“No, it is not. You will speak. I will draft a speech if you can’t. The Sovereign will be debuted.”
Perhaps I could handle one speech, just one. But I know it won’t be enough, especially if he lets more people into the District, if the Survivors find us.
“And when you let new people in?” I ask. “What about them?”
“They will undergo admission seminars and testing, the Manifesto will be the first thing they read, and they will see the speech. If they can't cooperate, if they can’t add something to the District, then they can return to the rubble. We only protect those who will preserve the integrity of the District.” With that sentence he glares at me.
I do my best to glare back.
He moves on, discussing updates from Morris and Alexander about the factions. They have been under control since the medication was resumed. Adam discusses the Volker training. All the recruits have been fully trained and assigned duties.
Crane sits up a little straighter in his seat. “Now on the agenda, we need a way to easily identify the Sovereign as separate from the District Residents.” There is an uneasy silence in the room, but no one says anything. Why does no one question him?
I decide to break the silence. “Why?” I ask Crane.
“Soon, Andromeda, there will be too many to easily identify. There will be Survivors who will become Sovereign and the rules need to be intact now, so there are no questions, no arguments from future generations. I propose Sovereign tattooing. Now, let’s have a Committee vote,” Crane commands the table.
I look around the table, noticing I'm the only one with my hand down. I feel the rush of blood to my head. We, the adults, we are not the only Sovereign, the children are Sovereign, too.
“I'm not tattooing my child,” I say, glaring at every single one of them. I don't care if Adam shared a bed with me or that Morris saved my life. This is pushing the limits. I will not allow the children to be tattooed. “Unacceptable. They will be marked for life. I do not agree with this!” I argue back to each of them sitting at the table. I want to slap everyone of them for not standing up to him, for following along with all of his demand.
“If they were chosen as Sovereign, this is their life for the rest of their lives. It won't be painful. Their skin can be numbed, as can yours.” Crane responds to me.
“This seems like nothing more than a caste system.”
“It’s simply a method of identification,” he smiles sweetly at me.
“I won’t allow it,” I tell him.
“You no longer have a choice in the matter.”
The others just sit there, watching our quarrel. “I see that,” I say, glaring at the other Committee members. I thought Morris said that they were keeping a tight leash on Crane and the Funding Entities. It doesn’t seem that anyone is making any attempt to stop this. I can’t see them changing their minds about how dangerous Crane is, unless this-the tattooing-was the plan all along.
Crane ends the meeting on that note, not giving the option for further discussion. I stand and walk out of the room. Adam meets me in the hall. I’m fuming and have no desire to be near him, but he is my ride home and it’s the only reason I wait for him.
“Why would you agree?” I confront him as he walks up to me. “Why would you submit Lina to that? The other children?”
“Calm down,” he responds in his military voice. I hate it when he uses his military voice. It’s low, and deep and utterly patronizing.
“I will not calm down. This is my child we are talking about!” I hiss at him through gritted teeth.
“Andie, it's better than a transmitter,” he tells me in a hushed breath. “You remember those don’t you? I know you do, because you cut one out of my arm.” He holds his forearm out so I can see the small scar. “Think about it.”
But I don’t have time to think about it because just as Adam gets the words out, Crane stops by us as he’s leaving the Committee room. “I hear we have congratulations to give you, Andromeda.”
I look towards him, scowling. He hasn’t spoken directly to me outside a Committee meeting since I threatened his life.
“What?” I ask.
“Congratulations are in order. I hear you are expecting.” He claps his hands together, looking to Adam. “It’s exciting really, our first Sovereign pregnancy.” He pats me hard on the shoulder, then walks away, smiling.
I look around to see Alexander and Morris and the Volker who guard the hallway staring at us. Everyone heard him. My secret is out. How the hell did he find out? No one knows except for me and the Doctor. I think I might have to wring Dr. Akiyama’s neck.
