by S. S. Segran
“Lots.” She grinned. “If I wasn’t such a good person, I could make a fortune off everyone’s secrets.”
He shook his head in disbelief, then stopped. “Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“You . . . you’re the one.”
“Oh! Well, I’m flattered, but isn’t it a bit too early to say something like that? Shouldn’t we get to know each other a little better?”
Marshall’s ears grew hot. “What? No, I didn’t mean—hold on—”
She chuckled. “Relax, I’m joking.”
He took a moment to compose himself. “What I meant,” he said, “is that there are a few field Sentries I’ve met from different countries, and they’ve all spoken about someone in the League who’s so easy to talk to that they don’t even realize how much they needed to vent until the end.”
“They never gave a name?”
“No. I think they liked keeping it a secret, like the person’s some kind of treasure, a gift that the rest of us have to find on our own. They were talking about you, weren’t they?”
“It’s possible,” Nadia said, her tone bashful. “People tend to open up when they feel safe. Maybe that’s what happens when they work with me? I don’t know.” She shrugged, as if to herself, and gave her full attention to the busy road.
As she avoided some of the wilder motorcyclists, Marshall wondered just who this woman was. People lower their guard around her, including the ones with the toughest walls, and she doesn’t stop them from venting. She’s gone into danger to deliver the cure, takes on other people’s problems even though she’s dealing with her own issues and emotions, and she does it all in a stride.
Not knowing why, he thought back to Jag, Tegan, Aari, Mariah and Kody. They might have enjoyed getting to know her.
And just like that, his ribs were contracting over his heart, like laces drawn too tight. He couldn’t understand why, but the longer he stayed away from the friends, the harder it was to function. The urge to trail in their footsteps, to be their watchful eye when they fought and rested, overrode everything else. It wasn’t a paternal instinct, but it was familial.
They’re not your mission anymore, he reminded himself acidly. Colback’s got the reins. He’s qualified. The kids are safe, and they’ll find Jag. You need to stay on track. Get the cure to the people, save lives. Do the job, and do it well. Everything will work itself out.
A smaller voice in the back of his head added, At least, I hope it will.
The motel room bustled with activity as the friends and Sentries packed their belongings. Chief wove around six pairs of legs, getting a pat here and there or an enthusiastic ear scratch.
“How are we looking?” Victor asked.
“With our eyes,” Tegan quipped, just as Kody said, “We are lookin’ fly as all heck, sir.”
Aari, his back to the others as he gathered the last of his things, was barely able to contain his bark of laughter. He turned to share a grin with Jag but his face fell as he realized yet again that his friend was not there. This kept happening and, if they didn’t find him soon, Aari was going to go out of his mind.
If Victor was amused with Tegan and Kody, which Aari was willing to bet he wasn’t, the man didn’t make it known. On the other hand, Deverell could be heard choking in the bathroom. He stuck his head out the door, shaking his toothbrush at them. “You lot are bad for my health!”
“Sorry!” the friends chorused.
Aari glanced at Kody once Deverell had retreated. Whatever cloud had been hanging over him for the past month seemed to have receded some. He’s suddenly making an effort, but what spurred it? Did he get fed up with the way we kept looking at him like he’d break? We’ve just been worried . . .
The Welshman returned, this time with his toiletry bag. “We need to hurry,” he told Kody and Mariah. “Our flight leaves in an hour.”
“Land of Tolkien’s hobbits, here we come,” Mariah crowed from where she sat by the window, sipping water.
Aari sauntered over and plucked the bottle from her to take a gulp. “You must be excited,” he commented. “You too, Mr. Movie Buff.”
“You have no idea,” Kody said. “I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand.” His lips thinned. “But not under these circumstances.”
“We should take what we can get.” Deverell swung his backpack on and headed for the door. “Live in the moment and find the contentment and wonder through everything.”
Mariah folded her arms, shrinking in on herself. “Doing that kind of makes me feel guilty.”
“I second that,” Aari said. Even Tegan and Kody agreed.
Deverell, one hand on the doorknob, faced them with his head cocked to the side. “Why? Because if others are suffering, you should too?”
