The World Forgot Read Free Page A

Almiri?” I’m stunned. I mean, I guess they were handsome enough dudes, but with this entire alien race war being such a sausagefest, I’ve been getting kind of immune to hot guys.
    Oates nods. “They have helped to transport freed slaves. Illegal prisoners of war. And even men and women like yourself.”
    â€œEnosi,” I say, slowly beginning to understand. “You mean they’ve helped hybrids escape from Almiri camps. But how did they . . .” And then it dawns on me, full force. “You!” I turn to face Oates straight on. “Cape Crozier wasn’t originally for Almiri Code-breakers with extra ants in their pants, was it? The Almiri held Enosi captive there, back when the continent was unexplored. And you . . . your trip to the South Pole in the twentieth century . . . you were freeing them.”
    Oates is way too classy a dude to even acknowledge his own heroics. He simply rubs the palms of his hands along the cool rail. Me, being not so cool or classy, I slap him on the arm.
    â€œWhy didn’t you ever say anything? You helped rescue, what, a hundred Enosi prisoners? A thousand? You need to tell them that! They need to see that not all Almiri are raging prejudiced asshats.”
    â€œThe time may very well be at hand,” Oates agrees. “I am equally concerned with convincing the Almiri Council that they have been, as you put it so poetically, ‘asshats.’”
    â€œSo you, what? Stayed in the prison as a statement to Byron and the others?”
    â€œI did. And it has already had some positive effects.”
    â€œSuch as?”
    â€œWell, your grandfather sent you to me, did he not?”
    Byron, aka James Dean, aka my grandfather. Who would have imagined that sending your granddaughter to an Antarctic prison could be considered a relaxed position in the whole Almiri-Enosi conundrum?
    â€œSo he sent me to you to keep me and Olivia safe,” I say.
    â€œThat was the idea. God laughs at all our plans, child.”
    I feel the tightness in my chest that comes whenever I allow myself to think about my daughter. “Byron will help us get Olivia back, won’t he? I mean, I know the world is coming to an end and everything, but . . .”
    â€œWe will find your daughter. I gave you my word. But you must be patient. There are many developments that we must account for now, not the least of which is the imminent Jin’Kai invasion.”
    I clench my teeth and say nothing. I mean, I know he’s right, that there are bigger things going on right now. That I need to be patient.
    But that doesn’t mean I can do it.
    I grip the railing and smell the salty air as a frigid breeze blows across the deck of the rickety old boat. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth, which can only be blamed in part on the milk residue on my tongue.
    â€œHow did you know?” I ask.
    â€œMiss?”
    â€œYou stayed trapped for so long, because you thought it was the right thing to do. How did you know when it was time to free yourself?”
    â€œWe are all captains of our own destiny,” he says, putting an arm gently around my shoulders. “When the time comes, you just know.”
    And for some reason that starts me bawling, crying like some sort of girl. I press my face into Oates’s coat, letting it absorb my tears. He pats my back.
    â€œThere, there, Miss Elvie,” he reassures me. “Everything’s all right now. You’re almost there.”
    And as I look out at the water, I can almost allow myself to believe it.
    Hold on, I think to my daughter, wherever she may be. Just hold on a little longer. Mama’s coming for you.
    Hold on.

Chapter Two
    In Which Things Are Seen That Cannot Be Unseen
    â€œWait,” Ducky says as we walk down the narrow hall toward the med bay. “You broke up with Cole? Like, ‘broke up’ broke up?”
    â€œLet’s not make a thing about it, please,” I say.