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“Then I’ll start with how I discovered it and let you decide whether you believe me or not. Three years ago, one of my trading ships, the Colossus, fell into the grip of a storm and was swept out to sea. The crew suffered a tragic loss of life. Only two young deckhands survived. Inexperienced sailors, coincidentally both Seers, they were adrift for weeks when they came to something quite unbelievable.
“We’ve all seen the funnels of Aether, but what these men described was very different. A wall of Aether. Or, I should say, a waterfall of Aether. A barrier that flowed from the sky, extending endlessly upward, and across the horizon as far as they could see. An astonishing sight, but no comparison to what lay beyond. On the other side, through small gaps in the Aether flows, these young men glimpsed clear skies. Still skies. No Aether. ”
“Where are these men?” she asked.
“No longer available. ” Sable opened his hands, the gesture matter-of-fact. “I had to secure the knowledge. ”
He was ruthless. Admitting he’d killed these sailors so frankly and with no remorse. Aria looked around the table. No one seemed surprised.
“You believe this story without proof?” she asked Hess.
“It corroborates our theories. ”
“What theories?” she demanded. Answers were coming at last. She wanted to know everything.
Sable nodded at Hess, who answered. “It was an early theory that linked the disruption of Earth’s magnetism with the arrival of Aether. Magnetic north and south shifted, a clash that we’re still in the midst of. But it was theorized that pockets of magnetism would form . . . cohering the way water droplets do. We think the Still Blue is one of these pockets. A magnetic field that’s keeping the Aether at bay. What those two men saw was the boundary—Aether pushing as far up to this field as possible and pooling there to create a wall. ”
“Why didn’t we know this before?” Aria demanded.
“Those who needed to know did,” Hess said. “And the knowledge led nowhere. We conducted extensive searches, but nothing was ever found. The idea was abandoned. ”
It was so much to take in. Aria’s entire body felt numb. “And the plan to get through the barrier?”
Hess glanced to the glass wall. “We’ve had little success controlling the Aether through technological means. Other approaches, biological ones, may still work. The CGB—the research group your mother was part of—had the primary focus of sculpting genetics to make life in the Pods sustainable. But they also ran a few experimental programs. Some of these, like the immunoboost, looked at bringing us back outside the Pods. Another focused on evolutional acceleration. ”
Aria’s mother had been a geneticist. She already knew where this was heading. Hess continued, explaining for the benefit of the others.
“By creating people with a high degree of genetic plasticity—DNA that’s extremely
malleable—they hoped to create humans who could rapidly adapt to whatever environment they encountered: chameleons who could change on a cellular level, molding to an alien atmosphere, to whatever conditions they met. ”
As Hess spoke, Sable gave a signal to one of his men at the door. Horn soldiers came in from the corridor, standing along the wall. Hess’s Guardians entered as well. Both groups seemed uneasy to be there.
“The CGB had already seen Outsiders who exhibited this type of rapid evolution by assuming enhanced sensory capabilities. ” Hess glanced at Roar. “But what the program accomplished went further than anyone anticipated. Not only did the test subjects adapt to the Aether; the Aether adapted to them. ”
He paused, just a beat of silence. In that beat, Aria heard only ringing in her ears. When he spoke again, she began to count Guardians. Horn soldiers. Weapons.
“It wasn’t long before the project was deemed a failure. There were instabilities that weren’t accounted for. As with anything, in solving one problem there’s always a possibility of creating secondary, consequential problems. While the scientists had figured out how to create a human with dynamic genetics, they couldn’t figure out how to turn those dynamics off. The test subjects expired within years of creation. They were nonviable. They . . . self-destructed. ”
Hess looked to the glass wall again and said, “All except one. ”
20
PEREGRINE
Speakers in the ceiling had piped in every word.
“I’m . . . I’m an alien?” Cinder said. The scent of his fear flooded the chamber.
“No. That’s not what he said. ” Perry pulled against his restraints, though he knew it was useless. He wanted to shatter the glass between the chambers and reach Aria.
Reach Sable.
They’d seen everything too, but Perry knew it wasn’t the same from the other side. Whenever Aria or Roar looked over, their gazes scanned, never settling on him or Cinder.
Cinder’s eyebrows drew together, his expression desperate. “But I heard that man. He said the word alien. ”
“He also said the word chameleon, but you’re not one of those, are you?”
