Текст книги "The Star Dwellers"

Автор книги: David Estes

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tristan

I’m crazy-over-the-moon-ecstatic right now. I’m hoping all the emotion of the last hour will help me give the speech of my life in just a few minutes. I mean, everything is going perfectly. After we kissed for the second time, we scooted back and sprawled out on the bed, my back against the wall and her head on my chest. We could see Adele’s mom, but she pretty much ignored us, focusing her attention on her other daughter, whom she hasn’t seen in months. And Roc seemed more than happy to be left alone with Tawni.

I told Adele about how Roc is my half-brother, and about what my father did. She asked if I was okay. I told her I am now. It was nice, just chatting with her and getting to know her. It almost seemed normal, like we were on a date, and not at some peace summit. But now Ben is back, which means the date’s over.

“It’s time,” he says when he walks in. “Anna, can you take them to the platform?”

She nods and motions to us to follow her out the door. “Where will you be?” she asks.

“I’ll be right behind you. There’s just one more VP I want to speak to. Elsey can come with me.”

Elsey beams with pride. She’ll always be daddy’s little girl.

Adele and I hold hands and follow her mom out the door. I flash Roc a grin when I see him take Tawni’s hand and pull her along behind us. He gives me a sheepish grin in return, but behind it I can see how happy he is too. It feels weird that we’re all so happy. Somehow it seems impossible. It’s like the crumbling crest of a stone wave during a cave-in, and I’m just riding it down, hoping not to fall off.

My hands are sweaty with fear and expectation, but Adele doesn’t seem to mind. She’s filthy from her trip through the Star Realm, and yet I’ve never seen her more beautiful. She told me about how she almost fell while climbing the wall near the lava flow. I’m hoping it will be her last run of bad luck.

She also told me all about the treachery of this Brody guy, as well as the stranglehold my father has on the other star dweller generals. It only makes me hate him more.

Anna shows us the way out from the tunnel and down the inner Dome stairs, to the platform in the center. The bustle of activity has calmed significantly. The Resistance members are spread around the seating area, creating a thin barrier of protection. The VPs are seated in one quadrant, but in front of their protectors, in the first few rows. I’m glad they’re not spread out because it means I won’t have to turn in a circle to make eye contact with them.

Everyone stops talking when we enter. There’s a pocket of folding chairs on the platform, at the end furthest from where the VPs are seated. We follow Anna to them and sit down, Anna, Adele, and I in the front, with Roc and Tawni behind us.

There’s a guy with brown, curly hair to our right, next to Adele’s mom. He’s literally her right-hand man, I chuckle to myself. Adele gives me a funny look, but I wave off her question and stand up, move toward the guy. “Trevor, right?” I say, extending my hand.

“That’s what my mother named me when the doctor slapped my pale butt,” he says. He grips my hand tightly. “Are you for real?” he asks.

The question stumps me, but I answer any way. “I’m not a specter, if that’s what you mean.”

He laughs and releases my hand. “I just mean, are you really going to help us?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. Is it that hard to believe?”

“Kind of,” Trevor says. “I might have given Adele a hard time because of you. I didn’t really trust you or her when we first met. Did she tell you about that?”

“No, but she told me you saved her life. And for that I must thank you.” My hand is out again, and Trevor takes it.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I did.”

When I turn and sit down next to Adele, she’s smiling, having watched the entire thing with interest. “He gave you a hard time?” I whisper.

“I hated him,” she says with a shrug. “But now I don’t.”

I don’t have time to respond because Vice President Morgan is standing in the center, preparing to address the audience. “I know you have all been forced to thrust aside your plethora of other responsibilities to make time for this peace summit, but I can assure you, it is well worth your time. We have a grave responsibility to the people of the Moon and Star Realms, which, as you all know, are sometimes referred to as the Lower Realms.

“I know many of you are angry at what the Star Realm has done to your subchapter, wreaking havoc on your infrastructure and even causing the death of many of your citizens, and for that they should be sorry. However, there is a reason for all of that. I know many of you don’t want to listen, want to say ‘There’s no excuse for their behavior!’ but there is!” Morgan’s voice has risen, echoing throughout the entire Dome. She’s a mesmerizing figure even though we can only see the back of head. She’s going to be a hard act to follow.

“But it’s not me that should tell you. It’s Tristan, the son of the President, the one person who should be against the rebellion. Please give him a warm welcome.”

Morgan swivels and sits down next to Trevor, leaving the round platform looking large and empty. I should be nervous, but I’m not. Adele gives my hand a final squeeze before I stand, and I take strength from it. If for no one else in the entire world, I’ll do this for her, right now.

The applause is heavy from the upper rows, where the Resistance soldiers are seated, but more scattered from the VPs. It neither encourages nor bothers me though.

