by Kate Breuer
I don’t believe him. It might sound like we are having a friendly conversation, but I don’t want to know what will happen when I refuse to give him answers.
“I already told Mr. Drake and Mr. Lompoc everything I know.” I hope the mention of the man who tried to rape me will soften Mayor Ashcroft a little.
“Let’s try for the truth, shall we?” He sounds casual, as if we are talking about the weather. He pulls up the stool and sits down across from me. “Here’s what I think happened: You found out we were planning to bring your daughter back to the labs for additional testing. You decided you didn’t want to help the city for dangerously selfish reasons and came up with a stupid plan to evade us.
“Your husband, Dale, and your friends—Mira Whitlock and Tien Lee—helped you. Using a ruse to get into the hospital, you then let them in. By impersonating an inspector, two doctors, and a nurse, you went into the blood storage rooms, but realized you needed the patient ID number to find Willow’s vial, which you then forced my daughter to help you retrieve. Correct so far?” He looks at me expectantly.
My thoughts rattle around my brain. Susan is engaged to the mayor’s son. I forced his daughter to open the files. He knows about Dale, Mira, and Tien. If he already knows so much, why is he bothering to ask me questions?
When I don’t answer, he continues, “That’s what I know. It was really nice of you to leave the vial of Willow’s blood on the floor—albeit with the wrong label. It made it easy to swap back. But there are three things I don’t know.” He leans forward, eyes boring into mine.
“First, how did you find out about your daughter’s results before Mr. Goodman confirmed them?” How did I miss Susan’s last name before? “Second, who have you told? And third, why did you black out the record for Willow’s father?”
I was ready for the first two. I had expected them. But what was that about Willow’s father? I didn’t get a chance to look at that part of the file. Maybe Liz had changed it. But why would she?
I meet Mr. Ashcroft’s gaze and answer in a steady voice, “The first was a coincidence. Your nurses are sloppy.” He grimaces but doesn’t interrupt me. “Second, I told no one. Not even Dale, Mira, and Tien know the full story. And for your third question, Dale Hunter is Willow’s father. Why would I hide that from the records?”
His lip curls. “It’s hard for me to believe you didn’t tell anyone. You and your friends seem very close. And we both know your dear husband is not related to your daughter. Stop lying to me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone. Dale, Mira, and Tien think I gave Willow some of my prescription and needed to cover that up. You don’t have to worry about them.”
The man smiles. “I admire the length to which you’ll go to protect your friends. We’ll see how much they know when we bring them in for questioning. So far they have eluded capture, but it won’t take us long to find them. What do you think? Will they be as good at resisting the pain as you are?”
My panic must show because Ashcroft continues, “It would be interesting to see how well Miss Whitlock can cope. Especially after what happened to her father. Maybe I should put Mr. Lompoc in charge of the interrogation. What do you think?”
I jump from the chair and lunge at him. Before I can reach him, he stands and takes a few steps back. With surprising speed, the guards are between us, weapons raised and pointed at me.
“Sit down, Mrs. Hunter. You can’t hurt me.”
The two men poke me with their rifles until I back into the chair. Ashcroft signals them to return to their posts. He steps a little closer but doesn’t sit down. I must have scared him.
“If you do anything like that again, I will make you regret it. Show some respect.” His voice is still polite but has lost most of its friendliness. “We’ll find out what your friends know soon enough. Even if you don’t talk to me. So, for now, let’s focus on my last question. Why did you hide the information about Willow’s father from the file?”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. “I don’t know. Who is her father?”
“That’s none of your business, but I think you already know. It was in the file you opened, but now it has been redacted. Talk to me. Or I will make you.” The last bit of politeness is gone from his voice. I can see the man behind the mask now. He’s not nice or polite. He is evil.
“I don’t know,” I repeat, and though it is the truth, I know what happens next.
“Let’s welcome Miss Goodman into the conversation. Isn’t she a nice young woman? Hello, Susan.”
