Cress

Chapter 59

It was   like   being drawn   slowly   from   the   serene   darkness,  the   way   one
wakes  up  when  they've  been  having    a   lovely   dream   and   their   subconscious
  is struggling    to    hold   them   there,    just  a   little     while     longer. Then,
with  angry  resignation,  Kai  was   awake,   his   eyes   wide-open and   staring
up at unfamiliar slats. The underside of a bunk bed.
     Her  rubbed  his  eyes  thinking  maybe  he  hadn't  awoken  entirely  yet. His
chest was  throbbing,  and  there  was  a  nauseous twist  in   his   stomach. He
turned his head to the  side  and  felt  an  ache  in  his  neck. Reaching  up,  he
discovered a bandage taped beneath his hairline.
      But  his   attention   was   already    moving    on,   wandering    around   the
room. There was  a   tiny  desk  and  a   utilitarian  closet   on   the    other   side,
though  the  room  was  so  small  he  almost  could  have  touched  them from
where he lay. A dim light had  been  left  on  beside  the  door. The  walls  were
metal and the slightly scratchy blanket he lay on was military brown.
      Pulse speeding up, he  reached  for  the  bunk  overheard  to  keep  himself
from hitting his head  as  he  swung  his  legs  over  the  side,  His feet  landed
on  the  uncarpeted  floor  with  a  thunk  and  he  was  surprised   to   discover
he was wearing shoes.
      Dress shoes.
    And dress slacks.
    And his wedding shirt and sash, now wrinkled and untucked.
    Great stars.  The wedding.
       Mouth suddenly dry,  Kai  lurched  out  of  the  bed   and stumbled toward
the  small   window.  He   pressed   his   hands   to    either   side. His   stomach
dropped in unison with his jaw.
      Great stars indeed. He'd  never  seen  so  many in all  his   life,   and   never
so bright. It  gave  him  a   strange   sensation  of  vertigo,  like  he  should  have
been looking  up  into  the  night  sky,  but  the  gravity  was   all   wrong. Where
was  the  horizon  to  rent   himself? A   cold  sweat  beaded  on   his   forehead
as  he  pressed  his  cheek  to the   wall,  trying  to  peer  as far down   as   the
small window would let him, and then—
         Earth.
         Kai shoved himself  away  from   the   wall.  He  nearly  fell  over, but  caught
himself  on  the  upper  mattress  of  the  bunk. His   heartbreak   clanked   and
shuddered.
       Mysteries  began  to   click   together   in   his   muddled    brain    Cinder. A
  knife. The bandages  on  his   wrist   and   neck—his   tracking    chips.  Wasn't
the chip in his neck  supposed  to  be  top  secret? And  a   gun   or  something
embedded in her hand. The lingering sting beside his sternum.
        Had she shot him?
        Raking  a  hand  through  his  hair,  he   turned   and   wrenched open   the
  door.
        He   found  himself  in  a  narrow  hallway,  more  brightly lit  than the  room
  had  been. At  the  far  end  it  opened  up  into  a  kitchen  of  sorts. He  could
  hear  voices  coming  from   the   other  direction. Pulling   his  shoulders   back
  he marched toward them.
         The hall opened  into  a  huge  metal  room,  cluttered  with plastic  storage
  crates. Through  a  doorway  he  saw  the  lights   and  instruments  of  a cockpit,
  and another breathtaking view of Earth.
       Two people were seated in the cockpit chairs as he approached.
        "Where's Cinder?"
          They  spun  to  face  him  and  the  girl  launched  herself  to  her  feet. "Your
  Majesty!"
         The  man,  a  huge grin spreading   over his   face,  was   slower   to   stand,
   first  grabbing   a   cane  from  against  the   wall. "Welcome  aboard   the  Rampion,
  Your Magesticness.   Captain   Carswell     Thorne,    at    your     service." He
  bowed.
         Kai scowled. "Yeah, I recognize you."
       "You do?" The  man's  smile  grew  wider  and  he  nudged  the  girl with  his
   elbow. "He recognizes me."
       "Where's Cinder?"
       The  girl  swayed  nervously  on  her  heels. "I  believe  she's  in  the  podship
dock, Your Majesty."
       Kai turned and marched out toward the cargo bay, and yelped.
     Another  man  was  sitting  cross-legged  on  top  of  a  packing  crate, shirtless,
     with a needle in one hand, a  thread  in  his  mouth,   and a pile  of bloodied 
    bandages beside him. His torso    was   marred  by  numerous   wounds
   and scars, both old and  new. He  had  a  black  tattoo  stamped   on  his left
   arm.
         Pulling   the   needle   through  a  gash  on  his  test,  he  let  the  thread drop
     from his mouth, and nodded. "Your Majesty."
        Choking on his  heart,  Kai  found   himself   anchored   to   the   floor, expecting
   the man to   leap at  him and maul him   to   death   at   any  moment. He
hadn't yet seen one of the queen's  wolf   soldiers   in    person, but   he'd  seen
  plenty of vids. He knew how fast they were—how deadly.
           But  after   an   awkward,  silent   moment,  the   man   simply returned his
  attention to his wound.
            "Um. Your Majesty?"
             Starting, he whipped his gaze back to the blonde girl.
         "Would you like me to take you to the podship dock?"
       He forced his hands   to  unclench,   reminding himself   that he was the
   ruler   of the Eastern  Commonwealth  and would   have accordingly,  even
  among criminals and monsters.
       "Thank you," he gasped. "That would be appreciated."
       Cinder chewed on  her  lower  lip  while  she  twisted  the  wires together, fastening
   together,  fastens them with a wire connector. "All right, try that."
        Iko, flat on her back, cast  her  gaze  downward   then  tilted  her head  to the left.
        Her   eyes  brightened and  she   tried   to the   right    daring to   test   the
   full range of motion. She beamed."It works!"
         Cinder  tapped  her  chin  with  the  end  of  the   fuse   pullers. "There's   still
     a  little  bit  of  a  bend  in   that   third   vertebrae,  but there's   nothing   I   can
   do  about  it  now. We'll  just  have  to  wait  until  we  can find a   replacement
   piece. Try your fingers again."
         Iko  wiggled  her fingers,  then   her toes.   She   lifted   her   legs   until they
were  perpendicular  to  the  floor,  then  kept  going  so  that she   was   practically
  kissing  her knees. Letting out a yelp  of    delight,    she  flipped  forward,
  using the   momentum to spring up onto her feet. "It works! It   all works!"
      "Iko,  knock  it  off!"  Cinder  scrambled  up  beside  her. "I   still   need   to—"
       Before  she  could finish,  Iko  pulled her  against   her   bosom, squeezing
  and swaying and trembling with joy.
      An android. Trembling with joy.
     "You're the best mechanic an android could ever ask for."
       "Stay  that  when  you   don't   have   an   enormous   gaping   hole   in your
   throat," Cinder said, prying herself out of the embrace.
     Iko  checked  her  reflection  in  the  window  of  the podship  and flinched.
  The  paneling  from  the  top  of  her  throat  to  her  sternum  was flayed   open
to give  Cinder   access   to  her   internal   workings. Her   central    processor,
writing, and mobility mechanics were on full display.
      "Oh, yuck,"  said  Iko,  trying  to  cover  the  hole  with  both  hands.
      "I   hate when my wiring is showing."
     "I  know the  feeling." Cinder  pulled  a  pair  of   pliers  off  the  wall's magentice
strip. "Come  here.   I'll  see   if I   can  bend   some   of that external paneling
back into place.  A   lot  of your skin  fibers  are beyond repair, so it's  not
going to be perfect, but it's all  I  can do right now. You   might have to   wear
turtlenecks for a while."
       Sighing,  Iko  came   to  stand  beside  Cinder. "Figures   that   as    soon   as
   Captain  Thorne  brings  home  this marvelous  body  for   me,   those stupid
  Lunars go and ruin everything."
          Cinder smirked. "Stop talking for a minute while I do this."