Then I’m in the center of the platform, although I can’t remember my feet carrying me there. I scan the audience, making eye contact with as many people as possible before I begin. I’ve planned it out in my head: All do the right thing and unite the people and rebellion, ra ra ra! but that’s not what comes out when I begin speaking.

“My father raped and murdered my best friend’s mother,” I say. A few gasps and loads of murmurs fall over the crowd. Ignore them and continue. “I just found that out. He told me and my friend himself. That’s the kind of man who’s leading the Tri-Realms. He also gave the star dwellers the money to buy the bombs that destroyed your cities. Oh, and he’s holding the star dweller generals’ families under a knife so they’ll do what he wants. That’s the kind of man you’re protecting by not supporting this rebellion. That’s all I have to say.”

Although my brain is telling me it’s too soon to end my big speech-to-end-all-speeches, my heart moves me across the stand, where I sit down next to Adele, who immediately takes my hand. I look at my feet for a few seconds, and then twist to glance at Roc. I hope he’ll forgive me for what I’ve done.

He’s smiling.

Of all the expressions I imagined his face might have, a smile was not one of them. He reaches over and slaps my shoulder. “Well done,” he says.

Adele kisses me on the cheek, leaving a spot of warmth that lingers well after her lips leave my skin.

Morgan seems so surprised at the brevity of my remarks that she’s unsure of what to do. The audience is restless, whispering to each other and coughing and shuffling their feet. Oops, I think. Perhaps I should have stuck with the planned speech.

But Morgan has experience with unexpected situations and she’s quickly back on her feet, raising and lowering her hands to quiet the crowd. “We have much to discuss, questions to ask and answer, and details to work out, but first, I’d like to take an initial vote to see where we stand.”

I look around for Ben, but he and Elsey are still not back, which is strange because all the VPs are now in attendance.

I watch as each of the VPs writes something on a piece of paper and then passes it across the row, to where someone collects them before bringing them forward to Morgan in a basket. It seems old-fashioned, but effective. Morgan extracts the first ballot. “Yes, in support of the rebellion,” she reads, and my heart lifts an inch in my chest. The ballot drops from her hand and flutters to her feet, discarded. “One in favor, zero against.”

She reads the next one. “Yes. Two in favor, zero against.” My heart is in my throat. I want to rush the stage and grab the basket and frantically read the rest of them. Morgan’s slow and methodical pace is killing me. I think Adele’s thinking the same thing, because she’s squeezing my hand so hard it’s getting sore.

“No,” she reads, and my heart sinks a little. “Two for, one against.” There are still thirty-nine ballots and I’m living and dying by each individual one she reads. I try to relax.

“No,” she says. “Two for, two against.”

The next six are all against the rebellion. I’m no longer holding Adele’s hand, and my head is resting in my hands as I balance my elbows on my knees. “Two for, eight against,” Morgan says. Despite Ben’s efforts with the VPs and my pitiful speech, we’re still way behind, not even close to garnering a majority. These men and women are still too scared of my father to stand up to him.

But then it happens. The tide turns, almost as if by magic. First Morgan says yes once, then twice, and then it’s like that’s the only word she can say. By the time she’s done, it’s thirty-two for and ten against. I hug Adele and she hugs back. Anna is looking at us both and shaking her head in disbelief, like she’s seen everything in her lifetime but not something like this.

For the first time since this all started, I actually truly believe the Lower Realms can be united in a joint cause. With a little bit of pressure, we could possibly get the other ten VPs to change their mind, to support the rebellion. If we could just explain—

A screen emerges from the platform floor, rising up next to Vice President Morgan like a phantom in the night.

From the look on her face, I know she’s not expecting it.

“What is the meaning of—” she starts to say, but then the screen flashes and she gasps, along with nearly everyone else in the audience, myself included.

“No!” I hear Adele croak, the word rough and jagged in her throat.

The whole world spins upside down as I stare at that screen. Ben and Elsey are each tied to a chair, their hands behind their backs, their mouths gagged with thick black cloth.

A man, dressed in sun dweller red, holds a gun to Ben’s head.

I know he’s going to kill them, and all I want to do is scream I’m here, Father, I’m here! Please, take me, not them. But when I try to speak all that comes out are ragged breaths.

Adele is already on her feet when the voice booms through the speaker.

* * *

Adele

I’m scared but it’s nothing compared to the determination I feel coursing through my blood. I will not let them kill my family, not after I’ve worked so hard to bring them all back together. I’m on my feet, prepared to charge through the Dome, rip the place apart stone by stone until I find them, when a voice thunders through the arena.

“Your traitorous ways are punishable by death and death alone!” the President threatens. I’d know his voice anywhere.