“Something like that.”
Deverell looked past the teenagers at Victor, who shrugged. The Welshman slid his hands into the pockets of his khakis. “If you were partying it up while the world’s on fire,” he said, “then yes, you bloody well ought to feel guilty. But if you’re doing all that you can to save it, then I think it’s necessary to seek out the little bits of peace so you don’t suffocate on the darkness.” He opened the door. “Shall we?”
The friends gathered in a close embrace. Different scents mingled, but after so many years together, Aari could easily distinguish them—Tegan’s lavender shampoo crafted by her mother, Kody’s favorite beachy body spray, Mariah’s floral-vanilla perfume that always made those around her crave ice cream.
“Dude, are you sniffing me?” Kody suddenly asked.
Aari jerked away. “What? No!” He glared, then blew out some air. “I can’t help it if everyone smells like home.”
“Back atcha, Ralph Lauren,” teased Tegan.
“Hey, I stand by woodsy colognes through thick and thin.”
The corners of Mariah’s mouth tightened. “I hate splitting up. We did it last time, and that’s exactly how we lost Jag.”
Aari brushed the copper-blond hair out of her eyes before cupping the side of her face and wiggling it. “And now we need to get him back.”
She leaned into his hand. “It’s like we’re searching for a needle in a haystack. Domi and some Sentries are breaking into the Mali Sanctuary, others are looking into the one in Kazakhstan, Victor’s got his contact in New Mexico, and we’re checking out the Sanctuaries in New Zealand and Brazil, but . . . who knows if that’s even where Reyor put him? What if he’s in that place we know nothing about—the Heart? Or in another facility we’re not aware of?”
“We won’t know if we don’t look.”
“Things could go so wrong.”
Kody smiled at Mariah. “With your telekinesis, Dev and I have nothing to worry about.”
“And we have Victor, so we’ll be a force to be reckoned with,” Tegan added. “Let’s just focus on the mission and do whatever we can to get Jag back, okay?”
“I miss him,” Mariah whispered.
“We all do.” Tegan squeezed her arm around the other girl and looked over at Deverell, who was waiting patiently. “You guys should get going.”
With one last group hug, Kody and Mariah grabbed their bags and followed the lanky Sentry out. Aari watched them go. “Hey. Teegs.”
“Mm?”
“We’ll get through this, right?”
“Of course, Brainiac. Somehow, we always do.”
Kenzo Igarashi glanced at the woman sitting at the opposite side of the conference room. She was biting her nails furiously, not concerned for the black polish. He folded the cleaning cloth in his hand and finished wiping his end of the long table. “Ms. Abdul,” he reproached. “Please relax. It’s going to go smoothly. You’ve got it in the bag.”
The woman slumped back in her chair, groaning. Her short red curls bounced against her cheeks. “I should believe that, but this is my first inspection as Head of Sanctuary. What if I’ve missed something? What if he’s in a bad mood? What if he hates the way I manage this place?”
&nb
sp; “Nothing’s gonna happen. Everyone’s done their part. I’ve made sure of it. And anyway, no one could hate you. You’re too awesome.”
She shot him a smile both bleak and grateful. “You’ve been such a big help since I took over. I think I’d have lost my head without you.”
He gave a modest shrug. “It’s nothing. It couldn’t have been easy being transferred here, so I figured I could step up more for you. At least you came in after the construction was completed.”
“Oh, gosh, yeah. That would have driven me right back to the cigarettes.”
“I bet. How hard was it to kick the habit?”
“Very. I’m currently on the patch. When leadership sent out the memo about everyone in the Sanctuary project needing to give up unhealthy habits, I thought I was going to die.”
“Well, you’re doing good,” Kenzo said brightly. “Seriously. I can barely smell a nicotine trail on you anymore.”
Arianna rolled her eyes good-humoredly. “Thanks.” She got to her feet and stretched; the sounds of joints popping preceded her wince. “This place has seen a few turnovers in leadership, hasn’t it? From Mr. Ajajdif to Tony, and now me. All in such a short span of time.”
“Yup. But can I tell you a secret?”
“Please.”
