JUNE’S THEORY CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Immediately she joins the lab team in a separate hospital room, where they strap several tubes and wires to her and take a sample of her bone marrow. They run a series of scans that leave her looking nauseous, scans I’ve already seen being run on Eden. I wish I could stay. Eden’s tests are over, thankfully, but the risk has now shifted to June, and in this moment all I want to do is stay here and make sure everything goes smoothly.
For chrissakes, I tell myself angrily, it’s not like you being here is going to help anything. But when Pascao finally ushers us out the door and out of the hospital to join the others, I can’t help but glance back.
If June’s blood holds the missing piece, then we have a chance. We can contain the plague. We can save everyone. We can save Tess.
As we take a train from the hospital toward Batalla’s airship bases with several Republic soldiers in tow, these thoughts build in my chest until I can barely stand to wait around. Pascao notices my restlessness and grins. “You ever been to the bases before? I seem to recall you doing a few stunts there.”
His words trigger some memories. When I turned fourteen, I broke into two Los Angeles airships that were set to head out for the warfront. I got in—not unlike my stunt with the Patriots back in Vegas—by sneaking in through the ventilation system, and then navigating the entire ship undetected by weaving my way through their endless air vents. I was still halfway through my growth spurt back then; my body was thinner and smaller, and I had no trouble squeezing my way through their myriad of tunnels. Once inside, I stole as much canned food from their kitchens as I could, then set fires in their engine rooms that destroyed the ships enough to ultimately cripple them from serving the Republic for years, maybe forever. It was this particular stunt that first landed me on top of the Republic’s most wanted list. Not too bad a job, if I do say so myself.
Now I think back on the bases’ layouts. Aside from some airship bases in Batalla sector, the four main naval bases in LA occupy a thin strip of land along the city’s west coastline that sits between our enormous lake and the Pacific Ocean. Our battleships stay there, unused for the most part. But the reason that the Patriots and I head there now is that all of LA’s airship docks are there too, and it’s where the Colonies will dock their airships if—when—they try to occupy the city after our surrender.
It’s the third and final day of the Colonies’ promised ceasefire. As the train speeds through the sectors, I can see groups of civilians crowding around JumboTrons that are now running Anden’s surrender notice on repeat. Most look stricken with shock, clinging to one another. Others are furious—they throw shoes, crowbars, and rocks up at the screens and rage against their Elector’s betrayal. Good. Stay angry, use that anger against the Colonies. I need to play out my part soon.
“All right, kids, listen up,” Pascao says as our train nears the bridges leading to the naval bases. He holds out his palms to show us a series of small, metal devices. “Remember, six per dock.” He points to a small red trigger in the center of each device. “We want clean, contained explosions, and the soldiers’ll point out the best spots for us to plant these things. If done right, we’ll be able to cripple any Colonies airship using our landing docks, and an airship with a messed-up landing bay is useless. Yeah?” He grins. “At the same time, let’s not screw up the landing docks too much. Six per dock.”
I look away and back out the window, where the first naval base draws near on the horizon. Enormous pyramid landing bases loom in a row, dark and imposing, and I instantly think of the first time I’d seen them in Vegas. My stomach twists uneasily. If this plan fails, if we’re unable to hold the Colonies back and the Antarcticans never come to our rescue, if June isn’t what we need for the cure—what will happen to us? What will happen when the Colonies finally get their hands on Anden, or June, or myself? I shake my head, forcing the images out of my mind. There’s no time to worry about that. It’ll either happen or it won’t. We’ve already chosen our course.
When we arrive at the first landing dock of Naval Base One, I can see enough of the inner city to notice the tiny, dark specks in the sky. Colonies troops—airships, jets, something—are hovering not far from the outskirts of Los Angeles, preparing to strike. A low, monotonous hum fills the air—guess we can already hear their ships’ steady approach. My eyes turn up toward the JumboTrons lining the streets. Anden’s announcement continues on, accompanied with a bright red Seek Cover warning running along the bottom of each screen.
Four Republic soldiers join up with us as we hurry out of the jeep and inside the pyramid base. I keep close to them as they usher us up the elevators toward the looming inner roof of the base, where airships take off and dock on. All around us is the deafening sound of soldiers’ boots on echoing floors, rushing to their stations and preparing to take off against the Colonies. I wonder how many troops Anden had been forced to send off to Denver or Vegas for reinforcement, and I can only hope that we have enough left behind to protect us.
