by Simone Pond
At the camp, Cari made introductions. The four cadets stood motionless as the natives circled them, studying each one carefully. Some ventured forward to touch their clothing. One rustled Marion’s windblown hair, then laughed with a few of his friends, which Marion didn’t find amusing, although Blythe did. After introductions, Cari invited everyone around the fire pit to conduct a welcome ritual. Grace worried about losing time, but she didn’t want to insult the natives and upset the balance. There was enough information at this point to plot out next steps, which she could do while they sat around the fire.
Missakian sat down next to Grace. She noticed his bright orange headband was missing. He had given it to one of the natives in exchange for a beaded necklace.
“Better be careful. The smoke’s potent,” he said.
“From the fire?”
“Nah, the pipe. It’ll knock you out. Right quick.”
“I can’t smoke it then. I need all my faculties.” She started to get up from her spot as the pipe made its way around the circle toward her.
Missakian pulled her back down. “You can’t refuse. It’s a gift.”
“A gift?”
“They’re giving you a vision.”
Cari took a long pull from the pipe, then handed it to Grace.
Grace stared at the pipe, not knowing what was coming next. Maybe the vision might reveal a way into the city center? “Let’s hope it’s a good one . . .” She inhaled the smoke and coughed heavily. As she was choking, the trees around her lifted her up and carried her toward the mountains . . .
In her vision, she stood before an enormous green mountain that was surrounded by shimmering lakes. The mountain began to breathe and sparkle, as if coming to life. The trees swayed in unison from left to right. One by one, the leaves shivered and their organic fibers slowly morphed into an enormous shiny structure. Emerald Mountain. The city walls stretched upward, reaching toward the heavens. Puffy white clouds swept overhead in the crisp blue sky. A gust of wind swept down like the hand of God and carried Grace upward. She spun among the spiral of clouds toward the top of the giant edifice, where she landed safely. The rooftop stretched out so far and wide she couldn’t see the edges. An echoing silence vibrated all around, enveloping her. She walked forward, and as she did the tiles below her feet illuminated, shifting into different colors—yellow, orange, green, and blue. She stopped when one shifted to red. Red. She remembered the red door she had seen in the mainframe. This is a pattern, she thought. She leaned down on her knees to get a closer look. Strings of code spewed across the tile, and she noticed the same coding she had seen before in the mainframe, her mother’s birthday: 06-14-2310. She brushed her hand across the tile and interrupted the flow. That’s when the panel slid open and she fell into darkness . . .
Gasping for air, Grace came up out of the vision.
Cari rested her hand on Grace’s shoulder and smiled. “Did you see what you needed to?” she asked.
“Yeaaah.” She coughed.
Though she wasn’t fully confident about the accuracy of a drug-induced vision, she felt secure about how they’d get inside. They would enter from the roof. First, they’d hike out to the center and wait in the nearby woods until the hovercraft returned in the evening. Blythe would break into its system panel with the tablet and remotely bring the craft down to the ground. They’d use the craft to fly to the roof. On top, they’d look for a red door, or anything resembling an entrance. Marion and Missakian would stay behind in the woods, keeping watch. If Grace and Blythe hadn’t returned by nightfall the following day, their orders were to contact the authorities. Grace hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Since there weren’t any roads that led to the city center, they had to go on foot, walking along the eastern side of the peninsula. Cari and a few of the natives guided the four cadets through their hidden shortcuts that led to the city center. The sun made its descent in the west, and the woods grew darker and colder as every last sliver of light slipped away. One of the natives wrapped an animal fur around Grace’s shoulders.
After a couple hours of silent trudging, Cari stopped. She pointed through the trees toward a clearing. They were about three hundred yards away from the southern wall. Grace shivered, not only from the temperature.
“Blue bird comes ’round this time each night. It’s quiet, so we gotta watch for it up thataway.” She pointed to a tree and started climbing.
Grace and Blythe followed behind as Cari shot up the branches with ease. Grace trembled from the icy air cutting into her bones. Blythe hadn’t said a word, but judging from her breathing, she was getting tired. They climbed higher and higher, until finally they reached a perch—a sturdy wooden platform the natives had fastened among branches. From there they had a clean view of the city center’s rooftop. Millions of stars spread across the ink-black sky; way more than Grace had ever seen in Ojai.
Cari pointed to the hovercraft as it came in from the south and lowered on top of the structure.
Grace nudged Blythe. “There it is,” she said.
“I’m not blind, dim light. Gimme your tablet. I’ll try to break into the system panel.”
Blythe pulled up multiple screens and did that furious typing reserved for tech heads. Cari watched with wide eyes, not comprehending what was happening. Grace patted her shoulder to let her know everything would be okay.
“I’m in!” Blythe jumped up. Grace grabbed the sleeve of her jacket to steady her back down. It was the first time Grace had ever seen authentic happiness on Blythe’s face.
Grace stared at the screen, reading the system panel’s complicated layout. “Any clue what to do next?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
They studied the panel carefully, reading every link and button.
