[Asher]
When I can’t answer her question, Rael leaves me alone to think.
I appreciate her quiet promise to keep a lookout for my ‘friend’ returning, and the click of her grimy, skinny fingers that takes Brown Dog with her. But what I really want to do is sleep. The urge to curl up on the mattress and return to oblivion dominates everything else.
Giving into whatever Davyd drugged me with isn’t an option. I have to fight it.
I drink until my belly aches, splash icy water from the well on my face and stretch tight muscles. Needing to get the blood flowing, I execute chin-ups on one of the veranda beams until my shoulders burn and then run as hard as I can to the top of the hill. None of it fully shakes the lethargy from my heavy limbs, but by the time my stomach is rumbling and weak sunshine has broken through the clouds on the horizon, I can at least retain the problem in mind.
He must have had this in mind all along.
Meeting me on guard late at night and planting the seed of me going to the council meeting—it was his plan. I should have choked the traitor when I had the chance. I knew there was something, but I didn’t think I’d be left drugged and alone in the middle of nowhere.
First, I need to get to the Company. Dealing with Davyd will have to wait. Gripping the veranda rail, I clench at the prospect, driving splinters into my palms. I brush them off as Rael climbs the steps, Brown Dog at her heels. There’s a skip in her step and a smile on her face. “Brown Dog fetches,” she says, waving an old shoe.
I fight back amusement. I’m supposed to be coming up with a solution to Davyd’s betrayal, but it’s hard to remain serious around Rael’s innocent enthusiasm. The suspicious girl of this morning has disappeared, and her child’s ability to forget what made her so frightened hurts to see. She’s like Zed. The realization triggers an ache deep inside where I thought I couldn’t feel anymore.
Oblivious to the memories I can’t fight, she drops the shoe and frowns. “I walked the whole perimeter, and there’s no sign of your friend.”
“I didn’t think there would be,” I reply. But stupidly, despite wanting to ring Davyd’s neck, part of me hoped. “Do you have a vehicle I can borrow?”
“Are you going after him?”
I hesitate. She might be young with an open face, but it doesn’t make her someone I should confide in. “I figure it’s a long walk from here to pretty much anywhere.”
“Anywhere?”
I sigh. “I need to get to the city.”
“Why?”
Even if I wanted to share my mission, it would sound so ridiculous she probably wouldn’t believe me. It was crazy for me to attempt to steal something with only Davyd—and something I doubt would be sitting in the open with ‘anger medicine’ on the label. Now I’m alone and heading to a place I know nothing about. To try is insane.
But I can’t give up.
I can’t go back. No green robe volunteered to put their vulnerability to the Q on the line to help us Lifers and Fishies. And there’s not a Fishie I’d trust except Samuai.
Samuai … Cold trickles down my spine. If I’d chosen Samuai none of this would have happened. He’s as clever as Davyd, as good a fighter, and he’s actually seen New City. My eyes close as remorse comes on in a wave. I’ve made a huge mistake.
“Why?” Rael presses.
When I open my eyes again, she’s leaning toward me, her bright eyes on my face and waiting for my answer. I search for a lie and find nothing. It should be easy to make up something to trick her; it’s not like this girl means anything to me.
I settle on part of the truth. There’s no need to tell her that I have a rage condition that could lead me to snap and kill her at any moment. It’s not the way to encourage help.
“The Company has something I need, and I’m going to get it back.”
Her hand on Brown Dog’s head, she studies me and her dirty face is impressively blank. I don’t know what she’s looking for in me but she must find it. “I have a bike hidden,” she says softly. “Like the one your friend left on.”
“A bike? That would be great.” I’m only hours from New City. All going well, I might catch Davyd and stop him carrying out whatever he has planned. If Davyd can handle one, it can’t be too hard. I wish I’d paid more attention yesterday instead of focusing on trying to touch him as little as possible. “Where is it?”
She flashes a grin and holds up her hand. “Not so fast, there’s a condition.”
“Name it.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Refusal springs to my lips but I don’t utter it. After all she’s not mine to keep from harm. “Why?”
“They have something of mine, too.”
“What?”
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is getting to New City.”
I can’t help admiring her determination. “I’m not looking for someone I have to babysit.”
Almost before the sentence is out of my mouth, she’s pressing the blade of her knife against my throat again. “I can look after myself.”
With the drug’s effect on my limbs reduced, it only takes a flick of my wrist and sweep of my leg to have her on her backside with the knife sliding to a stop across the veranda. I might have only done the minimal battles in the training rooms back on ship, but in the weeks since we’ve been in camp and preparing for battle with the Company, I’ve been working with anyone who’ll teach me.
Rael looks up at me. “I don’t expect you to look after me.” Despite our relative positions, there’s certainty in her voice.
