The Island (11 page)

“We can’t just walk away now.” Daniel checked the door to the unit, ensuring it was shut tight. “We don’t have supplies to last a week, and we don’t know what these people will do if we try to leave. I don’t even have a clear idea of where the exits to the cave are, because they blindfolded us in the tunnels. Do any of you?”

“They’re just like the Roberts.” Malgam practically snarled the words. “Trading their own for . . . for what?”

“We don’t know enough to say that.” Nandy put her hand on Malgam’s. “It didn’t look to me like everyone at assembly was onboard with Filina.”

“Tom said he’d come let us know if Hannah’s parents got her back.” Pathik watched Rachel as he spoke. He’d been watching her since she said her orchids would die, a carefully neutral expression on his face. “He didn’t think they’d have much luck.”

“I guess we just wait, then?” Malgam shifted on his stool. The last thing he wanted to do was to wait.

Daniel nodded. “I don’t think we have a lot of choice, right now. We’ll see what news Tom brings. Until then, let’s stick close to each other. Nobody leave the units alone. In fact, nobody leave the area, period.”

Nandy, Malgam, and Nipper went to the second unit, Nandy making noises about Malgam needing rest, Malgam making noises about how he didn’t. Daniel and Vivian remained in the first. Pathik and Rachel convinced the adults to let them sit just outside.

“It’ll look more normal if we’re not all huddled inside,” said Pathik. “And we’ll have a chance to watch, see what people are doing.”

And so they sat, on a bench Pathik pulled up from one of the nearest work areas. Rachel thought there seemed to be less activity in the cave than normal, though as soon as she had that thought, she realized they’d been there too short a time to know what
normal
was. People were working, cooking, mending tools, but there was a tense feeling in the air. Nobody chattered back and forth, and everyone seemed to be avoiding eye contact.

“Cheerful bunch.” Pathik said the words under his breath, without looking at Rachel.

“Yes.” She didn’t look at him either. “It’s like . . .”

“Like they’re ashamed.” Pathik spat on the ground in front of him, something Rachel had never seen him do. “They
should
be, too.”

One of the nearest workers—the same girl who had been sharpening knives before—looked up from her strop when Pathik spat. There was no glaring today. She glanced at Pathik, then at Rachel, and quickly lowered her eyes back to her work.

“I think Nandy might be right.” Rachel watched the girl as she sharpened a pitted blade. “I think some of them aren’t onboard with the whole thing.”

“Then they should have stopped it.”

Rachel thought about Nandy, sitting down in the office after she’d heard that Nipper was captive, about Daniel, stuttering on the platform at the assembly. She thought about Hannah, pulling away from Tom, walking like a robot up the stairs to Filina. She thought about the look on Filina’s face, all those times. “They
should
have. I just wonder—”

“Company.” Pathik nudged Rachel, a gentle warning.

Sarah strode up, her cheeks flushed. She stood in front of them, breathing fast as though she’d just been running. “Are your parents inside?”

“They are,” said Rachel. Neither she nor Pathik moved from the bench.

“I need to see them.” Sarah looked behind her at the people nearby, checking to see who was noticing. When she turned back, she took in Pathik’s unimpressed expression and Rachel’s stony gaze. “You don’t have to like it. But I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Feel free to knock.” Pathik tilted his head toward the unit doors.

“I need to see the two of you, too.” Sarah looked behind her again. “Now.” She walked to the closest unit and tapped on the door. When it opened she didn’t look back, she just disappeared inside.

“I’ll get Malgam and Nandy.” Pathik rose from the bench. “See you back inside.”

Sarah waited until they were all assembled around the table again. She didn’t sit with them. Instead, she stood near the door of the unit, tense, her arms crossed in front of her. When all eyes were on her, she spoke.

“We need your help.”

There was silence from the table. Everyone stared up at Sarah; nobody said a thing. Finally, Malgam grunted. “What makes you think we’re interested?” He narrowed his eyes, waiting for Sarah’s response.

“You’re all a part of this now.” Sarah held Malgam’s gaze. “And it needs to end.”

“A part of what?” Daniel shifted on his stool so that he faced Sarah head on. “You might want to fill us in on what’s going on if you want our help.”

