“What?”
The three of them turn to face me.
“What are you talking about?” Kenji says.
“Love, that’s really not a good idea— We don’t have any parachutes on this plane, and without them—”
“No, she’s right,” Nazeera says carefully. She’s looking me in the eye. She seems to understand what I’m thinking.
“It’ll work,” I say. “Don’t you think?”
“Honestly, I have no idea,” she says. “But it’s definitely worth a shot. It might be our only shot.”
Kenji is beginning to pace. “Okay, someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on.”
Aaron has gone pale. “Love,” he says again, “what—”
“Nazeera can fly,” I explain. “If we all find a way to secure ourselves to one another, she can use her powers to bolster us, you can use your power to bolster her power, and because there’s little chance either of you could use that much of your strength while still carrying our combined weight, we’ll eventually, slowly, be dragged down to the ground.”
Nazeera glances at the dash again. “We’re eight thousand feet in the air and losing altitude quickly. If we’re going to do this, we should jump now, while the plane is still relatively stable.”
“Wait—where are we?” Kenji says. “Where are we going to land?”
“I’m not sure,” she says. “But it looks like we’re somewhere over the general vicinity of sectors 200 through 300.” She looks at Aaron. “Do you have any friends in this region?”
Aaron shoots her a dark look. “I have friends nowhere.” “Zero people skills,” Kenji mutters.
“We’re out of time,” I say. “Are we going to do this?” “I guess so. It’s the only plan we’ve got,” Kenji says.
“I think it’s a solid plan,” Aaron says, and shoots me a hesitant, but encouraging look. “But I think we should find a way to strap ourselves together. Some kind of harness or something—so we don’t lose each other in
the air.”
“We don’t have time for that.” Nazeera’s calm is quickly giving way to panic. “We’ll just have to hold on tight.”
Kenji nods, and with a sudden heave, shoves open the airplane door. Air rushes in fast and hard, nearly knocking us off our feet.
Quickly, we all link arms, Nazeera and Aaron holding up the outer edges, and with a few reassuring shouts through the howling wind—
We jump.
It’s a terrifying sensation.
The wind pushes up fast and hard and then, all at once, stills. We seem to be frozen in time, whirring in place even as we watch the jet fall, steadily, into the distance. Nazeera and Aaron appear to be doing their jobs almost too well. We’re not falling fast enough, and not only is it freezing up here, oxygen is scarce.
“I’m going to drop my hold on your power,” Aaron calls out to Nazeera, and she shouts back her agreement.
Slowly, we begin to descend.
I watch as the world blurs around us. We drift downward, unhurried, the wind pushing hard against our feet. And then, suddenly, the bottom seems to drop out from under us, and we go shooting down, hard, into the terrain below.
I give out a single, terrified scream— Or was that Kenji?
—before we pull to a sudden stop, a foot above the ground. Aaron squeezes my arm and I look at him, grateful for the catch.
And then we fall to the ground.
I land badly on my ankle and wince, but I can put weight on my foot, so I know it’s all right. I look around to assess the state of my friends, but realize, too late, that we’re not alone.
We’re in a vast, wide-open field. This was, once upon a time, almost certainly farmland, but it’s now been reduced to little more than ash. In the distance appears a thin band of people, quickly closing in on us.
I harness my powers, ready to fight. Ready to face whatever comes our way. Energy is thrumming inside me, sparking in my blood.
I am not afraid.
Aaron puts his arm around me, pulls me close. “Together,” he whispers. “No matter what.”
Finally, after what feels like immeasurable minutes, two bodies separate from their group. Slowly, they walk up to us.
My whole body is tense in preparation for an attack, but as they get closer, I’m able to discern their faces.
They’re two adults:
One, a slender, stunning woman with closely cropped hair and skin so dark it gleams. She’s luminous as she walks, her smile widening with every step. Beside her is another smiling face, but the familiar sight of his brown skin and long dreadlocks sends shock and panic and hope rushing through me. I feel dazed.
Castle.
His presence here could be either good or bad. A thousand questions run through my mind, among them: What is he doing here? How did he get here? The last time I saw him, I didn’t think he was on my side at all—has he turned against us completely?
The woman is the first to speak.
“I’m glad to see you’re all right,” she says. “I’m afraid we had no choice but to shoot your plane out of the sky.”
“What? What are y—”
“Castle?” Kenji’s quiet, tentative voice reaches out from behind me.
Castle steps forward just as Kenji moves toward him, and the two embrace, Castle pulling him in so tightly I can practically feel the tension from where I’m standing. They’re both visibly emotional, and the moment is so touching it puts my fears at ease.
