“You didn’t tell anyone?” Jasmine asked.
Elijah hesitated. “After analyzing their technology I was convinced that everything the alien said was true. There really was no way for us to stop them. Warning the government would have just thrown Earth into chaos, made the last of humanity’s days unbearable. At least I could give Earth the gift of ignorance. Humanity has always been good at receiving that.”
“But . . . How . . . What?” Benny couldn’t figure out which question to ask. He felt dizzy, confounded, but something else as well. Anger was starting to rise in him. How could Elijah have hidden all this?
“So that . . . asteroid that took down my ship . . .” Hot Dog said.
Elijah nodded, turning back to them and gesturing to the holograms. “The first attack was likely just to test our defenses. I wasn’t prepared, but after analyzing the energy patterns of the asteroids, I’ve been able to track the next wave. They’ve sent another storm, far, far larger than the first. This time headed for Earth. That’s what they want, I think, to raze the planet before they rebuild it. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine here, if they do attack us again. I’ll move everyone underground soon. Even if they do manage to destroy the Taj, we’ll be far beneath it. They’ll never know we’re here. You’ll be safe. You have my word.”
“But Earth . . .” Benny said. “Everyone on the planet . . . my family. All our families,” he said, gesturing to the others, voice growing frantic. “What are we going to do? They can’t all fit up here.”
Elijah just stared at him. The few seconds of silence that followed might as well have lasted a lifetime for Benny, an eternity of terrible futures flashing across his mind. Earth pummeled by asteroids. His family being killed in a hundred different ways. The caravan—the whole world on fire. Everything his father had died for wiped away in an instant.
Despite the fact that Elijah West was the most famous man in the world—was someone he’d looked up to for years—in that moment Benny hardly recognized him.
“Now, I understand,” Drue said. “This isn’t a luxury resort, it’s some kind of military base. You’re planning on stopping them. We’re Earth’s last defense.”
“Yeah, sure,” Hot Dog said and nodded eagerly. “Get me in a pilot seat. Show me where to shoot.”
“You don’t get it,” Elijah said, his voice louder than before. “None of you get it. You’re the best and brightest children from Earth and still none of you see the bigger picture.”
“Then just tell us,” Benny said, hoping with every ounce of will inside him that he was getting the wrong idea. “What’s the endgame?”
Elijah looked at him for a moment and then smiled, shaking his head. “I’ve underestimated you again, haven’t I? You have figured it out, Benny Love. I can see it in your face.”
“Benny, what’s he talking about?” Hot Dog asked, her voice shaking.
“He . . .” Benny swallowed, trying to figure out a way to change the truth of what he was about to say. “He didn’t bring us here to protect the Earth. He’s not going to save the planet.”
“We’re the only ones who are going to survive,” Jasmine said. “The Taj, that city underground . . . it’s all just a big bunker. For us.”
“That’s not true,” Drue said, his voice pitched higher than usual. “Right, Elijah? You’ve got some kind of secret plan. Or, I don’t know, a space tank you can fly up and stop the aliens with.”
“I’m not surprised you’re the one who understands, Benny. You come from the Drylands, a perfect example of humanity’s failures. We bled the Earth of her resources. We destroyed her waters, her lands, her forests. We discarded her people. You’ve seen what humans do to each other down there. Our leaders and lawmakers are corrupt. The privileged few live in luxury while the rest of the world falls apart around them. The system is broken. I’ve gathered the best the planet has to offer here, at the Taj. The unjaded, uncorrupted youth of the world. Don’t you all see? Earth is a lost cause. It’s time for humanity to evolve.”
“It’s not evolution if you choose the fittest yourself,” Jasmine said slowly. “You’ve handpicked the last of humankind. You’re forming your own civilization.”
“That’s crazy,” Drue said. “So we’re . . . what, supposed to just live underground for the rest of our lives? Hang out in the middle of the Moon?”
“You’ll survive,” Elijah said. “Endure. We’ll create and build and grow and advance. Maybe find a new habitable world eventually. Earth isn’t worth saving, but you are.”
“We have to warn them so they can do something,” Benny shouted. “They have no idea what’s coming.”
“It’s no use,” Elijah said. “The asteroids took out our satellites in that first wave. Communications are still down. It’s hopeless.”
“No, you’re wrong.” Benny stepped forward, teeth clenched. Hot, angry tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. “My family is down there. I’m not letting some aliens kill them.”
“You can’t be okay with letting that many people die,” Hot Dog said, her blond hair bouncing as she shook her head.
“Are you even trying to get communications back up?” Jasmine asked.
“We can go back,” Benny said. “I’ll take a Space Runner. I’ll warn the government or someone and then I’ll find the caravan and . . .” He found himself struggling to come up with the next step.
“Even if you could warn them, Benny, what would they do?” Elijah asked. “Humanity can’t fight something like this. The planet’s not equipped for cosmic warfare. Besides, there are still asteroids from the first attack floating around out there, likely waiting to take out any space-faring vehicles. You’d never make it. Even if you did . . .” He shook his head. “I have probes in deep space. The asteroid storm will be here within forty-eight hours. Do you really want to die on Earth?”
