by Dawn Norwell
“Is this necessary?” Ximea asked with an irritated groan, shuffling out of the way.
“It’s protocol,” a man replied.
“But she hasn’t even done anything wrong.”
“Maybe not yet,” he spit.
I recognized his voice immediately- it was Zander, the man who wanted to “put me out of my misery” just a few hours before.
The intensity of hatred reflected on his ivory face and the hard glint in his cold blue eyes confirmed the loathing I’d detected in his voice. I couldn’t help the shiver that coursed through my body as he glared at me with disdain. One look at him told me he would follow through with the suggestion in a heartbeat.
I didn’t know where I was, but I wasn’t in Concord any more, of that much I was certain. Staring into the barrels of a dozen military rifles made me wonder if I wouldn’t have been safer inside the dome after all.
CHAPTER EIGHT: NAVIGATING NOVA
A s I stared at the blue-eyed soldier, an all-clear signal was given to a set of guards in the nearby hallway. The soldiers lowered their weapons when a slender, middle-aged woman, with blonde locks that fell in waves down her back, walked into the room. She had an unmistakable air of authority.
“Who are you?” she asked. Her face was serious as she assessed me.
“Kai Markavitch,” I mumbled, cowering beneath her unrelenting glare. The woman’s eyes were reticent and reserved, but I swore I saw a flash of recognition in them when she heard my name.
“Well, Ms. Markavitch, welcome to Nova, the city for unsuits and exiles. I’m Athena Malara, the commander here. What brings you to our community?”
“Rumors,” I admitted. “I heard from a friend that there was a city beyond the dome. I wanted to see it for myself.”
“Why?” she asked curtly. “Surely you didn’t jeopardize your life in Concord, merely to satiate your curiosity.”
I thought this over, unsure how much I should tell her. The information I had was dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. But, other than Zander, everyone had been helpful thus far. They saved me from the wastelands and brought me here for medical treatment- why would they do that if they wanted to cause me harm? I decided it was best to be honest and hope that I could trust them.
I took a deep breath. “I came to warn you that the Syndicate plans to attack your city.”
The room fell silent at my words. The soldiers glanced at one another with indignation and unease, but Athena’s face remained impassive.
“Lies,” Zander scoffed. “Why would the Syndicate trust her with such pivotal information? I’d bet anything that she’s a mole sent here to gather intel.”
“I can prove it,” I blurted in a panic, worried about what my fate would be if they suspected I was a spy. I leaned forward, searching for my backpack, but immediately stopped when a dozen soldiers pointed their rifles directly in my face. My eyes bulged in fear, and the heart rate monitor beeped rapidly beside me. I was frozen, afraid to move any further in case the irrational people with the guns decided to start shooting.
“Enough,” Athena commanded, signaling for the soldiers to lower their weapons. “I’m sorry about that. I think we’re all a little jumpy. Please continue,” she told me, but I remained motionless.
“They won’t hurt you unless I tell them to,” Athena assured me. “But I’m not going to ask you again. If what you say is true, we don’t have time to waste. I need you to show me this evidence that you claim to have.”
“My b-b-backpack,” I stuttered, searching the bed with shaking hands. Ximea picked the sack up from the floor and handed it to me with an apologetic smile.
I rummaged through my bag as quickly as I could manage, mindful of the soldiers ready to attack should I move too abruptly. After what felt like an eternity, I found Leilani’s jewelry box. I opened the container and pulled out the Syndicate’s formal decree, handing it to Athena with trembling fingers.
She read the notice silently, her brilliant blue eyes tight as she skimmed the words.
“Leave us,” she commanded the guards.
Without hesitation, the soldiers walked out of the room, closing the door behind them so that I was left alone with Athena, Ximea, and Zander, who remained firmly rooted in place. Athena glared at him but must have realized from the set look on his face that he would not allow his leader to be left alone with a possible lunatic.
With a resigned sigh, Athena turned back to face me, pretending that Zander wasn’t there. “How did you come by information?”
“From the friend who told me of your existence. She works for the Syndicate, or at least she used to, until she was executed for treason,” I whispered.
Despite my best effort, I couldn’t help the tears that formed as I thought of her. Remembering Leilani reopened the wounds I’d been trying so hard to close. For years she had dreamed of a life beyond Concord, convinced that there had to be another world beyond our own. She had been right all along. If only I had believed her sooner, perhaps she could be there with me to see it for herself.
Athena’s observant blue eyes locked on mine. I fought back the tears that threatened to overflow, worried she would see them as a sign of weakness. Her gaze was unrelenting, scrutinizing the validity of my words. I squirmed uncomfortably until she had mercy and looked away.
“Zander,” she said, “prepare the community for infiltration protocol. Move everyone to the lowest fifteen floors, and place us on lockdown until I can investigate further.”
He hesitated. “With all due respect, if what the suit says is true, this is golden information we’re sitting on. We need to attack the Syndicate before they attack us; we have to strike while we have the upper hand.”
“We’re not attacking anyone. I need to verify the accuracy of Ms. Markavitch’s information first.” Athena shook her head. “I will not wage war on another community until I know that the threat is real. Especially not when that city has an interminable supply of weapons, and a dome that is designed to protect them. I won’t put my people through that,” she said softly.
