Stronger (11 page)

My heart leaps into my throat. The trembling has spread to the rest of my body. I can’t breathe. Frank points me out. I stand on legs that feel mushier than mashed truffs. I stare at my toes, surprised my stomach hasn’t dropped to the floor.

“Is she in trouble?” Frank asks. “She’s new and if she’s a troublemaker it would be good to know now so we can cut her from the program.”

“No, nothing like that. There was a slight error on her application for the school.”

It happens, but it isn’t usually a Val who has to deal with it. The Val steps further into the room and I almost faint in relief. It’s Ty. My own nerves must have hid the familiarity of his voice.

“Good. Good,” Frank says. “Clock out for the rest of the day, Jewel. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

I nod to Frank and glance at Ty.

“Come with me.” He spins on his heels and exits the door. I quickly follow behind him.

I stay several places behind him, following his footsteps in the fresh snow. I used to do the same thing when we were children playing in our backyard. He’d make the path easier for my little legs.

He doesn’t speak as he leads me across campus and down the road that will lead us to the city. Ty calls out greeting to people as we walk and I fall further behind him, knowing somehow that it’s best if we aren’t considered traveling together.

When we pass a foreclosed clothing store he juts his chin toward it. I immediately change directions and enter the rickety building. I come up short when I find I’m not alone. I falter back before I recognize the shape of Uncle Charlie. My fear turns to joy and I run into his outstretched arms. I’m sobbing on his shoulder, the tension I’ve been carrying for days being erased by my tears, when Ty joins us.

Charlie pats my back. “Now, now, Lexie. What can be so bad?” he tugs on my hair. “Ty’s been trying to make me believe you survived an oxygen leak and a grizzle attack.”

His eyes are dancing in laughter but it fades when I say, “I did.”

“He draws me further into the room and onto a stool. “Perhaps you’d better tell me what’s been going on.”

“I don’t know where to start. I’ve been noticing strange things about me since the night of the explosion in the Sacred Square. I…” my voice trails off. That’s when everything started to become strange. Did the explosion change me? Or was it when I touched their precious statues? “I think it started that night, when Ty saved me from Lee. I had a bloody nose and I knew it meant I was dying. I was angry… so angry that I did something stupid.”

I tell them everything that’s happened since I ran into the dome. They stare in stunned silence as I give my account, their mouths hanging slack.

“What do you think happened to me? What am I?”

Uncle Charlie places his palms on my cheeks. “You’re a miracle. I’ve never heard of anyone like you. I always knew you were special.”

“Was it the statue?” Ty asks. “Or maybe getting exposed to a Val’s blood at the same time?”

Uncle Charlie shrugs. “Possibly both. Who knows?” Charlie pulls out a knife from his boot. “Would you mind if I conducted an experiment. I’m sorry but this is something I must see.”

“Are you insane?” Ty grabs Charlie’s wrist. “You could kill her.”

“I won’t kill her.” Uncle Charlie pulls his hand free.

“You did before.”

“Hey,” I say. “Don’t fight. I want him to see it. I’m not exactly sure what I am myself.”

Ty’s frown is firmly in place when I stretch my arm out, but he doesn’t say anything more as the blade parts my skin, drawing blood. In a matter of minutes the wound starts to knit itself back together. It’s painful, but quick, and soon the skin is smooth once again.

“Amazing.” Uncle Charlie whistles. “I wonder if you’ll grow stronger and faster like a Val.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Is it possible?”

“May I?” He holds up his knife.

I nod and he slices the same skin. “Much tougher to cut this time. This is incredible. You have the potential of a Val but the look of a Deb. You wanted to be more involved in the rebellion, Lex. We might be able to make that happen now.”

Uncle Charlie called it incredible. I think so too. I might not understand what has happened to me, but it is amazing. A childhood wish come true.

“You say Bryant suspects something?”

Both Ty and I nod.

“We’ll have to either silence him—” Ty’s voice is gruff, mentioning the possible death of his friend. “—or kidnap him and bring him into the rebellion.”

“We could use a man of his skills. He was to be taken into custody soon anyway.”

My head snaps up. “What? Why?”

“The last termination list. He was on it.”

“But he’s so young,” I say. “They’ve never taken a student before, have they?””

Charlie shakes his head. “He’s as popular as any war hero, though. More than most. He probably said something against the war or the Orions, and someone overheard.”

I think back to the conversation on the mountain. Bryant did express his doubts, to Starburst herself. “He thought Lee was too brutal and he told Starburst. She didn’t seem to like it.”

