Strange Skies (12 page)

“Gotta be honest. Revolution scares the crap out of me but, of course, I’m with you guys,” Reed said. “What do we do now?” The more she spoke, the more her vulnerability and sweetness reminded me of Callie. It made me wonder if I had even a drop of sweetness left, myself.

James looked deep in thought. “Kale called an emergency command meeting two light breaks from now. He said there’s news about a Consulate attack—wants to give orders to his soldiers.”

Trent stroked his chin. “That works … it’s before our regularly scheduled meeting. We can find out what Kale knows and then make a plan.”

James looked at me. “That means your dad will be alone while Kale’s heading that first meeting.”

“I take it he’s nearby since you got back so fast?”

James nodded. “Yes, he’s in a solo encampment on the other side of the bar. We’ll all attend the meeting while you go see him.”

I could have sworn a look of triumph flashed across Sonya’s face. She’d get to spend time with James while I
was gone. It barely registered, though. All I could focus on was seeing Dad again. Hopefully, he was doing better after some medical attention.

Markus had been pretty quiet and I noticed his eyes on Sonya. Great. It would be just like him to go after the girl I couldn’t stand.

“Hey, Markus,” I said. He broke his attention away from Sonya. “Will you be able to get past the bar? Do you need another dose of the withdrawal med?”

He stretched his arms over his head. “No, I’m good. It must have been pretty powerful stuff ’cause all I’m craving right now is some roasted monster meat.”

“Good,” I said. My stomach rumbled and hunger gnawed at me. “And I second the idea of monster meat.”

Trent and Ian powered up their weapons. “All right,” Ian said. “Let’s get to hunting.”

Everyone sat around the fire, laughing and sharing stories. Trent was smart and insightful, while Ian seemed a little more rough around the edges.

Reed came over and sat by me. “Can I braid your hair?”

My hand flew up to my frizzy, jungle-woman hair. “Does it look that bad?”

Reed laughed. “No, silly. I just want to. My sisters and I used to do this with each other all the time. Turn around.” As her hands worked through my hair, I remembered a time when I was five or six and we lived in the pod city. My mom had said she wanted to brush my hair, and she’d
worked my out-of-control curls into soft waves. It was the last time she ever did that. Tears came to my eyes and I brushed them away.

Alec asked Reed a lot of questions while she did my hair. I’d lost my sister, but Reed had lost all three of hers. When she finished, she took a long piece of grass and tied it around the end of the braid. “Ta da!” she exclaimed.

James smiled. “Even more gorgeous than you were already.”

Sonya snapped a twig between her fingers. I’m sure in her mind, I was that twig.

Reed went to sit by Alec, and they resumed their conversation. She was so animated when she spoke, and Alec seemed transfixed. The word that popped into my head was “cute.”

“So Sonya, have we met before?” Markus asked.

I groaned inside. It was his way of asking if they’d slept together.

She eyed him and tossed her red hair. “No. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m one of the few girls you haven’t ‘met’.”

Anyone else would have been embarrassed, but Markus just laughed. “What’s a girl like you look for in a guy, anyway?”

This was not happening. James must have sensed my annoyance and squeezed my hand.

Sonya stared at Markus across the fire as she twirled another twig in her hand. “Aside from sobriety? What any girl wants, I guess. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t need a
man, and am doing fine on my own, but it would be nice for someone to sweep me off my feet. Someone who is strong yet romantic, and isn’t afraid to express what he feels.” Her eyes briefly flicked to James. “Somehow, that appears impossible to find.”

“Guess you haven’t met the right man yet, then,” Markus said matter-of-factly. He was oblivious to the daggers I was shooting at him.

Sonya shrugged and tossed the twig into the flames. “Guess not.”

Markus shook me awake shortly before the second light break. “Wake up, sweetcakes. We gotta get moving.”

Though I’d agreed to share his hut even though I’d had my doubts, he had been a perfect gentleman. The monster meat I’d eaten had put me into a food coma, and I’d slept like the dead. Reed and the others had left after the meal, and I’d been relieved when Markus didn’t make any more moves on Sonya. Alec, on the other hand, had seemed very taken with Reed and they didn’t seem to want to say good-bye. Between Alec and Markus, at least one of them had good taste.

