by Patti Larsen
She snarls at me but drops to her knees. Ichor, her Tek blood, oozes green from her metallic hand, burning the edges of the cover. Someone bangs on the inside just as she finishes, but the weld is solid.
Duet is up again, pulling me along though I don't need her support any longer. I glance at her, fear growing. Gone is the mostly cheerful though damaged sister I knew for such a short time. In her place is a half-metal animal, panting in rage, madness filling her gaze, the cyborg half of her face twisted into a mask of hate.
“Duet!” I jerk free of her, stop at the corner of a brick building. A police station, the home of my cell. They'll be after us out the front soon, I know we have to hurry, but I have no idea where we are, somewhere near the docks still, I think. I need to get my bearings. “Duet, stop.”
She hunkers down, hugging herself and rocking, looking around in jerking motions. A low keening rises from her chest, making mine ache. I crouch next to her and try to hug her, but she pulls away as if my touch suddenly burns her.
“Hate her,” Duet whispers. “Hate her, Trio. Hatehatehatehate.”
I nod, touch her human cheek softly until she stills a little, then her metal side. The tension in it eases, falling from the frightening grimace into a more normal frown.
“Me too,” I say. “But we're free.” I hug her again and this time she doesn't retreat, but embraces me back, whole body trembling. “Thank you, Duet.”
She tries a smile, half a thing, but the insanity I saw in her eyes has faded a little. What did Solo do to our sister? My heart hardens suddenly, the hate she feels not enough for me.
I'll kill Solo for this. For all of it.
That's my task.
I rise, pull her up next to me, eyes darting around. Where are we? Before I can come up with a plan, I see movement, two figures running toward us.
I know them. The sight makes everything all right, really.
Beckett doesn't stop until I'm in his arms, Vander right next to him, but instead of savoring the moment, a moment we don't have, they both turn and run off again, my hand firmly clasped in Beckett's.
***
Chapter Twenty One
Poppy and the puppies are waiting for me when I slide through the boarded-up window and into the darkened interior of an abandoned building. She doesn't make a sound, just runs to me and hugs me around my neck, face pressed into my hair as she clings as if she'll never let me go.
The dog bounds forward, butts his head against my thigh. Our second reunion goes about the same as the first with him glued to me from that moment on.
Oh how I've missed him.
The puppies lick my fingers as I collapse at last, body aching suddenly. I've healed, that much is certain, but I can only guess from the way my muscles hurt from the damage Solo had actually done to me that I still feel it without showing outward sign of harm.
“How long?” I welcome Beckett's closeness as he sinks down next to me, the dog with his head and shoulders at an uncomfortable angle over my crossed legs, Poppy clinging to my other side while the puppies snuggle in as close as they can. I look around as Beckett answers me, seeing faces I know.
“Three days.” Beckett hands me a can of food and I gulp it gratefully while Socrates and Vander join us. A few of Chime's kids are there too, but there's no sign of her or Ande and I feel concern rise for the little engineer. “We followed them, saw where they took you, but couldn't find a way in.”
“No in,” Duet grunts over her own can of beans. “Out.”
“Yes, exactly.” I sigh a deep and relieved breath of air. I might not be fulfilling my task just yet, but at least now I have a chance.
A slim chance.
I fill Beckett and the others in on Solo, on Dauphine and how my sister is looking for Poppy.
The girl shivers while Beckett scowls.
“Why does she want Poppy?”
He's right. Why does she want the girl? I smile a little at my friend and she smiles a little back.
“I don't know,” I say, “unless she's aware how much I care about you and wants to use you against me.”
“Never,” Poppy says. “Not ever.”
“Not Poppy,” Duet says, rocking now, back and forth, hugging herself again as though fearful she might fly apart at any moment. “Mother.”
I shake my head. “Duet, what?”
Duet turns away from me, leans forward, rests her head on Poppy's lap. The girl strokes Duet's cheek while my sister hums herself into deeper retreat.
