He supposed it had been arrogant to assume it would have left him with some role of importance within the Level. If it had been Gil who had been voted in, then that may have been the case, but it wasn’t Gil.
Only one name remained on the blackboard, the others had been rubbed out after the vote had been counted and the winner was waiting for him on the platform. The vote wasn’t supposed to be counted until the next monthly meeting but everyone had demanded it be counted sooner. He stepped up and extended his hand to Charat in a gesture of good will.
“Congratulations,” Johan said trying not to be irritated by the over-smug look on Charat’s face. “I’ll continue to help where I can.”
“I’m sure we can find some little thing for you to do,” Charat’s phrasing and tone was as if he was speaking to a two year old who wanted to help his parents but was too little to be of any use.
“We have a raid planned for tomorrow just before dawn,” Johan felt his defences rise and his voice followed. “We have found an alternate entrance to the warehouses that have supplied this Level for the last six years.”
“I know, and I wouldn’t bother if I were you. I can supply much more with half the effort,” Charat didn’t seem to mind that he was belittling Johan in front of the whole Level.
“Really?” Johan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen and he shoved his clenched fists into his pockets to stop himself thumping Charat. “We lived quite well without most of those things before you came.”
“Why don’t we have a little contest then? You get your supplies and I’ll get mine. The one with the most after 24 hours has the job,” Charat’s voice hadn’t risen even slightly and his unblinking stare was as much of a challenge as his words had been.
A roar of agreement went up from the crowd and Johan had no option but to nod in acceptance and step back down from the platform. He spent the next few hours in his room and nobody even came to see him. Today had been a test of his patience and humility and Johan had a feeling he hadn’t passed.
**
Kala walked slowly in the main doors of Clover Downs and headed straight for Johan’s room. There were plenty of stares from people in the square but nobody spoke to her or stood in her way. She felt very conspicuous in her Level Two clothes but there was nothing she could do about that.
The bags she still carried had almost cut the circulation off in her fingers and she dumped them gratefully outside Johan’s slightly open door before she knocked.
“Come.”
He didn’t sound very happy and her news wasn’t going to help. She took a deep breath, picked up the bags again and pushed open the door.
“Kala,” Johan looked pleased to see her and rushed over to take the heavy bags from her. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”
“I’ve brought some supplies for the children,” Kala pointed to the bags. “I’ll come and take classes a couple of times a week if I can.”
“That’s the best news I’ve had all day,” Johan sank back into his chair.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news as well… It’s about your raid tomorrow morning… There’s going to be an ambush.”
“Well, well, Johan,” a voice from the door made Kala turn and she saw Charat just inside the door with Gil hovering two steps behind him. “If you’re going to tell everyone about all your plans I’m not surprised you failed so badly when you were leader.”
“I didn’t tell her!” Johan retorted sharply and Kala looked from one to the other trying to figure out what was going on.
“Just admit you’ve failed and step down gracefully before you prove yourself to be a total loser,” again Charat’s voice stayed even and calm and he backed out of the room and left the door open.
“As you might have guessed, Charat is now the leader of Clover Downs. I think I need to go for a long walk,” Johan stood up and came around to Kala. “I’ll walk you back to your sector.”
Kala left with Johan and she could see he didn’t want to talk so she didn’t try to start a conversation. As they reached the secret door she finally had to say what was worrying her most.
“You won’t go on the raid will you?” she couldn’t bear to think of Johan being sent off to Belgara. It was almost dusk and she couldn’t see him well in the dark alley but she felt him move closer.
“No I won’t, and thanks for caring.”
Kala felt a light kiss on her cheek and then he was gone. With an audible sigh of relief she touched her hand to her cheek as she stepped through the door. She closed it carefully behind her and headed for the shuttle station.
“Hello stranger. Who would have thought we would bump into each other again today?” Kala’s heart almost leapt from her chest as she rounded a corner and came face to face with Damon.
CHAPTER TEN
“I… What are you doing here?” Kala tried to calm her wildly beating heart as she forced herself to keep walking towards the station.
“Just out for a stroll, isn’t that why you’re here too?”
Kala couldn’t see his face in the darkness but by his tone of voice he didn’t really expect an answer. He didn’t even seem curious as to why she had ditched him earlier.
How long had he been watching her? Had he seen her come out of the door in the dividing wall?
“I got off at the wrong station. Sometimes I get them mixed up,” Kala was pleased that it was dark. She wasn’t a good liar and it probably showed on her face.
“And your bags?”
“They got a bit heavy so I left them at a friend’s place,” Kala decided it wasn’t really a lie at all.
“I did offer to carry them for you,” Damon reminded her. “I insist on escorting you home this time. To make sure you don’t get off at the wrong station again.”
Kala sighed to herself as she knew there would be no chance of talking him out of it or losing him again tonight.
They reached the station and the shuttle arrived less than a minute later. This time Damon didn’t sit at the far end of the carriage, but took the seat opposite her. They were the only two people in the carriage and the silence as he just sat and looked at her made her squirm.
