by Ciara Knight
“Understood.”
Penton grabbed my hand and we bolted halfway down the hall with me taking two steps for each one his long legs took.
As we turned the corner, I slammed into Ryder’s chest.
He scooped me into his arms. “Hey. Mighty worried about you after I heard the news.”
I slid down his front. My boots barely touched the ground before he grabbed my hand and rushed to the mess hall. “I’m fine, but I sure hope Harold has a workable, if not, stellar idea.”
Bendar jumped down from the stool. “Good see you.” For the first time, I didn’t see a sweet, comforting expression, but one that held fear. His eyes were wide and his mouth tight and thin.
I squeezed his shoulder, offering him comfort the way he’d always given it to me. He rewarded me with his infamous grin, the one that melted hearts everywhere. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Raeth’s clunked a few steps behind us. “What’s the plan?”
One side of Ryder’s mouth quirked up. “Not a good one. Mighty unhappy about hiding in a box again.”
As he rubbed the back of his neck, I knew he recalled the time we hid in the trunks from Ralona’s house to board the train to Acadia East.
My stomach tightened at the thought of Ryder suffering in a confined space like that again. “Hopefully, they’re larger.” Everyone knew what I referred to. Even Bendar had heard the tale.
His jaw tightened. “Doesn’t matter if it works. Be right back.” He strode through the doors at the back of the mess hall and retuned with Harold and one of the cooks.
Harold tipped his hat to Raeth and me then shook Bendar’s and Penton’s hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet ya all in person. Been hearin’ such tales about ya.”
Raeth smiled. “Th-thank you for t-taking s-such a great risk helping us.”
“No worries. Tis wrong sendin’ Princess Semara ta the Tower. Wrong ta send anyone.” Harold removed his hat and crunched it between his hands. “This here’s me friend. He says he’ll hide ya in the kitchen supply containers and roll ya right on out past the guards.”
“It won’t work,” Captain Gordon’s baritone voice echoed through the empty mess hall.
We all swung about. Ryder shoved me behind him. Penton stepped in front of Raeth.
“Those soldiers on the dock are there to search every container that leaves this ship. Their sole purpose is to make sure you don’t escape.”
Chapter Thirteen
The mess hall worker retreated to his station. Harold crumpled his hat tighter, leaving it in a mash of cloth.
Bendar tossed his ration bag on the table then hopped on a stool to face Gordon eye to eye. “Make big mistake. Triune save everyone. You no man of word.”
I’d never seen Bendar fired up before. He usually slid between small spaces and made fools out of the queen’s guards. Standing face to face with someone was new.
“You mistake me for a traitor to my people. The council does not believe in the Triune. It’s a myth to them,” Gordon said.
At his blank expression, heat raced from my scalp to my toes. I maneuvered between Penton and Ryder, only to be stopped when Ryder’s hand clasped mine, keeping me close to his side. “What exactly do you mean, Captain Gordon?”
“When Raeth left her post on the bridge early, it drew my attention. She’s never left her post and has always conducted herself with perfect conduct. Then I remembered your erratic behavior. I went to your station and discovered the guards on the docks. Prior to that, I had no knowledge of the council’s plans. I was told you were to be welcomed to Upper Europe.”
“And we’re to believe you? Like the council, you don’t believe in the Triune,” I snarled as the walls of the mess hall softened and the air boiled.
A countering chill filled the room. “Lažnivec!”
Penton tucked Raeth into his side, she barely reached his chest, but he kept a protective arm around her. “Maybe we should hear him out.”
Harold cleared his throat from behind me. “Ya don’t have much of a choice.”
Ryder’s focus remained on Gordon, ready to take him and the entire crew down at any cost. Perhaps a few months ago, he would have already drained the life from him. Now, he hesitated and it could cost us our lives before we were even taken off the ship.
Ryder’s grip tightened on my hand. When I winced, his grasped loosened. “Talk.”
“I’m here to help. Just know there’s no way you could’ve exited the ship in any type of cargo. They’re all being searched.”
Dred? I wanted to say something but bit my tongue.