I sigh. This is probably another mistake but the alternative is forcing her to tell me where the bike is and taking it from her. “Fine. We share a ride, and when we reach New City, go our separate ways.”
She jumps to her feet. “Works for me.”
***
It doesn’t take long to eat some breakfast and pack our belongings. The drizzle is holding off, but dark clouds loom overhead, threatening rain any moment. Rael gives me a quick lesson on the bike but insists on driving. I don’t argue. Where I thought Davyd could handle a bike, with Rael it’s like an extension of her body. The quicker we’re underway, the better.
Twice I almost ask why she hasn’t left until now, but I catch myself. The less involved I am the easier it will be to go our separate ways when we reach the city.
The hardest part is leaving Brown Dog. Rael wipes her tear streaked face, and we leave him some of Rael’s hidden food supply.
“Stay, good dog.” Rael shouts the instruction over the sound of the bike. “I’ll be back for you when I can.”
I know he’s just a dog, but I still lean down from the bike and give him a final pat. There’s so much intelligence in those warm eyes, I can’t resist. “Good dog,” I mutter.
And then the bike leaps forward.
I don’t look back, but Rael calls out something about the dog disappearing off into the fields. It’s probably for the best. It’s not like I wanted some mutt following us to New City.
I’d guess we’re about ten minutes from the farm when we reach an intersection in the dirt road. The old track is in pretty good condition, with only deep potholes and some washing away of the edges showing its disuse. Fields stretch off into the distance, and each way looks the same to me. Rael doesn’t hesitate in choosing the left path.
With Rael driving, I take the opportunity to look for traces of Davyd having come this way, but there’s no sign of him. He must have gone another way.
Minutes later we have to stop at a deep chasm cutting across the dirt road. Both sides of the opening are lifted like the ground was pushed upwards before it buckled and split. I freeze in wonder at the sight of what the Upheaval did to the earth. The remnants of the government, which became the Company, blamed the revolting of the ground on an alien attack. Defending against another in the future allowed them to seize the equipment to build the Lifer vessels and take the convicts as servants.
Now we know it was all some kind of breeding program to make us resistant to what they declared as alien technology.
I don’t know what to believe.
It’s hard to think past their violation of our trust and our bodies. If it’s true and aliens are coming—does that give them the right to do what they have done?
“We’ll have to go around,” Rael calls.
I nod, and she turns off the road, slowing the bike as she finds the best path through the undergrowth. On the other side of the chasm, the movement of the earth has left a depression filled with water. Around the water feature, tall trees have grown, with leaves so bright they hurt my gloom-adjusted eyes.
Was that?
I blink, and what I thought I saw is gone. What I thought was a blur of brown moving, is a bush with spindly branches and tiny leaves. Not a running dog.
When we make it back onto the road, it’s in the shelter of a huge cliff on our right. Away to our left are empty fields like those at the farm and another waterhole with trees around it.
This time Rael sees it too.
“Brown Dog,” she cries as we draw level with the trees.
He lopes toward us, tongue lolling, and what looks for all the world, like a grin on his face.
Rael stops the bike, and he leaps onto her lap. “I told you to stay,” she says. Her voice is stern, but her hands are rubbing his ears and her nose is pressed into his matted, stinking neck.
I lean forward and scratch under his chin, ignoring the dirt it shakes free. “He must have cut across the fields somehow to have kept up.”
We get off the bike. I stretch my aching muscles while Rael gives Brown Dog more attention.
“Seeing him again is a good omen, don’t you think?” Rael asks from where she’s crouched in the damp dirt, her arms around his neck.
“I think so.” The words are out my mouth before I remember I don’t really believe in omens and that my mission has no space for a dog or a child.
For a second the only sound is Brown Dog’s happy panting, but then a low rumble begins. It grows louder as my heart hammers in my chest.
“A vehicle,” Rael shouts.
Her hands fumble as she tries to grab the bike and I reach in to help. We have to get out of here. Brown Dog yaps, and the sounds of the engine gets closer, coming from around the bend up ahead. The bike wobbles, tips and falls away from our hands.
“Leave it,” I cry.
But there’s no more time for the bike or to run. A van appears. White with black windows. So close now I can see the figures at the wheel.
Company.
A moment later there’s another and then a third van rounds the corner.
Two more officers jump out of the first van, their faces focused, weapons drawn.
I knew I’d see Company uniforms when we made it to New City. I didn’t know my stomach would shrivel at the sight. Memories of them tearing at my mother swamp all reason. I can’t think. I don’t breathe. Rage climbs with hot fingers into my throat and my ears ring with it.
My legs tense. To run at them? To flee? But where? Open fields stretch away into the distance on either side. There’s nowhere to hide.
Fight.
