Wasteland

by Ann Bakshis

  A small transport car sits waiting for us a few yards from the lift. It is ornately decorated, with gold seat coverings, and the city’s emblem is inscribed on the ceiling. I see Jagger step off of a service elevator fifty feet away and jog over to a waiting transport, which falls in line behind us. We skirt along the outer rim of the city on a rail embedded into the surface of the base of the floating metropolis. The car winds around to the opposite side, stopping only momentarily at a guard post sitting at the entrance to one of the extended platforms. We quickly pass through security and slow down.

  A hawk with gold wings is embroidered in tile on the surface of the center of the platform, with large fountains of water erupting from its talons. The building on our right is only two stories high, columns extending the height of the building on all sides. An identical structure sits on the opposite side of the fountain. I notice men in blue robes exiting and entering these buildings, and figure this must be where the Superiors meet.

  The car turns and stops in front of a four-story structure in the same design as the other two buildings. Artemis exits the vehicle, followed by Kedua, then myself. Jagger and several bodyguards exit their transports and follow us. We walk up a small flight of steps and into a grand foyer with blue marble flooring, a gold encased chandelier hanging from the ceiling four stories high, and an oak table in the center of the floor with several granite statues from a time long since passed.

  Artemis clutches my arm and escorts me up many flights of stairs till we are on the fourth floor, our entourage in tow. I try not to look over the railing for fear of getting dizzy from the height. He shoves me into an expansive sitting room at the back of the palace, shutting the door, and locking me in. I hear him instruct the bodyguards to stay at my door. Kedua advises Jagger, who she apparently thinks is her personal protector, that he is relieved for the evening and she will call for him if he’s needed. Then she retreats down the hall and enters another room.

  Like Artemis’ penthouse at the Letchworth, the entire back wall has floor-to-ceiling windows. I walk over to them trying to see how far down the water actually is, noticing what appears to be a barrier just below the surface that seems to circumscribe the whole platform. Four large boats filled with a mixture of bodyguards and Regulators also patrol the area.

  Clouds slowly roll in as rain gently hits the panes. I case the room for an hour, looking for a way out, or something I can use as a weapon. The marble statues that adorn the bookshelves are cemented into place; nothing in the room can be moved except the furniture. From what I can tell the only way out is through the door, or the windows. I press up against the glass, testing its tension. It doesn’t give, no matter how much weight I push against it, so I decide to pick up one of the fabric covered footstools to test the window. As I’m about to throw it Artemis clears his throat from the doorway. I turn and look at him, then proceed to heave the stool against the glass anyway, a small crack appearing and beginning to extend outward in a spider web pattern.

  “If you’re hoping to escape out the window, that will be a very painful way to go, Meg.” He strolls into the room, hands behind his back. The look on his face is one of triumph. “How foolish your escape attempt was…trying to get to Kedua before me, how laughable. I told you I knew who sold her. What I neglected to mention was that person sold her to me,” he smirks, as he begins to move about the room, walking slowly, hands behind his back.

  “Did you know who she was when you purchased her?”

  “Of course I did. Remember, I inspect everything I buy or collect, so when I saw the two small markings on the back of her neck I knew exactly who she was.”

  “Did she know?”

  “Yes. You see the person who sold her to me was her protector from the Dormitories. My men had collected her and Kedua in the Wasteland. She made a deal with me that if I didn’t send her to the hatcheries or enslave her as a fighter I could keep Kedua. Of course I didn’t believe the woman at first, until I inspected Kedua, saw the markings, and knew she was telling the truth.”

  “Where is this woman now?” I ask, moving away from the windows.

  “You met her earlier. Poor Midge will probably never heal from the injuries you inflicted upon her frail body.”

  “Why kill the High Ruler?”

  “I didn’t kill anyone. Very few people outside of his guards have ever actually seen what the High Ruler of Acheron looks like. The person in that position is constantly being altered. It’s easier for the people not to know who really is in power.”

  “Why?”

