Swans and Klons (21 page)
Stencil Pavlina rolled over restlessly in her cot as Rubric was rooting through her neatly folded tunic for the key to the pink vehicle. That scared Rubric so much that, as soon as she found the key, she crept out of the room, without even trying to find her shoes and stockings.
The night remained still and quiet as Rubric let herself into the pink car and started it up. Good thing electric motors were so quiet. Rubric was a little worried that she didn’t feel even a moment’s remorse for betraying Stencil Pavlina immediately after she had saved her life. Did feeling remorse over not feeling remorse count?
Rubric only drove a few miles before a terrible thought hit her like an icy wave in the face. She was chipped now! She had to get that chip out, or she would be caught immediately. What was she doing, worrying about an ethical dilemma when she had a Klon chip in her abdomen?
Rubric passed a lake surrounded by reeds. A sign told her it was Wenceslah Lake. She pulled over. There had to be something sharp in this vehicle. Probably Stencil Pavlina carried a precision art knife at all times and she could have taken it if she had thought of it. Rubric berated herself for being so thicko.
At last, Rubric found a flashlight-shaped tool labeled
Window Punch Seatbelt Cutter
. She supposed it was for if you got in an accident and were trapped in the car. There was a retractable pointy bit. Rubric reclined the seat and pulled up her tunic. She took a deep breath. She hadn’t even been able to
watch
the Klons cut out their chips. How was she supposed to do this?
“No choice,” she muttered.
In a way, it wasn’t as bad as she had feared, once she finally got up the nerve to cut herself. Her chip had been placed just that day. All she had to do was reopen the wound the Medical Assistant Klon had made, and the chip revealed itself. She remembered the other Klons, digging around in their bloody wounds trying to find the chip. It hurt, but nothing compared to crossing the fence. Rubric climbed out of the vehicle, clutching the slick chip. The lake was blue in the moonlight, and the moon was reflected in the center. Just a little dizzy, she threw the chip into the lake. Maybe they would think Rubric had jumped in and drowned. And then driven off in the pink car?
There was blood all over the seat, but Rubric paid it no mind. She hadn’t known that she had this icy core inside her, that she was the kind of person who could betray someone and then perform surgery on herself without flinching. Rubric realized she had learned something from Panna Stencil Pavlina, after all. She could be as mercenary as her Jeepie Similar if she had to be.
*
It was still dark when Rubric reached the wall.
When she realized she had brought nothing to help her climb the wall, she cried. She just couldn’t do it alone. Cut all the seatbelts and tie them together? Too short. Hopeless. She had made it this far, but she was totally screwed. Salmon Jo would never even know how close she had come, how much she wanted to get back to her.
As dawn broke, she lifted her tear-stained face from the steering wheel and gazed out at the rosy horizon. As if in a dream, Rubric saw an object rising into the sky. It was shaped like a lightbulb. The light was behind it, so it was just a dark silhouette. It was either getting bigger or coming closer.
The object stopped climbing higher and hung in the sky. Then it floated closer. Rubric caught her breath as she realized what it was. A hot-air balloon.
The balloon was ungainly but beautiful. As the dawn grew brighter, Rubric could see that it was tethered to the ground in some way, on the Barbarous side of the fence. But the balloon was drifting purposefully over the fence. Sparks flashed from the tether where it intersected the fence. Now it was on Rubric’s side of the fence, and on Rubric’s side of the wall. Rubric started the car and drove toward the spot where the balloon hovered, bumping along slowly over the uneven ground. The tiny electric car wasn’t made to be an off-road vehicle, and the noise of rocks hitting the undercarriage was tremendous. Rubric didn’t care. Now she could see that ropes with sandbags attached were keeping the balloon in a stable position.
A profusion of ropes, like a net, covered the top of the balloon, and from these hung strong cords that were attached to a wicker basket. The basket was a little smaller than the electric car Rubric had just left. From the basket hung two things. First, a big sheet with KLONS ARE HUMAN written on it and a badly drawn picture of a five-legged dog. Second, a rope ladder dragging a sandbag along the ground. The ladder bobbed up and down, swaying in the wind. A skinny figure clung to the ladder. Climbing down.
