Liberty (15 page)

What a lie that was.

The rattling engines of a public cruiser hovering past snapped me back to the present.

I cleared my throat. “See those hedges?”

Berrett nodded.

“There’s a fence behind them, so if we can squeeze ourselves between the hedges and the fence, we can follow the hedges to the other side of the campus where the science building is.”

“And you know about this hedge how, exactly?” asked Berrett.

I scowled at him and pushed away my memories. “Just pay attention and follow my lead.” I dashed across the street and dove into the space between the fence and the hedge. I moved sideways in the small space, hearing Berrett’s light footfalls behind me. It was late in the day, but the sun hadn’t set yet and I wanted to wait for the cover of darkness.

I stopped at a broken set of branches in the hedge and pulled them aside, creating a spot big enough for two. I pulled Berrett to the earth next to me. “We’ll wait here ‘till the sun goes down,” I whispered.

He nodded and turned to stare out at the grounds. “Did you play?” he asked, watching the soccer game playing out on the East Lawn.

I hoped somewhat desperately that if I was blushing, the color would fade from my face before Berrett noticed. “No, but some of my friends did.”

That was a lie. Only one very particular friend—who was a boy—played.

No need for Berrett to know
all
my secrets.

“You know, I used to dream about coming to Venus, wandering around Avalon, studying at the Académie, being a captain like you,” said Berrett. He picked up a small stick and twirled it around in his hands. “Never thought when I was a kid that I’d wind up here as a fugitive instead of a student.”

I fidgeted with a strand of my hair. “You would have been good. You’ve been a big help, actually.”

His lips pursed together and turned up slightly at one corner as he leaned back against the fence with his hands behind his head.

“What’s it like in there?” he asked.

I closed my eyes and let myself fall back in time.

There were huge windows at the top of the sprawling hallways. When it was sunny, thick rays of light fell in and pooled on the beautiful polished tiles.

Each student’s shiny new Cuff was freshly loaded with all the things they would need to study for the year.

Mine was red.

We were told to take good care of it, to make it last. Some of the Settlement kids didn’t really take that to heart. Their parents could always get them another one. It made my blood boil. I felt guilty enough being there when some of my friends on Titan would never make it past primary school, too busy trying to survive to worry about things like Plato or quantum physics. I resolved my first day that I would never use another Cuff if I could possibly help it.

After our orientation, they had divided us into groups according to which dorm we were staying in. My roommate was a surly Parisian fashionista named Elizabeth Bell. I smiled to myself as I thought about how much I had hated her those first few months. It was so funny now, looking back. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better first mate.

I would give anything now to hear her prattle on about boys, clothes, and the after-effects of an electromagnetic pulse.

And then I remembered Berrett.

I opened my eyes and coughed.

“It was stupid,” I said. “Boring. Crazy competitive, stressful, everyone is rich and snooty. You’d hate it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re a lousy liar, Dix.”

“Am not!” I yelled.

Suddenly, Berrett rolled to his knees and slammed a hand over my mouth. “Shh!” he hissed. A stray ball from the soccer scrimmage came careening toward the hedge, and one of the Académie cadets scurried after it.

We froze.

I recognized the boy. He had been two years behind me. I held my breath as he looked right at the spot where we hid. He squinted, cocked his head to one side, and took a step closer to us. My heart raced. I wondered if I could use my powers of persuasion to keep the boy quiet if he discovered us. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to find out. One of his teammates called his name, and he scooped up the ball and scampered back to the field.

I exhaled and felt the tension go out of Berrett’s body as well, but his arm stayed locked around me, one hand resting over my mouth. I blinked up at him, wordlessly demanding my release.

As I stared into his face, my glare evaporated and I was overcome with curiosity. I looked into his soft brown eyes and wanted to know what on earth the expression on his face meant, why he was staring at me.

Then a rush of emotion spread over me, and I wanted to pull his hand away and press my lips to his. I wanted him close to me, to hold on to him, to feel him holding on to me. The draw to him was palpable, a magnetism that I could almost touch. I had never felt anything like it, never wanted so badly to cross a line I knew I never could—and it scared me.

I shook my head. He let me go. I turned to watch the soccer team run for the dormitory as the last rays of light left the sky.

“Hey, Dix.”

