The Pearl Wars (14 page)

21

Cassius landed the stolen sky taxi at Portland’s southern border, on the outskirts of the wide lot reserved for public shuttles. Switching off the power, he watched a small band of security personnel gather around the side of his ship, no doubt curious as to why a Skyship vehicle had made an unplanned, illegal landing.

He scooped up his bag from beside the captain’s seat, threw it over his shoulder, and flipped the controls to open the doorway. Hands in the air, he exited the craft and jumped down onto the granite pavement. All five security guards paused, waiting for something more than a fifteen-year-old to emerge from within. They kept their guns pointed straight at him.

“Relax.” Cassius reached up to his right hand, wincing as he tore off the skin graft and revealed his identification code. “I’m Unified Party.”

The men exchanged curious looks. The one nearest Cassius lowered his gun, removed a handheld scanner from his belt, and scanned Cassius’s wrist. The blue laser caught the inside of the ID socket and the guard nodded, turning to the others. “He’s telling the truth.”

Cassius sighed, pulling at the neck of his shirt. Even the residual effect from the nearby Bio-Net wasn’t enough to counter the sweltering heat.

The guards lowered their weapons. Another strode forward, hands on his hips. “Where did you find this ship?”

Cassius sighed, glancing over to the Bio-Net entrance. “Consider it a gift.”

Then, without waiting for any more questions, he turned and made his way toward the city, passing long rows of shuttle
s glistening in the hazy sunshine. When he was out of the guards’ sight, he flipped open his com-pad and entered Madame’s secret number.

It rang two times before she picked up. “Cassius.”

“I’ve landed outside Portland.”

“Fantastic,” she replied. “I’ve just had word of a crashed shuttle inside the city. That will be Fisher. No doubt the authorities have already captured him. I’d like you to head to the Security Center and find out where he’s being held. Make sure he is not transferred.”

“And what then?”

“I will rendezvous with you in Portland as soon as I can. Something has come up and I’m afraid I may be delayed. Don’t let Fisher out of the
city, Cassius.”

“I won’t.”

“If he escapes, he’ll head to Seattle.”

He frowned. “Why would he head to Seattle? It’s deserted.”

“Trust me, Cassius. That’s where he’ll go. Don’t let it happen.”

“Okay,” he replied.

“Excellent,” she said. “I will be in touch.”

The line went dead.

He stared at the com-pad before clipping it back onto his belt.
Something had come up
, she’d said. From the urgency in her voice back in the infirmary, he had assumed this mission was priority number one. Not to mention the destruction he had caused in the Lodge. But after two frustratingly brief conversations, he began to wonder if he was being intentionally kept in the dark. He wasn’t in the habit of questioning the government, but questioning Madame was something different entirely.

As he approached Portland’s southern gate, he toyed with the idea of interrogating Fisher himself. If Madame was going to take her time, he might as well use the opportunity to his advantage. Maybe he could find out what had happened back on the rooftop. She wouldn’t even have to know.

Two government officials stood at the entrance gate in front of him, positioned between ground-level Bio-Net connectors. Whirring spheres of Pearl energy spun in the center of each, weaving the force field that rocketed up to the floating black crosses. He remembered the group of Fringers destroyed at the entrance to Rochester. A chill ran down his spine.

A large screen hung above the entrance, displaying temperatures both inside and outside the Net. Seventy-two versus one-hundred and sixteen. Cassius couldn’t wait to feel the difference after stepping inside.

The officials scanned Cassius’s wrist with a dark gray wand as he passed Portland’s entrance sign. He straightened his tie, making sure he looked presentable before preceding.

Nodding to the guards, he stepped up a gentle ramp and into the city. First stop, the Security Center. Then he’d find Fisher. And answers.

22

A woman grips my hand and leads me down a darkened hallway, dozens of closed metal doors on either side of us. One lies halfway open at the end. Beyond is a laboratory. I know this. I’ve been here before. Light bulbs string overhead, flickering on and off. We’re underground.

Flashes of green light illuminate the small circular window at the top of the lab doorway, coupled with muffled explosions from inside. Thunder and lightning. Flash. Bang.

