Free Steel Lily ARC by Megan Curd Page A

as the one I knew, but the glass was clear and polished and went on for ages. The date, time, and temperature moved across the top of the glass in a hologram, keeping the inhabitants informed. Clouds drifted along, revealing the outside world.
    I’d never seen clouds of any kind, let alone fluffy white ones.
    “Are…are those real?” I asked, pointing weakly to the heavens before me.
    “Of course not,” Jaxon said, “It’s a hologram to depict what we hope to have some day.”
    Alice sucked in a breath, scandalized. “But holograms are banned devices! They take too much energy!”
    Jaxon waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t believe everything you hear from your lovely governor. We’re fine running electricity here. You two were living in the stone ages. Force-fed false information. Contrary to your previous way of life, this is 2030, not 1830.”
    His voice made it clear he thought this place superior. He flourished our oxygen masks in front of us, then tossed them over the side of the carriage.
    “Hey!” I protested.
    “Avery, we even have clean air. No masks needed.”
    He’d said my name, and I didn’t recall giving it to him. It was all beginning to crash into me. The night before. The Polatzi. Our home, gone. Running for our lives. This boy who just happened to be there, who happened to know Mr. Riggs. There were too many coincidences.
    My eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”
    He looked around as though searching for someone he might have missed in the carriage. After a moment, he pointed to himself. “Are you talking to me? Because I’m sure I made it clear. I’m Jaxon Pierce.”
    “Yes, I know that but who are you? How did you know where we were? How do you know us?”
    Jaxon ignored my question, turned to the front of the carriage, and punched a blue button to the right of the dashboard. Suddenly a metal trap door dropped out of the middle of the buggy, revealing a rope ladder.
    Jaxon turned back to us, expectance all over his face. He waved his arms in the direction of the ladder. “Well?”
    “Well what?” I asked.
    “Aren’t you going to get out?”
    “Get out somewhere when we have no clue where we are? That’s insane.”
    He rolled his head back and looked to the sky. “If Riggs sends me for one more useless person, I’m going to die.”
    Alice snorted. “Are you sure you’re not being melodramatic?”
    He arched an eyebrow at her, his lips curved in an audacious smile. “Are you sure you two aren’t being stupid just to test me?”
    “Well, give us answers so we’re not stupid!” Alice shouted.
    I’d never heard Alice shout at someone before. I was impressed.
    Jaxon shook his head and then leapt down the hatch without warning. Both Alice and I leaned over the buggy’s edge to watch him. He held onto either side of the ladder and slid down, opting to not use the footholds like a normal person.
    As if there were any question on him being normal.
    I sighed and tugged Alice out of her seat. “We may as well go,” I said while placing one foot on the first rung of the swaying ladder. “Otherwise we’ll sit up here looking at each other forever.”
    It took less time to get down than I thought it would. My feet hit firm ground, and my knees buckled.
    Jaxon laughed. “You need your sea legs, sailor.”
    “Oh shut up.”
    He stifled a chuckle while Alice struggled down the ladder. Her dress tangled in the rungs and under her shoes. More than once I heard an unladylike expletive, which was most un-Alice-like. It made me smile.
    I caught Jaxon looking at me, and I turned to him. “Are you really going to make me ask you again? Who are you?”
    “As I’ve told you, I’m Jaxon. That’s all you need to know.”
    He made a sweeping bow. A few stray dreads spilled over his shoulders and threatened to touch the grassy ground.
    The grassy ground.
    I marveled at this miracle as Alice reached my side. I glanced her way and giggled. Her hair was a rat’s nest of pins and bobs that