This isn’t Vegas, I remind myself, trying not to think about the time when I’d let myself get arrested. But it doesn’t help. By the time we’ve ridden our way up to the top of the base and climbed a flight of stairs up to the open top of the pyramid, my heart’s pounding up a storm that’s not all because of the exercise. Well, if this doesn’t bring back memories of when I’d first started working for the Patriots. I can’t stop studying the metal beams crisscrossing the interior underbelly of the base, all the little interlocking parts that will bind with an airship once it lands. The dark suit I’m wearing feels as light as air. Time to plant some bombs.
“Do you see those beams?” one Republic captain says to Pascao and me, pointing up to the shadows of the ceiling at one, two, three crevices that look particularly difficult to reach. “Max damage to the ship, minimal damage to the base. We’ll have you two hit those three spots at each of the bases. We’d be able to get to them ourselves if we set up our cranes, but we don’t have time for that.” He pauses to give us a forced smile. Most of these goddy soldiers still don’t seem entirely comfortable working alongside us. “Well,” he says after an awkward pause, “does that look doable? Are you guys fast enough?”
I want to snap at the captain that he’s forgotten my reputation, but Pascao stops me by letting out one of his loud, sparkling laughs. “You don’t have enough faith in us, do you?” he says, nudging the captain playfully in the ribs and smirking at the indignant blush that he gets back.
“Good,” the captain replies stiffly before moving on with the other Patriots and his own patrol. “Hurry. We don’t have long.” He leaves us to our work, then starts dictating bomb-planting spots to the others.
Once he’s gone, Pascao drops his giant grin and concentrates on the crevices that the captain had pointed out. “Not easy to reach,” he mutters. “You sure you’re up for this? You strong enough, seeing as how you’re dying and all?”
I cast him a withering glare, then study each of the crevices in turn. I test my knees and elbows, trying to gauge how much strength I have. Pascao’s a bit taller than me—he’ll be able to handle the first two crevices best, but the third crevice is wedged in such a tight position that I know only I can get to it. I can also see right away why the captain pointed that spot out. Even if we didn’t plant six bombs along this side of the base, we’d probably disable any airship with a single bomb on that location. I point to it.
“I’ll take that one,” I say.
“You sure?” Pascao squints at it. “I don’t want to watch you fall to your death on our very first base.”
His words coax a sarcastic smile out of me. “Don’t you have any faith in me at all?”
Pascao smirks. “A little.”
We get to work. I take a flying leap from the stairs’ ledge to the closest crisscrossing beam, and then weave myself seamlessly into the maze of metal. What a feeling of déjà vu. The springs embedded in my suit’s joints take a little getting used to—but after a few jumps I grow into them. I’m fast. Really fast with their help. In the span of ten minutes, I’ve crossed a quarter of the base’s ceiling and am now within striking distance of that crevice. Thin trickles of sweat run down my neck, and my head pulses with familiar pain. Below, soldiers pause to watch us even as all of the base’s electronic tickers continue to run the surrender notice. They have no goddy clue what we’re doing.
I pause at the final leap, then make my jump. My body hits the crevice and slides snugly in. Instantly I pull out the tiny bomb, open its clip, and plant it firmly into place. My headache makes me dizzy, but I force it away.
Done.
I slowly make my way back along the beams. By the time I swing down onto the stairs again, my heart’s pounding from adrenaline. I spot Pascao along the beams and give him a quick thumbs-up.
This is the easy stuff, I remind myself, my excitement giving way to an ominous anxiety. The hard part’s going to be pulling off a convincing lie to the Chancellor.
We finish with the first base, then move on to the next. By the time we’re done with the fourth base, my strength is starting to give way. If I was fully in my element, this suit could’ve made me damn near unstoppable—but now, even with its help, my muscles ache and my breaths sound strained. As the soldiers now guide me into a room in the air base and prepare me to make my call and my broadcast, I’m silently grateful that I don’t need to run any more ceilings.
“What happens if the Chancellor doesn’t buy you?” Pascao asks while the soldiers file out of the room. “No offense, pretty boy, but you don’t exactly have the best reputation for keeping your promises.”
“I didn’t promise him anything,” I reply. “Besides, he’ll see my announcement go out to the entire Republic. He’s going to think that everyone in the country will see me switch allegiances to the Colonies. It won’t last. But it’ll buy us some time.” Silently, I hope to hell that we can figure out the final cure before the Colonies realize what we’re doing.
Pascao looks away and out the room’s window, where we can see Republic soldiers finishing up the last few bomb placements on the base’s ceiling. If this fails, or if the Colonies realize the surrender’s fake before we have time to do anything about it, then we’re probably done.
“Time for you to make your call, then,” Pascao mutters. He locks the door, finds a chair, and pulls it off to one corner. Then he settles down with me to wait.
My hands tremble slightly as I click my mike on and call the Colonies’ Chancellor. For a moment, all I hear is static, and a part of me hopes that it somehow can’t trace the name that had called me before, and that somehow I’ll have no way of reaching him. But then the static ends, the call clears, and I hear it connect. I greet the Chancellor.
