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Aerie hated that her vision swam in and out as she was hauled off her pallet and dragged into the hallway. She stumbled and fell, scraping her knee against the floor. Even though she grunted at the pain, she was relieved it helped to wake her up more. She was still tired.
“Come,” the lieutenant snapped. “I have been looking forward to this ever since I delivered you to the Reeducation Center.”
“Why?” Aerie mumbled.
“Speak up, Comrade,” Lieutenant Dubois called out to her as he led her to a new room.
Aerie had to blink several times as her eyes slowly and unwillingly adjusted to the bright light. There was a hospital bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by a few techs and several large machines.
“Why are you so interested in talking with me, Lieutenant?” she asked, this time nearly shouting as he pushed her into the room.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he told her. A beeping sound went off on the comm attached to his uniform. He groaned, before he reached into a drawer and pulled out a garment. “Here. The medics will get you ready while I answer this.”
The medical gown, thin and cool, hit her squarely in the chest. Her shoulder ached as she reached up to grasp it, and then she felt the first inkling of fear strong enough to put her body on full alert.
A woman clothed with a pair of scrubs and a facemask came up to her. “Let me take your jacket.”
Aerie was relieved to recognize Meredith at the sound of her voice, but she quickly caught the warning in the woman’s eye.
She clamped her mouth shut, clenched her fists, and slowly began to take off her jacket in the freezing room. Aerie took one last chance to cling to it, trying desperately to memorize the scent that had mixed with her own over the last week. Her standard uniform, with its short sleeves and flexible material, would not keep her from the cold.
When Lieutenant Dubois came back into the room, an angry look on his face, she knew it was the only comfort she would be allowed.
Behind her, Meredith gasped. “Gerard? What are you doing here? I thought you were promoted.”
Aerie swiveled at Meredith’s outburst, turning just in time to see a small device fall out of her hands.
“Pick that up, you clumsy fool,” the lieutenant snapped.
Meredith instantly dropped down and hurriedly picked up the item that fell. Aerie noticed her hands were shaking.
Lieutenant Dubois must’ve noticed it too, because he kicked her hand before she could stand up and laughed.
“It’s no business of yours at all if I’ve been asked to see to Comrade St. Cloud’s introduction to the Reeducation Program,” he growled. “Now, pick up your tools and get back to work.”
Aerie felt a rush of pity for Meredith as she scurried around, hiding her face in shame.
“Now, Comrade, on to you.”
Aerie’s eyes flashed back to the lieutenant’s as he began speaking to her. She knew from Meredith’s experience, she would likely be punished for making him angry.
“First of all, please call me Gerard,” he began, his mood already shifting back from impatient irritation to one of vicious pleasure. “We’re going to become close, you and I, and I wouldn’t want you to feel any excess need to please simply because I am third in command.”
Aerie said nothing. She was too nervous and too disgusted at the thought of even talking to him. To add to the chaos, she was held down by other members of the med team as small patches and strange devices were placed on her arms, neck, and forehead.
She considered herself fortunate that he seemed to enjoy hearing himself talk. He often answered for her, as he went through the list of several defects in her character and some of the charges listed against her. It was only when he told her how this was all just for her own good that Aerie finally found the fortitude to respond.
“My own good?” Aerie shook her head. “You mean for the good of the URS.”
“It is the same,” Gerard assured her as he pushed a button.
A million or more spikes of lightning shot through her, entering in through the patches plastered on her upper body. Her mind raged, suddenly a beacon of horrific pain. She felt the scream rise in her throat even as she doubled down on her private resolve to be silent. Her body convulsed at the electroshock treatment; Aerie felt the straps around her legs and wrists tighten.
It was over seemingly long moments later, even though she knew it had only been seconds. Aerie felt tears drip down from her eyes, but she was proud that she’d remained silent.
“Please, call me Gerard,” Lieutenant Dubois said. “And there’s really no need to interrupt me, especially when it’s my job to be asking the questions rather than answering them.”
Aerie gaped at him, but still said nothing.
I can do this. I can survive this.
Her fingers shook and her body felt slack, but her mind was clear.
In fact, Aerie noticed, it was much more clear than it had been in weeks. For the first time, she could picture meeting Exton clearly in her head.
She could remember the fear and the uncertainty, as she was trapped on his ship, and then the anger and determination eating away at her patience as she fought with him. Aerie could remember the warmth he surrounded her with, as she slumped out of the tree, no stronger than she was now, strapped down to a medical bed, with electrodes placed on her skin.
“You’re the enemy,” she muttered, thinking of how she’d seen Exton at the time, still dressed up in his pirate outfit.
“Oh, I’m far from your enemy,” Gerard told her.
No. No, this time Gerard is the enemy. Exton never treated you this way.
She was about to ask him what he wanted from her when he pushed down on the button again.
Searing pain clung to her nerves, sending the burning fire all through her body.
This time, she screamed, the lightning pulsing through her even more perversely.
“Stop!” she hollered. “Stop it. I didn’t even ask you a question.”
“Ah, but you wanted to, didn’t you, Aeris?” Gerard asked. “Or should I call you Aerie? It seems to be what so many of your unit members call you.”
