He doesn’t know how bad it would be, I told myself. He still doesn’t realize what his father’s capable of.
“So.” Isaiah leaned in close, causing me to stop staring at Eren. “How did it go?”
“Um, not great? He said we should have appealed to the Tribune for citizenship in Central Command, not independence. And he sort of threatened to blow us up if we can’t keep the peace.”
“I reckon people are still jittery about Five.”
“Yeah, fair enough. But we can’t be under the Commander. He’ll never give us a fair shake.”
Isaiah grinned. “Careful there, Ambassador. You sound dangerously close to believing in the cause.”
“What was the point of letting us in here, anyway?”
“How do you mean?” he asked.
“It’s just that he seems to have made up his mind already. And I got the impression there’s not much we can do to change it.”
Isaiah nodded. “That’s not all. There’s something else kinda strikes me as funny.”
“The k-bands?”
“No, I knew that would happen, eventually. I can’t rightly say, just yet, but something’s off. Maybe the way they keep hinting that they’ll destroy us if we don’t play nice.”
“Not much of a hint. He about spelled it out for me. Hey, looks like you’re up. I’ll walk you over.”
We crossed the floor just as Eren stepped out of the pod. The Imperial stood, and Isaiah was welcomed into the enclosure with a deep, ceremonial bow.
“Your Highness,” said the Imperial, and the pod lifted them up and out of earshot.
I was still staring after it when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“May I have the next dance, Ambassador?”
Still mesmerized by the flying, floating teacup, I steeled myself with my most diplomatic expression before turning. “Yes, Mister…”
“Commander. Everest. But I think we’re a little past introductions at this point, Miss Turner.”
Sixteen
“A dance. With you.” I could think of a billion things I’d rather do before dancing with Eren’s father, the High Commander of the North American Ark, several of which involved a combination of my teeth and a pair of rusty pliers. “Uh, no? Thanks, but no, never. Not ever.”
He simply stared, his once-handsome face broken by the stern, ugly line of his mouth. “Don’t you want to prove your worth as a diplomat? Might be nice to show the Imperial that we can get along for the space of a waltz.”
“See, my main issue here is that I never want to touch you, ever. Also, I make a point of not waltzing with the people who’ve tried to kill me.”
He laughed, as though amused, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and I took a few steps back, involuntarily. He stepped forward, and I felt my lungs freeze. “Come now, Miss Turner. Surely we can tolerate each other for a few moments.”
He was standing too close. I tried to work out the reason why my feet seemed rooted to the ground, but a vision of his sneering face and a crackling stunner made my mind blank out and my mouth pull down into a stupid, helpless frown.
“No. We can’t.” I tried to sound forceful, but to my horror, my voice came out like a whisper. “And I’m not particularly interested in showing the Imperial you have a soft side.”
“Neither am I, in fact, given that I don’t.” He grabbed me by the waist, in front of every soul in the room, and swept me onto the floor. To my astonishment, not a single person stepped in to pull me away from him. Even my own legs didn’t run away. What was wrong with me? The stunner cracked through my mind, and my arms were like a toy, unable to resist him as he arranged them in preparation for the waltz.
In that moment, I would have undergone any amount of pain to stop myself from crying. He was the kind of dangerous that likes to kill the things that show weakness. And right then, I was nothing but weakness.
“You can’t kill me on this Ark,” I managed at last. “They’ll know.”
“While I appreciate your advice, Miss Turner, I’d already worked that much out for myself. Steady, there.”
I staggered off-balance, but he swept me around as though it was part of the dance, forcing me further into his control.
“Let me go.”
He ignored that. “May I offer you a trade?”
“There’s nothing you can offer me. Except maybe public acknowledgement of—”
“Yes, yes. The Remnant. Let’s spare each other the time, shall we? You are well aware of my disinclination toward any such imprudence. My offer is this: stay away from my son, and I will spare your life.”
“That’s probably the most predictable, least useful thing you’ve ever said.”
“I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your pluck since we last spoke. I imagine you think it’s charming.” He pulled me in, and my arms found the will to press back, finally, but my position was too far compromised, and he was stronger. I couldn’t stop his face from looming towards my ear. “I want you dead, Turner. You are a threat to everything I’ve tried to accomplish, and I cannot make my son see reason. But you’re not like him. You have none of his innocence. I give you my word that, if you release him, I will spare your life, when the time comes.”
I battled a considerable urge to spit in his face. People were watching, I reminded myself, and they were probably the kind of people who liked their diplomats to solve problems without phlegm. “Your word is worthless, and my life doesn’t need your protection.”
“Don’t be so naïve, my dear. It hardly suits a girl of your background. The Remnant is outnumbered, outmaneuvered, out-trained, and without access to a meaningful supply line. Sooner or later, and likely sooner, my engineers will outrun the child who handles your security, and the Remnant will fall into my hands. I will own you and everyone else in it. Until then, I expect you to fight against me, to seek to prevent this from happening. You will fail. But if you give me this one, tiny thing, when that moment comes, I will not have you executed.”
“You know what I think?” I hissed, catching myself before I could stumble again, and stopping him from pulling me further off-balance. “I think you sound scared.”
