Fugitive X (11 page)

“Come on, Nick,” said Jackson. “We haven’t got all morning.”

Nick took the shot, gouging a wound in the center of the tree. He squeezed the trigger again, hitting just above his first shot. Then a third, just below. Then, rapidly, a fourth and fifth, to the left and right. He stood up, inspecting his work. He had formed a perfectly spaced plus sign. He handed the rifle to Jackson, trying to act casual, even though his heart was pounding through his chest. It was like the tree had been five feet away, like he could reach out and touch it.

Jackson whistled. “Guess you really are right-handed, huh?” he said. “Nice shooting there.”

Jackson handled the rifle to Erica, who was looking at Nick with an eyebrow raised. He smiled and shrugged. “Just a natural, I guess.”

Erica lay down and quickly took five shots, repeating Nick’s pattern but not quite as tightly.

“Not bad,” said Nick. “Almost as good as me.”

“Shut up, Nick,” she said.

Nick grinned at her. He saw Lexi watching him out of the corner of his eye and he quickly turned to her, feeling guilty even though he had done nothing wrong. He pulled the smile off his face, coughed, then realized that looking so uncomfortable made it seem like he
had
done something wrong, so he smiled again. Lexi was staring at him, expressionless, her hand on her hip, which made him even more uncomfortable. “Let’s see what you’ve got,” he said, trying to sound natural, when Jackson handed her the rifle.

Lexi took the rifle without changing her flat expression or saying a word. She lay down, carefully aimed, and missed the tree entirely, kicking up dirt to the left. “Rust,” she said. She overcompensated on her next shot, missing to the right. She finally found the tree on her next shots, although they were scattered wildly across the trunk in no particular pattern. She handed the rifle back to Jackson. “Guess I’m not a natural,” she said.

Nick wasn’t sure if he should say something.
It’s all right
or
Not bad
or
Don’t worry about it
would sound condescending, so he kept his mouth shut.

Farryn, it turned out, was the worst shot in the group, hitting the tree only once in six tries. He didn’t seem particularly surprised.

“Looks like you’ll be sticking to the tech for now,” said Jackson. In just one day, Farryn had already proven his value with his tech skills, fixing two vids and a pair of binocs that the rebels were going to scrap.

Back at the camp, Lexi pulled Nick aside. “I don’t trust that girl Erica,” she said.

“I think she’s fine,” Nick said. “She already apologized for what happened when we first found you.”

Lexi stepped closer to him, and he thought she was going to kiss him, but then she roughly grabbed hold of the front of shirt. “Listen to me, you idiot,” she said. “It’s not about that. There’s something off with that girl.” She let go of his shirt and stepped back. “What do you know about her, anyway?”

Nick shook his head. “Not much. I’ve already told you all this. She lost her family to the bots.”

“And she’s been roaming the woods, going from Freepost to Freepost,” said Lexi.

“Yes,” Nick said.

“And she just stumbled across you in the woods, after
you had lost Cass and Kevin, and decided to take you to the Freepost,” Lexi continued.

“Yes.” It really wasn’t as odd, Nick thought, as Lexi was trying to make it seem. A thought struck him, and he had to suppress a smile.
Was Lexi jealous?

Lexi was about to say more, but she saw Farryn approaching and she cut herself off.

“Nick, there’s something you need to see,” said Farryn quietly. He was holding a small portable vid under his arm. “But not here. Get your canteen. Meet me at the stream.” He turned and began walking away. Nick ran to grab his canteen, then he and Lexi hurried off after Farryn.

Farryn was waiting for them by the water. “We only have a minute,” he said. “I have to get back before they notice a vid screen is missing.”

“What is it?” said Nick.

“It’s Cass!” Farryn said, in an excited whisper. “She’s alive! But—” Farryn cut himself off.

Nick hadn’t let himself think about Cass, he had tried to push that back, force himself to believe she was okay, but now . . . “What? But what? What are you talking about?” he said.

“Broadband broadcast. Wide-spectrum,” Farryn said, talking fast. “Totally unsecure. They’d never use it for internal comm, they have to be talking right to us. . . .”

“You sound just like Kevin,” said Lexi.

“I still have no idea what you’re saying,” said Nick, starting to grow frustrated.

“They sent a message, the bots,” said Farryn. “From the City. It has to be for us.”

