by Rebecca Rode
The darkness made it hard to see his face, but I knew Jasper was frowning. “Does Treena know?”
“She will by morning. I left her a note.” I headed for the pile, loaded up, and carried the boxes into the transport. When I came out, Jasper was still rooted on the docks, deep in thought.
“Tough place to be,” he finally said, “torn between two worlds. I get that feeling better than you’d think.”
I stooped for a second load, unsure what to say. “The NORA captain is with Treena now, but I want you to keep a close eye on both of them. I don’t trust any soldier that Bike—that Dresden sent. Treena knows how to reach me if you have news.” I stepped inside and dropped the boxes into a tall pile near the back of the cargo hold. Dirt ground into my boot, making me wonder if the owner had ever swept this thing out. I climbed onto the dock for a second trip.
“I’d better help,” Jasper murmured as I emerged again, “or you’ll never make it out of here before sunrise.” He headed for the pile and picked up two boxes, then made his way toward the aircraft. “For the record, though, if we get caught, I’m turning you in.”
“Fair enough.”
We worked for fifteen minutes, moving everything inside and securing it. Our ride here had been pretty smooth, but this thing felt rickety just hovering over the water. I gave the supply straps a firm tug to make sure they held.
Rays of light had already begun to peek over the horizon. These docks would be filled with workers any minute.
“I’ll get her started for you,” Jasper said, heading back inside. A moment later the engine roared to life. He stepped out nonchalantly and patted the aircraft on the nose. “She’s ready to go. Even set the coordinates, although you’ll have to switch to manual mode before you land. Otherwise you may end up in that poisoned lake of yours.”
“Didn’t take you for a technical guy.”
“Who do you think invented the techband?” He clapped me on the shoulder and squeezed hard. “You know, I didn’t like you much in the beginning. You did shove us out of a chopper the day I met you.”
“We were about to get shot down.”
“My point is,” he rushed on, “we both did our part to keep Treena safe that day, and you’ve done a decent job of it since. Her expression the moment you leaped onto that air transport—it was priceless. I think you ignited confidence in her, something she’s needed on this trip. So thanks for serving her as long as you did. I hope you two can get this resolved soon.”
I turned to face him in the darkness. The water below the docks rippled beyond Jasper’s frame, fragmenting the lightening sky into hundreds of pieces. A distortion of reality. Or maybe a better representation of reality tonight. My world had certainly begun to shatter like that. I could see myself out there, torn right down the middle—my clan and family on one side, Treena on the other. Jasper’s kindness about all this just made it harder.
“Good luck.” He stuck out a hand.
Handshakes were a NORA thing, but this time I didn’t hesitate. I gripped his hand firmly. “Take care of her. Please.”
“To my dying breath. Now get going, or I’ll tell the dock workers coming this way that you’re a lying thief.” He pointed at a group walking down the docks, heading to work.
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re changing, you know,” Biyu said. “When I first met you, you were cocky and overconfident. But now you’re deeper, quieter. More thoughtful.”
“I thought guys with guns were monsters,” I muttered. The water bottle was full now. I leaped back to the riverbank and screwed the lid closed.
Monsters. The man who shot my dad certainly fit that description. Our guns were on the ground—he could have easily let us go. But he’d accused us of terrible things, almost like he wanted to justify what he was about to do. As if calling us monsters made him some kind of saint.
“All of us have that potential,” she said softly. “We’ve certainly seen that. But some are warriors. They refuse to yield to that darkness within them. I think you know what I mean.”
Biyu’s mournful gaze caught mine, and we stared at each other for a long moment. Her hair—past her shoulders now—swirled in a gust of mountain wind. It curled like a wave in the ocean I missed so badly, fighting to break free. Then the wind died and it settled back onto her shoulders.
Her tight jacket hugged her thin torso. It didn’t look very warm, and it seemed to hang larger than it had a few weeks ago. She’d suffered as much as any of us. Biyu was just an exchange student, a girl fighting for a better life who’d gotten caught up in something she couldn’t control. She deserved so much more than this, slowly starving on an unfamiliar mountain across the world from her home.
I must have been staring at her, because her lips, soft and full, drew upward in an encouraging smile. She watched me with playful eyes.
Shame washed over me. My mom was fighting for her life right now, and here I stood, thinking about how it would feel to pull Biyu into my arms. Dad would be appalled.
“If there is some kind of inner darkness,” I finally said, “I haven’t beaten it yet.” I started walking back to the camp.
A voice blared over the speaker at the convention, announcing it was time to begin. I quickly closed the diary. Nearly everyone was seated now. I shoved down the nerves that pulsed through my blood like a beehive, eyeing the camera fixed on me a few yards away. Vance wasn’t watching today. Finley waited in the lobby, of course. But in the ways that counted, I was now on my own.
The pain of betrayal seized my chest until it was hard to breathe. He knew you could do it, or he wouldn’t have left. I had to believe it was true.
Jasper had sent a message up this morning, saying to be ready to relocate after the convention. How he’d already heard about last night was a mystery to me, but I was relieved to know he was on it. Since I still hadn’t heard from Chan, I had to assume Chiu’s recording hadn’t revealed anything I could use.