“You should see yourself,” he scoffed, finally allowing me to press him away from me. He stepped back gracefully, as though it were part of our little dance. “Chin up, Turner. The Imperial is descending, and, from what I’ve heard, you have quite a decision ahead.”
With that, he released me.
I ran directly to Isaiah. He was still speaking, and the Imperial listened respectfully.
“There are thousands of people in the Remnant, Your Highness,” said Isaiah. “By supporting our right to govern ourselves, you prevent rebellion against Central Command. And by recognizing us as independent, you will motivate Central Command to stop trying to bring us to heel. They cannot govern us fairly. A two-state system is the only way to gain stability.”
“An interesting proposition. I will consider your proposal with great care, Your Majesty.”
“Mr. Underwood,” said An. “If you would be so kind as to allow the European delegation to take the pod.”
Isaiah stood, giving her an odd look through his dark glasses, but he exited, and I slid between the guards to take his arm and guide him away.
Eren came to stand on my other side, and the three of us stared after the Imperial, who was by then touring the room with another delegate.
“Any luck?” I said to Isaiah.
“Some,” he answered. “I gave them my plan.”
“You think they’ll go for it?”
Isaiah turned to me, but no sign of triumph lit his features, nor did he seem remotely comforted by his belief in his victory. “Yes, I do,” he said softly.
I looked back at Eren, who was staring at us both.
“You still haven’t told her, have you?” he said to Isaiah.
“I’m a man of my word, Everest.”
“Told me what? What’s going on?” I said. “Since when do you boys keep sec
rets together?”
“Isaiah may have found a way to—” said Eren.
“Charlotte,” Isaiah said. “You still want to go exploring?”
I looked at him blankly. There was no getting past Isaiah when he stonewalled like this. Staying near him would be the quickest way to figure out what he was up to. In any event, the idea of exploring a new Ark was far too strong a temptation to resist. “Yes, Mr. Underwood,” I said slowly. “I believe I do.”
Isaiah turned to Eren. “Ambassador Everest. Care to join us?”
“Shouldn’t we stay through the end of the party?” said Eren. “I mean, we’re the main envoys here. Won’t they be expecting us to hang around?”
“We don’t have to stay away all night. They’re busy with the Europeans right now anyway,” I said eagerly. “And besides, An told me the whole Ark is open to the public. It’s not even illegal!”
Commander Everest stepped over to our group, forcing a deliberate chill onto the conversation.
“Father,” said Eren. “Perhaps you’d like to stick around. Keep an eye on things.”
“I would indeed like to keep an eye on things,” said the Commander. “Which is why I’ll be coming with you.”
“We don’t need a chaperone,” Eren said.
“Private party,” I said, threading my fingers through Eren’s. “We’ll let you know how it goes.”
“If you’re leaving with my son, I think I’ll join you. It is, as you so eloquently stated, not even illegal.”
“Nothing good can come of this,” said Isaiah. “Maybe you should stay here.”
We gritted our teeth as the Commander took his place in our circle. The three of us met each other’s eyes for a long final moment before he spoke again. “Enjoy your freedom,” he said darkly.
We turned to leave, casting intermittent glances behind us. By the third time I looked back, the Commander was gone.
Seventeen
Isaiah seemed to have an idea of where he was going, as was ever the case. I figured he’d gotten an idea of the Ark’s layout before we left, possibly from Adam. I stayed near to him, to guide him when necessary, and Eren remained next to me, so close that our arms kept brushing. I gave him a little smirk of pretend-annoyance, and he finally grabbed my hand.
I put the Commander out of mind. I couldn’t say I was entirely comfortable being alone with Eren and Isaiah, especially as they barely seemed to tolerate each other, but I trusted them both, and the further I got from the Commander, the brighter the situation became.
Still, we broke into a steady jog by unspoken agreement as soon as the door to the party closed behind us. Before I knew it, we were sprinting down a lujing we chose at random, slowing less and less every time it crossed the guidao. We found our way to the outer rim of the ship several minutes later, and from there, it was all too easy to locate an elevator.
The elevator was uncomfortably small, probably intended for one-person deliveries, and we huddled together on the enclosed platform. Eren selected the lowest floor, and the grav generator eased us down into the bowels of the ship.
“I can almost smell the water.” Isaiah smiled. “I have heard rumors of this place since before we left Earth.”
I glanced at Eren, but he only laid a hand on his hip, as though thumbing for his sidearm. Which was, of course, back in Central Command.
The atmosphere changed, one piece at a time, starting, as Isaiah had predicted, with the smell.
In space, nothing has an odor. Each Ark was enormous, and this was the biggest of all. There were so many machines, and so many filters, that smells were the first to go. The air never lingered, and even if it had, the monotony of the oxygen converters had all but robbed us of our ability to smell anything but the ship.
Not so here.
It was a warm smell, and humid, miles from the sterility of space. It was salty and fishy, but there was more to it than just that.
The doors of the platform opened silently, but the wall continued to spread apart long after they’d disappeared, splitting further and further, folding back into itself all around us, until it was gone, and we were left with an unencumbered view of our new surroundings.
