by Meg Buchanan
“Got pregnant.”
“How?”
“You’re kidding, right?” I start the Land Rover and pull out onto the road.
“I meant, why have they taken her?” asks Ela over the noise.
“It’s illegal. We’re just sperm and egg donors to you lot. You don’t have much use for a whole foetus.” I concentrate on driving through the main street. Shops slide past.
I’m angry. I’m angry with Vector, the Administration, the Elite, Humicrib, Transgenics. You name it.
“What was really happening?” she asks.
“I told you, they took Lucinda away because she’s pregnant.”
“Why?” Ela asks sounding confused. “How could getting pregnant happen? And how would Vector know anyway?”
“Someone informed on her.”
“Why?”
“It’s illegal.”
“I don’t understand. No one can get pregnant now. Humicrib clones the babies.”
“Locals can. Where do you think Humicrib gets the raw material from?”
She ponders on that. “I hadn’t thought about it,” she says quietly, after a while. I drive out of town, go past the old meat works building. It’s falling apart. The old cemetery is filled with weeds. Not much changes here ever. It just gets more dilapidated.
We turn towards the Karangahake Gorge.
“I’ve been here before.” Ela says it like she’s trying to be heard without shouting. “Jacob used to walk up Mount Karangahake with me. We would picnic at the top and then climb down and swim in one of the creeks.”
I don’t say anything, ignore her, just keep driving. I feel Ela study me as we go across the bridge. The boards rumble under the wheels of the Land Rover. All around is neglect. No one looks after this stuff now because no tourists are allowed in the country. The bridge is old and broken. It goes from the start of the walkway to the huge tunnel through the hill. On the other side of the road is the entrance.
I ignore Ela a bit more. She finally gets the message.
“Okay, why don’t you want to take me with you now?” she asks.
“You can tag along like you used to. Your choice.” Not true. Jacob made that clear.
She shakes her head looking a bit irritated by that. Tries again.
“Why are you acting like this, if this is what Jacob wants?” I don’t answer. “Is this because of that girl? The one Vector took away? Or because I’m Elite?” she asks.
I still don’t answer. But she’s Elite. Her mother’s part of this, she’s a doctor and works for Humicrib. That makes Ela part of it, and I’m stuck with her. I turn down a narrow, unsealed track that has a row of small houses on one side of it. I stop outside an old miner’s cottage. The veranda sags at one end.
“Why are we here?”
“I need to pick something up.” I get out of the Land Rover, knock on the door of the cottage and wait. The door is opened by Curley’s dad. He’s huge and middle aged, in an old white singlet and grey track pants. The clothes and bare feet look lived in as usual.
“Curley said he left some stuff here for Jacob.”
From the back of the house, Curley’s mum yells, “If that’s Jack tell him we don’t want any trouble here.”
His dad yells back. “Shut your mouth, woman,” and then looks at me. “It’s there on the porch.” A cardboard box is sitting on the faded armchair in the sun. I go across to the box and lift up a flap. It’s only about half full this time.
“Curley said it’s the best he could do. Said he thought the printer was going to CatchFire,” says his dad.
“Tell him thanks.” I fold the flap down. Pick up the box and carry it out to the Land Rover.
Ela’s Com buzzes, another text, I guess. She gets heaps. She reads it this time.
“Who was that?” I ask, thinking maybe it’s Jacob.
“A friend.” She doesn’t answer the text, just deletes it again, puts the Com back into the pocket of her cloak. “Jacob wants me to show you something.”
“What?” I ask as I climb in.
“Some documents. They’re in that box I was carrying last night. He reminded me again when I called him this morning. He thinks they have something to do with what’s happened to him and wants us to read them.”
“Where was the box?”
“Hidden in the chimney. I think he thought that was what they were looking for. He made me get it and lock it in the car before the EvacHover arrived. And he said you and I have to read the documents in the box. He kept saying it like it was important.”
