Ruthless

by Sarah Tarkoff

  Dawn jumped onto the navy vessel. “Let’s go!” she called out to the Outcasts who’d already been taken into captivity, but they didn’t move. “Get back onto your boats, we need to get to safety.” Still nothing.

  “We could switch boats,” I suggested. “Take the navy vessel.”

  Dawn gestured to the dozen soldiers still dumbly staring into space. “And what do we do with these guys?” Her words were still pointed—laced with the anger of our previous fight. I nodded, acquiescing, and helped her to usher our Outcast friends one by one back to their original boats.

  As we moved through the stunned soldiers, it felt like we were tiptoeing around a sleeping dragon. At any moment, these trained fighters might regain their senses, remember their mission, and turn their weapons on us. I saw Dawn eyeing a rifle, considering whether to grab it, but perhaps deciding the reward wouldn’t be worth the potential risks.

  As I helped Felipe into a seat on his boat, he smiled up at me. “I knew you wouldn’t leave us behind.” My stomach twisted at the thought that we almost had.

  Once we’d filled the first Outcast motorboat, Zack jumped into the captain’s chair, revving up the engine to pilot people to safety. “Where are we taking everyone?” he asked.

  “Wait for us a mile down the river,” Dawn replied. “If we don’t meet you in ten minutes, keep going, as far as you can.”

  Zack nodded, grim, and looked at me. I knew he wouldn’t leave until I gave my okay, so I nodded goodbye. “I’ll see you soon,” I promised.

  As Zack drove away and we started loading the second boat, I noticed a soldier on the edge of the fray watching me closely. Based on his position, farthest from the device, he was one of the least drugged and therefore most likely to awaken early. Judging by his expression, it looked like that might happen at any moment. “Guys, I think we’re running out of time,” I said as calmly as I could.

  “Got it,” Dawn acknowledged, ushering the final Outcast toward his boat, moving as quickly but calmly as possible. I followed behind her, trying to steady my breath, as that half-unfrozen soldier slowly moved toward us, eyes on me. He weaved through his still-frozen comrades, eyes boring into my skull, but not speaking. Maybe he wanted to speak but couldn’t yet. I saw him clutching his gun, and I wanted to run, to launch myself into one of our boats, but I steadied myself—sudden movements would be more likely to startle the others into action.

  Dawn ushered the last Outcast into a motorboat and jumped inside herself. Now it was just me on the navy craft, with that foot soldier trailing behind me, gaining on me. I sped up; I was still ten feet in front of him, and almost at the edge of the boat, in the clear, when—

  A hand grabbed my arm. I cried out, terrified, and looked up to see the owner of the hand: Lieutenant Lopez staring back at me, his grip strong and unrelenting. Though the intensity in his eyes startled me, there wasn’t anger behind them . . . but awe. “Prophet Grace,” he said in a breathless whisper.

  I struggled to get away from him—my fear surprised him, and he let go. Unsupported, I stumbled backward, my feet finding only air beneath them. I toppled into the Amazon with a booming splash. The water was warmer than I expected, and a surge of fear went through me—I’d been so focused on the threats above water, I’d forgotten all the threats that were still lurking below.

  “Grace!” Dawn cried out. But before she could reach me, Lopez grabbed my hand, pulling me back up onto the navy boat before the caiman could get to me.

  He seemed unconcerned, smiling, embracing me. “You are not afraid, I know this much is true. Great Spirit is here, with you.” A surge of relief went through me. He thought that what he’d just experienced was some kind of religious miracle.

  I stood taller, wiping the wet hair out of my eyes, trying to play my part. “Yeah, of course, always.”

  He nodded. “You have shown me the truth.”

  A few other soldiers bowed their heads—coming to life not ready to kill me, but to worship me. One kneeled to kiss my feet, and others gathered around, lining up to do the same. As they did, I saw waves of Forgiveness go across their faces—they believed in me now, more than any follower I’d ever encountered. My mere presence was causing spiritual experiences inside of them.

