by Caryn Lix
She was set up, Cage had said. Was it even remotely possible? Could Omnistellar have made a mistake? They were only human, after all. I’d been raised to think of the company as infallible, but of course that wasn’t true. There were miles of regulations and red tape to prevent exactly this type of error, but . . . it was possible.
I processed that as we climbed the staircase, the lights flickering on as we went. “My mom will have changed my code,” I reminded them as we climbed. “Can Rune open sector four?”
Matt shook his head. “Your code works. Rune blocked your mother,” he said, a tinge of pride in his voice. “There’s not much she can’t do once she’s in contact with the system.”
Cage glanced over his shoulder, an amused expression on his face. “How long are you two going to keep this up?”
Matt turned beet red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Keep walking, tough guy.”
I shook my head, focusing on what was important: my codes would still function. I filed that information away for future reference.
Cage paused outside sector 4. “Now we see if we can trust you,” he said, gesturing to the door.
Anger knifed inside me. I swallowed it down. He had no more reason to trust me than I had to trust him, after all—but what did he think I planned to do? I mean, I could trigger a lockout with three incorrect codes, but they’d catch me in the act. And besides, I’d meant what I said: I wanted to help anyone in 4 who might need it. So I plugged in my correct code, and the door slid open.
A burst of cold air swept over us, alongside a strange, almost familiar smell. Not a single sound came from inside the sector.
We all froze, staring into the dimly illuminated corridor. It was a mirror image of 5, lined with empty cells. We couldn’t see very far inside, but there were no shouts of welcome or anger, no enraged teenagers rushing us. “Trap?” asked Alexei, very softly.
Mia materialized directly behind me, and everyone jumped. “Damn it, Mia. . . ,” Cage ground out between his teeth.
She leaned against the door, peering in. “Let me go first. I’ll scout and report back.”
“No,” said Alexei immediately. “It might be dangerous. We’ll go together.”
Mia glanced over her shoulder. “It’s a lot safer for me than you. And you guys are seriously the loudest people I’ve ever met. Just wait here.”
She vanished again, and Cage threw up his hands. “Well, it’s not like she’s leaving us much of a choice,” he said in response to Alexei’s scowl. “Matt?”
Matt frowned, shaking his head. “I sense . . . someone. Someone’s alive.”
“Someone better be alive,” Alexei snarled.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Not Mia. I mean, yes, Mia. But I feel other living things in there. I’m not getting it as clearly as I usually do.” His shoulders slumped in frustration. “Sorry, Cage.”
Cage clapped him on the arm, and the boys exchanged a look I couldn’t read. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll wait for Mia.”
I tried to remember Matt’s file but drew a total blank. “What exactly can you do?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
He surprised me with a wink. “Sense life,” he replied. “Human life, mostly. Sometimes I can tell when animals are around, but it’s more muddled. Most of the time I can tell you exactly how many people are in a room when I’m this close. Heightened emotions mess me up, though. That’s probably what’s happening here.”
He didn’t sound sure, but I didn’t push, and neither did anyone else.
We stood in the corridor outside the door in total silence. Sanctuary’s gentle hum surrounded us, but for the first time, it didn’t seem familiar or comforting. The corridor was cold—a natural response, I supposed, if there’d been some kind of hull breach and Sanctuary hadn’t compensated for the change in temperature. Maybe something caused equipment damage? Still, this didn’t feel right. It looked less and less like a rescue attempt.
A shiver raced through me, and Cage took a step forward, raising a hand as if to put his arm around me. He thought better of it and touched my shoulder instead. I blinked. Maybe my attempt to connect with him was working. Why didn’t that thought bring me more satisfaction?
“You okay?” Cage asked quietly.
He still radiated heat. I resisted the urge to lean into him and nodded. “Just cold,” I lied. Something was wrong here, and I knew it. So did the boys, judging by the set of their jaws. Alexei in particular held himself as rigid as a statue. He really did care for Mia. I abandoned any attempt to understand that emotion.
