by Ramona Finn
It was only then that I realized what my mother’s presence meant.
“You’re getting care!” If I’d had a single tear left in my body, I’d have started sobbing all over again. She looked better than I had seen her look in a very long time.
“Nari has been sneaking us meds,” my mother said in a low, hushed tone. “Even though we aren’t quite Elite yet.” She looked across the room, holding Nari’s eye. “We can’t express how grateful we are.”
Nari nodded solemnly, accepting the gratitude without intruding on our time together.
“We’re slated for transport next week,” my father said. “Oh, Ty, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. You did it, you really did.”
I wanted to tell them everything about the Above. The sights, the smells. I wanted to tell them about the Rejs and Skylar Two, as well. Instinctively, my hand went to my mother’s necklace. And then I had another thought.
“What about Kev?” I asked Nari. I had been so relieved to see my mother alive that I hadn’t thought to ask if he’d been reunited with his yet.
Nari’s lips pressed together in a thin line.
“We should go,” Nari’s voice burst the bubble of safety I’d created in my imagination. “The longer we stay, the more we increase our chances of being caught.”
My parents donned their burlap cloaks and Nari ushered them out the door without question.
“But wait, what happens next?” My voice hissed between my teeth as I fought between keeping my voice low and the fear welling up inside me.
The thought plagued me until I finally fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter Forty
Our send-off happened in the ceremony room in the Union Hall, not much differently from the way it had begun. Kev and I stood on stage with Ben Farrow, not unlike the day we had left for the Above. This time, instead of our normal Geos outfits, we were clad in silken robes just like the Elites.
Getting dressed that morning had been surreal. I’d woken up with the robes hanging on a hook near the door, but I couldn’t recall anyone coming in the night before. The thought that someone could have come and gone from my room undetected made me uneasy, but rather than dwelling on the matter, I tried to focus on the brighter side of moving out of the Geos and away from everything I’d ever known.
The silk robe felt like heaven against my skin and smelled like sunlight. I marveled at how closely science had manifested their memory of a cloud, but in tactile form. After living with the Rejs, I had come to appreciate the ways that our subconscious patterns were inherited from the past. That the experiences of our ancestors could change the genetics of their descendants, programming them to hold onto the same subconscious reactions. Sometimes they manifested as fears, but in other, more beautiful times, they manifested themselves as art, like in the clothing I had just been provided.
The Union Hall around us was packed, with members of every Union standing shoulder to shoulder with one another. In the front row, my parents stood next to Kev’s. I watched as my mother chatted with his, no doubt about how proud they were of the two of us. Earlier, Kev’s parents had been reunited with him, and it was good to see. He looked more like the Kev I’d known before, now that we’d had a night’s rest and seen our families.
I saw Nari in the doctors’ section as my eyes scanned the crowd. She smiled at me and, for a split second, I thought I’d seen her wink, but when I looked again, her gaze had drifted to the colleague at her side.
In the coders section, I quickly spotted Viv and her friends. I smiled as Viv jumped up and down to catch my attention, sneaking in a small wave just for her.
And then, back in the shadows, I saw movement. A figure in tattered clothes. I blinked, rubbing my eyes in case I’d been mistaken, and when I looked again it was gone. Still, for a fraction of a second, I could have sworn I’d seen the ragged outline of Wallace’s form way back in the far corner of the room, and I chose to believe that, somehow, the old man had come to say his goodbyes.
The ceremony was kept short, skipping the history of our people in favor of a new story—the one of our survival. Both Kev and I had been interviewed about our experiences. I’d tried to avoid deceit where possible. But I’d left out the parts about the Rejs, of course, and about Skylar Two. Instead, I’d said I’d hidden like Kev, gotten sick, and stumbled upon Kev and then the vent on accident. I didn’t know if they really believed my story, but they couldn’t prove that I was lying, and even if they could, I doubted that they’d have shared it with the rest of the Geos.
The ceremony ended with applause, and Ben offered me his arm. I took it somewhat awkwardly and allowed him to lead me through the door in the back of the stage. A large cement room waited, with tunnels in the ceiling. In the center of the room, a strange orb-like transport waited. An air pod!
I fiddled with my copper bracelet as we boarded, and then the pod rose through the tubes that would take us to the Greens. I caught sight of the mountains where, somewhere, Skylar Two was waiting for a day that I knew might never come. The day that I would return.
Ben put his arm around my shoulders, drawing me in close, and my mind shifted to what the future could hold. The Labs were a mystery to me, and knowing that R.L. Farrow wasn’t who he wanted everyone to believe made me wary, especially when it came to my feelings about Ben. The part of me that had spent time with him before the Above wanted to trust him, especially knowing that he had saved my life by warning me about the EFs. Still, his loyalty was to Farrow Corp, and his family. Not to me.
I glanced to my other side, where Kev stood staring straight ahead, lost in his own thoughts. At least I had one friend I knew I could trust.
