2

Selah spent the last mile into TicCity staring out the front screen, trying to avoid talking to her mother. This road ran to the sandy shore beside her Lander quarters, which were in a sprawling U-shaped building that housed the Repository, the Institute for Higher Learning, and Glade’s offices. Even though she had to leave right away, there were still files she needed from the Repository, and she wanted to go through Glade’s office—

A hand rested on her shoulder. “Did you hear what I said, darling?”

Selah tensed. “No, Mother. I’m sorry. I’ve been told I have to get out of town, and I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment.”

“We needed to head out right away anyhow. But you must listen. We’ve been reading the journals and book from the leather bag—”

“Mother,” Selah interrupted. She thought about Amaryllis. “You can tell me about the books when we start west. I expected to have more time to get this all together. Having only forty-eight hours creates opportunities for error, so I can’t think of anything else right now.”

Pasha seemed ready to protest but pressed her lips together and turned away. Selah instantly felt bad for snapping.

The AirWagon lowered to the ground next to her building. With too many other things to worry about, Selah felt relieved to be able to stall opening another bag—a leather bag—of more problems to worm their way into her waking hours. Glade had mentioned at one time that there were things he hoped Selah wouldn’t find out until he was gone. There were probably things in Glade’s files that she and Mari would want to know, but they would have to wait their turn.

Selah climbed down and helped Dane and Pasha down. As she passed by, Pasha touched her palm to Selah’s cheek. Selah hugged her mother in apology, then readjusted her neckline to be sure the mark below her collarbone didn’t show. It had taken only a few unpleasant encounters for her to learn it was better to hide the fact she was the novarium . . . even among other Landers.

From the corner of her eye, Selah saw movement. She turned quickly—right into Treva’s excited embrace.

“I’m glad you’re safe. I was so worried,” Treva said, out of breath from running.

“Me too. Were you with Taraji? Is she here with the transport?”

Treva shook her head. “No. She sent me on ahead with the wounded. Word is the Council’s only giving you forty-eight hours to leave TicCity. There must be something we can do. Glade has friends on the sitting Council.”

“The Council woman who brought security to our rescue outside town told me in no uncertain terms that I’m a part of the past they’re trying to eliminate from their civilized society,” Selah said.

Treva gasped. “But I need more time—you need more time.” Her words came out broken, as though she were trying to say them between sobs.

Selah understood her fear of remaining here alone, yet Treva refused to join them on the trip west. She took Treva’s arm, motioned the others to follow, and led her around the building and toward the elevator to their quarters. “Look at you! All worried about me and you traveled all the way here taking care of the wounded. You look worn out. You have to keep your strength up for the trip.”

“I’m not going. I can’t leave Cleon. He’s not dead.” Treva’s voice quivered as they got in the elevator.

Treva’s grief over Cleon’s death had seemed to debilitate her. Selah too mourned the loss of her stepbrother, but the love Treva and Cleon had shared was special.

Selah leaned on the door and asked the others to take the next car so she could be alone with Treva. The doors closed around them.

Selah choked out her words. “Honey, Cleon is gone.”

Treva shook her head. Loose strands of dark hair fell across her eyes and gave her a glazed expression. “No! I’d know if he was gone. He’s not. I have to wait here for him.”

“You heard what Glade said. The Mountain is sealed forever. We even tried to find Glade, but all the openings collapsed. There’s no way in or out,” Selah said. It occurred to her that even if Cleon was alive, he would be trapped in that forsaken Mountain forever. She shivered thinking of that fate for anyone, let alone her brother. It was the stuff night terrors were made of.

The door opened on Treva’s floor. She inhaled deeply and straightened as she exited. She turned and smiled at Selah. “In any case, I have to keep working on the cure for the novarium fracture in case you get over the mountain range and have to turn back.”

Selah frowned. “I hadn’t thought about getting delayed. I only worried about fighting splinters. If we’re blocked, I’m afraid we’d never make it back here. It’s going to be winter in a couple months, and we don’t know what we’ll find.”

“But if I discover the cure—or whatever it is the Third Protocol provides to the process—and it works on a novarium here, all Landers will change. Remember, the Keeper in the Mountain told us that. So it means you would also change.” Treva’s lip quivered. “I could be the one to save you.”

Selah felt Treva’s pain at not being able to save Cleon, but his chest wound had been too great to survive. Working on the cure at least gave Treva purpose, and one day Selah was sure she would heal from her grief. Selah hugged her again, knowing her friend’s mind was set on staying in TicCity. She hadn’t been banished like Selah, and her degrees in microbiology and genetics made her a valuable commodity TicCity wouldn’t want to lose.

