After sending them on their way, Ella and Jeremiah returned to the Elder tent to gnaw on some roots and down an assortment of roaches and some grubs. After the meal, the pair took the long stroll to her bunker in the hills.
***
The sky was starting to darken, and as it did the blue glow of the Glass City brightened. Jeremiah and Ella were packed into her lookout spot, a cramped space even when she was alone. His sour, funky body odor shrank the area even more.
Jeremiah looked through Ella’s binoculars, observing all the activity inside. Workers were finishing for the day, and he watched them secure their belongings before departing. “That seems like the perfect place to attack, it looks completely undefended,” Jeremiah observed as he pointed to the southeast corner where the crews came to work every day.
“Yeah, it’s almost like they make it too easy,” she replied, while fighting the urge to take back her looking device. “Every couple of days, they power down all the defenses. If we could acquire several more of the Beast, we could hide them in these hills, and roll them into position during power down. We could attack them so hard and fast, they wouldn’t even know what hit ‘em.” She knew that the scenario was not plausible, that the scouts they sent out would not find fuel and would not be able to get the machines running, but she wanted to know his true feelings on the subject, especially after his one failed attack. “If we could get five or six of them, this whole city would fall.”
“And then what?” asked Jeremiah. “What’s the next step?”
“We storm the place, and every man, woman, and child with a Mask gets inside,” she answered.
“And after that?” he followed up.
It was becoming obvious quickly that Jeremiah wanted to attack the Glass City about as much as she did, if not less. “Well, that is the whole point, to get inside, right? Once we are in, we loot, we riot, we plunder, and we do whatever our instincts tell us.” Ella was running out of answers to his questions, which already reflected her doubts.
“Ok, but after that, when it settles down, assuming we are successful, we can’t riot forever. We have to sleep and eat eventually, right?” he asked.
The questions kept coming, but Ella was only considering them hypothetically. Purely for her own amusement, she continued, “Well, I guess we just take control of the whole city.”
“How?” he asked, and then answered his own question. “Their systems are far too advanced. We can’t even fix all these simple vehicles we have here on the Outside.”
Jeremiah was right. Ella knew it, but would not admit it out loud. Even though he felt the same way, Ella was sure neither he, nor anyone else in their camp, wanted to hear an Elder admit what they were both thinking. “So, we will make them show us. We have the Beast. If we find a few more just like it, then we will let them do the talking, and convince those on the Inside to cooperate. We will see how they like it when the shoe is on the other foot, when they are forced to wear the masks when we shatter the walls of their safe little world.”
“But what if we fail?” replied Jeremiah immediately.
“How could we?” she asked. “The power of the Beast is unmatched by anything I have seen on the Inside. If they had something superior, they would be out here looking for us, trying to destroy us as we speak.” She was reaching now, but she wanted to test Jeremiah, to see exactly where his head was.
And then Jeremiah asked his next question, one that Ella had been pondering since her meeting with Stranger Friend. “What if they aren’t trying to destroy us like we think? What if they are actually trying to help us?”
Chapter 15 (Jacob Niles)
The sky outside darkened, and the glow of the dome was just like Jacob remembered it as a kid. Bright enough to light the entire Zone 15 of Central and transform it to a world of blue scale. The yellow letters and arches marking the terminals were a dazzling contrast to the fluorescent blue that blanketed the large open space. Rope lights, matching the color of the signage throughout, ran along the steel beams and other fixtures, something new from his previous visits.
Kids ran on the catwalk across the diameter bridges, just as he had done in his youth. He wondered how long they would stay lulled by the system and all its distractions. A silent prayer to Mother Earth was offered, asking that these children would discover the illusion at an earlier age than he, somehow cracking a code very few even know exist. It’s a shame most will die without ever having a clue, he thought as finished his prayer.
For now, they would run on catwalks and chase shadows in the blue light. Watching them play, his childhood no longer seemed real. The details were fuzzy, almost like it never happened or occurred in a past life. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them, knowing every step of their lives had already been planned out. Soon schooling and training would take over the better part of their childhood and adolescent years. Immediately, their mandatory service kicks in. Five years in Recycling, another five in Engineering, unless plucked by the Rangers or Medical, both of which require a lifetime commitment.
Along the way, rules teaching them how to live more sustainable lives would be shoved down their throats. Tricks about how to increase their gredits by making a smaller footprint would be driven into their minds until it became second nature. They would learn to appreciate the beauty of the things that grow inside the ‘Haus by observing the decay on the Outside. All good things, no doubt, but those responsible for putting these systems in place had ulterior motives. To hide something and to distract them, but from what, Jacob was not sure.
He certainly hoped to find clues when he arrived in Newer Orleans. He would start with Cole, though he was not sure what to say or how to say it. He now knew that saying the wrong thing had penalties. Penalties not from some written code or law or rule from the Green Constitution, but from some arbitrary set of rules and punishments handed out by a cloaked entity. Listening and watching through the glass.
There seemed to be no sanctuary from their web of surveillance. Jacob and Jasper’s final conversation took place in the unfinished annex, out of earshot of anyone, yet Jasper had been eliminated nonetheless. Something in the glass or something in the steel. Our tools maybe. Or utility belts, or EPC’s. It could be anything.
