“Welcome to Pei, we’ve been waiting for you.” She smiled kindly and gestured to all of us; Jake and Blossom standing close to their parents, Cedar and River keeping close to the car and finally to me. “Welcome home.”
Chapter 30 – From the Mists of Dreaming
I awoke with the scent of loam and sunshine in my nose, but my surroundings belied my senses. I glanced around the strange room with its unyielding walls, utilitarian furniture and false daylight. It was eerily familiar. How long had I been in this wretched dank cell, rife with the stench of human suffering? I wasn’t sure whether my memories of fields and red earth were just a fiction my imagination had created as an escape or if it was something true. I tried to remember how I got here, but my mind seemed to be blank of all but the most necessary information. I remembered to breath, swallow, sleep and relieve myself, but beyond that there was a huge hole.
I rose from the cot and stretched. I could hear the rumble of human voices, but they were muted through the heavy walls of the holding and all it did was create a buzz in my head. I put my hands over my ears trying to block sound. I closed my eyes and tried to regain the fragments of the dream I’d awoken from; there was a young man named…no, it wouldn’t come, even though I could feel it flitting around the fringes of my memory. There had to be a key. If I could just remember one solid thing, perhaps it would all come back. If I could even just remember my own name, then perhaps things would be better.
I paced out my cell; two full strides wide and almost four long. It was just big enough to make it frustrating. I could stretch out on the floor and do push ups, but not much else; for some reason I felt that maintaining my physique was important, but I couldn’t say why. I ran my fingers around the opening, not really paying attention to the small reinforced glass window. The door was sealed shut and a slammed my fists against it in frustration.
“Hey!” I yelled, continuing to pound my fists against the composite wall. “Hey, let me out!”
I jumped back as a face appeared in the window, but took a tentative step towards the door when I made out the features of a woman.
“Step back Mr. Xavier,” she commanded. Her high cheek bones and steadfast stare brooked no argument and I removed myself to the far wall. “Unlock 134!” The door swung open slowly and I could see that she was brandishing some sort of stun gun. I almost smiled at the thought of me attacking her. “Face the wall and spread them!” she barked. I turned and wondered at my ready compliance. She ran her hands over my arms, across my torso, down my outer legs and up my inseam. I could feel the heat rising up the back of my neck and I almost elbowed her in the face when she cupped my scrotum in one palm, through the thin fabric of my pants, and joggled them around a bit. “Can’t be too safe, can we?” she asked with a knowing smirk. I opened my mouth to complain, but she gave me a quick jolt with the wand and I nearly bit my tongue off. The shock dropped me to my knees and she easily secured my hands behind my back and fastened manacles to my feet as well. “Get up; you’re going for an interview.” My head was swimming with questions, but I held my tongue not wanting to piss her off.
We trudged down a long hallway that had several other doors like mine; all numbered and presumably holding other unlucky bastards, like myself. She buzzed us through another security gate and after strolling down several interminable halls, we turned in to a room, devoid of anything but a seat and a light; or so it appeared to me.
“Sit.” She said it quietly, but I could tell she was hoping I’d refuse. The hair stood up on the back of my neck as I realized that she enjoyed hurting people, or more to the point, me. I did as I was bid and she attached my manacles to a loop in the floor. I guess I wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. She rested the stun gun on the chair between my legs and her finger hovered just above the activation button. I could see this even though she was staring directly in to my eyes, just inches away. Whatever she saw there satisfied her. “Be good, now.” With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her and killing all the light in the room except for the one directly over my head.
I can’t say how long I sat in the bright light until I heard the door open again. There was the sound of someone setting up a little work station and then the chair dragging and creaking as whoever it was sat down.
“Mr. Xavier, do you know why you’re here?” said a faceless voice.
“No,” I replied straining to see past the beam of light.
“You are here because you’ve been charged with double homicide and treason; both of which carry a very heavy penalty. Above that, you have assaulted your guard on several occasions.” The voice was deep and throaty, but I couldn’t decide if it came from a man or woman. My brain was still toying with the name Xavier, which seemed familiar, but somehow not quite right. “Do you understand?”
“But I haven’t killed anyone,” I protested. I resisted saying that maybe the guard deserved what she got, but threw in “and I didn’t commit treason, either.” It seemed like a wise thing to say, but I couldn’t be sure that it was the truth.
