The Island (19 page)

“Here it is, Sir.” Jeffrey stuttered out the words.

The man snatched the coat, and began to search the pockets. He withdrew a wrinkled sheet of paper and unfolded it. “This is just some . . . child’s drawing.” He sneered at the copy of the map Rachel had traced.

Pathik leaned over closer so he could see. “It
is
pretty bad.”

Rachel ignored him. “You might want to have that checked out by someone who knows what they’re looking at.” She tilted her head at the man. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“What’s my name got to do with anything?” The man regarded her as though she smelled like rotten meat on a hot day.

“I just want to know what to call you. Sir.” Rachel hoped she’d gotten all the lines right when she was tracing the map.

“Jeffrey.” The man held the drawing out to Jeffrey without looking away from Rachel. “Have it scanned and sent to Division.”

Jeffrey took the paper with shaking hands and quickly disappeared.

“Now.” The man folded his arms. “We wait.” He looked past Rachel to the towels laid out on the counter, smiling in anticipation.

It took all of twenty minutes. There was a crackle from the wall intercom. “Doctor Wilkinson.” The man stood up and walked slowly to the intercom. He pressed the button.

“Yes, Jeffrey.”

“You may want to come to the main office.”

Rachel and Pathik waited in the room while the man went to see whatever there was to see. Pathik held Rachel’s hand in his, smiling at her.

“You shouldn’t be smiling yet.” Rachel was afraid.

“I think it’s going to be all right.” Pathik leaned over and kissed her. She let him, but as soon as the kiss ended she pushed him away and scowled.

“You shouldn’t have followed us.”

He shook his head. “I have to admit, I was scared to do it.” He looked ashamed. “But how could I let you go alone?”

“You know what Ms. Moore said.” Rachel smiled at him. “You can’t be brave if you’re not afraid.”

Pathik thought of his letter—the letter from his grandmother.
Do what needs to be done, whatever that is, to keep your love alive.
“She was a very smart woman.”

Doctor Wilkinson returned, looking a bit shaken. He sat down at the table and folded his hands together. He cleared his throat. He took a deep breath and began to speak. “It appears—”

“So, Doctor Wilkinson.” Rachel sat up straight in her chair. “We’ll need all the hostages you have here on the transport boat with us. We’ll need a stock of supplies as well—antibiotics, some vaccines, whatever else you can think of that might come in handy.”

The doctor stared at Rachel, anger flooding his eyes. He stiffened his neck. “It’s people like you who threaten the fabric of our nation.”

Rachel considered him from across the table. She couldn’t help wanting to hurt him. He, and people like him, had hurt so many. But she knew it would make no real difference, except to who she was. She liked who she was, so far.

Pathik squeezed Rachel’s hand. He leaned as far over the table as he could without getting up and smiled at Doctor Wilkinson. “I think there are a couple more things we’ll need from you.”

J
onathan tried to run up the path to the main house, but his knees wouldn’t cooperate. By the time he got there, the EOs were already out of their vehicle and on the front porch. “Here now.” He gasped for breath. “Haven’t you fools bothered her enough?”

The EOs just stared at him. The one closest to him consulted his digitab. “Are you Jonathan—”

The front door swung open. Elizabeth appeared, her face scrunched up tight with anger. “Leave him alone!” She scolded the EOs as though they were errant children.

“It’s all right, Elizabeth.” Jonathan climbed the stairs to the landing. “I’m sure these fine boys are just checking on our safety, aren’t you?” He glared at the EOs.

The one with the digitab scanned his screen. “I’ve got orders to deliver a message to Elizabeth Moore.” He waited to see if anyone would claim the name.

Elizabeth stepped forward. Jonathan started to protest, but she shook her head wearily. “I’m sick of it, Jonathan.” She looked at the EO resentfully. “Deliver your stupid message.”

The EO read from his digitab, haltingly. “It’s time for you and Jonathan to come join us. Please bring some orchids—I think mine died. And remember what you told me about being brave. Love, Rachel.” The EO looked up.

Elizabeth frowned. “Let me see that.” She grabbed the digitab from the EO. After she read the message, she looked at Jonathan.

He shrugged. “What?”

“I don’t know!” Elizabeth shrugged back at him.

