I nodded to myself, then cut the call, exhaling heavily and lowering myself in bed.
My phone’s screen flashed again. A text from Jessie:
“Got some news… going out tomorrow… somewhere… 7 a.m.”
I stared heavily down at the screen.
At least two was company, I supposed.
TWENTY-SEVEN
It would begenerous to say that I managed to sleep a solid hour that night. I drifted off at some point, but deep sleep evaded me, somewhere just out of reach. So, the next morning I stumbled around in my bathroom, splashing myself with cold water and praying somehow I would survive this.
Whateverthiseven was.
I saw that Anna had texted me at 5:00 a.m. with instructions to wait near the bridge of our island. At 6:45, I left my house and scanned the road for Jessie. She had just stepped out, too, and was making her way in my direction. Judging from the bags under her eyes, she’d gotten about as much sleep as I had.
“Hey,” I said as I reached her. I wrapped my arms around her, needing to feel her warmth and solidness in that moment. Although she looked incredibly pale.
“Seems like we’re finally gonna get permission to talk about what’s happening to us, if we’re going out together on an excursion,” she murmured, and I nodded. Assuming they kept us together.
We reached the bridge promptly at 7:00 and found a small, silver aircraft already waiting for us. A blue-uniformed pilot I didn’t recognize ushered us inside and then lifted us toward the main island. I stared out the window, trying to combat the motion sickness which threatened to consume me.
The small pod continued to rise, until I realized we were headed directly for Founders’ Fortress. As airsick as I felt, I couldn’t help but marvel again at the structure as we neared it—this time from a much closer and more spectacular angle than I had seen before.
“We’re headed for that turret,” Jessie suddenly said. “Look,there.”
I gazed toward where she pointed. Indeed, we were headed for what appeared to be a landing pad on one of the turret’s flat roofs. It was the Springs’ turret. I saw the familiar figure of Anna step out onto the platform, her brother following closely behind her. They both wore crisp blue uniforms.
The aircraft descended and our glass enclosure hissed open.
“Morning!” Anna said brightly.
I didn’t even attempt to return her cheer as I climbed unsteadily out of the aircraft. My knees buckled slightly when they hit the solid ground, and I gripped the edge of the aircraft to steady myself.
“Oh dear,” Anna said, glancing me over. “Doesn’t look like you slept well last night.”
Doesn’t it, now?
“But, luckily, we brought you both a booster.” Anna reached into a backpack that hung from her left arm and pulled out two metallic flasks. “These are for you,” she said. She unscrewed the lids one by one and handed them to Jessie and me.
I took a tentative sniff and inhaled whatappeared to be a thick, sweet substance. I took a mouthful, swishing the thick warm liquid in my mouth before swallowing it with a grimace. It was sickly sweet. But a moment later, I felt an unexpected surge of energy. My eyelids suddenly felt less heavy, my eyesight sharper… if that was really possible from a drink?
I looked at Jessie, who seemed to have a similar experience; her stance seemed suddenly stronger, her eyes brighter.
“We’ll be traveling in this aircraft,” Anna announced, nodding toward the pod Jessie and I had just stepped out of. “And look, the others are also preparing.”
I looked at her in confusion and she pointed skyward. Identical aircraft to ours descended toward each of the other twelve turrets. More blue-uniformed figures were stepping out onto the platforms, looking up expectantly at the sky. They had to be greetingtheirmentees, I realized. They had to be part of the families who owned the other turrets. The other twelve, most prominent Founder families of Fairwell. The elite of the entire island.
I hadn’t realizedallof them would participate in this.
As if reading my thoughts, Anna pointed to each of the turrets and named them as she went: “Fraser, Wolrick, Swallow, Dankworth, Fernsby, Lexford, Grantham, Calloway, Earnston. Then, of course, there’s the ‘C-Suite’ in the center: Willoughby, Burchard, and Haas. As you know, we take outreach seriously at Fairwell, and there are members of every family involved in the department.”
“Plus, this is notjustabout outreach,” Gerard added. “It’s about leadership training, too—for us, and for you.”
“For founders of the future,” I muttered, thinking of the induction course’s name.
“Exactly!” Anna said. “The two go hand in hand. And remember what I told you? A great leader is known by how well they can replicate themself.”
