Override (Glitch) (8 page)

“Where are Tyryn and Xona?” I shouted, trying to clear some of the debris off my faceplate that had been blown up when the tree landed.

“Jilia!” Adrien knocked into me as he spun and turned back the way we’d come. I turned too and saw Jilia on the ground, pinned by a heavy branch.

“Are you guys okay?” Xona ran up beside us, Tyryn right behind her. “Where are the attackers?” She had two laser weapons out, and she swung them around in every direction trying to find out who had hit us.

“There’s no one,” Adrien said, running over to Jilia and straining to get the branch off her. “It was just an accident.”

I hurried over and tried to pull with him, but the branch was still attached to the tree and didn’t budge an inch.

“Is she—” Xona started, but Adrien cut her off.

“She’s alive.”

As if on cue, Jilia groaned, a small sound, but enough to make us redouble our efforts. Tyryn dropped to the ground beside Adrien, but even with all his muscles put to the task, the branch wasn’t moving.

“Can you move the tree off with your telek?” Adrien asked.

I gritted my teeth, trying to call my strength forward with my mind. But nothing happened. I felt a slight buzz of power, but then it was gone again.

I looked at the flattened tent bits barely visible in the moonlight and then at the mangled trees all around us. Realization slowly dawned. Adrien had called it an accident, but only now did I realize what he meant. It was me. I had done this. When I’d used my power during my nightmare, I must have accidentally unleashed it in reality.

“I think I used it all up.” I met Adrien’s eyes. He swallowed and nodded, taking a quick look around and then turning his attention back to Jilia.

“Move out of the way,” Xona said, pulling a weapon from her ankle.

“Back up, back up,” Tyryn said. Adrien and I pulled back as Xona pushed the trigger. The stream of bright laser cut a shocking red in the darkness. After a couple of minutes, the laser had sliced through the thick branch and Xona set to work on the other side. Finally she’d cut through it, too.

Tyryn and Xona grabbed both ends of the log left behind and hefted it off Jilia. Jilia coughed and sputtered a few times, blood on her lips.

“What do we do?” I asked frantically.

Jilia’s face was pale, but she was blinking and looked alert. Her chest rose and fell easier now that the branch was gone. “I’m healing what I can,” she whispered, closing her eyes tight with her hands on her abdomen. Sweat broke out on her forehead. She worked until rivulets ran down her face.

She finally exhaled again and looked back up at us.

“Are you gonna be okay, Doc?” Xona asked.

“A few broken ribs I can’t fix right now,” Jilia wheezed. “But the internal bleeding is stopped.”

Xona helped her up while Tyryn looked around anxiously. “What the hell happened here?”

“It was me,” I whispered. The weight of guilt sank in even as I said it. “I had a bad dream.”

Xona looked back and forth between the damage and me and took a step back. Tyryn just stared.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Adrien said, unfazed. “We’re completely exposed.”

Tyryn nodded. “The Sat Cams will have caught the disturbance, even all the way out here. They’ll come to investigate. We gotta run.”

“Shunt,” Xona kicked hard at a fallen tree branch.

Tyryn bent down and gently lifted Jilia. “Xona, go get the transport started.”

She nodded once and then sprinted off.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

“This is how life in the Rez goes.” Adrien hurried forward with Tyryn and waved for me to follow. “Midnight escapes, running with only what you got on you. We’re used to it.”

“But it’s my fault—”

“All that matters now is that we get out of here safely.” Adrien took my hand as we ran.

Xona already had the transport up and hovering by the time we got there.

“Won’t they be able to track us?” I asked, jumping inside and buckling the strap across my chest.

“The outer hull on the transport is built to deflect infrared screening,” Tyryn said. “In the night, we should be almost invisible.”

I felt my stomach rock as we lifted higher through the trees. Leaves and twigs scratched down the windows, but soon we were up past the tree line and off into the night sky.

“Where do we go now?” Xona asked.

“Henk knew we’d be headed his way in a couple of days for transport to the Foundation,” Tyryn said. He glanced down at the console screen. “As long as we don’t bring any heat his way, he won’t mind us showing up early.”

I glanced out the back window at the tops of the trees. By moonlight, I could see that the circular area I’d flattened stood out like a giant target.

