As we wandered around, both of us looking hopelessly lost, I caught a fleeting glimpse of John Deseo dashing across one of the narrow alleyways of the Shiloh pier. He had clearly finished gathering the code at the wall. As I noticed a glint of morning sunlight twinkling off of his huge metal hand, I suddenly remembered Reed and Lex mentioning him at the beginning of the race. He was from Shiloh! If anyone knew where they were going, it was him.
I instantly tore off after him. Without even a word to her, Darby was right on my heels within a few seconds, and we went booming down the same alleyway I had seen John in. It was a long street, and as we turned in the direction he’d gone, we saw his distant figure vanish around another corner. At buster speed, Darby and I barreled down the alleyway, pumping our fists and legs as hard as we could to catch up. After a few seconds, we made it to the corner and swung around it, somehow managing to keep from losing our balance.
In front of us, another alley, slightly wider, stretched back toward the docks. On the right side of it, though, a man in a black suit - dressed exactly like the guy by the cables had been - was placing a large combination lock on a door that he was standing next to. On the door, I could see a large “VC” painted in black and green.
“Villefort Cargo!” I gasped, pointing toward the door. “We found it!” With what little energy we could muster, the two of us staggered toward the well-dressed man. He was balding on the top, but what silver-flecked hair he did have was neatly trimmed, and rolled down the sides of his face into mutton chops. His eyes, though, were a deep, dark brown, and scrutinized us as we approached him.
“Can we…please enter?” Darby asked, resting her hands on her knees.
The man politely nodded, then gestured to the lock on the door. “Of course you may enter. If you know the combination, that is.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, but did what I could to keep my composure. I was so exhausted from my journey, though. Hungry and thirsty, too. Not to mention the fact that I looked totally haggard, and I was starting to smell pretty ripe. It was all I could do not to grab this frail little man and throttle him until he opened the door.
“All right, what was the clue?” I asked, turning to Darby.
“First ascension,” she breathed, already sounding defeated.
I nodded. “They obviously mean Shiloh. It was the first to ascend.” Of course, this was common knowledge in the Dominion. Shiloh was never quiet about the fact that it was the first city to ascend from out of the war and chaos of the surface all those centuries ago. The citizens here fancied their city as the Dominion flagship.
“We need the date,” Darby said. “The combination lock is four numbers. They want the date that Shiloh ascended.”
I rubbed my hands together. “Stellar! That’s easy. It was…oh, no. What was it!?”
Darby shrugged, looking sadder than I had ever seen her before. “Do you want me to run back to the Mother Stone and see?”
I shook my head. “No, I know this. I know it! It was…let’s see, it was 21…something.” I ran my fingers through my cropped hair and sighed. “2120?” I asked, looking up at the man hopefully.
With a blank face, he just shook his head.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to envision the big ugly Mother Stone at the docks. What had that stupid thing said? Beacon of excellence, I thought to myself. Hope for humanity’s future…Shiloh ascended in…
“2119!” I shouted, suddenly seeing the date clearly in my mind.
Mutton Chops gave a tiny smile and then nodded his head. Without a word, he turned and entered the combination into the lock, popping it open with a loud clank!
“Way to go!” Darby exclaimed happily, grinning a lazy grin.
Together, she and I rushed forward and shoved the door open, ready to throw ourselves at the next challenge. As soon as we entered the building, though, we stopped in our tracks. Neither of us had expected this.
Food. That was the first thing I noticed. Along the wall nearest to the door, a long series of tables had been constructed, and was lavishly set with all kind of exquisite looking dishes. I could see half a dozen cooked fowl, baked and browned to perfection. There were meatloaves, breads, and even crisps. There was also a rainbow of various fruits and vegetables, as well as several kinds of pies and other sweet treats. Aside from the food, there were large flagons and canteens, all filled - presumably - with water. I felt my stomach desperately trying to pull me towards it.