“Yeah?”

“Think anyone will notice the shuttle?”

I grinned.

I am, occasionally, a flarking genius.

We had parked the shuttle in a little open space in the middle of a sculpture garden. The garden was filled with pieces that made absolutely no sense to me. I had wandered past it as a student and never could figure out what enormous pieces of twisted metal had to do with anything. The garden was tended by the groundskeepers maybe once a month. It perpetually appeared to be on the brink of becoming overgrown. Such a forgotten little corner of Avalon was ideal for tucking away a tiny shuttle.

“Not a chance. No one even comes here, and besides, the shuttle blends in with the rest of that junk. Let’s go,” I whispered. A shiver skipped down my spine as I crept deeper into the hedge.

We found an opening in the hedge not too far from our hiding spot. “That’s the Einstein building across the field,” I said. “There’s a set of cellar doors that are probably the best point of access to Hobs’s lab.” I pointed straight ahead to a daunting gothic structure with ornate statues and hideous gargoyles leering from the rooftops. I had always hated those stupid statues, but that night they appeared particularly evil in the growing twilight. Berrett and I and squeezed through the opening in the hedge and ran across the field. All the adrenaline in my body surged up through my limbs and into my gut. Perhaps it was the threat of being caught, or the excitement of finding Hobson and CiCi, or that weirdness with Berrett back in the hedge. Whatever it was, something made me power across the field, wishing I could fly, all the while knowing I was far more likely to pee my pants.

We ducked into the bushes that surrounded the sides of the Einstein cellar doors. I reached out to open them and noticed a chain had been wrapped around the handles and secured with an old-fashioned padlock.

“Are you flarking kidding me?” I hissed.

“I got this,” said Berrett. He pulled something shiny out of his pocket and fiddled with the lock. It opened with a pop.

“Hidden talents?”

Berrett held out his hands, showing me a narrow silver dagger with a beautifully carved handle.

“It was my dad’s. I’ve never had to use it for anything other than the occasional break-in.”

I laughed. “You little felon!”

He pulled the chains away, I threw the doors open, and we crept inside. Berrett shut the cellar doors silently behind us, and we descended the cellar stairs without a sound. It was dark save for a small streak of light that shot across the last step.

I took a breath to speak, but Berrett put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. I put my hands up to wordlessly object. He moved past me on the stairs, quiet as a ghost.

As Berrett approached the base of the stairs, I noticed that his dagger was still drawn. He peered into the light and then nodded up to me.

“Hobson?” I whispered.

I heard a loud clink, followed by footsteps.

“Who’s there? I’m warning you, I am armed and very dangerous!” cried Hobs. He leapt into the small band of light at the base of the stairs with a large flashlight in one hand and a beaker raised in the other.

“Hobs!” I cried. I ran down the rest of the stairs and threw myself into his arms. The beaker crashed to the ground and shattered around us as he squeezed me hard.

“Dix? You nutjob, you made me drop a beaker!”

I kissed his cheek and nuzzled for a second into his shoulder before pulling away. I held his hands and hopped up and down.

“Hobs! Hobs! Hobs! You’re alive! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I looked him over, evaluating him for any sign of injury or torture. I poked and prodded and hugged him again. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight, afraid he would disappear on me or turn out to be some kind of mirage.

“Whoa, you—wait, why would I be hurt? What is going—hey! Dix! Stop poking me. That tickles!”

I had never been so glad to see that wild mop of blond curls with blue eyes peering out at me from underneath. I could have eaten him up.

“Who’s your new friend?” asked Hobs.

In my glee at seeing Hobson again, I had forgotten Berrett existed.

Whoops.

“Uh, Hobs, Jordan Berrett. Berrett, Hobs.”

Berrett stepped down into the cellar. He extended a hand to Hobs.

“Nice to meet you, Jordan,” said Hobson.

Berrett nodded. “Likewise.”

“Where are you from?” asked Hobs.

“I picked him up on Earth. He’s from Baltimore,” I said. I poked Berrett’s nose, but oddly he seemed unamused.

“You
picked
me
up? Funny, that isn’t how I remember it,” said Berrett.

I cleared my throat. “Right then, down to business, boys. Hobs, talk to me. Have you heard from any of the others? How’s the formula going?”

