by Niranjan K
“On your desk,” Lu said. “Is he really going to do a project there?"
Nolan pushed a hand through his hair. It had grown too long. He would need to cut it soon. He wasn’t sure how to respond to Lu.
“He’s had a meeting with someone about the possibility of a project,” Nolan said finally.
Lu wouldn’t ask out of idle curiosity. He was the assistant of Mr. Niska, the head of the Construction division and any proposed project in Ignis would need Mr. Niska’s go ahead.
“He won’t do it once he reads that report,” Lu said. “But Mr. Niska is in favour, so I guess if Mr. Selwood approves, it will go ahead.”
“Compilation completed.” Miley’s voice interrupted them, and Nolan terminated the connection with Lu. “Data is available on your desk, Mr. Patrick.”
“Thank you Miley,” he said automatically.
Even though he knew it was a Sentient, he sometimes behaved as if it were human. Blame Mr. Selwood for insisting on giving names to his Sentients! He transferred the data to his boss.
“The data is on your desk, Mr. Selwood,” he said. “Will that be all?”
“Yes. Thank you, Nolan. Could you please tell Mr. Martinez I’m free now? Ask him to come to my office if he’s free.”
Nolan nodded as he called Kaya. He had forgotten that Mr. Martinez had asked for an appointment. It wasn’t like him to forget things like this. His sister’s birthday, yes. Not the request for appointment by the head of the Farming division who’d been with the company almost since its formation and was rumoured to be good friends with Mr. Selwood. Then again, if he worked with someone for twenty years, he’d probably be good friends with them too.
Mr. Martinez was interested in this proposed project in Ignis. He was the one who had asked Mr. Selwood to meet with Mr. Beltram who was an inventor and had a small company, specialising in energy. It was a field Selwood Corp had no exposure in, and Mr. Selwood had never seemed interested in a foray into it either, but Mr. Martinez had still convinced him to meet with Mr. Beltram.
“Hi, Kaya,” Nolan touched the panel to bring Kaya’s face on it. “Mr. Selwood is free to meet Mr. Martinez now. He asked him to meet in his office if he’s free.”
“I’ll tell him,” Kaya gave him a smile that could only be described as flirtatious. “Are you free for lunch?”
“No, Kaya,” he said, touching the screen on his desk to end the call and wondering if he should put a sticker on his forehead saying, “I’m gay.” for the women in the office to stop hitting on him. It wasn’t that they didn’t know, but that they didn’t seem to care. He couldn’t understand it. Perhaps he should find a way to get them to hit on Dylan instead, but Dylan was too harsh a punishment for any girl. He had a different girl on his arm almost every day, and Nolan shuddered to think of what would happen to his workplace relationships if Dylan started dating his female colleagues.
Mr. Martinez walked in the door, tall and stout with silver peppering his black hair and Nolan jerked his head towards the inner office with a smile, mouthing, “He’s expecting you.”
Mr. Martinez gave an answering smile as he went towards the office. He had a slight limp, the result of a childhood accident, but he held his cane loosely, never leaning on it. At least, Nolan had never seen him leaning on it. He had a weathered and wrinkled face with fierce black eyes and a beak like nose, which gave him the appearance of a bird of prey, but Nolan knew that he was fierce only when needed and in general was good to his subordinates.
Nolan noticed the slight rigidity in the way he held himself, the way his hand was clenched on his cane, the air of anxiety in the man, and felt concerned.
“Are you all right, Mr. Martinez?” He asked.
Sergio looked at him, and gave him a half smile that was more a grimace. “Yes. My... my leg is paining me, is all.”
Nolan nodded, as Mr. Martinez entered the office. Nolan had never heard of an old injury paining so many years later, not with the kind of medicines they had, but anything was possible. As his mother said often, the human body was something that no matter how well they understood it, still surprised them.
