Impact Velocity (The Physics of Falling)

by Leah Petersen

  “I have a son of that name as well.”

  “Yes, Mari told me.”

  She gave me a lopsided grin. “It’s silly, I know,” she said, “But when they were born I wanted to give them names that have done well by others. Maybe they’ll be lucky names.”

  “I hope they will,” I said.

  Her look held too much sympathy. “I hope it will be for you as well,” she paused, “and for them.”

  I knew from the way she looked away, the way her voice got distant, that she no longer meant anyone here. She meant the empress and the prince. My own daughter. And me.

  “Yes,” I choked out the words. “May she live forever.”

  The woman gave me a long look and nodded approval. “May she live forever.”

  Molly’s just asked if we can stay for the festival while we’re in Mexico.

  You should. I thought you’d planned it that way.

  That would put us there almost three weeks. I hate for us to be away from you that long.

  I know. Me too. But you should still stay for the festival. The kids will love it.

  iv46

  I woke to the sound of too many people pounding down stairs and out of doors and rushing down the hallway. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I levered myself up. Around me people cried out in shock, surprise, and fear as ISS troops rushed into the tunnels, rounding up everyone in their path.

  “Let’s go! Move!”

  There was no pretense that this was anything but a raid, and my stomach dropped. What had I done?

  “What’s this about?” one of the men who had been sleeping across from me demanded of the soldier who snatched him up. “What are you doing?”

  “Move, old man,” the soldier barked. The man’s friend dug in his heels as another tried to shove him.

  “What do you want with us?”

  “We want you to move!”

  En masse we were herded down the tunnel and I kept my head bowed, thinking furiously. Were they just here for me? If that was all, wouldn’t it have been simpler to hold everyone in the tunnels and search here? All this moving and shoving about made it easier, not harder, for one man to avoid detection. This seemed to be about more than just me, so I bit my tongue hard when the soldier jabbed me because I wasn’t moving fast enough and I said nothing.

  In a clatter of noise and shouting we climbed the stairs and ladders that led us out of the tunnels. Above, it was just lightening to morning, the air fresh and new. The buildings around us were sparse and mostly ruins, but to the south I could see neat clusters of buildings rising from the valley floor.

  They were breathtaking, but not because they were in any way impressive to the eye. They were the opposite, simple and functional, but they were orderly and organized, purposeful in a way that nothing in Abenez had ever been before. A slum had been destroyed, but a city was being built to replace it.

  I must have stopped moving as I took it all in because in the next moment a soldier’s gun slammed into my back. “Move!”

  Around me children were crying, and some of the adults as well. Sounds of dismay rippled in my direction and I saw then what the others had seen.

  Transports. They were simple, long and jointed, and clearly long distance vehicles.

  “What’s going on?” I cursed myself for the stupidity of drawing attention to myself even as I froze in horror. “Where are you taking these people?”

  A guard from behind me grabbed my arm and spun me about.

  “These people?”

  He was wearing a visor like all the other guards garbed for crowd control, but he pushed it up and out of the way. Oddly it was his sneer more than anything else that made me recognize him. Bertl. A huge, beefy man with shockingly blond hair, he’d stood out even among the palace’s handpicked Imperial guard. He hadn’t been on palace detail for some time, though. Not since the end of The Patriot mess. The way he’d looked at me back then made me uncomfortable and, loath as I was to voice such a juvenile complaint, I’d learned it wasn’t worth it to keep my suspicions to myself. So I told Pete. He’d looked into the man’s background and found nothing suspicious. Still, Pete had asked Sam to reassign him elsewhere, and I never saw him again.

  Our eyes widened in a moment of shocked recognition, though his immediately narrowed as he took in my disguise, reconsidering his conclusion. I ducked my head, hoping to salvage the situation but he grabbed my hair to jerk my face back up to his.

  The wig hadn’t been designed to withstand that. In one neat piece, the wig and eye patch slid off into his hand. Everything went quiet, even the cries of the crowd around us seemed muffled. He chuckled, brief but clear and full of delight. He grabbed my real hair and jerked again, this time with the results he was expecting. There was no surprise on his face now, just satisfaction and a touch of amusement.

  “I didn’t believe we’d actually find you here,” he said. “I was sure you’d gone too high and mighty to crawl around with the roaches again. But here you are.”

  “I don’t know what you’re—”

  The punch in my stomach drove words and breath out of me. Blind reaction sent my own fist flying and the thud of impact reverberated in my whole arm. No return punch came. I looked up at him in confusion only to watch with horror the slow line of blood trickling from his grinning mouth.

  Suddenly I was there again, I could see the slick gray prison walls and smell the stale recycled air and I knew, with every cell in my trembling body, that tomorrow I would be out there alone, days and days and days alone with nothing but the silent stars and my own panicked breaths.

  Someone slammed into Bertl, knocking him to the ground, and the flashback shattered.

  No one had ever helped me on Dead End.

