Worlds Collide
Book Two of the Sunset Rising Series
By
S.M. McEachern
Copyright © 2014 by S. M. McEachern
Published by Clownfish Publishing
All rights reserved.
Young Adult (16+) Science Fiction/Dystopian
Cover Art and Design: Nathália Suellen
Edited by: Joann Dominik, Red Adept Editing
Proofreader: Christina Galvez
Special thanks to
Dr. Adam Johan Bergren, National Institute of Nanotechnology
Author’s blog site: http://smmceachern.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/smmceachern
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20427668-worlds-collide
Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.
- Nelson Mandela
July 18, 1918 to December 5, 2013
Chapter One
I watched speechlessly as a man ran toward us at full speed. Dressed in dirty, tattered clothing too big for his skeletal frame, he pointed wildly behind him. Jack moved protectively in front of me, but the man ran past, screaming at us to run, too.
Something was coming.
The distant hum of machines became louder, drowning out the sound of my pounding heart. I clutched Jack’s arm just as the first bike came flying out from the trees, following the same path the man had taken just seconds before. The person sitting astride the vehicle brought it to a screeching halt when he saw us. A second bike came out of the woods and skidded to a stop behind the first. They wore the uniforms of Dome soldiers, with guns strapped to their thighs and rifles slung across their backs.
In one single moment, all my hopes for freeing the Pit came crashing down. The bourge were already out here.
The discovery shouldn’t have taken me by surprise, but it did. Even though I knew what a liar President Holt was, it never occurred to me that he could be lying about the condition of the Earth. All his talk of drones coming back with only radioactive material sounded true. And why shouldn’t it? We had been taught since birth that the Dome was the only sanctuary on a badly crippled planet. But now I fully understood the lengths the Holt regime went to in order to ensure the obedience of its people.
Fear, disappointment, and the urge to run all vied for my undivided attention. I wouldn’t run without Jack—we were in this together. And the odds of me making it very far while blinded by the sun were slim at best. That left fear and disappointment for me to grapple with.
More bikes roared toward us and one came flying off a ledge high above our heads. Another followed, but that driver fell off his vehicle and hit the ground with a thud. His bike flew farther, its wheels still spinning as it skidded into the trees. He picked himself up, brushing away the dirt and leaves with a joyful “whoop!”
One of the soldiers glared at him. “You idiot,” he said. “It better not be broken or you’ll be paying for it with your own credits.” He turned his angry glower on us, but his frown quickly dissipated when he saw Jack. “For chrissake, is that you, Kenner?” He dismounted his vehicle and walked up to Jack, his hand outstretched. “Or should I be calling you Mr. Kenner now that you’re part of the presidential family?”
With the admission of Jack’s identity, the rest of the group snapped to attention. Shock and confusion quickly took center stage as I saw the genuine smile the man gave Jack and the respect the group now showed him. Didn’t they know we were traitors on the run from President Holt?
Jack had been slightly crouched in a defensive position, but as the man walked toward him, he straightened, and squared his shoulders. “What the hell are you doing out here, Alex?” he asked, accepting his handshake. “I haven’t seen you in at least a year.”
“When they offered me this gig, I jumped at it. I couldn’t believe we were able to leave the Dome. I’ve been out here in the clean, fresh air ever since,” Alex said. “What are you doing out here? Oh wait, I bet you’re Dirk’s replacement. You two always were the best tech guys.”
Still clutching Jack’s arm, I felt him stiffen for just a moment before he easily lied. “You guessed it. What happened to Dirk anyway? Did he go back inside?”
“He drove his bike off the side of mountain. You know, as smart as that guy thought he was, he couldn’t follow simple instructions.”
“Yeah, I know. I wonder why they picked him to come out,” Jack said. I wasn’t sure what surprised me more; the jealous edge in his tone or his ability to show no fear.
“I think the president had a different job in mind for you,” Alex said, conspiratorially. “Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?”
Alex glanced in my direction and I stepped behind Jack a little farther, vainly trying to make myself small and inconspicuous. I wished I had Jack’s confidence. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure every man there could hear it.
“You know Holt doesn’t believe in time off. He ordered me back to work right after the wedding.”
Alex was still staring at me but laughed when Jack did. My anxiety at being trapped in the forest with four armed bourge grew. It was obvious they thought Jack was still the presidential heir, so he was safe. But I was an urchin and they could do whatever they wanted to me.
“I see you brought a playmate with you,” Alex observed. “I didn’t think the Kenners were into that.”
“That was too bold,” Jack said in a hard voice. “I know we were college buddies Alex, but that doesn’t give you liberties. You’ll speak to me with respect.”
Alex quickly looked away from me and stood up straighter in front of Jack. “My apologies, sir. It won’t happen again.”