His Beebe was nearing the dock, indicated by the ‘holding’ designation next to his name on the flat panel in front of him changing to ‘ready’. Jacob finished his juice and left his seat at the refreshment bar. The blue light bathed everything in Zone 15, but the yellow signs bursting through it. Jacob had no trouble distinguishing the Newer Orleans Departures terminal from the other twenty-three terminals scattered throughout the cavernous space.
As Jacob passed under the archway and had his EPC scanned, green lights flashed around one of the empty tubes in a launching zone. The man who scanned his arm spoke. “Your Beebe launches from there, sir, and will arrive shortly.” He pointed to the specific vessel before continuing his instructions. “Follow the stairs to the landing at the second level, where the Bullet loads from. Then take the left set of stairs up to the next landing and take the curved staircase on the right to the fifth small platform, which will also be lit green. An attendant will help you board.”
Jacob thanked him and walked toward the departure platforms. The main landing, where he had once boarded the Bullet, had been the whole departure area at the time of his last visit. Smaller holes, where the Beebes were arranged in a circular formation around a large hole in the center, and a new configuration of landings and stairs had been built to accommodate the loading. The railings were illuminated by thin yellow rope lighting. He followed the instructions to the letter, until he reached the fifth landing of the winding staircase and was greeted by an attendant. “Right this way, Mr. Niles, watch your step.”
The Beebe neared, came to a halt, and waited for him in a loading carriage made of bent steel and wire mesh. Butterfly doors opened and Jacob stepped inside. The attendant strapped him in, tightened his five-point harness, and gave him instructi
ons for operating the swiveling seat. After the wing doors closed on the oval pod, the attendant locked them from the outside. A robotic arm pushed the pod into the tunnel, starting his journey. It nudged forward ever so slightly before a steep drop brought the tube that contained his Beebe to a point that merged with three other similar tubes. During the drop, Jacob was thrown back against his seat. It wasn’t the same amount of G-force produced by the Bullet, but his stomach jumped up into his throat just the same, a strange feeling he rather enjoyed.
Jacob’s pod merged twice more, gaining more speed each time, until finally entering the glass tube that would take him the rest of the way to Newer Orleans. Jacob liked the freedom to move around, as opposed to the restraints placed on passengers in the high speed Bullet. His seat swiveled completely around, and he watched the blue glow fade into the horizon, something he had wanted to see from the Bullet all those years ago. It was beautiful, just as he always imagined it would be, but now he knew an evil lurked within. The Tesla coils kept those wishing to harm the ‘Haus from entering, but it also protected the sinister forces within, keeping any opposition from exiting.
After the city was completely gone, Jacob spun around and focused on the view in front of him. Slim cobalt blue lights lined either side of the tunnel that zipped him along, the soft buzzing ever present. In total five tunnels ran between the two colonies; all were contained inside one large conduit. Four of them were the size of the tunnel that carried Jacob’s pod, and they were arranged at twelve, three, six, and nine o’clock around the larger tube that carried the Bullet. All of this was enclosed in the larger tube, lined on either side by power lines glowing in familiar blue. Every so often a Tesla coil popped up along his course, guarding the pillars that supported the weight of the glass tubes, preventing the Outsiders from attacking them and disrupting travel.
The ride was long, and Jacob was finally alone. There was no one to watch him through the glass, no one to eavesdrop on his conversations. No one to notice the sadness welling in him. Sadness that Jasper was gone, and for a reason Jacob could not comprehend. Sadness that the innocence of the ‘Haus was lost. Sadness that his life had changed forever. He was now entangled in a web, and the only way to avoid falling prey to the spider was to keep quiet, when there was so much to be said.
The tears started as a slow trickle, but quickly turned into a flood. It was uncontrollable and necessary. For the past day, he had felt like he was going to explode. Finally able to release the pressure, he cried until the tears gave way to anger.
Jacob threw punches at the air. He pulled as hard as he could on his restraints, trying to break them from their mounts. His arms waved around furiously, with no rhyme or reason behind their movement, burning off the energy caused by his anger. It was an emotion he had rarely felt before, one that he did not enjoy, one he knew was dangerous within the glass of the ‘Haus. An emotion the powers-that-be suppressed at all costs using their deceptive illusions of beauty. His lack of experience in dealing with such a powerful emotion left him clueless as to how to harness its power. Or how to control it or to stop it. And so it flowed.
While the tears were limited, his anger appeared to be infinite. He knew he had to control it before reaching Newer Orleans, but he let his wild emotions run their course. The throbbing in his hands from beating the side of the pod was only outdone by the pounding in his head from bashing it into the soft padded head guard. He took more swings at the air and convulsed his body violently.
Jacob continued expending energy until he was wiped out from his fit of rage. His body was sure to be sore for days to come. The self-inflicted bruises from the restraints were already starting to show.
As the adrenaline wore off, he tired quickly. Pain started to creep in. Never had his emotions ranged so far, so quickly. The buzz of pain kept him awake for a little while, but he could not fight exhaustion. Drained, the drowsiness overwhelmed him.
