Liberty (16 page)

“Yeah, where’s the
Misfit?”
asked CiCi.

I had been dreading this moment, but the time had come to rip off the Band-Aid. “The
Misfit’s
gone, CiCi. The ship that attacked us just kept coming. I had no choice but to destroy her and abandon ship.”

CiCi’s jaw dropped. “
You abandoned the
Misfit?” she screamed. “That’s
it!
Hand over your license, you horrible piece of—”

“CiCi!” cried Hobson. “Shhhh!” He threw his hands over her mouth, but that didn’t stop her from squealing out indistinguishable threats. Hobs didn’t take his hands away until the squealing stopped.

“I would have gone down with her,” growled CiCi as soon as she wasn’t being muffled any more.

“Yes, and a lot of good that would have done you and us, huh?” said Hobson. CiCi slumped down onto a crate and glowered at me, a hint of a tear glistening in her right eye. Perhaps I would have reacted differently in another life, responded with more compassion, but the guilt, the ever-present sense of loss that lingered in my gut, had become as familiar as a barnacle on a boat.

I eyed CiCi. I needed her help, and after the blow I just delivered I wasn’t sure I would get it. I only had one last ace up my sleeve. The
Aventine
was a 26041 model carrier, and CiCi had always wanted to fly one. If I could get her to come with us to Mars for some wrecked parts, she could dress up our new ride so no one would recognize us.

“CiCi?”

She crossed her arms and legs and shifted away from me on her crate. “I’m not talking to you. Abandoner.
Ship-wrecker
!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I feel awful about her too, but you have to understand there really wasn’t any other way.”

“Hmph.”

“Hey, Ceese, she was my inheritance. You think I would just give that up if I didn’t have to?” I got on my knees in front of her crate and looked up into her face. “Berrett has a ship. That’s how we got here, but we can’t fly it around because it’s too pretty.”

CiCi raised her eyes. “Too pretty?”

I grinned.

She was all mine.

“Yeah. I know no ship will ever compare to the
Misfit,
but Berrett’s ship is a 26041—”

“Model carrier?” CiCi’s voice rose with every syllable. “With quadro-thrusters and daylight simula—”

“Shh!” hissed Hobson as he slapped his hand over her mouth again.

“Yes, and, if you’ll please shut up, you can play with her all you want, but we have to hide who she is,” I said.

CiCi’s brow creased for about two seconds before she pushed Hobs away and leapt out of her chair.

“When do we leave?”

I laughed. “Whenever you’re rea—wait. I just realized something.” I turned to Berrett and grabbed his arms with both hands. “Eira’s records. They’re here. We could look her up if we can just get into the records office. Maybe there are some clues as to why she’s ... um ....”

“Such an evil loon?” finished Hobs. “I believe I can help with that. Especially if you’re sure we’ll be leaving the planet as soon as we’re done. No more need to hide now that you’re here.”

I raised one eyebrow. “Oh, really? And how do you propose to help us break into the records room?”

Hobs grinned. “Alice Johnson.”

I shook my head as I listened to Hobs from inside a hall closet.

“I just can’t believe you’re back, Isaac! Is Trudy here too? Or have you finally gotten over that?”

“Over what? What’s that supposed to mean?” I hissed. Berrett and CiCi both slapped their hands over my mouth.

“No, I’m here alone on leave. I was wondering if you’d like a cup of coffee?”

“Oh, I’d love one, Isaac, I really would, but I have a meeting I have to get to in five minutes and I have to run to the copy room first to get some things printed out.”

“Ah. Well, I just happened to have a thermos here with me. Maybe I could go with you and we can catch up for a couple minutes before your meeting?”

“I’d like that.”

It took all my willpower not to groan in disgust.

Alice Johnson. Please. What a brown-nosing little gremlin. Hobs is
really
taking one for the team this time. I owe him big.

We waited until the click-click-click of Alice Johnson’s high heels faded away as she and Hobs headed toward the copy room. I poked my head out of the closet first.

“Okay, we’re clear. Let’s go!”

