“If it isn’t our little adventurers,” said Nasri.
He smiled, but he was armed and angry. One side of his face looked burned and raw, and his neck was swathed in bandages. He hopped from one foot to the other. Even his men looked frightened. He waved his gun at the three of us and indicated we should move away from the carrier and stand out in the open.
“You’re fools,” he said. “No good will come of this.”
“If you shoot us,” I said, “you’re throwing away good money.”
Nasri raised his pistol. A shot rang out. When I opened my eyes, Dr. Tinker was dead on the ground.
CHAPTER 12
This time Nasri took no chances. He tied us up in the back of the carrier, then locked us to the door. He huffed, stomped, hopped, and grumbled about how he would make us pay for destroying the other carrier and his desalinator. He didn’t seem to care at all for the men he’d lost, the man he had killed, or even his own injury—but the destruction of his machines was more than he could bear. Both Will and I knew enough to keep quiet.
We traveled until nightfall, then camped beside a rocky bed that once held a sprawling river. Now it was a gully with earthen walls, the rocks worn smooth and flat, forming a natural barrier to the east. Although there was no water, the way across was still treacherous and slow. Nasri said we would wait for morning to continue the journey.
He didn’t feed us, but one of his men took pity and gave us a few scraps and two bottles of water. We ate with our hands tied behind our backs, chewing at our food like animals. Because Will’s leg hurt worse than before, I held his bottle between my knees and opened the top with my teeth. We were too tired to talk and fell asleep huddled against each for warmth.
In the morning Nasri brought us breakfast, along with two pills for Will’s injury. His mood had improved, which made me worry. Sure enough he announced we were heading to an auction where we would fetch top dollar—not enough to replace the carrier, but more than enough for a new desalinator.
“And with the money Bluewater owes us, we’ll have another carrier in no time,” he declared.
I felt the prickly tendrils of unease on my neck. There was something unholy about the relationship between the corporate desalinator and the environmental group.
“Why does Bluewater owe you money?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” he cackled.
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
“Should be!” He was hopping again.
“You had their desalinator, but you said they owed you money.”
“Genius! It’s a shame we had to take you out of school.”
“I thought environmentalists believed desalination was bad for the environment.”
A scowl crossed his face but then passed. “Haven’t you learned anything by now? What’s good for the environment isn’t always good for environmentalists, and vice versa.” He was in a fine mood, hopping from one foot to the other as if he were standing on hot coals.
Will had been watching our conversation carefully, like a spectator at a gaming match. Now our eyes locked, and I could see he was truly frightened. I was frightened too, but I plunged ahead. Talking was the only way I knew to keep fear at bay.
“So you’re hypocrites,” I said.
“If there’s money in it.” Nasri cackled again.
“Did you kill Dr. Tinker for money?”
“Of course. Why else kill a man?”
Then it came to me in a moment of clarity. “Bluewater paid you to kill Dr. Tinker.”
“Not enough.” Nasri stopped hopping. “Let’s just say there was some renegotiating once we had him.”
“But why?”
“Ours is not to question why,” said Nasri. “We just cash the credit chips.”
“And the dam?”
“A diversion. To spirit the good doctor away.”
“You killed all these people for a diversion?”
“Oh, and to save Earth, of course.”
The pirates, PELA, and now Bluewater all wanted Dr. Tinker. But it wasn’t Tinker they had really wanted; it was what they had thought he would lead them to. And now he was dead, which meant only one thing. I felt like I had been kicked in the heart.
“I’d rather kill a man than kidnap him anyway,” Nasri continued. “Simpler, and you don’t have to deal with grieving relatives. Just dump the body and move along.”
I didn’t answer, and Nasri seemed disappointed by my silence. But my stomach was knotted, and I couldn’t talk even if I had wanted to. After several attempts Nasri stopped trying. “It’s a shame to lose you,” he said. “You’re such a cute girl.”
I flinched, but he had already turned for the door. When it closed we were in darkness again.
“Vera?” asked Will.
“Bluewater has Kai.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Anyone who knew the location of the river was a threat to Bluewater and its water monopoly. That was why it had paid PELA to kidnap Dr. Tinker. The desalinating companies were like countries unto themselves—fighting for territory and power. Just as nations profited from surpluses, they profited from shortages and scarcity. But they wouldn’t have killed Dr. Tinker if they had thought he was still useful.
I could feel the hover-carrier lifting off the ancient riverbed. Time seemed to have slowed; each second was like the space between drops of water. In between the drops I could feel my friend’s absence.
“They’re going to kill him, Will.”
“No, they won’t. Why would they? Think about it logically, Vera. If Bluewater went through the trouble to kidnap him from his home, why kill him?”
I wanted to believe Will was right, but I knew he wasn’t. If Dr. Tinker was dead, it meant Bluewater no longer needed him. If they no longer needed him, it meant they knew the location of the river, or had Kai, or both. Soon they would not need Kai either.
I sank to the floor of the carrier. My hands were still tied behind my back, so I curled into an awkward ball, my feet facing one direction, my head and knees in the other. Will sidled up beside me and nudged my shoulder onto his thigh. His ripped trousers still smelled faintly of chemo-wash, the brand our father kept buying even after our mother could no longer do the laundry.
We stayed that way for a long time. The carrier swooped and dipped, crossing the wrecked and forsaken land. Below us were hectares of parched earth, fissured and broken without a trace of green. A dazzling sun illuminated metallic yellows, grays, and blues: mercury, lead, cadmium. The air was dusty and glittered gold with thousands of particles swirling in the wind. I dozed, or thought I did, my mind jumbled and disjointed like confetti.
When the carriers finally stopped, it was late afternoon. The rear doors were flung open, and the cargo hold was bathed in a sudden chill. A lone horn sounded in the distance. It made me shiver. “Where are we?” I asked Will.
“Welcome to Niagara!” said Nasri from the rear steps. “Enjoy the honeymoon!” His laugh was brittle and thin.
I rose slowly and helped Will off the floor. We stood unsteadily, blinking in the harsh light. Nasri scampered into the cargo hold, followed by two of his men who were dressed as if for combat: boots, kev-jackets, pistols tucked in waistbands. He signaled to them, and one of them grabbed Will, while the other took firm hold of my arm.
“Normally we’d get more for you,” Nasri said, squeezing Will’s cheek between his forefinger and thumb. “But your sister here is feisty, and there is that nasty wound on your leg.”
“You can’t sell us!” I said.
“See what I mean?” said Nasri. “Feisty!”
“How much are they paying you?” I asked. “Our father will pay you more.”
“I thought your parents were dead. Besides, we’ve come too far to ransom you back to your family.”
Outside, the horn sounded again, and the men tightened their grips.
“Do not ask for whom the bell tolls…” said Nasri, and then there was that cackle again.