by Brandon Mull
“Nobody can do that,” Hunter said dismissively.
“I know somebody who can,” Cole said, thinking of Trillian. “And some others who maybe can. At least our minds spoke to each other.”
Hunter glanced over at the drone robot. “Charlie, go passive.”
“Confirmation?” the drone asked.
“Glazed doughnuts with sprinkles.”
The drone went still and silent.
“Nice code word,” Cole said.
“Hard words to guess,” Hunter replied. “Easy to remember. But just saying it gives me cravings.”
“It’s a robot but you can also control it?” Cole asked.
“It has different modes,” Hunter replied. “It’s the same model I was controlling when I almost caught you that time. Look, if you still have doubts about me, you’re about to lose them.” He paused, his expression grave. “I guess you could say that my mission in Junction was successful. I went there to learn if you were right about the High King and his daughters. And I found out the truth.”
Cole watched him expectantly. His face was so tricky to read. It suddenly struck Cole how much his eyes really did look like Cole’s father’s. Their father’s?
“You got proof? You know that I’m right?”
Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, you are.”
“I am?” Cole replied in surprise. “I mean, you know I am?”
“I didn’t expect it to be true,” Hunter said. “I still can’t even believe it. The High King withheld all of it from me. I thought he trusted me more than that. I’ve done a lot for him. He personally helped me develop my shaping skills.”
“Really?”
“It made sense,” Hunter said. “We were both strong in the abilities of all five kingdoms. But he’s weak now. I saw him on this visit. In private, kind of joking around, I asked him to do some of our old drills. He did some spatial stuff from Creon, but weakly, and got angry when I tried to get him to do Sambrian shaping or Ellowine enchanting.”
“Was that your proof?”
“Oh, no,” Hunter said. “I’m more thorough than that. I checked other sources. In the end I went to Owandell.”
“Really?”
“He knows I’ve always been loyal to the High King. Acting like a traitor would have raised suspicions. I played it like I’d noticed the High Shaper was becoming weak, and I wanted to keep my options open. I asked Owandell how the hunt for Stafford’s daughters was going, as if I had full knowledge about them. He became smug, and asked if I had heard about recent developments in Necronum. I guess Honor and Destiny are in trouble. He seemed to know a lot about what is going on, but wouldn’t say more.”
“Did you mention Nazeem?” Cole asked.
“Not directly,” Hunter said. “I told him I heard that a spy had recently escaped him. It really set him on edge. I could tell he hated that I knew anything about it. I told him I was good at tracking people down, but he took it as a threat. He didn’t want my help.”
“Wasn’t that dangerous?” Cole asked.
“Absolutely. Nobody wants Owandell as an enemy. But it was the surest way to find out what I needed to know. Cole, you have to believe me that the High King kept these crimes from me. I’ve never liked Owandell. The High King hasn’t trusted him since I’ve been here. To learn they worked together to steal the princesses’ powers, and to find out I was helping track down one of his daughters without knowing it . . . let’s just say I’ve rethought a lot of things. It makes me feel sick thinking of everything I did.”
“You’re switching sides?” Cole asked.
Hunter gave a dark chuckle. “This isn’t easy, Cole. I’m in deep. So many people are going to be so mad. The High Shaper most of all.”
“But . . . ,” Cole prompted.
Hunter smiled. “But I’m not going to fight my little brother. Especially when he’s right.”
Cole couldn’t help laughing. He couldn’t help smiling. He couldn’t resist the tears. Relief washed over him. This surpassed his highest hopes. Unless . . .
“You’re not just saying this to trick me,” Cole checked, his inner celebration pausing.
Hunter’s smile froze. “What?”
“To get info out of me,” Cole said. “You know, pretend we’re on the same side so I tell you everything.”
Hunter stared at him. “That would be a smart tactic.”
“Yeah,” Cole said, wiping tears from his cheeks. “Whether or not you’re really my brother. If you’re still loyal to Stafford, it’s what you would do.”
Hunter nodded. “I probably would. But I’m not. Do the math. The stuff on the Internet. Everything I know. How I’m treating you. If nothing else, can’t you see how awful I feel for being such an idiot and falling for all those lies?”
A part of Cole kind of agreed with Hunter’s harsh words about himself—it was hard not to judge Hunter and Blake for having joined up with the wrong sides here in the Outskirts. Hadn’t they noticed some signs they were working for bad people? But Cole also knew he couldn’t be completely positive what he would have done if he hadn’t met Mira and Jace when he did.
“So what now?” he asked.
“We make plans. I’m on your side, Cole. I wouldn’t have sided with the resistance before I learned all this, but even then I was on your side. You’re my brother. I care more about you than everyone in the Outskirts combined. If I could, I’d take you home. We’d get out of here right now, together. But we can’t. It doesn’t work.”
“How do I trust you?”
“You just do. I’m not playing you. I already know about the map in your pocket.”
“Yeah?”
“I searched you while you were out. Nobody else knows about it. They were under orders that only I was allowed to search you. I put the map back. My guess is you went to Junction to get it. Met up with some contact. And it must have something to do with Constance.”