For the first time, we heard Mia before we saw her. Her footsteps echoed through the hall at a dead run. She rematerialized a couple of feet in front of us, stumbled through the doorway, and collapsed against the wall. “They’re gone,” she said. “All of them. Just . . . vanished.”
TWELVE
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” CAGE demanded. “What did you see?” The door slid shut behind Mia, but no one seemed to notice; everyone was fixated on Mia’s drawn face.
Mia shook her head. She was clearly shaken, and that scared me more than anything. I got the sense it took a lot to ruffle Mia’s feathers. “There’s definitely a hull breach in the server room,” she gasped. “Which explains why it’s so cold, why the cameras are down. There’s life support, but that’s about it. The prison sealed the breach, but you can see right through it into space.”
“What about the prisoners?” Matt demanded.
Her old impatience flickered through her agitation. “I told you. They’re gone.”
This time I shook my head. “That’s impossible. There is no way they all got blown out of a hull breach before Sanctuary sealed it. Not unless every single one of them was clustered around the server wall before it ruptured.”
She spun on me with such ferocity I retreated a step. “Then that’s what happened. I don’t know if you noticed, but there aren’t exactly a lot of hiding spots in a prison. If they were there, I would’ve seen them.”
Matt smacked his hand into the wall. “Mia, I sensed life. I still do.”
“I did not miss anything. I’m telling you right now, the place is empty. I even pounded on the gym door. It was locked, I’ll give you that. So maybe they’re huddling in there refusing to open up, but otherwise, those prisoners are gone.”
We stared at each other. “No,” I said again. “No, that’s not possible. The breach seals in under three seconds. There’s not enough time.”
Something clattered inside sector 4, and all five of us jumped, retreating a few steps. Cage grabbed my arm, and I caught his wrist, both of us clinging to each other in pure terror. After a second we realized what we’d done and jerked apart, flushing.
Fortunately, no one else seemed to notice.
Mia squared off against Cage, fists clenched. “Give me the knife.”
“Yeah, no.” Cage produced the knife himself. He swallowed. “This is ridiculous. Kenzie, open the door again and get out of the way.”
I stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Just do it. Please.”
I suppose I should have been glad they were so determined to get themselves killed since it would make my escape easier. To my confusion, I was not. Maybe I was getting sucked into their world, but I didn’t care. “Whatever happened, there’s no precedent for it. Going inside might be dangerous.”
A pained expression crossed Cage’s face. “Please.”
“No.”
He stared at me, and I felt like I could see his mind working. “Tyler . . . ,” he said, slowly and softly, almost to himself. I winced. Of course Tyler could pull this second code from my mind. I wouldn’t let him—I’d give it to them first. I opened my mouth to say so.
But then Cage closed his eyes, as if exhausted. “Lex, go get Rune.”
My jaw dropped. I had expected him to ask for Tyler, not to bring his sister into possible danger. What was going on? What had changed h
is mind?
Alexei must have wondered the same thing because his eyebrow shot up. “Really?”
Cage’s eyes flew open, and he fixed his cellmate with a furious glare. “She’s not setting one foot in this horror show, but I’m getting inside. And if Kenzie won’t do it, Rune’s the only one who can.”
“Cage,” said Matt sharply.
The two boys exchanged speaking looks, seeming to have some sort of silent conversation. After a moment, Matt nodded and stepped aside.
Obviously Matt trusted Cage not to let any harm come to Rune. Cage’s love for his sister was so obvious, almost painful in its intensity. Kind of like how I’d thought Mom loved me. If Cage placed Rune in danger—however minor, however temporary—would she face the same aching betrayal gnawing at my own heart?
I pivoted, scanned my thumb, and punched in my code. The door slid open again, revealing the same dark, ominous cold.
Cage gulped audibly. “Wait for me here,” he ordered, and slipped inside.
Mia swore and vanished.
The rest of us exchanged glances and followed. Cage glowered over his shoulder. “Not one of you can follow orders, can you?”
Alexei shrugged. “I think I missed the meeting putting you in charge.”
