by Kekla Magoon
“Yeah,” she said. “Except now it’s all falling apart.”
“All the more reason to keep myself legitimate.”
“I suppose.”
“Chazz will have a plan,” Jeb assured her. “He always does.”
“Or Robyn will.” After months of vaguely wishing Robyn would disappear, Scarlet now found herself hoping the little rich girl wouldn’t leave them in the lurch. She’d proven herself resourceful. Inspiring.
Then again, if she couldn’t handle the truth, maybe they were better off without her. Scarlet lifted the gun again and twitched it at Robyn’s poster.
“Aren’t you going to tell me not to play with your service weapon?”
Jeb shrugged. “No need. You can’t fire it.”
“Oh, yeah?” She tucked her finger over the trigger.
“Go ahead, pull it. Nothing will happen.” Jeb looked completely calm and unconcerned. Was he bluffing? Obviously she couldn’t actually fire the weapon. Not in here.
She lowered it. “What are you talking about?”
“You really shouldn’t play with guns,” he said.
Scarlet grinned and rolled her eyes. “There it is. I knew you couldn’t get by without saying it.”
Jeb shook his head. “Ours have safety measures, but they’re special. It’s not a good habit to get into.”
Scarlet laughed. “You sound like an old man. ‘It’s not a good habit to get into,’ ” she mimicked. “Give me a break.”
“Scarlet. Come on.”
“Relax, I know enough not to shoot you,” she said. “I would never even point it at you. That’s how accidents happen.” She winked at him.
Jeb lifted the gun out of her hand by the barrel. “It’s not a joke,” he said. “I have to, you know, they’re teaching me … I might have to actually use it.”
“You wouldn’t,” she said, feeling strangely confident.
Jeb’s eyes grew sad. “It’s my job.”
She didn’t like him saying it. Didn’t want to believe he could ever become what the MPs wanted to make him. He never wanted this life, but he didn’t have a choice. Winning Iron Teen, it turned out, was a one-way ticket into law enforcement.
“I guess they did the contest anyway, huh?” Scarlet said. They’d screwed up the winner’s dinner last night, but knowing Nott City, the show would go on.
“They’re doing it right now,” Jeb said. “I’m supposed to be there when it’s over.”
He laid the gun on the table. He patted the handle as if trying to befriend the deadly thing. When he touched it, the mound along the top glowed green.
“Hey,” she said. “It’s different.”
Jeb nodded. “Safety measures. It reads my finger and palm print. I meant it before when I said you could pull the trigger and nothing would happen.”
“So, only you can fire your gun?”
“Well, any MP. We don’t have personalized weapons yet. Not at my level. The higher-ups might. I heard that their gun grips are molded based on their actual hands, too.”
Scarlet picked up the gun again. The top ridge glowed red. “That’s messed up,” she declared, tossing it onto the table.
“It’s gun control,” he said. “It’s how we make sure to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of children. And people who shouldn’t have them.”
Scarlet leaned close to his ear. “Like members of the rebellion?”
“Exactly.” Jeb smiled. “Those hoodlums can’t be trusted.” He turned his head to face hers, and kissed her.
But instead of kissing him back, she pulled away, a puzzled expression on her face. “Hey, how does it know you’re touching it? I mean, how does it know it’s you?” The puzzle-solving side of Scarlet’s brain kicked in.
“Some kind of chip,” Jeb said. “We’re all in the database.”
“So, it’s not just pre-programmed. It’s wirelessly tied to the network?”
“I don’t know,” he said, fidgeting. “I pick it up and it works. I don’t ask questions.”
Scarlet could tell he was frustrated by her questions. Jeb liked concrete things he could see and touch. She was the techie, the one whose life revolved around ones and zeroes and machines and invisible forces. He didn’t know, but she could find out.
Scarlet ran her hand over his hair. “Computerized weapons? What will they think of next?” She sighed.
Jeb took her hand. “We’re going to make things better,” he said.
