Page 38 (1/2)

I re, uncontrollable laughter--as the old ers

He nudgedon his nose, I recall--and I scooped up a handful of cake in one hand and cra cake with our hands, not even bothering with plates as we reached forthe tablecloth, in our hair, under our fingernails--and no one cared at all

It was the happiest day of , Evie wokeI would be spending the next year with the butchers, and there would be no cake at all that year

"Who was thatas she folded hed at my question "Silly! That was Eldest, of course!"

•••

I close my eyes and think of the way my teeth cracked the paper-thin crust on the top of the crea, the way the cake filled lance at my bed, at the threadbare old blanket I had as a child that Eldest kept for e of ainst my face, and think about all Eldest was, and all he wasn’t All this ship has been, and all it will never be

For a et that today is the day I leave the ship, shut my eyes, and breathe in the scent of a thousand drea to the Shipper Level, I re-activate the wi-com system for the rest of the ship Within sconds, Shelby coin planet-landing, sir," she says in my ear

I so home"

56

AMY

I WAKE UP EARLY AFTER I DRESS, I THINK ABOUT SENDING Elder a co up to the Keeper Level to see him I want to see Elder But--he has a ship to land

To land On the new planet I release a shaky breath, full of relief and joy Nothing else matters Not Orion’s stupid clues or Bartie’s ridiculous revolution--we have the planet

I head straight to the cryo level It feels strange to do this now, even though I’ve done it every day for the last three months I did it then because I believed I’d never see ain Noithmy parents’ frozen bodies, it feels false

Maybe it’s because I kno close we are to waking theood

I have so er than I was before About Harley and Luthor and Elder I want to spill out every ht

But I also know that I don’t have to We’re there

In the distance, I hear the unen lab behind me It’s one of the doors down the hall past the cryo chamberone of the locked doors

This is it This is whoever’s ta with the clues It has to be

I tear off down the hall, determined to catch whoever it is

But no one’s here

Then I notice a crack of light seeping from the armory door

I catch my breath The armory doorthat means whoever’s in there has all the weapons I, on the other hand, have noneunless you count the pocket-full of Phydus med patches I took fro would be to run But if I can just get an idea of who has been playing with us

The door creaks loudly Of-freaking-course it would creak loudly

But no one’s inside Just in case, I step over to the closest rack, where the suns are stored At the top are tiny pistols I wasn’t kidding when I taunted Luthor My father raised un is and how to use it I pick up one of the red protection plastic bags and slide h the seal Gun oil wafts aroundopen and the revolver falls into my hand It has a small frame and a snubbed barrel, but it can hold 38 caliber bullets The bullets are stored in a separate box, sealed with plastic I press the grip into un My hand’s too sun’s a double action, and all I’ve got to reach is the trigger

I look closer, behind the shelves, the gun firmly in my hand But no one is here

Then I remember--I came here because I heard a door slam shut Whoever was here may have started in the armory, but he slammed another door--on this hallway full of doors that are supposed to be locked

I go back out and check the hatch through the bubble , then open the rooainst the big door at the end of the hall, the last locked door, but it’s too heavy for

What’s behind that door anyway? I briefly consider staying here to guard it Whoever went in will have to go out No one passed h the hallway, and the only doors that can slam shut rather than zip open are these Whoever it is has to be here

Exceptif this person kno to unlock the doors, then whoever it is must also know about the stairs I found behind the wallsthey go down too They must reach the cryo level And since there are no stairs here--they have to coo up to the Feeder Level right now and run down the stairs,with Orion’s clues and discover what else is behind the locked door! If only Elder were here with me

I’m halfway down the hall when I reun in hand, it’s still not safe I turn back and start to shut the door when I notice so near the shelf of explosives I set the gun down and pick up the floppy

Orion’s face fills the screen

<<begin video feed>>