He looks from side to side, making sure we’re still alone. “Island Four is all ILF. I don’t know if they’ll give you one, but they have bigger boats Whitman’s people don’t know about. The leader is Cress. I can program your sub to go there instead of your island. It’ll take you a while to get there. When you do, tell Cress Evander sent you.”
I’ll do whatever it takes to get one of those boats. I can get my people off the island and they can start over somewhere new.
Briar and I are going to New America, but everyone else could go somewhere Whitman doesn’t control. Canada, maybe.
“What’s the scope of the cloning experiments?” I ask. “Is Whitman mass-producing soldiers?”
“No, that’s not what it’s about. They’ve brought some of the top commanders here to get organs from the clones. They’re hoping the decelerated aging research can help all of them live longer.”
He glances down at his watch. “Twenty seconds. When I push this button, this conversation is done and I’m back to my cover.”
I still have so many questions. I should be focusing on the big picture. Asking about the other islands. Seeing if he knows where Whitman is. But all I can think about is 6A5.
“How many clones of me are there?”
Tyrone furrows his brow. “I don’t know. At least threeAclones. Seventeen is the only one still alive on theDside.” He stares at his watch face as he says, “I’ll give you extra water foryour trip when we get to the docks. Don’t say anything about it. And your tattoo is only semipermanent. Moses is ILF, too.”
He presses the device button and then sets it on the ground beside the vehicle. I’m reeling as he puts the vehicle in drive and exits the building.
“Hey, at least you’ll have a flag to fly now,” he says lightly. “Not every island gets a statue.”
I follow along. “Yeah, I guess a statue that nice wouldn’t fit in on my island. It’s pretty untamed. I’d put our people up against anyone’s, though. There was a little rebellion and we squashed it.”
Tyrone’s lips quirk in a knowing smile. “I’m sure if you keep up the great work, you’ll end up on an island like this one soon.”
“I’ll serve New America wherever the president needs me.”
The door to the dry dock building is opening, and as soon as it’s high enough, he pulls the vehicle into it. When he parks, we walk to the sub in silence. The door opens upward and he sets the bag he’s carrying inside it. Then he steps into it and pushes some buttons on the dash.
As soon as he’s back on the dock, he says, “Safe travels back to your island, Commander. It was our honor to host you.”
I do a jerk-off motion as I say, “Peace, order, and prosperity.”
He fights a grin. “Peace, order, and prosperity.”
I get into the sub and buckle myself in, glad to be leaving Island Three behind.
26
“What’s left for me? My wife and son died from the virus. I have nothing to live for. I do have something to die for, though. I want to destroy the people who made the virus. They deserve to feel the same pain they inflicted on countless people just like me.” – Excerpt from a letter written by Hiro Tanaka to ILF leadership
Briar
Once again, Vadim worked his magic on our limited food supply. My dinner plate has chunks of fire-roasted fish, spiced grains, and flatbread with guava jam.
I worked through lunch, and I’m so hungry I tear into tonight’s meal without even asking Amira how her day is going. It’s delicious. Vadim’s love of cooking shows in every meal we’ve had while on strict rations.
We can’t eat until we’re full—there’s just not enough food. So he does everything he can to make up for it with flavor and variety.
The Tiders have been with us for two full days, and it’s been rocky at times, but no one’s been injured. On the first day they were here, Pax introduced me to Lee, one of his people. Lee was a commercial fisherman before the virus, and he explained that the Tiders’ camp was on the leeward side of the island, with calmer waters.
Our camp is on the windward side of the island, which means our coastline has better access to fish. Because of our shield, the Tiders couldn’t access those waters.
We’ve always fished, but nothing like we are now. Pax, Lee, and a few others quickly built two good fishing boats. Lee worked with his hands bandaged from burns, only stopping when Ellison said he had to because of the blood soaking through the bandages. Even then, he stayed on the jobsite to oversee the work.
Today, Lee took fishing crews out, and they returned with hundreds of fish. Vadim was thrilled to have fresh food to prepare. He’d been relying on our stores of nonperishables.
“I don’t know if I can even lift my hands to tweeze brows this evening,” Amira says.
