by Linda McNabb
“If you don’t take the job I’ll have you arrested for taking the ornament you have in your pocket.” The desperation in her eyes had flicked through fear and had settled into determination as she stared at Kala. “Take the job and you can name whatever you want.”
Kala didn’t answer for a full minute as she thought through her options. There really weren’t any options at all. If she didn’t take the job she wouldn’t get back to put the Marcs under the bush. A high ranking woman like Mrs Fortnes was used to getting what she wanted and Kala didn’t doubt that she could carry out her threat.
“I have several conditions,” Kala stated thinking fast on how to save her family.
“What did you have in mind?”
“I want my whole family brought up to Level Two... tonight.”
“Is that all?” Relief made Mrs Fortnes' features relax instantly. “I’ll organise it in a day or two.”
“No, tonight,” Kala insisted.
“If that’s what you really want,” she reached over and picked up a portavid. She pressed her thumb on the scanner and placed it back on the table in front of her.
“State Reallocations Office please,” she spoke clearly and within seconds the miniature holographic form of a guard shimmered in the air in front of her.
“Mrs Fortnes. What may I do to be of service?” the guard straightened up as he spoke.
“I wish to have some friends reallocated to Level Two.”
“Certainly. Who are they and when would you like them transferred?” the guard didn’t question her reasons.
“Immediately,” Mrs Fortnes indicated to Kala to come over and she pressed Kala’s thumb to the scanner. “All of this family.”
“One moment please,” the guard pressed some keys on an unseen keyboard and then looked back. “It is done. Would you like me to arrange for their transfer?”
“I’d like to go and get them if I can,” Kala requested before Mrs Fortnes could reply.
“Of course you can,” Mrs Fortnes said generously to Kala and then turned back to the hologram. “I will arrange that,” she cut off the connection without thanking the guard.
“I see your escort is still outside?” Mrs Fortnes parted the curtains and saw the house lights reflecting off where the Hoverpod sat in the darkness. “They will take you to collect them. I’ll get the new apartment allocation sent to them by the time you get to your family.”
She rang a small silver bell that sat on the table and her manservant came in.
“Jarin, take Miss Palent back to the Hoverpod... “
Kala couldn’t be sure but she could have sworn she saw a look of pleasure in Jarin’s eyes which dissolved when Mrs Fortnes finished her sentence.
“ ...so she can pick up her family. Kala is our new tutor.”
**
Johan could feel the cold metal of the doors against his back and an unusually cool autumn breeze raised the hairs on his arm. He had been sitting outside for over an hour thinking about the events of today.
First there was the sabotage of the Handcars, then Charat’s acquiring of all those supplies and finally Kala was taken away by the guards. He still hadn’t told her family that she had been taken. Roma was too drunk to understand and his wife didn’t seem to hear when anyone spoke to her.
He massaged his neck to try to ease the tension that was building up and then laced his fingers together behind his head. Why had they taken Kala away? If she was accused of a crime against the State she would never be back. The only place to go after here was offshore to Belgara. Johan shivered at the thought of her going there. He still didn’t believe Gil’s accusations of her being the one who damaged the Hand Cars. He knew she was just an innocent person who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A low humming sound brought his attention up to the dark sky. He could see the lights of a State Hoverpod and they were getting closer. Were they coming here again? He sighed but did not move. How much more could he take today?
The Hoverpod landed not far from him and Johan stared sullenly at it. The rear door slid open and a small figure stepped out. The guards in the front weren’t making any move to get out and it raised Johan’s curiosity.
He stood up and peered into the darkness at the approaching figure. It wasn’t a guard and it looked to be a woman.
“Kala!” Johan exclaimed. “I didn’t think you would be back.”
He was so delighted to see her that he wrapped his arms around her. It felt so right to be holding her that he wondered why he hadn’t done so before. Kala pulled away and he let her draw back.
“I haven’t come back.”
Even in the darkness Johan could see the mixed emotions in her eyes. The desire and sadness he saw confused him and it was then that he noticed her clothes.
“Where did you get the new clothes?” he spoke slowly as his mind told him things weren’t as he had thought and he didn’t really want to admit it.
“I’ve come to take my parents and Alissa back with me,” Kala spoke woodenly and when he looked deep into her eyes she dropped her gaze to her feet.
“So I was wrong all this time,” Johan was finally accepting the situation and he was growing angry. “You never were a Level Ten. You were just here as a spy for the State. What a fool I was for standing up for you.”
“No, it’s not like that.. “
“Save your breath. I don’t want to hear it.”
Johan was more angry at himself than anything. He’d never let his guard down like this before and he was positive that he never would again.
“But I didn’t have a choice,” Kala’s voice was pleading with him to listen.
He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks which she made no attempt to wipe away but he turned his back on her. She was a good actress and he was a fool. He waited as she stood there silently for a few minutes and then walked into Clover Downs through the partly open doors.
