Terra (19 page)

“Thank you very much, in that case,” I say. “I just wanted to make sure we weren’t, um, interrupting anything.” I mistakenly glance at her pajamas again and Hess follows my gaze. Her cheeks suddenly flare pink. “Please, make yourselves at home. I’ll be right back.” She turns on the spot and flies down the hall.

“What was that?” Adam whispers roughly once Hess is out of earshot.

“What was what?”

“‘
We don’t want to disturb him
?’” he says mockingly. “I
just
told you that I needed to talk to him. Why would you even say that?”

“It’s called being polite,” I say, suddenly angry. “You should try it sometime.” I walk out of the hall and into what I assume is the living room, taking a seat in a cushiony recliner against the back wall. Adam follows me into the room and sits on a small sofa set diagonally across from me. The fabric of the sofa perfectly matches the chair I’m occupying, painting the entire room a comforting shade of plaid.

“What’s your problem?” I mutter, absentmindedly picking at a loose thread on the armrest as Adam scowls at me. “You didn’t want me to come with you in the first place, you got mad when I suggested we come back later. You’ve been asking about Loran’s accident all week. What kind of
data
can you possibly get talking to some random raider victim that you can’t get from me?” The words come out more petulantly than I intended.

“Look, I’m sorry if I was… short with you,” Adam says, his voice heavy. “I just—” He cuts himself off and I look up to find his face full of conflict.

“What is it?”

His face drains of emotion, making his expression difficult to read. “I just have some questions for him, that’s all,” he says. “Important ones.”

“About what?” I press, though before the words have left my mouth, the realization hits me like a Skyline train. Adam was in the biodome for a week before I found him. Loran’s accident happened several days before I found the first machine. The timing is too close to be a coincidence. “Do you… do you think he might know something about the rest of your team?”

Adam’s jaw clenches. His sudden emotionless expression is all the confirmation I need. My mouth drops open in surprise. How did I not realize any of this sooner? But before I have a chance to ask anything further, I hear the slow shuffling of footsteps making their way down the hall.

“There you two are!” Hess exclaims, turning into the living room with her husband’s arm over her shoulders. She has changed into a cheery pink dress, and has brushed her hair back into a neat braid. Loran Underwood wears a baggy sweater and long pants, but under his right knee I can see the bulge of a large bandage. There are some yellow bruises along his arms as well, just short of being fully healed. The injuries must have been deep if they’re still visible after this amount of time.

Adam immediately hops up and helps Loran limp to the couch. He settles into the middle of the sofa with Hess on one side and Adam on the other.

“Thank you, m’boy,” Loran says, already out of breath from his short journey down the hall. “Terra Rhodon?” he says, suddenly noticing me in the corner.

“Hi, Loran. I mean, Mr. Underwood,” I say, smiling timidly.

Loran laughs, a booming guffaw. “
Mr. Underwood
, eh? You never called me that out in the fields, no need to start now. How’s that little brother of yours? And how’s the scav business treatin’ ya?”

Hess clucks softly and Loran turns to her, confused. A second later, comprehension dawns on his face and he looks suddenly embarrassed. “Oh, I meant… that is to say… of course it’s been going real well, eh?”

“No complaints here,” I say lightly, trying to quell his obvious awkwardness. “And Mica’s doing fine, thank you for asking.”

“So, you’re Adam then?” Loran says.

“Yes, sir,” Adam responds.

“Well, you certainly made an impression on my Hessie here,” he says. “We don’t meet many skydwellers like you. She’s been hoping you’d stop by all week.”

“Oh, hush, you,” Hess says, slapping her husband lightly on the shoulder. I can’t help but chuckle.

“So what can I do for you?” Loran asks.

An air of seriousness falls over the room as Adam glances at me.

I’m not going anywhere,
I think, looking back at him expectantly.

“I hope you don’t feel this is too intrusive,” Adam says, turning back to Loran, “but I was wondering if you might be willing to talk to me about your accident.”

“Are you part of the investigation team? ‘Cause they already came and asked me about everything when it happened.”

“No, I’m… on a different assignment. I apologize if you’ll be repeating information.”

“It’s all right,” Loran says slowly. “Things are a little clearer these days than they were back then anyway. Though I’m sure I still sound just as crazy.”

“What do you mean?” Adam asks.

