by Julian North
“Can we outrun it, like Jalen said?”
Our surviving engine began to make a sickly roar of a sound.
Rhett shook his head, raising his voice to speak over the din. “The starArrow is a suicide drone built for one-way missions. It’s basically a very smart missile. Even with both engines, we couldn’t match its closing speed. With one, we won’t even be close. By now, it’s got a visual lock on us. Our only hope is that we are close enough to the North Carolina border, and they have sufficient air defenses to help us.”
As he spoke, our aircraft started to dive, picking up speed. My stomach heaved as our plunge steepened. We banked hard to the right; my shoulder punched into the muscled arm of the soldier beside me. The airframe was trembling. The pilot was pushing the aircraft to its limits. The men around me, Rhett included, remained stoic, as if resigned to whatever fate would deal them. They must teach that look in army school. I was afraid—I had too many wrongs still to right to die on this aircraft. I looked back at Alexander, his head slumped, his face frozen with unease. I silently mouthed my apologies to him. I could not die this day.
A claxon sounded, screeching a warning. I didn’t need military training to understand that something bad was about to happen. Over the alarm’s cries, another sound penetrated the aircraft’s alloy skin—it was the heated breath of the suicide drone as its engines drove it in for the kill. Our dive steepened. We were now headed almost straight toward the ground. If the starArrow didn’t get us, the immutable laws of gravity were going to. Every surface of my body hurt. I could barely breathe. An explosion rocked the aircraft, hurling us off the flight path like a leaf caught in a gale. The world spun as the razorFish rolled in every direction. The lights went out. Yet I felt hopeful. No wind raced inside the airframe; the temperature was stable. Whatever had hit us hadn’t penetrated the hull. Abruptly, the aircraft stabilized. I heard the engine’s familiar groan. I was going to live another day.
“One enemy target destroyed by Carolina Air Defense Command,” the captain informed us. Everyone cheered. Even the stoic-faced soldiers. Even me.
I was smiling when Jalen leaned out from the cockpit, his eyes fixed on me. He didn’t say anything, just looked at me, confirming I was unhurt, confirming his mission to retrieve me had been a success. Then he disappeared again. I stopped smiling.
Chapter 4
We touched down on a military airfield south of downtown Charlotte. I got up to look through the cockpit window and saw a strange dark cloud hovering low in the sky between us and the shining towers of the city.
“That’s where they took out the starArrow,” one of the soldiers told me as he prepared to disembark. “Must’ve been a surface-to-air missile. The propellant is lighter than air, so it tends to linger like a sooty ghost after a kill shot.”
Everyone shuffled off, except Rhett and me. Jalen waited by the hatch for us. When he realized I wasn’t going to leave Alexander, he told me, “I have summoned medical personnel. They’ll be here shortly. I will make inquiries for Alexander. Whoever the best doctor in the free United States is, we’ll get him for you.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope you will keep an open mind about everything.” Our eyes met. Mine were defiant. I couldn’t read Jalen’s. “Daniela, no one else but me knows about… your gifts.”
Surprise shot through my veins. “Why would you keep it a secret?”
“Because I am different from Virginia. Because you are right that some of the people in Charlotte might be tempted to go to the same lengths as she would as things grow worse. And because I gave my word to Kortilla.”
“You’d betray your country over a promise to a nope?” I didn’t bother disguising my skepticism. Jalen didn’t do charity, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to be betrayed again.
He was silent for a moment before answering in a voice tinged with regret at his own conclusion. “I will do what I must, even break a promise. But I hope you will not let it come to that. Let us talk more, once Alexander is settled.”
After Jalen was gone, Rhett leaned in toward me. “It is not all bleak—I got a message from my uncle. He’s on his way to Charlotte. He’d like to meet with you as well.”
“If I haven’t been arrested and put into a different cage by then.”
Rhett’s eyes tightened at the edges. “That won’t happen. This is still America. Or at least it’s supposed to be.”