“Maybe it’s voice activated?” Grace suggested.
“Good call.” Blythe typed some code and then held the tablet closer to her mouth. “Initiate engine,” she said.
From their perch in the tree, they could see a blue glow light up along the undercarriage of the craft.
Grace was so excited that she gave Blythe a high five. Cari watched on in wonderment. Grace pointed to a button. “Try the one that says APUs. That’s gotta be the power.”
Blythe touched the button and the craft began to levitate. From there she was able to move the digital lever to control the positioning. She carefully maneuvered the craft to lift up, and with precision she guided it to the edge of the roof and positioned it to go down. As it slowly descended, the dials showed the exact distance to the ground so Blythe was able to land it safely. Cari, Blythe, and Grace climbed back down the tree and joined the others.
“Nice work.” Marion gave Blythe a solid smack on the back.
“Now we just have to figure out a way inside,” Grace said.
“You got this far; you’ll figure it out,” Marion said.
Grace walked over to Cari. She reached out to touch her shoulder because that seemed more appropriate than a handshake. “Thanks for your help. After I get my mother, we’ll leave.”
“We’ll hold you to this promise,” Cari said, holding both of Grace’s shoulders. “Keep your eyes open.” She touched her forehead against Grace’s and stayed there for a moment. “Don’t wake up the mountain.”
Grace held her hand over her heart and smiled, then got into the hovercraft with Blythe.
“If we’re not back in this exact location by nightfall tomorrow, get the hell out of here,” Grace reminded Marion.
Marion saluted her best friend.
The craft zipped upward, and within seconds they were on the roof. They grabbed their packs and weapons and stepped out of the hovercraft. The air blasted through their skin like hundreds of knives. Grace walked around, staring at the panels, but they weren’t like the ones in her vision.
“What are we lookin’ for?” Blythe asked through chattering teeth.
“Anything that looks different, or stands out.”
“Helpful,” Blythe
mumbled.
They walked around for a while but couldn’t see anything that resembled an entrance. Grace started to worry about the time. They needed to make a move. “Maybe there’s something on the bird’s system panel. An access code, or something?” she said.
They got back inside the craft and studied the panel. Blythe hit a few buttons and then some code. “Ask and ye shall receive,” she said, gloating.
A slot in the floor of the hovercraft opened, and directly below that a slot in the roof opened. They looked through the opening and saw another rooftop below. It was the top of a building inside the city center. Both panels were fully opened. It worked. Blythe pressed some more buttons, and the seat began to descend through the panels. They dropped down about twenty feet and the chair stopped. They jumped onto the roof, and the chair zipped back up through the panels. Then both panels closed shut, sealing them inside the city center.
They were at the apex of the city, standing on top of the tallest building—it had to be the Administrative building. Grace spun around, taking in everything. It looked just like any other city with buildings, walkways, commuter tubes, and floating orbs. She couldn’t see the surrounding walls—they were digitized to look exactly like the landscape of Seattle. The lights from the smaller buildings below glittered and twinkled. A fresh breeze blew by. It was a perfect orchestration of a fully functioning city. Yet there were no signs of life below. However, it was nighttime and people could’ve been inside their homes.
Grace looked at Blythe. “You ready?”
“Always.” Blythe unfolded her collapsible bow and took out an arrow.
They found a door at the far end of the roof, and Blythe used one of her arrows to short the access panel. They used Grace’s sword to pry open the door. Their goal was to get to the lobby and find a monitor station to see what was happening inside the building. They darted down the stairs, not stopping until they reached the bottom. They opened the door and entered a long hallway that led to the lobby of the Administrative building. The lights were dim and the place appeared empty. They found a monitor station and began scanning the footage.
“She could be anywhere,” Blythe said.
“We have to start somewhere. My guess is she’s in the Administrative building. This is the epicenter of the entire city. She has to be here.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she is,” Blythe said, forcing Grace to turn around.
Grace turned away from the monitors.
“Watchdog,” she said.
Sam smiled. “Welcome to Seattle.”
23
Ava didn’t sleep much on the side of the mountain. It wasn’t the cold air or the lengthy distance between the flat rock and the ground, or Laura’s vigorous snoring. It wasn’t even knowing that she was inside a program and didn’t need any sleep. She had been up all night thinking about Lillian’s camp. She’d have to get to the camp without getting gunned down, convince Lillian she was on her side, and get Sarah to somehow transmit a message to Grace without Morray or Dickson noticing. Without seeming completely deranged. Like her spot on the rock, it was a precarious position.
The sky started changing from black to a pinkish gray. Soon the sun would come up. Ava kept her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and boiled water for tea, hoping the scent of cardamom would wake up Laura, the deep sleeper.
Laura began to rustle around under the blanket and reluctantly sat up, rubbing her pretty almond-shaped eyes. “Mornin’,” she said, reaching for the steaming cup of tea.
“Sleep well?” Ava asked, already knowing the answer.
