Sabine and Christoph had been in Anchoit for half a decade. What about Cordelia and Jackson?
<Maybe after years and years, this is how you deal with it all> I said quietly. <By pretending to be indifferent.>
Whens Peters next meeting? Christoph sat the farthest from the standing lamp, and the fairy lights softened his features.
Sabine shrugged. Hes talking with some people one-on-one. I dont think hell be having a general meeting anytime soon, though. Not unless something big happens.
Christoph snorted and looked up at the ceiling. Something big has already happened.
And we had a meeting when it did, Sabine said. Well have another when
Christophs voice turned rough. When the earth slows, and the seas rise, and Peter finishes making his plans and remaking his plans and
And remaking those plans, Sabine finished for him. She smiled, and he didnt quite smile back, but he quieted. Sabines gaze flickered to Addie and me, then to Devon. It isnt that we dont appreciate everything Peters done. We do. Were here because his plans worked. But no one can deny that Peters slow. Meticulous, yes. Careful, yes. And thats all good, but slow. He believes in taking his time, and sometimes
Sometimes there isnt any time, Addie said.
Sabine nodded.
That institution you mentioned at the meeting, Devon said slowly. Powatt. How long has it been open?
There was a hiccup of silence. Sabine shifted in her seat. It hasnt opened yet. Theyre still setting things up, I think. Powatts going to be one of the institutions spearheading the new hybrid-cure initiative. Theyre going to be testing some kind ofsome kind of new machine thats supposed to make the surgeries more precise.
The word surgeries flashed us back to Nornands basement. To the feeling of cold metal, to Jaimes voice babbling through the door, and sallow-lit hallways.
Theres this guy, Sabine said, Hogan Nalleshes lower-level government. Hell be downtown next Friday at Lankster Square, going on about how proud we should be, and all that. A pep rally of sorts. Stage and balloons and a couple hundred people, most likely.
A big, screaming crowd, Christoph said. Cheering on the systematic, government-supported lobotomization of children.
Sabine grinned wryly. I dont think lobotomization is quite the same thing. And if we dont do anything . . . if we just sit here and let Powatt open in a couple months, are we really that much better than they are?
Say what you mean to say, Sabine, Cordelia intoned in what was obviously supposed to be a mockery of Peters voice. She giggled quietly into Sabines shoulder, and the other girl wrapped an obliging arm around her.
When Sabine spoke, though, her voice was utterly serious. Were going to stop Powatt from ever opening.
As if it were really that simple. As if by Sabine declaring it, we could make it so.
How? Devon said.
I dont have a complete plan yet. Id need more information. But I know how to get that information, and thats a start. Sabine watched Devon as she spoke, but if she was trying to read him, he gave her nothing to see. I worked under Nalles for a few months last year, before Cordelia and I opened the shop. Pushing papers, making appointments. Things like that. Her lips twitched up at the corners. Dont let Peter know. Hes got strict rules about getting involved with government. Anyway, Nalles has access to information. Hell know the details of the Powatt plansexactly when theyll open, when theyre going to install the machinery, when the children arrive. Maybe even who the kids are.
The chances were slim to none, I knew, but I couldnt help imagining the possibility of a familiar face ending up at Powatt. What if Eli and Cal went under the knife? The doctors at Nornand had already tried so many experimental medications on them, attempting again and again to eradicate the less desirable soul of an eight-year-old boy. Wed seen the harmful side effects. No one had seemed to worry then. Nothing would keep them from trying surgery.
Lankster Square is a block from the Metro Council Hall, where Nalles works. Hell have everything on his computer, and I know where his office is. I stole my old work pass, too. Itll get us past preliminary security.
By us you mean you and me, Devon said.
By us you mean you and me, Devon said.
Sabine considered him carefully. Ive heard youre good with computers.
Devon nodded. He was frowning, but it was concentration, not worry, that put the crease between his brows.
You could break into his account? Sabine asked. Quickly?
Devon had broken into our school systems files. That much I knew. Hed seen how late Addie and I had settled; it had been one of many signs that convinced him and Hally to reveal their secret to us.
Maybe, he said. Probably.
Would you? Sabine asked. Anyone sneaking into a government building and hacking into their computer system was taking a ridiculously enormous risk. For Devon and Ryan, it was ten times worse.
Wait, Addie interrupted before Devon could answer. You want him to just waltz in and break into this guys computer right in the middle of the workday?
