Into the Still Blue

He stayed awake as long as he could, savoring it. Then he closed his eyes and surrendered to sleep.



7



ARIA



Hovers.



They weren’t her favorite things in the world.



Aria stared up at the Belswan, taking in its liquid shape. Eighty feet from nose to tail, the cargo craft still managed to look sleek. The exterior was smooth and opalescent, like blue pearl, the coloration lightening gradually toward the front, like the tip of the craft had faded in the sun, exposing the transparent glass beneath. The tip, of course, was the cockpit.



“Perfection,” Caleb said reverently. He was still weak, but he’d insisted on coming outside to see her off. They stood on the bluff above the cave, as Aria waited to leave on the mission. “Flawless design and craftsmanship. It’s like Gaudí created a modern ship.”



Aria shook her head. “It is beautiful.” But that didn’t mean she liked it. Only a week ago, she’d stood in the cockpit of this very craft watching Reverie collapse before her eyes. Months earlier, she had been thrown from a Hover onto the hard desert outside Reverie and left to die.



This time would be better. How could it not be?



“Where is everyone?” she asked, scanning the small crowd around her.



A few of the Tides had come to send them off. Willow stood with her grandfather, Old Will, while Flea trotted around, sniffing busily. Reef and a couple of the Six were there, along with others she didn’t know, but so far she was the only member of the team to show.



Despite having slept against Perry all night, she still felt their argument weighing on her. He wouldn’t talk about how she’d hurt him, and he wouldn’t talk about Roar or Liv.



It felt like a lot. A lot to go unsaid.



“They’re just a little tardy,” said Caleb. “They’ll be here.”



“They’d better hurry.”



With a thick layer of fog cloaking the coast, she couldn’t see the red flares that had everyone worried, but she heard the storm they’d been anticipating. The distant shriek of the funnels sent a shiver through her.



Five miles away, she guessed. They needed to leave soon.



“See?” Caleb said. “Here comes Soren . . . and Jupiter?”



Soren crested the switchback path that climbed up from the beach, his closest friend at his side. Jupiter walked with an amble that matched his leisurely personality. Today he appeared mellower than usual, having just emerged from days of fever. Like Soren, he carried a bag over his shoulder.



“What is this?” Reef grumbled. “Someone explain to me why there’s another one of them now?”



Aria felt Caleb tense at her side. He was one of “them” too.



Soren stopped in front of Reef and lifted his chin. “This is our second-in-command, Jupiter,” he said importantly.



Jupiter flipped his shaggy hair out of his eyes. It felt strange to see him outside the Realms. Even stranger to see him without drums and his bandmates. “Hey, Aria and Caleb. And, uh . . . hello, Outsiders.”



“No,” Reef said. “Not hello. You can leave, Dweller. You’re not part of the team.”



Jupiter’s eyes went wide, but Soren held his ground.



He crossed his arms. “If Jupiter goes, I go.”



“Done,” said Reef. “Good-bye to you both.”



“Can any of you fly a Hover?” Soren asked, looking around him. “I didn’t think so. We can. Isn’t that what we need? A way out of here? And I want equal representation on this pathetic team.”



“Equal?” Reef said. “There are forty Dwellers in that cave. You are one tenth our count.”



“We speak technology, which makes our tenth a hundred times more valuable.”



A few paces away, Twig turned to Gren. “So are they more valuable or are we?”



“I don’t know,” Gren answered. “I’m lost.”



“Get in there, Jupiter,” Aria said, gesturing to the Belswan.



A dozen heads whipped to look at her. No one stared more intently than Reef.



“Soren has a point,” she said. “It’s smart to bring someone else who can fly the Hover. We should have an alternate pilot in case something incapacitates him during the mission.”



Soren’s expression went from smug to shocked as he realized what she’d said.



Reef’s face underwent the same transformation, in reverse. He broke into a wide grin, tipping his head at her in a gesture of respect.



“Don’t just stand there,” he said to Soren and Jupiter. “Your first-in-command just gave an order. Load up.”



Aria hugged Caleb, promising she’d see him soon, and boarded with them.



The bay doors opened to the cargo hold, a wide, bare space that stretched across the middle of the Hover. She moved to the cockpit at the front with Soren and Jupiter, who dropped into the two seats and immediately began to argue about which button controlled what.



It didn’t inspire confidence.



Leaning against the threshold, she watched them while keeping her ears tuned for Perry and Roar.



She wasn’t worried about bringing Jupiter. He was harmless, and she liked the idea of having another Dweller on the team. The more they could integrate, the better. But Soren was another matter.



Could she trust him? He had come through for her with Talon. But then he’d also attacked her in Ag 6. And she’d trusted his father, Hess, and look where that had gotten her. Then there was Soren’s attitude and his history with Perry. The only thing he really contributed were his piloting skills, and those were shaky.



Soren sensed her watching him and broke off with Jupiter. “What?”



