by S. J Woods
“What’s up with Sadie?”
Alyssa’s eyes widened, and Dane was shocked to see the extent of her fear as she recoiled from the pad, shaking her head almost violently at him.
“Please.” She spoke just one word, low and trembling, slicing one hand, palm out, across the air, asking for him to erase it.
Dane did as she asked, feeling his fear grow at her terrified reaction. The revelation that she feared Sadie hit him and he felt a blaze of anger at the prison Apatia’s technology had them locked in. He needed to get away from here, from Sadie. He couldn’t even speak freely to his own family.
“Dane,” As if summoned by their thoughts, Sadie glided into the room. “You have a visitor.”
Dane looked from his mother to the glorified robot. Alyssa’s face was pale, worry etched into the lines of her face.
He opened his mouth to reply, but the elevator announced its presence with a ping, and Dane watched as a figure dressed in formal military-wear stepped into the hallway. Sadie swooped to the automatic doors to greet the visitor.
“Seraphine!” Dane exclaimed, taken aback by her presence. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello.” She smoothed back a strand of honey-blonde hair and stopped at the doorway. “Hello, Mrs Alexander, Sadie.”
Alyssa clocked the Officer’s uniform and stepped towards her, shaking her hand.
“Can I get you refreshments?” Sadie almost-cooed at the newcomer.
“Please.” Seraphine finished greeting Alyssa and moved over to the table. “I’ve come to see how you’re doing.”
“Oh,” Dane indicated for her to take a seat. “I’m ok, thank you.”
“I’ll give you some privacy.” Alyssa said quietly and slipped from the room before either could reply.
“You didn’t have to come all this way.” Dane smiled at her. “But it’s good to see you.”
“I feel bad that I wasn’t there for you all.” Seraphine told him, her blue eyes gazing into his with a look of concern. “You’re my team. I wish I had been there.”
“Have you seen Neha?” Dane asked.
“Not yet,” She said, surprising him by reaching across the table to take his hand. “You were the first.”
He looked down at her long, cool fingers covering his hand and hoped that his cheeks hadn’t flushed. The familiarity was most unlike her, but he couldn’t deny that he didn’t like the physical contact.
“Do you know how she’s doing?”
“She’s going to be ok.” Seraphine said. “Thanks to you.”
Dane felt the blush he’d been fighting colour his face and he looked away from her intense gaze. A smile played at the corners of her full mouth and she brushed the back of his hand lightly with her fingertips.
“Are the rest of the squad back out now?” He asked.
“The day after tomorrow.” She said. “If you’re feeling better, you can come back with me. I’m going to see the others. The Commanders agree that it’s better for us all to head out together.”
The day after tomorrow was the scheduled tech-out. Dane wondered whether this was a coincidence or even if he had been granted a reprieve.
“When would I have to leave?” He asked thoughtfully. “I kind-of promised to spend some time with the kids.”
“Of course,” Seraphine was still covering his hand. “It’s completely your choice. What happened out there was awful.”
“It’s not that,” He said hurriedly. “I do want to be back in work.”
“The reason I’m mentioning it,” Seraphine continued. “Is because once we’re in a live environment, it might be a few weeks before we can move more personnel out there. Just think about it.”
“I will.” Dane nodded his head.
“There’s something else,” Seraphine’s tone was cool and quiet, but as she spoke she flipped his hand over in his, causing him to jerk backwards before he righted himself and looked at her expectantly. “Your wrist-device.”
“What about it?” He felt panic flood his chest as she pinned his wrist lightly against the table.
“It’s almost as if,” She pulled his arm towards her, rotating his wrist, her thumb pressed into the palm of his hand. “It’s been tampered with.”
“Really?” Dane shook his head, willing his pounding heart to slow. “Maybe the smoke from the fire?”
“Hmmm.” She made a non-committal noise. “Have you seen Perez?”
She released his arm and folded her own hands in front of her on the table, looking unblinkingly into his eyes.