I hear the slam of doors and then a cacophony of marching boots fills the Dome, cutting through the air like bullets. Above us, dozens of sun dweller soldiers, decked in polished red uniforms—they look like the same ones we saw in the tunnels on the way to the Star Realm—point gleaming rifles and pistols over the edge of the topmost seats.

The Resistance soldiers are on their feet, aiming their own weapons upwards, but everyone in the room knows they don’t stand a chance. The sun dwellers have the upper ground, the better weapons, the element of surprise. We’re sitting ducks.

“Don’t move!” the voice booms. “We have you surrounded. There is no chance of escape. You have all been found guilty of high treason and should be executed in accordance with the laws of the Tri-Realm.”

I close my eyes. We’re all going to die.

“However…” Nailin says, and my eyes flutter open. “…I am offering you one chance to avoid death. Lay down your weapons, allow yourselves to be taken prisoner, and watch the execution of the real traitor, Ben Rose, and his daughter…and I will consider a lesser sentence.”

What? No! “No!” I scream. “You can’t do that!”

All eyes are on me but I don’t care. Tristan tries to put a hand on my arm, but I rip it away from him, charge from the platform. The bullets start flying, but not at me. The Resistance soldiers are firing at the sun dwellers! They’re not going to give up either. They’re fighting!

I see my mom pull a pistol from beneath her tunic and start shooting at the sun dwellers. One drops, and then another. She reminds me now of the day the Enforcers took her away. A fighter—a force to be reckoned with. My mother.

The sun dwellers fire back and I see soldiers dropping amidst bursts of red. In my heart I’m sorry for them and scared for my mom, who’s still on her feet, but there’s only one thing on my mind: Save my dad, my sister.

* * *

Tristan

I sprint after her, but the wings of angels seem to carry her away from me. The crack of guns going off all around us reminds me of when the sun dweller army used to train in the fields by our house. Except this is not training. They want to kill every last one of us.

Adele is already up the steps. She turns quickly and yells to those on the platform to “Run!” but she doesn’t have to tell them—they’re already on their feet and heading for the nearest exit.

And then I see it. A sun dweller soldier—his gun aimed from above, right at Adele. I’m too far—I won’t make it; and he won’t miss. It’s over.

A body flies from the side, violently smashing into her and flattening her against the steps. She cries out in pain just as the bullet takes a chunk of the seats behind her.

It’s Trevor. He’s saved her again. Has done what I could not do.

I run toward them, but she’s already pushing up, bucking Trevor off of her as if he weighs nothing. She doesn’t thank him, doesn’t even look at him, keeps moving up the steps.

Just before she ducks into the tunnel beneath the seats, I see her pull a gun from under her tunic. Where did she get a gun? I wonder.

When I reach the steps I take a moment to scan my surroundings, ensuring none of the sun dwellers are making a move to follow Adele. Trevor gets back to his feet and hurriedly follows Adele into the tunnel, and I’m about to follow when I see Ram, standing out in the crowd, dark and bulging with strength. But all the strength in the Tri-Realms won’t save him from hot metal bullets. He’s pinned down behind a row of seats, with three sun dwellers peppering shots at him. He’s trying to hold them off by taking blind shots with his pistol, but he’s not even aiming in the right direction. He’ll die if I don’t do something.

I take five long strides and then roll, grabbing a gun left by a dead Resistance soldier, and feeling the whiz of bullets as one of the enemy combatants tries to take me down. But I know they can’t hit me. I’m too fast, too determined. Coming out of the roll, every bit of my training kicks in. I lock on the first target in less than a second, shoot him somewhere he won’t get up from. But I don’t watch him fall; instead, I swing to the next enemy, who falls when I pull the trigger. The third one has realized I’m targeting the ones shooting at Ram and he ducks before I can get him.

I curse and rush to Ram, who’s watching me with a funny expression on his big face.

“You saved me,” he says.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “Get back to the main body of men. Take this,” I say, handing him the rifle. I don’t hear if he responds because I’m off, sprinting to the steps, taking them two at a time, hoping I don’t get shot. As I approach the top I see two forms moving swiftly toward me across one of the rows.

I swing to the side, tensing myself for a fight, but drop my hands when I see that it’s Roc and Tawni, eyes wide but fierce and determined. I don’t question their presence—I just say, “Hurry!” and sprint into the gloomy hallway. Adele and Trevor are already halfway down the curve of the tunnel, running hard, Adele holding the gun out in front of her like she actually knows what to do with it. Maybe she does. She seems to know how to do everything. Gritting my teeth, I give chase, hoping to catch her before she runs into half the sun dweller army.

I can feel Roc and Tawni just behind me, moving on silent feet.

