Beat

by Jared Garrett

  The clarity of her voice set me back on my heels a little. “What?”

  “It wasn’t you that killed my mom. The Ranjers did it.” Her green eyes flashed. “I want to kill them.”

  I felt like I should tell her she shouldn’t talk that way, but that was stupid. I wanted to kill them too.

  “All of them.” Devera looked down.

  Hearing those words from a kid who couldn’t be older than seven was disturbing. But the blame wasn’t Devera’s. “How old are you?”

  “Eight. Almost nine.”

  So I was wrong. How was I supposed to know how old little kids were?

  The Pod settled to the ground. Devera unstrapped and stood. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to go back and try to end all this. But we need to find a way to keep you safe.”

  “I want to help.”

  I stared at her, trying to imagine what an almost nine-year-old could do to help us. Probably not a lot. But she deserved a chance to get back at the people who had killed her family. She should be allowed to get justice, even if she was only eight years old. “I don’t know. We’ll try to find something you can do, but you’re . . . well . . . ”

  “A kid. But I’m fast and I always won our wrestling matches.” She stood straight, her green eyes challenging me. Her chin moved up slightly, as if she were going to poke me with it. “I can help.”

  I knew it was bad of me, but I couldn’t deny her the chance. “We’ll find something. I promise.”

  “Don’t break promises.”

  “I won’t.”

  Melisa joined us. “Did I hear you say Devera was going to help us?”

  I bit my tongue and stared hard at Melisa. She had to understand.

  “I am going to help. He said.”

  “Hey, I know why you want to,” Melisa said, “but we can’t put you in a dangerous situation.”

  “I already was in one.” Devera glared at Melisa. “They killed my family. Did they kill yours too?”

  Melisa opened her mouth, maybe to argue, but nothing came out. I was impressed; Devera was pretty convincing. “But you’re a little girl,” Melisa finally said.

  “I’m almost nine.” Devera kept glaring. “I’m almost the same as you.”

  Melisa’s face darkened. “No, you’re not. I’m almost sixteen. That’s a big difference.”

  “It’s only seven years. That’s really small.” Devera’s nostrils flared, her face flushing.

  “That’s practically your entire life!”

  “I don’t care! They killed everyone and I’m gonna kill them!” Suddenly she was crying, but she didn’t move. She just stared at Melisa, tears running down her face.

  I had no idea what to say or do. Melisa had no response. Long seconds passed.

  Melisa finally ended the moment by going to Devera. “Okay. You’re right.” She wrapped the girl in a hug and pulled her close. I thought Devera would resist, but she squeezed Melisa back, scrubbing her face on Melisa’s zip. They stayed that way for long enough that I began grabbing things out of lockers and off shelves.

  When I saw movement, I turned. “Melisa, is there a way to make this thing fly itself?”

  “You mean auto-pilot?” She dug through a locker, looking for a uniform that would fit.

  “Yeah, but I mean, without us in it?”

  “Of course. When we’re ready, we’ll just send it in some direction, try to throw anybody who’s tracking it off our trail.”

  She had to show me she’d thought of it too. Whatever. I thought of it first. “You should get on a uniform too. They should help us get to Koner and Pol.”

  “We need weapons, too. And Enforser EarComs would be good.”

  “Yeah, we can listen to what the Enforsers are saying.” I watched as Melisa pulled a uniform out of the locker. “You should change.” I was still wearing the uniform I’d put on during the flight out to the Wanderers.

  I carried three Keepers and a belt out of the Pod, headed for the dark tree, picturing the exact spot where I’d left the CyJet. I flexed my right arm, finding I had more movement in it than I expected. It would still hurt to use the CyJet, but that wasn’t a problem.

  By the time I got back to the Pod, happy to be back on my CyJet, Melisa had come out and Devera was helping her put things on a thick, heavy belt. A helmet sat on the ground next to her feet. Both of them turned at the soft whine of the CyJet.

  “I think it’s running out of power. I’m not sure it’ll get us back.” The CyJet felt a little rough under me, like it wasn’t flying as smoothly as it had before.

