Fractured Futures Page 8

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Denver says. “At this point, the Youli probably think these kids are the only competent ones in our lot.”

  Waters ignores Denver’s comment and continues. “We need to know that you’ll share the intelligence equally between the Resistance and Earth Force.”

  “I’m neutral, remember? Of course I’ll share it equally.”

  “One more thing, Jasper.” Waters leans forward, blocking the others from the camera. “You have to assume that Mira is with the Youli now. I know you have a special bond, but you need to be careful, and you need to use it to our advantage.”

  I squeeze my hands into fists. “I don’t need advice about Mira, especially from you. We’re signing off.” I hit the connection button, and the image fizzles out. I instantly regret it. I didn’t even say good-bye to Addy and Marco. I shouldn’t let Waters get to me like that.

  “Touchy subject?” Denver asks after letting me stew for a minute.

  “Waters has no right to talk to me about Mira.”

  “Because of what you told me about your brain patches?”

  “For a lot of reasons.”

  “Fair enough, kid, but I might have to take his side on this one. You need to be careful. Feelings get in the way.”

  “Like with you and Admiral Eames?”

  He laughs. “More like that than I want to admit. You’re pretty observant.”

  Denver and I sit quietly, both of us lost in thought. I close my eyes and try to imagine happier moments right here in the pod room. If only I could go back in time for a few days, I would value those moments so much more now. Back then, I wasn’t worried about my visit to the Youli home world. I’d never even heard the word Youli. I’d just met Mira. Now she means more to me than almost anyone. But how do I tell her? And will it make a difference?

  “Are you scared, kid?” Denver asks, breaking the silence.

  “Sort of. I mean, we’ve been at war with the Youli since before I was born. It would be foolish not to be a bit worried about visiting their planet totally unarmed.”

  “True.”

  “But I’d be just as scared not going. No matter what, things are at their breaking point. You know what I mean?”

  “Unfortunately, I do.” He sits up on his beanbag and stares down at me. “Gedney’s right, Jasper. You need to bring your pod together when you’re visiting the Youli home world. I’m more convinced than ever that the future of our planet depends on you kids.”

  “No pressure.”

  “I get that it’s a lot of responsibility. Trust me, I wish it weren’t necessary. But I don’t believe Waters or Eames sees this objectively anymore. Waters thinks he’s the savior of Earth (self-appointed, obviously). Regardless of his motives, you just don’t operate that way without a huge helping of grandiosity, and there’s no room for that in these negotiations. As for Eames, well, I have to believe that the Incident at Bounding Base 51 changed her. It crystallized her focus: avenge Earth and defeat the Youli. I hate to think that our relationship and now my return may have contributed to the intensity of her emotions, but when a conflict is personal, you can be easily blinded.

  “What I’m saying, kid, is that you’ve been at these prep meetings. Not only are Earth Force and the Resistance still a million kilometers apart, but they’re both equally delusional in thinking the other side is going to come around to their perspective. There’s only one way that changes: a small group gets together, talks through the tough issues, and bridges the gap.”

  “And that group is our pod.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you think it’s odd that the Youli invited us to their home world? I mean, it’s like they’re setting up exactly what you described—a small group from different sides of the fight to spend an intense period of time together immediately prior to the Intragalactic Summit.”

  “As in, do I think it’s a coincidence?” Denver asks. “No, I don’t. And I don’t think you do, either.”

  In truth, it hadn’t crossed my mind until right now. Most of my thoughts about traveling to the Youli home world center around seeing Mira. Maybe that’s what Waters means when he says I need to be careful and what Denver means when he says feelings get in the way. Of course the Youli’s actions are intentional. Waters and Eames underestimate us. To them, we’re still just kids. But that’s not how the Youli see us. They know we’re the key to peace with Earth.

  They know we’re the key because Mira told them so.