Ty hops onto the old counter in the shop. “You think the grizzle attack wasn’t an accident?”

Uncle Charlie shrugs. “I’m guessing not. You were there, Lexie. What do you think?”

“I think they sent it to kill him. At first, it ran right past me. It only attacked me when I tried to help Bryant.”

“Wow, you really did defeat a grizzle.” Charlie shakes his head, a huge grin on his face. “And the oxygen in the greenhouse, how’d you survive that?”

“I don’t think I inhaled any of it without my filter.”

“Of course,” Uncle Charlie said. “Too bad.”

I grin at my Uncle. “So what do I do now?”

“We managed to get you assigned to clean the Information Center, but on a different shift. For now, gather what information you can, and keep your head down.”

That sounds like easy advice, but avoiding notice hasn’t been too easy for me lately.

Janice and I are returning our trays to conveyer belt after dinner when someone grabs my arm, pulling me to a stop. “Emily?”

I stare into Gracie’s wide eyes.

“You’re alive!” she moves like she’s about to hug me but her arms hang in the air for a second before returning to her sides. “I thought your whole crew died.”

My eyes flicker between Janice and Gracie.

“I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else,” I say. Having to lie to Gracie hurts. She’s the closest thing I have to a friend, now that Olivia’s gone. But what can I do?

Gracie’s eyebrows pull together and she laughs, probably thinking I’m joking.

I place my tray on the belt and back away. “I’m Jewel.”

Janice loops her arm through mine. “I’m her roommate, Janice.”

Gracie bites her lip and the communicator on her wrist crackles. “Gracie, we need a refill on the soup in the line.”

“Sorry about the confusion. You just look a lot like my friend who died.” Gracie searches my face one more time. “I guess I’m mistaken. Sorry to disturb you.” She opens her mouth then closes it again before heading back toward the double doors that lead to the kitchen.

Now Gracie will be watching me too. After a lifetime of feeling invisible, now that I want to go unnoticed, everyone seems to remember me.

The new assignment Ty found for me is still in the Information Center, but on a different shift. I worried that someone might recognize me here too, but no one even glances my way. They go on break exactly when I expect them to, and leave me alone in the room. Keeping a rag in one hand, I activate one of the computers. Using a simple hack, I task my signacom to download any new files it can find. It feels like it takes forever, but finishes in only a few minutes. With a sigh of relief, I shut down the computer and am vacuuming the floor when the first Val returns. He walks right up to me and grabs my wrist, securing my ID bracelet.

“What’s going on?” I ask, not bothering to hide my confusion.

Ignoring my question, he speaks into his communicator. “Send security in. I’ve caught the spy.”

The spy? They knew about me?

Four heavily armed Vals rush into the room, surrounding me. My worst nightmare is coming true and I feel like I’ve fallen from a cliff, freefalling to the bottom.

I only know what to do because Uncle Charlie has drilled it into my head from a young age.

Cooperate.

Deny everything.

Watch and learn.

Look for your moment to escape.

Two security officers grab each of my arms while another points a mag-accel gun at my chest. One Val takes the lead and I’m dragged out the door while the last follows a few steps behind. A chorus of cheers rises from the other Vals in the office as we walk by. We exit the building, but I don’t look up the whole way. Instead I concentrate on the sidewalk and the crunch of ice beneath my feet. Conversations cut off as our procession moves along, and the eyes that follow me create a tangible weight, judging me, though they don’t even know what I’ve done.

The tips of my ungloved fingers are pink, but I don’t feel the cold. I don’t feel much of anything, and I almost question if this is a dream. But no matter how many times I tell myself to wake up, I don’t find myself in my bed. This is really happening.

We cross from snow-covered, gravel walkways to neatly swept and heated sidewalks and then I hear the whoosh of a vacuum-sealed door opening. We pass into truly warm air and I almost run into the Val in front of me when he stops. My feet seem to sink into the thick tan carpet.

A female Val wearing the golden coat of a scientist clucks her tongue as she sees me. “Not what I was expecting. Take her to the exam room.”

The exam room? The images Uncle Charlie impressed on me in my childhood rush through my mind.

“No!” I try to take a step back but both of my arms are still secured. “You’re making a mistake!” I scream as they drag me down a long narrow hallway. Vals poke their heads out to ogle me. The few Debs mopping the floors or scrubbing the baseboards keep their heads down, pretending not to hear my screams.

I’m dragged into a bright white room. Its centerpiece is a reclined, shiny metal chair, with restraints for my arms and legs, and a large examination light overhead. They’re going to experiment on me, maybe torture me. I trip over my own feet and black spots dance before my eyes.

