“Thanks.”
It appeared that most of the meeting attendees had stopped in here afterward. Luckily, Sonya wasn’t anywhere in sight. It seemed like the majority of the people weren’t drinking water … I hoped Markus stayed away from this place in the future. He’d be useless if he fell back into his obliterated ways.
“Look,” Reed said, “we just wanted you to know that we’re really glad you’re here. James told us all about you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I want to hear what he said.”
A boy farther down the table laughed. “It was all good, I promise. Mostly about how kick-ass you are. I mean, taking down a Consulate ship on your own is awesome.”
“Yeah, tell us about taking down that ship,” another girl said.
I squirmed in my seat. James might think I was tough,but I felt anything but when he was around. “That’s nice of him,” I said, “but I really only shot the wing and the ship crashed. Not a big deal.”
Reed shook her head. “That’s totally a big deal. I want to be more like you—tougher, I mean.”
I studied her. “So how did you end up with the Resistance?”
Reed shrugged. “Same as most people here, I guess. Dead family, little hope, and then I got lucky when I ran into fellow survivors who shared their water and air. They turned out to be Resistance members, and I was all for joining a group that would destroy the Consulate.” She looked around like she was worried someone might overhear. “But I prefer to be more of a helper, errand runner. I can’t stand violence and hope I never have to use my gun.”
I smiled. “We’re not that different. I’ve just had to use mine, is all.” If Reed really was an errand girl, maybe she’d have some good info. “What do you know about Sonya? Aside from the fact that she hates me?”
Reed scooted closer. “Personally, I don’t think her issues are totally about her brother. I mean, they were close and all, but being a soldier means you could die. They both knew that.” She lowered her voice even more. I had to strain to hear her. “I think it’s more because of James.”
My stomach lurched, and not from the meat. I’d been right. The way Sonya had smiled at him and touched his arm earlier had said it all.
“She met James back when he and her brother, Saul,were recruited to the Resistance by Kale. She was always going on about how smart James was. Cute too.”
I swallowed. I knew exactly how smart and cute he was. And deadly.
“Anyway,” Reed said. “I think she had hoped that something would happen between them when he returned. After James escaped from the containment center, he showed up out of the blue one day. I’ve never seen Sonya light up the way she did when he walked into the command center that first time.”
Reed took a sip of her water. “James doesn’t say much, but everything he did say in those first days was about you. I could tell that it pissed her off royally. But when you didn’t show and you didn’t show, I think she thought you might never get out. She started flirting with him again. Told him to wait a little longer when he started talking about going back for you.”
“Thanks for telling me,” I said. “It explains a lot.” You’d think I would be used to people wanting me dead by now.
We drank our water and reminisced about our lives on Earth.
“I never thought I’d live to see a place like this,” said a husky boy named Web. He looked like he could lift the entire table up with one finger if he wanted to. “Seemed like the last view I’d have was of that giant blazing ball of hell. When Trent and Ian hit me up through the com and told me about Caelia, I’ll admit that I cried like a baby.”
Reed patted Web on the shoulder. “I think we all did.”
When the table fell silent, I took a chance with the group. “What do you know about Kale and this Resistance leader he’s looking for?”
Web scoffed. “Between you and me, I think Kale’s an