Lily looked at the people gathered at the conference table and then moved to the only remaining chair at the far end. She sat down and forced herself to stop worrying her lip with her teeth. She lifted her head and brushed the strands of hair out of her eyes so she could see.

"I understand there's been a problem in one of your classes this morning?" Coordinator Jonas Sykes asked. She thought he would be sitting at the other end of the table but he wasn't. Instead, a man she didn't recognize with short spiked salt-and-pepper hair was sitting in the seat of honor.

Lily opened her mouth to admit her guilt but the man opposite her spoke first. "That's hardly important right now, Mr. Sykes. Especially given this young woman's obvious gifts, we can overlook this indiscretion as long as it never occurs again."

Sykes stiffened and then nodded. "Of course. Do you agree to such a thing, Miss Strain?"

Lily looked back and forth between them and then to the rest of the room. "I'm not in trouble?"

The man opposite her smiled and then chuckled. "Far from it! You are living proof of the philosophy the human race must embrace."

Lily's brow furrowed as she took in his words. She studied him, guessing at his age and how he held himself. "Are you the new president?"

He laughed again. "I knew she would be delightful! Yes, Lily, I am. May I call you Lily?"

Lily swallowed and nodded. "Um, yes, sir."

"That's excellent. And to think, you were a farmer's daughter on what everyone considers a throwaway world."

"My father raised vison," Lily said. He was still a farmer, she supposed, but details were what made the difference when things mattered.

"Of course," President Ondalla said. "Lily, for the sake of our race we need people like you to show our citizens that we have a bright future. Do you understand that? Of course you do; you're probably smarter than I am!"

Lily smiled while glancing at the others. She had no clue what he was talking about but the gentle laughter from around the table made her feel it would be stupid to admit it.

"That's perfect. Nothing but the finest for you, young miss. The finest in education and opportunities from here on out. I understand your classes are a little slow for you? Not to worry!"

"Yes," Sykes said. He was the coordinator of the station's reeducation efforts. "You'll be elevated to classes with students more at your speed, the sixteen-year classes."

"Sixteen?" she whispered, stunned. Her test results placed her in the eighteenth-year bracket, but she couldn't imagine being moved up two years, let alone four.

President Ondalla leaned forward and asked, "I'm sorry, but why a cat?"

Lily blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The incident with Instructor Doleen?"

Lily felt her cheeks heat up again. "Oh, um, it was just some stories a friend of mine used to share with me."

"A cat who walked through walls?"

She nodded.

"How old was this friend?"

Lily picked her head up. "Same as me, fourteen."

"Absolutely amazing. Is he here with us?"

Lily's throat tightened up. Rather than squeaking, she shook her head.

Coordinator Sykes cleared his throat. "Mr. President, we only have one other student from Miss Strain's colony. A boy by the name of Krys. He tested above his age bracket as well, but only by two years."

"Krys!" Lily gasped.

"A friend?"

Lily blinked back the sudden tears in her eyes and nodded. She couldn't speak. Just knowing that he was alive made the room spin around her.

"Well, for the sake of your education, I'm afraid you've been separated indefinitely. Males and females are allowed in co-educational learning environments at the age of sixteen, but that's quite awhile for your friend. By the time he reaches it, you'll probably have moved on."

She shook her head and whispered, "Krys should have beat me."

"Pardon me?"

She stiffened. "My friend, Krys. He would have outscored me. He's smarter than I am. He worries a lot, though."

The president sighed. "Well, young miss, that's interesting. Your performance is exemplary compared to everyone else's, including his. A pity. I wonder if other young men and women from your village might have performed well. So many good minds lost to the treachery and greed of our past. Yet another reason we must strive to improve our way of life!"

"Excuse me, sir, but have you heard those stories? About the cat?"

President Ondalla's smile faded. "I have. They offer some very dangerous concepts. Ideas that lead to betrayal and selfish disregard for our brothers and sisters. For the sake of all of us, and most especially yourself, I would encourage you to forget those stories you heard."