  * * *

  The next few days go by in a blur. There are more prep meetings that go basically nowhere. Most of the Bounders depart for the Paleo Planet. I try to snoop around and see if Lucy’s hunch about the admiral adds up to anything, but every lead I try is a dead end. I attempt to talk to Cole alone, but he’s almost always busy. I decide to wait to talk to him until we reach the Youli home world. He might be more willing to set aside military decorum and talk candidly when the admiral and her entourage aren’t around.

  There’s one last thing I want to do before we leave for the Youli home world in the morning.

  A guard stands post at the end of the hall leading to the prison cells. Before I can help it, a laugh escapes my throat. I’m remembering the way Lucy manipulated the guard the time we broke into the hall to pay a visit to the Youli prisoner. She had that guard practically running away to escape her hysterics. Geez. That feels so long ago. We were only twelve then. We barely knew each other.

  And we barely knew anything about the Youli, the stolen biotech, the Earth Force lies, the war.… We had barely scratched the surface of the truth.

  What did we know? The narrative.

  I say hello to the guard, who is looking at me quizzically, probably because I’m laughing to myself. He lets me pass. I’m not sure if it’s because he knows I was involved in apprehending the prisoner or if he’s a bit starstruck from the whole “lost heroes” thing. I might as well milk that.

  I head down the dark hall. Just like the Youli prisoner during our first tour of duty, they’re holding Bria, the would-be Resistance fighter, in the last cell. This time, though, there aren’t any communication barriers. There’s no need for brain-talk. Plain English will work just fine.

  “What do you want?” she asks when I come into her sight line. She’s sitting on her cot with a book in her hands. At least they allow her to read to pass the time. “I thought you were the guard bringing my dinner.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” I tell her, “although the food here sucks.”

  “No kidding. If I have to eat another tofu dog, I may have to go on a hunger strike.” She sets the book down and lies back on her cot.

  “Try plugging your nose while you eat them.”

  “You’re here to give me food tips?”

  “I wanted to see you before I left.”

  She crosses her hands behind her head. “Going back to Earth for some more celebrity appearances?”

  “Nope. I’m heading to the Youli planet to meet up with my friends in the Resistance.”

  She laughs. When I don’t change my expression, she sits up on the cot, planting her feet firmly on the ground. “You’re serious?”

  “Yeah, we told you all this on the craft.”

  She stands and approaches the glass barrier. “You’re liars.”

  I shrug. “This time I’m telling the truth.”

  She hugs her arms around her middle. “So I did all this for nothing.” She’s looking at the floor, and I think she’s talking to herself. At least, it doesn’t seem like she’s expecting a response.

  “It wasn’t for nothing,” I say quietly. “I knew the narrative was bad, but what happened on the ship… Well, I’ve never been more certain that things need to change.”

  She tips her gaze, and our eyes meet. I raise my palm and press it to the glass.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I ask her.

  She nods.

  “What do you want?”

  “To get out of here, obviously.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do about that. What I mean is, on the cruise ship… when you did what you did… what did you hope would happen? I know you said you wanted us to admit to the truth, but what were you hoping that would accomplish?”

  She bites her lip and fiddles with the skin near her nails. At first, I don’t think she’s going to answer. Eventually, she looks up. “There’s this constant stream of lies running through our lives. Even if people don’t know it, they know it on some level. I couldn’t live like that anymore. I need to live in the truth.”

  Isn’t that what we all need? But who actually does it? Who lives in the truth? We live in the narrative or pretend to live in the narrative so that others won’t know that we see through their lies. Those who call for truth end up ousted like Addy or labeled odd like Mira or locked up like Bria. That’s why things need to change. Now.

  “And you know what?” Bria continues. “Even if I’m locked up for the rest of my life, I will still believe in what I did.”

  “You should,” I tell her, “because the truth is worth fighting for.”

