Away Read online

  “Talked about what?” Rachel was concerned now. She’d never seen Pathik this way.

  “At first I told myself I wasn’t saying anything to you because you might prefer Fisher.”

  “Fisher?” Rachel didn’t understand.

  “You know he’s interested in you.” Pathik gauged her expression. “You mean you didn’t know?”

  “No!” Rachel couldn’t believe she’d been so oblivious. When she thought back, she could see where it might be true. “I had no idea.”

  “Well,” said Pathik. “Now you do.” He stared at his shoes.

  “What would his being interested in me stop you from saying to me?”

  “Nothing, really. I just used that for an excuse. I have been afraid. But not of competition from Fisher. I’ve been thinking of Indigo, and my father and your father, and that’s what I’ve always thought of when I think of love. How people lose their love.”

  Pathik bit his lip. He looked square at her. “I haven’t thought enough about how people might find love. Like my father did, with Nandy. Or like your father did, with your mother. Or like Indigo has, again, with Ms. Moore. With my grandmother.” He smiled as he said the word grandmother. “It doesn’t always have to be loss.”

  Rachel nodded. She knew what he meant about equating love with pain and loss. She thought she must have felt that way forever, or at least as long as she and her mother had been without her father.

  “Do you think it really can be . . . something good?”

  He answered without words. He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed her palm, and the world turned quiet, as though there was nothing but the back of the truck, and Pathik. He leaned toward her, and she had never felt anything so warm when he kissed her mouth. She closed her eyes and returned the soft pressure of his lips, and wondered why she hadn’t done this sooner. Kissing. It was lovely.

  But then her head was yanked backward, with a force so rough it felt like her neck might snap. She screamed in pain; someone had hold of her hair and it felt like they were trying to drag her from the back of the truck. She scratched blindly backward, but she couldn’t loosen the grip on her hair.

  “No!” She heard Pathik yell, and saw him leap over her, throwing himself at her attacker. The grip on her hair released. In the seconds it took her to sit up Pathik had landed enough blows to bloody the man. It was a stranger—a rough-looking man, older than Pathik by ten years or so. Rachel had a fleeting thought about all the times her mother had cautioned her to stay close on their trips to Bensen; young girls disappeared every day in the cities, and even in Bensen men like this weren’t unknown.

  The man tried to run, but Pathik’s fury seemed endless. He kept hitting the man, the blows landing with a sound that made Rachel wince. Finally, the man was able to stumble out of Pathik’s reach. He ran for the main street.

  “Pathik—” Before she could say more, Pathik pushed her down roughly. His eyes looked wild. There was blood on his lip.

  “Hide.” He whispered the word at the same time that a shout rang out behind him. It didn’t come from the stranger.

  “Halt!” It was an EO.

  Anguish crumpled Pathik’s mouth. He focused upon her face for an instant, and then she could see his gaze turn inward. “Hide, Rachel.” He turned and ran away from the truck.

  She pulled the tarp up. And listened. At first there was nothing, but then she heard Pathik cry out. Rachel hugged herself, and tried to be still. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks.

  “Told you to halt, fool.” The EO sounded winded. Rachel heard footsteps, coming fast, then stopping.

  “What’s this?” Another EO.

  “Fight,” said the first, and a possible vehicle prowl. “One ran away, but this one seemed ready to try to get into that truck.”

  “Scan him yet?”

  “About to. I had to stun him. He wouldn’t stop.”

  There was no more talking for a minute. Rachel knew the EOs were scanning Pathik for his genid, to see who he was. She knew they wouldn’t find a listing for him. In the U.S., every child’s genetic identity was scanned at birth and entered into the national registry. But Pathik had been born Away. There would be nothing in their system.

  “Hmmm.”

  “What?”

  “He’s not coming up.”

  “What do you mean he’s not coming up? They just went through the registry for errors. If he has a genid he’s going to come up.”

  “I know.” The first EO sounded irritated. “I’m telling you he’s not coming up.”

  “Cuff him.” The second EO sounded afraid. “Quick! Wrists and ankles. I’ll go get the vehicle. We gotta take this guy in.”