Aerie said nothing. She was determined to keep her focus on him. She might have screamed, but there was no reason to think he had power over her mind the same way he had the advantage over controlling her pain.
“Tell me,” he ordered.
“Aerie’s fine,” she said, barely able to choke out the words.
“There now, that wasn’t so hard. I assume.” He held his hand over the button. “Now, say my name.”
Aerie glared at him. “Gerard.” She felt sick at saying it, as though she was going to vomit.
“There. We’re almost friends now.”
“I’d never be your friend,” Aerie spat. “We’re not supposed to have friends in the URS, remember?”
“Is that why you became a defector?”
Aerie’s thoughts swept her away momentarily. Inside her mind, she recalled feeling the cool metal of the gun in her hand as Emery handed it to her.
“Shoot me,” Emery said.
“No.” Aerie gasped. That was the moment she realized it: She was a defector. She wanted to be there, on the Perdition, with all her new friends—people who cared about her, and people she genuinely cared about in return. People who didn’t hold it over her that she disagreed with them on things. People who could accept her for who she was. People who could teach her how to be a better person while inspiring her to learn how to do just that on her own.
Another memory came rushing into her mind.
“Caring for others is primary, while cleaning is secondary.” Aerie nearly laughed. Even cleaning the hallways with Olga, that jovial but demanding tutor of hers, was better than working under a snooty dictator like Director Anand.
“No?” Gerard’s voice brought her back to the small room, where she was cold and hurting and trapped. “Then, enlighten me. Why do you want to defect from the URS?”
Aerie didn’t know what to say. She fumbled around, searching for an answer. Before she could respond, there was a knock at the door.
“Just a few moments,” Gerard called, before he turned back to her. “I’ve had a special request, straight down from the dictator himself, to break you. He’s concerned how his second-in-command could have raised such an incorrigible charge.”
So, this is about my father.
“Osgood is more than willing to blame your original unit director for this malfeasance,” Gerard continued.
Mom. Aerie felt her heart skip a beat.
“She grew feckless in her last days, too,” Gerard said. “We were relieved when she died, to be honest. Never thought we would thank MENACE, but the poison they dumped into the Hudson River actually managed to benefit us when it started giving her seizures from exposure.”
Aerie struggled to hide her surprise. She remembered that. It had been several years ago, but she’d gone with her mom down to the Hudson. She had created cultures and examined them. She knew that it was just mutated bacteria, not a biological weapon.
But the URS didn’t know that. Or at least, they didn’t broadcast it as such.
She seethed, remembering all over again how much the URS couldn’t be trusted. Even if they were to tell the truth, it would be diminished by the multitude of their lies.
And next to the mention of her mother, it was enough to anger her enough to keep fighting.
“The URS and its famous fairness,” Aerie muttered.
Gerard pushed the button again, unleashing another round of torturous pain on her. Aerie felt the straps at her hands dig into her skin enough to make blood seep out in strips. “I’m beginning to think you enjoy the electroshocks, Aerie.”
Aerie only grunted in response, unable to find a fitting reply.
“Is that why you decided to try to leave the URS so many times?” Gerard asked. “We’re too fair here, for wanting people to be equal, to have everyone exactly the same?”
“No,” Aerie muttered. “I didn’t ... ”
She stopped.
“Didn’t what?” Gerard bellowed in her ear. He took her face in his hands roughly. “At the heart of every traitor, there is a reason why. I want to know why.”
“Why what?”
Pain washed over her again, while Gerard turned away in a huff.
He’s growing impatient, she realized as she caught her breath.
“What do you want me to tell you?” Aerie yelled, before Gerard pushed down on the button again.
“If this is not going to work for us,” Gerard told her, “I can always turn up the power.”
Her heart ached as she remembered Exton, and how he managed to get her to cooperate with him. Gerard, in contrast, was the true bully.
“I’d rather you turn up the charm,” Aerie replied before she could stop herself.
“You don’t find me charming?” Gerard’s eyebrows raised, as though he was insulted.
Sensing she’d found a weakness, Aerie barely gave him a shrug.
She was relieved when he laughed a moment later. “You’ll have to excuse me,” he said through the last of his laughs. “I don’t get many defectors as young as yourself to work with. But then, I’ve only been working here in the Reeducation program for seven years now.”
Aerie watched him carefully. “If you’ve only been here for seven years, you must have started just before Captain Chainsword stole his starship from the URS.”
Aerie was too tired to tell if he was taken aback or angry at her remark. But when he spoke, there was a heady vehemence in his voice.
“Captain Chainsword is nothing more than a silly myth,” he said. “He’s just a boy playing a dangerous game, and hardly a threatening one at that.”
Aerie was surprised. “So you know him then.”
He sneered. “Of course I know him. I’m the third-highest ranking leader of this nation. But I also went to school with him. I was in his class when we both studied under your unit leader. General St. Cloud favored him, even though I was clearly the better student. Biggest mistake of his life, especially when that traitor went off and joined MENACE.”
