Elites

by Natasha Ngan

  ‘Are you all right?’ she whispered.

  ‘What?’

  She stopped walking and touched his arm. ‘Back there in the hall. You didn’t shoot.’

  ‘The masks,’ he said in a strained voice. ‘They remind me …’

  ‘The Purge?’

  He nodded.

  Silver took one of his hands and squeezed it. Before she could say anything, they heard running footsteps, and a voice rang out in the corridor.

  ‘Butterfly!’ A slim, shaven-haired boy half ran, half fell round the corner of the corridor. His eyes were wide, his face white.

  Silver’s heart jumped. ‘Cobe!’ she cried.

  Butterfly ran forward. Cobe slammed into him and they staggered back, clutching at each other, Cobe’s face buried in Butterfly’s neck.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Cobe sobbed. He pulled back and his eyes roamed over Butterfly’s face. ‘Ember told me they’d turn your birthchip blockers off, that they’d find you and torture you unless I called and pretended everything was fine to find out when you were coming. I thought this way you had a chance. I thought –’

  ‘Ember knows we’re coming?’ Silver interjected, a shiver of fear in her voice.

  Cobe didn’t even glance in her direction. ‘I’m so sorry, Butterfly.’

  Butterfly shook his head. ‘Don’t be.’ He gripped Cobe’s arms. ‘You’ve done more than enough for us.’

  Cobe shut his eyes. When he next spoke, his voice was a whisper. ‘I never told you why I helped you and Silver,’ he said. ‘It was all for you. I … I love you.’

  There was silence in the corridor. Silver stared at them, and everything suddenly made sense. Cobe’s coldness towards her, his determination in helping Butterfly with whatever he wanted, even if that meant Butterfly leaving Neo-Babel; leaving him. She wondered if she should feel jealous, but all she felt was an aching in her chest and a strange desire to go to Cobe, to hug him and say, ‘I know. I love him too.’

  When Butterfly spoke, his voice was soft. ‘You’re my senior, Cobe. I’d do anything for you.’

  ‘And I you,’ Cobe said, smiling faintly.

  Bang!

  The sound of the gunshot was horribly loud in the corridor. Cobe fell forward, slumping into Butterfly’s arms. There was a bloody bullet hole in the back of his head.

  ‘My little junior,’ Ember said, appearing round the corner of the corridor. She opened her arms wide, her lips curled in their usual sneer. ‘It’s been so long.’

  38

  The Bee-Hives

  Silver stared at her Elite senior, too appalled to speak. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Butterfly laying Cobe down at the side of the corridor, but she couldn’t look away from Ember. She didn’t think she’d ever hated anyone as much as she hated Ember right then. Even the anger she’d felt during the Purge was nothing compared to this. Her whole body shook with a raw, desparate fury. She felt as though it were ripping her apart, tearing her in two.

  Ember raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s wrong? I thought you’d thank me for killing the competition for your boyfriend’s affections.’

  ‘One more word, Ember,’ Butterfly said, ‘and I swear I’ll put a bullet through your face.’

  She smirked. ‘I’m not afraid of filthy, Red-loving Mainlanders like you –’

  Butterfly lunged at her, raising his gun. Ember stepped forward and raised her own, a cruel laugh twisted across her lips. But it was Joza – who must have heard the gunshot and came looking for them – who fired first.

  His bullet hit Ember’s shoulder. She twisted from the impact, a hiss escaping her lips. It was only a second of lost composure, and then she turned back and raised her gun again, but by now Silver had darted forward. She grabbed Ember’s arm, twisting it behind her back, wrapping her other arm round Ember’s neck.

  Joza touched Butterfly’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, but now Cobe’s gone, we need Ember alive to get into the Bee-Hives.’

  Butterfly didn’t say anything. He was still staring at Ember, the arm holding his gun shaking. His blue eyes had turned a dark, ocean colour, and Silver could feel the anger emanating from him in cold waves.

  ‘She’s not worth it,’ she said, looking at him over Ember’s head. ‘Remember what you told me after I’d fallen in the river? Ember’s not the one to blame.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Butterfly. ‘But I know who is.’

  ‘Senior Surrey?’

  He nodded.

