“No.” My voice was shaking. I couldn’t take my eyes off Pops. He looked so weak, sick.
Lessig spoke into the viewer. “Charlie. Do it.”
The same goon who’d yanked Pops by his hair now pulled the tubes out. Pops shook violently. He slipped out of the chair, writhing on the floor. Convulsions racked his body, and although I couldn’t hear it, he was screaming in agony.
“Stop it!” I punched Lessig in the gut with my good arm. “Pops! No!”
Fassbinder moved to grab my free arm when suddenly Brie and Joan came flying out from behind the boxes, a flurry of arms and legs. Joan clawed at Lessig, and I pulled away from his grasp. Brie was quick and efficient in her attack—in a heartbeat, Angelo was on the floor unconscious, and Lessig was crumpled in a heap on top of him.
I lunged for the viewer. “Pops! Pops!” He lay still on the floor. The guy who’d killed him toed him with his boot and then walked away. “Pops.” I couldn’t stop looking at his lifeless body lying there.
“Nina. Nina.” Brie helped me up. “Nina, I’m sorry, but we can’t stop. There’s no time. You and Joan have got to get out of here. Lock the door and turn the shields back on.”
I pushed the lever up, and the viewer screen went black. I hurled it across the room. “The door locks automatically,” I said, touching my shoulder gingerly. “I think he broke my arm.”
Brie’s hands moved quickly over my shoulder. “No, it’s just dislocated. Lie down. Joan, Dorrie, hold her for traction.” Joan looked dazed but did as she was told. A few seconds of searing pain, and Brie had worked my arm into place. At least now I could move it, though carefully. Brie took Ginnie’s scarf and fashioned a sling out of it. “Come on,” she said. “We’ve gotta move.”
“What about them?” I asked. Fassbinder and Lessig were still out cold.
“I think we did enough damage. B.O.S.S. will clean up that garbage. Dorrie, let’s move—we don’t have much time. Joan? You okay?”
Joan was white as a sheet. She stood up. “I’ll be fine. I just want out of here.”
“Let’s go, then.”
We ran through the tunnels as fast as we could. I tried to keep the image of Pops’s body out of my head, just concentrating on moving one foot in front of the other. Finally, we reached the veljet, and Brie shoved us inside.
“First aid kit and energy bars are overhead.” Brie pointed to two sliding doors above us. “If you’ve got to go, unlock the seat like so.” She pressed a button. “It swivels around to the rear. You’ll have to wiggle out of your all-weathers and scoot onto this.” She showed me the toilet. “Flush like so.” Another button, another problem solved. “If you’re thirsty, there’s a full water reservoir. Straws on the door side of your seat.” I nodded, still unable to speak.
“And, Nina, you’re ultra. That was awesome, what you did back there.” She looked across me. “Joan, stick by this girl. She’s definitely got your back.”
Dorrie reached in and put a chip in the dash. “This is a self-destructing chip. It’s programmed to take you to Castle Combe in the Greater United Isles. That’s where your dad is. He’s expecting you.”
“My dad? Why aren’t we going to Japan? What about the Jenkinses?”
“We tried to tell you earlier, but we were… interrupted. Mrs. Jenkins’s relatives were arrested by the Nippon Council for harboring subversives. I don’t know where Wei and her family will end up. They had to leave—Mrs. Jenkins is already gone. I don’t know where Wei and the rest will go.”
A wave of panic washed over me. Dee. “Chris was supposed to take Dee to Martin’s. Did he?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find her—we’ll make sure she’s okay. Brie and I, or someone, will get word to you. Nina, you have to go now. We’ve got to get downstairs and out of the building before we’re discovered. Don’t worry about piloting or landing. The jet takes care of itself. As soon as I’m clear, press the green button. And, oh… I figured you’d want to know—I found out who Miss Maldovar is. Adana Maldovar is Ed Chamus’s twin sister. Nina, I’m sorry, we’re out of time!” On that note, she clamped the door shut and ran over to Brie. I looked at them through the window, dumbfounded. Miss Maldovar was Ed’s sister. The Jenkinses were on the run. Dee was… I didn’t know where Dee was.
“Nina?” Joan touched my arm. “We’ve got to go.”
I looked down and pressed the green button; the veljet sprang to life and spun upward. Within moments, it leveled out and shot forward. We were off.
XLI
When the adrenaline had finally worn off, and the veljet was far away from Chicago, my shoulder started throbbing, and my eyes got heavy. Soon the drone of engines had put both Joan and me to sleep. The insistent beeping of my PAV woke me. It was Chris.
“Chris—thank goodness! What’s happening?” I asked. “Where are you? Is Dee all right? Your family? Tell me.”
“Nina, it’s okay, but I have to be quick. Everyone’s safe for now—Dee is safe. B.O.S.S. will be attempting to track you. Remove your earpiece and flush it and your receiver out of the craft. And, Nina… I love you.” He clicked off.
I removed my earpiece. The pain in my shoulder was insistent, but I somehow managed to fish my receiver out of my bag. Swiveling around, I tugged the seat up and dropped my only links to the people I loved into the void.
At least Dee was safe. At least there was that.
And Chris loved me—I didn’t even know where to begin thinking about that.
Joan was still asleep next to me. I stared out the window for what seemed like an eternity. Miss Maldovar was Ed’s sister. She had to be treating Dee so well because she thinks Dee’s her niece. What will happen if she finds out the truth? I dared not dwell on that.
And Gran— With the Jenkinses gone, where would Gran go when she could no longer stay in the rehab facility? Who would tell her about Pops? Pops. Oh, Pops. Tears streamed down my face. I felt Joan’s fingers wrap around mine.
“I’m sorry, Nina. So sorry.”
We sat silently, staring into the dark of the night, speeding toward a destination neither of us had chosen.
A robotic voice woke me. “Landing preparations have begun. Please secure cargo. Fasten seat belts.” It repeated the directions twice, then the thrusters kicked in and the landing gear dropped. Lights on the bottom of the veljet illuminated the ground. The craft made a sharp turn. If we hadn’t been restrained, I would’ve been sitting in Joan’s lap. It veered right and left as if looking for a place to set down. Then, without warning, it dropped to the ground. A perfect landing. The nav chip ejected from the dash, a tiny poof of smoke confirming its destruction.
“I guess we’re here,” I said.
Before we could even unbuckle our seat belts, I saw a group of women carrying torchlights come through the trees. Two of them had a stretcher. They unlatched the doors to the veljet and helped us out.
“Here, put these on. It’s cold.” A woman held out coats. When she saw my arm in the makeshift sling, she said, “You must be Nina. I’m Layla. We heard you’d been hurt.” She gently laid the coat over my shoulders. Dorrie and Brie must have gotten word out. “We didn’t know how bad. Do you need the stretcher?”
“Walking’s no problem.” I glanced at Joan. She shook her head. “We’re both fine.”
“Let’s get you back to town. You must be tired and hungry,” Layla said. “The doctor should look at that shoulder, too. Your father’s been in the north country. He would’ve been here, but we didn’t find out about your arrival until a few hours ago. He’ll be back later today.”
Shortly after we slipped into the darkness of the trees, I remembered my bag. “I left something in the veljet. I have to go back.”