“But if you’re right about this,” Erik says, “then the coventries aren’t part of Arras. They’re located in between Earth and Arras.”

I follow his eyes up to stare at the snaking tunnel. We can’t see the compound, but I know he must be right. Hadn’t I always suspected everything about the Coventry was false? From the programmed windows carefully created to display a perfect setting to the strange walls in Loricel’s studios that she’d overridden to use exactly as she wanted. The garden filled with creatures and plants that should never have been able to coexist. The constant need for security. The coventries were between Earth and Arras, and that’s why we didn’t fall to our deaths when I ripped us through Arras to Earth. We’d been close enough to the surface in the Coventry.

“That’s why we have to rebound in,” I tell him, recalling the small station situated right outside the compound walls. “It’s why they guard us so closely. They don’t want us to know where we are.”

Dante and Jost stride up in the middle of my explanation, looking angry and out of breath.

“Are you trying to get killed? Do you know how close we are to the mines?” Dante asks.

“I know,” I say.

Jost looks at my drawing in the dirt, and I repeat Erik’s and my conversation as his eyes search the sky. “But the Guild officials must know how this works.”

“Maybe,” Erik says. “The Guild is funny about what it does and doesn’t share, and there are enough ministers occupied with keeping their heads up their—”

“They aren’t worried about it,” I finish for him.

Erik grins. “Sure, sweetie.”

“Did Maela know?” I ask him, gesturing to the strange site. “Did she ever mention anything about the mines?”

“Perfect example,” he says. “I don’t know, but I doubt it. You see, Maela doesn’t care about anything unless it directly affects her. She doesn’t care what you are weaving or why. She does as she’s told and she takes any opportunity she can to advance.”

“So she’s indifferent?”

“It’s the preferred disease of Arras,” Erik says, and his smile becomes anything but amused.

“We shouldn’t stay here,” Jost says in a low voice. “They must keep guards near here.”

“He’s right. Not that there are usually refugees from Arras running around the base of the slubs to worry about,” Dante says.

“Slubs?” Erik asks.

“You’ll feel it,” he says. “The areas near the drill are dead. The Guild has mined all the resources and left an irregularity in space-time.”

Loricel told me Earth was frozen around the mines, and I could feel the coldness creeping over my skin as we moved closer to them.

“I want to see the mines now,” Erik says, and before we can respond to him, he’s heading in the direction of the tubes.

“Me too,” I vote.

Dante groans but turns to follow him. “I knew why you wanted to come today, but I hoped you’d chicken out.”

“We’re too young and reckless to chicken out,” Erik calls back.

“He’s going to get us killed,” Jost growls, even as we follow him.

“Not if I get us killed first,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. He doesn’t laugh, so I take his hand and drag him after his brother.

We catch up with Erik, but no one speaks. There’s a sense of shared purpose in the silence, and we walk for so long that the sun shifts in the sky. First it moves high and glares over us and then it begins to dwindle down. We’re hours from the crawler and the solar equipment, but I won’t turn back until we see the mines. The area we’re exploring is outside the mountain range, and by the time we finally reach the steel fence, the sun hangs low. Not far from the fence, I spot a small creek a short way off. The rushing stream seems so vital after being under the Interface, where everything is inert, lifeless, or artificial.

“I’m going to fill up a few bottles,” Dante says. “Water near the source mines is pure, and we’ll need it for the hike back. Stay here until I return.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jost says. “No one should be alone.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he holds up his hand.

“Please, Ad. You’ll draw more attention if there are guards,” he whispers.

I’m itching to get to the mining site and I don’t want to waste time refilling water bottles but I bob my head in agreement.

“Stay with her until we get back?” Jost asks Erik.

Erik looks genuinely surprised by the request but a little pleased as well.

“You look as out of place as she does,” Jost continues, as if he can’t bear to actually be asking a favor of his brother.

“Sure,” Erik says, but now he doesn’t look happy.

Dante and Jost stride off toward the water, and I fidget as their outlines grow small on the horizon.

“Promise me that you won’t let me clock him,” Erik says through gritted teeth.

I can’t exactly blame him for being mad. I’m not very happy myself. “Promise.”

As soon as they’re far enough away, I start toward the fence.

Erik grabs my arm to stop me, but I drag him along. “They’ll be back in a few minutes,” he says.

“Dante is going to rush us out of here. I want to take a look around without him hovering over us,” I say. “Are you coming with me or waiting around?”