When I turn back to Adam, he has an expression of total bewilderment on his face, as he should. This is the first he’s heard that I’m pregnant.
CHAPTER sixteen
I’ve been reading Crane’s speech for two days, trying to memorize it, trying to forget the look on Adam’s face and the feeling of everyone in the room staring at me. I know what they were thinking: Her husband is away, and she’s not divorced, wonder who the father is, what a whore…
He drove me home in silence that day. Stunned, fuming. I could feel it pouring out of him, fogging up the windows. He opened the gate, waited for me to cross the threshold, and then locked me inside without saying a word or even looking at me. Then he sped off, back to Volker headquarters I assume. I haven’t heard from him since. After years of begging me to trust him, little did he know, I was the last person he could trust.
I have no desire to make this speech or to stand in front of these people and tell them that they can trust the District, the Sovereign, or especially Crane. And not now, knowing what has happened, knowing that none of us can trust each other. The Manifesto is filled with half truths, probably more than even I know about. I still don’t know who the Entities are. I’m not sure where I should even start with all the secrets, the lies. I can tell Morris still keeps things from me. Crane still has his fingers in every aspect of the District. Only when he makes decisions that threaten people’s lives does someone step in and stop him. Then there’s the others-Survivors-somewhere out there. People living amongst the rubble, trying to find their way, make a living, bury their families. And then there’s Ian. Ian… I don’t even know where to start with that predicament…
I am interrupted from my thoughts by the phone ringing. Dr Akiyama needs me at the hospital. Morris called to let me know and when he asked if he should send Adam I told him no. There was a lot of uncomfortable silence. I’m sure he wanted to say something about my being pregnant, maybe ask who the father is. I didn’t give him the opportunity. I realize, I really should be nicer to Morris. He has done a few things for me. He did save my life once.
I don’t bother calling Adam for a ride. I take Elvis’s SUV. I’m sure I’ll receive a ration of shit for it, since I just took his keys off his desk and I didn’t even bother to ask him. The Guardians follow me, trying to block my legs as I step up into the large vehicle.
“What do you two want?” I ask them. They stare at me, puffing their long fur out of their eyes. Sometimes I just wish they could speak. “Do you want to go with me?” I take their continued stares as a yes, and I open the back door. They both jump in, lying down on the passenger bench.
When I get to the hospital I head straight for Dr. Akiyama’s office, ready to barge in and rip him a new one. But when I get there his office is already full. There’s Morris, Alexander, Crane, Adam, and a slew of Volker guards.
“What are you all doing here?” None of them answer me. They just give me that look, that judging, sorrowful look. It feels like they are trying to ignore me as I stand before them.
“You’re all done,” Dr. Akiyama tells the others and they file out of the room.
I watch them closely, trying to figure out what’s going on. It’s when I see that each of them has a bandage on their right wrist do I realize what’s happening. Sovereign tattooing day. Adam stops, talking quietly to one of the guards on the way out. I’m sure
they’re expecting a fight from me. I’m the only one who opposed this. Adam says nothing to me. He doesn’t even look at me on his way out the door. I’m sure he’s pissed, beyond belief.
“Andromeda, this will be much easier if you don’t struggle. I don’t want to have the Volker hold you down. It might…” He drifts off, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Thanks for the warning, Doctor,” I tell him, the sarcasm thick on my voice. I’m sure he knows why, what I’m referring to, the promise he broke to me.
“I didn’t say a thing. You have to realize that nothing happens here without Crane finding out.” He holds his hand out. “I need your right wrist.” I hold it out and he rolls something across my skin that feels damp and cool.
“What was that?”
“A numbing agent, you won’t feel a thing.”
One of the Volker hands him a black object, it almost resembles an electric razor. He places it over my wrist, pressing a red button. I watch the skin underneath turn from my pale-white, to a red, then grey, and then a black image starts to appear just as the pungent stench of burning skin reaches my nose. This must be some type of laser tattooing device, or branding, or mixture of the two. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
By the time Dr. Akiyama is done I look down at my wrist to see the image of a black bird, much like the emblem on the glass door and wall of Headquarters. He places a bandage over the area and hands me a bottle.