Lily's eyes widened before she nodded and looked down. "Of course. My apologies!"

"Curiosity is not a flaw, young miss. But it must be tempered with the wisdom to know that those with more experience are better able to make informed decisions."

"I understand."

"I believe you do, young miss. You impress me again and again. Remember, there may be probabilities of things we are unaware of, but it is the things we are aware of that we should concern ourselves with. And the things that are aware of us."

Lily stared into the president's intense gaze. What he said didn't really make sense. Why wouldn't she want to learn about the unknown things in her life? That's how she learned! And what unknown things were there that knew about h- Lily's nostrils flared as she thought of the soldiers and the biomechs. Had he just threatened her? Why would the most important and powerful man in the human race need to threaten her?

Because she was being made an example of. She'd just agreed to let them parade her around and make an example of her. She'd seen Pita use her golden child status a few times. Pita was gone, though, so now it was her turn.

"I understand," Lily said. She would say and do anything if it meant she might find a way to see Krys again.

The president clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Miss Strain, you are the future of the human race. Make us proud. Make me proud."

"I'll do my best," she promised.

"I'm sure you will. Coordinator Sykes will arrange private tutors as necessary. You will also find yourself receiving visitors. Various coordinators will be contacting you to try to sway someone with your presence and abilities to follow in their footsteps."

"Sir?"

"Your future is yours to choose, Lily. A career in science or politics, perhaps? Or maybe something more hands-on? Agriculture again? I'd think something more public facing would be best, but that's up to you to choose."

"Oh! Um, okay. I did vow that I'd reach mastery level by the time I turned sixteen."

He chuckled while several others stared in shock at her. "Miss Strain, I applaud your efforts. I commend you, even. And now I implore you, make that happen. You'll have an entire civilization behind you!"

Chapter 13.

"Are you sure you can do this?"

Krys stared up at the man he'd come to respect and love and nodded. "I seen my dad do it enough and he showed me some things. Besides, getting the locator out is the easy part!"

"As long as they can't track us," Mig said. He looked at the four people gathered around him: Krys, Angelo, Kerry, and Kerry's wife Stef. "All right, let's do it. Krys will come up from behind to grab the picker after the three of you come in from around them. I'll cover with my rifle in case they try anything. You've got three minutes to get in position. We go whether you're ready or not. So be ready."

Nods, grunts, and thumbs-up were his responses. Krys watched them go and then turned to head for his spot.

"Krys!" Mr. Strain hissed. "Be careful!"

Krys nodded. He wanted to smile but his stomach was twisted up. So far they'd stolen fruit and even managed to capture one small vison and butcher it. This time they were trying to get their own highpicker. Then they could grab food more easily, without risking discovery and capture. The tricky part came in the reprogramming Krys needed to do. He was counting on being able to salvage some power cells to make one of the two infopads they had work.

"Best get going. Not much time left," Mig said.

Krys turned and hurried through the vineyard they'd come through towards the edge of the field. They'd practiced this maneuver a few times on empty fields away from the crops. This time it was different. Not only would the crops slow them down but they had to worry about being seen now.

Krys hadn't done it himself yet, but Mr. Strain and Kerry had both ventured close enough to their old village to scout it out. It had been rebuilt. More than just rebuilt: people were living there. And not only people, but a squad of soldiers too. The robot was gone but it had been replaced with two tanks. Small tanks designed for speed and scouting, not heavy battle tanks.

Krys checked his watch and wondered how long until it would run out of power too. They were only a veek away from fall, which meant a little over three veeks from their first sunset in the wilderness. They'd been trying to store up what food they could, even drying out the vison they'd killed to store the meat, but it wouldn't be enough to last a hundred seventeen days of darkness.

They needed clothing, too. Everything they had was worn, dirty, and starting to fall apart. The resistance had started out as terrifying, exciting, and even a little fun. Now, as the days turned into veeks and the summer slipped behind them, Krys realized he'd been kept busy. It had been useful training, but it had also kept him from dwelling on his family and friends.