Aerie blinked in surprise. “You knew Exton when he was younger?”
Rage burned into Gerard’s vision. “How do you know his name?” he yelled, already pushing down on the button. “Tell me!”
The shockwave of pain demanded her full attention. Aerie cried out, even as her mind felt strangely free, the rest of her body wracked in excruciating misery.
When the sparks had stopped, she slumped forward, no longer worried about the blood around her wrists. Her body continued to scream in pain, as breathing became a terrible chore and her eyes, already tired from the sleep deprivation, couldn’t seem to focus.
“Tell me how you know about him,” Gerard bellowed once more. His words seemed to reverberate against the walls, echoing agonizingly back into her ears. “Did you learn about him from your unit director? Does General St. Cloud know about Exton, too?”
Before Aerie could reply, there was another knock at the door, this time louder—loud enough that it didn’t sound like a knock at all.
Gerard spun toward the door. “Not yet!” he yelled. He turned back to Aerie. “No one else is supposed to know about Exton’s true identity as Captain Chainsword. I thought I was the only one. Tell me, does St. Cloud know about him or not?”
“Doesn’t Osgood know?” Aerie asked. She instantly regretted it, as she was dosed with another round of shocks. Under the patches on her arms, she could feel the hardened blistering of her skin as it burned.
“No,” Gerard snapped. “And it is going to stay that way, until I can take Exton down. He always got what I wanted, and he didn’t mind injuring me in the process. I will kill him one day, even if I have to kill you first.”
Aerie mustered up what strength she could. “You won’t break me,” she vowed.
“We’ll see about that,” Gerard told her.
As he came up so close to her, she could see the hatred in his gaze. She shuddered and slinked back, pushing herself further into the uncomfortable bed behind her. “If you know Exton Shepherd at all, then you’re no longer just an enemy—you’re a threat. And I take threats very seriously.”
Before he could make another move, the door slammed open. Aerie could barely raise her head to see what was going on, but she heard Meredith scream and knew it couldn’t be anything good.
Gerard shouted out orders and the other medics went running, but they weren’t able to get out beyond the man in the doorway. Aerie saw him go down a second later, taking a direct hit to the jaw.
Aerie felt her heart surge in hope and panic as sirens began to go off in the distance.
Meredith, somewhat recovered, hurried to release her from her bonds while the fighting continued. “Can you stand?” she asked, raising her voice loud enough to be heard over the alarms. “I’m sorry for all of that.”
“I’ll live,” Aerie replied, extremely relieved to be freed. “Are you okay? I saw him hurt you earlier.”
She gave Aerie a shaky smile. “He was promoted recently, but he worked here for several years. I just wasn’t expecting to see him again, here, like this.”
Aerie wondered if she was telling the whole truth, but she was too exhausted to do much more than wonder as Meredith carefully pulled out the last of her IVs.
“We need to get you out of here.”
Aerie barely shook her head. “I can’t move,” she mumbled. She gripped her shaking hands, feeling the stickiness of dried blood.
“Aerie.”
A man’s voice called to her, and Aerie forced herself to try to move, for all the good it did. Her body was still reeling from its pain.
“I’m here to rescue you.”
Her energy levels were low, but Aerie cheered at his muffled words.
Exton. He’s finally come for me!
“Is that really you?” Aerie reached up clumsily, and felt a hand wrap around her arm.
He steadied her and pulled her up to her feet.
She stumbled, relieved, as he leaned forward and caught her. She held onto him tightly, pressing her face into his shoulder. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve missed you so much.”
“Come on,” he said. “We need to move quickly if we’re going to get to the Military Academy before they realize what I’ve done and they shut me out.”
Aerie frowned. Exton hadn’t been a student in the military. He told her that he had been studying to be an engineer.
She gazed up at the man who held her, and she did a double-take. “Brock?”
“Who did you think it was?”
Aerie almost snapped at him, but she saw that his eyes were soft. He was trying to add levity to the situation, she realized, as his grip tightened around her.
“Never mind, just hang on. This might be uncomfortable.”
“Wait.”
“We’ve got to go,” he said. “What is it?”
“I ... I need my jacket,” she said. “I’m cold.”
“I’ll get you another one at the base—” Brock’s words were cut off as Meredith stepped forward.
“Here.” Meredith gave her a kind smile as she handed her the jacket. “Be careful.” She leaned forward and gave Aerie a hug, one Aerie could barely feel from being shocked so much.
But as she held onto Meredith, Aerie heard her whisper, “Please say hello to my brother for me when you get back to the Perdition.”
A memory floated to the surface of her mind, one of a young man with similar blond hair and brown eyes as Meredith—Tyler, Emery’s husband, and a close friend of Exton’s. Aerie recalled how he’d been kind to her, and supportive of Exton, everything Aerie had ever wanted in a friend herself.
Aerie grinned. “I will,” she promised. “Thank you. And please be careful, too.”
Meredith nodded, before heading out of the room, screaming in terror as she played the role she’d assigned for herself.
“Are you ready now?” Brock asked as he turned to Aerie.
“Yes,” Aerie said as she nodded. “Let’s go.”