“I haven’t heard a thing. I told CiCi to keep her Cuff turned off until you came. We knew you’d come as soon as you could.” Hobson pushed his copper-rimmed glasses up the arch of his nose, put one arm around my waist, and led me to his makeshift lab in the corner of the cellar.

“Now, as to your other query, please follow me into the secret lab and I’ll show you what we’ve been up to.”

“You seriously have a secret lab?” asked Berrett. “I thought Dix was just—”

“Just what?” I demanded.

Berrett pursed his lips together. “Never mind. I stand corrected. To the secret lab.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to hide out here if it wasn’t secret. CiCi has been sneaking out to get us food and supplies at night. Before we left the
Misfit,
I grabbed everything I could carry from my lab and stuffed it in the escape pod. It’s been aces, except that we couldn’t use our Cuffs.”

Hobs’s faith in me warmed the cold places in my heart and made me glad I had taken some risks to get back to him. I hugged him tight as we walked over to his lab.

“However,” he continued, “I wasn’t expecting the goonies that came down here and almost found us.”

“What?” I cried.

Hobs nodded. “Bunch of ‘em. Scary guys, looked like SUN agents, if I can hazard a guess based solely on footwear. Get it? Sole-ly? Ah, I crack myself up!”

I whacked the back of Hobs’s head. “I don’t know how you can joke at a time like this.”

He shrugged. “As you have taught me, it’s joke or go crazy.”

A table was set up amid yellowing storage boxes and cobwebby crates, with beakers and bottles and glass vials strewn about everywhere. Something was creating a steady stream of steam in the corner, and the closer we got, the stronger I felt the need to plug my nose.

“Ugh, Hobs, what is that smell?”

“Sorry—still ruling out various chemical combinations. The sulfur was a rather disastrous mess but this ....” Hobs held up a small glass vial and waved it under my nose.

“This is not a disaster at all. Pretty, huh?” he asked.

I watched the grayish liquid swirling in the small vial. It was different than mine—less shiny somehow.

“Sure, but is it right?”

“No, but it’s stopped blowing up the test subjects!”

Berrett coughed. “I’m sorry, did you say
blowing up?”

At that moment, we heard a door creak open and slam shut.

“Skud!”
I hissed.

“Ah, the swearing. I forgot how much I miss that,” muttered Hobs.

“This is no time for a lesson in morality. Tell me you have a way to hide all this!” I whispered.

“Of course!” said Hobs. With a sweeping motion Hobs disconnected the steam-producing concoction and pulled a large canvas tarp over the table. “Get underneath!”

Berrett and I scrambled under the table along with Hobs. We curled up as tightly as we could, hardly daring to breath as a small circle of light fluttered around the floor, weaving in and out of the boxes.

“Drat! Where’d you go, Hobs? Are you hiding under the table again?”

I exhaled and started to laugh. Berrett jabbed me in the ribs with his elbows. “What is wrong with you?” he hissed. “You’re gonna get us caught!”

“Yep, I am.” I crawled out from under the tarp and waved to our visitor. “Hey, CiCi.”

“Cap! You’re alive!” cried CiCi. She threw her arms around me and squeezed so tightly I could hardly breathe.

“Hi, Ceese!” I said.

She let go and lifted up the canvas tarp. “Who’s the new guy?”

“Jordan Berrett, Baltimore, Maryland,” said Berrett. He glared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied. He crawled out from under the table and dusted himself off, and then turned around and offered Hobs a hand.

“Hello, new guy. I assume we’re calling him Berrett?” asked CiCi.

I nodded.

CiCi waved. “Hi, Berrett.”

“Hi.” Berrett smiled at CiCi and shook her hand.

“Hey, Ceese, you get the stuff?” asked Hobs.

“Yup. Biology will never miss it.” She held up a small burlap sack.

“Oh, I think they might, but hopefully it will take them a while to notice that it’s gone,” said Hobs.

“You’ve got CiCi stealing ingredients for you?” I cried in mock disdain. “So
amoral,
Hobs.”

“Yeah, well, I learned from the best.” He gave me a grin and patted my back. “This particular ingredient is something I couldn’t get anywhere else. It’s imported from the Amazon. So what’s the plan, Captain?”