Cress

Chapter 40

Cinder stood with her  hair  pinched back in   both   hands and   the  palace
blueprint blurring on the netscreen before her. She'd been staring at it all
day, but her brain kept running in circles.
   "All right. What if—if the doctor and   I   could get some  invitations  and
  sneak  in  as   guests ... and  then  Jacin  could   create   a  diversion ... or, no,
if you created a diversion  and  Jacin  came  as  one  of  the staff ... but,  the
doctor is  so  well-known. Maybe Jacin and I could enter as guests and the
doctor ... but then how would   we ... ugh." She  threw  her  head  back and
  glowers at the  ship's metal  ceiling with  its  crossed   wires and   air  ducts.
"Maybe I'm overcomplicating this. Maybe I should go in alone."
       "Yes, because you aren't recognizable at all,"  said Iko,  punctuating her
statement  by pulling up   Cinder's  prison photo in the blueprint's corner.
  Cinder  groaned.  This was never going to work.
"Oh! Cinder!"
    She jolted. "What?"
  "This just came across the local newsfeed." Iko wiped away the blueprint
  and   replaced it with   a   map of   the Sahara   Desert.   A journalist  was
speaking   in   the   background,  and  as they   watched,   a circle was   drawn
  around some   nearby   cities,  with   lines and   arrows   connecting   them. A
  ticker read: WANTED-CRIMINAL CARSWELL THORNE SPOTTED IN SAHARA
  TRADING   CITY.   EVADES   CAPTURES. As     the    journalist   jabbered   on,
Thorne's    prison   photo flashed on    the   screen,   followed   by   the words,
  bright  and bold.  ARMED   AND   DANGEROUS. COMM AUTHORITIES IMME-
DIATELY WITH ANY INFORMATION.
        Cinder's stomach twisted, first with remorse, then with panic.
      It    was a    false    alarm.    Those ... was    dead.  Someone must   have
  seen a look-alike and jumped to  conclusions. It wasn't the first time.  According
to the media, Cinder   had   been   spotted   multiple    times    in     every Earthen
country, sometimes  in  multiple  locations  at  once.
      But  that  didn't  matter.   If   people   believed    they'd   seen   the  real   thing,
then   they would come.   Law enforcement. The    military.   Bounty    hunters.
The desert was   about   to be flooded    with people    searching for   them,
  and   the  Rampion   was   still   sitting,   obvious   and enormous,   in the   middle
of a tiny oasis town.
        "We can't stay here," she said pulling on  her boots. "I'll   go   get   the   others.
          Iko,  run  the  system  diagnostics.  Make  sure we're   set   for   space travel
        again."
              She was down down the ramp before Iko could respond, jogging  toward
        the hotel. She hoped it wouldn't take long  for  the  doctor   to   pack   up his
        things, and Wolf—-
        She hoped his wounds had  healed enough  that it would be all right to
          move  him.  The  doctor  had  started  reducing  his  dosages.  Would  it  be  safe
         to wake him?
             As  she  rounded  the   corner to   the   hotel, she   spotted   a   girl  leaning
          against   an  electric  vehicle—the car was just old enough to be beat-up and
          grungy, but    not old   enough   to have gained  any   vintage   appeal.   On
        there hand, the girl was perhaps  in  her  late  teens and  gorgeous,  with
        light brown skin and braids dyed in shades of blue.
          Cinder  slowed, preparing for   a fight.  She didn't recognize the girl  as
        one of the townspeople,  and something  felt  wrong  about  her,  though she
        couldn't place it.Was she a bounty hunter? An undercover detective?
        The  girl's  expression stayed  blank  and  bored  as  Cinder approached.
          No outward recognition. That was good.