Kel’s voice sounded in my head, right on time. “Speth?”
I took a deep breath and hoped the sentence I had planned would do what I needed. “Kel, you can’t blow up the center in Delphi™. The consequences will be disastrous.”
Arturo breathed a sigh of relief, but I didn’t know if it was enough. I still felt hot and obvious. A drop of sweat trickled down my back.
“We’re in Delphi™ now,” Kel said in a low, frustrated growl. She wasn’t alone, and it must have taken considerable effort to travel, again, from Portland.
“They have backups. Destroying the center at Delphi™ won’t do what we want.”
“She is right,” Mr. Stokes called out over the engines of his boat. It felt especially strange to have two people talking in my head. “It won’t work like you think.”
“Who is that?” Kel asked.
“Spider Jupiter,” he said quickly, before I could call him Mr. Stokes. The name felt ridiculous to me, but maybe it was safer for him not to give out his name.
In my time working with her as a Placer, Kel had learned to read my face. Now I had to hope she could read my voice.
“Spider Jupiter may be able to help,” I said.
“Help with what?” Kel asked. “If we aren’t destroying the data center, what are we going to do?”
This wasn’t a question I could answer. Not like I wanted.
“Find Spider Jupiter,” I said. If I could get him to her, Mr. Stokes could explain.
Kel paused. She was considering. She knew something was up. “Who else is listening in?”
There was an uncomfortable shifting in the room.
“I’m here,” Saretha said, and then, because no one else would take it on, she added, “And there are lots of Téjican officials and Lawyers here to help us with the trial.”
“Hello,” Arturo said.
Saretha still had faith that the Lawyers could work everything out for us, despite their uneasy caution.
Kel paused again. Come on, Kel, I thought. You can figure this out. In the window, a wave swelled up and blocked the view of the horizon. The gray-green water darkened the room for a moment, and a school of silvery fish flashed past.
“What is your plan?” Kel asked.
“We’ve found a way to Portland,” I said. “We have a trial everyone thinks we can win.”
“Everyone?” Kel asked. She knew I didn’t think so.
“Yes,” I lied.
“And everyone is okay with the consequences?” She also knew that, even if we won the trial, I would be left behind.
“Yes,” I said.
Again she paused. I thought I heard Kiely in the background.
“Do you want us to meet you there?” Kel asked.
“No,” I said, perhaps too quickly. “I don’t even know what we’ll find when we get there. Do you know?”
“The Rogs restored WiFi to the city. They have a temporary system up and are building a new, stronger core.”
My heart sank. “What about my friends?” I asked.
“We got a lot of kids out,” she said. “We had to scramble for places to stash them. Speth, if we can’t find a way take the system down, I don’t know how long we can hide them. The Rogs are especially keen on tracking down anyone from the Onzième now.”
Arturo exchanged a look with the communications officer. I could see they were considering shutting off my connection.
“Even if we could take the system down, it would be chaos,” I said with my jaw tight. “Could we get them to Téjico?”
I looked at Arturo and hoped he would think it was better to have a trickle of refugees than a flood. He nodded, but it was obvious we were only going to pretend to trust each other. Maybe if everything else failed, a few kids from the Onzième could survive.
“Now? I don’t think so,” a different voice said. It was Kiely. I was glad to know she was there, but her appraisal did not encourage me.
“Maybe Nancee and Penepoli. Kiely has them pretty far south,” Kel said.
“I don’t know if they would go,” Kiely chimed in, her voice ringing with approval.
“Why not?” I asked.
“They’re on a mission, Speth. I know you’d be proud,” Kel said. She didn’t want to say more.
“What about Mandett?” I asked.
“Mandett was taken in Portland,” Kel said quietly. “A lot of people were rounded up in Portland.”
My fists clenched. It wasn’t fair. No one was safe. I’d understood that, but it was different to have it proved. The only hope for any of us was to wipe out the database, Pads and all, and soon. But how could I let her know that? She still needed the distraction of the trial to get into the data center—maybe even more so now.
I looked at the communications officer, knowing that as long as I was on the ship, I wouldn’t be able to talk to Kel without being monitored. If I took off, like Mr. Stokes, that would jeopardize the trial. My next chance to talk would be when we arrived in Portland.
“I’ve landed,” Mr. Stokes called out.
“How long until we reach our destination?” I asked.
“Six hours,” Arturo said.
“Kel, I need you to do what I ask.”
Her response was instant. “What are you asking?” There was no doubt in her voice.
“Find Spider Jupiter,” I said.
“39.9179, 75.1472,” Mr. Stokes called out, then repeated the numbers again.
“Coordinates near Delphi™,” the communications officer confirmed.
“And then?” Kel asked.
“I’ll tell you when we arrive. But, Kel?”
“Yes?”
“Please remember: just because a solution is painful, doesn’t mean it isn’t for the greater good.”
The water splashed by, covering the window in a spray that streaked with our speed and then washed away at the next wave. Kel quietly said, “Understood.” A faint click followed, and the ambient noise behind her vanished.
“What does that mean?” Arturo asked, with equal parts curiosity and suspicion.
I examined the window again. Another wave washed by.
“It means she knows that however this turns out, I’m not likely to make it,” I said honestly.
“That’s not true!” Saretha said.
“Think about it. If we win the trial, you’ll be able to go back to Mom and Dad and Santos359™. The Téjicans will be in a position to negotiate a way to keep their food sources safe. But me?” I shook my head. “They’ll never let me go.”
“We will negotiate for your freedom as well, of course!” Arturo said. “We have already planned this.”
“I know,” I said. “But you won’t succeed. They’ll give you what you want, but they will demand that I not be part of the bargain. And you won’t sacrifice everything for me.”
Arturo opened his mouth to say otherwise, but we all knew anything he said to reassure me would be a lie.
Saretha’s eyes were wet with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she cried. “I can’t lose anyone else. I can’t.”
“You need to understand.” I took a step back to address everyone in the room. “You all need to understand, that what I’m doing is for the greater good, even if it seems like a terrible thing.”
Saretha looked devastated. I wanted to tell her that there was still hope, but if Kel had failed to understand me, at least she would be prepared for the worst.