I wish I had something smart to say. Instead I can only stare at her.
“Ambystoma maculatum,” she continues. “It had algae in cells all over its body. And that algae—a plant, you know—produced photosynthetic energy that it then provided to the salamander. So the salamander got its energy—or, you know, some of it, at least—from the sun. Like a plant, but not a plant. A salamander. A solar-powered salamander.”
Rondo and I stare at her. She’s grinning in her brainy way until she sees our faces.
“What? It was a brilliant animal, okay? My mom told me all about it when I was studying intergalactic species comparisons—”
“You’re so bizarre,” I interrupt. “But it doesn’t explain why my mom would tell me the name of some random sun salamander.”
“Unlikely that it’s random,” Rondo says, raising his eyebrow. “Think it’s a coincidence that the Solossius and the salamander both have something to do with solar energy?”
“Whatever it is, my mother was talking about a power source precious to the Faloii. I have no idea what that connection could be, but we don’t have time to figure this out right now. We have to focus on getting Adombukar out of the labs and into the jungle.”
“But what about the egg?” Alma says. “The kawa? Why are they looking for it?”
“I don’t know,” I repeat. “But we have to set that aside right now too. We need to get into the Zoo, find Adombukar, and get him out.”
“How?” says Alma. “They’re not going to just let us stroll in there and take him for a walk. We don’t even know where he is.”
“I found the vasana,” I say, as much to her as to myself. “If I’m given a little time, I can find him too. If he’s still alive.”
We’re silent, these last words hanging in the air between us. If Adombukar is dead, then we might as well be too.
Rondo turns and lifts the izinusa from the floor, placing its case on the bed before returning the instrument to safety. He looks at it for a moment, then reaches his hand down to strum the ten delicate strings. The notes rise.
“Well,” Rondo says. He closes the case. I close my eyes. “Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER 26
The raised voices of the crowds of compound residents have softened—fear has descended from the sky like a flock of predatory birds. We catch the whispers as we move toward the front of the commune.
“The searches were authorized by the Council,” a man says. “It must be for our protection.”
An old woman, supporting herself on a gnarled cane, stands near the entrance to her ’wam.
“Protection,” she croaks, “is not offered in an eclipse of truth. We need to know what has happened.”
“Do you really want to know?” the man snaps. “If we have nothing to hide, then we have nothing to fear.”
The conversation shoots back and forth through the crowds.
“Maybe whatever it was didn’t get out of the labs. Maybe it got in from the jungle.”
“When has something ever gotten in from outside? Unless it was sent by the Faloii. They already killed that boy.”
The fear in their voices is like a new specimen that runs wild in N’Terra, overpopulating the compounds. Alma nudges me when we’re out of earshot.
“They’re talking about Jaquot.”
“I know.” I look over my shoulder at the group, still clustered together, muttering. I can’t help but think about what Dr. Espada said: Fear makes people stupid. “They’re idiots if they think the Faloii had anything to do with it.”
“People don’t know what to think,” Rondo says as we begin to climb the stairs toward the main dome. “This is what the Council has done by not sharing any information about the Faloii. People are bound to think the worst when something goes wrong.”
“They are sharing information,” Alma says. “The wrong information.”
The main dome is silent. We round a turn in the path and find ourselves behind the very tree Rondo and I had crouched behind the night Adombukar was brought into the compound. As usual, two guards stand on either side of the doorway to the Zoo beyond the tree line. I expect them to be on high alert with everything going on, but they seem relaxed: buzzguns in hand but held loosely, aimed at the ground.
“You’d think there would be more guards,” I whisper.
“The Council may have given the impression that the threat is contained,” Alma says. “With your mom and Dr. Espada in custody, they may not think they have anything else to worry about.”
“Or maybe they already found the kawa,” Rondo says.
“Another thing I have to find,” I say.
“We’ll worry about that later,” Alma says. “For now, we have to figure out how to get into the lab.”
I turn away from the Zoo, crouching behind the tree.
“Well, I think I have that part covered,” I say, holding up my hands.
“Meaning?” Alma raises her eyebrow.
“Long story. Remember when the wall in the deep part of the Zoo thought I was my dad? Not a coincidence. My mom actually reimprinted my hands.”
Rondo raises his eyebrows, impressed.
“Did she do that with hacking?” he says. “I wouldn’t mind learning that.”
“No,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. “She actually, you know, reimprinted them.”
Alma squints at me, the gears in her mind working.
“So the poison vine she says you touched . . .”
“Didn’t happen.”
“Oh,” she says, then pauses. “Your mom is good.”
“Yeah, well, the Council wouldn’t agree.”
“Obviously.”
“Okay,” Rondo says. “So you should be able to get into the labs, but those guards aren’t just going to let you walk right in. They know who you are. We need a plan.”
I think about this, turning to look around the dome without leaving the shelter of the tree. If this were the Beak, with its free-roaming specimens, we might have an easier time coming up with a diversion of some kind. But I don’t see much to work with.
I turn back to ask if anyone has any ideas and find Rondo with his slate out, the screen illuminated and his fingers tapping away. Alma peers over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“What he’s always doing,” Alma says without raising her eyes.
“What are you hacking?” I ask.
“The guards’ comms,” he says.
“You can do that?”
His fingers stop tapping and his eyes glance up at my face, one eyebrow raised. Of course he can. I can’t help but smile at him. When he makes that face . . .
“Are you going to talk to them?” Alma says.
“Yes,” Rondo says.
“What are you going to say?”
His fingers pause on the screen.
“I haven’t gotten that far,” he says, and looks up into the branches of the ogwe for inspiration. “Something about a specimen being loose? That would get them running.”
“No,” Alma says. “That will probably make the ones at the front come back toward the Zoo. We need them away, toward the front of the dome.”
“The egg,” I whisper. “Tell them someone saw the kawa outside. That will get them away from the door.”
He looks up at me. “You sure? What if they already found it?”