He was still standing in the same position when she came back carrying Alissa. He made no move to help her and when she returned twice more with the rest of her family he listened to the hum of the Hoverpod as it took off. A tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it away angrily. He went inside and slammed the doors shut with a loud bang.
**
“Good morning,” Kala’s father said as he came into the kitchen where Kala was sitting at the table.
He didn’t show any signs of the drunkenness that he had sunk to over the last two days. He smiled as he opened the cupboards and saw they were crammed full of food.
“This is more like it,” he said as he filled his bowl with cereal. “I knew they would eventually find out that they had made a mistake.”
Kala hadn’t the heart to tell him last night the reason why they were being raised to Level Two. She doubted there would ever be a right moment to bring it up now.
After she collected her family from Clover Downs last night they were taken straight to their new apartment in the Level Two district of Sector One. It wasn’t really an apartment as they weren’t joined together and they even had a small garden out the front and back. Two weeks ago Kala would have been overjoyed to have been here. It was what she had longed for but now it felt wrong.
A doctor had been called last night and both her mother and Alissa were sleeping peacefully now. They would both be fine in a few days.
“I’m going down to the shopping district to choose some new furniture this morning. I checked my credit on the scanner just now and there’s over 300 marcs in it.” Her father hadn’t looked this happy in ages but Kala was a little disappointed that he seemed to have dismissed their stay in Clover Downs so quickly. Had he forgotten how they lived?
There was one last thing that Kala wished she had done before she left Clover Downs last night and that was to put the Marcs under the tree. Who knows, they might be back there one day and it wouldn’t be good to have someone already holding a grudge if they did. All she could do was hope they never ended up in Clover Downs again.
Johan would be holding a grudge but there was nothing she could do about that. She had wanted to explain but he hadn’t wanted to listen and she didn’t really blame him.
To him she was abandoning all the ideals she had discovered in her short stay at Clover Downs. She was back to being a puppet of the State and she hated it but how could she explain that to Johan?
Maybe all of this could work out for the best after all. She could use her new position to promote the ideals and causes of the Level Ten people. She could prove to Johan that she hadn’t simply walked out.
The Holocom beeped subtly and her father looked at the screen.
“It’s for you,” he announced and then headed for the door. “I’ll see you later. Your mother and sister will be asleep for hours.”
Kala activated the Holocom after her father left and for a second she hoped that it was Johan. But as the form of Jarin appeared Kala knew it would never happen.
“Miss Palent,” Jarin’s voice was polite but his eyes still showed his dislike of her. “The Mistress would like you to be here at four this afternoon for your first session with Master Reco. And she assumes you will have clothes more fitting for your status by then.”
“I’ll be there but where do I go?” Kala realised she didn’t know where the house was.
“16 The Avenue,” came the curt reply and his form faded without the customary farewell.
Kala remembered the last trip she had made to buy new clothes and how she had longed to browse the Level Two catalogue. Now she had to do it but it didn’t really interest her any more. She would have to wait until her father came back so that there was someone here to look after her mother and Alissa. Maybe she wouldn’t get time to go at all.
There was a knock at the door and Kala checked the vidcam to see who it was. It was an older lady with grey hair. Kala didn’t know her and she opened the door.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“I’m the nurse,” the lady said with a gentle smile. “The doctor sent me to look after your mother and sister.”
Kala let the nurse in and after showing her where her patients were Kala left on her shopping trip. She had no excuse to put it off now.
Out of habit Kala went to board the Level Three shuttle but it beeped at her when she pressed her thumb to the sensor and her face coloured as she moved up to the Level Two carriage. Inside, it was as comfortable as she had imagined but she hated every minute of the short trip.
She went to the same clothing store as last time but the sales assistant she had dealt with last time wasn’t there today. She made her choices as quickly as she could and left with a very small bundle. She bought only enough to look the part she was playing even though her credit, too, was in a very healthy state.
Four o’clock came as she arrived on the doorstep of 16 The Avenue. The house looked more impressive than it had done last night and she could hear a musical chime inside the house when she pressed the doorbell.
Jarin opened the door and she could see he had to make an effort to be civil to her.
“The Mistress is in the study with Reco,” he said after she entered.
He led her down the hallway and pointed to a door before walking off with his nose high in the air. There was a lot of yelling and banging going on behind the closed door before her. Kala knocked hesitantly and wondered how many children were in there. She had to knock louder as the door remained shut but finally it was opened by a harassed looking Mrs Fortnes.
Kala couldn’t believe it when she saw that there were only two people in the room. Mrs Fortnes and a young boy of about six. He was racing around the room knocking things over and laughing as he did so.
“Reco tends to be a little over excited,” Mrs Fortnes said weakly as she grabbed a lamp just before it hit the ground.
How was she supposed to teach this little boy anything? He looked like he probably wouldn’t sit still long enough to learn anything. Reco swung around the room on the curtains before dashing between Kala and his mother and escaping out the door.
“Quick my husband doesn’t like to hear a lot of noise when he gets home,” Mrs Fortnes looked terrified as she dashed after her small son.