My body urges me to spring. Adrenaline meets the rage and I’m buzzing with it. The end wouldn’t be pretty but I could take a few of the Company with me, hurt them for all they’ve done.
And leave Rael behind. Defenseless.
Like Zed was left behind.
I stand and wait. Aware that Brown Dog has slipped away into the long grass. Feeling the trembling of Rael at my side despite the defiant lift to her chin.
The officers spread out in a circle. Now there are six of them surrounding us. Not one has uttered a single word. So focused am I on the six Company officers that I don’t see the seventh until he’s out of the first van and crossing the road.
Davyd.
He’s dressed in Company gray. Wearing the suit like it was made for his broad shoulders. And I hate that I noticed.
Angry tears threaten. How could I ever have thought I could trust him?
Every step is infused with the cocky swagger he hasn’t had since we left the ship.
This is the Fishie last seen with the Lifer who made the attempt to take Lady hostage. The Lifer who was found after the battle with the Company with his throat slit. With Samuai gone Davyd had taken responsibility for his mother and nothing could be allowed to threaten that. In the same way, Maston and the Nauts were always his goal.
I should have realized.
“Miss me?” he asks.
I let my gaze flick over his armed companions. “Three vans? Really? I’m but a single servant.”
“You would have taken them out if I’d brought only one, and the third was insurance. You should know they’re carrying real old-fashioned guns since you’re Q-resistant.” He arches a brow. “Want to see how they work?”
“I didn’t think you were here for demonstrations.”
“If you or the girl run you’ll get one.” His head jerks to where Rael is stiff at my side. “I’m quite amused by you having a little companion. It’s not like you to make friends so quickly.”
I swallow the rage setting my inside alight. He’s goading me. Snapping will give him an excuse to use force on us, and while I’d take my chances to get a hold of his pretty face, I can’t indulge in my temper when there’s a child at risk. I say nothing.
He laughs. “You’re determined to make this as boring as possible.” Coming closer, he nudges Rael with one foot. “What about you? Any plans to try to escape?”
She smiles at him with a child’s sweetness and then spits. The globule flies through the air and splats onto his pristine gray chest.
I bite down a cheer.
Davyd’s eyes are narrow slits. “You’ll regret that.”
“Will not,” she’s quick to retort.
He turns to the closest officer, a red-haired man with fine age lines marking his freckled skin. “Is her behavior appropriate?”
“No, sir.”
He turns back to Rael. One second he’s staring her down, his eyes intense but his lips curved into a typical smirk, then next he’s gripped her arm, holding her so she can’t move. She squirms without success and there’s terror in her eyes. He holds something above it, letting me see. A stubby knife handle but without a blade. It’s some kind of Company weapon.
“No,” I cry.
But I’m too late. A flick of his fingers and her flesh is opened from her elbow to the back of her hand. Blood blooms like sick flowers along the cut.
I shove him away, uncaring of what he might do to me. I didn’t see a blade and my brain is refusing to process what happened. My arms go around her narrow shoulders in comfort, but despite the shaking of her whole body and the drips of blood falling into the dirt, she shakes me off and glares at him.
“Do. Not. Mess. With. Me,” he snarls, sliding the knife back into his boot. “Get me a cloth,” Davyd barks to another of the officers, turning away from where Rael is now crumpled on the ground, trying to stem the fast flowing blood.
“Sir.” The man runs to the van and returns with a cloth that he uses to clean Davyd’s uniform without being asked.
It’s all the demonstration I need. Davyd is well and truly in command here.
“Bind them,” he orders the two closest officers. He yells for another to load the bike.
The redhead approaches me warily before handing off his weapon to someone else and pulls out a metal cord from a pack I hadn’t noticed built into the suit.
Rael has already been bound ankles and wrists but my officer hesitates.
“She doesn’t bite,” Davyd says. “What are you waiting for?” He pauses until the officer is within arm’s reach before adding. “Actually, on the whole biting thing? I make no promises.”
His eyes dart between Davyd and I. I can almost see his thoughts playing across his pale face. If he doesn’t move soon he’ll lose respect amongst the other officers but I’m an unknown quality.
It would be funny if he wasn’t about to bind me hand and foot.
He glares at a short, stocky gray-haired woman. “You want to hold her for me?”
The woman shakes her head. “Orders are orders.”
He takes another step closer. The scent of his fear is sweat and urine and soap that reminds me of the purple weeds that grow in the crags of the rocks in the mountains. Way too sweet for a male.
I want to struggle. Every inch of me is begging my brain to let it go free. The prospect of the release of taking out my fury on however many I can get my hands on is so close I ache for it, but I can’t. I’m not afraid of their guns. But getting shot could be death, and death is failure.
