Dove Exiled by Bao Karen

Author:Bao, Karen [Bao, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-01-25T19:00:00+00:00

23

AFTER ERI LEAVES ME, I SET off for Shelter, Anka, and Umbriel. But I must take a new route, because wandering about the base’s closely monitored hallways, even with the lights off, is sheer idiocy. I’d be asking for capture and torture—the Cygnus treatment.

After some careful searching, I find a Sanitation manhole in a remote corner of the hangar, slip my thumb into Wes’s fake fingerprint sleeve, and press the digit to a tiny groove in the floor. The manhole cover slides back, revealing the tunnel beneath, and I jump in feetfirst. Even as the stench of bleach mixed with sweat and feces hits my nose, I feel immensely powerful. Almost free. Not a soul knows my blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, or hormone levels. They can’t hear what I’m saying or follow where I’m going. In the dark sewers, I’m invisible. To the eavesdroppers, the Medics, the Militia, and every other person on Base IV who would care, Phaet Theta is in limbo, neither alive nor dead.

It’s an eerie freedom, though, and a limited one. The rare security pods in the tunnels could still record my movements. And a stray nighttime worker might think it awfully strange to find a Beetle wandering the tunnels. With these thoughts in mind, I tiptoe carefully—when all I want to do is run. Scum sticks to the bottoms of my boots, and they squelch with every step.

I keep the Sanctuarists’ maps in my mind as I approach Shelter. A few dozen meters from my destination under the dome, the Sanitation lane ends at a sealed door. I tap my knuckles on the impenetrable block of metal, unwilling to believe it’s real.

The Committee probably sealed Shelter off, to keep Dovetail sympathizers from sneaking in and out.

I push the metal door, throwing all my weight behind my hands. Then I ram my shoulder against it—once, twice, three times. Tears spring to my eyes, not because of the pain, but because I’m so close to Anka and Umbriel. To feeling my sister’s wispy black hair against my cheek; to the old security of my best friend’s arms.

I hold back shouts of frustration. At such a high-security juncture, anyone or anything could be listening. I tiptoe back the way I came and find a meter-high door in the tunnel wall. It opens into a closet used to store cleaning supplies. There’s just enough room for me to curl into a ball on the floor, shut the door against surveillance, shut my heart against sorrow, and plan my next move.

* * *

“High knees!” someone’s shouting on the floor above me. “They should reach your chest with every step!”

After a brief rest in the maintenance closet, I set off for the Defense complex to look for other members of Dovetail. From my conversation with Lazarus, I’ve guessed that Shelter serves as the organization’s home base, but Defense houses several of their moles, one of whom I’m sure is on my side.

On Saint Oda, I studied the Sanctuarists’ maps of Base IV until my mind could reproduce my home city dome by dome.

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