The Labs (The GEOs Book 2)

by Ramona Finn

  “Where were you tonight?” Ben asked, standing at the doorway with his hands on his hips. “I couldn’t even track you through SKY.”

  “Well, hi to you, too.”

  He reached over to the low table in front of me and picked up the small communicator badge. He waved it in my face. “You need to keep your comms on you at all times; otherwise, SKY can’t find you.”

  “I just went out to get dinner,” I said. “I didn’t even think about it. I wasn’t gone long.”

  “Long enough for me to worry about you,” he huffed.

  I looked up at him. He had his arms crossed and was frowning. For a second, I was back in school, facing an angry teacher after I’d hacked into her account and sent out all the class grades before they’d been verified.

  I stood up to meet his gaze. That scared kid wasn’t me anymore.

  “I found Kev,” I blurted out. “He’s found new friends.”

  Ben’s shoulders relaxed. “I’m sorry.” He moved closer, and I could see he was genuinely upset for me. “It’s kind of inevitable when you join the family. I see it happen to spouses and partners who join us.” He put his hand on my arm. “It’s us against the world, as they say.”

  I shrugged off his hand. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It also didn’t make sense that anyone should be against anyone up here in the Labs. Weren’t we all working for the good of all people? I chuckled sarcastically. It was funny how I automatically reverted to believing the ‘truths’ I’d been raised with. I knew better now, but once in a while, the Farrow propaganda could still sneak through my belief system.

  “Why is that funny?” He sounded annoyed.

  “Nothing.” I walked into the kitchen and ordered the synthesizer to make me a cup of tea. “Want some?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Did you come from the studio?”

  “Not exactly. I finished filming earlier than usual.”

  I sipped the hot liquid and let the warmth coat my throat. “Thirty-six hours to our ceremony. Are you ready?” My stomach twisted into a knot thinking about our upcoming ceremony. Only a few hours before there’d been no turning back. I would be a Farrow as soon as that ceremony concluded.

  “I am. You?”

  I moved the sugar from the counter into a cupboard. Neither of us used it. Sugar was a luxury I’d never gotten used to. “The clones are bringing my dress to me tomorrow night.”

  “Great.”

  For a long minute, we stood in the kitchen area staring at the ceiling, then the floor…anywhere but at each other. Neither one of us seemed excited about our partnering. Had our relationship devolved into this level of boredom already? Even after years of marriage, my parents rarely had moments like this. Their silences were comfortable ones. I could feel how much they simply enjoyed being together. Ben and I were nothing like my parents.

  I changed the subject. “Did you solve the shuttle attack problem?”

  He shuffled his feet and finally sank into the couch. Leaning back, he pinched his nose between his fingers. “We’re going to.”

  “What does that mean?” My heart picked up its pace.

  “Nothing for you to worry about.”

  I almost choked on my drink. I needed to know, but I couldn’t show him how badly.

  I perched on the arm of the couch next to him, gripping my cup with two hands and trying hard to steady them. “I’d like to know. Please.”

  He rubbed his face with both hands and sighed. Dark circles under his eyes told me he hadn’t slept much since I’d last seen him. “They’re finally going to get what they deserve. I persuaded Father to let me send a team to smoke out the biggest Rej gang.”

  I coughed, spilling warm tea all over my trousers. I jumped to my feet as the heat seeped through my clothes. Ben rose and took my cup. He patted me on the back. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure they have nothing to fight back with. We’ll be safe.”

  My hands were still shaking. “What do you mean smoke out? You’re attacking them?”

  He nodded, seemingly pleased with the idea. “I’ve just come from the command center. The Rejs have encroached on our territory for too long. I’m taking the fight right to their doorstep.” He looked at the computer screen by the door. It displayed the time. “The mission is on its way as we speak.”

  “What?” The room began to spin, and I had to back up to the wall behind me so I wouldn’t collapse outright. “What exactly are you doing?”