  Beneath Silver’s grip, Ember struggled. ‘Leave him out of it,’ she hissed. ‘Don’t –’

  Silver squeezed her arm tighter round Ember’s neck until she fell silent.

  ‘Where do you think he is?’ Butterfly asked Silver.

  ‘Try his office. He’ll probably be there waiting for Ember to bring our heads back to him.’

  Joza stepped forward. ‘Now, hang on. Is this a good idea?’

  ‘Yes,’ Silver answered firmly. She knew exactly how Butterfly was feeling. She had felt it that day back at Yasir’s village when the soldiers arrived, and she felt it now, squeezing her arm round Ember’s neck. ‘Go get him,’ she said. ‘Make him pay.’

  Butterfly nodded. Then he was off, running back down the corridor. When he was out of sight, Silver and Joza started down the hallway towards the lift that would take them to the Bee-Hives. Using Ember’s birthchip to get them through the scanners, they travelled down to the lowest level of the Stacks and crossed a hallway to the observatory deck lining the front of the cavern which housed Neo-Babel’s DNA store.

  The name DNA Holding Towers was misleading. Rather than being built upwards, the DNA stores went the opposite way, hanging down from supports in a funnel shape which had gained them the nickname Bee-Hives. From the observatory deck, the huge hanging masses of the Bee-Hives were not fully visible, but there was still a sense of awe from the vast space of the rocky cavern, the wide, flat discs from which they hung, connected by tubular chains to the immense support structure that covered the cavern ceiling. A swirling mist wreathed the Bee-Hives, keeping the DNA at the cold temperature needed for preservation.

  ‘Incredible,’ Joza breathed, placing both hands on the slanting glass.

  Silver moved to the door at the far end of the observatory deck, gripping Ember tighter. ‘Come on, Joza.’

  ‘Don’t want to destroy it now, do you?’ said Ember, a gurgling laugh catching in her throat. ‘Now you’ve seen its power.’

  ‘Its power?’ Joza hissed. With a snarl of rage, he grabbed Ember out of Silver’s hold and slammed her against the door. ‘Oh, I’ve seen its power, you bitch – out there, beyond the walls. I know what it does to people. How it drives them to kill to keep the power to themselves.’

  Ember laughed, and seeing what she was about to do a second before it happened, Silver lunged forward and grabbed her shoulder. She dug her fingernails into the bleeding bullet wound. Ember screamed with pain but still pushed forward to attack Joza, but now he’d realised what was happening. He slammed into Ember, knocking her back.

  None of them heard the hiss as the door to the Bee-Hives slid open, but Ember must have slid over the birthchip scanner, for the next moment the three of them fell onto the circular staircase that led down into the cavern. Still wrestling to keep hold of each other, they tumbled down the stairs. They slid to a stop on the floor of the walkway lining the cavern.

  Silver sprang up, sitting on top of Ember’s struggling body. ‘The Bee-Hives!’ she cried at Joza. ‘Destroy them!’

  He stood up slowly. He stared out over the railing at the flat disc-tops of the DNA towers. ‘It’s just …’

  ‘Just what?’ It was taking all Silver’s energy to keep Ember down. She wished she could kill her, put a bullet in her head. But they needed her alive to get back out.

  ‘We could punish them,’ said Joza, staring out at the Bee-Hives. ‘With all this information, we could punish them all. Every single policeman and Council member who helped with the Purges, every man and woman who maimed and
raped and killed –’

  ‘And then you’ll be just as bad as them!’ Silver was struggling to keep Ember down. ‘Joza – destroy them. Now!’

  But he just continued to stare.

  Ember laughed so loudly it echoed throughout the cavern. ‘Well,’ she said, lying still under Silver. ‘Now the Bee-Hives aren’t going to be destroyed because your stupid brother has realised just how important they are, maybe you’d like to go take a look at your own DNA store. Surrey told me something very interesting a few days ago. I can’t believe he’d kept it from me this long.’

  ‘Why don’t you just tell me and save me the bother?’ snapped Silver, barely listening to what Ember was saying. She wished she knew how to get through to Joza. They had to destroy the Bee-Hives now.

  ‘All right,’ said Ember. ‘If you insist. See, I’d always known you were useless, Silver. You are a Red, after all. That was enough for me to despise you. But I couldn’t understand how someone like you had been streamed into the Elites programme. So you can imagine how delighted I was when Surrey finally explained it to me.’