“What’s this?” I turn the bottle over in my hand. The liquid inside is viscous and purple. It looks just like the children’s Tylenol I used to give Lina when she had a fever.
“Pain medication…” He backs away from me, behind the desk. His reaction is strange, like he might actually be afraid of me. I notice two of the Volker walking towards me.
“For whom, I can’t take this?” I ask him.
“It’s for the children. They can have it after the numbing agent wears off.”
“What?” I feel the Volker grab my upper arms.
Suddenly it makes sense. That’s why they asked me to come down here. To get me away from the Pasture and the children, because they know they would never get near the children, or Lina, with me there.
I don’t give the Doctor a response, and I’m sure the Volker are surprised when all I do is turn and run out of the room. They follow me as I make my way back to the SUV I took from Elvis. As I open the door and crawl inside, the Guardians raise their heads. The Volker stop when they see the large dogs, making no attempt to come any closer to me. I start the engine and drive as fast as I can back to the Pasture.
Just before I get to the hidden driveway, I see another black SUV speeding down the road towards me. Elvis is standing at the gate, waiting, the gate open. I make no attempt to stop and greet him. Instead I park the vehicle and jump out, running for the schoolhouse. I can hear Stevie barking loudly from our house. I run up the porch steps and open the door to release her. We make our way to the schoolhouse and when I open the door everyone is there. The children are sitting around Blithe, huddled at her feet and sitting on her lap, each of them has a bandage on their wrist. I look to Blithe, who also has a bandage, and a look of what I can only sense as lament.
“Mommy,” Lina gets up and runs to me, throwing her arms around my waist.
“Lina.” I bend down, looking in her green eyes which are so much like mine. “Are you ok? Did they hurt you?”
“No, but they said we had to do it.” She holds her tiny bandaged wrist out for me to inspect. I can’t bear to pull the bandage off and see the same image burned into her skin. I pull her into an embrace and look around the room, noticing that someone is missing.
“Where’s Sam?” I ask Blithe.
“At his place, they had to sedate him.” She shakes her head at me, then looking to the children, her eyes become glossy with threatening tears. “It was not good, Andie.”
“I’m taking Lina,” I tell her, as I take Lina’s hand and pull her out the door with me. We walk to the library-house, to Sam’s apartment above it. Stevie follows us the whole way. I notice a few of the Guardians assembling in the courtyard, two of them leaving the group to follow us. They must sense it, I’m pissed. I could kill Crane right now.
I lead Lina up the steps to the house, the dogs following behind us. Just before I reach the top step I notice the large pool of blood gleaming off the floor of the porch and when I look up I see a spray of blood across the wooden porch pillar. Suddenly, I fear that they might have done more than just sedate Sam.
I stop Lina. “Close your eyes, Lina. I’ll carry you inside,” I tell her, afraid of what we might find. I pick her up and settle her on my hip. She buries her face in my neck as we climb the stairs. Stevie follows us.
Sam is laying on his bed, unconscious, his wrist bandaged. I place my hand on his neck, checking his pulse. It’s strong and slow. I search him for injuries, but all I find is a pinhole spot of blood on his neck and a few bloodied knuckles. I’m not sure whose blood dripped all over the porch, but I know it can’t be good.
I decide to let Sam sleep off whatever they gave him. Lina and I return to the library on the first floor of the house and we read books as we wait for Sam to wake up. No one bothers us. I’m sure Blithe and Elvis know better than to disturb me right now.