“Want us to give ourselves up? Make your job easier?” Ryder said in an accusatory tone.
“No.” Gordon approached the mess hall doors. “Harold, report to your station. You witnessed nothing here.”
Harold sidled past us, then halted and glanced at us as if seeking our permission.
I nodded.
“Go ahead. Thanks,” Ryder murmured.
After Harold cleared the doorway, Gordon slid the door shut, removed a key from his pocket, and turned it, trapping us in the mess hall. “We’re on lockdown.” He walked to the wall and turned the bronze key in the controller. The click echoed the finality of our situation.
“So, your idea of support is to lock us in until the guards come?” I asked.
Gordon’s eyelids lowered. His lips pulled into a tight frown. “No.” He pressed his hand to his chest and settled on the edge of a nearby table. “I’m here to offer you a way off this ship. A way to help save everyone from the queen’s wrath.” He paused a moment, his head cocked to the side. “I. Am. On. Your. Side,” he said, enunciating each word.
Gordon was what he seemed, an ally, or he was the world’s greatest actor. Given the internal warnings I’d received and our current status, we had no choice but to follow his orders, for now. Yet, my mind still played through the possible scenarios of betrayal.
Perhaps I should thank the queen for my suspicious nature.
Gordon’s smile didn’t reassure me as he said, “There’s only one way you can get off this ship. However, you won’t like it.”
“Trapping us in here isn’t enough?” Ryder snarled.
“Trap? You can end my life with little more than a thought. Semara can melt that door into nothing, let alone the ship. From what I can see, it’d be impossible to attempt to imprison you and stay alive.”
Raeth unfurled herself from Penton’s arms and moved to Ryder’s and my side. “T-tell us your option, and you b-best b-believe th-the T-Triune’s r-real.”
Gordon gave a short nod. “The ship’s attached to a long pipe. It’s used to flush our systems. Before the flush is initiated, salt water is run through the system, then dumped somewhere far from the docks.”
Ryder arched an eyebrow. “How long’s the pipe?”
“A few hundred meters or so.”
Penton gasped. “No way we can make it, especially Raeth with her leg.”
Gordon pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re right, you wonʼt…without the right equipment. Youʼll find that in the pump room, including a waterproof boot for Raeth and water masks for each of you.”
Penton snorted. “The problem isn’t just keeping her leg dry. It’s heavy and she’ll sink to the bottom of the tube and sea.”
“No, she won’t. The waterproof cover is buoyant, countering the weight of her metal leg.”
Ryder’s arms folded across his chest. “Why’re you helping us?”
“Semara’s remembering things about the queen. I believe she holds the key to freeing my people. While Captain Paulson is an obnoxious, egotistical man, from our private communications, I believe he’ll help you.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Unlike the council, the ME believes in the Triune. But I’m going to work on them while you’re headed to ME. Even with Paulson’s help, it won’t be easy.” Gordon pulled a halo pad from inside his coat pocket and handed it to me. “This will assist you in navigating
through the underground and hopefully show the safest route with the least number of Wasters. If you should meet any, if possible, hide. Don’t fight unless doing nothing means your death. Wasters are unlike anyone you’ve ever met. As a result of the war, they lost their humanity. Now, they’re more like wild animals that run in packs, killing and eating everything they meet, including fellow Wasters.”
A chill raced up my spine, and I knew it wasn’t from Ryder. At Gordon’s ominous tone, I realized getting off the ship would prove the easiest part of our journey. “How long will it take us to reach Captain Paulson?”
“A day, maybe two, if you follow the path I’ve marked in the halo pad. There is an old underground transit that supplied weapons during the war between Upper and Middle Europe.” Gordon rubbed his palms down his pants. “If only we had more time to work on your memories, Semara.”
Ignoring Ryder’s growl, he cupped my face. “Is there anything you haven’t told me? Anything?”
As I started to say something, I spotted Bendar jumping down from his stool, caught his almost imperceptible head shake. Could he have discovered the truth? He usually did, so why should I be surprised he had now. “I wish I did, Captain Gordon.”
