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If that was true — if they’d kidnapped Da to get him to operate their psi weapons — then what would happen to Da when they found out all the psi weapons were useless?

Skies, could any of this be true, or was Taemon as crazy as Mam? He needed to talk to someone about this. Someone who he knew was thinking clearly.

Taemon dressed himself (more slowly than he would have liked, thanks to his injured shoulder) and headed for Hannova’s office. It was time to let someone with authority know what was going on.

As he stood in front of Hannova’s office, Taemon started to reach out for psi to open the door but caught himself just in time. Strange how quickly those old psionic habits came back! Anyway, using psi to turn a doorknob was just foolish. Doorknobs were for people who didn’t have psi. A psi latch would be inside the door, where it didn’t show.

Using psi was wrong for bigger reasons, too. Everyone else in the colony was powerless. For that matter, everyone else in the
world
was powerless. It seemed rude to use psi, like eating the only piece of cake while all your friends watched.

Skies! He was standing in front of the door, staring at it like a freakling.
Just open the flaming door and stop thinking about every blasted thing!

He pushed the door open by hand. About a dozen of the colony’s leaders were sitting in Hannova’s office.

“I’m telling you, that quadrider was not there before.” That was Mr. Parvel, Amma’s da, who seemed steamed up about something. He used to be in charge of guarding the library. Now he and Amma’s grown-up brothers were in charge of guarding the whole town.

Hannova turned to Taemon. “Hello, Taemon. It’s good to see you up and about. Is there something we can help you with?”

Taemon swallowed. He hadn’t expected to confess his fears in front of such a large audience. “You said to come see you when I could,” he reminded her.

“So I did,” Hannova agreed, nodding. “I was hoping you could tell us about these thieves led by someone called Free Will. This isn’t the first time they’ve accosted travelers. Could they have something to do with the mysterious new quadrider?”

“It’s been months since any psi vehicle has moved,” Mr. Parvel jumped in. “And all of a sudden there’s a new one on the side of the road? Why am I the only one who thinks that’s a problem?”

“I’ll agree that it’s suspicious,” Hannova said. “But there must be a simple explanation.”

“Only one thing can move a psi vehicle: psi,” Mr. Parvel said. “If Free Will’s people have psi, we’re all doomed.”

“Now, now,” Hannova cautioned, raising her hand to quiet the nervous chatter that had erupted at Amma’s da’s words. “Let’s not jump to any hasty conclusions. Aside from the mysterious appearance of this quadrider, there is no evidence to suggest that anyone has psi.”

Taemon caught Drigg’s eye across the room. Should he confess and put an end to the wild speculation before it erupted into full-on panic?

“I know how the quadrider got there,” Taemon said. The room fell silent as everyone stopped to listen to him. “When Free Will’s men had us, I —”

“They carried it,” Drigg said, cutting him off.

Hannova frowned. “What’s that, Drigg?”

“Free Will’s people. The ones who chased us here, the ones who shot the boy. We saw them carry the quadrider. Maybe they meant to take it back to their headquarters, wherever that is, and try to turn it into something useful — I don’t know. But we startled a group of ’em, and they left it behind. That’s how the quadrider came to be there. Simple as that.”

“Why didn’t you say so before?” Mr. Parvel asked, looking more than a little embarrassed.

“Didn’t seem important,” Drigg muttered. “Not when we’ve got real problems to deal with.”

“Drigg’s right,” Hannova said. “There are some very disturbing rumors floating around, and I want to know if there’s any truth to them. Solovar has the best connections with the city, so I’ll let him fill you all in.”

Solovar was the white-bearded leader of the city dwellers; he had tried to rebel against Elder Naseph. Now that Naseph was out of the way, Solovar could move freely throughout the city and make good use of his networks of former spies.

Solovar cleared his throat and spoke in his gravelly voice. “Things in the city are getting worse. People are still hoping to find a way to get psi back. They’re getting desperate. The thought of rebuilding the things that keep society running — the power plant, the quadriders, the elevators, the doors, the locks, the plumbing — that’s overwhelming. Getting psi back seems like a better option to them.”

“But that’s not possible,” Taemon said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Solovar leaned forward in his chair. “Yes, but they won’t accept that. And here’s the trouble: there are people in the city who claim to have a plan to return psionic powers to the people. They’re asking for donations, making promises, and showing their progress by giving street demonstrations, which are nothing more than tricks.”

Taemon looked down at his hands. That was the kind of thing he used to do back when he had to pretend to have psi. Lies, deception, trickery. “Those tricks won’t fool people for long,” Taemon said. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the charlatans.”

“You have to understand,” Solovar said. “People are scared. There are all kinds of wild tales spreading.”

“Like what?” Drigg asked.

“Like innocents still alive and trapped in secret underground chambers at the temple. Like people crossing Mount Deliverance to make contact with the Republik. There’s even a story about a ghost haunting one of the churches.”

Drigg laughed, which made Solovar’s scowl even deeper. “It may sound like rubbish to you and me. But there are people out there who are so desperate, they’ll believe anything.”

“What if they’re right?” Taemon whispered.

Solovar looked confused. “You really think there’s a ghost in the —?”

“Of course not. But the rumor about people crossing the mountain. My mam said something about that, too. She said that Da was in the Republik and that I should go find him.”

“Your mam wasn’t in her right mind,” Hannova said gently. “Amma told us how she was when you found her. She was probably just repeating some nonsense she’d overheard.”

“Besides,” Solovar added, “no one can cross those mountains. It’s impossible.”

Amma’s father cleared his throat. “Actually, that’s not quite true.”

All eyes turned to him. “What are you saying, Birch?” Hannova asked.

