Scarlet was piloting the podship. She could not recall how long she had
been flying it, where she had been before, or how she had ended up be-
hind here controls. But she knew very well why was there.
Because she wanted to be.
Because she needed to be.
If she did well, she would be rewarded. The thought made her feel joy
ful. Eager. Willing.
And so she flew fast. She flew steady. She allowed the little ship to
become an extension of her. Her hands gripping the controls, her fingers
dancing over the instruments. She had never flown so well, not since
the day her grandmother had begun teaching her in the delivery ship
around the farm. How the ship had warbled under her unskilled hands.
How it rocked and sank, its landing gear brushing against the just-tilled
dirt, then miraculously drifted back up toward the sky as her grand-
mother's patient voice talked her through the steps ...
The memory disappeared as fast as it had come, snapping her back
into the podship, and she could not remember what she had just been
thinking. She could only think of this flight. This moment. This respon-
sibility.
She paid no heed to the stars blurring out in all directions. She gave no
thought to the planet falling farther and farther behind her.
In the ship's backseat, the woman was hissing and cursing as she
tended to her wound. She was upset, and this alone bothered Scarlet, be-
cause she wanted the woman to be pleased.
Eventually, the angry muttering died down and then the woman was
talking. Scarlet's heart fluttered, until she realized that it was not to her
that the woman was speaking. Rather, she sent out a comm. She
heard two words that sent a bolt of panic through her—Your Majesty.
She was talking to the queen herself.
It occurred to Scarlet that this knowledge should terrify her, but she
couldn't recall why. Rather, she felt embarrassed to be listening in. It
wasn't her place to be curious. She tried to ignore the conversation, al-
lowing her mind to muddle and wander. Inside her head, she recited
childhood rhymes that she hadn't though of in years.
It mostly worked. Only when a name broached her consciousness did
curiosity overcome her.
Linh Cinder.
"No, I could not capture her. I was overpowered. I am sorry, Your
Majesty. I have failed you. Yes, I have already sent the last-known coordi-
nates of the ship to the royal guard. I was able to capture a hostage, Your
Majesty. One of her accomplices. Perhaps she has information on where
Linh Cinder might go next, or what her plan could be. I know it isn't good
enough, Your Majesty. I will make this up to you, Your Majesty. I will find
her."
This conversation ended and Scarlet's ears burned at having eaves-
dropped. She was ashamed. She deserved punishment.
In an attempt to make up for her delinquency, she refocused on her
task. Flying as smooth and fast as any pilot had ever flown. She thought
only of how she must fly well. She thought only of how she must make
her mistress proud of her.
She felt no awe as she approached the great, crater-filled Luna with its
gleaming white surface and sparkling domed cities.
Cities that were home to countless strangers.
Cities that had been his home, once ...
She flinched at the intrusive thought. She did not know what it
meant. She could not remember who he was.
But this was where he came from ...
She suppressed the voice out of nervous panic that her mistress
would sense her confusion. She did not want that. There was no confu-
sion.
She knew precisely where she wanted to be. Precisely who she wished
to be serving.
Scarlet felt no fear as the moon dwarfed the tiny shop, expanded until
it was all she could see through the glass.
She paid no attention to the hot tears as they crept down her cheeks
and dropped soundlessly into her lap.
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Ficção AdolescenteTheir 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...
