FOR A LONG MOMENT, WE JUST STARED AT HIM. NATE NOLAND WAS SUPPOSED to be unconscious, and possibly naked, and desperately glad that we’d come to rescue him. Instead, he looked like we’d dropped by with pizza. Good pizza, too, not the kind from General Tso’s.
He was dressed in a soft, loose-fitting pair of dark pants, a V-neck sweater with an infinity sign embroidered above his heart, and a pair of soft slippers with little turned-up toes like elf shoes.
“Guys?” Nate said. “In or out? I can’t keep the door open or outer space will get in. Probably.”
“Nate!” Howard shoved me aside and pushed to the front, but he didn’t seem to know what to do when he got there. His brother clapped him on the shoulder and he found his tongue. “You’re okay!”
Was he? I stared, confused. He seemed . . . happy. Which was an odd way to be if you were kidnapped, drugged, put into hypothermic torpor, and shot into space.
“I’m awesome, Howard. And you’re right. This space thing is a blast. I can see why you wanted to come up here so badly. Seriously, though, in or out, I’m recommending in, because it’s so cool in here, you have no idea.”
We all came through the portal, and entered a smallish chamber that looked a lot like the one we had just left, except far sleeker. Everything shone and glistened, and the mountain-fresh scent grew stronger. The lights here were bright as a sunny day and as my eyes adjusted to the room, I even saw green plants tucked into nooks and crannies.
I watched Nate warily. “Are you sure you’re all right, Nate?”
Nate just grinned harder. “Of course I am. I mean, I wasn’t. I was super scared when I woke up on a space station, but I’m trying to look on the bright side.”
“The bright side?” Eric asked.
“I have something really great to write in my college entrance essays, right?” The smile was hopeful. Almost pleading.
Definitely scary.
“But . . . we came here to rescue you,” Savannah said, baffled.
“Aww, Savvy. That’s sweet. But really, I’m just glad you’re here. We knew you were coming, you see.”
“Who is we?” I pounced. “My dad?”
“Yeah,” he said. “And Anton. You met Anton at dinner, he said, gee . . . how many days ago was it now?” He shrugged, which sent him floating across the room. “Anyway, he’s great. Want to see him?”
No. And Anton was not great. I stayed put, hand firmly on one of the glossy handholds. “Anton is a Shepherd. And, you know, he kidnapped you. You were kidnapped.”
And we were caught. We were caught before we even set foot on the station. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go!
“No, I wasn’t,” Nate said.
“You were,” said Savannah. “Gillian’s mom said you had to fight them off.”
Nate’s smile faltered for a minute.
“In the car?” Savannah said. “Do you remember getting attacked in the car?”
Nate paused, and glanced over at the door he was herding us toward. “Wait until you see all the cool stuff on this space station, guys. I really think you’ll like it. I certainly did.”
“Like what?” Howard piped up, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Oh,” said Nate half-heartedly. “You know. Plants, and animals . . . it’s really cool.”
No. Nothing here was cool. Something was very wrong. Nate wasn’t acting like himself at all. Did he even remember getting attacked?
My mind reeled with possibilities, each more horrible than the last. Nate was lying to us. Nate was brainwashed. Nate was under strict instructions not to tell us the truth and that’s why it was him and not my father here to greet us. Dad was somewhere else. Dad hadn’t survived the journey . . .
A lump rose in my throat. “Where’s my dad?”
“He’s inside.” He pointed at the door at the end of the module.
“Then why doesn’t he come here?” I asked. “I don’t want to see the space station.”
“I do!” exclaimed Howard. “Come on, Gillian. Nate says it’s fine.” He pushed past me and floated toward the door.
Nate beckoned to the rest of us.
I shook my head and edged backward. “If Dad were awake, he’d come and greet us.” After all, we’d blasted into space for him. I glanced behind me, at the air lock. Any minute now, Dr. Underberg was going to realize we’d been trapped, and he was going to disconnect and leave us here.
“Oh,” said Nate. “Well, he’s been kind of sick.”
“Sick?” Eric asked.
“Dizzy,” said Nate. “You know. From the microgravity. So he likes to stay in the wheel parts of the station.” He brightened. “You guys have to check out the wheels. It’s so cool. It’s like those videos of the moon . . .” He trailed off and looked from Howard, hovering near the door, to the rest of us, still crowded around the air lock. “I really think you ought to listen to me.”
