Corrupted: Book Three of the State Series

by M. J. Kaestli

  “What if they send a bunch of those soldiers over the second we open the door?”

  “We don’t give them a reason to. We do our jobs, act all compliant; they don’t have the manpower to send over just to babysit,” Colin answered. “If we act like we are keeping our noses clean, they won’t feel the need.”

  “That is quite a gamble you are willing to take without any proof,” Aakil said. “Outsmart the State? The State is ten steps ahead, always.”

  “I know. I know it is a risk, but it might also work. I also know that if we put up a fight, there will be another ship in twenty-odd years that shows up to wipe us out. But with enough people, and that kind of time, we can make weapons and learn to defend ourselves. We have something you are overlooking. We have more resources, and without population control, we will have a bigger army. We train everyone: men, women, and children. We will have a war against the State, here, for our planet.”

  “You have a plan for all the people on the other side to get over here?” Aakil asked.

  “No, but we will come up with one. We need to get that device working first.”

  “So if I disagree, and try to sabotage it, you will try to stop me then?”

  “You aren’t going to do that. If you wanted to destroy it, it would take a lot more than a few broken ribs to stop you.”

  “Yeah, I guess I’m all talk.” Aakil laughed. “We best get to work then. If I take any longer, it will make those militant types twitchy.”

  “Can you work like this?”

  “No, but I can sit on my ass and tell you what to do.”

  Colin got up from the floor and helped Aakil to a sitting position. They had work to do.

  ***

  Every day, the colony grew. Everyone was now awake, and the land seemed to blossom from their touch. Aakil and Colin put together the final pieces of the transport device, and got the radio ready.

  “So, we turn this thing on, and then it will take the message back to the State instantly?” Colin asked.

  “Apparently,” he replied. “Have you figured out what you are going to say?”

  “Me? Why do I have to talk to them?” Colin asked, sounding like a child.

  “Well, I think your title was head of communications or something of the sort?” Aakil replied dryly.

  Colin gulped hard, his throat dry. Aakil started up the transport device, and looked to Colin to begin.

  “What should I say?”

  “I don’t know. Just try to sound happy.”

  ***

  “Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” said Aakil.

  “You turn it on, then I step onto the platform on your signal,” Colin replied, in a disinterested voice.

  “Correct. Then when you get there, what are you going to do?”

  “Look for any contacts I can find in the rebellion,” he replied, sounding just as bored.

  “Yes, and what aren’t you going to do?”

  “Look for Freya.”

  “Correct again. And how are you going to act while you are there?”

  “Compliant and grateful,” Colin said. “Just turn the damn thing on. Let’s get this over with.”

  Aakil let out a sigh. “I can’t,” he said. “I’m just not convinced that you will keep your mind focused on what little time and opportunity we have to pull this off, and you will look for Freya instead.”

  Colin sighed. “I won’t look for her.”

  “See, you keep saying words, and it’s not the words that are wrong per se. I just don’t really believe them—you have to make me believe them, Colin.”

  “What if I run into her?”

  “See, there it is.” Aakil threw the tin cup that was in his hand. “You are still thinking about Freya!” he yelled.

  “But what if I do? What do I say to her?”

  “You won’t! You won’t see her. She won’t be there. Get this through your thick skull!” Aakil yelled again, and started pacing. “She is gone, and I can’t send you like this. You have to move on, mate!” Colin sat down on the ground, his head in his hands. He must have looked pathetic, as Aakil took some deep breaths and sat down beside him.

  “Look, I know I don’t have to remind you what is at stake here. But seriously, she’s a gardener. If she is still at the State house, you couldn’t get to her if you wanted to. If she is not, then good luck trying to find her when you don’t know what greenhouse she ran off to. You said she is anti-social. Even if you walked around asking people where she was, they wouldn’t even know who she is. You won’t see her; you can’t find her, not on this trip at least.”

  Aakil got up and offered Colin a hand to pull him up. Colin jumped around and wiggled, trying to shake off his nervous energy. He muttered, “I won’t see her,” repetitively to himself as he bounced until it nearly became a song.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Colin said.

  “Are you sure?” Aakil tried to ask, but was cut off by Colin.

  “Just shut up and push play.”

  ***

  There was a tingling sensation throughout his entire body. Colin couldn’t get his bearings. He was dizzy, and it was dim; his vision blurred. A loud noise came from all around him. His mind started to clear; his eyes focused to see an arena full of people in dark uniforms, cheering. He looked around, looked down, and back at the crowd. They were cheering for him. He did the only thing he could think to do: he waved at them, which only made them cheer louder.

