The whole car shook again, then rocked back into place, slammed with a hard gust of wind, different from the ones that had come before. I peered out, watching as swirls of snow were blasted from the road, churned from the path of something huge barreling past us. A flash of orange in the gray.
“A truck,” Henri breathed.
I put the car in gear and pulled us out from the side of the road.
“Speth?” Margot asked, like she thought I might have lost my mind.
“I’m going to follow it,” I said. “It must be headed somewhere.”
“What makes you think that is where we want to be?” Margot asked.
“It has to be better than here,” I said, cautiously getting up to speed and drawing up behind the enormous truck. Snow corkscrewed off the thing in huge whirling twists, spattering the windshield and kicking the wipers into overdrive.
“I don’t know about this,” Henri said, craning his neck to see better outside.
“Do not get us killed,” Margot said, holding Mira tighter. I think she was joking, but with Margot, I found it difficult to tell.
The Meiboch™ shuddered in the eddies of the truck in front of us, and shook when the wind suddenly sent the snow slanting nearly sideways. Then, just as abruptly, the color of the world changed again, from gray to a pale gold. The whipping snow calmed in the light, and the highway beneath us changed from an ashy gray to a slick, glossy black. The truck pressed forward faster, and I matched its speed. It was easier to see its shape now, a long box with bowed sides. There were no markings to tell what was inside.
A line of blue showed before us in the sky beyond the truck. The weather cleared slowly, and far off to our left, the landscape fell away into a valley. I realized, with a start, that it contained another dome.
“Which one is it?” Henri asked. He had seen the map, but it was hard to coordinate the memory of what we’d seen with the landscape around us.
I wasn’t completely sure, either. “Generalec™, maybe?”
We passed under a bridge that held a dome-connecting tunnel. It bore the same translucent cap and smooth white sides as we’d seen before. It snaked down into the valley, under a scattered sky of blue and cloud, until it was nothing more than a line leading to the dome.
I let the truck have more breathing room and wondered what the driver thought of the color-changing Meiboch™ that had tailed it for so long. Whoever was at the wheel seemed unconcerned. They drove precisely and with determination along the long highway without any apparent notice of us. The driver didn’t seem to share my growing fatigue, but this was his job, so he might have been used to it—or he might have been given some kind of drug to keep him awake through the drive. That sort of thing wouldn’t surprise me. I knew I should stop, but I didn’t want to. We had so far to go.
A flare of weakness shot down the muscles of my arms, disheartened that we weren’t farther south. “If that’s Generalec™, we’ve got a long way to go.” My voice sounded ominous, and a shadow of discouragement passed over the car. We all knew how little food we had with us—just the fruit Norflo and Sera had pilfered in Keene. Henri slumped down a little more. Margot stared out the window, her knee bobbing up and down impatiently. Mira leaned on her, eyes closed but unable to sleep. Only Norflo seemed untroubled.
“You okay?” I asked, getting his attention in back. He sat up a little straighter.
Norflo looked at the dispirited faces around him and broke out into a smile again. “Me? I’m fine.”
“How?” I asked, my voice incredulous. “How can you be fine?”
“Jiménez! Was only a matter of time ’fore I was Indentured—worked to death slow, in some factory. Or worse. This,” he said, making a wide gesture. “This is all like a super bonus.”
Henri smiled. “I like you, Norflo,” Henri said.
“Amigo!” Norflo cried and then he explained. “It’s one of the few Spanish words I know.”
“But we have so far to go,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” Henri said, “but think how big that makes the world. And how hard it will be for them to find us in it.”
Cheaper than a Human: $21.96
I was bolstered right up until the small light with the battery logo turned from two stripes of amber to one stripe of red. It was possible the car had days of driving left in it—or, better yet, maybe the Meiboch™ was something Rog only needed to charge once a year.
It was also possible we had ten minutes before the thing went dead. It wouldn’t be smart to wait and find out.
“That isn’t good,” I said aloud, tapping at the display.
Mira leaned forward. “How do you charge a car?” she asked.
I didn’t want to admit I had no idea. We never went over charging or battery capacities in Driver’s Education. Apparently no one else knew, either, judging by the silence in the car.
“What are we going to do?” I asked. Without the car, we had no way to get to my parents, DC—anywhere. The sudden thought of being stranded out in the cold open landscape terrified me. My mind started racing, and I could feel my body panicking.
“Could ask for help,” Norflo said simply.
“From who?” I snapped back at him, immediately regretting it. I was overtired, but Norflo was only trying to help. I tried again, more politely. “Sorry, from who?”
Norflo pointed to the truck we were following.
“Uh, that’s pure crazy,” Sera said.
Norflo shrugged, like his idea wasn’t so bad.
“The word crazy is ugly and ableist,” Margot commented.
“’Cept when you can’t afford to say ‘That is ludicrous,’” Norflo said. “When you got no access to all the good, smart, perfect words, what’s that make it?”
Margot eyed him skeptically for a moment before saying, “We should find a dome.”
That idea filled me with even greater dread. We’d worked so hard to get out.
