by C. J. Harper
‘I know a thing you need to know.’
‘Well, it’s not how to construct a sentence, is it?’
Kay shakes her head at his unintelligible words and persists with, ‘You need to know it.’
‘Don’t tell me what I NEED!’ Ven roars. His anger flares up like a gas flame. The lazy-eyed sarcasm is gone. ‘What I need is a world where people like you don’t collude with a corrupt government that destroys lives. Do you know the answer to that? Hey? I’ll tell you the answer to that. We get the efwurding bastards who are responsible and we shoot them one by one.’
He turns his gun on Kay and I know that he is going to shoot her.
His finger flexes.
I spring from my chair; the movement causes Ven to take his eyes off Kay and in a split second she kicks out a foot and knocks the gun out of Ven’s hand. We all lunge towards the gun, but Ven reaches it first and turns it on me once again.
‘The Leader admitted it!’ I shout.
Ven is all composure again. He just looks at me.
‘He admitted how the Leadership works,’ I say in a rush. ‘All the bad stuff they’ve done, we filmed it.’
The gun is still on me.
‘Go on,’ Ven says.
‘When The Leader came to the Academy he thoroughly incriminated himself,’ I say. ‘He admitted that corporal punishment is used in Academies and that students are deprived of food and given electric shocks.’
‘Did he now?’
I’ve got his attention. If they really are interested in taking down the government then we could be of use to them and maybe he won’t kill us.
‘More than that,’ I say. ‘What would really shock the public is the crazy way The Leader was talking about sacrifices that have to be made. He sounded like a mad man who’d happily sell out any number of children to serve his purpose.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Where’s what?’
‘This recording.’ Ven says it as if he doubts it exists. ‘Have you got it?’
‘Well, not exactly. It’s in a safe place. I managed to engage the support of a journalist and—’
‘So they’ve got it?’ I feel his patience snap like an elastic band.
‘Yes,’ I say. ‘But . . .’
He extends his gun arm. Oh God.
‘No!’ Kay says. ‘No, she hasn’t!’
‘Hasn’t what?’ Ven says, without taking his narrowed eyes off me.
‘Janna hasn’t got the recording.’ Kay’s eyes flash with triumph. ‘I have.’
Ven relaxes his arm. ‘Finally you’re telling me something worth staying awake for. Where is it?’
Kay reaches into her pocket with her bound hands. ‘It’s here,’ she says.
‘Let’s take a look then, shall we?’
‘You won’t be able to view it. You need a computer,’ I say.
He turns on me. ‘We have a number of computers. You really ought to work on that superior tone, by the way. In my experience it’s the people who think they’re better than everyone who get their throats slit first.’
I didn’t mean to sound rude, but a derelict hospital isn’t where I expect to find the latest technology.
‘Give it to me,’ he says to Kay.
‘No,’ she says. ‘You take us to the computer.’
They stare at each other in deadlock.
‘Why must you people waste my time?’ Ven asks. ‘Fine. But just so you don’t get any big ideas, let me tell you that every exit from this hospital has an armed guard on it. If you make a run for it they’ll shoot.’ He unlocks the door and leads us down the corridor.
‘How the efwurd did you manage to get hold of the recording?’ I whisper to Kay.
She looks at me sideways. ‘I think the thing that you want to say is “thank you”.’
I can’t work it out. Kay was never even alone with Janna. And it’s not as if they’re on friendly terms. She must have stolen it from her. ‘Thank you,’ I say. ‘I promise you I really am quite grateful that you managed to get the mad man to lower his gun.’ I can’t imagine Janna’s rage when she finds the AV bug missing. ‘I’m just surprised. How did you do it?’
Kay smiles. ‘I didn’t fight her just to punch her shiny face.’
Oh. I remember their scrap at the warehouse and I’m caught somewhere between shock and awe. I should stop being surprised by how smart and cunning Kay continues to be.
We follow Ven down the stairs and through a maze of corridors. Once, I hear voices coming from behind a closed door, but it’s still dark and I assume that most people are asleep. Finally, he ushers us into a small windowless room. There are three desks with computers on. In contrast to what we’ve seen so far, the desks are clean and the computers are dust free. Ven switches one on and unties my hands.
