That night when his father got home, Tag’s mother sat down with him and explained what she had discovered that day. He refused to believe it at first until after playing hide-and-seek with Tag for thirty minutes. He was mystified by how his son could do it, but he was even stronger than Tag’s mother in warning him to never do anything that would reveal this gift he possessed. He even told Tag that he would be taken from them if he did, and that he might be made to disappear and never be seen again. If Tag was concerned before, his father had him totally frightened.
That night Tag lay in bed thinking about all that his mother and father had said. He had never seen them show this much fear over anything he had ever done; he loved his mother and father and trusted them more than anyone. So he vowed to himself that he would not use his gift. He would hide what he could do; after all, he thought, he keeps his promises. Still, even if he didn’t use his gift, he could still see the shadows to hide in or whenever someone was looking at him. He decided that he just wouldn’t look to avoid being seen so the shadows wouldn’t appear. They only appeared today when he was looking for a place to hide. He closed his eyes and sensed his mother staring across her bedroom at the wall that separated their rooms. He could sense her fear. He also knew when a Directorate patrol car passed in front of his house and the driver looked around to see if anything needed looking into. Just before he fell asleep he discovered something else about himself. He could sense one of his classmates who lived at least two miles away from him; her name was Leila, and she was looking at his picture in their school yearbook. “Now that’s something new,” he thought. “Maybe this gift hasn’t been completely opened yet.” He had to admit he always enjoyed opening gifts. This was one he would just have to hide. Then he fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Tag was seventeen years old and he liked riding the city floaters to school. Most human transportation used floaters. The floater was aptly named because it actually floated on a cushion of air. Since the invention of the small-sized power cell, vehicles used the power cells to power turbines that spun and lifted the vehicles on propellers. Just like ancient helicopters, the vehicles could lift amazing weight. The city floater Tag was currently riding looked like one of the ancient busses that were used in mass transit, but instead of using streets to travel, the floater just rose and entered a traffic lane hundreds of feet off the ground and flew from stop to stop. The ten-mile trip to school gave him the chance to look out over the city and see some of the millions of people and the homes they lived in. Some of the homes were beautiful to gaze on, and Central City had many examples of them. Central City was the largest city on the North American continent, covering an area that included part of what used to be northern Oklahoma all the way to what used to be South Dakota. The ancient cities on the east and west coasts, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Atlanta, had been destroyed during the third world war with the Chinese and were radioactive for more than three hundred years, making it unsafe to live anywhere near the old sites until two hundred years ago. Now that the radioactivity had dissipated they were growing, but only the central part of the continent, now known as Central City, was safe to live in after that war. It had been damaged during the other wars but managed to survive. Over time it had become the planet’s center of government and had the largest population of any city.
From a distance, the central spires in the middle of the city with the rising sun reflecting off their crystal windows looked like giant diamond triangles growing out of the Earth. Tag was fascinated by the various shapes and colors, and he never tired of studying how the view was constantly changing. His gift gave him an inborn sense of shapes and how they fit together, or, in some cases, didn’t. The huge number of floaters flying over the city at different levels looked like long, moving dotted lines that surrounded the buildings like ants moving around their colony. The city soared thousands of feet into the sky and extended as far as the eye could see. He found that gazing at the city touched him in the deepest part of his soul with an emotion that felt almost religious. The clear blue sky and white clouds gave a beautiful background for the city, and today was spectacular.
The tops of the tallest buildings were covered with low white clouds. Of course, the tallest buildings were 4,500 feet tall, and the clouds didn’t have to be low to cover them. It amazed Tag that some of these buildings extended more than three thousand feet underground. He found it interesting that the height difference from their tops to their lowest levels allowed most of these older buildings to use geothermic energy for their power due to the temperature difference between their tops and bottoms. Of course the Coronado solar panels could have powered these buildings by themselves. Eighty-four years earlier, Joe Coronado had invented a solar panel the size of a floor mat that would generate ten times the electricity of an old solar panel that covered one square mile. That really wasn’t the best thing about his invention, though. Its storage capacity was enormous. One hour of sunshine would power that five-thousand-foot-tall building for a day. This invention allowed humans to have clean, nonpolluting, and unlimited energy. It also powered the millions of floaters used to travel around the planet. Humankind soon found that the solar panels could be used in any application that required power.