Loran takes a deep breath and looks at Hess. She nods. “I was out in the fields, like normal. It was pretty late in the day—I think I was probably the only scav still out there. But I’d been following a trail of broken tech down through the Southern Plains and I wanted to make sure I’d gotten ‘em all. I must’ve been down past the Dead Woods by the time I decided to pack it in.” He glances at me and I nod knowingly.

“Then suddenly, I’m swept into the air, out of nowhere. Something just blew me straight off my feet. Like—like I got hit with… a cannonball made of air or something. I went flying and hit the ground, hard. Next thing I know, I’m back home with a screwed up knee and a head that’s fuzzier than usual to boot.”

“So it wasn’t raiders?” The question flies out of my mouth before I can stop it.

“Raiders? Ha. Almost wish it had been,” Loran says sadly. “The other investigators told me that’s what must’ve happened, that a raider must’ve hit me from behind or something but… I would’ve known if somebody hit me. All I know is what I said. I didn’t feel anything but the air. If a raider’d knocked me off my feet, I woulda seen him—or at least felt him—touch me, right?”

Alarmed, I can’t stop myself from whipping my head over to look at Adam, whose face is contorted in deep concentration. Loran catches sight of my expression and starts to laugh.

“Believe me, I know how it sounds,” he continues. “Everyone else says I gotta be crazy, that the accident just messed up my memory. And maybe they’re right. All that matters now is that I’m home, and I’m healing.” He pats his wife’s hand slowly.

“Nobody here thinks you’re crazy,” I say, still looking at Adam. My comment brings him back to the present, and he shoots me a wary glance.

“I know you probably don’t like reliving this,” Adam says to Loran, “but is there anything else—anything at all—that you remember? Sounds, smells, something in your peripheral vision? Even the smallest detail could help.”

“Well, there is one thing, but if you didn’t already think I was nuts…” Loran trails off, chuckling nervously.

“I promise you, we won’t,” Adam says, looking at him hopefully.

“It happened so fast, of course, so I can’t be sure. But when… when I was knocked into the air, when I was sent flying? I could’ve sworn I saw something overhead.”

“Like what?” I ask. “A trash barge? A Skyline shuttle?”

“Maybe,” Loran says. “Maybe there was a shuttle of some kind of up there. But if I’m being honest… it looked more like a person. Arms splayed out, spinning in the sky, it almost looked like… someone was flying.”

Adam’s face falls in unmistakable disappointment, and silence takes over the room. Finally, Adam coughs and rearranges his expression. “Terra, didn’t you have something to talk to Hess about?”

“Huh?” I say. Adam raises both his eyebrows at me. “Oh, right. Of course.”

“What is it?” Hess asks quietly.

“I, uh… I wanted to see if you needed any… any help.” My words come out in a nervous jumble; I’m still processing the details of Loran’s accident. “I know things have been kind of, um, rough… since the accident. And, you know, with the situation with Trip and the Traders…” Hess’s eyes widen in shock and she inhales sharply; I know I’ve crossed a line. “I—I’m sorry,” I say preemptively.

“We’re doing all right,” Loran says quickly, rubbing Hess’s back in slow circles. “But we appreciate the offer.”

I nod hurriedly as I stand. “Well, if you ever need anything,” I say, struggling to regain my composure.

“I guess we should get going,” Adam says. “Thank you again.”

Hess looks at me with an impassive expression as we leave.

“So do I get an explanation of what that was all about now?” I ask Adam as soon as we’re back outside.

“There’s nothing to explain,” he says dismissively as he climbs onto the motorbike. “I thought maybe he saw something, something that could help me. But you heard him. There was nothing to tell.”

“Nothing to tell?” I say. “The man said he felt like someone knocked him off his feet without touching him, Adam. That sure sounds like something to me.”

“But it’s nothing that
helps
me, Terra!” Adam’s voice rises angrily. “It’s a dead end. Nothing he said tells me where my team is, or if they even came here. Nothing. I thought, I hoped… Look, can we just drop it for now?”

He looks so crestfallen, so disappointed, all I can do is nod and take my place on the bike behind him.

“Still up for the Market?” I ask quietly. He doesn’t respond. He simply brings the bike to life and takes off towards the Marketplace.

