Sound (29 page)

“Go on,” she says. Her face is drawn with pain. “I'll catch up.”

“No, you won't.” I grip her around the ribs and drape her injured arm over my shoulders. Blood has soaked all the way through her makeshift bandage. I remember the roll of skinknit in my pocket, but there's no time now.

We hurry to the hallway with the others. The guards litter our path. Some of them are bloody. Some of them are dead. Maybe this should bother me, but it doesn't. I don't have time to feel anything, especially for them. I grab a discarded prod and step over one last body.

Rubio, Cassia, Nethanel, and Aneley lead us down the corridor. We should be running, but the most some of the captives can manage is a quick, shuffling walk. Lisbeth and I draw closer to the front. We stop in front of the lifts. Cassia reaches for the call button, but Rubio catches her hand.

“Not that way. We'll be trapped.”

“There's no other way up to the dock,” Cassia argues. “How else are we going to get out?”

Nethanel tugs at her sleeve. He points down the corridor that branches off to the right and makes a stair-climbing motion with his forefingers.

“An access stair?” She raises her eyebrows.

He nods.

We hurry down the corridor, passing empty rooms with no doors. What was this place built to be? The beginnings of a city like Ny Kyoto? A research outpost? Whatever it was, I doubt it was this. We come to the stair.

“Access code?” Cassia whispers, signing to Nethanel as she speaks.

Nine three two four,
he responds, and I realize what she's doing. Getting the keypad lock codes, preparing to stay behind, without him ever knowing.

Cassia activates the door, and we file in, Rubio in the lead. Lisbeth looks up at the flights rising above us and knits her brows.

“I've got you.” I tighten my grip on her. “We'll make it, okay?”

Rubio reaches the first landing. He stops, a hand held out to the rest of us, his head cocked, listening. He jerks as if he's been shocked.

“Back!” he says in a hoarse whisper, waving his arms at us and hurrying down the steps. “Go back!”

A murmur of fear runs through the group. Some freeze in place, while others try to jumble through the narrow doorway.

Aneley wades in. “One at a time,” she murmurs, touching people's shoulders, steering them to the door. “Keep moving. One at a time.”

But now I hear what Rubio heard. Footsteps pounding down the stairs.

I look around, heart battering at my chest. We had surprise on our side before, but now our captors know we're loose, and only a few of us are fit to run, much less fight. I
pull Lisbeth down into the wedge of darkness beneath the stairs. Pulga crawls in after us.

Aneley has shepherded almost everyone through the door, leaving Cassia, Rubio, and a few stragglers, when the first pair of boots hits the landing above us. Rubio whirls around and pushes Cassia behind him.

“Stop right there!” Juna's voice rings through the stairwell.

I crawl forward and peek out between the railing. Juna descends the stairs one step at a time, five other guards close behind her. Each of them carries a slug rifle. I pull my head back into the shadows and try not to breathe too loudly.

“You little
skitstövels
are going to pay for this.” Juna steps down from the last stair. “You think you've seen blood, but you haven't seen nothing.”

Rubio's eyes flicker to me and then back to Juna. I feel the weight of the prod in my hand. I know what he wants me to do.

Rubio raises his hands, buying time. “We only did what you would have done.”

“We fed you, gave you a place to live.” Juna takes another step. “This is how you repay us?”

My
manman
's voice runs through my head.
Your people saw the chance for freedom and took it.
Sweat slicks my hand.
I wipe it on my suit, grip the prod, and slide out from beneath the stairs.

Juna starts to turn. I jab the prod up, through the stair rails, into the hollow at the back of her knee. She cries out and drops, her body jerking. The other guards open fire. Rubio falls back on Cassia, and screaming fills the hall outside the stairwell.

I pull the prod from Juna's body. One of the other guards wheels on me and fires just as something wrenches me back beneath the stairs. I scramble against the wall next to Lisbeth, breathing hard. Pulga. He looks at me, pupils wide, and then darts out into the fray.

“No!” I scramble after him and try to snatch the edge of his shirt, but he's gone.

