I locate the door button and press it. The door closes. I scan the control panel. It looks almost nothing like any of Kyon’s trifts. This one is a simple manual transmission. I enter Dobrey’s starter code and the trift lifts off the ground, hovering. Directing the craft straight up, I angle it so that the guards can’t shoot me as I wheel it in the direction of the distant mountains.
Knowing which way to go is not a problem. All I have to do is find the center of Urbenoster and I’ll find Kyon’s house. I slip into traffic, hiding among the pack. As I pass among the buildings, I see Newsreel playing on the sides of them all. My face is everywhere, along with Excelsior’s. They play over and over the turbine worms chewing through his skull. I begin to shake again. My skin grows clammy.
I locate the river and follow it. Approaching the house, I head right for it. A wailing sound erupts in the cabin. It feels as if it stabs me. I try to turn it off, but it continues its incessant noise. Someone’s voice breaks through a speaker in the cockpit of the vehicle. “White Sestin four five two four two, abort from your current course or you will be shot down.”
I press the blinking button on the control panel. “This is Kricket! Can you hear me?”
“Kricket Ensin?” the voice asks.
“Yes! It’s me! I need your help! Please! I need to land and I don’t know how!”
“Do you want us to bring you in on auto?” the voice asks.
“You can do that?” I ask.
“Affirmative. I just have to lock on to you. Would you like me to do that?”
“Yes! Do that! Please do that!”
“I am locked on. Where would you like to touch down?” he asks.
“Close to the house. I need medical assistance. I need Fulton!”
“He will be notified. I will bring you in near Victory.”
“Thank you,” I reply. I want to fall apart now as I let go of the controls and the ship flies on its own.
Landing in an interior courtyard. I scramble out of my seat. The hatch opens when I press a button by the frame. Exiting, I find Fulton waiting for me. I run to him and fall into his arms. I hug him as if he was a beloved parent. Hot tears burn my eyes. “Kyon needs your help,” I cry against his chest.
“You brought Kyon back with you?” he asks incredulously.
I nod. Pulling away, I look up into his eyes. “Excelsior hurt him. I don’t know how badly. Will you fix him?” I know I sound childish. I can’t help it though. I grip his wrist, ready to wring his agreement out of him.
“I will help him,” Fulton assures me. He gently removes my hand and directs men to unload Kyon from the back of the trift.
They take him to a surgery that has all of the trappings of a real medical facility. Men that I’ve never met before puzzle over his injuries. Some of the wounds are healing faster than they can account for. He has suffered an intense amount of damage to some of his organs—all but his heart. It was untouched. When they finish cauterizing his wounds, they bandage him and give him sedatives. He won’t be able to wake up for a while.
I order everyone out except for Fulton. “Do you have scissors?” I ask him.
He produces them from his pocket. He’s way ahead of me. Going to the bed, he cuts Kyon’s hair again. A rush of blood flushes his cheeks. “You have to take him back to the island, Fulton.”
“We can leave within the hour. I will have everything arranged.”
“I can’t go with you,” I reply.
“What do you mean? I believe the city will be unsafe for you for the near future.”
I’m confused about what to say—what to tell him. “I’m going to be hunted, Fulton. If I go to the island with you, they’ll kill both Kyon and me. His only chance is if we split up. They’ll follow me. That will give him time to recover.”
“Who are they?”
“There are other males like Kyon who survived Excelsior. They’ll be fighting for their own supremacy soon. I will be seen as in the way of that. I will have to run.”
“We can protect you on the island—”
“Think about it, Fulton! A bunch of angry men with abilities just like Kyon’s will have an ax to grind with me. I have a sister. They follow her. I threaten her reign. It’s a fight I can’t win.”
“What will you do?” he asks.
“I plan to travel,” I say evasively.
“He’s going to be impossible to live with when he wakes and finds you gone.”
“Just as long as he wakes up,” I say.
“You love him.”
“Don’t be silly, Fulton. He’s a ruthless killer.”
“He’s your ruthless killer.”