Chapter 16

The Marketplace is a long, rectangular building with wide doors on both ends and individual stalls built into the sides. Mica likes to show off his nerdy side by reminding me frequently that buildings like this were originally meant to keep livestock—back when there was livestock to be kept. Now, merchants of all specialties sell their wares for more reasonable prices than you’ll find in the North Q. That said, you can’t always be sure what you’re going to get.

Adam weaves through the people crammed into various stalls, while I avoid the stares of surrounding shoppers. They’re understandably wary; much of Marketplace culture is based on haggling, and someone with the kind of steel I have could easily skew the dynamic.

Mr. Copper’s stall is at the very end, near the back of the building. His long, gray hair always spilling out from his bowler hat, Copp is more than just my favorite stallkeeper. He’s an old friend of our family. As kids, he would often regale Mica and me with stories of my mother. I haven’t been brave enough to come back to the Marketplace since That Day, when I found the machine and Copp got his first glimpse of my new credit balance. I’m not sure how welcome I’ll be now, even here.

“Hello Terra,” Copp says stiffly as we approach.

“Heya Copp.”

An awkward silence fills the space between us.

“Been a while,” he says after a minute. “Wasn’t sure we’d be seein’ ya here again.”

“Guess old habits are hard to break.” I offer him a timid smile.

“Ha!” he booms. “Shoulda known all that steel wouldn’t change ya.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “This is Adam,” I say, pulling him forward by his arm.

“Hello,” Adam says, smiling. Back in public, all traces of his disappointment from our conversation with Loran have disappeared.

Copp stares at Adam just a little too long. I clear my throat several times.

“Ah… well, welcome!” Copp says after he’s composed himself. “Any friend of Terra’s and all that. If ya got questions, just let ‘em rip.”

Adam nods and starts to inspect Copp’s wares. He holds up a lightweight windbreaker, gray instead of black, but otherwise similar to the jacket I lost in the District, and dives into a conversation with Copp about it. My eyes immediately glaze over.

Here we go again,
I think.
How interesting can a jacket be?

I entertain myself by perusing Copp’s collection of tarnished silver pendants, until three sharp blasts ring out from unseen speakers. Rain.

I step outside Copp’s stall, where the doors at the end of the building are open to the outside. Clouds are already rolling in: massive and threatening swirls of dark purples and blackish blues. We’ve got maybe twenty minutes before the downpour begins.

“C’mon,” I tell Adam. “We’ve gotta go.”

“Why?” he asks, his eyes now glued to another jacket—navy blue this time—pinned to the wall behind Copp’s head.

“Rain, dummy.” I roll my eyes and tug on his arm. “We’ll pick up Mica on the way. They should be releasing him from school now.”

“Right, of course. The rain.” Adam looks wistfully at the jacket.

“Oh, for the love of—,” I say exasperatedly. “Copp, we’ll take this.”

“No, you don’t have to—”

I silence Adam with a look, then turn back to Copp. “Actually, throw in that blue one too,” I say, pointing to the navy jacket. “Buying double means a discount, right?”

“Glad to see ya haven’t changed,” Copp says with a laugh.

“Terra, I can’t just let you—”

“I need one, too. You can pay me back later.”

I ignore my credit balance when it comes up on the register.

“Thank you,” Adam says, looking at me a little too intensely. He says a brief goodbye to Copp, who tips his hat at Adam—something I’ve never seen him do. Adam really brings out the most unusual reactions in people. Copp stuffs the jackets in a bag, then hands it to Adam, who steps outside.

“Always a pleasure,” Copp says to me as I turn to leave. “And I gotta say, it’s kinda nice.”

“What is?”

“Seeing ya with someone.”

“No, we’re not—”

“Never figured ya for a skychaser,” he continues with a wink, “but this one seems all right.”

Before I can clarify the situation, Copp’s already turned to help the next customer in line, eager to finish her shopping before the rain starts.

“Okay, let’s go,” I say to Adam once I’ve joined him outside. I avoid his eye as I take the bag with the jackets from him and climb onto the bike.

“Mica?” he asks quietly.

“Mica,” I say with a nod, and we rumble off toward the school.

* * *

“What do you mean he’s not here?” I say, annoyed. The redheaded girl I saw with Juniper at the Assembly stands in front of me outside the school. Her name, I learn, is Brim Lyle.