I dig my heels into the ground, pulling back on the woman’s hand. She leans down and whispers something in my ear that convinces me to keep walking. The flashes grow more intense. The banging gets louder.

We slip through the doorway and arrive inside the laboratory. I pull away from the woman, covering my ears.

A tall man in a lab coat turns to face us. He says something to her, but his voice is too soft to be heard beyond the muted explosions through my fingers. Behind him, a co
mputer devours the entire wall. To me it looks like a monster—all shiny knobs and coils.

The woman runs over to him and the two embrace, leaving me in the center of the room. A glowing tube crackles and hisses in the corner, filling almost a quarter of the small laboratory. Dark green flames quiver in a transparent box on top, surrounded by swirls of mist that spill out from inside and fog up the ceiling. It’s like an out-of-commission elevator, plopped down with nowhere to go. Instead of moving up or down it just sits there, grumbling like it’s hungry for something.

The man whispers into the woman’s ear. I look up at her and realize that she’s crying. She’s been crying the entire time. I step forward to comfort her. The man breaks away, stumbling back to the computer and opening a drawer behind him.

I watch as he removes a vial of clear liquid from inside. Giving it a shake, he pulls a syringe from another drawer and fills it with the liquid. For the first time, he looks at me.

I grab onto the woman’s leg, but the man’s fast. He’s at my side before I can do anything to stop him.

Suddenly we hear footsteps echoing in the hallway beyond the door. The man frowns, preparing to insert the needle into my arm.

The woman grabs his shoulder, stopping him. The footsteps grow louder—closer.

She digs in her pocket and removes a chain, spinning me around and looping it over my neck. I look down at the silver key resting on top of my white shirt. While I’m distracted, the man jabs the needle into my arm. “This won’t hurt a bit,” he promises. But it does.

The liquid enters my bloodstream and I start to go numb. First my arm, then my chest, and finally my legs. My body gives u
p.

The man tosses the syringe aside and reaches down to catch me before I collapse to the floor. He cradles me in his arms and carries me toward the machine. At first I want to shout, to run as far away from the banging and hissing as I can. But my fear disappears, like somebody pressed an off switch deep inside of me.

The laboratory door bursts open and three soldiers barge through, guns at the ready. Before they can get to me, the man lays my body inside the tube-shaped machine and everything fades to green. The whirring energy around me obscures my vision of the laboratory. I think I hear screams—shouting—but it’s impossible to tell.

Numbness is replaced by incredible warmth, awareness replaced with nothing.

I am nothing.

23

Avery smacks my shoulder and I bolt up, awake. It was a dream. Lifelike, sure, but just a dream.

I feel my face for a blindfold, but nothing’s there. My eyes quickly adjust to the darkness and I begin to make out the stars outside our slit of a window. The two of us are crammed into a cell that would make a dog kennel seem luxurious. A beam of meager light streams in from outside. It’s not enough to see by.

The one upside to our current predicament? It forces Avery and me to squeeze together.

“I’ve been jabbing you for fifteen minutes now,” she says. “Took you long enough to wake up.”

I reach around to the back of my neck. The shocker device is gone. No silver key, either. No laboratory. No soldiers. It felt so real.

Also gone are the fragments of shrapnel from our crash landing. A thick bandage wraps around my shoulder. They fixed us up before chucking us in here. Makes me wonder what else they did.

“Where are we?” I rub my eyes, hoping that things will become clearer.

Nope. Still dark.

“I don’t know for sure,” she replies, “but I can guess.”

“Security Center?”

“Yep.”

I sigh. “We almost made it, too.”

“I guess this is what we get for crashing a shuttle into a residential building.”

I lean back against the wall. “How long have you been awake?”

“About twenty minutes. Were you dreaming?”

“Why?”

She moves closer, pressing against me. “You were just making funny noises, that’s all.”

“Oh.” I turn away from her. I should be mass worried about being locked up in a cell in the middle of a Chosen City right now, but having Avery Wicksen hear me make funny dreaming noises is even worse. “Yeah,” I start. “It was weird. I was a kid, maybe three years old at the most. There was this machine … this light coming from inside. And there were soldiers.”

“Soldiers?”

“There was a key around my neck, too.”

Her head darts up. “Like the one Mrs. Dembo mentioned at the meeting?”

