Vessel

by Lisa T. Cresswell

  I hurried down a few rows to Kinder’s desk. He’d watched the forest all day, almost as neurotically as I had.

  “Master, they’ve returned.” He raised his head from his book at the tone of my voice, thick with meaning. “There’s one less.”

  “Recks?”

  I nodded sadly. Kinder jumped up, leaving his volume on the seat behind him.

  “It’s time then. You know what to do.”

  Yes, I knew. He’d told me enough times, burned it into my memory banks. Even if I could’ve forgotten it, it’d always be there in my download. Some days I felt more machine than human but not today. Losing Recks again was more than unbearable. I turned and hurried away from him before Kinder could see my tears. He’d never understand.

  I suspected he’d somehow programmed me to obey him and his plan. My feet knew the way. I didn’t even have to think about it. I went to my computer console in the library. It was nothing more than a tiny row of keys and a screen, but it gave me access to the entire Reticent data bank, the source of all recruit downloads and information.

  Kinder spent many nights searching the system for any possible data, for secret servers and systems. He also created the malware I was about to release. Kinder not only wanted to steal the Reticent’s data, he wanted them to be without any knowledge at all, to inflict upon them what they inflicted upon others. We had our copies locked inside our heads. Now it was time to destroy theirs.

  The code was short, simple even. He designed it that way so it could be done quickly. It would seep into the system quietly over the next thirty minutes before it’d be detected. By then, it’d be too late to stop it, and we’d be gone. It was too easy. The system was as dead as if Mother Sun had killed it herself. I touched the final key, closed the display, and went to find Kinder.

  In a back corner of the compound, where the tractors and vehicles were kept, sat Kinder’s escape plan—a truck cobbled together from homemade and scavenged parts and scrap metal. I’d always been dubious about it. Kinder said once the computer virus shut down security, the computerized locks would disengage, and we could open them manually.

  I pointed out that there’d be no fuel once we left Gora, but he said we only needed the vehicle to put some distance between the compound and us. When it ran out, we’d be many miles away. I didn’t bother telling him we’d attract an insane amount of attention by driving a self-propelled vehicle with no horse across the countryside. It’d be easy enough to track us. I could only surmise Kinder’s planned distractions at Gora were supposed to keep the Reticents too busy to come after us.

  The first of those distractions went off in the southwest corner of the compound as I crossed the yard. A huge fireball lit up the dusky sky, bigger than any bonfire I’d ever seen. Glass shattered everywhere. Guards ran toward the blaze. I instinctively pulled my hood further down to protect myself. It’d be a long time before I’d unlearn the habit of covering myself.

  The second bomb exploded a minute later a few hundred feet from the first. Kinder had Recks place the devices for him while he searched for the reactor. Just as Kinder had instructed, I had lied and told Recks they were monitoring signals in remote parts of the building, although it killed me to do it. I often wondered what secrets Kinder kept from me. His determination to escape Gora was the only thing I really believed in. In that, I fully agreed with him. We were dead if we stayed, dead faster if we left; so what did it matter?

  I found Kinder, truck running, ready to go. Its engine was so old it had no computer components Mother Sun could tamper with. We’d packed it with supplies months ago in case we needed to leave quickly. We’d been lucky to stay so long really. For all their technology, the Reticents didn’t have much computer security. There was no one to hack them from the outside. They must’ve assumed it was unnecessary, but it was a great weakness, one they might never recover from if Kinder’s plan worked. I ripped open the door of the sputtering, chugging truck and got in.

  “Virus deployed?”

  “Yes, it went perfectly.”

  “Good,” he said, revving the engine. The burning fuel smell filled the garage, making me sick.

  “Is this vehicle going to work?”

  “It will. It has to.”

  Kinder put the truck into gear and stomped on the gas pedal. We lurched forward so fast I was kicked back in my seat. Kinder had driven it a time or two, but he really didn’t have a lot of practice beyond memorizing ancient manuals. Remembering the safety features, I fastened the stiff seatbelt over my lap as we bumped through the courtyard toward the gate.