I turned my face toward the ground to hide my look of shock. Out here, Jack wasn’t a criminal. He had authority and I knew with certainty it was the only thing keeping us alive right now.
“How far is the base from here?” Jack’s tone was all business.
“Southwest a few miles. By the way, where’s all your gear?”
He shrugged. “I was trying to cross a river and lost it.”
“Hopefully an urchin doesn’t get hold of it, especially if there are weapons in your pack. This is the range. One of us could have shot you.”
“The range?”
“Yeah—the shooting range. We send the troublemakers here.” Alex patted the pistol strapped to his thigh. “Hunting a moving target is an excellent way to hone your skills.”
An image of the terrified man who had just run past flashed through my head. Alex was smirking at me and I realized my mouth was hanging open, disgust written all over my face.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart—we only send the men here. We have other ways of disciplining the women,” he assured me. He unclipped a communicator from his belt. “This is Captain Mills to base, do you read?”
“Go ahead Captain Mills.”
“Inform General Powell we have Captain Kenner and will be bringing him back to camp. ETA is fifteen minutes.”
“Yes sir.”
Alex returned the communicator to his belt, straddled his bike and motioned for Jack to get on the back. “Hop on. The urchin can go with one of them.”
“I’ll take her,” a soldier volunteered.
I expected Jack to come up with an excuse for why we couldn’t go with them, so I was blindsided when he strode confid
ently toward Alex.
“Go,” he ordered, with barely a backward glance in my direction.
For a split second I was stunned by how easily he slipped back into the role of heir. But I knew our lives depended on both of us convincing these men we were meant to be there. The soldier moved forward on the seat, making room for me at the back.
As I approached the bike, he motioned toward the rifle slung over my shoulder. “Why don’t you let me take that for you? Don’t want it going off if we hit a bump.” I gave him the rifle and he slung it across his chest. I straddled the seat, doing my best not to make contact with the man. “Now you be sure to hang on tight.”
He revved the engine a few times as we waited for Jack and Alex to take the lead. As the bike jerked forward, I had no choice but to clutch my driver. We picked up speed, bounding over rough terrain and snaking our way around rocks and trees. With every bump, my back screamed in pain. To make matters worse, as we broke out of the woods I was forced to close my eyes against the brilliant sun. Then we were flying through the air and my driver yelled, “Woohoo!” I forced my eyes open and saw the ground coming up at us fast. We hit hard and the bike careened from side to side as my driver struggled to get control. Ignoring the searing pain in my side, I clung to him more tightly and braced for impact, but he righted the bike and increased his speed. I relaxed my hold on him.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take the constant bouncing and jolting, the ground suddenly became smooth. It looked manmade. Steeling myself against the glare of the sun, I raised my head to see where we were going. Not far ahead were buildings—lots of them—and other vehicles shared the road. It was a town, just like out of the movies.
My driver slowed down and brought the vehicle to a halt alongside the curb. Resting the bike on its stand, he dismounted, walked to Jack, and gave him my rifle.
Thankfully, the shadow of a building gave me a little respite from the full glare of the sun. Half blind and not sure what I was supposed to do, I got off the bike and stood on trembling legs.
“General Powell, sir,” Jack said in a clear voice. “I see the rumors of your illness have been greatly exaggerated.”
Peering through narrowed eyes, I watched Jack greet a short, older man wearing a well-decorated military uniform.
“It’s all a ruse, Jack. That’s just a cover story so no one in the Dome would miss me while I’m out here,” General Powell said, clasping his hand around Jack’s. “I’m surprised to see you, though.”
“You know my father-in-law. It took a bit of convincing, but he knew I was the best tech guy for the job.”
Powell nodded in agreement. “It’s true. You are. In fact, I tried to convince Damien to send you out last year instead of Dirk, but your engagement to his daughter put a wrench in that. Speaking of Leisel, I can’t imagine she was happy letting you come out here, given Damien’s no-return policy.”
Squinting up at the sky, Jack ran a hand through his hair. His confident demeanor faltered for a split second. I held my breath, wondering if anyone else had noticed. Then his mouth curved into a self-assured smile.
“That policy doesn’t apply to me, General.” There was a note of challenge in his tone, but he softened it with his next words. “I mean, if you can’t trust the next president to keep state secrets, who can you trust?”
General Powell narrowed his eyes, but otherwise his face remained emotionless. “Forgive me. I forgot who I was speaking to.” The men regarded each other for a moment. Powell was the first to look away, his gaze coming to rest on me. “I see you brought company with you.”
Jack barely cast a glance my way. “You don’t expect me to do my own housekeeping while I’m out here, do you?”
The general broke into a hearty laugh. “Housekeeping! Is that what they’re calling it these days?” He gave Jack a friendly slap on the shoulder. “She needs to get tagged.” He motioned toward me.