  “What about the truck? Should I run it?”

  “If he was about to break into it, it’s not his truck. Just watch him close until I come back.”

  Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. She hugged herself tighter under the tarp, listening to the sounds of the EOs’ vehicle approaching, of Pathik being roughly lifted and put in the back. The door slammed. Two more door slams and the vehicle left.

  She waited several minutes, listening, afraid to move. She knew she had to get out of the truck. Finally she just threw back the tarp and sat up. Just in time to see a man walking toward her. She was crying so hard that his image wavered; she could make out a hat and it looked like he was carrying a bag. He saw her and stopped in place. Rachel started to climb out of the truck, but her foot caught and she fell out instead. She landed on her side. As she tried to scramble up she heard the man running toward her. She scrambled under the truck, waiting for him to get closer. As soon as he tried to reach for her she would get out the other side.

  “Child.”

  It was Jonathan.

  CHAPTER 19

  SHE WAS ATTACKED, most likely a flesh trader looking for merchandise. The boy saved her, but then the EOs came.”

  Rachel sat on the parlor couch, despondent. Everyone was there, listening to Jonathan tell what had happened in town. Her mother was so upset that she could barely speak to her. Her father had made certain she was unhurt and then turned his attention quickly to Jonathan. Ms. Moore and Indigo looked stricken, and Fisher looked like he could not believe her idiocy.

  “We have to get him out of there.” Ms. Moore was near tears.

  “But how, exactly?” Vivian knew what Ms. Moore was thinking and she knew she was probably right; Pathik was in some cell, where very bad things were going to happen to him. She didn’t know how they would ever get him out of it.

  “Will he be in Bensen?” Indigo spoke calmly. “Or will they take him to a bigger city?”

  “They will probably take him to Ganivar, once they discover he really doesn’t have a genid.” Daniel looked worried. “Who knows where they’ll take him from there. If they think he’s from Away they’ll send him somewhere for testing. Somewhere with high security. I think if we’re going to move, we have to move now.” He turned to Ms. Moore. “Do you have any weapons?”

  “I have a stunner. Only one.”

  “That may be enough.” Indigo took Ms. Moore’s hand.

  “They have lots of stunners. One won’t make a bit of difference,” said Jonathan.

  “We can trade for him,” said Indigo.

  “You mean the maps?” Ms. Moore felt hope stirring for the first time since she saw that Pathik wasn’t with Jonathan and Rachel. “We can trade the maps. They’ll want those.”

  Indigo started to say something, but Daniel interrupted. “She’s right. Pathik’s more important than the maps.”

  “That’s very true. But I was going to say—”

  “I didn’t bring them.” Rachel sounded miserable. “I thought they would be safer at camp. I left them with Nandy.”

  “They are safer there, Rachel. You made the right decision.” Indigo thought for a moment. “We could trade something they think is the maps.”

  “They’ll check,” said Vivian.

  Indi
go nodded. “Yes, they will.” He looked at Ms. Moore. “I think it’s worth a try. But I’ll be the one to go do it.”

  Daniel began to protest, but Indigo shook his head. “We have no time, Daniel, to argue. And I need you to help get everything ready. Perhaps Jonathan will be willing to drive me into town?”

  “I can do that.” Jonathan tipped his hat back on his forehead. “Rachel said they never ran a check on my truck, so they won’t have it flagged. I bet they’ll have the boy at the main Enforcement station until tomorrow, at least. Seems to take them a while to figure things out.”

  “Do you have anything that might pass for valuable maps, Elizabeth?”

  “The printouts!” Rachel jumped up. “Remember, Ms. Moore? Your great-grandfather’s?” Ms. Moore had shown Rachel some printouts that detailed the way the U.S. looked before the Line was built and activated, along with a diary that had belonged to her great-grandfather, before Rachel Crossed to get the medicine to the Others. He had been in the military and was involved in the aftermath of activating the Line.

  “The rest of you get everything ready to Cross,” said Indigo. “It’ll need to happen fast.”

