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“What is the rate?” Cassia asks. She walks out into the village circle as if she has every right to be there. Leyna narrows her eyes at Cassia but lets her speak. “We projected that they’d start releasing around two percent of the still to preserve the maximum amount of life while still freeing up others to work. ”
“That’s where they began,” the Pilot says. “But they’ve increased it. They’re recommending twenty percent, with a further increase to come. ”
One in five. Who would they pick to cut off first? The ones who went still early? Or later? What’s happening to Lei?
“It’s too many,” Cassia says. “It’s not necessary. ”
“The algorithm assumed that people would be willing to help,” the Pilot says. “That they wouldn’t leave the still behind. And the Rising has released the sample storage. They’re giving out tissue samples to people if they’ll agree to let their loved ones be disconnected to save space. ”
“People aren’t actually agreeing to such a thing, are they?” Cassia asks.
“Some are,” the Pilot says.
“But they can’t bring anyone back,” Cassia says. “No one has that technology. Not the Society, not the Rising. ”
“The tubes have never been about bringing people back,” the Pilot says. “They’ve always been used to control the people who are here. So I’ll ask again. Do you have a cure?”
“We need more time,” Leyna says. “Not much. ”
“There is no more time,” the Pilot says. “We’re getting low on food. People are running away from the Cities and into the Boroughs, where they attack those who are left, or they take off for the country, where they die of the mutation because we can’t get to them in time. We’re running out of the ingredients Oker recommended for inclusion in the fluid and medication bags, and none of the scientists in the Provinces has found a cure. ”
“There is a cure,” Cassia says. “Xander can show your pharmics how to make it. ” She holds out a tube to the Pilot. She’s at the game table and she’s throwing down all her cards.
For a second I think Leyna and Colin aren’t going to let Cassia get away with it, but neither of them says anything. Everyone watches to see what Cassia will do next.
“How many people have you tried it on?” the Pilot asks, taking the cure from Cassia.
“Only one,” Cassia says. “Ky. But we can make more. ”
That makes the Pilot laugh. “One person,” he says. “And how do I know Ky really got cured? When I last saw him, he wasn’t even still. ”
“He was sick,” Cassia says. “You saw him yourself. Everyone here will vouch for his illness. ”
“Of course they will,” the Pilot says. “They want passage to the Otherlands. They’ll agree with anything you say. ”
“If this is your last chance to come to the village,” Cassia says, “then you should at least see what we have. It won’t take long. ”
Leyna moves closer, smiling, as if she’s been in on this all along. But when she gets near enough to Cassia that the Pilot can’t hear, Leyna hisses, “Who? Who helped you?”
Cassia doesn’t answer that question. She’s protecting the people who helped with the cure: me, the guards, Anna, Noah, and Tess. “It’s Oker’s base,” she says loudly. She’s looking at the Pilot but speaking to everyone, trying to get them to go along with her in this. “And it’s the ingredient he wanted in it. This is Oker’s real cure, and it’s working. ” She starts
down the path to the infirmary. “It would be a shame,” she calls back to the Pilot, “if you came all this way and then didn’t get what you needed. ”
The Pilot follows her across the village circle, and so do the rest of us. Cassia pushes open the door to the infirmary as if she’s perfectly confident that everything inside is fine. But I see how her lips tremble when Ky looks up at her, his eyes clear and aware. She didn’t know it was working, at least not this well. And then, for a second, it’s like none of the rest of us are here. They’re the only two in the world. “Ky,” she says.
“Can we run yet?” he asks her. His voice is barely a whisper. Everyone, including Leyna and Colin, leans in to hear Ky, even though what he’s saying isn’t meant for the rest of us.
“No,” she says. “Not yet. ”
“I know,” he says, and there’s a half smile on his face. She bends down to kiss him, and his trembling hand reaches for hers, but he can’t move it far enough yet. So I lift up his hand and put it on hers. I help him to reach her. For a moment, I’m a part of it all. Then I’m just apart.
The Pilot looks down at Ky and then up at me. Does he believe us? His expression doesn’t give anything away. “Oker said this was what you should use?” He’s asking me directly. It’s my turn to convince him now. Cassia and Ky have done what they could.
“Oker told me about his work in the Society,” I say. “I know that he was part of the team that originated the viruses. I know how much he wanted to find the cure. And I think he did. ”
“If what you say is true,” the Pilot says, “we’d need to do a full trial of the cure somewhere else. ”
“How secure is the medical center in Camas where Indie found me?” I ask.
“We still have control over it,” the Pilot says. It’s a strange feeling to have someone I once believed in deciding whether or not he believes in me. I meet his gaze, the two of us standing face to face.
He knows I’m not telling him everything, but he decides it’s enough. “I can fly the three of you out now,” the Pilot says. “Seeing Ky might convince some of the pharmics and medics to start a trial. Where can we find more of the plant you used? Do you have stock on hand?”
“Yes,” Anna says. “I stayed out digging them all night. ”
“And I may know where we can get more,” Cassia says. “My mother saw a field with this flower once. The Society destroyed that field and Reclassified the grower, but there might be something left. If we can bring my mother back, she’ll remember where she saw the flowers. ”
“Let’s go, then,” the Pilot says. “Get Ky on the ship. ” He turns on his heel and walks out the door without looking back at us.
“Thank you,” Ky says to me as we bring him onto the ship, Cassia close behind.
