey had never seen before. Black and cylindrical, every facet of its surface gleamed. There were no windows or doors visible on its hull.
The vessel was heavily guarded, and Grey saw drones standing as still as cacti along the entire perimeter of the hangar. She paused briefly until the drone behind her shoved her toward the ship. That same claustrophobic feeling she’d felt when she’d passed under the border fence wire and when Carr had locked the door behind them began to press in on her, and Grey resisted, planting her feet on the white cement floor.
“Where are you taking me?” Her voice sounded shrill.
The drone grabbed her by both arms, and this time she kicked back, hitting its armored leg with her boot. The drone tightened its grip. It felt like she was being held by a huge pair of pliers.
With firm, pointy fingers, the general gripped Grey by the hair and yanked her face upward. Staring into the woman’s golden eyes, Grey read the silent, murderous threat.
“Shall we proceed?” Fingernails dug into Grey’s scalp.
Grey winced. She had no choice. They walked her up and into the black ship, and that’s when Grey knew for sure she’d never see her sister again.
* * *
Chapter 14
The muscles in Grey’s legs ached as her captors led her through the bowels of the cosmoship. It had to be at least twenty times the size of the craft sitting dormant in their silo, larger than anything she’d ever read about.
In what appeared to be the center of the vessel, she spotted four hulking redflare cannons, which looked powerful enough to blow a hole through a building, and crate after crate of supplies. Some were labeled, most were not, but there were enough to supply an army.
Where were they headed?
They took her through a luxurious lounge, and Grey squinted at the room’s sudden bright light. Clusters of thick, white leather chairs were parked around tables with the Mazdaar emblem decoratively carved into their surfaces. Magnetic grooves in the tables would hold cups and plates during flight.
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