A Crack in the Sky

by Mark Peter Hughes

  She turned toward the wall and tried to ignore the growing tempest Outside—the frequent crack and boom of thunder, the ever-increasing pitch of the wind. The way the reeducation facility was rolling and tossing in the waves was enough to make her nauseous. And yet none of the other girls in the bunks seemed bothered. They lay motionless through it all, under the spell of the spheres even during sleep. Tabitha took a deep breath and tried to quiet her thoughts.

  It was just as she closed her eyes that she heard the electronic bolt on the door click open.

  She froze. She didn’t dare turn her head to see who it was. It was rare for the Guardians to check the bunk rooms this late at night. By this time most of them were asleep themselves, and besides, the spheres kept everyone in line for them. She pretended to be out cold like everybody else.

  Then she heard somebody whisper, “Tabitha? Tabitha, are you in here?”

  Her eyes opened. It couldn’t be. She turned and saw the shadowy figure standing in the doorway just as there was another crash of thunder. She nearly jumped.

  “Eli?” she whispered back, sitting up. “Oh my god!”

  But he held a finger to his mouth. “Shh. Careful, or you’ll alert the Guardians.”

  As if she needed reminding.

  Her muscles tensing, she glanced around at the other Waywards, but they remained still in their bunks. “But how …? You were in Special Training.…”

  “No time to explain. You were right. Nobody’s coming for me. So now I’m ready to break out of here with you. Right now.”

  “You’re going down to the pods?”

  He nodded.

  Her thoughts reeled as she tried to take in this sudden turn of events. Somehow the Papadopoulos boy had escaped the nightmares. She didn’t think it was possible, and yet here he was, in front of her. The low nighttime shimmer of the sphere gave a ghostly blue sheen to his face.

  “And you came back,” she said, still trying to make sense of it. “For me. Why?”

  “What do you mean? I couldn’t leave without you. We’re in this together. Come on, let’s go.”

  She hesitated. Part of her couldn’t help thinking he was a fool. Coming for her had been one more risk he shouldn’t have taken. Somehow he’d made it all the way down to the fifth floor without getting caught, which meant he had to be far more resourceful than she’d realized and probably didn’t need her help to get to the pods. Surely he knew that. And worse, he didn’t realize that he was setting himself up to be used as a distraction for her benefit, a means by which she could be more confident of getting away, even if it meant leaving him behind. As true as it was, she felt guilty for even thinking it.

  “What’s the problem?” he asked. “You doing this with me or not?”

  She looked back at him, and for a split second she thought she saw something curious, something she hadn’t noticed before. In the darkness it was hard to be sure, but it looked like he had a small animal’s head poking out of his pocket. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. Even so, she couldn’t help recalling that Gustavo’s prophecy spoke of an animal that traveled with el Guía, a deformed creature with strange powers. For a moment she felt uncertain. A surge of emotion was twisting her insides. Misgiving, perhaps. Maybe fear.

  This was all too weird.

  But everything was happening fast, and she forced herself to stay focused. Here was her one chance of escape, and she wasn’t going to blow it because of some crazy superstition. She was a survivor. Everything was on the line. Every second counted.

  “All right,” she answered, her voice steady. “Let’s do this. I know where the pods are. Just give me a moment to pry open the vent cover and I’ll lead you through.”

  Seconds later she was on her hands and knees inside the air duct. It was about as hot as she could take, and already her neck and arms ran with sweat. She had just enough room to look back and beckon Eli to follow.

  “You sure this is the best way?” he asked, frowning into the open vent.

  “Definitely. It leads to the docking area and there’s no chance of running into any Guardians. Come on! Let’s go!”

  He hesitated, but he climbed in after her and soon they were crawling through the darkness, one after the other. The storm was worse than any she could remember. Inside the cramped space she was even more aware of how the tower swayed in the gale. With each roll of thunder, her hands felt the vibrations in the metal. She realized this must have been part of the reason Eli had been able to make it this far. The hurricane helped hide any noises. On the other hand, she wondered how an escaping transport pod would fare in the storm. She decided not to worry about that yet, though. For better or worse, this was her one shot at escape. First she had to steal a pod; then she’d worry about flying it.

