The Uprising: The Forsaken Trilogy Read online

  “Sounding good,” Liam says, looking up at me and grinning through the doorway.

  “It’s easy to play when it’s just you and me. It’ll be different when a whole crowd is watching.” I play another chord, but then a knock comes at the front door of my room. “Come in,” I call out, instantly muting the strings.

  The door swings open. Vargas-Ruiz is standing in the hall just outside. Liam gets up and walks over to the doorway between our rooms.

  “You want to see the machine that attacked you?”  Vargas-Ruiz asks both of us. “We’re disassembling it in one of the mechanical engineering labs on the fifth level. You can come and look at it with me if you want.”

  I’m already getting to my feet.

  “So what is it?” Liam asks Vargas-Ruiz. “Some new model of selection unit?”

  “We’re not exactly sure. Just come with me.”

  I put the guitar down gently on my mattress. Then Liam and I follow Vargas-Ruiz out of the room and into the narrow rock tunnel.

  “Alenna, you were one of the only people to ever bring down a selection unit,” Vargas-Ruiz says, as we start walking down the tunnel. “During your battle on the ice in the gray zone. And both you and Liam encountered miniature ones inside the specimen archive and managed to evade them. That’s why I want you to take a look at this one. And tell us if it’s anything like the machines on the wheel.”

  “It was worse,” Liam says.

  “Way worse,” I add.

  “The feelers on the wheel were designed to capture people,” Liam continues. “This one was designed to kill.”

  Vargas-Ruiz nods. “That’s what I feared.”

  We follow her over to a narrow freight elevator, one that works on a primitive system of pulleys and weights. We step onto it, and she yanks a long, wooden lever. We quickly begin moving upward to level five, as the rickety platform and ropes groan under our weight. The rock walls rush past us until we eventually come to a jolting stop.

  Liam and I step out after Vargas-Ruiz. This level looks different from the others. I haven’t been up here much before, and I don’t think Liam has either. There are more steel beams buttressing the sandstone around us. And the floor is covered with sheets of metal soldered together.

  “This way,” Vargas-Ruiz says, briskly walking along the tunnel. Her shoes clack on the metal floor.

  Eventually, we reach the entrance to a large laboratory. It has glass walls several inches thick, set deep into the sandstone walls. I peer inside, curious. Masked scientists are at work behind the glass, leaning over computers and strange white gurneys. I’m eager to see the remains of the machine.

  Vargas-Ruiz hands both of us light-blue surgical masks to wear. “Just in case,” she says, before putting a mask over her own face.

  “In case of what?” I ask, but she doesn’t reply.

  Liam and I exchange puzzled glances. Then I put my mask on as Liam does the same. Vargas-Ruiz taps a code into an electronic panel near a slate-gray metal door. The door instantly slides open, and we follow her inside.

  The door shuts behind us, locking us in. We’re inside a small metal antechamber, facing another door. It’s like being in an air lock. I grasp Liam’s hand. Vargas-Ruiz taps more buttons on the wall, and the second door opens. We walk right through it and into the lab.

  The air here feels different—colder and cleaner. Almost sterile. I glance over and see large metal vents installed into the rock. I can hear the hum of some kind of air purification system.

  “We keep the lab climate controlled,” Vargas-Ruiz explains, noticing my gaze. “At least when the generators are working.”

  “So where’s the machine that came after us?” Liam asks, his voice muffled by his mask.

  Vargas-Ruiz nods. “Over here.”

  She leads us toward a huge metal table surrounded by a group of twenty scientists. They are wearing masks, white gowns, and green surgical gloves. The remnants of the machine lie on the table in front of them.

  The scientists glance our way when they hear us coming. Many of them are holding sharp instruments, including metal shears and titanium scalpels.

  “Why are they here?” one of them asks Vargas-Ruiz.

  “These two kids have more experience dealing with selection units than the rest of you put together,” she replies sharply. “Alenna pulled one out of the sky, and Liam was taken by one—and lived. Think of them as elite consultants on UNA technology.”