  10

  AT 0900, COLE, LUCY, AND I meet at the door of the Ezone so we can bound together to Bounding Base 32, the same place we met up for our cease-fire talks. Lucy is glammed up as always. Cole’s face has that fresh redness you get from running. Since I learned about his intense morning schedule, which ends with a workout in the space station gym immediately before his first briefing of the day, I’d say that running is a pretty good guess for what he’s been up to prior to showing up here.

  As for me, I rolled out of bed about twenty minutes ago, straight into a well of anxiety. I’ve barely slept since leaving Gulaga, so I wasn’t worried too much about oversleeping this morning. But, of course, my uncooperative body decided to stay unconscious straight through my alarm. So now I’m late and panicked. Every worry I’ve had about this trip to the Youli home world came rushing in like a tidal wave as soon as my feet hit the floor. Not to mention, it’s probably only a matter of hours before I’m face-to-face with Mira, so I’m also full of extra jitters that have nothing to do with the future of Earth.

  Gedney opens the door to the Ezone and invites us in. The dark, breezy room feels cool and familiar. That is, until Desmond steps out of the shadows.

  “What’s he doing here?” Lucy asks.

  “We just need to run one more scan before you bound out,” Gedney says.

  “What kind of scan?” Cole says. “I wasn’t informed.”

  Cole doesn’t know? That’s odd. “They’re making sure my Youli tech is fully operational. Maybe it will help me eavesdrop on the green guys.”

  “You can do that?” Lucy asks me.

  “I wish.”

  “But why are you here?” Cole asks Desmond. He’s never liked the poor kid. Desmond’s the only person in the history of the galaxy who might know more than Cole about Earth Force rules and regulations.

  Desmond just stares back at Cole. I’m betting he thinks there’s no reason to elaborate since Gedney already told us what they’re doing.

  I decide to fill in the blank. “Admiral Eames wants Gedney to teach Desmond everything he knows in case Gedney croaks, like an Einstein brain download or something.”

  “Really?” Cole asks. “This was a direct order from Admiral Eames?”

  “Let’s just get it over with,” Lucy says. “It’s cold in here.”

  Desmond runs the scanner over the base of my neck. Gedney double-checks the reading then shoos Desmond out of the Ezone.

  When it’s just the four of us, Gedney asks, “Okay, ready to bound? Best to hurry now.”

  Hurry, hurry, hurry—that’s the Gedney I remember from my first tour! Like I told him before, I’m glad some things never change.

  The three of us hoist our blast packs onto our backs and slip on our gloves. As we start to open our ports, clusters of light fly toward our fingertips. Cole and Lucy disappear. I nod at Gedney, take a deep breath, and bound.

  I hit the tarmac at the bounding deck with both feet firmly planted. An excellent landing, if I do say so myself. I don’t stay on my feet for long, though. My sister plows into me, knocking us both to the ground. I guess Addy and Marco made it here safely.

  “Good to see you, too, Ads,” I say as I untangle myself from my sister.

  “Did you see them? Did you tell them I’m not dead?”

  It takes me a minute to process what she’s asking me. Oh—“Of course! Mom and Dad are so relieved.”

  Addy sits back on her knees. “Tell me everything.”

  “I took Denver home with me!”

  “Oh my God! He was Mom’s teen crush! She must have freaked out!”

  “Pretty much.”

  Marco stands over Addy. “I know you’ve been desperate to see your brother, but can we save the tell me everything for the trip?” He pulls her off the ground, then reaches down to help me up. “J-Bird, always a pleasure.” He quickly spins me around into a headlock.

  We break apart, and then it’s the five of us: Addy, Marco, Lucy, Cole, and me, the so-called neutral party. Although nothing feels neutral about any of this. For a moment, we all just stare at one another.

  Cole is the first to break the awkward silence. “Has anyone checked in with the base?”

  “Yes,” Addy quickly answers. “The control room received confirmation that the Youli ship should be arriving in approximately five minutes.”

  “Just enough time to freshen up,” Lucy says, turning for the station.