  “I’m so sorry,” whispered Rachel. “I should have told him no.”

  Indigo held out his arms to Rachel. She went to him, grateful for his hug. “Pathik is his own person. You saying no wouldn’t have stopped him from going.” Indigo patted her back. “All will be well.”

  “I’m going to go get the stunner. Rachel, you know where the box with the printouts is—can you go get it?” Ms. Moore hurried from the room, with Rachel on her heels.

  Fisher had been watching Indigo intently. Now he walked over to him.

  “Usage says harm no one.” Fisher spoke so softly nobody but Indigo heard.

  “I know what Usage says, Fisher.” Indigo smiled. “I’m glad to know that you know it so well too.”

  Ms. Moore came back with the stunner. She showed Indigo how it worked. Rachel appeared with the maps she’d fetched from a box in the cellar. Everyone began to move toward the front door until Indigo stopped them.

  “If they are watching, this crowd bursting out the front door is all it would take. Let’s keep our heads.” He turned to Ms. Moore. “I love you, Elizabeth. As I always have.” He looked at the rest of the assembly. “Pack fast. Be calm. Be ready to Cross when you hear the truck coming back.” Then he turned and walked out the door. Jonathan followed. Fisher watched them leave with a worried look on his face.

  NEITHER OF THE two men said anything for the first ten minutes of the ride back to Bensen. They both seemed to be involved in their own thoughts. Jonathan was the first to speak.

  “You really do love her, right?”

  Indigo gave him a sidelong look. “I do.”

  “Why do you think she didn’t go with you, back then?”

  “I don’t know. I think she was afraid, more afraid than she thought.”

  “If it helps any, I think she regrets it.”

  Indigo stared out at the road ahead of them. “I’ve always known that. And it never helped a bit.”

  No more was said until they reached Bensen. Jonathan parked the truck a block from the Enforcement office. He pointed the building out to Indigo.

  “What’s your plan?”

  “Do you know the layout inside?”

  Jonathan nodded. “It’s a small town. The Enforcement office is the place people go to buy vehicle licenses or pay fines.” He closed his eyes, picturing the interior in his mind. “All on the first floor. A reception area in front. Offices in back. Cells too. Not that I’ve seen the cells.”

  “How many officers?”

  “Usually just four on a shift. Two roaming, one at the desk, one in the back. They might have called in extra men, though, for this.”

  Indigo looked at Jonathan. “I’m not counting on the maps to work.”

  “Didn’t figure you were.” Jonathan waited.

  “If he comes out, I want you to go.” Indigo watched to see if Jonathan understood.

  “Want me to wait any?”

  Indigo shook his head. Then he opened the truck door and got out. Jonathan watched him walk away, watched him reach the door of the Enforcement office. He stopped outside for a moment. Then he pushed the door open and disappeared.

  The maps lay on the passenger seat where Indigo had left them.

  CHAPTER 20

  THE EO BEHIND the counter looked nervous. Indigo walked straight up to him and spoke.

  “You have a boy here.”

  “This ain’t a public show, old man. Go mind your own business.”

  “The boy’s gift won’t be that useful to you.”

  “What are you talking about?” The EO took a closer look at Indigo. His eyes widened when he saw the crude wooden buttons on Indigo’s shirt. “You’re dressed like that kid.” He slammed his hand down on an intercom button. “Willy, get out here.”

  “What?” A voice came from some hidden speaker.

  “Get out here, now! There’s—” The EO stopped talking as he felt the cool smooth tip of a stunner on his throat. Indigo had come around the counter.

  “Stand up, slowly,” said Indigo, holding the EOs neck.

  They turned together to face the back, just as another EO came out.

  “Drop your weapon!” The EO crouched and took out his own stunner, after shouting the order.

  Indigo just looked at him. “Drop yours, or I’ll kill your friend.”

  There was a tense silence. Finally the EO Indigo was restraining spoke.

  “Drop the stunner, Willy.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  The second EO—Willy—dropped his weapon.