“Hello, Mr. Mayor,” Susan’s friendly voice answers from the speaker. Now that I know she’s engaged to the son of the man threatening me, it makes me doubt her. I guess it’s time to find out if Susan is really on my side.
Ashcroft tilts his head at me, silently giving me one more chance. I brace myself for the pain I am sure will come and repeat, “I don’t know.”
Ashcroft raises a hand, and Susan says, “Sending impulse. Now.”
Susan has never announced when she starts the impulse, and no pain comes. I scream and writhe around in what I hope is a good impression of what happened yesterday. The memory of the pain is fresh, and I find it easy to pretend. After counting to five, I relax my body and pant heavily.
Ashcroft smiles. “Now that wasn’t pleasant, was it?”
I convinced him. I resist the smirk fighting its way onto my face.
“Why don’t we save you some more pain? Answer my questions. Why did you change the record? Did you tell anyone your husband is not the father of your child? Does he know?”
“Fuck you.” I spit at the floor between us.
“Susan,” Mr. Ashcroft repeats.
Susan announces the impulse, and I scream. I can almost feel the pain. The memory is so vivid from the day before.
“Tell me, Mrs. Hunter. We’ll get our answers in the end. Spare yourself the suffering.”
I catch a glimpse of the digital watch on the mayor’s wrist. It’s eleven already. I need to get rid of the man if I want to escape at noon.
I completely change my approach. “Okay, I knew. Dale and I had never had sex when you idiots planted the sperm. I knew something was wrong. Happy now?” Telling him this makes me feel rebellious. It feels good to see his face fall.
“You knew all along? Why didn’t you tell anyone?” He seems to think it isn’t worth waiting for an answer. He raises his hand and instructs Susan to send another impulse.
“Would you like me to raise the strength, Mr. Mayor?” Susan probably realizes we were cutting it close, too. I know what she’s doing. I hope that the mayor will fall for it.
The mayor nods and signals.
“Charge increased. Sending now.”
I let out a loud scream, collapse into the chair, and move no more. I slow my breath and wait.
“What did you do? What happened? Wake her up!” Ashcroft’s angry voice echoes through the room. I have to concentrate to not look relieved.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Mayor. Looks like her body couldn’t handle the increased charge. We’ve put her through a lot these last few days. She’s unconscious. We will be able to continue the interrogation in a few hours.”
“And they told me she’d be the best one for the job,” I hear Ashcroft mutter as he stomps away. The door clicks shut.
I did it, but I remain immobile for a long time, unsure if I’ll give us away when I move. My leg itches, and it takes all my effort not to scratch it. My other leg starts falling asleep, and I hear the door open.
“Psst. Chase,” Susan whispers.
I open my eyes and see the woman standing right in the doorway. She doesn’t enter the room. I assume she’s staying out of sight from the camera above her.
“It’s five minutes to twelve. Good luck!” She mouths the words more than speaks them, but I understand. With that, she turns around and closes the door. I listen hard, but the latch doesn’t click. It looks as impenetrable as before, but I’m sure I’ll be able to leave without any problem.
I try to count the time passing. One minute. Two minutes. Three.
I really hope I’m doing this right.
Four minutes.
Ten seconds left. Maybe. Hopefully.
I get up and walk over to the door. When I push, it swings open easily.
I find myself in an empty white corridor. It looks sterile, clinical. Without any more inspection, I turn left and run. I can see the staircase ahead. Black stone looks like it’s been folded to form the stairs, connecting to the wall on one side. It looks like they are floating in midair. I sprint for the white leather couch underneath and slide behind it. The floor is cold, and it’s a tight fit, but I’m sure I’m hidden from sight.
Now I have nothing left to do but wait.
21
Nate
I’ve always been a little wary of my father’s stories of our “perfect society.” Nothing is perfect. Especially not something involving people. Thousands of people. I didn’t think all of it had been a lie, though.
