Shadows of Glass (36 page)

I can’t help but remember what Pace said about the bodies buried in the dirt. Is it
any worse than being at the bottom of the ocean? I would rather be burned so that
my remains travel on the winds.

But only after I am dead. The memories of Alex’s death still haunt me. Dying by fire
has to be the worst possible way to die. There could be something worse. One thing
I know for certain is men can be creative when they need to, and desperation will
drive you to do things you never thought possible under normal circumstances.

The children, along with Rosalyn and Sally, are in the tunnel Jon found his first
night. It was the safest and most secure place for them. The ponies and goats are
still in their pen. There is no place to hide them. If the rovers do attack while
we’re gone, they will be sacrificed. I can’t help but worry about Ghost, and I bid
him a long good-bye before I leave. I can only pray that he will still be there when
I return.

Jonah is in the cabin, along with Jane, who is caring for Adam and Dr. Stewart, who
wants to be part of the boarding party, as he calls it. Lyon answers him with a simple
“Next time.” I have no idea where Pip is. I haven’t seen him since he flew with me.

Zan joins us on the balcony, and Lyon and Levi release the cables that keep us attached
to the catwalk and hastily jump onto the ship, pulling the staircase up behind them
and bolting it into place. The engines engage, and I am amazed at their silence. It
is more of a feeling than a noise, a slight vibration. I look up at the pilot’s cabin,
which is beneath the nose of the ship, nothing more than a large room that fades into
the body of the dirigible with windows all around it. The entire thing is a total
wonder to me. How does it all work?

There is so much about this world that I don’t know. So many things to learn, yet
I feel as if I am going backward instead of forward. I have not voiced my fears about
returning to the dome to anyone. Just like Pace said, I’ve kept everything inside
since we came out. Perhaps I shouldn’t, but with this venture it is too late to turn
back.

We float higher and higher into the air. How something this heavy can stay afloat
is another wonder. We wave as our friends at the encampment get smaller and smaller
and the dome grows larger before us.

We sail upward and onward until the only thing in our field of vision is the dome.
We are so close that I can see the cracks on the surface and the rusty flakes that
cover the mighty girders. We stand on the balcony, all of us, at the front of the
airship and look at the dome. My hands rest on the railing and Pace places his on
top of my mine and squeezes them gently. His parting words from the night before come
back to me. I look up into his beautiful blue eyes and he smiles at me.

It feels as if he’s trying to tell me good-bye.

“We need to make sure we stick together once we get inside,” I say. “We can’t risk
getting separated.”

“I agree,” Pace says.

“Zan is to stay with the gliders,” Lyon says. “We cannot risk losing them.”

“While the rest of you have all the fun,” Zan pouts playfully.

“The only fun part is getting there,” James says. He adjusts the pack on his back
that holds the clothes we’re to put on once we land so we will blend with the people
inside. The tight fit and high quality of the leathers we wear now would quickly identify
us as people who do not belong to the dome. James, Pace, Levi, and Lyon all wear pistols
also, along with each having a brace of knives. I have a knife also, tucked into my
boot. I have no qualms about using it. Not now. Not after everything that I’ve done.

The air is cooler the higher we go and the wind stronger, tossing us about. Dusk quickly
becomes darkness as the sun sinks below the horizon and the clouds take possession
of the night. The dome is nothing more than a soft glow as we rise above it.

It is time to go. We put on our harnesses, and the gliders are unfolded and locked
into position. Jane and Dr. Stewart both come out to assist us in preparing for the
jump. We are all quiet as we prepare our minds and bodies for what is to come.

Jane kisses Lyon for luck and hugs Zan and Levi both before buckling Pace and I in
with them. Zan stands before Pace in the same manner I stand before Levi. The only
difference is she will be the one steering the glider. Jane grasps James’s hand, then
Pace’s, and then mine.

“Godspeed,” she says.

“Thank you for everything,” I reply, and I slide my goggles into place. The amber
coating Dr. Stewart gave them turns the world as dark as the tunnels below, and it
takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. Even with my ability to see in the dark, I cannot
see through things. I concentrate on the soft glow of the dome. That is the only thing
I need to see clearly.

