The Uprising: The Forsaken Trilogy Read online

  I rarely see members of one group interact with the other. Heavy, unspoken tension hangs in the air between them. Now, far from the wheel and the UNA’s drugs, us villagers and drones should be able to set our differences aside. But old animosities die hard. I understand why. If it weren’t for the drones, a lot more villagers would be alive.

  “You okay?” Liam asks, putting his arm around my shoulders.

  “Just thinking about the wheel, and our friends. I mean, especially Gadya. They showed me a photo of her again today. I feel guilty that we left her behind in the archive. She probably got frozen, or worse.”

  “We don’t know that. I mean, I got captured once and I survived. The same thing might have happened to her.”

  “But if no one goes back and saves her, she’s never going to make it off the island.”

  Liam turns to face me. “I know. That’s why we have to do something. When we get back to the wheel with the rebels, we have to make it our first priority to rescue everyone from our village who got left behind.”

  I nod in agreement. “And we need to find David, too.”

  Liam glances at me, his brow furrowed. “I’m not sure about that kid.”

  “I am.”

  I know that Liam thinks my friend David is just a drone, or a spy, so he doesn’t trust him. But he doesn’t know David like I do. David and I woke up on the wheel together the very same day. I was lucky and got rescued by Gadya and the villagers, but David got captured by drones. The last time Liam saw him, David was escaping from the prison kennels in our village. Liam never saw David save Rika on the frozen lake, or sacrifice himself so that Gadya and I could get inside the specimen archive. Liam never really got an opportunity to know David at all.

  “David is on our side.” I lean into Liam’s body. “You have to give him a chance.”

  It’s then I notice an unusual object in the sky. A dark speck flitting across the horizon, miles away from us.

  “Hey, do you see that?” I ask Liam.

  Then I realize that his eyes are already tracking it, squinting against the sun.

  “Is it a transport plane from the wheel?” I hold my book up to shield my eyes against the glare. No planes have arrived since the one that brought me and Liam here. I know that the scientists are expecting another one soon; Vargas-Ruiz mentioned it in a deposition a few days ago. From what I’ve learned, planes from the wheel turn up roughly every three weeks.

  Liam is peering at the approaching speck. “It’s too small to be a transport plane. Could be some kind of satellite.”

  We both keep watching it. For some reason, the object unnerves me. Maybe because it reminds me of the selection units—those flying masses of metallic tentacles that pulled kids into the sky on the wheel. In the village, we called the selection units “feelers,” and I still think of them that way.

  “It could be some kind of Australian thing,” I point out uneasily. “Something their government is testing, like a new aircraft or weapon.” The object is larger now, and moving even faster. Getting closer.

  It appears to be heading straight at Destiny Station. I know that the scientists inside the rock must already be following it on their radar system. Nothing dangerous can approach Destiny Station without being detected far in advance. So, if no alarms are blaring, we’re most likely going to be fine.

  But the object keeps heading our way, slicing through the air with incredible speed. I squint at it, struggling to make out its contours. The sunlight sparkles and shimmers off its gleaming surface.

  Liam turns to me. “Maybe we should go back inside for a bit. Just in case.”

  “You’re only saying that because I’m out here with you,” I reply. “If you were alone, or with your hunter friends on the wheel, you’d never want to go back in. Am I right?”

  Our eyes meet. He can’t deny it. “What’s wrong with being protective?” he asks.

  “Nothing,” I say. “Except I know I can handle this. Don’t forget that I’m a fighter too. Remember, I rescued you back at the archive.”

  Liam grins. “Yeah, and I rescued you from the feeler attack in the forest before that. So we’re even.” He pauses. “And I’m not just trying to be protective. I figured we should tell someone what we’re seeing.” His grin fades a bit as he stares out at the sky again. The object is going to pass directly overhead if it keeps moving along the same trajectory.

  “It’s weird there aren’t any sirens yet,” I say to Liam.