  “No!” The little girl’s shriek made my heart stop and for a moment I forgot it couldn’t be Molly. I whirled around to find the girl from the tunnel, Marquilla, barreling into a soldier holding my arm. With his shield he swatted away the annoyance he hadn’t even seen. There was a sickening crack and the world stood still as Mari jerked like a puppet on strings, going limp and falling at his feet like a discarded doll. Her head lay at an unnatural angle.

  “No!” I screamed, hearing the dim echoes of others around me, the swelling of anger.

  But the struggle that followed was brief and accomplished nothing. Soldiers waded in and quickly cowed the others, isolating me and helping Bertl to his feet. I searched for Mari, hoping, wishing, but I couldn’t even see her anymore. Nothing but the image in my memory of her sprawled in the dirt, discarded and broken.

  A long wail sliced through the air and I knew Mari’s mother had found her. It could have been so different, there were so many more of us than there were of them. But the roles were too old and the conditioning too deep. The unclass were too good at giving up.

  The crowd rippled around us as it parted for a clump of soldiers guarding one man in their midst. I was forced to my knees, head jerked back again by someone’s fist in my hair. They approached and the man looked down at me with an odd smile on his face.

  “Good work,” Naganika said. “That’s him. Take him to my transport.”

  ***

  Whatever Naganika’s game was, the guards were clearly Laudley’s men. They proceeded to beat me with an enthusiasm and attention to detail that would have been impressive if it hadn’t hurt so damn much. I lay on a hard cot in a clearly improvised brig on a noble’s transport. Long ago Pete had added a real brig to his personal transport. Because of me, actually. Naganika should have borrowed it. I chuckled bitterly at the thought.

  “Something amuses you?”

  Either my preoccupation or the ringing in my ears had allowed me to miss the sound of Naganika’s entry. I thought of sitting up, decided I really didn’t want to, and then, with a sigh, struggled upright. I couldn’t have this conversation lying d
own. He made no attempt to help or hinder me and seemed almost to be averting his eyes to give me some dignity. I fought a wave of confusion and pain.

  “The men are well-trained,” he remarked.

  “Or just well-goaded,” I said around a swelling lip. He shrugged as if it didn’t matter. The ache of dread and the horror of being trapped once again by my own stupidity consumed me. “Is the girl dead?”

  He nodded slowly. I didn’t know what to think of the fact that he knew what I was talking about. Why should he care?

  “So where are we going?”

  He considered me as if wondering if he should answer or not. “The palace.”

  I nodded. “Whose side are you really on, George?”

  He gave me an indulgent smile and said nothing. Not that I’d expected any different. It would have been profoundly stupid to answer that question, and he wasn’t dead yet only because he wasn’t stupid at all. I wondered if he was on any side, other than his own.

  “Where are the others?”

  He didn’t pretend to misunderstand the question. He glanced at his comm. “Blaine may be at the palace already. Don’t worry, we’ve made him at least as uncomfortable as you are.” He smiled at me as if we had shared the joke. “Jonathan, however,” his voice sobered but he didn’t pause or hesitate, “I’m afraid he forced us to kill him.”

  He ignored the noisy sound of my startled gasp and made a wry face at himself. “I don’t suppose that will placate Grand Duke Laudley much; he was so set on having all of you alive. But Jonathan’s a wily one, and a far better fighter than the guards were prepared for. He refused to go quietly or really any way at all.” He crossed his arms and shrugged. “I’ve reviewed the recordings and I don’t see how the men could have done it differently. Jonathan was determined to escape or die trying. So he did.”

  Nausea roiled in my gut, grief and anger tightened my chest and my vision swam. “No,” I croaked. “I don’t believe you.”

  Naganika’s expression looked like pity, but then he shrugged. “I don’t suppose it matters. Your end will be the same whether you believe me or not.” He shook his head sadly. “There’s no one left to save you, Jacob.”

  “You can call me Prince Jacob.” I said, “Or Your Highness.” I lay back down, turning my back to him. Whether the insult bothered him or not, I can’t say. His silent exit was almost polite.

  By that point in my life I had been a criminal and prisoner and far, far worse. But of all the situations I could never have expected to find myself in, being a fugitive on the run was a surprise, and a whole new set of fears.

  iv47

  I heard the clatter in the hallways and I did not need the looks on the faces of the others in the room to confirm that this wasn’t a good sign. I glanced around quickly for anything useful but I only found a couple of blinders sitting on the table to the right. I snatched them up.

  People began to scramble. Some seemed to have a purpose but most were just panicking. It was a poorly organized resistance if they had no contingency plan in the event of a breach. I didn’t wait to find out.

  I pried up the loose end of a vent—not as secure as it had been made to appear. My face burned with shame that I should know these criminal tricks, and at the same time I was dizzy with relief.

  Dead End had similar bolt-holes, if perhaps not for the same reason. There was nowhere to escape to on that barren asteroid, but there were secret ways around the facility that some inmates knew. The ones I knew I’d learned from Kafe. She didn’t show me anything that went anywhere useful, but it had amused her to act as my tutor and make me that much more indebted to her.

  I crawled through ducts, mostly guessing at the junctures, but sometimes it seemed there was less dust in one direction, or faint noises. Those didn’t worry me. It was the tramp and clatter of the troops I was avoiding.

