Archon (13 page)

“If your father rejected what was in those books, then why would he want someone from Deliverance to train the archons?” Taemon asked. “We don’t know how to use psi to harm others.”

Gevri shrugged. “There must be something they need to know, some problem they’ve run into. There’s a lot that Father doesn’t tell me. Everything I know I learned second- or third-hand, often under the cover of mealtimes.”

Again, Taemon and Amma fell quiet. The sun was beginning its descent when Taemon thought of one last question to ask: “How many archons did you say there are?”

Gevri met and held his gaze. “I didn’t. But if I had to guess, I’d say there’re probably a thousand or so by now. The regular army has at least five times that number training here — separate from the archons, of course.”

Again, Amma gasped. Taemon would have gasped as well, but he couldn’t seem to breathe at the moment. A thousand! A thousand psi warriors training for battle. And five thousand powerless soldiers, who ate, dreamed, and breathed war.

The entire city of Deliverance had only about ten thousand people. And another five hundred lived in the colony. Neither had an army of any kind, unless you could count the temple guards, who numbered exactly forty after the Fall. Now powerless, every last one.

That thought stuck in Taemon’s head for the rest of the day’s hike.

When it was time to camp for the night, Amma cleared the ground for the bedrolls and Gevri got out his cooking equipment. Taemon went to get water from the stream.

His shoulder was still numb, but he was used to that. His clumsy legs were more of a challenge right now. He couldn’t very well use a walking stick with Gevri around — not if he wanted to avoid difficult questions — but all the hiking was brutal on his legs.

As he squatted near the stream to fill the water flasks, his left leg gave out on him. His knee was now covered in mud. Across the stream, a group of geese seemed to be cackling over his little mishap.

Out of nowhere, Jix leaped into the cluster of geese and killed one — no, two. The suddenness of the jaguar’s presence and the squawking of the geese startled Taemon, and he dropped the flask into the water. He fished it out of the cold stream, and the jaguar glanced at him as she sauntered away. That cat gave him the tremblies.

By the time Taemon returned to the campsite, Gevri and Amma were cleaning a goose. Jix had settled in to a spot on the edge of the site and was gnawing on what Taemon assumed was the other goose. He shuddered.

“Roast goose for dinner tonight,” Amma said with a smile.

“I thought we couldn’t have fires.” Gevri had told them that a fire would attract too much attention this close to the outpost.

Gevri plucked feathers by the handful. “No fire.”

“How do you roast a goose without a fire?” Taemon asked.

“I came prepared,” Gevri said.

When the goose had been cleaned, Gevri carved off portions of the meat, sprinkled them with some seasoning he’d brought, and wrapped them in a strange kind of paper.

“I don’t see how paper can cook meat,” Amma said.

Gevri smiled. “Just wait.” From his bag he pulled out a box about the size of a book. He pushed a button, and the thing expanded into a cube. He lifted the lid and placed one of the goose packages inside.

Gevri handed the box to Amma. “Here. You do it.”

Amma took the box slowly, giving Gevri a puzzled look.

“Close the lid, then push the button.”

Amma did as she was told. When the box started to hum, she flinched.

Gevri chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s safe.”

A few seconds later, the humming stopped.

“Open it,” Gevri said, handing her a plate. “Be careful: it’s hot.”

Amma opened the lid and dumped the goose package onto the plate. It steamed with a heavenly aroma.

Taemon and Amma exchanged an incredulous look as Gevri busied himself with cooking the next goose package. In no time, they were devouring the delicious meal. Taemon couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises they would find in the Republik.

Taemon was licking his fingers, savoring every greasy drop, when Gevri spoke up.

“There are some things I haven’t told you yet,” he said. “Things that are . . . unpleasant, but that I think you need to know.”

“What things?” Taemon asked.

Gevri hesitated. “Things about Nathan.”

“Trust me, we know all about Nathan,” Amma said. “We learn about him in church, at school, everywhere. Even little kids know about Nathan.”

“Yeah, but there’s more. When Nathan took his people and left the Republik, he pulled up the mountains to protect it —”

Taemon nodded impatiently. “Cha. We know. Everybody knows.”

“And . . . he created a famine in the Republik.”

“A famine?” Amma said.

“That’s right. Nothing would grow. Plants died, crops failed, people died.”

“I don’t believe it,” Taemon said. “Why would he do that?”

“Nobody knows. My guess is that his purpose was to end the Great War — because that’s exactly what it did. For a while, anyway. The war started up again later. But thousands of people died during that famine. People had to flee the region until crops could grow again. And that took nearly a hundred years. The scientists think he used dominion to leach the nutrients out of the soil.”

“Maybe it was just a natural thing,” Taemon said. Beyond being the founder of Deliverance, Nathan was also Taemon’s ancestor, and he felt obligated to stand up for him. “Maybe Nathan had nothing to do with it.”

Gevri shook his head. “That’s not how the history books tell it.
Our
history books, anyway. When I studied the books that my dad found, they made no mention of the famine. I’m not surprised that you two had never heard of it.”

Taemon didn’t know what to say. Was Gevri expecting an apology?

Gevri looked away. “The thing is, people here, they hate Nathan, and they hate Nathan’s City. If anyone knew you were actually from the other side of the mountain, well, to be honest, they would probably kill you.”

“Kill us?” Taemon said. “And you’re only telling us this
now
?”

Amma frowned. “What if we’d gone to the outpost without you? You only said they’d imprison us, not kill us!”

