Fractured Futures Page 7

  I bite my lip. We need to get past those roadblocks. “How can we find out?”

  “Honestly, the best chance is still Cole. He can’t be totally in the dark. The admiral relies on him too much. Still, she probably hasn’t come out and told him anything specific. He’d need to put the pieces together, read between the lines.”

  “Not Cole’s skill set, I know. I’ll have to talk to him.”

  I’m not looking forward to that conversation with Cole. Lucy’s right. He’s probably clueless. And if so, he’s not going to be too thrilled with me hinting that the admiral is considering reneging on our deal. That would run contrary to Cole’s whole rule-abiding nature.

  “Maybe tonight after our prep session,” Lucy says.

  Since Denver and I will be part of our planet’s negotiating team at the Intragalactic Summit—and the only two neutrals—we’re participating in prep sessions with both Earth Force and the Resistance. We had preliminary talks with Waters and Barrick before leaving Gulaga. We’ll talk to Eames and her team here at the space station. And then we’ll talk with the Resistance again via vid chat before I leave with the other Bounders for the Youli home world.

  There’s a lot to do, but I wish I had a few hours to catch my breath before jumping in. “The first prep session is tonight? I was hoping we’d get at least a day to transition back to space.”

  Lucy heads back to her desk and neatly stacks at least a week’s worth of printed briefing papers. “We’ve been meeting daily since I got back from the Lost Heroes Homecoming Tour, and I think the Earth Force negotiating team was meeting without me before that. There’s a lot to cover. Speaking of which, I still haven’t caught up on everything I missed while we were on tour.” She sits down and thumbs through the briefs.

  That must be my cue to exit. “So I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

  She blows me a kiss. “Bye, boyfriend!”

  I roll my eyes and head for the door. As soon as it closes behind me, I take a deep breath, glad to be free of the rose-infused pink palace.

  * * *

  We gather around the table in Admiral Eames’s conference room, the same one we reported to after escaping the rift. The last time I was here, I delivered the Youli’s message to the admiral and begged her to consider peace talks. I thought it might be the only way I’d ever see Mira again. Now the Youli’s message isn’t so peaceful. We either show up before the Intragalactic Council and hear their demands, or they’ll unleash their military might. One thing that hasn’t changed: I still don’t know whether Mira will come home.

  So today we’re preparing for the Intragalactic Summit. Earth will be attending with delegates from Earth Force and the Resistance. We’re even bringing Barrick, a Tunneler, along, although his role will be as an active listener only. The Earth Force contingent consists of Eames, Ridders, and a handful of other senior officers who I’ve seen in the admiral’s entourage but don’t know well. They don’t do much other than repeat the admiral’s arguments and compliment her strategy. Lucy and Cole are also participating, but they’re in a different category since they’re part of the group the Youli has invited to visit its home world prior to the Intragalactic Summit.

  Then there’s Denver and me. We’re supposed to be neutrals, but since we both know that the goal is to reach an agreement not only with the Youli but also within the Earth delegation, Denver’s been trying to nudge Eames toward a more centrist position.

  “Let me jump in here,” Denver says after Eames lays out Earth Force’s position—Earth reestablishes its presence on Gulaga and keeps its operations on the Paleo Planet, the Resistance disbands, the Youli backs off. “I respect that this is a negotiation, of sorts, and you don’t want to come out with your last and best offer, but I also think it’s important that you go into this with some modicum of realism.”

  “We hold the upper hand,” one of the admiral’s yes-men says. “We could have annihilated the Resistance on Gulaga, and Jon Waters knows it. Why would we bend to their demands?”

  Denver laughs. “Well, unless something’s changed, the Resistance is sitting on your occludium supply.”

  The admiral smiles. “Actually, they’re not. The Paleo Planet has nearly as much occludium as Gulaga.”

  The officer on her other side pipes up. “And our survey of the surrounding galaxy determined—”

  The admiral shoots him a sharp glance, and he stops talking immediately.

  “What did it show?” Denver asks. “Are you considering expanding your search for occludium? Because I’m pretty sure that would violate the Intragalactic Treaty that we’re now going to be expected to follow.”