“We travelled back together.” He spluttered. “Why do you ask?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Just wondered. It’s strange that you both are having problems with your devices. She wasn’t anywhere near the fire.”
“That is strange.” Dane nodded, fighting the urge to look away from her steely gaze. “Do you know what’s wrong with it? It seems to be fine, but if you think I need it fixed…”
“I’ve brought you a new one.” Seraphine reached into her jacket and withdrew a black band.
Before Dane could protest, she had snapped the band of his device, slipped it back into her jacket and had fastened the new band.
“Oh, wow.” Dane stared down at the identical device, the sensation of being truly trapped growing. “That’s great. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She got to her feet, maintaining eye contact as she did. Her clear blue eyes that seemed to be taunting him were at odds with her friendly smile. “I need to get on to see the others. It’s a long journey to Neha’s, and I’m hoping to call in on my own family. I’ll call you to see what you decide.”
She turned on her heel and was gone as suddenly as she had appeared. Dane moved slowly to the windows of the hallway and watched as she emerged onto the street. She paused, stretching in the sunlight, before sliding into a waiting vehicle.
As he watched her drive out of sight, he felt the fear in his heart surge into adrenaline. They must have been watching him and Teonie. He needed to warn her that they were coming. His hand found his device automatically, but he stared at the shiny new screen and hesitated. Would Teonie even get his message?
“Rose!” He called out to his sister. “Can you help me with something?”
Rose appeared at the doorway and he quickly explained what he needed her to do.
“Why can’t you do it?” She asked looking puzzled.
“Apparently there’s something wrong with mine,” He told her, fighting to keep the panic from his voice. “My Officer just brought me a new one.”
Rose took hold of his wrist firmly and regarded the new device.
“That’s weird.” She said. “They’re, like, totally unbreakable.”
“Apparently not.” He said dryly.
“Rico Perez, Glen Rise?” Rose turned to her own device and started to tap out a message. “Why not your friend? Why her brother?”
“There’s something wrong with hers too, apparently.” Dane replied.
Rose did what he asked, and they sat down staring at her own device, waiting for a reply.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Rose asked quietly while they waited.
“Nothing is going on.” He said unconvincingly.
Rose opened her mouth and he saw the irritation flare in her eyes, but she glanced at his own device and shut her mouth. Her device pinged with a message and she opened it up.
“She says thanks. She’ll see you soon.” Rose read out.
Dane exhaled with relief. Even if the message had been intercepted, Teonie could at least be prepared for Seraphine’s arrival. Dane had a feeling that her visit to Teonie’s would be less friendly than his own had been. Rose and Dane sat quietly, as if lost in their own thoughts when Rose’s device pinged again.
“What is it?” Dane asked.
“It’s a link.” Rose frowned looking at the message. “Let’s go somewhere to look at it. Sadie is just wrapping up Norah’s lessons, she’ll be out in a minute.”
<
br /> Dane and Rose scrambled to their feet, calling out to their mother that they’d be back soon.
“Will they follow us?” Dane asked as they stepped into the elevator and descended onto the street.
He didn’t want to drag Rose into whatever was going on, but he had to do something.
“Sadie won’t follow us. She’s attached to Mama’s side lately.” Rose replied.
They made their way to the nearest recreation square, empty of the city’s children as lessons had not yet finished. Rose took a seat on a low wall and tapped on the link.
“Oh!” She exclaimed in surprise.
“What is it?” Dane leaned across her to look.
Rose surprised him, pointing a finger at his own device and putting her finger to her lips. Despite everything that was going on, most of which he didn’t fully understand, the alarm he felt at Rose’s quick understanding strengthened his resolve that he had to do something. Even if Teonie wasn’t one-hundred-percent right with her suspicions, he couldn’t go on living under this microscope. Perhaps this is what had driven Gia to her despair.
He looked at the image on her screen. A clear image of an entrance hall, identical to the one outside their home, flickered on the screen.
“What do we do now?” Dane asked, staring at the image.