“If only you could’ve seen who created the block to your memories,” Gordon grumbled, his gaze distant as if remembering something from long ago.
I drew on all the Court etiquette I’d learned and tilted my head in a quasi-nod. “I wish I had. I can’t express my sorrow that I couldn’t.”
The intercom system clicked on. “All personnel remain at your stations. Freedom will be boarded by council guards to escort our special guests to headquarters,” Mart said, her voice dripping with sugary pleasure.
Gordon turned his key in the panel, unlocking the door. “Get moving. The guards will report first to Semara’s quarters, the engine room, and the weapons area.”
“Thank you, Captain. You won’t be thrown in prison for allowing us to escape, will you?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about me. Right now, if all of you don’t escape the ship, the council will make a huge mistake by imprisoning or executing all of you. Now, go. I know it’ll be a tight fit but remain in the pump room for about an hour. It’ll take that long for them to begin a ship-wide search.”
As we moved toward the open door, I paused and faced him. My hand clutched the halo pad and I glanced at it. This could be a trap. But leaving was the only hope we had. Perhaps they wouldn’t open the case marked toxic. Yet, I felt in my bones they would.
“Wait. We can’t leave without Dred.”
Gordon rubbed his forehead as if preparing for more bad news. “What about Dred?”
Raeth hobbled to him and grasped his hand. “We t-trust you. But Dred is h-helpless. Mart wants to send him to the Tower. P-Please, you must h-help.”
Bendar took the halo pad from me and searched through various screens.
Ryder moved to his side. “I’ll get him.”
Penton cleared his throat. “No way. You wouldn’t make it.”
“Where is he?” Captain Gordon raised his voice for the first time since I’d met him.
I glanced at each of my friends. “He’s in the cargo bay.”
“What? Why the hell’s he there?”
I stood my ground and faced him. “Mart ordered him kept in a drug-induced coma until we arrived, then he’s to be shipped to the Tower.”
“No,” Gordon gasped. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“She did. I overheard her order the medic. When he objected, she threatened him with the brig then said he could join Dred in the Tower,” I said in my firmest voice. “I couldn’t let that happen. At my request, the medic stopped the drugs and we had Dred moved to the cargo hold.”
Gordon clasped his head and groaned. “They’ll search the cargo hold and find him.”
“Even the cargo marked toxic?” Penton asked.
“Especially the cargo marked toxic. By the time they start off-loading the cargo, the soldiers will know you’re missing. Where’s the first place you’d hide?”
“Anything marked unsafe to inspect.” I bit my bottom lip. “Then your plan won’t work. We’re not leaving without Dred.”
Gordon lifted one hand in a guy-to-guy kind of way. “Tell her there isn’t a choice, Ryder.”
Ryder’s eyes narrowed on Gordon before he took my hand. “We won’t leave Dred behind.”
Raeth took her brother’s arm. “Th-thank you.”
“You’re all mad.” Gordon ran a hand through his hair, pulling the roots tight from his scalp. “Fine, I’ll take care of Dred. You five just get off the ship.”
“Mighty tall order, us trusting you,” Ryder said.
Gordon’s nostrils flared. “You have no other choice.”
Bendar lowered the halo pad. “He’s right. No choice.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bendar, followed by Ryder, went down the ladder. Finally, I jumped from the bottom step and landed beside them as Penton spotted Raeth down each rung.
Moving to stand beside Ryder, I noticed he didn’t take his gaze off the two still working their way to us. “Don’t like his hands on her back like that,” he murmured.
I rolled my eyes. “Really? Do you want her to fall?”
“Semara right.” Bendar smiled, his normal playful light showing once more.
I leaned into Bendar and whispered, “We need to talk.”
He nodded. “Yes, many questions.”
“Finally!” Raeth exclaimed as she joined us.
I entwined my fingers with her shaking hand. “I know how hard it was, Raeth, and I’m sorry we couldn’t take the lift or stairs.”
She gave a brave smile. “It’s okay. N-no problem. T-to risky.”
Penton leaned in. “Someday I’ll invent a new leg for you. One that looks real and works as well as a normal one does.”
