Into the Still Blue (16 page)

A
ria stared at the black glass. She couldn’t see him, but she knew Perry was on the other side.

“What’s going on, Hess?” she asked.

Hess crossed his hands on the table and ignored her.

Her captor, Loran, dragged her to the table. “Sit.” He pushed her into a chair and ordered Roar to take the seat on her other side. Aria sensed Roar’s focus on her and realized she was breathing quickly. She had to calm down. She needed to concentrate.

Across the table, Soren sat next to his father. He had been given new clothes, and his hair was damp and combed from a shower, but she noticed the slump in his wide shoulders, the weariness in his face. He’d been cleaned up, but he seemed more tired than ever.

When he caught her eye, he gave a little shrug of apology. What did that mean? Had he betrayed her and allied himself with Hess?

Her gaze moved to Hess, and repulsion coiled in her veins. His chiseled features seemed more severe than she remembered, his eyes smaller and hollower. Then again, for the past months she’d only seen him in the Realms through her Smarteye.

During their meetings, he’d favored casual dress. Fine suits. On occasion informal military attire. Now he wore full military regalia—an impressive uniform decorated with ribbons at the collars and cuffs.

Four Guardians came through the door, armed with rifles, pistols, the stun baton they’d used on Perry and Roar.

The sight of so much weaponry sent a bolt of fear through her.

“Is Perry in there?” she said, raising her voice. “Why are we here?”

Then Sable stepped into the room, and her vocal cords clamped shut.

Hess wouldn’t acknowledge her presence, but Sable did. He smiled and said, “Hello, Aria. It’s good to see you again. Yes, Cinder and Peregrine are both in there. You’ll see them soon.”

She wanted to look back to the wall of glass, but Sable’s gaze kept her riveted. Her mind replayed those last seconds on the balcony in Rim: Liv falling backward and landing on the stones, the bolt from Sable’s crossbow embedded in her heart.

“We’re all here, I believe,” Sable said. “Shall we get started?” Kirra slid into the seat beside him, sending Aria a little wave.

Roar’s eyes locked on Sable. His hands, tied in front of him, clenched into fists.

“We should start with the Still Blue,” Sable said, “since that’s why we’re all here. It’ll help if you all know the challenges we have in reaching it.”

“Why should I even believe you know where it is?” Aria asked. “Why should any of us?”

Sable smiled, his pale eyes unblinking. She couldn’t tell if he looked pleased or furious at her interruption.

Hess seemed so soft, so tame at his side. In a trim black coat, with a shining Blood Lord chain at his neck, Sable looked electrified and in control.

“Then I’ll start with how I discovered it and let you decide whether you believe me or not. Three years ago, one of my trading ships, the
Colossus
, fell into the grip of a storm and was swept out to sea. The crew suffered a tragic loss of life. Only two young deckhands survived. Inexperienced sailors, coincidentally both Seers, they were adrift for weeks when they came to something quite unbelievable.

“We’ve all seen the funnels of Aether, but what these men described was very different. A wall of Aether. Or, I should say, a
waterfall
of Aether. A barrier that flowed from the sky, extending endlessly upward, and across the horizon as far as they could see. An astonishing sight, but no comparison to what lay beyond. On the other side, through small gaps in the Aether flows, these young men glimpsed clear skies. Still skies. No Aether.”

“Where are these men?” she asked.

“No longer available.” Sable opened his hands, the gesture matter-of-fact. “I had to secure the knowledge.”

He was ruthless. Admitting he’d killed these sailors so frankly and with no remorse. Aria looked around the table. No one seemed surprised.

“You believe this story without proof?” she asked Hess.

“It corroborates our theories.”

“What theories?” she demanded. Answers were coming at last. She wanted to know everything.

Sable nodded at Hess, who answered. “It was an early theory that linked the disruption of Earth’s magnetism with the arrival of Aether. Magnetic north and south shifted, a clash that we’re still in the midst of. But it was theorized that pockets of magnetism would form . . . cohering the way water droplets do. We think the Still Blue is one of these pockets. A magnetic field that’s keeping the Aether at bay. What those two men saw was the boundary—Aether pushing as far up to this field as possible and pooling there to create a wall.”

“Why didn’t we know this before?” Aria demanded.

“Those who needed to know did,” Hess said. “And the knowledge led nowhere. We conducted extensive searches, but nothing was ever found. The idea was abandoned.”

It was so much to take in. Aria’s entire body felt numb. “And the plan to get through the barrier?”

Hess glanced to the glass wall. “We’ve had little success controlling the Aether through technological means. Other approaches, biological ones, may still work. The CGB—the research group your mother was part of—had the primary focus of sculpting genetics to make life in the Pods sustainable. But they also ran a few experimental programs. Some of these, like the immunoboost, looked at bringing us back outside the Pods. Another focused on evolutional acceleration.”

Aria’s mother had been a geneticist. She already knew where this was heading. Hess continued, explaining for the benefit of the others.

“By creating people with a high degree of genetic plasticity—DNA that’s extremely malleable—they hoped to create humans who could rapidly adapt to whatever environment they encountered: chameleons who could change on a cellular level, molding to an alien atmosphere, to whatever conditions they met.”

As Hess spoke, Sable gave a signal to one of his men at the door. Horn soldiers came in from the corridor, standing along the wall. Hess’s Guardians entered as well. Both groups seemed uneasy to be there.

