“Any resistance to the UNA is worth something,” I tell her. “And I’m sure there are more resistance cells out there. Maybe even ones that nobody knows about yet.”
She looks at me. “You think so?”
I nod. “There must be.”
We finally reach the door to my room. My roommates are awake from the sirens, milling around in the hallway. The red lights are on, but they’ve stopped flashing.
“Did you ever find your brother on the wheel?” I ask Cass.
“Yes.” She pauses. “But not alive. He was killed by some villagers in the orange sector—before the drones took control of that area.” I can see the pain in her eyes, like a raw wound in her soul. “I found his grave.”
“I’m sorry.”
She glances away. “Me too.”
We stand there awkwardly for a moment. Maybe this is part of the reason why Cass joined the drones. To avenge her brother’s death.
“I better get going,” Cass says finally. “I need to hide the data drive before anyone finds it on me. Let’s talk more in the morning.”
“Definitely.”
Cass turns to leave. I stand there in the hall for a moment, staring down the long tunnel looking after her as she walks away. The red lights reflect off the tiles, creating strange, hypnotic patterns.
Then I head back into my room and find my bunk. Soon it will be morning, and there will be plans to make. I go to sleep that night dreaming of the wheel, and longing for the moment when Liam and I are reunited on that treacherous island.
10THE AIRSHIPS
I WAKE UP TO harsh fluorescent lights glaring into my face. It feels like only a few seconds since I went to sleep, but night has already passed. I check the clock on the wall. It’s already seven in the morning.
I push the blanket off me and stagger out of bed, fully dressed. I feel exhausted and thirsty. I smooth down my hair. Then I put my boots on and grab my jacket, with its copy of my book in it. I head out of the room, passing the bunks that still hold sleeping occupants, and step out into the empty hallway.
It seems like we got away with breaking into the communication center last night. I figure that if anyone was going to catch us, they would have done it already. I start walking down the hall, headed to get my ration of water and food. I can’t wait to tell Liam everything that I’ve learned—about David, the wheel, and Cass. I miss him so much. By now, hopefully he has found his father.
I wish there were some way to communicate with Liam, like there was with David. But I’m guessing that communications between Dr. Barrett’s helicopter and Octavio’s hydrofoil will be almost impossible to intercept, and heavily protected.
As I near the refectory, I look around for Cass. I don’t see her anywhere. I only see guards and adults lounging around near the walls.
“Alenna?” a voice calls out behind me. I turn around and see Emma standing there. Her hair is up in a tangled bun.
“Hey,” I say.
“The others are sleeping. Except for Cass, but she barely ever sleeps. Want to grab some food together?”
“Sure.” We walk over to get our rations. “So how did you end up hanging out with Cass and her friends?” I ask.
“You mean, why don’t I hate her because she was a drone?”
“Exactly.”
She laughs. “Well, you’re friends with David, right? And everyone thought he was a drone on the wheel. Identity isn’t always as straightforward as people think.”
“David’s different. He was forced into it. And he was just acting.”
Emma looks at me. “Maybe the same is true of my friends. But even if it’s not, it’s okay. We’re fighting for the same cause now. Once we get back to the wheel, and stop the drones’ exposure to the mind-control drugs, most of them will come to their senses.”
I think about the kids on the wheel who are sick—villagers and drones alike. On the wheel, we called this disease the Suffering. It was a bad reaction to new UNA test drugs, and it caused people’s flesh to slowly disintegrate. It was always fatal. I look at Emma. “What about the Ones Who Suffer? Is there anything we can do to help them?”
“The scientists are working on some kind of vaccine,” Emma replies. “At least that’s what Cass says.” She pauses. “I was actually a nurse for the Ones Who Suffer in my village. That was my task.”
“I didn’t know that,” I tell her, surprised. “That must have been hard.”
“It was. I volunteered for it. I didn’t know what I was getting into.” She glances away. “But it was worth it. I don’t usually talk about it much.”
I want to ask her more questions about the Suffering, but she seems reticent. I understand why. She probably knows more kids who died than the rest of us combined. So I don’t push her. There’s something gentle and sympathetic about Emma. I can see the kindness—and sadness—in her pale green eyes.
We go over and get our food and drink—one protein bar and a cup of water each, just like on the submarine. Then we head toward a metal table set close against the wall. There, we sit across from each other and talk softly, so that no one can overhear.
“Now that Minister Harka is dead, I bet the drones’ hierarchy is already falling apart,” Emma continues, taking off her glasses and setting them on the table. “They’ve lost their whole reason to exist. Without a leader, they’ll go into a downward spiral . . .”
For an instant, I have a flashback to the depravity of the drones’ encampment. My head fills with images of diseased kids, of girls selling themselves for food, and the smell of rotting meat. “That might not be a good thing,” I point out.
“True,” Emma replies thoughtfully.
I think about our return to the wheel as I take a bite of my protein bar. I definitely don’t want to walk into a situation that’s even worse than the one we left. “I wish we’d had time to ask David about relations between the villagers and the drones. If things are better or worse.” I sigh, feeling scared for him. “I hope he can survive until we get there.”