  The fires still burned and people rushed everywhere. No one paid us much attention as the truck made its way away from the commotion toward freedom. Kinder stopped us in front of the side gate that led to the agricultural fields. I jumped out and ran to the keypad to see if it’d still open electronically. We didn’t really know how long it’d take Kinder’s virus to affect the system.

  The buttons pushed easily, but the light stayed red and nothing moved. I knew the key code, having hacked it earlier. I looked to Kinder who climbed out of the truck too.

  “We’ll have to push it,” he said, taking hold of the wide metal latch and lifting it. “Help me.”

  Even though the gate was made of thick wooden planks, the hinges were well oiled and the door swung open easily. We were not prepared for what we saw outside. I always knew this plan would be dangerous, but I thought we’d get further than this.

  Kinder wasted no time.

  “Get in the truck, Alana,” he shouted as he jumped in himself.

  Out in the darkness, a horse-drawn carriage approached Gora, blocking our escape route. It was the coach Weevil brought me here in, and he was driving it. His long white hair was unmistakable, even in the light of the explosions. He drove the horses hard, obviously in a hurry to see what was happening at the compound. Could Recks be in his coach?

  Kinder shouted at me again. “Come on!”

  I snapped out of my shock and jumped into the truck as it sped out of the gate toward the coach. The noisy engine roared. The exhausted horses reared up, screaming. The sound tore Weevil’s gaze away from the fire. For a split second, his eyes landed on the truck, but then the horses lurched and toppled the coach he sat on. As we zoomed by, I strained to see if anyone else was with him, but I saw no one.

  Kinder laughed out loud in glee, something I’d never heard him do, enjoying his new toy. He pressed the pedal down even further, and we raced into the night.

  My mind buzzed with adrenalin. We were out. The old man’s crazy plan had worked somehow. My relief was incomplete though. Seeing Weevil coming back separately made me think of a thousand different possibilities. What if Recks had somehow gotten away and Weevil was looking for him? What if Weevil had taken Recks to some other Reticent compound? I knew I’d never be able to rest until I knew.

  “We have to go to Prague,” I said to Kinder.

  “That’s not on our way. We’re heading east, you know that.”

  “We have to look for Recks. It’s not that far out of the way.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “He’s out there. I know he is. We have to at least try to find him.”

  “He’s dead, Alana.”

  “You don’t know that!”

  “They’d never let him go without a search.”

  “Maybe Weevil was coming back for help?”

  “Doubtful. Besides, if he is loose, he knows where to find us.”

  “But what if he’s hurt? What if he needs our help? After all he’s done for you, you’d leave him now?”

  “I made no promises to him.”

  But I did. If Kinder’s mind was made up, and it seemed to be, then I’d have to go alone. Still, it made me furious we were even debating this. Recks was right about Kinder.

  “I can’t believe you. You’re no different than a Reticent.”

  “Call me all the names you want. It won’t change the fa
cts.”

  I gave up talking to him. Instead, I stared out into the dark forest flying by and tried to devise a plan. Kinder had invested a great deal of energy in me. He wasn’t going to let me go easily. The truck bounced along the rutted, icy dirt roads pretty well so far. Kinder lost control once or twice on the ice but had managed to keep it on the road until now. I picked at my ragged fingernails and willed myself to think. I didn’t have long though.

  I don’t even know what we hit—a rock or a log maybe, or a root jutting out of the ground—but a loud bang exploded from the back of the truck. Kinder struggled to stabilize the vehicle with the wheel but the speed was too much.

  The vehicle spun all the way around, hit something solid, and flipped over. My body was forced violently forward against my seatbelt, all my limbs thrown about like a child’s doll. The belt held me tight in place until we finally came to rest in the darkness.

  I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think. All I knew was I hurt all over. I tasted blood in my mouth where I’d bitten down on my own tongue. I lay there awhile, not trying to move, not even sure I could. I grew colder. I became vaguely aware of the snow I lay in and the sound of the wind whistling in the firs.

