Kara. My hand is still stretched out to her. Whatever she's become, whatever is left, I can't let it go. Focus, Locke. Focus. You can turn back the seconds. But I can't. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

* * *

I hear voices behind. Yelling. And then a hand on my back.

"Locke," Jenna whispers, "come away from the cliff." She's on her knees next to me. I ease back from the edge. Loose dirt and stones tumble over the side.

Jenna stands and takes my hand, pulling me to my feet and farther away from the edge. I can't think. I look at my hands, fingers, all numb like they are no longer there. Useless. They couldn't save her.

"At least I still have one to take back."

I look to the side. Hari still has the tazegun aimed at me.

"You didn't even try to save him," I say.

"Why would I? I didn't like him any more than you did. And I don't need him. I already have some buyers for you. Let's go."

Allys puts Kayla back into Jenna's arms and steps forward, shaking her head. "I'd think again, jerkwad. That tazegun can only shoot one person at a time and has a pretty slow reload. On the other hand..." She glances into the distance behind Hari.

Hari turns his head while maintaining the aim of the tazegun. The two other goons turn to look too. Walking up from the bottom of the field is a line of land pirates. At least twenty. Their black coats flap in the breeze like a flock of menacing ravens--ravens with a purpose. Bone is among them.

"Those aren't tazeguns they're carrying," Allys says. "Those are old-fashioned rifles. The kind that can blow a five-inch hole through you. Or ten-inch. It's hard to tell with all the mess."

Hari turns to look at the others. They shake their heads.

"And I should warn you--their aim is terrible. Sometimes they shoot off arms, feet, all kinds of things before they hit dead center. But they're persistent little devils."

Hari looks at me, a mix of frustration, fear, and fading dollar signs in his eyes. His lip pulls up in a sneer, his last weak grab at power. He turns to the others, who are keeping an eye on the advancing land pirates. "Let's get out of here," he says. They don't hesitate and scramble into the car and roar off.

Three of the land pirates raise their rifles and take aim, hitting the roof and the road just ahead of the car. Bad aim or a warning? It doesn't really matter. Either way, it does the job, and the car accelerates.

Allys drives back to the house. Jenna sits between us, cradling Kayla in her lap. None of us speak. Kayla is saved. Kara is gone. Just like that. In an instant, reality has flipped again. Do they feel as numb as I do? Right now life is harder than a century of darkness.

It is only the unanswered question of what has happened to Miesha that keeps my eyes on the road at all. When we pull into the driveway, we see her sprawled at the bottom of the porch steps. There is no sign of Dot.

Allys stops the truck, and we jump out and run to Miesha. She is breathing but unconscious.

"They must have shot her with the tazegun," Jenna says. "Let's get her inside."

I know the routine. First it was for me. Then Kara. Now Miesha. I lift her and carry her to her bed, praying that Miesha has tougher skin than three elephants. Allys and Jenna take over, and I go back outside to look for Dot. I see her assistance chair in an oleander bush near the driveway and run to it. And then just beyond it, almost hidden in the vegetable garden, I spot her lying in a bed of lettuce. I hurry to her. Her eyes are open and staring into the sky, sightless. Her torso is shattered, the skin torn away from her neck. I fall to my knees next to her.

I reach forward and fold the flap of skin back against her neck. The smell of her burned circuitry hangs in the air.

"Dot," I whisper, unable to believe that she's gone too.

"Is that you, Customer Locke?"

I fall back on my butt. "Dot?"

"I cannot see you. I'm afraid that. That. That. Portion of my circuitry has incurred dam. Dam. Dam."

"It was damaged," I whisper.

"It was that stray shot from the tazegun. Miesha saw me. Disabled. She was. She was distracted. That's when they grabbed her. Is she all right?"

"Yes," I lie. "She's fine. What happened to you?"

"Car. They swerved. To hit me. They. I cannot see you. I'm afraid that. That. That. Portion of my circuitry has incurred dam. Dam. Dam."

"Yes, I know. It was damaged," I say again.

"Correct. But you are free?"

"Yes, Dot. Because of you, I'm free. What should I--"

"Mission accomplished. Your success is. Is. Isss."

I hear a pop, and smoke seeps from the opening in her neck. There are no more words, only silence and her sightless stare into the sky. Her jewel blue sky. I stand and pick her up. Broken bits of her fall away, but I carry the bulk of her to my room and lay her on my bed.

Chapter 74

The next two weeks go by in a blur. We bury Dot beneath a tree near the greenhouse. We give her a marker with her name--the full proper name she chose and the title she deserved too. Officer Dot Jefferson, Liberator.

Miesha still hasn't wakened. Jenna says the tazegun was set to kill rather than stun and that Miesha is lucky to be alive. She doesn't know when or if she will wake. Kayla doesn't mind when I tuck one of her stuffed animals under Miesha's arm. It is a small blue elephant that is missing one eye. I check on her each day before I go outside to work and again when I return.