As the last sliver of sunlight faded behind the mountains, I ran my fingers over Skylar’s vial, which hung concealed beneath my mother’s necklace. I wasn’t just an Acceptance survivor. I wasn’t just an Elite. I was born of the Geos, and reborn as a Rej. I was the bridge between our worlds, connected to those I took with me as well as those I was leaving behind. I’d survived the Virus, and saved my mother, but my work wasn’t done.
I turned my head from the landscape and focused on the star-scattered night sky, where my story would take me next. When I had begun this journey, it had been to save my family. But my family had changed—it had grown since I’d last left the depths of the Geos. Humanity was my family now, both underground and above it, and there was still work to be done to ensure its survival. A burden that I had to believe had fallen onto my shoulders for a reason.
I was going to unite our people.
End of The Acceptance
The GEOs Book One
The Acceptance, June 10th 2020
The Labs, August 12th 2020
The Elites, October 14th 2020
Do you love YA dystopian novels? Keep reading for an exclusive extract from The Labs and The Pairings.
About Ramona
Ramona Finn writes about courageous characters who fight to live in broken, dystopian worlds. She grew up sitting cross-legged on her town's library floor - completely engrossed in science fiction books. It was always the futuristic world or the universe-on-the-brink-of-extinction plot lines that drew her in, but it was the brave characters who chose to fight back that kept her turning the pages.
Her books create deep, intricate worlds with bold characters determined to fight for their survival in their dystopian worlds - with a little help from their friends...
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BLURB
The truth can no longer hide behind lies.
Tylia Coder is headed up to the Labs—floating sky cities of bright light and lush greenery the likes of which the vids could never do justice. As one of only two known survivors of the Acceptance trials, she has antibodies in her blood which may prove to be the key to the cure for the Virus that nearly wiped out humanity decades ago.
But the perfect life she envisioned in the Labs is nothing but fiction.
Access to information is restricted. Questions she asks are left unanswered. Communication with her family in the GEOs is cut off. And someone’s spreading lies about the Reis, who now claim her as one of their own, stirring virulent hatred of the rebellion.
Worst of all, members of the Farrow family are tormenting those who threaten their way of life. And when Tylia is overheard defending the Rejs, their vicious sights are set on her. To protect herself from yet another “accidental death” in the Labs, Tylia accepts a partnership proposal with the only Farrow willing to befriend her.
Yet Tylia soon realizes she can no longer sit safely on the sidelines. She must act, not only to protect her loved ones in the Rejs and the GEOs, but to save what remains of the human race.
Get your copy of The Labs
Available August 12th 2020
www.RamonaFinn.com
EXCERPT
Chapter One
The transport doors slid shut with a loud thud, and the engines roared like a hibernating monster waking up after a long winter. My stomach lurched, and then the entire ship lifted off the ground.
I sucked in my breath and held it. As the transport’s large body vibrated through to my bones, I clutched the straps that held me to my seat. In the seat next to me, Kev was white as a sheet. When his gaze locked onto mine, he grinned—it was a forced grin made out of fear, but a thrilling type of fear.
“This is amazing!” he called over the roar of the engines. “Did you ever think you’d actually get to fly?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out, so I just shook my head. Of course, winning the Acceptance meant having to move up to the Sky Labs. And hadn’t I dreamed of this my whole life? Wasn’t this the reason my old mentor, Wallace, had prepared me to survive—so I could win, and be the first person from the Geos to move up to the Labs in a very long time?
Flying was going to be inevitable, especially for our first entry into the Labs. The Sky Tubes that slid up and down in long columns stretching between the Labs and the Geos would be an alternative way to get up there, but not as grand. Those were used for supplies and maintenance crew, and they’d become grimy and old over the years of use. Traveling in the Tubes wouldn’t have been as comfortable, or as glamorous, as flying in these impressive transports.
We were the winners of the Acceptance, so this first trip had to be special. We were moving up in our world. The people in the Geos, and our friends and colleagues down in Union Hall, were probably glued to that giant TV screen watching our ascent. With it, we carried their dreams—not to mention my dreams and my parents’ dreams. Even Wallace, who had been hiding away all those years, belonging to no particular group—not Geos, not Rejs, and definitely not Elites. He was grumpy and reluctant, but in our short stint of training, I could tell he wanted a win too. So, this was for him as well, even if he might no longer be alive.
I couldn’t help but think of Skylar Two, and all the Rejs who’d accepted me as one of their own. I was headed up to the sky for them, too. A knot formed in my stomach, reminding me of my new goal, my larger goal for winning the Acceptance. I’d started with wanting to save my mother by hacking my way into the survival trials. But she was on her way to recovering from the Cough, and soon she and my father would join me in the Labs to live a life of ease and luxury.
There was more to accomplish now.