  Silver looked down at Ember. ‘Explained what?’ she asked, a sense of dread trickling down her spine.

  Ember smiled nastily. ‘That your useless Red blood is worthless. The only reason you became an Elite was because Surrey organised the DNA hacking himself. He wanted to get payback for what your brother did, forming a resistance outside Neo. He wanted to turn you into the very thing Joza hates most.’ Her smile grew wider. ‘You see, Silver? You’re not an Elite. Your DNA is worthless. You’re nothing.’

  39

  The Limpets Rat and the Witch

  Silver felt a dizzying sensation at Ember’s words. She thought for a moment she was about to wake up in the back of the truck outside Neo-Babel and discover this had all been a dream. ‘I’m not … what?’ she whispered.

  ‘Not an Elite, no,’ said Ember silkily. ‘It explains it all. Why Surrey paired you with me as your senior. Why he covered for you after discovering your mistake the day of the parade. He’s been trying to hide the fact that despite his best efforts, you really have turned out to be as redundant as your DNA.’

  Silver stared at her. ‘I don’t believe you.’

  Ember’s laugh was so loud Silver flinched. ‘You don’t? Surely you know better than anyone else what a pitiful Elite you’ve turned out to be? How do you think you got your name? Silver – the colour of the dollar notes Surrey had to pay to hack your DNA. His little joke.’

  Silver shook he head. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she said again. It couldn’t be true.

  Ember shrugged. ‘Why don’t you check your DNA store, then?’

  Silver looked up at the disc-tops of the Bee-Hives in the chamber beyond. The answer was waiting for her in one of the softly glowing blue vials. If Joza destroyed the birthchips, she’d never know the truth. She hesitated for a second, loosening her grip on Ember –

  ‘Look out!’

  Ember had freed one of her arms while Silver was distracted, grabbing the gun from the belt around her jumpsuit. At Joza’s shout, Silver twisted off Ember just in time. A bullet screamed past her ear. She rolled back, expecting another shot, but Ember was running to the circular staircase now, her red hair flying behind her. With a surge of panic, Silver realised that if Ember left, she and Joza would be trapped.

  ‘Joza!’ Silver shouted, pushing herself up and running after Ember. ‘The Bee-Hives!’

  Whatever spell had taken over him, it seemed to have been broken by the desperation in his sister’s voice. Joza ran in the opposite direction towards the huge clasps in the disc-tops where support chains connected to the Bee-Hives, while Silver hurtled up the stairs.

  Ember was not as fast as Silver. Just as she reached the top of the stairs, Silver grabbed her foot. They fell. The edge of the steps jutted into Silver’s chest, winding her, but she ignored the pain, pulling herself up Ember’s body.

  Ember kicked back. She pushed Silver off and darted for the door to the observatory deck.

  ‘No!’ Silver cried. Desperation swelled inside her. She couldn’t let Ember leave without them.

  But Ember did not leave. Instead, she stopped still as the door slid open, revealing a figure standing there.

  It was a young Afronese boy. He wore dirty, blood-stained clothes, and his cheeks were hollow. Silver had no idea who he was, but Ember’s eyes widened at the sight of him.

  ‘Akhezo,’ Ember growled, raising her gun –

  Silver threw herself at Ember. They crashed to the floor, Ember’s cheekbone cracking sickeningly as the side of her head smacked into the ground. Silver wrestled the gun from her hands. She was just about to shoot Ember in the leg to stop her from running away again when a hand grabbed her wrist.

  It was the Afronese boy. ‘Please leave the witch to me,’ he said quietly.

  Perhaps it was the surprise of seeing what looked like a Limpets boy here in the Bee-Hives, or perhaps it was her own anger at Ember, but for some reason Silver found herself looking back into the boy’s dark, serious eyes, and nodding.

  As soon as Silver stood up, Ember started to her feet, but the boy shot her in her leg and she fell down. He shot her again in her other leg.

