daynight

by Megan Thomason

  I tell Kira I need to use the restroom and slip my watch in her dress pocket so I can’t be tracked. She’ll assume I got lost in the crowd when I don’t return quickly. Unless she notices the watch. Then I’ll have a lot of explaining to do, because she wouldn’t agree with my choice. All of the sudden she’s pro-subservience and anti-rebellion. Seeing her parents executed really did a number on her. The Ten have convinced her that she’s responsible. And that if she deviates from strict obedience to the Canon ever so slightly, they’ll put a bullet in Jared’s brain.

  As I wind through the crowd I notice that although all the security personnel are wearing the standard issue Cleaving Festival attire, they are also wearing hats. I hunt for the right situation and then ‘accidentally’ push a large woman into one of security guys. They both topple over, sending the guard’s hat flying. While the guard’s busy helping the woman return to her feet, I snag his hat and tuck it into my shirt.

  Because booths circle the plaza, with only one entry in from the train station, I have to exit through a booth to get to headquarters. I don my new hat and explain to a nice lady offering fried chicken samples that I’ve been dispatched to check the perimeter. She sends me with some chicken to go, I thank her for the service she’s rendering by providing food for the festivities, and I’m on my way, discarding the chicken into a trash bin in front of headquarters.

  I’m surprised I don’t encounter anyone as I enter headquarters. Not a single soul. How could they possibly leave the entire building unattended? I don’t waste time to analyze the situation, as the security guards could return at any moment, but I do take a second to look up in awe as I walk into the center court of the building. Made entirely of intricate glass mosaic and six stories high, the dome-topped atrium depicts the loveliest garden I’ve ever seen. A circular staircase rings the outside of it and shines lights through the glass to create a spectacular three-dimensional kaleidoscope feel. It’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen in my life and I have a sudden desire to go get Kira and show her, but I suppress it. That will have to wait for another time.

  Instead I locate the fully enclosed back staircase and start to climb. Ted’s instructions prove accurate and I head to the first target room on the third floor. I keep my face shielded by the hat in case any cameras are recording my visit.

  The first room has banks of servers, but no computer to access them from and no switches other than to control the lights. So, I head for the second room Ted suggested on the fourth floor. This one appears to be a boardroom of sorts and has lots of monitors and cords to connect to tablets, but nothing else of interest. I’m starting to worry Ted sent me on a wild goose chase.

  Room three’s smack dab center of the sixth floor and I find both a computer and host of control panels. Jackpot. This appears to be the main control center for the city. There are panels to adjust the solar panels, monitor the city’s water reserve, and track incoming cargo ships. Pretty cool. The Exilers—from either faction—would love access to this room.

  One control panel is labeled ‘EB’ and appears to be a good bet. An LCD screen sits atop the screen and shows a ring the shape of the Eco barrier and dotted lights, likely representing the current pattern of the detonators. Perfect. Unfortunately, I have no idea if switching it off will trigger alarms or switch it off permanently. So I turn to the computer and enter the password GCM47CoCL10 that Ted gave me hoping to find more information.

  With a bit of hunting I find a manual for the Eco barrier. Apparently, the switch only disables the barrier for ten minutes. To disable for longer—in whole or in part for maintenance work, an additional switch must be enabled from one of the Ten’s tablets. Worse, to prevent someone being able to steal the password and deactivate the barrier from their tablets, the Ten must memorize a twenty-digit code to enter into the Eco barrier program on their tablet. Man, I thought the password Ted gave me was bad. I hope ten minutes will be enough time for my dad and the other Exilers to cross. Because I have little hope of getting one of those tablets, or the code.

  The other thing I run across while hunting for the manual is a master calendar of upcoming activities at headquarters. One particular event catches my eye: Theran City Heads Meeting. It’s scheduled over a two-night period—three nights prior to my dad’s planned attack on the city. I have to get my dad that information. The Exilers could deliver a definitive blow to not only Garden City’s government structure, but also every city’s structure if they were to capture and imprison the heads of every city. A list of attendees who’ve accepted an invitation to the meeting may also be useful to my father so I commit the names to memory, noting whether they are from Garden City or elsewhere.

