The Lost Code Part 14

Echoes of the explosion rolled away across the lake. An alarm began to sound.

"Everyone meet up with your cabin!" Claudia shouted.

"Over here!" Todd was calling. All the campers cl.u.s.tered.

"Nomads," Leech said knowingly. "Probably mounting another attack." Everybody tensed at this. One of the younger kids standing nearby overheard Leech, turned, and whispered frantically to his cabin. The panic spread, some children starting to cry.

"Hey, Carey!" Todd snapped at Leech. "We don't know what happened."

Leech looked at the rest of us and rolled his eyes.

"All right, everyone!" We looked back to Claudia, who was holding a subnet phone to her ear. "Everything is secured, nothing to worry about. We're to proceed to breakfast as usual."

We headed up the hill, everyone mumbling nervously.

"They tried one time back in the spring," Leech was saying. Everyone in our cabin, even Beaker and Bunsen, stayed within earshot of him like he was our wise sage. I couldn't help listening, too. "Blowing a hole in one of the supply entrances. There was another time when they tried to get in through the observatory roof. But the Security Forces took them out. Stupid savages."

"Sometimes they show up in Dallas Beach looking for supplies," said Noah. "They're always dressed weird. My brother says they wear skulls around their necks."

"I heard they practice human sacrifice, and wors.h.i.+p, like, sun G.o.ds and stuff," said Jalen.

I was pretty sure Jalen was wrong about that. The sun G.o.d stuff was down in Desenna, the human sacrifice too, but that was only rumors. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd heard that the Nomads were the victims of these sacrifices, but I didn't feel like getting into the conversation.

"I heard that they're just kinda normal," said Beaker.

"Yes, but you're an idiot," said Leech.

We reached the dining hall doors and waited to file in. A trail of smoke was still rising from behind the camp office buildings. While we stood there, a little cart rushed by, carrying five of Eden's black-suited Security Forces, four guards sitting on the sideways benches behind the driver. There were three men and two women, all wearing helmets and high-laced boots, with rifles over their shoulders. I knew the Edens had security, but it surprised me how much these officers looked like an army.

"Man, I'd like to suit up with those guys and go kick some Nomad a.s.s," said Jalen wistfully.

We filed in and headed to our table. Everyone was quieter than usual. You could hear the words nomads nomads and and attack attack being muttered everywhere. Todd started filling everyone's cups with bug juice. Today's color was neon pink and, again, I waved it off. being muttered everywhere. Todd started filling everyone's cups with bug juice. Today's color was neon pink and, again, I waved it off.

When it was our turn to get food, I looked for Lilly in the CIT area. There were six of them sitting over there eating, but none of my gill breathers were with them.

I went into the kitchen and got a tray. I took some gray waffles, some fried syntheggs, then I grabbed a cup of the fruit salad and turned- Lilly was standing right in front of me. She took my tray and put it down beside the fruit cups. "Come on," she said, and pulled me by the wrist. Instead of heading out the kitchen door into the main dining room, we left through a side door that led into a hallway.

"Where are we going?"

"To see what happened before the official story gets written."

"Story?"

"History is always written to serve the powerful," Lilly said over her shoulder. "Whatever just happened, Paul will change the story so that none of us are afraid."

"You think we should be afraid?" I asked, not really understanding what she was getting at.

"Not of the Nomads," said Lilly.

She led me out double doors. We were on the dirt road that led between the dining hall and the administrative buildings. Evan, Marco, and Aliah were standing there.

"Okay, now now can we go?" asked Evan. can we go?" asked Evan.

"Everybody needs to see these things together," Lilly snapped at him. Then she glanced sharply at me. "If somebody runs off on their own, we can't defend each other. Remember Anna?"

I figured she also meant me, last night. "Sorry about that," I said quickly.

"Yeah, dude, what happened to you?" Marco asked.

"Later," said Lilly. "Let's go."

"Roger that, commander," said Evan sarcastically. Lilly huffed and brushed past, her shoulder b.u.mping him.

I followed after them, wondering if Todd had noticed yet that I was gone. But whatever, it felt good to be back with my people.

Lilly led the way, ducking off the road into the trees between a staff office building and the infirmary. She turned around and held a finger to her lips, then tiptoed ahead.

We got to the edge of the building and peered through the underbrush. Ahead was the wide paved area and the tall metal double doors. The elevator shaft was off to the left. Before the doors there was a trench, like a dry moat, separating the ground and the wall. A steel bridge stretched over it.

Between us and this bridge was an overturned supply truck. Its squat, square frame was charred and smoking, twisted like it was made of clay. Same for the bridge, which had buckled and half given way. The little security checkpoint house had been flattened. A small fire flickered in its black remains, and one of the Security Forces was spraying it with an extinguisher.