I joined PCR to keep the city safe. Now it looks like I’m part of the very organization making it unsafe. An organization that suppresses and tortures the residents it’s supposed to protect. It makes me sick.
Impatient, I look at my watch—five to twelve. Time to go. I glance into the empty assembly hall as I press the button for the elevator.
Three minutes to go.
Ding. I step in.
The lab’s corridor is empty. One minute left.
I walk toward the staircase that leads to the rooftop garden. Its black stone is a stunning contrast to the white hallway. I sit down on the decorative couch beneath it. I hope she’s here.
I lean back and peek over. Stormy gray eyes look up at me, frightened. Seeing her in person makes me sure I’ve seen her face before. I wish I knew where. The memory is like a word on the tip of my tongue. I can almost reach it.
“Hello, Chase,” I whisper with a smile.
“Nate?” she breathes. I nod. “What now?”
“I’ll tell you when it’s safe to come out. When I do, follow me. And hurry.” I’m waiting for a signal from Liz. During the day, Isabel keeps an eye on things from the reception desk. It’s up to Zeke to make sure she abandons her post.
My watch gives a tiny beep. “Now. Come. Fast.” She scrambles out from behind the couch.
We walk down the corridor at a brisk pace. I look over my shoulder every few steps. I’m glad she’s keeping up. We turn a corner and dash through the emergency stairwell door. Two steps at a time, I run down all five stories. Chase is right behind me.
I open the door an inch and peer into the entrance hall. I’m relieved to see Isabel’s desk is empty. Zeke managed to lure her away. I step out and reach for Chase’s hand. She recoils, pulling away from my touch.
Fuck. Susan warned me. I need to be more careful.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Just stay close, okay?”
We rush through the entrance. The air outside is cold. Chase starts shivering immediately. Without stopping, I hand her my coat. She accepts it with a quick nod.
As soon as we are a little ways from the Imperium, I slow down. Running like this is suspicious. No one outside knows Chase. If we act normally, no one will stop us. As long as we don’t run into any of the staff assigned to the labs, we’ll be fine.
We’re headed to my house. Liz and Susan should be waiting for us there. The walk seems much longer than usual. The cool air makes my skin prickle.
I glance at Chase. She looks like a hunted deer. I want to offer her comfort. But we need to keep going.
When we reach my home, she looks at it in awe. “You live here?”
I nod, opening the door. This is one of the smallest in the complex. She should see my father’s.
The house is warm, and I stop shivering. Chase hovers in the hallway by the living room. I beckon her closer, and she takes a few tentative steps.
“Hi, Chase.” Susan smiles at us. She’s sitting with Liz at the dining table, who is deep in concentration. Leaning over a laptop, she announces, “I’m nearly done.”
Chase has taken off my coat and hung it over a chair nearby. She looks lost.
Liz keeps typing frantically on her keyboard. After another moment she looks up and grins broadly. “Done. Everything is back to normal. I took out the loop. Well, except for the one in her room. According to the screen, she—that is, you—are still sleeping behind the chair. Should buy us some time.”
“I’d really like to know how you can do this,” I say.
“Not now.” Liz waves my curiosity away, but she can’t help a grin.
Chase steps around the desk and looks at the screen. “We won’t have much time. The mayor”—she looks pointedly at me—“your father, visited me this morning. Susan managed to convince him I was unconscious, but he’ll come back this afternoon. We have a few hours, tops.”
Susan adds, “Very convincing by the way. I checked to make sure the impulse was turned off a million times. You had me fooled.”
Chase gives a weak smile. She’s unable to relax. “Do you know if my daughter is okay?”
Susan shakes her head. “I tried finding out earlier. Sorry.”
Chase’s face falls, but she recovers quickly. “What happens next? I can’t stay here. I need to get home and find my daughter, my friends. I need to warn them.” The panic in her voice makes me shiver.
“No worries,” I assure her. “I’ll get you home safely. You actually gave us the idea for the rest of this plan—using the hospital to travel between Circles. Liz works there, you know. She’ll help us through the hospital.”
