by S. H. Jucha
“There are some people I want you to meet,” Noel said.
The remark had Imian thinking he was about to be introduced to a potential group of recruits.
“But we have conditions,” Noel added.
“We?” Imian asked in confusion.
“All will be made clear if the meeting goes well, if you’re accepted,” Noel explained.
“Okay, where and when?” Imian asked.
“Here are our conditions,” Noel said. “Exit your house at exactly twenty hours tonight. An e-trans will be at your door. Get in. There will be a small vial on the passenger seat. Put a drop in each eye. It’ll blur your vision, but it’ll wear off in about two hours. Respond to the vehicle’s request for a destination with two-L-four-M-J.”
Noel repeated the conditions slowly and required Imian to speak them back to him.
Afterwards, Imian took an e-trans to his home and ate the evening meal with his father.
Idrian took particular pleasure in seeing Imian’s new style of dress, and he complimented his son frequently. The effect was to increase Imian’s guilt about his complicity.
A few minutes before twenty hours, Imian slipped out of the house by the rear garden door. He circled the house and found the e-trans waiting.
Imian followed Noel’s directions explicitly. The eye drops briefly stung, and his eyesight blurred, but there was no lasting discomfort.
After reciting the code, the e-trans launched silently along the ped-path. It never stopped for other passengers.
Imian couldn’t see, but he knew he passed through three dome interconnectors and an agri-dome. It wasn’t difficult to determine which dome he’d entered, but that was as far as his knowledge extended. The e-trans’ motion was smooth. However, Imian could detect that the vehicle was making far too many turns.
When the e-trans came to a stop, Imian heard Noel ask him to get out. He was led to some kind of factory. It smelled of fruit. They passed through a processing area, the machinery quietly whirring away, and Imian was seated in a back room.
“We want you to answer some questions for us, Imian,” a female said. “You’re not in any danger from us, but you do represent a danger to us. That’s why the precautions.”
Imian was interrogated for a while. The questions came quickly, as if they hoped to trip him up and discover inconsistencies in his story.
Finally, Imian held up his hands and said, “Enough.” Into the sudden silence, he added, “All of you know Sasha Garmenti, but did you know that she’s one of the most powerful empaths? That’s right now as a young teenager.”
Imian could hear the murmurs, and his estimate of the group’s size rose considerably.
“It’s said that you two are friends,” an older male said.
“We are,” Imian replied. “Did you know that Sasha’s power is combined with a mercurial temperament? The residents of the Belle are quite respectful in her presence. Sasha hates it and covets it at the same time. Taking that into consideration, do you think I could fool her?”
“Who knows how much time the two of you spent together,” a young male voice accused.
“A lot, according to my source. They were inseparable,” an older woman retorted.
“I own a comm unit,” Imian said. “Sasha bought one for me and one for herself. My device has a single contact ID in it. It’s Sasha, and I talk to her every night.”
“Why did you search out Noel?” a man asked.
“I promised the envoy that I’d help her,” Imian replied, and the room went quiet again.
“When you go through experiences like mine,” Imian continued, “you come out the other side either wanting to scream and run back to your former life, which I was tempted to do, or you stop and reevaluate your life, which is what I did. The envoy was kind to me, when spacers and stationers shunned me. The envoy brought aliens to us, and they were the ones who repaired me. I owe her. She wants a new government, a unified one, and she wants it to fairly represent the needs of Pyre’s citizenry. That’s what she wants, and I promised to help her achieve it.”
Following his rant, Imian waited for the next question. Instead, he felt a tug on his arm, and Noel told him that they were leaving.
Imian stood, but he pulled free of Noel’s hand. Facing the blurred faces, he said, “I don’t know the exact purpose of this meeting, but I can tell you what I’d hoped to find. I’d hoped to meet people who were tired of living in the shadows of people like my father. The families run your lives, and that’s not right. We have this one opportunity to turn the tables on them. If you don’t want to take the chance, I can understand that, and I’ll go find others who will take the risk.”
Imian was led out of the factory and settled into an e-trans.
“You did well, Imian,” Noel said proudly. “You reminded me of the child who first came to my agri-dome. He was full of passion too. Welcome back.”
“What happens now?” Imian asked.
“We talk,” Noel said. “Come see me tomorrow. The vehicle will return you home, but not directly. It’ll roam around. When your vision clears, say two-D, and it’ll proceed to your house.”
When a tired Imian finally made it home, he entered by the back door. Security nodded to him. His earlier rambunctious life was serving him well. No one thought anything of him coming and going late in the evening.
Alone in his room, Imian dug out his comm unit. He’d been told by Noel to leave it behind, and he’d chosen to hide it. He activated the virtual screen and called Sasha.
“You won’t believe what happened to me tonight,” Imian said. He proceeded to relate the entire story of his strange encounter at the fruit factory.
“Who do you think they are?” Sasha asked, when Imian wound down.
“I saw an old vid when I was young,” Imian replied. “I didn’t understand it too well. There were military types, who were the bad people. Then there were others, who were of the same culture, only they didn’t like the military who ruled them. The military called their adversaries rebels. The rebels called themselves the underground, which was odd because no one lived in subterranean houses.”