“I guess we just wait and see what happens.” Rose replied.
She slid from the wall and sat on the ground, crossing her legs underneath her body as if she were here for the long haul.
They watched the silent live-feed for about twenty minutes before anything happened. Dane saw the light go on, signalling a presence in the elevator. Teonie stepped into the hallway, just one nervous glance up at the camera before she fixed her eyes on the doors to the elevator. Dane felt his heart in his chest as the doors slid open and Seraphine emerged, accompanied this time by a large man.
“Who’s that?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know.” Dane admitted.
They both craned their head over the screen, watching as Teonie spoke to the Officer. Seraphine gestured into the apartment and Teonie followed them in, disappearing from the screen.
The hallway stood empty for what felt like an eternity. Rose and Dane waited anxiously for something to happen until the group re-emerged into the camera’s sight. Teonie was smiling widely and nodding her head. Seraphine and the man entered the elevator, disappearing from view. A younger man joined Teonie and they both looked out of the window, down at the street below as Dane had done earlier. The man tapped at his own wrist device, turning away from the window to look up at the camera.
“He’s looking at us.” Rose said, and her device pinged again.
She slid the live-stream to one side, and the frozen image slipped from the screen and hung, suspended in the air as she opened the new alert.
“It’s an audio file.” She said, jabbing ‘play’.
“Do you think she knows?” A deep male voice rang out.
“She’s up to something.” There was no mistaking Seraphine’s crystal-clear tones. “I was hoping she hadn’t implicated Dane, but I don’t think I’ve got a choice now.”
“Dane?” The voice was scoffing, mocking in tone.
“Shut up!” Seraphine laughed good-naturedly. “I like him. He’s a good soldier.”
“You don’t call the others by their name.”
“Doesn’t matter now,” Seraphine’s voice turned hard. “They both need to go.”
“You sure?” The gruff voice was gentle now. “This is your call, kid.”
“One-hundred-percent.” She said. “I’ll tell him now to forget leaving with us. It was a stupid suggestion of me.”
“So, what now?”
“We need to get out of here.” Seraphine replied. “I’ll send the order to bring the planned T.O forward. Once we’re on the road, I’ll order the audio from Perez and Alexander. We might get a glimpse of any others caught up in it.”
The elevator pinged again, signalling they had left, and the recording ended.
“Dane,” Rose’s face was deathly pale. “What’s going on?”
Dane’s stomach lurched as he replayed the words in his head. He’d wanted proof, but now he had it, he felt sick with fear. They had clearly been watching them.
“Dane!” Rose repeated, this time her voice filled with urgency. “Quickly. They’re going to play our conversation. They’ll hear that we’ve been listening!”
Dane’s blood ran cold at the truth in her words and he felt floored by the helplessness of the situation.
“Get the kids and Ma.” He told her sharply. “We need to move.”
TWENTY
“We’re going out,” Dane announced to the family back at the apartment. “Come on.”
Rose had already scurried through to the storeroom to throw together a bag of provisions. Dane had sworn that he would tell her everything, but for now, they just needed to get moving. He checked the device, now feeling heavy and unnatural at his wrist, but the screen stayed empty of any reply from Teonie and he was starting to fear the worst.
“Where are we going?” Tommy piped up.
“We thought we’d go out,” Dane referred to Alyssa’s earlier suggestion. “Didn’t we?”
Alyssa nodded her head, but she threw an uncertain look in Sadie’s direction and Dane felt his heart start to sink at the hint of trouble to come.
“We’re going to get some physical food.” Dane gave Sadie what he hoped was an apologetic smile that firmly told her that she was not invited.
Tommy and Norah were at the door to the apartment within moments of Dane’s request and he called out to Rose, trying to disguise the impatience he was feeling. His whole being felt hypersensitive to every second that passed. He was struggling to contain the internal tornado of fear and adrenaline.
“Rose!” He called again, urgency creeping into his voice.
He heard the flurry of her footsteps as she reappeared into the living area, a duffle bag on her shoulder and another smaller satchel in her arms.