“So do you normally go for walks this late in the evening?” Damon broke the silence.
“Sometimes.” Kala could feel the colour start to creep up her cheeks as she frantically tried to think of ways to change the subject but she couldn’t and turned to look out the window into the darkness.
The uneasy silence returned. Damon appeared content to just sit and look at her. Kala, however, had the feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. She had hoped he would go his own way once she had reached her station but he insisted on walking her right to her doorstep. He hadn’t brought up the subject of her evening walk again and had chatted about the weather and how it seemed a little cooler lately.
“Until the day after tomorrow. About two,” Damon inclined his head in a slight bow as he remained at the bottom of the steps and then faded quickly into the dark night.
Reco’s lesson the next morning was nerve racking for Kala as she kept expecting Damon to turn up and it was with relief that she finally left and headed home. She found out that her claim to be going out was actually true. They were all going to her grandparents for lunch. This had taken Kala by surprise as she hadn’t even known that she had any. They had never visited them in Level Three nor had there ever been a birthday or Christmas card.
Kala held back her comments when she saw how delighted her mother looked about the lunch invitation. Maybe there was a good reason why they had never heard from or seen them before. She would wait and see how things went. Roma looked pleased with himself as he adjusted his new peacock blue tunic top and Kala had to admit that her father looked good.
“Is that what you are wearing?” Petari frowned slightly at Kala as she came into the living area just before they were due to leave.
“What’s wrong with it?” Kala ran her hand over the dusty-rose coloured dress looking for a
grease stain or a mark.
“You’ve been wearing it all morning. Why don’t you change into another one?” her mother was wearing a very expensive looking dress that was very much in contrast to the plain clothes she had always worn before.
“My other one is wet,” Kala had washed it this morning, to get the grass stain out, and it wasn’t quite dry yet.
“You must have more than two dresses,” Petari frowned again and then looked critically at her daughter’s dress again. “I guess it will have to do, but make sure you go and buy some more tomorrow.”
Kala just nodded as she had no idea how to tell her mother that she had spent almost all of this month’s Marcs on things for Clover Downs. It would be weeks before she would be able to go and buy another one.
Thankfully, a knock at the door took her mother’s attention away from her clothes and Petari opened the door. A well-dressed man in his sixties removed his dark green cloth cap and bowed slightly.
“Your mother didn’t want you getting wet,” he said and Kala moved closer to the front window to see what he was talking about.
Parked on the walk outside the house was an elegant Hoverpod. Hoverpods such as those didn’t come cheaply so her grandparents must be Level One. She was beginning to dislike these relatives that she hadn’t even met. How could they have let their daughter go through what she had in the last week. There must have been some way they could have fixed things.
Again Kala kept her thoughts to herself as her delighted mother ushered them all outside. There was barely enough room for the Hoverpod on the narrow walk that divided the apartments and it would take an experienced pilot to land it there. As for getting wet, it was cloudy but not raining.
Kala wasn’t surprised when the Hoverpod, piloted by the man who mother had introduced as Wane, took them to the district where the Fortnes family lived. It set down gently in a back garden similar to the Fortnes’.
The house was every bit as overdone and even uglier inside than the Fortnes house. Kala tried hard not to make a judgment about her grandparents before she had even met them. Unfortunately, when they came into the room they had been shown to, they were exactly what she had imagined. Fat to the point of obesity, her grandmother was caked in makeup and her clothing would have looked much more suitable on a teenager.
“Oh Petari, it’s so good to see you darling,” her father waddled over and put his arms around Kala’s mother briefly before stepping back and frowning. An act that reminded Kala of a picture she had once seen of a walrus. “You really are much too thin.”
Petari laughed a genteel laugh that Kala had never heard before and he turned his attention on Kala and Alissa. Kala nodded politely as he greeted her and she extended her hand before he could attempt to hug her. To her surprise Alissa did the same thing but she didn’t seem to be making any attempt to hide the distaste she was obviously feeling.
“Call us Poppa Elden and Nan Zena,” he said giving Alissa’s cheek a pinch which caused Alissa to take a step further back out of his reach. Her grandparents didn’t seem to notice her hostility and they turned to Roma.
“Welcome to the family, son. We always knew you would bring Petari back to where she belongs.” Poppa Elden was shaking Roma’s hand and patting him on the shoulder. Then they were all ushered into lunch which was a lavish affair with far too much food.
“After dinner, I hope your mother will grace us with a few songs on the pianoforte,” Poppa Elden said to Kala through a mouthful of food and Kala cringed as a piece of chicken fell from his mouth onto the tablecloth.
Pianoforte! Kala didn’t know her mother could play and she turned a quizzical gaze towards her.
“I’m probably very rusty,” Petari’s face coloured as she pushed her food around her plate in embarrassment.
“Do you mean you haven’t had one to play on?” Poppa Elden seemed surprised and it was Roma’s turn to blush.
Kala began to get angry that he was making out her father hadn’t provided well for them over the years. He had done everything he could and given them everything they needed. She was about to tell her new Poppa just that when Alissa spoke out.