  He could not help but to wonder whether one of those people out there was Freya. Would she see him and come to him? I won’t see her! I won’t see her! he said in his mind. He had to stay focused. For some reason, he had expected the transport device to be put somewhere hidden, a secret location under guard. This was so much better than what they had planned. Having the transport device out in the open like this, it suddenly gave him confidence in their plan succeeding.

  A female voice began to address the people behind him. His head jerked off to the side. A woman? A woman was the head of State? Hope sprung into his heart, until he realized who the woman was. His jaw fell open and his entire body went numb. She walked over to him, and reached out her hand. If he had not been paralyzed by the shock, he would have grabbed her and pulled her close.

  He slowly raised his hand and took hers. She looked right past him, as though she didn’t even know who he was. He looked around again. This handshake, all of this, was just her performing for the people. In her mind, he didn’t exist; he was just the colonist who came through.

  Her address ended abruptly. Men tried to pull him away, but he hesitated. He turned back to look at her again and she was already gone. It was hopeless; he followed in the direction he was guided, and didn’t put up any struggle. He walked in a mental haze. Doctors started to poke and prod at him, but he paid no attention. Aakil had been wrong; he did see her, but she didn’t see him. Nothing else really mattered to him. This entire plan—it had all been for her, and she was gone. He didn’t care what happened now. All was lost.

  ***

  “Colin, we can’t help but notice that you have been rather melancholy since you got here,” said a doctor. “Is there anything that you want to talk about? Is depression common among the people on the colony?”

  Colin let out a heavy sigh. “No, everyone’s fine. It’s just me,” he said. The doctor looked at him, waiting for an explanation. “I think I would have enjoyed this trip more if, if I had come here to spend some time bonding with Lewis.” He gave a sarcastic laugh.

  “Who is Lewis? Do you want us to look for him?” the doctor asked.

  “No!” he blurted. “No, it was a joke. He could be dead for all I know, or at least I hope he is dead.”

  “He was an enemy then?” the doctor persisted.

  Colin thought he couldn’t feel any worse, but this doctor was doing a good job of escalating his misery. “Look, can we just chalk this up to lady troubles?” he said. “I’ll be all right, as soon as I get out of here.”

  �
�Well, physically, you are in sound health. You will be able to travel back to the colony world unharmed.”

  “Yippee,” Colin replied dryly.

  “Your mental state however, is a concern, but not enough for us to keep you here. Is there anything you would like to do before we send you back?”

  “Like what?” Colin asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think it would be good for you to make an address to the people. You are a celebrity to them, you know.”

  “Nope, not feeling it,” Colin replied.

  “You could request a meeting with the head of State.”

  Colin shot right out of the bed. “I can do that? I can just say I want to talk to her and it will magically happen?”

  “Yes, I think so. Might be good to speak to her, good for relations and morale. Ask her questions, have some information to bring back to the colony world.”

  “I’m in. Let’s do that.”

  ***

  Colin entered the military underground. Every hair on his body stood on end. Flashbacks of being held captive played out before his eyes. Sweat glistened from every pore. This was not the emotional state he wanted to be in when he saw her. He tried to think of something to distract his mind from the harsh memories.

  What am I supposed to do? Find contacts. What am I doing? Going to see Freya, he said in his mind, and thought momentarily how angry Aakil would be. He got to the military checkpoint and got padded down. Two guards escorted him to a pair of stairs.

  “Wait here,” one of them said, and headed up. All Colin could do was focus on his breathing. The guard returned. “You can go up now. She is ready for you.”

  Colin gulped hard and climbed the stairs.

  ***

  He got to the bottom of the stairs where he expected to find the guards, but instead found a woman. She was an elderly woman, with cold blue eyes.

  “Come with me, Colin,” she said, and they began to walk.

  He wanted desperately to be alone, to curl up into a ball and let the ground swallow him whole—yet he was walking alongside this total stranger. At least she didn’t talk; he couldn’t imagine having to make small talk about the colony world at the moment.

  If he had been more focused, he would have noticed her leading him on a different path, but he was too lost in his own thoughts. She led him into a small room and closed the door. It could have been the same place Lewis had held him prisoner. Panic gripped him, and he turned to flee. She reached out and grabbed his wrist with incredible reflexes for a woman her age.

  “My name is Chastity, and I was a friend of your mother’s,” she said.

  Colin stood and stared at her for a long while. “Yeah? Well, we have a plan,” he answered.

  “Good. So do I.”

  ***

  Aakil grabbed his hand, ensuring Colin had stable footing before letting him go.

  “That didn’t take you too long. Did you make any contacts?”

  “Just one,” Colin answered.