Kala felt sorry for her and joined in the chase. As they reached a hallway that ran along the back of the house, a voice stopped Kala and she froze.
“What’s all the noise?”
For the second time in two days she heard a voice that she recognised. This one was more difficult to place but she knew it meant trouble.
She had her answer as a large man came out of one of the doorways holding a wriggling little boy. The man was tall and fat and his speech was impeded by the large unlit cigar that almost filled his mouth.
Kala almost fell over and she felt all the colour drain from her face. It was the man from the shadows in the adjudicators’ courtroom.
“Daddy I was just playing,” the little boy wriggled free and ran off again.
Daddy!
“What’s wrong with the tutor?” Mr Fortnes asked looking hard at Kala’s white face.
“Just first day nerves dear,” Mrs Fortnes replied as she took off after Reco. Kala followed and averted her face as she passed Mr Fortnes. What if he had recognised her? He had wanted her Father sent to Belgara. Could he still do that now they were Level Two? Kala decided that she didn’t want to find out. She would have to keep out of his way.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Life in Clover Downs had changed a lot in the last two days. It started when Charat brought all the supplies in by Hoverpod. All the Level Ten’s who had been content to grumble a little about what they were missing out on now had a taste of what it was they were missing, and they wanted more. The pressure was on Johan to keep supplying the items Charat brought in but he couldn’t do it.
The Handcars were fixed but when they had gone for supplies this morning they found the entrance to the warehouse was blocked up. It was possible someone had rearranged things inside the warehouse but it seemed very suspicious that it happened at the same time as the Handcars being sabotaged.
So, if there was a traitor amongst them who could it be? Gil still said it was Kala, and Johan was beginning to think he might be right. If he was, then everything should go back to normal now she was gone. She couldn’t do much damage if she wasn’t here.
As he mused over how to keep providing the goods that everyone now expected, Katee came out of her room that was off his office.
“When is Alissa coming back?” Katee looked sad and lonely and Johan knew that he had to tell her what he had been putting off.
“She isn’t coming back,” Johan said drawing her up onto his knee.
“Just like Mamma and Papa,” Katee frowned and a tear slid down her cheek. “You won’t go away, will you?”
“Of course not,” Johan assured her. He would like to cheer her up by telling her Alissa had just gone to the other side of the dividing wall and maybe she would visit, but he knew it would never happen. It was best that Katee got used to Alissa being gone right now.
“I’m going to go and play with my new doll,” Katee said with a sigh. “I wish Alissa was here so I could show it to her.”
The new doll was one of the things Charat had brought and Katee hadn’t put it down yet. She opened the door and as she went out Gil arrived.
“I was wondering if we could talk?” Gil said hanging back a little from the doorway. Their relationship was still strained but it was improving.
“Come in. I could do with some help deciding how we are going to get supplies from now on,” Johan beckoned him inside and Gil pulled up a chair next to his.
“Charat said if we can’t manage any more that he will take over getting the supplies. He said he knows of a place where he can get anything he wants,” Gil said sounding a little apologetic. “Everyone seems to want him to go again.”
Can’t manage! The expression seemed to stick in Johan’s mind and made him angry. He had managed to keep the entire Level going for mo
re than six months without much help from anyone and just because two little things had gone wrong they thought he was giving up.
Well maybe they weren’t little problems but given time he was sure he could work something out. He knew he should be grateful of Charat’s offer but instead he felt it a threat to his reputation.
“No,” Johan almost shouted and Gil drew back a little as if it was personal insult. “Give me a bit of time and I’ll work out something.”
“I don’t mean to push you but we haven’t got a lot of time. We need fresh food by tomorrow morning and if Charat can get it I say that he should do it.” Gil had obviously made up his mind before he come in to see Johan.
“Fine. Let Charat take over supplying Clover Downs. It will be one less thing for me to do.” Johan stood up so quickly that his chair fell backwards and landed with a bang.
“I knew you would see it was the right thing to do,” Gil smiled at him looking relieved.
“When was he intending to go?” Johan was feeling guilty already about wanting to be seen as the only provider for Clover Downs. Charat was only doing his best for his new Level and Johan thought maybe he would offer to help, to show there was no ill feeling.
“Actually...” Gil looked a little embarrassed. “He left about an hour ago.”
Johan clenched his jaw to prevent himself from saying what he was feeling and Gil backed quickly out of the room. Johan pushed the other chair over in an attempt to vent his rage but it didn’t help at all. He gave it a kick, which sent it skidding across the floor and then left the room.
He stormed through The Square without looking at anyone. He could tell they were all whispering and pointing at him but he ignored them and left the building. The ungrateful bunch of parasites, he thought to himself as he strode across the black lands.
Johan headed for the door in the wall that Charat had used to get to the market and slipped through without being seen. It was much quicker than the route he used to take. He wasn’t trying to catch up with Charat and he hoped he didn’t see him just yet as he was likely to flatten him.