  It smelled of earth here, of pinewood and smoke, like a cooking fire. It reminded me of my home in Roma. Curious, I lifted my head a bit to see what would happen.

  My neck was stiff, and the back of my head ached. I tried to sit up, but the seatbelt still held me fast to the seat. I fumbled with the buckle in the dark. It clicked finally, and I let it fall off me so I could sit up.

  I found my flashlight in my pocket and clicked it on. The truck cab around me was unrecognizable. Everything was crushed or twisted in some way. But even more unsettling, I realized I was alone.

  I clambered out of the truck, which lay on its side, and looked around with the tiny beam of my flashlight slicing through the darkness. I stood at the bottom of a ravine, the road nowhere in sight. Had we gone off the embankment?

  Mother’s Love was a pale, pulsing green in the sky, giving the snow an eerie color. The moon, nearly full, made tree shadows on the ground.

  Where am I?

  Had Kinder made the turn north toward Ukraine yet? With my head still foggy, I couldn’t think clearly. I remembered asking him to go to Prague and he refused, but no, we hadn’t made the turn east yet. I was sure of that.

  Where’s Kinder? Wasn’t he wearing his seatbelt too?

  Perhaps not. Without windows, he could’ve been thrown out of the wreck. It was hard to believe he would’ve been so careless. He knew all the statistics I knew.

  Did he leave me? Wait …

  I switched off my light. Suddenly, I wanted to be invisible. I scanned the ravine above me but saw no one. I hurried back to the truck and found our supplies strewn everywhere. My knee burned deep inside, making me limp as I moved. The night was so cold I lost sensation in my fingers. They were nearly useless as I dug around in the trash of our supplies. I didn’t dare make a fire to warm myself here. I worried maybe Kinder was lying up there on the road half-dead. What could I do? The ravine was too steep to climb up here.

  I didn’t think about the chip in my head, or the Reticents. I just knew we needed to find shelter soon or we’d both freeze to death. I threw matches, a knife, some dried meat, and a water container into a bag. I found some thin gloves and put them on. I pulled my hood closer to my frozen ears and walked down the ravine toward the north, which I knew from the position of the stars. The clacking of my teeth was the loudest night sound as my body shuddered violently in an attempt to warm itself. I tried to step on the boulders along the riverbed to avoid leaving tracks in the snow, but soon I was beyond caring, my fingers hurt so badly.

  I found a rocky overhang that provided enough cover to get out of the snow and enough brush to conceal it. I flipped on the flashlight so I could find the matches. I lit one with some difficulty since my hands weren’t responding to my will any longer. Luckily, when it tumbled from my fingers, it landed on some dried pine needles and they caught fire. I quickly added sticks from the brush to build it into something substantial. I cupped my hands around the tiny embers, trying desperately to heat my hands and feed the flame. I couldn’t afford to lose any fingers tonight.

  When they finally loosened up, cherry-red from the cold, I surveyed the rest of my body for damage. Pushing up my legging, I saw my knee was purple and swollen. It wasn’t broken but badly bruised. I wondered if I’d be able to walk in the morning.

  By now, it was late and I was exhausted. No one seemed to be coming after me. I was truly alone. I dozed off, curled up by the warmth of my fire.

  In the morning, I awoke to a gray winter day and the ashes of my little fire. Every single part of me ached. I lit another match, wishing I had something to cook. I thought of Kinder and Recks, and wondered what had become of them. I examined my fingers in the daylight. Nothing appeared to be in danger of permanent damage yet, although the skin was still red and raw. I wished I had some salve for it. Instead, I chewed on some dried meat and tried to focus. I’d never anticipated this; but then again, nothing in my life had ever been predictable.

  A slave, then freed, enslaved again, and now free again—truly on my own this time. I could go anywhere, disappear into the woods and never see another Reticent. I knew how far their territory stretched now, what places to avoid, their strongholds, and their weak points. But I couldn’t go until I knew what happened to Recks.