“You’re okay,” Kenji says. “I thought—”
Haider and Stephan, the son of the supreme commander of Africa, step out of the crowd. Shock seizes my body at the sight of them. They nod at Nazeera and the three of them separate to form a new group, off to the side. They speak in low, hurried whispers.
Castle takes a deep breath. “We have a lot to talk about.” And then, to me, he says, “Ella, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Nouria.”
My eyebrows fly up my forehead. I glance at Aaron, who seems as stunned as I am, but Kenji lets out a sudden whoop, and tackles Castle all over again. The two of them laugh. Kenji is saying, No way, no way
Nouria pointedly ignores them and smiles at me. “We call our home the Sanctuary,” she says. “My wife and I are the leaders of the resistance here. Welcome.”
Another woman separates from the crowd and steps forward. She’s petite, with long blond hair. She shakes my hand. “It’s an honor to meet you,” she says. “My name is Samantha.”
I study both of them, Nouria and Samantha standing side by side. Castle’s happiness. The smile on Kenji’s face. The cluster of Nazeera, Haider, and Stephan off to the side. The larger group crowded in the distance.
“The honor is ours,” I say, and smile. Then: “But are we safe out here?
Out in the open like this?”
Nouria nods. “My powers allow me to manipulate light in unusual ways,”
she says. “I’ve cast a protective shield around us right now, so that if someone were to look in our direction, they’d see only a painful brightness that would force them to look away.”
“Whoa.” Kenji’s eyes widen. “That’s cool.”
“Thank you,” Nouria says. She’s practically emanating light, her dark brown skin shimmering even as she stands still. There’s something breathtaking about just being near her.
“Are those your people?” I hear Aaron say, speaking for the first time.
He’s peering over her head, at the small crowd in the distance.
She nods.
“And are they here to make sure we don’t hurt you?”
Nouria smiles. “They’re here to make sure no one hurts you,” she says. “Your group is welcome here. You’ve more than proven yourselves worthy.” And then, “We’ve heard all the stories about Sector 45.”
“You have?” I say, surprised. “I thought The Reestablishment buried everything.”
Nouria shakes her head. “Whispers travel faster than anyone can control. The continent is buzzing with the news of all you’ve been doing these past couple of months. It’s truly a privilege to meet you,” she says to me, and holds out her hand. “I’ve been so inspired by your work.”
I take her hand, feeling at once proud and embarrassed. “Thank you,” I say quietly. “That’s very kind of you.”
But then Nouria’s eyes grow somber. “I am sorry we had to shoot you out of the sky,” she says. “That must’ve been terrifying. But Castle assured me that there were two among you who would be able to fly.”
“Wait, what?” Kenji hazards a look at Castle. “You planned this?”
“It was the only way,” he says. “Once we were able to get free of the asylum”—he nods gratefully at Nazeera—“I knew the only place left for us was here, with Nouria. But we couldn’t have radioed to tell you to land here; our communication would’ve been intercepted. And we couldn’t have you land at the air base, for obvious reasons. So we’ve been tracking your plane, waiting for the right moment. Shooting you out of the sky punts the problem straight back to the military. They’ll think it was action from another unit, and by the time they begin to figure it out, we’ll have destroyed all evidence of our being here.”
“So— Wait—” I say. “How did you and Nouria coordinate this? How’d you find each other?” And then: “Castle, if you’ve abandoned the citizens— Won’t Anderson just murder them all? Shouldn’t you have stayed to protect them? Tried to fight back?”
He shakes his head. “We had no choice but to evacuate Omega Point members from Sector 45. After the two of you”—he nods at me and Aaron
—“were taken, things fell into complete chaos. We were all taken hostage and
thrown in prison. It was only because of Nazeera—who connected us with Haider and Stephan—that we were able to make our way here. Sector 45 has since been returned to its original state as a prison.” Castle takes a tight breath. “There’s a great deal we need to share with each other. So much has happened in the last two weeks it’ll be impossible to discuss it all quickly. But it is important that you know, right now, a little bit about Nouria’s role in all this.”
He turns to Nouria and gives her a small nod.
Nouria looks me in the eye and says, “That day you were shot on the beach,” she says quietly. “Do you remember?”
I hesitate. “Of course.”
“I was the one who issued that order against you.” I’m so stunned I visibly flinch.
“What?” Aaron steps forward, outraged. “Castle, are you insane? You ask us to take refuge in the home of a person who nearly murdered Ella?” He turns back, stares at me with a wild look in his eyes. “How could y—”
“Castle?” There’s a warning in Kenji’s voice. “What is going on?”
But Nouria and Castle are staring at each other, and a heavy look passes between them.
Finally, Castle sighs.
“Let’s get settled before we keep talking,” he says. “This is a long conversation, and it’s an important one.”
