Fugitive X (13 page)

Kevin decided not to overanalyze his good luck. He broke into a run. 23 kept pace, no longer bothering to tell Kevin to
stop. Kevin dashed through the Island, 23 shadowing him all the way, drawing curious stares. He burst through the small cluster of trees in the northwest corner of the Island, and then the Governor’s office loomed in front of him, with the same two bots, one patch-faced, one all leather-faced, standing guard outside the front door. Kevin skidded to a stop. The guards. He hadn’t thought things through very well. But he couldn’t just turn around now, could he?

“Come with me now to your work assignment, and you may still avoid punishment,” said 23.

That settled it. Kevin walked purposefully toward the door. The guard with the full face of leather stepped forward to meet him. “State your purpose,” it said.

“I’m here to see the Governor,” said Kevin. “I need to speak to him, right now.”

“We are not aware of any summons for you from the Governor,” it said. It turned to 23. “Clarify.”

“Unscheduled and unauthorized,” said 23. “The subject should currently be in work assignment.”

“Leave now,” the guard said to Kevin.

“I’m not leaving until I see the Governor,” Kevin said.

The guard raised its arm, and Kevin ducked, expecting a burst of pain, but it simply pointed back down the path toward the grove of trees. “You must leave,” it said.

Kevin straightened up. This one wasn’t going to touch him either? Something was strange here. Kevin stepped past the
guard and began pounding on the door. “Governor! If you’re in there, I need to talk to you! Governor!”

“You must desist!” said the guard bot, but it still didn’t touch him, and Kevin ignored it, continuing to pound on the door and shout.

The door suddenly swung open and Captain Clay grabbed his shirt with a strong hand and yanked him inside, then slammed him against a wall. The air exploded out of his lungs and his shoulders and back radiated pain where they had hit the wood, and then he froze, feeling the cold sharpness of a knife at his throat. His eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room. Captain Clay had her left hand bunched up tightly on his shirt, pressing him back against the wall, while her right hand held a dagger just below his Adam’s apple, the edge just touching his skin. Her wild eyes were just inches from his.

“Guard!” she spit out angrily, without looking away from Kevin. “What is going on here? Why was this boy allowed to make such a racket?”

“We have been ordered not to harm this one in any way,” said the guard.

“Well, I’ve been given no such order,” said the Captain quietly. Kevin felt the blade on his throat begin to press more firmly against his skin, ever so slightly. . . . It bit into the skin, and he felt a trickle of blood run down his neck. . . .

“Mira!” The Governor’s voice boomed out authoritatively from the back of the room. “Release the boy!”

Captain Clay didn’t move.

“Captain!” repeated the Governor.

Captain Clay pulled the knife away from Kevin’s throat and stepped back with a scowl. Kevin leaned against the wall, panting from adrenaline. He touched his throat and felt a few drops of blood. His hands shook.

“Just identifying and neutralizing the threat, sir,” said the Captain, wiping the edge of her blade clean on the leg of her pants. “Your guard apparently wasn’t capable.”

“There’s no threat, Captain,” said the Governor.

Kevin could see the Governor now. The old man was standing behind his desk, at the far end of the room. “Governor,” he began hoarsely, then cleared his throat and began again. “Governor, I need to speak with you—”

Captain Clay’s hand snaked out and grabbed his shirt again, pushing him back against the wall. “Enough! Keep your mouth shut!”

“Captain!” said the Governor. “Hands off the boy!”

The Captain growled in anger but let go of Kevin and took a step back.

“Kevin,” said the Governor, “come here. Captain, wait outside. We’ll continue the briefing in a few minutes.”

Captain Clay spun toward the Governor in surprise and anger. “Sir!” she said. “You can’t be serious!”

“Captain,” said the Governor, quietly but firmly, “leave now. This won’t take long.”

The Captain shot Kevin a look of pure venom, then spun on her heels and exited, slamming the door shut behind her.

The Governor remained standing, leaning forward with his hands on the desk, as Kevin approached. He no longer felt the wild energy or the confidence that had gotten him this far. The cold blade on his throat and the look in Captain Clay’s eyes had taken that out of him.

“You’re pushing your luck, Kevin,” said the Governor. “What do you want?”

Kevin realized he was still touching his throat. He forced his hand down to his side and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “You were right,” he said. “I was in a City. I was there to rescue my parents.”

“Did you rescue them?” said the Governor, his voice tense. “Are your parents alive?”

