by K. J. McPike
Then again, would death be better than this?
No. I couldn’t think that way. There had to be a way out. We just had to find a way around all the obstacles. Cora swiped her card to open the cabinet, and my mind reeled as she put away the tracker injectors. If we could find a way into that cabinet, we could get the devices to take the trackers out. Then we would have a chance to get out of here undetected.
As long as we don’t get caught again.
I knew none of us could handle another punishment. What if the next time we tried something, they escalated to killing?
“Time for clean up,” Cora announced, closing the cabinet doors. “And then you are all off to your departments.”
The nurses split our group by gender. Kai’s nurse took the boys in one direction, and Cora dragged Oxanna and me off in the other. My sister kept her eyes on the floor the whole time, but I put my arm around her as we walked.
We came to a bathing area similar to the one I’d used yesterday, and I moved like a zombie, going through the motions of cleaning myself up. As I showered, all I could do was wonder if Ulyxses and Kala were okay; if Oxanna and Kai would ever be okay again. I wouldn’t rebel outwardly and risk putting anyone through another horror like last night, but I refused to stop trying to think of ways out of here.
My mind ran like the water cascading over me, and one by one, my ideas swirled down the drain with it. Every possibility I could think of held obstacles we couldn’t overcome. How were we going to pull this off?
“Lali, say hello to your team.” Cora gestured to a handful of faces I didn’t recognize. We’d come straight here from the shower room, after another nurse had taken Oxanna to wherever her department was. “Make yourself at home.”
I couldn’t help but scoff at such an absurd statement, but Cora didn’t seem to notice. She just gave me a wink and moved back into the hallway, leaving me with a roomful of strangers who all stared at me.
Clasping my hands, I did all I could to calm my racing heart as I faced the four of them. Only the one standing at the head of the table looked like he wanted to be there. Like Arlo, he had a large, intimidating build and a young-looking face. But his was cleanly shaven, and his hazel eyes might have looked kind in different circumstances. His hair, dyed a shade of lime green so light it was almost yellow, came to the top of his cheekbones and made his head look like a mushroom.
“Well, do not just stand there,” he said. “Have a seat.”
I stayed quiet, stumbling over to sit in one of the empty seats at the far end of the table. The only other girl watched me with a weary expression from behind a curtain of brown hair. She and the other two boys each wore the same style jumpsuit as me, and none of them had hair dyed an unnatural color. They must have been semmies, too. I had no idea what we would be expected to do here, but from the looks on their faces, I was sure it wouldn’t be good.
“Welcome,” the leader said. “My name is Brek.” He nodded once, but he didn’t bother to introduce anyone else. “You are a highly anticipated addition, Lali. We have not had anyone who could operate as a true spy since Jenika.”
Not sure how to respond, I shifted in my hard metal chair. I didn’t want to think about what happened to Jenika.
“In the Intelligence Department, we work to ensure order,” Brek went on. “In many ways, we are the most important. It is up to us to ensure that anyone who may threaten our way of life is stopped before it is too late. We keep everyone lawful, and it is only fitting that those who are the result of dissent help us to stop it.”
I bristled, his dig at semmies not lost on me. As tempting as it was to fire back, last night’s punishment had me hesitant to step out of line in any way.
Brek smiled as if he knew I was too scared to speak up. “Lali, I should tell you that how you perform in your Intelligence duties will determine whether you move to more important missions and more classified information. Work well, and you will work your way up.”
All I could do was blink at him. Was that supposed to motivate me?
“Your assignment for today,” he continued, “will be following Pane.” He clicked a button in his pocket, and a photo appeared on the wall behind him. It was a close-up of a man with a wide jaw and a nose that looked like it had been broken several times. “Not only do we suspect that Pane may be sympathizing with interbreeders, but we also have word that he may actually have a semmie child of his own.”
Brek paused to put a hand to his heart, as if the thought were so appalling he had to take a moment to gather himself. “Your job today is to follow him and find out anything you can.” His gaze turned to me, and I couldn’t help but wince. “Arlo tells me you can track based on images.”
I swallowed hard, offering a small nod.
“Wonderful,” he said. “Then that is what you will do. Follow him in your astral form and find out anything you can.”
Wait. They wanted me to follow someone in astral form? That meant they would have to allow me to project out of the lab. Was that why they swapped our trackers? I had assumed it was part of our punishment, but maybe they realized that I could get away if I traveled to the transposer under the San Francisco Bay. Now if I tried that, someone I cared about would die from tracker poison.
But if I could get my tracker out…
It wouldn’t matter. I couldn’t use a necklace to penetrate the block, so I’d have no way to come back for everyone else.
Brek clapped his hands loudly, startling me so badly my chair scraped across the floor. “You will acknowledge my speech every time I speak.”
“What?” I spluttered. Had he still been talking?
“I said you will study his face until you have it memorized.”
“O-okay.”
He stared me down for a long moment before moving on, and I turned to look at Pane’s image on the wall. Please don’t give me anything to report. I couldn’t handle giving the Eyes and Ears a reason to harm anyone else.