The next several days would be filled with convention business. There was still time. Just not much.
Despite his promises, Augustus hadn’t sent any messages at all this morning. He’d probably drunk himself into a stupor last night and thought our conversation was a bad dream. Honestly, that was fine with me. I’d already decided our next quarters would be somewhere Augustus couldn’t find us. Something deep down told me that was the right choice.
“Thank you for your presence here today,” the speaker said. “We’ll proceed in the order outlined on your screen.”
The schedule popped up and I scanned it. A cold chill settled over me, and my stomach immediately began to flutter. No.
Mine was first. That meant the committee had already reached a decision.
President Chiu was the last to sit. He lowered himself slowly, as if feeling our eyes on him and wanting to savor it. He waited until the room had turned back to their screens before looking at me. I watched for any sign of disappointment or anger that his assassination plan had failed, but there was nothing. Just a strange interest that seemed almost curious. I met his gaze with a glare.
“First we’ll address the proposal brought forward by Ambassador Dowell, representing the New Order Republic of America. It was decided a committee would gather evidence of the impending threat to her country’s security. She has presented fifty-one witness testimonies of a previous attack on a town outside their border and a recording of an alleged official testifying. Is that correct, Ambassador Dowell?”
“It is,” I said, my voice wobbly. I cleared my throat. “Along with damage reports to NORA’s military and a few images taken at the scene.”
“Then I now invite the committee chairman to speak.” He nodded to a woman across the room. She stood. I glanced at my screen. Eunice Marsh, Prime Minister.
I blinked. The prime minister had been appointed committee chairman? Why hadn’t I known this before? Augustus had even offered to get me an audience with her. I mentally kicked myself.
“We find the account
of the attack to be true,” she said. “Although some of the evidence was invalidated due to concerns. First of all, the attack didn’t even take place on NORA soil. It actually occurred in what this convention has already deemed ‘no man’s land,’ an area barely habitable for humans. Therefore, even if it was the ECA, it was clearly a simple land dispute.”
I stared at her. What?
“Secondly, we saw no clear evidence that it was the ECA. The downed aircraft aren’t marked, and while the images show dead and injured soldiers of Asian origin, that still doesn’t substantiate Ambassador Dowell’s claims. It could have just as easily been a group trying to frame the ECA. We all know President Chiu has many enemies, even within his own country.” She nodded to the Chinese president, who inclined his head in acknowledgment.
A low murmur had begun in the room, like buzzing flies. The room tilted a bit, and I struggled to focus. This wasn’t happening.
“And finally,” she continued, “in regards to the so-called official’s recorded testimony. Although it hints at possible military strategy, we don’t know who is speaking or what his position is. An earlier conversation with this person is referred to in the notes, one where the entire plan is outlined. But the witness list is questionable at best. The first witness is Ambassador Dowell herself. Another is the young emperor of NORA who declined to attend, and a third is Ambassador Dowell’s security captain and lover.”
The whispering turned to outright chatter as leaders discussed this with their assistants. I gritted my teeth. Of course they had to throw in that last part, true or not. It completely invalidated two of the three testimonies.
The speaker turned to his own screen. “Thank you, Prime Minister. I will ask for your recommendation in a moment.”
She nodded but remained standing.
“Ambassador Dowell has requested one million troops be transported overseas within the week,” the speaker said, reading his notes. “They will be housed in their capital city and treated with the utmost respect. In return, the country pledges one half of its production to be sent into our respective economies overseas for ten years, including an invention they call ‘nutrition pills.’” He pronounced it slowly, as if the words were strange. Then the speaker turned to back to Ms. Marsh. “What is the committee’s recommendation on this proposal?”
“We simply need more information,” she said easily. “If we could send investigators to the attack site to study the wreckage of the enemy aircraft, we could possibly determine their true origin.”
“But—but we don’t have time for that,” I said. “It could take weeks.”
Soft chuckles sounded across the room. Even the speaker hid an amused smile. “Ambassador Dowell, these things take time. Even if we approved your request today, it would take months to allocate the necessary funds and manpower to fulfill it.”
My face burned. The well-dressed men and women before me laughed now, some not bothering to hide their faces as they did so. I was a joke now, a poor representation of a politician.
I shouldn’t have come.
I thought about the number that had almost made me empress. I held a title now, one I’d asked Dresden for. And technically, as a descendant of Richard Peak, I was a member of NORA’s own “royal family.” Yet none of those things had changed me at all. If you stripped it all away, I was still the same person—just a girl who wanted to save her country.
Maybe they saw me as young and weak because I saw myself that way.
The entire room waited for my reaction. Even the speaker watched with his lips turned up in a smirk. Vance wouldn’t have put up with any of this. His latest responsibilities had put a new burden on him, one that only deepened and matured him. He hadn’t abandoned me—he had released me into the sky so I could stretch my wings.