“There were documents in the library. I can’t be sure, mind you. They were very old and cryptic. But the way I interpret them, I think . . .”

Hannova slapped both hands on her desk. “For Skies’ sake! Out with it!”

“I think there’s a way to cross Mount Deliverance.”

“A way over Mount Deliverance?” Hannova said. “Are you sure?”

“No. In fact, I’m very unsure,” Mr. Parvel said. “But there was a map in the library that makes me think there is a way. Or was at one time. But I never studied the map closely. My grandfather gave me strict instructions to keep it secret, and I thought the less I knew about it, the better.”

Hannova drummed her fingers on her desk, looking like she was thinking a million things at once. “You might have mentioned this when Elder Naseph took everything from the library. If the Republik has that map . . .”

Mr. Parvel stiffened defensively. “I didn’t see any reason to bring it up until now. For all we know, everything from the library is buried under the rubble of the temple. Even if all the documents survived, it would take someone months to go through everything.”

“So it
is
possible,” Taemon said, his pulse quickening.

“Not without the map,” Mr. Parvel added quickly. “Assuming it was even accurate.”

“And even if we had the map,” Hannova broke in, holding Taemon’s gaze, “we couldn’t allow a thirteen-year-old boy to attempt to cross the mountains and enter enemy territory.”

“But no one would suspect a kid,” Taemon said.
Especially a kid with psi,
he thought but couldn’t very well say. “Besides, it’s my da. If anyone should risk the trip, it should be me.”

Arguing broke out among the adults. While Hannova could see the value in knowing more about the Republik, she didn’t think it was safe for anyone — and certainly not Taemon — to attempt the trip alone. Drigg volunteered to go, but Solovar pointed out that the work of converting another hauler was more important than some “fool’s errand.”

Mr. Parvel spoke up. “Just because crossing the mountain might be possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. This late into autumn, there could be snowfall on the mountains soon. Anyone caught in a storm at this time of year would surely die.”

But Taemon didn’t much care what anyone else thought. If there was a way over Mount Deliverance, he was going to find it. His father needed him. And Mam would need Da when she woke up.

Taemon stood up. “I think I’m going to go back to my room now. Get some rest.”

Hannova nodded. “We shouldn’t have kept you so long. We can talk again in the morning.”

Taemon headed for the door. He wasn’t about to go take a nap. Not when he needed to prepare for his trip to the Republik.

He nearly ran into Amma, who was standing outside the door, just out of the line of sight. She followed him back to his room.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not just here to check in on me?” he asked eventually, suspicious of her silence.

“I’m going, too,” she blurted. “I can help.”

“Going where?”

“To the Republik!” She looked around, then lowered her voice: “To the Republik. You can’t go alone — and don’t even try to tell me that you’re not planning on going. I know you too well, Taemon Houser.”

“You heard all of that?” he whispered. “What we were saying in Hannova’s office?”

“I couldn’t help it,” Amma said. “They were plenty loud. Urland asked me to find you and send you back to bed. But I can tell that’s not going to happen.”

Part of him wanted Amma to come with him. But it was the selfish part of him. The last time she’d gone with him, she could have easily been killed along with Moke.

Moke. Taemon didn’t dare let his mind linger too long on that sadness. He didn’t think he could bear having another friend’s death on his conscience.

“It’s going to be hard to cross the mountains this time of year,” he said. “We could get lost. We could freeze or starve or worse. And once we get to the Republik, there’s no telling what we’ll be up against. You should stay. There’s plenty you can do here to help. You could even watch over Mam, be there to explain everything to her when she wakes up.”

“Challis will do that,” Amma said. “It would mean a lot more to your mam than some strange girl trying to tell her what’s happened to her son and her husband.

“Besides,” Amma continued, “if you want to cross the mountain, you need me.”

Taemon frowned. “What do you mean?” He looked around and whispered, “I’m the one with psi. What can you —?”

“I’ve seen the map, Taemon. I know the way.”

Taemon froze. “You have? I thought it was top secret. Not even your da looked at it!”

Amma looked guilty. “I wasn’t supposed to look at it, either. My da had told my oldest brother and me about it, how important it was, how
secret
it was. I was pretty young at the time — too young to understand why anything in the library should be kept a secret from us. Our whole lives were supposed to be devoted to guarding the library and all its secrets. Why would we ever tell anyone about anything we saw, including some dumb map? So one night I snuck into the library, found the map, and memorized it. I’m not proud of it, but right now it makes me pretty valuable to you, I’d say.”

Taemon shook his head. “Your father will have a fit if you come with me.”

“I don’t plan on seeking his permission,” Amma said with a determined air.

Taemon knew when he’d been beaten. “Fine. But you can’t tell
anyone.
”

“Of course not.”

“Gather what supplies you can tomorrow. We’ll set out at dawn two days from now.”

That night, Taemon was back in his old room next to Drigg’s workshop, having promised Urland that he would take it easy. It was late, but as much as he tried to sleep, tried to let the thrumming of the cicadas clear his mind, it wasn’t working. His problems seemed suffocating. He got up and went into the workshop. Drigg, who was asleep upstairs, had laid out parts of an engine he was working on. Taemon looked over the parts; he didn’t need clairvoyance to see how they would all come together in one harmonious machine. Why couldn’t life be like that? Nothing ever seemed to fit together or work the way it was supposed to.

The sound of the front door opening startled him. Challis came in and sat down on the bench.

“Saw the light on in here, and I thought we should talk. I have something for you.” She placed a scarf in his hands. It was blue and green and yellow, with some orange and brown and a strand of silver that meandered throughout. When he held it up, he thought he saw an image of some sort, but as soon as he tried to make sense of it, it vanished into randomness. Challis’s scarves had always been fairly . . . unusual.