Jan chimed in, “Dad didn’t have a choice! It’s not fair, and your father shouldn’t blame us.”
Rebecca just shrugged her shoulders. She was torn over the whole thing, because it was the reason she was saved from the NOV orphanage she had been placed in.
CLEANSING DAY Griswolt changed the subject, “I would like to get there early, and get a good seat with the others.”
“Yoiccccch,” said Martha in disgust.
Not to be deterred, Griswolt said, “Well, the bus stop is sure to fill up, we had better get going.”
They all left the house, and Rebecca went home. As they were walking by Hais’s house on the way to the bus stop, Griswolt smiled and waved at Hais, who was going back to his shed for more traps. Hais just stopped and glared at them. Griswolt and family continued on to their way.
As they were walking, Jan asked a question, “Why is does he want revenge Dad?”
Griswolt shook his head and said, “Hais is having evil thoughts, and wants to get even. This is an evil world, son — you can’t have “getting even” without evil, and you can’t have evil without “getting even”.
Griswolt sighed, and said to Martha, “You know, I’ve been waiting for Hais to cool down, and he’s showing no signs of it. Maybe I should have him killed before he kills one of us.”
Martha was shocked, “I’m surprised you would even think about taking such a chance!”
“Exactly,” replied Griswolt, “But what else can I do? What’s the alternative? Must we always be on guard for when he thinks he can attack?”
Martha gave a big sigh. They were about to get in line for the bus. “Just give it time, OK?”
Griswolt growled, “I don’t know. It’s a hell of a way to have to live.”
They boarded the bus, and took the short ride to the temple.
The usual repertoire of choir and prayer occurred in the beginning of the service. The collection for the service took place right before the sacrifice. Then they brought the children out, all shackled to one another. They were dressed in refined black ela robes, (very expensive,) and there were seven of them. They were mostly boys, as usual. The children were rarely very dramatic during the spectacle. They were always drugged, for convenience and predictability. The posture of most was a bit slumped, as if they had accepted their fate. Fear was still evident as some were visibly shaking, eyes wide.
The children were ushered up to a pit that was circular and very wide — about eighty feet in diameter, and twelve feet deep. It was rounded and tapered, so that the congregation could have a good view. It was also acutely angled at the edge, like a bowl, so the children could not get out once thrown in. Most of the interior of the bowl had small holes in it, with small hydrogen fueled flames coming out of them. The sides were steep enough so that when the first children were thrown in, the rest of them were simply pulled in by their common bindings. Then they all slid to the center, and the pressurized fuel was released, causing giant flames. In less than a minute, the screaming would die out and the smell of burnt protein would fill the air. The congregation stood in silence as this occurred, some quietly humming hymns to themselves, others praying, the rest just soaking it in like sadistic iron drawn to a suffering magnet.
Jan’s reaction was similar to his mother’s. They would just look away, or down, or close their eyes. It was difficult to cover their ears in public, or their noses. Over the years, they could not but become desensitized, albeit never completely.
Martha let go a breath as if she had been holding it forever. It’s over. Thank God, she thought to herself. I can’t stand this. I have to find out more about the escape. We must escape, or we will be like everyone else here.
It usually took half a day or so for the shock to wear off Martha, not that anyone noticed. She would just hope that she would feel better.
They were quiet on the way home. It had been a nice summer. Fall was coming, and the air was getting cooler. The insects would be trying to get in the house again, like every year.
Chapter Fourteen
Predator High
J
an was finally and gratefully into his senior year of school. He was not going to college. With great difficulty, Martha had arranged a job for him in the mining industry, as her father had done for her. Griswolt was agreeable, considering his private
opinion that Jan would not make it in Griswolt’s field. His was an aggressively competitive environment, and Jan would have needed to start as a trooper, just as Griswolt had.
At eighteen years of age, Jan was becoming more adult looking. He was now just over nine feet tall, and was filling out as well. Jan had been told that he was looking more and more like his father Griswolt, who was still a few inches taller, much heavier and more muscular. Jan had his mother’s eyes — big, deep, and translucent green. He also had her temperament, for now.