Farryn began tweaking the settings on the vid screen, then after a few moments he held it out for Nick and Lexi to see. Cass was on the screen, a 2D still image. She stood on a street corner, smiling, wearing a bright red City-style dress. She was with a man, a woman, and a younger girl. She looked genuinely happy.

“The rebels monitor whatever comm networks they can access, to try to get intel,” said Farryn. “Mostly it’s all scrambled and encrypted. Useless. I was helping them tweak their reception, see if maybe I could pull in a bit more clarity, maybe even try to help unlock something, and then”—Farryn waved the vid—“this came through. Completely clean, sent out over a wide-open channel. Anyone within a hundred miles, bot or human, could pick this up.”

Nick could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He was barely listening to Farryn. He felt dizzy, and his eyes started to sting and threatened to tear. She was alive. Cass was alive. But who were these people she was with?

“That’s the only one I showed Ro,” said Farryn. “I told him I had tapped into a street camera and just happened to come across that image. He’d think it was too suspicious, the way it was being broadcast so openly—it
is
so
odd—but there’s more in the feed that Ro didn’t see.” He tapped the screen, and the image shifted. Nick clenched his jaw to keep from groaning. In the picture, Cass was in a re-education jumpsuit, standing in a small white cell that looked just like the room Nick had been kept in. To her left stood a Lecturer. To her right floated a small sphere bot. Cass stood between the two bots with the same genuine smile on her face.

Nick squatted, resting his elbows on his knees, suddenly feeling too weak to stand. How had they broken her so fast? What had they done to his little sister?

“And one more,” Farryn said quietly. He tapped the screen again, and the new image showed a map of the area with a red star over the City they had just escaped.

“They’re taunting me,” said Nick. “They have her, she’s back in the City, and they’ve re-educated her.” He stood up. “I have to go get her.” He began hurrying back to the camp.

“Where are you going?” said Lexi.

“To Ro,” said Nick. “He needs to help me save Cass.”

“Nick, that’s not smart,” said Farryn, but Nick wasn’t listening. He rushed through the camp, Farryn and Lexi at his heels, and walked right up to Ro’s tent. Ro was standing outside, talking to two men.

Ro watched Nick approach and held his hand up to cut Nick off. “You’ve seen the picture,” he said. “This is indeed your sister?”

“Yes,” said Nick. “We need to get her out of there. You must have some intel—”

“Stop,” said Ro. “Your sister is safe.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Nick stared at Ro, fighting back his anger. Ro looked back at him calmly.

Lexi put a hand on his forearm. “Ro’s right, Nick. She’s alive. That’s a start.”

“We need to help her,” said Nick.

“No!” said Ro. “I won’t have you do anything stupid.” He looked meaningfully at Nick. “Your sister needs you alive. Be patient. Soon we’ll be launching a small strike on the City where your sister is being held. The time will come when we can help her.” He hesitated, about to say something more, then stopped. “For now, you wait.”

Nick nodded, although he was already forming different plans. There was no point arguing with Ro about it.

“Okay, you’re all dismissed,” said Ro.

As they walked away, Farryn stepped close to Nick and whispered, “I’m going with you.”

“What are you talking about?” said Nick.

“To rescue Cass. When are you leaving?”

Nick considered lying, but instead said, “Tonight. Soon as it gets dark.”

“Idiots!” hissed Lexi angrily. “What do you expect to do?”

“I have to try,” said Nick.

“We can’t just leave her,” said Farryn.

“Well, there’s no way you’re just going to walk into the City, find your sister when you don’t even know where she is, and walk back out,” said Lexi.

Nick shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

Lexi sighed. “You know I’m coming with you, right?”

“Lexi . . .” began Nick sharply.

“Shut up,” she said. “End of discussion. What am I going to do, hang out here and become best friends with Erica?”

OTTER AND PIL WERE UP EARLY. IT WAS THEIR BREAK DAY, AND THEY
were looking forward to spending it with the girls. Cort, on the other hand, was even quieter than usual and wouldn’t get out of bed, although he was awake. “You just going to hide in bed all day?” said Pil. Cort ignored him.

Otter was actually spending time in front of the mirror in the shower room, brushing his hair with his fingers. Kevin even saw him flex his biceps and study his arm. He was begging to be teased, but nobody was brave or stupid enough.