  Finally they reached the part of the duct where they could peer down at the loading area. Even here, within the protective hemisphere of the tower’s dome, the water rolled and pitched with the storm. There were at least a dozen pods waiting on the deck, and bobbing in the water were several medium-sized InfiniCorp transport boats, a supply tanker, and even what looked like a submarine.

  And as always, Guardians stood watch over it all.

  “The water really is red,” Eli whispered.

  “It’s the algae. When there isn’t much oxygen left in the ocean, it takes over.”

  Eli stared. “How are we going to get past the Guardians?”

  A drop of sweat dripped from Tabitha’s forehead to her hand. This was her moment, she knew. All she had to do was instruct Eli to swing down first and wait for her behind the crates on the left side of the deck, where there were a handful of pods to choose from. He would hesitate, but he would do it. She could see it in his eyes. He trusted her. But the fact was, there was a good chance that somewhere along the way to the crates, somebody would notice him. If so, when the Guardians called out, they would rush toward him, clearing a path to the pods on the right—which, in a way, would be the best-case scenario for Tabitha. In the chaos she could leap from the vent. She wouldn’t need long—only a few seconds—to reach the nearest pod, climb inside, and instruct it to fly. Escape had never seemed closer.

  And yet she found herself wavering. She’d convinced herself that she wasn’t going to look out for anyone else, but now that it was time to act, the idea of making Eli take the bigger risk felt the same as betraying him. He was looking at her, waiting for her to tell him what to do. She had never felt so unsure.

  Just at that moment the wind surged. Below them the water level rose, and there was a powerful whoosh!—so loud it was almost deafening—as an enormous wave smashed against the tower. The duct shuddered. The whole facility seemed to groan, and the building tilted steeply to one side. Tabitha and Eli were both sent sprawling. Tabitha felt her head smack into the metal. Unlike during the previous times the tower had swayed, this time it was several seconds before the floor started to right itself. When it did, the whole place lurched in the opposite direction, making everything on the loading dock—the pods, the crates, the Guardians, everything—shift. Several of the Guardians slipped and fell, while others called out to each other.

  Tabitha turned back to Eli. There was no time to lose. “This is our chance!” she said. “While everything’s still chaotic down there I’ll pop open the vent and we’ll both make a run for the pods. We’ll do it together. Get ready.” She reached for the grate and started to dig her fingernails around the edge.

  But Eli tugged her backward. “No, wait!” he said. “We can’t do this! We have to go back!”

  She craned her neck toward him again. “What! What do you mean?”

  “The storm is too strong! The tower isn’t going to hold! We can’t just leave everybody here to die! We have to wake the other Waywards so they stand a chance!”

  Tabitha gaped at him. Here they were, at the pods. The storm had provided a perfect distraction, and the Guardians were barely paying attention. This was the best chance they could ever hope for, and he wanted t
o go back? The kid was nuts!

  “If the storm is bad enough,” she answered, trying to sound reasonable, “then it’ll knock out the power, and with the CloudNet gone they’ll wake up anyway.”

  “Maybe, but by then the whole facility could be destroyed. We can’t take that risk. We need to rouse everybody before it’s too late. At least then they’ll have a hope of saving themselves.”

  She was going to argue again, but there was a look in his eyes she’d never seen before. He wasn’t going to change his mind. Without waiting for her answer, he twisted around and started crawling back up the duct. Furious, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she should forget him. Why should she care about the other Waywards when she had herself to think about? She should just rip open the grate and rush out there while she still could.

  Something held her back, though. Something inside her she couldn’t explain.

  She twisted herself around. Even as she scrambled after him, she was sure she was making a terrible mistake.

