Enders(47)
Hyden and I sat on hard metal chairs, our hands still cuffed behind our backs. The uniformed Enders kept guard over us, but the leopard man and Emma had taken Michael through a door to the left. Large airscreens were projected on the wall, monitoring the “café” that was empty now. The charade was all for us. The sad customer and the bored barista both entered, sporting their black uniforms and no longer sad or bored.
Why did they take Michael away?
“What’re they doing with him?” I asked Hyden.
A uniformed Ender nudged me with the nose of his rifle. “Quiet.”
The cold metal against my skin made me flinch. Why, why, why? Why were we there? All I wanted was a normal life with my brother, and here I was, a prisoner again. Only this time it wasn’t Institution 37.
It was a lot worse.
Besides the airscreens, there were special projections in the room that transformed the space. It cycled through different scenes accompanied by scents and soft sounds that matched the scene. Right now it was a bamboo forest rustling in the wind and a grassy perfume. I didn’t know if this was their idea of decorating the warehouse space or if it was some special technique to keep us disoriented. If it was the latter, it was working really well.
Hyden glanced over at me. His eyes communicated sadness. He sighed and closed them a moment. I knew it was a “sorry” gesture.
If I had been allowed to speak, I would have told him it wasn’t his fault. I was the one who had insisted we follow Emma. If I hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be handcuffed here, and Michael wouldn’t be off in some room possibly being tortured.
My eyes blurred. I knew what that meant. Another memory of Helena’s was coming on. My sight soon sharpened to show me a vision as clear as an Xperience. I was in Helena’s bed with the canopy, in the moonlight. I turned on the table lamp and slipped out of bed to the open closet. The carpet was pulled back, exposing the hidden compartment in the floor. I lifted the lid to the case and saw the gun inside.
I picked it up and held it against my cheek, feeling the power it contained. The metal was icy cold.
The memory ended abruptly—like I’d woken from a dream. I was freezing. I shivered but couldn’t shake the memory. Her memories seem to come on most during times of stress. Sometimes they helped me. But I couldn’t see any meaning in this one. Just one more sign that my brain really didn’t belong to me.
I was very much awake and aware, here in the bamboo forest environment.
Hyden’s head was forward and his eyes were closed. Asleep? I couldn’t tell.
The door to the side room opened, and the leopard man came out. Alone.
“Bring the girl,” he said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hyden’s eyes opened as one of the military Enders came over and yanked me to my feet.
“What about him?” the Ender asked the other guard.
“Just the girl,” the first one said.
“No, take me!” Hyden shouted. “I’ll go instead!”
“You’ll get your turn,” his guard said as he kicked him in the shins.
My guard pulled me harder, through the door on the left, and then shoved me into a small room. It had the projection illusion of being inside a rock cave. He pushed me into a metal chair.
“You can go,” a voice said to the guard. It was the leopard man.
The guard hesitated, as if I were some kind of dangerous assassin he didn’t dare leave with his boss.
The leopard man stood with his hands on his hips.
“Yes, sir,” the guard said, and left.
Leopard Man wore a black long-sleeved knit shirt and black jeans. He kept his white hair as long as a mane. In fact, when he walked around my chair, I was reminded of a lion on the prowl, stalking his prey. He examined my face from every angle. Then he went to the back of my chair and pushed my head forward. He parted my hair, exposing my chip insertion scar. I felt his cautious fingers probing it.
“What are you doing?” I said.
He ignored me. After a moment of examination, he moved away, and I raised my head.
“You have no right to keep us here. I want a lawyer.”
A sharp laugh blew from his lips. “You think we care about rights? Lawyers?” He bent so we were eye to eye. “You’re mine. Like a doll. I’ll do what I want, when I want.”
I detected a slight accent, but it was too subtle to place. His eyes were gray-blue and lined with fine wrinkles. His face might have been called handsome once, but now it was just cruel. His hands were rough, with large knuckles and calluses. I had no doubt he was capable of any level of torture.
My eyes scanned the room. Two doors. Nothing that could be used as a weapon. I looked up at the ceiling. Through the cave illusion, I noticed panels in the ceiling. It might be possible to hide up there.