I turned away again and saw Adrien watching me, but I didn’t meet his eyes. Guilt ate like a worm through my stomach. This was all my fault. I closed my eyes, wishing there were a way to rewind time.

Chapter 7

XONA AND TYRYN SPOKE QUIETLY
in the front seats. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Xona glanced back at me several times. Well, glared back might be a better description.

Otherwise, it was quiet, almost peaceful. Jilia and Adrien were asleep, and Adrien’s head lolled against the wall behind him. I memorized his sharp cheekbones and the way his jaw tapered down to his pointy chin. His thick lips were opened slightly as he slept, and I wished that I could kiss him. Anything to wipe away the memory of what I’d just done.

I unbuckled my belt strap and moved closer to Tyryn and Xona. I didn’t have a very good view out the front window, but I could see the distant bright lights ahead.

“We’re heading into a city?”

Xona ignored me.

“Right outside it,” Tyryn said. “There’s a factory there.” He pointed below, where I could just make out the outline of a cluster of structures. “The factory’s chief engineer is an Upper. Officially, he works for Comm Corp, but in actuality he’s a Rez spy.”

“Really?” I’d never met an Upper who worked with the Rez. Uppers were usually the enemy, the privileged class who used people for drone labor without any qualms.

The engines quieted as Tyryn settled the transport down in a covered transport bay. It jolted only lightly when we made contact with the ground.

“’Allo mates!” someone called just as Tyryn opened the back door of the transport. A very tall wiry man was waiting for us. His face was covered in dark stubble as if he hadn’t shaved in a week, and he smiled widely when Adrien woke up, unclipped himself, and stepped out of the transport.

“Shorty!” the man said, clapping Adrien hard on the back. Adrien was only an inch shorter than him, both of them well over six feet.

“Henk.” Adrien grinned back.

“You folks are early. Glad to see ya ain’t got any holes in you.”

Adrien didn’t say anything, but he did embrace the man.

Henk let go and turned to me, his arms open wide. “And the telek girl!” He stepped and hugged me hard right as I stepped out of the transport, lifting me up off my feet. “So good to meet ya. Shorty’s talked about ya enough to make a man’s ears bleed.”

I turned to Adrien who smiled and looked down, his ears turning pink.

“Welcome to my factory,” Henk said, gesturing behind him. “All the newest models, shiny and ready to be shipped.”

As I looked around, I gasped a little to see hundreds of vehicles packed in the covered space, all in orderly rows. One was a row of duos, another was full of large trucks, skinny in front but with wide bulbous backsides; others looked like variations on the simple quad transport design we’d come in.

Jilia stepped down from the vehicle next.

“My favorite doc! Now it’s really a party.” Henk spread his arms wide, but Jilia smacked them down, then winced and held her ribs.

Henk’s eyebrows scrunched together. “You broke, Doc?”

“Nothing I can’t fix. And don’t think I’ve forgotten last time,” she said, an eyebrow raised.

“Aw, come on,” Henk said, looking almost contrite. “One little accident with blasting powder and a guy can never live it down?”

Jilia rolled her eyes. “So is the container ready? I don’t want to stop here any longer than we have to.”

“Did ya think I wouldn’t come through for my favorite gal?” Henk grinned.

“I thought I was your favorite doctor,” Jilia said.

Henk leaned in, his voice low. “Who says ya can’t be both?” He wiggled his eyebrows, then pulled back. “It’s over here.” He gestured with his arm for us to follow.

“Top-of-the-line, next gen transports,” Henk explained as we walked down between rows of vehicles. “All hover-based tech.”

“No more wheeled models?” Adrien asked.

Henk laughed. “Who would drive on a road when you can fly?” He waved one hand smoothly through the air, like a vessel in flight, and let out a low whistle. “Antigravity tech’s gotten good enough for these nonpropulsion engines to go mainstream. I oughta know, since I helped design ’em.” He flashed a smile.

Adrien leaned over as we walked past a row of blue transports. “Henk designs transports, but he’s also the Rez’s best weapons expert. Unfortunately, he has a habit of testing out his favorite new toys.”

Henk overheard and smiled charmingly. “They just make such a lovely
ka-boom!
” He moved his fingers outward in a wide circle to demonstrate the sight. “And it scared a stitch into the bastards craftin’ V-chip parts.”

