Thirteen years had passed, years of danger and fighting and scraping by. Then she’d finally left Colony 6 and was studying for her certificate in manufacturing, when she’d learned her cousin, still in the colony, had attacked an enforcer. It was the beginning of the madness, though they hadn’t known it then. Not about the madness or that he’d be shot to death in less than a year.
On her way to plead for his release, the sky train had broken down, and fringers had raided it. She’d bolted with the other passengers and ended up wandering in an empty zone for nearly a day, waiting for rescue.
Fringers caught up with her first. When they’d seen the black of her skin and the unusual white of her spiky hair, so much like Tauri’s, they’d taken a blood sample and urged her to go with them to Newcali, promising information about her family. There she’d learned her father had been killed the night he’d come for her mother, and her mother had died in childbirth less than a month later. Maybe it was knowing they hadn’t abandoned her that let her love Tauri as much as she did. Knowing about him, her parents had made the only choice they could have. She’d have never wanted him to grow up at Colony 6. Especially with how different he turned out. He would never have survived.
She’d also learned the truth about the CORE and the colonies. Anger and a yearning to right the wrongs grew inside her. So she’d abandoned her life and stayed in Newcali with Tauri. The Newcalian’s fight became hers.
“We know who you are, Dani Balak,” said the enforcer across from her.
Dani looked at him, glad their slow brains had finally cut across her troubled memories. “You took my blood,” she said with a flat little smile, “so I guess that means your boss must have cross-referenced that with the real citizen database because apparently I never existed in the public one, though I distinctly remember attending school in Colony 6.”
“Tell me how you know the fringers who took Dr. Kentley,” barked Gedet, his twisted face pushing closer to hers.
Dani shifted her gaze to him. Their slow stupidity made her want to scream. “I don’t know them at all. I’ve told you that repeatedly. I came to the doctor for a cure.”
Gedet grabbed her upper arm and yanked it toward him, digging his thumb into her wound. Pain ricocheted inside her head and blood gushed from under the bandage, dribbling down her arm and splatting onto the table. The other two enforcers made sounds of protest, but Dani simply took a deep breath, willing her body to be strong, to ignore the pain. She was tempted to bash his face in with his rifle and use his fingerprints to access his gun and shoot the others, but she couldn’t afford to do that yet. These enforcers were her ticket to Tauri.
Gedet smirked at her, his too-handsome face contorting with anger. He pulled her arm closer, until her blood-streak skin was near his mouth. Watching her with his dark, hateful eyes, he licked the blood from her arm.
“How much of this do I need to drink before I gain your speed?” he mocked. “One liter? Two?” He gave her arm another long lick, waving his bloodied tongue at her before pulling it slowly into his mouth.
She snorted. “Probably all of it wouldn’t be enough for a weak pus licker like you.”
His face reddened. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” He jerked out a knife from a side pocket, aiming it at the wound.
There was only so much Dani could take. Dragging in a breath, she snapped the handcuffs and grabbed his knife with her left hand, tossing it with such strength that it embedded into the metal interior of the train. It was a lucky shot, since she was right-handed, but not entirely unexpected.
“That could have been your head,” she said, as color leaked from his face. “Now we both know you’re not supposed to kill me, and I’m telling you now that if you touch me again, you’ll have to kill me”—she smirked—“or try to kill me because I only have so much patience, and I will kill you before I let you touch me again.”
His color was returning, along with his stupidity. He stood and backed away from her, his hands going to his rifle.
Dumb punk, she thought, keeping an eye on his trigger finger. Still plenty of time to move.
“Stand down!” ordered the seated enforcer. He was slightly higher in rank than the others, though not as high up on the ladder as their leader who had stayed behind in Santoni. “The Controller wants her alive. You don’t want him mad at you, do you?” This, said in an urgent voice, somehow managed to penetrate Gedet’s sluggish mind.
He removed his finger from the trigger but didn’t lower the rifle. Not even after they found new shackles for her, heavy duty ones they thought would keep them safe. As if that would make a difference.