“I like you much more than either of them.”
Arianna chuckled. “I’m glad you think that, but don’t let anyone else hear you say it. Those two did a lot for this place.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t make the effort to get to know the Stewards on a one-on-one basis. And they never smiled. You’re just nicer to be around, like a really cool aunt.”
Arianna threw her arms up as if she’d won the lottery. “I’m a cool aunt!”
“The coolest!”
“The coolest aunt!”
They guffawed. Despite Kenzo hating every aspect of his situation, he had to accept the fact that he truly did like Arianna Abdul. She was in her early forties but acted half her age around him. She put on a gruff exterior, though after endearing himself to her, he learned that she was one of the most soft-hearted people he’d ever met. They shared similar tastes in music and often jammed out together while going over reports. But whenever they did, a horrible ache would strike his chest like a hammer. Loud music was something he and Ren used to enjoy together, but his cousin was a repurposed SONE now.
He shook the loneliness off and conjured an image of the small smartphone safely tucked away in his dorm room. That lifeline connected him to the outside world, and to Victor, the strange man who had broken into the New Mexico Sanctuary a couple of months prior. The device was his one tiny bit of sanity in this place and he coveted it as if it were his last morsel of food.
The sound of snapping fingers called him back to the present. “Hey,” Arianna said. “You alright? You look a little sick.”
Kenzo gave her an overly exuberant smile, flashing his teeth in a way that felt more like a grimace. “I’m good, Ms. Abdul.”
She lifted a brow. Before she could speak again, a knock came at the open door. One of the other SONEs who had been helping with the tidying of the administrative building poked her head in. “Ms. Abdul? Dr. Nate will be here within the minute.”
“Thank you, Sophia.” Dismissing the girl, Arianna shook out the cuffs of her blazer and met Kenzo’s eyes. “Ready?”
He hastily tucked the dirty cloth away. Once he’d ensured that his navy shirt—identifying his place in one of the five echelons—was spotless, he nodded. She turned toward the door, hands clasped behind her. As an afterthought, Kenzo quickly patted down his silver hair, a genetic oddity he was secretly proud of, and smoothed his collar.
A short man marched into the room a few moments later. Upon beholding his bespectacled face and greasy, dark combed-back hair, Kenzo could only just quash the urge to throw a fist at him.
Dr. Nate was single-handedly responsible for creating the process that repurposed kidnapped youths into SONEs. Kenzo didn’t understand why he hadn’t been affected. Still, he’d had to live a lie for almost two years, pretending he was one of the brainwashed masses. He had seen what happened to the rare few kids who were impervious to the initial rounds of indoctrination and had attempted to escape. The last thing he wanted was to be ripped limb from limb by the Marauders guarding the site.
“Good afternoon,” Dr. Nate said, voice as coarse as sandpaper. “I ’ope everyone is well today.”
Arianna bowed slightly. “We most certainly are. How was your flight?”
Dr. Nate waved his hand and flashed a routine smile. “Let’s cut the chit-chat, Ms. Abdul. I ’ave a call soon, so ’ow about we get started with the inspection?”
Kenzo noticed Arianna fiddling with her fingers behind her back. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to grab a drink or snack first? I’ve had the Stewards prepare—”
“No, no. Thank you, but no.”
“Very well. Let me introduce you to Kenzo Igarashi. He’s the new leader of the Counselor echelon and quite possibly the hardest-working SONE here. He’ll be joining us on today’s inspection.”
Dr. Nate stuck his chin out as he scrutinized Kenzo from head to toe. Kenzo licked his lips, then held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally speak with you, sir,” he said. “I admire your work.”
“Do you now?” The diminutive man reciprocated the gesture, his palm uncomfortably warm and clammy in Kenzo’s grip. “What part of it, exactly?”
“Being a Counselor gives me access to the CUBE, as you know. During orientation, my echelon was told that we’ll be assisting in regular assessments and recalibrations. We learned how the helmets work but didn’t go into the technicalities, which was a shame. From what I saw, it seemed to be in line with a project I’d been working on in university. My mother suffered severe amnesia after . . . after an incident, and I wanted to create something that would give her back everything she’s lost.”
