Remember Me (ONC2020) ✔

Chapter 18

Solara hid behind a rocky outcrop with Tunia, who was looping old surveillance footage and keeping tabs on the royals' locations. Peeking over the rocks again, Solara sighed. Runan was laying explosives with other Lowers while the Upper guards maintained their safety with her at a distance. Earlier, a few had escaped to the city after the almost entirely Upper-filled vehicle exploded. While her heart settled knowing Runan and Ju'rah weren't in it, no loss of life was acceptable. The downcast faces and lack of chatter left her chest heavy. How many would fight alongside them? She needed to increase the odds.

"A lot of you are probably scared, questioning your choices, and wondering if we'll end up like the earlier victims. Your bravery is commendable as is your trust in strangers after seeing what some Uppers did to me and my friends. You are an inspiration for our future together, for the collaboration and mutual respect between people who have much to offer each other. You have harnessed energy and tech to control your environment. We know the land, the value of physical work and have the grit to go to any means to protect the ones we love. I see that same determination in all of you."

The crowd perked up and met her gaze.

"We need your familiarity with this area, with how the royals operate, and your sound sense of justice to help reach to royal the residence to challenge the queen and her treatment of Uppers and Lowers alike. Power needs to be redistributed to those who can do the most good for the most people. Are you with me?"

The men and women surrounding Solara nodded with growing smiles. In the distance, a group of Lowers, including Runan, sprinted in their direction.

"Get ready," a female guard said.

After running for several minutes, the Lowers took shelter nearby moments before the first blast thundered. The earth beneath their feet shook like a collapsing riverbank. Solara's ears rang and her heart thudded. She coughed, inhaling small particles in the air.

Tunia set a timer on her watch they all observed without a word. Two spotters in dark colours, which blended into the rocks, leaned over them to survey the horizon with binoculars that somehow cut through the dusty horizon. "The explosion penetrated the ground, but rovers are coming. Three kilometres away."

Silence weighed down on the group, heavy as the losses they'd already experienced. The spotters called out distances in 50-metre increments until the vehicles were a kilometre and a half away. Another ear-ringing blast made the horizon even hazier. Rocks from nearby mountains tumbled onto the plateau, making Solara's stomach clench. They could seal everyone's fate.

"How many more?" Solara whispered to Tunia.

She held up one finger and returned to reviewing her footage of cars and trucks rushing into the tunnels. Would their crew of misfits waltz in there afterwards and grab the queen?

A bearded man ran over from the other rocky outcrop, looking over his shoulder and slipping. As he grew closer, Solara's heart hammered in her chest as loud as the explosion. She met him partway, wrapping her arms around him. He kissed her on the cheek then gazed into her eyes.

"I thought I lost you in the first explosion. I didn't know where you were." His voice was breathless.

"I'm fine." She held out her sleeved arms for inspection, and he laughed. "Why did you run here?"

"Do you remember a landing pad when we sat on the mountain ledge with Messita?"

Solara closed her eyes and visualized the cliff, the sheer drop of the mountainside, the wisps of green, the layers of shale stones. To the left and a few dozen metres down, pine trees bordered a clearer area on a flat section of rock. "I remember."

"The queen and her family will try to escape now that we've threatened the royal residence."

"We thought the tunnels were a sign too, and it cost dozens of lives."

Runan lowered his voice. "The queen doesn't know we noticed the landing pad. Messita never pointed it out. It's connected to a tunnel, and the royals are panicking. We could leave most people here to distract the royal employees and go ourselves. The guards said there are smaller travel pods with the hover cars we could use. There's enough room for four people in each one."

"You, me, Ju'rah and..." Which Lowers had she recognized?

"Tunia."

Solara frowned. "I like the woman, but what if we have to fight?"

"Three of us can fight. We need someone who's good with Upper technology to get Messita back."

"Ru, are you feeling well? You're choosing technology over physical strength." Solara smiled to offset the possibly troubling remark.

Runan didn't flinch. "I may not understand it, but we won't have an advantage without it. I trust you and Tunia." He waved the lanky woman to their spot. Moments later, she hurried over, and he explained their plan to catch the royals.

"Do you think Messita is still alive?" Solara asked.

"She would have reached out if she jumped again," Runan said.

Meeting his gaze, Solara couldn't voice her lingering concern. Jumping was untested and dangerous. The queen's body was accustomed to its brain and would reject a foreign presence. Messita had hinted at it when they spoke in the residence.

Tunia adjusted her large glasses. "You should prepare for the possibility that her mind may not have survived after the jump after so long. The effects are untested."

"Not Messita. She's a fighter. She's done what no one has ever attempted all to better our cities."

Solara placed her hand on his shoulder. "We may not find her, but will be face to face with the vindictive woman whose facility we've just bombed. What's our exit plan?"

Tunia added. "Even if we locate Messita and retrieve her, they could shut down or disable our pod during our escape."

"Then we go on foot. As Lowers, we have the advantage of navigating the land."

Tunia fidgeted with her watch. If she could track them, there was no doubt they could trace a small group of unprotected, unprepared people. But they had come so far and either way, the queen would make them pay.

"There are three travel pods. We could find places to hide him and offer us extra protection," Tunia said.

"Then it's settled, we're going, and now so we have the element of surprise. We'll pick up Ju'rah on the way."