Benny couldn’t respond. He didn’t know how to. All he could do was try to keep his hands from shaking. He looked around, but the others seemed as shocked and confused as he felt.
“I know it’s difficult,” Elijah continued, beginning to pace around the room, “but eventually you’ll see I’m right. The longer you’re up here, the farther away that planet seems. This is the beginning of a beautiful new life. Progress can be difficult. It can be painful. But in the end, this is the only way.”
Benny met Elijah’s gaze again.
“No,” he said. It was the only word that mattered, the summation of every emotion raging through him.
Elijah straightened his posture a little.
“Fair enough. Why don’t I give you some time to think this over rationally? I have many preparations to make,” Elijah said.
“Wait!” Hot Dog shouted.
“Pinky?”
Benny hadn’t realized how close Elijah had gotten to the door until he was already stepping out of the room. He started after him, but it was no use. The metal door sealed, locking Benny and his friends inside.
21.
The window to the outside was bulletproof.
Or at least it was strong enough to withstand everything Benny threw at it, which wasn’t much considering the table was too heavy to lift and the floating chairs were now locked in place by some sort of gravity field.
“My HoloTek won’t power on,” Jasmine said.
“There’s no way out of here,” Drue said. “The place is locked down.”
“I’m not just going to sit around.” Benny slammed his fist against the table.
“Benny, I know you’re worried,” Hot Dog said. “We all are. But we have to think this through.” As she spoke, she took off Ricardo’s jersey and tried in vain to tear it apart before crumpling it into a ball and tossing it in the corner.
“She’s right,” Jasmine said. “We should think this through.” She let out a long sigh. “I have been. And . . . I really don’t want to say this, but, logically speaking, maybe we should follow Elijah’s lead.”
“What?” Benny asked, whipping his head around to her.<
br />
“I’m not saying what he did was right. But at this point the soundest option would be to stay on the Moon. I just don’t see us surviving if we return to Earth, even if we could make it back. Forty-eight hours . . . that’s nothing.”
“You can’t start thinking that way.”
“I’m just trying to find the best, most practical solution.”
“She’s got a point, Benny,” Drue said.
Benny stopped trying to pull a floating chair toward the window and looked at the others, dumbfounded.
“What are you even talking about?” he asked, shaking his head, completely unable to understand what his fellow Mustangs—his friends were saying. He looked at Hot Dog, who stood on the other side of the room, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking as she tugged on a lock of her hair.
“Some of us were hoping to stay up here from the beginning,” Drue said. “We were ready to give up life on Earth.”
“Oh, perfect, this coming from the spoiled rich kid who lives in Washington, DC.”
“We don’t all have loving families and caravans waiting for us, you know.” Drue stared at the floor, pursing his lips. “Even if I did have to pay my way up here, Elijah’s seen something in me. In all of us. You heard him. He wants to make us the best we can be.”
“Sure,” Benny said quietly. “But you do realize that Elijah isn’t some kind of replacement for crappy parents back home. He didn’t tell anyone on Earth that the entire planet was going to be destroyed. Is that really who you want to trust for the rest of your life? I wouldn’t put my faith in him to lead my caravan out of a parking lot right now.”
As the words came out, another emotion swept over him. Guilt. He’d been happy when Elijah gave him the holographic bracelet and, however briefly, he’d aligned the trillionaire with his dad. Thinking about that now made him feel terrible.
“Uh, hey,” Hot Dog whispered from across the room, breaking his train of thought. “Benny, get over here, will ya?”
He walked over to a wall lined with cabinets and shelves that Hot Dog had been rummaging through. She pulled out a drawer so Benny could see inside.
It was Ramona’s old HoloTek, the one that had been confiscated.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Finally, something they might be able to use.
“I can’t believe they left this in here unprotected,” he said.
“Well, I’m guessing no one thought this meeting room would end up a prison cell,” Hot Dog said.
“Okay,” Benny whispered. He glanced around the room. There was no holographic sign of Pinky, but given the circumstances he couldn’t be sure she wasn’t watching or listening in. “Can we use this?” He pointed to the ceiling. “Without you know who realizing?”
“What’s she going to do, send one of the Pit Crew in here? At least that way the door would open.”
“Good point.”
Hot Dog reached into the drawer and powered the datapad on. After a few seconds, lines of code filled the screen.
“This thing is so customized,” she said as she studied the text.
Hot Dog bit her lip and turned to Jasmine, who was still sitting across the room, staring at the floor. Beside her, Drue had his feet up on the holodesk, arms crossed and eyes closed. Hot Dog waved a hand until she got the other girl’s attention, then flicked her head to call her over. A few seconds later, Jasmine was standing in front of the open drawer staring at the display.
“I could probably figure out the operating system in a day or two, but—”
“We don’t have time,” Benny said.
“Right.” She kept talking as she scrolled through the screen. “Look, I didn’t mean we should forget about Earth. It’s just that we’re all scared, and telling myself that there’s nothing we can do but sit back and let everything unfold is a pretty handy coping mechanism. I’ve used it to get through some tough times.”