It also made a great weapon when it was charged with a fusion reactor instead of the sun. The panels could absorb seemingly unlimited amounts of energy as long as the solar panel discharged its stored energy before reaching its limit. That, however, was a recent discovery that was accidentally made by miners on the moons of Mars. One of them had come up with the idea of charging three power cells to their limit and then releasing all that power into a quick blast of energy focused into a tight beam aimed at a hardened rock wall that had broken six of their drill bits. When they did this, it made an eight-foot circle one hundred feet deep in less than one one-hundredth of a second. The Coronado power cell, as it came to be known after that, made mining for metals easier and increased tenfold the raw material available to build an advanced civilization. It not only made it easier to get to these materials but it also made all the bracing that was done on the walls of a mine obsolete. A circle is nature’s strongest shape because it distributes the forces equally around its surface, so all that the miners had to provide was a surface to walk on. It also made mining asteroids and moons more economical because the walls were airtight from the intense heat, making them extremely hard and smooth as glass. Human expansion into the solar system and planets inside the twenty-light-year limit became an explosion. Every business was looking for a moon or large asteroid to mine for raw materials. Earth became a center of high technology.
On a field trip to one of Earth’s two naval shipyards, Tag’s class saw one of the new destroyers landing, and their tour guide talked about how the Coronado power cell revolutionized the building of spacecraft. They no longer had to be more than 3,600 feet long to contain all the shielding and weapons necessary to protect the crews from the old nuclear reactors in order to survive in space warfare. One of the newest destroyers could easily defeat ten of the old warships. When asked how many ships the navy had, the guide said that was classified. “I hope we have a lot, especially in light of all the trouble we’ve had with the Alliance,” Tag thought. “It can’t be a large number,” he mused. “We only have two shipyards on the entire planet and that’s for building commercial as well as military spacecraft.” In history class he had learned that the Alliance had restricted humanity to only two shipyards on Earth at the same time they imposed the twenty-light-year limit. This was done to control the number of warships humanity could build.
Tag liked watching people go about their everyday tasks. He was a keen observer of behavior, which enabled him to see things most people didn’t. For instance, that man who was planting a flower in his roof garden on top of a building they were passing had a small serial number at the base of his neck that let Tag know that he served in the naval marines. One of his hand-to-hand instructo
rs in school had the same type of tattoo on his neck, and he explained that all the other military branches had their tattoos on their arms. The naval marines had them on their necks so their space armor could confirm that the right owner was putting it on quickly; the vacuum of space required quick entry. The army could usually take their time putting on their armor since they normally operated on a planet’s surface. Every armored suit recognized its owner’s serial number, and if it wasn’t the right number, the armor was programmed to self-destruct with the person inside who didn’t belong.
“He’s really not that big to be a marine,” Tag thought as he watched the marine tend his garden. “Of course in zero gravity you probably don’t have to be very big. One thing’s for certain, that’s one tough soldier I wouldn’t want mad at me.” He knew that marines were very dangerous people. Their hand-to-hand combat skills were well documented and respected. “He’s someone I would avoid.”