***
A series of beeps shook Jacob from his slumber. After taking a second to settle his senses, he took in the sights of Newer Orleans. It had the same blue glow as Jacob’s home, but the central portion of the city and the grand dome that covered it was much larger.
The rest of the city looked nothing like his home. The New St. Louis Greenhaus was a single structure, with new annexes simply added to the existing frame. Once completed, each annex looked like all the rest. The Newer Orleans Greenhaus had a central hub, but the many annexes here were spread out, connected to the central hub by tubular glass bridges positioned high above the ground.
A dark section of the city drew his attention. Several tesla coils in the line were powered down. Blinding lights lit up a small area of the darkness where crews were busy fixing a hole in the glass on north side of the city.
Had to be the Outsiders, but whatever tore a hole that big must have been powerful. Jacob’s dark thoughts were chased from his head by the anticipation of his return to Newer Orleans. The closer the Beebe brought him to the city, the more damage he observed. It was not a singular hole, but two separate holes in the severely damaged exterior wall. Sparks flew as welders cut the old bent metal to make way for the new. The damage on the interior was undetectable from Jacob’s vantage point, but he assumed it to be great as well.
Job transfer. The thought popped almost instantly into his head, which still pounded from the banging it had endured. It would give him more time to look around, to discover what he was looking for, at least in theory. Doyle had to approve the transfer, but given the circumstances, it would not be difficult to obtain. Newer Orleans needed emergency repair crews, and Jacob wanted to be there to investigate. A win-win for all parties involved.
Jacob heard another beep, a louder note that sustained longer. His body jolted forward into his harness as his Beebe suddenly slowed to a snail’s pace. The tunnel forked, once, twice, then a third time as it pulled into the center of the Newer Orleans Colony. The Beebe finally stopped and joined a line of Beebes waiting to enter the arrival zone. The line slowly inched forward as one by one they entered the receiving carriages, where the occupants exited, and each Beebe looped around to the departures terminal. Much had changed since his first visit, when just the central hub existed. Jacob entered the city with his eyes wide open.
The doors lifted, the sound of the pressure released was pleasing to his ears. Jacob removed his harness and exited the Beebe. Two sets of stairs separated him from the arrival zone and the top floor of the hospitality area. With his head up and eyes darting all over the large open floor plan, Jacob walked to the glass help desk, where a man greeted him. “Ah, you must be Jacob; you’re just as Karl described you. I have a package for you, if you could sign for it.”
As Jacob signed and initialed the LCD screen, the man covered his mouth with his hand and whispered in a hurried speech. “Do not in any way acknowledge this interaction. Continue signing, and then examine the box as I give you directions.”
Jacob looked up briefly, only to receive a cold stare. He dropped his eyes and head back down as the man continued, “Open the package when you are in your sleeping chamber, only after you have shut the curtain. The contents within are to be revealed to no one. The information you seek is inside, as are further instructions. Once read, they must be placed in the cross-cutting shredder, and then compacted before being sent off to Recycling.” He dropped his hand and resumed speaking at a normal volume with his hospitality voice. “Here are the directions to your sleeping chambers, located on this level. Based on your gredit level, you have full access to Zones 2-7, as well as this Zone and the two below it. You have restricted access in Zones 1 and 8-10, while some entire annexes are off limits to everyone,” he explained as he pointed to the positions on a map that appeared on the glass countertop. “If you have any questions, my name is Cole Sutter. I’m here if you need anything during your stay.”
Jacob answered with a simple “Thank you.” Odd that Zone 1 has restricted access and that entire annexes are off limits. They sure do t
hings differently around here. He grabbed the box and whisked himself away to his quarters for the night, saying very little to anyone.
Jacob wanted to tear into the box. He was nearly as frightened as he was excited by the likelihood that its contents would likely change the course of his life, that it would give him information unimaginable just a week ago.
As he approached his room, he looked around carefully to be sure no one was watching. He looked back toward the area he had come from, and down through the glass floor below. He was becoming more like his father, nervous and fidgety, always checking over his shoulder. Paranoia runs in my blood and for the first time, I’m thankful.
Whoosh. Same noise, different city. Once safely inside for the night, he inspected his room. It was modestly decorated, and plain, but it would serve his purpose just fine. He was starving. Expending all that energy in his fit of rage had left him with an appetite, but he would wait to eat. He was more interested in devouring the contents of the box.
Jacob rushed to his sleeping chamber and pulled the shades closed all round him, checking and double-checking that every inch of the outside world was sealed out. He tore open the box to find a manila envelope with a handwritten note placed on top of it. As he read, he knew he was right. The contents would change his life. Based on the opening lines, he was not altogether sure it was a change for the better.
Chapter 16 (Ella Storm)
She pondered Jeremiah’s question until sleep took her away. She slept comfortably, better than she had in a long time. Her mind was at ease with a calmness that produced pleasant dreams. But her peaceful dream world was soon shattered. She was lying face down, pinned down by Jeremiah. He had managed to maneuver himself on top of her without stirring her sleep. Her coveralls were pulled down past her waist, but not all the way off. Jeremiah had run into a snag while attempting to completely disrobe Ella, and had woken her up.
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