  By the time Tabitha got back to the dorm room, Eli was dashing from bunk to bunk, taking each Wayward by the shoulders and shaking her. “Wake up! Wake up!” he was calling over the rumble of rain and wind. It wasn’t working. They were all too deeply under the spell of the spheres.

  “Not so loud!” Tabitha warned. “You’re going to alert the Guardians! You’ll get us killed!”

  “If we don’t do something, they could all be killed! Help me!”

  Her thoughts were going a hundred miles an hour and she wasn’t sure what to do. Trying to save the Waywards was noble and everything, but it seemed futile, even suicidal. It occurred to her that it was a miracle the Guardians weren’t already on them, but then again, the storm was so loud now that it must have been drowning out the noise Eli was making—and besides, with the tower bobbing in the waves, the Guardians had other problems to attend to just then.

  Still, whatever had kept them safe so far, their luck couldn’t last.

  “Eli, this is pointless!” she said, trying to keep her voice low. “Even if you somehow figure a way to rouse all the kids in this room, there must be hundreds of Waywards in the facility! What are you planning to do, sneak onto every dormitory floor? Unless you know a way to kill the CloudNet all at once, there will always be more Waywards we’ll have to leave behind. Face it—it’s time to give up on them and take care of ourselves!”

  He looked up. “If your house was on fire and your family were asleep inside, would you do nothing?”

  It took her by surprise. This was something Ben and the other Friends used to say. She stared at him. And then she saw the animal again. When Eli turned, the dim light of the sphere floating beside her was just bright enough for her to make out a slumped creature in his pocket, its claws clinging tight to his uniform. Her breath caught. Before, when she’d first thought she’d seen it, she’d convinced herself it was just her imagination. But no, here it was again. Grizzled and cut, it looked like a rat that had been in a fight. Its eyes were only half-open, but even so, it seemed to gaze at her with suspicion.

  “Eli …? What on earth is th—?”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish. With another howl, the wind seemed to lift and drop the floor under her feet, and she lost her balance. Her arms flailed to break her fall, and her hand passed through the CloudNet sphere. The moment she felt the cool tingle on her fingers, she knew it meant disaster. All at once the sphere came to life. The room filled with light.

  Suddenly an alarm blasted through the air.

  Tabitha hit the floor. She was unhurt, but for a second or two, she and Eli both froze. There was no going back now. The alarm was loud and seemed to come from every direction, yet none of the Waywards stirred.

  “Oh my god.” The full horror of the situation swept through her. “I—I’m so sorry, Eli. That’s it. They’re coming for us. We’re dead!”

  When she turned to him, though, the look of determination in his eyes startled her. It was as if a switch had gone off inside him. In a flash he was standing over her. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet.

  “We have to hurry!” he said. “Follow me!”

  Behind him a loose wooden rail hung off the end of one of the bunks, and in one motion he snapped it off in his hand and headed for the door. After he’d first arrived, she’d heard the automatic lock reset itself when the door had swung shut behind him, but now, just as he reached for the handle, Tabitha thought she heard the electronic bolt click again. He swung the door open without much effort.

  “How—?” she began, but then she stopped. She must have only imagined that the door had closed all the way.

  She stumbled after him down the hallway. Eli was swinging his makeshift baton like a madman, whacking every sphere he passed as he headed down the long corridor. There were seven or eight of them, floating in regular intervals along the narrow ceiling. Some he struck several times. Sparks flew, but instead of breaking, they seemed to glow brighter.

  “Disturbance on level five,” came a voice from the spheres. “Resisters in Wayward Dormitory corridor B.”

  “Wake up! Wake up!” Eli shouted over the blaring alarm. He slammed his fist against each bunk-room door he passed.

  Tabitha ran after him. “Eli, stop!” She had a desperate idea. Maybe if they hurried back to the air duct, they could still slip away. With luck they might reach the pods before the Guardians figured out what had happened to them. It wasn’t likely, but it was the best she could think of. They had to at least try. “What are you doing, Eli! We need to go back!”