Tag thought back to his fourteenth level in school and the marine instructors that were his teachers that year. The fourteenth level is when all students are given classes in hand-to-hand self-defense. Part of the reason for these classes is to find those who have an aptitude for learning the physical moves that are necessary to excel in hand-to-hand fighting. Tag thought it seemed weird to be teaching students how to fight when if you ever had a fight you would be expelled from school; but the cities still had criminals, so learning these skills could save your life. The real reason why everyone had to take the class was so that those who were good could be considered for future military service. Everyone had to take the class once a day for the entire level. Tag discovered very quickly that he could disable and hurt anyone he was fighting. Like everything else, he discovered it by accident. Without thinking, in one of his first matches, which happened to be with Eric, he knew exactly where he was going to move and knew where to hit him so that the force of the blow and Eric’s movement combined for maximum effect. He didn’t swing hard, which was a good thing, because he broke his best friend’s arm. He knew he was only able to do this by using his gift, and he remembered his promise to his mother not to use it. So from that point on he allowed his opponents to win, but he continued to practice moves during class and especially at home. His instructors decided that that first bout was just luck. His sense of knowing where his opponent would move gave him a huge unfair advantage, and it also prevented any of his opponents from ever really landing a solid blow when they beat him. Just like his game of tag as a five-year-old, no one could really tag him with a hard blow during these sessions. These particular skills were going to save his life many times in the future. However, at seventeen years old he learned the skills simply because it gave him great pleasure to be able to control his physical movements. He would sit in these classes and close his eyes and be able to see in his mind the motions opponents made as they clashed with each other. The instructors never lost, but he could tell that they were not using all their skills. In his mind’s eye he could see the instructors start to deliver blows that could injure students, then stop and use other moves that were not as effective and were less dangerous. What he didn’t know was the instructors were observing not only the students who were competing but also those that were watching. Their reports listed Tag as someone who had no affinity or interest in what they were teaching. “He sleeps through most of the class,” they wrote. These reports eliminated the possibility of him ever having a military career. What they didn’t realize, and Tag didn’t know himself, was that he would never need training; his body just knew what to do to protect him.
Some of his classmates did quite well, including one whom he never tired of watching. Leila Barber seldom lost against her classmates. Tag knew that she loved dancing and gymnastics, and those skills translated well in hand-to-hand self-defense. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long black hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion, possessed a slim but strong body, and moved with a grace that even someone without his gift could see. He had been watching her since he had felt her looking at his picture when he was seven years old. He had never gotten the nerve to talk with her but had gazed at her whenever he could. It wasn’t only her beauty that attracted him; she was also one of the smartest people he had ever known. This combination not only beguiled him, but intimidated him.
“How could she ever be interested in someone like me?” he wondered. It seemed that all the boys that had wealthy families and popularity were constantly asking her out. So he kept his distance and loved her from afar. Though he promised his mother not to use his gift, he would sometimes watch her and not let her see him do it. It was one of these times on the floater coming home from school where he was gazing at her that led to the start of his troubles with the Enforcement Committee. Enforcement Committee: they were two simple words that didn’t sound dangerous at all. However, it was this branch of government security that ruthlessly stamped out dissension and had the power to make people disappear. That day on the floater put him on a collision course with the agency that would shape the future of his life and mankind.
Chapter 3
On that particular day Tag was sitting two seats away from Leila and her best friend Tara, and he was enjoying the view. And what a view. Leila was wearing a bright yellow sundress with a matching ribbon that tied her hair in a ponytail. She was amazing. Tara was a very pretty girl, too, but in a different way from Leila. Tara had short red hair and green eyes and was tall. She was two inches taller than Tag and had a shape that most movie stars would die for. She was pretty, but not as gorgeous as Leila, at least not in his opinion. He relaxed in his seat and felt the warmth of the sun on his back and fantasized about going out with Leila. The city passed below and he felt relaxed and comfortable, looking out at the city and Leila, his two favorite pastimes. The public floater was only half full, and most of the riders were students going home after class. No one was saying much because they had taken the administrative placement test that day, which was required of all students the year before they graduated. The test had started early in the morning and lasted seven hours. Tag was tired, but never too tired to gaze at Leila. He noticed that something was different today. She was quiet and slumped over in her seat, which was not like her at all. Suddenly Leila started crying. Tara put her arm around Leila and started whispering. “What’s wrong with her?” Tag thought. He moved unseen to the seat behind them so he could hear what was going on.
“It’ll be all right, Leila,” Tara said. “With all of your other test scores the administrators will know just how smart you really are.”
“No, it won’t be okay.” Leila was holding her head in her hand and said, “This test is used to determine what job you’re best suited for, and I’ve failed miserably.”
“Leila, you’re wrong. You couldn’t have done that bad.”
The floater stopped and three students got off. Leila and Tara waited for them to pass, and then Leila said, “Yes, I did.” She sobbed, “Last night my parents had an argument, and my mother said she was leaving my father and ending their marriage. She has always had a much higher job and she resents that she has provided most of our family’s support.”