  We reach the metal table. I lean in to take a closer look at the thing that tried to kill us. I’m drawn by an uncanny sense of fascination and dread.

  The machine is sprawled on the table like a large mechanical octopus. Its central disc looks smaller than it did when it was in the air. Wires, computer chips, and pieces of metal surround it, neatly arranged on white towels. The machine is damaged from the gunshots, missing a few tentacles, and leaking greenish-white hydraulic fluid. Otherwise, it looks surprisingly intact.

  I thought it would be completely blown to pieces. I’m confused for a moment, until I see a gloved hand reach out with tweezers and place a charred microchip back inside some kind of internal sensor array.

  These scientists are not taking the machine apart.

  They’re putting it back together.

  Reassembling it. Repairing the damage.

  “You’re fixing it?” I ask. “That’s crazy! Why?”

  “So we can learn how it works,” Vargas-Ruiz says. “If we know how to put it together, then we can figure out the best way to destroy it.”

  “The guns seemed pretty effective,” Liam says.

  None of the scientists replies.

  I keep looking down at the thing on the metal table. It gives me the creeps. Its blades, now stationary, glint under the bright fluorescent lights hanging overhead.

  Then a tentacle twitches.

  It’s a barely perceptible movement. No one else seems to notice. I tell myself that I must be imagining things.

  But a second later, the tentacle whips sideways.

  I leap back, shocked. The tentacle knocks bits of stray metal off the table with a clatter. Liam is right there, instantly stepping between me and the tentacle to protect me.

  “It still has power?” Liam asks the scientists.

  “Barely,” one of them says from behind his mask. “Nothing to worry about.”

  “You should have drained its battery,” Liam says.

  “If it gets loose in the tunnels, it’s going to hurt a lot of people!” I add.

  “We’ve been unable to fully power it down,” Vargas-Ruiz explains. “It runs on layers of diffracted energy cells, which means there’s no central power source to isolate. Each limb has its own energy reserve. It’s draining down over time.”

  “Take a look at its tentacles,” another scientist prompts. The masks make everyone hard to differentiate, and vaguely sinister. “Do they look similar to the ones on the selection units?”

  Liam and I stare at the machine warily. “I’ve never seen anything exactly like it,” Liam says. “Not even when I explored the gray zone. It’s smaller and faster than the selection units, and the blades make it deadlier.” He scrutinizes it. “It’s not made of metal, right? It’s something else.”

  The scientist nods. “Good eye. A silicone-plastic hybrid. Like a much denser version of the polymer that the cooling barrier is made of back on Island Alpha. Its blades are sharper than diamonds, but they don’t show up on radar too easily.”

  I look over at Vargas-Ruiz. “Why would the UNA build something like this? What’s its purpose?”

  She peers at us over her glasses. “We don’t know yet.”

  Right then, Liam leans over the table and reaches out a hand.

  “Don’t—” one of the scientists gasps.

  But it’s too late. Liam has grabbed one of the loose tentacles. He holds it up to his face, inspecting it. The tentacle bends slightly in his grasp, motors whirring as its blades spin lazily.

  “Put that thing down!
” I snap at Liam, afraid it’s going to cut him.

  “I just need to know what we’re up against,” he says, peering closely at the tentacle. “This machine looks more advanced than the feelers back on the wheel, but it’s a similar technology.” He holds the tentacle out so we can see. “More wires inside. Looks like an updated model, if I had to guess.” The tentacle keeps curling and bending, even though it’s severed from its body.

  Liam tosses it back down like he’s disgusted by it. I can’t believe he picked it up like that, without a second thought. One of the things I love about Liam is his fearlessness and his skill as a warrior. But I don’t want him to be so reckless. I nudge him hard in the ribs. “Don’t do that again,” I whisper.

  He nods. “Okay. Sorry.”

  I gaze at the scientists. “Please don’t put this machine back together,” I implore them. “You’re making a huge mistake. On the wheel, whenever one feeler showed up, others followed. This thing could be sending out a distress signal. A thousand more of them could be headed our way.”

