“But what if that uses up too much? Evum said this was enough for one application,” I said.
“Well, that’s stupid,” Melisa said.
“I guess I should have taken more.”
“Obviously,” she said.
I bit back my retort. We were all on edge. Not enough sleep combined with seeing the cave that held our dead friends at the campsite was wearing us down. I hoped we weren’t completely wrong about where Holland was hiding.
I flicked my wrist and brought up the suspended readout. I tapped a button and brought up the picture of Holland’s face that we had scanned. I called up my picture and set the computer to analyze the difference.
“Okay, this thing says I need 378 milliliters to convert my face to his.” I held up the injector again. “And I have no idea how much is in this bag.”
“So we just hope it works,” Melisa said. She looked and sounded upset. “But it probably won’t.”
“You saw what they did with them back at Dome Town. It’ll work.”
“You’re putting a lot of faith in something you’ve never tried,” Lily said. “Besides, we don’t know if the rest of your Pushers escaped from your hole. They might have, you know.”
Pol had been trying to find a signal as we flew, hoping to raise Koner or Annie. Nobody had responded.
“We might also be too late,” Melisa said. “There’s too much we don’t know.”
I met their eyes. “Okay, it’s not the best plan. But I can tell you that no matter what, no matter if we’re too late, no matter if we have to blow the entire place up, we’re going to stop Holland.” I dug through the uniforms we had, trying to find a combination of clothes that looked like something Holland would wear. “He’s done after today. That much I know.”
Chapter 41
“Well, this is different.”
I watched the landscape unfold as we screamed toward Edwards Air. We’d left tree-covered hills and ruined cities behind. I hadn’t even seen an old road for at least ten minutes. Despite the wind still pouring in through the open pod door, it was getting really warm. Outside, anything in the distance seemed to waver behind what I assumed was a heat wave coming off the sand and rock.
“It’s a desert,” Melisa said, leaning next to me. She was warm and very close. I fought the urge to lean closer.
“Get lower,” Lily said. “Hug the ground. With all this wide open space, they’re going to see us for sure.” She patted the fresh bandage on her scraped arm, making sure it was tight.
The pod descended until we were only a few meters above the rocky ground.
“Look,” Melisa said. “What is that?”
We came to the edge of what looked like a small city. Old, worn houses were arranged in tight patterns on neat, gently curving streets. We crossed from one cluster of homes to another. It looked strangely familiar.
“Bugging spam,” Pol whispered.
“I think we’re in the right place,” Melisa said.
“What? How do you know?” Lily asked.
“It looks like New Frisko,” I said. “I mean, not exactly like it, but same idea. Houses and streets in those tight patterns.”
“There’s something else over there,” Melisa said.
We peered in that direction. Wide, low buildings glowed with the sun’s reflection.
“Land. That has to be it,” I said. “Now, land now. This is where I need to get off.”
On the ground, I checked my clothes. I’d had to keep my trousers on, but had stuffed them into my boots and had added an armored shirt. It fit a little too loosely in the places where I didn’t have the muscle Ranjers had, but it was all right. I tucked it into my waistband. “How do I look?”
“Like a happy little Ranjer,” Melisa said.
“Perfect,” I said. I checked the bag of nano gel and the injector for probably the hundredth time. Bug me, but that injector needle was long and really pointy.
Lily showed up with a sanitizing cloth from a medkit in the pod. She wiped the needle down thoroughly. “There you go. At least you won’t get infected now.”
I held the injector up. “Who’s doing it?”
“Me,” Melisa said. She glanced at Pol and Lily and took the injector. “Where do I stab you?”
“Don’t sound so excited now,” I said.
“I’ve always wanted to puncture you with a ten centimeter long needle,” she said. “Seriously though, where?”
“I don’t know. Probably somewhere in my face.” I waved a hand around my cheeks and forehead. Thinking about this a little more now, I cringed. This was going to hurt.
“Maybe on both sides,” Melisa said. “Make sure the gel spreads around right.”
“Yeah, okay.” What had I been thinking? This was stupid. Why did I think this was going to work?
“Ready?” Melisa said.
“Sure,” I said. “You know what to do after I go?”
“Obviously,” she said. “It was my idea. We’ll distract them so you can get in there.”
“Any idea how you’re going to do that?” I asked.
“We’re flying a stolen pod with the door blown off, and we have explosives. I think we’ll be okay.” Melisa stepped closer, her face only maybe a half meter from mine. “You’re stalling.”
“No I’m not.”
“You always stall.” Melisa moved closer. One of her hands cupped one side of my face. She was really close now.
“No I don’t.” Her hand felt great.
“It’s your favorite thing to do.” She jabbed the injector into my face.
Okay, maybe she didn’t jab, but she definitely pushed it hard and without warning into my face. It felt like, well, a cold metal needle sliding through my flesh, then digging into my cheekbone. I jerked away, but she pushed against my flinch with her other hand.
Then pressure began to fill that entire side of my face.
“Drek, that’s not pleasant,” I said between clenched teeth.
“That’s weird,” Melisa said. “Getting silicone gel filled with nanos injected into your face should be the best sensation ever. Stop trying to get away.”