“This is Day. Today is the last day of your promised ceasefire, yeah? And I have an answer to your request.”
A few seconds drag by. Then, that crisp, businesslike voice comes on the other end. “Mr. Wing,” the Chancellor says, as polite and pleasant as ever. “Right on time. How lovely to hear from you.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen the Elector’s announcement by now,” I reply, ignoring his niceties.
“I have, indeed,” the man replies. I hear some shuffling of papers in the background. “And now with your call, this day is looking to be full of good surprises. I’d been wondering when you would contact us again. Tell me, Daniel, have you given some thought to my proposal?”
From across the room, Pascao’s pale eyes lock on to mine. He can’t hear the conversation, but he can see the tension on my face. “I have,” I reply after a pause. Gotta make myself sound realistic and reluctant, yeah? I wonder if June would approve.
“And what have you decided? Remember, this is entirely up to you. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t wish to do.”
Yeah. I don’t have to do anything—I’ll just have to stand by and watch while you destroy the people I love. “I’ll do it.” Another pause. “The Republic’s already surrendered. The people aren’t happy about your presence, but I don’t want to see them harmed. I don’t want to see anyone harmed.” I know I don’t have to mention June by name for the Chancellor to understand. “I’ll make a citywide announcement. We got access to the JumboTrons through the Patriots. It won’t be long before that announcement hits all the screens in the entire Republic.” I kick in a little more attitude to keep my lie authentic. “That good enough for you to keep your goddy hands off June?”
The Chancellor claps his hands once. “Done. If you’re willing to become our . . . spokesman, so to speak, then I assure you that Ms. Iparis will be spared the trials and executions that come with an overturning of power.”
His words send a chill through me, reminding me that if we do fail, then what I’m going to do isn’t going to save Anden’s life. In fact, if we fail, the Chancellor will probably figure out that I’m behind all this too, and there goes June’s . . . and probably Eden’s . . . chances at safety. I clear my throat. Across the room, Pascao’s face has turned stony with tension. “And my brother?”
“You need not worry about your brother. As I mentioned to you before, I am not a tyrant. I will not hook him up to a machine and pump him full of chemicals and poisons—I will not experiment on him. He—and you—will live a comfortable, safe life, free from harm and worry. This, I can guarantee you.” The Chancellor’s tone changes to what he thinks is soothing and gentle. “I can hear the unhappiness in your voice. But I do nothing except what is necessary. If your Elector imprisoned me, he would not hesitate to execute me. This is the way of the world. I am not a cruel man, Daniel. Remember, the Colonies are not responsible for your lifetime of suffering.”
“Don’t call me Daniel.” My voice comes out low and quiet. I am not Daniel to anyone outside of my family. I am Day. Plain and simple.
“My apologies.” He actually sounds genuinely sorry. “I hope you understand what I’m saying, Day.”
I remain silent for a moment. Even now, I can still feel the pull against the Republic, all of the dark thoughts and memories that whisper to me to turn my back, to let it all crumble to pieces. The Chancellor can gauge me better than I would’ve thought. A lifetime of suffering is hard to leave behind. As if she can sense the dangerous pull of the Chancellor’s spell, I hear June’s voice cut through this train of thoughts and whisper something to me. I close my eyes and cling to her, drawing strength from her.
“Tell me when you want me to make this announcement,” I say after a while. “Everything’s wired up and ready to go. Let’s get this whole thing over with.”
“Wonderful.” The Chancellor clears his throat, suddenly sounding like a businessman again. “The sooner, the better. I will land with my troops at the outer naval bases of Los Angeles by early afternoon. Let’s arrange for you to speak at that time. Shall we?”
“Done.”
“And one more thing,” the Chancellor adds as I’m about to hang up. I stiffen, my tongue poised to click my mike off. “Before I forget.”
“What?”
“I want you to make the announcement from the deck of my airship.”
Startled, I glance at Pascao, and even though he has no idea what the Chancellor just said, he frowns at the way my face has just drained of color. From the Chancellor’s airship? Of course. How could we think he’d be that easy to fool? He’s taking precautions. If something goes wrong during the announcement, then he’ll have me in his grip. If I make an announcement that’s anything other than telling the Republic people to bow down to the Colonies, he could kill me right there on the airship’s deck, surrounded by his men.
When the Chancellor speaks again, I can sense the satisfaction in his voice. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “Your words will be more meaningful if given right from a Colonies airship, don’t you agree?” he says. He claps his hands once again. “We’ll expect you at Naval Base One in a few hours. Looking forward to meeting you in person, Day.”