After a moment, I was able to pry my eyes away from the feast to inspect the rest of the building. It was a warehouse, as I had suspected, but there was no cargo here, nothing waiting to be shipped. Instead, it was full of beds. Some were stacked atop one another, but every bunk was furnished with a fluffy white comforter and a pillow that looked extremely inviting.
In the center of the large warehouse, a common area had been set up, complete with round tables for dining, padded chairs, cushioned benches, and an oversized radio that contestants could listen to. All in all, the place looked very comfortable. Compared to my hovel back in Adams, it was a vacation resort. There were only a few people in it, too. In the far corner, tucked away in a bunk, Audra was lying down with her back to the door. Aside from her, the only occupants were Grace Buchannon, who was listening to the radio in the center, John Deseo, who was currently filling a plate with food, Rigel, who sat and stared blankly from the edge of a bunk a few yards away, and Killian, who strolled up to greet us.
“You made it!” he said warmly. “Well done. There are hot showers in the back, too…if you’re interested.”
“You know I am,” Darby said smiling. She stepped forward and wrapped him in a huge embrace. Despite the fact that I still didn’t know him that well, I was too tired to care. I lurched toward Killian and Darby and gave them a giant hug of my own.
Killian seemed just as surprised as I was at my show of affection, and laughed in my ear. “You made it to the halfway point,” he said, patting my back.
I pulled away from them and began making my way over to the food. I would have liked to talk more with Killian, but my legs were acting of their own accord. Before I knew it, I had a plate in my hands, and was shoulder to shoulder with John, my eyes fixed on the large, delicious looking bird that he was carving. His oversized metal hand made the knife look like a toy, and it sliced through the meat like it was hardly even there.
“They’ve got trumpeter swan this year,” John said to me, turning his face toward mine. For the first time, I was able to notice the scars across his left cheek and brow. He must have been in some sort of accident, just like Rigel’s father, Leo, had been. Though, something told me that John’s injury wasn’t due to harsh manual labor conditions inside a volcanic geothermal plant. In either case, both of his eyes were still intact, unlike Leo’s, and they were a bright blue. Despite being one of the privileged citizens of Shiloh, he seemed friendly enough.
“I’ve never had it,” I told him, watching the slices of meat fall from the bone. It was true. I had eaten duck on one or two occasions, but since weapons were against Dominion law, they were tough to hunt. The first time I’d eaten mallard was when Rigel had pulled its mangled body out of a barge engine and cooked it for us. I remember it being quite good. Meat, in itself, was a commodity in Adams. And here, it was just displayed in mass, as if it were no issue at all, while the rest of us had to get our protein from soybeans.
John flipped the carving knife on its side and dished a large hunk of juicy white meat onto my plate. “You look like you could use some real protein,” he said with a grin, apparently reading my thoughts. As his lips pulled back, I saw that several teeth on the left side of his mouth were capped in gold.
“Yes,” I said dejectedly. “I wish I could take some home for my brother and sister.”
His smile faltered a bit at my words, and his eyebrows looked like they were trying to pull together. After a moment, he exhaled slowly and nodded his head. “Silver, right? Elana Silver?”
I nodded once.<
br />
“Well,” he said, putting the knife down. “You’re a spectacular pilot, Elana. I mean it.”
I wanted to thank him as he walked away, but I was too surprised by his compliment. After meeting Audra, who was also a resident of Shiloh, I hadn’t expected John to be any friendlier. I had been wrong, though, and I felt embarrassed about it. I felt like I owed him an apology. Even so, I still kept quiet. With my state of fatigue, and the relief of finally getting to eat and rest, I was feeling so very drained.
After John had walked away, Darby and Killian arrived next to me, dishes in hand and ready to serve themselves a portion of the feast in front of us. Together, the three of us heaped as much of the food onto our plates as we could, and then made our way to one of the circular tables and began to eat.
The food was like nothing I’d ever had before. Zanna could do wonders with a few vegetables and some spices, but this was a whole different level of deliciousness. Everything had been seasoned and basted to perfection, and it was so good. So impossibly good. It was like eating a meal that had been made for a king.
