Thane had reached the clones. Nothing happened. I waited, expecting him to put them to sleep, the same way he had in Grande. Saffediene had cached me the report, and while I knew she’d wanted to talk about the clones, I hadn’t engaged her because I didn’t want to “use her” the way Jag had accused.
What’s he doing? Saffediene asked over my cache.
Thane gestured wildly at us. Without another chat, Saffediene and I took off to help him. The frontward clones pulled out tasers. The motion rippled back through the crowd until every single one was armed.
“Whoa,” I said out loud, forgetting completely about being stealthy. They obviously already knew we were here.
Thane shot straight up as at least twelve tasers fired in his direction.
Evasive maneuvers, I chatted to Saffediene. Thane! What did you say to them?
My heart beat double time, my body vibrated with crazy-adrenaline as I flew in close to the clones who had already discharged their tasers. I had a three-second window before their weapons would be ready to fire again.
“Sleep,” I said in my most powerful voice. The clones didn’t move. They didn’t so much as blink.
I ducked as taser barbs arced toward me. Saffediene cried out behind me. She didn’t have a voice; she couldn’t do anything but get killed. Retreat, I commanded her.
Thane! I called again. I couldn’t find him in the night sky. The lights surrounding the Confinement Rise were too bright.
I twisted back and flew in front of the clones who’d just fired at me. “Deactivate your weapons,” I said. I’d never achieved this level of control in my voice. It should have worked. They should have pocketed their tasers.
They didn’t.
Another wave of taser fire caught my board. The hovercraft lurched under my feet and went right while I continued left. I couldn’t help it. I screamed.
I was falling, falling into an army of clones that wouldn’t respond to my voice. I hit the ground hard. Four clones stood over me. I reached for the taser at my belt. If my voice wouldn’t work, maybe I could at least fight my way into the orchards.
Zenn! Thane’s voice over my cache could barely be heard over the pounding of my heart.
I fell! I chatted, sprinting down the line of clones. If I could just make it to through the fray . . .
I’ll pick you up on the beach, Saffediene said. Can you make it there?
I dodged a clone as he stepped out of line. I plowed into another clone, and we both fell to the ground. My legs and arms tangled with his, but I scrambled to my feet just as a taser discharged. Techtricity struck where I had stood a moment ago.
I ran. I don’t think so.
“Stop! Stand down! Drop your weapons!” I shouted as I ran.
They don’t respond to voice control, Thane said.
What gives? I asked. They’re just clones.
They’re deaf, he said.
Horror struck me, and I tripped over my own feet. I slapped away the reaching hands of a clone even as the whine of a taser filled my world. I pulled myself to my knees, desperate to get away and reach the safety of the orchards.
We’re screwed, I thought just before the techtricity entered my body.
Jag
33.
A jolt of fear struck me as Vi’s voice sounded in my head. I didn’t wear an implant, but when she screamed, Jag! I heard it reverberate in every cell.
I twisted to find her several yards behind me, hovering in the air, pointing back the way we’d come. Below me, where the ground was once black and forbidding, it was now streaked with light.
Curses flew through my mind. I zoomed toward Vi, but I didn’t need her to tell me the problem. Zillions of tech lights chased every shadow into the orchards.
Thane hovered near the roof of the Confinement Rise, but I couldn’t see anyone else. Anyone besides the hundreds and hundreds of clones.
Deaf, Vi said inside my head. Her voice rattled around in there, as if it didn’t quite know where to settle.
I cocked my eyebrow at her. Deaf?
Meaning they can’t hear, she said. Your voice won’t work. A tremor shook her body. Zenn fell.
Should I have been worried? Yes. Was I? Absolutely. I’d seen the naked fear in Zenn’s eyes when he’d spoken about Hightower. I’d heard him say, You don’t know what he’s like. I could not abandon Zenn here.
Where? I asked.
I don’t know. I can’t find his mind, either. It’s like he’s . . . She didn’t finish the thought, but she didn’t need to.
A rocking boom! shook my attention from Vi’s escalating worry about Zenn. We faced the direction of the noise. Rise One wasn’t hard to spot, what with it being the tallest building in the city. Smoke wafted from it, illuminated by a pulsing blue light.
Can you communicate with Thane? I asked Vi.
Yeah.
Tell him to stick with Saffediene and try to find Zenn. We have to get to Rise One.
She looked at me, and her accusation didn’t need to be said—or thought. I could read it in the way she stiffened.
Are you coming? I asked, unwilling to apologize for what needed to be done. Did she think Zenn didn’t know the risks? That he wouldn’t leave us all behind to finish the job? He knew this was bigger than one person—even bigger than him.
“It’s Zenn,” she said out loud, which was somehow worse than her infiltrating my mind.
I couldn’t leave her there, but I couldn’t waste any more time stalled in the sky. “I know, babe,” I said, and that would have to be enough.
I swung my board around and held my hand out to Vi. She took it, and our group advanced toward the smoking Rise One.
Because of the other Rises, I didn’t see the swarm of Enforcement Officers until we crested the last building. The square mile of green area surrounding Rise One was completely filled with Officers. Armed and dangerous Officers.
They wore standard-issue uniforms and held tasers at the ready. They didn’t move, not even a twitch. Normal people couldn’t stand that still. My breath stuck in my throat.
The Enforcement Officers were either clones or—
“Jag Barque.” The voice belonged to Van Hightower, and it echoed through the empty streets, rattling off the tech buildings and coating my nerves in fear.
What was I supposed to say in return? Hello? I’m here to burn your city to the ground? That didn’t seem quite right. So I said nothing. I nodded to Gunner, who flew in closer to the Officer-clones. He spoke, and nothing happened.
“Deaf,” I said. Despite all my careful planning, I honestly hadn’t anticipated that my greatest weapon—my voice—would be useless.
“Vi,” I said. “Can you read their minds?”
A strangled cry escaped her throat. “I’ve been trying. I can’t find their minds.”
“Maybe . . .” I didn’t finish, because I couldn’t think of a single reason why Vi wouldn’t be able to find and read their minds.
I watched Gunner fly along the perimeter, still attempting to use his voice to coerce the Officers. The seconds ticked by, but a battle raged in my head. Deep inside, I knew I’d never get another chance at this. I’d been working toward this takedown of Freedom for years.