Lightning (7 page)

She ran toward a toppled bookcase blocking the path to the door. A cracking sound marched along the length of the room. Welds on the roofing sections snapped as the rafters twisted free.

Her arms felt like weights, but Selah dove under the canted bookcase blocking the doorway and crawled through the debris of data glass and musty, disintegrating paper books. Emerging painfully on the other side with shredded palms, she scrambled for the open door. The ceiling roared down behind her. A billowing cloud of dust trailed her out the door.

Hugging the wall, she felt her way down the long, darkened hallway. Her perception of where the front door stood was skewed by the fallen partitions and debris. She hadn't been in this section of the complex before.

Selah coughed and wheezed, gasping for air. To keep from inhaling the grit, she shoved her face into her shirtsleeve, her lungs filtering only small wisps of oxygen from the enveloping dust cloud.

She tripped and lurched forward, arms spread out to cushion the fall. Her palms skidded across the rubble-strewn floor
and her chest slammed into the hard surface, knocking the precious little wind from her.

The shaking subsided. Selah lay on the debris-strewn floor, disoriented, her brain fogging from lack of oxygen. She tried to think, but it had happened too fast. She labored to push herself to her knees. Panting, she rose on shaking legs. Her palms were bleeding and raw. An explosion of pain tore through her right ankle as she limped out of the crumbling building.

She coughed a few times, clearing the dust from her lungs and the gritty taste from her throat as she brushed the hair from her forehead and raised her eyes.

Shaking her head a few times, she tried to make her brain understand what she was seeing in the courtyard in front of her.

S
elah gaped. She glanced right to where a bunch of girls sat on the benches around an oasis of grass among the stone walkways. Off to her left two educators stood comparing notes on halo-tablets. The ocean air was still crisp and clean—nothing appeared out of place, no screaming mobs, no damage. Selah clutched at her throat where it had hurt a few seconds ago. It now felt fine. She stopped and stared down at her hands—both hands. She turned them over and back again, inspecting every surface. No damage. No grit, blood, or shredded skin, just perfect, soft, clean hands.

Her heart raced.

What manner of craziness had gripped her mind? She spun to face the Repository. The debris-clogged doorway she'd just escaped stood there pristine and clean with no signs of the disaster she had just experienced. Blood pounded in her head, filling her vision with micro-stars that floated before her eyes.

She felt faint. She extended her hands to steady herself.

She glanced into the Repository hallway. Every surface was in order. No dangling fixtures or dirt on the shiny floors.

The data glass! She scrambled to locate the contents of her pocket. Her hand found the small chip. She clutched it in her fingers and shut her eyes. A sigh of relief crossed her lips. She wasn't completely crazy. What manner of deception was this? Did she do it to herself, or did someone do it to her?

Selah carefully descended the few stairs to the stone pathway. Her balance returned and her head cleared by the time she reached the bottom.

She took off running across the quadrant to her quarters and scurried into the lift. She leaned back against the wall and was breathing hard as the vehicle rose to the sixth floor. Her pounding heart threatened to blow out her ribs. She squeezed her arms tight across her chest. She'd never felt so confused or scared in her life.

Was this her imagination? Was she asleep and in some weird dream? No, she felt awake. She pinched her arm. She yelped, then snickered as a single tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek.
What a stupid thing to do.
She looked at her arm. That was going to leave a mark.

The lift doors slid open and she hurried down the hall. With a palm identification, she was in. She slid onto her seat and inserted the data glass in her other reader sitting on the corner of the desk. This part was real. She was holding the glass. What could explain the rest?

Her machine made the same strange noise as the one in the Repository. She ejected the data glass, inspected the reader, and reinstalled the glass. The noise returned. The file had
reverted to squiggly, incomprehensible lines on top of each other. Missing words, empty spaces, fragmented sections. Her hopes dropped as she scrolled.

Wait! There it was.

She stopped and moved back up a page. The lines separated. The sentence she was looking for was gibberish with large spaces between word fragments, but parts were still there—
Varro Chav . . . Everli . . . Moun . . .
The additional missing letters let her know that if there was anything recoverable on this glass, she'd better get it fast before it all became corrupted.

Did this mean her family could be in the Mountain? And who could she show it to who wouldn't get her in trouble for removing Repository property?

Her jaw clenched. The Mountain was
not
going to claim any more of her family. She felt the urge to scream. She tried to stand but her legs went weak. She raised her arm and with shaking fingers punched the access for Treva on her ComLink.

Her friend's image popped onto the screen. “Hey, girl! We're just getting ready to leave. I'm glad you called before we got out of Link range. I've been thinking long and hard—” She frowned. “What's the matter? You look terrible.”

“I don't know where to start, but I'm coming with you,” Selah said. The fear now gripping her brain was urging her to action.

“What changed your mind, and why do you look scared?”

“I just have to get away from here for a while, and I had a strange incident at the Repository you'll have to help me figure out.” It was going to be a balancing act figuring out when to say anything. There had been something in that
file about Landers that might help Bodhi, but she feared if she mentioned the possibility of her family being in the Mountain, Treva and Cleon would get Glade involved, and he would forbid her to go. He would try to take her data glass, and she wasn't letting it out of her sight. This might be her only chance to help Bodhi.

Cleon's face pushed into the frame. His blond hair fell across his big brown eyes. If Mother saw that shaggy hair, she'd chastise him for sure. “What are you talking about, Sissy? What happened?”