I reach out to touch Kay on the arm.
Ven tuts. ‘Come on then, show me something that will make me stop wanting to kill you.’
I’m starting to suspect that even if Ven believed that we want to get rid of the Leadership too, he would still be sniping at us. ‘Why are you even in the Resistance?’ I ask.
He catches my meaning straight away. ‘I don’t have to like you to want you to be free.’
I bite down a response to this and take a look at the computer. I expected pre-war technology that would be incompatible with the AV bug that Janna used to get the footage, but this hardware is brand new. ‘Where did you get these from?’ I ask.
‘You’d be surprised what we can get our hands on,’ Ven says. ‘There are people on the other side who are prepared to help us.’
I don’t show it, but this shocks me. I find it hard to imagine anyone on the other side of the fence having anything to do with this lot, and if they’re all like Ven then I’m amazed they accept the help. Maybe they’re not all like him. Maybe he’s just some jumped-up trainee who’s on duty during the graveyard shift. I hope so.
I can feel Ven’s eyes on me.
‘Just let me pair the computer with the AV bug then I can download the content,’ I say.
‘How did Janna get pictures of The Leader on that bug thing?’ Kay asks.
‘At the press conference the only cameras allowed were the official ones. Janna hid this in her dress. It pretends to be a base station for the Leadership’s broadcast cameras and tricks them into streaming their footage to it.’
Kay’s forehead creases. She’s about to ask me to explain a lot of words.
‘Basically it doesn’t take the pictures; it just steals them from other devices.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Ven says. ‘Come on.’
I flip through Janna’s files. The most recent one doesn’t have a title, but next to the thumbnail image is the date of The Leader’s visit to the Academy. I open it. Behind me Ven stops still. The screen flickers. Then we see exactly what I hoped we wouldn’t.
Nothing.
The screen is black. In the centre it says: ENTER DECRYPTION PASSWORD.
‘Hell,’ I say.
‘What is it?’ Kay asks.
‘The recording, it’s encrypted.’ I look at Ven. ‘That means—’
‘I know what it means,’ he interrupts. ‘Do you know what it means for you? It means that I’ve still got no proof that this is what you say it is. Or that you are who you say you are.’
‘Wait a minute,’ I say, clicking about on the mouse. Ven stands right behind me. He’s silent, but his presence feels heavy on my skin. I have to suppress the urge to lean away from him. I mustn’t let him see that I am afraid. I tinker for several minutes, but I can tell almost immediately that I won’t be able to access the footage. The best I can do is to enlarge the thumbnail image. It shows The Leader centre stage, glaring out into the audience. I turn to see what Ven makes of it.
‘That could be anywhere and he could be saying anything.’
‘It could. But it’s not. If I’m telling the truth then you’re letting some really powerful stuff slip through your fingers.’
He’s thinking.
‘I need to know more about you two. Tell me how you claim to have ended up here.’
So I tell him. As soon as I start to talk I realise that I can’t mention that Leadership men were sent to kill me because I’m The Leader’s illegitimate son and he wanted to get rid of me. Instead, I tell him how I was a hotshot at the Leaning Community, but that I got transferred to an Academy when I started snooping around the Leadership’s computer records, which is partially true. Kay fills him in on what it was like at the Academy and how we made plans to escape. Then I tell Ven about the press conference and the way The Leader admitted what was happening at the Academies and the crazy way he acted.
‘Even though it didn’t get aired on TV the Leadership were still really angry. Guards tried to take away the journalists. But the Specials rioted. A fire started and it descended into chaos.’
‘Why weren’t you caught?’
‘The journalist, Janna, she got us out in a van. Her friend Ty—’
I see a flicker in Ven’s eyes.
‘Do you know Ty?’ I ask.
‘Never heard of him.’ But I’m sure he’s lying.
‘Ty helped us,’ Kay says. ‘He said he knew you lot and that you could help us get The Leader.’
