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But instead of moving down the mountain to the landing meadow, the ship hovers over us, the blades rotating so that it can stay suspended in the air. Eli flinches, and some in the crowd duck instinctively. They’re remembering firings in the Outer Provinces. Someone else moans, far back in the crowd.
The ship dips down slightly and then comes back up. The intent is clear, even to me. He wants us to move so that he can land in the village circle.
“He said he’d never try to land here,” Colin says, his face pale. “He promised. ”
“Is the circle large enough?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Colin says.
And then everyone moves. Xander and I turn to each other and he grabs my hand. We race away from the circle, our feet flying over the grass and ground, the air whipping above us. The Pilot is coming down. He might not survive the landing, and we might not either.
What would drive the Pilot to do this? It’s only a short walk from the landing meadow up to the village. Why can’t he spare the time? What is happening back in the Provinces?
The ship dips and tilts; the air is always moving in the mountains. The ship’s blades churn and the wind whips around us, so we hear nothing but a howl and a scream as the Pilot comes down, down, down, crashing through the trees, ship turning to the side.
He’s not going to be able to land it, I think, and I turn to look at Xander. We’re pressed up against the wall of a building for shelter and Xander’s eyes are closed, as if he can’t bear to see what comes next.
“Xander,” I say, but he can’t hear me.
Again the ship tips, turns, shudders down closer and closer to us, too near the edge of the circle. There’s nowhere else to run. There’s not enough time or space to go around the building. These thoughts flash fast through my mind.
I close my eyes, too, and I press against Xander as if either of us can keep the other safe. He puts his arms around me and his body feels warm and sound, a good place to be at the finish. I wait for scraping metal, for breaking stone and cracking wood, for fire and heat and an end as sudden as a flood.
CHAPTER 52
KY
Cassia’s not here anymore,” I say. My voice is a whisper. Weak and dry.
I don’t feel like I do when I’ve been asleep. I know time has passed. I know I’ve been here and that there was a time when I was gone. I try to move my hand. Do I succeed?
“Cassia,” I say. “Can someone find Cassia?”
No one answers me.
Maybe Indie will do it, I think, and then I remember.
Indie’s gone.
But I’ve come back.
CHAPTER 53
XANDER
When I open my eyes, the air ship fills the village circle. Cassia is tucked into my arms, holding on tight. Neither of us moves as the Pilot climbs out of his ship and stands almost exactly where I stood moments ago, over by the troughs.
Colin strides forward into the circle. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asks, furious. “You almost destroyed part of the village. Why didn’t you go to the landing meadow?”
“There’s not enough time for that,” the Pilot says. “The Provinces are falling apart and I need every minute I can get. Do you have a cure?”
Colin doesn’t answer. The Pilot looks past Colin in the direction of the research lab. “Find Oker,” he says. “Let me talk to him. ”
“You can’t,” Leyna says. “He’s dead. ”
The Pilot swears. “How?”
“We think it was a heart attack,” Colin says.
Everyone looks over at me. They still think I’m responsible for what happened to Oker.
“Then there’s no cure,” the Pilot says, his voice flat. “And no chance for one. ” He starts back to the ship.
“Oker left us a cure,” Leyna says. “We’re about to try it on the patients—”
“I need a cure that works now,” the Pilot says, turning around. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to come back here again. This is the end. Do you understand?”
“You mean—” Leyna begins.
“There’s a faction in the Rising that wants to remove me from my position,” the Pilot says. “They’ve already taken control of the patient disconnections and the rations. If they succeed with my removal—which they will—I won’t have any access to ships or a way to get you to the Otherlands. We have to have a cure. Now. ” The Pilot pauses. “The Rising has ordered disconnections of a certain percent of the still. ”