“What are you going to do with all the leftover food?” Alissa threw a challenging look at Poppa Elden.
“I beg your pardon?” he looked very confused by the question as if it had never occurred to him before.
“I asked what you do with the leftover food,” Alissa rose out of her chair and put her hands on the table as she continued to glare at him.
“I have no idea. I imagine the servants dispose of it.”
“Why don’t you let the starving people have it?” Alissa demanded loudly.
Poppa Elden and Nan Zena exchanged surprised looks and Roma and Petari looked embarrassed.
“Now, Alissa dear. Sit down please, you know it’s not polite to shout,” Petari urged and Alissa slowly began to sit down.
“I’d like to hear their answer,” Kala said putting a comforting hand on Alissa’s arm.
“That’s not necessary,” Petari cut in nervously.
“I’ve no idea what you mean anyway. There are no starving people in this city. Everyone gets exactly what they need,” Poppa Elden shook his head as he spoke and his moustache wobbled wildly.
“There are in Level ten,” Kala retorted.
“Rubbish. They get enough but they are just greedy, always asking for more and saying they are hard done by. They should all be shipped out to Belgara and that would clear the streets of all the whingers. They are just parasites on society who wouldn’t even be missed,” Poppa Elden hadn’t raised his voice even the slightest bit and had even continued to eat. He waved his fork at Kala and stared hard at her. “You want to be careful who you say things like that to. You might get mistaken for a sympathiser.”
Alissa looked about to speak out again and Kala nudged her gently with her foot and sent her a look that told her she was wasting her breath. They both sat silently through the rest of the meal and their mother’s recital on the Pianoforte. If she was rusty now she must have been amazing before. It was yet another side to her mother that Kala hadn’t seen before. She seemed to fit so perfectly in the way of life that they were now part of and she was becoming more of a stranger with each passing minute.
**
Kala opened one eye and cringed as the light of the new morning seemed to stab at her eye painfully. She hadn’t slept well and she wished she could roll over and cancel today all together. The thought of spending time with Damon made her headache worse. Her parched throat forced her to raise her head from the pillow and get up in search of a drink of water.
She knew she had a hangover and she silently berated herself for having so much to drink. She didn’t normally drink much, nor often either, but last night she had used it to escape reality for a while. She had sat and listened to her parents say how wonderful lunch had been and how they hoped they were invited again.
To stop herself starting an argument with them Kala had snuck into the kitchen and taken a bottle of Scotch. With nothing to mix it with she had drunk it straight from the bottle and for a short time she had imagined her life back to how it had been a few short weeks ago.
Kala realised this was how her father must have felt when they were in Level Ten and she now understood why he had drunk so heavily. It wasn’t lack of courage or strength, simply a desire to find any way out of somewhere he didn’t want to be.
The water did nothing to quench Kala’s thirst and the thought of breakfast was unappealing to say the least. She poured another glass of water and went to sit on the patio at the back of the house. The early morning stillness told her it was going to be a nice day. With a bit of luck the temperature should stay below 35 degrees Celsius now that it was coming into winter. The weather watchers had said it was the coolest year in thirty years but she hadn’t noticed yet.
By mid-morning she felt a lot better and dressed reluctantly for her outing with Damon. If only she could find an excuse for not going as s
he didn’t want him prying into her life too much in case he discovered the secrets she kept.
“Kala, darling,” Petari’s voice sang lightly through the door. It was wonderful to hear her sounding so happy and about the only good thing about this whole mess.
“Yes mother,” Kala replied as she fastened her buttons and then smoothed down her skirt.
“I have to go out. Can you look after Alissa for me? Your father has gone out. I asked her if she wanted to come with me but she seems to be in a strange mood and wouldn’t even answer me.”
“Of course I can. Don’t worry about her, it’s just a phase,” Kala called back, smiling to herself at the solution to her problem.
At one o’clock she hadn’t been able to track down Damon’s Holo connection to let him know she couldn’t come and she dragged a sullen Alissa from the house. She would have to go to the Fortnes house and tell him in person.
“I don’t wanna go,” Alissa muttered as Kala pushed her onto the shuttle’s carriage.
“We’ll just go there for a few minutes and then…” Kala tried to think of a way to brighten Alissa up and the perfect solution came to her. “.. and then we’ll go to Clover Downs so that you can play with Katee.”
It worked perfectly, and the sullen look fell from Alissa’s face and her eyes sparkled again.
“Do you really mean it?” she cried.
“Yes, as soon as we’ve managed to get rid of Damon we’ll go straight there,” Kala promised. She wasn’t sure why she felt so good about having an excuse to go back to Clover Downs so soon, all she knew was it felt right.
Kala and Alissa arrived at the Fortnes house just as Damon turned the corner at the other end of the street. They waited for him on the steps and he sauntered slowly up the street with his hands in his pockets, whistling loudly and looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Good Morning Kala, and who is this beautiful young lady you have with you?” he spoke in a sincere voice and his eyes twinkled as he held out his hand to Alissa.
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