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  “Can I see your updates?”

  “Sure,” she says, handing me her touchpad displaying records and charts.

  As she moves away, I go through the numbers once before switching to a screen featuring all the Saviors and their separate skills and progress charts.

  Rabbit’s name pops up first. Nothing new here. He’s the personification of energy.

  Next in line is Scout. I love Scout’s name. She’s fifteen and she didn’t quite pick her name all by herself. Rather, it was a collective decision after the group located the book To Kill a Mockingbird at the library and it was for obvious reasons. Scout can track like a hound. If there’s any mark or scent or print to be found, she’ll find it. She has incredible orientation skills and she can read the stars in the sky like a map.

  Biscuit’s name shows up next. He’s fifteen like Scout and he can pick up smells from miles away. Doc says his olfactory nerve is a thing of wonder. Hounds would kill to have it. The only problem with Biscuit’s nose is that the first thing it senses always, always, is food. If there’s food around, he’ll find it. And eat it. Which is not particularly good news for the rest of us.

  Doc was trained in medical sciences and biology at Plantation-4. He’s perhaps the most important member of the Saviors as we get ourselves in trouble a lot and he always needs to fix a bone or two.

  Nya is an accomplished archer who never misses the target. She loves blowing things up. She always has her shock bow on her back and she even sleeps next to it. Nya is a tall, skinny girl, but wiry strong. Her fiery eyes are dark as coal. Her simulation scores are as legendary as her stubbornness despite being only sixteen.

  Tilly is fourteen and has enhanced vision and hearing. Doc says it’s as if they put special nerve implants in her brain when she was a baby. Tilly likes to talk and I like to listen to her talk.

  Zoe and Theo are the reason why we set up camp here and why we were able to utilize all the technology and devices we found at the abandoned facilities: solar energy panels, computers, touchpad radars, simulators, satellite control systems, electromagnetic accelerators, high-energy liquid lasers.

  Theo is a sixteen-year-old tech genius, trained to operate and create digital systems and devices.

  Zoe is eighteen and she knows everything when it comes to science and math. Her brain works at speeds so high, we watch for steam coming out of her skull. Zoe and Theo escaped from Plantation-1 together.

  Zoe and Daphne are close friends. Maybe because they’re both eighteen. Maybe because Zoe admires Daphne’s strength. Or maybe I’ll never know why.

  We all know how to fight, some of us better than others. We have learned how to survive under dire conditions. But we’re nothing without each other. We’d just be stray animals living day to day.

  Our rigorous training started in the plantations for reasons that we cannot fathom. The alien directors wanted us human slaves fit, strong and intelligent, but then one-by-one the older slaves began to be removed from the plantations between the ages of seventeen and nineteen.

  We know that at least some were sent back to the villages to begin their lobotomized lives, hardly remembering anything of their past and having given up any free will. But we are still clueless as to what happens to the rest.

  I join the training session reluctantly. Finn throws a pulse gun at me which I catch in midair.

  “There’s not much I can do today,” he says. “Doc is watching me like a hawk. He insists I need to take it easy. Do you want to practice target shooting?”

  I shrug. Why not? I’m not sure I’m completely over my frustration at him risking his life all the time but Finn, unlike Daphne, never turns these things into a contest. He will allow me to train at my own pace.

  I take aim and do surprisingly well hitting the target maybe ninety percent of the time. Finn pats me on the shoulder but I can’t find it in me to offer him a smile. I’ve always felt a little of an outcast when it comes to exhibiting my skills.

  Among the Saviors, I’m the only one who had to be saved. Everybody else found a way to escape on their own from the plantations. They had the courage to believe and act upon that faith.

  I don’t know how or when the rumors started, and I doubt anybody does, but there had been whispers on the plantations for a long time about secret bands of fugitives who lived free in the woods and mountains.