“Now you.” I toss the can aside, feeling better for the food in my stomach. I'm pretty sure I haven't eaten anything aside from the one small bite of pie in all this time. “Tell me what's happened.”
“This place,” Beckett shakes his head. “It's nothing like anywhere else.”
Socrates taps his fingers on the knees of his jeans, a familiar motion I'm used to. “It's full of Crawlers,” the boy says. “Full. And not our kind of Crawlers. Bigger. Better equipped.”
Vander nods, his soft glow visible in the low light of the darkened building. “There is some kind of order in this place,” he says in his smooth voice. “Food distribution. And no sign of Brights or Shambles or Howls. Only Crawlers and normal kids.”
Interesting. “She's followed us all the way here,” I say. “But why do I get the impression she's been here before?”
Beckett reaches out and scratches the dog's ear, the golden lab groaning in pleasure at his touch. “Because I think this is her stronghold. Trio,” he looks up, his blue eyes meeting mine, “why were you drawn here?”
I wish I knew. They all look at me, expectant, waiting. Again. Like on the train, as though being here is enough. “I'm sorry,” I say, misery making my voice crack, “I have no idea.” Though I now fear I'm only here because of Solo. And yet, my mother would never betray me. I know that much is true.
“I think I understand.” Socrates jabs an index finger at me though there is no anger in the gesture. “I think this is where you're from.”
Is it? I draw a breath, focus. Close my eyes and breathe. Am I from here, from New York. Is that why I was told to return? Yes, he's right. What had Duet said when we first arrived? Welcome home?
But why did I leave this city, and what was I doing on the other side of the continent?
“I wasn't supposed to be there.” I jerk a little as I open my eyes, the sound of my own voice startling in the quiet. “In Los Angeles. I was supposed to come here.”
Socrates is nodding along with me, but he doesn't speak, and I'm grateful. I need to chase down this awareness and find answers if I can.
“Time travel.” Duet perks up at that, her green eye fixing on me. “The Time Reparation Initiative.” She sits up. “The light.”
The light. Solo standing in the light. “It's not where,” I say, remembering the disk, what my sister and I discovered and didn't get a chance to tell the others. “It's when.”
Even Socrates is frowning at the idea, but I lunge forward and take his hand, the dog between us. “You remember, the book. The Hardy Boys. What was the date?”
“1992,” he says immediately, like I knew he would.
“Which makes this what year?” I lean back, look at Beckett. His face contorts as though he's trying to figure it out, but Vander is the one who speaks up.
“2012,” he says.
Duet shakes her head. “Too early.”
“Yes.” I find myself grinning. She's right. I was right when I first had the thought. “It's too early. By years.”
“What are you talking about?” Beckett's confusion makes me want to grip his face between my hands and kiss him.
“All along I've thought I was from somewhere else.” I look around me. “Because this isn't the world I know. But it is.” I shake my head, knowing how I sound. “I know this world, the people in it. But where I come from the Sick doesn't exist.”
Socrates chews aggressively at his bottom lip. “But that's not likely, is it?” He starts to rock as his agile brain works
it out. “An alternate reality where things have moved on in a different progression. It's much more likely you've traveled in time.” He shakes his head with a grin. “I can't believe I just said that.”
“Back.” Duet's humming is broken by that one word.
“Back.” I pat her hand. “Solo said she's the cause of the Sick.” I sit up straighter. “The light. Time travel.” I'm shaking with the surge of the revelation. “She traveled back here, to the past, to your past, and brought the Sick with her.”
“So the world you know...” Vander sighed. “The world you know is our world, only our fate is much different than yours.”
We all sit in quiet for a little while. I know I'm right, have never been so certain and from the looks on the others faces they believe me. As impossible, improbable as it is, this explanation has to be the truth.
“I don't think much of her methods.” Socrates says at last. “Why destroy everything?”
