Dark Star (22 page)

Gillian could have been gone an hour or ten, Rosie couldn’t tell and didn’t care. She didn’t move from her bed. She fell asleep for a while but her dreams had been full of blood and death and her running endlessly after Pip, never catching him.

Gillian came back and put a tray of food on the floor by her bed.

“Have some water at least,” she said. But Rosie remained curled up facing the wall and eventually Gillian switched off the lights. So the day became night and it was more than twenty-four hours now that Pip no longer existed in her world.

Rosie didn’t sleep. Gillian tossed and turned as if bothered by nightmares. Rosie curled tighter trying to ease the emptiness inside. Pip’s last words, his last kiss, kept replaying in her mind. She couldn’t make it stop. And then would come the end. The sound of the shot. It was so real, too real. She wanted to shut it out, to make it belong to someone else. She wanted him to still be here, to wake up and for it all to be different. Pip would be alive. Freddie would be dead instead. She imagined getting the gun first, training it on the small boy. Him falling. Tears came in the dark, hot and salty, filling her nose and mouth. She remembered Pip comforting her when she’d cried. Never again.

Then she heard Gillian getting up, a humming sound, and a click in the dark.

“Rosie?” Gillian whispered. Her hand was on her shoulder and she stilled.

“I got another stylus, from Sulawayo; the surveillance is off.”

Rosie rolled over. Gillian’s eyes shone in the darkness. “You have to come with me, quick.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to show you something. I know you won’t believe me so you’ve got to see this. It’s the only way.” She wasn’t making much sense and Rosie was so weary. “What do you want, Gillian?”

“Just come with me. I know you don’t trust me now, but you will – and maybe Sulawayo as well.”

“Sulawayo?” Rosie sat up, wincing at the sharp pains that went off all over her body. “What’s she got to do with this?”

“You’ll understand when you see,” Gillian said. “If I tell you, you won’t believe me, but–”

Rosie cut her off. “You’re right – I don’t believe you.”

Gillian grabbed her hand. “Rosie, things aren’t what you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Please come with me.” Her eyes were wide with urgency, with hope.

Rosie pushed back the covers. What more could she lose?

They crept down the corridor, Gillian leading and suspending the surveillance as they went. It was past two and there was no one about as they jogged quietly past the empty chairs and tables in the caf.

Rosie had thought they might be going to Sulawayo’s or Alpha’s rooms, but instead Gillian led her outside across the hard dirt of the yard and to the underground training lift.

The night was cool and smelled of dust and damp and, somewhere beyond, insects kept up a rhythmic chirping. Gillian swiped the stylus over the pillar and the platform opened with a slight hiss. They stepped onto it and dropped fast down the chute. Rosie squinted at the sudden light of the shielding that sprang up around them and watched the floor counter. Instead of stopping at level sixteen, where the games room was, they kept going down and down all the way to twenty-two. Gillian was tense as they came to a halt and they stepped out into an identical vestibule to the one on sixteen.

“We’ve only got about forty-three minutes before the surveillance kicks back in.” Gillian checked her timer. “Keep that in mind.” She led her to an iris door, coding in the entry so it opened to reveal a tubular hall intersected by several openings. The halls were lit by a faint blue glow that seemed to come from the metallic walls, and Rosie was uncomfortably aware of the tonnes of rock above their heads. They were so deep.

They took a left at the first intersection, followed it for a few metres then right, then left, then right again. Along the side of the tube ran a pale red line that shone with occasional positioning points, giving their location. Finally, Gillian stopped at another iris door. She pulled a slip of plas sheet from her pocket and pressed it to the opener. Inside, the room was dimmer than the hall but, as they entered, warm soft lighting flickered on and Rosie stopped.

She heard the door swish shut behind her, the sound of a steady machine beep, but it all receded. The room was not large and dominating it was a bed surrounded by medical machines and on it was Pip.

Her body went hot then cold. Had Gillian brought her here to see his body? She took a step back, horrified, but Gillian grabbed her hand. “No, Rosie, wait, it’s okay – he’s alive,” she whispered.

Alive? He looked like he was asleep, but paler than he should be, his hair mussed and dark against the white pillows. A sheet was pulled half up his bare torso and gel-like cell repair shields covered his wounds. Rosie went to him, hardly aware of her own movements. He was alive?

“Pip,” she breathed his name and touched his arm. His skin was warm. She was afraid to touch him further in case none of this was real and she woke up alone in the cell again.

“Is he–”

“He’s recovering,” Gillian said from behind her. “Alpha had him brought down here and told Sulawayo he was dead, but after everything you said to her, she did some poking around. She found out he’d lied.”

Rosie’s fingers shook as she dared to touch him again, to prove to herself he was real. She brushed back his hair from his forehead. A few grains of sand stuck to her skin. Jebediah must have thought of hiding him down here, of letting her think he was dead. He must have decided the MalX vaccine that he’d had stolen from Nation wasn’t enough. He wanted to be able to tap into the source and that was Pip. So he took him.

“Jebediah wants to use Pip for the MalX cure,” Gillian said. “It’s part of his plan, that’s what Sulawayo said. And she figured out how they knew Pip was in the ruins. He was picked up on the surveillance out there. Alpha had some kind of alarm set up. Then they waited for you to get to him and sent Freddie. That kid always did make my skin crawl.”

“I thought you liked him,” Rosie said in surprise.

