When I opened the door to the Guardian Level, I bit back a laugh. The carpet remained in place, and the chandeliers were still anchored to the ceiling. The people, however, had no such luxury, and most of them were clinging to the chandeliers like timid monkeys. The power appeared to be off on this level as well, with the main source of light coming from indirect fixtures along the wall. It was somewhat comforting to know that the emergency generators were in good working order, even after the second Apocalypse, or whatever it was that just happened.
I pushed myself toward the first chandelier. There was a light tinkling noise as its crystals collided. I shoved it away from me and went flying toward the next chandelier, which held a young man in a dark uniform.
His eyes opened wide, and I shoved him away, too, before he could say whether he recognized me, and continued to the next lavish light fixture. I Tarzaned like that all the way to the short cellblock, then used Jorin’s access card to open every cell door, one after the other, until I found Eren.
“Hi,” I said, clinging to the doorframe.
He, however, had nothing to cling to, and was floating back and forth through the small white room. “The minute I woke up in jail, I knew you’d come for me.”
“Really.”
“Yeah. I seemed to recall something about your intrinsic disregard for authority and figured it was only a matter of time before you stormed the gates to get me out of here. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself.”
I had to smile. “You know me too well.”
He laughed, then knocked against the ceiling. “Somehow, I doubt anyone can say that about you.”
I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise. “Not even my own husband?”
“I hear it’s important to keep a little mystery in any relationship.” He smiled, a mischievous look that crinkled the skin around his eyes, and it hit me that I was really glad I’d decided to rescue him, whether or not I wanted to be his wife.
“Grab my leg. Let’s get out of here.” Retaining my grip on the doorframe, I extended a leg toward him, and he grabbed my ankle just long enough to float toward me. His arms slid past my waist, and he wrapped them around my back, so that we were anchored against each other.
There was a lot to be said for zero gravity.
I tilted my head down to meet his gaze. Without thinking, I brushed his hair back with my fingers, and he moved up toward my face until his mouth found mine. We bumped into the bench inside the cell, and I realized I had let go of the doorframe.
“So much for your handhold,” he observed, reaching over to grab the doorframe. We faced each other for a moment, just breathing, until he broke the silence again. “Char. We need to talk.”
Before I could respond, a chugging, whirring sound filled the hallway, and the regular lights popped back on. There was a soft click, followed by the long, metallic beep of the intercom system.
“Citizens of the North American Ark. This is Commander Everest speaking. We have sustained damage from an unprovoked attack by a missile we believe to have originated from Ark Three. Please remain calm. Our emergency generators have now kick-started the Ark’s power system, which was widely unaffected by the attack. While the blow stopped the Ark from spinning momentarily, the thrusters should re-engage within the next few minutes. Within an hour, we should be back to our regular level of gravity.”
There was a long pause, and I pictured the Commander taking a deep breath before continuing.
“Unfortunately, the blast was enough to significantly weaken a major sector of the Ark, which is now beyond repair and causing a loss of oxygen throughout the ship.” Another pause. “We have prepared for such an event and will proceed as follows: Citizens, you are to remain in your quarters. Guardians of the Peace have been dispatched to the blasted area and will begin sealing it immediately. You are safest in your rooms, and under no circumstances should you attempt to leave them. Thank you for your cooperation. Everest out.”
Eren frowned at me. “We have to do something about my father.”
“Wow,” I said, deadpan. “Prison has really changed you.”
“No, I mean it, Charlotte.” Eren looked panicked. “They’re sealing off the damaged sector.”
“Right, to stop the oxygen from leaving. So that we will not all surely perish.”
“Don’t you see what that means? The ship is designed to close off the parts that sustain that much damage, so there’s enough air for everything else. If he seals off an entire sector, everyone in it will die.”
It hit me all at once that I knew exactly where An had aimed her missile. There was only one area she considered to be a serious threat, given everything I knew about her. And there was only one sector the Commander would seal off without a second thought: Seven.
The Remnant.
Thirty-seven
I thought for a moment, shifting my hold around Eren’s waist to grip his shirt instead. Once we were separated by a few inches, it was a lot easier to concentrate. “So, it doesn’t just seal automatically?”
“No, it does, but the seal will only work automatically where it hasn’t sustained a direct hit,” Eren said quickly. “So whatever sector is affected, one side of it will close permanently and automatically, as part of the ship’s emergency response system. Then the ship evaluates which levels have to be shut off from the other side, based on the damage report.”
“It’s gotta be the Remnant,” I said.
“That was my first thought, too.”
“Can we evacuate a damaged level?”
“If there’s enough time. If we wait to seal it off and try to save everyone in the sector, then everyone on board could die. But if we seal off the damaged area, we can save whoever’s left.”
“So we let some people die in order to save the rest of us.” It was like the meteor all over again. I gritted my teeth and tried to keep thinking. “So what if another Ark docked with ours? Couldn’t we ‘borrow’ air from them? If both Arks’ O2 generators were on full blast, and only one Ark had a deficit, then surely there would be enough air for everyone. No one would have to die.”
