And perhaps the most astonishing thing of all: The person feeding the rebels pertinent information from inside the Ohrikee had been Overseer Calvin Carstairs.

  Lena's father had been a double agent, part of the resistance, and she'd not even known.

  What was she thinking right now?

  "The street-cams are back up," Si advised, his voice subdued, as though fearful I'd yell at him if he broke my contemplation.

  But I was done, for now, trying to reason this all out. Lena was my main concern. Getting her back here, getting her into my arms. Making sure she survived this night.

  "Can you hack them?" I asked.

  "I'm piggybacking right now, but they've wrestled control. It would take some work to get it back."

  "Don't bother. Just warn the guys that they’ve got Shiloh eyes on their backs."

  "They still have to get out of Geh Dowee. It's not an overly populated area, so no decent cover," Si pointed out.

  I aimed a finger at a screen showing street-cams on the main road into Geh Dowee.

  "Not for long."

  Word had obviously gotten out about the container ship that had crashed into the reserve by the old oil refinery. Concerned Wánměi Citizens were heading in droves to see this usually well guarded sight for themselves. A month ago this would have been an anomaly beyond comprehension. No Citizen of our nation would have dared lift their faces long enough from their vid-screens to see what was happening in the world around them.

  Now they were blatantly ignoring Overseer directives, breaking conditioning, and acting in a manner that spoke of a strength I'd long ago wondered existed anymore.

  Lena had been the first person who had given me hope again. The first to break her mould and show me there was more beneath the perfect skin of Wánměi. And now this.

  I leaned closer to look at the street-cam view of the stricken container ship. Tilted slightly to its port side, the containers holding drones and anything else we exported hanging precariously from the deck. From this particular view it looked like they were still intact. But could Shiloh activate the drones and unleash them?

  Then my eyes caught on something on the hull. A crude image that looked so small compared to the enormous bulk of the vessel. But it stood out. Not just because it was white against black. Not just because it was the only marking on an otherwise blank canvas.

  But because it was the stylised image of a zebra that had become an icon for our nation.

  I let a huff of breath out, surprised but also not. It was the exact same image that I'd seen in a basement in Muhgah Foh near the hospital. The exact same image painted on the floor of our long ago disused military bunker in the Domain.

  And I was guessing, the exact same image painted on the wall of Lena's zebra-lookalike's base of operations.

  "Lena," I said over the mic. If she was paying attention, she didn't show it. No reply. No sound of her breaths. Nothing.

  Hell, she might have removed her earpiece for all I knew.

  "Alan," I tried, getting an immediate response. "Tell Lena her little helpers have been busy."

  "What?" came his uncomprehending reply.

  "There's a zebra painted on the hull of the ship and half of neighbouring Tahmahkee is on the way to photograph it."

  He snorted and I heard background noise, some low murmurs the earpiece didn't pick up clearly, and then Alan's reply. It was spoken softly, as though he hadn't wanted Lena to hear.

  "I think you might have just saved the day, boss."

  I felt something inside me clench. An ache I wouldn't tell a soul about. Definitely not let Si see the pain it caused me.

  Lena was hurting and I wasn't there to help.

  But maybe, giving her something else to focus on would get her through the next few minutes. Because avoiding drones and skipping Geh Dowee was still going to be a big ask.

  "We're on the move," Alan advised. "Heading across the roofs. Keep us advised of any drones on Whitehaven Road."

  Si immediately brought up the relevant street-cams. Thankfully, they weren't angled towards the rooftops, so the Overseers hadn't cottoned onto their escape route.

  He rattled off the positions of the closest drones visible, then gave an update of the approaching crowd entering the reserve. Within minutes the drones had started moving in that direction to control the stunned Citizens. Behind them were Lena, Alan and Tan.

  "Why are they heading towards the ship when the drones are heading there as well?" I asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

  Si just shook his head. If he'd had an answer, he didn't offer it.