Dr. Nate looked gleeful as he whirled around to face Arianna. “Well-spoken, well-mannered, and a possible eventual expert in my line of work? Ms. Abdul, I think you have a golden goose ’ere.”
“They’re all wonderful.” There was an edge to Arianna’s tone that almost drew a grin out of Kenzo. “But yes, he’s definitely been a gift. Kenzo, shall we?”
He extended his arm. “After you.”
The adults strode side by side, leaving Kenzo to tag along behind them. He listened as Arianna gave her reports on the upkeep of the Sanctuary, occasionally chiming in when she missed certain details or started to trip over her words out of nervousness. She’d glance back at him in appreciation whenever he stepped in to cover her slip-ups.
They wound their way around the administrative offices first before stepping out into the cavern to continue the inspection. Though Kenzo would have been glad to see the Sanctuary burn down, he couldn’t help but feel proud; the SONEs had done incredible work preparing the place. It was in tip-top shape. Even the maze of ducts and stainless steel pipes overhead had been polished.
They rounded the workshop and passed the poultry farm, the Garden of Eden, the Marauder enclosure, and the training grounds. Youths in camouflage cargo pants and black shirts ran drills. Known as the Vanguards, they were to police the new world when the SONEs emerged from the Sanctuaries in a few years. To Kenzo, they were the most intimidating echelon.
The inspection of the three gigantic aquaponic farms proceeded perfectly. The farther along they went, the more Arianna relaxed. Kenzo barely had to step in by the time they neared the newly-installed library.
“Delightful, delightful,” Dr. Nate said, jotting notes on his tablet with a stylus. “Now, if you don’t mind, Ms. Abdul, I ’ave a question that doesn’t especially pertain to all this.”
She smiled graciously. “Ask away, sir.”
“Since you took over from Tony, you were tasked with finding out ’ow a trespasser managed to make ’is way down ’ere. I mentioned to you that I suspected someone ’elped ’im, maybe a SONE. How goes the investiga
tion into that? Do we ’ave a rat in our midst?”
“Yes, that,” Arianna hedged. Kenzo noticed her tensing again. “So far, there has been no conclusive evidence that one of our own had a hand in this. The cameras do not show anything strange, and none of the SONEs even knew they had an intruder among them.”
“That’s not good enough, Ms. Abdul. A set of blue coveralls went missing from this Sanctuary’s inventory. When we captured the intruder at the Kazakh site, those coveralls were in ’is bag, though unfortunately that was all we found. There was no ID on ’im. Unless the SONEs are ’anding them out freely, that man should not ’ave been able to procure it.”
Kenzo almost sucked in a sharp breath. Victor didn’t tell me he got caught later! And he didn’t rat me out. Wow.
“You’re right,” Arianna admitted. “The storage areas are supposed to be locked up. Someone should have seen something that day. I’ll keep looking into it.”
“See that you do.”
They approached the first of four massive honeycomb structures. “And coming up are the dormitories. The SONEs take a lot of care in keeping them immaculate.” Arianna motioned to a small metal building on their right. “Before we go in, I’d like to show you the seed bank. I think you’ll be quite pleased with how the SONEs have organized it based on the suggested schematics provided.”
A peculiar high-pitched creak made the three of them look up—just in time to see a ten-foot-wide filtration fan break from the ductwork above and plummet toward them. Arianna shrieked and leapt to safety, but Dr. Nate stared up, frozen in place with his mouth hanging open.
Kenzo threw himself at the small man, bowling him out of the way of the spinning blades. Dr. Nate tumbled forward with a stunned yelp, then scrabbled around to grab Kenzo’s arm and yank him out of danger. The fan crashed to the ground with a drawn-out screech of steel against stone. One of the blades sliced into Kenzo’s calf and he cried out.
Dr. Nate shouted to Arianna. “Get this off him!”
Through the burning pain in his leg, Kenzo felt the fan’s weight slowly disappear. Then hasty hands were pulling him upright and Arianna cupped his face, her own looking gaunt. “Ken! Oh my God, Ken, are you okay?”
