“We don’t know where he or your friend’s brother are being held.”

“No, but how long do you think the government can keep holding them if everyone in the city knows the truth?” I ask. “There has to be a way to get the word out to people about what’s happening. The more people who know, the harder it will be for the government to take people away or to keep the Unity Centers secret.” Atlas doesn’t automatically shoot me down, which gives me hope I might be onto something. So I barrel ahead. “There have to be other Stewards who don’t want to wait around to see how many more people are taken or die. Maybe if we all work together we can spread the truth to enough people to make a difference. We can convince them to speak out and—”

“Don’t you think I want to?” Atlas runs a hand over his head. “People aren’t ready, Meri. They won’t believe just because you say they should.”

“I did.”

Atlas and I jump at the sound of Rose’s voice. She’s standing in the hallway in leggings and an oversize blue Chicago Cubs T-shirt, holding her brother’s ID in her hand.

“Meri told me about it all. I didn’t want to hear it, but Meri made me listen. And I believe.”

“You told her?” Atlas turns toward me.

“I trust her. And I owed her the truth.” I straighten my shoulders and say, “Everyone deserves the chance to hear the truth.”

“And if we fail?” Atlas asks. “What happens to my dad and her brother then? What happens to you?”

“The same thing that would happen if we did nothing,” I say, feeling Rose move to stand at my side. “But at least I’ll know we didn’t let that happen without a fight.”

Atlas turns and paces to the window. He runs a hand over the back of his neck and looks out as if searching for answers. “I don’t want to hide in the Lyceum. I don’t want to keep waiting for the right time. But if we don’t have a plan, we don’t have a chance.”

“Our parents had a plan,” I tell him. “We just have to figure out what it was.”

He turns. “We don’t know what they were working on.”

“My mother’s friend—the one I visited—said my mother was working with people to reveal the truth to the entire city. You said your father and my mother weren’t working alone. Atlas.” I step toward him. “Do you believe that’s true? That there were others?”

Slowly he nods. “There’s at least one more. But . . .”

“Then we have to find them.”

“How?” he asks.

“We go to the Lyceum and figure out who it is. We have to at least try.”

It’s not much of a plan, but it’s better than nothing. Atlas paces the room, sighs, then turns backs to me. “Well, if we’re going, we’d better do it now because the lockdown starts at midnight.”