  Aakil sighed. “I don’t know if one is going to be enough, mate.”

  “It is, when it is the right one.”

  Aakil looked at him sternly for a moment. “If you went over there and talked to Freya, I am going to beat the living shit out of you!”

  “Oh, did I talk to Freya, you ask? Remember how you were just so sure I wouldn’t possibly run into her?” Colin asked with a false laugh. “Well, it’s kind of hard to avoid the head of State when you are the first colonist to travel back there!”

  “She what!” Aakil yelled.

  “Yeah, you heard me—she’s the freaking head of State. She was waiting there to greet me as I stepped off the transport device.”

  Aakil walked over to the cot in their tent and sat down. “I bet that was kind of awkward for you.”

  “You think!” Colin yelled at him, and then plopped down on the cot closest to Aakil. He sighed heavily, and then flung himself back theatrically, hitting his head on the frame.

  Aakil took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. “I can’t even imagine what is going through your head right now. I am sorry how this all played out for you. I can’t actually even comprehend how wrong I was. Guess you did see her.”

  “Yeah, well, guess we are even then. You really did deserve it when I beat the shit out of you,” Colin replied.

  “Look, I know you don’t want to talk about this right now, and I know that your head must be a real mess, but you can’t go soft on me. You may still love her, but she is now our enemy.”

  “No, she isn’t,” Colin replied. “She has tried to change everything, to make the State more tolerable. She is actually a great leader.”

  Aakil sighed again. “Which could be true, but the head of State doesn’t hold all of the power. Sure, she could have good intentions, but when push comes to shove, it won’t be enough.”

  “I know,” Colin replied. “Which is exactly why we are still going ahead with the plan.”

  “So that one person you spoke of, it wasn’t her?”

  “No, Freya doesn’t know anything. It is someone else, someone who can pull this off.”

  “What comes next then?”

  “The head of State has declared open migration to the colony world,” Colin answered. “We work, and we build, and we get as many people out of there as fast as possible.”

  “It doesn’t sound to me at all like you are, in fact, sticking to the original plan,” Aakil remarked. “We need to destroy our transport device.”

  “We will.”

  “When?”

  “When we see a large group of people come running through, some of them bloody.”

  “I am intrigued. I think I like the sounds of this plan.” Aakil looked at Colin for a moment. “Why do I get the feeling you are not telling me everything?”

  “I’m not, and I’m not going to, not until I am certain it is going to work.”

  Chapter 24

  Chastity

  “Ithink it is time we do something about Freya,” Chastity said. Her words were followed by a hushed silence.

  “Bold words, even bolder than you requesting this meeting and concealing it from the head of State,” answered the councillor.

  “She is destroying our world; I fear we have waited too long already,” Chastity replied.

  “I thought the two of you were close.”

  Chastity paused for a moment. The pause was not out of fear, but to control her audience. “I do and act as I must, as I always have,” she said coldly.

  “So it wouldn’t disturb you to learn that we have already put things into motion. We are making arrangements to have her taken care of.” he said.

  “Not at all. I just hope that you have selected the right person to do the job,” she replied.

  “And who exactly do you think that person should be?”

  “I will do it,” she answered.

  “You?”

  “I am the closest to her. I will have the most opportunity,” she answered.

  “You know that we cannot provide protection for an assassin. Even if you poisoned her, the numbers to blame are few.”

  “I am an old woman now. I care nothing for prolonging my own life,” Chastity remarked. “I made my choice before contacting you.”

  “And you can take care of this in a timely manner? Before her next address?”

  “No, I want to do this during her address. I want to remind the people what happens to frivolous dreamers.”

  “You want to shoot her then, in public?”

  “My arm is still steady, and my eyes are sharp. A public assassination you pin on the rebellion will be much more effective.”

  “It has to be this coming address; it cannot wait. If you fail, we will have you killed along with her.”

  “I will be dead the moment I shoot that gun.”

  “Yes, you will. Let’s hope you don’t miss.”

  “I won’t.”

  ***

  She held her trembling, sweaty hands clasped in
front of her. Everything was riding on making this shot. She was skilled with firearms, she always had been, but never had the stakes been so high. Freya began her address; it was exactly as Chastity predicted. She knew what Freya had spent her time poring over; she knew her agenda. As she watched her, she was moved to tears. There was so much that she never told her, and now knew that she never could. Her secrets would die with her.

  The address was drawing close to an end. Chastity took a deep breath and unclasped her hands, reaching inside her uniform. She looked over to the technician of the transport device, and gave him a curt nod. Next, her eyes traveled to the Security officer standing closest to Freya, who nodded at her.