The Gender War (The Gender Game #4)(85)

“Jay talks very loudly,” Jeff said simply. “Can I be of assistance to you, Violet, or shall I take my leave? I’ve got plenty to do supervising those refugees.”

I sighed. “Just keep trying to get ahold of Viggo. Tell him the situation. But…”

My heart dropped as I realized there was something I desperately needed to say to Viggo. And this time, I really might not get another chance. “Could you give Viggo a message for me when he gets back?”

“I can bring you a pen and paper,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, then found myself stopping, looking over at Thomas. “Wait… no… I think this might work better. Thomas, can you record a message for me? And leave it in a form that he can listen to?”

Thomas rolled his eyes at me, but replied, “Yes, I can perform that incredibly simple task.”

Before we started, I turned to Amber. “I think we should split up for this one,” I said. “I’ll finish this and walk Thomas down to the heloship. Can you go get—”

Amber was already nodding, her face fierce, aware of this part of the plan. “I’d be glad to,” she said sharply, patting the gun at her hip, which she’d probably taken from her father’s armory, almost happily. She headed back up the stairs as Thomas told me, “It’s ready now.”

It didn’t take long to record my message, which Jeff promised to deliver. I wanted Viggo to hear this from my own voice. And I wanted him to have something to remember me by, if… if… I wasn’t going to think about that.

Afterward, I thanked Jeff, and then Thomas and I headed through the house toward the front lawn, our gait casual. “We’re just going to walk down as though we’re inspecting it,” I told him. “The heloship is operated by computer—why not have a computer genius check it out?”

Thomas was sweating so hard by this time that I doubted he noticed my attempt to flatter him. We made it out to the lawn without anyone delaying us, however. At the press of a button, the heloship’s back door, which at first looked like just a panel in its curved side, folded down and open with a swoosh, making a little gangplank for us to walk up.

“Now what?” Thomas asked irritably.

“Now we wait for Amber,” I said, probably sounding irritable myself. “I’ll fill you in on the rest of the plan while we’re in the air.” I didn’t want any of the other members of our group wandering into the heloship and overhearing our plans. I looked around at the convex walls, still slightly boat-shaped. In the front, a huge, one-hundred-and-eighty-degree bubbled window bulged out around the controls, nearly surrounding the command center. It wasn’t spacious, but looked quite well designed.

The pilot and co-pilot’s seats were set low in front of the window. Around it in a semicircle were several other chairs mounted to the wall, with seats that could flip down with a gentle pull, and two narrow doors—one straight back, through which we had come in from the cargo bay and troop carrier area, and one at an angle, which led to the lavatory. In the center of it all, a metallic table rose from the floor, the horizontal surface made of the same flat black plastic a computer screen might be. I wasn’t sure what it did, but it looked modern and fancy.

I’d never been in a heloship before. Before this whole adventure started, I wouldn’t have ever expected to see the inside of something as crazy as this, let alone ride in one. But by this point, almost everything was like that. Now that we were in here, it was starting to sink in that this was actually happening. I thought back to my message to Viggo, hoping it was enough. Hoping he could forgive me for leaving him behind, even though I had to.

I wondered, too, about Tim and Jay. I hadn’t seen them while I made my preparations, and although I knew Tim had been angry with me, I couldn’t help but feel hurt that he hadn’t even said goodbye. Jeff hadn’t known where they were, and I knew I couldn’t spare the time to go searching for them. But it was breaking my heart. I had to get back alive, I resolved more firmly to myself. This couldn’t be the last time my little brother saw me.

There was a tapping sound, and I looked back at the door to see King Maxen, his face contorted with the indignity of it all, stepping up the gangplank, followed by Amber. The king’s wrists were handcuffed again, and a gag of what looked like torn-up curtains covered his mouth. But his eyes were rich with hostility for us as Amber prodded him up the aisle with her pistol.

“He started shouting for help when we got to the lower floor,” Amber said icily, indicating the gag, “but thankfully, nobody uses the servants’ stairs anymore, so we got out without being seen. Sit in one of those seats,” she commanded the king, who did as he was told, muttering something under his gag.

“Nice to see Your Majesty too,” I growled at him as Amber dropped silently into the pilot’s seat, flipping switches and turning dials. I heard the engines outside start up with a fluttering sound, like a plastic bag caught in the wind, which quickly grew into a high-pitched whine.

“Ready?” she asked, and I nodded. As ready as I ever could be.

Within moments, we were airborne, flying away from the mansion faster than I would have thought possible. I couldn’t see it from the back—there were no windows there—but I could feel the distance in my heart, a slow ache that seemed to deepen the farther away we flew.