  As far as we know, we’re the only fugitive band in the whole plantation district. There might be others in the world. I hope there are, but we’ve never heard of them. We’re always on the lookout for more fugitives. The last one we located was Scout and that was ten months ago.

  After training, we sit around a bonfire to eat and discuss things like improving security and patrolling schedules which could be crucial with the information that Finn has provided.

  Theo and Zoe have been preparing their presentation of the new simulated battle they have designed on their touchpads.

  Finn takes advantage of the quiet moment to come and sit by me.

  “Have you completely forgiven me yet?” he says.

  I move my head slowly back-and-forth for an exaggerated no.

  “Okay, then what percentage have I been forgiven?”

  I lift my eyes up to his. “You can’t charm your way out of everything, Finn.”

  “There’s something else bothering you,” he says.

  “I’m fine, Finn,” I say, looking into his eyes. “I’m a bit melancholic, that’s all. And these constant meetings don’t help much when you want to be alone.”

  “Meetings are a necessary evil, Freya. The only thing we truly have going for us so far is our partnership and the trust we share. We need to learn to think as one. We are going to need that in battle.”

  I pick up a stick and start writing numbers in the dirt. Then I draw a face, a woman’s face, maybe mine, maybe my mother’s. Finn grabs my right hand and stops me before I draw a moustache on the woman’s face.

  “You think Damian’s stronger than me, but I have my own set of skills. I’m in no more danger when I go out than he or Daphne would be.”

  I know all about Finn’s skills. He’s a martial arts champion and has the suppleness of a feline. He hasn’t met a rock, wall or tree yet he hasn’t been able to climb. He knows how to manipulate high-energy lasers to hit distant targets, something that can be quite tricky.

  Finn at eighteen has an assortment of skills that we all envy, but Damian is almost a head taller than him and he’s older by two years. Damian has been free for six years. He’s as strong as a Sliman. He is by far the most skilled close contact fighter in the band with Daphne being a distant second.

  Rabbit and Scout come to sit with us. “We think we should take turns scanning the area from now on,” Scout begins.

  “Not even Damian could say no to that. We should all participate instead of asking for volunteers,” Rabbit adds.

  “Some people might not be as ready as others to go out there on their own,” I say even though I don’t like the volunteering arrangement either. It leaves Finn too much wiggling space.

  “I hope you’re not talking about me,” Scout says with an offended look on her face. “I was out there by myself for two months before I found you guys. I never get lost. I know every hiding place. I know about hidden caves and lost trails.”

  “We know that, Scout,” Finn says, putting a protective arm around her. “It’s a great idea that you have, but you are both needed here more.”

  “Why am I needed here?” Rabbit asks.

  “Who else could deliver a message if our systems failed? Who could do it faster than you?”

  Finn can convince anyone of anything. He needs his butt kicked.

  Our conversation comes to an end when Zoe and Theo announce that they are ready for the presentation.

  Damian asks for everyone’s attention. “The new simulation software has been designed to allow us all to simultaneously participate.”

  Zoe’s face beams with pride. It’s the first time the si
mulators will have enough capacity to handle twelve players at the same time. It seems like a new era for the Saviors is about to begin. We welcome it with cheers and cookies baked fresh by Biscuit.

  Chapter 4

  I wake up at dawn, feeling restless. I wrap my blanket around my shoulders to fight the morning chill and step out of the tent.

  Finn is asleep when I enter his tent on tiptoes. I poke him on the shoulder gently. One of his eyes opens briefly.

  “I need to talk to you,” I whisper.

  “Everything all right?”

  “Nothing’s right.”

  He sits up, supporting his body on one elbow. “What is it?”

  I take a deep breath in before I begin. “I’ve been unfair to you, Finn. I’m sorry I stormed out of the Armory when you came back wounded. I don’t know why I reacted that way.”

  Finn looks at me and laughs. “Wow. That was unexpected. I’ve never heard you apologize before.”

  “What do you mean? I apologize all the time,” I protest. “I always mess up and always end up having to say how sorry I am. And you love it every single time.”