  “We can’t go back! We’re the only chance the Waywards have! Come on, hurry!”

  “There’s nothing you can do for them! Eli, please!”

  Eli stopped at an arched door near the end of the hallway. She caught up with him, but it was already too late. She could hear footsteps rushing up the stairway. In seconds the Guardians would swarm the corridor, and their passage back to her bunk room would be cut off. Frantic to find another way out, she tried the door but of course it was locked, just like all the others. They were trapped.

  Another crash of thunder shook the walls. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins and she wondered how on earth she’d allowed this to happen. Back at the pods she could have just let Eli go. Even up until moments earlier she could have dashed back to the open air duct while she still had a slim hope of making it to the pods without him. But she hadn’t, and now that option was gone. Why had she done this to herself? With one bad decision she’d let everything crumble to nothing.

  The footsteps were closer. The first of the Guardians was about to appear from the stairwell.

  And then something strange happened: the door in front of them slid open, even though Tabitha had been positive it was locked. “Follow me!” Eli said. Astonished, and with no idea where she was going, she shot behind him into what looked like another dark, narrow passageway. Just as three Guardians came into view in the corridor, the door slid shut again. There was shouting, followed by the sounds of the frustrated Guardians pounding at the door.

  Eli waved for her to keep moving. “Don’t worry. They won’t be able to get it open right away. The unlock mechanism is blocked from them for now. It should hold at least a minute or two.”

  Tabitha was still shocked. After a few steps she stopped. “H-how did you do that?”

  “It’s Marilyn,” he said, gesturing at the rat in his pocket. “She’s a friend. She’s going to help us find our way.” When Tabitha only gaped at him, he stepped back to her and grabbed her hand. “Come on, there’s no time to explain. Trust me. Let’s go!”

  She staggered after him. Wherever they were, it was hot and damp and smelled vaguely of sewage. Thick metal pipes ran along the length of the passageway, and in and out of the walls and ceiling—so many, there was little room to move. As they scrambled through the tight space, the tower continued to rock and the echo of rain and wind against the nearby dome was so loud it hurt Tabitha’s ears. She couldn’t
help wondering if this was the end—if, despite their inexplicable escape, the tower was about to crumble into the sea, making everything meaningless. But no. She couldn’t think about that possibility.

  She couldn’t allow herself to.

  Soon they came to a low opening near the floor, and they squeezed through. It was even darker on the other side. Just as Tabitha was about to take a step into the gloom, Eli grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. An instant later she saw why. When her eyes adjusted, she realized they were on a short ledge over a steep drop. It went down perhaps fifty feet, all the way to the water. If it weren’t for the storm crashing all around them, she would have heard the waves.

  She screamed. She had to hold tight to the wall as the tower dipped and swayed.

  “What are we doing here?” she said, forcing herself not to look down. Straight ahead she noticed something else. Perhaps six feet across the gap stood an ancient structure of metal girders that began somewhere below and got narrower as it rose high into the darkness above.

  Eli had to shout to be heard over the noise. “Marilyn says this is part of a utility crane they used to use back when this tower was only for drilling oil! It’s inactive now, but it looks like we can climb it!”

  “But what about the Guardians?” she called back.

  “This whole section is blocked off for now! With luck, it’ll be a few more seconds before they can unjam the locks, and then they’ll have to figure out what level we’re on! Let’s go!”

  Only then did it fully sink in what Eli had in mind. He wanted her to jump across the gap and then scale the metal structure, use it like a ladder. Just the idea sent her stomach into her throat. Despite herself, she looked down again at the drop, and her knees went weak.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I—I’m scared …,” she admitted, taking deep breaths. “I’m no good with heights.”

  His eyes were on her now, and for a moment she was ashamed. But his expression was calm, and when he finally spoke, his voice was gentle, even over the noise. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Tabitha, you can do this. Think of all the months you spent here in the tower, fully aware of what was going on. You are one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. You’ll be okay. I’m right here with you.”