“Nothing . . . I don't know. I'm coming with you. I can't stay here. Wait for me. I have to grab a few things.” She'd have to plan this right and not tell them everything until they were far enough from home that they couldn't bring her back or contact Glade. Hopefully he would be far enough north as they went south that there'd be no communications.

Treva pushed Cleon out of the way. “We're loading the wagon with supplies. Come over to the Security Travel Depot when you're ready. It will take us about a half hour, so hurry. We want to get to a campsite before dark.”

Selah rushed around her quarters, throwing clothes and essentials into her backpack. She hadn't pulled the pack out of the closet since she got to TicCity. It brought back memories of stuffing it this fast for her fateful trip when she had to leave her home and family. Now she found herself stuffing it with hopes of running
to
her family. She wished with all her might that this trip could give her the answers
she sought, but at the same time every bit of matter in her brain screamed not to go back in that place. She was lucky once, but would she be again?

She cringed. This time she would have to go without Bodhi. He'd be another one who would never consent to letting her go back there.

She carefully wrapped the data glass and reader in a cloth, shoved them in a leather pouch, and deposited it in a side pocket. Grabbing up the pack, she thought about contacting Glade, but then dismissed that idea.

First she'd have to explain how she'd found the file while looking for information to help Bodhi get his abilities back—which would make Glade livid. Then she'd have to explain a trip to the Mountain that he would . . . To say he would not condone it was definitely too mild a statement. He'd probably rant and rave and stick her in irons. In the end, she figured it would be easier to beg his forgiveness later than to ask for permission now.

She laced up her trekking boots, grabbed her backpack, and headed for the depot, hoping all the way that she wouldn't run into Bodhi or Glade leaving.

Selah made it to the depot with time to spare. She hunted up and down the supply stations for horses and a wagon to no avail. Her heart sank. She walked back toward the front. Why would they leave her behind? It had to be Cleon trying to protect her. Maybe Treva had gotten scared and contacted Glade. Maybe—

“Hey, Sissy, over here!” Cleon waved both arms to get her attention.

Selah cringed. Someday she was going to teach him to stop calling her that. “I thought you two left me.” She trotted around land skiffs and storage containers, slowly approaching the big thing Cleon was standing in. It looked like a flat-bottom boat with high sides and a clear visi-screen on the top front. “Where're the horses and wagon?”

Cleon laughed. “That's Dominion Borough talk, Sissy girl. This is the way we travel now.” He beamed proudly as he spread his arms.

“This looks like a boat. How do you propose we navigate over land? There's more land than water between here and Stone Braide.”

“It's an AirWagon. It floats on its own current like a Mountain AirStream.” Treva came around the side and hoisted an odd-shaped bundle to Cleon, who stowed it under the backside of the front seat. “It's not practical to use horses. They take too long and we'd have a hard time crossing the waters.”

“What waters? We didn't cross water coming up here,” Selah said.

Cleon returned and bent down to nuzzle Treva's neck. She playfully swatted him and laughed. “That's because we didn't have a boat, so we had to follow the land route that most other people take up to the north. With the AirWagon we can shoot in an almost straight line to Stone Braide. The two routes are about the same in miles, but with us floating above the road, it cuts off a lot of time.”

It amused Selah that Cleon and Treva were a couple. Treva
was a child prodigy of biotech sciences, and Cleon . . . he was lucky to have finished school. Mother was sure right when she said opposites attract.

“Well, I decided stress was making strange things happen to me,” Selah said. “I need a rest. When we get going I'll tell you the bizarre thing that happened earlier today.” There'd be plenty of time to tell the truth—much later.

“Cleon and I talked about this trip while we were working. We're going to do it smart. I can get in the Mountain without raising any alarms. You two are going to hide out in Stone Braide with my uncle till I get my records and find out what's been going on.” Treva, hands on her hips, looked to Selah for agreement.

Selah chewed on her upper lip. She felt terrible for lying to the two people closest to her. She'd done that once to Mother, and it gnawed at her until she admitted the truth. She just hoped she could hold out till they got far enough away.

“Come on, Sissy. If we're going to do this, we have to be together on the plan . . . all of us.” Cleon hopped down out of the wagon and walked toward her. “I know that look. You're up to something. I don't know what you're planning, but if anything happens to you, Glade will skin me alive.”

Ugh. Cleon knew her too well to get away with this for long. He'd always been the brother she confided her plans to, though, so hopefully he wouldn't give her away.

“He would probably end both of our miserable existences if we let anything happen to you,” Treva said. “I don't suppose Glade or Bodhi are aware of your little trip, are they?”

Selah lowered her eyes. “They're headed north for a few
days to do some exploring, so I couldn't tell them.” She ended the conversation by placing her backpack up in the wagon and grabbing some packages of dried meat and fruit to help stow. Cleon went back inside the depot and came out carrying a high-tech-looking crossbow, a compound bow, and several quivers of arrows.

“Wow! Those are pretty nice-looking weapons,” Selah said. “I'm a little jealous. I've been learning hand-to-hand combat, but I sure miss my kapos.”

Cleon grinned broadly, laid the weapons in the wagon, and reached behind him to pull a soft leather case from the waistband of his pants. He held it out to Selah. She looked at him and furrowed her brow.

“Open it.” Cleon shoved it in her hand and dropped his fists to his hips. “It's not going to open itself.”

She slipped the flap open and started to laugh as she pulled out a half dozen of her favorite throwing knives. “Have I told you how much I love you, my brother?”