  I’ve gotten used to warning sirens going off at least twice a day—each time the radar or satellite feeds pick up any suspicious activity. Their loud, wailing sounds echo through the tunnels like the baying of subterranean wolves. The sirens startled me at first, but now I barely notice them.

  It’s been years since anyone tried to attack Destiny Station, but the scientists are hyper-vigilant right now. Which makes sense—given that they’re hijacking UNA aircrafts from the wheel and landing them here in the desert. It’s only a matter of time before the UNA figures out what’s going on and comes after them. This is another reason why the scientists moved up their plan for us to return to Island Alpha, from one year to twelve weeks.

  The object in the sky keeps cutting its path toward the station. I finally get a better look at it.

  What I see makes my heart nearly stop beating.

  It’s some kind of military machine. Similar to a feeler, but even more terrifying. Tentacles whip out from either side of it, centered around a large spinning disc. To my horror, I watch sharp blades flash out from the tentacles. Even though it hasn’t tripped any alarms yet, this is definitely a weapon sent from the UNA.

  Liam sees the lacerating blades too. He grabs my arm and yells, “Run!” We both start racing for the closed hatch. My heart pounds in fear.

  I hear a faint hissing sound behind me, as the object shoots through the sky down toward us.

  Liam and I reach the hatch just as the noise grows even louder. It’s the sound of blades slicing through air.

  I duck and race sideways, getting another glimpse at the machine. Now I can see the blurry outlines of the UNA’s bloodred logo on the bottom of the disc—an eye hovering over a globe. The machine’s tentacles have large blades running up and down their lengths. The blades buzz like miniature saws. Like they’re meant to cut and destroy anything they come in contact with.

  The thing is almost on us now. Liam throws open the door of the hatch leading down into the station. “Go!” he yells at me.

  “Not without you!” I scream back. After being kept apart once before on the wheel, I refuse to be separated from him again.

  “I’ll be right behind you!” he yells, pushing me forward. Trying to save me.

  Now I hear the warning sirens start up.

  But the sirens are too late.

  The disc zooms through the air straight at us. Like it can sense our presence. There’s no time to get in the tunnel.

  Liam presses me down behind the open door of the hatch, which is sticking upright at a ninety-degree angle. It provides us with some shelter. I feel Liam’s warm, protective body over mine. The machine hammers through the air at us, its tentacles slamming against the door. I press myself flat against the rock, shutting my eyes for a second.

  Then a loud grinding noise makes me look up. To my shock, the thick metal door to the hatch has been shorn in two. The churning blades on the tentacles have sliced right through it, like chain saws through a tree branch. The machine circles back up into the sky, preparing to attack again.

  Liam helps me up. “We have to get back inside!” he yells.

  I hear the buzzing sound of the machine. It’s descending again.

  I fling my legs down into the open hole, grabbing at the ladder rungs with my fingers. But I slip and miss.

  I start sliding down the shaft, crashing against the rock sides and the metal rungs as I cry out in pain.

  There’s a flash of light above me, and Liam careens into the shaft as well, right behind me.


  Then my legs crash into the rock floor, and I fall backward, hitting my head and elbows. I roll out of the way as Liam comes slamming down after me.

  I hear grinding noises above us, and I gaze up, trying to catch my breath. The churning blades of the machine plow into the remains of the hatch. It’s trying to get down into the station with us. Tentacles whir and gnash, their blades grinding the sandstone into dust and sparking against the metal ladder. The opening isn’t wide enough for the machine. It’s trying to expand the hole.

  I struggle to sit up. Liam is right there next to me. We start crawling away from the bottom of the shaft.

  “You okay?” Liam asks, staggering to his feet and giving me a hand.

  “Yeah,” I gasp. “You?”

  “Fine.”

  We stand there in the tunnel, both gazing up at the dust and debris raining down from the roof of the station. The sirens continue to wail. Men rush past us, heading toward the shaft. They are all wearing helmets and carrying guns.

