Partials series 1-3. Dan Wells

      Her friends stared at her wordlessly, mouths open, the long-dead Kevan’s music roaring angrily in the background. Madison was speechless, her eyes wide with disbelief; Isolde and Jayden furrowed their brows, probably certain she was crazy; Xochi tried to smile, perhaps wondering if it was a joke.

      “Kira . . . ,” said Marcus slowly.

      “Hells yeah,” said Haru. “That is what I’m talking about.”

      “You can’t be serious,” said Madison.

      “Of course she’s serious,” said Haru. “It makes perfect sense. The Partials created the virus; they can tell us how to cure it. Under extreme duress, if necessary.”

      “I didn’t mean we should interrogate one,” said Kira. “There are a million of them; finding one with a working knowledge of viral biology is probably not likely. But we can study one. Marcus and I tried researching the immunity process using current data, but it’s a dead end—not because the research team at the hospital isn’t doing their job, but because they’ve been doing their job way too well for over a decade now. They’ve exhausted literally every other possibility. Our best shot—our only shot—is to analyze Partial physiology for something we might be able to adapt into an inoculation or a cure. And we have to do it soon, before this baby is born.”

      “Kira—” said Marcus again, but Jayden cut him off.

      “You’ll restart the war.”

      “Not if we do it small,” said Haru, leaning forward eagerly. “A big invasion would be noticed, yes, but a small team might be able get across the line, grab one, and get out quietly. They wouldn’t even know we were there.”

      “Except that one of their people would be gone,” said Xochi.

      “They’re not people,” Haru snapped, “they’re machines—biological machines, but machines nonetheless. They don’t care about one missing Partial any more than one gun cares about another. Worst-case scenario, some Partial commander notices a missing gun on the rack and just builds a new one to replace it.”

      “Can they build new ones?” asked Isolde.

      “Who knows?” said Haru. “We know they can’t reproduce, but who’s to say they haven’t found the Partial-making machines at ParaGen and gotten them working again? The point is, you can’t think of them as people, because that’s not even how they think of themselves. Stealing a Partial isn’t kidnapping, it’s . . . capturing equipment.”

      “We still get pretty upset when the Voice capture our equipment,” said Madison.

      “No,” said Jayden, staring at the floor, “they’re right.” He looked up. “We can do this.”

      “Oh, not you too,” said Madison.

      Kira silently cheered—she didn’t understand why Madison was so resistant, but it didn’t matter if she’d won over Jayden. She caught his eyes and nodded, determined to keep his momentum going. “What are you thinking?”

      “I know a few other guys in the Grid who’d help us,” said Jayden. “Mostly scouts—we’re not even certain where the Partials are, let alone how they’re set up, so we’d need a small recon team that could cross over, watch for a lone scout or small patrol, then grab one and get back to the island without anyone noticing.” He looked at Madison, then back at Kira. “It’s not the safest plan in the world, but we could do it.”

      “I’m going,” said Xochi.

      “No, you’re not,” said Isolde, “and neither is anyone else.”

      Kira ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed on Jayden; she needed him to make this work. “Do you know a good place to cross the sound?”

      “We shouldn’t cross the sound,” said Haru, shaking his head. “We watch our side like hawks, it’s a good bet they watch their side too. If we want to cross the line, we do it through a place that’s empty and isolated, where we know nobody’s watching.”

      Jayden nodded. “Manhattan.”

      “Now I know you’re all crazy,” said Marcus, putting a hand on Kira’s arm. “The reason nobody watches Manhattan is because it’s filled with explosives—the bridges are rigged, the city on both sides is rigged, and for all we know the Partial border on the Harlem River is rigged on the north. One false move and the whole island’ll blow up.”

      “Except that we know where our bombs are,” said Jayden. “I can get access to all the old plans and records showing exactly where the safe routes are.”

      “There’s safe routes?” asked Xochi.

      “We’d have been stupid not to leave any,” said Jayden. “They’re small, and they’re hard to find, but with the right maps we can find them all and slip right through.”

      “I want everyone to stop talking about this right now,” said Madison. Her voice was stronger and darker than Kira had ever heard it. “No one is going to Manhattan, no one is going to pick their way through a minefield, and I guarantee you that no one is going to attack and capture a Partial. They’re super-soldiers—they were created to win the Isolation War, they’re not just going to roll over to a bunch of teenagers. They are monsters, and they are incredibly dangerous, and you are not taking my husband and my brother anywhere near them.”

      “We’re doing this for you,” said Haru.

      “But I don’t want you to,” Madison insisted. Kira could see her eyes welling up with tears, her hand wrapped protectively around the small bulge in her belly. “If you want to protect my baby, don’t leave her without a father.”

      “If I stay,” said Haru softly, “our baby will have a father for about three days. Four if we’re lucky. Kira’s right—if we don’t do something now, the baby will die, no question. But if I go, and if we can bring back a Partial, we might be able to save her.”

      Her, thought Kira. They say it like they know, even though it’s still too early to tell. This is a real person for them. Can’t Madison see that this is the only way?

      Madison’s voice cracked. “And if you die?”

      “Then I trade my life for my child’s,” said Haru. “There’s not a father on this island who wouldn’t do the same.”

      “You’ve sold me,” said Xochi, folding her arms. “I’m in.”

      “I’m not,” said Isolde. “I’m with Mads on this one—it’s dangerous, it’s treasonous, and it’s a one-in-a-million shot. It’s not worth the risk.”

      “Of course it’s worth it,” said Kira. “Say that it’s stupid, say that it’s impossible, but never say that it’s not worth it. We know full well that we might not be coming back alive, or successful, and I recognize that, and I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t ready to accept it. But Haru is right—trading any of us, even trading all of us, for the chance to start a new generation of humans is more than worth it. If we can actually pull this off and use a Partial to cure RM, we’re not just saving Maddy’s baby, we’re saving thousands of babies, maybe millions of babies—every human baby ever born for the rest of time. We’re saving our entire species.”

      Isolde was quiet. Madison was crying. She wiped her eyes and whispered, staring plaintively at Haru, “But why does it have to be you?”

      “Because until we can prove it was the right move,” said Haru, “this entire plan is illegal. The fewer people who know about it, the better. Jayden can grab a couple of more people as backup, but most of what we need is right here in this room, and that’s our only chance of getting away with it.”

      “I still think you’re insane,” said Marcus. “Do you even have a plan? You’re not just going to grab a Partial and push the ‘cure RM’ button—even assuming you catch one, do you have any idea what to do with