by David, JN
Of his own accord, he had become the Efeghis' lackey, lapping up the crumbs of friendship and recognition that Amar accorded him, as though these could atone for a whole life of contempt and ill treatment.
But I wasn't complaining. This made it easier for me. It was Lauren I was feeling sorry for. You couldn't hate Oniar. But I knew she wouldn't neglect her duty and now it was time for me to do mine. Olden had been awake for a while but without saying anything. I ran my hand softly over his back.
“Sweetheart, is anything the matter?” I murmured.
“Everything's fine” he replied, a little sharply.
I leaned over and kissed his shoulder. “Are you sure, darling? Is it Commandant Eraes that's worrying you?”
He turned to me with a look of surprise: “Irane? She doesn't bother me. She's an idiot and Amar will make mincemeat of her.”
“If she's that stupid, why has the Emperor asked her to come and keep an eye on what Amar is doing?”
“Her family is very influential, almost as much as Amar's. And the Emperor likes to set the great families against each other, to make it easier for him to maintain control. Irane knows that if Amar bungles his command over the Earth, she'll be the one to replace him.”
“Could that happen?” I asked fearfully.
Olden smiled: “No way. Amar controls everything that happens on Earth. He's given the Emperor no cause for criticism.”
“And this Irane, what's she like?”
It took Olden a while to reply, and I was afraid I'd been showing too much interest. But he didn't respect me enough to consider me a danger, and eventually replied: “Let's just say that it's very lucky for Earth that Amar was the one who was chosen.”
“Why?”
“There is nothing subtle about Irane and brute force is all that makes her tick. Whoever opposes her gets destroyed. Whoever threatens her will be annihilated. She would never practise Amar's policy of tolerance.”
“You mean she'd try to stop the terrorists?”
“I mean she would crush the terrorists, and anybody who got in her way.”
After Olden left, I filled out a crystal with this fresh information and passed it to Lauren at the earliest opportunity. She wanted to destroy Amar, but I was no longer sure that this was the answer. I didn't want to see what this Irane was capable of achieving on Earth.
After taking my message on board, Lauren suggested we should go for an afternoon stroll in a nearby park. The great thing about this park was that it was next to a very noisy building site. We'd already used it to talk to each other in private. I realised that we'd need to revise our plan.
I kept an eye on Lauren as we strolled to the noisiest part of the park. She seemed different. I knew Oniar had spent the night with her and I was concerned about the shadows I detected in her eyes. Lauren was having a tough time and I could guess why. But I didn't want to humiliate her by showing it, so I kept quiet.
At the park, Lauren led me to a particularly noisy spot and then turned to me: “We must get rid of Amar,” she said.
“What? Didn't you understand anything of what I told you? This Irane is dangerous. If she takes over the running of the invasion, she'll start a massacre.”
Lauren stared at me silently for a moment. Then she went on: “Auxana, you just don't get it. Look around you: we've already lost the war.”
I shook my head: “That's not true. The Resistance…”
“Has already lost. People have accepted the invasion. Unless things change, there will be no hope left for the Earth.”
“I don't see what you mean”, I told her. But that wasn't true. I did see. I just couldn't accept it.
“Irane must take Amar's place, Auxana. He has to be replaced by a bumbling idiot. If Amar stays, everything we've fought for will disappear.”
“We're not talking about bumbling, Lauren. We're talking about a massacre. About the destruction of innocent lives. Is that what you want?”
“Yes”, replied Lauren.
I looked at her with fresh eyes.
“No!” I replied. I turned on my heels and started to leave.
“Listen to me!” Lauren yelled, grabbing my arm. “If there were any way at all to avoid it, I'd do so. But there isn't.”
I turned to face her, and said sharply: “Who are you trying to kid? You've made up your mind; you can change it. There's always a choice.”
“Not this time.”
“Yes there is! We keep Amar and use our position as concubines to obtain information, and then pass it on to the Resistance.”
“No. That won't be enough. What's more, access to the high-security zones is too difficult. Why do you think I still haven't used my siphon? The day we turn up there and steal the information will be the day we have to get the hell out of the general HQ.”
“Well then, let's do it. And go.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It just won't work, Auxana!” she sighed wearily. “Amar is too smart. He's already won this war. In the minds of the people. They don't want to fight; and they won't, no matter what we do. Only Irane can give them a reason to fight, to struggle to the bitter end.”
“By massacring innocent people?”
“Yes”, sighed Lauren. “I already told you. I'd love to be able to do things differently, but our own freedom and that of our children depends on this.”
“Those are fine words, Lauren, but I don't believe you. There has to be another way.”
Lauren gazed silently into space for a moment. Then she looked at me again:
“Well then, I suppose this is where we have to go our own separate ways. I'd like you not to try to stop me, but I won't ask you to make any promises. You're free to do what you want.”
