Of all the wires I was servicing there were very few backups or redundancies—almost every wire served a unique function—and a bunch of them were messed up, which meant that this pole was probably pretty much broken. If I understood the nature of the grid’s defense shield well enough, that meant the entire area around here was vulnerable to attack. Why would that be, if it had just been repaired? I wondered if the control panel had a special glitch that was shorting out wires at a faster rate.
My curiosity stoked, I hurried through my work, eager to get back to Rapp and ask him if he’d seen anything similar in the poles he’d serviced. I wanted to know if this one was a fluke or if there was a bigger problem.
Not that I cared.
“What is it about a man in a dress?”
I had become so absorbed in my work that the unexpected voice sent my heart leaping into my throat. I knew exactly who it was without even looking down.
I looked down anyway.
The electric-white wig had been replaced by a brunette pageboy; she was now wearing a simple red dress with a short flared skirt. The dress, along with the hair, was covered in white, irregular polka dots.
I don’t even know how you get polka dots in your hair. Was that another of Devektra’s Legacies? Honestly, with her, nothing would surprise me.
“Hey,” I said, the word coming out of my throat in an awkward croak.
She looked up at me with a pursed-lip smile, shielding her eyes from the suns. “Never figured you for the Munis apprentice-type.”
“LDA, actually,” I said, determined to hide my embarrassment. “Engineering trainee.” Then, realizing what a dork I sounded like, I added, “I’m just in it for the tunic.”
She let out a lilting, genuine laugh. “You actually don’t look bad in it,” she said. “I just don’t see why you guys wear those dumb pajama pants underneath. What’s the point of wearing a dress unless it’s to show off your legs?”
“You wouldn’t say that if you’d ever seen my legs,” I said, and then turned back to my work. Today was not the day that I was in the mood to be made fun of by the world’s hottest girl.
To my surprise, though, Devektra didn’t leave. “What exactly are you doing up there anyway?” she asked. “I’ve always wondered what those poles were for.”
“It’s the grid.” I didn’t want to humor her ditzy act. Everyone knew what the grid was. Most of them chose not to care.
“The grid,” she said. “So I guess you’re one of those people who believes in all that stuff?”
“What do you mean by ‘that stuff’?”
“Great Elder Prophecy, threat to Lorien, eternal vigilance, blah blah blah. Aliens are going to land tomorrow and take us all back to their home planet to clean their toilets unless you fix that box up there right this second!”
I thought for a second. No, I wasn’t one of those people. Obviously. Considering that it was basically what I’d been saying to Rapp all week, I was surprised to find myself resisting her interpretation. Instead of laughing along with her, I bit my tongue, replaced the last of the faulty wires and closed the front of the control panel before gearing up to make my descent back to the ground.
Devektra made no motion to leave.
“Don’t you have a show to prepare for?” I asked.
“Nah,” she said, leaning against the entrance and staring at me with a tough, inscrutable smile. “I just came here for a fitting. I’m not playing again ‘til the Quartermoon.”
“Ah,” I said, throwing the kit over my shoulder.
“You should come,” she said.
I looked up, surprised by the offer and wondered if she was pulling my leg. She had been making fun of me this whole time, right?
Her smile widened. It was like she knew the effect she had on me.
Of course she knows, I remembered, kicking myself. She can read my mind.
She winked, turned, and walked away without another word. I just dangled there, hanging dumbly from my dumb pole.
Even if she’d been serious, which I wasn’t so sure about—being a mind reader must have its perks—there was no way I’d ever be able to take her up on the invitation. I wasn’t allowed to leave the LDA campus after dark, for one, and plus, I’d never be able to get into the Chimæra after the debacle of last time.
Of course, Devektra knew all those things. I’d almost let myself believe she was for real.
CHAPTER 7
When I reached the bottom of Eilon’s Hill, I found Rapp locked in serious-looking conversation with a Mentor Cêpan I’d never met before.
“This is Daxin.” Rapp introduced me as I approached. The guy didn’t seem all that interested in meeting me, but I waved a halfhearted greeting anyway. He ignored it.
“I need to commandeer your transport for the rest of the day,” said Daxin. “Something’s come up and I don’t have time to get back to LDA.”
“Sure,” I said, shrugging. “Take it. We’ll just finish our grid maintenance on foot and then walk back after.” I was annoyed by the prospect of the long walk back to the academy, but wasn’t going to let them see it.
“He can’t take the Egg without one of us,” explained Rapp. “We’re the ones programmed on today’s manifest; the ignition won’t start unless one of us is at the wheel.”
Apparently feeling the situation had been sufficiently explained, Daxin made his way to the Egg and hopped into the passenger seat. Rapp seemed to sense my confusion. “I volunteered you to accompany him.”