by Linda McNabb
“Actually we just came to tell you that I couldn't make it.”
“Ohhh, why can't we go?” Alissa turned a puppy face look on her that almost made her laugh.
“But I promised I'd take you to see Katee,” Kala reminded her, seeing her excuse for standing Damon up dissolving quickly.
“We can go later this afternoon,” Alissa almost begged.
“That settles it then,” Damon said ushering them both up the steps. “We'll take Reco as well and go to the amusement park.”
Kala gave in then, there was no way she could deprive Alissa of a visit to the Amusement park. It was for Level One and Two children only. When she was a child she had wanted nothing more than a trip there, but she had never gone.
Reco had jumped at the chance to get out of the house and half an hour later they were at the turnstile entrance to the Park. The next two hours blurred past in a string of rides that made Kala forget about her hangover and worry more about keeping the contents of her stomach in place. She had to admit it was the most fun she had experienced ever as they all collapsed onto a bench to rest.
“Shall we do them all again?” Damon asked smiling wickedly as Kala wondered if her stomach could handle much more.
“Can I bring Katee here?” Alissa's cheeks were red with excitement and Kala had never seen her so animated before.
“Umm well, I'm afraid not,” Kala wasn't sure how to explain it to her. “Only Level One and Two's can come here.”
“But that's not fair,” Alissa said and a little of the sullen look slipped back into her eyes.
“I agree,” Damon said with a great deal of emotion in his voice. “Why shouldn't everyone get to enjoy this?”
Kala looked in surprise at the comment from Damon and he smiled wryly at her.
“I guess I should have warned you about my tendencies to disagree with the status quo. I've never been able to just sit back and accept everything I've been told. It's the main reason I'm still single, every girl I've met has run off when I started disagreeing with 'The Rules'.”
Kala just stared at him, unable to speak for almost a minute. He looked and sounded totally sincere.
“So you disagree with State Rule?” Kala asked softly, making sure that nobody was close enough to listen. Alissa and Reco had run off to the Ferris Wheel again and Damon shuffled along the bench towards her.
“Are you a State Spy?” he spoke solemnly and then laughed at her surprised expression. “Of course you're not. I can tell one a sector away.”
“How do I know you're not just trying to trick me?” Kala asked cautiously.
“If I had then I would have had you arrested when you came through that secret door from Sector Four the other night,” Damon answered quietly.
So he had seen her come through the door. How much more did he know about her?
“And if you aren't a sympathiser then why did you buy all those supplies and take them to another sector?” Damon fell silent as two guards walked past and Kala began to feel that she could trust him.
“I was in Clover Downs for a short time,” Kala admitted. “It showed me things weren't right as they are.”
“We've got to do something about it. We can't just let it continue,” Damon had raised his voice a bit and Kala held a finger to her lips.
“We shouldn't be discussing it here. You should meet up with Johan at Clover Downs if you want to help change things,” Kala suggested.
“Let's go then,” Damon said almost leaping to his feet and pulling Kala up.
“What… now… ?” Kala couldn't help the shocked tone in her voice.
“I've talked about changing things for years. Now I've got a chance to talk with someone who I can actually do some good with and I don't want to waste another second,” Damon looked excited and Kala doubted she would have a chance of talking him out of it.
“We'll have to take Reco home first,” Kala commented as he dragged her towards where the children were just getting off the Ferris Wheel.
“No, it will do him good to see what things are really like. We'll take him with us.”
Only an hour later they were standing in the back streets of Sector four.
“We can't wander around dressed like this,” Kala commented and looked shocked as Damon took some clothes off one of the many washing lines that crisscrossed the alley. Then she noticed the small bag of Marcs that he pegged in their place. The person who owned the clothes would have no reason to complain.
Kala was beginning to doubt whether she should be taking Damon to Clover Downs but it was too late now to stop him. She would just have to hope that he wasn't a spy after all.
**
Johan sat with his back to the door and looked at the glass of cider that he had been staring at for at least the last hour. He had never given in to self-pity before but he had never been in a situation like this either.
He had been made the laughing stock of the community by Charat and everybody seemed to have forgotten how much he had done for them in the past six months. If it wasn’t for Katee he probably would have walked out of Clover Downs and never come back. But if he left then she would have lost her whole family and he couldn’t do that to her. He would have to accept how things were and get on with life.
A knock at the door interrupted his feelings of injustice and he picked up the glass of cider.
“Go away, go and see Charat. The wise and wonderful Charat who can fix anything,” he shouted as he raised the glass to his lips.
Whoever it was hadn’t knocked again so they must have gone away. Good, he didn’t want to see anyone.
“Is this who you said I should meet?”
A stranger’s voice made him choke on his first sip of cider and he spun the chair to see who it was. He had to brush a lock of hair away that had fallen across his face. He didn’t recognise the man at all but he did see Kala was standing next to him. Alissa and a boy were next to her and they all wore very old, torn clothing.