  “Except you never mean it. It’s just your way of getting out of a situation that bothers you. This is different.”

  He’s right, but I have given him enough ammunition as it is. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm a little bit more.

  I shove him off the bed.

  He climbs right back up and gets under the blankets.

  “Shoo, Tick. Let me sleep a bit longer. I’m still very tired. I accept your apology.”

  I’m about to make my exit when we hear the alarm. The alarm system was installed a long time ago and it has never gone off before.

  Finn jumps to his feet in a flash.

  “Hey, take it easy,” I tell him. “You’re injured, remember?”

  “That’s cute, but I can manage,” he says, patting me on the head.

  We run to Damian’s tent which is the designated spot for gathering in case of an emergency. Damian is talking to Theo whose expression is more than worried. Soon everyone else arrives but nobody knows what’s going on.

  “All right, we have a situation,” Damian begins. “Our radar has spotted unusual activity two miles to the west. Theo says the movement is erratic and it’s not likely that it is the product of any form of highly intelligent life.”

  That should be comforting, but it’s not. The radar doesn’t report activity caused by anything shorter than five feet, an absolute necessity considering the abundance of small animals living in the forest.

  Theo spent endless hours developing and installing the software for the radar to make sure it would only alert us in the case of really big animals or Sliman. The alien invaders themselves are short but that’s not an issue since they almost never leave the plantations, and if they do, they are guarded by their huge Sliman escorts anyway.

  I know we must all be thinking the same thing: this is somehow connected to Finn’s near encounter with the Sliman the other day.

  “Okay, we have two options,” Damian says. “We can either send a squad out to check the area in question, or we can just wait and follow the movement closely on Theo’s detection grid.”

  Damian always opts for caution, something that strikes me as really odd for someone so hot-tempered. We take a quick vote. Damian wins. We wait.

  Theo monitors the activity on the screen of his touchpad. The tension is palpable among us. We struggle to stay patient and calm.

  “What do you think it might be?” Rabbit asks Finn, rubbing his hands together.

  “I don’t know, maybe a sick beast of some type.”

  “I can run out there and be back before you know it,” Rabbit says, winking.

  “You heard Damian, we wait,” Finn says. He never questions authority, not in front of others anyway. He does not agree with Damian on all matters, but Finn respects hierarchy. He calls it a soldier’s duty, words he found in a book in Lost Town. We’ve discussed this a lot. He will not contradict Damian in times of crisis. He fulfills Damian’s command. He stands fast and is faithful like no other.

  Theo glances up at the rest of us. “The pattern has changed,” he says. “This is not a beast. There’s a loose design to the way it’s moving. There’s intelligence involved and it’s getting closer.”

  Damian does what he always does when he’s frustrated—he turns red. Veins pop up on his forehead and temples. “All your stupid gadgets, what good are they? We’ve wasted time waiting for that useless contraption to make up its mind when we should have gone out there and figured it out for ourselves.”

  “Don’t blame Theo, there’s no time for that,” Finn says as he decides to intervene.

  “I think I can probably do something about this,” Theo says.

  “I’m sure you could waste more time at least.” Damian cannot let go of his anger easily, but it’s still a surprise when Finn won’t let matters be. Not this time. He takes charge.

  “Rabbit, Scout, Daphne,” Finn commands. “You go with me. Go get your weapons.”

  Damian steps in front of Finn. “Are you giving the orders now?”

  “I’m organizing the scout team, following your last command to get out there and get eyes on what’s coming.”

  Daphne gets between the two of them, weapon in hand.

  “We’re ready,” she says, nodding at Rabbit and Scout behind her.

  Damian lowers his head, simmering. He locks his eyes on Daphne. “I’m going, too,” he says. “Doc, you’re in charge here.”

  They head out of the camp and my heart sinks. Then I remember something and walk over to Theo and Zoe. “You said you might be able to do something about the situation. What did you mean?”