I know something isn’t right when we make it a quarter of the way around the Dome without resistance. The place should be teeming with sun dwellers, but instead, all the action seems to be out on the platform. It’s almost as if my father wanted us to go this way, to make it this far. The thought sits in the pit of my stomach like a rotten egg. The crack and pop of guns provides a symphony for the slap of our feet on the stone. I catch up to her five steps later, grab her shoulder. “Adele, wait,” I say.

She whirls around, levels the gun at my head. Her eyes are wild and her hands shaking. She lowers the gun. “Tristan, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“Welcome to the party,” Trevor says from the side.

“Where are they?” Roc says, coming up behind us.

“They have to be in one of these rooms. C’mon,” I say, grabbing Adele’s arm and ushering her forward. We’ve already passed dozens of open doors, all clearly empty, so we slow as we approach the first closed door we’ve come across.

“Shh,” I say, tiptoeing in. One, two, three, I mouth, slamming my shoulder into the door and entering side by side with Adele, the others looking over our shoulders. It’s dark and we can’t see or hear a thing. “Wrong room,” I say.

We leave quickly and continue our search. Another quarter of the way around, we hear voices and as we come around the bend we see five star dweller soldiers come into view.

They raise their rifles.

* * *

Adele

The adrenaline is dictating my every move. When they point their guns at us I don’t hesitate, shoving Tristan hard against the wall, my body flush with his, just as we hear the crack and resulting zing of energy as the bullets fly past. Across from us, Trevor, Roc, and Tawni have managed to do the same. We rebound off the wall in one motion, Tristan and I, charging down the tunnel as the soldiers release their expended shells, readying themselves to shoot again.

But they’re too late. I’m too close and my arm is already up, my aim zeroing in on one of the soldier’s chests. Of all people’s, it’s Brody’s voice that pops into my head: Hold it slightly lower than the target you’re aiming at. Keep it steady, because when you pull the trigger, it’s going to squirm. I lower my arm slightly, tighten my grip, and fire. The guy jerks back as the bullet slams into the same shoulder he was using to lift his gun. He’s thrown back into his partner, whose gun is knocked aside by his flailing arms.

Beside us, Trevor shoots two of the soldiers in quick succession, while Roc comes flying in with an elbow, crashing into the last one.

Neither of the ones I hit is dead and all I want to do is kill them. I stand over their sprawled-out forms, my knuckles white on the gun, my finger tense on the trigger. Their hands are over their heads, pleading, but that just makes me want to pull the trigger more. “No, Adele,” Tristan says.

“It’s what they deserve,” I growl.

“I know, but not like this. You can’t go back from this.”

I know he’s right, but maybe I don’t want to go back. My teeth are grinding against each other, my breaths sharp and animal-like through them, whistling slightly. The only thing steady are my hands, holding death over these fools like an executioner holding a guillotine. “We need to keep moving, find your dad and sister,” Tristan says.

My head snaps toward him and I forget about these guys. All that matters is my family. I lower the gun. Tristan kicks each of the guys in the head and they slump over, unconscious. Roc is grappling for the last guy’s gun, but Trevor puts an end to it with a boot of his own to the guy’s noggin.

We move forward.

Soon we hear voices, muffled at first, but then louder as we approach an open doorway. Light spills from the room and we hear a woman say, “Should I kill them now?”

Which means they’re still alive. Every cell in my body is suddenly alive with energy, urging me forward.

We hear the crackle of the reply over the walkie talkie. “Yes, kill them now,” President Nailin says.

I charge into the room, not waiting for my friends, and this time I’m not taking prisoners. The first thing I see is my dad, struggling against his bindings, his eyes fierce and steely. All he wants is to save Elsey, who is beside him, her face as white as a sheet, all childish dreams about to be torn away from her. A woman in a red uniform has a radio to her lips, but when she sees me she lowers it.

I shoot her point blank in the chest and she topples to the floor.

Two big soldiers close from either side, grabbing at my arm that’s holding the gun. But then Tristan is there, his fist slamming into the left guy’s skull and sending him flying. As he grapples with the other guy, I break free and charge toward my dad. His executioner stares at me as I approach, but I’m not looking at him. All I see are my dad’s eyes, my eyes reflected back at me, green and full of life and loving and kind and—

Boom!

The sound is deafening but I barely hear it. I’m choking on my own sobs, but still moving forward as my father slumps to the ground, the light in his eyes extinguished. I’m crying and growling and screaming and shooting—one round, two rounds, three, four, and then I lose count when the gun starts clicking as I use every last bullet.

The executioner is full of holes, spotting red, falling to the ground like my dad, but he manages to shoot again in desperation. God no! I’m praying and willing and trying to use my mind to protect her, but I can’t do a damn thing.

The bullet tears into Elsey’s side, and I hear her scream and see the slick red of blood on her skin before I black out from anguish and exhaustion.