Free Falling by Kailin Gow

transfer to helicopters, and head out into that broken up farmland I saw from the air. From this angle, Virginia is beautiful. We fly for maybe twenty minutes before touching down in the middle of a small farm, nowhere near as big as the sites used for Location Two and Location Six. It’s the kind of farm that looks like it must never make any real money for the owners, because it’s too small. It’s a few fields, and a few small outbuildings clustered around a central farmhouse, but nothing more than that.
    Grayson and I haven’t spoken since the plane. Instead, I sit next to Jack, using his presence like a shield to keep the rest of the world out. My life is complicated enough without Grayson deciding that he wants to get back together with me. Or learning that we never really broke up. It’s better for things to be as they are. It really is.
    As the helicopters touch down, we get out. The Faders move from them in well-rehearsed fashion, unloading them at speed while simultaneously checking the area for potential problems. Jack helps me out, leading me off to one side, while Lionel is the last one off. He signals to the helicopters, and they leave us there, taking off again so that in less than a couple of minutes, the farmyard is back to looking like nothing special once again.
    “This is it?” I ask, speaking to Jack. He nods. “But it doesn’t look like anything.”
    “That’s kind of the point.” One of the outbuilding doors opens to reveal the speaker. It’s Marlene from Location Six. Her arm is heavily bandaged. She nods to me, to Jack, to Lionel. She doesn’t so much as look at Grayson. I guess she’s still upset about the violent way that he broke out when they tried to Fade him.
    “Hello, everyone,” she says. “Welcome to Location Four. Jonas is waiting for you inside.”
     

ELEVEN
     
     
     
     
     
    T here are Faders in the farmhouse, not to mention the outbuildings, the yard… suffice it to say there are a lot of Faders there. The Underground has obviously pulled together a lot of resources in order to make this rescue mission work, with the result that there are more Faders in one place than I’ve seen before. Or maybe that impression is just down to the size of the farm. After all, Location Four is a lot smaller than the other Underground bases I’ve been too.
    Marlene looks at us. “I have orders from Jonas to show the new arrivals to rooms,” she says. “He thinks you’ll need some rest before you move on the Fortress.”
    You, not we. It seems her broken arm is going to keep her out of that one. I wonder how it’s doing, given that it had to be set on the way out of a base that was about to explode. When I start to mention it, though, she ignores me. She doesn’t ignore Grayson, however.
    “What’s he doing here?” she asks. “Hasn’t he done enough damage?”
    Grayson looks down. “I’m sorry about your arm, but it was the only way.”
    Marlene ignores the apology too, looking at Jack, “I’m still looking for an explanation, Jack. What’s going on? He’s already given up the location of one base.”
    Jack shakes his head. “It isn’t like that. We don’t believe that Grayson had anything to do with it, anymore. It also looks like you achieved a pretty thorough Fade on him before… well, before he escaped. He’s working with us, now.”
    “I don’t like it,” Marlene says.
    Lionel obviously thinks it is time to intervene, because he steps forward between them. “You don’t have to like it, but given the seriousness of the situation, you do have to obey instructions if we’re going to get through this in one piece. Now, I believe you said that Jonas told you to show my Faders around. That includes Grayson here, so do so, please.”
    Marlene stares at the major for a moment, then nods tightly. “If you say so. Come on then,” she says to the assembled Faders, then looks at Grayson. “And you.”
    They head off together, not entirely happily. I’m a