Lauren walked off without another word. And I stayed there, in that park on that lovely summer's day, watching as children played by the fountain and their smiling mothers watched over them. It had been a year since the Earth had been invaded. But children were still playing and mothers were still smiling. These kids would learn at school that the human race was violent, committing sexual crimes and other atrocities. But that, thanks to the Efeghis, those wonderful Efeghis, all that was a thing of the past and there were no more wars. That the Earth was too irresponsible to be left to its own devices. And they would believe it. And they'd be grateful.
Lauren was right. We had lost the war and I hadn't even realised it. I'd seen acts of rebellion as signs of hope whereas Lauren had had her finger on the pulse of popular opinion. She was right. Whatever the price to pay – for the Earth as well as for our souls –, we had to get rid of Commandant Amar. And prompt a massacre.
I caught up with Lauren before she'd left the park, and told her my decision. She explained her plan to me. We needed to climb as high as possible in the collaborators' hierarchy. In the meantime, we would take no more risks whatsoever.
No further contact with black-market dealers, no using Olden's bracelet. We'd be good little collaborators through and through. And then strike – when Amar has placed us in an important position. Creating as much havoc and publicity as possible. And if possible, humiliating Amar to such an extent that his political future would be in ruins.
We set to work immediately.
Two years went by.
19 Lauren
That night, Oniar asked if I wanted a baby. We'd been together now for two years. Two years of tenderness, closeness and love. He never seemed to tire of me and I wasn't growing weary of him. All the same, I refused.
I told him I felt I was too young, that we had our whole lives ahead of us in which to start a family. But I was lying. We didn't have our whole lives. In a few days, this would all come to an end: the war would begin again, and the dream would be over. Starting from today.
I hadn't been wasting my time over these past two years. I knew where and when to strike. But most of all, I knew how.
I woke up alone in the room I shared with Oniar. As usual, he'd left me a cup of coffee be
neath the laser heater on the table. I drank the coffee while checking the news on the hologram in the sitting room. It was in Efeghian, but I was now familiar with the language.
It confirmed what had been buzzing around the general HQ for weeks: the Crown Prince of the empire was to arrive the next day. I then switched off the news programme and keyed in the activation codes for my trojan horse.
It had been two years since I'd tried to activate my spyware program. For all I knew, it might have been deleted from the system. But it responded to my calling codes, allowing me to access the HQ security system.
I learnt by heart the procedure and the access codes we'd need in order to carry out our mission. I then deleted my research. I knew that despite everything, it wouldn't take long for the request to show up and be traced back to this console. Just long enough for us to carry out our plan. I dressed quickly and set off to meet my Asaï teacher.
I found Emon in the garden of the HQ, just as I did every morning. He was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, waiting for me. I tried to approach as silently as I could, but I'd barely reached the edge of the garden before he called out to me:
“Come here, Lauren!”
“I don't know how you do it”, I replied, sitting down facing him, adopting the same position.
“All you have to do is open your mind, Lauren”, he said, without opening his eyes.
“You've been trying to teach me to open up for months; don't you think it's time to call it a day?”
“Keep calm. Your frustration is your worst enemy. Take a deep breath, relax and open yourself up.”
It was pointless trying to annoy him; he never lost his cool. Emon had been coaching me for almost two years. Every session went like this. With my eyes closed, I'd try to empty out my mind, to visualise the world around me.
I saw nothing, felt nothing, and always ended up feeling ridiculous. The worst thing was this sensation in my head, a sort of gathering unease in my mind. Something I wanted to get rid of but which wouldn't let go and was growing inside me. It was nice to know I'd never have to spend any more mornings like this.
Emon opened his eyes and smiled at me: “You can stop now, Lauren.”
“Have I made any progress?”
“Of course. With each attempt you get a little closer to your goal. Now, I'd like to know if anything new has happened recently.”
“What do you mean?” I replied.
“Is there anything unusual or strange going on around you?”
“No.”
“Very well. You can recreate your mental sphere now.” I did as he said and tried to imagine a sphere around me, surrounding Emon and a few objects placed on the ground. Then I tried to sense what was in my sphere, every being, every object, every molecule. Emon then asked me to try to make these molecules vibrate, to make them move.
I felt as though I were in front of a New Age guru. I did as he asked but could feel nothing, only a pressure in my head, the result, surely, of all this wasted effort.
The exercise lasted a whole hour. At the end, I was worn out and had accomplished nothing at all. Emon gave me permission to leave and I rushed out of the garden, stumbling slightly over an object in my haste to get away before he changed his mind. For an instant, something seemed out of place, but I didn't have time to figure out what it was, as my thoughts were totally engrossed in that night's mission.
I met Auxana at breakfast. She was sitting at our old table and I inferred from this that she'd quarrelled once again with Olden. On the days when they weren't arguing, we all used to eat at the officers' table.
I had of course asked Auxana to start these quarrels. Likewise, she made a point of pushing her chair back violently, just as an earthling was passing behind her. She sent him flying, and in the ensuing confusion I removed the siphon from the hiding place where I'd left it over two years earlier.
The rest of the day went by with no major events. Auxana had received the crystal advising her of the last arrangements to be made, and all we could do was wait.