  We watched as drones and Citizens began to engage in what at first looked relatively organised and not too alarming. But the minute they started targeting those Citizen females with zebra-like hair, things went south pretty fast.

  "Tell me she's not gonna want to get involved in this," I growled, making the demand audible over the earpieces as well.

  What seemed like a long moment passed, then Lena's calm and measured voice came through the speakers.

  "You wanted a revolution, Trent. I'm giving you one."

  And then all hell broke loose on the street-cam images. Lena right in the thick of it where I was not.

  And fuck that! I took two steps away from the screens, my only thought to race out to Geh Dowee and get to her before a drone did, when Si started to laugh.

  "Boss, you gotta see this."

  I turned back reluctantly, and also strangely resignedly, and stared at the screens.

  In amongst the curious and now frightened everyday Citizens, armed with only vid-screens and cellphone cameras in their shaking hands, was Lena, Alan, Tan and his men. Joining them, faster than I would have given them credit for, were several young enthusiastic teenagers, some looking very much like Lena with their zebra stiped hair.

  And all of them hurling makeshift chemical bombs at the lines of drones.

  Blasting them to kingdom fucking come.

  Chapter 12

  In This There Was Only Each Other

  Lena

  "That was unbelievable!" Xiu Ying exclaimed at full volume from the back seat of the van.

  We'd crammed almost fifteen people into this vehicle alone, another twelve or so were in the one following behind. Tan having opted to drive that car, clearly needing to be as far from me as he could get. The rest of the refugees had managed to escape in the chaos, some aware now that rebels actually existed.

  If they wanted to find us, join us, they could. For now we'd taken the most... enthusiastic.

  Alan flicked a glance over towards my silent form from the driver's seat, care and concern registering in those usually stoic dark eyes.

  "But I almost peed my pants when those drones started dropping from the container ship," she added.

  "Li Xiu Ying," her father admonished. "Behave!"

  In rapid fire Wáitaměi she shot back, "Behave? This is the new Wánměi, papa. We do not have to behave."

  Her mother started crying.

  I stared out the side window and let their ensuing argument wash over me.

  Shiloh had activated the drones locked in the containers and they'd simply opened their doors and stepped into the fray. It was a miracle we'd managed to escape after that. But not all the containers were activated, leading me to wonder how many drones Shiloh could control at once.

  Especially if the situation was as drastic as it was out on the reserve.

  We'd brought enough leftover chemicals from Marshal Jenkings' abandoned factory with us to blow up half of Geh Dowee. Which made you wonder what else had been abandoned that we could use in the forgotten suburbs of new Wánměi. Those Citizens with even a rudimentary knowledge of chemical warfare or the principals of home-made bombs had stepped up at the sight of our haul. Unsurprisingly Xiu Ying and Zhang Jun had been at the front.

  Following dutifully, or in a vain attempt to keep his daughter out of trouble, had been Mr Li. Mrs Li restraining the younger sister, Juan, at a safe distance.

  I'd known they'd be there. It was part of the reason why I'd insisted we return to the ship, where the zebra had been painted. But seeing the teenagers commit to battle with so little thought for their own safety still made me feel decidedly ill.

  It was with that argument in mind that I'd convinced Mr Li to come with us. Xiu Ying had a sense of conviction he would never crush. But with appropriate training we could make her path safer.

  Trent had wanted an army, I was bringing him one. And not all of them were under twenty.

  But that wasn't the only reason why I was unable to enter the excited post fight conversation currently spinning around the interior of the van.

  My father had helped the rebels. And he'd never let on. Not once. Not in passing, not in his verbal beliefs, not in his behaviour.

  But then, his behaviour had been an indication if I'd known to look.

  It wasn't only me he’d created an alias for. I'd also found documentation at my Wáikěiton home of an alias for him.

  What had he planned? Why had he been forced to show his hand in front of Cardinal Jenkings by shooting General Chew-wen?

