Greenhaus:Storm

by Reckelhoff, Bryan

  “I know this is hard, but it’s just the first of many such things that will jolt your world and conflict with things that you ‘know’,” she explained. “Always keep an open mind about everything, because things are rarely as they seem.”

  I’m finding that out the hard way.

  Sylvia continued, “Much of what we ‘know’, is an illusion, planned to keep us distracted. That is what we Whisperers are charged with, separating the illusion from the reality, and that’s no small deed.”

  Don’t I know it.

  A short incline brought them to higher ground. The ATV picked up speed as the ground transitioned to dry land, throwing mud from the tires in all directions. “I know a lot is going through your head, but how about a lil’ something to do with your hands. I will slow us down to a crawl if you can rub the knots from my back and neck.”

  Between the Nu-Skins, his 2nd Hands, and their safe suits, there was a lot separating their flesh. Jacob had never experienced the touch of a woman’s skin, and technically he still had not, but he liked the bond they appeared to share. From his end, it was all real, the feelings, the emotions, and at this point he didn’t care if it was real on her end. He was enjoying the experience and it kept his mind off his uncle.

  Sylvia made Jacob feel emotions he’d never felt for another person. She caused his body to do things it had never done before, things that made him extremely embarrassed. Jacob scooted back, hoping she wouldn’t notice. The ATV slowed even more, until the lights on the control panel went blank and the ATV stopped.

  Sylvia dismounted and Jacob followed. “Thanks, that felt great, and it looks like it felt good to you to,” she said as she observed the source of his embarrassment.

  He was embarrassed and had no idea what to say. Trying to change the subject, he asked, “Is it dead, the ATV, that is?”

  “No, I just have to replace batteries.” Even through the mask and the layers, Jacob’s body language revealed his embarrassment. Sylvia attempted to lighten the mood. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s natural, I’m surprised it took so long. I was starting to think you liked men or something,” she said as she laughed off the incident.

  Jacob stayed quiet, his face a bright red behind the mask.

  Sylvia switched the batteries before she jumped back aboard and hit the ignition switch. “You comin’ aboard, Jacob, or you gonna walk back?”

  Jacob still didn’t respond, but got back on the ATV, keeping as much distance between them as the small seat allowed. The ATV began to roll.

  “Closer,” Sylvia whispered. Then she pulled his legs forward, so their bodies were again separated by only their layers. “Relax Jacob, you have to learn to do that,” she explained. “I’m not made of glass, and you aren’t going to break me. I’m also not your mother, so stop acting like it. Whether we develop real, deep feelings for each other or not is irrelevant. Whether or not this gets any more physical than just a little touching, you still have to sell it to whoever may be watching in the ‘Haus. Earlier, when I said all the flirting was part of the job, well, selling this is part of your job. Consider it a perk. If you stay on my good side, it will stay that way, and if you are lucky, it will get way better.”

  Jacob remained speechless. Somehow his thoughts had avoided the previously undisclosed relationship between him and Jasper, partly because it had not had time to fully sink in, but also because other things pulled at his mind. Illusion versus reality. Part of him wished he could go back until right before Jasper started blabbering and shut him up. That way he’d still be alive, they would still work together, and Jacob would not have to worry about all the rules of the Charter. Or learning to sign. Or always looking over his shoulder, having to watch his back, his tongue, his every word and action, pretending to be something he wasn’t. Life was simple then.

  A smaller part of him felt happy it had all happened. He could now find out about his father’s true legacy and begin to create one of his own. Sylvia, another big reason for his delight, would likely never have walked into his life without Jasper’s demise. For the rest of the ride back, he stayed silent and rested his weary mind against her back, trying to focus on the positives.

  The opening to the tunnel was small, and camouflaged well from the Outside. After cruising the ATV into the docking station, they returned to the Decon chamber. Jacob felt drained. The previous few days, filled with a wide range of powerful emotions, had taken their toll. The recent emotions, specifically the intensity of them, were new to Jacob. He turned his back to Sylvia out of respect as he took off his safe suit. He had never deconned with a woman before and was unsure of the proper protocol.