  “That’s not relevant to this discussion,” the admiral says. “What is relevant is that we clearly have the upper hand.”

  “Even if that were true for Earth Force and the Resistance,” I say, “the Youli are involved now. They’ve demanded our entry into the Intragalactic Council. I don’t know what all the requirements for that are, but I do know we’ll need to limit if not eliminate our presence from developing planets like Gulaga and the Paleo Planet.”

  “We haven’t agreed to anything,” Admiral Eames says. “For now, we’re considering all of our options.”

  “Consider all you want,” Denver says, “but if you don’t start coming up with some concessions for the Resistance and a plan to comply with the Council’s demands, the Youli will be forced to act.”

  “We defeated them on Alkalinia,” the admiral says.

  “That was a rogue attack,” I say, “launched by a spin-off Youli group that wanted revenge for our planting the degradation patch. That group has claimed responsibility for most of the violent conflicts initiated by the Youli in the year I was trapped in the rift. The majority of the Youli want peace.”

  “You’ve told me that before, Adams,” she says, “but your word is all we have to support that theory.”

  Theory? I grip the table so hard, my knuckles turn white. “You don’t believe me?”

  “Of course we believe—” Lucy says.

  The admiral flashes a hand at Lucy, cutting her off. Lucy must be right. She’s no longer part of the inner circle.

  “Look, Cora,” Denver says. I think he’s deliberately using her first name to annoy her. “We’ve known for years that the Youli could squash us if they wanted. They think of Earth as an annoying little tot wreaking havoc on the edges of the galaxy. They may have been split the last few years, but they’re not anymore. And they’ve had enough. If we don’t fall in line, they’ll make us, and no one wants that.”

  Admiral Eames stands. “Don’t purport to know what I want, Captain Reddy. You’re dismissed.”

  Denver rolls his eyes and pushes back from the table. “Let’s go, kid,” he calls when he’s half out the door. “We have a video conf with the Resistance soon anyways. I’m sure they’ll be far more in touch with reality than this lot. They couldn’t be less.”

  I scramble after him, catching Lucy’s wary gaze on my way out.

  9

  WE FOLLOW THE SILVER STRIPE of the mini spider crawlers from the suction chute. I’m tempted to take a turn and show Denver the sensory gym. Something tells me he’d enjoyed jumping off the trampoline into the ball pit. But there’s not time. The video conf with the Resistance is scheduled to start in ten minutes.

  Gedney meets us at the door to the pod hall. I dive in for a hug, but Denver takes a big step back. He’s less than thrilled to see Gedney. Even though Denver knows it was Waters, not Gedney, who ordered his kidnapping at the Americana East rally, I think he still blames Gedney. If for nothing else, he blames him for making us ride to the Nos Redna Space Port stuffed in a shipping crate with Regis. If you’re going to hold a grudge, that’s a pretty good reason.

  As Gedney leads us into the pod hall, all the memories come rushing back. I can almost hear the cadets brimming with excitement and nerves the day we were first assigned to our pods. We raced through the halls, looking for our pod rooms. I was jealous of the cadets assigned to Edgar Han’s pod. He was my favorite aeronaut back then. He was an accomplished photographer in his spare time, and his pod room was decorated with amazing pictures he’d taken in space. According to Cole, Han was killed in a skirmish with the Youli while I was stuck in the rift. Malaina Suarez, another original pod leader, also died in battle. The only reason more Bounders haven’t died is that they’ve been tied up training how to pilot the bounding ships—plus the admiral is reluctant to send her precious resources into battle before she’s sure how to use the bounding glove biotech for maximum combat advantage.

  The Resistance has used Bounders to fight far more frequently and effectively than Earth Force, but that’s not to say there haven’t been casualties. Regis, for one.