We found everything pretty much as Mia had described right up until we gathered outside the gym entrance. Sure enough, when Cage tried the keypad, he found the door locked. “Kenzie?” he asked.
I rubbed my fingers together to warm them and examined the screen. The keypad was meant for emergency override situations and didn’t require a lot of effort to operate, since there wasn’t much damage the prisoners could cause in the gym. It only took a scan of my thumb to get the door open.
Lights flooded the room at our movement. I remembered the gym from my tour—a series of treadmills, rowing machines, exercise bikes, and hanging bars for resistance exercises. Even a miniature basketball court and a few balls, I noticed ruefully. No free weights or anything prisoners could use to hurt themselves or someone else, but plenty of space for them to burn off energy.
At first I thought the room was empty, but something caught my eye. “Cage,” I murmured, and he nodded.
The two of us advanced on the exercise bike in the far corner, leaving Matt and Alexei in the doorway. Without consultation, we circled around, approaching from opposite directions. Cage moved with fluid ease, mirroring my motion as if we’d spent years training together, and for a moment I felt a connection to him, like he was another guard, not a prisoner.
A young girl, no more than eleven, huddled against the wall, knees drawn to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs. She didn’t look up at the sound of our approach, only hugged herself more tightly.
I gestured to Cage to hang back and crouched beside her. He grimaced and made a slashing motion across his throat, then indicated my guard’s uniform. I hesitated. This little girl was obviously scared, and I didn’t want to make it worse. On the other hand, I trusted my ability to play nice more than I trusted his. I scowled and shook my head, waving him aside. “Hey,” I said softly. “Are you all right?”
The girl moaned into her folded arms. Carefully, I laid a hand on her shoulder. She tensed but didn’t pull away. “Hey,” I said again. “My name’s Kenzie. I’m here to help you.” She still didn’t move, so I brushed her blond hair back from her face, but it was no good. She’d folded in on herself too tightly.
Someone brushed past me—Mia. Oh God, just what we needed. “Hi,” she said, her voice surprisingly calm. “I’m guessing something pretty scary happened in here, huh?”
The girl made some sort of noise. It might have been acquiescence or simply clearing her throat, but either way, it was more than I’d managed to coax from her. I backed off a few steps to give Mia more room. “Yeah,” she continued, as if she hadn’t noticed the girl speaking. She settled against the wall beside her, shot both me and Cage a dirty look, and flapped her hands, urging us away. “I came here to see what happened. I did it invisible. Did you know I could make myself invisible? It’s my power.”
Cage drew up beside me, and for the first time, his presence seemed friendly. “So, uh . . . Mia,” he said.
“Yeah. Who’d have guessed?”
“Girl’s just full of surprises,” he whispered with a grin.
I blinked, startled, and gave him a smile before I could stop myself. But that was good. It was what I was supposed to be doing, building a connection. So why was I starting to feel guilty about the idea?
The child turned her head, revealing a tearstained face. “How’d you use your power?” she managed, in a soft accent similar to Alexei’s.
“Oh, that?” Mia shrugged, twisting to reveal her left shoulder. “I chopped the chip out of my arm.”
“For God’s sake, Mia,” Cage muttered.
Not so surprising after all, I thought.
But the girl seemed more intrigued than repulsed. “Didn’t that hurt? It hurts when you poke it.”
“Hell yes, it hurt. But I’m tough. I can handle it.” She leaned in conspiratorially and said, “Maybe even tough enough to protect you from whatever happened here.”
The girl’s face crumpled, and she shook her head. Mia quickly switched tactics. “What’s your power?”
That caught the girl’s attention. “I used to fly,” she said wistfully. “But I went into an area I wasn’t supposed to, and . . . they put me here.”
What? She was a child. What the hell area had she flown into to land herself on Sanctuary? There had to be more to the story. Omnistellar didn’t lock kids up and throw away the key over an innocent mistake.
“I know the feeling.” Mia smiled. The expression transformed her face, softening her features and bringing light to her eyes. “My name’s Mia. Will you tell me yours?”