  Liam nods in agreement. “You should destroy it right now.”

  The scientists ignore us, inscrutable behind their masks. I can tell that no matter what we say or do, they’re going to continue their work. I have a sudden urge to just get out of here. To get away from this killing machine. I glance around, looking for my mom. Maybe I can get her to intervene on our behalf. But she’s not in the lab.

  “We’re going to tighten our security,” Vargas-Ruiz finally says. “Make sure the hatches are locked. We won’t let any machines get inside our tunnels.” She steps back from the table and addresses the scientists. “I expect a full briefing on your progress before nineteen hundred hours.” Then she turns toward us. “Come with me. It’s time to go.”

  We rapidly follow her through the homemade air lock, out of the lab, and into the tunnel. The gray door slides shut behind us.

  “What’s going to happen now?” I ask her, pulling off my mask. She and Liam do the same.

  “The scientists will run a series of tests on the machine. They’ll try to figure out when it was built, and why. The UNA has some of the best scientists in the world at their disposal—many of them working at gunpoint. They also have far more resources than we do. We have to be smarter and stay one step ahead of them.”

  “More machines are probably headed our way, right?” Liam asks. “Give us the odds.”

  “Be honest,” I add. “We’re not afraid to fight.”

  “It’s possible that more are coming,” Vargas-Ruiz admits. “But they might be the least of our problems. If the UNA launches an assault on Destiny Station, they could use weapons far worse than this one. They could even use a contained nuclear device, although they know that Australia would retaliate.” She pauses. “Of course, any attack, even a minor one, could interfere with our plan to leave on schedule and reach Island Alpha.”

  “What can we do to help?” Liam asks her.

  “Right now, just go about your regular activities. We’ve only survived here by sticking to our routines, no matter what gets thrown our way.” She sighs. “Look, I have to go now, but I’ll come and get you later if there’s any news.” She turns and begins walking away from us, in her typically abrupt fashion. Then she calls out behind her: “Alenna, I know your mom is looking forward to seeing you play in the concert tonight. . . .”

  “I can’t think about music right now!” I say.

  I feel a hand on my arm. It’s Liam. “It’s okay,” he says. “I want to hear you play too.” He brushes back my hair with his fingers, trying to calm me down. “Vargas-Ruiz is right. We’re safe for now. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.”

  I take his hand and hold it tightly. I’m not sure if he actually feels this way, or if he’s just trying to make me feel better. “I guess you’re right.”

  He squeezes my hand back. “Aren’t I always?” he asks, kidding around.

  I glance back at him. “No.”

  We start walking down the tunnel again toward the elevator. Vargas-Ruiz has disappeared already, so now it’s just the two of us.

  The noises of the station are all around me, and I can smell food grilling somewhere, wafting up from another level. But this long tunnel is mostly deserted. Only occasionally does someone cross our path, and it’s usually one of the scientists.

  We’re almost at the rickety elevator, when three large figures step out from a cross tunnel.

  They stand there, twenty feet away, blocking our path. Three stocky boys about Liam’s age. Refugees from the wheel, like us. They’re wearing jeans, old black T-shirts, and combat boots. All of them have shaved heads.

  “Drones,” Liam whispers to me, slowing his pace. I slow down too.

  “Hey there,” one of the boys calls out gruffly. His words echo down the tunnel. “Liam and Alenna, right?”

  Liam nods. “Who wants to know?”

  “I do. We need to talk to you guys.”

  “About what?” I ask.

  We walk closer, on guard. We stop five paces away from them. I’ve never seen these boys before. But it’s clear they were waiting here for us to show up. I see old homemade tattoos on their arms. One of them has the remnants of multiple facial piercings around his lips and nose. Another has a black patch over his right eye.

  “If you don’t let us past, there’s gonna be trouble,” Liam says to them calmly. I sense his muscles tensing. My heart starts racing faster. My mind flashes back to the many battles on the wheel, and to my training with Gadya. I feel my hands start balling into fists.