The doors opened, and Selah watched Treva walk down the sky-blue hall probably for the last time. So many people had left her life in the last few months. She felt numb to the sadness. Then again, that could be a degraded response due to her condition. Sometimes she felt unsure of herself, while at other times she felt like she could defeat the world. Regardless, she had a little less than nine months to connect with the Third Protocol or her enhanced body structure would break down and she would fracture.

The elevator arrived at her floor. Selah stepped out and strolled to the large expanse of glass that coated a whole side of the building. It gave a glorious view of the Atlantic Ocean, and the color scheme of the hallways perfectly matched the blue of the sky and surf. This view was one of the things she would miss most. She’d never see her beloved ocean again.

Selah keyed open the door to her living quarters as the second elevator arrived with the rest of her family and crew. Pasha, Dane, and Mari got out, but no one else.

“Where’s Bodhi and Mojica?” Selah ushered them into the safety of her quarters and closed the door. She wanted to savor these moments of security that would be few and far between in the next nine months.

“Mojica went with Bodhi to get the equipment we’ll need, and I think she said something jokingly about hijacking a military transport. Then Bodhi is going to gather his belongings and come back here,” Pasha said.

“I didn’t think he’d stay too far from where I am,” Selah said.

Pasha knitted her brows. “That’s just what he said. I hope you don’t mind, but I took it upon myself to suggest that he take Treva’s quarters for the night, and she can come up and spend time with you until we leave.”

Selah smiled. “He didn’t demand to sleep in the hall in front of my door, did he?”

Pasha seated herself on a long couch against the photo-plate wall depicting the ocean lapping at a sandy shore. “He did, but I exerted ‘mother’ pressure to change his mind. It seems like he loves you very much. But since he was the one who transitioned you, how much more of his abilities will he lose?”

“I’m hoping he tapped out a while back. He hasn’t had any weakening other than a loss of brain activity like mind-jumping and a slight decrease of physical strength. And yes, I love him too.” Selah smiled. She pulled Dane down on the couch with her and messed up his hair. He acted thoroughly embarrassed. It felt normal, and that suited Selah fine.

“If any of you are hungry, help yourself to whatever you find in the kitchen, and if you want to rest, use my room or spread out here—”

The chirping sound of the vid-phone on her desk drifted across the long expanse. Selah moved to answer the machine in her office area.

She tapped the sensor. Treva’s halo-image popped up, floating in midair. “You’ve got problems. I just read the latest Council briefing, and you’re locked out of the Repository and Glade’s offices. They consider you a security risk now.”

Selah muttered under her breath. “I had files I needed from the Repository. I found a link that points to the West, but I corrupted the download and lost a lot of the data.”

“I can’t get you in the Repository, but I need to show you something else before it’s too late.”

Treva avoided her eyes.

Selah moved closer to the halo-image. She didn’t like when Treva did that. “What’s that look for? What do you have?” Her chest tightened and her mouth went dry. Why did she have a bad feeling about this?

“I have to let you see what a fracture looks like before they ship him out,” Treva said.

“Wait. What? A fracture? There’s a fracture in TicCity and you didn’t tell me?” Selah’s heart slammed against her chest as though trying to escape. Fear of the unknown, anxiety about whether she could handle being confronted by what she could easily become—the past three days had been a deluge of emotions, and they seemed to be getting worse.

“I didn’t have access to the patient before, but suddenly he’s part of my caseload. When I couldn’t get you to him before, I didn’t want you to be tortured knowing a fracture was close by, so that’s why I didn’t say anything. Sorry,” Treva said.

“When can I see him?”

“We have to go to the MedTech Unit now. It looks like he’s getting transferred out this evening.”

Selah slapped the button to close the connection. She bolted for the front door and past her family. “I’ve got to meet Treva.”

“You need security.” Mari hopped up, blocking the doorway. “Wait for Bodhi.”

“No time.” Selah tried to dart around her. “I’ve always been safe in TicCity.”

Mari put out a hand. “That Council woman on the road flat-out said she was going to sell you to the highest bidder. That doesn’t sound safe to me.”

“Please, Selah,” Pasha chimed in. “At least take Mari with you.”

Selah set her jaw. They reminded her of the way Glade had annoyed her when he set out to protect her. There was no arguing with all of them. “Mari, we have to go now. This could be the only chance I have to see a fracture before it happens to me.”

Pasha pointed a finger at Selah. “Don’t talk that way. It’s not going to happen to you. I’m reading every scrap of paper in the leather bag that Glade and the Keeper thought was important. We’ll find the Third Protocol in time.” Her eyes started to tear up.

Dane looked from her to Selah. His lip started to quiver. Pasha pulled him into her arms.

He looked up at her. “What’s going to happen to Selah? What’s a fracture?”