No place like home, p.1
No Place Like Home, page 1
part #9 of Remnants Series
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
REMNANTS #9
K.A. Applegate
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
CHAPTER 1
NOW WAS NOT THE TIME TO START.
The Dividing could not be rushed.
Three Isolated Corridors could only disregard the foolish wishes of the Quorum. They encouraged him to ignore the ancient rules. To speed up rituals that ensured the health of the Children.
Foolish. Three Isolated Corridors was trained to protect the balance. He could not hurry — would not! He would not force the Dividing to fit the Quorum's petty plans and strategies. The rituals must be followed. The strongest, smartest of the People must be elected.
Some said the ancient rituals should be laid aside. The Quorum said balance was imposed by the Shipwrights, who only wanted the Children to be few in number and easily enslaved.
Perhaps.
Finally, it was agreed to follow the rituals.
Quickly. But Three Isolated Corridors could only work so fast. The rituals exhausted him. He needed his rest.
The Quorum thought they could intimidate him because he was young, because little time had passed since the Riders had cut down his mentor. But even if this was the first time he had led the rituals, he knew what was proper.
Slowly, Three Isolated Corridors walked to the circle of exchanging. The daix were waiting. Three Isolated Corridors noted with satisfaction that their skin was bloated with nen and their eyes were glazed from its effects. By contrast, the nya was bright-eyed, and he watched with fantastic concentration as Three Isolated Corridors wiped the object clean and placed it within the circle.
Three Isolated Corridors often thought the hyperawareness was misplaced. He felt it was the nya, not the daix, who could use a little relief, a little forgetfulness. Perhaps he got it as the nen flowed. Of course, there was only one way to know that and Three Isolated Corridors wasn't volunteering. Giving everything for the good of the camp was an honor, of course, but he wasn't in any hurry. Someday, yes, but not anytime soon.
Well. The nya had waited long enough. Three Isolated Corridors nodded to the daix. The nen began to flow, slowly at first and then faster. The fluid was drained from three large containers through metallic hoses that had never been used until this sacred day. The nen arched into the air and flowed over the nya. And as it flowed, the nya began to dissolve. Now the flow of nen dribbled off to nothing. The nya was dissolving faster. The daix put down their hoses and began the stately first steps of the Dance of Birth. Three Isolated Corridors turned his attention to the object, which was beginning to fill.
Three Isolated Corridors waved his tentacles in the looping movements of the ritual. As he watched, pale spongy buds began to form. Four — no, five. He had matched well.
The buds grew rapidly. In each one, Three Isolated Corridors could see the slender translucent legs and rapidly beating hearts forming. He felt some of his exhaustion give way to tenderness. New life — it was so delicate, so precious. These young buds who had not yet been named by the People could become anything. Among their number might even be a new Sentient. Perhaps.
There were those who said the People were doomed. Those who said the new Expositor favored integration with the Humans. Those who said that the one born with the ability to sense Mother's mood had lost its mind, was signing nothing but gibberish. Three Isolated Corridors didn't believe it. He had never concerned himself with rumors.
Now was not the time to start. The camp was full of vessels awaiting the Rite of Culling. There was much work to be done.
CHAPTER 2
"HELLO? IS SOMEONE DOWN THERE?"
Roger Dodger was bored. He was tired of hanging out with Tate and Tamara. Tired of the lame video games Billy had created. Tired of living in this faked-up town all of the others were so proud of.
If you asked him — and nobody had — Billy hadn't done a very good job making this place. The movie theater played only two old films that were in the Mayflower's database: Titanic and Men in Black. The food at Taco Bell wasn't salty enough. And all of the cartoons in town, mostly clerks and shoppers in the stores, were much too old.
Everyone around here was too old. Except for Edward. And Edward was too little. All Roger Dodger wanted was to hang out with someone his own age. Problem was: He was the only ten-year-old left in the universe.
Roger Dodger had had lots of friends back on Earth. But all of those kids were gone now. Even Noah Rosetti, his best friend.
Only eighty people got to board the Mayflower, a space shuttle that blasted off just before Earth was destroyed. Roger Dodger's mother said they were very special to be chosen. Lots of people died while they were sleeping on the shuttle. Some molded and turned to "cheese." Worms ate others. Others dried out and turned into mummies. Teeny-tiny meteorites made holes in others.
Roger Dodger didn't know what had happened to his mother and father. Olga and the other grownups wouldn't let him see them. They just said his parents hadn't woken up.
Now they were on some huge ship. And there were aliens: Riders and Blue Meanies. The Riders were Roger Dodger's favorite. They had cool hover-boards that were like big flying skateboards.
The Riders weren't very nice, though. They'd killed Errol. And he wasn't the only one who'd been lost to the ship. Violet's mom had drowned. The Blue Meanies had gotten Mr. Hwang with their fléchette guns. Others were gone, too.
There were only seventeen people left.