“Salmon Jo!” Rubric whispered. She drove as close to the ladder as she could. Jumping out, she left the car running and the door open. She scrambled over rocks and grabbed at the bottom of the ladder as it swayed in her face, whipping just out reach. Looking up, Rubric could see Salmon Jo clinging to the rungs about halfway down.
A huge gust of wind brought the ladder closer. Rubric caught it and began to climb.
The ascent was terrifying. The ladder twisted and tilted. But Rubric had maxed out on being scared. The only important thing was her shaking hands grasping higher rungs. The rope felt funny on her bare feet. She didn’t look down. She didn’t look up. Just when she was wondering how it was possible to climb so far, she touched the rough side of the basket.
“You’re almost there!” It was Salmon Jo’s voice. Was Rubric still climbing? She couldn’t even tell. She felt strong hands grabbing her arms. She was at the top, and here were Salmon Jo and Dream, hauling her into the basket.
Rubric couldn’t believe she was really holding Salmon Jo’s warm, strong hand.
Dream was babbling, “Ru, I’m so glad you’re okay! Salmon Jo almost killed me when she heard what happened. She shamed all of Hot Buttered Toast Town into working around the clock to make the balloon.”
There was more, but Rubric wasn’t listening. She took Salmon Jo into her arms and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“I’m so sorry,” she tried to say, but Salmon Jo’s kisses didn’t let her speak. Finally, Salmon Jo tilted her head back so she could look at Rubric’s face and stroke her cheek. Rubric couldn’t stop shaking. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel blood singing through every part of her body. Her face was strangely hot. She realized the heat was coming from the balloon above and so was the rushing sound in her ears.
“You’re bleeding!” Salmon Jo said. “What happened?”
“I’m fine,” Rubric said. “It’s like nothing. I can’t believe you built a balloon.”
Salmon Jo grinned, the characteristic twisty smile Rubric loved. “Sorry there’s no swimming pool.”
Rubric laughed and tried to smack Salmon Jo. But she was gripping Rubric too tightly.
Salmon Jo’s face turned serious. “Oh, I was so afraid I’d never see you again,” Salmon Jo said. “We were going to come find you.”
“I missed you so much,” Rubric said. “I’ll never leave you anymore. I promise. We’ll be together like an undying chain of myrtle leaves. I don’t care where I live as long as I’m with you. I’ll live with the thicko Barbarous Ones forever, if you want.”
Salmon Jo grinned widely. “No reason you have to. We can go anywhere,” Salmon Jo said, gesturing at the silky balloon that billowed above them. “It’s a big world.”
About the Author
Nora Olsen
was born and raised in New York City. She received a B.A. from Brown University. Although her mother, a prize-winning author, warned her not to become a writer, Nora didn’t listen. Nora’s debut novel
The End: Five Queer Kids Save The World
was published in 2010.
Swans & Klons
is her second YA novel. Her short fiction has appeared in
Collective Fallout
and the anthology
Heiresses of Russ 2011: The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction
. Nora’s goal is to write thrilling stories and novels that LGBTQ teens can see themselves reflected in.
Nora lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her girlfriend, writer Áine Ní Cheallaigh, and their two adorable cats. When not writing, Nora works as a babysitter. She also enjoys volunteering for Room to Write, an organization of publishing professionals and writers who visit NYC classrooms to teach creative writing. The highlight of Nora’s year is volunteering at Camp Jabberwocky, a summer camp for children and adults with disabilities.
Her favorite writing songs are “Shadow Stabbing” by Cake and “Every Day I Write The Book” by Elvis Costello.
