She closed the closet, making sure the lock clicked, before striding away.
The main hall. Charlie groaned. He'd walked halfway across the floor for nothing. And with the access chip not working, how was he supposed to open the other supply closet? In the back of his mind the clock continued to tick. He needed to get back to the fourteenth floor. He'd already wasted too much time.
He took a different route back, one that passed by the lifts. The main hallway was still a mess, crammed with hospital workers and patients. More students poured out of the lifts, crying and fearful. The closet was somewhere to the left so he joined the stream of students walking in that direction.
Charlie searched the walls as they shuffled down the hallway. Doctors knelt among the students, looking closely at faces, shouting orders to attendants scrambling among it all. One of them moved in front of Charlie, blocking his way. He reached behind Charlie to grab the back of his head. With his other hand he used two fingers to pry open Charlie's eyelid, shining a small light from a third finger into his eye. Whatever he saw must have placated him--he quickly pushed Charlie aside and moved to the next student. Charlie resumed his slow walk forward with the rest of the students, scanning the walls.
There, just ahead of him on the left. The drug closet, identical to the first.
Its door hung open. Yes!
He pushed through the throng, moving closer. Three attendants blocked his path; they were inspecting students. One of them, burly and strong, grabbed Charlie with gloved hands. Charlie tried to appear scared. It wasn't difficult. The man touched his neck, then looked under his eyelids again, before pushing him along.
The closet still stood open. A sense of urgency filled Charlie as he reached it. He stuck his head inside, inspecting the bottles on the middle shelf. They were arranged by name. The crowd continued behind him, uncaring, as he scanned the bottles: paliperidone, paserox, pitocin...
Plourine. A small bottle, opaque like the picture Onero showed him. The label was filled with warnings in red text. He stuffed one bottle in his pocket, then grabbed a second to be safe. He turned to leave.
A doctor stood over him, with a wrinkled face and bushy grey moustache. The doctor from the fourteenth floor, the one that was working on Katy. Why are you here? Charlie wanted to ask. You're not supposed to be here.
The doctor looked like he wanted to ask the same question. He recognized Charlie immediately. His eyes widened in alarm, and his mouth opened.
Charlie shoved him away and sprinted back down the hallway, knocking a tray of instruments to the ground with a clatter. He heard the doctor shouting behind him, screaming for guards, but Charlie was already among the other students. He shoved against the throng, moving in the opposite direction. A few students cursed at him but most were too scared to notice.
When he reached the lifts he chanced a glance: the doctor was still coming his way. None of the lifts were ready so he darted into the stairwell. The door snapped closed behind him.
Charlie froze, staring at the stairs leading upward. Once you have the plourine, return to Katy and wait for her to be discharged. That was the plan, but if he did he'd be captured for sure. Onero also said retrieving the plourine was more important than anything else. Was it important enough to abandon Katy? He couldn't leave her up there, unconscious and alone.
The stairs leading down beckoned him, tugging at him with the promise of safety. What was he supposed to do? There was no way he could carry Katy from the hospital unseen, even if he did return. There was no way to save her, now.
He continued telling himself that as he ran down the stairs, descending alone.
Charlie was on the seventh floor when the door burst open above. He froze, listening. He knew the doctor was doing the same--the silence was thick. Suddenly a door opened far above, some third person innocently entering the stairwell. The doctor's shoes slapped on each step as he followed the noise upward. Charlie took the opportunity to continue his descent, steps slow and silent.
He emerged into the hospital lobby on the ground floor. After the chaos of above the lobby felt strangely empty, with only a few administrators sitting behind the desk. One of them was speaking into her computer, "...up to the roof, more train-loads of students still coming..."
Charlie jogged out the door without notice.
He stopped in an alley a block away, concealed around the corner of another building. He leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. Now that he was outside every sensation bubbled to the surface: his burning lungs, the tightness of his throat. His pulse was everywhere, throbbing in his ears and chest and neck.