“Alive, yes, but we couldn’t get them out.” Kevin felt tears starting to threaten, and he rubbed at his eyes angrily. The Governor didn’t say anything, but he looked tired, and deflated, and old. He sat down. Kevin continued. “Before me and my brother and sister got out, we were told about Dr. Miles Winston. How we should find him, because he’s the only one who might know how to beat the bots.”

“Yes,” said the Governor quietly. He wore an unreadable expression.

Kevin walked right up to the desk. “You’re Dr. Winston. I know it. You have to help.”

The Governor closed his eyes, held them shut, then gave a small nod and opened them. “Yes, Kevin,” he said. “I am Dr. Winston, the father of modern robotics. Thanks to me, this whole god-awful robot revolution mess was possible.” He stood. “It is my work,” he continued, his voice rising in anger, “my life work that has turned on me and enslaved mankind.”

“Then you can help!” said Kevin. “You know more about the bots than anyone! Their weaknesses, their communications structure, I mean, I was able to build a small-scale overload device that attacked their power supplies, but you could help me scale it up, maybe even create a large overload field—”

“Kevin.” Dr. Winston cut him off. “The bots have won.”

“But that’s not true! We can fight! And with your expertise—”

“Kevin!” Dr. Winston slammed his hand on the table, making Kevin jump. “The war is over. It’s over. All we can do now is find a way to protect ourselves. That’s what I’m doing here. That’s what the Island is for. We can protect ourselves, keep the bots away. But we can’t win.”

“You’re a coward,” Kevin said. “You just want to hide until you die, when you should be fighting.”

“Yes, I’m an old coward,” said Dr. Winston. “So be it.”

“Well, I’m not old, or a coward.” said Kevin. “Let me out of your Island, so I can find my brother and sister and fight.”

“No,” said Dr. Winston, sitting back down. “You’ll stay here, where you’re safe.” He pointed at the door. “Now go. And do not try to come back here uninvited again. I will be modifying my hands-off order, and you will not like the results the next time you test my robots.”

SNEAKING OUT OF THE REBEL CAMP, NICK REALIZED BELATEDLY, WASN’T
going to be easy. Nick, Lexi, and Farryn had waited until two a.m., then rendezvoused on the edge of camp. And that’s where they still were, stuck, watching the sentry from twenty yards away. It was Marco with a burst rifle slung between his shoulder blades, blocking the only exit from the campground. Farryn lay to Nick’s right, up against a boulder, and Lexi was to his left, her side pressed warmly against Nick’s, which would have been wonderful under different circumstances.

Farryn shifted and his knee noisily brushed against leaves. Nick flinched, but Marco didn’t notice. Thankfully, he his attention was focused outward, beyond the camp. But there was no way Nick was sneaking past Marco with Lexi and
Farryn tagging along. The two of them sounded like elephants smashing through the forest, even when they thought they were being silent. It wasn’t their fault, Nick knew. They had lived in the City their entire lives.

“You’ll need to stay here,” whispered Nick. “I can only get past Marco by myself.”

“No,” whispered Farryn. Lexi grabbed Nick’s shoulder and shook her head no.

Nick broke his gaze away from Lexi’s adamant eyes. There was no choice. “I’ll get her, then I’ll come back for you,” he said. “I promise.”

Lexi looked like she was going to argue more, but then, off in the distance beyond Marco, there was a thump and crackle, like something heavy dropping onto a pile of dry sticks. Lightning fast, Marco had his burst rifle in his hands. “Who’s there?” he said, aiming his rifle to the northeast, in the direction of the sound.

The noise came again, the thump and crackle, a bit louder this time, and Marco moved into the trees to investigate, moving very slowly and quietly, setting his feet carefully. The path out of the camp was momentarily clear.

“Now!” hissed Nick. “Fast, but quiet!” He pushed himself to his feet and sprinted down the pathway noiselessly. Lexi and Farryn followed, their footfalls brutally loud in Nick’s ears. Nick led them along the path another twenty feet, past the large boulder and to the edge of the creek, and then ducked
south into the trees. Nick couldn’t believe their luck. They had made it.

They headed south, making their way slowly through the trees, thankfully just visible under the soft glow of a full moon. If they kept south for a while, maybe a day, guessed Nick, then shifted eastward, hopefully they’d hit the main road that he’d taken out of the City. Then the road would lead them right back to the City; all they’d have to do is shadow it from the tree line, for cover. Of course, that was all guesswork; Nick wasn’t really sure exactly where he was in relation to the City. He’d have to hope for more luck.

