Boundary (10 page)

I back away as the Climbers pull out fire-wielders from the packs. I watch as their concentrated fire melts the outline of the door I inscribed into the ice. When I step back to give them space, something sharp slices into my calf. I fall to the ground.

What in the Gods cut me? I wince and look around, spying a jagged section of the hull. It juts out of a patch of
melting ice. But it seems too low to the ground to have cut my leg. Could someone have done this to me?

The pain grows, and I have to stifle a cry. I can’t afford to appear weak; Laurence is looking for any excuse to remove me from this excavation. I sink down and reach over toward a pick lying on a snow mound—as if that explains why I’m on the ground. I surreptitiously lift up my pant leg.

Blood pours down my calf, freezing the tick it hits the air. The wound is several inches long and deep, so deep I can make out the whiteness of bone. I feel like retching. As I stare at the bloody icicles forming on my skin, I realize that I better get some kind of tourniquet on it, the way Lukas showed me.

I slide my hand into a Boundary Climber pack nearby and pull out a length of sealskin rope. Unsheathing my
ulu
, I cut off a small piece of the rope.

Theo approaches me just as I tie off the tourniquet knot and roll down my pant leg. “Don’t you want to watch as the Climbers melt the ice?” he asks.

“Of course. Just needed to grab something from my bag,” I say, trying to convince myself as much as him. I stand, but I’m unsteady on my feet. My leg feels weak.

“What’s wrong, Archon Eva?”

“Nothing. Just a scratch.”

“Let me see.”

“No, Archon Theo. I appreciate your offer, but I’m fine.”

He takes hold of my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. “We need your strength for this dig, Archon Eva. You see that I’m too old and weak to be of much physical help. Without you, we will lose the chance to be first inside the door of the
Genesis
. Don’t you want to have that honor?”

He certainly knows how to get to me. “Yes.”

“Then let me look at that leg.”

There is no choice. I sit down and roll up my pant leg for him. No matter how many
siniks
I serve as an Archon, I will always feel like a Maiden when a man looks at my bare skin.

Panting from the exertion, he lowers himself to the ground to examine it more closely. “By the Gods, how did this happen?”

I shrug, then motion toward the metallic piece of the hull sticking out from a snow mound, because I can’t actually speak, or I’ll risk throwing up. Now that the blood has stopped dripping from the wound, I glimpse my leg bone once more. I feel nauseated again.

“Hmm,” he says, glancing at it and then back at my leg. “No matter. You’ve staunched the bleeding quite well with that tourniquet; now we’ve got to sew you up. I just pray to the Gods that your muscles aren’t severed.” He reaches into a pack around his waist, pulling out a needle and a piece of thread that looks like hair, along with several rare glass jars.

“Before I stitch it, I’m going to put some remedies on it,” he murmurs. “These will help clean the wound and speed the healing, but they might sting a little.”

My eyes widen at the word, and for a tick I almost forget the pain. Remedies? Did he just say
remedies
? I glance down and see him rub some
pujualuk
into the wound. How in the Gods does Theo know about
pujualuk
?

Almost instantly the sting subsides, replaced by numbness. I only know of this Boundary remedy, derived from a little plant that grows in damp mossy areas, because Lukas had instructed me in its healing properties before the Testing. I wonder if Theo had a Companion long ago who showed him Lex-forbidden Boundary ways as well.

“I’m going to sew the wound up now, so it’s best if you look away.”

I do, trying to keep my mind fixed on the fact that Theo might actually be more of an ally that I thought. What with violating The Lex in my presence, and with my acceptance, he’s managed to turn us into secret accomplices. It’s both frightening and thrilling, even more so than the stitchery he’s about to perform on my leg. But having sewn up Jasper’s wound on the Testing using these medicines and Lex-banned techniques shown to me by Lukas, I know how painful this will be.

Suppressing a scream, I hold my breath. Theo pierces my skin and sews quickly. The numbness fades. I don’t think I’ve ever known such pain. I exhale only when he finishes and then watch as he places upon the wound a thin sheet of bearded seal blubber with the oil removed. Lukas had explained to me how this would act as a bandage.

But how does Theo know?

“This should do it. Let’s get you standing so we can see whether the muscle was injured.” He struggles to his feet, then pulls me up. At his prodding, I walk a little. The wound hurts, but my leg seems fine.

“Easy,” he breathes. “Remember what I’ve tried to teach you: slow and steady wins the race.”

“How can I thank you?” I whisper.

“By keeping secret my use of medicines.”

“Of course, Archon Theo. I am in your debt.”

“I’m glad that you can be trusted.” He glances at me, a knowing smile on his lips. “We all have our secrets, don’t we?”

XVII
.

The sun sets over the Frozen Seas, and still the ice does not yield the
Genesis
door. We have no choice but to return to the campsite for the evening. That means that forty-one Archons and Boundary will be trailing in my wake, no doubt snickering at my fruitless efforts. I try my hardest not to limp back to the campsite; I don’t want to provide further reason for ridicule.

I am frustrated and embarrassed after all my boasts about the Gods granting me the knowledge of how to unlock the
Genesis
’s secrets. Not to mention weak and hurting. All I want is to burrow into my
iglu
for the night. But protocol requires that I attend the evening meal and nightly meeting; Laurence can even punish me if I don’t. After taking my time unloading my packs and delaying
my entry to the last possible tick, I head toward the campfire. I bite my cheek as I mask my limp.