Rubio has crawled forward and found Juna's gun. He fires up the stairs, knocking one of the guards back against the wall. Pulga rushes another, screaming, and plunges his weapon into the man's sternum. The remaining guards return fire. Pulga's body spasms. He tips backward and his head hits the bottom step with a sickening
crack
.

The air sucks from the stairwell. I stumble to my feet, ears ringing.

A primal sound rises from the survivors, something between a scream and a moan. Unearthly, anguished. It is
in my mouth and my blood and bones. I am that sound and everyone making it.

Cassia charges forward, shouting, wordless. We surge after her, mounting the stairs, engulfing the last three guards in a wave. I strike out with the prod, and one of them drops. Fists clutching limpet shells rise and fall and screams of pain and rage twist together until all that's left is the smell of blood and my own breath, harsh and fast in my ears.

I patch up the wounded as quickly as I can. Tourniquets for the worst wounds, skinknit for the lesser ones. For the dead, there's nothing we can do but to leave them where they fell. More guards could be on us any minute.

Eighteen of us continue up. Thirteen lie on the stairs. I've bound Lisbeth's hand properly, but she's still shaky from blood loss. The others support the wounded as we make our slow, painful way up the spindle. Cassia and Rubio head the group, while Nethanel and Aneley bring up the rear. The alarm still bleats overhead, but my brain has stopped processing the sound.

We stop inside the door that leads to the dock.

“Everyone with a weapon to the front,” Rubio says. “There's no telling how many of them are on the other side.”

I hand Lisbeth to another woman, Belen, and make my way to the front.

Rubio gives me a crooked grin. “You want to go first, Miyole? You're pretty badass with that prod.”

Rubio. Trying to joke, even now. But the smile doesn't reach his eyes, and something about it breaks my heart. I swallow the lump in my throat. “After you.”

He presses his back against the door and nods. I push down on the activation pad. The door slides away and Rubio enters firing. Cassia, Nethanel, Aneley, and I charge in after him, our weapons held high.

We've run several meters before I realize no one is trying to stop us. No one is fighting back. The last of Rubio's shots trails off in an echo. The dock is empty, except for the shuttles and the
Mendicant
's shell.

“Where are they?” I say, breathless. We've killed a few of the guards, but some of the others were only injured, and we haven't seen Rött at all. Something isn't right.

“Does it matter?” Cassia says. “They're not here.”

“Everyone keep sharp.” Rubio backs toward the shuttles, scanning the room. “Be ready.”

Cassia catches my arm. “Make sure he stays on the shuttle, okay?” Her eyes go to Nethanel, walking quickly, hand in hand with Aneley. “Try to keep him distracted.”

I stop. “What?” And then I see the control room, and I remember. I failed. The
Ranganathan
hasn't sent anyone, if they were ever there in the first place. And now Cassia is going to give herself up.

“You shouldn't have to do this,” I say.

Cassia looks tired. “Who else is going to do it?”

“I don't know, maybe . . .” I look around at the knot of survivors making their way to the shuttles. But this isn't the kind of thing you make someone else do. Someone has to volunteer.

“This is how it has to be, Mi,” she says. “Trust me. Remember?”

A knot forms in my throat. I do remember.
Don't stay here,
I still want to say.
Don't give yourself up.
But my lungs have a choke hold on themselves.

“Right,” I manage.

“Go on.” She lifts her chin at the waiting shuttles. “They need you. Steer them out of here.”

I turn away, eyes burning. Cassia's right. They need me. And if I get out, I can find someone who cares about what's happening at Kazan Spindle and all the other dirty corners beneath Enceladus's ice. Someone will come for her. If she's still alive. If she isn't broken like Aneley's father.

I fight the urge to look back as I walk toward the others.
Nethanel hasn't noticed yet, but Aneley gives me a sad nod.
This is how it has to be.

Behind her, Rubio tries to activate his shuttle's door. It doesn't open. He catches my eye, frowns, and tries again.

A flash of orange flares across the dock. The sound hits me—a squeal and bang like trains colliding. Something shoves me. I don't remember falling, but I'm on my back staring up at the tracks of lights in the rafters and I taste blood. I raise my hand—it's streaming from my nose.
What happened?
I push myself up. My ears whine, and a cloud of black smoke spreads over the remains of the shuttle Rubio was standing beside. Time slows and tunnels.