Thats where the rally comes in. Sabine didnt miss a beat. If we do this on the day of the speech, Nalles and most of his support staff will be at Lankster Square. And if we happened to cause some sort of disturbance at the rally . . . enough to distract everyone at Metro Council
Like dropping a grenade right in the middle of the square? Christoph mimed a throwing motion, and Jackson laughed, supplying the explosion sound through his teeth.
Sabine gave them a censuring look, but didnt entirely suppress her smile. A disturbance that doesnt include death and flying limbs.
Christoph leaned back against the couch. I wouldnt say no to some flying limbs.
Hes not serious, Jackson told us quickly.
Im completely serious, Christoph said.
Sabine ignored them both. All wed need is something no one will be able to look away from. Something that will draw attentionand securityto the Square and away from Metro Council. On the other hand, it wouldnt hurt to have it be something thatll serve as a reminder.
A reminder of what? Addie asked.
Of how these institutions and this cure have left a body count thousands high. Tens of thousands. More. Sabine looked like a sculpture in the attics soft lighting. I hadnt thought her a particularly beautiful girl before, but there was something striking about her now, as she spoke. I was thinking fireworks, like on Memorial Day. This could be our own kind of memorial. A reminder.
A way of paying respects.
By now, the tenor of the attic had transformed. Sabine had changed it with a sentence. An idea. A hope.
Addie can draw, Jackson said suddenly. Addie looked at him in surprise, and he rushed to elaborate. If we want it to be like a reminder, we could make posters, you know? Include the names and faces of some of the children who have died.
Good idea. Sabines bangs, cut bluntly above her eyebrows, only brought more attention to the unwavering nature of her stare. I found myself both slightly unnerved and utterly unable to look awayas if I were being sized up and couldnt, couldnt, be found wanting. Wed have to find deserted places to set off the fireworks, of course. There are a couple buildings in the area where you can get access to the roof. We could toss the posters down from there; rain them on the crowd. Wed have to figure out the specifics, but no one would get hurt.
What are the chances we get caught? I wanted to ask, but Addie was still in control, and Addies emotions were too tangled now to let her speak.
Flyers and fireworks, Christoph said, like he was musing over the idea and found it sort of funny.
Sabine nodded. She looked toward Devon. But in the end, it all hinges on whether youre able to get that information from Nalless computer.
Devon was quiet. His expression stayed utterly impassive, his body still. Then he said, I can do that.
Sabines shoulders relaxed, just a little. She looked around the room at the rest of us. So? What do you say?
Im in, Cordelia said.
Jackson wore that match-strike smile of his. Same.
Despite his earlier exasperation, Christoph was quick to nod, too.
<Addie?> I said.
She hesitated. <I dont know.>
<It would send a message> I said tentatively. <It would tell everyone that the hybrids in this country arent just going to let them treat us however they want. Andand it could mean Powatt never opens.>
I was so tired of just sitting around. I was tired of being cooped up in our apartment building, going up the stairs and down the stairs but getting nowhere.
<Addie>
<I dont know, Eva.> Her voice sharpened. I felt her confusion rising, her frustration at her own inability to decide. <You choose. Youve always wanted to choose, havent you?>
She ripped away from our bodys reins. Control fell to me like a great weight, nearly suffocating in its pressure.
She was right. Id dreamed so long about being in control. Now that I could be, I had to start making my own decisions, not relying on Addie. Not relying on anyone.
I exhaled and spoke quickly. Before I could think too much about it. Before I could talk myself out of it.
Im ready to start doing something.
NINE
Despite her claims otherwise, Sabine had obviously already given this part of her plan a lot of thought. The attic transformed from clubhouse to situation room as she briefed us on everything. In exactly ten days, Hogan Nalles would give a speech in Lankster Square downtown. Nearby traffic would be rerouted. There would be security, obviously, but the specifics were still unknown. The speech was planned to last about twenty minutes, the entire event roughly an hour.
There are six of us, Sabine said, gesturing as she spoke. Devon and I will be in the building. Preferably, Id like to have at least one person at the rallyat the scene or looking right at itand reporting to us on walkie-talkie. Wed want to know exactly whats going on. That leaves three of you to set off firecrackers.
<If Hally helped . . . > I started to say, then cut myself off. Would it be better to leave Hally and Lissa out of this? Maybe they wouldnt want to be involved. But I didnt want to keep secrets from them, either. It would be better, wouldnt it, to let them decide themselves if they wanted to help or not?