I shiver uncontrollably as Levi and I wait our turn. “Cold?” His breath is warm against
my ear.

“Yes.” I keep my eyes on Lyon as he climbs to the railing and dives off. James follows
him.

“You’re about to get colder,” Levi says as we climb into place. “There’s no running
this time. Just jump out. Ready?”

I look out into the darkness and I realize it is just like standing over the pit.
There is nothing before me, just a yawning emptiness that never ends. This is what
I’ve always feared, falling into the unknown, and here I am, ready to take that first
step. I have no choice. I have to do it. There is no turning back now. “Yes.”

“Jump.”

I close my eyes, because really there is not much difference, and I step out into
the darkness. We fall, and it is all I can do not to scream, and then suddenly we
are soaring.

“Are you with me, Wren?” Levi shouts above the wind.

I open my eyes. My hands are clenched so tightly on the bar that my arms cramp in
pain. I see the dome below us, and the shadows of Lyon and James flying to it. I hear
a
whoop
and look toward the sound to find Zan and Pace sailing beside us. I am so cold that
I cannot stop shaking, and all I can do is hold on and trust in Levi to get us down
safely.

Lyon and James land and the dome rises quickly beneath my feet. I see the massive
hole torn in the glass by the explosion and the deep cracks that travel outward from
it. “Get ready,” Levi says. I bend my knees and get ready to land. The dome is much
slicker than the sand and not forgiving, and we slide and stumble as the high wind
beats us forward. And then we suddenly stop and I pitch forward onto my hands and
knees with Levi sprawled on top of me. Lyon and James come to our rescue and I see
that Levi closed the wings, which kept the wind from blowing us off the dome.

Zan and Pace come in right on top of us, and we all duck our heads since they are
traveling fast. I watch as Pace puts his hands around Zan’s waist and sits down, while
Lyon and James grab onto the wings and fold them shut.

I roll over on my back, push my goggles up, and look up at the sky. My heart is racing
in my chest and I find it hard to believe that I survived it. We all survived it.
Levi reaches for my hand and pulls me to my feet.

“We made it,” he said. “I didn’t want to tell you up there but I was a bit worried
with this wind.”

“Thanks for sparing me,” I say. “I’m fairly certain I was scared enough without that
bit of information.”

Levi laughs as we form a group on top of the dome. The sides stretch out in every
direction without end. They just fade into the night. The wind howls unceasingly around
us with a deep sound of pipes as it flows over the hole. The smoke is gone.

Lyon takes his pack from his back and pulls out a long stake that resembles a claw.
“This is something we use for mountain climbing,” he shouts. “We’ll attach it to one
of the girders and lower ourselves down.” We follow Lyon to the hole. I feel the glass
creaking beneath my feet. It was weakened by the explosion, but it is so dense that
we walk on, unafraid. The hole is right by a girder and Lyon, Levi, and Pace go to
work on attaching the stake while I peer down into the hole.

The inside air is smoky and thick, like the clouds that hover above us. I barely see
the catwalk and the tops of some buildings. Everything else is lost in the smoke.
It takes me a moment to orient myself. We are over the government section, on the
royal side. If I can see rooftops it means the cave-in must have happened someplace
else. For some reason I thought the cave-in would be under the hole, that one caused
the other. The bad news is we will be coming down into one of the most secure parts
of the dome. The good news is, we are not that far from David and Lucy’s.

“You should go ahead and change,” Zan says. She holds James’s pack. I quickly dress
into my shiner clothes, pulling my pants on over the leathers and trading the leather
shirt that I wore over my sleeveless top for my usual shirt and jacket. I comb my
fingers through my hair after taking off the cap and tie it back with my bandana and
hang my goggles around my neck. I notice James has done the same with his and, except
for the fact that he is clean, he looks just as he did when he came out of the mines
after his shift.

Pace changes into his old clothes, and Levi and Lyon put on some things they borrowed
from the rest of our group. They busy themselves with concealing the weapons they
carry beneath their jackets, but none of the four will pass a close inspection, especially
Lyon and Levi. They are dressed appropriately, but I know they will stand out. They
are both too bold and bright to go unnoticed.