“Why didn’t he just tell you what’s in them?”
“Com’s have ears,” says Ela. I’ve heard that before. According to Jacob everything has ears.
I give a snort then glance at her. She’s sort of half smiling and fiddling with her necklace. It’s a bit of paua shell on a chain.
And I give in. I decide to talk to her after all because, to be fair, she’s just a kid and isn’t part of it all, just trapped in the middle like the rest of us. “And walls and trees and Tablets,” I say.
Ela giggles.
“Have you read the documents?” I ask.
“I’ve just started. It takes a while. It’s all text. I’ve read the first one. It’s the history of Genus 6 and the development of biofuel.”
“Where are they now?”
“In my room.”
“Okay. We’ll swing by the pub again before we go to the hospital. We need to drop off Curley’s stuff anyway. I’ll read the documents and catch up to where you’ve got. Then we can visit Jacob.”
“Why?”
“He gets tetchy if you don’t do what he wants.”
“Does he?” asks Ela, like that’s news to her. It makes you wonder how much she’s had to do with Jacob. We drop off the stuff from Curley’s at the pub and pick up the document box.
I get Ela to take over the driving. I put the documents on my knees and open the box. There’s a stack of things in there. Some sort of report. A couple of books. Some plans. I spend a few minutes looking at the first thing. The first page is just the title.
Genus 6 and the Development of Biofuel
The Trojan Gene
Edited by
Dr Edwin Parr
March 20, 2026
A fifteen-year-old report. Can’t see why Jacob would think that was important.
I flick to the next page. The table of contents. I find it goes on for twelve chapters. It’s worse than the journals Dad used to leave lying around the house. I skip all the tables and lists and other junk and go straight to the preface. Finally, I start to read. I read a bit but not much. It’s boring. Everyone knows the story of Genus 6. I flick through a few more pages. Try to speed read.
“You look like you’re finding it about as interesting as I did.” Ela glances at me then back to the road.
“I’m not sure how much more I need to know about the history of biofuel.” I fan the pages to check how much there is to go. “Is there anything here you didn’t already know?”
“No, it’s just some facts about genetic engineering, and how biofuel was developed. We did it at school.”
“Do you want to talk me through it?”
“Is this like a test?” she asks, then goes back to watching the road and getting ready to turn left.
“No, just want to speed things up, so I know what’s in here before I see Jacob.”
“Okay.” She has a bit of trouble changing gear before she turns, not used to a vehicle this old.
“Clutch in, gear lever to neutral, clutch out and in again quickly.”
“What?” asks Ela.
“You have to double clutch, to change gear.”
“Yeah, right.” But she gives it a go. I go back to the document. “What’s first?” Ela asks.
“I’ve read the preface and the history. Next is, ‘What are genetically modified crops?’”
“It’s just like we learned at school. Genetically modified crops or biotech crops have their DNA modifie
d using genetic engineering techniques. This is done to give the species something that it doesn’t have naturally.”
“Nothing new there.” I scan down the page. “‘Methods used to genetically modify crops’,” I prompt.
“Genetic modification is usually done in the laboratory,” says Ela. We get to the hospital. She turns into the entranceway. “Scientists add one or more genes to a plant’s genome.” She finds the hospital carpark. Most of the parking spaces are taken. She starts driving along the first row of utes. Carries on with the lesson on GM. “There are two methods. The ballistic method is the most interesting. DNA is bound to tiny particles of gold or tungsten. Then they use a gun to shoot the particles into plant tissue or single plant cells. They penetrate both the cell wall and the membranes. The DNA separates from the metal and becomes part of the plant genome inside the nucleus. Then there’s Agrobacterium tumefaciens. It’s less interesting. Something about plant parasites and their natural ability to transfer genes.”
“You remembered all that?” I ask.
“Did most of it at school.”
I point ahead of us. “There’s a carpark over there. What else do I need to know?”