“His resistance cell obviously trained him for survival in tough circumstances. I think he’s going to be okay.”
I take another bite of my dry protein bar, washing it down with a gulp of water. “Were you in a resistance cell too?”
She laughs. “No. I was oblivious to all of that.”
“Yeah. Same here.”
“I didn’t even find out they existed until other kids told me about them on the wheel.”
I nod. “Me too. Where were you from? I mean, originally?”
“Los Angeles Three,” she says. Her eyes get a faraway look in them. “I miss it there. Not life in the UNA, but just my family, y’know? Going to the beach. Hanging out. The good stuff.” She pauses. For a moment I almost envy her memories. I wonder what it would have been like to have had my parents with me growing up, instead of being sent to the government orphanage.
“I don’t miss New Providence,” I tell her. “There’s not too much for me to be nostalgic about.”
She looks at me. “I know. And I’m sorry about your dad. I heard people talking about him back at Destiny Station.”
I nod. “It’s okay. It happened a long time ago. I’m worried about my mom, though. She’s supposed to be on her way here, but she hasn’t turned up yet.”
Right then, Alun and a brown-haired boy appear at the table, holding their rations. I haven’t seen this other boy before. He’s thin and bony, with a sharp chin and floppy brown hair parted in the middle. He wasn’t with us last night. I can’t tell if he was a drone or a villager on the wheel, but I’m guessing villager.
“Hey,” Emma says to them.
“Hi,” I second.
“Did you really bring down one of the feelers?” the brown-haired boy asks me, with no introduction. “On a frozen lake?” The words burst out of him like he’s been waiting a while to pose this question.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I mean, me and a bunch of other kids.”
“For real? It’s
not just a story?”
I nod. “We overpowered it and dragged it onto the ice.” I think about what David told me about the feelers and their battery packs. “The feelers aren’t as infallible as everyone thinks.”
“I told you she killed a feeler,” Alun says to the boy. “Now pay up.” The other kid hands Alun his protein bar.
I look at Emma, confused, as the two boys head off, bickering. “What was that about?”
“They’re betting on you,” Emma says, smiling a little. “You and Liam are sort of legendary around here, for the stuff you did on the wheel.”
“All we did was try to survive.”
“Well, you did it better than almost everyone else.” She pauses. “I wish I’d been able to take down a feeler. But one of them got me and froze me. I just woke up at Destiny Station when the scientists thawed me out. Months had passed since I’d been taken. It was awful—like a whole chunk of my life had been stolen.”
“Do you remember any of it?” I ask her, curious. “Like how it felt to get frozen? Or what happened after the feeler took you?”
She shakes her head. “No. I just remember flying through the air with those tentacles wrapped around me. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. And then I either passed out, or it injected me with something. Everything went black. And the next time I saw light again, I was inside the medical lab in Destiny Station.” She shudders. “I don’t want to think about what would have happened to me if the scientists hadn’t hijacked my plane.”
A nearby bank of video screens embedded in the tiles comes to life. At the same time, a warning siren starts pinging. Everyone in the dining hall instantly goes quiet, including me and Emma.
Dr. Barrett’s gaunt and grizzled face appears on every screen, emerging from the darkness. It’s a live video feed.
I half stand up, trying to see if I can find Liam behind him in the shot. But it just remains a close-up of Dr. Barrett. Emma puts her glasses back on to watch.
“There is no time for formalities or niceties,” Dr. Barrett begins, staring directly into the camera. “Things out here on the ocean are worse than we expected. We have encountered—and defeated—two enemy crafts sent from the southern UNA.” He pauses. “I am talking to you right now from the Base Lerato hydrofoil. We have found and rescued Octavio Bernal, and what remains of his crew. And we have refueled his craft. So far, none of my men has been killed. We are safe for the moment. But we are low on resources, and we need your assistance. We cannot withstand many more attacks.” His hooded eyes stare at us from under furrowed brows. “The time has come to begin our assault on Island Alpha. We cannot wait any longer.”
Around us, voices start murmuring in surprise. Emma and I look at each other. I didn’t think this day would come so soon—but at the same time, I can’t wait to be reunited with Liam. I feel terrified but also strangely exhilarated.
“My men know what to do,” Dr. Barrett continues. “They will initiate the procedure for everyone to leave Southern Arc, and head to Island Alpha immediately.”
The voices around us get louder. Both Emma and I stand up, watching the screens. I’m suddenly worried about my mom. What will happen if we leave here before her vessel arrives? I still don’t know why it’s taking so long. I assume her submarine can’t move as fast as ours—but I’m afraid that something has gone wrong.
On the screen, the signal breaks up for a second and then reconfigures itself.
“Obey the guards,” Dr. Barrett continues. “They will lead you onto crafts that will take you directly to Island Alpha. They will also brief you on our military strategy.”
“I gotta find Cass,” Emma whispers nervously.
On-screen, Dr. Barrett keeps talking. “The time has arrived to storm the island and take it from the drones and the feelers. Octavio and I will be meeting you there when you land. You must keep your wits, and gather every ounce of courage that you possess.” His eyes burn with a passion that encourages and disturbs me. “We cannot fail. Our entire future depends on successfully recapturing Island Alpha.”