“No! Please, no!” I try to fight, kicking one of the guards in the knee, elbowing another in the throat. My fingers catch on the doorframe, but the butt of a rifle smashes my fingers, forcing them loose. More guards grab hold of me, pulling me toward the chair. My shoes leave scuff marks on the floor as I struggle to break free. I throw off the Val holding my arm, but another guard grabs it instantly, while the back of the rifle connects with my nose. Blood gushes down my face and my head is spinning. Before I know it, I’m lying in the chair, secured hand and foot with thick metal bands, panting. The taste of blood coats my mouth. I’m still struggling as they back away, weapons raised. The door slams behind them, and I’m alone, strapped to the chair.

The light in my face is blinding, and I avert my eyes, looking around at the rest of the room. All I see are polished metal cabinets. There are no sounds but my own racing heartbeat and panting breath, and nothing to keep me company but the bright glaring light. At some point I doze off.

When I wake up, my muscles are cramped, stiff and sore. Still half asleep, I try to move but can’t. My bed feels different, and I can’t hear Olivia’s breathing.

What’s going on? My eyes pop open then slam shut. A bright light glares in my face. I turn my head and peer out from squinted lashes. I try to move again, and don’t understand why it doesn’t work. When I wiggle my wrist, something digs into it. A metal restraint. I close my eyes and then roll my head to other side. My left wrist is bound, too. I try to move my legs, but they’re also tethered.

My mind feels sluggish and slow, and I blink in confusion at my wrist. Why would someone do this?

Then I remember being caught, a flood of images that flash through my mind. I look around the room. It’s startlingly white and smells like bleach. The scuff marks I left on the floor have been wiped clean, as has the blood. The door slides open and two armed guards stroll in. “You’re coming with us.”

One crouches down to loosen my foot restraints. I flex my foot preparing to kick him when I feel the barrel of the gun press into my side. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Our orders are simple. If you resist, we kill you.”

I force myself still as they free me. My eyes are darting all around as I follow, but we’re moving too fast for me to see anything useful, anything that would help me escape.

We enter a room that makes me squint at its stark whiteness. It’s almost as big as the school’s auditorium and filled with Vals standing shoulder to shoulder in circular rows facing a raised stand in the center of the room, all completely silent. The door seals behind me and I feel like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

On the dais, Professor Bates is seated behind a table with another man and a woman. In front of them, a solitary chair sits empty. At a gesture from Bates, my escorts proceed forward. With a loud clomp of synchronized heels, a double row of Vals turns sideways to face one another, forming a narrow aisle that we pass through to reach the center. I brush against buttons and smell the humid breath of the warriors who loom over me. As we reach the front, my escorts step into their places in the rows of Vals, and the double line turns again, their precise footfalls like the slamming of a door.

Knees trembling, I ascend the three polished marble steps of the center stage, and come to a stop in front of Professor Bates.

He whispers behind his hand to the woman at his right before turning his steely gaze on me.

“Have a seat, Jewel.” He points to the empty chair.

As I move to sit, my eyes strain toward the exit, calculating the distance I’d have to travel and the crowd I’d have to fight through to get out again. I take a deep breath and count to five, trying to slow my pulse. My fingers clench and I have to shake them loose.

Relax
, I tell myself.
You’ve practiced this with Uncle Charlie. You know what to say.

I ignore the voice warning of how much I’d changed since Charlie had ran through interrogation with me.

The chair slides a bit when I sit, screeching in protest. I hide my hands in the folds of my shirt and clutch at the rough material, trying to hold my knees from knocking together. I straighten my back and stare over Bates’ left shoulder, concentrating on a banner hanging between two marble pillars against the far wall. In it, a lone Val holding a broken sword in battle refuses to retreat in the face of an oncoming horde of hairy, broad-shouldered Musks. I know the feeling.

“Jewel Young?” Bates asks.

I nod, unable to talk.

“Do you know why we’re having this conversation?”

I have several guesses, but I’m not about to tell him that. I shake my head.

“This is not a trial. Our evidence condemns you beyond a reasonable doubt. This is to update our warriors.”

They aren’t even going to give me a trial? It’s worse than I thought.

“Mr. Larson if you please.”

The Val from the office stands on the bottom step, adjusting a faded bowtie around his neck.

“Is this the girl you found hacking into our intelligence files?”

Mr. Larson nods. “We were warned that the new Deb cleaning the office should be watched closely. To be safe, I set up a camera and a trace on my computer. The camera shows her accessing the computer and the trace shows several files were taken. We also retrieved her signacom, with the files on it.”