  “Trade power cells with the Pod,” Melisa said, examining the CyJet as I dismounted. The machine settled onto its pneumatic feet.

  It took another thirty minutes or so to trade out the CyJet’s power cells with a couple from the Pod. During that time, Devera unearthed a cache of rations in the Pod and Melisa found EarComs in a small locker. We stopped to eat, my stomach rumbling well into our meal.

  Throwing the wrappers into a mini-incinerator built into the Pod, Melisa plopped into the pilot’s chair one more time while Devera and I stood outside, next to the CyJet. It was going to be a tight fit, but if Devera rode just in front of me, with Melisa behind me, we should be able to make it. The CyJet probably wouldn’t be as fast, but that would be fine.

  Melisa came running out of the Pod as the ramp closed, jumping a few feet to the ground. The Pod lifted off to about twenty meters and headed toward the forest, picking up speed.

  “I set it to go southeast. It should just keep going until it runs out of power.” Melisa fastened a too-big helmet onto Devera. The Pod had reached cruising speed and was already at least a kilometer away and getting smaller.

  “What happens when the power’s out?”

  “It’ll probably crash.”

  “Maybe it’ll hit a squad of Enforsers.” I glanced after the pod.

  Melisa snorted. “Not likely.”

  I got on the CyJet first and helped Devera up. Melisa slung four Keepers over her shoulder, then climbed on. Her hands went to my shoulders to help her stay on.

  I leaned forward, a little too much, and we started out fast. Melisa’s arms wrapped around my stomach. “Slow down.”

  “Relax,” I said.

  Devera felt small and delicate in front of me. She was leaning forward, hugging the center console of the CyJet. “You okay?” I asked.

  She didn’t answer.

  “Devera. Everything okay?” I kept my eyes on the ground before us, guiding the machine toward the road.

  “Go faster!” I glanced at her. I could just barely make out the side of her face. Her eyes were wide, cheeks stretched in a smile.

  I put on more speed. Melisa’s grip tightened. It was not a bad sensation.

  Soon we were on the road, headed back toward New Frisko. Back to where this had started, and where we were going to end it.

  “They help women have babies.”

  I wondered what Devera was talking about. “What?”

  “Midwives!” Her voice was breathy, full of energy. “They help women have babies!” She had to shout to be heard over the wind and whine.

  I’d completely forgotten. I burst into laughter and poured on the speed.

  CHAPTER 31

  “We have to avoid the cameras.” Melisa’s voice slammed into my ear. Apparently she thought she had to yell, even though her mouth was right next to my ear. Granted, it felt like we were cutting through a tumbling, powerful river of wind as we shot down the ancient road, sometimes dodging distorted piles of metal that used to be cars. But she didn’t have to shout.

  I shook my head to get rid of the ringing her shout had caused then yelled back out of the corner of my mouth. “I know! We’ll have to ditch this thing outside the city.”

  We’d been speeding back toward New Frisko for about thirty minutes and would have to leave the CyJet soon. The trip was much faster in the light of day. I could see the rusted hulks in the road from far away and
the CyJet, amazingly, didn’t seem to have any trouble carrying so much weight.

  Not long after, we crested a hill and found that we were within a kilometer of the city. I leaned back, having to push Melisa back as I did so to slow us down. “We need a place to hide this,” I said. We left the roadway and kept our eyes peeled for a grove of trees or some tall bushes. Devera saw a group of ten or so trees and pointed it out. I angled the CyJet there and when we had stopped, I helped Devera down. Melisa slid off too, taking her pleasant warmth and weight away. I missed it immediately.

  I shook the thoughts away. Not a good time.

  Melisa and I tightened our Enforser uniforms, strapped on the heavy utility and ammunition belts, and put our helmets on. Devera watched. When we were ready, Devera nodded. “You look mean.”

  I inspected Melisa. She did the same for me. “You look right,” she said. “How am I?”