Jan was sitting in the last class of the day, history class, listening to the teacher.
“Stop it!” he heard his buddy, Buz, say to Sak, the guy sitting behind him. Sak had killed a pladis, and was rubbing it on the back of Buz’s neck when the teacher wasn’t looking.
A pladis was a nasty little worm-like insect that had hundreds of legs. It had poison in the tips of its many feet, which left red marks on D’otians. These would tend to become infected. Their primary food sources were dead animals or other insects.
“I said cut it out!” Buz complained to Sak, as he turned around in his chair to glare at him. If he made a loud scene, he would likely get into trouble as well. Sak just snickered, and looked back over to his right to make sure Barab was watching and enjoying this as well. Barab was relishing the show immensely. He had returned to this school again last year, after being forced to attend elsewhere for the previous four years.
The teacher, Mr. Rachnard, was busy up in front of the class talking about the round black/white symbol behind him up on the wall. It was the symbol of the Temple of the NOV. Jan’s attention was on the teacher again. The symbol reminded Jan of a slowing swirling whirlpool.
Mr. Rachnard was saying, “We all know that the obvious meaning of the black/white symbol. It represents the black dragon chasing, penetrating, and succeeding in attacking and possessing the white dragon. The white dragon, being empty and weak, is under attack by the black dragon for all of time. The reason that the white dragon is able to replace the tail of the black dragon is because of the laziness in the tail of the black dragon.”
Jan was getting more and more frustrated with Sak’s treatment of Buz. He flicked his heavy pen in the air towards their metal chairs, hoping to make a noise that the teacher would notice.
It didn’t work and Sak picked up the pen, smiling at Jan, and slipped it into his pocket, once again glancing over at Barab for approval.
That was lame, Jan thought, disgusted with himself, and Buz.
Mr. Rachnard was still at it, “The return of the Black Dragon will be the return of our salvation. He will rule with an iron fist and annihilate the lazy, the stupid, the love-lovers, and all the useless people in our society. We will finally be purified, and go on to live great lives for all who he allows to live.”
The teacher paused for emphasis and said, “The Black Dragon was perfectly ruthless. His name was Ido the Great, a grand conqueror and leader, and he ruled with fierce vengeance against any who challenged him. His armies had been decreasing their momentum in the expansion of his empire. They had become soft. Mercy had begun to creep in to his campaign. Therefore, he went into battle, with the front lines of his troops. He did this to show them how to focus, how to show no mercy to the enemy. Ido died in righteous rage as he slaughtered the males, females and children of Platacs. His own armies had been decreasing the slaughter there because they had been seduced. They grew fond of the people of that enemy nation. Ido showed them their weakness when he martyred himself as an example to follow. His was the motto: ‘No mercy to the non-Aletians! Victory is great!’”
Jan was distracted again by
Buz’s weak protests to Sak. “Why doesn’t he do something more than just complain?” Jan asked himself.
A voice popped up behind Jan —
“Fuck this!” It was Huto, a friend of Buz’s. Huto got up, ignoring the teacher, and marched over to Sak.
Sak stopped what he was doing and looked at Huto, with a look like “What the hell do you think you’re gonna do?”
Huto responded to Sak’s expression with a hard openhanded ear slap to the side of Sak’s head, the blow promptly knocking Sak out of his chair. Huto was one big guy.
His attention drawn to the action at the back of the class, the teacher stopped talking and called out Huto, and sent him to the principal’s office. Huto left the classroom with a cocky look, glaring back at Sak.
Mr. Rachnard started to continue when Jan said to himself, “I can’t stand any more this crap.” He waived his hand to the teacher.
“Yes, Jan?” the teacher asked.
“Mr. Racknard,” said Jan, “Regarding the NOV Temple symbol up on the wall, since both sides are equal and balanced, how can one be more powerful?”
