The Island (7 page)

“Celebration?” Pathik asked the question all of them were thinking. “What’s that?”

Filina just smiled. “Time enough for explanations later. All of you must be tired. We’ll get you settled in quarters and let you rest.” She crinkled her brow. “I’m afraid our largest available family quarters may be a bit small for your whole group.”

“We could split into two—Rachel, Daniel and myself, and Malgam, Nandy and Pathik.” Vivian looked at the others questioningly.

“If the rooms are close to each other.” Malgam scowled.

“Of course.” Filina noticed Hannah and Tom standing near. “Hannah. You can show them their rooms—the two empty units on the west wall. Tom, you can get bedding, whatever they might need.”

Tom left at a trot. Hannah stepped closer to Rachel, but she kept her eyes on Nipper, as though he might leap on her at any moment.

“He really won’t hurt you,” Rachel whispered.

Hannah didn’t look so certain. “He’s so scary-looking.”

“I know—I was scared the first time I met him, too.”

“Hannah.” Filina looked less than pleased. “Take them along now, and then get back to help Sarah with the preparations.”

“We’d better go.” Hannah waited until she was sure everyone in the group was together. “Just follow me—it’s not too far.” She practically skipped along, turning once to check that everyone was following. They wound through groups of people, all working. One woman watched several toddlers, each with a long length of twine tied onto their clothing, the ends held in her hands. Rachel wondered at that, though she could see how easy it might be to lose a child in the immense cavern. The woman seemed kind enough, patiently handing back a dropped toy, checking a scratched knee. She smiled at Rachel when the group passed her.

Two younger boys and an old man kneaded dough at a table. Several loaves of it were already shaped, rising in shallow wooden bowls. One of the boys stared at Pathik as they passed.

“What do you think Celebration is?” Pathik whispered, eyes on the boy.

Rachel shrugged. “I bet we’re going to find out soon enough.”

“I wonder if we want to know.” Pathik stared back at the boy with the bread dough.

“Here we are.” Hannah turned to the group. “Those are the units.” She pointed toward two wooden doors set into the cave wall. They were two in a row of many, all identical. “They’re pretty big inside. Keith made them, before he left—” Hannah stopped abruptly. “Well, anyway.” She opened the first door. “Tom should be back soon with bedding and things.”

Tom
was
back, almost as soon as Hannah spoke the words. He towed a dented child’s wagon filled with blankets and oil lights and other supplies, and the packs containing all the group’s belongings, which they’d left in the room Filina called the office. He and Hannah helped unload everything.

“I brought this,” said Tom, holding up a bowl of chopped meat. “It’s sand mole—I figured since he was hunting it he might like it.” Tom looked at Nipper, who was watching him with suspicion.

“Thank you.” Nandy took the bowl. “I bet he’ll love it.”

Tom and Hannah took their leave, and the group began to settle in.

The units were fairly large, at least for rooms that had been carved out of rock. Each had a main room, a bedroom and a small bathroom. Daniel and Malgam checked the second unit out while Rachel, Pathik, Nandy and Vivian unpacked some of their things in the first.

“Looks like they work the bathrooms just like we did Away.” Pathik held a curtain back from the bathroom doorway to reveal a chamber pot. “I guess The Property spoiled me a bit. I miss the hot and cold running water and the flushing toilet, even though I barely got to know them.” He grinned at Rachel.

“Should we all stay in this one tonight?” Nandy looked around the main room of the first unit. “It would be tight, but it might be better if we’re all together.”

“We don’t want to put them on the defensive right away.” Daniel came through the door, Malgam right behind him. “The other one is exactly like this one. It’s almost like they’ve got a little city in this cavern.”

“This doesn’t look like it was done by hand.” Rachel pointed to the walls. The carving was smooth like the upper walls of the alcove had been, too smooth to have been done with crude hand tools.

“Keith.” Vivian recalled the name Hannah had mentioned. “Who do you suppose Keith is—or was? That girl said he made these
before
. . . something.” She ran a hand over one of the walls. “I wonder if this was his talent.”

Malgam, ever practical, started splitting up the box of food Tom had brought, placing some in a separate pile to take to the unit next door. “I think Daniel is right about not putting our hosts on edge. We should be fine tonight with some of us in here and some of us in there. But for now, let’s talk about what we want to do from here.”