Dani went back to looking out the window. Maybe now they’d give her some peace. Everything was going according to plan.
Chapter 11
THEIR STEPS CAME easier as Jaxon and Reese hurried to catch up with the others. Similar to how a body with sore muscles somehow loosens up and moves more easily with walking, Jaxon’s mind recovered from the premonition.
He’d finally had the vision of him and Reese again. Was it selfish that he hadn’t wanted to leave the vision, that he wouldn’t have minded waking up hours later to remember nothing but those moments? No such luck in this place, especially with her coming toward him. But it was a relief knowing it hadn’t been his imagination. The vision would eventually come true. He just had to be patient and let her work out her fears or whatever was holding her back.
Of course, the Special Forces’ shuttle today was supposed to have blown up and it hadn’t. What did that mean? Was it possible a vision might not come true after all?
Like him, Reese was exhausted. Far more than she should be, even with what they’d been through today. Had it only been this morning that they’d gone to see the doctor? Jaxon pushed back the anger the thought brought with it. The doctor might have been able to help Reese. To help him.
In the next moment, Reese stepped away from him. “I’m okay now,” she said, and he saw that she was. Tension still gathered on her forehead and her hands clenched, but she was moving faster. Ahead, the others were turning around some debris.
When Jaxon rounded the bend with Reese, the others were standing outside a solid metal wall at least three times as tall as Jaxon. For a stark instant, it reminded him of the gates at the Coop, though the resemblance was superficial. Colony gates were far taller and gleamed silver under the sun while these were black and rusted.
One side of the wall went on for as long as Jaxon could see, until it was obscured by rubble. The other disappeared behind a tall red-bricked building that was more intact than anything else they’d seen, despite its interior being gutted with fire.
Thane banged on the wall, and seconds later, the face of a man with long, stringy black hair popped over. “Hey, Thane,” the man called down to them.
“Hey, Namon. Let us in, okay?”
“Only be a minute.” The face disappeared.
Jaxon expected a gate to open in the wall, but instead Thane motioned everyone inside the brick building. They dodged around rotting furniture, clumps of ceiling, and what might have been part of an elevator. Behind this last, Jaxon paused, staring at a blackened wall that began moving as they watched. A loud screech made them all cringe as heavy metal scraped against brick. Jaxon could see that the back part of the wall was actually a painted section of the outside metal wall. Once opened, they ducked through the roughly rounded opening.
Jaxon stepped through into green grass, surprise washing over him. There was still a lot of debris, but much had been cleared, and the grass was nothing short of miraculous in an empty zone.
“Underground spring,” Thane supplied at their amazement.
“Hey, I know this place!” Nova mused aloud, her voice filled with wonder.
“You do?” Thane asked.
But Nova was already sprinting through the cleared area. When one of the two men on guard inside started to go after her, Thane shook his head. “I’ll take them all inside. Better watch the gate. Special
Forces is after them.”
The men nodded and gripped their guns more tightly, their eyes digging into Jaxon, Reese, and Eagle.
“One of them has a gray uniform,” Reese whispered as they hurried after Nova.
“You recognize him?” Dared Jaxon hope the doctor could be here? The idea wasn’t too far-fetched. Safe places to hide in the CORE weren’t exactly advertised on the Teev.
“No,” Reese said. “Just the uniform.”
The house came into view suddenly, appearing in front of them as they passed some kind of holo field like the one masking the back of Silas’s safehouse. Nova stood outside a wire fence encircling the house, her fingers clutching at the metal links, her face pushed up against it. Inside the fence two young children, a boy and a girl, played together on the grass
“It was here,” she said, as they reached her. “This is where El Cerebro took me after my father died.”
Reese’s arm slipped around the girl. “You didn’t know its location?”
She shook her head. “He was afraid I’d run away. He drugged me and put a tracker in my foot. When I woke up, this was where I was. Same thing when he came to get me. I almost thought it was a dream.”