“I have no idea.” My shoulders slump a little. There's still so much we don't know.
“Trio,” Duet sits up, reaches for me. “The light.” I nod absently, but she's insistent, pulling me closer. “The light.”
Fear grips my heart. “Duet,” I say, “is the light here?”
She sighs and sinks back. “Yes,” she says. “And no. Not the right one, not yet,” she says. “But it will be.”
“What does that mean?” Beckett looks back and forth between us while Socrates sucks air through his teeth in a sharp whistle.
“It means,” I say, dread growing with my renewed determination, “Solo isn't done. She's built another time portal. Here. Now.” My mind races with possibilities, though I know she can have only one goal. “She's going to go back farther. Where we can't reach her. And she's going to do this all over again.”
***
Chapter Twenty Two
It's Beckett who breaks our melancholy. “We can't worry about time travel or Solo's plans right now.” He climbs to his feet, offers me a hand in rising. “We need to find a safe place first, then figure this out.”
I step back from him, knowing I have to finally do what I've only attempted before. “Not this time.”
Beckett's scowl is immediate. “We're not having this argument again,” he says.
“Yes, we are.” I gesture for Duet to come to me and she does, though she looks longingly at Poppy. The dog sticks to me, and I know I'll never convince him to stay behind. “You all have to run. Get away from here. Let Duet and I handle our sister.” I stroke the dog's head as he looks up at me. “All of you.”
“Yes, go.” Duet turns away from them. “Can't help now. Go.”
I know she's only trying to keep from looking at Poppy, but her act has the desired effect. My friends are suddenly crushed, shoulders sinking, faces so sad I wish I could offer them more than escape for themselves. But it's all I have to give.
If that.
“This is for Duet and I.” I shove gently against the dog who refuses to budge.
“No,” Beckett says with so much venom in his voice I actually gasp a little. “It's not, Trio. That's the most selfish thing I've ever heard.”
Selfish? In this world? It's called survival. But he won't listen, crossing his arms over a chest expanding with anger.
“Solo did this to us.” He looks around at our friends. “She ruined our world, our future. Killed our parents, our friends and families. Took what should have been a good life and made it into rubbish and fear and loneliness.” His voice cracks a little though I don't know if from his growing rage or from deep-rooted sadness, though I imagine from both. “We deserve the right to go after her as much as you do. More. Because she did this to us.”
I pause, hesitate. He's right, but he's no match for her. I doubt I am.
“We're going to take her down,” Beckett says, “with your help or without it.”
I want to argue. I need to tell him to go. But one look down, a look lured by a soft whimper, and I'm lost in the dark eyes of the dog.
An engine rumbles outside, roars up to the boarded window, the sound of metal armor and the chatter of Crawlers sending us scrambling.
We're running, together, and I know I will never try to leave them behind again.
For better or worse, my friends and I are in this until the end.
We flee out the other side of the building, over discarded furniture long gone to rot, through a narrow window tucked in a cul-de-sac. And almost run right into a second Crawler truck as it spins around the corner and comes straight for us.
My first thought is Poppy. Solo was after her, is she still? I'm kicking myself immediately, mind going to our escape, to Duet's rescue of me. Solo has countless Crawlers at her disposal, and there were only a few guarding us? Especially when she is aware of our abilities.
A set up, then. I led them, Duet did, right to Solo's target.
But why Poppy?
I scramble down the street, the dog at my side, Socrates next to me with Shine in his jacket, Vander clutching Shade to his chest. I half turn, see Beckett and Duet with Poppy, the rest of the kids running behind.
“Duet!” I point at Poppy. “Protect her with your life!”
I might as well have lit a fire in her mind the way she spins and grabs the girl, swinging her up into her arms. Duet's face is a rictus of fury as she gallops past us, Poppy cradled protectively against her metal body.
Three streets and four building detours later and we've outrun the Crawlers. For now. Even now, as I peer out into the gathering darkness, I catch sight of an armored truck rolling past, a powerful light playing over the ground and filling the lengthening shadows.
