Page 110 of A Million Suns (Across the Universe 2)

ORION: Is the ship so bad that you have to face the monsters below? Is it worth the risk of your life—of everyone’s lives? If the answer is yes, then begin the planet-landing. Use this shuttle if you have to. But. But if Godspeed can still be your home, if it’s possible to stay on board—do so.

Amy lets out a long, shaking breath. Almost as if he heard her, Orion glares down. She bites her lip, her whole body focused on Orion’s next words.

ORION: This is the last resort.

The screen fades to black.

64

AMY

I LET THE FLOPPY SLIDE FROM MY FINGERS AND WATCH AS IT wafts to the floor.

“Does this mean,” Victria says slowly, “that we get to stay on the ship? Forever?” Her eyes flick to the windows behind us, the planet on the other side.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No. ”

“The only part of the ship that’s damaged is the Bridge. We could stay . . . here. . . . ” Elder’s voice trails off under my flashing glare.

“The monsters? You’re worried about the monsters, or whatever it is that’s on the planet?” I roll my eyes. “Look, I’ve seen the armory. I’m not worried one bit. That captain? He was just scared. Or he didn’t want to let go of his power. Look at him—he just assumed it would be bad and then hid all the evidence about the planet and set himself up as king of the ship. What kind of nepotistic megalomaniac does that? He didn’t care about landing, about escaping, as long as he kept his power. And he’s had every single person on this ship convinced of the same thing, including you!”

I’m so worked up by this point that I’m heaving as I finish, but I won’t back down. “I am getting off this damn ship. I don’t care if the boogeyman jumps up as soon as the door opens and swallows me whole so long as I can step outside just once. ”

“No!” Elder snaps. “I’m sorry, but no. This is ridiculous. I don’t care how impatient you are; this is something worth taking our time on. It’s worth it to know if we’re going to die the minute we step off this shuttle!”

Ringing silence fills the bridge when he’s done shouting. My face burns; I can almost hear the others repeating Elder’s words in their minds. Bartie stares at Elder with a sort of intense, furious wonder. I am being a spoiled little brat, throwing a temper tantrum.

But they can’t show me a planet and then snatch it away.

“Can you really go on living in Godspeed after having seen this?” I ask in almost a whisper, sweeping my arm toward the window.

Elder doesn’t look to the planet. His gaze doesn’t leave my eyes. “No,” he says. “No, I couldn’t. ”

Bartie clears his throat. I can’t tell if he’s scared or if he’s angry—he glares at Elder, but he shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “I say we take a vote. If people don’t want to go . . . ”

“They stay?” I ask incredulously. “Really?”

“We have a better chance of survival on the planet now anyway, monsters or not,” Elder says. Bartie turns to him. “The food stores are gone. ”

“We can grow more—” Bartie starts, but he’s interrupted by a loud boom!

“What was that?” Victria says.

It wasn’t the same explosive thunder the bombs made; this sounded more like something heavy crashing to the floor in the distance.

But we’re alone on this level.

We’re supposed to be alone on this level.

We creep to the door leading out of the bridge—the last locked door on the cryo level. It opens from this side, but Elder’s smart enough to cram a chair in the door so it doesn’t lock again.

The hallway’s empty, the other doors all closed and locked. My stomach lurches—what if someone’s down here messing with the cryo boxes? What about my parents? I force myself to think despite my rising panic. My heartbeat is thrumming in my ears, urging me to race down the hall. But no—I take a deep breath. The chambers would make a glass-on-metal cracking sound, not that thunderous boom of metal-on-metal.

The cryo area is empty—except for the far wall. Black dirt and debris from the explosion litter the floor near the elevator. The doors have been blown off; they lie like fallen soldiers on the floor. But the elevator shaft is blocked off with another set of heavy, seal-locked doors.

“The gen lab door is open,” Elder whispers.

I nod. The four of us creep forward slowly. Elder steps around in front of me when I reach the door. I want to yank him back—I don’t need him to play the hero—but he stops dead in the doorway. I crash into his back.