  Theo hesitates for a moment before he makes up his mind. “Come with me.”

  Zoe and I follow Theo to his tech lair at the facilities base, a place crowded to discomfort with gadgets and devices. Theo calls it his lab. Here Theo and Zoe are free to unleash their genius to improve the technology that was originally developed by the aliens.

  The room is dark and damp. There are odd machine pieces and scraps of paper everywhere. Theo likes to sketch out his inventions. He turns on a small lamp next to his gigantic computer screen and starts punching commands in the keypad.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I will attempt to interfere with their communication satellite control systems. That usually makes Slimies turn around. They don’t like being cut off from their puppet masters.”

  “What do you want me to do to help?” Zoe asks.

  “Start up the correlator.”

  I don’t have to ask what that is because Zoe holds it in her hands already. It’s a tiny touchpad with a weird antenna that bleeps. Whatever it is that she does with it must be working because the code on Theo’s screen starts sliding effortlessly.

  I wish I could do something to help. Maybe the best thing is to stay out of the way. I’ve barely had a chance to make amends with Finn and now he’s out risking his life again.

  The touchpad in my pocket starts buzzing. I pull it out. Finn’s calling.

  “What’s up?” I literally yell into the screen.

  “Ouch, not so loud,” Finn says. “Good thing I’m using my earphones or everyone would hear you. It’s Sliman. Six of them. Not sure what they’re looking for. They haven’t seen us. Monitoring their movement. Pass it on.”

  “Theo’s trying to cut off their communication,” I say but I’m not sure that he’s heard me. He’s offline. I wonder if he decided to call me specifically to make me feel useful. It would be totally like him to think of me in a moment of crisis.

  “Go tell Doc, Freya,” Theo says. I’m not very good at waiting and he knows it so I welcome his suggestion.

  Doc sits in Damian’s chair at our headquarters. It’s obvious he takes his temporary role very seriously. He takes everything seriously.

  I tell him what Finn has reported and he sends the message
out to everyone’s touchpads.

  “I have Nya up on the observatory tower ready with her explosive arrows. Biscuit and Tilly are at the gates,” he tells me. “Tilly will be able to spot the Sliman from afar and give us time to get to the tunnel.”

  “Hey,” I protest, “we’re the Saviors. We’re trained, we’re motivated and we are in the right. We cannot run away from our destiny forever. If we have to fight, we will fight. Isn’t that what we’re all about?”

  I don’t know who is more stunned with my sudden eagerness to engage the enemy—Doc or me.

  “You obviously spend a lot of time with Finn,” Doc laughs.

  “Someone has to watch out for him,” I say with a smile.

  “Did you know that Finn said that the other day…”

  He never gets to finish his sentence. Theo rushes into the office, with Zoe close behind.

  “We did it. We cut them off from the communication satellite. You can see for yourself, they’re already retreating.”

  Theo hands Doc the touchpad with the radar graphs on the screen. I stick out my neck to take a look as well. I let out a sigh of relief as I can see the pattern clearly. Doc sends out messages to inform Nya, Tilly and Biscuit.

  When Biscuit beats Tilly and Nya back to headquarters, he can barely breathe, but he’s smiling. “Does this mean we can eat?” he says. It’s a default joke for him, food and eating, because we always tease him about it. I doubt he has thought of eating at all during the alarm, but he plays his role perfectly.

  It’s not long before Damian, Daphne and the rest of the team gallop in through the main gates.

  Finn comes in last and I notice that he has a limp. He wasn’t ready for another mission so soon after his tumble into the ravine. But who is ever ready for a Sliman patrol anyway?

  The cheering and hugging is cut short when Damian speaks.

  “What happened today cannot happen again,” he snaps at Theo. “If you can’t get us accurate information quickly, stop using those devices.”

  “It won’t happen again. I will figure out what went wrong.” Theo’s head hangs down. Damian’s approval is very important to him.