  I logoff the computer, glance around the room to make sure I’ve returned everything to the state I found it in, and depart. As I approach the stairs, however, I hear the familiar whir of the elevator shaft. Crap, I took too long and folks are returning. I duck into the back staircase and jog down the stairs, being careful to stay light on my feet and check for anyone entering or exiting the staircase. But the coast is clear and I’m able to get down to the basement. My dad had the layout all wrong. I don’t have to hunt for trap doors or climb up storage room shelves. There’s a simple exit to the tunnels.

  Of course, I have no clue where to go once in the tunnels. My hope is that the majority of Garden City inhabitants are still partying at the Festival and that if I go farther than a hundred yards in any direction I’ll be in the clear. So I pick a path and run quickly, but carefully, just as I had in the coal mine tunnels. At my current pace, I should hit a quarter mile in two minutes. I count it out and once past my mental quarter mile mark, I look for an exit. About ninety seconds later I see a small ladder. I scale it and find a trap door at the top, which opens using the passkey Ted gave me.

  Here goes nothing, I think as I push up and peer out. All I see is hanging Garden City attire, and not just any attire. Grand Council attire. If caught, I’m dead. They won’t even bother Exiling me. On the other hand, it’s likely the resident is still at the Festival. I listen for any sounds in the home, but hear nothing and so I decide to go for it.

  A minute later I’m out the front door and down the home’s ramp. I recognize the street from the Garden City model, as this street is the only street with residences built atop the canyon and close to the city center. If I follow the road towards town I should hit the plaza. I jog down, staying clear of the street lamps, until the backs of the booths and large screens come into view.

  And that’s when I hear an announcement that makes my hair stand on end. I recognize the speaker as Brad Darcton and he’s spinning a tale about barbarian Exilers planning to mount attacks on the city. He claims that hordes of blood hungry savages stand waiting to kill women and children to get Garden City’s resources. They’ve already attempted to infiltrate the Eco barrier on numerous occasions and have attacked incoming ships, executed the sailors, and stolen supplies meant for the city’s residents.

  Well, despite hating the message and the Ten’s manipulation of the general public, Brad’s given me the perfect opportunity to enter the Festival again unnoticed. Because I guarantee everyone’s focused on that stage, awaiting his next riveting words. So I duck into the bathrooms to wipe the sweat from my face and ditch the security cap. When I come out I add my shock and dismay at the gall of the evil Exilers to the crowd’s.

  Someone demands to know how the Ten and Grand Council will keep them safe. Have no fear Garden City citizens. The Ten and the Grand Council have a Grand Plan. They will protect the residents of Garden City, even if it means the annihilation of the extremist Exilers. The crowd cheers “Thanks to the Ten” over and over again. If security in Garden City has ever been lax, it isn’t now. Brad wouldn’t create widespread panic if he didn’t have a plan to defeat any intruders. Doc Daryn was right when he warned my father not to underestimate the SCI.

  While joining in the chanting I circle the crowd looking for beautiful strawberry blonde ringlets.
I finally spot Kira and am dismayed to see Ethan by her side looking at her like a puppy in a pet shop window who wants to be taken home. Friend, my booty. Guys don’t do girls as friends. At least not hot girls like Kira. Why’s he not Cleaved to his dream girl again? Right, he doesn’t have to Cleave, as he’s not under Garden City jurisdiction. His daddy made an exception until he could find Ethan the right girl. One with the right blood type. For a guy who told me he’d never be able to look at another girl again, he surely seems to be in love with my girlfriend. I’m sure that was daddy’s plan by sending them away and then locking them up together. With that much time alone some feelings were bound to crop up.