  “Why take power? Why not? Being the leader of a city is very profitable.”

  “And the war that Vladim is about to start?”

  “How naïve you are, Meg. There is no war coming. My Superior of Communication is very skilled at distorting the truth. Vladim only gave part of that speech; the rest of it was added by Hayden, my predecessor. Fear is what keeps the people in line, and how we make a profit. The Laics will need to work harder to provide for the increase of supplies that will be demanded by the citizens of Acheron.”

  “This, in turn, will generate more profit for you.”

  “Now you’re catching on,” he says, winking at me.

  “What do you want me for?” I ask, as I fold my arms against my chest.

  “You will help me obtain everything Sirain holds,” he replies, as he walks up to me, pushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Remember what I told you in Tyre? If I want something, nothing can stop me from getting it.” He kisses me hard on the lips.

  My hand flies across his face, striking him hard. He hits back, harder, splitting my lip.

  “Don’t you ever raise a hand to me again,” he spits at me. “You enjoyed our moments together in Tyre. What happened to you, Meg?”

  “Trea happened. She’s not a fan of you.”

  “I can get her to like me,” he sneers, letting go of me. “But before that, I need your assistance.” He gestures over to the doorway where Kedua now stands, freshly bathed, and wearing a sheer pink gown.

  Artemis removes a Levin gun from under his shirt. “It wasn’t until your encounter with Munera that I realized the true potential the Antaeans have. What power you contain, what force you have when yielding the appropriate weapon. When I came back to Acheron, I had Kedua here try and mimic your ability, but she failed.”

  She rolls her eyes at his comment.

  “I requested the test that had been performed on you back in Tyre to be done on Kedua. And that’s when I saw it. The Quantum Stream needs a catalyst in order to become activated.” Artemis takes my right hand, removes the glove, and rolls up my sleeve, revealing the snake on my arm.

  “I saw the blast wound on your back, the entry wound in your palm. I knew it had been caused by a Levin gun, and reasoned that it was the catalyst the stream needs to become functioning.” He places the Levin gun into Kedua’s hand.

  She aims it at me, but I notice all the safety devices are still enabled. Still, it’s a Levin gun, and it’s going to hurt.

  She fires, striking me in the right shoulder. I scream as my shoulder blade fragments from the energy pulse, causing me to drop onto the floor. Blood gushes down my arm, staining the gold leafed carpet below my feet. I begin to heal, the pain slowly subsiding as I stand back up, anger flushing my face. Artemis examines Kedua’s hand. The look of confusion on his face tells me he doesn’t understand why it didn’t work. Before he can question me, the building’s alarms begin to ring.

  Bodyguards rush inside moments later, and inform Artemis that there has been a breach in the outer rim security.

  “How could this have happened?” Artemis demands.

  “Midge found the body of Kedua’s guard in the broom closet at the club. Someone has been masquerading as her Regulator. He’s been spotted with several others who were involved in a disturbance earlier today. They’ve managed to retrieve their boat from the lock-up and are attempting to breach the perimeter.”

  I move back towards t
he window, my eyes glancing down to the water below to see where the security boats are currently located, noticing several are engaged in a fire-fight with another vessel. The long metal craft has managed to penetrate the security shield around the platform and has destroyed one of the patrol boats.

  I smile inside, figuring it was Jagger who alerted the others about where I was.

  I look over at Artemis and Kedua, then begin to move. He grabs the gun from Kedua, and fires at me, hitting me in the leg and torso. Even with the injuries, I manage to throw my entire weight against the fractured window. The glass breaks and I plummet the four stories into the icy water beneath.

  The impact feels like it did when the shuttle exploded.

  My head is aching as I sink deeper into the water’s depths, but this time I feel arms around my shoulders, pulling me skyward. Jagger reaches his hands over the side of the boat as Quin jumps into the water to push me up. Cass and Naomi are firing propellant rounds at the security boats, aiming at the hulls in order to rupture them. As I collapse onto the boat’s deck, Quin climbs aboard right behind me. Jagger heads below and guns the engines, moving us out of the perimeter, and into open water.