Killing one or two officers here in the middle of nowhere is nothing to the Company. Preventing us Lifers from killing each other would hurt them so much more.
The need to fight clawing inside me makes my hands shake and knees tremble. Staying still as the officer reaches to clip the metal tie around my ankles is a battle. Watching and doing nothing as the join in the metal tie becomes shining fluid before resetting as one perfect whole, is as hard a thing as I’ve ever done.
And the whole time the other way plays through my brain. The crunch as I kick him square in the nose, the give as his face makes way for my foot unable to occupy the same air, the squeal as I stand over him and line him up again.
I sweat with it. This need for violence. And I hate it.
So I stand unmoving. Because giving in to the rage inside me is not the answer. It takes me back to my argument with Mother about the training rooms. The big battles are won with words, not losses of temper. Not lashing out.
I hold out my hands and look away as he binds them. I can feel Rael’s eyes on me. Is she wondering at my submission? Have I lost any respect she might have had for me?
I can’t let myself think about it. Instead I focus on the vans, how they’re locked and unlocked as officers move around them, and the exact locations of windows and doors as well as the landmarks. I’m hoping I’ll be able to follow the directions and turns from the inside. The more information I have, the better I’ll be if there’s an opportunity to get away with Rael and continue my mission.
The officers drive us toward the back of the middle van using the ends of their guns. Each prod between my shoulder blades is a reminder of the consequences of trying to escape. The binding around my ankles means I walk with short steps, watching the ground for dips or loose rocks.
“Ouch,” Rael mutters at my side.
I know turning my head to see her wacked with another blow by the short woman is a mistake. But the rock that twists beneath my foot as I do so sends me crashing to my knees. Sharp gravel edges bite through my jeans, and blood seeps into the material.
“Get up,” is the snarl from behind. Redhead is all very brave now that I’m bound.
I make a few half-hearted attempts to rise before settling back down. “Can’t. Maybe if you took this off.” I wave at my feet.
“Not happening.”
“Help her.” The order comes from Davyd.
Redhead hesitates and then holds out one slender hand.
I make him work for it. His cheeks redden as he tries to drag me to my feet, eventually hooking me under the armpit. My small victory doesn’t last long. When I’m on my feet his slim little hand lingers and then as he moves away brushes against the side of my breast.
My insides contract. I check his face. He’s leering.
“You little—” Wasting no more breath on words, I swing my linked hands. They work as a club, finding the creep’s nose. There’s a satisfying crack and tears spring from his eyes. He cries out, reeling back and clutching at his messed up face.
Then there’s the barrel of a gun, and it’s only an inch from my temple. Blood is dripping from his nose, there’s hate in his eyes, and his finger is on the trigger.
“Don’t.” Davyd steps between us. He’s looking at redhead. “Don’t even think about it.”
“But she—”
Davyd steps closer. “I saw what happened. All of it.”
“What’s wrong with getting a feel of a bit of her? She’s my prisoner.”
“No.” Davyd’s voice is quiet. “She’s my prisoner.”
Redhead glares and drops his weapon. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to share?”
“No.” Davyd waves to a tall dark-skinned man who hurries to stand to attention in front of him. “Get them in the van.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Redhead whines.
“End van. Go,” Davyd orders without looking at him.
He heads off to the last van in the line, but I can’t miss the death stare he gives me as he walks past.
I flex my fingers, aching from where I smashed the creep. He deserved it and more but I shouldn’t have reacted. Now I need to be even more careful if I’m in his range again. Control is a work in progress.
We’re placed in the back of the van. It’s windowless with a bench seat on either side and some rails to hold onto. Rael is on the other side from me, and I try to tell her with my eyes that I’ll get us out of this somehow but she’s staring down at her arm favoring the cut across the back of her wrist. It’s stopped bleeding but her dirty jeans are already stained with dark red drips and there’s some on her face where she’s wiped silent tears.
Davyd climbs in. I’m sure he’ll check my bindings but he’s too busy barking orders at the other officers. “One travel in front and one behind. If they make a break for it, kill them.”
The officer glances at Rael and I. “Don’t you want backup in here, sir?”
Davyd’s lip curls. “No.”
The doors close. I keep my smile hidden until it’s completely dark.
Davyd has made his first mistake. He can order them to shoot on sight all he wants, but I don’t need to burst out the back of the van and flee across country. I’ll use him as a hostage and get away using the van.
The whole thing vibrates as the unseen company driver starts the engine and then drives away from where we were caught.
For a minute the rumble of the engine is the only sound in the dark space. I’m playing through the attack in my mind. I have time to think this through, but I’ll only have one chance to get it right.
“Before you try to overpower me,” Davyd says, his voice low in my ear. “You should know this, all of it, is part of my plan to get us into New City.”