The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix Read Free Book Online Page A

it.
    Tessa’s body reacted as quickly as her mind. Before she was even conscious of moving, she was already on her feet and running toward Gideon. Her legs tangled in the blanket, but she kept going, diving for Gideon. She knocked him sideways onto the floor of the plane, so if any of the enemy were already trying to shoot him, the bullets would just whiz harmlessly past. But this wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to tackle him, to hold him down, the mud from her ragged clothes rubbing off on his spotless white uniform. Guns could be reloaded, re-aimed, fired again and again and again.
    Tessa rose up and slammed her hand against the control on the wall.
    The door slid shut.

CHAPTER
13
    “What? Who? But …
Tessa
?” Gideon said. His eyes focused on her face, and he wailed, “Noooo … Now I’m going to be responsible for your death too!”
    He curled inward, almost in the same pose of despair Tessa had seen him in that day she’d taken him flowers.
    “No one’s going to die,” Tessa said, with more confidence than she felt. “Not me, not you—you’re going to get us out of here!”
    For a moment Gideon didn’t move, and Tessa had to tug him toward the pilot’s seat.
    “Fly!” she commanded.
    Gideon looked at her again, and he seemed to snap to, scrambling into the pilot’s seat under his own power.
    “Yes, yes, I have to try,” he mumbled. “I can’t let …”
    He didn’t even bother finishing the sentence. He was a flurry of motion, hitting levers, punching buttons, tapping the computer screen.
    Tessa cast an anxious glance toward the door she’d just slammed shut. She expected it to spring open again any minute now and reveal a cluster of evil-looking soldiers pointing guns at her and Gideon. She stumbled over toward the switch she’d hit before.
    “Is there any way to lock—”
    “It’s locked
now
,” Gideon snapped at her. “Get down! The window—”
    Tessa ducked.
    There were actually two windows: the one she’d had her face pressed against the night before, and another one on the other side of the plane, directly across from it. Those windows were the source of the light that had wakened Tessa so dramatically only a few moments ago. But, from this angle, she couldn’t really see out of them now. Tessa would have expected a third window at the front of the plane, so the pilot could see out to fly, but the computer screen lay there instead.
    The computer screen showed only words:
System not engaged. Troubleshoot?
    Tessa didn’t like to see the word “shoot,” even on a computer screen. Then the real meaning of the message sank in: For some reason, the plane wasn’t springing back to life, soaring back into the air.
    Tessa cast another fearful glance at the two windows behind her.
    If the door is locked, the enemy will come in through one of those
windows,
Tessa thought.
They’ll smash in with their guns, and Gideon and I will have to defend ourselves….
    “Do you have any weapon in that backpack of yours?” Tessa asked tensely. “Or should I look in that closet back there—?”
    Tessa pointed toward the rear of the plane, to the door handle she’d smashed her head against the night before. There seemed to be a tiny closet or cupboard built into the wall of the plane.
    Gideon grabbed Tessa’s arm and yanked her down lower.
    “Don’t go anywhere near those windows!” he commanded.
    “But—,” Tessa began. She realized Gideon wasn’t listening. He was peering at the computer screen in horror.
    “Why won’t the engine work?” he muttered. “Override! Override!”
    “What’s wrong?” Tessa asked.
    He flashed her a look of deep frustration.
    “I don’t know!” he screamed.
    He began hitting buttons again, typing in commands. The view on the screen changed rapidly, one screen shot after another, but nothing seemed to give Gideon the information he wanted.
    “I’ll have to tap into the overall system,” he muttered. His hands flew over the keys, code flashing