Cadence

by China Dennington

  ​“You’re right, I am smart. I’m figuring out how to avoid getting hurt! All of those morals you always talk about don’t matter. The ones, in general, have hurt me. I will hurt them back. They’re all the same.” He gave a dazed laugh that sent chills down Rune’s spine.

  ​“Those morals do matter. You didn’t use to be this way. Killing won’t gain you anything, you’re just going to hurt more people.

  ​“Keep thinking that way, and you’ll keep getting hurt.” His eyes flashed with anger, and he stormed away.

  ​“Cipher!” Rune called desperately. “Cipher!”

  ​But his brother didn’t turn around, and that was the last he saw of him until Velee.

  Chapter eighteen

  A six-year-old girl sat on the sand, playing with a hand full of pebbles. Curly black hair fell over her shoulders and covered her eyes as she focused intently on making a picture with the stones. He approached her quietly, with a gentle smile on his face. Her tongue was sticking out and it made him want to laugh. The red-and-black mark on her small arm sparkled in the sunlight. His smile faded slightly, he would have to remind her to hide it.

  ​“What’re you doing, Nora?” he asked as he slid down beside her.

  ​“I’m building a palace!”

  ​“Really. Who will live there?”

  ​She looked up at him with a quiet intelligence that occasionally surpassed her age.

  “Anyone who wants to.”

  ​“Sounds like a good plan to me.” He paused. “Nora, you have to cover your mark,” he whispered softly.

  ​She looked at the ground. “But, Cipher...Why should I hide what I am? I can’t change it.”

  ​He hugged her. “You know why, Nory,” he replied firmly.

  ​It was hard enough for him. Hard to put up with the constant hatred and discrimination. But Nora helped him deal with it. If he couldn’t protect himself, he could at least protect her.

  ​Cipher left her in front of the house. He glanced back, just in time to see the gold attacking her. He watched her die and he was too late to save her.

  Chapter nineteen

  Astrid had barely sat down on the white bed when a small beeping began and steadily sounded. At first she ignored it, thinking it would pass. Astrid tried to focus her thoughts, but the beeping kept interrupting them. Ugh! What is that sound? I can’t concentrate. She got up and followed the sound.

  It was coming from her bag.

  Alarmed, she opened it. It’s the silver disk that Effie gave me. The once completely silver outside was blinking red.

  She took it out carefully and opened it. What’s causing this? she wondered with curiosity. As soon as she unclicked the latch, it popped open.

  The message about coordinates fell out...along with the clink of a smaller metal disk.

  What? There wasn’t a disk in there before. A false bottom. Astrid reached down, picked them up in confusion, and placed them on the bed. Then she looked back into the compact. Two red pieces of palare sat in the very bottom, pressed up against the side. Her heart jumped as she reached in, took them out, and unfolded them.

  All sorts of questions rushed through her mind. Why now? Does this have something to do with what’s so important about this disk? Why did Effie give it to me? She took a deep breath. Foreboding rushed through her in a wave. She began to read her sister’s familiar writing,

  Dear Astrid. Dear, dear, Astrid. It’s hard for me to even write this note, but I know I must. I want you to know, first of all, that I love you very much. You are exceptionally special. I see something in you. You have talent, you have the confidence if you dare to view yourself in the light of being an equal. You hide your strength, you bury it because you don’t want to become even more of an outcast. But it is at the center of your character along with compassion. You are a leader. Break the barriers, don’t listen to the lies that say you aren’t as capable or important as everyone else.

  Now for the hard part. I know you are going to have a hard time with this, but you can’t let fear control you.

  If you are reading this, then I am either dead or in prison. I programmed the compact so that if I don’t check into the program on my computer every forty-eight hours, it will send out a signal and reveal this message to you. Trust me, I won’t forget. Don’t even think of coming back to Akayta to find out the truth. It’s of no use. The reason...

  A round tear floated down and landed on the palare as Astrid stared at it, pain etched into every feature of her face as she wept. Effie. Effie can’t be dead. She can’t be. A heavy pressure settled on her chest. Disbelief plunged through her, but then the violent reality hit. I...I have to keep reading. It’s obviously important. She tried to see through the blur of her tears to grasp the words on the palare. Everything swam as she tried to focus. Finally she could make out her sister’s writing again.

  The reason I haven’t revealed this message to you before is because of the danger of the information it holds. Some people would do anything to obtain it. I hate having to put you in peril by placing it in your possession, but it was in severe danger in Akayta. It’s an entirely different level of jeopardy if the information is in your mind. It means that you will constantly be in harm’s way, even if you part from this message. This is a last resort. I didn’t want to put you in danger, Astrid, but I also know that you are fully capable of handling it.

  Now for the actual information. One day, about two years ago, I was reading an old copy of a novel called Time’s Grudge…

  Astrid’s head shot up. That’s the book Honor was reading. She rooted around in her bag and drew out the book. She’d forgotten that Honor lent it to her. Her eyes flew back to the palare and began reading once more.