I scoffed. “This place is ruled by highborn. Even if your President Hoven isn’t one himself, he answers to them. There’s not much difference between the sides, not for someone like me. You heard Jalen—he prefers a willing soldier, but he’ll do what he must.”
“There is one important thing you aren’t considering,” Rhett said, pausing to twist his mouth into a smirk. “Here, you’ve got Rudolph Banks on your side. Don’t underestimate my uncle.”
I smiled at that, more for the sentiment than any real faith that Rudolph could make a difference. Jalen would do whatever he had to do to avenge his mother. I had something he needed. He might be more honorable than some other highborn, but he was no less determined.
Men in white garb and medical visers arrived in a medevac v-copter a few minutes after Jalen departed. They gaped at the chip on Alexander’s neck and then glanced uneasily at me, as if I was somehow responsible for the outrage.
“Where will you take him?”
“Eastover Lifecenter,” one of the technicians told me. “The best doctors, the best equipment. That’s what Secretary Aris-Putch ordered. We will do everything that can be done.”
The words chilled rather than comforted me. The look in the medtechs’ eyes told me they thought the same as Jalen: chipping was irreversible. I told myself these weren’t the doctors—just the first responders.
“I’m coming with you.”
The two men glanced at each other. I got the impression that my demand was uncomfortable, but not unexpected. The more talkative of the pair finally nodded. “We have a medevac standing by. You can ride with him, if that’s what you want. We’ve got the space on board.”
They brought in a stretcher for Alexander and put him on it. The medtechs moved him like he was a corpse. I winced in pain as I watched it, even if Alexander was completely unaware. It was a relief when they got him on board the medevac.
“I can take it from here,” I told Rhett. “Thank you for all you have done—for not abandoning us. Go find your uncle. Let him see you’re safe with his own eyes.”
Rhett flashed that easy, smirking smile, as if we were in a better place than we were. “You don’t get the South, ma’am. I’ll be coming with you. Uncle Rudolph would have my ears if I did differently.”
I didn’t argue. The truth was that I was glad to have someone along. This was a new place, and I expected to find mostly enemies. I needed someone to have my back.
We rode with Alexander in the rear of the v-copter medevac. The ride took less than five minutes. The v-copter set down on the roof of a pristinely white building trimmed in an elegant red that I would’ve known was a medical center even without the sign. As I followed the stretcher carrying Alexander out of the v-copter, I glanced at the expanse beyond: massive green-trimmed estates dotted the landscape. Of course the best medical care would be located in some tony district of Charlotte. Things were the same everywhere; I didn’t care what it looked like, though, if they could help him.
Rhett noticed my gaze. “Doesn’t really seem like there is a war going on, does it?”
“The people that live in these houses aren’t the ones doing the fighting.”
They took Alexander inside and away for tests. He was assigned a “coordinator” who identified herself as Missy Rosa-Links. Her voice was so cloyingly soothing that it had to be the product of a very skilled alterator. The gentle sounds she made didn’t stop me from disliking her, although I had to work hard at it. I argued when she tried to lead Rhett and me to an overly plush private waiting room instead of letting us accompany Alexander deep
er into the facility, but I quickly realized I wasn’t going to win that one. She was highborn, as was much of the staff. I didn’t trust Missy Rosa-Links or anyone else here, but they had no reason to harm Alexander.
“We should get someone to look at you as well, Daniela. We don’t know—”
“Forget it.” My tone was such that he dropped it.
I allowed myself to settle into a plush couch with real leather cushions. A small refrigerator next to me was stocked with refreshments, and there were multiple wall screens. I probably would’ve fallen asleep in the deep recesses of the sofa had I been less anxious. As it was, I merely sat, unmoving, drifting in and out of a waking dream, barely conscious of the world around me. My visions weren’t coherent—more like flashes of memory. The darkest were of the place I had just been, of being held down by unseen restraints, of a razor cutting into my mind. Other images were of Alexander—not as I knew him now, but rather a younger replica of him. That Alexander had an easier smile, a more comfortable laugh. We ran through a house I didn’t recognize, played games I didn’t fully understand. Until I realized these weren’t my memories at all. They were Kristolan’s. My eyes snapped open. Rudolph Banks stood in front of me, his brows scrunched together in concern.