I fixed my gaze on the camera. The sideways looks and amused smiles from these people had been far more than disdain at my youth—it was a knowledge of something they understood that I hadn’t until this moment. Politics. It was clear that some things were universal. From giant world powers to tiny countries full of desperate, number-wearing people, it was exactly the same.
They had never intended to help us. They were here to put on a show of concern, to appear generous, but never actually risk anything—to receive all the benefits of their alliances while giving the least amount possible. Just like Dresden had done when I asked him to steal a camera. Just like Commander Denoux with his broken promises to Vance, and just like Augustus last night. It was all a show.
A show. These people did like their public displays. Well, maybe it was time to give them one.
“May I address the Chinese president in this company?” I asked the speaker.
“We don’t normally . . .” He glanced at the prime minister, who chuckled and waved me on. He sighed. “Very well, but keep it quick.”
I stood to face the man who wanted me and everyone I loved dead. “Do I have your solemn promise, in front of these witnesses, that you will never attack my country, honorable sir?”
President Chiu’s smile was strained. I had just cornered him. If he lied and then attacked us anyway, it could trigger a world war. If he refused, the entire convention would know I told the truth.
He inclined his head toward me but remained seated. “I do not make it a habit of attacking small, savage countries for sport. Be assured your nation will be spared so long as you avoid antagonizing mine.”
The speaker jumped in. “That’s it, then. In the absence of definitive evidence, we’ll forgo the vote and consider the matter closed.”
I sat down and clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking. I’d lost, yet NORA had won in a very big way. Chiu couldn’t attack us now without serious consequences. If last night’s attempt on my life had indeed been Chiu, it meant he hadn’t cared that the convention would immediately suspect him. But now that I’d turned the spotlight on him, he’d be a fool to try anything.
I bit my lip to keep from smiling and glanced at Chiu. Despite the speaker’s droning on the next point, the man stared at me with a look that made me shiver. This isn’t over, his eyes seemed to say. You have no idea what you’ve done.
Cheeks warming, I yanked my gaze away and pretended to listen to the speaker. But inside, my stomach was doing flips.
I had just issued a serious challenge to one of the most powerful men in the world. Now all I could do was wait.
When the meeting concluded, I was the first person out the door. I practically ran to the lobby, a giant smile on my face, ready to tell Finley all about it. But I wasn’t prepared for the panicked look on her face. She looked down the hallway behind me, then grabbed my arm and pulled me into the washroom.
“What’s going on?” I asked, confused, as she locked the door behind us.
“That kid your father brought along,” she said. “Chan? He came here a few minutes after you went in. They wouldn’t allow him in the doors, but I saw him through the glass and went out to talk to him.”
“Chan was here?” I asked numbly. None of this was making sense. “Is he still outside?”
“No, no. He said he had an urgent message. Said you needed to know before you went in there. He was really upset when I told him he was too late.” She handed me a folded piece of paper.
The receiver. He’d found something.
I fumbled with the folds, trying to get it open. The paper was thick and heavy, like he’d torn it from the inside cover of a book. When it finally opened, Chan’s handwriting was tiny, barely readable. I squinted at the words.
C called Pres. Sokolov early this morning. They spoke in English. I could only hear C’s side of the conversation, but he said things that will make you worry. Things like “We must keep up appearances until the convention is over,” and “Your preparations are too slow,” and “You agreed to provide two hundred. I’ll not have any less.” I know this won’t surprise you.
But mostly I wanted to warn you because of the last thing he said: “That young ambassa
dor is a mouse. Do not concern yourself with events here. These fools have a choice—they will yield or fall. It makes no difference to me which they choose.”
I read it again, then crumpled it in my fist and shoved it into my pocket, numb. We must keep up appearances until the convention is over. He was just telling us what we wanted to hear. Then the world’s leaders would go home and resume their normal activities from the comfort of their lavish homes and offices. Meanwhile, the combined forces of the ECA would descend upon my people and wipe us out before anyone knew what had happened. By the time they assembled again, the ECA would be stationed on the American continent, poised to carry out their sinister plans on anyone who crossed them.
“I do not make it a habit of attacking small, savage countries for sport,” Chiu had said. “Be assured your nation will be spared so long as you avoid antagonizing mine.”
I’d already antagonized his country just by complicating his plans. The man had sat there and pretended to issue a promise of peace, but in reality he had issued a promise of war. He may as well have said, “You’ve threatened my purpose here, so I’m justified in taking action.”
My efforts here had been useless. I was, as Chiu said, a tiny sparrow trying to stop a giant freighter aircraft. There was nothing anyone could do about this.
“I think you’d better sit down,” Finley said. “You’ve gone completely white.”
I shook my head slowly, staring at nothing. If only I’d had this note before the convention convened. I could show it to the prime minister—but no, she wouldn’t consider a handwritten note from my spy to be evidence. Even a recording could be faked. I could present her with a broadcast of Chiu saying he wanted to take over the world and she’d still question it. As long as the prime minister was desperate to avoid war, we’d have no help from Britain.
The NORA receiver in my pocket vibrated, making me groan. Dresden. I had no idea what to tell him.
