The man looks at me.
“The government just thinks you don’t pose any real threat to them,” I continue. “The government knows that some rebel cells exist. They know about the rebellion on Island Alpha. But they don’t know that we’re all working together to bring them down. They think we’re just isolated rebels who will never have enough power to destroy them. They’re spending their time and money fighting other countries like the Asian Alliance and European Coalition. They’re not worried about us yet.”
“And what if they’re right?” a woman calls out from the crowd. “We can’t take to the streets and fight. We’ll be killed. Some of us have young kids.”
“Most likely, you’re going to be killed anyway,” I say. “You don’t understand what I saw. On Island Alpha, life was cheaper than dirt. You mean nothing to the UNA.” I stare around at them. “To them, we’re disposable. Lives don’t matter. Only power and control does.”
Tomas steps up next to me. “You should listen to Alenna. Her experiences on the wheel will be extremely valuable to you. She and her friends managed to turn the UNA’s technology against itself, and they destroyed the UNA’s main prison colony. If that’s possible, then anything is. You need to be quiet and let her speak.”
I look around. I’m waiting to get captured but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe David was wrong and it’s not going to happen today. Or maybe it will happen after I leave the building. I might as well take this opportunity to try to help the rebels.
In the ensuing silence, I say, “You can’t worry about your own lives. Or your families. I know that sounds cold, but our struggle is bigger than that. It’s a fight for the whole nation, and maybe the whole planet. The UNA needs to be taken down. Remember that whatever happens, you are the only ones who are going to do it. Most citizens are too afraid to fight back right now. But when they see us, and the rebel cells united as an army, more will join our ranks. We will start a civil war in this country and overturn the government.”
“That’s what you hope for,” a man’s voice calls out. “We do too. But is that reality?”
“It is if we want it to be. We can make it a reality.”
“What if—” a woman’s voice begins, but it gets interrupted.
“Stop!” someone hisses. “Did you hear that?”
There’s a moment of silence.
I hear the creaking of floorboards. Then, before I can say more, there’s a loud disruption outside. I hear the sharp pops of gunfire and the noise of a helicopter in the sky.
Everyone starts rushing around and yelling at once. I hear people screaming for more guns. Everyone scatters.
So this is it. I’m going to get taken.
Government soldiers burst into the building and crash through the crowd. They beat people with their nightsticks and with the butts of their assault rifles. Gunshots go off. The soldiers and the rebels are exchanging gunfire as other rebels try to run. I hear more clashes from outside.
I’m not sure why my capture is so violent and sudden. The soldiers could have just driven up with guns and taken me before I even met with the rebels.
“I knew she was a spy!” a voice yells.
I hear the sharp retort of a gunshot. I duck, thinking that it’s coming from a soldier firing at the crowd.
Then I realize it’s coming from the heavyset man with the ruddy face. He’s firing at me. “I could tell this was a setup!” He’s clutching an illegal homemade pipe gun, and it’s aimed at my face. He should be running for his life, but he’s too furious at me to flee. “Traitor!” he yells, firing the weapon again. I manage to dive out of the way at the last second, dodging the projectile, which explodes against the brick wall.
Uniformed soldiers in riot gear keep flooding the building.
My instinct is to run, but I know that’s not the plan. Not if I want to see Liam again. I just stand there in the middle of the room.
The soldiers find me and their hands grab me roughly. “Alenna Shawcross!” one of them yells. “You have been remanded into state custody for treason and murder. You are coming with us!”
Their hands start punching and clawing at me. I don’t fight back. But they keep coming. I know that I’m supposed to let myself get taken, just like David said, but it’s hard to breathe. There are so many of them that I feel like I’m being smothered. I struggle for air, but their numbers are endless and brutal.
A fist knocks me in the side of my head and my vision goes dark for a moment. I don’t want to lose consciousness. I let my body go limp. The blows let up a bit. The soldiers force me outside and start dragging me along the street.
A rebel runs at a policeman nearby, gun raised. The policeman shoots him right in the chest without any hesitation. The rebel fires back and misses. The policeman shoots him again and again. I shut my eyes against the senseless violence.
David better be right, I think. Or else I’ve just essentially committed suicide by getting captured—and endangered all these other lives as well. I can’t believe that David would be so careless with other people’s lives. It didn’t have to happen this way. But I have to keep my faith in him. I think about the sacrifices that he’s made, from the very start of our journey together. Only someone truly driven to destroy the UNA would risk their mind and body in such a way.
I see a gray metal van with massive bulletproof tires ahead of me. The soldiers are going to put me inside it and take me away. Just like they did to Liam. I arch my body backward.
One of the soldiers jams a black hood over my head and pulls it tight. I can’t see anything.
I cry out in surprise because I can’t help it, and when I breathe back in, fabric gets sucked into my mouth, smothering me. I choke and gag. The soldiers continue to carry my body.
Suddenly I crash against something. I realize that we’ve reached the van. Handcuffs are slipped around my wrists, trapping my arms behind my back. The soldiers push me inside the vehicle. I fall down onto the metal floor, yelping in pain. I hear the van doors slam shut behind me. The engine starts up and we begin moving rapidly down the street.
