Immurement: The Undergrounders Series Book One (A Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Novel) (28 page)

“Alpha dock. It’s flight ready.” He motions to the ship nearest us.

I turn to Jakob. “Can you have the Council load up the packs?” I gesture with my thumb at Rummy. “And him.”

Jakob nods and then closes a fist around Owen's fingers and squeezes good-bye. Mason scoops Owen up and I hear a faint animal-in-distress howl that cuts off abruptly. The nauseous feeling in my stomach returns. I turn away and busy myself with Owen's pack.

When I’ve tightened the straps to breaking point, I hand the grimy orange pack off to one of the Council members and watch her disappear inside the Hovermedes with the only piece of my brother I’ll take from this place. A sob catches in my throat. When he’s gone—I'll be all that’s left of the Connollys.

I take a few deep breaths, and then make my way over to the computer terminal.

Owen is slumped in front of the screen, his head awkwardly supported by a rolled up shirt. I watch as Mason ties him loosely to the chair so he doesn’t slip to the floor. His eyelids flicker when he hears me approach. I falter, then swallow hard. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

He lies motionless, hunched to one side. His skin resembles a purplish moonscape—a sure sign of internal bleeding. I know he can’t possibly survive much longer.

I ram my knuckles against my forehead. This isn’t right. I can’t leave my brother here to die alone. I should just overrule his decision to stay—he’s not in his right mind after all. I pace back and forth behind his chair. “He doesn’t even have the strength to press the button,” I say, turning to Mason.

He frowns. “The man says he can do it—he can do it.”

“Owen?” I lean over him. “Can you hear me?”

There’s a muffled, high-pitched sound of air being forced between his parted lips. “Tell Nikki …”

I lean in closer so he doesn’t have to strain his voice. “What?”

“Tell … Nikki … to love her is to live forever.” He presses her crumpled photo into the palm of my hand.

I blink, too late to stop a tear tracking down my cheek.

Owen's frame contorts like he’s being pulled by invisible strings.

A sob lodges in my throat. I slip the photo into my pocket and grab his free hand. “Owen, I can’t do this. I won’t leave you here—”

Suddenly, his chair begins to vibrate and his clammy hand jiggles in mine. At first, I think he’s going into cardiac arrest, but then a pneumatic drilling sound fills the room.

I look across at Mason.
They’re coming,
he mouths.

My scalp electrifies. Owen's eyes zigzag past me as he scrapes together another breath. “Go!”

A giant shove from behind sends me flying forward. Panic hits. My legs pump like pistons beneath me, oddly disconnected from my body. Every cell inside me charges, but my brain’s not in the loop—I’ve no idea where I’m going.

Half-blinded by stabbing tears, I slow my pace to get my bearings, and trip over someone’s pack. Before I can regain my footing, burly hands lift me off the ground and toss me through an opening in the side of a Hovermedes. I lay blinking in the dim light like a discombobulated sack of cargo while Tucker licks my salty face. A moment later, the metal door of the Hovermedes slides shut with a sickening whoosh.

Somewhere in the midst of my confusion, my instincts trigger.

Owen!

I scramble to my feet and lurch across the ship. With a scream that comes from somewhere deep inside, I fling myself at the sealed door and claw at the solid steel. Jakob tugs repeatedly on my shoulders, but I batter the door undaunted. Faces press in around me, their jaws moving up and down, but I can’t make sense of what’s being said. Only the pain in my hands feels real. I lift my head and catch the fleeting look of regret in Mason’s eyes as his fist swings toward me and everything explodes.

A soft buzzing, like a distant swarm of insects. I swat mindlessly until my brain clears. The murmur of voices washes over me. I turn my head toward the sound and flinch. The entire left side of my skull feels like a cracked leather punching bag. I crinkle my eyes and try to remember what happened, and where I am.

Jakob comes into view and contemplates me for a moment. He edges tentatively closer. “Are you okay?” He tweaks a smile, but his lips sag.

I hesitate before responding. I can tell by the heavy tone of his voice that something terrible has happened, but I can’t remember what. I massage my brow gingerly. “My head aches.”

A stricken look flits across Jakob's face before he masks it.

“What is it?” I ask, clutching Tucker’s fur. A vague feeling of paralyzing anxiety awakens inside me.

