Shutdown (Glitch)

half mile through to the Surface. We thought for sure the Regs would be on our tail, but none even bothered to follow us.”
    I thought of the swarm of Regs who’d been chasing behind me in our tunnel. “They were probably too busy coming after me once I was sighted,” I said. At least it had let my friends get away unharmed.
    “Well, thank God for that then,” Xona said. “The digger was slow, and the whole time we were sure they’d be on us any second. But we made it to the Surface just fine, and then to a transport Henk had stashed close by.” She looked over at Henk with a nod of admiration. “The guy’s got contingency plans on top of contingency plans.”
    “So you got out of there okay?” I asked.
    “At first everything was fine.” Xona blinked hard. “But when we got closer to the rendezvous site, suddenly one of the telepathic twins who was with us, Jare, started screaming that they’d found us.”
    “Thought we were right cracked for sure,” Henk said quietly. “I took us outta there as quick as I could.”
    “But they’d already seen you?” I asked.
    Xona shook her head. “No, the twins had gotten separated. The other boy was in one of the other pods that had been launched. Through their telepathy, Jare saw what Jone was seeing. The rendezvous site had been compromised and Jone was trying to warn his brother. Jare said later he’d seen through his brother’s eyes that one of the other pods had opened fire and then was shot down right over the main cabin. It was only because of Jone’s warning while we were far enough out that we were able to escape in time.”
    I felt like all the breath had been knocked out of my lungs. “How many— I mean, do we know if…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the thought.
    “From what Ginni can tell with her power,” Henk said, “Jone is still alive. When his pod leader saw the armada of transports waiting, they surrendered and landed without a fight. They were taken prisoner. Tyryn’s pod too.”
    Xona looked away at this. I reached out and put a hand on her arm, but she kept staring stonily at the ground.
    “What about the rest?” I squeezed my hands into fists, trying to prepare myself for the worst.
    “There were a lot who never made it out of the Foundation.” Xona looked back up. “Ginni did an inventory of the survivors who were transferred to the Chancellor’s personal prison. Jilia, Saminsa, and Molla and the baby were captured. Cole was with us, but the other two ex-Regs, Wytt and Eli, were killed in the fighting at the Foundation.”
    “Who else?” I knew Ginni’s power would show her who’d died—they’d blink out from her vision.
    “The Professor didn’t make it. Beka and Shaun either,” Xona said quietly. “But the rest of our team came with us. City, Ginni, Rand, Juan, Amara, the techer; they’re all safe, along with a half dozen Rez fighters.”
    In spite of the list of those who were safe, I still felt sick to my stomach. Professor Henry had been such a kind and good man. I hadn’t known Beka and Shaun well other than seeing them use their Gifts in training. But still, they were both so young. Far too young to die.
    Henk looked over at Adrien, his eyebrows heavy. “And I’m so sorry ’bout your mother.”
    Adrien looked down, his face contorting as if he was trying hard not to cry. In spite of all he’d said, had some part of him harbored hope that she’d survived the attack? I wanted to go hug him, but I wasn’t sure he would welcome it.
    My lip trembled. The tears I’d been managing to keep back so far finally brimmed to the surface. Jilia had been like a second mom to us. And Tyryn was Xona’s brother and my friend. I hugged her hard again. She didn’t cry, but she held me while I did.
    “What now?” Adrien asked several long moments later, running his forearm roughly across his eyes.
    “Now we regroup,” Henk said. His jaw was tight. “And then we go to that prison and get ’em back.”

 
    Chapter 20
    WE PACKED UP THE FEW bits of our unused supplies and followed Henk and Xona back out of the cave.
    It was nighttime, but I could still see the outline of the impressive vehicle in the moonlight. It was even bigger than the large group transport we’d had at the Foundation.
    “Where did you get this?” I asked.
    “It’s why we couldn’t come sooner,” Henk said. “I stashed this baby away right before my cover at the transport factory got cracked last year. It’s got all the