  “Fine. We just need to avoid talking. And no talking through EarComs, just monitor what’s being talked about.”

  “Right.” She slung two Keepers over her shoulder. I took the other two and did the same.

  “What about me?” Devera fingered her Wanderer clothing, the rough earthy-colored cloth. “Do I look good?”

  I wanted to kick myself. She would look completely out of place.

  “We need to find her some clothes,” Melisa said.

  I mentally mapped out the moves we would need to make and checked my Papa. “It’s 13:30 now. Let’s split up. We’ll leave Devera here and you go find her some clothes. I’ll get Koner and Pol. Then we can meet somewhere near Prime One, maybe at 14:30.”

  “Do you think it’s safe to leave her here?” Melisa put a protective hand around Devera’s shoulders.

  “I don’t want to stay here,” Devera said at almost the same time.

  “It’s our only choice. If anyone sees you,” I crouched so I was looking into Devera’s eyes, “they’ll know you don’t belong here. You’ll be caught. We can’t let that happen.”

  “But to leave her alone? Maybe one of us should stay with her.” Melisa crouched too.

  “No.” I pointed at my Papa. “We have to time this right. By the time you get her some clothes and get her into the city, school will be over, so she won’t look out of place walking around while everyone else is in class. You’ll have to act like you’re not together, but she can act like she’s going to a work assignment. So can Koner and Pol. Nobody will question us. At least they shouldn’t.” The words came easily; the plan was sharp in my mind.

  After a moment of thought, Melisa nodded. “Okay. That all makes sense. But how are you going to get to Koner and Pol?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I should go to their classes. People would notice something so unusual. I think I need to find them right after their classes.”

  “And Pol will need to go home to get his EarComs. What if you IM them?”

  I chewed on that. “That might work, but don’t you think the Admins have to be watching all of the Pushers still? Wouldn’t they be monitoring IM-boxes for messages?”

  “Yeah.” It was strange to be talking to Melisa without being able to see her face through the opaque mask on her helmet. I could see through my mask just fine, though.

  “I think I should just wait for them outside the School Dome. They’ll go home, and they both live in Green Rez, so they should come out the same door.” We were wasting time. I stood up and shook the circulation back into my legs. “I’ll get it done.”

  “Where should we meet?” Melisa straightened too.

  “Let’s meet at Holland Park. You know, between enjineering and school. That’s pretty close to Prime One.”

  “Okay. Near the scarf store.” She flipped her mask up. “It’s weird talking through these things.”

  “Yeah, but we have to be careful. Let’s get moving.” I felt a little jittery with nerves, but did my best to force that away with a slow breath. “See you in an hour.” I turned.

  “Nik.” Melisa grabbed my arm. She lifted my visor. Her face was really close. My heart thumped a few times and I swallowed hard. She stared into my eyes. “Be careful. Please.”

  “It’s going to be okay,” I said.

  “Don’t say that.” She squeezed me tighter. “You don’t know that. Just be careful.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  She pushed my visor down and let me go.

  I heard her talking to Devera as I walked quickly over the top of the hill and down the slope. I needed to find the right place to enter the city. It would seem strange if an Admin somewhere saw an Enforser walking into the city from the outside. One of the parks. I was too far from Hope Park, but I could probably get to Brown Park, the one between Orange and Purple Rez. People would be there and the cameras should be focused on the people there. I should be able to safely appear in the park without seeming out of place or like I had come from the Outside. And if people in the park saw me come from the Outside, they wouldn’t question me; I was an Enforser.

  I walked faster. I didn’t have a lot of time if I wanted to catch Pol and Koner right after school finished. As I moved, it occurred to me that three days ago—even two days ago—I’d been sitting in class with no clue how my world was about to change. The kids in school even now had no idea how much their world was about to change either.