They borrowed a bench and a stool from the second unit so they could all sit around the small table in the first. Rachel felt safe for the first time since they had climbed into the boat and headed to the island. She was so relieved that her mother and father, Pathik and Malgam and Nandy, even Nipper, were all alive and with her. She felt Pathik’s hand touch hers under the table.

“For tonight at least, I think we should take shifts keeping watch.” Nandy kept her voice low, as though she thought someone might be listening. She petted Nipper, who leaned against her knee.

“I agree.” Malgam eyed the closed door. “But in the meantime, I think we should do a little exploring. See what we can find out.”

“I have a feeling Filina expects us to stay in the units, for now.” Vivian sounded hesitant. “Do you think she’d want us wandering around?”

Malgam snorted. “I could not care less what she’d want us to—”

“I think we’re all exhausted.” Daniel rubbed his eyes. “We do need to find out what’s going on here, but for tonight, let’s regroup and rest. We may need our strength.”

Rachel watched her father, saw how he sagged against the table as though he could barely stay upright. He’d been through so much when the Roberts took him, and he still wasn’t fully recovered. Malgam was stronger, but he, too, was recovering from the illness that had almost killed him. They both needed rest desperately.

“Pathik and I can take a look around, then come back and take second watch.” Rachel looked at Vivian. “Maybe you and Nandy could take first watch?”

Vivian understood immediately. “That’s a perfect idea. Nandy?”

Nandy nodded. She and Vivian exchanged a look—they were both worried about the men. Nandy put a hand on Pathik’s shoulder. “As long as you two don’t wander far.” She stood. “Let’s get the beds made up.”

With everyone working it took no time at all to ready the beds in both units. There were two in each—a bed and a sort of cot. Rachel knew she and Pathik would be sleeping in the cots, but they looked fairly comfortable. The bedding was finer than anything Away—it seemed closer to the sort of thing Rachel and Vivian had been used to on the Unified States side of the Line.

“Where do you suppose they get these?” Vivian stroked a soft, fine blanket. “Any from before the bombs would have rotted long ago.” She handed the blanket to Nandy, who was ready to finish up the last bed. “There was nothing this fine Away, was there?” Vivian had only spent a short time Away before they’d left for the island.

Nandy shook her head. “We had a couple of looms we used, but you can see what they turned out.” She fingered the sleeve of her own shirt. “Rough stuff, compared to this.”

“Stone that looks shaped by machines, fine sheets.” Malgam frowned. “I didn’t see any evidence of a power source. I know Indigo thought they might still have power from the wind farm that was supposed to have been here, but they’re using oil lamps for light and buckets for toilets. If the wind farm was still operational they’d at least have lights.”

Pathik caught Rachel’s eye. “We’ll go wander a bit,” he said to Nandy. “See what we can see.”

“Remember, not too far.” Nandy gave the blanket a shake and let it fall onto the bed.

“Don’t forget your jacket.” Vivian handed Rachel her coat.

Rachel smiled and shrugged it on. She put her hands in the pockets and felt the orchid cubes she had stashed there during the storm. When she pulled them out, Vivian gasped.

“Oh, Rachel! Your orchids.” Vivian’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Rachel went to her mother, who took the cubes like they were expensive crystal goblets.

“I didn’t want to tell you, but . . .” Vivian dabbed at her eyes. “The rest—the ones you and Elizabeth packed—they all got ruined by saltwater. I thought they were all dead.”

Rachel felt her own tears threatening to fall. She had feared that the flat of orchid cubes was lost—it was the reason she’d taken these two and stuffed them in her coat during the storm—but she’d hoped that she was wrong. She thought about how she’d worked with Ms. Moore in the greenhouse just before they left for Away, carefully packing the orchid crosses one by one in the cubes, preserving them in the hope they might thrive in a new world. Ms. Moore knew then that she wasn’t going to Cross with the rest of them, that she would stay with Jonathan on The Property, waiting, hoping for a miracle: that Indigo was still alive. Both she and Rachel had known that day that if he was still alive, he wouldn’t be for long.