  I sneak up behind Kira and hug her from the back, slipping my watch back out of her pocket and onto my wrist.

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” I say as I unwrap my arms and slip between her and Ethan. I give her a juicy kiss for good measure.

  “Likewise,” she says. “We finally gave up and decided to stay in one place so you could find us.”

  “Thank goodness for that or we’d have probably kept missing each other,” I say. I can’t tell if she’s buying it. In fact, since she got back I don’t have a clue how she feels because no matter what she says, her face shows nothing except a smile.

  “Ethan’s in love with you,” I say to her as we walk back from the Festival.

  “You are way out of line. You have no idea what you are talking about,” she says. “He’s in love with someone else. Not me.”

  “I see the way he looks at you. Don’t pretend like you can’t see it, too,” I say. I hate that she affects me the way she does. Even my father can’t hurt me or make me angry like Kira can. “I think you understated your relationship with him.”

  “Are you accusing me of lying to you?” she says. Her eyes and body language scream defensive.

  “No. Omitting,” I say. I know I’m being a hypocritical jerk. It’s not like I told her Bailey kissed me. Since Bailey got Exiled, I didn’t see any real reason to bring it up. And I’m the one who escalated my relationship with Kira. The moment I saw her come back home with Ethan in tow, I knew I had to raise the bar and tell her I love her. Or else I’d lose her. Bailey had been Exiled by that point, so I could give Kira my undivided attention.

  “Wow. I mean, wow. That’s so choice,” she says. “You ditch me for the entire Festival and suddenly I’m a lying, cheating whore when I spend a little time with a friend?” Now she’s pissed.

  “That’s my problem. I don’t think he sees you as just a friend,” I say.

  “How would you even know? You don’t know him like I do. I like him. He’s important to me. We went through some crazy stuff together. But, we’re just friends and that’s the last time I’m going to say it. Believe me or not, I don’t care,” she says with her poker face. I do have a bad attitude about Ethan. His daddy wants him to Cleave my girlfriend. And, the thing I keep coming back to—he’s nice and devoted and ready to settle down. More so than me. What bugs me about Ethan is that he has that same look as his father and the other SCI higher-ups. Pretty on the outside. Talks a good game. But probably masking a whole lot of ugly under that beautiful façade.

  “I’m sorry I mentioned it,” I say. “I don’t want to fight with you.” I know she’s hiding something from me and it involves Ethan. But the conversation’s going nowhere, and who am I to talk? I haven’t exactly been forthright about my own plans and activities. Though none of my activities involve a ‘friend’ that’s a girl (only a hot girl enemy who’s no longer in the picture).

  “I don’t want to fight either. I wish we could just be on the same page about things. I feel like we’re heading down divergent paths and that really scares me,” she says, finally showing some emotion, as I can see the fear in her eyes.

  “How can you be so complacent after everything the SCI has done to you? It seems like you’ve just given up and decided to live with it. I can’t do that. I’ll fight to the end to get my freedom and the freedom of the Second Chancers and Exilers, even if I decide to go about it differently than my dad. Why can’t you do the same?” I ask.

  “Because I decided I can live with the status quo, for now, if it means that we can be together and live in safety. Or at least try to affect the status quo from the inside,” she says. “I have nothing to go back to on Earth. Everything I care about is here. I’m not willing to risk a life with the people I love over an effort that I think is hopeless. ”

  “So let me get this straight,” I say. “You want to Cleave me, have two kids, and live unhappily ever after on this hellhole?” She stares directly into my eyes and pauses only momentarily before responding.

  “That’s better than the alternative,” she says. “Think it over. Since we’re so important to the future of Thera, perhaps we can have a positive effect on the way things are run. Regardless though, what’s more important to you? A futile cause or the potential of a life together?”

  “Is that an ultimatum?” I ask.

  “No, of course not. I just have spent a lot of time thinking about it myself and well, it’s obvious what conclusion I came to. It’d just be nice if you did the same—I mean the thinking, not to necessarily come to the same conclusion,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.

