Shine Read Online Free PDF Page B

bloody very quickly. Or maybe I understood--it in a detached, academic sense--but it hadn't really occurred to me that our side might have guns too.
    More videos followed. Similar declarations of support, and instructions for assembly. The vids rarely showed faces--just quick, shaky shots of gathered bodies and some semi-distinctive landmark. My stomach roiled. My shirt was soaked. We waited.
    Finally, with no warning from the feeds, we heard footsteps on the stairs. More than one person, but not more than a handful. Xiao and I shared a glance. Neither of us turned on our knives. Three sets of boots cast echoes from the far end of the corridor.
    And all at once, the knotty storm of anxiety in my chest resolved into a liquid cool. This was it. The waiting was over. Whatever was going to happen would happen. An idiot grin spread over my face; I squeezed Xiao's hand, and he looked at me as if I'd gone mad.
    The three newcomers emerged into the light. Old Zhu walked with a slight limp, smiling a crooked smile. On either side of him was a security officer with an automatic rifle. I recognized one of the men from the Little Yunhe border guard. The squad leader. I gave him a small nod, which he returned. Zhu arched an eyebrow, smiled even wider, and then opened his mouth.
    "There are some folks here to see you," he said.
    Outside, an impossible thing stood on the dock: the largest gathering I'd ever seen. The city was always a sweaty press of bodies, of course, but this was a press with a purpose. People from every quarter--Administrators, elderly tentsquats, fishermen, gangly tattooed hoods--strained to see us as we emerged from the Patient Whale . Someone gave up a cheer as we appeared, and the cheer carried through the crowd. Again, Xiao and I shared a glance. I was still grinning. Xiao looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
    We walked down the long ramp from the ship to the shore, and into the midst of our saviors. The crowd was eager but polite, standing back to make room, asking questions but not shouting or insisting. When it became clear that Xiao was too dumbfounded to speak, I raised my arms. The people around us hushed.
    "Thank you," I said. "Thank you, so much. I will always remember this. I will never be able to thank you enough for what you've done.
    "But I have to ask you to do one more brave thing."
    There was, I told the crowd, one last person we needed to persuade. I gave them his name, and asked them to walk behind me. Then, with Xiao at my side, I started down the winding way between the tent quarter and the open market, up the hill and toward my father's house.
    The people of the city followed.
    We may have lost folks as we walked. We may have gained some, too. I didn't look back. Xiao leaned in and whispered, "Sweet shit, Yuen." After that, we were both silent.
    I guessed that Papa would come to meet us, and I was right. As we rounded into the final approach toward the hut, we sighted Papa and a squad of hardsuits marching down the gravel path. I took a deep breath, bit my lip until I drew blood, and pulled the arc knife from my pocket. The security officers behind me rushed to my side, held their rifles at the ready. Pained expressions passed across their faces, but they raised their weapons and walked with me and did not waver.
    We had greater numbers, and more guns. But there could still be blood.
    As we came closer, I saw the pistol in Papa's hand. The emptiness in his eyes. His gray suit was stained with sweat, and there was uncertainty on the faces of his officers. I slowed, then stopped, and the crowd followed suit. Feet shifted on gravel.
    "Papa," I called. "Papa, please stand down."
    "You know I can't do that, Yuen."
    "We only want what's best for the city. It isn't sedition. It's renewal."
    "It's not sedition?" His voice was dead, monotone. "You want to activate Ecclesia technology--brought here by an traitor and illegal agent--within our borders. How is that not sedition?" There was no force,