cross-legged on the floor, took a cookie. “You broke ranks,” Fallon repeated, “and would have put an arrow in Carter after he’d surrendered and posed no threat.”
“I—” One hard glance from Starr had Marichu cutting herself off. “You’re right, and I’ve been disciplined for it. I deserved to be. And you were right, what you said in the lab. We’re not like them. We can’t be like them. I’m asking to fight, to prove myself.”
“New York’s going to make D.C. look like a scrimmage. The DU forces were strong in D.C., but they’ve dominated in New York for over a decade.”
“I know,” Marichu snapped back. “I was born there.”
Gaze level, Fallon bit into the cookie. “Were you?”
“My parents were resistance. My mother was killed when I was twelve.”
“I’m sorry,” Fallon said.
“She was a soldier.” Pride rang in the girl’s voice. “She died fighting. They found the safe house where we kept the kids. She and the others beat them back, protected all of us. She died fighting. After that, my father wanted to get me out. We argued about it a lot, but he said he was going to get me out, get me to New Hope.”
“Here?”
“Everybody knows about New Hope, but mostly doesn’t believe it. Everybody knows about The One, but mostly doesn’t believe it, either.”
No longer able to resist, she leaned forward for a cookie. “But they fight anyway. My dad made me leave. Sometimes they smuggle out kids or the old or the ones who can’t take it anymore. He made me go with a group, and said he’d find me when he could. But once we were out, everything went wrong. The crows came, and the black lightning. Everybody scattered. Then there were PWs, and they were taking everybody they could or just killing them. I got away. I’m fast, so I got away. But I couldn’t get back into the city.”
“She was hurt,” Starr said.
“It wasn’t that bad. I told you it wasn’t that bad.”
“She was hurt,” Starr repeated, “and got lost in the smoke, couldn’t find the way back in. Some resistance scouts found her, took her to their camp. Then to a small base farther south.”
“They wouldn’t take me back to New York, so I took off when I could. And…”
“And,” Fallon prompted.
“I should’ve stayed with them. I understand that now. But then, I just wanted to get back to my dad. So I took off, and I couldn’t get back to New York. I figured I’d try to come here—Dad drew out a route. It wasn’t exactly right, but I followed it. I ran into more PWs, and…”
“They hurt you,” Fallon finished. “Really hurt you that time. Damaged your wing.”
“They were going to execute me, but I got away. I still got away. Then your scouts found me.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone before, about New York?”
“I didn’t know you.”
“Fair enough.”
“All of it,” Starr encouraged.
“Okay, okay. I figured, at first, I’d learn stuff here, more skills, and I’d take off again, try for New York. But then … I know that’s not the right way. I can’t do it on my own. Nobody does it on their own.”
“A good lesson,” Fallon allowed.
“Do you know Chelsea?” Lana asked her.
“Yeah. Our group stayed mostly on the lower. We had other groups on the upper and the mid.”
“I lived in Chelsea.” Lana held out the plate of cookies.
“I know. There are lots of stories. It’s not like it was—my dad said it’s not, so it’s not. But I know how it is. I know where you can find resistance who’ll fight. I know where the PWs have a stronghold in what was Brooklyn, and where the military bases are in Queens.”
“I’ve got maps in the other room.” Fallon rose. “Show me.”
“I’ll show you if I can go and fight.”
“Show me,” Fallon repeated, “then we’ll decide.”
* * *
It took more than an hour, and when they left, Fallon pored over the maps, the notes, the new markings.
“I need more map paper. I have to redraw—”
“You’re going to let her go.” Lana sat, hands folded on the table. “She’s so young, and still headstrong. You can see the headstrong even though she’s trying not to show it. Maybe not to be it, quite as much.”
“Her father’s in New York, and I’m going to hope she learned her lesson, won’t make the same mistakes. Still, I told her she needed to sharpen her skills with a sword, and she’d need the go from every one of her instructors.”