Eight
Niek was doing a presentation for his group project when the message came. His professor waved his hands to indicate that he should stop, called Jan to finish the presentation, and told him that he was wanted in the Principal’s office. Niek went out of the class, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart, tucking his clammy hands in his pockets, and breathing slowly. What could it be? Why would Mr. Tyrell wish to see him? He had not done anything as far as he knew. Nothing that would warrant a visit to the Principal’s office anyway.
Niek had been careful that way. He didn’t want to create a situation where Alexander might have to come to his school to deal with his Principal. Not that Mr. Tyrell was difficult to deal with, but he knew it would put Alexander in a difficult position, especially considering he had no legal standing in Niek’s life.
Niek sighed. He was only fifteen. He didn’t want to be a responsible person, but ever since his father left, he’d had no choice. Alexander might stand in as his guardian, but if Niek wasn’t careful, if he wasn’t responsible, he could get them both in trouble. The law regarding minors without parents was clear. Legally, he was a ward of the State, and by keeping him in his home Alexander was committing a crime. If anyone found out, he could be arrested for kidnapping a ward of the State.
Niek didn’t think his father even checked the law when he just decided he had to leave. Even Uncle Ruben wouldn’t have had any legal authority over him. Alexander had his lawyers look into it when he took Niek in, without giving them any details, and had found out that there were only two ways to make it legal. One was to have his father give an authorisation in the proper format appointing Alexander as Niek’s guardian in case something happened to him. The other was to prove that Niek’s father was dead and to adopt him with the State’s consent. Such a consent had never been given in the history of Cynfor, not unless an authorisation from the dead parent regarding the child’s guardianship was already registered with the proper authorities. Such a document could have been forged, but to Alexander’s credit, he didn’t even suggest it to Niek.
Niek had spent hours in his room, going through the laws, without telling Alexander. Both of them were so very careful not to let it be known that Niek was a ward of the State in truth. Other than David, who was Alexander’s friend and almost one of the family, Nolan and Quinn, no one in Alexander’s life knew of Niek’s existence. None of Niek’s classmates knew about Alexander either.
Niek had always thought of his situation as temporary, that his father would be coming for him, and hence he’d avoided making any friendships. Even now, when the rational part of his brain kept telling him that his father was probably dead, Niek kept hoping. Even if he formed a friendship, he would not be telling them about Alexander. He knew his classmates well, and could guess just how well any of them could keep a secret.
Had Uncle Ruben lived, a good lawyer might have been able to prove that he was appointed by Niek’s father, and hence was legally his guardian, but even the chances of that were remote. No wonder none of Ruben Dekker’s family members had wanted anything to do with him. Kidnapping of a State’s ward was punishable by a lifetime in stasis prison. For some reason, Alexander had taken the chance for him, and Niek wasn’t going to let him go to prison for that.
As he paused at the door to Mr. Tyrell’s office, another possibility occurred to him. Had someone found out that he was a ward of the State? Was there an Enforcer on the other side of that door, waiting for him? As per law, no one, not even an Enforcer could access the school records or details about the students’ families, but from all accounts the Enforcers didn’t have much respect for the law. Quinn had forged Niek’s records while obtaining admission, making it look as if his dad was still with him. So, even if an Enforcer was there, he did not know about Alexander which meant that all Niek had to do was to keep his mouth shut, no matter wha
t.
He touched the panel on the door, which opened to reveal Mr. Tyrell beaming at him from behind the desk, and a large man, tall and broad, with dark hair and eyes, dressed in a suit that was far too expensive to be an Enforcer’s, sitting across the desk and smiling affably at Niek. True, Enforcers’ uniforms had an expensive technology built into them that allowed them to change into any piece of clothing they wanted, but he knew that the material of the fabric could not change, so this man could not be an Enforcer. Enforcers weren’t that rich, were they? Living with Alexander made him notice the difference between an expensive fabric and a cheap one, and he’d noticed that no one in law enforcement had uniforms made out of expensive fabrics. Except the Elite, and they had no uniforms, not that they needed them; everyone knew them on sight, and this man was not one of them.