“No!” I feel the words in my throat, but all I can hear is the buzz in my ears.

Nethanel, Aneley, and the rest of their group crouch near the second shuttle, their eyes wide with shock. Aneley raises a hand to cover her mouth. There are bodies on the floor next to the wreckage of the first shuttle.

Behind them, the door to the remaining shuttle opens. Rött and seven of his men step out into the clearing smoke, smiling at the destruction.

Chapter 29

S
omeone seizes my arm. I wrench free and turn to fight, but it's only Cassia. Her mouth forms words I can't hear.

I shake my head. “Rubio!” I try to say, but she pulls me up the steps to the control room.

Something whiffs by my shoulder. I look up. Rött and four of his guards stand on the dock, pointing slug rifles at Nethanel, Aneley, and the other survivors. Another kneels beside them, his weapon trained on Cassia and me.

Cassia says something. I can hear the urgency in her voice, but her words come to me muffled, as if I'm underwater. She bends close to the keypad lock.

A bullet embeds itself in the wall behind us. Cassia flinches, but the door slides open at last. We tumble inside as shots ricochet off the control room's protective
glass. Cassia throws herself into one of the
Mendicant
's chairs and starts tapping at the control panels.

I lie on the floor, dazed. Rubio's body floats before my eyes. Is he alive? If I could have checked his vitals . . . But he was too close to the blast. If he did survive, there's no way he has long to live. My chest tightens, and tears well in my eyes. If we were aboard the
Ranganathan
, maybe they could fix him. If we were anywhere else, we could at least try.

I pull myself to my feet and stare out at the dock through the glass walls. One of the bullets has left a cloudy spiderweb pattern where it struck. Rött and his remaining men have what's left of our group kneeling on the floor beside the remaining shuttle, hands folded behind their heads. He points his gun at the closest woman's head—Belen—and shouts something. I scan the controls and flip the intercom on.

Rött's voice fills the small room. I can barely make out the words through the buzzing in my ears. “I'm giving you thirty seconds to come out.”

I wet my lips. They taste like blood. “You'll kill us.”

“Not if you come out now,” he says. “But if you decide to stay in there, I'm going to have to take it out on your friends here.”

I glance at Cassia. She shakes her head and looks deliberately at the controls. What is she trying to tell me? I move closer to look over her shoulder.

“Time's up.” Rött looks down at Belen kneeling beside him, smiles at her, and pulls the trigger.

My hands fly up over my eyes and I scream. When I pull my fingers away, Belen lies slumped on the floor at his feet.

Rött holds my eyes and walks to the next person in line. Aneley.

“Wait . . .”

Aneley turns to me and shakes her head slowly.
Don't come out.

But what else are we going to do? We can stay in here until we starve to death and all our friends are dead, or we can go out now and take our one chance to save them.

“Miyole,” Cassia whispers. She points to the spindle's telemetry readout. Someone is landing far above us on the ice, their signal strong and clear. A DSRI signature.

“We . . . we're coming.” I tell Rött. “Please, don't shoot her. We're coming, okay?”

I look at Cassia and nod ever so slightly. She taps a command into the system, freeing access to the spindle's lift.

“Now,” Rött says, raising his rifle to Aneley's head.

“Yes.” I raise my hands and walk to the door, one foot in front of another.

“The other girl, too.”

Cassia rises slowly from the controls and raises her hands as well. She casts one look back at the telemetry readout and moves to my side. Time. We need time. Only a few minutes for whoever the
Ranganathan
has sent to reach the lift and make it down to us.

I open the door. One foot in front of the other.
Time.
Rött's guards grab us at the bottom of the stairs and march us across the hangar. I glance at Rubio, but I can't tell if his chest is rising and falling ever so slightly or if it's only my brain trying to deny his utter stillness.

The guards shove us down beside the others kneeling on the floor.

Rött paces in front of us. “I thought we had an understanding.” He stops and holds a hand out to the bodies lying next to the ruined shuttle. “You see what happens when you try to go against me?”

I look away.