“Two is enough.” Rachel tried to keep her voice from shaking. She checked the fluid levels in the two cubes her mother held. Still plenty of nutrient solution in both. “Two will be enough for me to propagate more.” She watched as Vivian placed them on the table. The tiny green plants inside the cubes glowed with life.

Rachel took it as a good sign. Maybe things here would be what Indigo had thought they could be. Maybe they could start again, find a way to make a life together. She let her gaze linger on the cubes a moment more. She’d have to find them light—they couldn’t live long in the cave.

“Let’s go.” Pathik waited at the door.

Rachel gave Vivian a hug and turned to join him. They stepped through the unit door and stood outside a moment, scanning the cavern.

“Where to?” Rachel was glad the units weren’t in the middle of the cave. There were enough eyes on them as it was—she felt like shrinking before the stares from people nearby.

“We were hoping you might get to come out for a while!” Hannah appeared from nowhere, Tom right behind her, both of them beaming. “We can show you around some more, if you’d like.”

Pathik glanced at Rachel, then withdrew his hand from his knife as surreptitiously as he could. “That would be  . . . nice.” He didn’t sound like he thought it would be nice at all.

A
ll the living spaces are along the perimeter of the cave. You’re in one of the newer sections, where they’re all rock. Over there,” Hannah pointed across the vast space of the cavern, “are the older ones, from the beginning.”

Rachel and Pathik could see wood-framed structures like the room they called the office, built lean-to style along the perimeter of the far wall.

“The beginning?” Rachel stayed close to Pathik as they followed Hannah and Tom on the tour.

“Way back, when the bombs fell.” Tom shrugged. “They didn’t have talent, those first survivors, so they couldn’t make them the way the new ones are made. Although with Keith gone, we may have to go back to—” He didn’t finish. “Most of the people left out here died from the radiation in the beginning. Was it the same for you?”

Pathik nodded. “Most of the people Away died, too. For a long time, no babies survived. When they did, they usually had a gift. Now, most of us do.”

“
Most
of you.” Tom frowned. “I think at first we only had some people with talent, but now it’s everyone. Everyone has something, even if it’s just pinging.” He gave Hannah a sly glance, which she made a great show of ignoring. “I wonder what the difference is?”

“Don’t know.” Pathik was scanning everything they passed as they walked, trying to memorize all the details. He kept an eye out for exits, but didn’t see any.

“Maybe honers?” Rachel had been wondering about the difference herself. “Like Sarah said in the office.  I don’t think there were any honers Away, were there Pathik?”

Pathik shook his head. “Nothing like here. We would practice on our focus in Usage, get better at our gifts that way, but it sounds like honers can do more than that.”

“They can.” Tom grinned. “Before I was honed I didn’t really understand what I was getting from people—with my talent, I mean. I knew I felt different around someone who was healthy than I did around someone who wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell what it was that made me feel that way. I didn’t know how to read what I was feeling. A honer can narrow it down for you, teach you how to work with what you’ve got.”

“Maybe that’s the difference. Since you have honers here, maybe they just helped everyone develop their gifts better.” Rachel stopped walking. “Maybe everyone Away has a gift, too, but without someone to bring it out—like a honer—they don’t all know it.”

“Makes sense, in a way. We all come from people who got exposed to the bombs, and that’s what causes the gifts, isn’t it?” Pathik started walking again. “Is the cave entrance we came in the only one?”

Hannah and Tom exchanged another look. Neither replied. After a moment, Tom pointed toward the benches that had made Rachel think of the council room Away. “That’s where we hold meetings, to decide things like who’s doing what jobs, or how—”

“Look.” Pathik cut Tom off. “Are we actually guests here, or prisoners?” He asked the question quietly, but Rachel could hear the challenge in his voice.

Tom heard it, too. He stopped walking and waited until Pathik stopped, too. “As far as Hannah and I are concerned, you’re guests.” Tom looked around him to see if anyone was watching them. “I thought the idea was that you wanted to start new here—is that right?”

“As far as
you
two are concerned.” Rachel ignored Tom’s question and asked one of her own. “What about the rest of the people here?”

Once again, Hannah and Tom were silent. Finally, Hannah stepped closer to Rachel and whispered.