  I discovered a very complicated code in the text. When you pair that with the actual story in the novel, the code announces that time-travel is possible. There were no specifics about any formulas having to do with time-travel, but the hidden code gave some basic building blocks that helped me discover how it works.

  I started experimenting. About two months ago I had a breakthrough and learned more about what I’ve dubbed “continuance holes.” They allow us to travel forward in time up to one hundred years. It turns out that the ability is actually in our very DNA, we just never recognized the purpose of the fixed emarian nanogene.

  Continuance holes will only appear in water. I was lucky enough to see a few. What’s more, I found a way to calculate when and where they will appear.

  I didn’t think about the repercussions before I explored it.

  A fellow scientist discovered one of my files about the idea. Thankfully it didn’t contain any vital information— and I had the other ones locked up, so she couldn’t get into them. My computer alerted me she was trying to hack it. Then I realized that just as time-travel could be used for good, it might be used for evil. There is no telling what you can change in the future, or if you can change the past by changing the future. That sounds confusing, but I have reason to wonder.

  I wrote down only the most basic information on a single piece of palare and then deleted the results of all my experiments having to do with time-travel. It’s better to lose nearly all of my research than for it to be used wrongly.

  I’ve kept quiet and tried to stay out of the other scientists’ way. But now I’ve started receiving threatening messages telling me to hand over my work at appointed places and times. I try to ignore them, but each message is sounding deadlier than the last.

  A week ago I received a message from the Akaytan government telling me that I’ve been reported and must give any information I’ve been withholding to them. Two days ago they sent a warning and threatened my life. At this moment we are in my apartment and I am staring at you. I know that I have to send you away now. I know that this is going to be dangerous to you. Two factions want this desperately, and you cannot let them have it. It’s imperative, Astrid. With this knowledge they could change history to their advantage. No one can know of this informa
tion.

  What I see as I watch you from across the table is a girl who would speak her mind to the royals. To the very rulers of Akayta. I see an intelligent girl full of ability. You know what you have to do. You know you can’t fade into the background of this fight against oppression. It’s your fight, and you are meant to take action. Not necessarily violent action, but action. This is the sister that I know. You don’t have to be held back anymore. Go for it.

  Effie

  The second sheet of palare held complex mathematical notes and equations involving time-travel, as well as the location of the nanogene. Emotions stirred through her body with ferocity as salty drops fell from her eyes. The world around her seemed so quiet. The silence didn’t seem to match the roar of the letter. Its intensity rang with clarity, like a bell within the hurricane of her mind.

  With tears still falling, she stood up, determination on her face, then looked back down at the letter full of so much meaning. A letter that Effie wrote for me.

  She had to figure this out.

  There seems to be so much deceit and hatred at play, but I can’t let that phase me. It is my duty to find a solution. She continued staring at the message, then looked up again. It is my duty to protect this knowledge. Effie is right, it’s important.

  After carefully putting the letter, false bottom, and message back in the compact, she slipped it into her messenger bag. She swam over to the metal desk. Astrid grabbed a piece of palare and a writing instrument called a rion. Her heart throbbed and her hand trembled for a mere second, but her scientific mind kicked into gear.

  She began to form a plan, and the strokes of the rion recorded her thoughts and her knowledge. Her mind could focus on nothing else. Nothing else. This was what was needed of her. Effie believed in her, and that gave Astrid confidence.

  As her hand and the ink continued to trace a plan of action, it barely registered that her hunger was growing. Math equations and population estimations permeated every corner of her mind.

  Finally, she glanced at the clock and realized that it was already half past nine. If I want something to eat, I’d better get it now. She looked back longingly and cautiously at her plans, then at the rion in her hand. This all seemed like a dream, but she knew it wasn’t. She continued to grasp the rion, not wanted to let it go. In a strange way, it gave her power. The power to know that she was doing everything she could. The power to know that in one writing tool, she held the ability to make others understand her ideas.

  After a few moments, she took a deep breath and stood up. Rolling up her plans firmly, she took them and went out into the curved halls of stone.

  Chapter twenty

  Astrid swam to the main room she’d seen first. It was now strangely quiet. Only a few merpeople lingered. Astrid guessed most had returned to their quarters for the night.

  The room felt so still. Such a large room filled with nothing but a slight sound every now and then, and cold water.

  She went over to a small stand. A sign on it read “Press button and take plate.” So she pushed the black button. Sure enough, a hatch in the wall opened, allowing her to take a plate of hot noasé.

  After closing the hatch, she surveyed the room for a place to sit. One of the few remaining merpeople was Rune. He sat on a bench along the wall. She swam over and sank down beside him, carefully trying to balance her plate and plans.

  He looked up, his face no less intense than earlier.

  “Delone kaysha dale,” he said in the dialect of language that was specific to Akayta.

  She smiled slightly and answered softly, “Lora-tuusone.”