“The CGB had already seen Outsiders who exhibited this type of rapid evolution by assuming enhanced sensory capabilities.” Hess glanced at Roar. “But what the program accomplished went further than anyone anticipated. Not only did the test subjects adapt to the Aether; the Aether adapted to
them
.”

He paused, just a beat of silence. In that beat, Aria heard only ringing in her ears. When he spoke again, she began to count Guardians. Horn soldiers. Weapons.

“It wasn’t long before the project was deemed a failure. There were instabilities that weren’t accounted for. As with anything, in solving one problem there’s always a possibility of creating secondary, consequential problems. While the scientists had figured out how to create a human with dynamic genetics, they couldn’t figure out how to turn those dynamics off. The test subjects expired within years of creation. They were nonviable. They . . . self-destructed.”

Hess looked to the glass wall again and said, “All except one.”

20

S
peakers in the ceiling had piped in every word.

“I’m . . . I’m an
alien
?” Cinder said. The scent of his fear flooded the chamber.

“No. That’s not what he said.” Perry pulled against his restraints, though he knew it was useless. He wanted to shatter the glass between the chambers and reach Aria.

Reach
Sable
.

They’d seen everything too, but Perry knew it wasn’t the same from the other side. Whenever Aria or Roar looked over, their gazes scanned, never settling on him or Cinder.

Cinder’s eyebrows drew together, his expression desperate. “But I heard that man. He said the word
alien
.”

“He also said the word
chameleon
, but you’re not one of those, are you?”

“No. But they created me as an experiment—that part is true.”

“You’ve made yourself into who you are—not them.”

“He said I was going to self-destruct. He said I was going to die. He said—”

Cinder fell silent as Sable’s voice came through the speakers.

“We need Cinder to get us through that wall of Aether. He’s the only one who can do it.”

Aria shook her head. “No. It would kill him. And he won’t do it for you.”

Sable and Hess exchanged a look, but Sable answered. “I think I speak for us both when I say we’re only concerned with your second point, which is why your arrival here couldn’t have come at a better time.”

He rose from the table and came to the windows. “Hess, make this transparent, please.”

The glass lost a faint smokiness that Perry hadn’t noticed until then. In the other room two dozen people turned in unison.

Aria shot up from her chair. Fear flashed in her eyes; he hated seeing it. “Hess!” she yelled. “What did you do?”

“It was a necessary measure.” Hess rose from his seat and joined Sable. “They’re on sedatives to keep them submissive. We couldn’t control the boy without them.”

“That’s going to change,” said Sable. He moved along the glass wall until he stood in front of Cinder. “You can hear us, correct?”

“Yes,” Perry growled, answering for Cinder. “We can hear you.”

Sable smiled, like Perry’s reaction pleased him. “Good. Cinder, as you’ve just heard, you’re the key to our survival. You are the only one who can unlock the door to the Still Blue. We need you. But in order for you to help us, you have to be taken off the suppressants so you can regain your strength and access the full power of your gift. What we can’t have, Cinder, is you using your ability to harm us.”

He turned his attention to Perry. “That’s where you can help. From what Kirra tells me, Cinder has already risked his life for you. He looks up to you. He’ll listen to you.”

Perry’s gaze went to Kirra. Two weeks ago, Cinder had driven away the Aether so the Tides could reach the cave in safety. She’d been there and must have told Sable.

“Cinder needs to do for us what he did for you,” Sable continued. “That will require your help. Keep the boy in line as he’s weaned off the suppressants. Encourage him to cooperate. He has the opportunity to save lives. He can become a savior, Peregrine. A martyr.”

“A martyr?” Cinder whispered beside him, terror making his voice shake.

“He’s just a
kid
!” The words flew out of Perry’s mouth before he could stop them.

“He’s thirteen,” Kirra scoffed. “That’s hardly a
kid
.”

“You have no leverage,” Hess said. “We have it all.”

They did. They had Roar and Aria—they could pressure him to comply—but he still couldn’t agree.

Cinder began to cry beside him. “I can’t!” He looked at Perry. “You know what will happen to me.”

Perry knew. The last time Cinder had called the Aether, it had almost killed him. The magnitude of what Sable described would make that certain.

As Blood Lord, he’d needed to put people he cared about in danger to help the tribe, but this . . . a
sacrifice
? He couldn’t ask that of Cinder.

“He’s not doing anything for either of you,” Perry said, looking from Hess to Sable. “And neither am I.”

Sable’s voice came through the speakers again. He sounded a little smug as he said to Hess, “We’ll have to take my approach.” Then he lifted his hand in the air. “Cinder, I want you to think of these four words:
Is it worth it
?” he said, counting them off.

“If you attempt to escape or use your abilities against us, that’s the question you should ask yourself. Then you should think of Peregrine—of Perry there—and consider how much he means to you. Think about how you’d feel if he suffered because of you. That
will
happen if you don’t do exactly as I say, and it won’t stop there.

“Aria. Roar. Even the girl at the Tides Kirra tells me you’re so fond of. They’re all within my grasp. And I don’t think you want their pain—or their blood—on your conscience. On the other hand, if you help us, then your friends will stay safe. I’ll bring them all on the journey to the Still Blue, where they’ll live under my protection. Rather clear-cut, in my opinion. Is all of this making sense to you?”