Cautiously, he peered back toward the hospital. There was no motion there, no evidence of pursuit. He stood there, panting and watching, until he was certain.
He stuck a hand in his pocket, feeling the bottles there. It was done. He had the plourine. The mission was a success. Stars save me, Katy...
It was then that he realized how silent the city sounded. A train zoomed on the rails high overhead, but aside from that there was none of the usual sounds. He stepped out into the deserted street. Square lights were built into the pavement, arranged every ten feet. They blinked red, indicating the city was locked down. I need to get home, he thought, before--
A gloved hand grabbed Charlie by the shirt, spinning him around. A peacekeeper stood over him, a giant in black armor, the oval eyes of his gasmask staring expressionless. A rifle was held in his other arm. His voice boomed like thunder.
"STEADFAST. IDENTIFY YOURSELF."
Charlie stuck out his palm. The peacekeeper scanned it with the computer on his arm and read the data that appeared.
"IS THIS ADDRESS CORRECT?" He turned his arm to Charlie, showing him the computer screen. His building number was listed. Charlie nodded.
The peacekeeper clipped a small electronic marker to Charlie's shirt. A light on the side shone green. "THE INNER CITY IS LOCKED DOWN. YOUR PRESENCE HAS BEEN MARKED. YOU ARE HEREBY GIVEN A THIRTY MINUTE EXEMPTION TO RETURN HOME, AFTER WHICH YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED. ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS ORDER."
Charlie nodded. The peacekeeper turned away from him, joining the three others in his squad as they marched down the street, eyes searching.
Charlie glanced at the marker on his shirt, blinking green. He didn't want to be in the street when it switched to red.
He ran down the street, urged along by new fear. Other steadfasts with green markers passed him in the street, equally eager for shelter. At one building three civilians in brown uniforms were flat on the ground, hands on their heads, a dozen peacekeepers standing over them. A fourth civilian lay nearby, still, his uniform stained red.
Charlie stared straight ahead as he ran. From time to time, when he was alone, he reached into his pocket to ensure the plourine was still there. The mission was a success but Charlie felt anything but victorious.
Chapter 6
"Charlie!" his mother screeched when he opened the door. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him before he could take a step inside, squeezing until he couldn't breathe. The two bottles in his pocket clinked together but she didn't notice.
"Hi mom," he said, pulling away.
"Where were you?" She asked. "When we heard about the attack we tried to get through to the Academy, but nobody was answering their computer..."
"Everything's fine," he said, trying to soothe her. "I got away safe, but got stopped by peacekeepers on my way home." He gestured to the marker.
Tears rolled down her face. She plucked the electronic marker off his shoulder and held it up to the wall computer, acknowledging his arrival. "What have things come to when good steadfasts are treated like common civilians in the street? If they can't trust their own students..."
"Mother," Charlie said, "is Finn..."
Finn rounded the corner. Charlie cried out, pulling him in a strong hug. "I was on the bottom floor," Finn explained. "The gas spread through the air ducts, but I was close to the door. Wade led me home through the lockdown."
I
should have been there to lead you home, Charlie thought, feeling a twinge of guilt. What if something had happened to Finn? He pushed the thought aside, relief defeating guilt. He embraced his brother a moment longer before pulling away.
Boxes were strewn around the kitchen, and a bottle of sweetwater and four accompanying cups sat on table. Charlie started to ask about them but his mother was still rambling on in that way she did when she was scared. "The woman at the hospital didn't know anything either, there were so many children coming in. And then another woman told us you were scanned at the hospital! Then the lockdown prevented us from leaving. Your father wanted to march right through the peacekeepers to get to you but I talked some sense into him. I prayed, Charlie, I prayed to the Emperor and he listened..."
"Wait, what? Father was here?"
"Hey, Charlie."
His father stepped out of the bedroom, smiling broadly. Oskar wore his ceremonial pilot's uniform, clasped down the front with five silver buttons. The top button was undone, the collar flared. His solitary medal, for five tours of service orbiting Latea, was pinned over his heart.
