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I offer herin my palm, but she stands anyway She searches , I don’t knohat--but I tilt my head up, and I see her do the same out of the corner of littering through the honeycoe The universe--the stars, the blackness between them--and the planet

44

AMY

AT LUNCHTIME, I PRESS THE BUTTON IN MY WALL, BUT NO food coood

My first instinct is that the food delivery system in my wall is broken, but when I step outside h his office door is shut

"I don’t care if you think the people in the Ward don’t count, Fridrick!" Doc bellows "They still deserve food!"

I slip back into my roo This is more trouble for Elder--and for the ship I think about co him that no food’s been delivered to the Hospital, but his dead friend takes priority over lunch

Instead, I rav tube to search for the stairs There are two tubes, one near the City, one on this side of the level My sto into the City byhow close this tube is to the Recorder Hall, I think I’ve got a better chance of finding the hidden stairs near it than the other one If there even are stairs, I can’t help but think I just hope I’ve got this clue figured out correctly

The Hospital lobby is crowded as usual, but I keep h the people co about erously thin, with sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks Anothera pail in his lap

I take a deep breath of the recycled air as soon as I leave the Hospital--then i the for Elder’s reathered down the path near the pond

"And, once again, no food deliveries for lunch," a voice echoes froroup, standing on the bench

I resist the urge to run over and knock him into the pond Bartie had always seemed nice and even quiet before this week, but as the ship spinsin the center of the stor the path, I keep ht into a couple heading toward Bartie and the group at the pond

"Sorry!" the wo?" the nize that voice

Luthor

I should have started running, but iven Luthor time to touch my shoulder I peek at him under my hood, careful to keep my face down The bruises Victria and I inflicted on hireenish purple His left eye is still swollen; a dark red scab covers his split lip

"Coabout hoe could move the ship to a system that’s more fair"

He pulls me around by my shoulder I try to jerk away, and my hood slips down For a moment, I see surprise in Luthor’s face; then his eyes narrow to asps as if I’rins with all his teeth The cut in his lip cracks open, shiny red, but he doesn’t seehtens, and I hiss in pain

"Come on," the woman says "The freak isn’t invited"

Luthor releases, the two of them continue doard the pond

"It’s not like I wanted to go anyway!" I yell The pair pause, their backs to rav tube

Fortunately, since this grav tube can only be used by Elder, no one else is out this way I lean back, looking at the clear plastic tube that goes all the way up, through the ceiling, to the Keeper Level

It’s stupid, but the first thing I want to do is push the wi-coet the taste of his kiss offrav tube I usually avoid the ship’s walls From a distance, you can squint and blur out the rivets that hold it together, pretend that the sky-blue paint is sky But when you’re up close, you can smell the metal, the same sharp taste in the back of your throat as blood, and when you touch it, it’s cold and iainst the steel wall the same way my father tapped on the drywall in our house to find a stud before hanging a picture Maybe the sound will clue me in to whatever’s behind the wall For a ainst the walls, when I was crying and screa at the metal, desperate to find a way out Orion foundfaces on the ship, and I thought I’d found a friend in him Not a ainst the wall Tap-tap Tap-tap Tap-tap There’s nothing here Tap-tap Tap-tap Tap-tap What a? I look like an idiot Tap-tap Taaap-taaaap

My hand stills Just to the right, a little off center frorav tube dais, the wall echoes hollowly I lean closer

And then I see it Faint, dusty, almost invisible