As we ate, a few more contestants began to filter in through the locked door. One of them, according to Killian, was a New Eden man named Jackson Hawthorne, who went by the nickname of “Thorn” for short. The two of them exchanged a wave, but said nothing to one another.
As we gorged ourselves on food and drink, I kept stealing glances at Rigel from the corner of my eye. He had gathered a small plate of food and some water, but chose to eat alone on his bunk, picking slowly at the meal with a fork. It was fine by me, really. At the moment, I didn’t feel much like being around him. No doubt, he was mortified that he had decided to betray me…just so that we could both end up at the same halfway stop. He had left me to try and gain the lead, and he had been thwarted by the mandatory rest period. We had both known it was coming up. The race always has a halfway checkpoint. It’s to ensure that there’s exciting competition throughout the entire event, instead of a few leaders leaving everyone behind for good.
He had made a very poor choice.
Instead of Rigel, I made conversation with my two friends from Ravencog. I discovered that Darby and Killian were both twenty four years old. This was actually pretty surprising, especially considering the fact that Darby looked and acted like she was my age. I also found out that Killian loved music, as I had originally thought, and that Darby had owned Georgie, her falcon, for over thirteen years. I was amazed by this. That bird was as old as Zanna, for crying out loud. Darby also made sure to slip some meat into one of the pouches of her belt so that she could swing by her ship and give it to Georgie later.
Talking to them did wonders for my spirit. Killian had an absurd sense of humor, and when I asked him to play another song on his ocarina, he happily obliged. Darby and I both listened to him play a tune that was catchy and upbeat. After a moment, I found myself tapping my fingers to the beat, rapping them on the edge of the table as the tempo of the song gripped me. It made me sorely wish that I could play an instrument. I wanted to join in on the melody, to strum or whistle or pluck along with Killian and make the song even more brilliant. I couldn’t, though. All I could do was nod my head and listen to him. And I guess I was okay with that.
After his song ended, Darby and I clapped our hands in appreciation, and I almost didn’t notice Rigel approach until he was already at the edge of our table.
“That was excellent,” he said to Killian, giving a smile as he tapped his fingers nervously on his thighs.
Killian gave him a nod. “Why, thank you, Rigel. Do you play?”
Rigel shook his head. “Uh…no, I don’t, sorry to say.” He turned his head toward me, his eyes flitting across mine for a brief second. “Do you think…I could talk with you for second?”
I felt the gazes of Darby and Killian shift toward me, and my ears began to warm. “I’m surprised you came towards me, instead of running away,” I snapped at him. It was harsh, yes, but it felt good to say.
Rigel shifted uncomfortably under the stares. “Elana, I…I’m sorry. I just thought I needed to win. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t take an opportunity to win, if you had the chance.”
There was a loud screeching sound as I shoved my chair back from the table. Standing up, I got within just a few inches of Rigel’s face and glared up at him. “No, I wouldn’t!” I spat. “Because I know what the race does to people! You do, too! I wouldn’t let it turn me into someone who stabs their own friends in the back!”
The hurt on Rigel’s face was clear as day. He blinked at me as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying to him. Before he could muster a reply, however, Audra Carina appeared behind him, a handful of grapes between her fingers. I hadn’t even noticed her get up from her bunk.
“What a childish thing to say,” she scoffed, shaking her head at me. Her curtain of black hair fell delicately across her dark, piercing eyes. “If you aren’t willing to do what it takes to win…then why are you even here? Why bother entering the race at all? You’re just dooming yourself to failure.”
Forgetting Rigel, I turned my body towards Audra, putting as much disdain into my gaze as I could. “Shut your mouth. For all your ‘I’m-so-much-better-than-you’ talk, it looks like you’ve forgotten that we’ve ended up at the same place at the same time. You aren’t ahead of me at all. And it’s gonna stay that way. You’ll see.”
She raised a thin eyebrow and gave me a smirk. “Impressive rejoinder,” she relented. “But it won’t do you any good. Come tomorrow morning, they only thing I’ll see is this rag-tag gaggle of children in my rear-view.”