The Eyes and Ears. My stomach dropped as the realization crashed into me. That was who they wanted me to spy for. This must be how that group got their intel about everyone they went after, by forcing semmies to turn in other semmies and any Astralii who could be our allies. They had outlawed interbreeding so they’d have an excuse to round us up and use our powers to do their dirty work. And if we didn’t cooperate, we put people we loved at risk.
My fists balled. This was all so wrong, and they made sure we were helpless to stop it. But I refused to let them win. Somehow, I was going to figure out a way out of here.
“Isabel,” Brek said, moving on to the other girl in the group. “Get your senses to his home and monitor just in case he has yet to leave.”
I sucked in a breath. She could project her senses?
Brek turned to the younger of the two boys at the table and continued giving instructions. “If Pane is in the other realm, stay in his head until he comes back.”
The boy nodded, shifting in his seat. I tried to follow what Brek meant. Maybe this boy could see thoughts like Salaxia.
My sister’s face flashed into my mind, and, as twisted as it was, I was glad she wasn’t here to suffer through this with us. If we had decided to pull her out of a timeline where she was happy only to end up in this nightmare, I would never have been able to forgive myself.
“Now, let us go.” Brek motioned for us to stand, and I realized I’d missed what he said to the third semmie at our table. We all moved toward the door as Brek entered the code to exit and led us down the hall. After walking for what felt like miles, we stopped in front of another door, and he typed in another code. The doors opened without a face scan that time, and I frowned. Why was this room different?
Looking up, I saw an orange sky and a hillside covered in red and yellow grass showing through glass walls. A transposer glowed in the middle of the space, and I gasped. This was the room we’d come into when Sariah turned us over. What were we doing here?
The other three semmies closed their eyes,
and I realized the answer to my question: This room wasn’t blocked. If we were supposed to project out of the lab, we could do it from here. Sariah must have permeated the glass to bring Kai and me in astral form before she tossed us through the transposer to switch us into our physical bodies.
“Let me remind you,” Brek said, staring me down. “If you do not do your job, it will be very, very bad for your family and your friends.”
Ulyxses’ screams from last night played through my mind, and I fought back a shiver. “I know,” I said in as steady a voice as I could manage.
“And of course, I do not have to remind you about the poison in your trackers.” With that, he dipped his head toward the glass. “Get to work.”
I closed my eyes, more to hold back tears than to go straight into projecting. If Pane was really on the side of semmies—and if he had a semmie child—I couldn’t bear turning him in. But it was either that or subject my family to another punishment, not knowing if it would escalate to death. How was I supposed to choose between those options?
My only hope was that following Pane wouldn’t give me anything to report. Maybe he’d been falsely accused. Maybe he hated semmies like everyone at the lab seemed to. I grimaced, realizing that the thought of him being another Astralis who despised my kind actually comforted me. What would Paris think?
Paris! I had to see if she was okay. This might be the only chance I would get to know for sure. Closing my eyes, I pictured her face. My heart threw itself against my ribcage, but nothing happened when I tried to project to her.
No. I tried again, and still nothing. The back of my throat quivered. It wasn’t a block stopping me—that would have knocked me to the floor. I couldn't get anything to happen when I tried to project to her.
She’s gone. All along I’d suspected that they wouldn’t let her live, but the confirmation hit me like a brick. Choking back a sob, I squeezed my fists so tight that my nails carved their way into my palm.
“Are you having trouble projecting?” Brek asked, though his voice sounded more taunting than concerned.
I opened my eyes, using all my self control to resist my overwhelming urge to attack him. If I didn’t cooperate, there was no telling who else I would lose.
“No,” I said, giving him no further explanation. Squeezing my eyes shut again, I pictured Pane’s face. When I appeared next to him, he sat on a sofa next to a woman in a sparsely furnished studio apartment. The blue sky showing through the bay window told me the home wasn’t in Alea.
Crap.
Pane and the woman were both reading silently, each holding a different section of the newspaper. My eyes landed on her stomach, and I felt my spirit sink.
She was pregnant.
I tried to tell myself it was possible that she was a friend or relative of his, or that the baby wasn’t Pane’s, but I knew better. Someone had ratted him out, and all Brek wanted from me was confirmation.
I watched the pair, guilt seeping in as I thought about what going back to report this would mean. Could I lie convincingly? What if they sent Sind through my memories again? Then any denial wouldn’t matter, and someone I cared about would suffer for my deceit. Was there any way I could hide this?
I spent the rest of my time in astral form trying and failing to answer that question. When I felt myself running out of energy, I returned to my body and found the others were still projecting. To my left, Brek was looking at me with a clipboard and a pen positioned to take notes.
“Well?” he asked.
I floundered, unable to form words.
“I see.” He spoke quickly into a device around his wrist and looked up at me again. “Arlo will be here shortly to talk to you about what you found.”
My body deflated. Why did it have to be Arlo? I was sure he would punish the others if he thought I was lying, but how could I let them know about that poor baby? I would doom the child before it was even born.
The doors slid open and Arlo’s face lit up when he saw me. “How is your first day on the job?” he asked warmly, as if we were old friends. As if last night hadn’t transpired at all.