“Always do.”
Ava pulled out the hand-drawn map and pointed to the campsite. “This is my final destination. You know it?”
“Heard of it, but never actually been there. Gonna be tough getting in. They have soldiers scattered throughout the woods. Their defense is solid.”
“I figured. Any suggestions?”
“We’ll get as close as we can and see what happens,” Laura said with a fearless smile.
“What if they shoot us down?”
“If that’s what is meant to be, so be it.”
Ava didn’t agree with Laura’s serene sentiment, but she smiled and nodded. Under normal circumstances, maybe Ava could let life unfold in its natural progression. If she ever got back to the real world, she might make an effort to lighten up. To let go. Maybe start enjoying her own life instead of living in the mainframe. But these circumstances were far from normal. What was meant to be was getting to the camp, finding Sarah, and sending a message to Grace before she made the unfortunate mistake of stepping into Morray’s trap.
They finished the hot tea, ate some nuts and dried fruit, and packed up their gear. It was time to hit the trail. They repelled down the side of the mountain, Ava following Laura’s lead, and went to the spot where the powder-blue scooter was hidden in the bushes. Laura fastened on her powder-blue helmet and tossed Ava the silver one. And off they went, weaving in and out through the trees to get back on the main path.
The path grew rockier and more challenging to navigate, but Laura stayed focused and kept moving along without any accidents. At one point she was zipping around boulders and obstacles as if she had put them there herself. Confidence exuded from Laura. Until something along the trail peeled them off the back of the scooter and they went smashing to the ground. The scooter propelled forward a bit, then rolled off to one side, the wheels still spinning.
Laura held her chest, coughing. She ripped open her jacket to see if there was any blood. “What was that?” she yelled, looking around to the trees.
“Seemed like you hit an invisible wall,” Ava said, rubbing her right leg where she had crash-landed and skidded out on the dirt. For a program, the pain was insanely real. Her thigh was on fire. Her silver helmet had been knocked off and was lying next to a tree. Good thing she had it on, or that would’ve been her head lying next to the tree.
“It was a rope or something. Dug right into my skin.” Laura pulled herself up and straightened her powder-blue helmet. Once she got her footing she started toward her scooter, ready to continue down the path.
That’s when Ava heard the familiar sound of shotguns being cocked.
“Don’t move,” a male’s voice came from behind.
Ava remained still, but Laura kept walking toward her scooter. Either she didn’t hear the warning or she didn’t care. Ava thought about going for the revolver in the pack, but she didn’t want to risk getting blown to bits. No rash decisions. She only had one chance to get this right.
Footsteps came up from behind. It sounded like there were two people. A gunshot fired into the sky, which got Laura’s attention. She had already lifted her scooter and was sitting down, ready to keep moving forward. Ava noticed a flash in Laura’s eyes—I should get the hell out of here and leave Ava behind. In her hesitation, the portal of opportunity closed. Ava felt responsible. Had Laura been alone, she would have jetted.
“Hey!” she yelled. “Cool out.” She stepped off the scooter and lifted her hands in surrender, still wearing her powder-blue helmet.
Both men stepped around and stood in front of Ava. They had a similar appearance to the soldiers in her village: scruffy hair and beards, head-to-toe camo, but underneath their threatening glares Ava detected a hint of warmth in their eyes. They had to be Outsiders. One of the men held his shotgun toward Ava and the other aimed his 9mm at Laura, motioning for her to come over.
“We’re harmless. I assure you,” Ava said.
“Two women on this trail? You gotta death wish?” the man with the shotgun asked.
Ava didn’t have time for a discussion. “I’m looking for Lillian.”
“Is that right?”
“I’m here to warn her.”
“Warn her about what?” he asked.
Now Ava had confirmation they were Outsiders. They knew Lillian.
“It’s hard to explain. I need to see her in person. It’s about Chief Morray. He’s going to inflict g
reat harm on your camp.”
The men had a nonverbal conversation with their face gestures alone. They were sizing up Ava to figure out if she was a threat or a ruse to get close to Lillian and take her out.
“How did you get this information? You workin’ for him?” The man with the 9mm stepped over to Ava. “You trying to feed us bad intel?”
“I’m not working for him, but I’ve been sent by him.”
Laura stepped up to Ava, daggers shooting from her almond-shaped eyes. The man with the shotgun shoved the barrel into Laura’s chest.
“First off, let her go. She’s not with me. You let her go, I’ll talk.”
“How do we know you ain’t lyin’?”
“I’ve got one chance to do what I came to do. Either you kill me, or Morray does. I’ve got nothing to lose. But you have to let her go. She’s a traveler who accidentally ran into me. She was just helping me out.” Ava drew the final line in the dirt. “Or you can just shoot us, and the message dies with me.”
The men went over to a nearby tree and exchanged a few words. Ava didn’t bother listening; she already knew they’d take her to Lillian. She coughed to get Laura’s attention and mouthed the word sorry but Laura looked away.