“Now the question is, why would you do such a thing?” Rött slings his rifle back over his shoulder. “Some of you have never given me any problems before. You don't want
to cause trouble. You know what kind of lesson I'd have to teach you then. Someone's been putting ideas in your head.”

Rött's gaze pauses on me for a second before landing on Cassia. He steps closer to her. “Someone new. Someone who hasn't been properly broken in.”

I glance at the lift doors.
Please, hurry.

Rött stands in front of her. “Now the question is, do I try to break her in right, or is it more trouble than it's worth?”

Cassia glares at him silently.

Rött flexes his fingers around the rifle barrel. “My uncle always said you don't keep a rabid animal in the pack. It'll infect the others.” He swings the rifle down so it points at Cassia's head and fingers the trigger. “I'm thinking maybe that's good advice here.”

Nethanel tries to lunge for Cassia, but Aneley wraps her arms around him and holds him back.

“Stop!” I jump up. I don't know what I mean to do. All I know is we need a few more minutes. Only a little more time.

A hand lands on my shoulder, and one of the guards behind me shoves me back down.

Rött smirks. “Do we have an objection,
kurai tös
?”

“It . . . it wasn't her,” I say.

“Oh?” Rött raises an eyebrow and sweeps a hand at Belen's body. “What, are you going to tell me it was her idea, then?”

“No.” My mind scrambles for anything that will buy us more time. “It was me,” I say. I'm valuable. I'm a medic. I have to hope that means enough to keep everyone alive a few more minutes. “I'm the one who put them up to it.”

“No!” Cassia shoots a fierce glare at me. “Shut up, Mi.”

“Enough!” Rött shouts. “You both want to die? Is that it?”

I stare at Cassia, willing her to back down.
Let me take the blame. They won't kill me. Let me buy us the time we need.
I glance at the lift door again, doubt swimming in my stomach. Where are they? They should be here by now.

“Fine,” Rött says. “Let's see who'll go first.”

He points a finger at Cassia, then me, and alternates between us with each syllable, taking his time.
“Chu, chu, ta, ka . . .”
He lands on her and smiles, cold as the ice above us. “
Nochu.
You first,
lillflicka
.”

“Wait!” I scream, but one of the guards is dragging me forward by the hair.

Rött pulls Cassia out of the line and shoves her down beside me. We kneel, facing the others. Cassia and
Nethanel stare at each other. His neck is taut and his eyes glimmer with tears. Aneley holds him tighter, her eyes squeezed shut, mouth moving silently.

“I want all of you to see this,” Rött tells them. “And be grateful it isn't you.”

I look at the lift doors again. Doubt gives way to dread. They need to come now.

Cassia looks at me.
I'm sorry,
she signs.

“Don't—” I start to say, but my voice gives out. Instead, I make a sign she taught me all those weeks ago under our cocoon of blankets:
I love you.

Rött cocks his rifle and levels it at Cassia's head.

I reach for her hand.

Metal scrapes behind me, and something thunks and rolls across the dock. Rött's eyes go wide.

A metal canister rolls to a stop between us and the bombed-out shuttle. For a moment, it lies silent, and then it clicks and spews white smoke into the air.

“
Kör
!
”
Rött shouts. “We're breached! Get down!”

He and the other guards bolt for the control room, but the smoke spreads too fast. It engulfs them in white mist. Rött staggers in the center of it, and the guards begin to drop, first one, then another, barely visible through the fog. A chemical taste spreads on my tongue. Bitter. My head swims.

Someone pushes me flat on the floor. I twist around, trying to summon the will to keep fighting, but then I recognize Nethanel. He pushes Cassia to the floor, too, and lies down next to us. The smoke is thinner here. I make out Rött's boots through the fog as he stumbles and then falls. The soles of his shoes are black like a fish eye and the smoke rolls like waves—cold, bitter water lapping over me.

“Stay awake, Mi.” Cassia shakes me. “Breathe through your clothes.” She stretches the neck of her shirt up over her nose.

But my suit doesn't give that way. The smoke thickens around us. The last things I see before the darkness closes in on me are a bright blue pinpoint of light floating in the fog and a shadow bending over me.