The second EO stepped forward. “We have orders to deliver Elizabeth Moore and her hired man to the main port in Ganivar, for transport to the relinquished island of Salishan.” The EO paused to see if there would be any reaction. There was not. He continued. “If you choose to accept transport we have been allowed one half hour for you to gather any and all items you wish to bring.”

Elizabeth looked at Jonathan. Jonathan looked back at Elizabeth. They both smiled at the same moment. Elizabeth turned to the EO.

“I think we’ll need at least an hour, son.”

Fisher tossed one more log onto the camp’s central fire. It was early morning and he knew that soon enough people would be seeking its warmth, ready to drink their cups of hot root brew in the company of their fellows.

He’d just returned from his trek the night before.

It had been further then he’d thought it would be—nine days out—to the beach where Indigo had claimed the boats were. Where Pathik and Rachel and their families had journeyed, intent on finding a new start. He didn’t know why he’d gone. Perhaps just see the place.

There
were
boats there, just like Indigo had always insisted. Two boats, metal hulls shining in the sun, lacy with rusting bullet holes. He’d felt something fold inside his chest when he saw them. But he looked closer, and he found evidence that’ there had been a third. The place where it had rested for who knew how long was clear, and the marks where someone—Pathik? Malgam? Daniel?—had dragged it to the sea were still there. Fisher had smiled, then, and looked out at the ocean.

Maybe they’d made it. He’d thought about it all the way back to camp, wondering if he should have left with them. But there were things that needed to be done here, council meetings to attend, to ensure no one strayed from their good intentions. There was a certain girl who, though she wasn’t Rachel, might be enough for him. He sat down on the log bench near the fire and waited for his people to wake, to come talk about the ordinary things they talked about, like who was sick, or who was next up for a hunting trek, or whether the Roberts had been causing trouble of late.

Kinec ran up to the fire, so pale, so out of breath that Fisher thought he must have been chased by a baern at first. He was up with his blade drawn immediately, looking past Kinec for the beast. They rarely ventured so close to camp, but one never knew.

“Fisher!” Kinec gasped for air, his chest heaving. He bent over and put his hands on his knees until he could speak. “A flying machine!”

Fisher crinkled his brow. “A what?”

“A flying machine!” Kinec straightened. “I was checking the traps and it just
appeared
above me. It made no sound at all.” Kinec reconsidered. “Well, very little sound. And a man dropped from it on a line, like some sort of fish, or . . . something like that.”

Fisher didn’t know what to think. He wondered if Kinec was telling the truth. The boy did tend toward exaggeration.

“He waved to me. To me!” Kinec was speaking more calmly now. “And he handed me this.” He fished a piece of paper out of his pack. “They must think we’re pretty stupid.”

Fisher took the paper. He saw what Kinec meant. There was a section of text, but above that was a sort of picture-message, intended to ensure the communication was understood if the recipients couldn’t read. Fisher skipped to the text.

His eyes grew wider and wider as he read.

“Go get Michael.” Fisher reread the message twice before he realized that Kinec was still standing there. “Go get Michael, please.”

Kinec nodded, but he didn’t leave. “Do you think it’s true? Would they really leave us boats?”

Fisher could only nod. “I think Rachel must have figured out a way to get the upper hand.” He smiled as he read the message a third time. “I don’t know who else would come up with this.” He looked up at Kinec, wondering if he would be one of the people who would choose to make the journey to the island—to Indigo’s firetale, suddenly so real. “I think if we go to the beach, we’ll find boats.” His mind was racing, thinking about the possibilities. “Now, will you please go get Michael?”

Kinec looked at him. “He won’t like it, you know.”

Fisher knew Kinec was right. Michael wanted power a bit more than he wanted what might be good for all the people. “I know.”

“Fisher.” Kinec swallowed. “If it’s true, and there are boats, I’m going.”

Fisher grinned. “You and me both, Kinec.” He watched, as the boy ran off to find the senior council member of their group. “You and me both,” he whispered.

“There are supposed to be six.” Rachel counted again. Melissa, Keith, two women and one man she didn’t know. “There are only five here.”

Jeffrey looked down. “I . . . one of the subjects expired during testing early on.” He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut as though he expected to be slapped.

