“I don’t know. We hope to get some answers from Ava but I doubt she knows much. She’s been used, brainwashed and tortured. Kroll has seen how certain children are turned into weapons. No one as effective as Ava, that’s for sure. But I honestly don’t think she was trained to use her power in any creative ways. She can only do basic stuff as commanded.”
Ella smiles. “No one can be as creative as you,” she says.
Finn hands her the notebook he’s been working on. “Hey, could you type these new numbers in the system tonight?” he says.
“Yes, of course,” Ella says. “I also coded in the new timetable for your meetings.”
“Hmm, Ella, maybe you should be the twelfth Savior,” I tell her, amused at her eagerness.
“Yeah, me and what powers?” she says with a smile.
“Don’t sell yourself short,” I say. “Been there, done that. It sucks.”
Ella gets up picking Finn’s notebook from the desk. “I’ll let you two talk,” she says. “See you later, Finn.”
“And she didn’t even kiss you,” I say when I’m alone with Finn.
He starts shutting down the consoles manually one by one. “And here I was thinking how nice it was to see you act civil with each other,” he says.
“I can be civil. I can even be nice.”
“You are nice,” he says. “Would it kill you to let people know it?”
That’s classic Finn. A compliment that’s not really a compliment.
“It might,” I say.
“It’s lunchtime. Do you have any plans?”
“I can change them.”
Finn reaches behind his desk to unplug his computers and screens. Conserving energy is a huge thing on the station right now. He loses his balance and falls forward hitting his forehead on one of the screens. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Finn lose his balance before.
I go to touch his forehead.
“I’m good,” he says.
His assertion doesn’t stop me. “You’re overworked,” I say as I start to rub the little bump forming on his forehead.
“Really, Tick, I’m perfectly fine. We’re all overworked.”
I give up on my attempts to soothe him. “You might consider putting some ice on it. It doesn’t look pretty.”
Finn puts his hand on his forehead to feel the bump. “Nah,” he says. “A little imperfection will only add to my charm.”
I laugh in his face as was his intention when my body is shaken violently by a piercing pain that stabs through my cranium. The room goes black. My hands reach out in search of something to hold on to. They find it, or rather it finds me. Finn’s arm.
He leads me to a chair. Gradually, colors and shapes become visible again although the excruciating throbbing inside my head doesn’t let up.
“Tick, what’s wrong?” Finn’s voice reaches me through a long underground tunnel. It almost feels as if it comes from within the earth, traveling through deep waters; distant, slow, echoing.
“It’s… it’s just a headache,” I manage to say. Did I really say it? Because Finn doesn’t respond. Maybe I just thought I did.
He puts something on my forehead. A sponge? A wet cloth? Where did he get that?
“It’s a wet pad from the med-kit,” he says. Can he read my mind?
Whatever it is this pad is drenched in, it starts working. I blink several times to relax the muscles around my eyes as the throbbing subsides.
“Freya, what happened?”
“Just about the worst headache of my life.”
Finn hesitates. “It was more than a headache.”
“It’s gone now.”
“You’re shaking.”
He’s right. I didn’t realize it before but my shaking is uncontrollable. I tense my muscles to stop it to no avail.
“You should see a doctor,” Finn says.
“What? No, absolutely not. No matter how much you try to charm me, you’re not convincing me to go to the hospital.”
“Your eyes,” he says.
“What about them?”
“They turned into their sockets. All I could see was white.”
This scares me as much as it must have scared him. I shift my position on the chair to get that image out of my head.
Finn runs his fingers over my right eyebrow. “You have to learn what to do with this new skill of yours,” he says. “How to control it.”
So he’s heard all about my troubles. News travels fast on our space station. I’m about to say something when I’m interrupted by a beeping touchpad. Mine.
“You must be late for something,” Finn says.
“It’s Doctor Armand. You didn’t call him while I was out, did you?
Finn shakes his head disapprovingly.
“Doctor Armand,” I say into the touchpad. “What’s up?”
“I have the results from Ava’s tests,” he says. “Her body is a factory.”
“I’m sorry, what do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know where to start. It’s fascinating, really. Ava’s mutations are not simply genetic, they’re mechanical. You would not believe the images. There are mechanical extensions and enhancements to her spine, lungs, nervous system. It’s like a robot’s living inside her. There are also traces of several chemicals in her blood that we will have to analyze further.”
Finn and I are speechless. Armand’s frantic description of Ava’s anatomy reminds me that we barely know anything about ourselves.
“Thank you for letting me know,” I tell Armand. “I’ll talk with you later.”
“What do you make of this?” Finn says.
“You tell me.”
“Maybe they’re running out of time a little faster than predicted. They don’t have time to wait for mutations to work. They have to help things along.”
“Maybe. Or maybe they just don’t know when to stop.”
Finn studies me suspiciously. “What is brewing in your head?”
“Nothing.”
Finn arches his eyebrows.
“Really, Finn. I think we have to go through Ava’s room in Spring Town. See what we can find there. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
As we’re beginning to process what Armand has revealed to us, Finn and I embrace as if the very act could buy us some time. I can’t help but feel that we’ve been approaching this whole thing the wrong way and that soon we’re going to uncover the true meaning of the war.
