by David Webb
“You coming?”
Nicholas didn’t move. He held up a finger and cocked his head.
She jumped back over into the car she had just left and closed the door. “What are you waiting for? Don’t you have more girls to kidnap?”
He shook his head, his finger still in the air.
“Whatever. You can stay if you want. Who knows? If I reach the last car, I could just jump off. I’d die at these speeds, but I don’t see a bright future ahead of me anyway.”
Still nothing.
Aniya rolled her eyes and turned around. “Suit yourself.”
“Wait.”
She felt a gloved hand around her wrist.
In a flurry, Aniya twisted around and punched Nicholas in the nose.
“I said don’t touch me,” she said as he fell to the floor.
Nicholas held a hand to his nose as blood seeped between his fingers. “I deserved that.”
Aniya folded her arms across her chest, her eyes watering.
“I probably deserve a lot worse than that.” He stood up, wiping his bloody hands on his silver armor.
“I’m sure you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
Nicholas looked over his shoulder, then back at her. “I don’t blame you. You’ve been through a lot. I know your parents—”
“Don’t talk about my parents,” she said, her hands curling into fists again.
“I didn’t kill them.”
“You may as well have.”
Nicholas didn’t answer.
“If you really do feel anything for me, answer me this. Why did they kill my parents? Why didn’t they just take them like they took my brother?”
Nicholas looked away. “I doubt they were supposed to die. After the Uprising, most of the rebels were executed, but influential people like your parents were kept alive and under the government’s thumb to show that even after the war, the Lightbringers were still in control. But after your parents sheltered your brother and hid him from the Operative, they committed treason. Even then, they should have been brought before the Chancellor for a trial.”
“Then why did your friend kill them?”
“The Operative, who is not my friend, doesn’t always represent the interest of the Lightbringers. He’s more or less given free rein to work as he sees fit, and he goes a little too far sometimes. If it’s any consolation, whatever punishment the Chancellor would have given your parents would have been worse than a bullet to the head.”
Aniya squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the images that Nicholas’s graphic words prompted. “How can you say such a thing? At least they’d be alive.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
Aniya opened her eyes. “And what about me? The Operative could have killed me after he found out that I don’t know anything. What’s going to happen to me?”
“You will be punished,” Nicholas said, grimacing.
She couldn’t believe this was the same Nicholas she had grown up with. The one that played tag with her and William. The one who taught her how to pick locks. The one she had once stolen a kiss from during one Black Day.
“What kind of punishment?”
Nicholas didn’t answer but cocked his head again. After a moment, he nodded. “We need to move.”
Without waiting for her to respond, he placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward.
Aniya exploded with rage and grabbed his hand. She spun around, wrenching his arm awkwardly, and prepared to punch him again, but she found herself trapped as he latched on to both her hands.
He twisted her back around and shoved her up against the wall. A second later, handcuffs bound her wrists once again.
“Let’s go.”
Nicholas pushed her again, and she stumbled forward helplessly, struggling to maintain her balance.
They stepped into the next train car, and Nicholas closed the door behind them.
“Stay here.”
He continued into the car and approached a group of monitors. After pressing a few buttons, he studied the screens, ignoring Aniya.
Curious, Aniya approached, but careful not to make any sudden movements.
The screens showed footage of various train cars, all of them seemingly empty. But motion drew Aniya’s eye to a screen that revealed a man advancing through a train car, his weapon drawn.
The man disappeared, reappearing within seconds on another monitor.
Aniya backed away from the screen, her eyes wide. “Why is he—”
Nicholas hushed her and held up a finger, cocking his head again.
After a moment, he pointed back the way they came. “We need to go back.”
“Why? I thought he—”
“Move!”
He pushed her again, and the urgency in his voice made her think twice before protesting again.
They stepped back into the previous car, one that contained various mechanisms and control panels. Nicholas scanned the car, his eyes darting back and forth.
“Close the door,” he said to Aniya.
“What are we—”
Nicholas held up his finger yet again.
“Stop shushing me.”
He ignored her and approached a large yellow lever affixed to the floor. “Find something to hold on to.”
“Why? We—”
“Now.”
Confused, Aniya searched the room, finally settling on a railing that guarded a window. She placed a hand on the rails, but Nicholas shook his head.
“Not there. Too close to the glass.”
“Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
But then, the opposite door opened, and the Operative stepped inside, his gun drawn and pointed at Aniya.
“I can’t help but notice that this is not where I asked you to take the girl, boy.”
Nicholas stepped in front of the lever. “I was on my way, sir.”
“Then why is the next door already open?”
Nicholas turned around. Sure enough, the door was still open. “I told you to close the door, Aniya.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why would I listen to you?”
“You’ve always been like this, you know. You have to do things your own way. God forbid you follow an order.”
“You shot me!”
“Enough.” The Operative cocked his gun and looked at Nicholas. “It’s clear to me now that your loyalty is not as unwavering as it seemed. Surely you understand if I proceed to the Hub without you, boy.”