"The bomb must have been in that truck," said Lilly.

The dome doors were c.o.c.keyed, creating an awkward triangular gap. Everything was smeared with the black of the blast. A few inner panels of the dome had fallen from points above, wide triangular sections that had what looked like frosted gla.s.s on the front and then a feathery layer of radiation insulators on the back. The gla.s.s had mostly smashed all over the blast site, like someone had scattered diamonds. The air was sour with a smell like burned sugar and melting crayons.

But it was that tiny view out the c.o.c.keyed doors that caught my eye. I could see the dry steps of rock, a distant leaning water tower gleaming in white hot sun.

Lilly caught my eye. "Almost makes you want to make a break for it."

"Yeah, an express run to death," said Evan.

"There's Paul," said Aliah.

He was jogging toward the bridge. Shouts were coming from outside the doors. Three security guards appeared, ducking through with a fourth figure, whose hands were bound behind his back.

"Whoa, they got one," said Marco.

The prisoner wore dirty jeans and a long, thickly padded coat with a silver reflective surface. He had tinted goggles pulled up onto his forehead, and a black triangle of plastic stuck onto the bridge of his nose. I'd seen these clothes before: all of it was to protect from exposure. He walked tall as they crossed the bridge, a defiant smile on his face.

Paul was calling someone on his phone as the security team edged its way across the twisted bridge. When they reached the other side, Dr. Maria appeared.

Paul motioned to the captive. "Take him to medical," he barked, his normal mellow demeanor gone. "And we'll want him to talk."

"You know why we're here!" the prisoner suddenly shouted, clearly trying to get as many of the personnel to hear him as possible.

"Shut him up," Paul growled to Dr. Maria. He turned to the Security Forces. "Cartier, is this under control?" he called.

One of the officers, a short, burly man who wasn't wearing a helmet, turned around. He had rough features and short hair. There was a silver bar pinned on his s.h.i.+rt. "Yes sir."

"Good." Paul spun and started back toward his office, like this was just one of many crises he was dealing with.

Dr. Maria had produced a syringe from her coat pocket. Her face was set seriously, but she also looked almost fearful as she approached the Nomad.

"This is all a lie!" the Nomad shouted. "You'll all be left behind! You've got to bring down Project Elysium!"

I saw Paul pause at the door and turn back toward him.

"Hold him," said Dr. Maria. I saw the syringe shaking in her hand.

Cartier put the Nomad in a headlock, pulling him sideways by the hair and exposing his neck. The prisoner saw Dr. Maria's needle and stopped struggling, instead just glaring at her coldly. She pressed the needle into his neck and he slumped into the guards' arms. They dragged him toward the infirmary. Paul disappeared inside.

"We should get back," whispered Evan, checking his watch. "We're supposed to be at the dock in ten minutes for morning lessons."

For once, Lilly just agreed. "Right."

We crept back through the trees to the road. "What did he mean?" I asked.

"Project Elysium?" said Marco. "No idea."

"Not no no idea," said Lilly. "I've heard about it on the Free Signal." She looked around suspiciously. "We shouldn't talk here." She glanced at me. "Tonight?" idea," said Lilly. "I've heard about it on the Free Signal." She looked around suspiciously. "We shouldn't talk here." She glanced at me. "Tonight?"

"Yeah," I said.

Lilly nodded, and the CITs headed up the road.

Back inside, I got a new tray of food and returned to my table. Everybody was finished eating.

"There he is," said Todd. "Owen, Pedro tells me you were talking to a lady friend in there."

I glanced over at Beaker and tried to say thanks with my eyes. "Yeah," I said to Todd.

"All right then," he said with a smile. "Eat up."

I sat and started shoveling food. When I finished, I found Leech staring at me. That weird look again, from the boat, from the other day, too. Like he was studying me. Like nothing about me convinced him. Or... like he knows something is up like he knows something is up. It seemed more certain than ever.

"h.e.l.lo, everyone," Paul's voice echoed over the speaker system in the dining hall. I looked around, but he wasn't anywhere in the room. "I just wanted to give you an update on this morning's accident. It turns out one of our supply trucks had a faulty battery cell, which caused the explosion. The driver has some minor injuries, but otherwise everyone is all right. I know many of you have been worried that this event had something to do with the Nomad Alliance and so I just wanted to end those rumors. Everything is fine, and no one is in any danger. So, have a pleasant day."

I heard Leech murmuring and glanced over. "Yeah, guess that's all it was," he was saying seriously, like he was Paul's special agent to the Spotted Hyenas.