  Chapter 17

  “How do you feel?” Quin asks, as he lies on the deck next to me.

  “Like a human target.”

  He looks over my almost-healed wounds.

  “What went wrong?” he asks, as he sets my arm gently down by my side.

  “Artemis was there,” I squeeze out of my lungs, coughing up water. “After having the High Ruler assassinated, he caught me and forced me back to the palace, where he had Kedua shoot me with a Levin gun. But the safety devices were still on.”

  “Why did she shoot you?”

  “To get this,” I say, rolling up my sleeve and pointing to the serpent crawling up my arm. “He thought he’d figured it all out. You should’ve seen the look on their faces when it didn’t work.” I begin to laugh, trying to make light of the situation I’d found myself in, then cough up a little blood.

  That’s concerning. What long lasting internal injuries will I have? How much more punishment can my body take before it stops healing?

  I sit up and watch as Acheron fades away behind us, the rain coming down in a steady pour. Their timing for the rescue was perfect, but….

  “How did you know which building to be under? How did you get past the perimeter?”

  “Jagger found us and told us what had happened. He described the building and its location, so we knew right where you were. We took out the timing switch to get past the blockade,” Cass says, as he helps me to my feet. “The barrier won’t operate without the timing switch.”

  I look to see if any vessels are chasing us, but I see none.

  “Won’t they follow us?”

  “No, their boats are pretty damaged and they don’t travel any further than one mile from the city.”

  We move below deck to get out of the rain.

  Naomi hands me a blanket to wrap myself up in as Quin goes into the engine room to assist Jagger. I notice as I stand in the doorway of one of the cabins that several of the steel canisters are still on board. I walk over to one and open it, seeing cans of preserved fruit sitting inside. Naomi locates a can opener and we begin to eat. I look through the other containers as I slowly eat my peaches. Two hold more cans of food, a few sealed pouches of dried meat, crackers, and some nuts. The final container has four Beta guns, two Levin guns, a Pugio blade, and about a dozen detonators. This doesn’t include the two Dorongan weapons that Cass and Naomi were using on the other boats.

  I’ve never actually used a Dorongan, a weapon that shoots propellant rounds, though Devlan did keep a couple in his workshop.

  The boat begins to decelerate as a chill cascades down the steps. Quin walks past me, heading up top. He shouts down to Jagger to go ahead and shut off the engines. I walk up the steps, still wrapped in my blanket, to see where we are.

  Snow is falling gently from the cold gray sky above. Several inches cover the land we are now anchoring to. Dense forest blocks us from seeing past the shoreline. Naomi calls for me to come back down below as the engine goes silent. She hands me two satchels to fill with food. We empty the canisters of their contents while Quin and Jagger handle the weapons container, hoisting it onto their shoulders and walking up to the deck. Jagger jumps over the side of the boat and Quin lowers the canister to him. I grab as many blankets as I can before abandoning the boat.

  The snow crunches under our feet as we walk along the shore, up a steep dune, and into the forest. Tree roots jut out from the frozen ground causing me to stumble a few times. We walk for about an hour, our hands and feet frozen. Cass finds a spot with little snow due to the thick canopy above. Naomi gathers firewood, while Jagger and Quin set up a makeshift shelter with the blankets. Naomi uses a short blast from the Beta gun to get a fire going once the wood is set for burning. We all sit as close to the fire as possible, freezing from the dropping temperature.

  Jagger opens one of the sealed packages of dried meat then passes it around for all of us to take some.

  The meat is soft and salty. Cass opens a bottle with some red wine inside and we all drink from it. I sit with my knees up to my chin, rocking slightly in the cold breeze. Quin sits down next to me, puts an arm around me, and pulls me close. As I stare at the flames, I remember the bar code in my wrist. I reach into my satchel, extract a small carving knife I’d grabbed from the bedchamber, make a small incision in my wrist, and pull out the coiled wire. Quin takes the blade from my hand and does the same.