He turned and pointed his gun at Nicholas, who backed away, pressing his body up against the lever.
“After all, you’re no longer needed.”
Nicholas glared at the assassin. “The Adviser will have something to say about that. I’m here under his orders.”
“The Adviser believed that you would comply with our mission. You did help capture the girl, but I think your cooperation is beginning to wane. Personally, I don’t want to risk it.”
With that, the Operative fired, and Nicholas’s body fell backward, his full weight landing on the lever.
An earsplitting grinding noise split the air, and the train car shifted sideways. For an instant, Aniya found herself inches off the ground as the floor dropped out from underneath her.
Then, the car lurched sideways. The Operative flew into the wall and hit his head, dropping his gun. Aniya was thrown to the side, her back colliding with the wall, and she lost consciousness as the train exploded around them.
35
Aniya woke up amid flame and wreckage.
Smoke and putrid fumes ravaged the air, making it almost impossible to breathe.
Above the ringing in her ears, she could hear the harsh screech of metal as the remains of the train slowly collapsed around her.
Still handcuffed, she pushed against the large steel beam clamping down on her leg, but she was helpless against the incredible weight. She took a deep breath to prepare for exertion and choked on the polluted air.
She was tra
pped.
“Help!”
There was no telling where she was. The train had broken apart, and she was outside, but she couldn’t see past the black smoke that surrounded her. She could be calling out in the middle of a random sector. She could be in the train tunnels, with miles to go until civilization. She could be in the middle of the Hub, surrounded by a dozen Silvers.
It didn’t matter. If she didn’t escape soon, she would die anyway.
“Help!” she called again, fruitlessly trying to push the metal off her leg.
A figure stepped out of the smoke and knelt at her side.
“Hold on, I’ve got you.” It was a man’s muffled voice.
The steel beam on her leg began to move, and Aniya pushed as her rescuer pulled.
Finally, she was free. She backed away from the immediate debris and, exhausted, let herself fall backward, her head coming to rest on dirt. Above, she could see a tiny spot of blue light past the smoke.
She was in a sector.
Aniya felt herself lifted off the ground.
“We’ve got to get out of here before the Silvers arrive.”
The ringing in her ears subsided just enough for Aniya to recognize the voice. She tilted her head to the side and bit Nicholas’s hand.
Nicholas yelped and dropped her. “What was that for?”
She didn’t answer, instead climbing to her feet and running away.
“Aniya, wait!”
Still wading through smoke, she walked right into the arms of another armored man.
“Gotcha.”
Aniya lost her balance as she was dragged away from Nicholas and out of the smoke. She looked up to see a man in silver armor gripping her shoulders tightly.
The man threw her to the ground, stepped on her stomach, and reached for his radio.
“Attention, squad leader, I—”
That was as far as he got before Nicholas leapt out of the smoke and onto the soldier’s back. The two men staggered back and forth for a moment before Nicholas managed to get a firm grip on the sides of the man’s head. He twisted violently, a sickening crack emanating from the man’s neck as he crumpled to the ground.
Nicholas stood up and brushed himself off. His armor was gone, and he was now clothed in gray compression clothing. He picked up the man’s gun and pulled out the magazine, counting the ammunition.
Aniya put her anger and bitterness aside for a moment, making way for confusion. “Why are you helping me?”
“Change of plans.” He grabbed Aniya’s hand and pulled her up. He withdrew a key from a pocket and undid her handcuffs. “We need to get moving before more of them show up. Here, I found this for you.” With his other hand, he presented Aniya’s rucksack, which she took.
“What about the Operative?”
“He’s dead. Looked like he hit his head pretty hard.” Nicholas reached underneath his shirt and pulled out Kira’s crystal. “I think this belongs to you.”
Aniya took the necklace cautiously and slipped it over her head. “I thought he shot you. How are you still alive?”
“The Silvers wear pretty thick armor.”
“So why don’t you keep it on?”
Nicholas shook his head. “The Lightbringers were tracking me with it, making sure I held up my end of the bargain. Sucks because there was a radio built into my helmet, and that’s the only way my contact could reach me.”
“Your contact? What are you talking about?”
“It’s better that you don’t know. We’re still in danger, and too much is at stake.”
Aniya refused to accept this response. “No. You owe me some answers. Put me down.”
Nicholas kept walking. “I was pretty well protected thanks to my armor, but you probably have a concussion. Wait until we get out of the smoke.”
“I will bite your hand again if you don’t put me down.”
Nicholas sighed and placed her down. “Fine, but you have to follow me closely. If you slow us down too much, I will pick you up again. Deal?”
Aniya smirked. “Slow you down? I could outrun you if I wanted, and you know it.” But she accepted his lead and followed him away from the wreckage.
They cleared the smoke, and Aniya paused briefly to look around. They were standing in a valley of dirt, heading toward a massive formation of rocks about a mile away. In the middle of the cliffside was a small hole near the bottom where the train tracks disappeared into the rock.