Kevin thought about what that girl Wex had said to Otter—that the hunters might let them tag along. Would they actually let Kevin outside the Island? He doubted it. But if they did, Kevin vowed that he would escape.

A knock sounded on the front door. Pil was reading something on his vid, Otter was still busy in front of the mirror, now shaving his nonexistent facial hair, and Cort wasn’t moving from under his sheets, so Kevin went to answer it. Before he could get to the door, it swung open and a bot stepped inside. Kevin recognized the patch pattern—the small patch just above the left eye, the larger patch on the right cheek.

“Work assignments have been reinstated today,” 23 announced. “Report to the Wall gap after breakfast.”

“What are you talking about?” said Otter angrily. He was wearing only a towel, and he had shaving cream on half his face.

“Yeah, come on!” said Pil, standing up from his bed.

“I repeat, work assignments have been reinstated today. Report to the Wall—”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time!” interrupted Otter. “But it’s our break day!”

“The schedule has changed,” said 23. It turned to Kevin. “Kevin, you will come with me.”

Otter took another step toward 23. His fists were clenched. “It’s our break day. I don’t take orders from a damned bot.”

“The schedule change comes from the Governor, not from me,” 23 said, its voice maddeningly calm. “I am only the messenger.”

Otter didn’t move. He was struggling to control himself, Kevin could see.

“Do you wish to ignore the Governor?” said 23.

“You should all be scrapped, you pig-skinned bastards,” said Otter. “We don’t need you.”

Cort yanked his sheets off and jumped to his feet. Pil took a step closer to Otter, who still had his fists clenched. Everyone stared at 23, waiting silently, Otter’s words still echoing in the air. Kevin eased away from the bot. He didn’t want to get caught in any cross fire.

23 said nothing, quietly observing the room. “You will report to the Wall gap after breakfast,” it finally said. “If you fail to report to the duty assigned to you by the Governor, you will be disciplined.” It turned to Kevin. “Come with me now.” It turned and stepped back outside. Kevin followed, feeling Otter’s eyes burning into his back.

Kevin expected to be led to the tech shed, but instead 23 followed the path that led toward the Governor’s office. The two bot guards nodded when they approached the cabin, and one opened the door and motioned for Kevin to enter.

“Welcome back, Kevin,” said the Governor. He was again sitting behind his desk. This time a chair had been pulled up in front of the desk. The old man pointed at it. “Sit down,” he said.

Kevin sat. A bot entered from a side hall, carrying a tray. It set the tray down on the desk, placed plates with scrambled eggs, bacon, and a biscuit in front of the Governor and Kevin, poured water into two glasses, then retrieved the tray and departed.

“Thank you, 18. That will be all. Eat,” said the Governor to Kevin.

Kevin ate hungrily. The Governor took a forkful of egg, a bite of bacon, and then pushed his plate away. “The initial reports from 23 indicate you have a strong aptitude for technology, as well as some training,” he said.

Kevin nodded warily, continuing to shovel eggs into his mouth.

“Who instructed you?”

“Tech Tom,” Kevin said, around a mouthful of food. No point lying about that; he had already shown he knew his way around tech. “He ran the grid in our Freepost.” He thought of Tom and the way he had died, according to Nick—strapped to a table, helpless, injected with poison. “The bots killed him,” he said softly.

“Ah, very sorry,” said the Governor, seeming honestly upset. He sat forward in his seat. “That’s what the Island is all about, Kevin,” he said, gesturing around him. “Protecting us from the robots. Creating a safe, impenetrable haven. That is why we work so hard on the Wall. Once the Wall is complete, we will be safe.”

“Yeah, about that. Everyone’s pretty upset about losing their break day,” Kevin said. He took a bite of the biscuit. It had butter and honey on it; it was delicious.

The Governor slammed his palm onto the table with a crash, making Kevin flinch and drop his biscuit onto the plate. “Are
you not listening?” the Governor said angrily. “We won’t be safe until the Wall is finished. We can rest when we’re done.” The Governor took a deep breath, then sat back in his seat and seemed to calm. “Your family,” he said. “Tell me about them.”

“I already told you, the bots got them in the raid.”

“Siblings?” said the Governor.

“A brother and a sister,” said Kevin.

“Ages?”

“My brother is—I mean was—seventeen, and my sister was fifteen.”