“Transgenic plants have genes inserted into them that are derived from another species. The inserted genes can come from species within the same kingdom. Like plant to plant. Or between kingdoms like bacteria to plant.” She pulls into the space. “Carrots have been engineered to exhibit bioluminescence. One day it could be an alternative to electric light,” she says as we get out of the Land Rover.
Chapter 6
NOW WE BOTH KNOW what’s in the report, we’re ready to go into the hospital and find Jacob. Ela tries to open the door on the driver’s side of the Land Rover. The handle won’t work. It does that sometimes, should have fixed it. I watch her push and pull on it, try wiggling it up and down, but it won’t move.
She gives up the struggle with the handle. “How do I get out?”
I lean across to thump the door just above the handle, the same as I would have a few years ago. This time I pull back real quick.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to squash you.” There’s a click, and the door opens when she tries the handle again.
“That’s okay.” She smiles at me as she hops out.
*
Jacob’s sitting in a wheelchair in his room. He’s in pyjamas, dressing gown, and slippers, and looking more old and tired than usual.
“You two made it here.” He reaches for his glasses on the side table and puts them on. Once the glasses are in place, he stays pretty still but watches Ela as she fiddles with the bit of paua shell on the chain she’s wearing.
She sits on the bed near him. “Jack’s been looking after me like you wanted.” Then she tells him about going back to his house and finding it trashed.
“Trashed?” asks Jacob.
Ela nods and bites her lip, looking concerned. “I stayed at the pub with Jack and his mother last night. Mrs Fraser says I can stay for as long as I need to.”
“Thank Patsy for me.” Then Jacob turns to me. “Have you been back and checked things this morning?”
“Yeah, it all looks the way we left it last night.”
Now Ela plays with the edge of her cloak. “Jack went this morning before I woke up, and then I met him in the bar.”
Jacob looks at me over the top of his glasses. I should have warned her not to mention that, but I didn’t know this job came with performance appraisal. It turns out Jacob isn’t too worried about his house or the bar. It’s the document box he focuses on.
“Did you get the box I told you to get?”
Ela nods.
“Have you read the documents and shown them to Jack yet?”
“We are both almost through them.” She’s exaggerating a bit. We’ve both sort of read one document.
“I don’t see how the history of biofuel is going to help us,” I say.
Ela looks at me then nods again, agreeing. Mistake.
“Neither of you has got very far,” Jacob barks at us. “I want you to read all the documents, so you can understand how important this is. Stop mucking around. Where are they now?”
“In Jack’s Land Rover,” says Ela quietly. Jacob swings his head around to look at me. Probably should have told her not to mention that either. Jacob’s pretty fired up about those documents, and he knows how secure my Land Rover isn’t.
“You’ve left the documents in a vehicle in a public car park?” snaps Jacob right on cue.
“Yep.” I make a point of never giving him the satisfaction of hearing me making excuses.
“Great,” says Jacob sarcastically.
Now Ela looks upset. She starts to tell him about going to Curley’s. Jacob stops her. He looks around the walls to check for ears.
“Let’s go for a walk.” He starts driving the wheelchair towards the door.
Me and Ela follow. Jacob doesn’t say anything until we are outside in some garden courtyard thing.
Then he turns on me. “You pick up the papers, Jack?”
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“Before we came here.”
“Where are they now?”
“Locked up at home.”
“Good.” Finally done something right. “Have you gone through them?”
“No, not yet.”
“Get it done as soon as you get home,” snaps Jacob. “And tell Ela what you’re doing it for. Her mother will have taught her to keep her mouth shut.” Then I tell him about seeing the Willises talking to the two guys in the pub.
“Did you get names?”
“Only the older guy. Mum said he said he was Carlos Vincent.”
“I haven’t heard of him. I’ll run a check on him. Did you get a good look at them?”
“Yeah. They were real big. Like they work out. Sort of menacing.”
“What were they doing?”