  Regis was in Han’s pod. I remember how unfair I thought it was that a jerk like Regis got to be trained by my favorite aeronaut. Han wasn’t too fond of Regis. It’s easy to understand why. Regis was almost impossible to control back then, not to mention dangerous (something I experienced firsthand more than once). I wonder what Han would have thought about Regis fighting for Gulaga. Regis worked so hard to change for the better. He wasn’t perfect. I still don’t know if I actually liked him at the end, but I admired his effort. I think Han would have been proud of him.

  We follow Gedney all the way to the last room in the pod hall. He opens the door to let me enter first. It’s like wading into a frozen picture in my mind: the grass green carpet, the starry sky ceiling, the multicolored bean bags. The shelves that line the room are still filled with sensory toys: lava lamps and glitter sticks and squishy balls. Gedney and Waters knew just what we needed to feel comfortable and alert as they laid the groundwork for our training.

  “Should we test the scan?” a voice calls from the back of the room.

  “Remember we discussed exchanging pleasantries?” Gedney asks. “Come on out, Desmond. Say hello.”

  A figure rises from the far corner of the room. He’s a boy, so tall and thin that his uniform drapes off of him like it’s still on a hanger. Desmond… I remember that name… and he looks sort of familiar. Finally, it clicks into the place. Desmond was the rule-obsessed junior in Addy’s pod. The kid must have grown half a meter!

  Desmond walks over. He stares at his shoes and sticks a hand out at Denver. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Desmond.”

  Denver shoots me a questioning glance, then shakes Desmond’s hand. “Hi, Desmond. You can call me Denver.”

  Desmond nods. “Should we test the scan?” he asks Gedney.

  Gedney nods at me. “And this is Jasper Adams.”

  “I have already met Jasper Adams.”

  “He was in my sister’s pod,” I tell Gedney. “What scan?”

  Desmond quickly looks up at Gedney, then back at the floor. He shifts his weight from foot to foot.

  Gedney chuckles and grips my shoulder. “We just want to run a check on your brain patch, make sure everything’s running smoothly before you head to the Youli home world.”

  “Okay.” I guess that makes sense. But why is Desmond in on it? I would have thought that my brain patch was top-level clearance only. “I didn’t know that my brain patch was public knowledge.”

  “It most definitely is not,” Gedney says. “How do I put this in a way that doesn’t make me sound like a comically old man? Admiral Eames is concerned with my succession. Especially since Waters is no longer under her control, she wants to make sure that I’ve trained an apprentice to take over on the tech front.”

  “And that would be Desmond?”

  “It is.” Gedney pats Desmond’s back. Desmond winces. “I’ll manage the scan, son. I’ll upload the data to the drive.”

  “The admiral asked me to do the scan,” Desmond says.

  That’s strange. Why would the admiral care? And why would she even be talking to Desmond?

  “Do you mind, Jasper?” Gedney asks. He’s already getting out a sensor and handing it to Desmond. “It will only take a second.”

  It doesn’t appear I have much choice, I turn around and lift my hair up at the nape of my neck. Desmond runs the sensor device over my skin. It beeps.

  “All done,” Gedney says.

  Desmond hurries from the pod room without another word.

  Gedney shakes his head. “Thanks for your patience with Desmond. We’re still working on small talk, but he’s getting there.”

  I flop down on my favorite turquoise beanbag. “Another one of your Bounder projects, like Regis?”

  “I’m just being a friend,” he says. “Speaking of Regis, that was a very nice thing you did at the aeroport.”

  “Wow, word really travels fast.”

  “Welcome to Earth Force,” Denver says.

  Gedney perches on the end of a ladder-back chair like the one we practiced lifting in the Ezone during our first tour. “How does it feel to be back?”

  “I wish I could say it felt like I never left,” I reply, “but that definitely isn’t true. At least our pod room feels the same. I’m happy some things never change.”

  “Change can be good, son,” Gedney says, “but you also need some things you can rely on. How are your pod mates?”

  I stare up at the sticky stars on the ceiling. Once Mira filled the whole room with twinkling stars, and our pod danced in the starlight. I can’t imagine that happening now. Even if we were all together, we’ve grown too far apart. “I’m not sure how to mend things between us, but I think I need to try.”

  Gedney nods. “Yes, son. Tell me about your meeting at the bounding base.”