  He and Jasper had stripped down naked without a second thought before getting the wash and transfusions necessary to cleanse them. The thought of Jasper and their daily routine opened a door Jacob was trying to keep shut. The memory stole him away from the crisis of the moment and left Jacob in a world of sadness. Maybe exhaustion levied such a heavy toll that it rendered him unable to block out all he had absorbed recently. A thousand memories flooded his mind once the gates opened.

  Dots started to connect. As Jacob put it together, he saw that the hints were there to be found, if he had paid proper attention. Clues aplenty suggested a deeper connection between Jasper and his father. But like many in the ‘Haus, Jacob lacked the focus necessary to overcome the distractions.

  Jacob struggled to remove his clothes. An overwhelming urge to cry hit him, but he didn’t want to appear weak or vulnerable to Sylvia. He had never properly grieved for Jasper, and his feelings had caught up to him. Jacob leaned heavily against the chair, like gravity pulled him down with great force. Sylvia observed his difficulties disrobing and tried to lighten the mood. “This isn’t your first time in a safe suit, is it, rookie?”

  Jacob took a couple of deep breaths to chase away the tears and collect himself. “No, things are just racing through my mind. I’m spent; it’s been a rough couple of days,” he replied, the sadness evident in his voice.

  “That’s understandable, I guess, given the circumstances,” she sympathized. “Hey, check this out.”

  As Jacob slowly swung around, his mouth opened wide and his eyes doubled in size. He gulped loudly, once again speechless. Sylvia had succeeded in taking his mind off of Jasper again.

  She stood there, naked as the day she was born, one leg slightly bent with her hand on her hip to accentuate her curves and elongate her toned muscles. “I know you are supposed to focus. I just thought you could use a little distraction.”

  Chapter 24 (Ella Storm)

  Though the day had only begun for most, the time had come for Ella to rest. Sleep took her fast, but the slumber lacked peace. As they had been commanded the night before, guards allowed no one through, and provided her with a calm environment. The restlessness came from within. Ella tossed and turned as the scenarios that tormented her dreams made their nightly visit.

  In one version, the Storm camp attacked and lost everything. The thunderous green hulks were bested by even more powerful weaponry, turning the tide early in the battle. The Insiders either captured or killed every Masked in combat. The survivors were tortured brutally, just for the sake of terror.

  Another scenario played out in which the Masked attacked and toppled Glass City. Insiders now faced the same predicament as the Masked. Toxic air rushed in, choking them, poisoning the water and food supplies. Even in her dreams, Ella could no longer see this as a win. Simply exacting revenge seemed infantile.

  A new episode came to her this night. Ella, Niles, Jordan, Ren, Jeremiah, and a handful of others ran, in search of the imaginary Oasis. In this dream, they found the utopia, with enough food to feed everyone and air to breathe without masks. During this pleasant and adventurous dream, she slept peacefully, the tossing and turning replaced by stillness. Her mind was refreshed, her body and soul reinvigorated in a way it hadn’t been since the innocence of her youth.

  When her eyes finally opened, the sky was starting to darken a
gain. If she had a choice, she would have slept another day or two, just to delay having to face her camp. She poked her head out of the tent and noticed that except for the four guards on duty, the courtyard was empty.

  “Slow day?” Ella asked Chem, a tall ex-Stone camper like herself and one of Elder May Stone’s personal guards.

  “We have guards posted in the corridor, and no one is allowed in,” Chem replied. His tan skin was darkened by a layer of filth. ”Zac has asked to see you, several times in fact, but as you commanded, you were left alone.”

  “Thanks for that. I feel like a new person. A good sleep can do wonders,” replied Ella.

  “That it can,” retorted Chem, patting the dust from his baggy gray pants and three-quarter length olive-green trench coat, common attire in the Storm camp. “That it can. Elder Storm, will you need anything before I switch off-duty?”

  “No, you have done enough, Chem. I feel so much safer when you are guarding the tent,” Ella answered. “I am going on a final recon mission, to get some intel that will help to plan the attack.” She said this although, in her mind, she had decided that an attack would not be imminent and most likely, would not occur at all. She studied him for any bit of body language or other nonverbal clues to how he felt about an attack. The stoic guard offered no clues, but as he had been one of the guards for May Stone, Ella assumed him to be a pacifist. “Any chance I could slip out unnoticed?”

  “The guards have a way,” Chem began. “A way that no one else knows, in case we had to get Elder Storm out quickly. Follow me.”

  Chem led her to a spot on the wall behind the Elder tent, a place easy to scale. A sliver of metal caught her backpack, pulling it off her as she reached the apex. Chem retrieved it from the ground and dusted it off with a few quick swats. He tossed the bag to Ella as she gave her final instructions. “Send for Ren. Tell her to stay in the Elder tent with Niles and Jordan until I return. You should sleep there as well. They are not to be bothered, by my order, same as if it was me. Other than deliveries of their provisions, nobody gets in or out, is that clear?”

  “Sure, but if they ask, how long will you be gone?” Chem asked.

  “I dunno, a couple of days, three tops. One more thing, Chem, don’t tell anyone where I went, especially Jeremiah.”

  “Sure thing. Be safe out there, Elder Storm. This place would fall apart without you.” Chem left to tend to his post.

  And it will likely fall apart with me, but hey, nothing like a little added pressure. “Don’t worry, safe is my middle name,” Ella called out as he walked away. She crept along the top of the makeshift wall, over crushed cars topped with other scrap, doing her best not to be seen. Every step was noisy, the metal bending and crackling underneath her. Her only interactions occurred with the spotters and snipers on duty, who promised their silence as to her whereabouts. Ella navigated the maze, reaching the exterior of the fortress. During the climb down, she lost her footing and fell on her rear. Rolling backward, she crushed her bag in the process.

  The crunching sound sent chills coursing through her body. Ella would rather lose an arm than her binoculars, her lifeline that let her see things in the distance, long before those things could see her. Ella ripped the backpack apart, retrieving the precious vision enhancers. Much to her delight, they were undamaged.

  The same could not be said for her tail bone. The intense pain in her backside throbbed. Ella wanted to rub it as the waves of pain came and went, but extreme tenderness prevented her from doing so. She thought of the long walk ahead and how it just got a bit longer. Unless her condition improved, running wouldn’t be possible, even in short bursts. She limped away from the fortress, leaving a different kind of hurt and misery behind, although it had yet to be realized by those it would affect.

  The fall hurt Ella badly, so much so that she thought of turning back. Instead, she chose to endure her personal suffering. At some point she would be pressed for an answer, but wanted to refrain from making her announcement for as long as possible. A large portion of the camp pledged to her would feel betrayed, and the end result could be much suffering and death. She would avoid inflicting this on her followers for as long as she could. The betrayal, the breaking of so many hearts, and the loss of so many lives, were crosses Ella preferred not yet to bear.

  Ella limped through the wasteland, searching for a solution. One thought kept repeating. There has to be another way…

  Chapter 25 (Jacob Niles)

  After the initial shock of seeing Sylvia’s nakedness wore off, Jacob shook off his lustful trance and uttered, “I won’t be falling for that anymore, nice try.” Then he turned his back on her, slowly undressed himself, pulled his tired bag of bones into one of the small 4’ X 4’ X 8’ spray chambers, and slid the door closed. After putting on a pair of protective goggles, Jacob hit the button, and his usual end of the day routine commenced. White foam shot from nine different nozzles, covering every inch of his body. The thick, frothy cleaner drew the toxins from his skin. He rubbed it deep into his pores as it crackled in his ears. It begin to harden, and he could feel poisons being drawn out, leaving an effervescent, airy feeling to his skin. He peeled the hardened cleaner off his skin, then initiated step two.