“Let’s have it now,” Aaron says. “Yes,” Kenji says angrily. “Now.”
“She tried to murder me,” I say, finally finding my voice. “Why would you bring me here? What are you trying to do?”
“You’ve had a long, difficult journey,” Castle says. “I want you to have a chance to get settled. Take a shower and eat some food. And then, I promise
—we’ll give you all the answers you want.”
“But how can we trust that we’ll be safe?” I say. “How can we know Nouria isn’t trying to hurt us?”
“Because,” she says steadily, “I did what I did to help you.” “And how is that plausible?” Aaron says sharply.
“It was the only way I knew how to get a message to you,” Nouria says, still staring at me. “I was never trying to kill you—and I knew that your own defenses would help protect you from certain death.”
“That was a dangerous bet to make.”
“Believe me,” she says quietly, “it was a difficult decision to make. It came at great cost to us—we lost one of our own in the process.”
I feel myself tense, but otherwise betray no emotion. I remember the day Nazeera saved me—the day she killed my assailant.
“But I had to reach you,” Nouria says, her dark brown eyes deep with
feeling. “It was the only way I could do it without rousing suspicion.” My curiosity beats out my skepticism. For the moment.
“So— Why? Why did you do it?” I ask. “Why poison me?”
Unexpectedly, Nouria smiles. “I needed you to see what I saw. And according to Castle, it worked.”
“What worked?”
“Ella—” She hesitates. “May I call you by your real name?” I blink. Stare at Castle. “You told her about me?”
“He didn’t have to. Things don’t stay secret for very long around here,” Nouria says. “No matter what The Reestablishment has you believe, we’re all finding ways to pass messages to each other. All the resistance groups across the globe know the truth about you by now. And they love you more for it.”
I don’t know what to say.
“Ella,” she says softly, “I was able to figure out why your parents have kept your sister a secret for so long. And I just wanted t—”
“I already know,” I say, the words coming out quietly.
I haven’t talked to anyone about this yet; haven’t told a soul. There’s been no time to discuss something this big. No time to have a long conversation. But I guess we’re going to have it now.
Nouria is staring at me, stunned. “You know?” “Emmaline told me everything.”
A hush falls over the crowd. Everyone turns to look at me. Even Haider, Stephan, and Nazeera finally stop talking amongst themselves long enough to stare.
“She’s kept in captivity,” I say. “She lives in a holding tank, where she exists almost permanently underwater. Her brain waves are connected to tidal turbines that convert the kinetic energy of her mind into electricity. Evie, my mother, found a way to harness that electricity—and project it outward. All over the world.” I take a deep breath. “Emmaline is stronger than I’ve ever been or ever will be. She has the power to bend the minds of the people—she can warp and distort realities— Here. Everywhere.”
Kenji’s face is a perfect encapsulation of horror, and his expression is reflected on dozens of other faces around me. Nazeera, on the other hand, looks stricken.
“What you see here?” I say. “Around us? The decay of society, the broken atmosphere, the birds gone from the sky— It’s all an illusion. It’s true that our climate has changed, yes—we’ve done serious damage to the atmosphere, to the animals, to the planet as a whole—but that damage is not irreparable. Scientists were hopeful that, with a careful, concerted effort, we could fix our Earth. Save the future. But The Reestablishment didn’t like that angle,” he says. “They didn’t want the people to hope. They wanted people to think that our Earth was beyond salvation. And with Emmaline they were able to do just
that.”
“Why?” Kenji says, stunned. “Why would they do that? What do they gain?”
“Desperate, terrified people,” Nouria says solemnly, “are much easier to control. They used Ella’s sister to create the illusion of irreversible devastation, and then they preyed upon the weak and the hopeless, and convinced them to turn to The Reestablishment for support.”
“Emmaline and I were designed for something called Operation Synthesis. She was meant to be the architect of the world, and I was to be the executioner. But Emmaline is dying. They need another powerful weapon with which to control the people. A contingency. A backup plan.”
Aaron takes my hand.
“The Reestablishment wanted me to replace my sister,” I say.
For the first time, Nouria has gone still. No one knew this part. No one but me. “How?” she says. “You have such different abilities.”
It’s Castle who says, “It’s easy to imagine, actually.” But he looks terrified. “If they were to magnify Ella’s powers the way they did her sister’s, she would become the equivalent of a human atom bomb. She could cause mass destruction. Excruciating pain. Death when they please. Across tremendous distances.”
“We have no choice.” Nazeera’s voice rings out, sharp and clear. “We have to kill Evie.”
And I’m looking out, far into the distance, when I say, quietly, “I already did.”
A collective gasp goes through the crowd. Aaron goes still beside me. “And now,” I say, “I have to kill my sister. It’s what she wants. It’s the
only way.”