We had planned to go into action at 8 o'clock, the time of the evening changeover. Oniar would be expecting me in his room from 10 o'clock onwards. Olden didn't come into the equation as Auxana used to deliberately come in at a different time every day.
We therefore had two hours in which to break into the high-security zone and make a copy of the Efeghis' secret files. I had launched a virus that would be triggered at 8 pm precisely, and which would put the surveillance cameras out of action. We'd have to avoid the guards as far as possible, as a murder would attract attention. But if need be, I was prepared to eliminate any awkward witnesses.
What we had in mind for that evening would certainly not go unnoticed. But it would be a while before the finger of suspicion pointed at us. And by then, we would have had time to put the next stage of our plan into action.
After the evening meal, I met up with Auxana in her room. We tried on various outfits, speculating cheerfully about the prince and our future roles in the government. Amar had indeed decided that we were worthy, along with several other collaborators in our class, to be youth representatives in the government he was forming. I had almost wept with joy when he personally recommended us.
A few minutes before the change of guard, we left the room and headed for the prohibited zone. We'd been granted access through certain doors to allow us to reach the rooms of our respective lovers. The guards were used to seeing us going to and fro and showed no sign of having noticed us. Preparations were under way for a ceremony to welcome the prince, and the Efeghis were all very busy.
They didn't spot us turning off towards the high-security zone. Auxana used Olden's bracelet and I entered the access codes that I'd obtained that morning from Oniar's console.
Inside the zone, I left Auxana to keep watch whilst I inserted the siphon into one of the consoles. Then I hissed, “Dammit!”
“What's wrong?” whispered Auxana, in a panic.
“Nothing!” I replied. I'd just remembered what it was that caught me unawares that morning. As I had focussed on each of the objects Emon had placed around me, I had memorised their positions. When I stood up, I'd tripped over the little wooden box.
The box that had been beside me and not in front of me at the time I'd closed my eyes. I wasn't as gifted as Emon, but I couldn't see how anyone could have touched those objects without my sensing their presence.
“Are you sure everything's OK?”
“Yes”, I replied. This was no time to panic. I'd long since given up wondering about those mysterious Asaïs, of which I was one. Nothing of any interest had resulted from my training with Emon. I'd ended up believing that the Asaïs were a sort of boring religious myth, even though Auxana firmly believed otherwise. Now, I began to wonder. About them and about the headaches that had plagued me since the start of my training. But this was not the time for conjecture.
“Auxana, go and hide on the other side of the room”, I whispered.
“Why?”
“If anybody comes, you won't be much use to me here. There's nowhere here I can hide; they'll see me straight away. But you could always surprise them and beat their brains out from behind.”
She did as I asked, and I waited by the siphon as it downloaded the data.
This seemed to me to be taking for ever. All the while, I kept thinking I could hear the sound of a guard opening the door. It finished at last, and I delicately withdrew the siphon and hid it in my clothing. I left the small IT room and found myself face-to-face with a guard, his eyes wide, yelling, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Auxana was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, the guard had only spotted me after coming through the door, and it had already closed on him before he started shouting. I went up to him with a smile: “I'm lost. Please could you tell me the way to the private quarters?”
He grabbed my arm and violently pinned me down facing the wall, twisting my head round towards him: “Don't you mess with me!” he yelled. The
n he switched on the microphone on his helmet and began speaking in Efeghian.
“I've found an intruder…” He stopped mid-sentence with a little rasping sound, and released his grip. I turned round in time to see his expression of utter surprise. Then, he collapsed and I saw Auxana behind him, very pale and clutching a laser knife.
I bent over the guard. He was dead.
“Well done, Auxana!” At this, she shuddered slightly, and I added: “He saw me; I would have had to kill him anyway.”
She said nothing; she was still in shock. I'd have liked some time to help her get over this experience but we didn't have a moment to lose. So I slapped her in the face for all I was worth and saw the sense returning to her eyes. And anger.
“How dare you!” she hissed.
“You can always sue me later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”
She looked about her and nodded. “What do we do with him!”
“Leave him there; we don't have time to hide his body. In any case, he's already sounded the alarm.”
We left the high-security zone and managed by the skin of our teeth to get close to the officers' bedrooms before the alarm went off. Along with the other officers, Oniar and Olden came out of their rooms and caught sight of us.
The officers started speaking into their headsets, asking the reason for the alert. There were soldiers running and a lot of shouting, indicating that the guard's body had been found.
I pretended to be scared by all this commotion and Oniar came up to reassure me: “Everything is fine”, he said, taking me in his arms. “Go back to your room, Lauren. It's just a little accident in the high-security zone.”
“Won't we sleep together tonight?” I asked weakly.
“No my love; I'm needed here.”
“OK”, I replied, clutching him to me a little more tightly. I wouldn't be able to do this for much longer. I gave Amar a few days at the most to find the culprits.
I would have liked a little time to prepare myself for giving Oniar up for ever. But that was wishful thinking. I'd already had two years and that wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough.