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Aria stared up at the Belswan, taking in its liquid shape. Eighty feet from nose to tail, the cargo craft still managed to look sleek. The exterior was smooth and opalescent, like blue pearl, the coloration lightening gradually toward the front, like the tip of the craft had faded in the sun, exposing the transparent glass beneath. The tip, of course, was the cockpit.
“Perfection,” Caleb said reverently. He was still weak, but he’d insisted on coming outside to see her off. They stood on the bluff above the cave, as Aria waited to leave on the mission. “Flawless design and craftsmanship. It’s like Gaudí created a modern ship. ”
Aria shook her head. “It is beautiful. ” But that didn’t mean she liked it. Only a week ago, she’d stood in the cockpit of this very craft watching Reverie collapse before her eyes. Months earlier, she had been thrown from a Hover onto the hard desert outside Reverie and left to die.
This time would be better. How could it not be?
“Where is everyone?” she asked, scanning the small crowd around her.
A few of the Tides had come to send them off. Willow stood with her grandfather, Old Will, while Flea trotted around, sniffing busily. Reef and a couple of the Six were there, along with others she didn’t know, but so far she was the only member of the team to show.
Despite having slept against Perry all night, she still felt their argument weighing on her. He wouldn’t talk about how she’d hurt him, and he wouldn’t talk about Roar or Liv.
It felt like a lot. A lot to go unsaid.
“They’re just a little tardy,” said Caleb. “They’ll be here. ”
“They’d better hurry. ”
With a thick layer of fog cloaking the coast, she couldn’t see the red flares that had everyone worried, but she heard the storm they’d been anticipating. The distant shriek of the funnels sent a shiver through her.
Five miles away, she guessed. They needed to leave soon.
“See?” Caleb said. “Here comes Soren . . . and Jupiter?”
Soren crested the switchback path that climbed up from the beach, his closest friend at his side. Jupiter walked with an amble that matched his leisurely personality. Today he appeared mellower than usual, having just emerged from days of fever. Like Soren, he carried a bag over his shoulder.
“What is this?” Reef grumbled. “Someone explain to me why there’s another one of them now?”
Aria felt Caleb tense at her side. He was one of “them” too.
Soren stopped in front of Reef and lifted his chin. “This is our second-in-command, Jupiter,” he said importantly.
Jupiter flipped his shaggy hair out of his eyes. It felt strange to see him outside the Realms. Even stranger to see him without drums and his bandmates. “Hey, Aria and Caleb. And, uh . . . hello, Outsiders. ”
“No,” Reef said. “Not hello. You can leave, Dweller. You’re not part of the team. ”
Jupiter’s eyes went wide, but Soren held his ground.
He crossed his arms. “If Jupiter goes, I go. ”
“Done,” said Reef. “Good-bye to you both. ”
“Can any of you fly a Hover?” Soren asked, looking around him. “I didn’t think so. We can. Isn’t that what we need? A way out of here? And I want equal representation on this pathetic team. ”
“Equal?” Reef said. “There are forty Dwellers in that cave. You are one tenth our count. ”
“We speak technology, which makes our tenth a hundred times more valuable. ”
A few paces away, Twig turned to Gren. “So are they more valuable or are we?”
“I don’t know,” Gren answered. “I’m lost. ”
“Get in there, Jupiter,” Aria said, gesturing to the Belswan.
A dozen heads whipped to look at her. No one stared more intently than Reef.
“Soren has a point,” she said. “It’s smart to bring someone else who can fly the Hover. We should have an alternate pilot in case something incapacitates him during the mission. ”