Charlie ran into his arms. The uniform felt clean, crisp against his arms. When he finally pulled away he said, "I thought you wouldn't be back for two more weeks."
Father smiled. They were all smiling, Charlie realized: Finn and their mother too, watching to the side, waiting for something.
"Charlie," his father said, "I was accepted. We've been accepted. We're going with the Exodus Fleet. We're going to Thyr."
Mother clapped her hands over her mouth and burst into tears anew. "I don't understand," Charlie said, "I thought your request was denied."
"It was," his father said. "I was added to a waiting list. I never expected anything to come of it, but today a spot opened up and I was selected. I'm going to be a member of the Gold Wing, Charlie. We'll be one of the first families on Thyr. We leave for the Latean shipyards in three days!"
Charlie's mind struggled to process it all. He'd resigned himself to his fate on Melis. He'd given up on becoming a pilot, abandoned hope for his father's legacy, thrown all his energy into impressing Katy and the other Children. Now he was given a chance to start all over again. Emotion bubbled up in his throat, confusion and excitement and guilt.
"I'm proud of you, dad," he finally said, embracing him.
Everyone had been waiting for Charlie's reaction. Mother opened the bottle of sweetwater and filled glasses, even allowing the boys a few sips as they toasted. Finn coughed as he gulped it down but Charlie was able to stifle his own reaction. Why in the stars was something so foul called sweetwater?
"We have a lot to do," mother said. She tapped at the computer on her wrist where she'd already drawn up lists. "We're permitted to take two crates per person. They'll be fetched for us when we leave, but they still need to be packed, so tomorrow I want all of us to..."
Charlie's mind drifted while she talked. He touched the bottles in his pocket, wondering if it had all been a waste. He couldn't shake the image of the girl in the brown uniform with foam spilling from her mouth.
The lockdown continued the next day, confining them to their apartment. That pleased mother; they had too much to do and not enough time, as she reminded them constantly. News of the attack began surfacing. Unsurprisingly, it was suspected to be the Children, retaliation for an address the Emperor gave weeks before. Altogether there were fifty-two deaths: forty-one students, six civilian workers, and five instructors. Two entire floors of the building were destroyed by the bomb, which then spread poisonous gas through the ventilation system. A two-block quarantine had been erected. Charlie didn't care about any of his fellow students but he wondered if Karrana was among the instructors killed.
Charlie spent the day worrying about the peacekeepers. They were searching the city at random, looking for anything suspicious. Charlie wondered if the plourine hidden in his room would get him arrested, or have them removed from the Exodus Fleet entirely. At one point a squad of peacekeepers marched down the street and stopped in front of their building. Charlie watched them out his window, ready to pour the bottle of drugs down the cleanliness drain. But the peacekeepers never came inside, instead marching down the street and disappearing around another corner.
Even so, it was impossible to accomplish his mission now. He couldn't deliver the plourine to Onero while the city was locked down. Do you even want to? a thought whispered. The Exodus Fleet... Everything was different now. Father had been rewarded for his loyalty. Charlie's poor Academy marks no longer mattered. Here on Melis failing to become a pilot was a great shame, being relegated to gunner or engineer or even petty mechanic. But on Thyr even the lowest duty was part of the rebuilding of a new world. He would be part of something important, regardless of his role. Wasn't that why he yearned to join the Children, to be part of something greater? To be important?
It was eerie seeing the streets deserted. Luccar was the capital of the Melisao Empire, mighty and unfearing. Regardless of whatever threat may exist, it was telling that the Emperor was so scared. Katy would have said it was a sign they were winning.
Finn was genuinely excited about their departure, which only darkened Charlie's mood. "Are you sad to leave your friends?" mother asked, concerned.
"I have no friends," Charlie said. It was true, though Katy's face popped into his head again.