Soliloquy Titles From Bold Strokes Books
Kings of Ruin
by Sam Cameron. High school student Danny Kelly and loner Kevin Clark must team up to defeat a top-secret alien intelligence that likes to wreak havoc with fiery car, truck, and train accidents. (978-1-60282-864-3)
Swans & Klons
by Nora Olsen. In a future world where there are no males, sixteen-year-old Rubric and her girlfriend Salmon Jo must fight to survive when everything they believed in turns out to be a lie. (978-1-60282-874-2)
The You Know Who Girls
by Annameekee Hesik. As they begin freshman year, Abbey Brooks and her best friend, Kate, pinky swear they’ll keep away from the lesbians in Gila High, but Abbey already suspects she’s one of those you-know-who girls herself and slowly learns who her true friends really are. (978-1-60282-754-7)
In Stone
by Jeremy Jordan King. A young New Yorker is rescued from a hate crime by a mysterious someone who turns out to be more of a something. (978-1-60282-761-5)
Wonderland
by David-Matthew Barnes. After her mother’s sudden death, Destiny Moore is sent to live with her two gay uncles on Avalon Cove, a mysterious island on which she uncovers a secret place called Wonderland, where love and magic prove to be real. (978-1-60282-788-2)
Another 365 Days
by KE Payne. Clemmie Atkins is back, and her life is more complicated than ever! Still madly in love with her girlfriend, Clemmie suddenly finds her life turned upside down with distractions, confessions, and the return of a familiar face… (978-1-60282-775-2)
The Secret of Othello
by Sam Cameron. Florida teen detectives Steven and Denny risk their lives to search for a sunken NASA satellite—but under the waves, no one can hear you scream… (978-1-60282-742-4)
Andy Squared
by Jennifer Lavoie. Andrew never thought anyone could come between him and his twin sister, Andrea…until Ryder rode into town. (978-1-60282-743-1)
Sara
by Greg Herren. A mysterious and beautiful new student at Southern Heights High School stirs things up when students start dying. (978-1-60282-674-8)
Boys of Summer
, edited by Steve Berman. Stories of young love and adventure, when the sky’s ceiling is a bright blue marvel, when another boy’s laughter at the beach can distract from dull summer jobs. (978-1-60282-663-2)
Street Dreams
by Tama Wise. Tyson Rua has more than his fair share of problems growing up in New Zealand—he’s gay, he’s falling in love, and he’s run afoul of the local hip-hop crew leader just as he’s trying to make it as a graffiti artist. (978-1-60282-650-2)
[email protected]
by KE Payne. Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met? Imogen Summers thinks so because it’s happened to her. (978-1-60282-592-5)
Swimming to Chicago
by David-Matthew Barnes. As the lives of the adults around them unravel, high school students Alex and Robby form an unbreakable bond, vowing to do anything to stay together—even if it means leaving everything behind. (978-1-60282-572-7)
365 Days
by KE Payne. Life sucks when you’re seventeen years old and confused about your sexuality, and the girl of your dreams doesn’t even know you exist. Then in walks sexy new emo girl, Hannah Harrison. Clemmie Atkins has exactly 365 days to discover herself, and she’s going to have a blast doing it! (978-1-60282-540-6)
Cursebusters!
by Julie Smith. Budding psychic Reeno is the most accomplished teenage burglar in California, but one tiny screw-up and poof!—she’s sentenced to Bad Girl School. And that isn’t even her worst problem. Her sister Haley’s dying of an illness no one can diagnose, and now she can’t even help. (978-1-60282-559-8)
Who I Am
by M.L. Rice. Devin Kelly’s senior year is a disaster. She’s in a new school in a new town, and the school bully is making her life miserable—but then she meets his sister Melanie and realizes her feelings for her are more than platonic. (978-1-60282-231-3)
Sleeping Angel
by Greg Herren. Eric Matthews survives a terrible car accident only to find out everyone in town thinks he’s a murderer—and he has to clear his name even though he has no memories of what happened. (978-1-60282-214-6)
Mesmerized
by David-Matthew Barnes. Through her close friendship with Brodie and Lance, Serena Albright learns about the many forms of love and finds comfort for the grief and guilt she feels over the brutal death of her older brother, the victim of a hate crime. (978-1-60282-191-0)
Table of Contents