“Don’t you remember?”

I frown, but before I have a chance to pick through my muddled brain, Tucker jumps up and growls, peering intently at something down the aisle. Mason slams a cartridge into his gun and vaults out of his seat. I pull myself up to get a better look, and realize I’m in a Hovermedes. But we’re not moving. I don’t understand.

Tucker takes off to the back of the ship, and then pulls up short, barking madly at a section of the undercarriage. Mason drops to a knee beside him and trains his gun on the spot.

There’s a scraping sound, then banging.

Without warning, a panel in the floor flips open. Two thin, brown arms rise through the opening like antennae. Sven grabs both wrists in one hand and yanks out a small-framed man in a lab coat. My eyes bulge.

Mason jabs the barrel of his gun in the man’s chest. “Who are you?”

The man gives a deep bow, and then pokes his wire-rimmed glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “I am Dr. Won, Chief of Cybernetics. Please, I don’t intend to harm. I hide into access compartment.”

My head throbs as fragmented bits of information fly through my brain and reassemble themselves.

We escaped the Craniopolis
.

The stabbing realization hits my brain like an icepick. I turn and grab hold of Jakob. “Owen?” I whisper, as it all comes rushing back.
The sound of drilling, someone shoving me forward, the door of the Hovermedes closing.

Jakob clutches me tighter, as if he expects me to bolt for the door.

Instead, I fold into his arms, empty and spent, and stare blankly at the stowaway.

Mason grabs Won by the throat. “I knew I saw a shadow in the docking station. Trying to sabotage our departure I bet.”

“No! No! I help! I launch you.”

Mason lets out a snort. “We already launched, moron. We’ve just landed on the other side of the river.”

Won’s words swim in my brain for a moment. I narrow my eyes at him. “You mean
you
launched
us
?”

He nods passionately, his miniature spectacles sliding back down his nose. “Yes! Yes! I launch you.”

I unwind myself from Jakob and make a beeline across the aisle until I’m standing directly in front of him. “You’re lying! My brother launched this ship.”

Won shakes his head. “No! He no launch you.”

I take a step back, my heartbeat careening out of control. “What are you talking about?”

Won gives an apologetic shrug. “He fall off chair.”

My blood chills. I steal a glance at Mason.

He clears his throat. “It’s true. I thought we were done for when he toppled over, but then the Hovermedes took off so I figured he’d managed to hit the authorization button before he … died.”

My heart races. I stare at Won suspiciously. “How could you have launched us if you were stowed away on the ship?”

Won pats his lab coat pocket. “Remote launch device.” Beaming, he reaches into his bulging pocket and pulls out a sleek, black controller.

Sven’s eyes grow wide. He snatches it from Won’s hands and examines it. “I didn’t know this existed.”

Won flashes a row of yellow, uneven teeth at him. “Lyong not know either. Private project. Remote device overrides onsite authorization requirement.” He beams at us, his eyes wide with expectation. The smile fades from his face when no one speaks.

I use what strength I have left to grab him. My hands tighten like a vice around his scrawny neck. “You stupid idiot! My brother would be here with us now if you’d shown your stinking face in the docking station.”

“Let him go, Derry,” Mason says. “He’s no good to us dead.”

I sink down in a nearby seat and bury my head in my hands, reeling from the shocking revelation. I left Owen to die alone for nothing.

Jakob places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes gently. “It’s time to go.”

I look up and knit my brows together in confusion. “Where to?”

“The Council’s camp. We have to hike from here.”

Reluctantly, I straighten up, an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I don’t want to go any farther. I thought I wanted to be a player in the Council, but now I’m not so sure. I’m shaken by the cost of freedom.

Sven strides up into the cockpit and presses a couple of buttons. The side of the Hovermedes eases open, exposing a familiar pine-studded backdrop.

The Council members jump out and set to work unloading the packs. I stick my head out through the door and snatch a breath of the freshest air I’ve smelled in days. Tucker bounds out past me and rolls around excitedly in a drift of half-mulched pine cones. Despite the throbbing pain in my head, and the hole in my heart, I smile sadly as I climb out after him. I have to keep going. If I give up now, Owen's death will have served no purpose, and the Sweepers will have won.