We stepped outside into the dark. My ankle felt surprisingly good. The wrap and meds had worked wonders. Alec secured Lucy inside his hut and gave her a huge tooth-monster bone for a snack. “Stay, girl, we’ll be back soon.”

James had taken off after our meal to attend to Dad.
I knew Dad was in good hands, but selfishly wished that James’ hands could be in two places at once.

The sky had completely cleared and the moons and stars glowed above us. I pointed upward. “Look, there’s the Weeping Boy.”

“You remembered,” Alec said, clearly pleased.

Markus looked at us. “Huh?”

“Alec named a constellation.” I showed Markus the stars as we trekked toward the command center. James would meet us in the woods near the bar and take me to Dad before joining Alec and Markus at the meeting.

The air was cool, yet mild, and energy surged through me. Maybe it was the combo of meat and sleep, but I felt fantastic. We walked along the creek in contented silence for a while.

“This is much easier without having to hide from a storm under the trees,” I remarked.

Alec clucked his tongue. “Never do that again. The light flashes can kill you if they hit a tree.”

“Now you tell me. Guess I was more worried about everything else that could kill me.”

Our pace sped up as the sky lightened. I couldn’t wait to see Dad. He’d know I was okay, and then he’d pull through.

We soon reached the bar area and waited near the clearing. I grew antsy. Where was James?

Sunlight streaked across the sky in pink and orange blazes. “You guys go ahead,” I said to Markus and Alec.
“It’s almost full light and you can’t be late for the meeting. I want to know everything Kale says.”

“Sorry, sweetcakes, we’re not leaving you.” Markus cracked a smile. “Mainly because I know your temper and I’d never hear the end of it if something happened after I left you. Also, James might kill me.”

Branches crackled nearby, and James broke through a cluster of trees. “Okay, not much time,” he said breathlessly. “You two, get to the meeting. Tora, this way.”

Markus saluted and ran off with Alec toward the command center. I tried to keep up with James as we tore across the clearing to the woods on the other side of the bar. My ankle started to remind me why it was wrapped in the first place. I’d have to work through the pain because I’d never been in this section of the forest before.

My lungs burned and my ankle throbbed, but I managed to keep James in sight. Finally, he stopped and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. I reached him and he pointed into the woods. “Go straight that way for about another quarter mile and you’ll find the hut where your dad is.” He placed his hands on my shoulders in a gentle but firm manner. “No matter what, don’t stay longer than twenty minutes. Get back to the other side of the bar and don’t stop until you get to your hut. Okay, I gotta go.”

“Will I see you later?” I blurted. God, that sounded pathetic.

“Yes, when it’s dark.” James turned and ran back to the command center.

The trees stretched out before me, and I hoped I was moving in the right direction. I ran as quickly as possible, dodging tree limbs. Had James meant no more than twenty minutes with my dad or from the time he left for the meeting? And how the hell was I supposed to track time out here anyway?

I almost stumbled into the hut before I noticed it—it was covered by thick shrubs. This wasn’t like the other encampments. There was only the one hut and it was set between two large trees. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I probably would have walked right past it. Even though I knew Kale should be at the meeting, I hesitated and listened outside the entrance flap. Labored breathing was all I heard, so I pulled the flap back and peered inside. Dad was alone, tucked away on a cot near the back wall.

“Dad?” I whispered as I crossed the small space.

When he didn’t answer, I shook him gently and called out louder. “Dad!”

At this rate, it would take the twenty minutes just to wake him. He stirred and mumbled something that sounded like my name. I shook him harder. “It’s me, Tora. You have to wake up.”

Dad opened his eyes, which widened when he saw me. He reached out a hand to touch the fabric of my T-shirt. “You’re real,” he croaked.

I took his hand and squeezed it. “Yes, Dad, I’m real.”

“But … but I heard them kill you.” His voice broke. “They promised that if I cooperated they would spare you,
but they didn’t.” Confusion blanketed his face.

“It wasn’t me. Alec got me out, and I’ve been with the Resistance in Callie City. I don’t know who that was in the containment center but I’m fine. I promise.”

He reached up, and I pulled him into a hug. “It’s okay,” I said into his shoulder. “Now we just need to get you strong again.”