  Jagger is too restless to stay in one spot.

  He advises us that he is going to go explore the woods to see if he can find us better shelter. I offer to go along, but he declines and we watch as he disappears into the brush. Cass and Naomi cling tightly to each other, trying to ward off the cold that is quickly enveloping us.

  Jagger returns almost an hour later and motions for us to follow.

  Naomi and I grab the satchels of food and take down the blankets while Cass and Quin carry the weapons container.

  Several miles from where we stopped is a clearing with two long wooden structures, their roofs sagging from age. A circular stone building sits in the center with a cement house just a few feet away. Small lights attached outside each door on the wooden structures give off a soft glow no more than a few feet. Snow covers much of the ground, and continues to fall. I hear low mewing and clucking noises coming from the northern end of the encampment, so I follow them and come upon a fenced-in yard where several chickens are pecking away at the snow. I can make out another building in the distance where the mewing is emanating from.

  “Hello,” Cass calls out before we can stop him.

  His voice doesn’t travel far, muffled by the mounds of snow. We stand still, waiting for any sign of movement.

  “There has to be someone living here,” Jagger says. “The livestock appear well fed and the lights are still working.”

  “There are only a few of us left,” a small voice says behind me. A small old woman carries a lantern making her way out of the animal paddock, a shawl clenched tightly under her chin, an empty pail at her side. “You all look frozen. Come on let’s get you warmed up.” She walks past me towards the stone building.

  A fire is burning hot in the hearth in the center of the large single room. Crates sit stacked ceiling high against a far wall, barrels of grain next to them. A worn cot rests cozily next to the hearth. Cass and Jagger take down a few of the crates for us to sit on. The woman puts a kettle on a hook and swings it onto the fire, warming up the liquid inside. She fetches tin cups for each of us and pours the hot fluid into them. My hands warm instantly from the heat, but I take small sips so as not to burn my throat.

  “What is this place?” Naomi asks, sipping from her cup.

  “Siedler Village,” the woman says, as she sits down on her cot, throwing the blanket over her lap.

  Her face crinkles from a smile. Her long gr
ay hair is matted in spots and it looks like she hasn’t bathed in weeks, but her clothes appear to be nicely kept, no holes or tears.

  “How many people live here?” Naomi asks.

  “Well besides myself there is Henry, Magda, and Andrew. So only four, no more, no less,” she says with a smile, displaying only a handful of teeth.

  “There’s a power plant a few miles south of here, right?” I ask, without thinking about it.

  The woman looks startled at my remark, but she recovers quickly.

  “Yes, there is. How do you know about it?”

  “I remember…my mother working there when I was little.”

  The words are out before I grasp what I’m saying.

  “That’s not possible, dear. No children have ever lived in this village.” The woman refills our cups and settles herself back down onto her cot.

  Uneasiness settles around me.

  The woman is lying, but why? And how do I know it?

  I set my cup down onto the bricks of the hearth, as no amount of heat from the tea is going to warm my insides.

  “Would it be possible if we could stay the night?” Jagger asks, diverting everyone from the change in my demeanor.

  “Of course, the people of Siedler are always very hospitable.”

  She picks up the lantern by her feet and walks us back outside, showing us to one of the small houses, insisting we can stay in there for the night. There are three bedrooms and plenty of heat as the furnace is working. We say our thank yous, closing the door behind us.

  The living room is sparsely furnished, with only one badly moth eaten couch sitting on top of a braided rug in front of a dingy fireplace. The kitchen is separated by only a half wall. Down a small hall sits two bedrooms along the left side of the hallway, a small bathroom across the way, and another bedroom at the far end.

  Jagger and Cass take the first bedroom, while Naomi takes the one next to it. Quin decides to sleep on the couch. I walk towards the far bedroom, listening as the floorboards creak under my feet. I close my eyes and remember the warm glow of the light radiating from the fixture above even though it isn’t presently on