  I decided to find the road to Prague and follow it. I should only be a few hundred yards southwest of it. There were only a few towns between here and Prague. I’d search every one of them if I had to. Someone had to have seen or heard something.

  I stood and tried my leg gingerly. The knee was soft but not as painful as I’d feared. The cold must have helped the inflammation some. I grabbed my bag, kicked some dirt over the embers, and set off once more.

  The morning went fairly well considering the night before. The road was roughly where I figured it’d be, although I wouldn’t walk on it. I kept to the trees. No one went by until I reached a small village perched on a slope much like Roma. A few houses were scattered along the roadway, one of which had a sign hanging from the roof with only a picture of a boar’s head. It seemed to be a public house, a place where everyone gathered, as I saw several groups of men go inside.

  The day turned drizzly, and I wore my cloak over my head. I remembered Recks’s warning about traveling alone, how it was better to appear like a boy, and I was glad I’d worn leggings and heavy boots. They were dirty now, which was good. It’d make me look more like a peasant. I watched until the road emptied and then stole across the street toward the tavern. Hunched over, I crept around the side of the stone cottage, finding a window open enough that I heard the men inside.

  “Something’s wrong, I tell you,” said a gruff voice. “The fire must be huge. The plume stretches for miles.”

  “Someone has to go see,” said a younger one.

  “You know it’s forbidden.”

  “Perhaps they need help?”

  “Reticents don’t need our help. Besides, they’d send word if they did.”

  “They could be unable?”

  “Then what could we do? Nothing.”

  “Did you ask Recks?”

  Blood shot to my head at the sound of the familiar name, making me dizzy. I knelt down on my knees and hugged the wall. Was he here?

  “He’s gone,” said a third voice with a kind tone.

  “Gone?”

  “Said he had to go.”

  “Good riddance, blasphemer! No wonder they threw him out,” said the gruff voice. “Shoulda killed him meself.”

  “Oh, like you could ever best that one,” said a kinder voice.

  “Mother Sun’s a lie? I’m surprised she didn’t strike him dead on the spot. Never heard such tripe in all my life. He’s probably the one that started the fire. You’ll wish you’da killed him before it’s all
over, Soren.”

  “Pipe down or I’ll throw you out,” said another voice. “What he said made sense. Made a lot of sense. Nobody’s going to Gora to see your crazy smoke so forget it.”

  Recks had been here but not executed? Maybe I could talk to this Soren, find out what he knew? How long ago had Recks left? Must have been only this morning. I’d catch him if only I knew the way. Where would he go?

  My heart stopped when I realized exactly where he’d go. He’d go back to Gora for me. I forgot about Soren and ran for the woods and back toward Gora. I had to find him before he got there.

  My knee didn’t let me run for long though. The ache in it grew into a burn as my footing slipped in the pine duff covering the slopes. I stopped and rubbed it to ease the joint. Normally, I could’ve run all the way back to Gora but not with this injury. I cursed Kinder aloud to the trees. The wind sighed in their branches.

  I tried not to panic. Recks wouldn’t march right in to Gora would he? Surely, he would see the reactor was on fire and stay back. I wished I had told Recks more about Kinder’s plan, but Kinder forced me to hold my tongue.

  I shoved all my worries into the back of my mind and started again, slower this time. The hillside I’d chosen to traverse became mountain-steep. I needed to find an easier way. I worked my way south all afternoon. It wasn’t long before I caught sight of the smoke plume the old man spoke of, great black billows against the gray sky reaching thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Who knew what kinds of particulates were in it? I knew I should run in the opposite direction for my own safety. My knee wavered, and I sat down again. That’s when I saw the track in the mud.

  It was a Reticent’s boot, no doubt about that, given the shape of the toe. I touched it with my hand to measure the size. It was too big to be mine. The only men wandering off the side of this road would be Recks, or perhaps Kinder.