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"No," she said to no one. "No."
Suddenly Echo realized she stood at the center of the group. She didn't know how she
happened to have gotten there.
Alone, at the center, with all eyes trained upon her and Lumina, expectant. Alphas,
Marauders, Remnants.
Echo was afraid. Once again, she was the special one chosen for an important task. She
hadn't asked for this distinction. Nor had she asked to be chosen by the Alphas to bear a child
for the colony. But she had accepted their decision and when, in their estimation, she had
failed to do the job right, she'd been marked for murder.
Enforced starvation was murder.
And now?
"I... I don't understand," she blurted.
"None of us do," Jobs admitted, finally looking at her "Not really."
"What will happen to my baby?" she demanded of him.
There was more silence for her answer.
Involuntarily, Echo glanced at Newton. His eyes were dark with with what? Hate?
Echo's stomach clenched.
Olga took a step into the circle, smiling, one hand held out as if in peace. But Echo wanted
nothing from any of them.
"J'ou stay back!" she cried, dashing to her right. D-Caf stepped back, startled, opening the
circle, and Echo ran through.
"Echo! Please! Where are you going?"
It was Jobs, his tone concerned, pleading.
Echo halted. Breathing heavily, she turned to face the group. Alpha, Marauder, Remnant.
But her eyes held Jobs's and his alone.
"I need time to think," she called out. Her voice was surprisingly strong.
No, Echo thought, not surprisingly. Have I come this far to protect my child, only to hand her
over to these strangers now? No.
Jobs's frustration was clear but finally, he nodded. Echo turned and walked off.
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CHAPTER 15
"YOU'VE JUST MADE ME AN ACCESSORY TO YOUR CRIME."
There was something he hadn't told them.
Something Billy had communicated that last time, something Sanchez had kept to himself.
It was killing him to keep it a secret any longer. Even though the message had been enigmatic
Billy's energy had been draining badly Sanchez knew he had to unburden himself or go insane.
He sought out Violet. He found her sitting alone, staring off into nothing.
"What are j'ou doing?" he asked.
"Don't you even say hello?" Violet looked up at him and smiled. "If you must know, I'm thinking
about when I was little. I pick a year of my childhood and I try to remember as much as I can about it.
Good and bad. Memories are all I have of before. All any of us have."
Sanchez hesitated. Maybe now was not the time ...
"We must talk," he blurted.
"About what?"
Violet got to her feet. Sanchez noted how thin the girl had gotten.
"About something I know."
Violet rolled her eyes. "You know, it's like pulling teeth with you, Sanchez. Don't you ever just get
to the point?"
Sanchez frowned. "Pulling teeth?"
"Forget it. It's an expression. Just tell me what you have to tell me."
Sanchez closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked steadily at Violet.
"When Billy told me that Lumina was the third essential element for the regreening ritual, he also
told me something else. Something disturbing."
Violet's blue eyes grew dark. "What?"
"Billy told me there is a possibility the ritual won't work."
Violet smiled and looked massively relieved. "Is that all?" she said. "I've always considered that
possibility. So, what happens? We live out the rest of our lives in the desert?"
Suddenly, Sanchez wished he could hold Violet's hands as he told her the ugly truth. But he resisted
the temptation. "We don't live at all," he said. "Earth is destroyed. As are we."
Violet took a step away from him and folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, now you're scaring
me."
"I have kept this information to myself for a reason," Sanchez explained calmly, though inside, he
was flooded again with self-doubt. "What if I am wrong? What if I misunderstood Billy's warning?
What if there is no possibility of failure? If I tell, I might be creating panic for no reason. I will be
adding a terrible complication to an already confusing situation. My words might frighten the people
into refusing to trust and act with Billy."
"Then why tell me now?" Violet cried. "Sanchez..."
The strength of Violet's reaction did not bother Sanchez as much as it once might have. He was
learning. He was changing all the time.
"I don't know," he admitted.
Violet sighed and ran her hands over her wild hair "You've just made me an accessory to your crime.
Do you realize that? Even if it was a crime of omission. Now I share your burden. Thanks."
She shared his burden & . Yes, Sanchez thought. That's why I told her. I wanted needed? her to
share my burden.
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"We have to tell Mo'Steel NOW," Violet said, grabbing Sanchez's arm,
Sanchez felt the strength of Violet's fingers through his dirty clothing. They were slim but powerful.
"Does he need to know?" he said.
Sanchez watched as several emotions registered in Violet's blue eyes.
Finally her grip lessened and she stepped back from him again. "Are you going to try to stop me
from telling?" she asked, her tone challenging.
"No," Sanchez admitted. "I'm asking j'ou a question for which I have no answer."
Violet was silent for a moment. Then, she began to pace. To talk to herself, not to him.
"How realistic is it," she said, "to expect uneducated, barely civilized people ..."
Sanchez winced. Violet meant the Marauders, of course. Maybe not Sanchez specifically, but still,
hearing her opinion of his people stung.
"How can they make a rational decision about their future?" Violet went on. "Isn't it really up to us,
to me and Jobs and the others, isn't it really up to us to make that decision for them? Maybe it's for the
best that we don't tell anyone else about the possibility of failure...."
Violet came to an abrupt halt and looked back at Sanchez. Did she see the pain in his eyes, he won-
dered.
Her voice now was strained. "Sanchez, do you hear what I'm saying? It's horrible! I don't want to
play. I can't! Who am I that I should even be considering shouldering the responsibility of..."
Violet clutched her head.
"I'm sorry I told j'ou," Sanchez said.
Violet laughed. "No you're not. But it's okay It's okay. If it were the other way around, I wouldn't
have been able to keep it to myself," she admitted. "Just what now?"
Sanchez hesitated. He hoped he was doing the right thing but he had no way of knowing.
"I think we should continue to keep this to ourselves."
"You do?"
"Yes."
Sanchez waited for Violet's opinion. His heart slammed in his chest.
Finally she sighed and said, "Okay. We're agreed. We keep this information to ourselves. At least for
now."
Sanchez nodded, knowing all too well that nothing had been solved. That he and now Violet
was still guilty in some way. "Yes," he said. "At least for now."
Jobs looked around at his companions and wondered why they didn't just all shut up. What was the
use of talking anyway? Okay, maybe he was just in a bad mood, but it looked pretty likely that the re-
greening ritual wasn't going to happen.
Still, he listened as he chewed a tasteless leaf of some sort. What else did he have to do?
"Billy must tell Echo nothing bad will happen to the child," Aga was insisting.
"I don't think he can do that," Olga replied. "I don't think he knows exactly what will happen during
the ritual."
"That's right. He only tells us what he knows for certain. I think." Noyze groaned. "It's so frustrating
that he communicates only through Sanchez! And even Sanchez isn't sure he's getting the messages
right."
"Revelation isn't supposed to be as easy as reading the back of a cereal box," Violet said,
sarcasm heavy in her tone.
Hey, Jobs thought, shooting her an amused glance. Violet sounds just like I feel.
Noyze frowned at them both.
"Sorry," Violet said. "I didn't mean to make light of this...."
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Jobs tuned out and pretended to contemplate his ratty shoes. What he was really thinking
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