“What?” Cole asked, trying to sound confused, still on his guard. The queen had made no written explanation of what the marked location meant.
“I’ve been following you since Sambria,” Hunter reminded him. “It’s what you’ve been doing all along. First Mira, then Honor. What I don’t get is how you ended up spying on Owandell. Nobody knew about that meeting.”
“The Unseen have good sources,” Cole said.
“I guess,” Hunter said. “Anyhow, listen. What if I sneak you out of here? What if we go to a hideout only I know about? And then what if we find Constance together?”
“But what if you backstab me and keep her?” Cole asked. “What if that’s all this is about?”
“Knock it off. It’ll be perfect. I’ll make my team think I’m playing you. Letting you help me infiltrate the Unseen. I do stuff like this sometimes. We’ll take off on our own. And in the end, we’ll double-cross them.”
“Or you’ll double-cross me,” Cole said.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” Hunter said.
“People are counting on me. People I care about. I can’t blow this.”
“I’m not going to backstab my brother.”
“Unless you’re not my brother. Or unless you still secretly think I’m on the wrong side.”
Hunter scowled. “I’ve given you tons of proof, Cole. What more do you want?”
“Let me go,” Cole said. “Get me back to my friends. We’ll find Constance. You can help us as an insider until you’re ready to come over.”
“That’s an option, I guess,” Hunter mused. “But how do I explain you getting away without looking like a traitor? If I let you go, I’ll need to get out too. And no matter what you tell the Unseen, they aren’t going to work with me if I come to them empty-handed. What’s the story with Constance? She’s not just hiding, right? She’s in trouble.”
“She was captured,”
Cole said, unsure if it was too much information to share.
“She’s being held by Abram Trench?” Hunter asked.
“What makes you say that?”
“The facility on the map is over a hundred feet below the ground. Trench owns the waste-disposal center above it. After examining your map, I did some research.”
“Good for you,” Cole said.
“You’re missing the point. I already figured out where Constance is. If she’s all I want, why don’t I go get her without you? I could put together a team right now and do it.”
Cole thought about it. “That’s a really good point.” He could feel himself wavering. This probably really was his brother. Shouldn’t they just go get Constance together?
“Nobody knows about the secret base where Abram has her,” Hunter said. “The High King keeps Abram Trench under close watch. We track all his little secrets. I have access to all our info on him, and this is new.”
“Wouldn’t we want help from the Unseen?” Cole asked.
“I don’t know if the Unseen could manage this one. Not after they’ve been so torn up by City Patrol. This is the kind of operation for a couple of guys—in and out. Stealthy. We won’t get her with brute force. Abram has too many resources. Also, if I help deliver Constance to them, the Unseen will have a good reason to start trusting me. I already checked out Trench’s base.”
“You did? How?”
“Using a drone and some specialized tools. There aren’t any plans for it in any records I could find. I had to investigate firsthand. There’s almost no way in. But we could swing it if we each controlled a drone.”
“You sound like a pro. How’d you get so good at this stuff?”
Hunter blushed a little. “I didn’t know squat at first. Do you get how it works here? What people really value? It’s all about shaping. A reliable shaper will end up with good treatment, free or not. A great shaper gets treated almost like royalty. I’m pretty good at all five types. So they put me on the fast track. As I proved I could shape well in combat situations, my responsibilities grew. And I ended up learning all sorts of things.”
Cole supposed he had also learned a lot since coming to the Outskirts, and it had only been a couple of months. “We can just walk out of here?”
“If you’ll trust me, yeah, we take off, my people think I’m undercover, and we can do whatever we want until they figure out I went over to the rebellion.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Wait a minute. Never mind. You just talked me out of it.”
“Come on,” Cole said. “I’m serious.”
Hunter laid a hand on his shoulder. “Cole, you’re my brother. I’ve known you since you were born. I can’t keep working for the High King after learning about his daughters. I have to start making amends for the harm I’ve caused. I think a lot of people will feel the same way. With the princesses, the rebellion has a real chance. Plus, our biggest problem might actually be Owandell and this Nazeem guy. I don’t think the High King can stop him. I’m with you a hundred percent. Let’s do this.”
“All right,” Cole said. “I’m in.”
Hunter smiled. “Thanks for trusting me.”
“Is it hard to control a drone?”
“You’ll know before long.”
CHAPTER
32
DRONES
Night had fallen by the time Hunter led Cole out to the street and summoned a levcar with a blank ID card. They both wore regular clothes.
“Nice card,” Cole said after getting into the car.
Hunter held up the ID, a blue rectangle with nothing printed on it. “No photo, so I can’t use it at checkpoints. The great thing is it randomly mimics over ten million existing ID cards. According to all records, we’re not riding in this levcar. It’s some other Zeropolitan citizen.”
“Cool,” Cole said.
“It’s only the beginning,” Hunter promised. “Just wait. In Zeropolis, I work with a technomancer named Clayton Barnes. Only Googol and Abram Trench can rival his talent. He makes certain types of tech better than anybody. He developed the drones I use, and he created this card.”
