Free Reached by Ally Condie Page B

step back.
    The Rising has thoroughly infiltrated the Army throughout the years. It’s strongest in Camas, where most of the Army is stationed. Things should go smoothly here. It’s deeper in the Society where we might have some infighting. But with the Pilot the only one speaking from the ports, the rest of the people should follow soon.
    Another fighter ship comes over, protecting a heavier-looking ship that drops down to land. When I get to the door of the medical center, it’s guarded by Rising officers. They must have already secured the inside. “Xander Carrow, physic,” I tell one of the officers. He glances at his miniport to check my data. Runners wearing black sprint from the landing field where the ship came down. They carry cases marked with medical insignia.
    Is that what I think it is?
    The cure.
    The officer waves me inside. “Physics report to the office on the main floor,” he says.
    Inside the medical center, I hear the Pilot’s voice again, coming from the ports all over the building. He’s singing the Anthem of the Society.
What would that be like?
I catch myself wondering.
To hear the music in your head and then have it come out sounding right?
    Two officers drag an Official past me. He’s weeping and holding his hand over his heart, his lips moving along to the Anthem. I feel sorry for him: I wish he knew that this wasn’t the end of the world. I can see how it would feel that way.
    When I get to the office someone hands me a black uniform, and I change into it right there in the hall like the others are doing. I roll up the sleeves because it’s time to get to work, and I throw my white Official uniform down the nearest incineration tube. I’ll never wear it again.

    “We separate the patients into groups of one hundred,” the head physic on duty tells me. He smiles. “As the Pilot said, some of the old systems from the Society will remain in place, for now.” He points to the rows of patients, whom the Rising personnel have been referring to as the
still
. “You’ll be in charge of making sure they get proper care and of overseeing the cure. Once they’ve recovered and moved on, we’ll move new patients to your area.”
    The ports are silent. Right now they’re flashing pictures of the still in Central.
    Central: where Cassia is. For the first time I feel a hint of worry. What if she
didn’t
join the rebellion and she’s watching this? What if she’s afraid?
    I was so sure Official Lei was part of the Rising.
    Could I be wrong about Cassia?
    I’m not. She told me that day on the port. She couldn’t say the words outright, but I heard it in her voice. I know how to listen, and I could tell she made the jump.
    “We’re waiting for more nurses and medics to come in,” the head physic says. “Are you comfortable giving the cure for now?”
    This is not like the Society. The lines are already becoming blurred. The Society would never have let me do the work of a medic after my promotion to physic.
    “Of course,” I say.
    I scrub my hands and take one of the tubes from the cases. Next to me, a nurse does the same. “They’re beautiful,” she says over her shoulder, and I have to agree.
    I remove the cover on the syringe and slide the needle into the line so that the cure flows into the patient’s vein. The Pilot’s voice comes over the ports in the medical center and I have to smile because his words fit perfectly. “The Society is sick,” he tells us, beginning his message again, “and we have the cure.”

CHAPTER 8
    CASSIA
    I can’t wait here any longer. My whole body trembles with the cold.
    Where is he?
    I wish I could remember what happened earlier today. Did the Rising’s sort come through? Did I do what they needed?
    For a minute, anger shivers through me along with the cold. I never wanted to be here in Central. I wanted the Rising to send me to Camas like Ky and Indie. But the Rising didn’t find me fit for flying or fighting, only for sorting.
    That’s