rescue attempts will be secondary to this main objective. You have your volunteers, and you will remember that you obey your troop leader first. If Ray is in their mountain, his loss will be acceptable.”
Ray’s loss acceptable? I nearly started yelling, but Nathan put a hand on my knee. “Don’t worry, Cat,” he whispered. “We’ll get him, with or without their help. Now’s not the time to cause a scene.”
But that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Every second that ticked by felt like he was slipping further away from me. So, let me make a scene . Let me rage and shake those insolent soldiers by their hair until they feel the pain I feel. But, Nathan was right. Just a few more days, and I’d get Ray. And if I couldn’t get Ray, at least I could get vengeance.
Chapter Eight
A Plan
A southern voice startled me the next morning as Nathan and I were scrubbing our combat clothes at the laundry lot. “We need to make a plan.” Derrick walked over to Nathan and me. “So, let’s plan.”
“Um, okay,” I answered, rubbing my raw hands with a towel. “I never got to thank you for speaking up at the meeting either, so, um, thank you.”
Derrick gave an easy smile. I noticed he had a dimple on his left cheek. “No problem.” He bobbed his head so his hat cast a shadow over his blue eyes. “So, Officer Reynolds made it pretty clear we need to follow orders first—and I think we should—but that doesn’t mean we can’t do a little side mission, as well.”
“Okay,” I prompted him to continue. Nathan scrubbed his boots while he listened.
Derrick drew in the dirt to explain his idea. First he drew a rough triangle for the mountain. “Well, we can’t get around the flooding. But I was thinking, there’s still that small entrance just north of the western one.” He made an “x” on the mountain. “No one’s too worried about it, since the scarb just seem to use it for dumping waste once in a while. I figure after we help flood the main entrances, we can use that high north one to get in and at least see if Ray is there.”
I turned his plan over in my mind. “I’d really rather get in before they flood it—”
Nathan put his boot down. “You know that’s suicide, Cat,” he said in his brotherly way. “No human’s been inside a scarb colony. Ever. There’s no way we could make it in and out, undetected and alive. Besides, we don’t want to give away the entire attack. I think Derrick’s plan is the best we can do.”
Derrick seemed pleased that he’d won my brother’s approval, but he seemed to be waiting on mine.
“I don’t know. I just think there’s something more we can do.”And so I tried to think of a better plan. I ran it over and over through my mind, until my temples throbbed. My heart ached. Ray could be in that colony, and now we were going to flood it without giving him a chance. But any idea I came up with ended only in likely death. I finally resigned myself to the fact that Derrick’s plan was all we had.
Two days later, Nathan and I walked wordlessly to one of the three fire engines. We set our packs of supplies inside beside the others and double-checked our weapons: two steel blades in their sheaths around my waist, a smaller one under my sleeve, two more at my ankles, water pack filled and strapped onto my back. I watched sunlight reflect off a drop of dew on the hood of the truck. Everything was ready, and yet, nothing felt right.
Nathan jogged over to me after speaking with some of the other young soldiers. “Let’s go get him,” he said, knowing who I was thinking of.
“Yeah, let’s do this,” I said, fixing my eyes on the massive mountains. It took nearly half a day just to load the fire trucks onto the massive barges we’d made the first time we brought them across the lake, and get them to the other side. We followed an old winding country road that cut through the mountains. It was in such poor condition after all the years of not
Ray’s loss acceptable? I nearly started yelling, but Nathan put a hand on my knee. “Don’t worry, Cat,” he whispered. “We’ll get him, with or without their help. Now’s not the time to cause a scene.”
But that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Every second that ticked by felt like he was slipping further away from me. So, let me make a scene . Let me rage and shake those insolent soldiers by their hair until they feel the pain I feel. But, Nathan was right. Just a few more days, and I’d get Ray. And if I couldn’t get Ray, at least I could get vengeance.
Chapter Eight
A Plan
A southern voice startled me the next morning as Nathan and I were scrubbing our combat clothes at the laundry lot. “We need to make a plan.” Derrick walked over to Nathan and me. “So, let’s plan.”
“Um, okay,” I answered, rubbing my raw hands with a towel. “I never got to thank you for speaking up at the meeting either, so, um, thank you.”
Derrick gave an easy smile. I noticed he had a dimple on his left cheek. “No problem.” He bobbed his head so his hat cast a shadow over his blue eyes. “So, Officer Reynolds made it pretty clear we need to follow orders first—and I think we should—but that doesn’t mean we can’t do a little side mission, as well.”
“Okay,” I prompted him to continue. Nathan scrubbed his boots while he listened.
Derrick drew in the dirt to explain his idea. First he drew a rough triangle for the mountain. “Well, we can’t get around the flooding. But I was thinking, there’s still that small entrance just north of the western one.” He made an “x” on the mountain. “No one’s too worried about it, since the scarb just seem to use it for dumping waste once in a while. I figure after we help flood the main entrances, we can use that high north one to get in and at least see if Ray is there.”
I turned his plan over in my mind. “I’d really rather get in before they flood it—”
Nathan put his boot down. “You know that’s suicide, Cat,” he said in his brotherly way. “No human’s been inside a scarb colony. Ever. There’s no way we could make it in and out, undetected and alive. Besides, we don’t want to give away the entire attack. I think Derrick’s plan is the best we can do.”
Derrick seemed pleased that he’d won my brother’s approval, but he seemed to be waiting on mine.
“I don’t know. I just think there’s something more we can do.”And so I tried to think of a better plan. I ran it over and over through my mind, until my temples throbbed. My heart ached. Ray could be in that colony, and now we were going to flood it without giving him a chance. But any idea I came up with ended only in likely death. I finally resigned myself to the fact that Derrick’s plan was all we had.
Two days later, Nathan and I walked wordlessly to one of the three fire engines. We set our packs of supplies inside beside the others and double-checked our weapons: two steel blades in their sheaths around my waist, a smaller one under my sleeve, two more at my ankles, water pack filled and strapped onto my back. I watched sunlight reflect off a drop of dew on the hood of the truck. Everything was ready, and yet, nothing felt right.
Nathan jogged over to me after speaking with some of the other young soldiers. “Let’s go get him,” he said, knowing who I was thinking of.
“Yeah, let’s do this,” I said, fixing my eyes on the massive mountains. It took nearly half a day just to load the fire trucks onto the massive barges we’d made the first time we brought them across the lake, and get them to the other side. We followed an old winding country road that cut through the mountains. It was in such poor condition after all the years of not
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