  “The things we do,” one of them murmured to me, and I knew what he meant. He was asking for redemption, Forgiveness, for all the things he’d been asked to do in war.

  “Listen to me, and I will help you find true Forgiveness,” I told him. “No more pills.” He nodded, as though I’d read his mind.

  “How?” the lieutenant asked us.

  I looked to Dawn, who nodded—she knew what I was going to ask next. “Can you help us?”

  Lieutenant Lopez nodded, humbled. “Anything for you, Prophet.”

  And that’s how we ended up sailing off with the protection of Prophet Daniel’s navy.

  6

  “See if you can get us safe passage out of the Amazon,” Dawn instructed, as the navy vessel escorted our Outcast motorboat down the river. “And a secure place to take all these people, if they’re feeling generous.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I said nervously. Glancing at the weapons held by these military personnel, I was reminded of the stakes of my lies. If these hostile officers discovered I’d been deceiving them, their revenge would almost certainly be deadly.

  Dr. Marko, meanwhile, was fidgeting with the device that had been around my waist when I fell into the river. “Will you be able to repair it?” I asked, worried that my stumble might have cost us something so precious.

  “I hope so,” he said, his tone not reassuring.

  I retreated to find Lieutenant Lopez standing at the bow of the navy ship. I smiled, putting on my most charming face, hoping to use our new allies to gain some informational advantage. “What forces will Prophet Daniel send after us?” I asked him.

  “Everything he has,” Lopez responded gravely. “But we will help you evade them.”

  “How?” I asked. “Not to say you can’t, just wondering what your plans are. Since there aren’t many soldiers on this boat . . .”

  He looked at me quizzically. “Great Spirit does not have a plan?”

  My stomach lurched. He wanted me to provide the plan? “Great Spirit isn’t always direct, you know,” I said, dancing around the question. “He led me to you and your unit.”

  The lieutenant took that in. “I see. Then you must show my superiors what you showed us.”

  I could feel my insides freezing up. So long as Dr. Marko’s nanofabricator device was broken, I was out of magic tricks. I wondered if on some level, the lieutenant guessed that was the case. After all, he’d seen that cloud of smoke—perhaps he assumed I had some mirrors to go along with it. Could he be testing me?

  Whether he meant to test me or not, I was going to fail. Without Dr. Marko’s supernatural cloud of bliss, I couldn’t make my case as a prophet. But I knew this army must have access to the pills, in order to be effective . . . which meant for once, this was a group of people I could reveal the truth to.

  “Can you do me a favor?” I asked him tentatively. “Radio ahead, tell everyone to take a pill. You know, the ones you need in case of war?”

  I saw on his face that he knew exactly which ones I meant. “Why?” he asked skeptically.

  I knew what he was thinking—was I going to ask them to do something immoral? There was no other reason in his mind that one might need those pills.

  “I don’t want them to hesitate to kill me, if that’s what Prophet Daniel has asked,” I bluffed. “I want them to choose not to kill me because they know I’m right.”

  He nodded; my gambit was working, for now. I returned to Dawn and explained the conversation I’d just had. “We have to recruit the rest of the Brazilian military to join the resistance.”

  “No,” she said immediately. “It’s not worth the risk. Get Lopez to help us into hiding, and that’s it.”

  “And then what?” I asked, voice growing urge
nt. “We can’t hide in the forest forever. This army has a whole supply of uppers. We recruit them to our side, suddenly we have a fighting chance again.”

  “Or we’re all dead.”

  “We’re dead either way,” I retorted.

  “You want to go, I can’t stop you,” she said stubbornly. “But if you go, you go alone.”

  I nodded, knowing I’d get nowhere by arguing with her. “Fine. Take our friends somewhere safe. If I succeed, I’ll come find you.”

  Dawn gave me a sorrowful look, then a surprisingly firm hug. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” I said, knowing I’d need it.