  A clear gel shot from the nozzles, followed by a mist of water, a combo which Jacob worked into a soapy lather. The ‘soap to clean the soap’, as he called it, had one purpose: to remove the white foam’s residue, taking with it the toxins drawn from his epidermis.

  A warm water rinse washed over him, taking away all the remnants of the foam and the gel. Jacob twisted and turned, bent and contorted his body. He raised his arms and tilted his legs, doing a funky dance until all toxins and cleaners washed away. Warm forced air from an overhead vent dried him. Jacob exited the rectangular box, leaving the nine nozzles idle and proceeded immediately to the final chamber of Decon for his vitals check and blood cleanse.

  Sylvia had finished in the spray room too, but he continued to ignore her undressed body and made his way to the next chamber, picking up a fresh white short-sleeved Nu-Skin. He sat in the sparkling clean chair, and its soft padding welcomed his tired and weary body. Jacob tried to relax, but the voices in his head wouldn’t stop talking.

  Sylvia crept up and whispered in his ear, “Remember, you have to sell the storyline. You can’t act all depressed or sulky when you leave Decon, no matter how hard it is. We are supposed to have just met and should be having a good time with each other. That’s what new couples do. Don’t screw this up, Jacob. They will be watching.”

  Jacob remained in his shell. Not even her naked body could pull him from his dreary mood. Minutes later, visibly upset, he broke his silence with a loud outburst. “Why do you think Jasper lied all those years? Why couldn’t he have told me sooner?”

  “Lower your voice, Jacob,” instructed Sylvia. “We can’t take the chance a Medic will walk in when you’re hysterical like that.” She stared at the door, waiting for it to open at any moment. “The truth is, Jasper always wanted to tell you, to bring you into the circle. But he promised your father that as long as he lived, he never would involve you, no matter what. Guess he held up his end of the bargain. It was Harvard’s idea to keep you in the dark,” Sylvia informed him as she rubbed the kinks out of his neck. “He didn’t want anyone to be able to link you or your mother to Jasper; he wanted to keep you safe. He always thought him being watched was enough heat on the family.”

  “But wouldn’t they already know, the powers that be, that Jasper and my dad were brothers?” The question was an obvious one and the answer should have simple, but as Jacob recently had been informed, things were not always as they appeared.

  “Well, your father wasn’t sure who was watching or following him, and we still don’t know that. Certain people might know of the relationship, but how much do you know about the people you interact with daily? You might know their names, but do you know where they came from? Who their fathers are? Or even better, who their uncles, aunts, grandpare
nts are?”

  He started to think about the Wipers, Med Techs, Shop Tenders, and other people he had constant interaction with on a near-daily basis. He realized Sylvia was correct. He didn’t know much about any of them, if he even knew anything outside of their names. He could only deduce that they knew the same about him.

  Similar to Jacob, prior to his enlightenment, they were too caught up in their jobs or schooling, or distracted by other things. Working to meet demand set by the Sustainability Charts. Living greener. Reducing waste. Recycling. There was so much going on, that no one had time for personal interaction outside simple pleasantries.

  “If the right people in the right departments followed him, then surely they would know. But he suspected our opposition was not entire departments. Your dad and Jasper had different names, because they only shared a mother, so someone would have needed proof of their birth to see that relationship. Very few outside Recordkeeping would have access to information like that.” Sylvia explained a few things as they waited for the Medics to run diagnostics on the two of them to determine how much, if any, blood they would need. “Harvard always thought that multiple departments were involved, maybe even Engineering. People always thought he was paranoid, but it turns out he was right. He was being watched, but even worse, he was also being listened to. That’s exactly why you need to be more careful from now on. Do not end up like them.”

  Sylvia stopped rubbing Jacob’s neck and sat, positioned to see the other door open, so she could halt the conversation if needed. Jacob’s questions kept coming. “But how did they build these underground tunnels and get access to the ATVs? It all seems very suspicious, like a setup. Someone has to know we are leaving. What happens when our EPC chips pass the sensors, or fail to register anywhere in the ‘Haus? Wouldn’t the system be alerted?”