“My father raped and murdered my best friend’s mother,” I say. A few gasps and loads of murmurs fall over the crowd. Ignore them and continue. “I just found that out. He told me and my friend himself. That’s the kind of man who’s leading the Tri-Realms. He also gave the star dwellers the money to buy the bombs that destroyed your cities. Oh, and he’s holding the star dweller generals’ families under a knife so they’ll do what he wants. That’s the kind of man you’re protecting by not supporting this rebellion. That’s all I have to say.”
Although my brain is telling me it’s too soon to end my big speech-to-end-all-speeches, my heart moves me across the stand, where I sit down next to Adele, who immediately takes my hand. I look at my feet for a few seconds, and then twist to glance at Roc. I hope he’ll forgive me for what I’ve done.
He’s smiling.
Of all the expressions I imagined his face might have, a smile was not one of them. He reaches over and slaps my shoulder. “Well done,” he says.
Adele kisses me on the cheek, leaving a spot of warmth that lingers well after her lips leave my skin.
Morgan seems so surprised at the brevity of my remarks that she’s unsure of what to do. The audience is restless, whispering to each other and coughing and shuffling their feet. Oops, I think. Perhaps I should have stuck with the planned speech.
But Morgan has experience with unexpected situations and she’s quickly back on her feet, raising and lowering her hands to quiet the crowd. “We have much to discuss, questions to ask and answer, and details to work out, but first, I’d like to take an initial vote to see where we stand.”
I look around for Ben, but he and Elsey are still not back, which is strange because all the VPs are now in attendance.
I watch as each of the VPs writes something on a piece of paper and then passes it across the row, to where someone collects them before bringing them forward to Morgan in a basket. It seems old-fashioned, but effective. Morgan extracts the first ballot. “Yes, in support of the rebellion,” she reads, and my heart lifts an inch in my chest. The ballot drops from her hand and flutters to her feet, discarded. “One in favor, zero against.”
She reads the next one. “Yes. Two in favor, zero against.” My heart is in my throat. I want to rush the stage and grab the basket and frantically read the rest of them. Morgan’s slow and methodical pace is killing me. I think Adele’s thinking the same thing, because she’s squeezing my hand so hard it’s getting sore.
“No,” she reads, and my heart sinks a little. “Two for, one against.” There are still thirty-nine ballots and I’m living and dying by each individual one she reads. I try to relax.
“No,” she says. “Two for, two against.”
The next six are all against the rebellion. I’m no longer holding Adele’s hand, and my head is resting in my hands as I balance my elbows on my knees. “Two for, eight against,” Morgan says. Despite Ben’s efforts with the VPs and my pitiful speech, we’re still way behind, not even close to garnering a majority. These men and women are still too scared of my father to stand up to him.
But then it happens. The tide turns, almost as if by magic. First Morgan says yes once, then twice, and then it’s like that’s the only word she can say. By the time she’s done, it’s thirty-two for and ten against. I hug Adele and she hugs back. Anna is looking at us both and shaking her head in disbelief, like she’s seen everything in her lifetime but not something like this.
For the first time since this all started, I actually truly believe the Lower Realms can be united in a joint cause. With a little bit of pressure, we could possibly get the other ten VPs to change their mind, to support the rebellion. If we could just explain—
A screen emerges from the platform floor, rising up next to Vice President Morgan like a phantom in the night.
From the look on her face, I know she’s not expecting it.
“What is the meaning of—” she starts to say, but then the screen flashes and she gasps, along with nearly everyone else in the audience, myself included.
“No!” I hear Adele croak, the word rough and jagged in her throat.
The whole world spins upside down as I stare at that screen. Ben and Elsey are each tied to a chair, their hands behind their backs, their mouths gagged with thick black cloth.
A man, dressed in sun dweller red, holds a gun to Ben’s head.
I know he’s going to kill them, and all I want to do is scream I’m here, Father, I’m here! Please, take me, not them. But when I try to speak all that comes out are ragged breaths.
Adele is already on her feet when the voice booms through the speaker.
* * *
Adele
I’m scared but it’s nothing compared to the determination I feel coursing through my blood. I will not let them kill my family, not after I’ve worked so hard to bring them all back together. I’m on my feet, prepared to charge through the Dome, rip the place apart stone by stone until I find them, when a voice thunders through the arena.
“Your traitorous ways are punishable by death and death alone!” the President threatens. I’d know his voice anywhere.
I hear the slam of doors and then a cacophony of marching boots fills the Dome, cutting through the air like bullets. Above us, dozens of sun dweller soldiers, decked in polished red uniforms—they look like the same ones we saw in the tunnels on the way to the Star Realm—point gleaming rifles and pistols over the edge of the topmost seats.
The Resistance soldiers are on their feet, aiming their own weapons upwards, but everyone in the room knows they don’t stand a chance. The sun dwellers have the upper ground, the better weapons, the element of surprise. We’re sitting ducks.
“Don’t move!” the voice booms. “We have you surrounded. There is no chance of escape. You have all been found guilty of high treason and should be executed in accordance with the laws of the Tri-Realm.”
I close my eyes. We’re all going to die.
“However…” Nailin says, and my eyes flutter open. “…I am offering you one chance to avoid death. Lay down your weapons, allow yourselves to be taken prisoner, and watch the execution of the real traitor, Ben Rose, and his daughter…and I will consider a lesser sentence.”
What? No! “No!” I scream. “You can’t do that!”
All eyes are on me but I don’t care. Tristan tries to put a hand on my arm, but I rip it away from him, charge from the platform. The bullets start flying, but not at me. The Resistance soldiers are firing at the sun dwellers! They’re not going to give up either. They’re fighting!
I see my mom pull a pistol from beneath her tunic and start shooting at the sun dwellers. One drops, and then another. She reminds me now of the day the Enforcers took her away. A fighter—a force to be reckoned with. My mother.
The sun dwellers fire back and I see soldiers dropping amidst bursts of red. In my heart I’m sorry for them and scared for my mom, who’s still on her feet, but there’s only one thing on my mind: Save my dad, my sister.
* * *
Tristan
I sprint after her, but the wings of angels seem to carry her away from me. The crack of guns going off all around us reminds me of when the sun dweller army used to train in the fields by our house. Except this is not training. They want to kill every last one of us.
Adele is already up the steps. She turns quickly and yells to those on the platform to “Run!” but she doesn’t have to tell them—they’re already on their feet and heading for the nearest exit.
And then I see it. A sun dweller soldier—his gun aimed from above, right at Adele. I’m too far—I won’t make it; and he won’t miss. It’s over.
A body flies from the side, violently smashing into her and flattening her against the steps. She cries out in pain just as the bullet takes a chunk of the seats behind her.