“He acts as if he alone knows what’s best,” she said, resigned. “I’ve even heard him second-guess the Senators.”

“Ah-ha!” Teacher Rowan hissed. “Treason.”

“Something doesn’t seem right,” Saxon admitted.

“So join us—Alberta and I have started a petition.”

“What about Alice?”

“Teacher Jones has made her choice. She’s with Director Kumar, whatever comes.”

“And where is it that you and Teacher Alberta stand, exactly? If I’m to join you, I want to be clear.”

“We stand with the Party and against any force that hinders the Seed!”

Behind the desk, I shivered. There was something dark in her tone.

“We don’t know what Director Dana Kumar is plotting,” she went on, “but it’s clear that he is no longer with us. And so, by proxy, neither is Teacher Jones.”

The Awakening

THE AWAKENING

8 MONTHS LATER...

An urgent knock at the door roused me. I sat up, tipping the covers, Hosea’s covers, to my waist. The knock sounded again.

“Arika, if you’re in there, say something.”

My befuddled mind registered Jetson’s voice at the door.

“Hosea, I swear on my life, you’d better not have touched her,” Jetson said.

I glanced around. The room was empty.

The door flew open. Jetson rushed in. “Arika, are you okay?”

I swallowed. “I’m fine, I think.”

He knelt beside me. “Where is he? I want to see his smug face before I punch him. Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” I was only half listening. In my head I replayed the faint whisper of Hosea’s last words to me—“You’re not trapped here in America—go west.” West, I thought. But there’s nothing west of America except the boiling seas.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jetson railed, interrupting my thoughts. “You’re in his bed!”

“Leave off, Jetson!” I snapped. I looked around. The room was dark. I had slept for hours. “He gave me something to make me sleep,” I said. “He said it would confuse me.” Had his advice to go west been merely a dream? I lay back, trying to orient myself.

What I did remember firmly was his conversation with the giant field hand, William, the Cobane Champion. My mind flashed again and I remembered the dream I had about Rowan and Saxon. I’d overheard their conversation months ago, but the memory, freed from my subconscious, was now distressingly fresh. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the two had been discussing the New Seed. Both of them were loyal members of the Party, and both of them doubted whether Jones and Director Kumar were to be trusted.

Jetson took my shoulders. “Can you sit up?”

“I think I need a nurse.” Hosea had said as much. “Will you ring for one?”