“It’s fine,” Benny said. “The important thing is that we can’t give up on an entire planet full of people, Jasmine.”
“You’re right. I know. I’m beginning to wonder if that’s the reason so many of us came from bad or nonexistent families. To make us less likely to care.” She took a sharp breath. “Ah, here. Finally something I recognize. This is a messaging program.”
“Who can we contact?” Benny asked.
“Who do you think?” Hot Dog asked on Jasmine’s behalf. “The only person who can use this thing. Right?”
Jasmine nodded. “Let’s hope it goes through. If anyone can get us out of here, it’s her.”
“Is this some kind of secret meeting I should know about?” Drue asked. He didn’t bother to open his eyes. “Or am I the bad guy now?”
“You’re not,” Hot Dog said. “Though I don’t think you were ever technically the good guy.”
“We may have found an escape plan,” Benny said.
“Really?” Drue asked. He took his feet off the holodesk and leaned forward in his chair, staring at them. “And then what?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
“Look, I like you Benny. We’ve definitely had some good times up here. But I think you’re kind of out of your league on this one. The Taj is no caravan.”
Benny took a few steps toward Drue. “You know, when we first got into that Space Runner together on Earth, I was kind of jealous.”
Drue began to spin around in his chair, staring at the ceiling as Benny continued. “You had a cool space suit, you’d been to the Moon before—heck, you’d even met Elijah West. I didn’t think it was fair that you got to come up here. But now . . . I think now I kind of feel sorry for you.”
Drue planted his feet on the floor. He glared at Benny.
“No one has ever felt bad for a Lincoln before,” he said. “Not my parents or my grandparents. People want to be us. We have everything back on Earth.”
“If that were true, you’d probably want to save it.”
Drue opened his mouth, looking as though he was about to yell at Benny. But then he slowly slumped back down in his chair.
“It’s not too late to fix this,” Benny said. “But we have a better chance of doing it together.”
Drue closed his eyes again. “You got too much sun in the Drylands. It fried your brain.”
Before Benny could say anything, the door to the meeting room slid open and Ramona walked in. She chugged the rest of a soda and tossed the can in a basket by the door.
“Locked up, huh?” she asked, shaking her head. “No stealth. Terrible hackers.”
“Ramona!” Hot Dog shouted. “Thank goodness.”
“Is Pinky . . .” Jasmine asked, looking around the room.
“Feedback loop. Blind and deaf. Major upgrades needed to her firewalls.” She held out her hands. “Now, where’s my equipment?”
Hot Dog handed over the old HoloTek. Ramona grinned.
Benny began pacing back and forth. “Okay, okay. So let’s think about our options. Ramona, can you look into Pinky’s systems and see how we might be able to take a Space Runner out? Not just around the Moon but back to Earth?”
“Roger, roger.”
“Benny . . .” Hot Dog started.
“You’re going to abandon us on the Moon?” Drue asked. “Just leave us behind?”
“Come with me,” Benny said. “Your dad’s a senator. Maybe he can help. Maybe . . .”
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Drue finally shook his head.
“I’m sitting in the safest place in our solar system,” he said quietly. His eyes fell to the floor. “Call me a coward if you want, but I’m not too excited about the idea of leaving it for a giant rotating target. Besides, this is where I belong.”
“Whoa!” Ramona yelped. “Unstable code. Max encryption. Legendary loot crate revealed.”
“What is she talking about?” Benny asked.
“These files she’s found,” Jasmine said, squinting over Ramona’s shoulder at the HoloTek. “They’re p
art of Pinky’s personality core, but they’ve been locked away. Pinky can’t access them.”
“Cool,” Drue said flatly. “You found Pinky’s repressed memories.”
“Major coding holes.” Ramona clicked her tongue. “Likely causing security flaws.”
“You mean this might be why you’ve been able to get into Pinky’s programming?” Benny asked.
“Unlock everything,” Hot Dog said.
“Um, Hot Dog?” Drue laughed. “Pinky runs this entire resort. Are you sure you want to let her loose? She’s probably locked down for a reason. The woman might be nuts.”
Hot Dog narrowed her eyes at Drue. “Sure, because things are a lot better now with Elijah in control.”
“She’s right,” Benny said. “If there’s more of her in there, maybe she can make Elijah listen. Maybe she can talk him into doing something. I don’t know, maybe she can do it herself.”
“I agree,” Jasmine said. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it couldn’t hurt, right?”
Drue sighed. “Whatever. But if this goes wrong, just remember it wasn’t my idea.”
“Can you keep the files isolated somehow?” Jasmine asked Ramona. “That way if this is some kind of corrupt code, it won’t infect the rest of the Taj?”
Ramona clicked her tongue and gave a thumbs-up.
Benny nodded. “Do it.”
She shrugged, and tapped on her HoloTek.
Suddenly all the lights in the room turned red.
“Whoops,” Ramona chirped. “Game over, man.”
“ELIJAH!” Pinky’s voice came blaring out from all corners of the room at an earsplitting volume.