“I’m not,” I said.
“You are,” she said. “You’re making me chase your face.”
I realized I was leaning far to my right—the side away from the needle. “Oh.” I forced myself to straighten up.
“How’s it going?” Pol asked.
“Melisa stabbed Nik in the face and now he’s got a big lump on his cheek,” Lily said. “And they’re flirting.”
“Is it working? Pol asked.
“Don’t know.” Lily was carefully arranging projector bombs in a locker that had come loose from the pod’s bulkhead. She had pulled the locker towards the gaping pod door. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“Remember,” I said. “Half on each side.”
“You don’t want only one side of your face to look like Holland?” Melisa said. She gave me an unamused look and kept squeezing gel into my cheek.
“How much is that?”
In response, she pulled the injector away. “That’s about half,” she said. She switched the injector to her left hand. “Hold still.”
I held my breath and clenched every muscle in my body to try to keep from flinching. The second time was worse. Maybe her left hand wasn’t as steady or maybe I just knew what was coming. When I felt like my cheekbone was big enough to reach a nearby wall, the needle slid out again.
“Okay,” Melisa said. “Do your thing.”
I opened and closed my mouth; it felt like my face had swollen to twice its usual size. But there was no pain at all now, only stiffness. I flicked my left wrist and brought up the suspended screen. I selected the hazy image of Holland’s face and tapped ‘Adorn’. Which was a really strange word, but everything about the Outcasts had been strange.
Pol came around from behind me, watching my face closely. “Did you activate the gel?”
“Yes, is nothing happening?”
Li
ly snorted a laugh. “Unless you count two huge bumps on your face as something happening, no—” She cut off. “Hold on. Wow.”
The swelling in my face felt like it was melting away, then dispersing.
“What does that feel like?” Pol asked.
Melisa just stood staring at me, her mouth slightly open.
“Like I was swollen in one place but now it’s kind of spreading,” I said. “What does it look like?”
“Like worms are crawling all over the inside of your face,” Lily said.
“Or like your skin is alive,” Pol said.
“Is it working? Do I look like Holland?”
“Give it a minute,” Melisa said.
She had stepped back, but now she moved closer and watched my face intently. It was a little weird. We stood there, my three friends staring at my face like I was transforming into some kind of creature.
“What’s going on with Nik’s face?”
We all turned at James’s voice. He had untied his upper body, propped himself up on his arms, and twisted to see us. He was pale, but otherwise looked all right.
“James!” I said. “How do you feel?”
“Like I have two broken legs,” he said.
“Do you need painkiller?” Melisa asked, making for the medkit.
“No, not right now. That stuff knocks me out.” He ran his tongue around his lips. “I’ve slept enough. Anyone have water?”
Lily got to him first, helping him nearly empty a water bottle. When he was done, he sighed.
“How about food?” He pushed himself to a sitting position and looked at me. His eyes went wide. “What the Bug? Why do you look like the Prime Administrator?”
“It worked?”
Lily gave James a piece of jerky without tearing her eyes from my face. “If that projector bomb thing was accurate, yes, you look like him.”
I turned to Melisa and Pol. “Yeah?”
Pol got right up in front of me and studied my face. The top of his head was about at the level of my nose, so he had to look up. He poked at my chin, then one of my eyebrows.
“Yeah, it worked. That is amazing. Those nanos must be somehow bonded, maybe covalently, to the cells or molecules of the silicone gel.” He prodded one of my cheeks. “That’s a little soft. Not normal.”
Melisa gently pushed him out of the way. She looked into my eyes. “How does it feel?”
“Like my face is wider, maybe a little stiffer.”
“When you’re up close like this, you can see the differences easily,” she said. “Your eyes aren’t as deep as his and his head is just bigger.” Her hands warmed both sides of my face. “Can you feel that?”
I nodded, unable to take my eyes off hers. “Feels a little different, but not much.”
Her hands stayed on my cheeks as her eyes roamed over my face. “His forehead’s taller too, and your chin still isn’t as big as his.” Melisa let out a slow breath. “And your mouth is still yours, not his.”
I stared at her mouth, imagining what her lips might— What is wrong with me? My heart pounded. I swallowed. She was amazing.
Melisa stepped back. “You need to stay back from people, try to keep them from seeing you clearly.”
“Okay.” I swallowed. My face felt hot, my throat completely dry. I became aware of the pod again, saw the others watching us. “I need to go.” I stumbled backward a bit but caught myself. I looked around, grabbed my keeper, and forced my brain to turn back on. “Right. I’m going to keep undercover as long as I can. If they see me, I’ll act like Holland.”
“And we’ll do our best to keep them from seeing you,” Pol said. He punched my shoulder. “Stay alive. Use the EarCom.” We’d pulled James’s from his ear while was sleeping.
“You too. If we lose touch, meet me here,” I said. “When I find my parents and the others, I’ll get them back here.”
Pol nodded and dropped into the copilot chair.
Lily wrapped me in a hug. “Find your parents, get Holland, and get out.”
I hugged her back. “Definitely.”
“What’s going on?” James asked.
“I’ll fill you in when we’re flying again,” Lily said.
