Numbers Ignite (6 page)

“I’d rather not go out there,” I said, thinking quickly. “I…got the impression that NORA didn’t want to release us. Maybe if they knew I was here, they’d want to bring me back there.”

Lillibeth actually rolled her eyes. “Nonsense. Even if that were true, none of us has contact with NORA. They don’t even know we’re here. If they did, they’d exterminate us. Believe me, we want secrecy as much as you do. Now, let me help you stand.”

Her tone left no room for argument. It wasn’t like I could hide in here for weeks, especially if Lillibeth was expecting me to work off my debt. I’d just have to be very careful. Besides, after so long in bed, maybe a walk was just what I needed.
I swung my legs carefully off the bed and sat up.

Coltrane emerged with the crutches and adjusted the length, and then we were off.

“Just be smart,” Lillibeth told us as we left. Coltrane nodded as if he knew exactly what that meant.

Outside the hanging cloth was a long tunnel wide enough for three people shoulder to shoulder. The ceiling curved upward in what was now a familiar arch. A tall person would have to walk down the center to avoid scraping it. Now and then a flat vent poked through the dirt wall, whistling as it blew clean air into the tunnel.

“We’ll go to the end of our quadrant and back. Just let me know if you get tired before we reach the corner.”

“Quadrant?” My hobbling slowed as I brushed my fingers along the wall and then examined them. Reddish-brown dust. The walls were smooth like plastic, with not a crack in sight. Definitely not hand-carved. What machine could do that to dirt?

“There are four quadrants and four exits,” he said, barely noticing that I had fallen behind. “We basically take up the entire valley above us. Remember that old town you were hiding in? It’s about a quarter mile northwest and fifty feet above us right now. We actually salvaged some of their underground water and sewer systems for our own use.”

I wiped my fingers on my uniform pants—which desperately needed to be washed soon—and hobbled after Coltrane. “Aren’t you afraid this will all collapse on your head?”

“Nah. The founders were scientists. Apparently one of them got the idea from studying ant farms or something. We have approved dimensions for tunnels and dwellings, spaced just so, and the ceilings have a very precise arch. In fifty years, we’ve only lost two dwellings to earthquakes, and that’s only because they were in an unstable corner of the west quadrant. It’s not perfect, though. We tried to cut a fifth section up in the hills a few years ago, but the soil was too rocky and it broke the excavator. Luckily my dad got it fixed again before he left.”

“Where did he go?”

Coltrane shrugged, although his smile faltered. “Nobody knows. He took a bunch of friends on a hunting expedition and never returned. My mom refuses to talk about him.”

Then how do you know he’s alive?
I didn’t dare voice the question. He was obviously proud of his father, and I had no right to take that away.

A group of five women turned the corner ahead, chattering to each other, one holding an infant in her arms and a pack in the other. Their hair ranged from dirty blonde to black to a fierce, flaming red. Their gazes fell to my forehead and the women frowned, their conversation dying out immediately. Dread sank my feet into the floor. I could barely hobble, much less run away. There was nothing to do but face these women and act like I had nothing to hide.

“Good evening, Mrs. Van Cott,” Coltrane said brightly. “Hello, Mrs. Graff. Have you met our guest? This is Amy, a refugee from NORA.”

The women stopped as one. The redhead adjusted the infant in her arms and cocked her head, staring me down. “You’re the girl Lillibeth’s been harboring?”

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

We stood there, the ladies eyeing my forehead with a mixture of disdain and confusion, and me feeling like an animal on display. That was probably how they saw me. I could see the question they wanted to ask. With such a high Rating, why would I leave NORA?

“Well,” Coltrane said slowly, “we should get going. Good to see you all.”

The women began whispering the moment we left. I felt their eyes on my back as I hobbled down the tunnel. The corner was so far away. All I wanted to do was turn and sprint back to the dwelling and hide under a blanket. Did they know who I was? If these people had helped NORA refugees before, they could have heard stories. Lillibeth had said I was safe here. I wasn’t so sure.

“You know,” Coltrane said thoughtfully, “it may be best if we loan you some clothes. It’s hard to see past that uniform. And you may want to consider having your implant removed. My mom could cut it out for you in a manner of minutes.”

I cringed at the thought. I’d intended to have it removed when I reached the settlement. Had Vance and the other settlers had removed theirs by now? Probably. “I’ll think about it.”

Coltrane was quiet for a moment. The only sound was the steady
thump-plop
rhythm of my crutches and my feet hitting the ground.

“It probably seems ironic to you, our distrust of outsiders,” Coltrane said quietly. “The pact says we have to accept everyone, regardless of their past. But when we take in citizens from our biggest enemy, it’s hard not to see them as potential spies. It would be so easy for them to go back and tell NORA we’re here. I think that’s my mom’s biggest worry—that someone will do that and bring the military upon us.”

“Why do you think they care?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“We’ve been hiding right under their noses for half a century, just days from the border. They’ll immediately assume the worst. NORA is so paranoid that they take out settlements that are weeks away. If they knew about us, we’d be toast.”

The empress had ordered those attacks. Dresden was in charge now. He’d promised to stop kidnapping settlers for integration. I opened my mouth to tell Coltrane as much, but then I shut it again. After Dresden’s political maneuvering and how he’d used me, I couldn’t tell Coltrane that he was safe with any degree of confidence. Besides, Dresden’s first act as emperor had been to declare war on outlanders. These people definitely qualified.

“You know it’s true,” he said. “You’ve lived there. You know what they’re like. I mean, not you, but the people in charge. The winners of your game.”

