Julia Karr - Truth

“Brie and I will land at three minutes to four. That gives Nina and Joan exactly enough time to get to the helipad. Nina, be sure to unlock the door, so if anything happens, we can get inside and leave some other way. The veljet is untraceable. It’s expensive, but better it should get impounded than any of us get caught.”

“Everything will go perfectly,” I said. “And you and Joan will end up in Japan. And Brie leaves with me as my visitor.”

“That is the plan.” She smiled at me. “See everyone tomorrow.”

“You didn’t tell them what’s really happening?” I said after she shut down the projection.

“Dorrie’s the only one besides you who knows. She’ll tell Brie right before they leave to go to the Institute.”

“This is going to work, right?” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it shook slightly.

“Mom says Dad has everything in place at B.O.S.S. to get your grandfather out. We’ll all be watching the sun rise from the mouth of the Hoke no Domon on Hokkaido. Mom says Aunt Hiroko will be able to help Pops and Joan, too. She’s a healer.”

“I can’t believe your family is doing this for me.”

“You’re part of our family, too.” She put her arm around my shoulder. “I wish we could take Dee and Gran, too. But Mom says they’ll be safe, and we’ll get them out eventually.”

I was trying not to think about leaving Dee behind—even for a little while. How would she cope without me? I thought back to Dee twirling around holding Ginnie’s dress to her. How strong she was—even now, at eleven, she was stronger than I’d ever felt. More aptly, how would I deal without her?

“Maybe the GC will get taken down,” I said, knowing as the words came out of my mouth that it was just an idealistic hope. “The truth about FeLS and the lies that Lessig is spreading have to be exposed at some point.”

“I sure hope so.” Wei ran her hand across her bedspread. “Then we could come home. You know, this is the only home I’ve ever known.”

I couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy I felt. I’d lived in four different places in sixteen years. And none of them was home anymore. Even the people who made them home weren’t there.

“Have you heard from Sal?” she asked. “I know you can’t tell him what’s happening, but I had hoped he’d call you.”

“Nope. Nothing.” I shrugged. Sal. That was the worst of all. I hadn’t heard from him in days. And the way I’d left things… “Maybe we were just fooling ourselves about how we felt.”

“Not Sal,” she said. “He might be mad at you, but he would never stop loving you.”

But what about me? I thought. Would I stop loving him? Had I already? Sal still meant so much to me. Surely I couldn’t feel so connected to Chris if I was still in love with Sal. And how could I have let anything happen with Chris if I’d loved Sal the way I thought I did? Or maybe Sal was just the first guy to make me feel that way—to make me realize that I could fall in love. That I even wanted to fall in love. “What about Chris?” I asked. “Has he decided what he’s doing?”

“He didn’t tell Mom,” Wei said. “And he hasn’t talked to me at all. Most likely we won’t know where he’s landed until it’s all said and done.”

It suddenly hit me how monumental were the sacrifices the Jenkinses were making to save me. Sure, Mrs. Jenkins had pointed out that if Lessig was suspicious of Mr. Jenkins’s loyalty to Media, then it was only a matter of time before they’d need to disappear. But to see them uproot themselves entirely, leaving this ultra home and everything they had, everything they’d worked for. Possibly never seeing their daughter, Angie, again. And possibly not even Chris.

Chris. My breath caught. I knew there was a chance I’d never see Sal again. But I hadn’t realized Chris, too. How would I deal with that possibility of never seeing either of them again?

During dinner, Dee had to reassure me at least twice that no one had harassed her in school over the Alert about Ginnie. “No one under sixteen even thinks about Alerts,” she said. “How about you?”

“Some kids looked at me funny,” I said. “Mostly, they couldn’t care less. I’m just a tier-two nobody.”

“You’re not a nobody.” Dee pursed her lips. “Miss Maldovar says we should cultivate our sense of self-worth.”

“I’ll get right on that.”

“You know what I mean,” Dee said. “By the way, Chris is picking me up after school. We’re going to a place that sells all kinds of culinary supplies.”

“Culinary? You are serious about this, aren’t you?” I was so proud of her.

“Yes, I am. Chris and I were talking, and I’m going to get my Creative in Culinary Arts.”

“I’m sure you will.” I smiled to cover the rush of sadness that I would probably not be around to see that. “And you’ll probably end up a chef in a top-tier restaurant, making a fortune in credits. Will you take care of me?”

“Of course, silly. We’re family.”

My heart nearly broke to hear that, and I had to excuse myself from the table before I burst into tears in front of her.

Later that night, I started laying out what I’d need. I had already decided what I’d take with me. The animated digi Dee’d given me for Holiday; Pops’s ginger tin; and a digi of Ginnie, Dee, and me. I placed them in my bag, along with my rapidos, my sketch pad, the originals of my bought-out FeLS contract and my Creative designation, and a copy of the court decision about Dee. I laid out my clothes for the morning. The clothes Miss Maldovar had given me were of better quality than anything else I had, so I’d chosen them. Closing my eyes, I smoothed the sweater’s ultra softness against my cheek. Maybe someday I’d have more nice things. But for now, these would have to do.

I went out to the kitchen to sneak a few energy bars and some food pills—just in case. I stopped by Dee’s room to say good night. She was in bed, reading a real book.

“Whatcha got there?”

She handed it to me. Keena, the First Fem .

“A history of the founder of the Fems? Since when are you so interested in history? First the Greater United Isles on FAV, and now this?”

“Mom used to tell me stories about Keena when I was little. After that show, I was wondering about Fems. I asked Mrs. Jenkins, and she said I might want to read this.”

“I don’t remember Mom ever talking about the Fems.”

“When you were in school, Mom and I would play ‘what if.’ Like what if Keena was still alive? Wouldn’t it be great to be strong and powerful? Keena is the one who started the Cliste Galad martial arts. That’s what Wei does, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” I thumbed through the book until I found the chapter Dee was talking about and read aloud: “‘Keena created Cliste Galad—a combination of Scottish warrior traditions and ancient Far Eastern mysticism and martial arts—as a defense against the opposing forces in the Oil Wars.’”

“It worked,” Dee said. “Fems defeated enough of their enemies to bring about the End-of-Wars Treaty and take over power.” She flounced back on her pillow. “Then they lost it. All because of stupid guys.”

“Guys aren’t stupid.” I thought about Sal and Chris, and every other Sisterhood girl’s male friends and relatives who thought they should be protected. That wasn’t stupid. Misdirected concern—yes. But it wasn’t stupid to worry about the people you loved.

“You could be right,” Dee said. “Maybe it’s women who are stupid. We believed what the media said about how it was more important to be safe and have a man than anything else.”

“Women aren’t stupid either. Maybe people aren’t so sure about right and wrong. Although, what’s going on right now is definitely wrong.” I tucked the covers around her shoulders. “We aren’t going to figure it out tonight, though. Lights out.”