Tag ducked further down in his seat as Tara looked around to see if anyone had noticed Leila crying. Then Tara said, “They were just angry. They didn’t mean it, they’ll stay together. Your mother knows what will happen if she leaves. She could even lose that higher job.”
“No, I could tell she meant it. I came out of my room and told her that she just can’t do this! I told her that children from broken families were not allowed to marry because their genetics showed they were not suited to make that kind of commitment. I cried, yelled, and begged her not to do it.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she had made her decision and though she knew that it would cause pain, she was not going to change her mind.”
“Oh Leila, I’m so sorry.”
“My father and I argued with her all night until she
finally agreed not to leave until after I was married. She told me that she won’t wait forever for that to happen. That’s the good news. The bad news is that when I took the test this morning I was emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted. The last half of the test I just marked answers at random because I was so far behind. There’s a chance I can get married, but I probably won’t get a job that will support my family. Without a good paying job, my choices for a spouse will be greatly limited. I’ll be like some poor people that have turned to crime to support themselves.”
“Leila, you’re just being dramatic now,” Tara said, and she tightened her arm around Lelia’s shoulders.
Tag listened to them and felt something inside him break. He would do anything to take away her sorrow, but he was powerless. Oh, how he wished he could hold and comfort her. He couldn’t think of anything that could be done to help her. Then Tara said something that told him how he could do it.
“Leila, let’s pray that they lose your test before it’s graded,” Tara said. “Sometimes miracles do happen.”
“Tara, you’re a great friend, but you know as well as I that will never happen, but I’ll still pray with you. Pray that after they grade this test they won’t accuse me of having cheated on all the others.”
Tag moved out of the seat without being seen. He walked to the front of the floater and waited for the next stop. What Tara had said started him thinking. If Leila’s test were to disappear before they graded it, then she would have to retake it when she wouldn’t be so worn out. He had to find a way to make that happen. Time was short, he realized; grading would probably start that night. Their test administrator was very efficient and usually had results available the day after they took a test. He had to do something now. When the floater made its next stop he used his gift and got off without anyone seeing him go. He called home and left a message. “Mom, I’m going to spend the night with Eric. We took our placement test today and we want to talk about it. I’ll be home tomorrow after school. I love you.” He didn’t worry that she would call to check, because she had never checked on him before and she trusted him. It hurt him to know that he was going to betray that trust by trying to steal Leila’s test, and he knew in his heart that in order to make that happen he was going to have to use the very gifts he promised her he wouldn’t. He wasn’t certain how he was going to do it, but he knew he had to try. One thing he did know, he could not use public transportation to go back to his school. Stealing the test was only half the battle; the other half was not getting caught doing it. In order to ride public transportation you had to place your transport card in the payment slot. If in the future someone suspected that Leila’s test was taken, the first place they would look would be public transportation records to see who used it at the time of the theft. Getting on a public floater without being seen was impossible, because you could not board without your weight triggering the payment computer. So he knew he had to walk back to school and avoid being seen by anyone or any cameras. He had four miles to cover, and all of it had to be done on surface streets, which after dark were dangerous places to be. He started walking and noticed the city around him felt like it had a life of its own. The towering buildings, the floaters flying overhead, the parks that lined the streets, and the people going about their business all caught his attention and brightened the sadness he was feeling—a little. He was avoiding the cameras without really thinking about it. He just moved into the shadows he sensed and continued to walk and watch human existence unfold around him. He noticed the patterns of shadows in front and to the sides of him that showed him where to go to avoid being seen. Sometimes he had to move along a wall, stop, and then duck and run until his sense told him to move in another direction. He used vehicles, moving floaters, and other people to screen him from all the electronic surveillance along his route. He always looked down or away whenever people looked at him so that no one would see his face. He slouched to look shorter than he was. All these things he did with no conscious effort. Staying hidden came as natural to him as swimming did to a fish. Finally he arrived in front of the school. The one-story building loomed in front of him and beckoned to him. He saw that there were still numerous people in and around the school. That was going to make it difficult to avoid being seen.
Annihilation: Love Conquers All Page 3