I look through the books and come upon an old book of maps. When I pull it out I see it contains detailed maps of each of the states. States which I’m sure don’t really exist anymore. I turn to Lina, who sits on the floor, pouring over a wildlife encyclopedia, her small hand covering the bandage on her wrist. It’s then that I form the idea. I have to take a larger role in Lina’s training. I can’t leave it to Blithe to teach her everything she might need to know. Because there are some things the children won’t be taught, like how to escape, and how to defend themselves. I make a mental note that the next thing I need to teach her are the maps, the old roads, and where they lead outside the District. I have to teach her how to get away from this place if she should ever need to and if I’m not around any longer.
“Does your wrist hurt?” I ask her. She shakes her head no. Stevie licks her hand, then settles on the floor next to Lina.
It’s not long before I hear the crunching of tires on the gravel driveway. I go to the window to see a row of Volker vehicles parking in front of the house. I move to the door so I can watch them through the thin glass but the two Guardians that reside in Sam’s house block my path, standing in front of the door. I watch as the door to the SUVs open, noting six Volker and Adam.
I watch them as they make their way to the house, examining the pathway, the cluster of Guardians in the courtyard, and the blood on the porch. After making his way to the front door Adam stops, seeing me watching them through the glass. I reach forward for the door handle but one of the Guardians nudges my arm.
“Stop.” I brush at the beast. “Unless you can open doors now,” I scold the dog and then watch in amazement as it twists the door handle with its mouth, then paws the door open. I see Adam raise his eyebrows as he notices it was not me that opened the door, but the large dog.
The tension in the air is immediate and whatever he is here for is tangled in our unfinished business. This is not going to be a good conversation.
“What do you want?” I ask him.
“We need to speak with Sam,” Adam tells me, talking to me for the first time since he found out I’m pregnant.
“Why?”
“I need to find out what happened here.”
“You know what happened, Adam. Sam was trying to protect the children from this.” I thrust my bandaged wrist out for him to see.
“There’s more-” he starts.
“There’s nothing, Adam, the Volker are suppose to protect us, which is your main task. Protect the Sovereign. Instead you let them come out here and brand the children, the children Adam!” I see the other Volker turn to watch our conversation. I’m sure they’ve never seen anyone question Colonel Waters before, especially not like this
. Adam steps towards the threshold of the door. To my surprise the Guardians let him enter, but bare their teeth to the others waiting outside the door. I watch as the six grown men each take a few steps back. “I think you all need to leave. Let us at least recover from what happened here today,” I tell him.
“I’d love to, Andie. I really would. But I need to talk to Sam.”
“No you don’t. You leave him alone. He’s been through enough today.”
“I need to talk to him, now.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve got a dead Volker on my hands.” He leans in, looking into my eyes, lowering his voice. “Stop. Now. You know I don’t want to do this but I have no choice in the matter.”
Just then I hear footsteps at the top of the stairs behind me. I turn to see Sam walking slowly down the steps, gripping the railing to steady himself. I turn back to Adam.
“He’s barely recovered from whatever they gave him. How do you even know if he remembered?”
“I have my ways.”
Suddenly all I can think of is Adam’s history, the army, the Middle East, his training. I know he’s capable of getting answers out of anyone, and I fear that he might hurt Sam. “Don’t touch him, Adam, I swear to God.”
Adam looks at me, slightly confused. Maybe I took his words out of context, it must be the hormones making me react so strongly.
“It’s ok, Sis,” Sam says from behind me.
He steps around me, heading out the door to talk with Adam. One of the Guardians follows him, trotting closely by his side. I look back to Lina and Stevie on the floor. They both seem engrossed in the wildlife encyclopedia, ignoring the scene at the door. It’s when I shift my gaze back to the porch that I see the paw print on the wooden floor right where the Guardian that followed Sam was sitting. It’s strange because it’s not muddy outside and it’s only of one paw. I crouch down on the floor to inspect it further, swiping my finger across it. When I look to my fingertip the substance is easy to identify, its blood.
The Phoenix Project Series: Books 1-3: The Phoenix Project, The Reformation, and Revelation Page 39