“Ready?” Her mouth turned up at the corners, flashing two rows of pearly-white teeth cheerfully, but both her tone and her smile rang hollow and false.
Dane glanced towards Sadie, fearing her reaction. Her default expression was a sunny smile and Dane remembered that even if she was suspicious of them, there would be no way he would be able to tell until it was too late.
“What’ve you got there?” It was Alyssa who responded to her daughter.
Alyssa’s full mouth was pursed, and Dane realised that it was the satchel she was referring to, her brow crinkled as if trying to place the object in the depths of her memories.
“It’s just some stuff I need to drop over a friend’s.” Rose flustered.
They hurried towards the glass doors to the hallway where Tommy and Norah were waiting, oblivious to the panic Dane and Rose were struggling to contain.
“Come on, Mama.”
Alyssa remained were she was standing, a passive observer to her children, and Rose took her arm a little too firmly as she passed her, guiding her to the exit. As they waited for the elevator doors to open, Rose passed the duffel bag over to Dane.
“Have we got everything?” He asked as discreetly as he could in front of the others.
Rose nodded her head, but she opened the bag and started double-checking as the elevator made its descent. Satisfied, she turned to the satchel she was holding, discreetly angling her body so as not to disclose the contents to anyone else.
“Did you bring the medical kit?” Dane leant in close and whispered to her as they exited into the thankfully-empty reception area.
Dane hadn’t got as far as thinking through every step of the plan. He’d been relying heavily on Teonie to have the basics covered, but neither she nor her brother had replied to any of his messages since he’d heard the audio of Seraphine, and he couldn’t risk losing time by heading to Glenrise. He had no choice but to press on alone. He had explained to Rose, in detail, what
was a necessity for the trip, but the medical kit was vital. There would be risks of dehydration, exhaustion, injuries and more on the trip, but most pressing was the need to remove the microchips, routinely fitted into the base of every Apatian citizens’ neck.
Dane wasn’t looking forward to having to perform DIY-surgery on his siblings, but he didn’t trust the tiny silicone rods to not giveaway their bearings if the worst came to the worst. He didn’t know how long they could rely on Teonie’s gadget or even whether she still had it in her possession, and, besides, he couldn’t afford to wait for her.
Rose’s face paled as she performed another search through the bag, now a little panicked.
“Sorry!” She breathed, eyes wide. “I think I left it on my sleeping-pod. I went back to get this bag. It was Dad’s.”
The panic that had been smouldering in the pit of Dane’s stomach flared up into a flame of irritation at his sister. He empathised with her sentimentality, but he couldn’t believe that she hadn’t grasped how every minute lost was one step closer to… He cut his own thoughts off, not ready to think of the possibilities.
“Wait here.” He warned them. “I’ll go back.”
He ushered them onto the pavement and stepped back into the building, swiping his new, shiny wrist device across the elevator sensor. The doors slid open and he stepped inside.
“Dane!” Rose rushed towards him and he turned to her, unable to hide the annoyance this time.
She blinked in surprise at his expression, but she held out the satchel towards him.
“Rose, can you just…”
“Just take this.” She urged, her face serious.
He glanced down and saw the black handle of an assault rifle jammed into the bag. Besides it lay a palm-sized stun gun, similar to the model used by the military. He slid the small weapon from the bag and turned it over in his hand, flicking the switch to test it. He looked up from the stun-gun and met his sister’s anxious eyes.
“These were Dad’s?” He asked.
She nodded. “I found them when I was sorting out his things.”
“Ok,” He nodded. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute.”
The doors slid shut and as he stepped onto the landing for their apartment, he pocketed the device but then felt a sickening regret that he hadn’t insisted Rose keep it. The thought stalled him, and he moved to the glass wall overlooking the street, feeling relief when he saw his family stood where he had left them. He debated going back down to leave the device with Rose, but his internal clock was still ticking away, and he was more than aware that he was burning time that they could not afford.