“That depends on a few things. First, how long would it take to evacuate everyone from Sector Seven? There’s a chance we could deplete the entire Ark before we clear everyone out. Second, once we seal off the part with the hole, there’s no guarantee another Ark will come to our rescue, and we’ll be too far behind on O2 production by then.”
“We can’t afford to lose any more people, Eren! We have to stop the dying.” I felt dizzy, panicked, like I had to make him agree with me right away. I felt weak, too, but I couldn’t remember why.
“Char, are you okay?”
“What?”
“You’re as pale as a ghost, and the look on your face… You should sit down.”
I was not so out of it that I missed the absurdity of that comment. “Sit down? On what? Eren, there’s no gravity. We’re stuck on a spaceship and there’s no gravity and not enough oxygen and people are going to die unless we do. Something. Right. Now,” I said.
“Okay, but you have to calm d—What the—what’s with your arm?” He lifted my upper arm into the space between us and frowned at my do-it-yourself tourniquet.
“Oh, that. Your father shot me.”
There was silence for a moment, then Eren cleared his throat. “With what?”
I bit back my initial response, which involved a good bit of sarcasm and a possible joke about a slingshot, and said simply, “With a gun, Eren.”
He took another moment to process that. “I’m sorry. I’m really—Are you okay?”
“Not your fault. And hey. I got the gun. Turns out there are advantages to getting your ship torpedoed. Your father hit the wall and lost control of the weapon during the attack.” I reached into my pants and pulled out the pistol.
Eren’s eyes widened, and either it was my imagination, or he moved away from me, slightly.
“Look, Eren. The safety’s on.”
“Yeah
. I just can’t believe he would—I mean, I believed you, but seeing it is just…”
“I know. It sucks. But it’s not over yet. And on the bright side,” I said, leaning angrily into my k-band, “I totally stopped the attack on Asia.”
“Bright side. Right.”
“Here. You keep it.” I handed him the gun. “I only have one good arm anyway.”
“No, you’re gonna need it more than I will. Just put it back. Let’s head to IntraArk Comm. From there, we can confirm which part’s sending a distress signal, and we can alert the citizens to head for the seal.”
I bit my lip. My arm was killing me. “Do you really think we can get the entire Remnant to evacuate into Central Command? They hate the Commander, but they’re also afraid of him.”
“Instead of dying in the vacuum of space? I’d say we have a fair chance of obtaining their cooperation. And I’m done thinking about the Commander.”
I nodded. He had a point.
“Here, grab this belt loop.” He guided my good hand to the back of his jumpsuit, and I took hold of the small strip of fabric there. Then he pushed out the door and into the hallway.
The chandeliers were back on, but other than that, things hadn’t changed much since my last trip down the corridor. We got a lot of attention, what with him being the Commander’s newlywed son, but the look on Eren’s face must have stopped anyone from questioning him. He swung from light to light so quickly that I had to remind myself not to loosen my grip. The looks I got were significantly more hostile. After several yards, I flipped over and faced the rug, hoping that would keep people from seeing my face. At least that way, I didn’t have to look at their reactions.
Not that I hadn’t seen it all before. I was used to being regarded as nothing but a criminal, a menace. That didn’t make it any easier, though, so carpet it was.
Once we reached IntraArk Comm Con, I let go of Eren. A fraction of the gravity had returned, and I sort of floated toward the floor. He rushed to the command station and pulled up reports from the past hour. I watched in silence until he found what he was looking for.
He glanced back at me and took in the sick look on my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just really hope we get there in time. Where exactly did the missile land?”
He frowned. “Looks like it was near Level Six, Sector Seven, and the seal is still open. Not for long. Everything below that’s in trouble.” He began fiddling with a set of nearby controls, and a comlink popped out from the panel. “We can bet that the Guardian Level of that sector is already cleared out, which just leaves the cargo level, where the Remnant is. The hangar and the docking level will already be evacuated, since they’re in Command, and people were told to go to their quarters. There’ll be a temporary patch across the hull, but it won’t work for long. They’ll want an internal seal to finish blocking off the entire sector.”
“Good. Now tell them to go to the seal.”
“On it.”
“Then I’ll go into the Remnant, and you can stay at the seal to stop people from, uh, sealing it.” He looked back at me, and I raised my eyebrows. “Eren, there are only two of us. We have to split up.”
He sighed again and turned back to the comlink, which was now glowing red. “Citizens of Sector Seven.” He paused, rubbed his nose. “Citizens of the Remnant. This is Ambassador Eren Everest. Please proceed to the Level Six hallway as quickly as possible. Do not attempt to carry anything with you. Do not attempt to exit through the dark space between the sectors, also known as the Rift, which is sealed. This is not a drill. I repeat, you are to evacuate immediately to Sector Eight through Level Six. Everest out.” He flicked another set of controls, his mouth set in a grim line.
I took a breath. “Good. Let’s go.”
Thirty-eight
Not surprisingly, it was fairly difficult to get through the seal-in-progress, even though we were headed into the doomed sector, not out of it. But Eren pulled rank, relieving me of the need to pull my gun, and I slipped through the still-gaping crack without trouble.