  The drones don’t respond to Liam’s words. They just keep staring at us. Liam stares back, completely fearless. I almost get the feeling he wants to fight them. I glance behind us, fearing an ambush. But the tunnel is empty. We could walk away right now—but I know that we’d just be postponing an inevitable confrontation.

  I look back at the silent, menacing drones. “Tell us what you want, or leave us alone,” I say finally. My voice is loud and strong in the tunnel.

  I’m just about to speak again, when another figure emerges behind the boys, smoothly sliding her way between them. It’s a girl. The boys move aside rapidly to let her pass. She stands there in front of them, in the glare of the utility lights hanging on the wall.

  “Cass!” I say when I see her, feeling relieved. She’s already changed her outfit, no doubt in preparation for the concert later tonight. She’s wearing a black dress, heels, and a thin silver necklace. Silver bracelets cover the scars on her wrists.

  “I’ve been looking for you two,” she says, running a hand through her short hair. I see that her fingernails are now painted black. Then she notices how fiercely Liam and the boys are staring one another down. “Wait, is there a problem here?”

  “Not unless your friends start one,” Liam says.

  Cass glances back at the boys. “Jeez, relax. Okay?” she tells them.

  “What’s going on?” I ask her warily. “Why are you here on this level? Have you been following us?”

  “Kind of,” Cass admits.

  “Why?” Liam asks her.

  “Listen, after the concert tonight, we’re going to hold a meeting. Just some of us kids. It’s a chance to talk. You could use some friends.” She pauses and then lowers her voice. “We’re planning on sneaking out of the station for a few hours, to a secret meeting place that we know about in the dunes.”

  “Outside the station?” I ask. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “I knew it,” Liam mutters. “Once a drone, always a drone. Let me guess—you want to sneak out so you can get wasted and set stuff on fire? Or maybe even try to attack me and Alenna?”

  “It’s not like that,” Cass protests. “We just like to go outside at night for fresh air, and we can’t get access to the roof deck after today’s attack. Dr. Elliott sealed the hatch.” She adjusts her necklace. “After the concert, the scientists will be preoccupied with getting back to work. It’s an opportunity for us to speak in pr
ivate, where no one can overhear us. Sound travels through these tunnels and air vents like you wouldn’t believe.”

  I look at the three boys standing behind her. They’re staring at us with intense, brooding eyes.

  “Count us out,” Liam finally says, starting to walk forward again.

  I’m right at his side. The last thing I want to do is sneak outside Destiny Station and risk death. According to my mom, going outside at night was exactly how my father got killed several years ago. The station provides us with some degree of protection, even if it’s not perfect. Going outside for no reason seems foolish. It would be easy to get spotted by UNA technology. I’m sure they’re watching the station somehow.

  Cass steps forward, blocking us. “Listen,” she says. “You have friends stuck back on the wheel, and so do we. Forget about the drama that went down between our tribes. We have to work together now, while we still can.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, pausing for a moment.

  She fixes me with her brown eyes. They don’t look so gentle now. They look resolute. “Vargas-Ruiz and the other scientists don’t really care about us,” she whispers. “Sure, they care about bringing down the UNA. And so do we. But they’re moving way too slowly. By the time we get back to the wheel, it’s going to be too late. You saw the thing that attacked us today. More will come—both to the wheel and to this place as well. Destiny Station’s days are numbered.”

  “What can we do about it?” I ask.

  “That’s what I want to talk to you about tonight,” Cass continues, glancing back at the boys. “We’re working on our own plan, in case things go wrong here. One that will ensure that our friends and yours get rescued from the specimen archive. We know what you two managed to do on the wheel, and we respect it.” She gestures at the boys behind her. “They do too, even if they won’t admit it. We want you on our side.”

  “I’ll never be on the same side as you,” Liam says. “How many villagers did your friends kill on the wheel?”

  “How many of my friends did you kill?” she snaps back. “How we acted wasn’t completely our fault. We just responded differently to the UNA drugs than you did.” The boys behind her start shifting their weight, like they’re about to move forward.