  I shrug. “We managed to get the job done.” I think back to that day, how tense things were at first. When Mira showed up, I almost lost it. The only reason I was able to hold it together was because I knew how much was at stake. But we only knew the half of it. Mira delivered a Youli ultimatum for Earth to appear before the Intragalactic Council before bounding away again. After she left, the rest of us hung out in the mess hall for a bit, eating tater tots and trying to push through the cloud of awkwardness that clung to us. “The old bonds are there, but they’re buried beneath a lot of junk.”

  “The more time you spend together, the easier it will be,” Gedney says.

  Denver stretches out on the tangerine beanbag. “Hopefully, it will be even easier when you travel together to the Youli home world. You get to ditch us grown-ups and just be teenagers together.”

  “I doubt that’s what the Youli have in store for us.”

  “You might be surprised,” Gedney says. “I’ve heard that when we clarified the demands and details of your ambassadorship, the Youli said they planned to help you improve your skills with the bounding gloves. I’d say that’s something you kids can bond over.” His com link buzzes. Gedney checks it and slowly pushes to his feet. “That means it’s time for me to go. We can chat more later, but your vid conference with the Resistance is about to start. I promised the admiral I wouldn’t take part. I’m just a neutral tech consultant.”

  “We’re neutrals, too,” I say.

  “Even so.” Gedney activates the tech screen on the rear wall. “You know how to operate this thing, Jasper, right?”

  “Sure. See you later.”

  Gedney closes the door behind him.

  Denver runs his fingers through the green grass carpet. “I can’t believe this is where your pod meetings were. You lucked out. Why couldn’t they have had these digs when I was training?”

  “Maybe because they weren’t expecting you to wield stolen alien biotech?”

  “Okay, there’s that.”

  “Most of the other Bounders weren’t as lucky. Gedney and Waters understand how our minds work better than most. They know we’ll actually relax and pay attention more easily in an environment like this than if we were required to sit at a rigid desk under bright lights.”

  “I’m thinking anyone would learn better under these conditions,” Denver says, sprawling his arms to the side and gazing up at the ceiling.

  The vid conference console lights up and emits a low beep. I stretch over and hit the accept button. A moment later, an image blinks into view. It’s a stone table, and gathered around it are Waters, Barrick, Addy, Marco, and a few other humans and Tunnelers I don’t know. Gulaga’s online.

  “Hello, Denver, Jasper,” Waters says. “Are you getting this?”

  “Crystal clear,” Denver says. His tone says he’s nowhere near forgiving Waters for the stunt he pulled on Gulaga. He tried to blackmail me and Denver into broadcasting a pro-Resistance plea across all of planet Earth. When Denver refused, Waters’s Tunneler bodyguards beat him.

  Addy smiles at me from across the galaxy. “Hi, J.”

  “Hey,” I say to her and Marco. I know we’re supposed to stick to business, but it still makes me ridiculously relieved and happy to see them after the Battle of the Alkalinian Seat, when I was sure they died in that poison sea.

  The meeting with the Resistance goes only slightly better than the one with the Earth Force team. Waters understands that the Resistance will ultimately need to be disbanded, but he’s only willing to agree to that if Earth commits to steering clear of Gulaga, pulling out of the Paleo Planet, and restructuring Earth Force to be governed by a committee that includes Resistance representatives. Plus, Admiral Eames has to resign. I look at Addy and Marco, trying to get a read on whether Waters is just posturing, but they nod along, appearing to fully support him. I have to admit, most of his demands make sense.

  But it really doesn’t matter how reasonable the Resistance’s other positions are. Eames will never agree to step down.

  “Before we sign off,” Waters says, “there’s something else.”

  “There always is,” Denver says.

  “You’re going to have unprecedented access to the Youli during your pod’s visit to their home world. Even the location of their home world is something Earth has never been able to pinpoint. Jasper, with your brain patch, you in particular are going to learn much. It will be helpful to understand the Youli players and politics before we arrive at the Intragalactic Summit, and presumably the Youli won’t be as guarded with kids.”