“You were speaking in your sleep, I think,” he said gently.
Rhett was next to him. The look on his face made me think that whatever I had been saying wasn’t pleasant.
“What did you hear?”
Rudolph and his nephew exchanged an uneasy look.
“One side of an argument, I think,” Rhett said.
Kristolan arguing with her brother.
“Who won?” I tried to inject an element of lightheartedness into my voice.
More squirming. “There were threats. Something about your mother.”
Blood rushed to my face. “My mother died when I was a child.”
“Dreams are strange things. In some, I can still tolerate being around my ex-wives. Even more amazing, they can stand being around me.” Rudolph smiled, a genuine crack revealing rows of yellowed teeth he hadn’t bothered to have replaced.
I returned his smile. “Thank you, sir, for sending Rhett. There are few people I know as brave. And for helping to arrange our rescue.”
Rudolph’s grin disappeared. “I shouldn’t have let you go, although that wasn’t really up to me, was it? But I should’ve realized that whatever you thought Nia was up to, it was going to be worse. I of all people should’ve known that.”
“You hate her.” It wasn’t a question.
Rudolph shook his head, the movement laden with regret. “Do you believe in evil?”
It wasn’t a question I was expecting. “People want money, power, control. They do things to get them, and hurt others.”
“That’s not evil. That’s ambition. Taken to extremes, it makes human beings harm each other, fight wars even. But Virginia… I knew her from when she was just a teenager—a kid whose father had been wrongly imprisoned, with a mother who put notions of genetic superiority in her head. But Virginia took it further. She was ambitious, but that didn’t make her evil. With her, something went rotten. She hides the darkness well. She can be so charming, so sincere. I believed in her for a time. Before I finally had to face the truth: inside her, it’s black. All that she is, her ruthlessness, her thirst for power, those aren’t the things that caused the rot—she does all that to satisfy the hunger of the void of evil within her.”
Thinking about what had been done to Alexander, what was almost done to me, I couldn’t disagree. Havelock had his share of the blame, but Virginia Timber-Night was the master of it all. I looked at my feet for a moment. “I’m sorry we failed to get anything that would help.” My hand found the back of my neck—checking once again that there was only flesh there.
“You did bring us proof of what she is plotting. Very real proof, even if it is tragic.”
“You mean Alexander?” I said, my voice rising dangerously. They would use him for propaganda? Of course they would. Even Rudolph. This was war.
“She’s chipping people—highborn even. But I’m afraid the proof of that won’t make a difference now, so you can calm down, young lady. Chipping has been legalized up North already for criminals and traitors against the state. They may not know the full extent of what Virginia and her minions are working on, but the shock value has been lost. They’ve already got chipped slaves working in their mines out west. Anyway, she’s winning. Victory washes away most sins.”
“But people are still fighting her.” My voice was tiny. “I will.”
Rudolph’s eyes darkened. “We are as well, as best we can. But at this rate, I’m ’fraid the South may go oh-and-two in civil wars.”
“Jalen said part of the army was supporting Virginia.”
Rudolph waved away that concern. “I’ll put our hometown boys, fighting for their homes, against the Yanks, even if their machines are a bit newer and fancier. Your friend, Jalen, has been rather helpful with supplies. It hasn’t been enough. No, we’re rife with defectors, spies, and turncoats. Men I’ve known for thirty years, who I would’ve sworn on my blood would’ve been with the South, have gone over to her. It’s as if her thirst for power is contagious, awakening the worst within us.”