I nod. “It isn’t the first time, either. There was another dream, a couple of days ago after Bunker Ball. I was in a city. Seattle, I think. The key was around my neck.”

“I knew it! We’re definitely going now,” she says.

“It was only a dream.”

Her eyes narrow. “Do you normally dream about demolished cities?”

I sigh. “No, I guess not. Not until after the rooftop.”

“Exactly.”

I fall silent, eager to change the subject. “How are we gonna get out of here?”

“Beats me.” She kicks the wall. “Honestly, I don’t even know which side’s the door.”

I glance around from wall to wall, trying to get my bearings but finding it next to impossible. My breathing tightens. The thought that I’m stuck in here, with no way out, is almost too much. Confinement. Never been a fan, even when I was a kid. I try to suppress my reaction, but Avery notices.

“What’s the matter?”

“You know,” I mutter through labored breaths, “I’m just not a fan of tight spaces.”

She puts her arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer until my head touches her cheek. “You’re quite the hero, you know that?”

“You’re being sarcastic.”

“Not really. You know, I wouldn’t have crashed into a Chosen City for just anybody.”

Her skin presses against mine and suddenly I forget where I am. I block out the whole horrible situation until it’s just the two of us, sitting alone together in the dark. I consider leaning over and kissing her, but just as I’m about to work up the nerve, she pulls away, hugging her knees.

“You trust me, right Jesse?”

I smirk. It’s the most obvious answer in the world. “Of course.”

She sighs. “You shouldn’t.”

“What do you mean? You saved me back at the Academy.”

“Yeah,” she replies, “Right place at the right time, huh? It’s almost like I knew Cassius was up there.”

“Sixth sense, I guess.”

“I
knew
Cassius was up there, Jesse.” She turns, analyzing my expression in the darkness.

Her words don’t settle with me at first. Instead they whiz right by. My ears refuse to let them in. “Very funny, Avery.”

She lays the back of her head on the wall, eyes drifting to the ceiling. “God, I didn’t want to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

“But we’re stuck in a cage,” she mutters to herself. “It’s not like you could go anywhere.”

I stare at her for a second. She’s serious. A lot of people don’t get Avery, but I can always tell when she’s being funny. I swallow. My voice comes out a whisper. “Avery—”

She glances over at me. “There’s something you should know … something I’ve been keeping from you. And now that we’re down here it’s gonna come out sooner or later. Better to hear it from me.” She sighs. “You’re gonna think I’m such a hypocrite.”

“No, Avery.”

She pats her knees, taking a deep breath before speaking. “The thing is … I’ve … I’ve been working for the Unified Party.”

My heart drops. It’s a delayed reaction again, and when the statement finally catches up to me, it’s like a round of bullets straight through the chest.

“I wasn’t transferred from Skyship Mira,” she continues. “My parents didn’t die. I was born on the Surface.”

I chuckle at the absurdity of it. I don’t want to, but it’s all I can do.

“I’m serious,” she responds. “The Unified Party enroll
ed me at the Academy under a false background three years ago. I’ve been funneling down information ever since. Schematics, training procedures … observations. Madame’s got all the Intel she needs for a full-scale assault, but the President won’t let her make a move. Doesn’t want a war.”

I clutch my arm, trying to keep from being sick. I stopped listening halfway through.

Avery notices. “Jesse?” She pauses, waiting for a response. “Do you understand? Are you hearing what—”

“All this time?” My voice comes out choked and small.

She nods. “That’s how I knew those were Madame’s cruisers back there. But it’s not what you think, Jesse. I’m not like them. I was young. I was just doing what they told me. I didn’t know any better.”

I shake my head. The ability to form coherent sentences fails me. “The Unified Party?”

“Didn’t you think it was strange that I was so interested in snooping around?”

“You were curious.”

“I
had
to do it, Jesse.”

I bury my face in my knees. All the events of the day catch up to me. I close my eyes, refusing to cry. “First Eva, now you?”

“No.” She grabs my shoulder, then drops her hand to her side. “Oh god, Jesse. I’m so sorry.”

“What is it?” I look up, gritting my teeth. “What have you told them?”