“The General warned you about being too reckless. Blowing up one V-chip factory isn’t going to change anything,” Jilia snapped. “We’re trying to win a war here!”

“Aw, it all turned out okay. And look at this,” Henk lifted his arm and rotated it at the shoulder. “One factory blasted back to hell where it belongs and you got me right put together again. Not to mention I got a nifty scar out of the deal.” He pulled back his tunic around the neck to show the slight line across his shoulder.

Jilia glared at him. “You’re hopeless.”

He sidled closer to her. “That’s what all the ladies say. Wanna try and reform me anyway?”

She pushed him away, but I saw the quirk of a smile play at the edge of her mouth.

“Ah, here we are. One Grade A shipping container for my favorite fleeing misfits.” Henk pointed to a row of huge boxes with the giant Comm Corp insignia on the side. Several of the hatches were open, revealing more shining transport vehicles packed up inside. But Henk led us to one that only had a few crates stacked against the walls.

“Sorry. This is the best I can do on short notice.”

Xona stepped inside and looked around. “I’ve traveled in worse,” she said. She clicked open the lid of one of the crates. “Got anything good in here?” She moved on to the next container, opening it up and rifling through some of the contents.

“Xona,” Tyryn said, a warning in his voice.

Xona ignored him and kept lifting and examining items.

“Right, then,” Henk said. “So I’ll close you up. This here’s the oxygen generator. You’ll have a day’s worth, though you shouldn’t need it. Transports will pick up the container and drop you at the shipping yard, and then you’ll be attached to a freight train heading south.”

I frowned. “We’ll be part of a Comm Corp freight train? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Henk just grinned. “Safest way to travel long distances. Right under their noses. Then someone from the Foundation will pick up the container and voilà.” He held out his hands wide. “You’re delivered to your new home.”

I must have still looked skeptical, because Jilia put a hand on my arm. “As much as I hate to admit it, Henk’s very good at what he does.”

“Wait, was that a compliment, Doc?” Henk put his hands dramatically to his chest. “I may faint.”

“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Xona said, pulling out a weapon as big as her forearm from the crate in the corner.

“Xona,” Tyryn said, marching over and yanking the weapon out of her hand. He put it back in the crate and shut the lid.

“A girl after my own heart,” Henk said. Then he nodded at the rest of us. “Safe travels.”

“And Doc,” Henk said. “As always, a pleasure.” He stepped in and planted a kiss right on Jilia’s mouth before she swatted him away, her face reddened. “You—”

Henk shut the door tight before she could finish.

Chapter 8

A JOLT WOKE ME,
and I sat up. Everything around me was gray. Data sets poured down the sides of my vision, readouts of the room schematics, temperature, time of day, and in the background the monotone voice speaking the Community Creed over and over again:
The Community Link is peace. We are humanity sublime because we live in Community and favor above all else order, logic, and peace. Community first, Community always.

“We’re here, Zoe,” said a voice at my side. “Un-Link yourself.”

I blinked in confusion. Adrien’s face was inches from mine as he whispered.

I stared at him for a moment, feeling nothing but a yawning emptiness.

“Say the trigger words to un-Link yourself. Beta Ten Gamma Link.”

“Beta Ten Gamma Link,” I repeated after him. Noise and color and sense washed back in a rush. After we’d left the factory, Jilia had suggested that I Link myself so that I could sleep without fear of losing control of my power. The Link controlled REM patterns, making dreaming impossible. It was horrible to have to put myself back under the Link’s power. I shook my head like I could get rid of the lingering fog it created. But as I looked around me, I saw everyone was safe. It had worked.

“Where is
here
anyway?” Xona asked. She looked at Tyryn and Jilia. “You never said where the Foundation was.”

“No one knows,” Adrien said. “Even the driver won’t know for long.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a glitcher who lives here. He makes the place invisible in people’s minds, so you can’t remember where you’re located, even when you’re here. I think.” Adrien frowned. “The details are a little fuzzy. Like the more I try to think about him, the less I can remember. But I feel like maybe we’re in a mountain?” He looked to Jilia.

Jilia nodded in appreciation. “It’s the best defense mechanism I’ve ever seen. I know I’ve done a brain scan of the boy, but at the moment I can’t even recall what his face looks like.”