He smiled at Niek. “Mr. Hendriks, I’m Raul Beltram.” He turned to the principal with a smile. “If I could have a moment with Mr. Hendriks?”
“Certainly,” Mr. Tyrell rose. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Niek’s heart sank. Why should Mr. Tyrell just leave on this person’s request unless he were an Enforcer? But wasn’t Raul Beltram a businessman? Or an inventor? Niek remembered reading something about him in one of the magazines Alexander subscribed to, but never read. Or was it some other Raul Beltram?
“You must be very confused as to why I’m here,” Mr. Beltram spoke. “Truth is, I told your father I’d find out if you were okay.”
“My father?” Niek asked, startled.
He was still wary. This man could be lying, trying to get him to trip up.
“Lucas Hendriks. I know you probably feel that he has abandoned you, but if there had been another choice, he wouldn’t have left,” Mr. Beltram paused. “I know you must be angry, and upset, but know that your father would never have done it if it wasn’t the best thing.”
“The best thing for whom?” Niek couldn’t help but demand, and he couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice either. Beltram fidgeted.
“He thought you’d be safe with Ruben Dekker.” That proved that this man did indeed know his dad. How else would he have known about Uncle Ruben? But did he come from Dad? Niek wasn’t too certain. Perhaps he was one of the men Dad was running from.
“Hard to see how that would be, considering Mr. Dekker was already dead.” he said, watching the man carefully.
“It was an unfortunate coincidence.” Beltram paused. “Where... with whom are you living now, Niek? I went to Mr. Dekker’s home. They said you left the next day, though they offered to let you stay there for the week.”
“I had my reasons,” Niek said, his tone more aggressive than he’d expected.
He wanted to shout, to yell at this man who sat before him so smug and smiling, and talked as if he had done something wrong. Niek wanted to ask if they told him that one of their friends had tried to attack him, but it was nobody’s business, but his, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone. Bad enough that Alexander knew, and Niek knew if Alexander ever found his father, he would tell him too, but Niek didn’t want anyone to know. Alexander had told him that Llewllyn had tried to rape him, and that it wasn’t his fault, not something he had to be ashamed of. He could never bring himself to say that word, however. It stuck in his throat. He hated that word. It was an ugly word.
To his credit, Beltram didn’t press him for the reason.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he sounded sincere. “I know all this can’t be easy for you.”
“You didn’t do anything.” Niek muttered, lowering his head. “Wasn’t your fault.”
“You didn’t answer my question.” Beltram said.
“How did you find me?” Niek asked.
“Admission records are in public domain and for a small fee, anyone can access them.”
“Unlike family records.” Niek said.
Beltram nodded.
“Do you know why family records are kept private, even from the school authorities?”
“So wards of the State wouldn’t be singled out, or feel like outsiders?” Niek hazarded a guess.
“That, and because the state wants a monopoly on the data. Do you know what happens to wards of the State?”
“They’re found homes, I suppose.”
“They’re placed in the homes of the Elite.” Beltram said. “To be indoctrinated, to be soldiers for the State. Which is why I have to know, Niek, Who do you live with?”
“How did you get Mr. Tyrell to leave?” Niek asked, and for the first time, Beltram didn’t meet his eyes.
“We’re old acquaintances,” he said finally, “but you didn’t answer my question Niek.”
“I’m a ward of the State.” The lie slipped out easily. Like he would sell out Alexander for a man he met for the first time that day! Even if he claimed to come from Dad, for which he had no proof of, anyway. “And the details of my guardian are confidential. I’m not interested in discussing him.”
“Niek...” Beltram closed his eyes for a moment before meeting his. “Niek... you can’t believe anything they say. Your father.... he’s fought against them all his life. You’ll be betraying him and everything he believes in!”
“He left me, I don’t see why I should care.” Niek rose. “If you don’t mind, I have to get back to class. If you come here again, I’ll have to report you, and Mr. Tyrell too. Good day, Mr. Beltram.”
