Ash (10 page)

“A classy move by Aldan Harris,” Theron said, “even if it did cost him five seconds. But a good attempt by Lemad Loring. And we’re down to seven.”

Reiner had pulled ahead of Tred for the second loop, but by this point they were three loops behind Aldan. Still, none of them were about to give up. Second place was a big deal—especially when you already knew who was guaranteed to take first. And these guys were taking it seriously.

Theron kept everyone up on the play by play. “Aldan is on his sixth loop. While Tred and Reiner are pulling out of their third. And what about Wybalt Morley, Analise Chorter, Zuma Pipin, and Nelo Hebert? No, they didn’t fall over the side. They’re chugging along about to take the second loop. But the real action is going on with our second place frontrunners. Reiner is still in the lead, but Tred is getting ready for a move. Look at the way he’s rocking his body. That can only mean one thing. He’s going for the leap!”

And just as Theron said it, Tred jumped into the air, over Reiner’s head, and landed directly in front of him. The crowd broke out in applause.

Theron let out a whistle. “Impressive move by Tred! Hear that crowd, Aldan? They’re cheering, clapping, yelling, and it’s not for you. I say you need to do something about it!”

Aldan gave a thumbs-up to the hovercam following his every move. He had that glint in his eye. The one that meant he was going to do something stupid. Or what he and Theron called an ultra rush. I gripped my arm, squeezing the purple cuff under my sleeve hard.

My brother, not to be outdone by Tred Nier, waved at the crowd, then jumped off the side of the track. A gasp went out through the stadium, and my heart almost stopped. Was he crazy? If the fall didn’t kill him, the Removers would. You couldn’t fail at your destiny. Not in today’s society. But it was just one of his tricks. Aldan’s hands caught onto the track in the nick of time, he swung his legs, and flipped back to his starting position. Then without missing a beat, he back flipped his way through the whole seventh loop. It cost him some time, and almost gave me a mini-stroke, but Aldan was sure to get extra points for a successful trick.

The crowd was going insane. Even Laira was yelling Aldan’s name, and Laira never yelled.

“Look at him go,” Theron said. “Alright, you can stop trying to impress the ladies, Aldan. We’ve all heard the rumors that you’re off the market. But don’t worry, while Aldan may be taken, I would be more than happy to fill in for him.” A screen above the track made a quick cut to show Theron giving us all a jaunty grin.

Just what I needed. More competition.

As Aldan continued on to the last loop, Tred and Reiner headed for number six. Tred was still in the lead since the jump, but Reiner wasn’t having it. He lunged forward, clipping Tred’s board. But instead of moving aside, Tred did something surprising. He did a 180, turning to face Reiner, and started going down the up incline, gearing up for a head-on-collision with his competitor.

Reiner’s eyes filled the screen. They were petrified, and he started backing up toward the fifth loop. But unlike Tred, he wasn’t facing the track. As he came to a dip in the metal, Reiner went over the edge, ending his part in the race.

“Then there were six!” Theron called out. “Tred took out the second place frontrunner, pretty much guaranteeing him a victory. That is unless Wybalt can gain a little gusto.”

It didn’t seem likely. Wybalt and the rest were still back near the beginning of the fourth loop.

“And look at this ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Aldan Harris has completed the eighth loop and is ready for the big finish. The drop!”

I couldn’t even look at the last leg of the race without getting dizzy. It was a straight drop hundreds of feet that led into a narrow finish line. And Aldan was about to take it. Or at least I thought he was. But right as he should have gone over, he came to a quick halt and started dancing a jig.

“What is he doing?” Laira asked, giggling. People all around us were asking the same thing, including me.

“Messing with my betting pool,” Sol complained, as he scribbled on his plexi.

But Aldan didn’t stop with the dancing, he started making fishy faces at the hovercam, then plopped himself down on the track and pretended to take a nap.

The audience really started laughing. It seemed like I was the only one who wasn’t joining in, but I just didn’t understand what he was doing. Or why. The ministers would be furious.

Still, Aldan didn’t seem to care about that. The more laughter he got, the more he played it up for the hovercam. He threw in a few snores, made it seem like he was going to roll over the side of the track, stood up with his arms straight out and pretended to sleep walk.

I’d probably laugh about it too, once it was over, but I just wanted Aldan safely on the ground. I know he liked the rush, and letting Tred get closer was probably part of that, but I didn’t care. I just wanted him to hurry up and win.

Sol looked at Aldan’s screen. The numbers read six minutes thirty-two seconds. “I can’t believe this. I thought the twelve minute finish time someone guessed for Aldan was a fool’s bet, but I guess I was the fool.”

“Someone bet twelve minutes on Aldan?” That was hard to believe. “Who?”

“Someone named Noreth Nadla,” Sol said.

It all made sense now, and I burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny,” Sol grumbled. “I was supposed to make at least six hundred ostows off of this race. Even with my UV job, my family can barely cover our bills. Now I’ll be lucky if I break even.”

“Something tells me
Noreth Nadla
might cut you a deal,” I said.

“Yeah, right,” Sol said.

“Think about it.
Noreth Nadla
.”

Sol looked at me like I just stood up and yelled ‘Blanks rule’ at the top of my lungs. For a tech genius who decoded puzzles all the time, he could be really dense. “Look at it backwards,” I told him.

