“ You don’t wanna find her,” I interrupt. “You’re afraid she’s still working for Madame.”
“That’s not it. We’re not even sure if Madame’s alive. But launching a full-scale assault on the Lodge would be a huge mistake. I’m already pulling operatives from several Chosen Cities. We need to disappear until we get this thing figured out.”
I grit my teeth, meeting his eyes. “I don’t wanna go without Avery.”
He shakes his head. “They would be expecting us, Fisher. We’re outnumbered.”
“So bring the ship down like you did in Seattle.”
His eyebrows raise. “Over a Chosen City? They’d blast us out of the sky without so much as a warning, cloaked or not. We’re not Atlas, Jesse. A Skyship this size doesn’t stand a chance against a Chosen. We got away with it over a deserted area. It won’t happen again. Even so, I’ll be paying a price for it. Now it’s your turn to give something up. Avery Wicksen’s a smart girl… sneaky, too. She can handle herself. You have more important things to worry about right now.”
“My parents,” I mumble.
“Excuse me?”
“They’re coming to Earth… if they’re still alive. They could be in any of them… any of the Pearls.”
He nods. “Then you better be damn sure the government doesn’t get their hands on them first.”
I take a deep breath, realizing that he’s right. It’s a matter of time. And we don’t have much time to waste.
I glance out the window at the wisps of clouds streaming by. “So where are we going?”
“Eastern Siberia,” he responds. “I have contacts there. Survivors of the fallout from the Chinese-American War. Both the Tribunal and the Unified Party will be looking for us in the air. We can hunker down for a while and get this project up and running. We’ll need supplies, and a space for our… visitors to settle.”
I bristle at the word “visitors,” and wonder if that’s what Alkine thinks of me, too. A visitor. A tourist on my own planet. “You really want to go through with this, then? I mean, it’ll change the world.”
His eyebrows raise. “Is that really such a bad thing?” He clasps his hands. “I want to do this if you think you’re ready. If it’s safe.”
I nod. “It’s safe. The people I’ve met so far… they don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“We’ll confirm it, and we’ll move ahead cautiously. I’ll instruct all units to prepare for Project Pearlbreaker. And you will need to get your butt in training. Slacking off is not gonna cut it, Fisher. This is important.”
I sink down in my chair. “Project Pearlbreaker?”
“Military code name,” he replies. “Gives the people a sense of purpose.”
“No uniforms, right?”
He smiles. “Not unless you want one.”
I shake my head, pausing for a moment. “Are people gonna know? About me, I mean.”
Alkine chuckles. “Fisher, this is Skyship Academy. People are going to know. In fact, I’ve heard a few rather unpleasant rumors filtering around the ship already. You might want to nip that in the bud.”
I tense up, imagining what people like August Bergmann are going to have to say after what happened in Seattle. Puny Jesse Fisher needs an entire Skyship to save him from a middle-aged woman.
“I’ll keep you informed if we manage to extract anything useful from our friend down in the infirmary. No more closed-door meetings, Jesse. I promise you’ll be involved from now on.”
I fidget in the chair. Even though he’s being all warm and fuzzy, I still feel like I’m at a meeting with the principal. Plus, Alkine and promises don’t exactly fit together the way they should.
“Took a lot of guts going down to the Surface,” he says. “Initiative. I hadn’t seen it in you before. It suits you.”
I force a smile, realizing how strange it feels to be complimented by Captain Alkine. He clears his throat and crosses his arms. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
I shake my head, eager to leave the conversation on a good note.
Without a goodbye, I pull myself up out of the chair and head for the door. I feel Alkine’s eyes bore into the back of my head as I leave. Creepy. As. Ever.
–
Late evening. A blanket of stars stretches around the ship beyond the Level Five windows. I stand in the outer corridor, hands in my pockets, and stare out into the night. I wish I had a telescope so that I could see farther.
I try to imagine hurtling through the stars, on my way from the laboratory of some unknown planet. It’s too ridiculous to visualize, but it happened. Pearls-I was inside one of those things.
I lay my fingers on the fiberglass and trace the stars. Connect the dots. There are worlds out there, maybe hundreds of them. Worlds as chaotic and troubled as our own. Worlds where people lose things they love. Worlds with families and children. Sisters.
Brothers.
I hear footsteps down the corridor. A voice interrupts the silence. “I’d kill to know what’s going through your mind right now.”
I bring my hand down to my side and turn around. “Eva.”
“Evening, Fisher. I thought you’d be in your room.”
“Nah. I needed some space.”
She joins me at the window, peering down. “Nothing but hundreds of miles of water below us. Gotta make you a little nervous.”
“Huh?”
She grins. “I know what kind of swimmer you are.”
I shrug, turning my attention back to the stars.
“Hey,” she lays her hand on my shoulder, “you did well today. What a difference a week makes, right?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, everything’s changed now.”
“Aw, don’t be dramatic,” she replies. “Not everything’s changed. You’re still the guy I’ve gotta look out for.”
I scowl at her. “I did all right on the Surface.”
“Sure you did.” She smiles. “But you’ve got a lot to learn. Alien or not.”
I lay my forehead against the fiberglass. “Please don’t use that word.”
She laughs. “I thought you’d be used to it by now. It’s not like you’ve ever been normal, right?”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
She shrugs. “Take it for what it is, Fisher. At least now you’ve got a reason to be different.”
I turn to respond but notice Skandar sprinting toward us through the corridor. A heavy cast covers his right arm. He swings it around like it doesn’t hurt at all.
As soon as he’s within striking distance, he grabs my shoulder and spins me around, using me as a human shield. “Is he coming?”
I yank my shoulder free. “Is who coming?”
“Bergmann.” He crouches. “He was talking trash about you, Jesse. I nailed him right in the jaw.” He shakes his bandaged arm.
Eva rolls her eyes. “You punched him with your cast?”
He smiles. “Duh. It’s a lot harder than my fist.”
She shakes her head. “That arm doesn’t deserve to heal.”
Skandar stands up straight, staring over my shoulder. “I think I lost him outside the library.”
I wince at the thought of August Bergmann coming after us. “You don’t have to defend me.”
He grins. “Oh, don’t worry. Bergmann won’t be coming for you. I told him you could explode his head. You know, like a Pearl.”
Eva leans against the window. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Skandar shrugs. “Seemed to believe it.”
She sighs. “You’re a moron.”
My front pocket buzzes. Skandar notices it first. “That you, mate?”
Confused, I reach into my pocket and feel smooth plastic. The com-pad. Cassius’s com-pad. I’d nearly forgotten about it.
“We’ll have to talk later.” I step away from the window.
Eva’s eyes narrow. “Jesse, what do you have in your pocket?”
I back away across the corridor, heading for the elevators. “Just trust me for once, okay Eva? I’ll… uh… see you guys tomorrow.”
She steps forward, intent on following me, but Skandar juts out his uninjured arm and holds her back. I turn and race through the hallway. When I reach the elevators, I pull the com-pad from my pocket and answer it.
“Hey.”
There’s a pause, long enough that I figure the connection cut out. Then I hear Cassius’s voice, small and quiet coming from the tiny speaker.