History is always written to serve the powerful, Lilly had said, and here was proof: Paul rewriting what was only moments old. Had he done the same for Colleen? What about the DI? All of it was in question now, and I had to wonder, what about EdenWest was was what it seemed? what it seemed?

Chapter 12

WE SPENT THE MORNING PLAYING DODGEBALL and tetherball on the paved courts. Having gills did me no good at surviving the screaming red rubber b.a.l.l.s. If anything, trying to move my legs on land felt more inefficient and useless than ever. Every time I tried to twist or duck and the ball went and tetherball on the paved courts. Having gills did me no good at surviving the screaming red rubber b.a.l.l.s. If anything, trying to move my legs on land felt more inefficient and useless than ever. Every time I tried to twist or duck and the ball went puunk! puunk! on my head or back, I would look up and wish I could take that grinning face off Jalen or Mike, Noah or Leech, and show them the depths of the lake, drag them deep until their lungs felt like balloons trapped against a ceiling. I would imagine their eyes bugging out and their pupils saying, on my head or back, I would look up and wish I could take that grinning face off Jalen or Mike, Noah or Leech, and show them the depths of the lake, drag them deep until their lungs felt like balloons trapped against a ceiling. I would imagine their eyes bugging out and their pupils saying, Don't do this! Don't do this! Their arms flailing. I would see the bubble pressing out against their squeezed lips and- Their arms flailing. I would see the bubble pressing out against their squeezed lips and- Puunk!

"Ha, Turtle!" shouted Jalen.

I spent most of the game on the sideline, waiting for dark, for my time.

Lying in our bunks that night, Todd reading to us, I got a turn on the computer pad. I was surprised to find my camp mailbox empty. I thought I'd hear from Dad. It was strange, though, how little I'd thought about him the last couple days. I'd been so caught up in Lilly and everything else. I almost felt guilty now.

I started a new letter:

Hey Dad, It's Sat.u.r.day now. Things are okay here. I think you'd be proud of me. I've made some friends. Older kids that I actually have some things in common with. They're better than the kids in my cabin.Also, you maybe heard about that explosion here today. I don't know if that would make the news or not. Well, I'm not sure what you heard, but

I stopped there and wondered: What should I tell him? What I'd seen, or what Paul and Eden would have said? Then I thought about how much I already hadn't hadn't told him in the letter. My gills, the siren, all of that. How exactly was I going to explain that stuff to him, anyway? He might freak out if I told him, and pull me out of camp early. Did I want to leave early? Things didn't seem safe here, but if I left I'd lose Lilly, and I'd never know what was really going on with me, with this place. And that didn't even factor in that I'd be the only kid at Hub with gills. told him in the letter. My gills, the siren, all of that. How exactly was I going to explain that stuff to him, anyway? He might freak out if I told him, and pull me out of camp early. Did I want to leave early? Things didn't seem safe here, but if I left I'd lose Lilly, and I'd never know what was really going on with me, with this place. And that didn't even factor in that I'd be the only kid at Hub with gills.

I deleted the message.

Soon, Todd left us, and after the usual joke-filled conversations about the attractiveness levels of various Arctic Foxes, the cabin descended into snores and breathing. I closed my eyes and fell asleep too....

Until my gills woke me up, like clockwork. I got out of my bunk quietly, double-checking to be sure that Beaker was asleep. I had already put on my bathing suit before bed, so I slipped on my sneakers, grabbed my towel, and headed out.

I heard the light murmur of voices as I crossed the beach. Saw the silhouettes of heads and shoulders sitting out on the raft. I walked out to the edge of the dock, my gills sensing their home and flicking open. I blocked my throat and dove in, all the sensations of water a relief. I did a few circles before heading out to the raft. As I got close, I decided to try the shooting hands-free jump that the others always did. I swam straight down, launched up into the air, landed, and managed not to fall over. "Hey!" I said, but I immediately tensed.

Lilly wasn't there.

"She took off," said Evan, noticing me looking around. "She was p.i.s.sed."

"Oh," I said. I felt exposed standing there, and almost like, without Lilly around, I wasn't actually welcome. "What's she mad about?"

"Him," Aliah said, sitting with Marco's arm over her shoulders, and I saw that she was glaring at Evan.

"Oh, come on," Evan said. "It's not my fault she was being ridiculous."

"It wasn't ridiculous!" Aliah shot back. "I think she might be right."

"About what?" I asked.

"She wants to bust out of here," said Marco.

"Which is a stupid idea," said Evan, "be-"

"It's not a stupid idea!" said Aliah.

Marco looked at me. "Lilly thinks that we might be part of what the Nomad said, that Project Elysium thing. Like maybe that's what's been giving us our gills and stuff."