“Where’s Katee?” Alissa was the first to speak and Johan tried to shake off his sullen mood.
“The last time I saw her she was in the conservatory,” he said and cursed his bad timing. Kala was the last person he wanted to see him like this.
“Who’s he?” Johan made no attempt to hide his instant mistrust of the stranger and he moved forward to greet his visitors.
“This is Damon. He can help us.”
“How?” Johan knew that his attitude wasn’t the friendliest it could have been but he felt he had good reason for it.
“Name what you need in your fight and I’ll get it for you,” Damon replied calmly.
“Another Charat!” Johan exclaimed. “Just what we need!”
“Johan, what’s the problem?” Kala came over and steered him into a corner so that they could talk privately.
“Even if he got me anything I wanted I can’t do anything on my own. Everyone has turned against me in favour of Charat,” Johan knew that it sounded self-pitying but he didn’t seem to be able to stop.
“I haven’t,” Kala’s reply shook him back to reality. Her voice was almost drowned out by Damon.
“What’s this a map of Johan?” he was tracing his finger along a few red lines that had been drawn on a map that covered most of one wall.
“Are you sure you can trust him?” Johan whispered to Kala and she nodded back.
Suddenly life didn’t seem as dismal as it had several minutes ago. He moved over to explain the map to Damon and grabbed Kala’s hand as he did so. He smiled, despite his recent sullen mood, when she made no attempt to pull away.
“They were our supply routes but they’ve all been blocked off, one way or another. We’ve got a spy here but I don’t have a clue who it is,” Johan explained. He would have liked to say that he thought the spy was Charat but it would probably just sound like sour grapes on his part since his leadership had been taken away by the man.
“So what can I get for you? Food, clothes, medicine?” Damon looked delighted t
hat he was able to help.
For a split second Johan considered challenging Charat to another supply contest. With Damon’s help he would win and be leader again. Then he shook his head at his selfish idea. It wasn’t important who delivered the goods, just that they received them.
“Charat has that all pretty much under control and doesn’t seem to want anybody’s help,” Johan said with a sigh.
“We’ll how about any sensitive information that you might need. I have access to any computer system in the city,” Damon looked a little deflated as he made his second offer.
“That might just be what we need,” Johan reluctantly let go of Kala’s hand and went over to his desk. He rummaged through one of the drawers and brought out some very old looking building plans. “My father had been planning to raid State Head Quarters, and blow it up if need be. But he only had these old plans that were drawn before it was added onto and rebuilt ten years ago. We could do with some more floor plans and a few security codes to get us inside.”
Kala looked startled at his plan but Damon was rubbing his chin thoughtfully and looking very interested.
“We could hold the whole place until they listened to reason,” Damon agreed enthusiastically.
“And get yourselves shipped off to Belgara for the trouble,” Kala added sourly letting her opinion of the plan be clearly known.
“Well, we can discuss it later,” Johan backed off a little and rolled up the plans. He shoved them back into the drawer and reclaimed Kala’s hand. “Why don’t we show Damon around?”
Damon’s look of sympathy and disbelief when they started the tour, turned quickly to shock and anger as they showed him the conditions Level Ten’s were forced to live in.
“We must do something, and soon,” Damon promised and then looked out the window at the quickly setting sun. “But for now we must get Reco back before he is missed.”
Kala agreed, but when they tried to track down the children nobody recalled seeing them for the last hour. It seemed there were about ten children that were nowhere to be found. Finally, one small boy of about four came forward with a sullen look on his face.
“They told me I’m too little to go,” he said with his chin on his chest, looking at his feet, when his mother gave him a nudge.
“Go where,” Johan asked feeling suddenly concerned.
“They went over to the old warehouses to play hide’n’seek,” he muttered without looking up. “They said they’d be back but they didn’t come.”
Johan, Damon, Kala and half a dozen other adults all grabbed torches and ran over toward the old warehouses. Johan had a feeling something bad had happened but he kept it to himself as they searched the now dark buildings.
A shout from Damon in the next warehouse brought everyone quickly to him and Johan was first there.
Damon was holding a small boy who was shivering with fright.
“He says the men dressed in black took them all away. They were giving them lollies. This boy was the only one who hadn’t been found in their game and he stayed hidden when the men came in,” Damon explained as the boy burst into tears again.
“Guards?” Kala queried. “Surely they don’t give lollies to children if they are arresting them? They can’t have been guards.”
“I have no idea but you can bet we are going to find out and we’ll get them back before sunrise,” Johan promised with a determined look in his eyes.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Roma’s good humour had begun to fade yesterday and now it was completely gone. It started to crumble at lunch with Petari’s family. He had been in complete agreement that the State shared everything properly and the system was fair and just. But his daughter’s comments about feeding the starving had brought back images that were too clear to have been from a dream.
Rooms with holes that opened out onto the sky, empty cupboards and even emptier stomachs. Images that refused to be banished and by morning they had robbed him of most of his sleep. The taste of cider was sharp on his tongue even though he had not touched a drop.