“The evidence seems to prove otherwise, Mr. Xavier.”
“Who am I supposed to have killed, then?” I had a flash of memory, of a dark alley and being scared, or maybe worried, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.
“An R.O.I. #198545, known by the name of Jake Danforth and a U.I. known only by number, #432. They were seen in your custody on the night they disappeared and haven’t been seen since.”
“R.O.I.? U.I.? I don’t know what that is.” My brain felt fuzzy and blank, so I started grasping at random thoughts. “And just because you can’t find them, doesn’t mean I killed them.” I suddenly felt very certain of that fact. The name Jake was dashing around my brain like a pinball, but I wasn’t getting anything but disorienting flashes.
“R.O.I.; Registered Orphaned Infant and a U.I. is an unregistered infant. Really, Mr. Xavier, we’re getting very tired of this charade that you’re playing with us.” There was a small sigh and the sound of something being placed firmly on a table, or so it seemed to me. “If you won’t be more cooperative, we’ll have to find a way to…encourage you.”
“Look, I,” I wanted to explain that I didn’t know anything, and I really meant that there was almost nothing in my brain, but the interviewers exasperation made me curious. “Wait, how long have I been here?”
“I told you that yesterday, Mr. Xavier.”
“I don’t remember that, how long have I been here?” I demanded, straining against my bindings.
“Two hundred and seventy-six days, more or less. We’ve been trying to…well, let’s just say…refresh your memory, with a series of sensory tests, but you have been most recalcitrant.” The voice sighed again and I thought that it might be another woman. “I’m only trying to help you. You’re facing very serious charges, but if you could provide us with some information, perhaps things would go more easily for you.”
“That’s great. I’d love to but I can’t remember anything.” I wanted to cross my arms like a sullen child, but the handcuffs had a rigid shaft between my wrists and wouldn’t allow me the gesture.
“So you keep saying.” The sound of something sliding across a surface suggested that my interviewer had picked up whatever it was that she had put down. “Let’s go through this again, shall we?” I thought I could make out the faint glow of a computer display across the room, as my inquisitor fired it up again. “According to our records, you, Dudley Allison Xavier, are a known member of the insurgent group known as Regenesis. You have kidnapped infants and children from survivalist groups in the Burn Zone, even groups who have signed treaties with us and are our allies, and you have also attempted to undermine the stability of White Sun Corporation as well as your own government. You are accused of having eliminated both R.O.I. #198545 and U.I. #432 in order to pursue your unlawful activities and are an enemy of the State. Now, what do you have to say to that?”
“Is that who I am?” I asked, more confuse
d than before.
“Apparently, yes. You were once a high school history teacher. According to this, you fell in with the Jam Makers – yes, we know all about them- and have been at odds with the law ever since.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” My mind was spinning and the flashes of memory were making me nauseous; no one lasting long enough for me to grab a hold of. The sensation made it feel like the room was spinning around maddeningly.
“Let’s move on.” I heard the quiet swipe of a fingernail as the person scrolled over a screen. “Our scientists say that you react most strongly to certain scents, some of those being; lilac, coffee, sewage and loam. Why do you suppose that is, Mr. Xavier?” I was fairly certain that the person had asked me these questions before, not because I remembered, but by the rote way in which the questions were presented.
“Got no idea.” I was starting to lose my patience. Surely they could see that I was feeling sick. I tried to focus my mind on the conversation at hand. “You said that those orphans haven’t been seen. Don’t you have their bodies?”
“There is nothing in the law which requires the presentation of the body to proceed with a murder investigation or trial.” The voice sounded tight and grudging; I’d hit a sore spot.
“So how do you even know they’re dead?” I was trying to cling to whatever logic my brain could produce and the spinning slowed.
“I’m under no obligation to disclose that information to you. I’m only attempting to build your defence, as best I can.” I heard the words, but their import temporarily escaped me. They snapped in to place after a few moments of silence.
“Wait, you’re my lawyer?” This was bad; worse than I thought. “I thought you were the prosecution.” There was a very weighted pause.
“I am your court appointed attorney.”
“Then why all this cloak and dagger bull shit? Who are you? What’s your name? Why can’t I see your face?” I had a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach.