“Not a lot,” she whispers. “When I first arrived at the Academy I overheard Alkine talking about you. I mentioned it to Madame, that’s all. She asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“You’re friends with me because Madame told you to be?”

“No.” She groans. “This is coming out all wrong.” She leans her head back. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. It sounds so sinister.”

“Maybe because it
is
.” My brain catalogs the past few days. “Wait. That night, when you said you were talking with Phoebe … the mark on your cheek. You were spying, weren’t you?”

“Yes,“ she says, “but it’s not as bad as it sounds. This past year, I’ve been trying to throw Madame off. At first it was business, but then I got to know you, Jesse. Emotion, it...compromised things. I regretted telling her anything. Whenever she asked about you, I played dumb.”

“Madame asked about
m
e
?”

Avery nods. “I don’t know what she wants. I didn’t give her any specifics, Jesse. I swear. I didn’t know that they found you in Seattle until last night. I just knew you were the guy all the higher-ups were talking about. They were concerned about you, like it was so important that you were strong enough to take care of yourself. Out of all the students, it was always
you
. I thought it was strange, so I relayed it to Madame. She wanted to know your family history … your age. I didn’t know why she was so interested. I still don’t.”

“Pearls,” I sigh. “That’s all the Unified Party cares about.”

“Pearls and Jesse Fisher,” Avery replies. “Mentioning you was my biggest mistake.”

I scoff. “But you have no problem selling out Alkine and the Academy.”

“It’s not an easy position—”

“Yeah. I bet it’s not.”

“It’s
not
,” she counters. “Both Skyship and the Surface have their problems. You know that. There are spies everywhere. Take Skandar’s dad, right? You’re not mad at him for spying on the Unified Party.”

“Because we’re the good guys!” The words come out louder than I mean them to.

Avery shakes her head. “It’s never that simple.”

“Tell that to those government cruisers trying to shoot us out of the sky.”

She frowns. “They’ll be shooting at me too, after what I’ve done. Cassius was supposed to take you to the Lodge today. I couldn’t let that happen.”

I grimace. “How do I know that you’re not in on it too?”

“I can’t—” She stops and reaches up to her forehead. Her eyes shut in pain.

“Avery?”

“Headache,” she whispers. “Ever since we left the Academy.” She rubs her temple for a moment before opening her eyes. “It’s gone.”

I look down at the floor, tracing circles with my finger in the dirt-stained concrete. “You didn’t have to work for the government,” I mutter.

She sighs. “It was my job.”

“You can change jobs.”

She lays her hand on her knee, bowing her head. “Not some.”

A silence fills the tight room. Someone thumps against the far wall, followed by muttering from the neighboring cell. More prisoners. Probably Fringers caught trading with Skyship.

“Look,” Avery starts. “I know it’s going to be hard for you to trust me. It should be. But I’m
on your side now. I wanted you to spy on Alkine’s meeting so that you’d know the truth. Anything you want me to do, just tell me. I want to help.”

I shake my head, mumbling. “I think you’ve done enough already.”

“I can help,” she replies. “If I hadn’t had contact with Madame I wouldn’t have known about Cassius today. I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”

A
silence fills the chamber. Then I ask the question that’s eating away at my mind, though I’m not sure I really want to hear the answer. “Does she want me dead?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but she could’ve blown us out of the sky back there and she didn’t.”

I frown. “Then she knows where we are.”

“Maybe,” Avery starts. “I’m off-grid. I haven’t spoken with her for over twenty-four hours.”

I cringe at the thought of Avery speaking with Madame. “I can’t believe I was so stupid,” I mutter. “All this time. I thought maybe you actually … ” I trail off.

“What, Jesse?” She reaches her hand over to me.

I pull away. “Nothing. It’s nothing important.”

She kicks the wall, shaking her head. “You know I—”

A reverberating click from outside interrupts her.

Her head darts up. “What was that?”

I peer at the wall to our left. A crack of light streams in as the cell door slides open. The light widens into a blinding rectangle until it overtakes the darkness.

A figure stands in the doorway. I squint to make out details. It takes a second before I recognize who it is.

I knew he’d find a way down here.

“Evening, Fisher,” Cassius Stevenson smiles. “I’ve been looking for you.”