the shaft of her spear. “Get back in there before I put you back in there myself.”
“What’s going on? Are we under attack?” he said. “If we’re under attack, then who’s attacking? What do they want? Is it Fathom?”
Niobe glared at him, but then softened. She always did.
“Fathom’s Upgraders, here for raiding and revenge.” She spat on the floor. “But we’re ready for them, and for whatever warped tech they use against us. We’ll stain the clouds with their blood.”
Hoku could tell she was angry. Angry at the Upgraders and angry at being stuck guarding him when the colony was under attack.
“Go,” he said to her. “I’ll stay in my room with my books.”
“I have to guard you,” she said, but he could tell she was wavering.
“I’ll be safest here,” he said. “If anyone comes looking for me, I’ll hide under the bed.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You won’t try to escape?”
“When there’s a war going on? Tides’ teeth, I’m not stupid! And besides, I still have half my sandwich left.”
“Okay, then,” she said, nodding. “Stay here. But if the Upgraders penetrate this deeply, do yourself a favor and jump out the window or fall on your spear. Better death than to let them harvest your parts.”
“Uh . . .” Hoku said, not at all certain he wanted her to leave now.
“Good luck, boy,” Niobe said. She bolted down the corridor toward the yelling and was out of sight in three flashes of a tail.
Hoku waited another flash or two before he was convinced the good senator wasn’t going to change her mind and come back.
“Aluna!” he said. “Can you hear me?”
No answer. She wasn’t close enough to hear. She was probably with Calli. That gave Calli a much better chance at survival . . . but also a better chance of being in the middle of whatever chaos was occurring up in the skies.
He looked back into his room. The bed was covered with open books, crumbs, and the silvery water safe. The desk held the designs he’d been working on — his ideas for mechanical wings that might someday allow him to fly. He didn’t want to leave Skyfeather’s Landing. Not now, and maybe not ever. But Aluna and Calli could be in trouble.
Hoku pulled an Extra Ear out of its pouch and secured it in place. He had a much better chance of finding Aluna and Calli if he could hear them, and the device would increase his range. Then he took a deep breath, shut the door, and sprinted down the corridor to find his friends.
ALUNA LOOKED AT CALLI, uncertain what she’d heard.
“You’re helping me?”
Calli nodded, her face pale, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I want you to want to stay, but you don’t. Does that make any sense? If you go now, no one will blame the high senator and no one will blame me. It’s the perfect chance.”
For the first time, Aluna saw a hint of President Iolanthe’s power and charisma deep in Calli’s eyes.
“But what about your mother’s safety?”
“She’ll be surrounded by senators,” Calli said quickly. “And directing our forces. And screaming at people. And cursing her inability to get out there and fight herself.”
Aluna nodded. Her father would have been the same way.
“So where do we go? Your water and waste must be funneled somewhere. It sounds gross, but maybe we can find one of those chutes and follow it.”
“No, all of our water and sewage is recycled,” Calli said. She took a step and collapsed. She would have fallen to her knees if Aluna hadn’t caught her. “This way,” she said, brushing the tears away from her eyes. “There’s a secret tunnel under the palace that leads to an old escape passage. It goes all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. They installed it all after my mother lost her wing.”
Calli had never mentioned the passage before, not in all of their discussions about her escape. But she was mentioning it now, and that had to be good enough.
“Now is not the time for stiff wings,” Calli said. “Let’s go!”
Aluna nodded and helped Calli hobble down the corridor. Twice they hid in alcoves — Aluna’s sweaty back pressed against cool stone — as messengers ran by. And still, the alarms screamed and screeched, adding to the growing chaos.
“A few more passages,” Calli said, huffing. The girl winced with each step. Aluna shifted her shoulder to take more of her weight.
“Hoku!” Aluna said suddenly. “We need to go