“So, you think there’s an underground in the domes?” Sasha asked.
“Yes, I think that’s who they are, and I hope they’ll help me,” Imian replied. “You need to tell Harbour and Jessie. I’m already over my head. Maybe they can give me some ideas on what to do next.”
“Are these people dangerous to you?” Sasha asked with concern.
“I don’t think so,” Imian replied. “I think they’re more worried about me exposing them,” Imian replied.
“Harbour said Captain Bassiter is drawing up the rules for the election process per the Belle’s documents,” Sasha said. “When that’s published, it might help you and these other people figure out the next steps.”
“Good to know, Sasha,” Imian said thankfully.
“You be careful, Imian,” Sasha said. “If you get hurt, I don’t want to have to drop downside and melt some brains.”
“Good night, Sasha,” Imian replied, chuckling, and then he closed the call.
Sasha’s remark wasn’t really funny, because she meant every word and was quite capable of delivering on her threat. Imian just appreciated that he had someone who cared enough to fight for him. It was in direct opposition to the ugly silence that accompanied the sudden disappearance of downsiders.
-30-
Underground
Noel Gunderson and his wife, Caitie, ended the call. One of their group’s members was a tech, who had access to the El’s comm trunk line.
For years, they’d overheard the calls of family heads with individuals aboard the JOS. Unfortunately, they could only sit on the data they collected. The previous commandant certainly wasn’t the one to receive their information. He was often the recipient of the families’ calls.
“What do you think?” Noel asked his wife.
“The boy sounds sincere,” Caitie said, “and he is talking to a Garm
enti.”
“I wonder what his father thinks about that,” Noel mused.
“I think we can use Imian,” Caitie offered.
“How?” Noel asked.
“We certainly can’t let him any deeper into our group. Members, me included, are adamant about that,” Caitie said firmly.
“I can’t blame you and them,” Noel said. “We’ve stayed alive by being careful, but I don’t want us to put Imian in great danger either.”
“I appreciate that you’ve feelings for the boy,” Caitie said, laying a hand over her husband’s. “However, this is a fantastic opportunity. We know there are other groups out there.”
“True,” Noel agreed, “but we’ve only vague details about them. Ah …” he said suddenly. “You think Imian can find them for us.”
“Yes,” Caitie said excitedly. “Odds are high that they’ll treat Imian as carefully as we did. If we can entice Imian to contact these other groups, we might form a cohesive strategic plan.”
“We’ll be exposing the boy to enormous risk,” Noel said with concern. “Security might become aware of his odd visits, and one of these groups might think it’s better to make the boy disappear to protect their members.”
“Better him than us,” Caitie replied coldly.
“He’s not a Dorelyn, Lise, or Rufus,” Noel said sternly. “He’s not even an Idrian. He’s just a boy who’s had an awakening and wants to do something with his newly discovered values.”
Caitie patted Noel’s hand, but he wasn’t fooled by the gesture.
“This is a chance to shift Pyre’s power structure. We can’t afford not to take the opportunity to unite our groups,” Caitie said. “We could force shutdowns and service disruption. That’s real power. Besides, do you really think Idrian would make his own son disappear?”
“Idrian, no. Dorelyn or Rufus? Yes, in a heartbeat,” Noel shot back.
“Isn’t this something for Imian to decide? He did come to us,” Caitie said. When Noel didn’t argue further, she asked, “Are we agreed? We give Imian the data points we have about another group and ask him to seek it out. If he’s successful, he can become the communicator between the groups.”
“We’ll need to use message drops. We can’t risk comm units or face-to-face meetings,” Noel replied, acquiescing to Caitie. On these matters, she led. Caitie was the group’s original organizer and de facto leader.
“I’ve a better idea,” Caitie said suddenly. “We’ll use the e-trans and e-carts.”
“That’s an idea,” Noel replied. “We program them to transfer messages. After all, we maintain the vehicles. Family security would never suspect that they’re carrying communications.”
“That cuts Imian’s exposure down considerably, which I know you’ll appreciate,” Caitie added. “He’ll make the original contact with another group, and then we must deliver a means for them to send a message to us through a vehicle.”
“That’s a plan,” Noel said, content with the compromise. “I’m meeting Imian tomorrow. I’ll give him the information we have on the organization in recycling. If he accepts the assignment, we’ll see how he handles it.”
* * * *
“Start again, Sasha, but slowly,” Harbour requested. Jessie, Sasha, and she were seated in the Pit before opening hours.
Sasha took a gulp of her green, belched, apologized, and then repeated, “Imian and I talked last night.”
“How?” Jessie interrupted.
“Oh,” Sasha exclaimed. “I bought two comm units … one for Imian and one for me. Cecilia showed me how to do it from my account.” Focusing on Harbour, she added, “You didn’t tell me I had coin.”
“Every Belle resident gets a stipend from the ship’s slush hauls,” Harbour explained.
“But I’m not on the ship right now,” Sasha complained, thinking she was missing out.
“You’re just visiting the JOS, Sasha. You’re still a resident of the Belle,” Harbour said patiently.