“No way,” he said. “Aldan Theron. They had this planned all along. The cheats. I’m keeping the money.”

“They wouldn’t rip you off. They’re not like that.” I couldn’t help but get defensive. Aldan and Theron would never cheat someone. Sure, they like to joke around, but they always did the right thing in the end. “They were just being funny.”

And Aldan certainly had the crowd in stitches now. He was egging Tred on, ushering him in, like it was a bullfight, and Tred was the bull. They were just steps before the drop, but Aldan didn’t seem to care. He knew what would happen. We all did.

Tred came to a screeching halt, lining up behind Aldan. A destiny was a destiny. Aldan was destined to win, and no one would dare take that from him. Even if that meant every racer had to wait around all day until my brother felt like going down the drop.

“Wait, ladies and gentleman, what’s this?” Theron called out. “It looks like Aldan Harris and Tred Nier are doing the... cancan!”

Although Tred looked a little confused, he still participated in Aldan’s kick line. Pretty soon the two were jumping around, arm in arm, kicking to the claps of the crowd. They were so absorbed that they barely noticed Wybalt and Analise.

I got a weird feeling in my stomach. “Aldan,” I shouted out. “Aldan.” My voice was drowned out by the crowd.

The other racers were getting close, and they didn’t look like they were stopping.

“Aldan,” I screamed again, but this time I wasn’t alone.

Theron’s voice pierced through the laughter and cheers. It was filled with panic. “Aldan, go! They can’t stop. Now.”

Everything got silent. Aldan watched, the crowd watched,
I
watched as Wybalt Morley dove off the side of the track to avoid taking the final drop of the race. But right on his tail was Analise Chorter. She tried to dive over the side too, but didn’t have enough strength to fight the magnetic pull of the track. With his free hand, the one not wrapped around Aldan’s shoulder, Tred tried to grab hold of Analise. But it was too late. She had worked up speed and had momentum on her side. Stopping was a science. One that Analise didn’t have the skill or build for. And just like that, she took the drop and won the race.

“No,” I screamed.

My brother didn’t fulfill his destiny.

“No. NO. NO.”

The sirens started blaring, drowning out my cries. Both were meant for Aldan.

T
he wail of the destiny siren blasted through the arena. I’d only heard the sirens a few times in my life, and they’d never been in my own zone. I sat frozen with the horrible knowledge of what was about to unfold, unable to rip my eyes from Aldan, who still teetered on the edge of the finish line.

To my left, Mrs. Harris’s screams eclipsed the siren. She pushed past me blindly, reaching for one minster, then another. “Please, it was a mistake. He’s just a boy.” She finally collapsed at Bastin’s grandfather’s feet. “Minister Worthington, I’m begging you. It was an accident. He’s a good boy. He deserves a pardon. Please.”

Behind me, Aya’s mother ushered her away. I took some comfort in knowing the little girl wouldn’t witness the next few minutes. I wished I had a mother to do the same for me.

Below chaos swept through the crowds. The laughter and applause from moments before had been replaced by pandemonium. Screams and cries floated up into the Box, pushing at my growing panic.

“Madden.” I heard my name slip through the chaos. Link shook my arm. “Madden, you can do something. Please. You can’t let this happen. You’ll be a minister soon. You can stop this.”

I couldn’t answer. I’d somehow lost my voice.

Out on the loop track Aldan had dropped to a crouch. His hair hung over his eyes, hiding his expression from the cameras. I frantically went through the list of pardons that might work.

“Madden,” Link said again, his grip tightening on me. “Madden, they’ll remove him. Please.”

“Link, I—there’s nothing, I, I—the law is clear,” I stammered. There was nothing I could do. It was my job to defend the system from attack, no matter the cost. I’d felt the weight of my own destiny for my entire life, but I’d never felt strangled by it until now.

The opening chords of the national pledge started then.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

I didn’t know if Link heard me, but his hand went slack, and fell away from mine. Around us, the crowd’s panic increased. Aldan’s name was screamed over and over again, but even those voices couldn’t mute the words. I’d started every school day with them for fourteen years, and couldn’t help but follow along in my head.

We remember one man’s refusal of destiny.

I closed my eyes, doing my best to breathe. This couldn’t be happening. Not to someone I actually knew. Not like this.

We remember the aftermath. The sick, the helpless, the fallen.

Please, I thought. Please let someone do something. It can’t be me. I don’t know how to stop this.

We remember our seven billion brothers and sisters taken by the Event.

I swallowed, willing away the hysteria that was threatening to overtake me.

We remember our pledge to the system.

The drums and cymbals grew louder as the anthem reached the climax.

We remember that those who deny their personal destiny do so at our peril.

Aldan stood from his crouch, squaring his shoulders off and facing the camera.

We remember that to not work within the system is to work against us all.

As the last note trailed off, Aldan opened his mouth, and the entire stadium went quiet, waiting to hear what he would say. “I–” he began. The removal squad acted before he could finish his thought. A dull pop punched through the crowd’s silence.

The front of Aldan’s shirt disintegrated into a perfect circle where the “1” had been stitched, and a bright red flow of blood gushed from his heart. His legs collapsed, and he fell to the loop track. As convulsions ripped through his body, Mrs. Harris’s high-pitched scream rang in my ears.