I stayed quiet, afraid of the repercussions no matter what I said.
“Well?” Arlo asked, still giving me a pleasant expression.
“Fine.” My tone came out clipped, but his face didn’t falter.
“Good. I cannot wait to hear what you have found. Come with me.”
I inhaled slowly, turning my back to Brek and the rest of the semmies as I followed Arlo. He entered the code and announced, “Arlo Orian.” The green laser shot out, and I tried to make sense of it. This room didn’t require the scan on the way in, only on the way out. Why?
I glanced back over my shoulder. If Sariah brought Kai and me in through here, maybe it was considered an entrance. There was no way out—not in physical form, anyway. Three of the four walls were solid sheets of glass, the fourth a stretch of metal with doors leading inside. I knew the scans were required when entering the lab—I’d seen it the first time I’d been dragged here.
“I hear you were assigned to follow Pane,” Arlo said, snapping me out of my thoughts as he led the way out of the glass room and into the hallway.
“Yes,” I said, following a few paces behind him.
“And did you see anything of interest?”
I weighed my options. There was no good answer to that question, so I settled for a half-truth. “I didn’t see a child, if that’s what you’re asking.” I hoped it sounded believable. Technically, I hadn’t seen the child—only a pregnant belly.
Arlo chuckled. “I certainly hope you are being truthful. I have just gotten a new polygraph test that I cannot wait to try.”
I let my head fall back. Of course he would have something to determine if I told the truth. “Wait,” I said, struggling to find the words I needed.
He laughed again. “I thought that might get you to offer something else.” Stopping at a set of double doors, he typed in a code, said his name, and let the laser scan his face. “But now that you have proven you cannot be trusted, you will be the first to be evaluated.”
The doors slid open, and I felt my lip quiver. Once he found out what I’d seen, was he going to make me hurt one of my siblings?
“I didn’t see a child,” I repeated, clinging to the hope that I could redeem myself before that happened. “But—”
“Ah, good,” Arlo interrupted, looking into the room. “Everything is ready.”
Dreading what I would see, I followed his gaze and saw another lab worker who looked far too eager. At his side was a skinny girl in a yellow jumpsuit.
My eyes landed on her face, and my heart stopped.
It was Salaxia.
Chapter 24
Motivation
The feeling went out of my body. Every thought evaporated at once, and I couldn’t make a sound. I was seeing things. I had to be seeing things. I blinked twice, but Salaxia was still there each time I opened my eyes. Her heart-shaped face, her bangs that never quite lay properly, her wide crystal-gray eyes that reflected my own surprise. It was her. But how?
“Lali!” she cried, dashing toward me.
I staggered forward to meet her, my legs like jelly. “Sal.” I could hardly get out more than a whisper. She threw her arms around me, and I clung to her, afraid to let go and lose her again. “Is that really you?”
“I was so scared,” she wailed. “I didn’t know what happened to you guys.”
I couldn’t comprehend what she meant. I couldn’t comprehend anything, except that she was alive. She was alive and I could hug her. I tasted salt, realizing my face was wet as I tucked her head under my chin.
“Sal, I’m so sorry,” I gasped. “I’m so, so sorry.” Every part of me shook, and I couldn’t keep up with the questions plowing through my mind. How was she here? Where did she come from? How was this even possible?
“Well, this is just lovely.” Arlo’s voice sent reality crashing back down on me. I’d almost forgotten where we were
. “I always did love a happy ending,” he said.
I looked up, barely registering the lab worker that still stood across the room as Arlo stepped up beside Salaxia and me. I shifted my sister to put myself between her and the two men. “Stay away from her.” I glared up at Arlo, ready to tear out his throat if he tried to hurt her.
“Now, now,” Arlo scolded. “Do not forget, you are still both on the clock. If we are going to feed you, clothe you, and house you, then you must earn your keep.” He turned to smile at Salaxia, making my skin crawl. “It is only out of the goodness of my heart that I have given semmies the opportunity to live and benefit our society. Do not make me regret that choice.”
I couldn’t even formulate a response. Did he really think we were warped enough to believe that he was doing us a favor?
Unfazed by my death stare, Arlo turned to the lab worker. “Leave us,” he instructed. “We need to speak in private.”
The worker left wordlessly, and I didn’t know whether to be relieved or horrified that he was gone.
Arlo gestured to the table and chairs a few feet away from where we stood. “Have a seat, both of you,” he said. “This will be fun.”
Salaxia looked up at me as if she weren’t sure whether or not to listen to him, and I had to suppress every instinct to tell her to run. Arlo was nearly twice my size, and Salaxia and I had no way out of the lab. At least, not one that I was certain wouldn’t result in her getting hurt.
I took my sister’s hand and led her over to the table. She sat in one of the chairs, but I stood next to her, refusing to break contact. Some irrational part of me feared that if I did, she would vanish.
Arlo followed us, licking his lips like he was looking at a five-course meal. “Your big sister told me that Pane does not have a child,” he said to Salaxia. “I need you to tell me if that is true.”