Melisa came with me to the pod door. I caught sight of the projector bombs in the locker. Grabbing one, I slid it into the pouch that held the knife Lily had given me.
“Might come in handy,” I explained.
“Don’t turn it on by accident,” Melisa said.
“I won’t.” I stepped onto the hard-packed yellowish dirt. I had to get moving; this had taken too long. “This is going to work,” I said, finding her dark eyes again.
“It had better,” she said. “Bring everyone back. Yourself, too.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said. But I couldn’t lie to her. “You know the most important thing is to stop him, right? Put an end to this?”
“Of course,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “But that doesn’t mean you get to be stupid and take dumb risks.”
“I know.” I took a step away. I knew she was right, but I also knew I wasn’t going to let Holland continue. Whatever it took, I was going to end this fight. I might not see her again. I might not see any of them again. “But if it doesn’t work out, just, I don’t know, tell people . . .”
“Tell them what? That you did something stupid?” Her voice was rough. Those were tears.
“No. I don’t know,” I said. What if I never see her again? I have so much to say—But I can’t do that to her. I took in her face, thought of everything we’d been through. She’s everything.
“I’ll tell Jan you—”
Bug it. I cut her off. “You can tell Jan I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
I took Melisa’s hand and pulled her close. My other hand cupped her cheek. She had time for a surprised breath, then we were kissing. A lightning bolt slammed through me, straight from my head to my toes. Every part of me blasted alive. All I felt was her. She was close and warm and alive. And perfect.
We separated. I had so much to say. She opened her mouth to speak, then pulled me back in for another quick kiss.
“That’s not the last one of those we do,” she said when we parted.
“Nope,” I said.
“Hurry up,” she said.
“I will.” I backed up and watched her go back into the pod.
Lily laughed and yelled, “It’s about time!”
With the sensation of Melisa’s lips still on mine, I turned and raced away.
Chapter 42
Behind me, I heard the pod spin up, then lift off. I fought the urge to glance back for one final look. I stopped at the first house I came to, dropped my keeper and pulled my shirt off. Then I slung the strap of my pouch with the knife and projector bomb across my chest, tucking the bottom end of the pouch into my pants at the small of my back. With my shirt back on, I retrieved my keeper. I looked ahead, found the low, wide buildings, and ran toward them.
I felt like I’d been transported back to New Frisko. All the neat, small, identical houses on clean streets were disconcerting. It was clear that this was a residential part of Edwards Air, and that New Frisko had been modeled after it. I heard the pod whine away and saw it bank to the northeast.
As I angled between two houses, the residential area abruptly ended and I found myself at the edge of a wide open space. The yellowish dirt spread out in front of me, most of it broken by small shrubs and trees. These were tough-looking, dark plants that looked like they could live through almost anything. There were buildings ahead of me to the left, and a bigger building, this one falling apart, at least a thousand meters straight ahead. I listened for a moment, studying the area. Nothing moved, and the only sound I heard was a light wind that blew dust into swirls. The wind had a strange taste to it. It was metallic and salty. I needed to find my parents and the other prisoners. I had a lot of ground to cover.
I jogged across the hard dirt, covering what turned out to be more than a thousand meters. I bent low as I stopp
ed to catch my breath in the shadow of the decrepit building. It looked like the walls of this place were made of glass, since I could look straight through to the buildings far on the other side.
I wasn’t going to sweat the nano gel out, was I? It was hot, but I felt like I was sweating inside my skin too, under the gel. I just needed to get this done.
Skirting the old glass-walled building, I darted to the next nearest structure, two long building-like things that sat on some kind of track. They were faded and worn and the two metal structures had started melting into each other. I ducked around the warped shape and ran across a surprisingly wide and clean road to the next cover: a concrete shed with a metal roof that looked like it was once dark red. I caught my breath while leaning in the small shack’s shadow.
I had two choices for getting across the next thousand meters. To the north lay a bunch of structures with the same faded red roof. These were small, short buildings. They didn’t look like houses, exactly. I imagined that some of them must have been office space or something. They were clustered in multiple groupings, surrounded by brown and yellow grass and shrub. There were roads and wide swaths of dirt between them.
Around five hundred meters south of that was a very different cluster of buildings. These were incredibly long, wide buildings, all the color old metal. The roofs on these buildings curved upward into low domes.
I still hadn’t seen any people or heard anything.
“Nik.” It was Melisa’s voice in my ear. She must have convinced Pol to let her wear the only other EarCom.
“Hey,” I said.
How were we supposed to talk about normal things now?
“Where are you?”
I could always trust Melisa to not bother feeling weird about things.
“About halfway between the residential area you dropped me off in and the rest of Edwards Air.”
“Seen anybody yet?”
“No, but everything’s still pretty far off,” I said. “Where are you?”
“Just took a wide circle to the northeast, now we’re about two minutes away from the residential area,” she said.
“You’re going to start there?”
“Yeah, especially since you didn’t see anybody there. He would have somebody guarding the prisoners, wouldn’t he?” Melisa paused. “You’re sure nobody’s there?”
Push (Beat series Book 2) Page 25
