Cinder followed the progression of the Rampion on her retina display,
watching breathlessly as they entered Earth's atmosphere over northern
Africa and careened toward Farafrah, a small oasis that had once been
a trading post for caravan traveling between the central African prov-
inces and the Mediterranean Sea. It had fallen into poverty since the
plague had first struck a decade ago, sending the trade caravans farther
east.
She didn't leave Wolf's side. She dressed the wounds as well as she
could using the bandages and ointments the guard had thrown down
from the ship's upper level. She had already had to change the bandages
once, and still the blood soaked through. His face was pale and clammy,
his heartbeat growing weaker, each breath a struggle.
Please, please, let Dr. Erland be there.
So far, the guard, at least, had proven trustworthy. He had flown
straight and fast—very fast, to Cinder's relief. It was a risk entering
earth's orbit, but a necessary one. She only hoped this oasis would be the
safe haven the doctor had believed it to be.
"Cinder," said Iko, "the Lunar is asking where he should land."
She shuddered. She'd been expecting the question. It would be safest,
and most prudent, to land outside the town, out in the ruthless desert.
But she could never carry Wolf and they didn't have the luxury of being
prudent.
"Tell him to land on the main road. On the map it looks like there's
only one— a town square of sorts. And tell him not to worry about being
stealthy."
If they couldn't hide, then she would draw as much attention as pos-
sible. Maybe if they made enough of a spectacle it would draw Dr. Erland
out from wherever he was hiding. She had to hope that any civilians
would be so distracted by their braveness, they wouldn't bother alert-
ing the police until it was too late.
It wasn't a good plan, but there wasn't time to come up with anything
better.
The ship dove. Normally this was the quiet part of landing, when the
engine power switched to magnetic levitation, but it seemed the guard
was planning on doing this all manually.
Perhaps the town was so rural, they didn't have magnetic roads at all.
Finally the ship clanked and groaned. Though it was a soft landing,
the shock still made Cinder jump. Wolf groaned.
Cinder bent over him and cupped his face in both hands. "Wolf, I'm
going to get help. Just stay with us, all right? Just hold on."
Standing, she skewed in the code for the podship dock.
The dock was a sight—blood and destruction everywhere. But she
walked past the remaining shuttle and tried to put it all from her
thoughts. "Iko, open hatch."
As soon as the doors had parted enough for her to fit through, she
crouched on the ledge and jumped down into the street.
A clouds of dust whirled around her as her feet struck the hard,
dry ground. The surroundings buildings were mostly single-story structures
made of stone or clay or large beige bricks. Some window shutters had
been painted blue or pink, and stenciled designs lined the entryways,
but the colors had been bleached by the sun and chipped by relentless
sand. The road dipped down toward an oasis lake a few blocks to Cinder's
right, both sides lined with thriving palm trees—trees that looked too
alive for a town that hung with desertion. A few blocks to her left was a
stone wall lined with more trees and, beyond it, reddish plateaus disap-
pearing in a sandy haze.
People were emerging from the buildings and around street corners,
civilians of all age, mostly dressed in sorts and lightweight tops to
combat the desert heat, though a few wore more concealing robes to
keep off the blazing sun. Many were covering their mouths and noses. At
first Cinder thought they were protecting themselves from the plague,
but then she realized they were simply annoyed at how much dust the
ship's landing had kicked up. The cloud was already blowing off down
one of the side streets.
Cinder scanned them, searching for a wrinkled face and a familiar
gray cap. Dr. Erland would be paler than most of the townspeople al-
though skin tones ranged from the deepest browns to honeyed tans.
Still, suspected that a little old man with glaringly blue eyes would
have drawn some attention in the past weeks.
She opened her hands wide to show had no weapons and took
a step toward the crowd. Her cyborg hand was on full display, and the
townsfolk had noticed. They were staring at it openly, though no one
shied away as she took another step closer.
"I'm sorry about the dust," she said, gesturing to the cloud. "But this
is an emergency. I need to find someone. A man. This tall, old, wears
glasses and a hat. Have any of you—"
"I saw her first!" a girl squealed. She ran out from the crowd, her flip-
flops smacking the dirt, and grasped Cinder's arm. Startled, Cinder tried
to pull away, but the girl held firm.
Then there were two boys, not older than nine or ten, emerging from
the crowd and arguing over who had seen the ship drop out of the sky,
who had seen it land, who had seen the docks open, and who had first
spotted the cyborg.
"Step away from Miss Linh, you greedy little vultures."
Cinder whirled around.
Dr. Erland was striding toward them, though she almost didn't rec-
ognize him. Barefoot and hatless, he wore a pair of khaki shorts and a
striped shirt that hung lopsided, as he'd missed a buttonhole and the
rest of the buttons were all wrong. His gray hair stuck out along his bald
spot like he'd recently been electrocuted.
None of that mattered. She'd found him.
"I supposed you can all share the prize for finding her, even though
the deal was to bring her to me, not make me come all the way down
here in this center-of-the sun heat." He pulled a bag of gummy candies
from his pocket and held it up over the children's heads, forcing them to
promise to share before he handed it over. They snatched it and ran away
squealing.
The rest of the townspeople remained where they were.
Dr. Erland planted his hands on his hips and glared up at Cinder. "You
have much explaining to do. Do you know how long I've been waiting for
you, watching the—"
"I need your help!" she said, stumbling toward him. "My friend ... he's
dying ... he needs a doctor ... I don't know what to do."
He scowled, then his attention caught on something over Cinder's
shoulder. The Lunar guard emerged at the edge of the ship, shirtless and
covered in blood and straining to support Wolf's body.
"What—-he's—-"
"A Lunar guard," said Cinder. "And Wolf is one of her soldiers. It's a
long story, and I'll explain later, but can you help him? He was shot
twice, he's lost a lot of blood..."
Dr. Erland raised an eyebrow. Cinder could tell he wasn't at all thrilled
with the company she was keeping.
"Please."
Harrumphing, he gestured at some of the onlookers and called out
a few names. Three men stepped forward. "Bring him to the hotel," he
said. "Gently." With a sigh, he set about redoing the buttons on his shirt.
"Follow me, Miss Linh. You can help prepare the tools."
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Teen FictionTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...