“The MPs?” she scoffed. “Not likely.”
“No, us.” He kissed her again. She put her hands over his shoulders.
“You’re not allowed to do that while you’re in the outfit,” she reminded him. “I feel like I’m kissing the enemy.”
“I have to go, anyway,” he said. “When I’m back, we go to the cathedral?”
“I’m going now,” Scarlet said. “To see if there’s still a rebellion to return to.”
“You should wait for me.”
Scarlet made a face. “I don’t need a big bad gun to protect me,” she insisted. “I do fine on my own.”
Jeb sighed and stood up. She watched him latch the gun into his hip holster. As she hugged him good-bye, her mind spun around the idea of computers in guns. All the possibilities.
CHAPTER TEN
Rumors
The rutted bed of the pickup truck was perfectly clean and white. The sun gleamed off it awkwardly. Tucker Branch rolled and jounced along. His shoulder, hip, and temple throbbed from repeated jouncing. His hands and feet were bound together behind him, like an animal headed to slaughter. At least, that’s how he felt. Tucker really had no idea how animals looked while headed to slaughter. Maybe they weren’t tied up at all. Maybe they all just walked down the road, and into the slaughterhouse, as if they were going on a field trip. Not knowing their fate.
Tucker knew his fate. At least, he knew enough that he wouldn’t go willingly.
“Is this really necessary?” he’d said as the MPs bound his ankles and wrists, then forced him to bend his knees so they could tie the two together.
The MPs had muttered sounds, short grunts not quite interchangeable with laughter. “No more tricks, Sherwood boy. You’re done.”
The truck took a sharp turn. Done. Tucker closed his eyes and prayed.
The white truck stopped and the engine rumbled down to silence. Tucker’s body continued to vibrate. Sounds of voices and machinery filled the void of the engine noise in his ears. The sounds of scraping, sweeping, and shoveling came from all sides.
They pulled him out of the truck, untied him. The impulse to break free and run was squelched by the sight before him.
The massive quarry was surrounded by a thin barbed-wire fence.
He was a prisoner. The worst-case scenario was now a reality.
“Come on, Sherwood boy,” the MP said. “This is where you live now.”
Sheriff Marissa Mallet sat quietly in her office, high in the Sherwood MP Headquarters. Her picture window looked out over the city, and to the forest beyond.
She held up the pendant in her hand. The white stone circle glowed in the sunlight. Nestled around it, a crescent-shaped black stone. Mallet had retrieved the item from Robyn’s own neck. The spoils of war.
The pendant was small, but heavier than she expected. She let it rest in the palm of her hand, feeling the weight of it.
The one who wields the Pendant of Power.
A child of Shadows and Light.
The hoodlum Robyn might fancy herself a leader, but those were girlish fantasies. A whole city, relying on the whims and wishes of a child? No. Mallet herself was the one with all the power. And now she had the pendant to back it up.
Mallet stroked the stones, alternately cool and warm to the touch. She could feel their power. The pendant itself, she had thought to be a myth. A legend. A holdover from the days when the people let the tenets of an obscure faith guide their paths.
But the pendant existed. What did that mean about the rest of the teachings?
Had any of the moon lore texts survived? Mallet’s heart beat faster at the thought.
Did the shrines exist? Such myths, such rumors, could not really be trusted, could they?
Mallet smiled.
Rumors of a coup.
Rumors of a teenaged hoodlum.
A great many powerful truths had been preceded by rumors.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Crescendo
The cathedral fell quiet. Everyone waited for Robyn to speak. Everyone included Key, Scarlet, Chazz, Nessa Croft, Floyd Bridger, and two men and six women Robyn didn’t recognize.
In the great arching space of the cathedral, the group seemed small, even though more people had arrived than she expected.
“I don’t know everyone here,” Robyn said.
The adults introduced themselves. One woman spoke, “We are the remaining few who started this Crescendo and have not yet been imprisoned.”
