Nick James - Crimson rising

– Agent Morse actually tries to make this imprisonment deal sound like a good thing.

“It’s so much quieter down there, buddy,” he says with a smile. “You should hear the guy in the room next to me. The snoring seeps through the wall. Maybe I should spend a night in the brig, too.”

His humor fizzles like dud grenades. I’m sick of how everything sounds like a camping trip with this guy. It’s like being escorted to the slammer by a Boy Scout.

Eva and Skandar stay with us until we reach the doorway to the brig, which is good because it takes me nearly that long to figure out what I’m going to do.

I smile and nod in Morse’s direction, all the while taking miniscule sidesteps toward my friends.

Morse’s eyes narrow as he notices. “Wait a minute.” He yawns. “You heard what the Captain said.” He gestures to Eva and Skandar. “Maybe you two should head to your rooms. I’ll take it from here.”

“Calm down.” I continue toward them, keeping one eye on Morse the whole time. “I just want to say goodnight.” He stops. “Say it closer to me.”

I ignore him and head toward the wall.

Morse shakes his head, visibly uncomfortable. “Thirty seconds, alright?” Then he mutters to himself. He thinks I can’t hear. “They couldn’t do anything in thirty seconds.”

I nod and move to Eva and Skandar, not wasting a moment before whispering. “There’s an old laundry bag in the corner of my room, stuffed between the dresser and the wall. It’s black, so it should block most of the light. Grab the-” I look over my shoulder to see if Morse is listening. “-the you-know-what and bring it to my cell.”

Eva’s face drops. “Jesse… ”

“Okay,” Skandar answers without hesitation.

“Good.” I meet his eyes. “If Morse is still here when you come back, skip the cell and bring it to my room. Just get it out of that shuttle before they find it.”

“Got it, mate.” Skandar grabs Eva by the shoulder and starts nudging her away. His eyes widen and his voice becomes slightly too loud. “Have a good night, Jesse. Don’t let the… er… don’t… be positive, okay? Smile.”

Eva pulls away from him. “Hands off, Skandar. I know how to walk.”

I watch them head down the hall, hoping that she won’t convince him to play it safe and forget about the Pearl. She’s mass good with that persuasive stuff, and Skandar’s good at falling for it.

I turn to Agent Morse. He waits by the entrance to the brig, arms crossed. For once he’s not smiling. It’s not a frown, either. He’s concentrating on something. Hopefully it isn’t me. I march through the entrance, totally ignoring his presence. This breaks his concentration. He moves in behind me and leads me down a hallway to the left. “You should seriously consider some new friends,” he says. “A guy like you should be hanging with guys like me. Agent material, you know? You want to graduate, right?”

I don’t respond, which seems to throw him off. He bolts in front of me and leans on the nearest open door. “I don’t mean they’re bad people. I’m just thinking, wouldn’t it be cool for you to find some friends who will challenge you? Without some of my buddies, I could’ve made some very different decisions. It’s a slippery slope.” He nods to himself. He doesn’t realize that I stopped listening as soon as he opened his mouth. “Tomorrow I’m gonna introduce you to some guys I met back when I was your age.”

I point to the empty cell. “I’d rather go in there.”

He sighs. Then, after another moment of deep thought, he motions me forward. “Whatever you think is best, little man. You can’t fault me for trying to help.”

I walk into the cell and grab the handle behind me. Morse nearly jumps out of his shoes as I yank on the door and shut it myself. I watch his face appear on the other side of the barred window. He stares in disapprovingly. I stare back. It’s silent warfare.

He blinks. A minute later, his face moves out of my sight.

Footsteps. He leaves.

I win.

Of course, I’m the one stuck in a cage, so maybe it’s more of a tie.

It is quiet in here, like Morse said. Too quiet, really. The kind of quiet that’s begging to be interrupted by something horrible. It will be hard to fall asleep like this, but I need to be awake anyways. Eva and Skandar will be here any minute. That is, if she hasn’t convinced him otherwise.

I wait at the far end of the cell, back against the wall, sitting. A square of moonlight hangs on the door in front of me.

We don’t use the brig often. Every once and awhile, a minor offense onboard will result in an overnight stay, but we’ve never harbored any real criminals. The thing is, Alkine could’ve chosen to stick me in the gray room again tonight. At least there would be that ugly couch for comfort. The fact that he chose a prison cell speaks louder than the crap he was spewing upstairs. He really thinks I’m going rogue.

Am I going rogue? I know so little, and all of it muddy. I’ve never seen my parents. The voice on the rooftop last spring could’ve been a fake. The picture disc could’ve been altered. I don’t know any specifics about this “Authority,” and I haven’t been able to ask the Drifters anything. I’m risking my life-and if Alkine’s right, the entire Academy’s life-on guesswork. Guesswork and hope.

And now, a red Pearl.

Alkine must know something. He wouldn’t be on me like this without a good reason. Instead of antagonizing him, maybe I need to find a way to interrogate him. Pick his brain without him knowing it.

Or spy. That’s what Avery would have suggested. She was always a snoop, even when I didn’t see anything worth snooping for. But I’ve isolated myself too much to start sneaking around. They’re on the lookout for me now.

Which leaves me with my third option.

Leave.

I can’t do anything here, not the way they’ve got me cornered. The only other choice is the most dangerous of all. If I cross the Pacific, I’ll have the Unified Party and the Tribunal after me. I’ll be like Cassius-living by my wits, struggling to survive without capture. And I’m not Cassius.

I don’t get much time to consider it before I see red.

Not a vision this time. It’s the real thing. Faint light beams through the window of my cell, too muted to cause commotion in the main corridors. But in the darkness of the brig, everything shows up.

I jump to my feet and rush to the door, craning my neck to look between the bars. Eva and Skandar stand just beyond my cell carrying a dark bag between them. A circular lump hangs at the bottom, radiating through the cloth. It’s not as obvious as a green Pearl would be. People won’t be looking for red.

“I pulled my jacket over it,” Skandar whispers as he shows me the zipper of a coat he must have grabbed from his room. “It felt good.” He smiles. “Warm.”

My hands recoil at the thought of the heat I felt when I touched it. Boiling water. Lava.

“Leave it here.” I keep my eyes on the bag the entire time.

Eva approaches the bars. “You’re in a prison cell. We can’t exactly get in.”

“There’s an electronic key system at the front desk. I didn’t see anyone sitting there when Morse brought me in. The brig’s empty.”

She leans against the door, staring sideways. “It’s not a good idea breaking you out. You heard what Alkine said. We’re lucky we-”

“You won’t be breaking me out,” I interrupt. “Just open the door, toss the Pearl inside, and lock it again. He didn’t mention anything about that.”

Skandar grins. “Way to go. Loophole.”

Eva grabs his arm before he can head down the hallway. For a moment, she looks like she’s going to give me a lecture, but then her expression falls flat. “This doesn’t get traced back to us, okay?”