“I can see why they’d want to protect it,” Jaxon said. The two children had seen them and now ran into the house.
“How long ago did you leave?” Thane asked.
Nova didn’t tear her eyes away from the house but answered his question. “Two years. That’s how long I was here too.”
Thane’s gasp was loud enough for all of them to hear. “I was here sometimes then.”
“The laughing boy,” Nova whispered. “I remember. Your mother took care of us. Is she still here?”
Thane’s expression hardened. “No.”
Nova glanced at him then, but apparently decided not to push, which surprised Jaxon. Usually the girl acted heedless of any feelings except her own.
“Come on.” Thane removed a loop of wire from a post and opened the narrow gate. “You can rest here. Once things die down, you can leave. The sky station is probably being watched, though, so it’s better to find another way out of Santoni.”
A thin woman appeared on the porch, beckoning to the children, who ran past her into the house. She looked impossibly old, like a character from a pre-Breakdown Teev show. Obviously, she didn’t use any form of Nuface. She wore a flowered dress topped by a stained white apron. Worn brown boots covered her feet. At first Jaxon thought her gray hair was pulled back but realized as they approached that it was simply cut extremely short.
“I’m Debs,” she said. “Come on in, and I’ll show you where you can rest until you figure out what you’re going to do.” Her tone, while mild, was clearly not welcoming, and Jaxon didn’t blame her. Their very presence put this place at risk. Even the shootout in Santoni had endangered them.
In the tiny entry and the hallway beyond, every centimeter of the short walls was filled with paintings and image receptors, some framed and others unframed, assaulting their eyes and challenging their equilibrium. Even the single wall of the old-fashioned staircase in front of them was lined with the hangings. Half the paintings looked as if they had been created by great masters and others could have been scribbled by children. The image receptors showed copies of paintings or images of people wearing unfamiliar clothes. Jaxon didn’t know whether to be impressed by the number of salvaged items or depressed that it meant so many hadn’t lived to take care of their own belongings. Only the closed door to their right, so perfectly white it had to be recently painted, was free of clutter.
Debs stood to the side of the stairs as if blocking them from going into the entry any further. She put her hand on what looked like a real wood banister, motioning them upward. “At the top of the stairs, there’s a door on your right. If you’ll settle in there, I’ll bring you some snacks from our garden.”
Despite having eaten a readymeal, Jaxon’s mouth watered. Fresh food was not generally something found outside a restaurant, and during the past weeks he’d grown accustomed to eating similar foods at Reese’s great-aunt’s house.
Nova dragged her eyes from the crazy walls and started up the stairs eagerly, clearly lost in memories. Reese and Eagle followed. Jaxon had gone up only two steps when Eagle collapsed in front of him. Jaxon grabbed him as he fell, but it was Reese who somehow managed to stop his head from crashing onto the steps.
“Is he unwell?” Debs glanced nervously behind her.
“He was shot in the back,” Reese told her. “He had on a protective vest and the bullets didn’t enter, but he doesn’t seem to be getting better, even with an injection of nanoparticles. All this walking around isn’t helping. He needs somewhere to lie down.”
Jaxon looked at the old woman, who still hadn’t moved. “Do you have somewhere down here we can put him?”
Debs eyes darted to the closed door behind them but shook her head. Reese grabbed Eagle under the arms. “In there,” she said to Jaxon.
“No, you can’t go in there.” Debs voice had taken on a high pitch. “Upstairs is best.”
Ignoring her, Jaxon pushed open the door and grabbed Eagle’s feet. Nova and Thane took his arms and together they carried him into a room filled with more clutter—on the walls and in terms of furniture. The soft-looking couch was exactly what they needed.
“Put him on his side,” Jaxon said. “In case we need to look at his back.”