“I’m going to organize whatever guardians are willing into search-and-rescue teams to hit each of the Common Quarters on every level,” he said.
“Just be sure you get back before the seal gets all permanent-like.”
“Right. And Char, I’ll meet you right here. Come back as soon as you can.”
“I will. Be safe, Eren.”
He grinned crookedly. “You too.”
I sprinted down the hallway, or as close to sprinting as I could manage with a gunshot wound and reduced gravity, until I got to the main hall in the Remnant. To my immeasurable relief, Eren’s message appeared to have been effective. People flooded past me left and right, trying to get through the seal. Their feet brushed the floor. Gravity was slowly building back.
I descended as quickly as possible to the outer rim of the ship, where the Remnant had made its home.
When the bulk of the crowd was behind me, I looked around. Where to start? I threw open a door, and then another, checking for people. When I opened the entrance to the greenhouse, my stomach twisted into a knot. There was no one home, and whoever’d been here hadn’t taken the time to save the plants before evacuating. That was as it should be. I forced myself to keep moving. I could mourn the potatoes later.
I came flying to a halt at the end of the row of doors. I was wasting precious seconds. This area had already been evacuated.
I needed to find the people who’d been left behind.
I needed to find the prison.
Two left turns later, I was standing in front of the locked detention hall, unable to figure out how to unlock it. A short, thin figure came flying up the hallway ahead of me, and I felt myself freeze against the white door panel just before she recognized me.
“You.” Judge Hawthorne narrowed her eyes over a pair of cracked reading glasses.
“Yeah,” I said flatly. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to evacuate.”
She gave me a withering glare and turned to the panel. “Our passes are disabled.”
“Adam?”
“He locked everything down until the missile hit. Now, every door above Clearance Two is still sealed. He wiped every access card in the Remnant.” Her mouth was tense, lined with wrinkles, and pulled into a deep frown. Her eyes were watery. “I can’t get to them.” She held up a metal card. Her other hand made a fist against the door. “It’s the third one I’ve found. They’re all worthless. I’m the one who put those people in there, and now I can’t get them out.”
“Well.” I pulled Jorin’s card from my pocket. “Let’s not panic.”
The door sucked open, and the judge gave me a guarded look. “How did you do that?”
We started moving, both of us at a speed more like a hobble than a power sprint. “It’s not a Remnant pass,” I said. “I got it from—it’s from Command. How do we open the cells?”
“I don’t know!” she said, already winded.
Remnant jail was exactly as I remembered it, minus the soul-crushing boredom. Helen, my old cellmate, was pacing back and forth behind the locked cell door when I got to her.
“Hey. ’Bout time,” Helen called. “Am I right? We’re in the damaged sector? Are they going to seal us off?”
“Not if I can help it,” I said. “Quick—where’s the lock release?”
“End of the block, but you need an access card, and the Warden’s gone.”
“Not a problem.” I fairly flew to the end of the cell, which was easier than you’d expect, due to the minimal gravity. Once I found the lock control panel, I breathed another little prayer that Jorin’s access card was important enough to work even here. Surely Adam hadn’t thought to change the internal locks within the Remnant during his short reign of terror.
It worked. The controls unlocked, and I threw literally every switch in the box.
“Let me know when you’re out!” I shouted, frantically wondering whether I should try a combination of swit
ches to get the right door open.
“We’re out!” Helen called back. Four others stepped into the hall around her. “Where to?”
“Follow me,” I said, heading back the way I’d come. “We have to get up to Level Six. Let’s go, people.”
Hawthorne shook her head. “I’m going to sickbay. I have to make sure they get out. You head on without me.”
The seal, and safety, were so close. I thought of what my mother would do. I did not hesitate.
I waved Helen and the other prisoners on. “I’ll help her. Besides, I need to clear this level out, if no one else has.”
The others took off, but Helen looked back and forth from us to them. “One way or another, the two of you will be the death of me,” she said finally. “All right, I’m coming, too.”
Hawthorne gave us both an appraising glance, but said nothing.
She was right about the sickbay. Although the evacuation was underway, the area wasn’t quite clear. People were grabbing at belongings and pulling their children.
“Alert. The oxygen level has fallen to critical level. Regenerative capabilities insufficient for recovery. Generators engaged at full capacity,” said a monotonous female voice from the intercom.
“Well, no one panic,” I muttered.
The judge took off down the hallway, and we followed as closely we could, swimming upstream against a mad rush of people and belongings. Someone knocked into me with a bulky suitcase, and I stopped long enough to give its owner a death-stare.
By this point, gravity was maybe halfway back to normal, partially because we were on one of the lower levels. I was wondering just how far down the corridor the Remnant kept its sickbay when I heard someone screaming for help.
A young man looked up from his position on the floor of the hallway. He was kneeling and struggling to pull a woman behind him on a bedsheet. Her belly was swollen out and her skin was nearly gray. The crowd and the abandoned belongings clogging the hallway greatly impeded his progress.
The Remnant Page 22