“Why, that’s just common sense, Jan. It’s the good sense God gives us that allows us to see the true meaning of such things,” the teacher responded. He stopped, looking around the room for a moment.
That’s it? What typical NOV shit, Jan thought — and look at him — he’s happy and satisfied with his answer. What a stick. Should I mess with him? Hmmm. Oh, what’s the use? He’ll bend heaven and D’ot to support his position. Jan decided to drop it, and just make it through class. The school day was ending soon.
The teacher went on, “The Nation of Vengeance is the sole authority on D’ot now. In ancient times, we had been part of a worldwide attempt to instill law and order. Ido was able to convince all four of the races to agree to separate into their own nations, and he expanded the Aletians’ land into theirs as well. Borders were drawn, however Ido shrewdly resolved to keep the Tomaks joined with his nation because he could use them to his advantage.
“Wars stopped for a half-century, and then they slowly started battling again. Ido eliminated the green demons from his land, and our successful conquests rose dramatically. Then the other countries followed suit as well, banning the green demons from their lands as well.
“However, the totally corrupt Platacs would not give them up, and suffered the consequences. They were weak, and easily beaten. Some people today think the green demons were a superstition, and never existed. Look up at that wall over there,”
Mr. Racknard pointed to the west wall. Up there was a small poster, a copy of something used as a symbol six thousand years ago. It looked like a hand, its green scales were very pointy, and there was a big “X” over the entire picture. He continued speaking, “Thanks to Ido, we do not need to worry about the green demons anymore, they are extinct.
“Eventually, the fierce Nahabs, the thieving Platacs and the treacherous Tomaks could be tolerated no longer. Ido’s descendent Agrimon almost succeeded in wiping them all out, but they kept breeding. It took us five thousand years to finish what he started then.”
“As you all know, we Aletians came up with the final solution, and annihilated them all over one hundred years ago. We now have expeditions going into these lands, but progress is slow because of the specialized vaccines needed to live in those territories. In any case, the poison out there keeps getting thinner and thinner, and we will someday be able to start new colonies all over the planet without vaccines!”
“Fat chance for that,” Jan muttered under his breath. He had heard through LERN that even with the new specialized vaccines, the NOV colonists had failed. They had been sent out into the far southwest old Tomak territories. Once away from the fear of a rigid central authority, certain ones would inevitably try to take over control of the colony. Fighting would always break out, ending in mutual slaughter of the colonists and their families, who would be on differing sides of various arguments. The few that survived were usually executed by the NOV for either their success of killing the others, or for their failure to thrive as a colony. This type of disaster had happened on four occasions. Very few people knew about the NOV’s top-secret development of other vaccines that were meant for the old Platac territory as well, which was southsoutheast. Being next to the ocean, it held great yama reserves, and there were plenty of wild keesh and fish to be harvested there. These would fetch a much higher price than farm-raised stocks.
The bell rang, and the school day was over. Jan and Buz headed out together quickly. They both knew that if they did not get rolling, Barab and his gang would mess with them on the way to the buses.
In the hallway heading to the buses, Buz saw Tama, a girl that he had a crush on. He was not the most confident kid in school, and Jan was always encouraging him to engage her. Buz was smaller than Jan was, and skinnier. Jan, amused, watched Buz as he stared at her walking in front of them.
“Go say hello,” Jan said, elbowing Buz, egging him on.
Buz dodged Jan’s jabs, looked at him in a panic, and harshly whispered, “Shut up!”
Jan did get some humor out of the situation. He knew that Tama was a LERN member, but of course could not tell Buz about it.
Once they were on the bus, Rebecca and her friend, Ferta, were already there, so Jan and Buz sat across the center aisle from them. Eventually Barab, Sak, and a couple more of their gang came in. Barab and Sak took a seat behind Rebecca and Ferta. They immediately tried to talk to the girls, but the girls of course were not interested in the least.
“There’s a party tomorrow night, what do you say?” Barab asked Ferta, who was looking at Rebecca.
