“Considering the last time Quinn saw me,” she said after a moment, “I think it’s probably better if we work up to me being in an enclosed space with any member of your family.”
I thought about the nightmares that Quinn had occasionally, after all that he’d been through while being held by Dr. Jacobs as a bargaining chip. He sometimes woke up screaming loud enough to wake everyone. Once, even Mrs. Kripke next door had called to make sure everything was okay. Proof perhaps that Quinn’s “pretend it never happened” method wasn’t working as well as he might prefer.
Ariane had done nothing to Quinn, but she’d been at the parking lot during the exchange that had gone horribly wrong. And while Quinn didn’t know her, he had to know that she was the reason he’d been taken. He’d never mentioned it, but seeing her marched out in handcuffs and surrounded by guards had to be a pretty big clue.
I wasn’t sure how Quinn would react to her now, being in our car or at our house.
My dad would probably foam at the mouth.
“You might be right,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to just leave you here.” Or ever.
She smiled at me. “I really do need to go to the apartment,” she said. “It’s not far. I’ll be fine.”
Quinn hit the horn again, harder this time, but I stayed put.
“But you’re going to be here tomorrow, right?” I asked, hating that I felt the need to be reassured. But I knew all too well how quickly the world could shift, your entire understanding of the universe changed in less than a day.
“As long as the world as we know it doesn’t end,” Ariane said. “I’m on call for that.”
“Okay,” I said with a laugh. “I can work with that.” But I found myself walking backward, keeping her in my view. I was still reluctant to leave, afraid she’d disappear again.
“Zane,” she called after me.
I stopped immediately. “Yeah?”
“Can you come over tomorrow? After school, assuming they let me back to classes,” she asked, not quite meeting my eyes.
I ignored Quinn waiting, my heart picking up an extra beat in alarm. “What’s wrong? Do you think Marta might not be on your side or—”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” She paused, biting her lip. “Just maybe bring a DVD or something? I’ll have my laptop set up by then. And I’ll get popcorn.”
“You want to watch something?” I asked, baffled by the contrast between what she was asking and her reaction to doing so.
She nodded, her face brighter red than I’d ever seen it, as though she were asking me for some huge favor or extreme task.
And then I got it. This was a big deal. She’d never invited anyone over to her house before. Of all the amazing things she’d done and could do, this simple, everyday part of life was new and huge for her.
“Unless…” She hesitated. “I mean, if that’s not something you’d want to—”
“Yes, I want to,” I said quickly and firmly. “Definitely. If the snow clears up, we could even go out to the movies. In public.”
She blinked, as if she hadn’t even considered that possibility in her newfound freedom.
I grinned at her. “Maybe we’ll even sneak some French fries in and skip the popcorn.”
“That’s against the rules, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Thought you were all about that,” I said.
Her face lit up with one of her rare, uncompromised smiles. “I guess I am,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
That sounded like a promise to me.
THE PALE WINTER SUNLIGHT, REFLECTING off the new snow, was so bright it hurt my eyes. And when I took a deep breath, the cold air made my lungs ache.
But it was worth it. To be outside. To be unmonitored. Well, mostly. But the cell phone in my pocket was as little encumbrance as could be imagined, particularly compared to before.
My promised new life at the ocean had never materialized, and that was fine. I’d get there one day, now that I had the freedom to make my own choices. Instead, I’d spent the last eight weeks indoors, surrounded by Justine and her people. Moving from one safe house to another, and then to conference rooms that were all very similar, and finally to a secure facility outside Phoenix where scattered metal pieces and fragments of a ship—some with strange characters on them, some without—had been carefully cataloged and organized.
The engine, that was what they were mostly interested in. Well, after I’d told them there weren’t any weapons systems. Which was, and was not, true. I didn’t actually know for sure. The main AI, what was left of it anyway, had reacted to my presence, just as I’d told Zane. I’d gleaned some information from it, though it had been mostly through the exchange of images rather than actual words. It was heavily damaged, and I was part human, so our communication had been limited at best. Still, I’d seen some very interesting things, including mapping a few constellations that I recognized. Yet it was in my best interests not to reveal everything at once.