  Ember’s scream was a horrible, animal sound. Horror rose in Silver’s throat like a great black wave. She knew she had no part in whatever was happening here, and after the way Ember had treated her her whole life, she shouldn’t feel bad for her. But she still felt pity for her senior Elite. Feeling sick, she turned away, and noticed the boy had jammed the doors into and out of the observatory deck open. If he’d done the same for the lift, then she and Joza could get out of here.

  Silver looked back out into the cavern. Ember had slid down a few steps, leaving a trail of blood that Akhezo was standing in. Beyond, Joza ran back across the disc-tops of the Bee-Hives. He’s done it then, she thought, but there was no relief or happiness. Not even satisfaction.

  Ember’s screams curdled the air.

  Joza was at the staircase now. At the top, he stopped abruptly at the sight of Ember and the Afronese boy. ‘What in the gods …?’

  ‘Leave it,’ said Silver.

  Joza met her eyes. He nodded. Then the two of them were running out along the observatory deck, down the curving corridor and towards the lift to take them back up into the Stacks.

  As Ember stared up at Akhezo from the circular steps, her body screaming with pain, she dissolved inside herself. She disappeared, falling back through her years to a night from her childhood.

  She was thirteen years old. She’d just moved into the new bedroom she would be sharing with her Elite senior. Ember remembered meeting him earlier that day; a big Afrikan boy, all muscles and grisly stubble. He smelt of wood and sweat.

  ‘Hello, Ember.’

  His grip was strong as he took her hand.

  ‘Hello, Quoma.’

  Ember had not been able to meet his eyes.

  Now it was night. Ember was lying in her bedpod. She lay straight, her arms at her sides, staring up at the shadowy metal casing that curved around her. Tears slid down her face. She wanted her mother. She wanted her big brother. Despite everything, she wanted her father.

  There was the sound of footsteps outside the bedpod. A sliver of moonlight sliced across her blankets as the shutters opened, and Quoma’s face came into view. Ember sat up, wondering what was wrong, but before she could say anything he’d reached in and grabbed her neck, pulling her out of the bedpod.

  Quoma threw her so hard to the ground that she bit her tongue. ‘This is how Elites must be,’ he said, crouching over her. His breath stank of alcohol. ‘They must be numb to pain. Numb to giving pain.’ He kicked her in the stomach and she doubled over, curling into a ball. ‘When you kill for the first time, don’t let yourself feel it. You can’t be like me. You can’t let them haunt you.’ In the moonlight, his eyes shivered. ‘Do you understand, Ember?’ he asked. ‘Do you understand how to be an Elite?’

  She nodd
ed, trying desperately to hold back the sobs that were choking in her throat. Quoma straightened. Then he kicked her again, and again, and he kept kicking her until she fell unconscious from the pain.

  ‘I hate you!’ Akhezo’s voice reached Ember as though from far away. ‘You killed Neve, and Cambridge died because of you and Allum! I hate you!’

  There was another gunshot. Ember felt her chest exploding with pain, but she had folded herself away, deep inside herself, just as Quoma’s abuse had taught her to, and she didn’t acknowledge it. She felt herself falling again, her years fluttering by her like a warm wind.

  It was another night. Ember was eighteen. She was lying on a thick, furry rug on the floor of an elegant room, a slender acer tree standing in its corner by a long glass window. Moonlight slid across her naked body.

  ‘I love you,’ said Surrey. He kissed her ear.

  Ember smiled. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’ She hesitated, adding quietly, ‘I haven’t seen Quoma around.’

  ‘You won’t be seeing him around.’

  ‘You did it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘For me?’

  ‘Always for you.’

  The room twisted and shrank and Ember was swimming amid her memories once more, snatches of them passing just out of reach. She fell right through them and back into the present. She felt calmer now, almost peaceful as she lay on the floor looking up at Akhezo.

  His face swam, turning into Surrey’s.

  ‘I love you,’ she whispered, and then a hard blackness slammed into her, knocking everything away.

  When Butterfly reached Senior Surrey’s office, he saw that Silver’s guess had been right. Senior Surrey was standing over the acer tree in the corner of his room. The pale light of the dying day washed in through the glass wall, lighting up the mottled grey-red leaves of the tree so that they glowed, making them look almost as though they were on fire.

  Senior Surrey turned as Butterfly entered the room, an expectant look on his face, but it fell away as soon as he saw who it was. ‘Butterfly,’ he said stiffly.