I waited, hoping Trek had received the message, and that he could come right away.
Twenty minutes later Trek appeared from behind the wall. He strode toward the techtric barrier without a backward glance. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair a tangled mess.
He scanned me the same way I was analyzing him. “You look awful,” he said, his voice semimuted through the barrier. “You must not sleep either.”
“Not much,” I said. “We were in Cedar Hills and just got your message.”
He cursed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I knew we should’ve sent a message to the safe house. But after you guys took Thane, we weren’t sure who’d be watched. And Starr couldn’t risk another meeting with Gunn.”
“We lost six days.”
“Yeah, and it’s six days we don’t have. The General is preparing to leave in the morning.” He smoothed a hand over his unshaved jaw. “Hightower has been checking the feeds from every city, and he found several false vids. That’s how he located your safe house. The false feeds either come from my hub or from Pace’s, and since he didn’t get the message, Hightower found his fake routing info.”
“So Director Hightower found the cavern because of the false feeds we’ve been sending?” That settled in my stomach so much easier than a spy living in the hideout.
“Right. And the General is leaving for Castledale in the morning, as those feeds account for the majority of the false vids.”
“Pace was doctoring all those.”
“Right. And since no one received our message, we weren’t able to bury the coordinates before they were found.”
I exhaled. “Damn. Well, I’ve got the code going out through Cedar Hills’s plant network. Everyone should know by tomorrow night.”
“That won’t help Castledale.” Trek pinned me with a meaningful look.
“I’ll go. What am I telling them?”
“General Darke is leaving in the morning. Our people will make sure his board will only have enough charge to get him to Arrow Falls, where he’ll be forced to stop to recharge. That will buy you about eight hours. He’s going to Castledale for a full status report. If you leave now, and fly nonstop, you’ll have approximately eighteen hours to evacuate all Insiders, and Director Pederson will need to make his completely noncompliant city absolutely compliant. Otherwise . . .” Trek let the words hang there, and I knew what followed them.
General Darke would take over. Director Pederson would die—and so would anyone who exhibited qualities of noncompliance.
“I’ll get them out,” I said, the determination in my voice covering my fear at having to return to Castledale and my doubts that I could really get an entire city compliant in under twenty-four hours. “We had to evacuate our hot spot. I’m sure we’ll find a place in the Southern Region.”
“You have. City of Grande. Cache Laurel Woods when you get there.”
“Laurel Woods?” The name tickled my memory. I had Gunn’s journal in my backpack; maybe her name was listed inside and I’d read it over and over.
“Yeah, she runs an underground communication loop for the Resistance. She’ll direct you.”
I nodded, anxious to leave for Castledale, yet never wanting to touch down there again.
“Tell Jag that I’ve been promoted to the Transportation Rise, technology specialist,” Trek said.
“Is Starr still in Twelve?”
“Yes, and she has free reign of the city. She’s in Hightower’s back pocket.”
“How’s she coping?”
“As well as can be expected. She plays both sides flawlessly.” He grinned a sly smile that reminded me that Trek and Starr were together. “One more thing.”
“Go,” I said.
“Starr was going to cache this to Gunn on their next meeting, but now that the hideout is lost, I might as well tell you. Hightower has called for school to close at the end of the month. All students on Levels Three and Four have been moved into the Rises and begun professional training. That’s why I’m in Transportation.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Something major is going on. When will you guys be ready to launch the attack?”
Anxiety thrummed through my system. I wasn’t Jag. I couldn’t answer that question. “I don’t know.”
“What was the plan?”
“Two weeks, I think,” I said. “The travel team had four more objectives to complete.”
True fear skated through Trek’s eyes. “I don’t think we have two weeks.” He spoke so softly, I had to read his lips to understand.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I turned, ready to get out of there.
“Zenn,” Trek said. “Be careful with the elements. Hightower has ordered the Directors in Arrow Falls and Allentown to make special note of anything unusual in the climate. There’s a backpack of supplies at the usual spot outside Castledale. It has a generator cube for you.”
“Great. Anything else?”
“We can relay additional instructions through Laurel. We’re wasting time. You’ll need every minute in Castledale.”
“Right.” But I knew he could’ve said more. “Thanks,” I said, before stepping onto my half-charged hoverboard and setting my sights to the west.
Trek’s information wouldn’t settle into silence. Director Hightower had moved fourteens and fifteens into professions already. If he was closing school at the end of March, he’d have a damn good reason.
Besides a complete annihilation of the Resistance, what could he be planning? I thought briefly of the premier Rises—Medical, Technology, and Evolutionary. Could he have had a medical breakthrough? Manufactured some horrific disease that would kill us all?
Or maybe he’d created a piece of tech that could . . . I didn’t even know. Had he managed to complete a successful batch of clones?
My heart thundered as I turned to watch the glow of Freedom fade. Part of me wanted to go back and take my place as Van Hightower’s replacement. The other part longed to see that city burn to the ground.
The problem was, in my mind, both parts were equal.
Jag
27.
Thane touched down two seconds before Indy, whose expression said
“Status,” I said.
Indy pressed her lips into a thin line. Vi slipped her hand into mine and squeezed. Thane catalogued the movement and mirrored his mouth to match Indy’s.
“Oh, brother,” I growled. “Vi and I are together. Deal or don’t. But you better damn well report.”
Indy folded her arms. “Our people are secure in Grande. Laurel is organizing her moles. Everyone will be instructed to meet in Grande or Beachfront.”
I nodded, switching my gaze to Thane. “What do you have?”
“Nothing. I didn’t want to stay there without my daughter.”
I almost laughed. “What a load of crap. I know you’re hiding something.” I squinted at him, wishing I could see inside his head. We still needed to discuss the microchip Starr had sent with Gunn, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Vi.
“I am not hiding anything,” Thane said. “I’ve been relaying everything I’ve done and everything I know to the appropriate contact.”
Which wasn’t me. It could never be me. I hated that, but Thane and I couldn’t work together. In fact it was my rule, one of the very first I’d made.
But now everything had changed.