“We won't be able to do anything if we have to keep running.” Socrates wipes his brow, setting Shine down for a moment. The puppy, I'm certain as brilliant as his father, doesn't wander but settles at the boy's feet and waits for our next move.
If we could just figure out what that should be.
“So much for you joining us,” I say, half light-hearted, unable to contain the little giggle rising from me. “You're not much good, are you?”
Socrates sticks his tongue out at me and laughs.
The dog's head comes up, a low growl killing my humor before it has a chance to go very far. I turn beside him, ready to fight though my calm that normally aids me in battle still eludes me.
But I know the person slinking close, the girl with the dirty bandana and the thick denim overalls. Chime shuffles forward, but she's not alone. And when I see Ande, I can't help but let my smile return.
He hugs me, shivering as he does. “My train,” he whispers. “They took her.”
I wish I could offer him more comfort. “I'm so sorry.”
Chime just watches us, her typical animosity missing though there's no caring in her eyes when I meet them. “Finally,” she says as her few kids with us gather around her, touching parts of her clothing as if to prove to themselves she's real. “We've been looking everywhere for you.”
Doubt and instant caution make me pull back as she rolls her eyes at me.
“We've made friends,” she says. “Who hate the Crawlers as much as we do.” There's hate in her voice, for certain. And yet, I can't bring myself to trust her.
But it's not her word I'm going by. When I glance at Ande, he nods. “They're okay,” he says. Glances sideways at Chime. “Leader's a bit of a case. But we're safe with them.”
His endorsement is enough for me. And we need somewhere to gather our thoughts, to try to come up with a plan to kill my sister.
If we can even find her. Though I know if I present myself she'll appear. With a horde of her Crawlers.
Not the best scenario, but I can't seem to come up with anything else. At least a hiding place with people who know the area will give me the time I need to come up with something more intelligent.
And yet I can't help but worry still. We've been betrayed so many times by so many people. Can we possibly take anyone's word?
***
&n
bsp; Chapter Twenty Three
We're near the outskirts of the city, down by the water, close to Battery Park. That alone makes me nervous. I feel like we should flee in the other direction, away from the statue of the green woman and the Crawlers who seem to own this part of the island.
But Chime and Ande move with confidence and little fear so I go with them, my friends too, in silence. I see Beckett looking around, Vander too, and know I'm not the only one who can't help but wonder if lies hide around every corner.
There are few Crawlers, surprisingly. I assumed Solo's headquarters was near here, but they seem to have cleared out. Searching for us, or is she hiding elsewhere? I have to find out. That's my first job.
Why do I have the feeling this won't be over unless I take the battle to her?
A warehouse beckons and I feel a shiver of déjà vu. Back to the cruel and petulant Genki who first abused then betrayed us, only to betray us all over again. He was a hoarder, ran a place like the one we approach. Though his people weren't all bad. Which makes me wish I could help Dauphine.
The moment we enter I feel them, bodies pressing in around us. We're surrounded in a circle, layers and layers of kids. Trapped. Still, they've done nothing to harm us. Yet. I press my fingers into Duet's arm, holding her back as she moans and vibrates with tension.
A tall, skinny boy in a faded denim jacket, hair buzzed almost clean off, pushes his way through the crowd to face us. I dislike him right away and discover I have good reason.
“Nice work.” He pulls Chime against his hip, long arm draped over her shoulders. “You brought them right to us.”
She won't meet my eyes and, from the stuttering mess Ande suddenly melts into, I know he's been unaware of her duplicity.
While I suppose I should be afraid, surrounded as we are, a new leader thinking he can keep me from my task, I instead feel anger surge forth as the calm, my blessed calm, joins it in a soothing rush.
Everything is suddenly clear again, crisp and bright. Duet knows, I can see it in her posture, in the way her head tilts to the side as if she's waiting for me to act.