“When I want to get drugged and raped, I’ll let you know!” retorted Ferta. She was a large gal, and would probably have been able to hold her own against Barab.
Sak looked at Barab for his response, as if his hero were just insulted. Barab took his time thinking of a good comeback. “Why would I want to be seen with a gendra like you?” he sneered.
Ferta just shook her head, realizing that she would not get any peace until she got off the bus. Moreover, what he just said did hurt, even coming from Barab.
Barab turned his attention to Rebecca now. He leaned over and touched her neck, and said, “What about you, sweetheart?” He was smiling sadistically, knowing that Rebecca could not stand him. It made it all the more amusing for him.
Rebecca pulled away from his touch, and now Jan, who was glued to the entire thing, chimed in, “Leave her alone! She doesn’t want to talk to you!”
Barab looked across the aisle at Jan with great distain, barking, “Mind your own business, egg head. I’m just talking, that’s all.” He turned his attention back to Rebecca again. “You sure are a pretty thing. I bet your mama was real pretty, too.”
“Ugghh! Just shut up and leave me alone,” Rebecca responded, moving as far away from Barab as she could, while still staying in her seat.
Buz nudged Jan and said, “Tell him off! She’s your girlfriend!”
“She’s not my girlfriend — she’s —” Jan said to Buz, as he got up, and stood in the middle of the aisle. Jan had Barab’s attention now as he challenged, “I said to leave her alone!”
“Or what? What are you going to do?” mocked Barab, eyeing Jan now.
Jan didn’t have a quick answer. He looked back at Buz, who was clearly not impressed with Jan’s performance as hero.
“I’ll report you to the school! It won’t be the first time, and you know it,” said Jan, with his arms crossed.
Barab looked at him with simmering rage. “You little tack. You probably would do that.” He leaned towards Jan and threatened, “You know what I’m going to do with you the next time I get you alone?”
Jan stood there with his arms crossed, hiding his fear. What have I gotten myself into? he asked himself silently.
Barab studied Jan for another moment, and said, “Fine!” He leaned back, arms behind his head, half-smiling. He gave Jan an evil stare as
Jan, satisfied, turned to return to his own seat. Barab could not afford any more “reports” like this if he could help it. He had already been removed from this school twice. He really wanted to get into mining school, and needed to keep any bad reports to a minimum now.
When Jan sat back his seat, Buz was smiling in approval.
In a short while, they arrived at Jan’s bus stop. Jan, Rebecca, and Buz got off the bus. Buz said, “Great job with Barab in there, Jan. I think he’s getting the message.”
“I don’t think that’s the end of it,” replied Jan. He looked at Rebecca. She was glowing.
“Oh Jan, thank you! You’re my hero!” With that, Rebecca went right up to an unready Jan, and planted a big kiss on his lips, surprising Jan, and astonishing Buz.
Buz said, “I’m out of here,” and immediately left for home. Such public or even private intimacy was alien to him, as well as most citizens. Still, on the way home, he could not get the image out of his head. He wondered what it would be like if Tama, the object of his affection, did something similar to him.
Rebecca was still holding on to Jan just as Buz left. She looks different, Jan thought. She’s looking at me like I’m a steak. It made him feel — uncomfortable — what is that look?
Rebecca did indeed have a different shine in her eye. Something about the episode on the bus had stimulated her. After all, she had been laying hints on Jan of late. Indeed, for the past year, her attitude towards Jan had been changing towards something more — close. Now, still holding onto Jan, they were looking into each other’s eyes. Rebecca move to kiss Jan again, more slowly this time. As her lips touched his, he began pulling away.
Rebecca stopped, and became embarrassed. She looked down and said, “Oh I — I don’t know what came over me!” She smiled and lifted her head, letting go of her hold on Jan.
Jan was a little shocked. I didn’t see that coming. I wasn’t ready.
“Rebecca,” he said, “I can’t do that — why would you think — it’s too —” He paused, “It’s so different. You’re acting different, and it’s weird.”
Dystopyum (The D-ot Hexalogy Book 1) Page 17