Nick walked past a large tree and a figure materialized from behind the trunk, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed Nick’s shoulder. Nick yelled and scrambled to his right, dropping his pack, raising his fists, and Lexi and Farryn rushed forward.

Erica stepped into a patch of moonlight. She was laughing. “Oh my God!” she said. “You should see your faces!”

“What the hell?” Nick said. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you rescue your sister,” Erica said.

“We don’t want your help,” Lexi said, stepping close to Nick.

Erica shrugged. “Well, without my help you’d still be lying on your bellies at the rebel camp waiting for Marco to fall asleep,” she said.

“That was you?” Farryn said. “The noise, leading Marco into the woods?”

“Guilty,” said Erica, with a smile.

“How’d you even know we were going?” said Farryn.

“The whole camp was whispering about that bot transmission of Nick’s sister,” Erica said. “And it was just an educated guess that Nick wouldn’t wait around very long.”

“You could’ve been shot,” said Nick.

“What a tragedy that would have been,” said Lexi.

Erica looked at Lexi for a moment; the two stared at each other, neither one blinking or looking away. Then Erica shrugged. “He would have had to see me to shoot me,” she said. “Not much danger of that.”

“Look,” said Lexi. “Thank you for helping us get past Marco. But we don’t need your help anymore.”

“Yes, you do,” said Erica. “I can show you the fastest and safest route to the City. You’ll get lost or captured without me.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lexi said.

“Lexi, she’s right, we could use a guide,” said Nick. “She knows these woods a lot better than I do.”

“I don’t care if you trust me,” said Erica to Lexi, stepping forward so that she was just a few feet from Nick and Lexi. “I wouldn’t if I were you. But I hate the bots just as much as you, and this is something to do. Nick is right—he can’t just leave his sister.” She paused, then added, “You have to do what you can to protect your family.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Nick said.

Erica smiled. “Very chivalrous, Nick. But first of all, I can
take care of myself, and second, don’t worry, this is strictly a pathfinding mission for me. I’m not stupid enough to enter the City. I’ll lead the way, then keep an eye out for you for a few days. If you make it back out, great, I’ll guide you back, and if, more likely, you get lased or re-educated, then, well, it was nice knowing you. Deal?”

Lexi didn’t say anything. Farryn nodded. Nick smiled. “Deal,” he said. “Thank you.”

They traveled for another hour, then slept briefly, then continued on for the rest of the new day. For the most part, everyone traveled silently, except when Erica briefly disappeared to scout ahead of them.

“I still don’t trust her, Nick,” Lexi said.

“Enough already,” he said, annoyed. It was flattering, but now was not the time for Lexi’s jealousy. He needed all the help he could get, and if Erica was willing to offer hers, he’d be happy to take it.

Lexi shook her head in frustration but didn’t say anything else.

Nick spent the rest of the day, and a mostly sleepless night, trying to come up with some sort of plan. They were close to the City now, Erica had told them. How would he sneak back in? How would he find Cass? How would he rescue her? Nick had no idea. Maybe Doc could help again? He needed a plan. Cass was counting on him. Lexi and Farryn would be counting on him.

And he had nothing.

In the morning they came upon the road, and they followed it south, Nick wracking his brain, trying to envision some possible way that he’d slip into the City and slip back out with his sister. And then, a quarter mile from the City, they came around a bend, and there she was.

Cass sat quietly on the west side of the road, her back against a boulder, tears streaking her face.

WHAT HAD CASS DONE WRONG? SHE HAD DONE EVERYTHING THAT HAD
been asked of her by the Advisors. She had graduated successfully from re-education and was a faithful Citizen. Why had she been taken away from her new family and left out in the woods? Why was she being punished?

The robots said to wait until she was collected, so Cass waited. She waited all night, shivering, sleeping fitfully with her back propped against the rock. When the sun rose she stretched her legs with a short walk, staying close to the boulder, and had a small breakfast of sausage, cheese, and water that was in the pack the robots had given her. And then she sat back down and waited some more, and thought of her sister.
Her newfound sister. Would Cass ever see her again? Would that be all the time with her family she was ever going to get? She knew she shouldn’t doubt the wisdom of the Advisors; everything they did was for the greater good of humanity. But still, it hurt. . . .