“Too risky. I don’t even know if we’ll make it to a dome,” I said, looking at the red light again. I eyed the truck thoughtfully. “Actually, that truck might have supplies.”
“You want to rob it?” Margot asked.
“Yes,” I said.
She paused for a moment, but I could tell that her hunger was winning out. “I am okay with that.”
“Really?” Henri asked her, surprised and excited.
“It will be easier for the five of us to fight one truck driver than an entire dome,” Margot said.
“There are six of us!” Mira protested.
“You are not allowed to fight the truck driver,” Margot replied.
Mira crossed her arms. “I do not get to do anything.”
“I don’t think we should do this,” Sera said, fear widening her eyes.
I steeled myself and pulled left to pass.
“Seriously, Speth!” Sera cried.
“We can at least see who we’re dealing with,” I said, pulling us up even with the bubble-like cab of the truck. I couldn’t make anything out from the driver’s side. “Can you see?” I asked Margot.
She peered through the glass.
“I cannot see anything,” she said with a frown.
I pulled us ahead, so she could look from another angle. She took a long time to say her next words.
“I do not think there is anyone inside.”
“Prolly drives itself. Dropter-like,” Norflo said. “Cheaper than a human.”
“Without any WiFi?” I asked.
“So much for asking the driver how to recharge,” Henri said.
“If it was preprogrammed, it would not need WiFi,” Margot said.
“Like Kel’s Pad,” I agreed. I pulled us up farther and shifted into the lane in front of the truck. My heart began to pound. “If it’s programmed, it’s following a route.”
I slow
ed our car down. The truck slowed behind us and, when our speed dropped to a crawl, it attempted to change lanes. I changed, too.
“What are you doing?” Sera asked.
“I’m going to stop it.” I braked until the truck’s bumper nearly touched us.
“Oh my God, Speth!” Sera screeched, grabbing at the door handle.
“I like it,” Norflo said.
“What if you’re wrong?” Sera screeched. “What if someone’s in there?”
“A person’d be honking by now,” Norflo commented.
I brought us slowly to a stop, blocking the truck’s path by straddling the two lanes. It hitched forward once, like it might scare us out of the way, but then it idled, waiting, with its bumper inches from ours.
I turned to the back of the car. “You guys ready?”
Norflo had a big grin. So did Mira, but Margot said to her, “You are staying in here.” Mira’s smile vanished instantly.
Henri put on his Placer’s mask, probably out of habit, then paused.
“What are we doing?” he asked.
“This is stupid,” Sera commented.
“We’re going crack that truck open and see what’s inside,” I said.
Margot stayed my hand before I opened the door. “Even if it is following a route, that doesn’t mean we’ll be able to access it.”
“It’s worth the look.”
I pressed my door open with a finger up like Margot had done on the bridge. I had to push the door hard against the cold wind to keep it open.
“Argentine,” I said, testing for WiFi. No shock.
Sera’s face pinched with a faint recognition. “What’s Argentine?”
It was one of the words on the scraps of paper Penepoli had secreted into the schoolyard. I didn’t know what the word meant, and it was probably foolish to say it with Sera nearby. There was no point in rubbing that memory in her face. I forced myself out into the cold, the wind whipping at my face, and made my way over to the other side of the car.
“Just a made-up word,” I lied, pulling Sera’s door open against the wind so she could get out.
“Trademark!” she said.
“It’s all yours.”
As Norflo got out, he looked at me in a way that left the distinct impression he knew the word and what it meant.
The truck’s cab was locked, but it was immediately evident no one was inside. My Placer’s outfit was thin and useless against the onslaught of cold air. Sera crossed her arms in front of herself and muttered bitterly about the chill beside me.
“Try the lock,” Margot said. I ran my magnetic pick across it, but it couldn’t find anything to latch onto.
“I don’t think the truck was designed with Placers in mind,” I said. “We’ll have to find another way.”
“How?” Sera asked, like it was already hopeless.
“We don’t have to be gentle about it,” I answered.
At the side of the road was a slightly bent metal pole, like the hundreds we had passed. It was one of a pair that must have once held a sign or an Ad. I grabbed it and tried to yank it from the ground. The metal was cold and unyielding, but when I shouldered it, the pole moved a little. I began to rock it back and forth. Norflo, Henri and Margot rushed over to help.
Mira looked on at the action longingly, keeping one foot inside the car.
“Stay in the car!” Margot grunted.
“I am in the car,” Mira said, gesturing to her foot.
“What are you guys doing?” Sera asked.
“We’re going to smash our way in,” I said.
Sera sat with the idea a moment, then announced, “I’m freezing!” Like this was relevant news.
“Then go sit with Mira,” I grunted as we yanked the pole free. Sera didn’t move.
“You ever play Baseball™?” Henri asked.
“No,” I said, hoisting the pole onto my shoulder and heading toward the truck. “But I understand the basic idea of hitting things.”
Norflo shied back as I took a swing. The pole connected with the bubble on the cab of the truck. The glass detonated into a shattered spiderweb, but held in place. I had to prod it and knock away the clinging shards to clear out a hole large enough to stick my arm through and unlock the door.
