Among the Nameless Stars

Pen glared at him, but the captain did not back away, and his tone went from calm and reasonable to calm but rock hard. “I said, Let her go . She’s mine now. Not yours.”
    Pen dropped Bess, and she curled into a ball on the ground.
    “That’s not what I agreed to,” he spat out. “This is treachery.”
    Captain Innovation retrieved the form from where Bess had dropped it. “Is this your signature, on the bottom?”
    “That’s not what I agreed to!” Pen shouted. “You cannot force me to abide by the treacherous lies of my . . .” He cut himself off, then leaned down and directed his next words to Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund
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    Bess alone. “I’ll kill you, girl. Do you hear me? I’ll kill you and your baby, just like I killed your idiot lover.”
    Captain Innovation turned toward one of the other racers, who Kai guessed, by his clothes and noble bearing, was one of the Luddites. “Sir, I would like to register a complaint against the Post-Reductionist Pen, who has just publicly threatened to destroy my property.”
    The Luddite nodded. “Witnessed. Better be careful, Pen, or you’ll find your entire operation here in a bit of trouble from your betters.”
    “My betters!” Pen said with one of his trademark sneers. “You’re no better than me, Luddite.
    How many people do you own?”
    For once, Kai found himself agreeing with his horrible master.

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    Twelve

    Dear Elliot,
    I’ve failed. I’ve lost my only chance of escape, and even now when I think about it, I can’t believe I ever thought it would work. What a stupid idea.
    Not stupid because of the machine. That would have worked. It should have worked if it weren’t for Bess’s meddling. But stupid because, even if it did work, even if I did make Pen win and impressed the Innovations enough that they’d fight Pen to get me—even if all of that had happened, what would I have gained?
    Nothing. I’d still have a master. Maybe the Innovations wouldn’t be as cruel as Pen or as controlling as your father, but I’d still be theirs. I’d have no choice in the matter because they’d be the only thing protecting me from people like Pen.
    I don’t want anyone telling me what to do. Not Pen, not the Innovations, and not even you. I want to be my own master. I want it more than velvet, more than riches, more than a real name. I want to get away from this wretched island. I want to go someplace where no one can ever tell me who I am again.

    Kai knew he’d never send this letter to Elliot. He’d never send any of them. All his life, he’d believed that no one knew him better than Elliot, and vice versa. But that wasn’t true. More than time and distance separated them. She was a Luddite. She would never, ever know what it felt like to be born into Kai’s life, into Kai’s world. She would never understand what it meant for him to escape. People like the Norths, people who owned others, could never comprehend freedom.

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    All his life, he’d thought he loved Elliot. But he never realized how little they knew of each other.
    It was night now, and Kai sat in his corner of the storage box he shared with six other boys.
    He sat on his pallet, scribbling away, not caring who saw. Pen had been beaten by those Luddites’
    bodyguards and was still in confinement in his house. It would be a while before he would be able to mete out any punishment of his own, though Kai wasn’t looking forward to that day.
    “So you write, too? What a variety of talents you have for a slave.”
    Kai lifted his head to see Mrs. Innovation standing in front of him, the hem of her purple skirt dragging on the grimy floor of the box. He opened his mouth, but she cut him off.
    “Bess told me where to find you. That was what you were about to ask, wasn’t it, young man? Or were you planning on offering me a cup of tea?” She wrinkled her nose. “Or an old tin can of tea, I suppose.”
    He scrambled to his feet, his letter still clutched tightly in his hands. “Bess. Where is she?”
    “On her way back to her estate, I imagine.” Mrs. Innovation glanced around at Kai’s messy corner, at the papers and the gearboxes and the well-worn tools. “That wouldn’t have been my choice, given her delicate condition, but it seems she values the safety that distance from Pen can bring.”
    “You freed her?” Kai asked incredulously.
    “We