“Mum said looking at NavMaps. It looked like the old guy was laying down the law to Henry and Charlie like they’d been working for him but hadn’t got it right.”
Jacob nods and scratches his chin. “Might be Vector agents. Keep an eye out. If you see them again, let me know.”
“And Vector got Lucinda,” I say.
Jacob sighs and nods like he already knew that. Then he eases his head around as if he’s hurting and turns on Ela again. She’s sitting close to him on a bench threading the edge of her cloak through her fingers again.
“Listen to Jack. Do what he says and be careful. Read those documents and take Jack to the clearing.”
I’ve never heard of ‘the clearing’, but Ela nods. I might ask her about that later. Ela sort of flutters her hand over Jacob’s like she wants to touch him but isn’t sure whether she should.
Then he turns on me again. “Have you got the spray going like I told you to yesterday? I saw aphid damage in the tomato house. And prick out those seedlings in the other glasshouse.”
I feel like telling him to pull his head in. We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and it’s still early, and I’ve already been to his place and Curley’s.
Instead I say, “Okay, I’ll do the seedlings when I get back, and make some spray up this afternoon.” But it doesn’t help. Jacob’s still looking cantankerous, and he’s being an arse to both of us.
“Get it done.”
I’ve seen Mum like this when things are getting on top of her. I guess he’s worried, but he doesn’t need to take it out on us.
I decide if he’s going to be snappy and throw his weight around. It’s time to go.
“We’ll do the work and go through Curley’s papers.” I leave the wall to hold itself up. “Tomorrow I’ll take Ela to the drill sites if you still want that.”
Jacob nods. “Yes, go to the site tomorrow. Read the documents. Deal with Curley’s stuff first though.” Jacob rests his head against the back of the wheelchair and closes his eyes.
“I’ll get the transport,” I say to Ela. “Pick you up at th
e entrance.” I just get a few steps away from the courtyard, and Jacob calls me back. He fishes in his pocket, pulls out a bit of paper and hands it to me. “Take this.”
“What is it?” I unfold the paper and read, CatchingFire.
“If you run into any trouble,” says Jacob, “just call Fitzgerald and say that. It will tell him you need help.” He trails off as a couple of burly nurses in blue cotton shirts and pants walk past the courtyard.
Jacob watches them move on. “Bill and Ben,” he says. It makes me wonder if they’re nurses or jailers, or maybe Jacob’s just paranoid. “Fitzgerald will help you. He’s running the cell at the moment,” says Jacob when we’re alone again. “Just call him and say ‘CatchingFire’ if there’s trouble.”
That sounds familiar. Like I’ve heard that phrase a couple of times already. “What’s ‘CatchingFire’?” I ask.
“It’s the name of a book.”
“Yeah, I’ve read it. What will it mean to Fitzgerald?”
“It’s the emergency code. Remember to use it only if you need Fitzgerald’s help.”
“Okay,” I say. Jacob must be finally starting to trust me if he’s given me the code word they use.
*
We leave Jacob sitting there.
“Did that go the way you planned?” asks Ela as we walk to the car.
“Could have been better.”
“He gets cross doesn’t he?” she says quietly.
“Yep.”
“I didn’t know he could be like that.”
“Just stick around me, and you’ll see a lot more of it,” I say, as we go across the grass. Ela pulls a face like she doesn’t think that’s funny.
Then I start thinking about the whole ‘Catching Fire’ thing. And I wonder why it sounded familiar.
It’s a few more steps before I remember where I’ve heard it before. Nick, Curley’s dad, and then Scott all talked about something catching fire, and it seemed strange each time.
When they saw I didn’t know what they were talking about, they all backed off. I think about it a bit more, and we’re nearly at the carpark before I realise what they were doing. They were sending out feelers to see if I was part of the resistance too. Or whatever it is Jacob and Fitzgerald call what they’ve got going. Jacob called it a cell.