“Will you be all right up here on your own?” Lyon asks Zan. “If something should happen
and we can’t get back, someone has to inform your mother. And she will be much more
generous with you than me.”

“As long as I don’t freeze to death,” she replies. She empties the pack of the remaining
items that include a fur-lined coat, gloves, and a hat.

“If you see a flare, take the gliders and leave,” Lyon instructs. “Here is hoping
we will be back soon to all fly back together.”

Zan nods as she gathers everything together into a neat pile. “Good luck!” she says
to all of us.

“James goes first,” Lyon says. He looks down into the dome and spots the catwalk.
“We’ll lower him down and then swing him to the catwalk. He can tie the rope off and
the rest of us can slide down with hooks.”

It all sounds terribly difficult and frightening, but once again there is no going
back. Our friends’ lives depend upon us. James puts back on his safety harness from
the glider and Lyon ties the rope to it. Even though the rope is anchored, Pace and
Levi wrap it around their arms to swing James, who has his feet braced against the
hole and is leaning back into his harness. He looks at me and grins before Lyon signals
to lower him into the dome.

The grin was genuine and contained none of James’s false charm or the manipulation
that he is so good at. As I watch Lyon instruct Pace and Levi, and James casually
swings to and fro below us, I realize that James relishes this. He was meant for more
than digging coal beneath the earth. He felt the restrictions of his life and he acted
the way he did because he was frustrated. Now he is able to live to his potential.
My anger at the things he’s done to me in the past fades because I understand him
now. I forgive him.

“You’re almost there, James!” I say. He floats beneath the glass, swinging back and
forth while Levi’s and Pace’s arms strain with his weight. He reaches his arm out,
hoping to catch the catwalk. He misses and Lyon encourages Levi and Pace to swing
harder.

“He’s got it,” I say as James grabs onto the restraining bar on the catwalk. He flops
over the rail and quickly unties the rope and then ties it to the bar, pulling up
all the slack.

Lyon attaches a handle to the rope with a much thinner rope attached to the handle.
“Levi first,” he says. “You two watch what he does so you can follow.”

“All you got to do is hang on,” Levi says. He grabs onto the handle and walks off
the dome into the opening. The handle slides down the rope and Levi is at the catwalk
and climbing over the side before I take my next breath. Lyon pulls the handle back
up with the smaller rope and Pace goes next, jumping off with a grin.

“Boys,” Zan says with a shake of her head. “It’s all an adventure where they are concerned.”

“Ready, Wren?”

I look down at the catwalk where I see Pace, Levi, and James all looking up at me,
all ready to catch me on my descent. I take a deep breath and take the handle firmly
into my hands and squeeze it tight. “I am ready.” I step off the glass and glide downward.
Pace catches me on one side and Levi on the other and gently they lift me over the
rail of the catwalk.

I am in the last place I ever wanted to be. I am back in the dome.

25

Pace knows the way off
the catwalk, so we follow him in single file as we traverse the dome. I look up at
the thick glass. From here would the inhabitants have been able to tell if the flames
still burned? Maybe during the daytime they would have seen the bright glare of the
sun and thought yes, but at night?

How submissive a people had we become that our forefathers trusted without doubt what
they were told? Or maybe it was the sight of so many others like Alex, burned alive,
that kept them at bay. Was someone in each generation sacrificed by leaders like my
father as an example? Were those that came before us compliant because of fear, or
did they just not care? As long as their bellies were full and they had a dry place
to sleep they kept quiet because doing otherwise was too much effort?

I should not condemn those who lived before because I do not know their reasons, any
more than those who come after should condemn or condone me. I can only assume that
everyone in their time did what they considered best for themselves and the ones that
they loved.

All I know for certain is that I wanted better. Whether I have that now still remains
to be seen. Things are not what I expected, and the things that are to come are still
a mystery to me. My immediate need is all I can concentrate on right now. I desperately
need to know that Lucy, David, and our other friends have survived.