He checked his watch again and scowled. He was late. Only six seconds, but their timing had to be dead-on. He slipped around the edge of the grapevine and ran across the dirt road and into the coconut grove.

Krys counted off seconds in his head, running hard to try to catch up. He slowed after sprinting for half a minute and caught some of his breath back. He saw other figures running through the trees towards the transporter ahead. His new friends and family, the other survivors.

The worker in his blue and white uniform looked up, either hearing or sensing something. He saw Angelo bearing down on him, the large bear of a man pumping his arms and looking like he was leading a charge of stampeding cattle. He turned away and leapt towards the cab of the transporter. Instead of reaching the open-sided cab, he found himself face to face with Stef.

Krys passed beyond the back of the transporter and lost sight of Stef right as she swung her fist towards the man. Krys wanted to look and see if she needed help, but his job was to grab the highpicker. He leapt up onto the back of the transporter and climbed over the walls of the bins to the landing apparatus on top of it. There was a scuffle going on below but he focused on his job and only his job.

"Krys! Relax, we got him!"

Krys was working hard at removing the manual clasps on the picker and had to be told a second time before he realized what was being said. He lifted his head and looked around the transporter. The worker was lying face down on the ground. He wasn't moving.

Krys gulped. "Is he dead?"

"No," Kerry grunted. He grinned at his wife and added, "Might wish he was with the shiner Stef gave him, though!"

Krys stared at the fallen man a long moment and then shook his head. "Grab anything you can!" he said.

"Need any help with that picker?" Angelo asked.

Krys turned to look at it and then looked back down at the transporter. "Get me the control deck!"

Angelo grunted and climbed into the open cab. Krys turned back to the picker and frowned. With two of the four clamps manually released, it wouldn't release automatically. He went back to work on the other two and, without the fear of discovery, he had the presence of mind to focus and get them released.

Krys tipped the quad fan machine up and reached for the access patch on the bottom. He pulled the carbon shim out from his worn pants and fumbled twice before he seated it against the five-pointed screw head. He had to angle it to get enough contact and torque as he twisted it. His makeshift screwdriver twisted free.

"Krys! You need this?" Angelo called up.

Krys glanced down and saw the control pad for the picker. His eyes widened. "Not yet. Take it. I need the tools. Check the maintenance hatch behind the seat."

Angelo turned and growled at Stef to get out of the cab. She hopped down without a word but offered him a gesture that spoke volumes. Kerry and Angelo both chuckled. Krys frowned. "Hurry up!"

"Relax," Kerry said. "This guy's down for the count!"

"For the what?"

Kerry sighed. "It's an old saying. Means he's not waking up any time soon."

"That doesn't mean a patrol won't come by!"

Kerry shrugged Krys's warning off and turned back to watch Angelo. He glanced at Krys and then the sleeping worker.

"Need the whole thing?" Angelo asked as he yanked out a satchel full of tools.

"Just a star bit driver," Krys said. "Looks like a four-millimeter."

Angelo stared into the bag and snorted. He closed it and stepped up on the access ladder. He hoisted it up and set it on the edge of the open topped front bin. Krys had to balance the picker and scramble around the machine to get to the satchel. He yanked it open and fished around until he found the tool he needed. He grinned when he pulled out a powered driver.

Less than a minute later, he had the hatch open and used a chip puller to remove the tiny locator chip plugged into the picker's circuit board. He tucked it into his pocket and secured the hatch. "I'm good!"

"Should we take the transporter too?" Kerry asked.

Krys stared at it and started to grin. "That's a great idea!"

"No," Angelo said. "Too big. Can't move it and hide it. Plus they can track it."

"I can pull the locator chip!" Krys protested.

"Don't matter-that much metal, they'll spot it from space."

Krys wanted to argue but he saw Kerry and Stef both nodding in agreement with the large man. He pressed his lips together and turned away. His eyes fell on the top of the bins again and then widened. "There's a bunch of coconuts in here!"

Angelo grinned. "Those we can take!"

"Front bin's full," Krys said. "I'll carry the picker if-"