The Gauntlet (The Cage 3)

“Armstrong is fortunate to have good leadership,” Cassian said. “Not all of the colonies have been so blessed. Even with the five intelligent species working together, it will be a long time before the universe returns to a stable system of governance.”

Cora interlaced her fingers with his as they walked. The spark tickled her palm, making her smile. She’d come to expect it, crave it even. A reminder of their connection. She squeezed his hand, but then her smile wavered. How much longer would she feel that spark? Now that the Gauntlet was over, what future would the two of them have?

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded quickly. “It’s . . . nothing. I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s Willa?”

“Recovering. She was hurt badly in the fight.”

“I was thinking about her,” Cora said, “and about the lesser species. It’s good that humanity has been elevated, but I still worry for the animals’ welfare.”

“Animals would never pass the Gauntlet,” Cassian said. “They aren’t equipped to govern themselves. They aren’t all advanced like Willa.”

“I know, but they deserve proper care and better oversight than they had before. Even among the Kindred, they were never treated as they deserve to be.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I was thinking of an honorary delegate to the Intelligence Council. Not a sixth representative, but a corollary one to advocate for the rights of animals and all the lesser species. Sort of like what Nok does here, consulting with the governance council in her new role as sheriff. Willa is perfect for a similar role with the Intelligence Council. She’s an animal, so she understands their needs, but she can articulate and reason.”

Cassian nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll pass that idea along to the other delegates in our next meeting.”

While Cora had still been unconscious, Cassian had been appointed the new Kindred delegate to the Intelligence Council. A new Gatherer delegate had also been appointed, since Brother Magga had died in the battle. There was even a nonvoting Axion delegate, who had no official power but was still a representative.

“There’s something else we discussed in our last meeting,” Cassian said, slightly hesitant. “The fifth seat on the Intelligence Council. It belongs to humans, and it’s vacant. Naturally, you’re the first person the other delegates suggested. As winner of the Gauntlet, it’s your right.”

Cora couldn’t say it came as a complete surprise. Willa had told her long ago that if she won she’d be a natural leader among humans, something she wasn’t certain she had wanted at the time.

“What do you think?” she asked.

He smiled. “I’d like nothing better than to be at your side, helping establish humanity in the proper position it should hold.”

The sun had started to set, and the air grew drastically cooler. Cora hugged her arms around her jacket, studying the sandy path. They were almost back in New London. The sound of saws and hammers had stopped for the day, and she smelled the sizzle of marron root and roast sand-rabbit, as well as the sounds of soft chatter.

“Wait,” she said, stopping outside town.

He turned back.

She took his hand again. The spark leaped between them, warming her heart.

“I can’t be the delegate,” she confessed. “I’ve never been a natural leader, not really. The Gauntlet was one thing, but sitting around a table, negotiating trade deals and voting on rules . . . it isn’t me.” She took a deep breath. “I read my file in the stock algorithm. I still don’t remember all my life at home, but I know the facts. My father was a senator. I guess that should mean I would be good at politics, but I don’t have any passion for it. You need someone who cares deeply about fairness for the species, who’s clever when it comes to that kind of thing. Who remembers home.”

“It sounds like you have someone in mind.”

“I do. Anya. She’s young, I know, but before the Axion captured her, she was able to do incredible things. Stir human uprisings. Inspire humanity. The wolves are strong, but the rabbits are clever.” Cora smiled. “And she won’t be alone. Other humans can coach her until she’s ready to govern from the Intelligence Council. Keena has already agreed to help mentor her. And there’s something else.” She reached into her pocket and took out Lucky’s journal. “This will help, too. Between these pages is everything Anya needs to know about what makes for a good, fair mind when she grows up.”

She handed him the journal, letting it go almost reluctantly. But Lucky’s words were already seared into her mind and her heart.

“And you?” Cassian asked quietly. “What will you do, if not sit on the Council?”

She squeezed his hand harder. The spark ignited her palm, warming it, making her think of all the things they had been through together.

Cora glanced toward the setting sun, watching the final sliver disappear behind the high mountains. The first stars were appearing in the purple-black sky overhead, and she felt their pull.

She took a deep breath. Held his other hand too. The spark between their clasped hands traveled back and forth, one heart to the other.

What future was there for them?

Cora wasn’t sure. But she knew, in her heart, where she had to be.

“I’m going home. Back to Earth.”

“You are so certain it is still there?”

She squeezed his hands. “I know it is.”

47

Cora

“IF I NEVER RIDE on another spaceship,” Leon said, “it’ll be too soon.”

Cora rolled her eyes as she took a seat opposite him and cinched the buckle. The ship rumbled to life sooner than she’d expected, and she shot out a hand, grabbing hold of Mali’s.

“Fine,” she admitted to Leon. “I see what you mean.”

The music and laughter from Armstrong’s Independence Day party still rang in her ears. Throu

gh the ship’s view screen she could see New London shrouded in solar lights, filled with dancing couples and groups of people laughing. It had been nearly impossible to say good-bye.

“You know we’ll never see each other again,” Nok had said.

“Give humanity a few years,” Cora had answered. “Once the evolutionary jump fully settles and we’re all even more brilliant, we’ll have built a teleporter, I’m sure.” They had embraced as hard as the first day they’d met, both scared and clinging to each other in the face of a confusing new world. Then Cora had kissed Sparrow on the forehead and said her good-byes to Willa and the kids from the Hunt before boarding the ship.

Now, it felt unnaturally quiet with only Mali and Leon in the passenger hold, especially as the two of them whispered to each other about plans for their lives on Earth, Leon extolling the virtues of cheeseburgers and cold soda, Mali asking him to teach her more curse words. Cora had imagined there would be so many more of them to make this journey back home. Lucky. Nok. Rolf. Makayla and Shoukry and the others. Cassian had explained that eventually, the Kindred would return the animals to Earth and any human wards who wanted to go back. But they were too malnourished now to make the trip, and besides, they had to verify Earth still existed. It would be this first, exploratory trip back—Cora’s trip—that would prove it did.

After the shuttle leveled off, Cora unbuckled and climbed to the front. She sat in the empty copilot’s chair next to Cassian.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. They hadn’t spoken much about what would happen next. Their talk had stuck carefully to the logistics of the trip, the probability of Earth’s existence, the possibility that the evolutionary jump had already spread to Earth humans. No words had been exchanged about what Cora’s decision meant—for them.

“The voyage takes a full rotation,” he explained. “Two human weeks. We will have to stop for fuel and supplies on Fuel Station Omega, which is Mosca-run, and is located twenty thousand miles outside of your solar system. The ship has cloaking abilities; once we approach Earth’s atmosphere, we will not be traceable by any satellites or reconnaissance equipment. We will use Earth’s moon’s gravitational orbit to keep us in place. Then the ship’s hologram technology will re-create your desired location here, in the hull. Once we have verified those coordinates, the dematerialization process will transport you to that exact location on Earth.”