  “I’ll go with you,” Addy says, taking off after her. Lucy glances over her shoulder with a skeptical look on her face, but she doesn’t tell my sister to buzz off. The fact that Lucy isn’t openly hostile toward Addy is an unexpected positive.

  So it’s the three of us. How many times have we hung out together? A million? This used to feel as normal as brushing my teeth. Now, it’s… not.

  “What’s with girls always going to the bathroom together?” Marco says.

  “I think Addy was just being friendly,” I say.

  “I’m assuming they both need to use the facilities,” Cole says.

  Marco looks at me. We both burst out laughing.

  “You never change, Wiki.”

  I think Cole may dress him down for the nickname, but he doesn’t. If anything, his shoulders seem to fall a bit, like maybe he’s actually relaxing. A second passes, then Cole smiles. “Have you heard the rumor?” he asks Marco. “Jasper and Lucy are dating!”

  “Come on—” I start.

  “Of course I’ve heard! It’s all over the Earth webs! We can’t even escape the rumors on Gulaga!”

  “You know we’re not—”

  “I never thought Jasper could handle the drama,” Cole says, “but I was wrong.”

  “Clearly, Wiki.”

  Just when I thought this agony would never end, the girls come back.

  “What did I miss?” Lucy asks.

  Cole and Marco choke back laughs.

  “Nothing,” I say. “Absolutely nothing.”

  If I can’t get them to shut up about Lucy and me, it’s going to be a very long few days.

  “Check it out!” Addy is pointing off the bounding deck into open space.

  In front of us, the air shimmers and bends, like a soap bubble about to pop. Then, in an instant, a silver ship spins through. It rotates faster until it’s whirling so rapidly I can’t track it. Next it looks like it’s being squashed—it shrinks vertically and expands horizontally, all the while screeching like metal grinding against metal. After it’s fully unfurled, the Youli ship rolls out a ramp of silver metal like a giant mouth sticking out its tongue. The ramp touches down on the bounding deck, leading back to the Youli ship hovering just beyond.

  “The Youli have arrived,” Cole says. He still wins the Captain Obvious award.

  “We’ve got spectators,” Addy says, nodding back at the bounding base station. At least a dozen faces are up against the protective glass watching us. None of them want to get too close to the Youli, apparently, but they also don’t want to miss this.

  “Well, friends,” Marco says, “time to shuffle.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for someone to come out and… I don’t know… greet us?” Lucy asks.

  No one responds, and then I realize they’re all staring at me. “I guess… not?”

  Another moment passes. No one moves. Then Addy throws up her arms and starts for the ramp. Marco and I take off behind her.

  When I’m halfway to the ramp, I check that Cole and Lucy are behind us. Some of the Earth Force officers have also ventured onto the bounding deck. One of them raises his hand in a solemn farewell. Why do I get the feeling he’s sure he’ll never see us again?

  What I do know is that no one knows exactly where we’re going. Earth Force has a general idea of where the Youli home world is, but they’ve never been able to confirm it. The Youli use extremely sophisticated cloaking shields. I know Gedney has been studying the technology, but Earth has nothing like it and probably won’t for a long time. Also, we definitely don’t have the tracking tech that the Youli have. They were able to track my pod back to Gulaga from the last Intragalactic Summit where Earth Force staged an attack and we placed the degradation patch. That sure set off a domino effect of bad events.

  Addy and Marco stop at the edge of the slick silver loading ramp. Just like the exterior of the ship, the material almost looks liquid, sort of like the occludium membrane that surrounds our own bounding ships.

  Marco takes a cautious step onto the ramp. It’s definitely solid. He takes another step. It can’t be too slippery because he’s still standing.

  The rest of us crowd in behind him. We’re moving in a pack now, setting aside our differences for our common mission, which I’d currently describe as “survive long enough to make it up the Youli boarding ramp.”

  By the time we reach the top of the ramp, we’ve left the security of the bounding deck. Space spreads beneath us. I didn’t know this was going to feel like such a leap of faith.