by Richard Gohl
anyone that there are only ten thousand seats. They’re going to leave most of you precious Napeans behind to burn. They’re telling you nothing. They’re giving you nothing. You need to stand up for yourself. Like we are.” Shane was clearly shocked by all this news.
“What do you know?” asked Alia.
“I’m a guard—I look after Napea and the Subs coming in and going out. That’s my job.”
“Now I consider that to be lying because you came down here…” Alia was stopped short. “…To find my son.” interrupted Shane.
“To find us, you mean,” said Madi, shaking her head but smiling. “No.” Shane was also shaking his head.
“Don’t worry, poor old Mark’s already filled us in on both his and your job.”
“Then why, if you know all the answers, are you questioning me? I’m a guard. I’m not a Service official. ”
“I guess I had hoped that maybe, now that you’ve been disillusioned as to the truth, you might change your point of view,” said Alia.
“What? Swap sides, you mean?” said Shane.
“Ryan needs you; we need you… we found a huge file on you outlining all your misdemeanors…” Alia left the information hanging.
“Oh yes… and…?” asked Alia.
“The Service seems to have documented a lot about your various crimes, your corruption.”
“They document everything. All allegations—true or false,” said Shane calmly.
“And now you’re down here—with the enemy,” said Bes, always looking for the creepy angle.
“Join,” said Madi.
“I can’t. As soon as I fall asleep, they’re in my head; they can snuff me out like a candle.”
“Well, isn’t it true what you said? They can’t reach you underground, through all this solid rock?” asked Alia, tilting her head to one side, looking at the ceiling.
“Yes, but you’re all at risk. This whole place is at risk. Blackwood, Belair, Stirling, Crafers, Picadilly, and Greenhill—goodnight all. They’re here now. They’re looking for me now.”
“Not if we get them first,” said Alia, standing up.
Shane’s eyes followed her. “It’s not the Napeans. It’s the Service—they’re the real gods. We’re their creatures.”
“We’ve thought of all that,” said Alia with a smile.
“We can’t broadcast internationally—our network is completely isolated.” Shane was beginning to show some signs of exasperation.
“We don’t need to go international—you contact Magellan and tell him what we intend to pass on to the Napean population. It may worry them, don’t you think, Shane?”
“It may,” said Shane, unconvinced.
Chapter 41
The Statement
SHANE WAS MOVED to Wez’s house, much closer to the surface, so he could relay his message to Magellan. As they went in through Wez’s front door they noticed real people come running round the bend, panicking and yelling, “Guards! Guards!” Rushing to get off the street and into their homes.
“Shut the door!” said Wez, “There’s a safe room!”
Inside the front door, the rough hewn rock wall of the hallway concealed a hidden latch. Wez lifted away a brick size rock to reveal the lever. Pulling it released a trapdoor in the ceiling from which a thin metal ladder was revealed. Wez used a rod that came down on top of the trapdoor to release a catch on the ladder. A thin tunnel had been cut through the rock and from this slid the bottom half of the ladder, which extended to within a few feet from the ground.
The four of them squeezed up through the hole. Wez used the rod to pull the ladder back up and then closed the trapdoor.”
“We must be close now,” said Shane. “It is. Five meters of rock.”
“You guys realize that whether I’m held against my will or not, it’s a security breach—the Service will be trying to kill me now. They’ll find me—as soon as I transmit they’ll find me.”
“If you get this message to Magellan, they will change their point of view. You’ll still have a job.”
Magellan had been waiting, expecting him. Shane: I’m going to read a statement from the Subs.
Magellan: That would be Alia Bokovski and company. Where are you?
Shane began reading: “We’re in trouble. I’ve been down below. I’m only alive because of what I can tell you. You must do as I say. Withdraw all Napean guards from the underworld. The group of Subs we knew to be planning an attack have been through all of the Service data: star system files, planet files, your six-month CME prediction, your lack of preparedness…”
“Go Shane,” said Alia smiling. Shane continued, “The spacecraft only being able to transport twenty percent of the population, the problem of N.E.T. physiology reversal… they’ve even read my records—they know everything. They are in contact—internationally. Publication of this information will cause a disruption the likes of which we have not seen since the virus. Pull out the guards. Now.”
Magellan spoke to Jeffery and Pato. Pato posted the information so that in seconds Laos, Ulan Bator, Beijng, Tokyo, and all of North and South American Service could listen in.
Shane continued, reading Alia’s statement, “The real people want all stolen children or any other children in Napea to be taken to the Stirling base for assessment. They want you to announce that you have closed the life center so that no one can be killed for coming forward...”
At that moment they heard an explosion from the street outside. “Keep going,” said Alia quickly.
Shane read. “You need to make this promise. Also, that the wishes of all children will be respected in regard to where they want to live.”
From directly under them, the sound of many feet entering Wez’s house could be heard. “They’re in,” said Wez.