This time, no one moved.
Howard looked longingly at the door, then back at us. “What are we waiting for?”
Nate flinched. “They aren’t as easy to convince as you, Howard.”
That seemed like the most honest thing he’d said so far.
“Not after the things we’ve seen,” I said.
“And the things we know Anton has done,” Savannah added. “You didn’t see it, Nate. He’s killed, like, millions of honeybees. I mean, designed them to die. He’s a complete loon.”
“He’s a Shepherd,” I finished. It was the same thing.
Nate watched us, then took a deep breath, as if coming to a decision. “Hey, remember when we were all trapped in Omega City and there were those guys chasing us?”
We nodded.
“And we ran away?”
“Yeah?” I put my hand on my hip in impatience.
He drifted closer. “That’s because we could run away. There were places to run to. A whole big underground city. That’s not the case here.”
I narrowed my eyes as he leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper.
“There’s nowhere to run.”
“Nate?” A note of confusion had entered Howard’s voice.
My breath caught in my throat. It was true. We could get back on the ship, assuming Dr. Underberg would let us in, but I couldn’t go and leave my father behind.
“So,” Nate finished, the brittle smile in place as he drew back and resumed his normal speaking voice, “why don’t you all come and meet Anton, and hear what he has to say? He’s been really, really excited about the idea.” He nodded and looked at us meaningfully.
And his meaning was achingly clear. We didn’t have a choice. None of us.
I glanced at my brother, who sighed. “Right. Anton.” He floated toward the door. “This space trip is great. I come half a million miles from Earth to escape the Shepherds, and here they are.”
“Well, yeah,” said Howard. “This is a Shepherd station. Plus, we’re only about two hundred and fifty miles up.”
“Okay,” Eric mumbled as Nate opened the door. Savannah gripped my shoulder hard.
“Though we did come pretty far to get here.”
One by one, we floated through the door, with Nate bringing up the rear.
“We’re circling the Earth once every hour and a half, so I guess you’re right, it has probably been half a million miles, given all the hours we were in orbit last night.”
His chatter seemed to come from very far away. I was breathing hard and heavy as I emerged into the next room.
This chamber was even bigger than the first, and instead of the analog dials, switches, and monitors of Wisdom, it was dominated by touch screens of all shapes and sizes, sleeping berths, and treadmills and other exercise equipment hanging out at all angles.
And floating in the middle of it, looking even more giant than usual in the cramped quarters, was Anton Everett. He smiled broadly at us.
“Hey there! Welcome to Infinity Base! I’ve been waiting for you guys to show up ever since I heard from home about the little mishap in Omega City. What a shock it was to discover you weren’t on board with me.”
A shock? Maybe he’d been surprised, but I was sure that wasn’t his only reaction. Anger, probably. Frustration. But none of that was evident in his behavior right now. He seemed as thrilled to see us as he had been back in Eureka Cove a few days ago. And I was positive he was faking it just as hard.
“And such a disappointment, too. I had so much to show you.” He shook his head as if marveling at us. “You know, all this time I thought my Shepherd upbringing made me special, but look at you four. I didn’t even get to go into space at your age. Mostly because the radiation and zero g isn’t great for developing bodies, but it’s kind of late to worry about that now, right?”
We all just stared at him, baffled.
Finally, I found my voice. “What’s going on?”
Anton stopped and tilted his head. “Well, I don’t know, Gillian. You’re the one who has come to my space station. Why don’t you tell me?”
“We’re here to rescue my father and Nate.”
“Excellent idea! Very brave. If risky.” He floated a few feet away and tapped another screen. “After all, you had no idea what to expect when you got here. Did you?” He turned around and gave us another friendly grin.
This guy was either completely nuts, or the happiest kidnapper of all time. And the worst part was, I had no idea which one it was. Were we his prisoners or his pals?
“But, then again, that’s what makes me think you guys really have what it takes. Bravery. Resourcefulness. Loyalty. You know?”
“Have what it takes for what?” Howard asked.
“To make the hard choices in this world, Howard,” Anton said. “To really look at the problems we’re facing, and know what to do to save the human race.”
Savannah’s mouth was open. “Can we go back to the part about the radiation?”