Rachel didn’t understand, at first. She knew what the words meant, but she couldn’t believe it was true. “What do you mean, expired?”

“He means they killed someone.” Pathik narrowed his eyes at Jeffrey. “Don’t you?”

Jeffrey kept his face averted. “It was a very unfortunate accident. It was not anticipated that the test would have that—”

“Just shut up.” Rachel was shaking. “Just shut up and get off the boat.”

Jeffrey turned and walked away as quickly as his feet would carry him. Rachel watched him go.

“It was Brian.” Melissa stared after Jeffrey. “He came the year after I did.” She looked at Rachel. “I don’t what they did to him, but he never came back one day.” Melissa’s eyes were dry; there was very little left that could make her cry.

Rachel took Melissa’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

Melissa nodded. “Me, too.” She looked at the men loading supplies onto the boat. “How soon can we leave?”

They kept their word. The whole trip back, Rachel was worried they would try something, blow up the boat in the middle of the passage, or take them someplace else instead of back to the island. But they didn’t. The boat landed on the far beach, just like they said it would.

“That map must have scared them but good.” Pathik watched as the government men unloaded their supplies onto the beach. “Think we can trust any of that medicine?”

Rachel grinned. “I told Wilkinson the first person that’s hurt by anything they send, we mark his location special on a map and send it on to Korusal, with a note identifying him for war crimes. From the look on his face, I think it will be fine.” She watched as the pile of supplies grew. “We’ve got a long way to haul all of that, and not many strong enough to carry much.”

Pathik grinned, looking past her at the dunes. “I don’t think we’ll have such a bad time of it.”

Rachel turned and saw twenty, thirty, maybe even forty people streaming toward them. She saw Vivian and Daniel, then Malgam and Nandy. Even Nipper was there, bounding toward them. “How?”

“Da was checking in on us. I thought he might be. I tried to show him what we were up to and he saw!” Pathik grinned, and ran toward his father.

By the time all the supplies had been stowed, Rachel was dead on her feet. “I want to sleep for days.” She leaned against Vivian, so exhausted she couldn’t hold herself up anymore.

“You deserve to, my love.” Vivian smoothed Rachel’s hair back from her forehead, staring at her daughter’s face as though she couldn’t believe she was really seeing it.

“Any word from the beach?” They’d arranged for a watch, day and night, to look out for any boats.

“None.” Daniel sat down at the table. He’d just returned from the office. “So far there are no sightings.”

“It will take longer from Ganivar.” Vivian hoped she was right. “And who knows if anyone from Away will want to come. It could be weeks before they show up, if they do.”

“How’s Brian’s mother?” Rachel had seen the joy as families spotted their lost loved ones, the Honorees they thought were gone forever. She’d watched Sarah stumble toward her father, Keith, and wrap her arms around him, watched another family envelop Melissa, crying and laughing. But one woman had looked and looked, her expression changing from hopeful to worried as she searched the faces. When she heard that the Honoree named Brian had died, she’d fallen to her knees, sobbing inconsolably. Melissa, unlike the rest of the Honorees, could remember most of the people on the island, and she tried to comfort Brian’s mother as best she could.

Daniel shook his head. “She was heartbroken. Melissa stayed with her the whole time, and I think Melissa’s family made her stay in their unit tonight.”

Rachel sighed.

“You worked miracles, Rachel.” Vivian stroked her daughter’s cheek. “Don’t feel bad if you can help it.”

Rachel would have told her it was impossible not to feel bad, if she’d still been awake.

E
lizabeth took Jonathan’s hand and stepped off the ramp onto the sand. The sun was just rising and it caught the tiny bits of glass, making it look like there was glitter strewn on the beach. “It’s beautiful.” She looked around at the water, stretching off to the horizon.

“That it is.” Jonathan couldn’t stop smiling.

The men from the boat dumped their belongings unceremoniously on the beach, and soon the boat was a dot in the ocean.

“I guess that’s that.” Jonathan chuckled. “They surely wanted quit of us fast.”

Elizabeth looked up the beach, then down. It seemed deserted. “I wonder . . .”

“Now don’t fret.” Jonathan was fretting a bit himself, but he was doing his best to hide it.