  More figures race toward us, including Dr. Terry Elliott, one of the other chief scientists here, specializing in anthropology. He’s tall, with thinning gray hair. “What did you see up there?” he calls out urgently.

  “I don’t know!” I tell him. “It was kind of like a feeler. I mean, a selection unit. But with blades on its tentacles.” My knees and elbows are throbbing. I can hear the machine grinding away above us, mindlessly trying to cut through metal and rock.

  Then a volley of gunshots begins.

  The noise explodes through the tunnels. The guards are firing at the machine, trying to destroy it. It squeals in mechanical agony as the men blast away.

  The tunnel starts filling with dust and smoke. “We need to get out of here, and deeper into the station,” Liam says.

  I nod. We start stumbling away, heading down the tunnel, both of us dazed. More gunshots ring out behind us.

  Vargas-Ruiz rushes out of another tunnel that intersects with ours. Her eyes are wide and her curly hair is disheveled. This attack clearly took everyone by surprise. “What’s going on?”

  “You should know,” Liam says. “Alenna and I were up on the roof deck. Something came after us.” He gestures toward the tunnel behind us. “And it’s still here.”

  “Our radar failed to track it,” Vargas-Ruiz says, staring at us. “It appeared out of nowhere.”

  “We wanted to fight it,” I tell her. “But we weren’t ready.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t fight,” Vargas-Ruiz replies. “You’re not trained, and you don’t have any weapons. Let our security team deal with events like this.”

  “You could give us weapons if you wanted,” Liam points out.

  Vargas-Ruiz doesn’t respond.

  “So what does this mean?” I ask her. “Why did that thing come here from the UNA? Why now?”

  “I don’t know,” she replies. “And it could mean nothing. Or it could be the start of an onslaught. I won’t know until I see it. Until we can take it apart and study it in the lab, and find out exactly what it is.”

  The words “an onslaught” are still ringing in my ears. I thought that Liam and I were safe in Australia, at least for a while. Clearly, I was wrong.

  Vargas-Ruiz sees the look on my face and sighs. “Don’t worry. It could just be an exploratory probe. We’ve been concerned that the UNA would send something out to follow the hijacked planes, and relay data back.” She pauses. “We’re planning on realigning our radar and satellite controls so that nothing like this can happen again.”

  “What do we do until then?” I ask.

  “Nothing. Destiny Station is safe. But this isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked, and it won’t be the last. Until we leave to join the other rebel bases and go back to Prison Island Alpha, you’re stuck here.” She starts to walk away. But then she stops and turns back to us. “Just be careful about going up top from now on. And, Alenna, you shouldn’t have left the deposition room today. I expect a lot better from you.”

  Before I can think of a good response, she turns away again, heading toward the crowd of people and guards. The machine is silent now, and there are no more gunshots. I take a deep breath and try to calm down.

  “So what do you think?” I ask Liam softly as we begin walking down the tunnel.

  “I wish we could leave and fight the UNA right now.” He looks at me, his blue eyes flashing for an instant. “I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. But there’s nothing we can do right now. When the time comes, we’ll get out of this rock and back to the wheel.” He kisses me on the forehead. “Then we’ll give it everything we have.”

  A voice suddenly calls out, “Hey!”

  I turn my head, startled. Liam turns too.

  A girl is standing there in the tunnel behind us. She’s pretty, with gentle brown eyes, dark skin, and a thin, lithe physique that makes her look taller than she really is. She has short-cropped black hair, only an inch long at most, and she’s wearing a black tank top and jeans. I’ve seen this girl around, but never spoken to her. She’s a year or so older than I am.

  I know that she’s a former drone. On the wheel she probably lived in a frenzy of madness, her mind clouded by UNA drugs and enthralled by the Monk’s deranged teachings. In the dim light, I can see long, raised scars on both of her wrists.

  Liam and I stare at her. It’s hard for us to trust anyone who was once a drone, after we fought them so many times in battle. Even though the drugs are gone from their systems, it has become an ingrained response for me to think of them as enemies.