“Anya.” It was barely a sound, a breath of a name on a gust of air.
“Okay, Anya. I want to take you out of here. Is that okay?”
Her head flew up, hope lighting her expression. “Out of the prison?”
“Not quite. Not yet. But I can take you to sector five with me. There are people down there—nice people. People like us.”
Anya sighed, her body sinking in on itself. “It won’t matter,” she said. But she nodded.
Mia and Cage exchanged glances, but Mia didn’t push the girl further, just caught her under the elbow and helped her to her feet. Anya walked like she was in a trance as Mia led her through the prison. “Mia,” Cage murmured under his breath, “we need to know what happened here.”
“Not now,” she snapped, urging Anya to walk faster.
I fell into step with Matt. “Is she the life you sensed?” I asked.
He frowned. “I don’t . . . Yes. Yes. She must have been.”
“You don’t sound very sure,” Cage pointed out.
Matt shrugged helplessly. “It didn’t feel like anything I’d ever sensed before. But like I said, emotional turmoil messes with my abilities. And she’s pretty tumultuous.”
“Can you sense life now?”
He paused, closing his eyes, then sighed. “Just the six of us. The weird feeling is gone. It must have been . . . I don’t know. Maybe I’m rusty.”
“Maybe,” said Alexei dubiously. “And maybe we should block the doors behind us.”
From ahead of us, Anya screamed. We ran the last few yards down the corridor and found her clinging to Mia. “The door shut automatically,” Mia explained, stroking the girl’s hair. “Kenzie?”
I hesitated. For once I was in a good position to bargain. They couldn’t get out of here without me. As far as I knew, they couldn’t communicate with Rune. I finally had something they wanted, something they couldn’t get without my cooperation.
But on the other hand, if they waited here long enough, Rune would probably come looking. Until then, I’d be trapped with them in the weird, creepy mausoleum that sector 4 had become—and they wouldn’t be happy. No one had hurt me yet, not really. Would they if I stood betwe
en them and their exit?
On top of that, Anya had started to cry.
“Kenzie,” said Cage sharply. Everyone except Anya turned angry, mistrustful expressions in my direction.
I winced. My hesitation may have cost me any trust I’d built with them. “Sorry,” I said, searching for an excuse. “I was just . . . thinking. Let me get the door.”
Impossible to tell if my hasty attempt at damage control did any good. It seemed to take forever to enter my codes, Anya’s sobs punctuating the silence. My hands trembled, but I managed to enter everything correctly the first time.
We rushed into the corridor. Without waiting for the rest of us, Mia took Anya down the stairs. “Can you close this door any faster?” Cage asked me.
With only a swipe of my thumb, the door slammed shut. We stood staring at it a moment. “All right,” he said. “Let’s see if we can find out what happened here.”
* * *
By the time we returned to sector 5, Rune had coaxed the computer into providing a glass of milk and a plate of cookies I recognized as coming from Jonathan’s private stores. I gave a fleeting thought to my own private stash: freeze-dried strawberries, Oreos, and three remaining bottles of soda—probably more than the prisoners had seen in years.
Anya curled up on the couch, munching away without seeming to taste anything. Mia and Rune sat nearby, talking to her quietly. “Who knew?” said Matt dryly. “Mia has a mothering instinct.”
“Mia had a little sister,” Alexei replied, so sharply that everyone shut up. I didn’t miss his use of the past tense, and judging by their expressions, neither did the others. “If you value your tongue, I wouldn’t mention it.”
Rune caught our eyes and slid over. “She won’t tell us anything,” she said. She brushed against Matt as she passed, making him beam and earning a quickly hidden smirk from her brother. “Every time we mention sector four, she clams up. Come see if the rest of you can make any progress?”
Anya glanced at me with interest as we approached. “Is she a guard?”
“Yes,” said Cage before anyone else could answer. “But she’s a friendly guard. She helped us escape, remember?” The look he shot me warned me to play along. He needn’t have bothered. I wasn’t about to get mean with a traumatized child.