“I remember when you were a little girl back in the pod city. Callie was a baby, and you were holding her in your arms. She kept reaching up toward your face with her tiny hand, and you gave her these slobbery kisses on the back of her hand that made both of you laugh so hard.” Dad’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t think I’ve seen you that happy since then.” His arms gripped me tightly. “I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”

I pulled back a little and grasped his hands in mine. “Don’t be sorry, I’m fine. This isn’t your fault.”

“No.” He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.” His voice cracked again and I gave him some water that was set on the floor by the cot.

He took a long sip and cleared his throat. “They told me they would stop hurting you if I helped them with the formulas to rekey the guns. They’d somehow found out you were the only one who could fire them. I couldn’t bear to listen to you being hurt.” Dad’s voice, though quiet, was a little stronger. “So I helped them, but then they killed you—or killed someone—anyway. I’m sure they were
about to kill me too, when Kale and his men broke in and rescued me.”

So Kale had saved my dad from certain death. He’d wanted nothing but to kill me, yet had risked his life to save Dad’s. I couldn’t figure that burner out.

Dad buried his head in his hands. “I’m so ashamed.”

A sinking feeling took hold of my stomach and the air went out of my lungs. “Why, Dad? How did you help them?”

He sighed and took a sheet of thermoplastic paper from inside his shirt. It looked like it had been removed from a notebook, like the stack I’d burned outside the bunker on Earth. He pressed it into my hand. “Don’t show this to anyone. It’s the formulas to rekey the weapons. They didn’t get this—I hid it inside the pad of my cot. But …” His eyes filled with sorrow and pain. “I acted like I was going along with them and wrote down some of the equations. Not all of the ones in your hand—I left out a few key steps—but the blueprints are there, nonetheless.”

I knew what that meant before he continued. It was what I’d tried so hard to prevent.

Dad shook his head. “With a little fine-tuning, they’ll know how to rekey the triggers. Anyone will be able to use the guns.”

Chapter
TWELVE

I
SWALLOWED HARD AND TRIED TO KEEP THE HORROR
I
FELT
hidden as I tucked the paper into my pants. If the Consulate found the weapons before I did and rekeyed them, then any of those burners could fire them. They could be used against anyone who disagreed with the government. There wouldn’t be a Resistance anymore.

“I’m sure it will be fine, Dad,” I said and patted his hand in reassurance. “Kale has the guns and I’m sure they’re safe for now.”

“What? Kale didn’t tell me he had the guns.”

I wasn’t sure how much to tell Dad. He was in no shape to stand up to Kale. If Dad knew Kale had stolen the guns and had ordered me killed, he would likely end up dead himself. A bird twittered outside the hut, reminding me how little time I had left. It sounded like the same kind of bird I’d heard earlier.

“So why did Kale save you, Dad? Because you’re the Resistance leader?”

He let out a long breath. “You found out. When I figured out that the Consulate planned to use the guns to kill people for their W.A.R. machines I enlisted others to help me move the weapons. We had a few meetings. One thing led to another and, next thing I know, I’m leading the Resistance. Soon after, most of my confidantes were murdered by the Consulate, so I decided it was safer to lead remotely. I only knew Kale through the com system, but he’s been so supportive, and I can’t believe he risked his life for me.”

My throat tightened. “You don’t think he had ulterior motives for saving you?”

Dad took another sip of water and lowered his voice. “Well, it sounds like he’s taken the Resistance in a slightly different direction than what I’d intended. I simply wanted to stop the Consulate and let the people rule themselves. Kale started out that way, but now I think he wants to destroy the Consulate for good. After what I’ve been through in the past year, I’m not sure I blame him.”

I sighed. If Dad only knew how ruthless Kale really was, he’d be horrified. Dad was weak, and I wanted to drag him out of this hut and bring him back to our camp where I could tell him the truth. But when Kale found the hut empty, he’d know for sure that James was involved and wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. I’d let Dad get a little stronger, and then figure out how to get him away from Kale.

I chose my next words carefully. “I think you’re right about Kale changing. Be careful around him, Dad … and don’t mention that I was here.”

He wouldn’t let go of my hand. “I just can’t believe you’re alive.”