  “We got some last-minute intelligence on the whereabouts of the largest Rej gang. My troops are going to bomb them out of existence,” Ben said, speaking as if he was telling me how the latest Cure script had been brainstormed. It was nothing to him—the idea of all those people being killed. “My sources tell me the leader’s name is Skylar One.” He laughed. “They have such weird names. I mean, how many Skylars are there? Is there a Skylar Twenty-five? Do they just call each other by numbers?”

  I spoke without thinking, explaining, “No, there’s only Skylar One and Two—they’re father and son.”

  Ben’s brows knitted together. “How do you know that?”

  “What?” I looked at him watching me with suspicion. Then I realized what had happened. The words had come out of my mouth before my brain registered what I’d said. “They’re…pretty well known in the Geos. Their caves are the closest to our sector. You’re going to kill them all? There are children and old people in those caves. They’re not responsible for any damage done to you.”

  “Me?” Ben sat up straight. “You mean us? You were a target, too, you know.”

  “But the children!” I was yelling now. “You can’t kill the children!”

  Ben walked over to me, slowly, as if I were a wild animal that was about to make a run for it. He gripped my arms and lowered his head to look me in the eye.

  “They’re just Rejs,” he said. “They’re so damaged by the Virus that they’re barely human anymore. And this will teach them to stay away from the Labs. They’ve been getting too bold lately. This mission will tell them we won’t tolerate their violence anymore.”

  I couldn’t breathe. No matter how hard I tried, oxygen wouldn’t enter my lungs. I thought of all the people in Skylar’s caves. I pictured them lying all over the ground, dead and mangled at the hands of Ben’s troops. Images of the Acceptance survivors being shot replayed in my mind. EFs hunting them down like they also were no more than animals. There was no distinction—Rejs, Survivors, Geo inhabitants…we were all the same to the Elites. Less than them.

  “Tylia?” Ben’s voice was a distant echo. The room turned a bright blue. My breaths were shallow and my limbs went numb.

  “You have to…” I was breathless. “Stop the attack.”

  Ben made a sound of incredulity. “It’s too late. It’s done. Look.”

  He turned on the TV. The screen showed a dark forest area. Four cameras were attached to the EFs’ helmets and we were watching four perspectives at once. The footage was clear—they were heading through the forest toward the cave openings. It was late, so the Rejs were likely to be asleep; all those children, tucked into their beds, believing they were safe.

  Pop! Pop! Pop! The EFs took out each Rej sentry with ease. The Rejs didn’t even have time to fire back. This was a complete surprise. The camera showed a pair of EFs kneeling on the ground. One had a weapon loaded on his or her shoulder. The other programmed it and then fired. Something whooshed into the cave. There was a dull thud, followed by billows of smoke spewing from the cave mouth.

  As survivors ran out of the cave, the EFs took them out one by one. There was no escape, no hope.

  “Father wanted it televised so that everyone could see how much we’re doing to keep the peace. The Geos are watching this live, too.”

  I walked up to the screen to see images of smoke spewing out of the cave. More EFs in full combat gear were sweeping the area for stragglers. They showed no mercy.

  “They’re just people, like us,” I whimpered, placing my h
and on the screen. It was hard to see faces, but I didn’t think I recognized anyone. Maybe this wasn’t Skylar Two’s cave.

  “They’re Rejs,” Ben said. “They’re the remnants of the contaminated life on the surface. They weren’t going to survive anyway, especially now that the Virus is spreading farther and faster.”

  Farther and faster. Just like what Skylar Two suspected. Was the spread deliberate?

  “Our latest research shows that Earth won’t be inhabitable for another century at least. They’re the walking dead already. There’s no point mourning them or trying to save them. Only the strongest and smartest survive. That’s why we have the Elites. We are the future of the planet.”

