The Variables

“Muuez?” Huck demanded, looking into the camera. “Your vote?”

The man buried his head in his hands. “My vote is worthless—”

Huck didn’t try to disagree. “Then we proceed. Claude?”

“Muuez,” Claude said. “Cast your vote.”

Muuez looked to the camera and said, “Aye. I vote in favor. Don’t let them get to the surface, Huck. Protect the future.”

The board members paused to let Muuez’s sacrifice register against the chaos of the moment.

“Without my men at the ready there, you’ll have to shut them down remotely,” Claude said, turning to Huck. “Here.” He motioned for Gordy to move away from the controls. “I can do it. Thirty seconds.”

Muuez looked straight into the camera. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Then he looked upward and said, “Ash hadu ana la ilaha ila Allah, wa ash hadu ana Muhammada ar rasoola Allah. Ash hadu ana la ilaha ila Allah, wa ash...”

The screen went black.

The Elektos Underground System Four was gone.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lucy leaned her head on Grant’s shoulder; he kissed the top of her head and let his lips linger on her hair for a long time. She had taken her five-minute shower earlier in the morning and washed her hair with the rest of her mother’s honey-scented shampoo from back home. She hadn’t even bothered to ask for permission, despite the fact that there would be no more honey shampoo. It was a final scent of the old world; linked to memories of her mother’s embraces and the special treat of bathing in her parents’ master bath. Now it was gone. Poof. Irreplaceable.

“You look beautiful,” Grant said. She sat cross-legged on her bed in her sundress; her unshaved legs scratched against the bare mattress. The short showers and busy mornings with Cass prompted her to eliminate needless grooming. Her leg hair had grown back in soft and blonde, but it didn’t bother her a bit.

“Thank you,” Lucy said. She sighed. She reached around with her free hand and tried to pull Grant closer to her. Sometimes she felt like she couldn’t be close enough to him, that no matter how tightly she wrapped her arms around him, it wasn’t ever enough. He took her hug as an invitation to kiss her, and Lucy pressed her lips tightly to his and just held him there, wishing that time would stand still. There was something exhilarating in the simplicity of a kiss. When they stopped, Lucy’s heart ached. She would never get tired of kissing him, she thought. She wanted to kiss him forever and time was ru

Unwilling to untangle themselves, Lucy and Grant didn’t even blink when Galen threw open the door and began to haul out his single backpack, the same one he had packed for himself when they were heading to a different island, the Seychelles, what felt like years ago. Back then, everything felt so simple, so clear. They were just a family going on vacation: homework and girlfriend problems were the extent of their concerns. Their parents were normal parents, just plugging along from day to day trying to run the household with efficiency. There was no way they could ever go back to the blissful ignorance of an average life. Lucy knew she would be haunted forever.

“Ew,” Galen complained, rolling his eyes. “Mom says ten minutes.”

She watched Galen shut the door behind him, leaving them alone for just a little bit longer. Her mother wouldn’t bother them; she’d send the kids to do her bidding—and Lucy expected it. The twins might come in next, and then she’d send Harper. It was an old trick, one that she used to employ when Ethan brought A

No locked doors. That was the rule.

Then send in the kids.

Some things never changed.

Galen grabbed his backpack with a loud huff and it brought her out of her moment with Grant. Watching Galen reminded her of listening by the staircase as their mom ran down her printed list of to-dos on Release Day. Her mom had been so naïve, so duped, and yet she slid right into her life in the System with purposeful resilience. Now, her mother treated their move to the Islands with the same sort of calculated efficiency. If Mama Maxine had any reservations under that calm, cool, and collected exterior, she put forth an airtight façade.

New islands, a new life, and a new outlook awaited Lucy now. She had her mother’s peppy sound bytes memorized, but she didn’t believe them for a second. She was scared. And she was cognizant that without Grant by her side, she was going on this adventure alone.

She held Grant tighter, wishing that she could just stay and let her family go on without her. If only it would be easy to miss this plane, and trap herself with him in a room again. Back at Pacific Lake High School, she had only wanted to stay safe and find her family. But it might have been easier if they had never found out about Nebraska, never created variables, never tried to get here at all. She never thought she’d pine for the good old days of being locked in a storage room.

“Maybe I should send a decoy,” Lucy said. “You think there are any shortish, blondeish girls bound for Copia who could pass for a King until they’re at least in the air?”

“Not on your life,” Grant answered with a smirk. “If it were anyone else’s mom, I’d say you have a real chance of success. But Mama Maxine? No way.” His smirk faded. He looked close to tears.

“My dad said he was working on a way—”

“I don’t want you to worry about it,” Grant interrupted swiftly. He gave her a squeeze. “Really. So, it didn’t work out right away. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to work out eventually.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous, because I am getting on a plane in less than an hour and I don’t know when I’m going to see you again,” Lucy replied. She couldn’t help the emotion and she made a small sound of frustration before letting the tears fall. “This is stupid. I shouldn’t cry.”

“Lucy—”

“These stupid wristband bracelets are our only identifying materials.” She flicked the yellow band on her wrist—like a hospital bracelet, it had her name, family name, and Island destination in printed letters across the top. “What is stopping you from just swapping bracelets with Dylan or your other roommate?” Lucy asked. She wiped a tear with the back of her hand and raised her eyebrows in expectation. “That’s all it would take. Buy us some time. Don’t they want to trade with you?”

“Lucy...” Grant started again.

“It would work. I know we could get it to work.” Lucy drew back an inch and looked at Grant, evaluating him.

Grant shrugged. “Dylan is heading to Paulina and Todd’s on the list for one of the other ones...I don’t know...New Cochran, I think. Trading with them won’t get me any closer to you today, Lucy. Look, I believe your dad will come through and I’m not going to give the powers that be some other reason to think I’m just another rule-breaking jerk. I want to be with you and so I’m going to have to do this the hard way. I’m sorry. It will work out. It always works out.”

“Sure,” Lucy said. She exhaled and grumbled under her breath. “Way to be a standup guy about it.” She nudged her shoulder into his and forced herself to smile.

“Nope,” Grant said. He laughed and kissed her head again. “Don’t do that. We have eight minutes left. No pouting.”

“I want to fight this,” she told him, and she looked up at him with her eyes wide and pleading. “I hate that I’m going to just walk out of here today, head up to the surface, and not do anything. Does that sound like me? To just do nothing?” She said it with a real sense of conviction, but even as the statement left her mouth, she wondered if it was true. She wasn’t Cass and she wasn’t her mother. She wanted to be brave and determined, she saw herself that way, but that didn’t make it true.