Since I’d met Skylar Two and the Rejs who lived on the surface in the mountains, everything had changed. It was as if my world had grown larger, so that my eyes were suddenly open to see what was really happening. Even though I’d been taught from childhood that the Rejs were bad and dangerous, Skylar Two and his people had shown me how much we had in common. Being accepted into their group had made me see my world differently. I was now fired up to save my people in the underground and to unite all of us together with those who lived in the Above. Only together could we overcome the power of the ruling Farrow family and gain a real chance for all of us to live a better life.
Be clear, I reminded myself, about what your mission really is. Don’t get distracted by the temptations of a luxurious life.
A voice boomed over the comms, pulling me out of my thoughts. “The Sky Labs float at about ten kilometres above the earth. Once we reach an altitude of three kilometres, or ten thousand feet, you’ll be able to get up and walk around.” It was Ben Farrow’s voice. He was piloting the transport.
A small balloon of pride swelled up inside of my chest. My Ben, the son of our world’s leader, the star of “The Cure” that so many people watched faithfully every night, was escorting me to the Labs. Viv would have been so jealous if she’d known that he took such a personal interest in me.
The knot in my stomach tightened. The Farrows were the ones we in the Geos had looked to for a future—a cure from the Virus. They were feared, yes, but they’d always given us hope. After my time with the Rejs, I wasn’t sure what to think anymore. To the Rejs, the Farrows were the enemy. The Rejs believed that R.L. Farrow in particular deliberately kept the people apart, keeping the Geos going only to serve the Elites, and for no other reason, The Rejs certainly hated the Farrows, but they had no proof of his misdeeds. I was prepared to hate them, as well, though—so much so that I’d agreed to help the Rejs by digging up information about the Farrows. Especially R.L.
But then there was Ben. He’d been unexpectedly kind to me and had helped to save me from the trials. He didn’t have to be good to me. He wanted to. I wasn’t as experienced with boys as Viv and the others were, but if she’d been with me, I felt sure she would’ve said he liked me. Why? I couldn’t think of a reason. The knot in my stomach loosened and a warmth rose into my face.
Ben’s deep voice sounded over the comms. “Watch for the red light above you to turn green, and then you’ll be free to walk about.”
The transport was a giant metal box that vibrated with every meter of altitude it covered. It wasn’t as luxurious as I’d imagined, but its size certainly made a statement. The walls were a dull metallic grey with straps and handles spaced out evenly throughout. There were small round windows lined up against the walls from the cockpit to the tail, just above the row of seats. I craned my neck to peek out the window, appreciating the rays of sunshine that pierced this space. After living with the Rejs, even for that short time, I’d gotten used to needing sunlight, and this boxy transport was making me feel a bit claustrophobic.
I refocused on the row of seats beneath each window across from me. They were empty except for a couple of Emergency Force officers, or EFs, at the front of the transport. With their helmets still on, it was hard to see their expressions. They must have been used to flying all the time. It had to be a part of their training. A loud thump and rumble made the transport shake as if it were a plaything being shaken by a child. My teeth chattered; my body shivered in my seat.
“Just a little turbulence,” came Ben’s voice through the intercom as if he’d read my mind. He sounded so sure, so confident. “Nothing to worry about.”
I inhaled, trying to draw each breath in slowly and failing miserably. Short, shallow breaths were all I could manage for now.
Then, without warning, the turbulence ended. The engines settled into a gentle hum that vibrated just beneath my feet. There was a whirring that sounded like giant fans outside, but other than that, everything had smoothed out.
I let out a loud sigh.
“Phew!” Kev said. “At least that’s over for now.”
&nb
sp; I frowned. What did he mean? Kev had about as much experience with flying machines as I did.
Kev grinned again—and this time it lit up his eyes. “Ben told me that the take-offs and landings are the roughest parts of a journey.”
Great.
As soon as the red blinking light over our heads turned to a soothing green, Kev unbuckled himself and leapt to the nearest window.
“Oh wow!” he exclaimed. He was practically shaking with excitement. “It’s even more magnificent from this angle.”
I fumbled with my buckle and finally scrambled free from my seat. My legs were a little wobbly, but I found my balance and walked over to the window next to Kev’s. The sky was a gentle blue and there were actual clouds floating lazily by. The sunlight glinted off something and I turned to look in that direction. There they were—the Sky Labs. I’d waited all my life to see them up close.
Floating in the sky outside our windows was a myriad of different shaped cities, made mostly out of some transparent material. They were bigger than enormous—all so clean and bright—nothing like the underground world that I’d grown up in. They took my breath away, literally. I was so in awe that I forgot to breathe until my lungs ached inside my chest.
“Wow!” I inhaled, feeling a little dizzy. “There are more cities than I ever knew existed up here.” All the vids we’d been shown as kids had told us that the Labs were a set of interconnected cities which floated high above Earth’s surface. We’d been shown one cluster made up of maybe seven or eight Labs, and I’d thought that was all there were. But no. There were more clusters—tens of them. I’d known they’d be amazing to see in real life, but I’d never imagined anything like this.