  “Slide it over here,” said Indigo. The EO did. Indigo reached down and picked it up. He put it in his pocket. “Thank you, Willy. Now let’s all go in the back.”

  They walked down a short hallway. There were only two doors off of it: one to an empty office and one marked HOLDING. Indigo motioned for Willy to open the door. There were two cells. A third EO was sitting outside the cell closer to them with his back to the door, arms folded in front of him, watching the sole occupant. Pathik looked bruised and his face was bloody, but he was conscious. He said nothing when he saw Indigo.

  The EO in the chair spoke without turning around. “Chad’ll be back with the food in a few minutes. Has the Ganivar station called back yet?”

  “Don.”

  The EO turned in his seat. He started to unfold his arms. His mouth hung open in shock.

  “Put your stunner on the floor.” Indigo waited.

  “My stunner’s on the desk.” Don indicated a small desk against the wall.

  “You.” Indigo spoke to Willy. “You tie that one up.” He nodded his head toward Don.

  “Tie him up?” The EO looked confused.

  “Just cuff me, Willy. That’ll do, right?” Don raised his eyebrows at Indigo.

  “Yes.” Indigo watched as Willy put plasticuffs on the EO’s wrists. “Ankles too. And then do this one.” He pointed to the man he held.

  Once the two EOs were cuffed at wrists and ankles, Indigo pointed the stunner at Willy. “Open that cell.”

  Willy shook his head, eyes wide. “We can’t let him go. He’s one of those—”

  “Willy!” Don sounded exasperated. “He’s one of them too.”

  Willy’s eyes got even wider. “Should I use your key, Don?”

  Don nodded. Willy went to him and gingerly unclipped a flat plastic disc from his belt. He took it to the cell, where Pathik sat, silent. Willy inserted the disc into a slot on the cell door. A light blinked and the door clicked. Willy opened it.

  “Pathik, step out.” Indigo waited until Pathik was standing next to him. “Now, Willy, you go inside, and shut the door.”

  “Why don’t you go inside, old man.” It was a voice from behind them.

  Indigo didn’t turn. He kept his stunner pointed at Willy. “I guess you must be Chad, back with lunch
? Come around in front of us or I’ll kill your friend.”

  “Willy’s not really my friend,” said Chad. “We just work together. Right, Willy? Besides, I have a stunner snuggled up to your boy’s left ear. And I’ll kill him, if you don’t drop yours.”

  “We’re at an impasse, then.” Indigo sounded very calm. “Because you need to know that if you kill that boy, I’ll turn this stunner on myself.” Indigo brought the stunner Willy had kicked to him out of his pocket. He placed it to his own throat, while keeping the first stunner pointed at Willy, and turned around to look at the man. “I don’t think the people at the Ganivar station will be too happy if you end up with two dead subjects, will they?”

  “He’s right, Chad, they said they want them alive! So they can study ’em.”

  Chad sighed. “Thanks, Willy.”

  “I suggest a trade,” said Indigo.

  “No.” Pathik spoke softly. His eyes pleaded with his grandfather.

  Chad’s grip on Pathik’s shoulder tightened and he shoved the stunner tighter against Pathik’s head. “I’m listening.”

  “Let the boy go.” Indigo smiled at Chad. “Then we’ll sit down together and wait, until the sun has set.” Indigo shifted his gaze to Pathik, and made certain he was listening carefully. “Once the sun has set, you can free your colleagues, and you can call your superiors and let them know you have one of the leaders of the Others. They will want me much more than they would want this boy.”

  “It makes no difference which one of you we deliver,” said Chad.

  “But you need to deliver one. And you won’t if you don’t listen to me now.”

  Without warning Indigo lunged at Chad, and grabbed Pathik. He held the stunner he had at Pathik’s throat.

  “Are you crazy?” Chad staggered back.

  “I can kill the boy and myself in less than three seconds. Do you want one, or none?”

  Chad stared at Indigo for what seemed like a full minute. Finally, he spoke.

  “Willy, get in the cell.”

  Willy didn’t hesitate. Chad kept his eyes on Indigo. “I’ll take the boy out front and make sure the coast is clear.”