“The anonymity is for my own protection, your, er, affiliation with Regenesis could be very dangerous for me, but that is not the point.”
“Then what is the fucking point?” I surged up against my bindings, finally understanding that I was in much deeper trouble that I had thought. The door cracked open and I could see the slim figure of my escort slipping in, wand in hand. She laid in to me and I convulsed as the electricity shot through my body. It felt like it went on forever, but finally she pulled away and left the room. I could feel the sweat forming on my forehead and saliva running down my chin as I slumped in my seat. I wondered briefly if all the shocks had damaged my brain.
“No more outbursts, Mr. Xavier, or we’ll have to take more drastic measures,” chided my lawyer. “I have the most recent report from the doctors trying to restore your memory.” I could hear the snide doubt in her voice when she or he said the word ‘restore’, even my lawyer didn’t believe me. “I’ll read it to you:
‘We have come to the end of sensory trials for Mr. Xavier with little success. Are you still hoping to do further examinations to unlock his memory? Coming from the most recent round of testing, we feel any further effort would be wasted. With respect, Dr. Bedford Patel, Test Team Omega.’
I can’t quite be sure what happened, but the images that had been flickering on the periphery of my mind started focussing at some point during the report; completely overwhelming my senses and swamping my mind. I felt the blackness rising up to swallow me and knew no more.
When I awoke, I was back in my cell and for that I was relieved. My head ached like a bitch, but at least I knew my name. Dax, how could I have forgotten? The pieces were slowly coming together. I remembered getting to Pei and meeting August Patel, the black haired woman who had opened her home to us when we’d arrived.
The memories were more manageable now and I started slowly recalling those closest to me. Cedar and River had settled in to a small house of their own, but I never left August’s house. We’d fallen in love and married, yes I had a wife. I smiled as my memory filled with more information. She was a chemist and biologist that had fled after her work in DNA recovery had been discovered. She’d single handedly saved hundreds of species of animals by tirelessly cataloguing their gene sequences and developing ways to reintroduce various species of animals to the Regenesis outposts.
The outposts were hidden in plain sight, using advanced force field technology and scan dampening programs that rendered them invisible to anyone without the right transponder. There were sites scattered around the world, all working towards one cause; reclaiming the earth.
It had taken several months for us to settle in and adjust to ‘real’ life. Our stomachs had to adapt to real food and we needed to help with the care of the plants and animals; there was a lot to learn. Blossom couldn’t resist the bounty of food choices and spent the first month running to the bathroom to throw up every half hour or so.
Blossom and Jake, it felt so good to put names to the shadows that had lurked in my head. Their parents were computer programmers and they’d spent every free moment trying to get Jake to them. Blossom had been ripped away at birth, just before the parents were Outcast. They hadn’t even known whether she had been a girl or boy. Where she’d wound up was a mystery, because she’d never made it to an orphanage and she’d been on the streets as long as she could remember. Jake had been turned in to the government shortly thereafter; his friend’s family not having the ability to care for him once his parents disappeared. The important thing was that Regenesis was making a difference. We were getting the earth back. At least we had been before I was captured
How long had I been in this hell hole? Three quarters of a year, if I could believe my lawyer. That would mean that August had had the baby already; did I have a son or a daughter? And what else was I missing out on? I stopped my train of thought; I couldn’t think about that now.
I tried to recall all the details the lawyer had given and was mildly ashamed to recall that a lot of it was correct. We’d been out on a mission, trying to reclaim stolen outcast children from the Sand Walkers when something had gone wrong and I’d been captured by a triad surveillance patrol.
Something else clicked in to place and my loss of memory suddenly made sense. It was part of our training; we’d all undergone intensive rounds of hypnotherapy before we were sent out to fight. It ensured that if we were captured, we wouldn’t be able to recall anything that would endanger the Regenesis locations. There must have been a trigger in the lab report that unlocked the hypnosis, but I couldn’t be entirely sure. I knew one thing for certain; there was a message for me in that report: the first words of each sentence - ‘we are coming’. The hair prickled over my hands and up my arms as a genuine adrenaline rush pulsed through my system. I don’t know how or why I knew it for sure, but someone was coming to get me out of this damned place and all I had to do was wait and remember.
Last Farmer: Last Farmer Series - Book 1 Page 27