It was just as cold inside the truck as outside, but without the wind, my breath plumed as I exhaled.
“Do you see that?” I asked, distracted by the sight of the billowing cloud of vapor, like the words I spoke were delicately revealed in the cold air. Luscious, effervescent, careen, enthrall. I wanted to speak a few beautiful words out loud, to see if they looked any different.
“Focus,” Margot warned.
I nodded. “Of course.” I was being childish. Sera clicked her tongue at me.
Margot pressed at a screen installed in the center console of the cab. The words Off-line Travel Mode appeared, followed by Terms of Service in tiny glowing print. I scrolled through dozens of screens of typical Legalese, the gist of which was to protect the trucking company, the truck’s manufacturer, the USAE and the product the truck carried. The ToS specified that any person or persons driving, directing or programming the vehicle:
...will take full and tortious responsibility for the cargo, here forth defined as generalized organic vegetable matter transported for the purpose of conversion into proprietary nutritive printing inks for distribution as the product. The operator, whether live, remote or preprogrammed, will assume responsibility to protect any and all restricted, privileged information concerning the processing of the product, as well as any proprietary information concerning routes and locations as may be revealed by maps, charts and records.
“‘Maps, charts and records.’” I read aloud. I got to the bottom of the Terms of Service and tapped AGREE. Margot leaned in close on my right. Sera, on my left, pressed against me like she didn’t understand boundaries—or maybe she was just cold. Her body shivered.
The screen buzzed aggressively and popped up a second ToS screen.
Without immediate verification from Vericon™ Data Services via WiFi tether, you agree to incur all fees and taxes from any and all words and visual communication displayed here, including, but not limited to, text, numeric, audio, maps, charts, images and effluvia. You further waive all right to accounting or counsel concerning said fees, or any deleritous...
It went on and on. I tapped AGREE without reading the rest. None of this mattered to me anymore. A menu with a NavPont™ logo popped up. Under it were options for ADDITIONAL TERMS, CALIBRATION, SAFETY, DIAGNOSTICS, ROUTES. I chose ROUTES the second it appeared. A map with a squiggly line appeared, showing the truck had come from up north in Burlington™ and was headed south to Mandolin™. The screen populated with all sorts of tiny icons: circles, clusters of squares, lightning bolts and a few others.
Sera squinted at it. “What is all that?”
She pressed in closer to me, shivering. Part of me wanted to shove her off. What right did she have to touch me? But I was cold, too, and I couldn’t shake the image of how lonely and empty her home must have been. She had no one.
Select destination, the screen blinked.
I scrolled the map down to where I suspected my parents were, between the same Agropollination™ domes I had seen on the other map. I tapped the spot.
Destination Invalid.
“Maybe it’s farther down?” Sera said, impulsively reaching over me and tapping the screen.
Destination Invalid.
She went to tap again, but Margot swatted her hand away. “We cannot just pick random locations. We might get locked out of the system.”
Sera withdrew a little.
I spread my fingers on the map to zoom in, looking for some clue of where Crab Creek might be.
I tapped one of the Agropollination™ domes.
Destination Inva
lid. Cargo acquired.
“Shit,” Sera exclaimed.
“No, this is good. It means the truck is full,” I said. I turned and made a gesture like a game show host. “Norflo. Henri. Go see what we’ve won.”
Henri nodded and picked up the pole.
Margot regarded me. “Speth Jime has a sense of humor.”
“Speth Jiménez,” Norflo corrected before he and Henri disappeared to the back of the truck.
I leaned in and carefully studied the map. Margot joined me. She hadn’t had the chance to see the one I’d seen in the real estate office. Her brow furrowed. She put a finger on it and slid the map up and down, to the northern and southern borders of our country.
“I thought Téjico was directly to the south,” Margot said.
“It’s all over the place,” Sera commented, wagging a finger at the map.
It was south, but also west. It crawled up and met Canada in the middle, pinching our nation in half. I’d had no idea that the USAE and the USAW weren’t physically connected. Thick waterways snaked inward, leaving only a small choke point of land where America® connected with a narrow lip of Téjico and a little slice of Canada.
From the back of the truck came a loud crack.
“I hope there’s something to eat back there,” I said, my stomach calling to me.
“I hope there’s blankets,” Sera whined.
Margot slid the map over to DC. The dome was just a circle. I risked tapping it.
ACCESS RESTRICTED.
The screen turned bright orange with the same lock image we’d seen in Keene, bathing the truck cab the color of flame. I tapped at it. The screen didn’t respond.
“We’re locked out,” I said.
Margot gave me a cool, disapproving look.
“Seriously, Speth!” Sera chastised me.
Margot sighed and pulled her head out of the truck’s cab. “Well, at least there is some good news,” she announced.
Norflo and Henri were walking toward us with boxes of UltraGrain Harvest™ Bars.
“Oh! Gimme!” Sera said, jumping out and running up to Norflo. She tore into the box he was holding on top without any regard for Norflo.
Access Restricted Page 15
