UnBound - Neal Shusterman Page 0,20
it can’t be just because of her fighting.
The lieutenant couldn’t be involved in the conspiracy, could he? Maybe the sarge, but not the lieutenant. She wants to think at least one person besides Thor is on her side. Logan doesn’t count. His protective power expired the moment he chose to believe Kip instead of her. Maybe she’ll talk to the lieutenant about the rifle. Maybe he’ll treat her fairly—and maybe Thor can keep her off the harvest list this time. But what about next time? She’ll need to scrape deep for information that’s so awful it’ll keep her safe for the next two years. From now on she must protect herself. No matter who gets unwound because of it.
• • •
The recitals are finished. The art galleries closed. The committees are tallying the arts kids’ final scores.
As Brooklyn heads for the staff offices, she has to step around a group of arts kids huddled in the stairwell. Two are crying. She thinks she hears Risa whispering, an edge of despair in her voice, but Brooklyn is on a mission and hurries past them.
Since she has time before Thor can run the results, she decides to see her lieutenant. No harm in currying favor in this final hour.
His office is near the headmaster’s. Brooklyn uses covert measures to slip past the headmaster’s office. Although she hasn’t been called in to answer for the fight with Pecs, she doesn’t want the headmaster to conduct an impromptu reprimand on a chance meeting.
“Sir?” She taps lightly on the lieutenant’s open door.
His expression darkens seeing her. “Yes?” No welcome, no warmth in his voice.
“A moment, sir?” Maybe this isn’t a good idea.
“A moment.” His nod at the chair before his desk is as crisp as his shirt.
Best to get it over with. “Sir, I believe someone tampered with my rifle on the range this morning.”
His jaw juts. “And do you have proof?”
“No proof, sir. But suspicions that can be—”
He waves her to silence. His eyes glint coldly. “Are you making an unfounded accusation against a member of your squad?”
“Sir . . .”
“Because soldiers don’t do that. No matter what, the squad is your family, and its members are your brothers and sisters. Do you have any inkling of what that means?”
“Yes, sir.” She can barely hear herself, so she clears her throat and repeats loudly, “Yes, sir!”
He leans slightly forward, his words still frosty. “I can lower your score further. Is that what you want?”
“No, sir.”
“You understand what it means to be a team player?”
“Yes, sir!”
He nods and spins his chair back to his computer. “Then remember that before you waste my time again. Dismissed.”
• • •
In the computer lab Brooklyn’s left leg jitters. She and Thor are alone. It’s late afternoon, but after a marathon of testing, no one’s working on anything mundane like homework. She hears muffled shouts from the playground below—the littler kids are oblivious, but everyone else is shell-shocked.
If Thor looked morose before, he looks positively miserable now. Remember, he signs. We can fix this.
He slides to the left so she can get a better look at the screen. Her mouth goes dry and her leg stills. She’s still twenty-one.
And Logan is just above the cutoff, at twenty-two.
I can switch your names, Thor signs, like it’s nothing.
Then she sees the name right before Logan’s. Number twenty-three. Risa. Did she flub her piano recital so badly that she’s come within two spots of being unwound? Even in the shock of finding her name there, Brooklyn can’t help but take a little bit of pleasure in it too. Did little Miss Perfect have stage fright? Or maybe she got sabotaged too.
Then she thinks about how Risa stopped by her dorm before lunch. How she had acted like they could be friends. Of course they never would—but now they were no longer enemies.
Her thoughts racing, she signs, Can we substitute any name for mine?
Thor shakes his head. Got to be someone very close to you on the list, or it will be a huge red flag. They’ll know the list was compromised, and they’ll figure out who did it.
The last thing Brooklyn wants is to get Thor in trouble. Sure, he can’t be unwound, but there are other punishments. It would be simplest to bump out Logan—but can she do that to him? It wouldn’t exactly be looking out for her squad brother, would it?
She points to Risa’s name. Could we use her?
Thor considers it. He knows Brooklyn’s history with Risa but doesn’t bring