  Tan knew something. That's why he was avoiding me. That's why he killed Jenkings. At first, I thought perhaps it was to silence him. To protect me. But, in retrospect, I think it was to avenge my father.

  Or, at least, I'd like to believe so.

  Tan is my brother in every way that counts. I couldn't bear to think of him differently.

  I felt so fragile. So lost and alone. Even surrounded by the raised voices and muffled sobs coming from the back of the van.

  "How can you not believe in the cause?" Xiu Ying was shouting. "We've just escaped a fate worse than death."

  "You do not know this," Mr Li argued. "It may not have been all that bad."

  "How can you say that? After they shoved us into containers with only a bucket for a toilet!"

  "The Wánměi I know would not condemn us to more than we can accept."

  "Well, I for one, couldn't accept a bucket for a loo."

  "Be serious, Xiu Ying," her father admonished. "I have faith in Wánměi."

  Alan snorted, drawing all eyes and ears in the van towards him.

  "You have a comment to make?" Mr Li asked, switching to Anglisc.

  I thought it best to intervene before Alan got going. His patience with closed-minded people was fairly slim.

  "Mr Li," I started, purposely using Wáitaměi. If he'd thought their conversation was private by conversing in their native tongue, he was more naive than I'd considered. "You were being shipped alongside several hundred or more drones in shipping containers with the most basic of humanitarian provisions. You were an export. A means to fill the coffers of the Elite. If Wánměi is anything, these days, it is far from the perfect vision its leaders purport it to be. To believe otherwise is unwise. Unsafe," I added, reminding him of his daughters. "Wánměi is no longer the provider of all good."

  "That is treasonous," he whispered.

  "And forcing you to leave your home, the only home you’ve ever known, is for the better of the people? For the future of Wánměi?"

  A long pause followed, allowing me to turn toward the front of the vehicle and see we were almost back at the Domain.

  "They are innocent," he finally said softly into the stunned silence. It had been the first time I'd spoken since we'd left Geh Dowee.

  But I knew who he was referring to, and it wasn't the Overseers.

  "They are old enough to know their minds," I said, not bothering to look back. "And young enough to ask the questions you have forgotten need to be asked."

  I had forgotten to ask them too. Or, more precisely, I'd forgotten my father had encouraged me to.

  I stared down at my hands, seeing that I was wringing them. My fingers twisted in such tight knots the knuckles had gone white. I'd thought I'd known my father, and maybe subconsciously I had. I've been a non-model Elite for quite some time. Thoroughly embraced the alias of Lena Carr that he'd left me. Never baulked at his Shiloh unit that enabled me to avoid being watched in my own home, but still allowed me to appear compliant.

  My nanny, who came with me to the Palace when my father was killed, tried her level best to keep me replica-dosed. Even knowing how dangerous that was whilst living under the same roof as the Chief Overseer.

  I had a sudden thought. Had she been killed or had she been wiped? Like the Lis had been wiped.

  Where was she now?

  My hand came up to my mouth, fingers trembling. A show of weakness I absolutely abhorred. I think I might have been panting.

  "You don't understand," Mr Li pushed from near the rear of the van.

  "Enough!" Alan barked. The interior fell deathly silent. "You are welcome to your fears and concerns. No one begrudges you this. But when you enter our base you must acknowledge one thing. We are not satisfied with the current Wánměi and we intend to change it. If this is not something you can condone, or even turn a blind eye to as you have the falseness of propaganda spewing daily from the Overseers, then do not step inside those doors. Do not get in our way. Because as polite as the Honourable here appears, she is not the leader of the revolution. And he has spent his entire life building up to this."

  Whoa, big words from the big Wáikěinese. And strangely they made me respect him more. He not only believed in a different Wánměi, but he believed in Trent. It said something about their relationship, something I'd suspected but until right then not truly believed. Alan had always seemed a bit of a gun-slinging, risk taker. A bit like me. After his own reward.

  But I think there was more depth to the rebel than I'd realised. Certainly more loyalty, at any rate.