       Iko   impatiently   tapped    her   fingers   against   her   hips   while   Cinder
   warped  the  external  paneling  into  something   that   resembled the   shape
   of a clavicle.
        Behind her, the door hummed open. "Here she is, Your Majesty."
         Cinder  stiffened,  the  pliers   still   clamped   on   to   Iko's   paneling. She
   heard footsteps  and  then  Iko  screeched  and   shoved  Cinder and   her   tool
   away. "Don't  let  him   see  me   this   way!"   she    yelled,   diving    behind   the
    podship.
         Gulping,  Cinder  tucked   the   pliers   into   her   back   pocket   and   slowly
    turned around. Kai's  gaze  was  dark  as  it  swooped  over  her  to  the podship
    —and  Iko's  legs  beneath  it—to  the tool  tests   and   power cords   fastened
   to the walls, before landing on Cinder again.
        Cress and Thorne hovered curiously by the door.
        "You're   awake,"   she    stammered. Then    realizing   that    was    a   stupid
   thing to say, she attempted to stand straighter. "How do you feel?"
        "Kidnapped. How should I feel?"
        She  rubbed  her  wrist,  tempted  to  call  up  a  glamour  to  disguise her  cyborg
  hand. Which was also stupid, of  course.  And  besides, it  was  something
Levana would have done.
       "I  hoping   maybe    you'd   feel   well    rested?"  she   said,   attempting a
  weak smile.
        She was met with no  reaction. No  smile. No  chuckle. Not  even  a   flicker
  of humor.
       She pressed her lips together.
       "We need to talk," said Kai.
        Thorne let out a slow whistle.  "No one ever likes to hear those words."    
        Cinder  glared  at   him. "Thorne,  why  don't   you   go   give  Iko  a  tutorial
   with the cockpit controls?"
        "Excellent  idea,"  Cress  chirped,  nudging   Thorne   back out   the  door.
"Come on, Iko."
         Iko was still hiding, hugging herself self-consciously. "Is he looking?"
       Kai raised an eyebrow.
       "He's not looking," said Cinder.
      A hesitation. "Are you sure?"
        Cinder gestured exasperatedly at Kai. "You're not looking."
         He cast his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, for   all   the   stars." Crossing  his  arms,
   he turned his back on them
          Cinder waved at Iko. "All clear. We'll finish that up ... later."
         Braids bouncing, Iko darted to join Cress and Thorne in   the hallway.
   "I'm so happy to see you're all right, Your Majesty!" she called to his back.
        As  the  door  slipped   shut,  Iko  flashed  Cinder   an   encouraging thumbs
   up.
       And the they were alone.