The “yet” echoed through the air, seeming to bounce off every pillar and arch.
Another said, “Together we all represent the past, present, and future of the Crescent Rebellion. Watching you these past few months, I feel renewed hope.”
“Then why did you lie to me?” Robyn couldn’t help the question.
“You can’t see what you’re not ready for,” Chazz said. “You know there was a movement. Why weren’t you looking to see what had gone before?”
“I thought all the leaders were imprisoned. I saw Nyna Campbell tied up on that stage. I saw the wanted posters for Nessa and Bridger.” Robyn nodded to him. “I saw it all the day we first met. I thought we were alone in seeing what needed to be done.”
“You came to see me in T.C.”
“And you tried to send me packing,” she accused Chazz. “You told me flat out to run, that it was useless to stay and fight.”
Chazz gazed back at her, seemingly emotionless.
“Now Crown’s threatening my parents. I think he’s figured out who I am.”
Chazz reacted to that. “Then let’s focus on the problem at hand. How do we get them out?”
“What did Crown really say?” Key argued. “He didn’t mention your parents specifically. He didn’t even say they. He said it.”
Robyn recited the message for those who had not heard it firsthand.
“That’s vague. He might have been bluffing,” Scarlet agreed.
“He could be trying to trick you into turning yourself in,” Key said.
No. Robyn knew she had screwed up. She’d called out Mom when the guards had grabbed her mother. It would be very easy to put those pieces together. Even for the most thick-headed MPs. With her parents still in Crown’s custody, she couldn’t take the chance.
“I don’t think he’s bluffing,” Robyn said. She pulled a long slow breath into her lungs. She knew what came next, but it was the hardest thing she’d ever had to utter.
“My parents would want the rebellion to continue,” Robyn said. “With or without them.” It was especially hard to choke out the last bit. For months now, her sole goal had been to save them. The knot in her chest refused to go away.
But things were different now.
She had watched her mother sacrifice herself for the cause. Robyn understood now what her purpose was. What it all meant.
Robyn’s limbs felt heavy. She stood rooted to the spot on the altar. Finally, she forced the weightiest thoughts into words.
“In seventy-two hours, my parents will be killed. We can’t stage a rescue in that short a time. But we can send Crown a message.”
“What kind of message?” Scarlet asked.
“The message that we are not scared. That this rebellion cannot be crushed by his threats.” Robyn paced along the altar. “He knows who I am. He thinks all I care about is my parents. Well, he can destroy my parents, he can destroy me, but he cannot actually win.”
“We just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Key agreed. “Righting wrongs and making a disruption in the biggest possible ways.”
Robyn looked to him in relief. That was a good way of putting it. “Yes. If we show him that the rebellion is bigger than Robyn Hoodlum, he’ll realize it is pointless to kill my parents.”
“Do you really think that’s going to work?” Scarlet said.
“It has to,” Robyn whispered. The other remaining possibilities were bleak. “He won’t kill them when he sees what we’re capable of.” She spoke more confidently than she felt.
“Nonsense, girlie,” Chazz barked. “The threat is specific. It’s different now.”
“Yes, it’s different,” Robyn said.
“By the moon,” Chazz thundered. “We need a new plan for breaking them out. This is what you’ve wanted all these months. Now the rest of us are on board, and suddenly you change your tune? We go back in and save them.”
Nessa put a hand on his shoulder. “I think Robert would be the first to agree with Robyn. We need to motivate more people to be involved before we can hope to do anything for the Loxleys.”
It was the first time her parents’ names had been spoken aloud, even in this small group. Robyn surrendered to another wave of feeling foolish. She’d thought she was so anonymous and mysterious. But Chazz and Nessa, and maybe the others, had known exactly who she was all along.
“We’ve got thousands of people working in Block Six every day. Now’s the time to get serious about that army!” Chazz said.
“We’re at our best when we work as a team,” Key said.