I’m right to be wary. There at the head of the campfire waits Laurence, a rare smile bright on his face. “So pleased you’ve decided to join us, Archon Eva. Finally.”

I grab a plate of food and sit in the open spot farthest from Laurence. But he’s not going to leave me alone. Of course not. He’s too eager to relish my failure. “The group would like to hear what you found in your section of the dig today.”

They know that I didn’t find anything. He just wants me to say it aloud. For the humiliation. “Nothing,” I mumble.

“Speak up. We can’t hear you.”

“Nothing, Archon Laurence,” I say louder.

“Nothing, you say. No door to the deck of the
Genesis
?”

“No, Archon Laurence.”

“No Relics of any kind?”

“No. Not yet.”

Laurence puts his own plate aside, stands, and steps closer to where I’m sitting, looming over me. “ ‘Yet,’ you say. What makes you think you will be granted a ‘yet’? What makes you think that you will be given more time?”

“That decision is up to you, Archon Laurence.”

“That’s correct. It will be my choice. And I’ve been thinking about how long to let your little proposal proceed before using the bonfires as I suggested earlier. Any thoughts, Archon Eva?”

Theo gives me a glance across the fire, but doesn’t say anything. I know better than to answer.

Laurence continues. “We will see how you progress. But never forget that the decision is mine, and you must make
haste. We can’t afford to waste a single bell on any of your silly schemes. Summer is coming.”

The men nod in agreement. How easily they are swayed. Or is it all fear of their leader? Or continued dislike of a female Archon? Does it even matter at this point?

Since Laurence is done making his point, the conversation drifts. I try to fade into the background by keeping silent. As soon as I’m finished with my food, I leave; protocol only requires that much. I take a longer route to my out-of-the-way
iglu
; I don’t want to chance running into an angry Archon en route. Plus I don’t want anyone to see my lame walk. Strength is more important now than ever.

When I finally reach the entrance to my
iglu
, I see that someone has already been there.

My belongings are scattered about, some blowing away in the gusty wind. There’s no way to replace any of the scant items I brought. Wincing and hobbling, I race to gather what I can, so I don’t notice it at first. Then I freeze.

There, pinned with an axe over the entrance, is a message. The blade tacks my spare Archon tunic to the ice, spearing it right through the center of the Triad symbol.

My
iglu
was ransacked for a reason. Someone wants me gone.

XVIII
.

Six
siniks
pass before we find it. Six
siniks
where my failure is mocked nightly by Archon Laurence. Six of the longest
siniks
of my life. Six
siniks
until my boasts bear fruit and I taste vindication.

As the rivulets of water drain off, the other teams direct the flow on the sides of the dig to ensure the water freezes safely. While we wait, Theo asks, “How did you know?”

“About the Site?”

“No, Eva, of course not,” he snaps. “I watched as you mapped out the Site based on all the documents. I knew you were correct about that. I’m talking about the door. There wasn’t a single scrap of paper mentioning a door. So how did you know?”

“The Gods,” I answer, giving him the same line I gave Laurence.

“The Gods? Really? Please don’t patronize me.”

“The truth?”

“Yes.”

I think of the possibility that would most horrify Theo, with his love of scholarship and documentation, an answer that would quiet his questioning in its offensiveness. “A hunch.”

His jaw drops. “You can’t be serious.”

“But I am.”

“You brought a team of forty-two out here on a hunch? And subjected yourself to Archon Laurence’s taunting and mortification on a hunch?”

“No, I was certain of the
Genesis
Site. The proposal that we look for the door instead of using the bonfires was based on a hunch. Perhaps the Gods were responsible,” I add.

Before Theo can answer, one of the Climbers calls out to us, and we rush to his side. Crouching down next to him, I see the handle to a door. I glance up at Theo. He shakes his head at me, but a smile curls his lips.

“Thank the Gods,” he says. “It looks like you’re right, Archon Eva. I can’t account for what Archon Laurence would have done to you if you were wrong. Never mind your father.”

I smile back and instruct the Climber to melt a few feet more around the door’s perimeter. Theo and I stand by and watch, but I can hardly stand it. I’m itching to get down there before anyone else. Especially before Laurence.

The very tick that the door looks clear enough to enter, I reach again for my pick. Lex protocol requires that the
most senior Archon on Site give permission to enter, but I don’t wait for Laurence to weigh in. I can’t risk his certain denial of my request; he’d want the glory for himself. Anyway, didn’t Laurence implicitly give me permission to open the door? He assigned my team this task, so he must have expected that if we were successful, we’d be the first to cross the ship’s threshold. I think I could make a Lexbased argument on that. At least, that’s what I mutter to Theo when he objects.

I wedge my pick into the tiny gap between the door and its frame. I pry the door with all my might, and it opens with a whoosh. Before Laurence truly comprehends what’s happening, I gesture to the Boundary workers on the surface to lower us into the room. Just Theo and me: alone.

Using my
naneq
to light the way, I see only a pitch-black, cavernous room. As I suspected, it’s wide open, not ice-locked at all. It seems that when the
Genesis
sank after Madeline’s discovery, the deck cabin door slammed tight behind her, sealing shut the cabin as the boat submerged. This means that if the Tech she described is still here, it might be intact. And I just might be able to open it later with Lukas’s expertise.