“I didn’t—I mean—I can’t read minds.” Tension buzzed along the surface of my skin, making my hair stand on end. Clarity of thought accompanied the sensation, and I leaned forward. “But I think you lived there. Maybe got passed over for a promotion. That’s why you dislike me.”
A stretch of silence punctuated my statement. I thought about mentioning General Darke and how he’d appointed me as Freedom’s Director, but I stayed quiet.
“There, there.” Director Underson chuckled, finally breaking the moment. “Director Long is exactly where he needs to be.”
Before either of us could argue, servants entered the dining room laden with platters of food.
After lunch I settled in Director Underson’s study, alone. I’d asked him who recorded the transmissions for Arrow Falls, and he’d said, “Director Long is the only voice talent we have here.”
I’d smiled tightly and entered his study. No way was I asking Director Long for help.
My biggest challenge remained: My voice wasn’t exactly the strongest one out there. It might be enough to keep a few people brainwashed for a few days, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to keep millions from realizing that their government had fallen.
Not only that, many were already awake. I certainly didn’t have the level of voice power I needed to regain control and keep them compliant.
My hands shook as I linked the last wire to the transmitter. The green light came on, indicating that my equipment was recording.
I cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and began. “Your Director, Mr. Zenn Bower, is a trusted leader. He will guide you through the dark and difficult days ahead . . . .”
Jag
47.
I thought to Vi, Get Thane!
“Stand down. Deactivate any weapons you have,” I said out loud. My voice came out coated with pure authority. I knew I had enough control to talk down these six officers, but I needed Thane for backup. I wished Gunner was awake and healthy. His voice would be invaluable right about now.
Vi stumbled away, and when none of the officers made to stop her, I smiled.
When none of them deactivated their weapons, the smile slid off my face. “Toss those tasers over here,” I said.
The lead officer grinned. I ducked and scrambled backward as taser fire arced over my head. I yelled something unintelligible, hoping my people would scatter.
I’d taken two steps when someone grabbed a fistful of my hair. “You can’t get away so easily, Jag Barque,” the officer said. “We know all your tricks.”
I thrashed and kicked and managed to free myself. I sucked at the air as I ran toward my team, not bothering to look behind me to see what the officers would do next.
“Jag!” Thane called and I veered toward his voice. Good thing, too, because a tethering strand landed where I had been a moment before. I would’ve been caught, shocked, and stuffed back into a hole.
My tension doubled at the thought of the capsule. I ducked behind an outcropping of bushes where I found Thane and the rest of our team. “Officers from Northepointe,” I gasped. “My voice didn’t work.”
Thane responded by tossing a tech grenade over the bushy barrier. It sparked, then exploded, causing us to cover our heads with our hands. When the techenergy subsided, I peered around the bush.
Three guards had taken a direct hit. The other three advanced slowly, their weapons drawn. “Vi, can you get inside their heads?” I asked.
“No, Jag,” she said. “I can’t.”
She could, but I knew what she meant. She wouldn’t control people again, because she didn’t know how far she’d go.
“Thane?”
He stared right at me, unblinking, for what felt like a long time. Finally he said, “I’ve deactivated their sound cancelers. Our voices will work now.”
I leapt from behind the bush. “Deactivate your weapons. Kick those tasers over here.” Almost as one person, three feet kicked over three now-deactivated tasers.
“Take off your clothes,” I commanded them. The officers wore black pants over black books. Black vests over black jackets. I voice-ordered the guards until their boots were on our feet, and their jackets were warming our shoulders. I made them deposit their backpacks and their hoverboards at my feet before sending them back to Northepointe in their underwear.
Their feet might need medical attention, but my idea was to be many miles away before anyone in Northepointe knew why.
“Watch them,” I instructed Thane. I called to my Resistance members. “Northepointe is out. We fly in five.” I shouldered one of the officers’ packs and tucked a fully charged taser into my back pocket.
Thane got a new weapon and his hoverboard back. He carefully loaded a still-unconscious Saffediene onto one of the confiscated boards and tethered it to his. With all the supplies taken and rationed among us, I surveyed my team.
Sure, we were skinny. No, we did not know where or when we’d be able to sleep again. But dammit, we were still alive.
The Resistance is still alive.
I ran through a list of Insider-friendly cities, dismissing them all. Cedar Hills, Lakehead, Harvest—Darke would be monitoring each of them.
Laurel had gone to Grande; maybe we should too. Or maybe farther south, maybe down to Rancho Port, the southernmost city in the Union.
I hadn’t been to Rancho Port since my capture. Could I face going back?
Yes.
Starr’s voice in my head didn’t surprise me. Her confidence in my ability to overcome my haunted history with Rancho Port did.
“Where to, boss?” Starr wasn’t really asking, because she already knew.
“Rancho Port.”
We flew straight south, combing back through the abandoned city of Castledale. From there, I sent Trek, Starr, and Saffediene to Grande to coordinate with Laurel. Trek could find out what had been going on in Freedom, and Saffediene could get the medical attention she needed. The rest of us would go farther south and send word when we arrived in Rancho Port.
I flew with the twenty members of the Resistance until I thought I’d never want to ride a hoverboard again. We finally reached the wide waters that lapped at the edge of our country. The Thinkers routinely cited the shrinking land masses as one of the reasons They needed to maintain control. Even I’d seen the maps showing how far out the land used to jut into the ocean. I knew we needed to preserve our natural resources, I just didn’t think mind control was the way to do it.
We stopped at the water’s edge, the heat of the day at full height. We’d been on hoverboards for two whole nights and two whole days, and I knew I’d have a mutiny on my hands if we didn’t rest.
“We’ll be here until morning,” I said. “Make camp, generate something to eat, relax.” I waited until everyone had set to work, then I stripped to my underwear and ran into the dark waves.
Water crashed over me, dragging me first one way and then carrying me another. I broke the surface, gasping and smiling. I swam out to sea, until the muscles in my arms and legs burned and I didn’t think I could kick one more time.
I flipped over on my back and let the ocean waves return me to shore. In the water, I couldn’t hear anyone talking. I didn’t have to listen to Raine squabble with River over when to use the food-generating cube. I didn’t have to listen to Thane whisper to Vi or see them look at me as if I might crack.
I let the dull roar of the water fill my ears, my soul, with music. I gave up my anxiety about going back to Rancho Port.
I hadn’t told anyone about my last moments in Rancho Port, and I hadn’t dreamt about them, so even Vi didn’t know. As I drifted with the ocean breeze, I allowed myself to relive how I escaped.