“That’s what Crown needs to see,” Robyn agreed. “All of us. Coming right for him.”
“Ready to take him down.” Key’s voice grew deeply insistent.
Robyn stood tall before them. Her job as a leader of the movement was one thing. Her responsibility as a daughter was another. Chazz was right—she’d find a way to save her parents somehow, even if it meant walking straight into Crown’s office and taking his deal. But the movement was bigger than all of them. In the meantime, it made sense to keep the Crescendo alive. Her parents would need something to return to, after all was said and done.
“Stop,” she said, commanding all the authority she could into her voice.
The room fell quiet. Huh. It worked, Robyn thought. She filled her lungs with new air and began.
“We need to send Crown a message. A message of solidarity from all the people of Sherwood. Something to convince him that killing my parents, or any of those imprisoned, would result in massive uprising from the people.”
“We have only three days,” Scarlet said. “Something like that could take months.”
“Are we thinking of a giant protest or demonstration?” said one of the women.
“Not sure,” Robyn said, speaking from her gut. “I think we’re looking for something smaller and easier to pull off in a short time.”
“But something very public,” Nessa Croft suggested. “Tomorrow there will be the weekly showcase in Block Six. Hundreds of people will already be gathered. That would be a good time for a mass protest action.”
“Showcase?” Robyn asked. “What’s that?”
The room was lulled into a respectful but uncomfortable silence.
“Crown’s latest intimidation tactic,” Chazz grumbled. “It’s not enough that people are broke and hungry and struggling, he wants them to be scared to death to boot.”
Robyn nodded, even though he had not answered the actual question. Typical of Chazz. And now she was embarrassed to admit she didn’t understand. She was supposed to be in charge.
“Can we get enough of the workers on board by then?” Key asked. He turned toward Chazz. “How hard will it be to spread the word?”
“I know the folks who can get it done,” Chazz confirmed. “I have several contacts who work construction and sanitation. I know a couple of machinists and a bus driver who’s pretty influential among transit workers. We can get the word out, if we know what we want them to do.”
“Preferably something that won’t result in mass arrests,” one of th
e women said. Murmurs of agreement spread over the room.
“That’s a tall order,” Scarlet said. “There are always a ton of MPs keeping an eye on the crowd. But if they did something small, we could use it to give hope to all of Sherwood.”
“We’ll think about it.” Nessa shrugged. “I can call for the action in my broadcast tonight.”
A picture of this showcase formed in Robyn’s mind. Lots of working people, gathered in one place, with MPs monitoring them. She imagined it would be similar to the crowd in which she’d met Bridger. When Mallet had stood on the stage issuing threats, trying to flush out the remaining Crescendo leaders.
“It’s not enough,” Key said. “And not fast enough. We only have three days. We can’t waste all of today and tonight.”
Smaller, faster actions. Robyn closed her eyes. “Imagine,” she said. “MPs walking through Sherwood, feeling afraid that anyone they pass might be against them. Imagine Crown feeling like everywhere he looks, Sherwood is constantly reminding him that we are ready to fight. What does that look like?”
“A lot of signs?” Key suggested.
“Signs are expensive,” Chazz growled.
“A lot of cheap signs?” Key quipped back. “Sticky notes on every window?”
“Too small. Too expensive,” Chazz insisted.
“Are people forgetting that we’re THIEVES?” Scarlet groaned. “For crying out loud.”
“I like that idea, though,” Robyn said. “Sticky notes everywhere. In so many places that I couldn’t possibly have done it all myself.” She paced along the altar. “Between now and the deadline, we do everything we can to show Crown that Robyn is bigger than one girl. She has the support of hundreds, of thousands.”
Nessa nodded. “They need to believe we’re everywhere.”
“We are everywhere.”
Everyone turned to look at Chazz. He lifted a shoulder, in his laconic way. “We need to believe it, too.” He spoke with quiet certainty. A steady confidence that filled Robyn with confidence, too.