I had just gotten my heart rate under control when the group turned to look at me. Immediately, I turned my eyes toward the ground like every good urchin should in the company of the bourge.
“Tagged?” he asked.
The general nodded. “The president’s rule. And it applies to everyone.”
Jack shrugged. “No problem here. What is it? Some kind of birth control?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Just control. Damien wanted to keep Culling them, but I said we needed them here to help build the city and do the farming. So I came up with the tagging system to convince him it was safe to let them come out. We installed subterranean electrical fences around their enclosures, farms, the range and anywhere else we put them to work, and a tag right behind the jugular, so if they try to cross the fence, poof. Dead. We’ve only had a few casualties in the urchin corrals, more in the range.”
“Wow, that’s ingenious. And you came up with that all by yourself?” Jack asked. I heard the hint of sarcasm in his voice but noticed the general had not.
“I admit Dirk was the brain child behind that one,” Powell said sheepishly. He redirected his gaze to Alex. “Assign someone to take her to Doc.”
“I’ll take her myself,” Jack said.
“Taking an urchin to get tagged is a little below your station,” Powell said.
“Take her,” Alex ordered the soldier who drove me here.
As the soldier walked past me, he beckoned for me to follow. I didn’t want to get tagged, and I really didn’t want to be separated from Jack, especially in my current state of half-blindness. I cast a covert glance at Jack, hoping for some kind of sign that I should stay, but his focus remained on the general.
I turned and followed my assigned escort, forcing my trembling legs to move one foot in front of the other. Luckily the buildings were close together, so I could stay mostly in the shadows. If I kept my eyes on the ground with my hair falling around my face, I was able to keep them open. Unfortunately it meant that my curtain of hair prevented me from getting a good look at the city—a discovery my mind hadn’t had time to process yet. Even more shocking was the news that the urchins weren’t Culled—they were sent out here instead. My mother could still be alive!
Despite the maelstrom of emotions coursing through me, I managed to keep pace with my escort. We walked in silence for about ten minutes before he led me into a building. Here the light was much dimmer and it didn’t take long for my strained eyes to adjust to the more comfortable setting. Directly in front of us was a large desk and to the right several chairs lined the walls. A young, delicate-looking man sat behind the desk. He stood at attention when we entered.
“Got an urchin that needs to be tagged,” my escort barked.
“She’s young.”
“Yeah. Jack Kenner brought her out with him.”
Delicate Man looked confused. “You mean the heir?”
“That would be the one,” the soldier proudly confirmed. “She’s a priority.”
“Of course. I’ll tell Doc.” Delicate Man rushed away and returned a few minutes later. “He’ll see you now.” He gestured for me to go with him. My escort took a step to walk with me, but Delicate Man held up his hand to stop him. “Doc wants to see her alone.”
The soldier looked disappointed, but he stepped back and took a seat.
I was led into a smaller room where curtains had been drawn and the lights were even dimmer. A man wearing a lab coat sat on a stool looking into a microscope. His thinning dark hair was streaked with grey and the overhead light glinted off a bald spot on the crown of his head. “Give her a gown,” he said without looking up.
Delicate Man did as he was told and left.
I wondered if he expected me to undress and put the gown on. No one had given me instructions, and I wasn’t comfortable being naked in front of this man. I put the gown on
over my clothes.
“Is that your idea of joke?” he asked, looking up from his machine.
I gasped when I saw his black eyes.
Doc was from the Pit.
Chapter Two
“No.” The word squeaked out of me. I realized that was the first word I had spoken since the soldiers had found us. I cleared my throat. “No,” I said in a clearer, stronger voice.
“There’s a screen behind me if your modesty requires it.” He returned his attention to the microscope.
My modesty did require it, so I walked to the back of the room and stepped behind the screen. I stripped off my clothes and tried to put on the gown, but it didn’t have any buttons or zippers to keep it closed. Not sure of which way I was expected to wear it, I decided to put the open side at the back. I held the back of the gown together with my hand as I came out from behind the curtain.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Almost eighteen.”
“So, you’re seventeen. Are you sterilized?” I shook my head. “So there’s a chance you could be pregnant.”
“No!” I said, offended by the thought. My outburst made Doc look up from his microscope. He gave me a thoughtful look. I bit my lip. That was stupid of me.
“I wonder how you can be so sure.”
“I drink the special teas,” I lied. We had our own ways of birth control in the Pit. One way was to drink an herbal tea to suppress ovulation. If that failed or wasn’t available, there were “doctors” in the Pit to help end the unwanted pregnancy, which was preferable to sterilization.
“How long have you been sexually active?”
“Um…about…a few weeks.”
“Were there any significant findings from your examination?”
That question gave me pause. What examination? Should I have had one? He raised his eyebrows, looking at me expectantly. I straightened up.
Worlds Collide: Sunset Rising, Book Two Page 1