“There’s a ton of radiation in space,” Howard said. “We have radiation shields on the rocket, but we still get bombarded with way more than we did back on Earth. Still, it won’t be a problem as long as we’re not up here too long.”
“Yes, and Infinity Base is even better than those old rockets.” Anton waved a hand at the docking bay dismissively. “We’ve done a lot of research into the subject. After all, our goal here is to serve as a launching pad for permanent missions into the cosmos. Don’t worry—I’ll give you the full tour soon enough.”
“We don’t want a tour,” I said. “We want to get my father and go back to our ship.”
“Underberg’s ship,” Anton corrected. “It was very good of you to bring him here.” His eyebrows lifted curiously. “Where is Dr. Underberg, by the way?”
Back on the rocket. Possibly dying. But I wasn’t about to tell any of that to the Shepherd floating in front of me. After all, this was Anton Everett, the man who was personally responsible for the death of millions of bees. The only reason he was here was to get Underberg. At least if we kept him talking, we could delay that.
“What are you talking about?” Savannah said, her voice calm and even. “Underberg’s gone. We came here on a ship we stole from Omega City.” She stared at him, unblinking for a second, while the rest of us were too shocked to say anything. Even Howard didn’t correct her.
But Anton merely chuckled. “Not bad. You’ll still need some work, though, before you’ll be ready to sell those lies. The bit about mixing the truth in is key. I’m very pleased to see you’ve already figured that part out. You’ll make an excellent Shepherd.”
Savannah glanced toward me, horrified.
Even without the benefit of gravity, my heart sank in my chest. If Savannah couldn’t convince him, I don’t know what hope any of the rest of us had.
That’s what this was all about. Anton still thought he could recruit us. But this time, without all the niceties of a fancy dinner at Eureka Cove, or the illusion that we were free to just say no and walk away. Nate was right. We were trapped on this space station, trapped with him. Anton didn’t have to play prison guard or keep us under lock and key. This was outer space. Our ships were our only way off the station, and Dr. Underberg had made it quite clear he would only open them if he thought it was safe.
Anton looked behind us, toward the outer chamber, and ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. Even though the chamber was large, he seemed to fill it. I doubted he’d even fit inside Knowledge or Wisdom. I remembered reading somewhere that astronauts were usually short, like pilots, which was better both for resource management and for the cramped confines of space habitats. With his extraordinary height, Anton would never have been able to be an astronaut for NASA.
“Clever man, though, sending you out here alone. He’s sealed himself off out here, has he? Let me guess: He told you he’d open the doors when you came back with your friends?”
We didn’t say anything, but that appeared to be answer enough for Anton.
“Did he give you a password or anything? I know he still has the ability to watch us and see what we’re doing.” He looked at each of us in turn. “No? Well, that makes this all a little complicated.”
“What?” I asked. “Killing him?”
“Talking to him,” corrected Anton. “No one in our organization has tried honestly talking to Underberg in years. And I think he can be reasoned with. Diplomacy is always a better answer than violence, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Nate said quickly. I gave him a nervous glance. Was this how we were all supposed to be acting?
“And I read your father’s book. I think our aims are much more similar than Elana believes. We all want what is best for the world, right? I think we can still come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
Fat chance, bee killer. But, following Nate’s lead, I kept silent.
Anton wasn’t done. “And, unlike Elana, I feel like we didn’t really give any of you a fair shake back at Eureka Cove. I mean, wouldn’t you say that? That we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot?”
“That’s one way to put it,” said Eric.
“I think once you really see the importance of what we’re working on, you won’t be so negative. Just ask Nate! He’s been listening to me for a few days now and he’s very excited.”
“Very excited,” Nate echoed, his teeth clenched. He nodded enthusiastically at us, as if begging us to play along.
I shook my head back. How anyone thought I’d be on the side of people who’d been hurting us for years was beyond me.
“I definitely think you guys should hear him out,” Nate said quickly. “I mean, just a for a few minutes. You don’t have to make any final decisions straightaway . . . um, right, Anton?”
“Right!” Anton exclaimed. “I’m in no particular rush. It’s not as if any of us are going anywhere . . . are we?”
I shivered. Nope. Another plan in the dust. Eric had it correct. Five hundred thousand miles, and we were back where we started.
Prisoners of the Shepherds.