“How do we know they haven’t killed Kai?” asked Will.
“No. They’ll keep him as long as it suits their purposes. The boy is a diviner. That’s worth a lot of money. He can tell them where water is, and they can keep him from telling others. They won’t kill him as long as there’s use for that.”
“He needs medicine,” I said.
“They’ll give him that too.”
The jet had disappeared now, but there came another sound in the distance, harsh and braying.
“Sniffers,” said Ulysses. “Move!”
The three of us were battered, two of us bleeding, but we ran as quickly as we could. Will winced with every step, his leg healing but not healed. Ulysses showed no pain, but his pale face betrayed his injury. My shoulder had begun to throb, and every plant that brushed me was like a whipping.
We were deep in the soy fields. I had never seen so much vegetation. I could practically feel the plants pulsating, exhaling moisture like breathing. Without any protection from the sun or the sky, they flaunted the great wealth of their growers. Even with their genetic alterations, they still wasted enough water to quench the thirst of a large town. But their growers didn’t seem to care. They had resources to burn, and the food not only tasted better, it was a potent reminder of their enormous power.
“Run, Vera!” Will urged me forward.
The braying grew louder. We followed Ulysses, who beat at the plants with his powerful arms. The pain in my shoulder was nothing compared to the burning in my lungs, the aching in my sides, and a terrible, drill-like pulsing in my skull.
And then suddenly, without warning, Ulysses collapsed.
For a moment time stood still. It was not possible that the great pirate king could fall. Even when I thought Ulysses had drowned, I never saw his body, and I had refused to accept he might actually be gone. But now there he was, splayed out before us, his pants leg soaked and his face white.
I grabbed his hand. “Ulysses,” I begged. “Ulysses.”
He looked up at me, and his eyes fluttered slightly.
“You remind me of her,” he said.
“Who?” I asked, although I knew.
“She was skinny, like you. She used to call me Poppy.”
“Hold on,” I said. “Please. We’ll get you help. I promise.”
And then the sniffers were upon us.
CHAPTER 15
The prison cell was no larger than the back of a flatbed truck. I leaned up against one wall, a dull banging in my head like the headache that comes after a beating. It started low, at the base of the skull, and then worked its way up to the temples and the forehead until it threatened to explode.
“Open the door,” commanded a voice from beyond the walls.
The banging stopped, and the great steel door swung open. A nearly hairless man walked into the prison cell. He was as tall as Ulysses but with no eyebrows, eyelashes, or beard. His eyes were a pale gray-blue, and he might have been albino, except his skin was a sun-ripened brown. Behind him, hopping on one foot, his face scarred and ravaged, was Nasri. He seemed as excited to see us as we were surprised to see him.
“That’s them,” said Nasri. “The pirate and his spawn.”
The hairless man practically filled the room. Although he was the most unusual man I had ever seen, the most curious thing about him was his shiny fingernails. It looked as if he painted them with polish. There was no trace of dirt, and there were no scabs or other visible injuries on any of his fingers. In fact, as I observed him, I noticed how clean his entire body appeared, and as he approached, I smelled a scent that reminded me of flowers—the real ones grown in hydro-vaults, not the fake chemo ones planted about the town.
With one foot the hairless man pushed at Ulysses’s prostrate body. Ulysses moaned slightly but did not move.
“This one is injured,” he said in a voice liquid and smooth. “Get the medic.”
“But Torq,” protested Nasri, “he’s a pirate.”
“And now he’s our prisoner. We will not let him die quietly.”
Nasri hopped from foot to foot but did not protest. Torq obviously frightened him as much as he frightened me. Nasri’s mouth worked silently, as if he were chewing over something. He glared at Will, and his hand went involuntarily to the scar on his face. Then he backed from the cell, never letting us out of his sight until the door closed behind him.
In his absence the room seemed to grow smaller. Torq moved closer.
“Why are you here?” Torq directed his question to Will.
“You brought us here,” said Will.
“Where did you get the rotorcraft?”
“Where did you get the jet?”
Torq slammed the wall behind Will’s head with such force that I was certain he would break something. He picked Will up by the hair and held him ten centimeters off the ground.
“I. Ask. The. Questions.” He spat out each word, then dropped Will back to the ground. “You answer!”