“Oh, okay. Then that’s all right,” Sasha replied contentedly and took another swallow of her green.
“Tell us about your call,” Jessie urged.
“It was nice to talk to Imian,” Sasha said. “I like him. I thought he could be my first boyfriend, but he thinks of me as a sister, and I’m okay with that.”
Sasha continued to jabber on until Harbour interrupted. “Sasha, did you two talk about downsiders?” she asked.
“Yes,” Sasha said, and her attention piqued. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Imian was really excited. He met some people. They’re workers, not family members. He described a vid and compared these people to a group in the vid. He called them rebels and the underground.”
“Did he say anything else about them?” Jessie asked.
“Not much,” Sasha replied, shrugging. “He did ask if you had anything that you wanted to tell him.”
“Would you mind if your calls with Imian were recorded?” Jessie asked.
Sasha scowled.
“Sasha,” Harbour said gently, directing the teenager’s attention toward her. “This is important. Only Jessie and I will listen to the calls. What Imian is doing could help us win elections.”
“He said he was doing something for you,” Sasha said.
Harbour could detect Sasha’s annoyance. She’d found a friend and didn’t like others interfering with the relationship.
“What Imian is doing is dangerous, Sasha,” Harbour explained. “We can help him. Perhaps when he calls, we can chat with him first, and then you two can talk privately.”
“That would be better,” Sasha said, draining her green.
“What time does he call?” Jessie asked.
“There’s no set time,” Sasha replied. “He’ll call when he can.”
“Then you can stay in our cabin in the evening,” Harbour suggested. “After we talk to Imian, you take the call to your cabin.”
“Okay,” Sasha said, jumping up and heading for the Pit’s exit.
“Where are you going?” Jessie asked.
“Shopping! I have coin,” Sasha replied happily and disappeared out the hatch.
Jessie glanced at Harbour. She was grinning.
* * * *
Imian met with Noel in the agri-dome.
“We have a job for you, Imian, if you want it,” Noel said. “It’ll increase your risk of exposure, but it’ll help our cause.”
“What is it?” Imian asked.
“There are other groups like ours in the domes, but like us, they remain secret. We know where some of them are by the type of work they do,” Noel explained.
“And you want me to contact them and tell them about you,” Imian supposed.
“Partly,” Noel said. “You contact the first group and give them this.” He handed a microchip to Imian. “If they’re interested in communicating with us, they can insert it into any e-trans or e-cart’s programming receptacle.”
“I’ve never seen one of these,” Imian marveled, examining the tiny black square with contacts along one edge.
“Why would you?” Noel asked rhetorically. “Only techs use them.”
“Who’s this other group?” Imian asked.
“You need to visit dome four, section three, the recycling center, soon after start of third shift. Your potential contact is there. We only know the name Scarlet.”
“Scarlet is the woman’s name?” Imian asked.
“We don’t know that. Your contact could be man or woman. We only know that the word or name identifies the leader of this organization,” Noel replied.
“How do I prove I’m from your group?” Imian asked.
“You don’t,” Noel said sternly. “Listen carefully to me, Imian. If the families find out what we’re doing, all our lives are at risk. You can’t tell this other group about me, about our meetings in this dome, about where you thought you met my group, or how you were transported to the meeting. Do you understand?”
“I understand what you’ve just said,
but how do I convince them about me and the importance of what I’m asking them to do?” Imian complained.
“The same way you did last night, Imian,” Noel encouraged, gripping the teenager’s shoulders. “Talk to them about what happened to you, your promise to the envoy, and your friend, Sasha. When you do, people will hear and feel your sincerity.”
“After I meet or don’t meet with this leader, what next?” Imian asked.
“You come here every day, during first shift, but vary the time and the route,” Noel replied. “Do a little shopping, buy some fruit, or see a friend first before you come here.”
“I understand,” Imian said. “I’ll try this group tonight.”
“Good man,” Noel said, patting Imian on the back and sending him on his way.
As Imian climbed into an e-trans, Noel experienced what most responsible individuals feel when they send young men into harm’s way. He was proud of Imian and angry and disgusted with himself.
* * * *
After evening meal, Imian talked with Sasha before his late-night foray to dome four to find Scarlet.
“Imian, Harbour and Jessie want to talk to you,” Sasha said. She put her comm unit on speaker and set it on the table between them.
“Imian, Sasha has told us what you’re doing,” Harbour said. “We’d like to offer suggestions if we may.”
“I’d appreciate that, Envoy. This isn’t developing anything like I expected,” Imian said.
“Bring us up-to-date,” Jessie requested.
Imian described his meeting with Noel and the request to be the initiator of the conduit by which the two groups could communicate.
“Did Noel suggest that there were other organizations?” Jessie asked.
“That’s the impression I received,” Imian replied. “I only received specifics about this recycling group. It’s supposed to be my first opportunity.”
“Are you recording this conversation?” Harbour asked.
“No, should I be?” Imian retorted.
“No,” Harbour replied firmly. “Are you documenting anything?”
“No,” Imian replied again. The conversation began to worry him more than the one he had with Noel.