Sarah checked the door. She looked at each of them in turn, stopping at Rachel. “You’ve figured some of it out, I think.”

Rachel nodded. “We know about Celebration.” She stared at Sarah, her eyes dark. “We know about . . . Hannah.”

“Then you know we need to stop it.” Sarah’s jaw tightened. “We need to stop Filina.” She whispered the name, as though she feared someone outside might hear.

“You’re asking us to help
you
stop Filina?” Pathik sounded incredulous. “You’re one of her cronies, aren’t you? You helped take Rachel, you were there in the office with Filina and her crew. Why would we help you?”

“More to the point,
how
could we help you?” Daniel cocked his head at Sarah. “What exactly do you think we could do that you can’t?
You’ve
got numbers. If you don’t like what Filina’s doing, rise up and say so.”

Sarah looked like she might cry. “You don’t understand.”

“I think I do,” said Rachel. “Filina can control people. She can make them do what she wants.” She looked at Sarah, eyes wide. “
That’s
her talent, isn’t it?”

Sarah nodded, silent.

Pathik watched Sarah’s face. When he spoke his voice was pitiless. “Have you helped her? Have you ever amped her gift for her?”

Everyone waited to hear Sarah’s answer, judgment building in each expression. Sarah bowed her head. She was silent for a long time. When she spoke, it was barely audible, just one word.

“Once.”

Pathik hit the tabletop with his palms. “One time too many.” His eyes burned with disgust.

“Wait.” Nandy put a hand over one of Pathik’s.

“What do you mean, wait?” Pathik shook her hand off. “That’s against
all
that Indigo stood for,
all
that Usage means. It
matters
what we choose, it
matters
—”

“If we
can
choose.” Nandy was watching Sarah, whose head was still bowed. A single tear slipped from Sarah’s cheek and fell, hitting the floor. “Could you choose, that one time? Could you, Sarah?”

“What do you mean?” Vivian leaned forward toward Nandy, confused.

“
I
felt it. Filina’s power.” Nandy didn’t take her eyes off Sarah. “When Rachel told me they had Nipper, I felt . . . slow. I didn’t go to him. I stayed in that office.” She turned to Malgam. “Is that what I would
ever
do?”

Daniel nodded. “I think I know what you mean. When we were on the platform, when I was speaking to the people. I think I felt it, too. I had more to say, but my mind felt—muddled. I just remember thinking I should be quiet.
I should be quiet, now
.”

Sarah looked up. “That’s what she does. You forget. You forget what it was you wanted to do. You just
go along
, you do what she wants you to do. And later, when your mind is clear again, it’s too late.”

Malgam looked skeptical. “All right. So Filina is a mind-controller. And whatever she’s got going with this Celebration thing—which we would need to know a lot more about—you want it to end. But you haven’t answered Daniel’s question. How can we help you? It’s not like we’re any more powerful than you are. We’re just—what was it your friend—David—said?
Not very heavy hitters
. I believe he said all of us had rather crude gifts.”

Sarah nodded. “He did say that.”

“So what can we do to make any difference here at all?”

“It’s not your talents that will help.” Sarah hesitated.

“Well, what
is
it then?”

Sarah took a breath. She looked sad, as though she didn’t really want to say what she was about to say. But she said it.

“It’s Rachel.”

E
lizabeth dusted the last one of the china cups and set it back on the shelf with the rest of the dishes reserved for special occasions. They hadn’t had one of those since Vivian and Rachel and the Others from Away had eaten here, before they all left to Cross. She smiled, remembering how astonished those two boys had been—Pathik and Fisher—at the hot running water and the abundance of food.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen you dust since you were a little girl.” Jonathan leaned on the door frame. He’d just returned from misting the orchids. He smelled like the greenhouse—like earth, and sun, and the perlite used in the potting mix.

“Mother always thought this sort of work was beneath us. When I was little, I loved it when the housekeeper would let me help, but that soon changed.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I guess I became a lot more like Mother than I ever meant to be.”

Jonathan grunted. “You’re not so like her if I remember her correctly.” He tilted his hat back off his forehead and changed the subject. “No sign of any EOs this morning.”