Things hadn't been so bad when they were out roaming the ship, searching for the bridge, fighting aliens. Then nobody had worried about what he wore, when he went to bed, or how often he bathed. He hadn't been expected to come in for meals or mind his manners. They hadn't had tables or houses or food or baths or beds.
Roger Dodger missed being dirty. He missed being tired, sweaty, thirsty, and desperate. He was bored.
Roger Dodger kept wishing the adults would get sick of playing make-believe and do something real. Finally he'd decided to do something real himself.
He ate breakfast with Tate and Tamara. After the food was gone but before Tamara finished her coffee, Roger Dodger got up and moved toward the back door.
"Where you heading?" Tate asked. Her tone was casual. She wouldn't try to stop him.
Neither would Tamara. Tamara wasn't interested in him. Her pretty hazel eyes were distant and surrounded by charcoal bruises. Roger wondered If she missed her baby. The Baby. Roger Dodger thought that was creepy. The Baby was a mutation that none of the Remnants wanted to think about for very long.
"Just going to hang out," Roger Dodger said.
Tate nodded and he thrust open the door and escaped into the backyard. He passed an untouched swing set — did Tate and Billy really think he'd be interested in a slide and jungle gym after all he'd been through? Roger Dodger headed into a thin line of palm trees.
Another dozen yards and he stepped from his own backyard and into the desert surrounding Violet's property. He began climbing a slight hill to her house. His orange T-shirt clung to his narrow shoulders as he reached the top of the hill and stepped onto a pebbled path.
Roger Dodger broke out into a cold sweat. His heart beat too hard, too fast. He smiled. This was fun!
Right in front of him was a plain, wood-framed basement door. Roger Dodger licked his lips, wiped his sweaty palms on his shorts, then stepped forward and tried the knob. The door swung open. Roger Dodger stepped into Violet's cool, damp basement. The floor was bare dirt, the walls lined with stone. Violet didn't need a washer and dryer, garden tools, or other basement junk, so the large space was empty. Almost.
Roger Dodger's eyes went to one corner. A rickety old wooden cabinet leaned against the wall. The green paint on it was peeling, the wood was half rotted. The cabinet was the kind of thing you'd never notice unless you were nosy and wanted to know what Violet had to put away in it.
Roger Dodger knew what was inside. He'd heard Violet and Jobs arguing.
His sneakers made no noise as he crossed the basement and opened the cabinet. Two Rider weapons gleamed in the dim light. A sword and a boomerang.
Most of the weapons they'd collected from the Riders and Meanies were up on the bridge, locked away in a safe with only one key that Billy had hidden somewhere. Collecting the weapons had been part of their deal with the aliens, Roger Dodger wasn't sure why Violet had kept these two weapons, but ever since he'd heard Jobs telling her how dangerous it was, he'd been planning this moment.
Roger Dodger was reaching into the cabinet when a floorboard above him settled, making his heart leap up. Was Violet home? Probably. There was really nowhere else to go.
He glanced toward the open door and then eagerly picked up the boomerang and paused to admire its razor-sharp blade. He wanted to learn to throw it. So he could protect himself from Riders or Meanies or whatever. And for fun. And because the boomerang was the coolest, realest thing in Billyland.
One thing worried Roger Dodger: That he might get into trouble if Violet di
But then he realized he could practice throwing the boomerang in Violet's basement. That way he could leave the boomerang right where he'd found it. And she'd never know.
Roger Dodger stepped back against one wall. He'd thrown a boomerang once when the Riders were attacking them. It was easy. You just tossed it like a Frisbee and it automatically came back. The only tricky part was catching it again without letting it cut you. Roger Dodger'd had a little problem with that part the last time. D-Caf's thigh had gotten cut when he missed. D-Caf was still limping.
Roger Dodger shook off the memory. This was different. That had been during a crazy battle. Riders everywhere. He was all alone in the basement now. If he couldn't catch the boomerang, he'd just get out of its way.
Without another thought, Roger Dodger tossed the boomerang. He was thrilled to watch the sharp-edged weapon flying straight and fast, turning before reaching the far wall and coming toward him. Roger Dodger focused his attention on the speeding weapon, flexing his knees, preparing. He had to catch it just right or he'd lose his hand. "Hello? Is someone down here?"
Violet. Roger Dodger spun toward her voice. He saw a glimpse of gauzy white skirt floating above the stairs, remembered the danger, turned back.
A blur of movement.
Close!
He brought up his hands to shield his forehead from the blade, heard a puzzling, gurgling noise, and watched with surprise as the floor rushed up toward him.
CHAPTER 3
"CHOOSE CAREFULLY."
Seventy Sacred Truths had a simple job: Guard the periphery of the camp. A simple job made complicated, tedious, and dull by Eight Spinning Wheels.
Eight Spinning Wheels. The Children had chosen his name well. His tentacles never stopped moving. They probably waved as he slept.
