Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky, #3)(50)

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27


ARIA


How long have we been here?” Aria asked. “In the Komodo?”

“Forty-eight hours, give or take,” Soren said. “Why?”

“I had forgotten it’s mobile,” she said.

They had their established places in the room now. Soren on the lower bunk nearest the door. Her on the other. Roar alternated between sitting beside her and pacing the small space between the beds.

The Komodo had been moving for an hour; the constant vibration reminded her of train rides in the Realms but far rougher. Occasionally, the chamber jerked sharply one way or another. For the first ten minutes, she’d grasped the bed frame and braced herself when that happened. After a particularly violent jolt, she’d decided not to let go.

“Does this thing have square wheels?” Roar muttered beside her.

“Wheels are circular by definition,” Soren said. “But, no, the wheels aren’t square. They’re on a continuous track with advanced suspension designed for maneuverability and tactical strength, not for bursts of speed.”

Roar glanced at her, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. “Did you get any of that?”

She shook her head. “Not much. Soren, what did you just say?”

Soren sighed, exasperated. “This thing weighs . . . I don’t even know how many tons. It weighs a lot. Moving it is like moving a small city. To do that efficiently over any kind of terrain, each of its segments sits on a rail system—wheels that roll on a track, sort of like old tanks. The track distributes the weight over a large area and makes us stable, so you shouldn’t worry that we’ll tip over. We won’t. The Komodo can climb over anything. What you should worry about is the fact that they’re forcing a workhorse to be a racehorse.”

“I liked it better when I didn’t understand him,” Roar said.

“They’re trying to outrun the Aether storm,” Aria said, but that made no sense. Hadn’t Loran told her that running was futile? Hadn’t he said that Hess recommended weathering the storm in place?

Soren snorted. “That’s not going to happen. The Komodo doesn’t run; it crawls. My father might be an idiot, but he isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have issued the order to move during a storm. The Komodo is more vulnerable when it’s mobile, since it makes a bigger target for the funnels.”

The answer clicked in Aria’s mind. “Sable overpowered the ship. Either that or he’s forcing Hess to move.”

“Neither one of those is good for us,” Soren said.

The lights in the chamber flickered on and off in an erratic rhythm.

Soren waved his hands in a there you go gesture.

They fell quiet, listening to the deep rumble of the engine. “I don’t think I ever thanked you,” Roar said to her after a little while, “for getting us out of Rim.”

She saw his handsome face in snatches between moments of darkness, and knew he was remembering that horrible night. Liv thudding onto the stones of the balcony. Their plummet into the Snake River. “You’re welcome.”

“Tough fall we had.”

“It was,” Aria said. “But we landed in one piece.”

Roar stared at her intensely. His eyes welled with tears, and he looked like he was concentrating. Like he was trying to determine if he actually was in one piece.

She put a hand on his arm. “We did . . . right?”

Roar blinked. He gave a slight nod. “There are moments I think so.”

Aria squeezed his arm, smiling. The possibility of wholeness was all she wanted for him.

Maybe his grief was like her wounded arm. Slowly healing. Gradually becoming less consuming as life delivered other worries and other joys. Other sources of pain and happiness. She wanted that for him. More life. More happiness.

Roar’s mouth pulled into a smile—a beautiful smile she hadn’t seen in weeks.

“Beautiful, huh?”

She drew her hand away, giving him a small push on the shoulder. “Don’t act surprised.”

“I’m not. Always nice to be reminded, though.”

“I give up,” Soren said, shaking his head. “Congratulations. You two are the first code I can’t break.”

“Just trying to see some good in the bad,” Roar said.

“You want good news?” Soren said. “I’ve got some for you. If the Komodo has a complete breakdown because of this Aether storm and it collapses and cracks open and we don’t die first, we might actually have a chance of escaping.”

Roar narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “I’d take those odds.”

Aria swept her hair forward, twisting it around her finger. “So would I.” She wanted the lights to hold steady. She wanted a shower. Coffee. A thick, soft blanket. And Perry, most of all. “If the Komodo has a complete breakdown, then I might too. Wait . . . I already did that.” She smiled at Roar. “My breakdown is out of the way.”

He lifted his eyebrows, smiling back. “You’re right. That is good news.”

A sudden bone-jarring jolt sent her flying. Her back smacked into the wall. She cried out in surprise, Roar’s hand clamping down on her wrist as blackness flooded the chamber.