My heart softened at his kindness. I wanted so badly for my best friend to be happy. And something told me that if anyone could figure out how to give her a better leg, Penton would be the one to do so.
Even Ryder’s ever attentive gaze relaxed a bit at his words. “Time to get in place.”
It took some wiggling and squeezing, but we, along with our gear, finally managed to scrunch into the niche in the back of the pump room.
“Gordon spoke the truth. Here’re five bags with masks,” I said. Rummaging through them, I found a change of clothes, mask with breather, and a belt to secure supplies.
“Let’s hope he also spoke the truth about the escape and that we don’t drown or the pipe doesn’t empty into the middle of the Tower grounds,” Ryder mumbled under his breath.
I glanced around, checking for troops, and noted the time on the far wall. “It’s taken us most of the hour to get here. In twenty minutes, they’ll start the cleanout. I don’t know when we’ll get another chance after we get into a tube full of water, so, I want the truth, Bendar. Now.”
He crossed his legs and thumped to the floor. “Have seat.”
I crouched across from him. My heart pounded with a combination of fear, anger, and anticipation. Ryder sat beside me, his legs pulled to his chest, and took my hand, while Penton and Raeth stood behind us.
“Me in dreams? Yes. Since child, been with you.” Bendar sighed. “Before war, before Lanena’s death.” His eyes pooled with unshed tears, and he lifted his chin. “Father brave man. Keep you safe, but queen find. Take away. Father try years to get back. Queen let me live. She think me on her side like Father plan.”
“That’s how you were able to stay with me? You convinced her you supported her after the war?”
“I did.”
“How did you? She trusts no one.”
Bendar raised his small hand. “Before Mandesa bad, she worked cure bad genetics that killed my father and mother.”
As if it were the most normal thing in the world, Ryder rubbed his thumb over my knuckles in silent comfort. “Sorry, man. It’s tough to lose parents.”
&n
bsp; “Yes. Tough. Me worked at research facility. Help with cure. Something bad happened. Mandesa angry, become queen. Promised Father he tell you why.”
“Tell me now. I have a right to know. Gordon helped me see my past. I remember Mama dying.”
Bendar patted the top of my hand over Ryder’s. “No, shouldn’t see. Blocked from thoughts. Too awful.”
“Yes, it was, but now I want to know more. I can’t believe the queen was always evil. What turned her? Why didn’t she kill me when she found me? Where is my father?”
“Not know sure where he be. He in hiding to protect you.” Bendar leaned against the wall, his head resting against it. “He try many times to get you. Wants you with him. He loves you much.”
His words gave me hope. “I have memories of him in the Resort Territory, but I never see his face. When Gordon helped show me the memory of my mother’s death, I saw him.”
Bendar’s eyes flicked to Ryder, then back at me.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Queen mad, confused, hate people. Not evil before…”
“Before what? Please tell me everything. I have to know.”
“I tell Queen evil since slag.”
“You mean she became evil after she implanted herself with all that medal?”
“Implant, no. Prosthetic from injury.”
“All this time, she’s made it seem a privilege to be awarded a techno implant or device. To show the world we were Kantian, not some human without the brain power to handle devices. Was anything she said ever true?”
Bendar tilted his head to the side. “Yes. Hate Father. Wants dead.”
Questions swirled through my mind. What to ask next? “Why did she want me on her ship? To catch Father?”
“Yes. No. True need heir. Council demanded. She wanted you dead, but Council reminded her heir needed.”
“You’ve been protecting me almost my entire life, haven’t you? A surrogate father in a way.”
“Bendar love you like daughter. Not like seeing suffer. Broke heart.” Tears broke free and trickled down his cheek.
I slid from Ryder and wrapped my arms around Bendar. All those years on the ship I’d wanted someone to hug me, make me feel like I was wanted, loved. And the entire time he was watching over me. He tried to fulfill those dreams. I squeezed him tight, holding him close a moment longer as I remembered each time he snuck food to me or kept me company through an air vent or secretly doctored an injury inflicted by the queen. “I love you, too. You were the best substitute dad I could have ever had,” I said in a choked voice.