"But..."
With a lethal look, she cut Zander off. “No ‘buts’ soldier. I gave you a direct order, one that I expect you to follow, or you’ll be tried as a renegade. Is that understood?”
Zander glowered at Athena. His face was torn as he weighed the benefits and ramifications of breaking her order. After a moment, he let out a deep groan, accepting that it wasn’t worth the argument.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said reluctantly, gritting his teeth.
Athena eyed him skeptically, but seemed satisfied with his answer. She turned back to look at me, her face no longer wearing the mask of authority, but portraying a maternal warmth that put me at ease. Her commanding exterior fell away, and she gave a kind smile, looking younger without the masquerade, more at peace. It was obvious that she only wore the tough façade when she had to.
“Thank you for this information, Kai. Forgive me, but I will still need to confirm what you are saying. I am inclined to believe you, though, given how fervently Concord is trying to find you. Our police scanners intercepted a message from the Syndicate issuing a warrant for your arrest just hours after you were found,” Athena said.
My heart dropped as I realized that I was officially a fugitive of the law. Suit soldiers could be actively searching for me, eager to bring me back to Concord to gain favor from the Syndicate. I could only hope that they weren’t able to get to me in this new community.
“If this information checks out, Ms. Markavitch, your actions may have saved many lives in Nova,” Athena said, placing her hand gently on mine. “We’ll let you rest,” she smiled, before walking from the room.
Zander hesitated for a moment longer, glaring at me as the automatic weapon quivered in his hand. His mouth opened slightly as though he wanted to say something, but Athena called to him from the hallways before he got the chance. He settled for a quiet snarl before following her from the room.
When the door shut be
hind him, my tensed shoulders relaxed.
“Well, that was intense,” Ximea said, giving me a playful smile.
“You’re telling me,” I mumbled. “Zander definitely hates me.” I shifted uncomfortably as I remembered his vehement glare.
“He’s all bark and no bite,” Ximea said with a wave of her hand. “The real Zander is a good guy, though you’d never guess it by the way he acts. He puts on a tough front because he wants to be the leader of Nova one day, but he’s a softie deep down.”
God help us all if that man was ever put in charge, I thought.
I could hardly comprehend that I’d actually made it to the unsuit community. Three days ago, I had no idea this city existed. I had resigned that I would live the remainder of my life within the walls of the dome, continuously watching my back in case the Syndicate or TIMs learned my true sentiments toward Concord. Now, I was finally free of their grasp, finding sanctuary with the last people I’d thought would ever help someone like me. I had Nova to thank for saving me, in more ways than one.
“Ximea?” I asked as she jotted down information in my chart. “Can you tell me more about Nova?”
I was curious about this new world I’d stepped into, the place that was such a threat to the Syndicate that they were willing to eradicate from the face of the planet. Ximea was the only person I’d met so far who seemed even remotely amicable. If anyone would be willing to give me details about this new world, it was her.
The corner of Ximea’s mouth turned up as she sat at the foot of my bed. “Nova stands for the New Order Vindication Alliance. The people who live here are the rejects of the world or the ‘unsuits’ as your government would call us.”
Even through her kind face, I could see the hurt she felt saying this word aloud.
“You’re an unsuit?” I asked in shock. “But I thought that unsuits were supposed to be, you know, abnormal. What exactly … well… what I’m asking is…” I stuttered.
“What are my defects?” Ximea finished with a small laugh. I blushed scarlet. “I suppose, once upon a time, our forefathers all had some physical or mental ailments that earned them the label ‘unsuit’. But many of those genetic markers have faded over the years. Most of today’s unsuits are completely healthy and perfectly average.”
My forehead creased with thought. My entire life I’d been taught to believe that unsuits were disgusting, disease-riddled vermin, with chromosomal inadequacies that would harm the human race if passed down to the next generation. It was bewildering to think that everything I’d been taught during my formative years might have been wrong. Were unsuits as grotesque as we’d been conditioned to believe? If Ximea was any indication, it was obvious that the Syndicate had been lying to us.
“Over time, Nova created their own medical centers. Now, we can often detect and treat any possible complications in vitro,” Ximea continued. “In today’s world, most unsuits are just ordinary people who get a bad rep by the Syndicate. But if a baby was born with defects, we wouldn’t turn them away. We aren’t Concord.
Ximea’s expression turned sour. “My father was born a suit,” she admitted. “He was banished from the dome immediately after birth because his embryo didn’t form the way his parents wanted it to. He was just a tiny baby who wasn’t able to care for himself, and they just threw him into the wastelands like garbage because he was born missing two fingers. Of all of the things to try to abandon someone over,” she scoffed.
“But unsuits wanderers found him before it was too late. They brought him back to Nova, where he grew up to be an active and contributing member of our society.” She smiled. “I thank God every day that the Syndicate banished my father and that Nova took him in. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Reproduction isn’t the same in Nova as it is in Concord. We don’t use genmod machines to create our children. We prefer to do things… the old-fashioned way,” she said with a small smile.
