“We have an appointment in Harvest,” Zenn said—for the third time.
“Stop trying to get out of going on this mission,” I said, fighting back my voice power. “You want to play the hero, just admit it. Right now I need my hero in Freedom, to rescue Thane.” I stripped off my filthy shirt and replaced it with a less filthy one.
“This has nothing to do with heroics.”
“And,” I continued, almost yelling, “everyone knows you’re in love with Vi, and I’m assigning you to protect her.”
His jaw tightened; his fists flexed. A bolt of satisfaction sang at the back of my throat. “It’s what we both want,” I said, stepping closer. He blocked the doorway of my bedroom, and I had forty thousand things to get ready for the mission.
“I can’t go back there,” Zenn said, his gaze dropping to the floor. The muscles worked in his neck. “You don’t know what Director Hightower’s like.”
“Trust me,” I said, “I do.” Zenn had no idea what my life was like. Where I’d been for those eight months while he and Vi fell in love all over again. No one did.
That’s how I liked it. Removing myself from everyone and everything helped me keep people out. That way I could do what needed to be done for the Resistance.
No emotional attachments. That’s why I didn’t try too hard to explain anything to Indy and then brought her brother, Irvine, with me on the mission into the Goodgrounds. She didn’t understand that, sometimes, being the leader of the Resistance required me to make difficult decisions. It was better to be completely detached from everyone.
“Except for Vi.” Zenn didn’t have to say it, but he did. The pain in his voice was poorly masked. He hadn’t even tried. Sure, he was in my head, which annoyed me, but he was acknowledging something he’d rather ignore.
The fight went out of me. “Except for Vi,” I conceded. “I’d change things if I could, Zenn. So many things.”
I felt rather than heard or saw his defeated acceptance. An understanding passed between us.
“You might still make your appointment,” I said. “We’ll get Thane out, and you and Gunner can fly all night.”
“Fine. But you get to tell Vi she’s riding in the backseat on this one,” he said. “She’s gonna be mad as hell.”
“Fair enough.” I followed him into the hall, already dreading the argument I would have with Vi. “And Zenn, you are strong enough to resist this time.”
I found Vi in her room, her face already closed to any discussion. I smothered a sigh and sat next to her on the cot. We both studied the floor. “So, we’re going into Freedom.”
“So I heard,” she said. What she meant was, I didn’t hear it from you.
“You’ve been assigned to Zenn. You guys will fly mid-pack and stay out of trouble.” What I meant was, I’m assigning you to Zenn. Ride behind him and keep your mouth shut.
The silence in the room said it all. Her anger. Her defiance. Vi didn’t like being told what to do.
“Do I have your permission to speak?” she snapped.
“Oh, brother,” I said. “Say whatever the hell you want. It’s not going to change my decision.”
“I hate how you boss me around,” she said.
I stood up. “I hate how you doubt all my decisions,” I fired back. “I’m the cracking leader of the cracking Resistance.”
She shot to her feet too. “I’m more than just another one of your Insiders. I’m your girlfriend.”
My stomach clenched. Didn’t she get it? That was exactly why she had to fly mid-pack and stay out of trouble. Sometimes her stubbornness amazed me. I glared at her a moment longer before heading toward the door.
“Stay with Zenn. Mid-pack.” I left her simmering—okay, boiling—in her room. Zenn had been right—Vi was mad as hell. But you know what? I’d do what it took to keep her safe. Losing her was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.
Gunner spent the afternoon detailing the layout of Freedom for the group. We didn’t have customizable p-screens underground. So Gunn painted a picture of Freedom with words. He spoke in that way that commanded people to listen, using a Thinker’s voice but not its brainwashing ability.
People listened to Gunner because of his quiet steadiness. I’d felt his determination and strength the first time I met him, even though I’d been strapped to a bed at the time. Now I could also feel the myriad of emotions teeming beneath his calm exterior. Because the girl he loved, Raine Hightower, was still trapped inside Freedom.
More than once he’d voiced to me that Raine’s father wasn’t afraid to do horrific things to his own daughter. Gunn never cried, but his desperation to get her out, protect her, never faded. I’d felt an immediate connection to him, because I felt the same way about Vi.
Neither of us could protect the people we loved, and it was killing us.
I listened to him talk about how Freedom was designed on a grid, and how navigating toward the tallest building shouldn’t be too troublesome. Indy and Vi seemed the most interested. The rest of us knew the general layout. Gunn waved his hand, talking about Rise One situated in the middle of the Rise-canyons.
He paused, and I wanted to get up and clap him on the shoulder. Tell him to escape and have a good cry over Raine. Tell him to be honest with himself for a change. Instead I simply watched as he composed himself and said, “The techtric barrier presents the biggest problem.”
“It’s not a problem,” I said. “It’s a monumental issue.” Everyone swung their attention to me. Beyond that, guards and seeker-spiders would likely present another obstacle. And Enforcement Officers equipped with tasers and various special talents.
“So how do we get past it?” Zenn asked.
I had no genius ideas, so we labored over how to breach the barrier without the loss of life and/or an earsplitting alarm.
“What about coming in over the water?” Saffediene suggested.
Even Vi, who’d been simmering against the wall for the better part of the meeting, gave her full attention to the newbie.
“The water?” Zenn asked, shifting closer to her. He favored Saffediene because she was his first recruit. He’d always said she was smarter than us all.
“Yeah,” she said, taking a few seconds to think. “The ocean. We can fly straight east from here, over the water.”
The tension in the room skyrocketed. Most of it originated from Gunner, though Vi didn’t seem too happy about the flying-over-water thing either.
“What’s the problem?” I asked him. I used to fly over the ocean, playing hoverball with my brothers.
“I don’t know how to swim,” Gunner said.
“Last time I was in the water, I passed out,” Vi added.
I cocked an eyebrow—a story of Vi’s I hadn’t heard. It sounded like an interesting one at that.
“You won’t be in the water,” Saffediene said, glancing at Zenn. When his mouth twitched upward, she continued. “Just flying over it.”
“Still,” Vi said.
“The water is strictly off-limits in Freedom,” Zenn said. “No one knows how to swim. The Thinkers set it up that way so the population won’t try to escape. They don’t even know what boats are.” He kept his eyes locked on Saffediene as he spoke.
“We don’t need boats,” she argued. “We have hoverboards.”
“We’ll have two extra passengers. Maybe more.”
Their volley caused exhaustion to press behind my eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, effectively cutting off Saffediene’s retort. “Can we get around the barrier if we go over the water?”
“I think so.”
“That’s not good enough.”
She crossed her arms and stuck out her hip. “Then, yes.”