  But this girl is smiling, and her eyes look lucid and kind. She walks closer and holds something out to me. I glance down and see that it’s the book that Liam gave me. The Myth of Sisyphus. I must have dropped it during the attack. I take it from her, grateful but a bit confused. The cover is scorched on one corner.

  “You’re safe now,” the girl says. “They blasted that machine into confetti. And a guard found your book on the rocks up top. I thought I’d give it back.”

  “Thanks.”

  “My name’s Cass.” The girl looks from me to Liam and back again. “Cass Henning. I know it’s a weird time for you guys right now. I mean, you probably just see me as some crazy drone. But that’s not who I really am.” She pauses. “I’ve been here for two months. Everything on the wheel just seems like a dream to me now. Like it didn’t actually happen . . .” Her words trail off awkwardly. She crosses her arms, looking a bit nervous. I wonder what the other former drones here would think of her talking to us like this.

  “It’s okay,” I tell her. “My name’s Alenna.”

  “I know. Your mom works here, right?”

  I nod. The girl seems relieved that I’m being nice to her.

  Cass glances at Liam. He’s remained silent this whole time. He spent much longer on the wheel than I did. More than a year. And he lost many more friends at the hands of the drones. I haven’t seen him talk to one of them yet.

  “Go on,” I prod him gently. I can tell that this girl isn’t a threat to us. At least not right now.

  “I’m Liam,” he says, reluctantly shaking her hand.

  Cass nods. “Nice to meet you.” Then she looks back at me. “You ready for the concert tonight?”

  “They’re still going to have it?” I ask her. “Even after what just happened? Seriously?”

  “Of course. That’s how they do things here. They just keep going, no matter what. Pretending everything’s normal.”

  “Like we did on the wheel,” Liam says. “We just kept going—no matter how many times your kind destroyed our village.”

  Cass looks at him. “I’m sorry. For the insane stuff that happened on Island Alpha. But you’ll see that things are different here. I’ll prove it to you, and so will the other ex-drones. We’ve detoxed from the UNA drugs, and we know that the Monk was a fake. And the scientists make us ex-drones go through counseling sessions, in addition to the depositions. I’m a totally different person than I was on the w
heel.”

  Liam nods, relenting a little. “Okay.”

  Cass glances back at me. “I’m a musician too. So I’ll be seeing you tonight at the concert.”

  Before I can respond, I hear a boy’s voice calling her name from another tunnel.

  I peer down its depths and see the boy, dimly lit by some yellow utility lights hanging along the wall. He’s just a shadowy figure, but if he’s one of her friends, he’s most likely a former drone.

  “I’d better get going,” Cass says, turning away from us. “Good talking to you.”

  She heads down the tunnel toward the boy. Liam and I stand there, watching her retreating figure. The boy waits for Cass. When she reaches him, the two of them turn and walk off down another side tunnel together, out of view.

  “I never thought I’d shake a drone’s hand,” Liam says to me, sounding thoughtful. “No matter what they say, I still don’t trust them.”

  I hold up my book. “She brought me this. She can’t be all bad.”

  Liam and I start walking down the tunnel again, heading to the stairs that lead back to our quarters down on level two. Despite Liam’s reaction to Cass, I’m comforted by how nice she was. I know that eventually we’ll have to put aside our tribalism if we want any chance at reclaiming the wheel and freeing our friends.

  “C’mon. Let’s go,” I say to Liam, taking his hand and leading him forward. “If we’re stuck here, we need to make the best of it.”

  2 CASS

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON, I’M sitting on my small bunk, strumming a borrowed guitar. Liam and I have been given our own small living quarters—two tiny adjoining rooms with a sliding door that opens between them. We keep the door open most of the time, except when the scientists make us lock it at night.

  Liam lies across from me on his bunk, looking at maps and images of the wheel on a portable computer screen. I finger some chords on the frets of my guitar, trying to practice for later tonight. The concert is at seven.