She took several steps back, enjoying the furious looks that were burning into our faces. “You should try the grapes,” she said, turning her back on us. “Enjoy the luxury while you still can.”
My anger was clouding my brain. I couldn’t think of anything snappy or clever to shout back at her. The only thought I could process was how much I’d love to hoist my boot into the air and kick her in the teeth.
“I really don’t like her,” Darby muttered.
Killian nodded. “Yes. Rather unpleasant, isn’t she?”
Rigel’s soft touch on my forearm brought my attention back to him. “Look, I’d still like to talk with you. In private,” he said quietly.
I took a small breath and looked up into his eyes. “Actually, I need some sleep,” I told him, trying to will my face from flushing. “I’m gonna hit the rack. You should, too. It’s been a long day.” I turned and gave Darby and Killian a brief smile. “Sorry, guys. If you’ll excuse me.”
Killian gave a nod, and Darby patted my elbow gently. “Sweet dreams,” she said with a sweet smile.
Before Rigel could ask for another sit-down, I skirted past him and made my way to the back corner, the one opposite of Audra, and dove into the bottom level of a bunk bed. I stayed there for a moment, but I decided that I wanted to feel clean before I slept. I didn’t have any clothes to change into, but I still wanted a shower. I got up once more and made my way over to the walled-off area that housed the lavatories, noticing that Rigel had taken my seat at the table with Darby and Killian. This bothered me more than a little. Now he was the one enjoying their company instead of me. I realized how immature the thought was, and I tried to shake it from my head. Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.
After my shower, which was long and hot and fantastic, I redressed in my same grubby clothes and made my way back to the bunk in the far corner, carrying my boots and jacket under my arm. I noticed a couple of new faces in the warehouse, but I paid them no mind. I was exhausted and I needed to sleep. Even my friends had all found beds to rest in. Finally, after what felt like a hundred years, I flopped onto a bed, onto the fluffy solace of the bunk, and closed my eyes. I felt something sharp poking me in the hip, and I reached into my pocket, adjusting the small metal key that I had gotten from Willow Timbre. I had actually forgotten that I’d had it. I decided it would be safe where it was, and I plung
ed into sleep before I could even roll onto my side.
I awoke to the blaring, excited voices of Reed and Lex coming from behind me. I made to open my eyes, but they felt like they had been tarred shut. Getting them fully open was quite a task, as was lifting my head, which didn’t want to leave my pillow at all. My face was covered in my own saliva, and I was still lying in the exact same position that I had fallen asleep. I didn’t know how long I had been snoozing, but it definitely wasn’t long enough. Unfortunately, as I swiveled my head around to look out at the warehouse, I knew that I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep at the moment. There were now over a dozen people in the place. Probably closer to fifteen. Apparently, they’d been trickling in while I was out. They had the radio in the common area turned up to a ridiculous volume, and with food and drink in their hands, their raucous conversations were no quieter.
With a sigh, I twisted myself around and sat up, wincing at the terrible ache of my sore muscles. I needed to get away for a bit. I wanted some peace and quiet, and I definitely wasn’t going to find it here. I slipped my feet into my worn leather boots and cinched them tight before standing up and pulling on my jacket. I also grabbed my helmet and goggles, mostly to prevent anyone from stealing them, and haphazardly strapped them to my skull. As I moved, I felt my joints popping and cracking, and I had to keep from groaning out loud, but I was able to make my way through the crowd without drawing any attention to myself. I made a cursory glance around the building, unable to stop myself from scanning the faces for Rigel, but I couldn’t see him. I spotted Darby lying motionless on a bunk to the left and I envied her ability to stay asleep through the noise.
As I reached the door to leave, however, I saw yet another well-dressed man in a suit standing guard by the door. Unlike the last couple I had seen, this one was bald. He was also very tall and very broad. No doubt he was here to prevent any skirmishes between racers.
The Blood Racer (The Blood Racer Trilogy Book 1) Page 16
