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us—or torture us for information. So instead, we must make do with knives, hidden in our belts.
    â€œWe’re almost above our destination,” a scientist says, consulting a digital display screen. We will be landing in a deserted field. From there, we will travel north to meet up with a rebel convoythat will take us in and give us shelter temporarily. We will then be split up, and sent to different rebel cells.
    The scientist unexpectedly throws open the door of the aircraft. A blast of freezing air gushes into the airplane. I shudder against the cold. “Who wants to go first?” he yells over the noise.
    â€œMe!” Gadya says, stepping toward the doorway and then pausing. “I think.”
    Liam and I stand there next to her, the wind whipping through our hair. The noise is deafening up here. My skin feels like ice. I hold on to Liam for stability. The wind is stronger than I imagined, and there’s nothing else to hold on to. I’m afraid I’ll get sucked out of the plane before I’m ready.
    â€œYou scared?” Liam asks me, yelling over the noise.
    I shake my head. “No.”
    â€œGood. We’ll be fine.”
    I nod. “I know. We’ll find each other as soon as we get to the ground.”
    â€œDefinitely.”
    A surge of fear courses through my veins as I look down, out of the plane. I just see blackness. At any moment, the UNA might spot us somehow and send an airship to gun us down.
    I keep staring down at the ground, out the open door. It’s so dark, but I can faintly make out a huge field surrounded by forests. This is our landing site.
    â€œBetter get moving,” the scientist says impatiently. “Someone’s gotta go first!”
    To our left I see another airplane in the distance, with seven people already tumbling out of it in a row. Heading down toward a field in the UNA to help begin the rebellion.
    â€œI’ll go first,” I say loudly. Gadya looks surprised.
    â€œYou sure?” Liam asks. “I was going to wait for you on the ground and—”
    â€œNo. It’s my turn. I’ll wait for you guys.”
    The scientist puts a hand on my pack. “You ready?”
    I nod.
    I lean back to kiss Liam quickly. His lips are warm against mine. I hug him one last time.
    Then I turn back around, shut my eyes, and step out of the plane.
    The wind instantly slams into me and knocks me sideways. I scream, despite myself, out of shock and fear.
    And then I’m falling through the freezing night air, tumbling head over heels. The wind whips at me so fiercely, it feels like it’s going to tear off my clothes, and skin me alive.
    The wind is so loud now that it sounds like a hurricane. I can’t hear anything else. I didn’t know that skydiving would feel like this. My body is getting battered by currents of air. I’m in danger of losing my bearings. My eyes keep clouding over and watering from the cold and the wind. I try to wipe them clear with the back of my hand.
    â€œLiam!” I yell, but I know he can’t hear me anymore. I contort my body and get a glimpse of the plane above me. I keep tumbling over and over.
    I’m starting to panic. I trained for this, by jumping off rocks on the wheel, but reality is completely different from any kind of simulation.
    I keep plunging downward. I finally get into a steady position and hold out my arms and legs. This slows me down, but I’m still moving faster than I thought possible. Below me is darkness spotted with tiny dots of light.
    I hear an alarm start beeping next to my head. This means it’s time to open my parachute. I pull the cord, expecting to have the parachute explode out, and snap me back up into the sky.
    But nothing happens.
    I yank on the cord again.
    Still nothing.
    My mind goes numb.
    This cannot be happening to me .
    The ground looks like it’s expanding and contracting beneath me in a vertiginous frenzy.
    My freezing