  At last I came to another vent and peered out of it. Luck or circumstance had led me to a hanger where Lady Chou was preparing a transport for departure.

  I let myself out of the vent as quietly as possible, but I had only cracked it open when her head jerked up and she grabbed a weapon holstered at her side, aiming it at me.

  “Who is it?”

  I considered that and finally offered the lie. “A friend.”

  She held steady. “Come out slowly.” I did, easing my way into the room, and though my skin crawled to put my back to her, I lowered the vent carefully closed. I turned to find her staring at me in mingled disbelief and disgust. “You.” It was neither a question nor an answer. She scoffed. “I should have known that you’d find a way to run.”

  I ignored the implied insult, nodding at the transport instead. “I assume that can get us safely away.”

  She glanced at it and back to me. “It’s likely to get me safely away. You are another matter entirely.”

  I lifted my hands. “Are we not on the same side?”

  She made a rude noise. “I don’t side with traitors to the true throne.”

  I nodded acceptance to that. “Good. Because neither do I anymore. I hope you’re planning on taking that transport somewhere in the vicinity of Imperial City, because I need to get to the palace.”

  She laughed. “You expect me to return you to your friends at the palace?”

  I stiffened. “I doubt very much that I have friends at the palace anymore, and if I do, I don’t expect them to be in any position to help me. I am not going to betray the Resistance, Lady Chou, if that’s what you think. I am here, with you. I think my allegiances are clear.”

  “Hardly.”

  “Will you at least help me get out of here?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t trust you.”

  “I don’t need you to trust me, I only need transportation.” Her mouth quirked on one side, as if she smiled unintentionally. I pressed on. “If my purpose were simply to return to the palace and Laudley, I could have more easily presented myself to the soldiers back there and their captain. That would have gotten me to the palace one way or the other I’m sure.”

  I stepped closer. “I’m here, with you, because we both know what Laudley intends for me and I am not stupid enough to put myself in his power again. But more important than that, the children are at the palace.”

  She sighed, but it was an angry, uncertain noise. I reached into my pocket and she stiffened. I removed my hand slowly.

  “Here,” I said quietly, “a pledge of good faith.” I extended my hand and she moved only close enough to see what I offered, without lowering her gun. When she saw the blinder her eyes widened. She held out one hand, allowing me to drop the device into it.

  “Now,” I said, “I’ve just given away my best advantage, by giving you back yours. Will you at least give me transportation? That’s all I ask.”

  She hesitated then huffed out an angry breath. “Get in the damn transport.”

  ***

  She made me a seat in the cargo area, securing the locks between us. I could have gotten out, but I couldn’t get to the controls. I had to admit it was smart of her. Oddly it relieved me. She wasn’t stupid. That was good. She was less likely to get us caught.

  I did at least have two thin windows. We moved from lit and maintained passages into dark and sooty places, and I wondered if anyone had used these tunnels in the years since the fire. Of all the things I’d been blamed for when I’d been convicted of being The Patriot, this destruction had really been mine. Guilt shuddered through me, and the pang of regret.

  Abenez was large, but it wasn’t large enough to account for how long we were in the tunnels. I began to fear we were lost. I could only hope that it was because she was forced to use a longer route to avoid detection.

  When we emerged onto the surface again it was full night. The thin slits of windows that showed little more than night sky were more unnerving than comforting. It reminded me of Dead
End and I shivered.

  Lady Chou’s voice came over an intercom. “Food and blankets are in containers against the right wall. You should eat, and get some sleep while you can.”

  “And you?”

  “Someone has to drive this thing.”

  I had no rebuttal for that. I’d never driven in my life.

  “It’s not the fastest transport,” she added. “So make yourself comfortable. We won’t be there tonight.”

  I sighed and started to look for the supplies.

  ***

  It truly wasn’t a fast transport. A decent one would have gotten us to the palace twice and back again in the time we spent in that thing. I thought of asking her if we couldn’t find a way to stop somewhere and swap it out for a faster one, but I didn’t think she wanted this trip to be any longer than necessary either.

  Eventually she opened a small window between the cargo area and the cockpit. “Pass me some of that food, will you?”

  I pulled out a packet and handed it to her. She didn’t look at me. I decided I didn’t care. I settled back and closed my eyes. Whatever Lady Chou might think, I wasn’t just running away. I was running to—to the palace, and Owen. My part of the plan hadn’t fallen apart yet.

  “Do you know what happened to Jonathan or Dawes?” I asked, late into the night. She cast me a funny look.

  “I didn’t see any more than you did.”

  “No communications?”

  Her mouth tightened and I could see that she didn’t want to answer. Finally she sighed. “Nothing.”

  You’ve made me happy, Pete, more than I deserved. Thank you for that. Thank you for everything. Please believe that I deeply regret what I’ve done to you, how I acted, and that I ended our relationship in such a horrible way. I think even now that you wouldn’t want for us to be over. You’re ridiculous like that.

  I love you. I never stopped loving you. I hope you’ll forgive me. Actually, I know you’ll forgive me. But move on before long, OK? I want that for you. You deserve it.