  I whipped around to face Ben. “Who decided that? Who decided who were the smart and strong ones? Who holds our fates in his hands?” I already knew the answer. R.L. Farrow, that’s who. He handpicked those who lived in the Labs and who stayed in the Geos. The Rejs weren’t even within his realm of consideration—they were the ones who, generations ago, had refused to come under the authority of the Farrow Corp. They weren’t worth his attention.

  Not until they fought back.

  Ben’s eyes moved back to the screen. “Looks like we got the leaders.”

  Sure enough, through the dim lighting of the moon, there on the screen was Skylar One with his arms tied behind his back, being escorted roughly by three EFs. He looked pale and exhausted, with smears of blood on his forehead and cheeks. The EFs moved him to a clearing and forced him onto his knees.

  “Aren’t you taking him prisoner?” I demanded. My voice rose an entire octave. “Bringing him up here?”

  Ben gave me a bewildered look. “Why? I have no questions for him.”

  “Don’t you want to know how they’ve survived all these years? Maybe he can give you information on the other gangs?”

  “I don’t care to know anything about them, except that they tried to hurt us. Now, we show them the price they pay for that.” Ben indicated the TV screen with a nod of his head.

  I was afraid to look, but I had to see if Skylar Two was with his father. The EFs had lined up a bunch of Rejs, men and women, in a straight line. I recognized several of them as advisors to Skylar One. They were rough around the edges but had never been nasty to me when I’d lived amongst them. Now, they were all on their knees with Skylar Two’s dad in the center. I searched every face in that line for Skylar Two. He wasn’t there. Where was he?

  The EFs stood back and aimed their weapons.

  “Please, don’t do this!” Tears blurred my vision. “Don’t be this cruel.”

  Ben huffed. “What’s wrong with you, Tylia? Don’t you want payback for them almost killing you? Twice? This is part of our new reality. We have to protect our own.”

  He kept talking, rationalizing why he was right to carry out this slaughter. But I couldn’t hear a word. My eyes were glued to the TV screen. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The EFs opened fire on the line of Rejs. One by one, they fell to the ground and I watched. I wanted to scream, but Skylar Two’s need for me to be the ‘inside person’ kept me from giving in to my emotions. Skylar Two wasn’t with his dad. Maybe he hadn’t been caught. There might still be a chance that he was alive. He would need my help.

  I gripped the vial of Virus at my throat. I had to hold it all in, so that Ben wouldn’t suspect anything more than a penchant for human kindness. I had a mission to complete, and time was running out.

  I let the tears flow in silence, with my back toward Ben. In one day, I was joining his family—his monstrous, cruel family. The thought made me ill. But I reminded myself that Skylar Two needed me. There had to be survivors. I remembered Skylar Two telling me he often stayed at different camps. Maybe this was one of those nights.

  Please, let this be one of those nights.

  He would’ve led some of his people to safety, and he would find a way to get in touch with me. To let me know he’d survived. I thought of the flash drive. There were instructions there on how to reach him. I couldn’t wait to be alone so I could try.

  I could barely imagine the pain he was experiencing as his father lay dead on the ground, his blood seeping back into the Earth. I knew he’d be in a rage, and I also knew that his answer for this attack was going to be revenge—more attacks on the Elites.

  Ben was naïve to think that this was going to be the end of the Rejs. There were a lot more of them than he could imagine. They were tough and strong, and now they would be united against the Elites. The fight would never end. Instead of teaching them to back off, Ben may have just unleashed the next age of trouble against the Farrows.

  He turned off the TV and wrapped his arms around me. I struggled not to shove him away. “I know this upsets you,” he began, “but they felt no pain. I made sure the attack was quick and precise.” He lifted my chin and wiped the tears away from my cheeks. “I suggest you don’t watch any more of this. It’s too hard for your delicate sensibilities.”

  I gulped, looking into his concerned eyes. “More?”