My heart sank. I had said I didn’t care which side won, but listening to Rudolph made me realize that belief was wrong. I might have a choice of evils, but Virginia’s side was obviously the darker of the pair. “Then this is all for nothing?”
“There is still honor… and even glory to be had, young lady,” Rudolph said, a finger in the air. “We are not beaten yet.”
I frowned. I had no interest in honor or glory.
A doctor chose that moment to enter our waiting room. A medical gown so white it was nearly reflective covered his entire body, except his head from the chin up. A pair of medical spectacles were raised above the doctor’s dull, leafy eyes. He looked almost dazed when he entered, but the sight of Rudolph jolted him.
“Mr. Banks, I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“The patient was—is—a friend of mine, Doc.”
“Ah, yes. Well, I’m Dr. Hammond-Stein. Does the young man… are any of you family?”
“I’m what he’s got left.” My voice was raw.
Dr. Hammond-Stein shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not quite sure what that means.”
“Doctor, the people in this room all care very much about the fate of that young man. Please tell us what you know. I take responsibility.”
The doctor absorbed the sour gaze on Rudolph’s face and nodded. “To repeat the obvious, he has been chipped. In technical terms, a neural transmitter has been implanted into his mind in an attempt to impose external directives onto his own synapses.”
“An attempt?” I asked, barely daring to hope.
“Something is not working as the… initiators of this process intended, I believe. And this is a very strange chip indeed. Of course, chipping has never been legal here. However, I had some experience with the process during an internship in Colombia years ago. In any case, this is like nothing I’ve seen before, not in Colombia, not in any journals or net records on the subject. Rather than overwhelm the subject’s higher brain functions, this chip is apparently designed to manipulate and control, without the associated damage—”
“Cut to the chase, Doc,” Rudolph said. “What does that mean for the young man?”
“Him?” The doctor seemed surprised by the question. “Oh, I’m afraid the result is much the same as with conventional chipping. His mind has been irreparably damaged, even if the chip isn’t functioning as its designers intended.”
“Can you take that thing off him?” I barely had enough breath to form words.
“We could remove the chip, but that would be like pulling out the supports of a dead tree: his own synapses are gone, so taking away the external support will cause his nervous system to collapse, terminating all bodily functions. He would die.”
Cha
pter 5
The doctor said some more words. I know because his lips were moving, but I didn’t hear anything that came out of his mouth. My ears were ringing; my hands had formed into fists that wouldn’t seem to open no matter how hard I tried. I sat back on the leather couch. Someone offered me water, I think.
I shouldn’t have expected the doctors here to tell me anything other than what they did. Being chipped was a life sentence in the slave countries. The process couldn’t be reversed, which was rather convenient for the slavers. In the early days of chipping, various well-meaning rebels had mounted raids to liberate the unfortunate. They had succeeded on many occasions, only to find themselves with a horde of zombies on their hands who had to be fed and taken care of like invalids or else they died. No one bothered to defend the chipped anymore. Except me. I wasn’t going to give up on Alexander. I had been swept out to sea, lost in the cold, dark water beyond the extraction platform, and he had come for me. That’s where he was now: lost in the darkness. I’d find a way to pull him back inside.
Hope came from inside of me. It was an image of a machine—a chipping machine. It resembled the grizzly device I had seen on Havelock’s extraction platform, but it was different in ways I didn’t understand. It was located in a room with great glass windows that overlooked the sea. The sun shone brightly even as the chill of my cold trilling power ran through my body. I remembered that machine, and that place, not with horror but with hope, although I didn’t know precisely why. Because it wasn’t my memory—it was Kristolan’s.
Alexander’s voice whispered in my mind, speaking words that he had spoken long ago. I said them aloud as he said them in my memory.
“There is still hope.”
“That’s my girl,” said Rudolph Banks. “Doctors are like lazy groundhogs: they always seem to come up with the choice that lets them sleep for six more weeks. More importantly, don’t take advice from furry rodents.”