"Well," she said, cheerful, "you'll have plenty of chances to make friends in the fleet. This will be a good chance to start over."
Charlie nodded absently while he looked out over the dead city.
That night the Emperor announced the end of the lockdown. They all gathered together to watch on the computer screen. "I don't see the need for all this fuss," mother said. "He doesn't need to instigate them more."
"You should trust his judgement," father scolded. "The Emperor's wisdom comes from a thousand lives, not one."
The words sounded foreign on his lips. Father had resented the Emperor just a few weeks before, cursing his name privately when he thought nobody could hear. Suddenly he was pious again.
With the lockdown over classes resumed the next day, although in a different building--it would be months before the pilot's Academy was torn-down and rebuilt, so they would need to share space at the Shadowschool, where the shades trained. Any other day that would have been exciting by itself. "I don't see why we have to go to class," Finn complained. "We're leaving tomorrow."
"You need to be there for the discharge process," their mother said. "Stop complaining. It will only take a few hours." Charlie suspected she was happy to be rid of them for few hours; she'd begun fussing with them over minor details, complaining that they were slowing down her own packing.
"What if there's another attack?"
"There won't be another attack," father said. "There will be plenty of security, more than ever. You will be safe."
Mother nodded. "It's important that we not let the attacks deter our daily lives," she said, quoting the Emperor. "It's important to keep looking forward."
Charlie had no intentions of going to the Academy, but he grabbed Finn and dragged him out the door.
"I don't care what you do," Charlie said when they were alone in the street. "Go to the gaming arcade or something. It's your last day on Melis, you should enjoy it."
"Really?" Finn asked. "Do you want to come with me?"
"I have something I need to do first."
Finn frowned. "I don't know why you aren't happier. You of all people should be excited for a fresh start."
"I am happy."
Finn frowned, and when he spoke there was a hint of accusation in his voice. "No, you're not happy, no matter what you say. I bet it has to do with that girl. And you still haven't told me where you were the day of the attack. I know you weren't at the Academy. Don't look at me like that. I haven't ratted you out to mom and dad, have I?"
"Just go to the gaming arcade. I'll meet you there later, if I can."
Finn still stood there, waiting
for an answer, so Charlie was the one to turn and leave. For a brief moment he considered visiting the hospital. He might be able to slip inside under the guise of trying to visit the other students, and at the very least he could ask an administrator about Katy. But deep down he knew that would only draw more attention to him. He was lucky enough the older doctor had not looked Charlie up on the computer and filed a report. Going back to the hospital would be unwise, no matter how much he wanted to see Katy.
She's probably been arrested and questioned by now, he thought miserably. He remembered the civilians being searched by peacekeepers during the lockdown, and the one laying dead nearby.
He avoided the Terminal, instead walking for several blocks before reaching one of the south-west rail stations. Guards blocked the entrance to the platform, grabbing random passengers to pat them down, searching steadfasts and civilians alike. Charlie was easy to single out in his student's uniform; one peacekeeper pointed a gloved finger, ordering him to be searched thoroughly. Their hands were rough over his exterior, searching his armpits and thighs, patting along his back. But they found nothing, eventually allowing Charlie to pass.
Only two other passengers traveled with him on the train to the outer city. Even looking out the window at the city Charlie found most streets still abandoned, as if the lockdown were still in place. Patrols of Firehawks circled the city in pairs and trios. A sense of fear permeated everything. Once again Charlie wondered if this would have been the result of blowing up the auditorium. He couldn't decide if the thought made him feel powerful or disgusted.
They might not be there. He assumed they would meet again today, the first day after the lockdown was lifted. There were a mixture of reasons why he wanted to visit Onero and the Children one last time. Part of him wanted a sense of closure, a finality to everything he'd done. Maybe he needed confirmation that he'd done the right thing by leaving Katy behind. Although he hadn't brought the plourine with him, since the security would likely be heightened at the searchpoints.
Sword of Blue (Tales of a Dying Star Book 3) Page 6