Ven’s face is emotionless. ‘How did you get through the fence?’
Kay relates her conversation with Ty about the tunnel and how we escaped through it when the warehouse was raided by guards.
‘I wouldn’t use it again if I were you,’ I say. ‘It leaks.’ I can almost feel the cold water swilling around me. ‘Badly.’
Ven is silent. ‘I could certainly do a lot with that footage,’ he says.
‘But we can’t see it,’ Kay says.
‘We’ve got the recording,’ he says. ‘What we need is the password. And you’re going to get it from your journalist friend.’
‘You want us to go looking for Janna and persuade her to give us her password?’
He nods.
It’s a terrible idea. ‘I’m not trying to be uncooperative, but I don’t think it’s safe for us to go back to the other side. We did have a squadron of guards after us.’
Ven raises an eyebrow.
‘I don’t even know where we would find Janna,’ I add. ‘She was supposed to come back to us and she didn’t turn up.’
‘You’d better start thinking.’
How have I got us into this crazy situation where this boy is ordering me about? Is he even acting with his superiors’ knowledge? ‘What exactly will you do to me if I say no?’ I ask.
‘It’s not what I’m going to do to you . . .’ He turns to Kay. ‘It’s what I’m going to do to her.’
‘You are not going to lay a finger on her,’ I say, narrowing my eyes.
‘Blake,’ Kay says, giving me a warning look.
‘I think she’s sending you secret messages,’ Ven says to me in a stage whisper. ‘I think she wants you to stop being an idiot.’
‘All of you can stop being an idiot,’ Kay says.
‘That’s nice from someone who seems never to have learnt how to talk.’
‘You say more about my talking or try to hurt us then I will break your fingers.’
Ven ignores Kay. ‘This is how it works,’ he says to me. ‘If that footage exists then I want to be able to use it. You say we need a password, so you’re going to find this woman with the password. But just in case your story isn’t true I want to make sure you don’t get any smart ideas about running back to the Leadership. You’ll leave your pixie girlfriend behind as guarantee.’
I run a hand over my face. I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to go running after Janna, but if I refuse Ven’s just going to start waving that gun about again. Besides, I’m not against getting access to the footage.
‘It’s not going to be easy,’ I say. ‘I’m going to need some help. I’ll need to look up where Janna’s newspaper’s office is and I’ll need clothes and someone to show me the way back to the fence.’
‘You’ll have some help,’ he says. His eyes flash with amusement. ‘I’m coming with you.’
‘You should take me, not Blake,’ Kay says.
Ven smirks at her. ‘I know that you won’t be able to empathise,’ he says to me, ‘but it really does get very tiresome when girls are constantly throwing themselves at you.’
‘Take me to find Janna,’ Kay says. ‘I’m a gooder . . . I mean, a better fighter. And I’m fast.’
‘Clearly. And this journalist – is she your friend too?’
Kay doesn’t blink. ‘Yes.’
‘I think we’ll stick to the original plan.’
‘But—’
‘It’s all right, Kay,’ I say. ‘He’s got a point. I don’t think Janna would even talk to you.’
‘Where does your friend work?’
‘She writes for The Post.’ At least that’s where Janna worked when I first met her when she came to interview me and Wilson at the Learning Community. I hope she’s still there. I reach for the keyboard so I can look up the address but Ven swats my hand out of the way.
‘I’ll do it,’ he says.
I roll my eyes. ‘I’m hardly going to escape via the computer.’
‘Why not? Lacking the skill?’
‘Blake is the best at computers,’ Kay says. ‘At his school he got all the prizes.’
I’ve learnt not to boast, but I can’t help the warm feeling that comes with Kay doing it for me. Ven ignores both of us.
‘How can he find where Janna is on the computer?’ Kay asks me.
‘It’s on the Network. You don’t have it at the Academy, but most computers are connected to the Central Information Network. It’s like . . . a big store of information and you can find out things.’
‘You can find out what the Leadership want you to find out,’ Ven corrects.