He headed out for a long walk, before anyone else was up, in the hope of sorting out his confused thoughts. He wasn’t surprised to find himself at the market several hours later. He stood and stared silently at the disused cart that Johan had been standing on several days ago.
He remembered telling Kala that they shouldn’t be seen with his sort. Now he realised that he had been wrong. Johan was just like anyone else. He decided that he would find a way to make it up to Johan and everyone else who he had turned his back on.
Finally by mid-afternoon he arrived home and found the house deserted. He found several packages on the doorstep and upon unwrapping them he discovered it was his film developing equipment.
He didn’t feel as excited about its arrival now but he unpacked it and set it up in the room that he had prepared for it yesterday. With nothing else to pass the time he began to sort through his photos to choose one to enlarge and frame. He finally settled on one that he had taken from the top of an old brick wall in the centre of the city’s abandoned warehouses.
It looked down towards the port where the huge prison ship was just sailing into the harbour and around the edges were lots of buildings that dated back over a hundred years. There was a small smudge on the picture between two of the buildings but he should be able to retouch it. Yes this one would look wonderful.
Roma enlarged it much more than he usually did and then took it out into the late afternoon sun on the back patio to look closer at it. It was the best shot he had ever taken and was well worth the scraped knee he had received for climbing the wall.
Roma’s smile faded as his gaze reached the buildings close to the dock. Now that the photo was enlarged he could clearly see that the smudge was really a line of people, with hands tied, being led from one building to another.
Roma decided they must be prisoners being sent to Belgara but there was something wrong. He squinted closer and then drew in a gasp of breath as he realised what he was looking at. Children. There were at least ten children in the line. Why would they be sending children to Belgara?
Roma sat and stared at the picture for almost an hour before it struck him. This is why he had been arrested. He could see that the face of the guard at the back of the line was turned towards the camera and he couldn’t have failed to see Roma standing on the wall.
If they had gone to such lengths to stop this photo coming to light then it must be something very secret. If it involved sending children off to Belgara then the State certainly wouldn’t want it made public.
But what did he do with it now? He couldn’t confront the State with it. He would just end up back in Clover Downs or even being shipped off to Belgara himself. He put the photo back into his new darkroom and sat on the sofa to consider the problem.
He heard the front door click open and Petari, laden with bags, came into the apartment. Roma stood up and took her bags from her.
“It looks like you’ve had a good day,” he commented as lightly as he could. He didn’t think telling his wife about what he had discovered, just yet, would help things. He would have to figure out what to do about it first.
“Oh it was wonderful. Mother and I went to all the stores and had lunch at a lovely little place by the river,” Petari was simply gushing with joy and happiness.
Roma couldn’t help comparing her to how she had been in Clover Downs. Well, the part he could remember before he had discovered Cider. There was no harm in letting her enjoy herself while she could. He knew for sure that bringing out what he knew could well cost not only his freedom, ultimately it would take it from all those close to him as well.
For a moment he considered destroying the photo and saying nothing so that his wife could remain where she seemed happy but he knew he could not live with himself if he did that. Maybe he could find a way to keep her out of all the trouble it would cause.
Roma cooked dinner for them both and Petari retired to bed just as it was getting
dark. Shopping had completely tired her out. Kala and Alissa weren’t home yet but Roma trusted Kala and he wasn’t worried. They would be home soon. Roma went back to thinking about his problem.
The beep of the Holocom brought him out of his pondering and he answered the call.
“Dad, it’s me Kala,” only the head and shoulders of his eldest daughter had appeared. She must be using one of those new hand-held portocoms and she looked worried.
“What is it Kala?” he prompted.
“Alissa is missing. We went into Clover Downs and she took off with some other children to play in the old warehouses. Someone took them all away. They bribed them with lollies.”
It had all come out in a rush and it took several seconds for Roma to work out what she had said. In an instant he knew exactly what had happened.
“Don’t worry. I know where they will be. Where are you now?” he began to make a mental list of the things he would need to take as he spoke.
“Outside the warehouses in Sector Four.”
“Meet me at the market where we saw Johan the other day,” he spoke with urgency as he had no idea how frequent the ship came to take the prisoners away. It might be tomorrow morning, and then she would be gone forever.
He ended the call and ran into his darkroom to get the photo, a torch, his camera and several rolls of film before writing a note for Petari and rushing out the door.
**
“It’s probably just a trap,” Gil sneered and the crowd began to rumble in sudden indecision.
Johan, Kala, Damon and the others had gone straight back to Clover Downs to tell everyone what had happened and to see who wanted to come and help free the children. At first the crowd that had gathered in The Square had seemed supportive but Gil had sowed a seed of doubt amongst them.
“All our troubles started when she turned up and now we are expected to go with her and meet her father to go who knows where. How are we supposed to know if he really does know where the children are? Maybe he even took them himself.” Gil didn’t look at the crowd as he spoke, but instead stared straight at Kala and Johan with accusation and mistrust.