We waste no time camouflaging the Hovermedes under a tangle of brush and branches. When we’re done, we cover our tracks and load up our gear. It’s almost light out. Shafts of yellow ooze through the rocky crags of the horizon, a risky time to hike, but, under the circumstances, we’re left with no choice.

“What about him?” Sven flicks his chin in Won’s direction.

I eye the tiny Chief of Cybernetics with disdain. If he’s telling the truth about launching us, we owe him our lives. But, he could also be a monster without a conscience. I don’t know why he’s really fleeing the Craniopolis.

“Bring him,” I say, after a long moment’s hesitation. “If nothing else, we might be able to extract some useful information from him.”

Sven binds Won’s hands and ties him with a line to Rummy’s waist. “We have the makings of a chain gang here,” he says, with a smirk.

Rummy scowls. I question whether we should take
him
with us any farther. But, it’s not like we can release him back into the wild—he’s far too dangerous.

In a compromise of sorts with my better judgment, I fall in line directly behind him, so I can have the satisfaction of being the first to shoot if he tries to pull a fast one. Jakob comes up beside me and reaches for my hand. “How are you doing?”

I kick at a pinecone in my path. “It doesn’t seem real. I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet. I should have stayed with him.”

Jakob adjusts the brim of his cap. “It wouldn’t have changed anything. And you'd be dead now too, or worse.”

I let the impact of his words settle for a moment. The good thing about Jakob is that he never shoves the truth of what he’s saying down your throat.

“I wonder why Won left the Craniopolis,” I say, eying him from behind.

“My hunch is he’s not too fond of Lyong. Rivals, perhaps? Maybe there are more dissenters in the Craniopolis than we realized.”

“The deviations—”

Bam! Bam
! The crack of a rifle rings out behind us. I tighten my grip on Jakob's hand and we bolt forward like greyhounds out of the starting gate. Together, we dive for cover beneath the heavy brush to the left of the trail. Tucker follows suit and flattens himself beside us. The Council members scatter into the undergrowth and return fire. My mind races feverishly. How did the Sweepers get here so quickly?

Multiple shots follow in rapid succession. I cock my gun and shoot blindly down the trail. Surely Lyong couldn’t have penetrated the docking station and tracked us down already. The sickening thought hits me that we might be shooting at Undergrounders. With a Rogue, a Sweeper, and two clones in tow, we probably look like a dangerous alliance bearing down on the Council’s camp.

It’s chaos for several minutes, and then the volley of gunfire dies away as unexpectedly as it began. Tentatively, I stand and peer out over the brush. My heart trips in my chest.

A few feet down the trail, Mason sinks to his knees and sways forward, a trickle of dark blood seeping from his trembling lips.

“Nooooo!” I vault to my feet and run to him, Tucker barking madly at my side. Mason clutches wildly at the air as if he can’t see me. I reach under his arms in a vain attempt to lift him to his feet. Jakob runs up behind me, but even between the two of us, we can’t budge him.

“Find Sven,” I say, my voice low and urgent.

Jakob hurries off without a word.

Mason gags, and I drop to the ground beside him, my hands slick with the blood oozing from his chest and back. He stretches his right index finger toward me, his eyes commanding an unspoken order.

“No!” I shake my head vehemently. “We don’t need it now. We can use Won’s remote.”

He inhales a choppy breath. “Don’t … trust him. Take it.” He jabs his finger in my chest.

The color in his face mutes before my eyes. He grabs me by my collar and topples toward me. “
You
have to lead them.” The words sputter out like jagged shards of glass.

I stifle a scream. This can’t be happening. Not now, not after losing Owen. How can I go on without either of them?

“I need you, Mason. I’m afraid.”

“They’re all afraid.” He clutches his chest with his left hand, and waves his finger at me again. “They need … someone to believe in.”

His voice trails off and I hear his breath whistling at the back of his throat.

Shaking, I reach into my pocket and pull out my hunting knife. I grasp his thick finger in my left hand and slice off the tip in one swift movement. Blood sprays the sleeve of my jacket.

Swallowing back the bile in my throat, I extract the metal chip just as Mason collapses on the grassy trail.

“You okay?” A gangly Council member grabs me by the shoulder in passing, throwing a frightened glance at Mason’s body.

I nod, distractedly, and swallow the lump in my throat.