  It was what they’d always said as a greeting years ago. It was their own special way of saying hello. Technically it meant “may all of your computer terminals function properly” and “may yours as well.” It was an old joke. As double digits, by law, they could only own two computer terminals in their lifetime. So they both had been there many times when the other was begging their old one to work. Thus the saying was born.

  They sat quietly for a few minutes. Astrid buried herself in her thoughts, figuring out a way to word her next idea to Rune.

  She gazed off into the distance, not realizing that Rune was staring at her.

  “I know that look. You have an idea and you’re trying to figure out how to explain it.”

  She turned red as she glanced at his tired, but smiling, face. “You’re right. Alright…”

  She took a deep breath to steady her heartbeat. The plan she was about to propose was risky and she knew it. Astrid sat her plate on the ground and rolled out her palare.

  “This plan might work...but I’m not going to lie, it won’t be easy. Alright, so you said that they have spaceships in Velee? A friend of mine in Velee mentioned they are sizeable.”

  “Yes.”

  “How many are there, and how many people can all of them hold, total?”

  He crossed his arms and examined the ceiling while doing the math. He looked back down at her. “There are seventeen total—fifteen large ships, and two smaller ones. They’re brand new, barely even been tested. It’s part of the government’s plan to grow the economy by conducting tours and maybe even founding several off-world colonies. There should be plenty room for all Dalandians, but I’m not sure how we could convince either the Veleens or the Akaytans that they need to get off the planet.”

  Astrid bit her lip and struggled to continue on. “There are only four thousand of us. We need to find a way to get rid of the security protecting the ships.”

  “We can send a small advance group to stun them and take over quietly.”

  Astrid nodded in agreement. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  She pointed to columns on her palare. In each one were numbers and assignments.

  “We’ll have to get inside and start our ascent before anyone notices, which is going to be the hard part. We also have to know exactly what we’re going to do, who’s going to pilot the ship, etc. It’s not as simple as going in, then flying out free. We’ll have to trickle into the building slowly. If someone notices and sounds an alarm, we have to be prepared. We have to have things in place to bar the door and...we have to be equipped with stun guns if it comes down to that. Speed is a vital part of the plan. We also have to alert the Akaytans, Veleens, and, if possible, the Star.”

  Rune looked at her in despair. “Astrid, it’s wild enough just to hope that we can make it off the planet in time. We can’t try to save everyone— if we do, then we risk dying ourselves in the process.”

  Tears of pity welled in her eyes. “You once told me not to let that mark hold me back.” She took his face in her hands. His eyes stared back at her with sorrow. “Now I’m telling you. Don’t let that mark hold you back. Don’t let the oppression you’ve felt because of the mark corrupt your good heart by not forgiving those who’ve hurt you. You’ve always been strong, Rune, but I know that, even though you try not to show it, the hatred hurt you too.”

  Tears were pouring from both of their eyes now. No matter the fact that Rune was perceived as strong, no matter the fact that Astrid wanted to be strong, the scorn poured on them because of that one mark had cut both of them to the heart. Compassion filled her at the sadness she saw in his eyes and understood so well.

  “Do you have a plan as to how to get the message to the other tribes?” he asked determinedly.

  “Yes...that’s the hardest part. In Velee we just need to hack into all of the computer systems, access the monitors, and send the message once we are already ascending. But in Akayta, we have to tell them about the core exploding and the spaceships in Velee before we go to the ships, so that they will have time to get there before it happens. Which is risky in itself if they get to Velee quicker than we expected and alert the Veleens about our plan. That would heighten the Veleen security around the ships. One of us has to travel to Akayta to send the message out. We don’t have a transmitter strong enough to send a signal from here.

  “Then there is the Star T
ribe. We can send a message across all of their monitors from here, but we have to time it perfectly. We need to give them just enough time to get to Velee, and board the ships.” She looked down at her plan. It included exact times and steps for the warning process.

  “It’s worth a try,” said Rune.

  “We don’t have much time. Only seven days.” It was a statement of fact, but that didn’t mean it lacked emotional impact. Let the pressure commence. There is no room for error here.

  Searing images of her sister flashed through her mind. Effie. You have to be saved. I know what you said, but I will try my best to help you. I have to go to Akayta anyway. I will not be so close and fail to come after you. Astrid knew that the possibility of her sister’s death was a real one, but she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. And if there is any chance of her being alive, I want her to survive. I need her to survive.

  ~

  ​Effie gritted her teeth. They yanked at her, and she struggled, like most people would. It was to no avail, and Effie knew that, but she had nothing to lose.

  Well, that wasn’t exactly true. They wanted information about time-travel. Her heart pounded and her throat got tight. Astrid.

  Effie knew where the information was. The complex equations she hadn’t been able to commit to memory.

  With Astrid.

  She wanted to kick herself. She should never have given it to her. They would go after her sister if they found out.

  They will kill Astrid.

  Her resolve steeled as the palace police roughly hauled her into the imperial prison building. The cold metal of a cell door swished through the water. For Astrid, she would endure whatever they had in store for her. For Astrid, she would hold her tongue, no matter the cost.

  For Astrid.