I gasp for air. The hood makes me feel like I’m suffocating again. I force myself to calm down and relax. I focus on Liam. I focus on David. I force myself to take slower breaths. My pounding heart finally starts to calm down. Eventually the panicked feeling subsides and I just lie there, as we go over bumps at rapid speed.
The journey lasts for many hours. I just lie there on the floor of the van, trapped, with my vision obscured by the hood. I know that this is part of David’s plan, but I’m nervous about letting myself get captured. It goes against everything that I learned on Island Alpha, and it feels unnatural. I want to escape and fight the guards. But I know I need to suppress that urge, at least for now.
I have no clue where I am headed. I just have to trust David. I remember what Kelley said, that helping someone like me means a mandatory death sentence. Is that what’s going to happen to the members of the rebel cell? Is that what’s going to happen to me?
I don’t know how David ended up with so much influence, and with such an understanding of how everything works. Since the start he has been that way. I think of Kelley’s words, that he was groomed since he was a little boy to play this role. There is something unique about him. I don’t yet understand what it is.
The van eventually comes to a stop. My body aches all over. I have no idea what part of New Texas we’re in anymore. It could be anywhere. Maybe we’ve even left the state. I try to suppress my fear.
I hear noises outside the van. People yelling and screaming. I also hear the guards cursing.
The back door suddenly opens up. Arms grab me and yank me forward. “Get out!” a voice yells. “Hurry!”
7 THE CHAMBER
A HAND GRABS ME by the arm and pulls me out of the van. I fall onto the pavement, scraping my shoulders and knees. The black hood is yanked off my head. Around me is an angry crowd of citizens, screaming and yelling at the guards in the van. There are also
more guards standing at the sides with guns, trying to keep order.
The sight of people openly rebelling against the government gives me a surge of hope. Such a thing would never have happened just a few months ago, before I got sent to Island Alpha.
“I can’t believe you’ve caused us this much trouble!” one of the guards screams at me. He yanks me to my feet. A rock hurtles by, nearly hitting his helmet.
I try to push him off me using my shoulder, but he shoves me in the stomach with his assault rifle. The air goes out of my lungs. I bend over, gasping.
“Do you know where you’re headed?” another soldier asks me. The agitated crowd is screaming. I realize that they’re screaming for me to be released, and hurling insults at the soldiers.
I shake my head. It hurts too much to speak. My hands are locked behind my back by the handcuffs.
Soldiers on either side of me start dragging me through the mob, heading toward a large silver skyscraper. I’ve never seen this place before. We must have driven to another city. Probably New Austin. The soldiers look exhausted from dragging me through the crowd.
“There’s been a request to see you in private,” one of them yells, putting his hand under my chin and pulling my face up to his. “Before you get shipped off to the Hellgrounds.” I’m still struggling to catch my breath.
“A request from the local minister himself,” another soldier proclaims, taking off his helmet and rubbing his sweaty brow. “He wants to see you in his office.”
“The local minister?” I ask, confused. “Who the hell is that?”
“Our boss. He’s in charge of this city now.”
This is not what I expected. “Why does he want to see me?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” He pushes me forward roughly.
I walk, but I keep an eye on him. I’m worried that he and the other soldiers are just going to beat me up when we get inside the building. David didn’t warn me about any of this. I thought I’d be headed straight to the Hellgrounds.
We keep walking, heading up a short flight of concrete stairs, until we reach the revolving door that leads into the skyscraper. It’s heavily guarded by officers with guns drawn. I glance back and see the angry crowd. In some ways, I feel elated. A public demonstration like this would have been met with swift gunfire not long ago. But now, for some reason, the soldiers aren’t firing.
I’m pushed through the revolving door and into the huge atrium of the skyscraper.
“Move!” the guard says, prodding me. I walk across the marble floor, beneath high arching stairways. The soldiers stop when we reach a bank of elevators.
“Where are we going?” I ask. “I really don’t understand what—”
“Shut up!” he interrupts me.
“We’re going to the very top,” another soldiers adds. The tone of his voice suggests that I’m in serious trouble.
I want to ask more questions, but I’m forced into the elevator along with two soldiers. One of them places his finger against an electronic reader and says, “Penthouse level.” The elevator doors shut and we begin gliding upward.
As the elevator ascends, one of the soldiers turns to me. “Remember, do not speak unless spoken to. Do not look directly at the minister unless he requests it of you. Keep your eyes on the floor.” His tone is brusque. “Do you understand what I’ve just told you?”
“Yes,” I tell him, my mind flashing back to the drones and the Monk. They too were afraid to gaze at the Monk’s face. What is going on here?
The elevator comes to a halt. Its doors open, and I find myself staring down a long, bright tunnel. There is only one door in sight—a massive circular steel one, like the door to a bank vault—right at the end of the hall. I keep walking, sandwiched between the two soldiers.
I have no idea what this building is. Or who this local minister is. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I don’t even know where I am. Was David lying to me about being sent to the Hellgrounds? Or did something unexpected take place along the way? Something that even he couldn’t predict?