Niek was shaking, and he wanted to call Alexander. He wished to tell him about Beltram who claimed to know his father, and about Mr. Tyrell who had left him alone with Beltram, but he was afraid to. It was possible Beltram might be spying on him to know whom he would call. No, he would wait until he met Alexander in the evening. Niek sat down at his desk, his uniform shirt sticking to his torso, and his limbs shaking. He bit his lip hard and willed time to move faster.
Nine
Something was wrong. Alexander stopped, staring at Niek. He was miles away, and Niek was never absent minded. He was sitting in his virtual lesson simulation. It was a science project, but he was not paying attention to the instructions with the result that the simulation was flashing a warning message, and Niek didn’t seem to notice it. He was standing with his hand through one of the panels in the simulation and had a faraway look in his eyes.
“Turn off the simulation, Quinn,” Alexander said quietly.
“Simulation terminated,” Quinn said. Niek still stood there, with his hand half raised, not even noticing that the simulation was no longer there.
Alexander sat down on one of the chairs Quinn brought for him and spoke, “Your arm’s going to be numb if you stay like that for much longer,”
Niek jumped and flushed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his arm. “I guess I was not thinking,”
“I think you were thinking too much,” Alexander said, as Niek sat down on the couch and leaned back, closing his eyes. “What happened?”
Niek opened his eyes, and clasped his hands on his lap. When he spoke, he was looking at his hands, “A man came to meet me at school today. He said... he said that he... that Dad... Dad asked him to check on me...”
Alexander stilled. Was it an Enforcer, trying to bait Niek, or was it someone who genuinely knew his father and had come from him? Alexander was not familiar with Lucas Hendriks or his work, but he knew from Niek that the man was a scientist and a professor before his disappearing act. He’d never met him, or read one of his articles, or even seen a photograph, because somehow, when the man disappeared, all records pertaining to him did too, including all his photographs. Even the physical ones in the Nishati dimension could no longer be accessed.
Niek had thought it was the State, but Alexander doubted it. The State never so comprehensively erased a man’s identity, not if they were after him, which—if the hastily scrawled letter Hendriks left his son was any indication—they were, but he had not shared his true suspicions with Niek, not wanting to scare the boy. The Resistance wasn’t very active on Prith, despite it being home to
the Central Console, but it was very much present on the other planets. In Aeras and Hafi, to be part of the Resistance meant certain death if one was caught.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?” Alexander asked.
“I don’t know,” Niek sighed, looking at him. “I really don’t. I... he said he’d gone to Uncle Ruben’s house, and how could he have known about that if not for Dad? He... he wanted to know with whom I was staying...”
“And what did you tell him?” Alexander asked, keeping his tone and expression carefully neutral. He didn’t want to scare Niek, to make him feel bad even if he had revealed his identity to some stranger.
“I... I told him I was a ward of the State, and that I wouldn’t tell him my guardian’s identity... he believed me... If he was an Enforcer, wouldn’t he have known that I wasn’t?”
“He would have known,” Alexander conceded. “And it is highly unlikely that an Enforcer could have found out that your father left you in Ruben Dekker’s care.”
“I was afraid he would follow me here,” Niek said. “So, I told Quinn to make sure that no one was following, and that he had not put any trackers on me.”
“If he truly knows your father, he can use a DNA tracker without even coming near you,” Alexander said.
Niek frowned. “That’s true, but he didn’t. I mean, he told me he found my school from the admission records, but he could have used a DNA tracker far more easily.”
“Unless he wasn’t expecting to track you down and hence didn’t have your father’s DNA available,” Alexander said.
“Yea... yea, that’s more likely. Dad probably didn’t even know of Mr. Dekker’s death. So, he probably told this guy to go to his house and make sure I’m there or something.” Niek sounded relieved, which both amused and worried Alexander.
He had waited so long for news of his father, and yet when this man came, Niek had lied to him. It was good that the boy was being cautious, refusing to trust, but Alexander wished he could be a normal child.