hurry off to pack my ruck. I shove everything in and am back in time to climb into vehicle three. Kier drives while I scan the horizon and my thoughts mull over impossible things.
We arrive an hour before sunset. Radcliff is waiting for us in the empty port. I’m confused about the lack of workers until I remember that I’m supposed to be dead. It was nice not to worry about that at the camp. Really nice. Add in the fresh air and night sky to the things I’m going to miss. Sigh.
Radcliff approaches us. His movements are stiff with anger and a white-hot rage burns from his gaze. I brace for the reprimand.
“Report back to my office, now,” Radcliff says in an even unemotional tone, which is worse than any of his growls. “Lawrence, keep your hat and sunglasses on and follow close behind Dorey and Radcliff.”
“Yes, sir,” we all say in unison and hurry off.
I glance back. Radcliff is aiming for my parents. I suspect this might be an end to family dinners.
No one says a word as we travel through the mostly empty hallways—good thing it’s dinner time. The few people we encounter don’t bother to do more than glance at us. Both Niall and Beau are taller than me so I doubt the couple of scientists even noticed me.
When we enter the office, Morgan is sitting behind Radcliff’s desk. “That must be some kind of a record—shortest field trip or maybe shortest time to trouble,” she says.
Ha ha, not funny. I resist the temptation to explain. I’m sure Radcliff is going to want a complete report—no sense telling it twice. We pile our rucks in the corner.
I spot the guest terminal and that reminds me. “Did anything unusual happen in the Q-net yesterday afternoon?” I ask Morgan.
“Unusual as in…?”
“While you were testing the blockade and setting off Jarren’s alarms. Was there any…indication he might have noticed what happened in Pit 21?”
“No, but you and Dorey probably have a better handle on that. Maybe you’ll see something when you go in again.” She pauses. “If you go in again.”
Beau and I share a horrified look. Radcliff wouldn’t ban us from the Q-net? Would he? No. It’s too important that we find a way to reach DES. Then I remember my promise to Niall to tell my parents about my terrifying new abilities. Yeah, I’ll be a hundred A-years old before anyone lets me near a terminal again.
The wait for Radcliff is torture. I’m ready to confess all my transgressions. And it’s scary just how many I’ve had over my very short life. When Radcliff does arrive, his presence slams into us like a supernova. It’s an effort for me to remain on my feet. We all straighten to attention, standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder in front of his desk. Morgan relinquishes the seat and stands behind Radcliff. Her expression remains neutral.
Radcliff accesses his terminal and pulls up a report on the screen before he turns his attention to us.
“Tell me everything,” he orders in that chilling monotone.
I start with the discovery of the boot prints. And we all take turns describing what happened. Elese doesn’t say much because she was on the surface most of the time. When we reach the decision to turn on all eight glyphs, Niall fails to mention that he advised against the test. It’s a nice gesture of solidarity, but I’m not going to let him get into trouble when he was being sensible so I speak up on his behalf.
Radcliff grunts but doesn’t say anything. We continue with the story and end with our arrival at the base. Silence fills the room. It thickens and presses on us. And I swear all four of our heartbeats are audible. The air in the room is pulsing along with the quartet of thumping sounds.
“Keir and Radcliff, you’re dismissed,” Radcliff finally says.
They hesitate for a fraction of a second before bolting. Not that I blame them.
“Lawrence—”
“It’s my fault, sir,” I blurt out. “It was my idea to turn on all eight symbols.”
“Why would you suggest it if you had no clue what would happen?” Radcliff asks. His words are ice cold. “Do you have any sense of how dangerous that was?”
“But that’s the thing, sir. I sensed it was safe. That the Warriors would protect us.”
Radcliff stares at me as if I’ve gone insane. Morgan struggles to keep her neutral expression. One day, I’m going to make that woman laugh out loud, but obviously not today.
It