I cringed at the concept. Sexual activity was considered taboo in Concord. It was something we didn’t discuss, and we most certainly didn’t partake in it. The idea that people in Nova still participated in something so barbaric seemed absurd in my eyes.
I shook my head. “But how do you weed out the various diseases and abnormalities among babies if you don’t use genmod labs?” I asked, guiding the topic back into safe territory. “Sure, you’ve made medical advances, but in vitro fetal care can only do so much. Even in Concord, with their progressive techniques, fetuses are sometimes born with defects.”
“We do miss things at times,” she admitted. “But unlike Concord, we don’t shy away from things just because they are different. When people are born outside the normal standard, we accept them for who they are. We embrace our differences and use them to strengthen our society. It’s worked pretty well for the last few hundred years, so we must be doing something right,” she smiled.
I laid my head back against my pillow, trying to absorb her words. No genmod labs? Reproduction through sex, rather than science? I could hardly imagine it. That was primitive thinking, something that had long ago been banned in Concord, thanks to technological advances. The notion of a community who still demonstrated this archaic way of life was hard for me to comprehend.
“If you’ve made such advances, maybe the Syndicate would welcome you back inside the dome. Perhaps they just don’t know how wrong they are about everyone here,” I suggested, but the look on Ximea’s face told me that it isn’t an option.
“The Syndicate knows more than you realize, Kai. Why do you think they’re trying to destroy us?” she sighed. “They would rather annihilate our city than let our existence be known. They’re afraid that people will run away if they know the truth, that they would abandon the dome, and flee to a place where they can live freely. The Syndicate can’t have that; how would they stay in power if there were no citizens to suppress? Then they would have to give up their precious lifestyle, and admit to the suits how wrong they were. So they lie to the suits, depicting us as grotesque or evil creatures to keep wanderers away.
“When they tossed our forefathers from the dome, the Syndicate never anticipated they’d survive the wastelands and band together like we have. Now they view us as a threat. They worry that we might continue building our armies until we are unstoppable. They fear us,” Ximea admitted.
I knew that Ximea was right, that the unsuits had been portrayed as something malevolent when they weren’t. She was the prime example; there was nothing evil or disgusting about her. She saved my life when she didn’t have to, and I could never repay her for this.
“We’re used to this type of behavior from the Syndicate,” she continued, seeing the sympathy in my eyes. Our entire lives, suits have treated us like lesser humans, forcing us to remain hidden. Over time, we learned that it’s best if we just try to avoid one another. Now and then, the Syndicate will send a TIM out to check on us and make sure we aren’t up to anything. But other than that, they act like we don’t exist. We’ve got an unspoken agreement that if they leave us alone, we’ll leave them alone. At least, we did have an agreement, but I guess that’s over. Now that they’re threatening an attack, who knows what will happen,” she said forebodingly.
The idea made my heart sink. Could I have single-handedly started a new war between the Syndicate and Nova, all because of the information Leilani gave me? Remorse ran through me as I thought about how many lives could be lost due to an impulsive decision that may prove to be wrong.
“The truth is,” Ximea continued, “the Syndicate would never let us back inside the dome. That bridge was burned centuries ago. And even if they did, we wouldn’t want to go. We wouldn’t want to live in that tiny bubble you called home, constantly dictated by a panel who thinks that they’re better than everyone else, being brainwashed to the point that we don’t know what’s real and what isn’t,” she said, shaking her head. “No, it’s better this way. The suits
have their world, and we have ours.”
I contemplated this for a moment. The last thing that the world needed was more animosity and violence. After the Dominate War, it was supposed to be a time of renewal and starting fresh. What had happened along the way that made these two groups despise one another?
Could there ever be a world where these two factions could come together as one, or was I naïve in thinking that we could all get along? Was the hatred so ingrained in each of us that we couldn’t move past it?
As I lay in bed, trying to rationalize this concept, Ximea attached a new bag of medicine to my IV line. The drugs worked quickly, easing the ache in my head and helping my tense muscles to relax. My thoughts become muddled, and before I know it, I had fallen back to sleep, dreaming about a world where true peace was a real possibility.
CHAPTER NINE: UNCERTAINTY UNDERGROUND
I n my unconsciousness, I relived my first few moments in Nova, as Ximea held my hands reassuringly in hers, as Athena spoke to me with an air of authority, and as I was surrounded by terrifying soldiers who forced their menacing death machines into my face. Most disturbing of all was the image of Zander glowering at me with such intense hatred, filling me with such terror that I was startled awake.
I sat up, gasping for breath. I scanned the hospital room, searching for signs of danger, relieved when I saw that Zander wasn’t really there. What I did see, however, was a scurry of hospital staff rushing around the room with panicked expressions. Frazzled doctors, nurses, and orderlies unfastened patients from their beds and apparatuses in a rush, moving them into the hallway as quickly as they could manage.
I caught Ximea’s eye as she passed me with a patient. “What’s happening?” I asked, confused by the sudden uproar.
“Nova is in infiltration protocol,” she explained. “Athena is convinced that the documents you showed her were legitimate. And since it specified that the attack would occur tomorrow, we are moving all Nova civilians to the lower levels of our city for protection.”