“Oh my God,” said Bes, looking downward. “They’ve found us!” She put her hand over her mouth. Shane, too, had stopped reading.
“Keep going!” said Alia.
“Real parents need to know what had happened to their children. From the surrounding underground townships we know there to be at least a hundred and fifty children under the age of
fifteen. Send them all forward.”
The sound of voices and feet marching in and out of the house had subsided. Shane read on.
“We also know, prior to that, in the last century, there have been some two hundred babies stolen.
If they are still alive, they must come forward now without fear, to register.
All other Napeans, including guards and officials, are to stay home.
If our children remain missing and unaccounted for we will shut down your city and put an end to the aspirations of the Napean population. You remain at our mercy on this, so please, send the children to the coliseum building, at the southeast of the city.
All children are to come forward by themselves. No other Napeans are to come out of their houses until further notice.”
Shane’s message ended. His words had been heard by Service officials worldwide.
Chapter 42
Children Come Out
ALIA AND BES sent messages throughout the underground cities that children were about to be released and with a growing number of predominantly women, they began to make their way into Napea.
In their wake, a growing number of people were taking to the streets—gathering in the transdomes. Alia and Bes, preoccupied with what they were about to do, barely noticed that many of the people were armed.
The Service reached an international consensus to allow the Real people 3 hours of access to the city free from Napeans. The Service concluded, given the degree of accuracy in the information presented, and the potential for international publicity, the rebel demands would be met. The city was shut down and Napeans stayed indoors.
That afternoon Bes had been stationed in at Napean city central magnarail. The city was absolutely dead. Empty trains passed silently through the stations.
Then the first group arrived: 29 children
, an hour after Alia’s announcement. Bes could see their faces peering out as the train came to a stop; dozens of big dark eyes and pale faces. She waved at them and ran over to help them from the carriage.
She stepped in through the door and called: “Hello everyone. Don’t be scared. I‘m here to look after you.” None of the children moved. Some stared straight at her; others looked to one another for guidance. She took several of the older looking children by the hand. “Come with me, this way…you’re going to be ok… everybody off.” She smiled at each of them, trying to put them at ease with her warm smile, but the smile became twitchy as she realized that they all looked the same. Some of the older children began to take the younger ones by the hand. As the last of them disembarked, one little girl spoke to Bes.
“Robbie wanted to come and see the parents too!”
“Oh… great.” Said Bes, not knowing why “Robbie” shouldn’t come and see his parents. The girl continued, “He knows he hasn’t got a Real mummy or daddy but he still wanted to come.”
Bes had never seen a robot child before. He was perfect. His hair was straight and black, eyes dark brown, skin—pale. There were no perceptible signs that the little thing wasn’t one of the group—except for the facial expression. His face was more inactive. The other children fidgeted, their fingers picked and tweaked, their eyes darted around as they took in their surroundings and stole glances at the strange “Real” woman. The robot child had the poise of an elder statesman. His eyes certainly moved around but tended to fix on one thing for two or three seconds and the head was slightly inclined to follow.
Bes was fascinated and couldn’t help reaching forward to touch the face. It jolted its head back and the eyes widened as they looked at her. She had shocked the little creature. It had not been touched by a stranger before. Softly she held his chin. It was warm, soft and dry: “What’s your name?” Bes asked.
“Robbie,” it said. Its voice was confident, high pitched. “And who are your parents? asked Bes
“Albert and Karina.” said the robot. “What do they do?”
“Daddy’s a priest” said Robbie.
“A Priest?” Bes asked. She knew a priest was a religious leader but little else. “Does he work in a church?”
“No. He makes games for flying, astral travelling and elevating…a priest means he shows everyone how to do it.”
“Oh right. And what do you call that religion?”
“Flying.”
“Wow! said Bes, “I’ve never heard of that!”
“It’s new,” said Robbie. He waited for her to ask another question and when she didn’t he said, “Are you looking for your children?” The high frequency yet self-assuredness of his voice was odd. He seemed keen for her to answer, studying each tiny feature on her face looking for a sign. She felt an urge to frustrate him. She just said, “No.”
He continued watching her as she moved away. Bes could see that some of the children knew each other. They’d obviously been brought up in secrecy; she wondered: had some Napeans the cheek to have stolen more than once?
Bes scanned the crowd of children assembling before her and realized that many of the children who seemed to know each other were “Robbies” accompanying another child. It was impossible to tell which were real and which were not. There were toddlers who still had unique characteristics, being carried by Napean children only a few years older. All the teenage boys had the same faces and all the teenage girls looked as if the same girl had been copied but each with slightly differing fashion sense. She kept saying to herself, “They’re all the same,” over and over.