Since the man from the government had paid his chilling visit, they’d both been nervously watching the road, dreading the daily EO drive-by. They came slowly down the long lane, crawling past the house, making certain that Elizabeth and Jonathan saw them. The officers always remained in the vehicle, staring from the windows.

“So far.” Elizabeth sighed. “They’ll be by. They want us to know they’re watching.”

Jonathan nodded. “Do you think I could talk you into a cup of kalitea? I’m ready for a break already today. Getting old.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I’m ready for a break, too, after just doing the dusting. We’re both getting old, I think.”

When they’d readied the kalitea—a comfortable, silent routine consisting of Jonathan brewing the tea while Elizabeth took down mugs, sugar and cream—they settled in the parlor. Elizabeth was glad Jonathan had asked for kalitea; she had something on her mind. After they’d each had a few sips, she set her mug down.

“I think we may need to get out those books you had—the ones about Salishan.”

Salishan was one of the relinquished islands—the ones that had been left out of Unifolle’s Border Defense System. It had been too expensive to include them, so the government had evacuated the inhabitants instead, and now the islands were abandoned. Radiation from the bombs dropped in a long-ago attack made it unsafe—according to the government—for anyone to set foot on the islands.

There had always been rumors that some people weren’t evacuated, that they may have survived the bombings. But those were just whispers, like the whispers about the territory Away. When Rachel and the Others had Crossed, Jonathan had researched Salishan, hoping to draw Elizabeth out of the fog of grief she’d wandered in since Indigo’s death. He’d been careful to stay off the Net, so finding information had been difficult, but he had found some books.

Jonathan and Elizabeth thought Salishan was the island Indigo had talked about, the one Rachel and the Others would go to, if they could. They had read all they could find about it, and pondered various, impossible routes to its shores. But Elizabeth had finally asked Jonathan to put the books away. She was tired of dreaming.

“Are you thinking we need to make a move?” Jonathan didn’t sound surprised.

Elizabeth frowned. “I don’t know how we even
could
. But it can’t help to know the specifics, can it?”

Jonathan stared into his mug. He started to speak, but stopped himself. He took a sip of his tea instead. Elizabeth watched, letting seconds tick by, until she couldn’t wait any longer.

“What is it?” She said the words gently. She knew she was sharp with Jonathan far too often, and she felt bad about it. She and he shared so many years, so many secrets. So much pain.

“I . . .” Jonathan set his mug down, carefully. “I was assuming a bit much I guess, to ask if you were thinking
we
should make a move.” He kept his eyes on the table.

Elizabeth watched his face, looking for traces of anger, but there were none. She saw only sadness, sadness she knew she had caused. “Of course it would be
we
, Jonathan.”

He looked up then, meeting her gaze with a quiet dignity. There was no gratitude in his eyes, and Elizabeth realized there shouldn’t be. He was his own person. He was here with her because he chose it, even after all she’d put him through.
She
should be grateful, if anyone should. She waited to see what he would say. When he spoke, he didn’t mention all that had passed between them in the last moments. He was exactly Jonathan: practical.

“I’ll go get the books.”

R
achel?” Everyone in the unit said Rachel’s name with different degrees of surprise, except for Pathik. He said her name softly, not surprised at all, only fear and resignation coloring his voice.

Sarah noticed his reaction. She watched Pathik as the others began to ask their questions.

“What can Rachel do against Filina?” Vivian sounded panicked.

“She doesn’t even have a gift.” Malgam pronounced the words like a verdict.

Daniel put his arm around Vivian’s trembling shoulders. He leveled his gaze at Sarah. “I think you’d better explain what you have in mind.”

Sarah looked from Pathik to Daniel. “I will.” She pulled the last stool from the corner of the room to the table and sat down on it. “I think Rachel may be the only person who can help us win against Filina.”

“Why?” Malgam frowned. “Filina has a powerful gift from what you say. Rachel has nothing.”

Sarah watched as Nandy stroked Nipper’s head, calming the Woolly, who had become alert to the tension in the room. “Talents—gifts—exist in many different forms.”