We ran into the records office and I sat down at Alice’s desk. The screen saver hadn’t kicked in yet, so I had full access to the records.

Aces.

“Okay, here we go. E-I-R-A N—”

“There she is!” cried CiCi.

Sure enough, there was Eira’s file. I clicked on it and pulled it up. Registration. Marks. Medical. Psych.

Psych?

I exchanged a glance with Berrett and opened the psych file.

“According to this, Eira’s parents split when she was fourteen. Looks like she had anger issues all through her first year at the Académie. There are reports of fights, extreme bullying, and violence,” I said.

“Dix, look at this,” said Berrett, pointing to the screen. “‘Displays beginning signs of sociopathic behavior.’”

“Ya think?” I asked.

Still, a small part of me felt sorry for Eira. Especially when I got to the last line in her psych file. “Due to severe essential tremor, Eira will no longer be able to pursue a career in medicine. Outbursts have increased dramatically, and she has withdrawn even from her trusted friends and counselors. Monitor closely.”

I closed Eira’s file, but before I got out of the program completely, I thought I would see what my records looked like. Without thinking, I started typing in T-A-B—

“Hey, Cap, you’re typing the wrong name,” said CiCi.

“Oh! Uh, I’ll explain later, Ceese. I just wanna see something.”

I looked back at the monitor and saw my name, but the date on the file was wrong. Suddenly, I realized that Aunt Tabitha had graduated from the Académie at the same time as Eira Ninge.

I opened her psych file.

Brutal teasing from another student continues to erode Tabitha’s confidence. Contacted both sets of parents after E. Ninge broke Tabitha’s nose.

“Flarking piece of skud,” I whispered.

Just then, we heard the click-click-click of approaching heels. I closed the program and dove into the coat closet.

“You know, I think I left my bag next to your desk. If you want, I can lock the door on my way out,” said Hobs.

“Would you be a love? And please, stop by soon, Isaac. It was so good to see you.”

Alice Johnson’s voice dripped like honey. I gagged and rolled my eyes. Hobs walked into the office and picked up his bag. “Alright, guys, you can come out.”

I fell out of the closet. Berrett crawled out from under the desk and CiCi materialized seemingly out of nowhere.

Hobs shook his head. “What would you have done if I hadn’t sent her away?”

“Knocked her out with her own computer,” I growled.

“Heh. You’re jealous of Alice Johnson,” said Hobs.

“Right. My life’s ambition is to be a secretary at the Académie, just so I can have dirt on all the students.”

“Hey, it comes in handy.”

“So do you. Thanks, Hobs. You’re the best.” I kissed his cheek and pulled him out of the office and through side door. “Come on, guys!”

The four of us scampered across the fields and into the hedge. “So, what’d you find?” asked Hobs.

“I’ll tell you on the way to Mars.”

“What did you fly in on, a wing and prayer?”

“Kind of. A shuttle we hid in the sculpture garden. Come on!”

We scampered through the alleys and back streets of Avalon until we rounded the last corner before the garden. The four of us came to an abrupt halt, almost falling out of the alley.

“You have got to be flarking kidding me,” I whispered.

B
ERRETT LAUGHED OUT LOUD.

I glared at him.

“Sorry, it is kind of hilarious.”

Through the wrought iron gates of the garden, I could see half a dozen SUN officials standing around the shuttle.

Berrett turned to Hobs. “No one ever comes here, she said. Blends right in with the rest of the junk.”

The two of them started laughing until they caught sight of my death stare. Hobs cleared his throat. “Sorry, Dix. It’s really not ... not funny ... at ... heehee ... at all!”

They burst out laughing once more. I rolled my eyes and turned to CiCi. “You’re adorable. Go find out what they think is going on.”

She nodded and ran into the garden.

“So, Berrett, have you been to Venus before?” asked Hobs.

“Nope. This is my first time.”

“What a shame! Avalon is a beautiful city. Wish we could show him around, Captain.”

“I’ll show you both around if you don’t quit goofing off.”