Bes became breathless with shock. The children had all disembarked and were standing staring at her. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She swallowed, opened her mouth and tried again. “…Go straight…” She pointed southwards. “…through to the number 4…” before she’d finished giving directions, all the small faces turned to see a group of twenty or so children coming up the stairs from another underground platform. Bes took a deep breath and finished her instructions:
“Go across there, towards number 4, out the gate and next to the coliseum, sit down on the Spanish steps. You’ll see all the parents waiting there. Don’t be scared.” She smiled shepherding the little people along in the right direction. Then jogged back to where the next group were coming up.
Bes wasn’t thinking about her own child—she was blocking out this possibility. He would be fourteen and, she now knew, unrecognizable. He would have no idea who she might be; that’s if he was even alive. But still she searched each face for some kind of recognition.
And the children kept coming. Clearly Shane’s message to the Service had hit its mark. Each incoming group was made up of the same groups: Robbies; individual-looking toddlers; dark-featured Asiatic boys; and brown-haired, brown-eyed girls.
Over the next hour more trains arrived, the youngest passengers being just babies. These stood every chance of being reunited with their parents but for the older ones, the clones; there would be no way to identify them and no record of where they were from.
Real people had flooded in through the Stirling gate, waiting for the first glimpse of their children. Most of them had never been in the Napean city before and were overwhelmed by the towering structures and the strange architecture.
As the children dismounted the train, walked down the platform, and out across the road to the coliseum, a cry went out from the crowd of waiting parents. It was a cry of joy and excitement as they saw their children were coming home. But when they set eyes on their babies, the parents realized they had been irrevocably changed. Most of them had become Napean and one could no longer be recognized from another.
Still, the parents surged forward, hoping to find their own child. The children then stopped, shocked by the faces in front of them, weird faces contorted and crazed, each with different eyes, darting and searching. The children sensed the fear, anxiety, and horror. Fear that they wouldn’t find their child, anxiety at what had become of them, and horror that the child was no longer theirs.
There was a stand-off. Those at the front stopped. Real people at the back of the crowd surged forward, their excited cries turning to gasps of shock as they too saw how few of the children had any distinguishing features. They were all the same. Some children cried; others stared blankly, a few whispered to each other.
Bolder parents strode forward and began inspecting faces, staring closely into the children’s eyes as if they were about to see some family feature, trait, or a deciding sign.
Some of the real parents recognized a baby—maybe their baby. A tussle ensued between a Napean female teen and a mother who tried to pull her child from the girl’s arms.
“You can look but you can’t take her!” said the Napean girl. “She’s my sister—she’s from a loving family!”
“Yes, I know!” said the mother, reaching for the infant, her eyes fixed on its little face. “My family!”
“Please help me,” said the girl, looking toward other adults. “We only came because we had to. This woman’s taking my sister.”
“Like hell that’s my daughter!”
Many of the children began to cry and the chaos became more intense as Alia and Bes exchanged a glance, wondering if they had made a huge mistake. Bes started yelling.
“Okay, calm down, everybody! People stand back. Please show some respect!” Alia walked to the edge of the crowd, pointing, and yelled: “Children, come this way and sit down; adults stay seated on the southern steps just over here.” With some order restored, there seemed to be an expectation that she say more.
“Many of you will go to your homes in Napea as normal. We know you were taken from your parents standing here. Unfortunately, now we have no way of knowing who you are. You have lives here in Napea, but your parents here also love you still and have spent many years grieving for you, hoping that someday you might come back.” Many of the parents cried not only for the children but for themselves as
they recalled time lost—hours spent hoping, praying, wondering what had happened to their child.
Alia continued. “This was the day that was meant to happen. The choice is yours, whether you come home to the real world or stay in Napea. Know that whatever decision you make, you will always be welcome in the place of your birth. Take a few minutes to sit and think about what has happened. Feel free to talk to any of us. No one here is to blame for what has happened.”
The two groups fell back and sat with their own, before a few extroverts from each group ventured across the invisible line.
Children spoke awkwardly to people who may have been their parents. Adults questioned youngsters who may have been their children.
Alia asked an older child to speak on behalf of the others. She said: “We are sorry we became lost. We have parents now, here in Napea. We have families…” The girl’s speech fizzled out. Alia spoke quietly to her and then the girl added: “We would like to come and visit…” This was too much for many of the parents, many of whom were wiping away tears or trying to comfort one another.
Alia tried to end the drama, saying to the children, “Never forget your true parents or where you came from. We have a guarantee for your safety upon your return. You will no longer have to live in seclusion. The Service have guaranteed your safety.”
One woman suddenly blurted out, “But if you stop the Napean therapy you can return to a normal life, to who you really are, to your original self… don’t any of you want that?” Many of the children sat back down on the steps awkwardly, waiting to return.
In all, only three babies and three small children were reunited with their real families; most parents returned saddened and embittered.
The news spread through the underworld. Anger boiled over, while at the same time it was clear that a takeover of the city was now possible. The seven underground cities erupted in activity. It was time for the real people to take back the surface. Some rushed home with their children and barricaded themselves inside while others gathered in the streets of the transdomes.