Bates nods. “It seems like we have much to thank you for Mr. Larson. And especially to our heroic Val who warned you of the spy. I give you our gratitude as we call you to give evidence, Bryant.”

I flinch. He warned them about me?

There’s a rustling as Bryant steps out, but I don’t look. I won’t. My breath catches and my palms dampen.

“Is this the girl?”

There’s a moment of silence. Like a moth to a flame, my eyes are drawn to Bryant. He’s studying me, his eyes broadcasting an emotion I can’t name. Maybe he won’t do it. Maybe he realizes I saved his life and is willing to do the same for me now.

“Yes, sir,” Bryant says in crisp voice. “She is the girl from the grizzle attack and she was at the Sacred Square explosion. Although at that time she went by a different name.”

My brief moment of hope collapses and my eyes slide closed. The other Vals scoff. That’s how they’re supposed to act. Why couldn’t Bryant be more like them? Why did he report it and why did they listen?

Bates taps something into his touchdesk, glances at me, and types some more. Then he stands, leaning across the table to bring his face closer to mine. Examining me.

“She doesn’t have any scars,” Bates says. “You claim the beast mauled her.”

“He did.” Bryant shakes his head. “I can’t explain it.”

“Interesting.” Bates peers at me again. “That’s all, Bryant. Thank you.”

Bryant’s heels click together and out of the corner of my eye I see him salute before spinning and marching back to his position.

Bates moves around the table and sits on the edge close to me. “Bryant claims that the animal attacked him on the top of the summit, and you saved him.”

I swallow and force a laugh. It sounds brittle and broken but it’s the best I can do. “Do I look like I could take on a grizzle? That I could even make it to the top of the summit?”

“He also says you were injured, but here you are, less than a full forty eight hours later, and you have no wounds and no scars. What do you say to that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s a Valudis who looks like me.” I move my eyes around the room, pretending to search for a petite, pale, scar-free Val with shoulder length blonde hair. But of course there aren’t any female warriors, let alone one that could pass for me.

“Next witness!” Bates calls out.

Another witness?
A heavily tattooed Deb steps out from behind the dais and moves forward. Ansel. My shoulders droop and my breakfast turns sour in my stomach.

Ansel crosses, then uncrosses his arms, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, his head down. “Is this the girl who was at the center of the disturbance in your parlor?”

Ansel looks up and his lips straighten into a thin line. He nods.

“Did she receive a tattoo in the parlor where you’re employed?”

Another quick nod. Ansel’s eyes meet mine, and he mouths, “I’m sorry”.

“How long ago did she receive the tattoo?”

“Two days ago.”

Bates leans forward. “You’re sure.”

Ansel nods again and Bates purses his lips. “Dismissed. Next witness!” Ansel moves aside and the person behind him makes me curse under my breath. Gracie.

“You know the witness here, Jewel, under a different name?”

Gracie considers me, taking in every inch of my face. “Yes. Just as Bryant said. She went by Emily.”

“And what caused you to report her to us?”

“She worked in the greenhouse. Her whole crew died in the oxygen buildup this week.”

“And you’re sure it’s the same girl?”

She takes her time examining me again. “Yes.”

She sold me out. Her betrayal is like a dull, rusty knife to my heart.

Bates excuses her with a wave. I watch Gracie disappear into the sea of Vals.

Bates flips through the files on his display. “And odd thing happened after the greenhouse incident. When we collected the bodies, we counted how many had died. But when we buried the bodies, we found we were one short.”

They counted
? Fear rakes my insides like grizzle claws.

“It all sounds preposterous.” Bates strokes his chin considering. “I had my doubts. I still do, truth be told, but these are dangerous times, Ms. Young.”

He pushes off the table and begins to pace, his voice rising to carry throughout the crowd. “The Sacred Square was targeted. The hangar where we keep our fighter jets was sabotaged, destroying several ships. Then, there was an oxygen buildup that killed an entire crew. It could have been an accident but we found it had been tampered with. It was meant to be not a simple leak but a massive explosion.”

An oxygen explosion instead of small leak? So many people could have died. Was it the Musks?

Bates keeps talking. “Later, a supposedly extinct animal attacks one of our strongest warriors. None of these were accidents. There’s a traitor in our midst.”

Bates taps his touchdesk and a personnel file appears. “We’ve been checking everyone’s paperwork.”