The image flickers again. We’re about to lose the signal. The screen abruptly goes dark, but Dr. Barrett’s disembodied voice continues to speak.
“Soon, Island Alpha will be ours. We must never give up, until we have taken the island as our own. By any means necessary . . .”
His words disappear in a wave of angry distortion. Then the audio cuts to silence. Around us, everyone is talking loudly, buzzing about what Dr. Barrett just said. No one expected this kind of message today. A lot of people seem upset, but I’m relieved to know that Liam is alive, and that my journey back to him is beginning.
I hear heavy footsteps and turn my head to see guards entering the refectory. “This way!” one of them calls out to everyone. “You heard Dr. Barrett! The time has come!”
“We’ll brief you when we get on the airships!” another guard yells. “Every second you waste now could mean a life lost later on.”
I see guards start grabbing startled people by the arms, pushing them forward. “Go! To the airships!”
“Airships?” I ask Emma. I’m picturing large cargo planes, like the one that took me and Liam off the wheel and brought us to Destiny Station.
Emma looks at me, equally confused. “If they have airplanes here, they’ve been hiding them pretty well.”
She’s right. Other than Dr. Barrett’s helicopter, I’ve seen nothing around the station anywhere except ice.
We quickly join the group of people heading to the exits, following the guards. The guards are everywhere now. It’s clear that they’re well-prepared for this moment, like they’ve practiced it many times.
We reach a guard. I can’t help but ask him, “Where are we going exactly?”
He gestures brusquely with his hand. “Up and out of the station. Now move it!”
“But I need to get my things!” Emma says, realizing that he means we’re leaving this instant. “Everything’s still in my bunk.”
“Too late,” he replies. “Just keep moving.”
“What? That’s crazy! But—”
The crowd surges forward, and we’re forced past the guard. People flood down the hallway, and we get caught up with them. It’s like the whole station is being evacuated.
I wonder what Dr. Barrett meant when he said things were worse than he’d thought. I long to feel Liam’s arms holding me again. I never should have let him go. I feel a knot in my stomach. What if he’s alive, but injured? Dr. Barrett said that no one had been killed, but he didn’t say if anyone had gotten hurt. I start to feel panicked again.
“This way!” a guard calls out.
We’re being guided up a flight of tiled stairs. Heading out of Southern Arc and into the freezing cold. I can already feel blasts of icy wind hitting us, even though we’re inside the station. The doors, hatches, and ports leading outside must have all been thrown open. I button my jacket, glad that I have it with me. Emma pulls up the collar of her own jacket against the wind.
Both of us are looking around for Cass and her other friends. There are so many people here, Cass could be anywhere.
We reach another wide staircase, and we walk up it. The air is getting even colder and thinner. The stairs seem to go on forever. Above us is a wide opening with sunlight filtering through it.
“Wow,” Emma breathes. Something has caught her attention. I follow her gaze, peering out the opening as we walk.
A huge cylindrical object moves across the sky for a moment, blotting out the sun. It’s like some kind of massive UNA warship. Startled, I stop walking, and get jostled by the crowd. Then the object moves out of view. I stare after it, craning my neck.
“What was that?” I ask Emma.
“I don’t know.”
“I guess we better find out.” We start walking again.
I reach the top of the stairs with Emma at my side. We step out onto the ice and into the bitterly cold air. I can feel the hairs inside my nose already starting to freeze. I
shove my hands into my jacket pockets. Emma is shivering next to me. The sun now reflects off the ice so brightly that my eyes ache. There are guards everywhere, yelling to one another.
But what gets my attention is the object in the sky. It’s floating above us in the subarctic air. A massive gray airship, like some kind of gas-filled dirigible. It’s easily half the length of a football field, and drifting about twenty feet above the ground. Ropes tie it down to large metal stakes that have been driven into the ice.
Under the cylindrical hull hangs a huge compartment, clearly meant to carry passengers. Machine guns stick out from turrets placed between narrow windows. And attached to the back of the craft is a complex system of engines and giant propellers.
“This is the way off Southern Arc?” I ask, startled and confused. I guess I was expecting something more high-tech.
“We’re going to get shot right out of the sky!” Emma says, echoing my dismay. “We won’t even make it to the wheel.”
I see Alun forcing his way through the crowd. A wool cap covers his shaved head. Emma and I both call out to him. He hears us and starts heading our way.
“Check it out!” he exclaims when he reaches us. His breath is visible in the air and his cheeks are flushed. He gestures at the airship drifting in the sky above us. “Can you believe this?”
“It’s not going to fit everyone,” I say. “I don’t understand.”
“Me neither,” Emma adds.
“Let me show you something.” Alun leads us through the crowd, cutting a hasty path, practically knocking people out of the way with his bulk. Some people have jackets on and some don’t. The guards have rushed us out here so quickly that no one seems prepared. This harsh, abrupt way of doing things is apparently just part of life at Southern Arc. We follow Alun, our feet crunching on the ice, until we reach the edge of the mob.
The Uprising: The Forsaken Trilogy Page 12