Seventy Sacred Truths had been ignoring Eight Spinning Wheels since they were buds and he would have liked to ignore him now. But he had been given the order to follow his endless wavings and report any new or dangerous rantings to his superiors. It was a difficult task, but Seventy Sacred Truths welcomed the opportunity to show his devotion to the True Path. His devotion had burned brighter since the Election of the Dividing. That was when his fellow Children had decided he wasn't fit to serve as nya or even daix. Fully half of the camp had been chosen, but he had been thrown in with the misfits, the imbeciles, and the cowardly. He would show the Children how wrong they were. He'd see to it that Seventy Sacred Truths was a name long remembered.
Now he scanned the woods surrounding this secret camp, searching for the sign from his superiors. Nothing. Nothing yet. But it would come. And when it did, his new life would begin. He wasn't sure what form that new life would take, but at least he'd be free from Eight Spinning Wheels's ravings.
"The Humans," Eight Spinning Wheels was saying now. "It is clear to me they are a race without honor or morals." His tentacles moved lazily as he pondered the nature of their enemy. He seemed to imagine he had the wisdom of a Sentient when, in truth, he wasn't even a particularly good guard. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he forgot to watch the woods for intruders.
"Yes?" Seventy Sacred Truths said. Eight Spinning Wheels required only a few words, a little interaction to continue his conversation.
"Of course," Eight Spinning Wheels said. "Simply consider the promises they have broken. The one called Yago has tried to lure Children away from their true religion. The one called Billy changed the course of Mother without permission. Who knows what other lies they have told."
"Yes, who knows," Seventy Sacred Truths said. His eyes ran over the trees once again. Scanning for the sign, always scanning. Seventy Sacred Truths had been searching for so long that the movement was second nature to him.
"We will regain control," Eight Spinning Wheels said, looking out over the birthing field with apparent satisfaction. "The humans are arrogant. They think they dominate us because the one called Billy exerts control over Mother. But they do not dominate us." "No?" Seventy Sacred Truths asked.
"They cannot repair Mother, can they?" Eight Spinning Wheels said.
Seventy Sacred Truths didn't bother to answer He knew he wasn't required to.
"They cannot return Mother to her true power," Eight Spinning Wheels said. "So why should we bargain with them?"
"Why not ask the Quorum?" Seventy Sacred Truths asked. "They agreed to the Big Compromise."
"We would have been destroyed if they had not," Eight Spinning Wheels said quickly. He was nothing if not numbingly loyal. "But everything has changed now. We are no longer in a position of weakness. We have increased our numbers. We have built an army such as the Children have never seen."
"The army may be larger than any we have seen," Seventy Sacred Truths said. "But that doesn't mean it will be large enough."
"I hear ..." Eight Spinning Wheels paused cautiously and then rushed on, apparently unable to resist sharing the rumor he'd heard. "I hear this is not the full extent of our forces." Now this was interesting. "You mean there is another camp?" Seventy Sacred Truths asked, trying to hide his concern. As far as he knew, all of the surviving Children had gathered here. If there were more somewhere else on the ship ...
But Eight Spinning Wheels was waving him off. "I'm talking about an alliance with the Riders," he said, his tentacles jerking with excitement.
Seventy Sacred Truths realized he'd underestimated Eight Spinning Wheels's value. The rumor of an alliance — this was important news. Seventy Sacred Truths was shocked by the plan's audacity. An alliance with the Riders? It would have been unthinkable under the Quorum that had led the People since before Seventy Sacred Truths had been named. But many of the old leaders had been killed in the war. New leaders meant new ideas. But this was going too far. This was shocking.
What kind of corrupt leaders made alliances with savages? Seventy Sacred Truths was so surprised he almost missed the signal — four quick flashes of infrared light picked up by a special implant in his suit.
It was beginning!
Seventy Sacred Truths could already see movement on the far side of the camp — some of his fellow acolytes putting the plan into action. His suit began to vibrate as the Quorum called on the guards to repel the mutiny.
"Let's go!" Eight Spinning Wheels said. He was already turning toward the action, ready to martyr himself to protect the Quorum and their desperate alliances.
Seventy Sacred Truths acted before Eight Spinning Wheels could fire up his weapons. In-a breach of safety procedures, Seventy Sacred Truths already had his suit powered. He brought up his fléchette gun and pointed it at Eight Spinning Wheels. "Seventy Sacred Truths?"
"That is no longer my name. You may call me Yago's Catlike Agility." "Why would I do that?" Eight Spinning Wheels asked.
"It's a new era." With that, Yago's Catlike Agility opened fire. He took down Eight Spinning Wheels.
The Children recovered swiftly. Counterattacked. Yago's Catlike Agility saw a half dozen reinforcements coming toward him. He lowered his weapon.
"He was one of them!" he said when the others were close enough. "There are more in the woods!"
The reinforcements moved off. Yago's Catlike Agility moved quickly toward the field and joined the others like him.
