UnWholly

It had been suggested that Co

Co

“Nature of the beast,” Trace is always quick to remind him. “Respect doesn’t come without a little resentment.”

Co

The Holy of Whollies arrive mostly on time for the meeting. Once inside, they swivel side to side in the plush leather chairs, for no other reason than that they can. They enjoy the jet far more than Co

Six out of seven are present. Risa, who’s the Graveyard’s chief medic, refuses to enter Co

Trace, always the first to arrive, is head of security, as well as Co

Hayden is master of the ComBom, ru

There’s a big bruiser of a girl everyone calls Bam, who is in charge of food services. Her real name is Bambi, but anyone who calls her that ends up being treated by Risa in the infirmary.

There’s Drake, a rural kid who is the Sustainability Boss, which is just a fancy term for the guy who runs the farm, or the Green Aisle, which was entirely Co

Next is John, a gum-chewing kid with a restless leg who’s in charge of maintenance and waste management, and finally Ashley, who claims to be very “person centered” and deals with “issues”—and since just about every kid being tagged for unwinding has issues, she’s probably the busiest of the bunch.

“So what’s this about?” Bam asks. “Because I got stuff to do.”

“First off,” Co

“More o’ nothin’ is still nothin’,” Drake says.

“You got it. We’ve pretty much known we’ve been on our own for a while—now it’s official. Deal with it.”

“What about supplies and stuff we can’t scavenge from other planes?” asks John, his leg bouncing more fiercely than usual.

“If we can’t get cash from the front office to buy it, we’ll have to creatively find it.” Creatively finding is Co

“I just got word that a new jet is being retired here next Tuesday,” Hayden tells them. “I’m sure when we gut it, we’ll find a lot of things we need. Coolant compressors, hydraulic thingamajiggies, and all that other hardcore mechanical blue-collar stuff.”

“Is the baggage compartment go

“No plane arrives without mystery meat,” Hayden says. “No telling how many kids there’ll be, though.”

“I hope there aren’t any coffins this time,” Ashley says. “Do you have any idea how many kids had nightmares from that?”

“Oh please, coffins are so last month,” says Hayden. “This time it’s beer kegs!”

“The bigger issue,” says Co

“Why don’t we just bail now,” asks Ashley, “and find a new place to be?”

“It’s not that easy to move seven hundred kids—and doing it would be like sending up a flare to every Juvey-cop in Arizona. Hayden’s team has been doing a pretty good job tracking the threat level, so we’ll have at least some warning before a raid—but if we don’t have an exit strategy, we’re screwed no matter what.”

Bam throws a glare at Trace, who never says much at these meetings. “What does he think?”

“I think you should do whatever Co

Bam snorts. “Spoken like a true army boeuf.”

“Air force,” says Trace. “You’d be wise to remember that.”

“The point is,” says Co

The rest of the meeting deals with the minutiae of management. Co

“You can all go,” Co

Everyone files out, and Co

Bam stands with arms folded, sweating attitude. “So, what’s up?”

“Tell me about the tainted meat loaf.”

Bam shrugs like it’s nothing. “What’s the big deal? The generator to one of the refrigerators blew out. It’s fixed now.”

“How long was the power out?”

“Don’t know.”

“So you had no clue how long the thing was without power, and you still served the food inside?”

“How was I supposed to know people would get sick? They ate it, so it’s their problem.”

Co

“Yeah, right, so I won’t let it happen again.” Bam says it in such a rude tone of voice, Co

“There won’t be a next time, Bam. I’m sorry.”

“You’re getting rid of me just because of one stupid screwup?”

“No one is getting rid of you,” Co

She burns him a long, hateful glare, then says, “Fine. To hell with you. I don’t need this crap.”

“Thank you, Bam,” he says, having no idea what possessed him to thank her. “Send John in on your way out.”

Bam kicks the jet hatch open and storms out. She turns to John, who waits nervously outside, twisted in a full body flinch from her angry exit.

“Go on in,” Bam growls at him. “He’s firing you.”

•   •   •

That night Co

“How does he do that?” kids ask as he makes bracelets disappear from wrists and appear in other people’s pockets. When he’s done, Co

“You’re pretty good. But as the guy in charge, I should ask you to tell me how it’s done.”

Starkey only smiles. “A magician never reveals his secrets, not even to the guy in charge.”

“Listen,” says Co

“A change for the better, I hope,” Starkey says, gripping his stomach. Co

“How would you like to be in charge of food?”