led her, at last, to Marcus. He was sitting next to Kira, relaxing on the couch and staring out the window at the last light of the setting sun, blissfully refusing to participate in Haru’s argument. He wasn’t a soldier, but he was a fair shot with a rifle and a gifted surgeon, especially in high-pressure situations. He’d been short-listed for the hospital’s emergency room almost immediately. He’d keep her safe, he’d keep her sane. She patted his knee gently, bracing herself for what she was about to do, and sat up straight.
“I need to talk to you guys,” she said.
“We know what you’re going to say,” said Haru. “You’ve got Marcus. Of course you don’t have a problem with the Hope Act.”
Kira shot an uncomfortable look at Marcus, then looked back at Haru and shook her head. “I’m actually not sure what I think, but that’s not what I wanted to say. I want to talk about your baby.”
Haru frowned and glanced at Madison, absently rubbing her belly. “What about it?”
“Can I be blunt?”
“Everyone else is,” said Isolde.
“Okay then,” said Kira. “Maddy’s baby is going to die.”
Haru and Jayden grumbled at the statement, but the look of hurt on Madison’s face nearly broke Kira’s heart. She fought back her tears and plunged ahead. “I’m sorry, I know it’s harsh, but we have to be realistic. The Hope Act is stupid or evil or necessary or whatever you want to call it, but it doesn’t really matter, because it’s not going to save Maddy’s baby. Maybe some other baby years from now, but not this one. Unless we do something.”
Haru fixed her with a cold stare. “What did you have in mind?”
Kira swallowed and stared back, trying to look as certain and serious as he did. “I want us to capture a Partial.”
Jayden frowned. “You mean an organized attack on the mainland?”
“Not East Meadow,” said Kira, “not the Defense Grid. I tried talking to Skousen, and there’s no way the Senate would ever go along with it. I’m talking about us, here, in this room. The Partials may be the key to curing RM, so I want us to go out, cross the sound, and catch one.”
Her friends stared at her wordlessly, mouths open, the long-dead Kevan’s music roaring angrily in the background. Madison was speechless, her eyes wide with disbelief; Isolde and Jayden furrowed their brows, probably certain she was crazy; Xochi tried to smile, perhaps wondering if it was a joke.
“Kira . . . ,” said Marcus slowly.
“Hells yeah,” said Haru. “That is what I’m talking about.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Madison.
“Of course she’s serious,” said Haru. “It makes perfect sense. The Partials created the virus; they can tell us how to cure it. Under extreme duress, if necessary.”
“I didn’t mean we should interrogate one,” said Kira. “There are a million of them; finding one with a working knowledge of viral biology is probably not likely. But we can study one. Marcus and I tried researching the immunity process using current data, but it’s a dead end—not because the research team at the hospital isn’t doing their job, but because they’ve been doing their job way too well for over a decade now. They’ve exhausted literally every other possibility. Our best shot—our only shot—is to analyze Partial physiology for something we might be able to adapt into an inoculation or a cure. And we have to do it soon, before this baby is born.”
“Kira—” said Marcus again, but Jayden cut him off.
“You’ll restart the war.”
“Not if we do it small,” said Haru, leaning forward eagerly. “A big invasion would be noticed, yes, but a small team might be able get across the line, grab one, and get out quietly. They wouldn’t even know we were there.”
“Except that one of their people would be gone,” said Xochi.
“They’re not people,” Haru snapped, “they’re machines—biological machines, but machines nonetheless. They don’t care about one missing Partial any more than one gun cares about another. Worst-case scenario, some Partial commander notices a missing gun on the rack and just builds a new one to replace it.”
“Can they build new ones?” asked Isolde.
“Who knows?” said Haru. “We know they can’t reproduce, but who’s to say they haven’t found the Partial-making machines at ParaGen and gotten them working again? The point is, you can’t think of them as people, because that’s not even how they think of themselves. Stealing a Partial isn’t kidnapping, it’s . . . capturing equipment.”
“We still get pretty upset when the Voice capture our equipment,” said Madison.
“No,” said Jayden, staring at the floor, “they’re right.” He looked up. “We can do this.”
“Oh, not you too,” said Madison.
Kira silently cheered—she didn’t understand why Madison was so resistant, but it didn’t matter if she’d won over Jayden. She caught his eyes and nodded, determined to keep his momentum going. “What are you thinking?”
“I know a few other guys in the Grid who’d help us,” said Jayden. “Mostly scouts—we’re not even certain where the Partials are, let alone how they’re set up, so we’d need a small recon team that could cross over, watch for a lone scout or small patrol, then grab one and get back to the island without anyone noticing.” He looked at Madison, then back at Kira. “It’s not the safest plan in the world, but we could do it.”
“I’m going,” said Xochi.
“No, you’re not,” said Isolde, “and neither is anyone else.”
Kira ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed on Jayden; she needed him to make this work. “Do you know a good place to cross the sound?”
“We shouldn’t cross the sound,” said Haru, shaking his head. “We watch our side like hawks, it’s a good bet they watch their side too. If we want to cross the line, we do it through a place that’s empty and isolated, where we know nobody’s watching.”
Jayden nodded. “Manhattan.”
“Now I know you’re all crazy,” said Marcus, putting a hand on Kira’s arm. “The reason nobody watches Manhattan is because it’s filled with explosives—the bridges are rigged, the city on both sides is rigged, and for all we know the Partial border on the Harlem River is rigged on the north. One false move and the whole island’ll blow up.”
“Except that we know where our bombs are,” said Jayden. “I can get access to all the old plans and records showing exactly where the safe routes are.”
“There’s safe routes?” asked Xochi.
“We’d have been stupid not to leave any,” said Jayden. “They’re small, and they’re hard to find, but with the right maps we can find them all and slip right through.”
“I want
