Sneak (Swipe Series)

Dane took a deep breath.
    “Just say what’s on your mind ,” Erin had told him. “And make your words count .”
    “Two months ago a thirteen-year-old boy named Logan Langly discovered that his sister had been swiped by DOME. Swiped at her Pledge, five years ago, because in the eyes of her Marker, some part of her showed doubt.
    “Doubt about Cylis, doubt about the Union, doubt about the Inclusion . . . who knows? All that matters is that, for one reason or another, Lily Langly vanished. Just as many of you have watched your own loved ones vanish.
    “Now, I know that for some of you the name Logan Langly has come to mean something. Perhaps you blame him for the most recent raid on your home. Maybe you think he’s brave. Or rash.
    Or heroic. Or crazy.
    “Whatever you think—whatever you’ve heard—know this:
    “On the evening of November 8, Logan Langly did something most of us have never dreamed possible.
    “He stood up to DOME. He stood up to Cylis. Because he saw injustice. And because he decided that it could not stand, no matter the cost.”
    Dane took another deep breath. He leaned closer to the microphone.
    “Perhaps you have also heard of a rebel group led by a teenager named Peck. Perhaps you have heard that they recruit kids. That they call themselves by that old slur against us: ‘Dust.’
    “Maybe you think they’re misguided. Or stupid. Or selfish. Maybe you think they draw unwanted attention to us Markless.
    “But here is the truth: the fight is happening. Whether we want it to or not. Whether we resist it or not. It’s happening even as I speak to you now.
    “They take away our rights, and we let them. They round us up, and we let them. They imprison us. We let them.
    “We are the ones who slipped through the cracks,” Dane said. “We are the ones who have been brushed aside. We are the ones they said could be forgotten.
    “But Markless, hear this: if you allow it . . . Dust collects.
    “Like it or not, Chancellor Cylis is forcing the G.U. treaty through Parliament. There won’t be a public vote this spring—it’s happening now.
    “These raids, they’re happening now.
    “These loved ones. They are disappearing now .
    “And so the time has come—now—to collect. To push back. To demand a less unified world. To demand freedom, whatever the cost.
    “Because we are all Dust. Because we are not afraid.”
    3
    The broadcast spread like wildfire, through radio waves and razor blades, as far as Dane could send it, until his signal died out and others took over, each with its own brave broadcaster taking the message, running with it, making it her own, everyone’s words and ideas and inspirations hopping from one huddle to the next, up, down, and sideways across the Dust of the American Union.
    Back at the underpass in New Chicago, Logan’s old friend Bridget was reading by candlelight when the message came on the radio beside her. She lowered her book, she looked straight ahead, and she listened.
    “Markless everywhere,” Mrs. Phoenix began. “Dust. The news has come. It is time.”
    4
    When Andrew emerged from his comfortable brownstone, he stepped into an energized huddle and a mobilized underpass.
    “What is this?” Andrew asked of a Markless running by.
    “A protest,” the kid said. “We’re fighting back!”
    “Who’s fighting back? Fighting back against what?”
    The kid looked confused. “Against DOME, of course.” He swept his arms in a grand gesture. “The Markless, all of us— we’re fighting back!”
    “Why now?” Andrew demanded. “What started it?”
    “Some escaped flunkee. DOME went nuts trying to find him, and last night they finally did. So we’re fighting for freedom.”
    “ Langly ?”
    “That’s the one.”
    “ His freedom?”
    The kid shook his head. “Our freedom.”
    “Listen to me,” Andrew said. “You’re not seeing this clearly.
    If DOME really has gone nuts over this kid, what makes you think they won’t just arrest all of us, the whole lot of us, all across the country, the second we make our stand?”
    The kid smiled. “Then the Marked will finally be forced to see how DOME treats us. Then it’ll finally all be out in the open. Out for everyone to judge.” The boy shrugged. “That’d be okay.”
    Andrew didn’t wait to hear any more. Immediately, he darted over to a pillar and climbed up onto its base, holding on to the side with one arm, and waving the other for the huddle’s attention.
    “Markless!