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Of course, I’ve always known that the Leadership control the Network, but it’s only now that I fully appreciate what that means. For some reason this leaves me feeling annoyed with Ven. ‘If you’ve got the skills,’ I say, ‘you can find things they don’t want you to know. Like I said, I hacked into the classified section of The Register once and—’
‘You did mention it.’
I close my mouth.
Ven laughs. ‘If you turn out to be genuine, maybe I’ll make use of your computer skills later. We need to get moving.’ He takes a communicator out of his pocket. ‘Alrye, get up here,’ he says.
Ven shuts down the computer and, after a minute, Alrye obligingly appears in the doorway.
‘Take the girl back to the lock-up room,’ Ven says to him.
I touch Kay’s hand as she passes me. ‘I’ll be back. I promise.’
Alrye closes the door behind them and we hear Kay say, ‘If you get near me I will smash you.’
I really shouldn’t worry about her.
Ven looks me over and wrinkles his nose. ‘And you’d better get clean.’
He takes me to a laundry room. Although the paint on the walls is bubbled and blistered like a bad skin condition, the floor has been swept clean and the sweet scent of soap almost overpowers the thick musty smell that hangs about the hospital. Ven quickly picks out a shirt, trousers, underwear and socks and pushes them into my arms. Further down the corridor he deposits me in a bathroom.
‘Hurry up,’ Ven says, switching on the solar lantern in the corner and closing the door behind him.
The room is cold and damp. None of the taps work, but someone has left me a jug of hot water along with half a bar of soap and a towel. I strip off my reeking Academy uniform and stand in the cracked bath to wash. The surrounding tiles are spotted with mould and there’s a thick gash of rust running from the cold tap to the plughole, but at least the bath is empty, unlike the toilet, which seems to be full of fallen plaster.
It feels really good to get clean. When I put on the freshly laundered clothes Ven left me I inhale deeply and savour the feeling of clean cotton on my skin.
; It takes me some time to sort myself out and I wonder whether Ven has gone to talk to his superiors. I’m expecting to be whisked off to speak to someone when I open the bathroom door, but instead I find Ven waiting for me. He hands me another pile of clothes and a backpack. I recognise the red shirt and trousers as a Leadership guard’s uniform.
‘Put them in the bag,’ he says. ‘You might need them later.’
I notice that he’s got a backpack too, but further questions die on my lips because he hands me a bottle of water and all I can think about is how good it is to gulp it down. Next he produces a chunk of bread from his pocket.
‘Eat and walk,’ he says.
I match his long strides while I chew the bread. I force myself to eat slowly. I don’t want Ven to think I’m an animal.
‘Your fairy friend sends her love,’ Ven says. ‘In fact she licked her lips and made obscene gestures.’
‘What?’ I feel myself blushing.
Ven laughs. ‘You two are disgusting. Actually, she said, “Tell him to not get killed.” Which is even funnier really.’
That sounds more like Kay.
‘They won’t hurt her, will they? Because if any—’
‘Keep your voice down. People are still sleeping.’
Ven takes me down the stairs. When we reach the ground floor someone in pyjamas calls down the corridor, ‘Where are you going?’
It’s the little girl from last night, Robin. Ven ignores her.
‘Can I come?’ she asks, rushing to catch us up.
I wince when I see her bare feet on the filthy floor.
‘No,’ Ven says, without bothering to look at her.
‘I could help,’ Robin whines, but Ven is already striding through a back door guarded by a young woman with a gun. He gives her a look which clearly says she is not to let Robin follow us.
The door closes and the cool air hits me.
‘Stay beside me,’ Ven says, ‘and keep your eyes open. It’s not safe out here.’
I look around. The black sky is just starting to turn purple. It’s hard to see anything, except Ven beside me. Given how much he seems to think of himself and how much he clearly enjoys bossing other people about, I’m surprised that he is personally supervising me. Maybe his boss told him to do it. Or perhaps he’s sneaking me out early before anyone in charge even knows I’m here. Still, it can’t hurt to get hold of that password, and if Janna can tell Ven the truth about what happened at the Academy, maybe then I can get some help from his bosses to destroy the Leadership.