Gevri at least had the good grace to look sheepish. “I didn’t want to get involved at first. I didn’t know if I could trust you.”

“So you would have just sent us to our deaths?” Taemon asked. “Isn’t that just like a Republikite, to look out for himself and never mind about the other guy.”

“Taemon,” Amma said, chastising him, “he’s helping us now. We shouldn’t be too hard on him.” She put extra emphasis on that last line, and Taemon knew what she meant: weren’t he and Amma doing something similar, keeping Gevri close because they didn’t fully trust him? Still, keeping someone close was a far cry from letting someone
die.

“They might not have killed you,” Gevri said, which was a very small comfort. “The archons, on the other hand, definitely won’t kill you. They’ll respect your skill and want to talk to you — especially my father. Once you get inside their facility, you should be fine.”

“And how exactly are we going to get to this facility?” Taemon asked.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Gevri said. “Do you know someone named Naseph?”

Taemon saw Amma go pale, and by the chill that traveled down his spine, he figured his face was paling as well. Slowly they both nodded.

“A while back, he was talking to my father about sending someone over the mountain — Yance? Lars? Something like that. But no one came, and so my father sent an archon to take someone — your dad, I guess. But maybe you could pretend to be Yance and make up some story about being delayed. From what I can tell, Father hasn’t heard from Naseph in a few months, so he’d have no reason not to believe you.”

“Yens,” Taemon said. “The person your father was waiting for was named Yens.”

“Was?”

“Is, I mean,” Taemon said, recovering quickly. “His name is Yens. . . . Actually, he’s my brother.”

Gevri’s expression brightened. “Terrific! This will work better than I thought.” His brow furrowed. “I guess that’s why they took your dad — he must have been the next best thing.”

Had they known who they were kidnapping, though, or had Da just been in the wrong place at the wrong time? It was hard to believe that anyone who knew anything about Taemon’s da could think that he’d willingly undertake the kind of work Yens had agreed to do.

“What about me?” Amma asked. “Who should I pretend to be?”

Gevri considered this. “You could say you’re collateral — Naseph’s way of making up for the delay in sending Yens. As long as you have psi, it shouldn’t matter too much who you are.”

Amma’s eyes met Taemon’s. Without her saying anything, Taemon knew what she was asking. As subtly as he could, Taemon shook his head no.

“What if . . . ? What if I don’t have psi?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Taemon froze.
Skies, Amma, why did you say that?

Gevri tilted his head and frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Amma took a deep breath and explained about the powerless colony, about the handful of people in Deliverance who didn’t have psi and how they lived separately. Taemon listened tensely, ready to jump in should Amma decide to start giving away
all
their secrets.

“You . . . you really don’t have dominion?” Gevri looked devastated.

Amma shook her head.

“You should have told me that sooner. This changes everything.”

Taemon and Amma sat in taut silence while they waited for the verdict from Gevri. Would he refuse to help them now that he knew the truth — or part of the truth, anyway? Worse, would he decide to turn them in?

Even Jix seemed uneasy. A low growl rumbled from the jaguar as she sat beside Gevri. Taemon could swear he felt the vibration of it through his shoes, and it set him on edge.

Gevri finally spoke up. “I don’t think Amma should go into Kanjai.”

“What do you mean?” Taemon said.

“It’s too dangerous for her,” Gevri said.

“I came all this way,” Amma said. “I’m not going to give up now.”

“Taemon’ll have a better chance of finding his da if he’s alone,” Gevri said. “If you don’t have dominion, they’ll never believe you’re from Nathan’s City. And it’s very obvious you’re not from the Republik. They’ll think you’re a spy. You’re too young to be a soldier, but not to be a spy.”

Amma swallowed. “What do they do to spies?”

Gevri looked serious. “The same thing they do to traitors.”

“If she stays behind, she’s still in danger,” Taemon said. “She could get caught by the patrols.”

“I’ve already thought of that. She and I will head back over the mountain,” Gevri said. “You can catch up with us when you find your da.”

“What?” Amma crossed her arms. “That wasn’t part of the deal. What if Taemon needs us?”

“The deal’s changed,” Gevri said. “You two withheld some pretty pertinent information. There’s not much we could do except wait. And waiting increases the chances of getting caught.” He looked at Taemon. “I’ll tell you how to find your father, and I’ll make sure you have everything you need to get there. After that, the best course of action is for Amma and me to head back to Deliverance.”

Gevri didn’t know Amma like Taemon did. She didn’t shy away from danger. Together, he and Amma had started a prison riot, confronted Yens and Elder Naseph, faced down two earthquakes, and crossed Mount Deliverance. Never once had she flinched. She wouldn’t leave him now.

“I’m afraid I have to insist,” said Gevri. “If you want my help, Amma stays with me.”

They argued about it for a while longer, but in the end, Gevri’s suggestion seemed to make the most sense. Amma couldn’t help Taemon from outside the outpost, and Taemon would have an easier time finding his da if he weren’t also worried about Amma getting caught and imprisoned — or worse. Taemon and Amma both put up a good fight, but they had nothing better to suggest.

“The archon facility is on the edge of the outpost.” Once again, Gevri drew a map in the dirt. “That will work to our advantage, because you’ll only have to pass one checkpoint.”

Taemon’s stomach twisted at the thought of having to pass even one checkpoint. Sure, he’d snuck into Deliverance back when he was a fugitive, but he’d had Amma by his side for that. She made him feel like he could do anything.