“Yeah, I know,” Gillian said. “I’m a good actress when I want to be.” She rubbed the side of her face. “It makes sense now though – how Alpha let us go back into the regular routine, doesn’t it? He wanted you out there in the ruins so Pip would come out. Sulawayo said she also found out that Alpha knew about the message you sent from the medibay to your aunt. She says she thinks he let it go because he wanted to make sure Pip would find you and come out here.” She sighed and said bitterly, “It’s been one giant set-up after another, and we fell for it. I fell for it – just like what happened to my family.”

Rosie turned back to Pip. She was afraid if she stopped looking at him, he’d disappear.

She touched her lips to his cheek. It was rough with stubble and she smelled the despised lemon antiseptic. He seemed so vulnerable. She traced the line of his cheekbone.

“What do you want to do?” Gillian said.

“I have to get him out. I promised I would never let this happen again.”

“Sure, but how?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out. We–”A sharp pain lanced through her skull and she fell against the bed with a cry.

“Rosie, what is it?” Gillian grabbed her shoulders as she slipped sideways, but she couldn’t reply. The implant was moving, opening. She saw a flash of the Pantheon file: the names, some of the locations, then an image of who she thought was Alpha and Dalton, but Alpha was too young, and they were standing together outside a building with Curtis and Co on it. No, it wasn’t Dalton; it was his father, Jebediah. Had the two men known each other that long? Then it was like someone was rolling knives along her spine and into her chest and the images vanished.

Rosie gasped for air. The nanos were moving, she could feel them, burrowing into the muscle alongside her spine, squeezing her lungs. She clenched her hands in the sheets of Pip’s bed, fighting it. One minute. Two. Then the pain receded and she could draw in air again. She leaned against the bed, shuddering.

Gillian held onto her arm. “Was that the implant?”

“Yeah.” Rosie took in a long deep breath.

“Can’t you girls keep it down? A man’s trying to sleep here.”

Rosie’s heart leaped. Pip was awake.

“Hey.” He smiled, bleary eyed. “Was I dreaming or did someone shoot me? Twice.” He noticed then how she was staring at him and reached for her hand, frowning. “You okay?”

Was
she
okay? Rosie made a sound between a cry and a laugh, holding tight to his hand.

“I thought you were dead.”

“Nah, just went for a dramatic exit. Fooled you, eh?” Pip rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. Rosie wiped at sudden tears.

Pip’s grip tightened and a soft, scared note came into his voice. “I’m in the Enclave, aren’t I?”

Rosie nodded. “Yeah, but I’m going to get you out.”

“Hey,” Gillian half raised a hand. “I’m Gillian, roommate and general pain in the arse.”

Pip didn’t react. “She trustworthy?” he asked Rosie.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t know how we’re going to get you out though,” Gillian said. “I don’t think he can move yet, Rosie. He looks like crap.”

Pip coughed. “Gee, thanks, and I made such an effort.”

“I can’t leave him here,” Rosie said.

“I know, but right now we’re running out of time.” Gillian indicated the stylus.

Rosie hesitated, holding tight to Pip’s hand. What if Alpha moved him, took him away before they could get him out?

“Hey,” Pip tugged her forwards, “they want me alive.”

“For now,” Rosie whispered, and she saw the flicker of fear in his eyes. “I’ll come back and get you.”

“Rosie,” Pip’s breathing was shallow, “Cassie gave me something for your implant. It will help, stop it disintegrating. It’s with my stuff on my bike; I hid it in the ruins. If you can’t–”

“Don’t say it,” she cut him off. “I won’t leave you here.”

“Rosie, we’ve got to go.” Gillian’s tone held a warning.

Rosie leaned over, aiming to kiss him again on the cheek, but Pip turned his head so their mouths met, a brief brush of his dry lips against hers. “I’m coming back,” she said.

He tugged gently at a strand of her hair but his face was bleak. “Don’t be a hero for me.”

Only for you, Rosie thought but didn’t say it. She let Gillian pull her away, casting a last glance at him as he watched her go.

“How are you doing?” Gillian asked as they ran back through the hallways.

Rosie didn’t meet her gaze. “Thanks,” she said stiffly, “for taking me there, showing me.”

“It was the least I could do.”

A small ache was digging into Rosie’s left side and, with every breath, it felt like a weight was pressing on her lungs. “Did Sulawayo mention anything called Dark Star?” she asked.

Gillian frowned. “No, what’s that?”

“I don’t know. I heard Alpha talking about it with Jebediah. I think it’s important.”

“We can ask her.” Gillian pushed the stylus into the lift and they stepped onto the platform. The rush back up to the cold night air made Rosie’s head spin and she almost fell as it stopped abruptly.

“I’m okay,” she said at Gillian’s obvious worry.

“I think you need to get out of here as well,” Gillian said.

“Soon.” Rosie felt like her brain had been switched back on now she knew Pip was alive, and she couldn’t stop thinking about all she’d learned. “I’ve got to get to Dalton,” she said as they jogged across the silent courtyard.

“Jebediah’s son? I heard he’s here. What’s he got to do with anything?”

“He’s my friend, and if I’m getting Pip out, I don’t want to leave him here either. I think Alpha has messed with his mind.”

“Yeah, well, you might have to put that on the hope-to-do list.” They reached the outer doors and Gillian stopped to open them. “Sulawayo will want to see us tomorrow, but I don’t know how she’ll swing it to make it seem like we’re not up to something. And you still have to act like you think Pip’s dead.”

“I can do that.” She could do anything now.

They made it back to their room in time and Rosie lay in the dark, exhausted but unable to sleep. Thoughts cycled through her mind. Pip, Gillian, the implant, Dalton. How were they going to get out of here alive?