  As Dawn motored away from our navy vessel, taking the rest of our allies, I found Lieutenant Lopez and informed him of my plan.

  “I look forward to meeting the rest of Prophet Daniel’s army.”

  He nodded, excited. “Seeing you in person, that would convince anyone. They will be converts very soon.”

  I knew my presence would convince no one. I just hoped the truth would.

  7

  As we disembarked onto the dock, walking toward the barracks, I felt all eyes on me. Every soldier on this base was awaiting my arrival. I tried to steel my confidence. This was the easy part—no more lies. All I had to do this time was speak the truth. If even a few of these people were ready to hear it, I might survive another day.

  We entered the main room of the barracks, and hundreds of skeptical faces turned toward mine. I quickly picked out the leader here, Lieutenant Lopez’ boss—General Feliciano, the Brazilian minister of defense, a well-dressed military officer with so many decorations on her jacket I worried she might fall over. She approached our unit, glancing at me with disdain, then turned to Lopez. “You captured the rogue prophet. Well done.” I wondered whether, like Guru Samuel, she might be in on the lie. She might already know exactly why I’d turned on the establishment—not for religious reasons, but for political ones.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” the lieutenant said humbly. “But before we notify Prophet Daniel, I think you should hear what she has to say.”

  The general looked at me carefully. “And what does she have to say?” she asked, My skin pricked as Feliciano nodded away from the crowded dining hall, ushering me somewhere private, but I held my ground. I needed to stay in the same room as all these soldiers, to convince as many of them of the truth as I could before the general locked me up.

  “That it’s all a lie,” I said as loudly as I could, getting the attention of the rest of the room. Conversations hushed as people turned to listen. “This whole world. The prophets have been lying to you for ten years. Think about it: the secret pills you get to take, the ones no one else gets to have. Why would the prophets let people die out there, be Punished to death, when the solution to save them is so simple? Why are they hiding the cure? And why are they using it to weaponize you, so you can do horrible things in their names? Does that seem like a religious figure to you? Or a dictator?”

  “Clearly you missed your history classes,” the general mocked. “Do you think we’d live in the world we do if brave people hadn’t fought on the side of good?”

  “What side?” I asked. “How do you know it’s good? A whole mess of folks out there think I’m the side of good—is it okay for them to kill in my name? If you really believe in Great Spirit, do you think He’s happy you’re defying His rules, and cheating to get out of being Punished?”

  I saw faces around the room begin to change, struck by feelings of guilt, by the truth of my words—clearly my instructions to prepare for this meeting hadn’t been heeded by everyone. Those faces looked down, reached in their pockets for pills. I nodded to one of the soldiers. “Hurry up, take it. You think that pill magically takes away your sin? Or does it just mask the symptoms?”

  “You’re saying we shouldn’t take them? We should just die?” one soldier called out.

  “Take them to save your lives. But stop believing the lies Prophet Daniel tells you. Stop mindlessly following orders. The truth is that the Punishments are a trick, to keep you on the prophets’ side. They’re using you, and you’re letting them. Listen to your own hearts. You know what the truth is, deep down.”

  I looked to the brooding general, nervous. I remembered to state my goal—“Please, just let us go. Stop following us, let us hide away in peace.” Call a truce, and I’ll stop fomenting insurrection—that was what I was really trying to tell her. And maybe I could grab a few pills and reinforcements on my way out.

  “And why would I do that?” she challenged.

  “Because you know what’s right,” I said defiantly. “The prophets are using you to maintain a system that controls people, exploits them. You’re killing for them, oppressing people for men who see you only as disposable pawns.” Her stoic expression filled me with dread. The longer this conversation went on, the more I regretted my decision to come here. Dawn had been right—I’d gotten cocky and overplayed my hand.

  I saw a few soldiers stand, look to the general. One leveled his gun at my chest. “The prophet said to kill her on sight,” the soldier reminded Feliciano. Lieutenant Lopez’ face fell, realizing I wasn’t going to provide any new miracles. That perhaps his faith had been unfounded.