  As I neared Brown Park, I slowed, keeping trees and terrain between me and the park itself. I heard a few voices, mostly of younger kids who weren’t in the Nursery anymore but who didn’t have to go to school all day, and some parents. That reminded me. I pulled off my left glove and felt around the outside of the helmet. The Enforser EarCom didn’t go in the ear like normal ones did; it fit into the inside of the helmet. There had to be a way to activate it. My fingers found a button. I pushed it. My visor suffused with a red glow, then it clarified again, with all kinds of things superimposed over the terrain I saw. As I turned my head, information about elevation, distance to different things like trees and stuff, and some flashing information about a Keeper appeared. It said INACTIVE. I pulled one of the Keepers around and grabbed the handle. The flashing word changed. ACTIVE: SELECT PROJECTILE AND TARGET.

  Cool mask.

  I let the Keeper fall and searched some more for how to activate the EarCom. Nothing. Making sure nobody could see me, I hunkered down and took the helmet off, noticing it had a number on the back: 1984. It took me a minute, but I finally noticed that the chin strap was more than just a piece of cloth. It looked like . . . I put the helmet back on, then fastened the chin strap. The moment it buckled, the EarCom came alive. Hearing some chatter about extra guards being assigned to Prime One, I stood as tall as I could, stuck my chest out, and walked quickly around some trees and into Brown Park.

  I was halfway across the Park when the voice came over the EarCom.

  “One nine eight four, code and assignment.” This voice was clearer than the other voices I’d been hearing. It was a man’s voice, slightly distorted.

  I ignored it and kept walking. The voice came again. “One nine eight four, respond with code and assignment.”

  Who was this guy talking to?

  Wait. One nine eight four? 1984. Bug me. Of course. The number on the helmet. The voice was talking to me, thinking I was an actual Enforser with that number. It wanted me to report in. I unstrapped the helmet as fast as I could, hopefully deactivating whatever tracker I’d activated when I’d turned on the EarCom.

  I should have known they tracked the Enforsers. A random Enforser showing up at the edge of Brown Park must have looked odd. They must have to report in whenever they turned on their EarComs, or whenever they began an assignment.

  I hoped they would just think it was some kind of random blip or bug and walked faster, mentally kicking myself, wishing I had a way to tell Melisa not to activate her helmet. Hopefully she would figure it out quickly enough to not cause a problem.

  By the time I’d circled between the Enjineering Dome and Purple Rez, I felt a lot calmer.
No Enforsers had converged on me. Nobody even looked at me. But every time I saw a person through the visor, a targeting circle followed that person until they were out of sight, and I was fed information about distance to the “target.” Both cool and scary. For a moment I wondered if the helmet helped an Enforser aim his Keeper, but that didn’t make any sense, since I’d been shot at plenty and had only been hit a couple of times. If the robots shot at me, that might be a different story.

  It was a little strange, walking as tall and big as I could down the streets and walks of New Frisko, the early afternoon shoppers and young families all around me. I wondered how many of them knew about Bren, knew about me—or at least knew what the Admins were saying about me.

  I figured that out pretty fast. All of them had to know. As I rounded the Enjineering Dome, I entered the small shopping district on the edge of the park between Enjineering and School. The place was basically a few small buildings arranged on both sides of a couple of buildings, with counters open to the front so shoppers could walk through and pick up what they wanted. There were also Speeker Skreens set up at regular intervals along the walkway, their frames shining silver in the afternoon sun. Most of the time when you were shopping you just tuned out the announcements and “news” that the Speekers droned on about, but every skreen was broadcasting the same clip of a man and a woman Speeker. And several people were clustered around each skreen.

  As I passed by the skreens, I caught what they were saying, which was obviously on a loop, because it took me a couple of minutes to get through the area, but I heard it at least once.

  The woman started the report. “Tragedy struck two nights ago when young Bren Radklif died, a victim of the still-lethal Bug. Reports say that Mr. Radklif found a way to avoid the knockout, and was practicing a dangerous activity with some friends of his. One of those friends has been identified as Nik Granjer, who has not been seen since the tragedy. He is currently wanted for questioning about this horrible event. Mr. Granjer is in serious danger, as it is suspected he has also found a way to avoid the knockout. It may be only a matter of time before he dies of infection as well.”