  "I thought Lena was the leader," Xiu Ying grumbled.

  "Girls can't be leaders, atá wái," Juan said to her “big sister”.

  "Of course they can," Xiu Ying declared. "I'm the leader of you, aren't I?"

  "Ah, no. Papa is."

  And off went another round of adolescent familial rebellion. I tuned them out as the van slowed down in the parking lot beside the Domain Park. Luckily, the park had few street-cams, as it was riddled with small leafy covered walkways and running tracks. And those cameras that did exist, we'd managed to hack and trick the Overseers into believing all was as it should be.

  We could come and go in relative security, but parking the cars near the bunker itself was out. The Domain had once been a military command centre, containing an underground bunker nine metres below the park's surface. It was capable of recycling its own air, had sophisticated generators insulated well beneath the soil, and had been left as a reminder of what contact with the outside world led to. Sometime after General Chew-wen came to power it was updated to contain Shiloh units, all of which had been removed when the bunker had been closed just after the Uprising.

  Reminding our Citizens about war was no longer a viable educational tool for the Overseers. Instead they tried to make us forget about conflict altogether and set about increasing their efforts to convince us to comply. It is said the Serenity Tab became more powerful during this time, further quashing a nation's spirit.

  For a while there, the Overseers succeeded. But today proved how far our nation had risen from the depths of a drugged stupor they hadn't even realised they'd been under.

  I climbed out of the van and headed towards our main entrance, eager to get the grime of the night washed away and have a moment to myself in silence. I admired Xiu Ying's enthusiasm. I loved that she was questioning her world around her and making those she met question it too. It worried me, though, her lack of discreetness. It was what had led to her entire family and Zhang Jun's being wiped. But she had the type of spirit I'd always envisaged was mine.

  Xiu Ying was a lot like me. But right now, I had too many turbulent thoughts spinning inside my head to listen to her tirades any longer.

  Did I sound like that when I got going?

  I could hear Alan and Tan quietening down our new members, giving them last minute hushed instructions, as they led them through the door at my back. I tried to outpace them, but my shins still ached, my hip felt on fire, and tears had stupidly started to spring to my eyes, making my vision poor and my steps falter.

  Too much had happened.

  Too much had been revealed.

  I needed a moment. Just one moment to reflect and digest and deal.

  But one step into the meeting area, which we’d since decked out with the odd comfortable sofa and chair around the perimeter, leaving the zebra proudly displayed on the floor, and I knew I wasn't going to get it.

  Running through the opposite door, when he should not have been running at all, was Trent. His gaze immediately finding mine. His intention clear in the determined set of his hard features. Dark hair tousled as though he'd been tugging at it. Black t-shit wrinkled as though he'd been in bed, but I was sure that wasn't the case at all, so maybe he just hadn't showered since yesterday. And the most intense deep blue, bottomless eyes hungrily devouring me.

  I came to a stop halfway across the floor, the new arrivals all piling in, murmuring their reactions at my back. My breath all but gone as he stalked over the echoing concrete, his attention completely focused on me.

  If he'd seen our guests, he didn't comment.

  If he'd noted they were all now watching the scene unfold, he didn't care.

  I felt Tan step up beside me. Even if he was avoiding me he'd stand close enough to protect. But he didn't need to protect me from Trent. He hadn't cottoned on to that fact as yet. His closeness was much welcomed, but not invited right then.

  Other than registering that, my focus was entirely on the man before me, who seemed to dominate my thoughts at the most inopportune times. Something I was beginning to think he might be suffering from, as well.

  So when he stopped a mere foot away, his chest rising and falling too swiftly, matching mine, I was ready when he reached out in lightning quick moves. One hand immediately going to the nape of my neck, the other snaking around my back and pulling me hard against his body; no doubt pinching at his stitches, but he didn't even notice, it appeared.

  His lips met mine with the barest of sighs. The only evidence that his body relaxed at all.