The landscape was so desolate that Aniya wondered if they were in a sector that was still under development, but as she turned around, she realized where she was.
Beyond the valley of dirt were hundreds of factories and smokestacks, laid out in a neat grid across most of the sector. But towering far above them all was a massive, silver tower that stretched seemingly all the way to the top of the sky ceiling. In fact, Aniya couldn’t tell where the tip of the monument ended and the digital dome began.
It was the Citadel, home to the Chancellor and headquarters to the Lightbringers.
They were in the Hub.
She shuddered and turned toward Nicholas, who gestured with his head and continued walking toward the cliffs, which formed a bland, gray wall that stood around the entire perimeter of the Hub, shutting the sector away from the rest of the Web.
It was a far cry from the utopian paradise they had learned about in Assembly.
They climbed up into the cliffs, hugging the side of the rock wall and traversing over very thin walkways. Nicholas never let go of her hand, which grew increasingly uncomfortable. But he was right. The blow to her head had left her disoriented, a condition that proved dangerous as they got higher up in the cliffs. As angry as she was, she knew the stability provided by his hand was invaluable.
Finally, after several minutes, they rested on a large rock jutting out from the cliff.
Aniya took deep breaths of the air and noted that it still tasted like smoke. They were nowhere near the wreck now, but she deduced that it was a byproduct of the industrial grid across the valley. “Now that we’re away from the train, what are you talking about? What contact?”
Nicholas shook his head. “I’m sorry, Aniya. I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that you, me, William—we’re all in danger. The Lightbringers are more dangerous than you or I thought.”
“I don’t know, I’ve seen enough that I believe it.”
“Whatever you think, I promise you that it’s worse. We need to get William and get out.”
Aniya’s heart raced. “Do you know where he is?”
“I have a general idea. Enough to get us started.”
“Where would we even go? The Silvers are everywhere.”
“According to my contact, as long as we can get to him, he’ll take it from there.”
“Do you trust this contact of yours?”
Nicholas shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice. He says he wants to get rid of the Lightbringers.”
“And you just believed him? The government specializes in manipulating people. What makes you think he isn’t tricking you so you can bring me in?”
“He’s the one who clued me in to the Operative’s attack. I guess he was watching the security feed too. I doubt he would attack his own side like that to get me to bring you in when we were already on our way.”
“Why can’t you tell me who he is?”
“His orders. If you get caught, he doesn’t want you giving him up to the Chancellor or his Adviser.”
Aniya folded her arms. “I don’t think we should be trusting anyone in this sector. Let’s just go get William.”
“I’m all for that. We just—” Nicholas’s eyes narrowed, and he looked past Aniya, frowning.
Aniya turned around. In the distance, she spotted several small dots streaking across the sky in various directions. A few of them grew larger, heading toward the cliffs.
“Scanners!” Nicholas grabbed her hand again. “Get down!”
They dropped to the ground and crouched behind a b
oulder, shielding themselves from the flying machines.
Behind them, Aniya could hear an increasingly loud buzz, a mechanical hum that chilled her spine, but it also gave away the robots’ positions quite obviously.
Her grip on Nicholas’s hand grew tighter as the buzz grew louder. As he squeezed back, Aniya could feel her hand starting to get wet, and she couldn’t tell if it was his sweat or her own.
“Do you have another one of those electric bombs?”
“I only had two, the one I used and the one you used. I do have this, though,” he said as he readied his gun.
The buzz reached its loudest and then leveled off, maintaining a consistent hum that was nearly deafening. The noise moved around them, echoing against the cliff walls.
After another minute, the tension became too much for Aniya. She leaned forward to try to get a look, but Nicholas pulled her back as a large shadow fell over the rock in front of them.
Aniya landed on the ground with a thud, and she hissed in pain as her elbow made contact with rock.
In an instant, a large metal sphere shot into view, coming to rest directly in front of them.
Aniya held her breath. The machine wasn’t facing them, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Unfortunately, the noise of her fall had alerted the machine to their exact location, and it began to turn toward them, revealing a large red eye, pulsing with an angry glow. Aniya squeezed Nicholas’s hand one last time.
Nicholas fired his gun, and the sphere emitted a loud whine as the bullet pierced its hull, sending the machine crashing to the ground. Its red eye blinked a few times, then went dark.
“We need to move. The other ones will have heard that.” Nicholas stood up and searched the skies.
Aniya stood up with him and looked into the distance. Sure enough, several more scanners were headed their way.
“Let’s go.”
36
That night, in a hole in the cliffs, Nicholas sat on a large rock by a dying fire, munching on a chunk of mole jerky. Aniya had fallen asleep almost instantly, but Nicholas’s sleep had been restless, plagued by regrets of the past and worries of the future.
Each time he closed his eyes to sleep, he saw Aniya holding her cheek in shock, staring at him with betrayal written on her face. So Nicholas chose to stay awake instead, hoping that watching Aniya’s peaceful slumber would overwrite the awful mental pictures that kept coming back.