Time to change the subject. “Your mom is the leader of this community, isn’t she?” I asked.

“When my dad didn’t come back, they appointed her harbinger in his place. She didn’t want to do it. I think she just wants to be a physician, but people say she does a good job.”

“I can tell she really cares about the people here.” It made me like her more, this physician-turned-leader who had never even wanted to lead. If Dresden and Konnor hadn’t stolen the throne from me, I’d be in that position now.

“I know you don’t want to talk about your time in NORA,” Coltrane said, lowering his voice even though the tunnel was empty. “But there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. The night you got hurt, I was doing maintenance on the sentinel. It’s this security system of cameras near the exits, veiled so NORA choppers can’t see them. Anyway, my mom thinks I saw you stumbling around and went up to help, but that’s not what happened. The truth is, I was already up there. I’d gone up to investigate something the sentinel picked up.”

“What was it?” I asked.

“Some kind of aircraft. It wasn’t your typical NORA chopper. Those are slow and loud and clunky. This was black and sleek and really fast. The weird thing is, it was dead silent. It whooshed past the sentinel and circled the city, then landed on the other side. I waited until dusk to investigate, hoping it would be dark enough to cover me. That’s when I heard you shouting.”

A black and soundless aircraft. I hadn’t seen anything like that in NORA, even at the military base. A secret government project, maybe? “So you pulled me inside rather than checking it out.”

He didn’t speak for a moment. Finally he said, “If you had anything to do with that aircraft, you’d tell me, right?”

We had reached the corner. I felt like I’d just climbed a mountain. My uniform was damp with sweat, and my arms ached from the crutches. My entire lower leg was on fire, and I still had to cover the distance to get back to Coltrane’s dwelling. But he watched me, his usual lightness gone. I could tell that a lot depended on my answer.

“I’ve never seen an aircraft like that,” I told him. “I walked here myself, every step, and I refuse to go back. It was just a coincidence.”

He looked unconvinced, but he nodded. “So you want nothing to do with NORA anymore.”

I turned and faced the tunnel, which seemed to extend for kilometers. My mom’s face came into my mind, and then Dresden’s. Then Tali’s mom and brothers. The girl with the potato. The friends and family members of those who had died for me, trusted in me to make their lives better. I shoved them all away and focused on the present. “I’m done with NORA forever.”

The next morning, Lillibeth insisted I was doing well enough to walk to the cafeteria for breakfast. Coltrane had an errand to run on the way and begged me to come along. Minutes later I found myself standing in front of a strange dwelling. A divider hung in the archway, similar to Coltrane’s except bright, with floral squares of orange, red, and gold.

“How’s that leg feeling?” Coltrane asked, still holding the bin he’d carried all the way here.

He didn’t sound winded at all. I, on the other hand, sounded like I’d just run a race. I panted for a moment. If Lillibeth hadn’t just injected painkiller, I’d probably be writhing on the ground. “Fine. Who lives here again?”

“You’ll see.”

“I wish you’d quit saying that.”

“Hey, let a guy have his secrets.” Coltrane set his box down and gave four firm, distinct claps of his hands.

For a long moment, there was no sound from inside, then an older woman with long silver hair brushed the blanket aside. “Yes?”

“I have your order, Ruby,” Coltrane said. “And I brought somebody to meet you.”

A wide smile crossed her face. “Ah. Perfect timing.”

“How are you feeling today?”

“My bones aren’t mad at me today, so that’s a plus.” She pulled the curtain back the rest of the way and held it for us. “Well? You coming in for a treat?”

“Are you baking?” Coltrane sounded like an eager child. “Oh, we’re definitely coming in.” He picked up his box and ducked inside. I opened my mouth to protest, but then I took a deep breath. An amazing aroma wafted out the doorway, suddenly making me very mindful of my empty stomach. My body hobbled in of its own accord.

The dwelling was similar to Coltrane’s—three rooms with doorways sectioned off with cloths. The walls and ceilings had the same curved lines, all smooth. One of these days I wanted to check out this excavator of theirs. It sounded interesting.

“Glad you could stop by,” Ruby said, letting the curtain fall behind me.

“You have a cooking area in your dwelling?” I asked.

She chuckled. “I call it a kitchen, and yes. This body is getting too old to tromp down to the cafeteria for every meal, and I’m a picky eater anyway. One of the perks of serving as an elder. Didn’t take too much doing to get it approved.”

“What did you make?” I asked.

“Cake,” she said with a kind smile. “I’m pretty sure you’ve never had it.”

“How do you know?”

She pointed to my forehead. Of course. It was hard to remember I still wore NORA’s badge of shame under my skin. I’d changed into some of Lillibeth’s clothing this morning after a bath. The brown shirt hung a little baggy in the shoulders, and the trousers pooled at the ankles, but it was better than the disgusting uniform I’d worn for the past week. I felt like a different person today.

“Nutrition pills may keep your body alive,” she said, “but cake for breakfast? Now
that
makes life worth living.”

Coltrane sucked in a breath. “Cake? I haven’t had cake in forever. Amy, it’s like a really sweet bread. You’ll love it.”

Ruby made her way to a black box set into the wall and pulled the door open. Using a rag, she pulled out a pan and set it on top. Its contents looked like bread, only wider and darker. “This isn’t just any cake. This is a chocolate cake. I used up the last of my sugar to make it, and I had half a cup of chocolate powder left. Did your mom trade for more sugar, dear Coltrane?”