“Move!” snaps one of the soldiers. I pick up the pace.
We reach the steel door. Both soldiers place their right thumbs against electronic readers. One of them taps a code into a nearby panel with his left hand.
A voice crackles back through a loudspeaker, “You’ve brought the girl?”
“Yes,” the soldier says. He removes his thumb. So does the other guard.
My heart is beating wildly despite my efforts to stay calm. I don’t know who—or what—is waiting for me behind this door.
The door begins to open inward, under its own power, much like the giant hatches back in the specimen archive.
Beyond it is darkness. I’m surprised. I thought it would be bright up here in the penthouse of this skyscraper. But it’s nearly as dim as the rock tunnels back in Destiny Station.
“Enter the chamber of Minister Hiram!” one of the soldiers declares, as he shoves me forward into the massive space. I feel the other soldier behind me, unlocking my handcuffs. I swing my hands forward, relieved to finally have my freedom.
I turn around to ask, Minister who? But the guards are already stepping back into the hallway. The circular door swings shut behind them with an ominous clank.
I stand there for a moment, unnerved, staring into the gloom. I’m in a huge circular room, two hundred feet in diameter, right at the top of this building. It probably takes up the entire penthouse level.
All of the windows are covered with thick metal folding sheets, locked at the bottom with huge bolts. The walls are made of exposed concrete. It’s like a bunker up here. The space is cavernous and cool. At first, nobody else seems to be inside.
But as my eyes adjust to the light, I realize that I’m not alone. Lining the curved walls is a row of guards, clutching rifles. Probably twenty of them.
For a moment, I think they’re surreal statues. But they are real people, merely standing, silent and stationary. An entire army on pause. I don’t understand why a minister I’ve never heard of—not from the rebels or scientists, or from anyone else—would be guarded as heavily as this.
The guards said that this minister runs the city. I wonder how much power he actually has, if any. Perhaps this is some sort of bureaucratic show meant to scare me before I get sent to the Hellgrounds.
A spotlight is turned on, illuminating the center of the room. Directly underneath the light sit two chairs facing each other at a marble table. The table is embossed with the UNA emblem in gold. But when I look closer, I see that this emblem has been modified. Instead of an eye hovering over a globe, it shows five eyes surrounding the globe. Its golden contours gleam in the bright light.
Confused, I take a few steps toward the table. Then a few more.
I glance back and see the guards lining the walls watching me. I consider saying something to them, or trying to fight them, but there doesn’t seem to be a point. I don’t want to jeopardize getting sent to the Hellgrounds and finding Liam, let alone whatever mission awaits us there.
I keep walking cautiously toward the chairs and the table. I imagine this is what I am supposed to do.
Other than the silent soldiers who stand guard, I am alone. None of them acknowledge my presence here.
“Hello?” I finally dare to ask, my voice cracking.
I feel a hand on my shoulder.
I yelp, spinning around in surprise. I slip on the slick marble floor and go crashing down to one knee. A second ago, there had been no one behind me. But now a man is standing there. He’s smiling, wearing an expensive-looking suit, with slicked-back hair.
I get to my feet, wary. I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on.
“Alenna,” the man says, fixing me with an unblinking gaze. His face is impossible to read. Inscrutable. He is curiously ageless, with few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, although I know he must be in his late forties. His strong nose and wide mouth make his face look swollen and masklike. He has a dia
mond-shaped scar on his left temple. I recognize this face because I’ve seen it up close before. “Do you know who I am?”
“You’re one of Minister Harka’s body doubles,” I say, feeling sick.
He chuckles. “It’s true. I was. But that was several years ago.” He pauses, a thin smile playing over his lips. “Since then, I’ve been promoted.”
“To what?”
“To someone in charge.” He looks closely into my eyes. “See, just like the wheel, the UNA is now divided into certain sectors controlled by different ministers.”
“Why?”
“For economic and social reasons.” He pauses again. “Do you know where I take my name from?”
“No.” I shake my head, completely confused. “Why are you asking me?”
“I like to teach the uninitiated.” He smiles. “I take my name from Hiram Abiff. Also known as Hiram Abi. He’s a mythological figure in the world of Freemasonry. A master builder and craftsman who constructed great temples. His tools were gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood.” He pauses contemplatively. “He’s an inspiration to me.”
I nod, pretending that I understand what he’s talking about. I suppose I should be glad that he’s talking to me instead of torturing me. But maybe that part is coming next. I try to ignore the armed soldiers who stand, completely still and silent, around the edges of the room.
“Once I was promoted, I was free to name myself. I could become my own man, so to speak.” He shrugs. “Well, actually, given my resemblance to Minister Harka—thanks to the plastic surgery—I usually claim that I am his brother. So nobody gets suspicious.” He winks at me.
I nod. This man is giving me the creeps. I wonder who he was before he became a body double. There is something unhinged about him. Even more so than Minister Harka himself. I remember that Minister Harka mentioned being pushed out of his own government and sent to the wheel by men who were even more corrupt than he was. Is this one of those men?
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