“Then we run,” said Kira. “Back to the Preserve. There’s no telling what Morgan is going to do with the RM-resistant people she finds there. We need to get as many of them out of there as we can.”
“Smart way to spend your last few minutes,” said Heron.
“Who asked you?”
“I don’t want them dead any more than you do,” said Heron, “though admittedly I don’t necessarily care if they live, either. As far as I know, all Morgan wants is you.”
“You don’t know what she’s going to do to those people,” said Kira.
“We should be running the other way,” said Samm. “We can get lost in the ruins and save you, Kira.”
“I’d like to see you try,” said Heron.
“We’re not running away,” said Kira. “I ran away when Morgan invaded Long Island, and she started killing hostages to flush me out. I thought I made the right choice, but . . . I’m not letting her do it again.”
“What are you saying?” Samm asked, but Kira pointed up at the giant plane looming low in the sky.
“We need to get to the Preserve, now!” She took off, racing through the now-familiar streets that led through the outskirts of the city to the edge of the Preserve, with Samm and Heron right behind her. Kira kept looking up, trying to judge the plane’s speed and distance. We’re not going to make it in time, she thought, it’s coming too fast. She pushed herself, never daring to slow down or deviate from her path. The plane grew larger in the sky, lower to the ground, and soon she could hear it, a low drone that built to a deafening crescendo as Kira finally reached the Preserve. There were guards by the gates, a new posting to keep the intruders out, but they were too preoccupied with the giant airplane roaring toward them to notice Kira and the others. The plane had wide rotors in the wings for a vertical landing, and it swooped down across the fence at the same time Kira pelted through the gate.
She shouted to get the attention of the interior guards, though she could barely hear her own voice above the sound of the rotors. She grabbed the nearest guard and spun her around, shouting in her ear. “That’s a Partial army—you need to get everybody out of the Preserve and into the ruins now.”
“We’re—” the guard stammered, looking from Kira to the plane and back again. “Supposed to—”
“You don’t want to be here when they land,” Kira shouted. “Get everyone you can and hide them in the city!” She let go of the woman’s arm and ran deeper into the Preserve. In the corner of her eye she saw the guard regain her bearings and rush into the nearest building; soon a crowd of people spilled out, terrified children and parents with babes in arms, screaming in terror as they ran for the toxic ruins of Denver.
Kira and Samm ran toward the plane, shouting at everyone they passed to evacuate. Heron slowed behind them, blocking any retreat they might try to make. Partial soldiers were already piling out of the plane when it landed in the grass, securing a perimeter with ruthless efficiency and then expanding it from cover to cover, each team watching the next. They trained their rifles on Samm and Kira, but they didn’t fire.
“They’ve linked me,” said Samm. “They know it’s us.”
“Drop your weapons,” said the soldier at the edge of the landing zone. Kira held her hunting rifle out to the side, not dropping it but showing that her hands weren’t near the trigger.
“I surrender,” she said. “I’ll come willingly.”
“Drop your weapons,” the soldier repeated. Wind from the rotors whipped through the air, smothering their words and lashing Kira’s face with dust and her own flailing hair. Kira grimaced in frustration, but dropped the rifle. Samm still wasn’t armed.
“Don’t hurt the civilians!” Kira shouted.
“Kira Walker,” said a voice, and Kira looked up to see Dr. Morgan descending from the plane. Her lab coat was gone, replaced by a crisp black business suit. “Nice to see you again.”
“Do not hurt them,” said Kira. “These people are innocent.”
“Samm,” said Morgan, stopping in front of them. “It’s not every day I get to meet a rebel soldier from my own command.”
“You haven’t responded to her,” said Samm.
“And I don’t intend to,” said Morgan. “You’re a traitor and she’s an enemy combatant; hardly the kind of people to whom I feel beholden to listen.”
“I don’t want to fight you,” said Kira.
Morgan smiled. “I wouldn’t either. You took us by surprise last time, but now you have no rebel Partial army to flank us while your friends make a messy rescue attempt. I have all the power here, and I’ll thank you to remember that.”
“Not all,” said Vale. He approached from the far side of the clearing, a cluster of Partials surrounding him in a way that looked more like an honor guard than a prisoner escort. “I have to say, your soldiers are very obedient.”
Morgan frowned, and Vale gritted his teeth. Kira wasn’t sure what was happening until she saw the soldiers fidgeting uncomfortably, torn in two directions by the competing authority of two members of the Trust. She looked at Samm and saw him swaying, a bead of sweat rolling slowly down his brow. She took his hand.
“You’re stronger than they are,” she whispered. “You don’t have to obey either one of them.” He gripped her fingers tightly, so tightly she felt they were ready to crush under the weight.
The contest of wills carried on, Vale and Morgan staring each other down, the soldiers wavering in the middle. Kira saw their knuckles turn white as they clutched their rifles desperately, and one reached up to grasp his forehead.
“Enough!” said Kira. “This isn’t getting anyone anywhere. Dr. Morgan, what do you want?”
Morgan stared at Vale a moment longer, then looked away and released a shallow breath. Vale did the same, and the alignment of the soldiers didn’t seem to have changed at all; they remained loyal to whoever they were standing closest to. Kira looked at Samm, but read nothing on his face. She felt her heart race, terrified that she’d lost him back to Morgan’s control, but he squeezed her hand.
She realized, in that moment, that she’d never been more relieved in her life.
“I am here for my esteemed colleague,” said Morgan. She looked at Vale and smiled. “I’m putting the band back together, Cronus. Enough is enough, it’s time we reversed your expiration date once and for all.”
“Are you trying to do it with gene mods?” he asked. “You saw what they did to Graeme; what they’ve done to Jerry.” His put his hand on the shoulder of the Partial soldier in front of him. “Our minds can’t take it, and neither can theirs.”
“We can make them into anything we want,” said Morgan. “We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. They’re the future. Our children. Made in whatever image we’d like.”
“Gene therapy is not the answer,” said Vale.
“You would know,” said Morgan. “But I don’t have time to solve your genetic riddles on my own.” She looked at Kira. “That’s why I’ve come for you, and for her. The new model. The one without all those pesky genetic limitations.”
“I won’t let you take her,” said Samm.
Morgan started to answer, but Kira cut her off. “I’ll go,” she said quickly.
Samm started to protest, and Morgan looked genuinely shocked, but Kira nodded, taking a deep breath. “Dr. Vale’s knowledge, Doctor Morgan’s research, my biology. Heron was right. It’s the only real chance we have of ever curing expiration.” She looked at Samm. “It’s the same thing you said before—the only moral choice is to sacrifice yourself. Somebody has to step up.” She had come to Denver looking for answers, a plan, any sort of hope that she was part of something larger, something that could save both humans and Partials. But that plan had gone wrong long ago, and she was nothing. A failed experiment. She’d dedicated her life to saving the world, but now she realized that dedicating her life wasn’t enough. She had to give it.