Chapter 12

We enter the open area near the circular cobbled drive and slow to a walk just in case someone is watching from a window. I casually look around. Kara does the same.

"I don't see anyone," I whisper.

"Me either."

We approach the car.

"The driver's eyes are closed."

"Is she asleep?"

"What are we going to tell her?"

"Just don't startle her," I say. "Slide in. Natural like."

Kara opens the door and slides in. I am right behind her. The driver opens her eyes and turns to look at us. She smiles. "Hello. I'm Dot. This Star Cab is reserved," she says. "Would you like me to call another for you? It can arrive in approximately"--she pauses briefly and bobs her head twice--"forty-four minutes."

"Mr. Jafari told us he wouldn't be needing this one anymore and we should take it."

"We're in a hurry," Kara adds. We both look around to see if anyone is coming for us.

"I'm afraid I cannot release the car without confirmation from Customer Jafari. I'd be happy to call another--"

"You heard us. Move it," Kara says between gritted teeth. "Now."

Dot's smile disappears, and she turns back to the console. She looks back at us through a transparent screen that spans the whole top of the windshield. It acts like a mirror so she can see everything behind her, but more important right now, so we can see her. "Your tone is hostile. Please exit the vehicle. Star Transportation policy does not allow for unruly passengers."

"We're not going anywhere. I have a gun in my pocket and if you--"

"Correction. You do not have a weapon. Star Security would have detected it within five meters of the vehicle. Please exit immedi--"

"Please," I say. I lean forward and put my hands on the back of her seat. "This is an emergency. We really could use your help. Can't you make an exception?"

Dot looks sideways at me. "I like your tone. And I would like to help you out, but if I don't follow company policy, I'm afraid I will be released, and this is all I have."

Seeing Dot respond to me, Kara leans forward too. "We'll make it worth it to you. Somehow," she says. She glances at me and adds a contrite "please." Her voice wobbles. I don't know if it is for effect or real desperation, but we are desperate.

"And your tone is improving," Dot says. "I will send another car for Customer Jafari. It will probably arrive before he even knows I am gone." Without any movement of her hands, the car makes a series of tones like a musical instrument, a message display reads ENGAGED, and we begin to ease forward. Dot raises her hands to what must be a steering bar. I look behind us and see Miesha coming out the front door. Hari is behind her.

"Hurry!" I say. And she does. Kara and I are thrown back in our seats. The gate is a half mile away, but we're there almost instantly. Dot slides her finger over a spot on the driving panel and the gate begins to move, but when it is only about halfway open, it begins to shut again.

"It's them. They're closing it," I say. "Go, Dot! Hurry before it shuts all the way!"

"The vehicle may incur damage if--"

"Screw the vehicle!" Kara says. "They want to kill us! Go!"

Dot makes the car move forward at incredible speed. The antique gate is what incurs the damage, iron bars flying off as we speed through it. Dot maintains her high speed for about two miles and then slows. "We will draw less attention if we proceed within the Norms. So, you're Escapees! What's it like?"

Escapees? Kara and I look at each other. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"Are you afraid?" Dot smiles like the thought exhilarates her.

"Yes, Dot, we're very afraid," I tell her.

She jumps on my answer. "But are you glad? Is it worth it?"

Her urgency makes me pause. Something doesn't seem right. "I don't know yet if--"

"Yes," Kara says firmly. "It's worth it. Every second. Every mile. Every risk. Being trapped is the same as no life at all. We were prisoners." Kara turns to look at me. "We've been prisoners for too long."

Dot nods and accelerates the car, seemingly pleased with this information. "Where to, Escapees?"

I look out at the countryside and then at Kara. This was not a well-thought-out plan. Where can we go?

"Boston," Kara says flatly. She stares straight ahead, ignoring me.

Her family, my family--they're not in Boston anymore. We both know that. What is there to go back to? It's the first time I have thought about descendants. Did my brother or sister have children? Neither was the type to settle down and have a family, but children may have happened anyway. Could I possibly have someone I am related to? A distant niece or nephew? Even a distant cousin? Someone who might help us?

And then I remember. There is someone in Boston. Someone we both know.

Jenna.

I look at the elegant line of Kara's jaw. She finally has what she wants--freedom from Gatsbro--but I think she still wants so much more, and the more is what frightens me. Her eyes are fixed on the road, and for once I wish I could see into her mind again, that I could control my wanderings there. What would I see now?

I want to go to Boston too, but I'm certain it's for different reasons. I want to see something familiar. Something from then. My street. My house. Even the market at the corner where my mother worked. And Jenna too. Even if she didn't help us before, maybe she would now. I think about her every day. The idea of seeing her again--

Jenna. Jenna. Jenna.

It's an unexpected angry beat in my head, and I'm not sure if it's coming from my own thoughts or somewhere else. Kara turns to look at me. Her eyebrows rise and her hand slides across the seat to lace with mine. She squeezes my fingers, a simple act, but it releases an explosion of feeling. When you have spent so many years without fingers, the smallest touch is something you can get lost in. I am easily lost in Kara again, returning her squeeze.

"Yes, Dot. Boston," I say.

Francis Street in Boston.