5
The heat from the strong, direct sunlight puts me into a state of stupor. A nap wouldn’t be a bad idea. But then Kroll throws a sheathed knife at me and that’s enough to return me to my senses.
“Afraid of the sun?” he says.
I examine my bare arms and legs fascinated by the bruises on my pink, sunburned skin. It’s so hot today in the Dark Legion camp it makes me wonder why I’m still out here with Kroll, exposed and panting after two hours of relentless, exhausting training. It’s been a while since I lived, breathed and trained out in the open. I don’t know why I’m surprised. Exodus has made me vulnerable to UV rays and light.
The good news is that my energy fields are becoming more stable and easier to maintain with practice. The effect on my mood, however, is getting worse.
“Afraid to die perhaps?” Kroll goes on.
“Cut it out, Kroll.”
“You look like a sick cat,” Kroll says before he gulps down an entire bottle of water in one second.
“You’re such a pest,” I tell him growing hateful.
“Your eyes are burning, your cheeks are red and your hair is a mess.”
“I’ve never seen a cat with cheeks.” I almost yell out that last part, overcome by extreme fatigue. Perhaps it would be better if I slipped into a tent and succumbed to sleep because as it is, I can’t even think straight.
Kroll takes a step closer to me. “Do you always get that irritable when you create energy fields?” he says examining my face.
“You’re an irritable energy field, Kroll,” I say.
“Maybe it’s just you.”
“Have you told anyone how this new skill is truly affecting you?”
The bastard can read my mind, I can’t forget that. He’s right but I don’t want anyone to know about my troubles with the new energy until I get it under control.
“Tell me what you think about Ava,” I say stepping away from him.
Kroll growls when he realizes I’m changing the subject. “There’s so much machinery in that girl, I’m surprised she doesn’t leak oil.”
“No way, you’re actually attempting to make a joke.”
“I blame it on my proximity to humans. You are the most infectious species in the known universe.”
My fingers feel stiff so I rub them together. Almost simultaneously a small blue spark lights up my palms. I try to shake the spark off but it escapes my hands and hits Kroll in the dead center of the chest. It’s a low energy field that cannot hurt him in the least but he steps back in astonishment anyway.
“You can’t control this thing, can you?” he says furrowing his brow.
“Leave it alone, Kroll. Don’t bring it up again,” I say, frustrated. “It’s an order,” I add for good measure.
He stares at me. I have a feeling he’s choosing his words. “The closer I get to you, the harder it will be for you to order me around,” he says finally.
“Well, there’s an easy solution to that.” I spin around on my ankles in an attempt to ward off the headache that I feel coming on. “Have you seen anything like Ava in the laboratories at Plantation-15?”
Kroll shakes his head. If I thought he had any sensitivities, I’d say he looks hurt. But why would he be hurt? Because I implied it’d be better if he’d stay away from me? Why would that matter to him? I’m all over the place with my assumptions today.
“I’ve seen one of the substances found in her tent,” he offers.
He moves to my left with the sun behind him. I have to squint to look at him. “Which one?”
“The blue pill. It was given to me.”
“What for?”
“Not sure. Probably as a mutation enhancement. I had to take it for many days. It was unpleasant.”
A group of Dark Legion fighters steps up to our training area but they quickly turn away when they notice Kroll and me.
“We have a strange effect on people,” I say.
“For what purpose are the other pills and serums?” Kroll asks.
“The ones in Ava’s room? That’s for the labs up on Exodus to determine. What interests me is how she got them.”
“She floods her own blood with so many chemicals,” Kroll says. “Odd.”
I try to smile but the headache returns. I have to squeeze my forehead with both hands to stop it from exploding. My muscles are rigid and achy and it takes an enormous amount of determination to hold myself together.
“Freya, I can help,” Kroll says softly.
Nothing and no one can help me. I have to find my way. Thoughts dig their way painfully out of my skull leaving ugly holes behind.
I look up at Kroll. He remains emotionless and obedient. Like a big dog.
But then it hits me. Kroll understands. He knows what I’m going through because he has been there. He knows what it’s like to lose control of yourself; to live in a body that is changing to accommodate someone else’s designs. To be required to be in charge of something bigger than yourself. To have others depend on you while you’re losing sight of who you are.
Kroll knows.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
He doesn’t understand and I’m not going to explain myself. I just needed to say it. To hear it, really. Because I’m sorry for myself, too.
“You can control the energy flow,” Kroll says. “The capability is in you. But now you must rest. All training needs equal parts rest to take root.”
There’s no arguing with that. He looks at me uncertain, then makes up his mind. He picks me up like a ragdoll and carries me back to Spring Town.
*
THE SHOCK OF THE BRIGHT LIGHT on my closed eyelids prompts me out of bed. I can’t see anything. I think I might have gone blind. Maybe that’s how blindness starts: with the sensation of a bright light on your closed eyelids as a poignant goodbye to the world of colors.