Registration files for the school? I swallow hard. I don’t know about the files Ty manufactured but the ones Uncle Charlie did for me years ago is riddled with lies. The parents listed on my forms never had children. According to every document they have, I am a ghost who materialized within the Debs’ camp at the age of eight… until I reemerged yesterday as someone else, another ghost with a different name.

This wouldn’t be happening if I could just scar like my brother or I was still a normal Deb. That thought stays with me. If I were a normal Deb I’d be dead several times over.

Bates is silent for a minute, maybe waiting for me to confess. I know better than to give him additional information. He already has plenty of rope to hang me; I don’t need to give him more.

“Everyone is who and where they’re supposed to be. Everyone but you, Jewel. Or should I call you
Emily
? There are no corresponding birth records on the day you were born, either of your reported birth dates.”

The response is automatic. “My mother went into pre-term labor and delivered at home.”

“Hmm, possibly. But then, your supposed mother was given a hysterectomy at the age of fifteen. It seems she had an unusual tumor.”

I suck in a lungful of air. That wasn’t on the medical history they gave my uncle when they agreed to help.

“We might have missed that, but Bryant asked us to flag your file. And we might have missed the Emily/Jewel connection if not for Ms. Grace Brown and Bryant as well. It made us think.”

“We have suspected for some time that the Musks have been creating a new weapon.”

My forehead wrinkles. What do Musk weapons have to do with me?

“We believe they may have created a new species of their race.” He takes a breath and then pointedly gazes at me. “One that looks like us.”

“Like us?” I manage to ask.

“Or more specifically, like you.” He smacks his hand against the table and I jump. “Maybe the invaders the Orions have warned us about have already arrived. Perhaps they have already infiltrated us, working against us from the inside.”

My heart stops and my lungs constrict. Sweat breaks out at the base of my skull and the blood drains from my face. “You think I’m an alien?”

“Don’t try to deny it. We can connect you to every terrorist attack. Right before the destruction of our planes, a surveillance camera caught this.” He taps his touchdesk again and a 3D holo-image emerges. It’s me, sneaking past the hangar on my way home from one of my rebellion meetings.
Blasted stars!

“And you were caught doing reconnaissance outside the Sacred Square the other day. An officer patrolling there filed an incident report of a Deb, one Emily Smith, trying to make contact with a Val who worked inside the dome. Later that night, recovered video footage shows you entering the dome, a place completely forbidden to you, right before an explosion. Thankfully, your attempt to damage the gods was completely unsuccessful. Afterwards, you were discovered miraculously alive in the wreckage, with the bodies of two Vals, both dead, one of them blown to bits.”

I’m speechless, and can only shake my head. The one found in little pieces set off the bomb, not me, but they’ll never believe me.

Bates’ tirade continues. “Then, after a malfunction in the greenhouse,”—he makes quote marks in the air with his fingers at the word ‘malfunction’—“this same Emily just happens to die in the accident.”

The crowd is eating up every word like he has the vocal power of an Orion. He opens a new file and it’s a video file of me, destroying the speaker in the greenhouse. He pauses on the last image captured, and zooms in on my face. My eyes are wide, my mouth twisted. I look evil, demented. Like a terrorist.

“And now the same girl shows up alive, this time as Jewel, and tries to start a rebellion at a tat shop in the Deb section. She gets a tattoo that is no longer visible the next day. Next, she somehow summons an extinct grizzle and sets it to attack one of our strongest warriors, leaving him for dead. So tell me, Ms. Young, are you an alien? I don’t know how else to explain you.”

With all of this evidence, there’s no hope of escape, no way to explain to them what I don’t understand myself. I bite my lip hard and shake my head, refusing to speak. Anything I say will only make it worse.

Bates nods and two men come from behind me, securing my shoulders. He moves so suddenly that I never see the knife coming. It stabs into my forearm, slicing through my uniform. I scream as pain shoots through my arm and blood oozes from the wound.

Bates pulls the blade free with a wet slurping sound and rips the sleeve off my shirt. He curses when the skin starts weaving itself back together.

The whole room breaks into a chorus of shouts.

I only find Ty because he’s so still, a boulder in a rippling sea of people. Ty’s green eyes are desperate and his skin is too pale. When he focuses on my eyes, he steps closer. I shake my head.

No matter what he does, it won’t keep them from taking me. Rough hands grab me, pushing me out the door while the warriors break into chants, slapping Bryant on the back. Praise for unveiling an alien invader is now added to the acclaim he’s been getting for beating the grizzle. His responding smile doesn’t reach his eyes. Is that because he doesn’t want recognition for the grizzle he didn’t really kill, or because he’s just condemned the girl who saved his life?