Chase nods. She bites her lip. She looks like she’s trying hard not to say something. She looks at Susan, then me. “So you two are engaged?”
My stomach sinks, and I grunt. “Yes, technically, we are. My dear father matched us a few days ago.” I look at Susan and regret I said anything. She looks sad.
“My father made a deal with his father,” she explains in a resigned voice. “I don’t know the details, but they are using us to play politics.”
Relief washes over me. Susan isn’t naïve. She’s as unhappy with the situation as I am. We have more in common than I thought. If this wasn’t as fucked up as it is, we might actually like each other. For now, friendship is the most I can offer. I hope she feels the same.
Liz points at the screen. I join the women behind her. The top-left shows Chase passed out behind her chair. Top-right shows the hallway we ran through. Liz taps at the screen on the bottom-right. Isabel is back at her desk, her face red with anger. Zeke must be done and on his way. And sure enough, a few minutes later, he arrives.
“Your wife looks like hell,” I tease. Zeke bursts out laughing.
“Just a little argument about Sophie,” he explains with a big grin. “I told her she was spoiling the little girl. She didn’t like that, didn’t like that at all. Her head nearly exploded. It was great. Arguments are a lot more fun when you provoke them on purpose.”
Isabel would never allow Zeke to argue with her in public. We relied on Zeke to start a fight to lure her away from her desk. Our plan worked perfectly.
“Shouldn’t we get going?” Liz asks. She closes the laptop and hands it to Susan.
“I have to get back to the lab.” Susan checks her watch. “My lunch break ends in a couple of minutes. I’ll buy you as much time as I can, but when your father returns, there won’t be much I can do. And I’ll have to help them look for you, too.”
Chase hesitates, then extends a hand to Susan. “Thank you.”
Susan takes it tentatively and shakes it. Moments later, she is out the door. The rest of us stay rooted to the spot and watch her go.
“Guys? Move.” Liz calls us back to the urgency of the situation. “Wait, I nearly forgot.”
Liz hands Chase a large sweater, who accepts it gratefully. She zips it up to the very top. Hood pulled up and cinched over her face. No one should question the look in this weather.
I grab my own coat from the chair, and we head out, Chase directly behind me. We walk around the house and into the park. The risk of other people is higher here—but less guards. It’s the shortest path to the hospital, too. A few people are out for a stroll after lunch. Most of them don’t even look at us. Chase looks around the houses curiously. She probably isn’t used to luxury living.
The hospital entrance is set into the wall separating the Government Complex from the Inner Circle here. The massive building spans the entire length of the Inner Circle until it reaches the wall to the Middle Circle where the outer two Circles’ residents can access care. Tunnels and bridges allow for people in the Inner Circle to pass through without having to actually enter the hospital.
I stop dead in my tracks when I see who’s guarding the door, and Liz walks into me. Derec and the new guy—whatever his name is—are leaning casually against the wall.
Fuck. They must have tightened security after the break-in.
When Susan told us about the interrogation, I couldn’t believe it. But when she filled us in on what Derec did yesterday . . . I’ve always hated Derec, but now I have a real reason to.
“Damn peacers,” Chase says, and I chuckle.
“Peacers? Is that your nickname for the PCR guards?” Liz asks curiously.
Chase nods, then looks around at me and Zeke. “Sorry. I know you’re peacers, but I really hate them.”
“Don’t worry about it. Nate and I have, apparently, been lied to our entire time there. Not the biggest fans of the fucking organization at the moment.” Zeke fails to hide his disgust behind a laugh.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Fuck ’em.”
Liz looks worried. “Doesn’t solve the issue. We need to get past them.”
Derec turns to the redhead—Johnson, was it?—and his face is clearly visible in the sunlight. Chase recoils.
“Wait, that one knows me. He’s the asshole who tried to . . .” Her voice trails away. She’s afraid. I feel the urge to comfort her but resist. I don’t know how to act around her.