“Where exactly are we going?” Cole asked.
“I have a few hideouts in Zeropolis that only I know about. We’re going to my favorite. We’ll control the drones from there.”
“We’re going after Constance tonight?”
“I work with smart, suspicious people,” Hunter said. “No matter what precautions we take, we’ll only have a few days at best before they realize that I’ve gone over to the other side. We need to do everything we can before then. I left two drones in position, along with some other gizmos Clay provided to get us inside. We just have to fire them up and find your princess.”
“What about after we find Constance?” Cole asked.
“All figured out, little brother,” Hunter said with a cocky smile.
“I’m not that much littler than you.”
Hunter scowled. “I know, it’s weird. You’ve aged a couple of years since I’ve seen you, and I’ve stayed about the same. You’re catching up.”
“You were saying?”
Hunter smiled again. “We use the drones to take her to a safe house. Then I contact the Unseen.”
“How?”
“Remember that communicator they toasted when I almost captured you?”
Cole nodded.
“I was able to crack the harmonics on that crystal. I kept the frequency to myself, so my own people shouldn’t be listening in. Even if the Unseen aren’t actively using that frequency anymore, I bet they’re still monitoring it. Once we get in touch, we’ll set up a time and place to deliver Constance.”
“They’re probably in Old Zeropolis,” Cole said. “Will we use the tunnels?”
“That’s one option,” Hunter replied. “Or we could fly.”
“Excuse me?”
“Abram Trench doesn’t allow air travel in Zeropolis. But the technology has existed here for a long time. I answer to the High Shaper, not the Grand Shaper, so I have a magnetic glider.”
“No way.”
“Yep. It’s another of Clay’s creations. No wheels. The glider hovers like the warboard you used the day I almost caught you. Good work that day, by the way. You kept your cool and did a great job using your tech to escape. It’s part of why I want you to help me extract Constance.”
“Thanks,” Cole said. “So the glider flies really low?”
“No,” Hunter said with a chuckle. “That would be the worst. The hovering just works like the landing gear. Once you’re up, the glider flies like normal and propels itself, which maybe makes it not a true glider. But it’s small and light. Seats four. Thanks to the energy crystals, it basically has infinite fuel. I only fly it at night. It would stand out too much in the daylight.”
“You’re a pilot?”
“I can pilot the glider. A lot of the systems are automatic. I basically just steer and control the speed. It won’t let me crash. I can’t land it where there isn’t enough metal for the hover system to work, and it automatically corrects if I’m in danger of a collision or going into a spin. It’s awesome. I’ll miss working with Clayton.”
Cole considered what that meant. “You’re giving up a lot to join the resistance.”
Hunter shook his head. “Who wouldn’t give up working for the bad guys? Sure, I had lots of cool stuff. But I had no idea I was being used to hurt good people. Accepting that is hard. Giving up the stuff is easy. Think about how much you miss our family. What’s a bunch of stuff compared to that? Wouldn’t you trade anything to be back with them? I found my brother! That’s worth more than any of those gadgets.”
“I’m impressed.”
“What did you expect? I thought I was helping the good guys catch bad guys. Or at least the pretty good guys c
atch worse guys. I really thought you had been tricked by the Unseen. I was trying to help you. Instead, you helped me learn what’s really going on.”
“They’re going to be mad,” Cole said.
“That’s a major understatement,” Hunter replied. “Being an Enforcer isn’t a part-time job. You join for life, and you don’t betray them. They’ll come after me hard. Both Owandell and the High King will want my hide.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said.
“It isn’t all bad,” Hunter said. “Things are changing. Everybody knows that much. The High King is weakening, Owandell is gaining followers, and crazy stuff is going on across the kingdoms. I’m pretty well known, so when I disappear, it’ll send another signal that something’s wrong. It will be good for the resistance when people hear I’m on their side. When the Unseen decide to tell everyone about the princesses, I can help the story seem more believable. And I might help convince some of the people I worked with to switch sides as well.”
For a time Cole stared out the window at the city lights. He contemplated all Hunter was leaving behind. Starting out as a slave, he had built a new life for himself here. And now he was throwing it away to do what he thought was right.
“I wish I could remember you,” Cole said.
“Me too,” Hunter replied. “It’s too bad.”
“I wish I could give you the welcome you deserve,” Cole said. “You must be a great guy. I’m glad you’re my brother.”
Hunter bowed his head, crouched forward, and started to shake. It took Cole a moment to recognize that his brother was sobbing. He reached across and patted his shoulders.
Wiping tears away, Hunter looked up. “I wish you could remember me too. But it’s enough that you believe me. I’ve been so lonely here. Finding you feels like a miracle. We weren’t just brothers, Cole. We were good friends, too. We messed around together all the time. We’ll be friends again. You’ll see.”
As they continued from street to street, their levcar swerving among the others, Cole fought to recall his brother. He could remember the events surrounding some of the pictures he had seen online with Hunter in them—a trip to California, a soccer game, Chelsea’s birthday. In contradiction to the photos, Hunter made no appearance in the memories.