A man sat at a table with the two children they’d seen earlier. They were eating, but all of them froze as they laid Eagle on the couch. Jaxon didn’t like the way the man stared at Reese. As her hands left Eagle, she pulled her gun in a single fluid motion and pointed it at the man, circling to his side but keeping herself angled so she could also keep an eye on the old woman. With her gun pointed at the fringer’s chest, she freed his gun from his holster and tucked it into her pocket.
“You took the doctor,” she accused. “You were with him. Where is he? Where did you take him?”
Jaxon pulled his own gun and stepped away from the couch, making sure he also covered the man without putting Reese at risk.
“Easy, everyone,” Thane said.
“You take it easy,” shot Nova. She was brandishing her knife in front of the boy, preventing him from drawing his gun.
“The doctor is safe.” The man at the table raised his hands and stood slowly. Jaxon couldn’t place the tall man as one of the fringers who’d taken Kentley, but the gray uniform was familiar, and he trusted his partner.
Debs gave a little growl in her throat. “We offer you sanctuary and this is how you repay us?” Her mouth twisted in disgust. “Kentley is our doctor. Ours. We would not survive without him.”
A little something inside Jaxon died as he pointed his gun at her. “Take us to him now or I will shoot you and take those two children to the enforcers.”
“Do it then,” the woman sneered at him.
“No!” Dr. Kentley stepped from the doorway they’d just entered. “I’m right here.”
“Sam,” Debs chided. “You should have run.”
The doctor seemed unperturbed, even down to his wet hair, that appeared freshly washed and combed back from his face. “I don’t think they’ve come to hurt me or anyone.” Kentley stared at Jaxon. “Am I right? Come, let’s talk. Put away your weapons. We’re all on the same side here—or should be.”
“First look at our friend,” Reese said.
Kentley nodded. “Debs, get my bag.”
Jaxon was loath to let the old woman leave, in case she returned with reinforcements, but he wasn’t about to abandon his crew. “You come back alone,” he told Debs.
She nodded. “Then put that away.” Her brown eyes burned accusation.
Jaxon felt scolded as if by his own mother, and the sensation brought a longing he didn’t enjoy. A longing for his mother, who had done everything to keep him alive in the Coop and who had paid with her life. Debs didn’t wait to see if he complied, but marched from the room, her thi
n back straight and indignant.
The children took that moment to run to Kentley and bury their faces in his legs. One of them was sniffling, and the doctor bent down to encircle them with his arms. “Shush, now, it’s okay.”
“Are they going to send us to a colony?” asked the boy. Jaxon had no experience with children and couldn’t even begin to guess how old they were, but their heads were at his waist level.
Kentley looked up at Jaxon. “Please let them leave.”
Jaxon knew that he shouldn’t, that they were the best leverage they had, but he wasn’t going to hurt them. He met Reese’s gaze and she gave a sharp nod.
“Go play,” Dr. Kentley said to the children, rising to his feet. “Go on now.” With angry glares at them, the children reluctantly left the room.
“We didn’t come to hurt anyone,” Jaxon said. “El Cerebro sent us to prevent Special Forces from taking you into custody. He wants to meet with you.”
Kentley chuckled. “So your partner over there said earlier. But I’m surprised the leader of the underground in Dallastar even knows I exist. At any rate, if you’ll please relax, I can promise you no one will hurt you here.”
“How can you promise that?” Nova’s lip curled slightly.
Kentley’s gaze rested on her a moment before answering. “Because this is my home and has been for a year now. These people are my friends. Who do you think told Silas to bring you here? Though I’d intended to keep out of sight.”
“These fringers took you at gunpoint,” Reese said. “They threatened to kill you.”
“That was just so you’d let us go. I had a patient to see.” Kentley pulled a chair from the table and set it close to the couch by Eagle. “But I guess at the end of the day, I should be thanking you.” He must have noted the surprise on Jaxon’s face because he added, “I knew I was watched and that I didn’t have much time before they tried to pick me up. If you hadn’t been here and engaged with them, I might have gone back later today. Now keep your guns, if you want, but could you ask this young lady to put away her knife?”
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