However as the shock wears off, my eyesight gradually returns. Zoe, Nya and Tilly stand around me, dressed in their combat uniforms and studying my reaction under their flashlights.
“What’s going on?” I say.
“You’ve slept long enough,” Tilly says. “It’s dinnertime.”
Dinnertime. That means I was passed out for five hours at least. I didn’t realize how wiped out I was. I thought twenty minutes would be adequate to take the edge off and set me straight.
The Saviors are in Spring Town now. I have to remember that. We’re more needed here in our new community. Exodus is reinforced. It can survive without us just fine.
My girls mean business. Nothing escapes their attention.
“Hello, danger girl,” Nya says poking my shoulder with her shock bow. “Are you in there?”
“Do you ever put that thing down?” Zoe scolds her.
“I’m just a bit out of it,” I say. “I was having a nice dream and next thing I know the three witches of Spring Town are blinding me.”
“A ha,” Nya says. “A nice dream means there was a certain tall, beefy leader of a fighting group of mutants in your head.”
Tilly giggles.
“Let’s go eat,” I say less amused. “You’ll all be more charming when my stomach’s full.”
We gather around one of the tables in the dining area, all the remaining Saviors besides Pip who has stayed on the station with Tobi. I can only dream of the day when I won’t have to be separated from my son again. A day when I will take Tobi to a real park and we’ll relax lying on the grass feeling the summer breeze on our skin.
Damian winks at me. I haven’t seen him all day and it’s probably for the best. He would have a lot of concerns if he knew what happened with my energy field.
When the roast arrives, I realize how hungry I am. I can’t even remember the last time I ate. Starvation is not a good choice for someone fighting against her own body.
“Are we celebrating something?” Theo says sniffing the food out.
“Yes,” Biscuit says. “The fact that there is still food to cook.”
“What do you mean?” Tilly says. “Are we short on supplies?”
Biscuit rolls his eyes at her question. “Spring Town is always short on supplies,” he says. “Especially when nobody has gone hunting or fishing for weeks.”
“Keeping us all alive seemed more of a priority,” Damian says.
We are not ourselves. Even humor turns bitter these days. Food gets stuck in our throats no matter how delicious or rare.
“How’s Ella?” Zoe asks Finn. “I bet she misses you.” There’s something odd about the tone of her voice as if she’s trying to sound casual to hide the fact she has an ulterior motive. Since everything sounds off to me today, though, I decide to put the thought aside.
Finn shrugs. “We all do what we can,” he says putting some gravy into his mouth. At least one thing hasn’t changed. He’ll never really reply to a question that involves Ella.
Our little party lacks the easy camaraderie that once came naturally every time we all got together. Except we’re not all together. Daphne and Doc are gone for good but there’s still hope for Scout and Rabbit. We have to believe that one day we will see them again.
Two huge Dark Legion guards enter the dining hall and walk straight to me. They bow before one of them hands me a piece of cloth.
I take it in my hands and roll it over several times. It’s a dirty square piece of cotton fabric with one of its edges torn off. There are embroidered daisies across the sides and what seems like a word that starts with the letters D and I. The rest of the word is missing.
“One of the patrols found this near the south edge of the district,” the g
uard says.
“Can I see it?” Zoe says. I hand it to her, unable to shake the feeling that this discovery will have many implications.
“I’ve seen this before,” Nya exclaims when she takes the piece of cloth from Zoe. “I think it belongs to Scout.”
“How can you tell?” Finn says cautiously. “It’s just a dirty piece of cloth. Probably a handkerchief. You can’t know where it came from. I’m sure there’s more than one of those.”
“I know what I know,” Nya insists.
“Do you remember those exact letters on Scout’s handkerchief?” Theo says.
Nya doesn’t respond. We know Nya well enough to know she doesn’t want to admit she can’t remember.
“Even if there is the slightest chance,” Tilly starts.
“All right, that’s enough,” Damian says glancing at me. “Freya, you haven’t said a word all night. What are your thoughts?”
I look around the table and then at the guards. I don’t know what I’m thinking but things start to become a little bit more clear.
“We’ve sat on this for quite some time,” I say.
“What do you want to do?” Finn says.
I shake my head. “I’m not sure. Any ideas are welcome.”
Damian rocks back and forth on his chair. “Put those beastly guards of yours to use,” he says.
Yes, I know what he means but I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.
“Okay,” I say after a short pause. “I’m going to find Kroll. We have to form several teams of guards and warriors and send them out to locate Scout and Rabbit.”
“Wait! Hold on a second,” Finn says. “Sending the Dark Legion out could be very, very dangerous.”
“Yeah, I get that, Finn. It’s dangerous. So is sunbathing,” I say pointing at the sunburned skin on my arms.
“Ouch,” Tilly says. “How did that happen?”
“The usual way,” I say. “Forgot to use sun protection in training.”
Nya laughs. “That’s not the worst thing you’ve ever forgotten.”
I’m tempted to respond in the same vein but think better of it. Whatever energy I have left in me needs to be directed at constructive things. So I break the amused silence in the room with the most commanding line I can come up with. “Only those who accept danger, get to change history.”
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