Abandon

53.

I sat in a darkened room, watching the day fade into dusk. Zenn’s voice still floated in my head, full of conviction.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, his words were perfect. The transmissions were perfect, and they’d been cycling through the feed for the past five hours. Irv had the security in Rise Twelve operating at full capacity, and he and Trek had the communication lines open again.

But I waited in silence, without a cache, in Ian Darke’s house. Vi had come with me, and I’d managed to convince her to stay upstairs while I spoke with Darke.

I imagined what I might say to him, how I might incapacitate him. I had nothing. With Freedom in ruins and on the brink of a new, free society, Darke didn’t seem so intimidating anymore.

Sure, there were more Directors to overthrow and more cities to unbrainwash, but now I knew it was doable. Now I knew we had the resources, the personnel, and the experience to actually carry it out.

I’d dispatched my traveling team a few hours earlier. They were headed to the friendliest cities—Harvest, Cedar Hills, Grande, Mountain Dale, Baybridge—with copies of Zenn’s recordings. I’d laced my voice over his, and then Gunn had as well. The power of our three voices could wake the dead.

People everywhere would soon come out of the mental fog they’d been in their whole lives. We’d establish laws, teach correct principles, and let the people govern themselves. I almost smiled.

My parents had died in defense of freedom. I’d been working for years to see the birth of a free society. I felt a crack in my barriers. I’d let Vi in, at least a little bit. It hurt, but feeling something and experiencing life with someone else was better than feeling nothing and being lonely all the time.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t notice someone enter the house.

“Well, hello, Jag,” Ian Darke said, his voice smooth and low. “To what do I owe this honor?” He cast his eyes around the room. “And where’s Director Bower?”

I steepled my fingers under my chin. “He’s detained.”

“Is he dead?”

My stomach tightened, but a smile stretched my lips. “Perhaps.” I’d let Darke think what he wanted, especially if it played in my favor. “Sit down. We need to talk.”

Darke moved to the chair opposite me so swiftly, it was as if my voice had influenced him.

Interesting, I thought. Darke should have extensive protections against voice and mind control. I wondered if his personal tech security had been corrupted. I wondered if he knew.

His security was down, Vi confirmed. He just switched it back on. He’d turned it off to save energy during his travels.

Did he get what he wanted in Castledale? I kept my eyes on Darke while Vi and I held our mental conversation. I had no personal tech security to keep Darke out of my head, but I didn’t care if he eavesdropped on my convo.

No, she said. Can you feel his emotions?

No, I said. He’s folded those away.

He’s worried, Vi said. At least he was when he arrived.

Thanks, babe, I thought. Stay upstairs, okay?

She didn’t answer, and I knew she’d do whatever she wanted, even if that meant storming downstairs at any moment.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I began. “The Resistance owns Freedom now. I’ve already sent my people to every city in the Union.” A lie, but Darke didn’t need to know I didn’t have the manpower to fly to every city in the Association. “By morning we’ll control two out of every three cities. You’re finished.” My words settled in the room, heavy with threats.

I’d had plenty of experience with Directors like him, and I didn’t expect him to respond. When he didn’t, I added, “The cities we won’t own will come around once they see our superior way of living.”

“Sounds like you have everything worked out,” he said. “But I’m sure you know I’m not simply going to mount my hoverboard and fly into the night.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

Jag! Vi shouted in my head, and I flinched at the panic in her tone.

“Sounds like your team has discovered what I’m going to do.” Darke stood up, his fingers pressing buttons along the wrist-port band on his left hand.

I jumped to my feet. Vi’s voice echoed in my head, but with no new information. I sprinted for the door, shouting, “Lock down!”

Irv’s tech leapt into action, securing all of the room’s exits, locking Darke inside. His rage followed me into hall, propelling me toward the stairs. My heart pounded as loud as my footsteps as I flew up them.

“Vi!” I barged into the bedroom where she had been camped out. She stood at the window. Terror flowed from her.

I joined her at the window, and she gripped my arm. My fear matched hers as I took in the scene outside.

The sky was filled with fire, with men on hoverboards, with taser blasts.

With death.

Time clicked by in breaths. One, two, three.

“Let’s go,” Vi begged. “Jag, come on!”

I tore my gaze from the scene outside. “You said Darke didn’t get what he wanted.” It sounded like an accusation, but it was a plea. I wanted Vi to tell me I was hallucinating. Something to make the men outside be Resistance members.

“He didn’t get the tech,” she said. “He got an army.” She bolted into the hall, screaming behind her, “Come on!”

I took one more look out the window. I looked toward the Rises. Bright lights flashed along the top of Twelve, signaling that they were under attack. I sprinted after Vi, my fear solidifying into fury.

* * *

“Straight up,” I said to Vi. “Please, Vi. Fly straight up.”

She glared at me. “I can help.”

“I know that,” I said. “But I do not know how to live without you. Please. Straight up.”

“You’re going straight up too, right?”

“Right,” I said.

“Fine.” She stepped onto her hoverboard and launched herself up. I followed her, climbing above the chaos raging through the Rises several miles away. She stopped a few hundred feet in the air, and I paused next to her.

Fire leapt from the roof of several Rises, the numbers of which I didn’t know.

“Two, Six, Nine, and Ten,” Vi said.

“Six and Nine,” I repeated. “That’s bad.” Zenn had gone back to his old flat in Rise Nine to set up a home base. Thane, Trek, and Irv were operating their communications hub and tech production out of Twelve. Isaacs had gone with them. Starr had gone back to her old flat in Six to establish an infirmary, taking Raine, Gunner, and River with her.

Laurel and Saffediene were part of my traveling team, and I’d dispatched them to Harvest to gather refugees who were willing to fight. They’d be gone until morning.

Darke had brought hordes of people with him. They all wore black, making them almost indistinguishable against the night sky. When their tasers discharged, white hot light marked their position.

My people had tasers too. Protective gear. Hoverboards. My spirits lifted as I realized we had the same equipment, the same drive to win.

I leaned into my board, pointing it toward Twelve. Vi followed, her voice in my head. What’s your plan?

Communicate with Zenn, Starr, and Raine, I thought. Let them know what’s going on, and let them know that we’re meeting at Twelve.