  “So kill me,” I dared the soldier, walking toward the gun. Panic sparked in my chest, but I did my best to dampen the flames. “That’s what Prophet Daniel told you to do, so do it. You take your prophets at their word, don’t you?” I gave him a sly, knowing smile. “Or do you think you know something they don’t? Do you have some sense, deep down, that their orders are morally wrong?” I saw the shooter hesitating, and I seized on it. “We all have moral intuition. In your bones, you don’t want to kill me. Even though you know you’re supposed to. You can’t do it, because you’re a good person. A better man than Prophet Daniel, and you know that. Why would you fight for a man you know you’re better than?”

  The soldier’s face twisted cruelly, and I was startled to hear a loud bang—his gun firing. I did my best not to flinch, let the bullet whiz past my ear, lodging itself in the wall behind me.

  My heart was racing but I did my best not to show it. “Do you feel like a good man?” I asked him. Though I knew I’d gotten lucky that his shot had gone wide, I hoped it wasn’t just luck . . . perhaps his hand had shaken due to his own doubt, his wavering convictions. “Or are you relieved that fate spared you from becoming a murderer?” The soldier lowered his gun, humbled.

  I returned my gaze to the general, the one person who could still save me. “Just look the other way. Let us be.”

  She smiled, baring her teeth, and for a moment I worried she was going to eat me up. “You know I can’t do that.”

  I shook with fear, trying my best to stay unyielding. “We’re all that’s left,” I begged her. “If we die, the truth dies with us. Any chance at true justice in this world, it’s gone. Do you really want to be the one responsible for that?”

  She hesitated a moment, and I glanced at the exits, knowing I had nowhere to run. Finally, I could see her weighing a decision in her mind. “We have a responsibility, that’s true. Our responsibility is to the chain of command, to respect the authority of the prophets. To do as Great Spirit wills. And right now, it is clear we are needed more than ever before.” Her face lit up, full of fiery resolve. “We will protect you, Prophet Grace.”

  The room hummed with excitement and confusion. I realized in that moment that I hadn’t said a word about nanotech, about guilt and serotonin, nothing that would have given away the scientific truth of what was happening to us. Despite my best efforts, I’d failed to reveal my true identity as a member of the resistance, and I’d failed to lift the veil of lies over anyone’s eyes.

  But somehow, I’d replaced Prophet Daniel’s shroud with my own. These people still believed I was a rival prophet, preaching my own gospel. And it seemed like I’d inadvertently converted half the Brazilian military.

  Most importantly, I’d converted their leader. My first inst
inct was to correct her, to tell her the truth—that I was part of the lie she’d been believing in. But as I looked around that room, I realized the risk. I might not have accomplished my goal in the way I’d planned, but I’d accomplished it all the same. I couldn’t afford to make this woman look like a fool in front of the troops she commanded. She’d offered to protect me, and I knew I needed to accept that with grace. “Thank you,” I squeaked out.

  She eyed me carefully. “We control the largest cache of weapons in South America. Tell me, who would you have us point them at?”

  This time I knew it was a test. But luckily, I had the right answer. “No one,” I told her boldly. “A true prophet doesn’t need to fire a shot.”

  “But how . . . ?” the lieutenant asked.

  I could hear my father’s preaching style coming out of me, unbidden. “Let the other prophets think we’re like them. Let them think we’ll fire. Let them know we could destroy them if we tried.” I remembered enough from my history classes about pre-Revelation geopolitical strategy that I was pretty sure that tactic would work if we used it. “We have Great Spirit protecting us. We don’t need anything else.”

  The general nodded, and the room began to whoop and clap.

  I could barely believe it was happening—that in just a few moments, all these people had come over to my side. But at the same time, I recognized the precariousness of my position. As quickly as these soldiers had turned toward my camp, I knew they could turn away. Would turn away, eventually. “Thank you,” I said softly. “Great Spirit thanks you.”