“Are you ready?” she asked.



His lip curled up—a dead giveaway that he was nervous. “What kind of question is that? Is there a way to prepare for this that I’m unaware of?”



“You’ll do fine. You’ve flown it already. Just don’t crash.”



She caught him by surprise. His smirk softened into a more natural smile. “I’ll try not to.”



Aria heard Perry walk up behind her. His hand settled on the small of her back.



“Get this ship moving, Soren,” he said, over her shoulder. “Put us ahead of that storm.”



Through the windshield she saw that the fog had begun to burn off, revealing a patch of sky to the south. There, the Aether wheeled in spirals, a sight both terrifying and familiar. The red flares were brighter than she’d expected, shocking as fresh blood. Seeing them stole her breath away.



“I was just waiting for you to show up, Outsider,” Soren said.



Perry had already left, heading back into the cargo hold, leaving a fading warmth where his hand had rested.



Soren’s mouth pulled into a sneer. “Aria, please explain to me how you can—”



“I’m not explaining anything to you, Soren,” she said, and left.



She knew what he was going to say. Perry had shattered Soren’s jaw that night in Ag 6. She knew he found the idea of her and Perry together repulsive.



At the far end of the cargo hold, she saw Perry duck through the door that opened into a stowage room. Earlier, when she’d first arrived on the bluff with Caleb, she had left her things in the supply lockers back there. She’d found food, medicine, and camping supplies, along with a small kitchen. Most importantly, the room stored their weapons.



An entire wall of lockers contained pistols, stun guns, bulkier weapons she suspected were for long-range, and other arms used by Guardians. Perry’s and Brooke’s bows would be added as well, along with a few full quivers.



A packed arsenal, but it didn’t feel like enough. Together, Sable and Hess had at least eight hundred people. She’d seen Hess’s forces as he’d fled Reverie. He’d taken all the Guardians, choosing soldiers over regular civilians. But Sable worried her even more. Maybe he didn’t have the technological prowess Hess had, but he was cunning and completely ruthless.



They were facing the most capable fighters from both worlds. To succeed, they’d need much more than the weapons stored in the back.



The engine thrummed to life, startling her. She pulled one of the jump seats down from the wall and sat, drawing the thick harness straps over her shoulders.



Brooke came in from outside, followed by Roar. Aria heard them walk up the ramp and into the hold, but she didn’t look up. With only one hand, snapping the heavy closure of the harness was impossible. She fumbled with it, trying not to scream.



Roar knelt in front of her. “Do you really need help or are you just trying to get my attention?”



“Very funny.”



He buckled the harness, hands quick and sure; then he looked up, staring at her thoughtfully.



His eyes were bloodshot, and fine dark stubble covered his cheeks. It wasn’t him. Unlike Perry, Roar didn’t like scruff. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. Like he’d never sleep again. The sorrow in his eyes seemed to go on forever.



“It’ll heal, Ladybug,” he said.



Roar was always giving her nicknames. Ladybug had come just over a week ago. They had been on a boat together, moving down the Snake River, when the ship’s captain had called her that. With this memory came others that made her stomach clench. Roar with tears running down his face. Roar unspeaking, buried under thick layers of grief.



He was speaking now. He was a dark, shifting force.



Would he ever heal?



Aria rested her hand on his, wanting to say something that would help. Wanting him to know that she loved him and was sorry about the tension between him and Perry.



Roar’s mouth lifted, a flicker of a smile that didn’t reach his dark eyes. “Got it,” he said.



He had listened to her thoughts and heard everything.



Her gaze moved over his shoulder. Perry stood by the entrance to the cockpit watching them, his expression unreadable. Roar turned and they froze, locked in a hard stare that had no place between friends.



A prickling feeling crawled up Aria’s spine. Somehow she felt like a barrier between them, and that was the last thing she ever wanted to be.



Buckled in the seat on the opposite wall, Brooke watched Perry watch Roar. The cargo doors closed with silent finality, and the sound of Soren and Jupiter’s bickering over the Hover’s controls grew louder, breaking the quiet spell that had trapped them.



Roar moved to the cockpit to guide them back to where he’d seen the Komodo. Perry followed, watchful and focused.



Soren lifted the Belswan off the ground with a stomach-dropping lurch.



Across the cargo hold, Brooke scowled. “I thought he could fly this thing.”



“He can fly it,” Aria said. “Landing is the problem.”



Brooke gave her an appraising look. Aria met it evenly, trying not to wonder what Perry had seen in her. What he’d acted like with her. She had no reason to be envious. She didn’t want to be.



“Roar said you met Liv,” Brooke said.



Aria nodded. “I knew her only for a few days, but . . . I liked her. Very much.”



“She was my best friend.” Brooke glanced toward the cockpit. “We were like them.”



Perry and Roar stood inside, leaning against either side of the access opening. From her angle, she could only see half of each of them, and the open space between.