“Ooh, touchy. Aye, Cap,” said Hobs. “Anyway, it’s really quite charming. Venus was the first world to be terraformed that didn’t royally backfire like Mars. They went a little nuts making it as much of an idealistic city as possible. Some of the most amazing art in the System is here.”

“Maybe someday we’ll come back when the universe doesn’t want us dead,” I griped.

“Guess you’ll have to wait until you can haunt Venus, then,” said Berrett.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Mercifully, CiCi came trotting back into our alleyway. “Someone proposed, saw your ship, and called the officials.”

“Proposed
?”

“Yeah, Dix, it’s that thing two people do when they love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together,” Berrett said.

“I
know
what it is, Berrett, and aside from it making little to no sense in the world we live in, who proposes in an abandoned flarking sculpture garden?”

“Actually, it’s kind of romantic,” said Hobs. I shot him the death glare again and he pressed his lips shut. “Or not.”

“Alright, alright, this is fine,” I said, pushing my hand through my hair. “We just need a diversion.”

“I got you covered,” said Hobs. “CiCi and I were saving this in case we needed a diversion of our own.” He pulled a small plastic ball out of his pack.

“What is that?” asked Berrett.

“Fake Fire is what I call it. I lob this onto the roof of a neighboring building and smoke begins to pour off the roof. Those goons will be out of that sculpture garden in a heartbeat.”

Hobs chucked the ball onto the nearest roof. “Wait for it ...”

Smoke began to curl around the edge of the roof and wrap around the gutter pipes.

With a wicked grin, Hobs screamed, “Fire!”

Sure enough, all the officials except one ran out of the garden.

“Well, that almost worked,” I said.

“One SUN official? I can handle that,” said Berrett. “You guys go in the front gates and I’ll sneak around from behind. Keep him talking.”

I lingered behind Hobson and CiCi, pulling down the cabby hat as far as possible. The guard stopped CiCi as she walked up to the front gate.

“Sorry, Ma’am, no civilians allowed here tonight,” said the guard.

“Look, I’m really sorry, but my friend here thinks he left his Cuff inside the garden. Are you sure we can’t have a look around?”

“Orders are orders, kid. Nothing I can do about it.”

“Maybe you could look for me?” CiCi did her best to be charming, but the guard remained unaffected.

“Nope. I’m sorry. Try coming back first thing to—”

The guard fell mid-sentence into an unconscious heap, Berrett standing behind him with a rock in his hand.

“You’re amazing with those rocks,” I said as we stuffed ourselves into the shuttle.

“It’s a gift.”

“I
CAN’T MAKE HER UGLY WITHOUT MORE PARTS,” SAID CICI
as she twirled a wrench in her hands. A streak of grease ran along her chin. She leaned against the doorway of the galley. The rest of us were seated around the table, gnawing on dried fruit from the food cabinet.

“Where are we going to get parts from? We’re on an asteroid,” said Hobs.

“Best junkyard in the system is back on Mars,” I said flatly.

It hadn’t even been a week since my aunt was executed. I was hardly in the mood to hang out on Mars, but CiCi needed ship parts, the
Aventine
needed a new set of tags, and Mars was the place to get it all. With a seemingly fluid relationship between the SUN and Eira, I had no doubt that our current tags would be useless. Still, my nightmares had a new addition, and there was no desire in my heart to return to the place where I had watched my Aunt Tabitha hang.

“We could fly a shuttle back to Mars,” said Berrett. “Every shuttle has its own set of ID tags.”

I sighed.

I just want a break.

“Sure. Let’s go to Mars. Hobs, you comin’?”

He swallowed hard, turned a bit green, and then bolted out of the galley.

I looked at Berrett. “Guess that’s a no.”

I poked my head into Hobs’s cabin before we left. “You gonna be okay?”

He was curled up on his cot, his blond curls sticking to his forehead. “Probably just spacesick.”

“It’ll wear off. It’s better to have you here guarding the ship, anyway. And this will give you some time to work on the Eternigen without any distractions.”