We gazed around, nervously at first, then with the kind of open, slack-jawed wonder most of us hadn’t used since childhood.
We were on a beach. A real beach, with frothy waves, and a bright, white moon overhead that turned the tips of the tiniest distant waves to silver in the blackness.
“This is… oh,” I breathed. “This is amazing.”
The steady sound of waves crashing along the shore reached the platform, and I could no longer resist running.
Eren was right behind me, stumbling through—was it possible?—sand.
“Take off your shoes!” Eren shouted after me, laughing. “We have to!”
I did so, as did Isaiah, and we left them half-buried in the perfectly sculpted dune, and kept right on running. Sand spilled down around the tall, thin stalks of grass, and I blinked, sliding, when I saw a crab burrow out of our way.
“It’s the ocean! It’s—but, how is this even possible?!” I said, tripping through cool, broken water of the shore. “Is it safe? Is it okay that I’m about to be swimming right now?” I let my feet carry me a bit deeper into the water, so that it was up to my knees. The weight of the waves pressed through my lower legs.
“I’m not even sure I care,” said Eren, scanning the tops of the waves. They were perfect and silver in the moonlight. “I can’t believe this.”
“I saw a crab. A CRAB, you guys.” I was giddy. Here, after the end of Earth and all the oceans, we stood on a real, actual beach.
Maybe anything was possible.
“I bet there are fish,” Eren said.
“Think how much seafood they must have in there. No wonder no one wants to upset them—Wait!” I shouted. “What about the robes? They’ll be ruined!”
“And the kuang bands,” said Eren.
“Nothing can ruin a kuang band,” Isaiah said quietly.
We chose not to hear him. “I don’t care a thing about this stupid band.” I pushed my arm into the water, holding the sleeve of my fiery robe barely above the surface, and met his eye. He grinned back and pressed his band into the water right next to mine.
“Never mind about the robe either, Char,” Isaiah said, his voice as low and deep as ever. He dove in, then flipped onto his back and swam away from me. “The ocean. The only one in existence. Maybe the last one ever. That’s worth more than silk, surely.”
Wonder overwhelmed me, and I sank into the cool water, grinning. Eren jumped in, too, and I followed him further in. We spun through the salty crests, which exploded all around us. Eren and I stayed a bit closer to the shore than Isaiah, who stretched his long legs and kicked out past the first silvery peaks.
“I can’t believe it,” I said again. “I can’t believe we’re here. You know what the Remnant needs? One of these.” I spread my arms wide, feeling the ocean breeze through the thin, wet silk of my robe, and dipped under again.
“Or a lake,” said Eren, breaking through the surface. “Even a pond. I’d consider joining if you had a bathtub, honestly.”
“You’d make a terrible rebel, Everest,” I teased.
The moon lit the water that ran through his hair, down his face, and over his outstretched arm as he studied me. “You think so?” he asked.
“Take it from me. They tend to frown on anything related to the Commander.” I looked away from him, and toward Isaiah, almost out of instinct. He was treading through the second set of silver crests. “Isaiah! Not so far!” I shouted. “You’re making me nervous.”
“Not to worry. I don’t plan on drowning tonight.” His voice somehow reached us without rising in pitch or volume. It was maddening and comforting at once.
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Eren said dryly.
“What’s a matter, soldier boy?” said Isaiah. “Surely you think we’d all be better off if I died.”
&nbs
p; “I’m pretty sure no one will be better off if anyone drowns tonight,” I cut in nervously. “Inter-ark relations being about as tense as they get right about now.”
“Don’t worry,” said Eren. “It’s just a threat. Asia won’t really attack us.”
“You think not?” Isaiah called, slipping through the water, coming in closer.
“I do, Mr. Underwood. They can’t afford to. They need to populate a planet. They need our supplies to survive until that day comes. The system doesn’t work without us.”
“That wouldn’t stop them from bombing our life support and scavenging the remains around our dead bodies,” I observed.
“That wouldn’t be right,” Eren said. “They wouldn’t go about it that way.”
Isaiah heard him. “You sure about that, Everest?”
Eren lowered his brow. “Believe it or not, there are people who would rather fix what’s broken than blow it up and then burn the ashes.”
Isaiah pushed further and further away, into the black and silver waves. “Ashes don’t burn.”
“If we can’t find a way to stop the war—permanently—everything will burn, Underwood,” Eren called after him.
“Oh, come on, you two,” I said. “Isn’t that enough for one night? I think we can safely assume everyone is on the same page as far as not wanting to die in a—AAHH!”
“What?” said Eren. “What is it?”
“Something touched my foot! Isaiah! Get back here!”
“I’m not sure they heard you on the other Arks, Charlotte. Say again?”
“There’s something in the water. I can’t even see the bottom,” I gasped, splashing frantically back to the shore. “What’s it doing in there?”
Isaiah’s laugh floated across the waves. “Swimming. It’s a fish, Charlotte.”
“What if it’s a shark? We did not think this through.” I glared at him from the shore, ignoring his shining smile in the waves, and immediately began to shiver in my silk robe. Wet, it clung to every possible part of me, sapping my warmth with remarkable efficiency.
Eren appeared at my side to rub my arms.
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