Cress

Chapter 41

     Cress followed the guard down the hotel  steps. Thorne was behind her,
          one hand on her shoulder and the other gripping his cane.  She  warned
    him about the last step as she turned down the dark hallway. Dr. Erland
   was  in   the   back,  already wheezing  with the exertion of  carrying  his
  prized lab equipment down the stairs.
              It  was  difficult  for Cress   to focus.  She wasn't even sure where they
were  going.  The ship, did Cinder say? At the time,  Cress had been filled
  with horror at seeing   the  Lunar operative  snap. His   howls were still
  bouncing off her eardrums.
The guard shoved open  the  hotel  door  and  they  all  scrambled  down
onto   the   rough,  sand-covered   road.  Two  steps  later,  he  froze, thrusting
  his arms out  to  catch  Cress, Thorne,  and  the  doctor  as  they  crashed  into
  him.
  Whimpering,  Cress  shriveled  against  Thorne   and   scanned   the   road.
Dozens   of men   and   women   dressed  in  the   official  uniform  of  the
Commonwealth  military  had them   surrounded,   with   guns   raised. They
  filled  up  the  roads  and  the  spaces  between  buildings,  peered  down  from
  rooftops and around rust-covered podships.
"Cress?"  Thorne  whispered,  as  tension prickled   on   the stifling   air.

          "Military,"  she  murmured.  "A  lot  of   them."  Her  gaze  landed  on  a  girl
          with  blue  hair,  and  instant  hatred  blossomed  inside  her  chest. "What  is
               she doing here?"
                  "What? Who?"
                   "That—that girl from the last town."
              Thorne  tilted  his head.  "That's  Darla.  The  escort-droid?  Why  are  you
        and Cinder so confused about this?"
            Her eyes widened. She was an escort-droid?
             The girl was watching  them without emotion, sandwiched   between
        two  soldiers with   her hands hanging   limp at her sides.  "I am   sorry,
        Master,"  she   said, her  voice   carrying   through   the  silence.  "I  would  have
            warned you, but that would   be    illegal, and   my programming prevents
            me from breaking human laws."
              "Yeah,  that's going to   be   the   first   thing   we   fix," said Thorne,  before
            whispering  to  Cress,  "I  had  to  find  one  heck  of  a  legal  loophole  to  get  her
             to help me steal that car."
            A voice boomed  and  it  took  Cress  a moment to  spot  the  man  holding  a
             portscreen  and amplifier to his   mouth.  "You   are  all  under  arrest  for  the
harboring and assisting    of wanted   fugitives.   Get    down   on   your
         stomachs and put your hands on your heads and no one will be hurt."
              Trembling,  Cress  waited  to  see  what  the  guard   would do.  The  gun  he'd
            taken  from  Thorne  was  still  tucked  into  his  belt,  but   his   hands   were  full
             of the doctor's stuff.
            "We  have   you surrounded,"  the man continued,  when   no one   moved.
              "There is nowhere to run. Get down, now."
             The   guard moved first,   lowering   himself to   his knees  and setting
            down  the  bag  of  medical  supplies  and  the  strange  machine,  before  settling
              into the dirt.
          Gulping, Cress   followed suit,   sinking   down   to    the  hard  ground.
              Thorne dropped down beside her.
            "Stars  above,"  she  heard   the   doctor   moan,   grumbling as he   joined
              them on the ground. "I'm too old for this."
                Hot  and  uncomfortable,  with  rough  pebbles  pressing   into her  stomach,
            Cress set her palms on top of her head.