  “That was just phase one,” he said. “The next two phases will be carried out during our ceremony, while everyone’s attention is on something more pleasant. We’ll be rid of the Rejs then, once and for all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  There were going to be more attacks on the Rejs, he’d said, but I couldn’t let that happen. Too many people, including Skylar One, had died already. I would not look away while my friends were slaughtered by my partner-to-be.

  It took all of my strength not to give away my thoughts as Ben and I had a late supper together. His mood had lifted after seeing the success of his first incursion. He was chatty, in fact, and talked about how our ceremony would go. It was going to be filmed as an episode of The Cure, and R.L. had insisted that it be mandatory viewing in both the Labs and in the Geos.

  I tried to be interested, but how could I focus? Bit by bit, I was getting a glimpse into who the Farrows really were. What was incredible was how Ben justified everything he did, making it sound like it was all perfectly normal. He really believed that he was in the right. As I listened to him, I was stunned into an incredulous silence.

  After supper, Ben left for the studio, believing that I was just as excited about our ceremony as he was. His kiss was more passionate than it had been in a while. It was hard for me to play the blushing bride to be, but I thought I pulled it off.

  I had to get a message to Skylar Two. I had to tell him there were more attacks coming. He had to get his people to safety, if that was even possible. I left my apartment and found myself outside Kev’s apartment door. He was the one person up here in the Greens who might be able to understand. He had been witness to the slaughter of our other Acceptance friends, after all.

  I knocked, but no one answered. I tried the computer panel to the side of the door. It would tell me if Kev was home.

  Unit 243 is currently empty.

  What? I stood back and checked the small panel on the other side that usually held the name of the occupant. It was blank. I accessed the Labs’ computer.

  “SKY, where is Kev Farmer?” Had he been moved to a different sector due to his new job? I should’ve checked before running here. I might’ve disturbed someone who would end up telling people I was going around knocking on strangers’ doors in the middle of the night.

  “Kev Farmer is no longer in the Greens,” SKY reported.

  “Where is he?” I’d just seen him a few hours ago.

  “Kev Farmer cannot be accounted for,” SKY said.

  That didn’t make any sense. SKY kept track of everyone in the Sky Labs.

  I had to find Kev. And I had to get a message to Skylar Two. There was only one place where I could do both. I had to head back to the communications department.

  Elites didn’t work like we did in the Geos, where there was always a full crew working a ten-hour shift at any time of day or night. There was no ‘off’ time in the Geos because we weren’t governed by day and night. Her
e, the Elites worked mostly in the day and took the nights off. Right now, it was late, very late, so there wouldn’t be a full complement of crew working. And, according to what my own computer pad was telling me, there was only one clone on duty. Currently, that clone was Dax. The one clone I knew who had a problem with being treated like he had no individuality. Perfect.

  I walked into the communications department armed with a tray of desserts. I knew that clones didn’t have access to all of the fancy foods that the Elites had—another reminder that some people were better off than others in our world. But I counted on the fact that Dax had a sweet tooth.

  The moment Dax saw my tray of special Elite doughnuts, his eyes lit up. I was right. This was going to work.

  “I thought you might be hungry,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too fake. “The cafeteria had these leftovers and I couldn’t finish them. I was just walking by and saw that you were alone. Wanna share?”

  Dax eyed me with a bit of suspicion, but we had history. We were almost friends, as much as a clone would allow an Elite to be his friend, so he dug in.

  “We don’t ever get chocolate,” he said, his mouth lined with crumbs at the edges. “Elites think we prefer bland food. How ridiculous is that? Just because we’re born in a lab.”

  I sat across from Dax’s terminal. “So, what else do we assume about you that’s wrong?”

  Dax grinned as if he had a list ready for whenever someone bothered to ask that very question. “Well, we love to play old-time board games, and I’m really good at it. We’re competitive—at least, I am.” His grin faded a little. “And we wonder about what’s out there…in the universe.”

  “Sounds just like a human to me,” I said.

  He smirked. “Surprise!”