  “That’s not fair. It’s not black and white. One or the other,” I say, crossing my arms.

  “Life’s not freaking fair,” she says. “I think we both know that.”

  We walk the rest the way in silence.

  I had completely forgotten until just now, but Ted Rosenberg once told me “life wasn’t fair but that it’s my life, so I need to get over it and make the most of what I have.” My father dumped me on him for a week when I went through a period of rebellion at the age of ten. The first thing Ted did was to take me to the graveyard where his daughters were buried to give me a little object lesson.

  “Well, life isn’t fair,” I’d told him.

  “What’s not fair exactly?” he said.

  “My mom died. I had to grow up on that dark craphole Thera and then my dad makes me learn all this stuff I don’t care about just so he can send me back there,” I said.

  “Let me tell you something, Blake,” Ted said. He takes a picture out of his wallet and hands it to me. It’s of two darling girls that remind me a bit of Leila when she was little. “My beautiful, beautiful daughters were born here on Earth. But they died way before they should have—when they were just little girls. They got a second chance to live—on that ‘craphole’ Thera as you call it. They love it there. They’re happy. Really, really, happy. So I hold a really special place in my heart for Thera. It’s a place of miracles for my daughters and for me.”

  “Well, it wasn’t for me,” I said, kicking a clump of grass out of the turf and sending it flying.

  “Did you know that if it wasn’t for your family—and they go way, way back—that my daughters would have never gotten a second chance and people like you and me couldn’t travel back and forth between Earth and Thera?” he said.

  “Nope,” I said.

  “You are going to have the opportunity one day to help make sure the people on Thera—like my daughters and the rest of the people living there—get treated right, including the Exilers. It’s your birthright,” he said.

  “What’s a birthright?” I asked.

  “It’s something that gets passed down from father to son to father to son and so on. If Thera had Kings you’d be one. You’ve got royal blood in you, Blake. You and your brother will one day get to rule Thera as goodly Kings,” he said.

  “You mean sister, right? I don’t have a brother. Only Leila,” I said.

  “Yeah, sorry. When you get old you say stupid things,” he said with a laugh. “Leila can be like a Queen. And you both can have children that will get your birthright, too. That way more people can travel back and forth and help the people on both Thera and on Earth.”

  “I don’t see how going there helps anyone,” I said.

  “
You’ll understand someday,” he said.

  “Why do you care so much what I do?” I said.

  “I would do absolutely anything to protect my daughters and the people I love. Your dad feels the same way about the Exilers. But one day all the people that your dad and I care about will depend on you to make good choices and do the right thing,” he said. “Can you promise to do that?”

  “I guess. I have no clue what you’re talking about, but I’ll try to be good,” I said.

  “I’m counting on that,” he said.

  I remember that I asked my dad about the whole birthright thing and he told me that Ted must’ve been making up a story to get me motivated. But now I know it wasn’t a story at all. Which means that Ted knew who I was all along and about my importance to Thera and the SCI. And he didn’t tell my father. Well, Teddy boy, time for you to step up and show where your allegiance lies. If you’re really on the side of ‘good for all Therans’ then you can play a bigger role in helping my dad’s coup. Why should I risk my life to sneak into headquarters again—during regular business hours this time—when Ted Rosenberg works there?

  And if Ted’s loyalty has drifted over the years… well then, he’s got a date with the Reaper a.k.a. my father.

  “I’m going boarding,” I tell Ted and Kira. Ted’s here first thing in the evening for our nightly Handler meeting since it’s a Sunnight and we don’t have school.

  “You’re not supposed to exercise for another week,” Kira says, her green eyes stabbing me with accusation of poor judgment.

  “I feel fine and I need some air. Thinking time. No tricks, I promise,” I say. It’s ironic I’m using Kira’s ‘suggestion’ I spend some time thinking to do the things she’d prefer me to avoid like the plague.