“No, thank you, Elwa. I already packed.”
Elwa frowned, looking disappointed. “Well, I’ve had the car brought around.”
“Thank you.” He turned toward me. “Shall we, Matilda Case?”
“Lead the way.” I kept one hand on my duffel and the other on my rifle, as we entered the elevator and left House Gray behind us.
22
Millions of people joined their fight. And for fifty bloody years the galvanized tirelessly led that war, that uprising of House Brown.—2160
—from the journals of L.U.C.
We drove through the city to another speed tube. Once Abraham had finished inputting our destination and other information, the pod shot us off at ridiculous speeds while projecting fake pastoral views around us.
“Is it an animal?” I asked.
“What?” Abraham turned so he could better see me. We were both sitting in the front of the luxurious car, our bags in the trunk, my rifle in the backseat, my duffel at my feet.
“I haven’t gotten any solid clues out of anyone about the training we are apparently required to attend today. I thought I’d narrow it down a bit. Animal, vegetable, or mineral?”
He grinned and scratched the stubble at his jaw. “You must be a delight at birthday parties.”
“So, it’s a secret I can’t know? That’s dumb.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t know it.”
“So? Tell.”
“After facing you on the sparring mat? I’m comfortable on this side of caution.”
“Are you saying I’m unpredictable?”
“I’m saying you find solutions. You find answers. You don’t follow the path that seems the most logical choice. You question . . .everything, as near as I can tell. You decide and you act. Rather quickly.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should,” he said.
He didn’t look like he was going to change his mind about the training, so I changed the subject to something else that was bothering me.
“Before we left, Oscar mentioned something about House Red,” I said.
He looked out the window, suddenly interested in the scenery that was filled with quaint cottages and bubbling fountains and moss-covered statuary. I didn’t think that idyllic little town existed anywhere in the world.
“He said that calling off the bombing of the Fessler compound continues to be costly.”
“Mmm.”
“How costly?”
Abraham squinted as if he could see beyond the fake sheep and fake hills and fake world around us. “You do understand what happened there.”
“You asked Oscar to call off the people who were trying to level the Fessler compound?”
“Mostly right. I asked Oscar for a personal favor. I asked him to call off the people who were working unregulated, uncontracted night hours on the project for House Red. To do so, Oscar had to halt all workforces for House Red in North America.”
“Everyone?” I asked, startled. “That must be hundreds?—”
