by Grace Hudson
“Pinnacle Officer Wilcox’s quarters are up here.” She pointed a long, slender finger at the map, as Caltha carefully drew an X in position. “There’s just one door in or out. It’s opposite the elevator.”
Caltha continued to mark the features on the map, crucial details recorded in black, sharpened charcoal.
“I know this because I visited his quarters many times, he sent for me quite often.” For a brief moment, she smoothed her hair absently, catching herself and dropping her hands to her sides in frustration. Her eyes narrowed angrily as she focused her attention on the map.
“There are always the same two guards here, at the entrance of the elevator, and two more here, when you get to the top. The two at the top look meaner, if that helps at all. There are no guards near the stairs, as nobody cares to use them. I doubt anyone’s been up those stairs in quite some time.”
“Right,” Rafaella mused. “So this fits with what we discussed earlier. We bypass the elevator, it’s too exposed to be of any strategic use.”
Rafaella spread the edges of the map on the floor, weighting the corners with rocks the size of her fist. She gestured to the stairwell, motioning for Caltha to mark a point approximately three quarters of the way to the top.
“Liam, Jotha, Petra, you will take the stairs. Set the first charge to explode near the doorway at the top at 20:00 exactly. That is the time Wilcox sends for one of the Internees, correct?”
“That is correct. 20:00 every night. He sometimes sends them right back, but from what I know, he always sends for at least one, regardless. They must arrive at 20:00, that is the specified regulation arrival time.”
“Okay. There are fewer guards than I had expected.”
“It will be games night, most Officers will be in Epsilon,” 292 interjected.
“That’s good. Still, we can’t get complacent. Liam?”
“No charging off from the group. No unexpected moves without clearance. I got it.” He hung his head down, staring at the floor. Petra reached out her arm, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
“Make sure of it, a lot depends on this,” Rafaella shot back. Petra glared at Rafaella until Rafaella’s steady gaze wore her down.
“The second charge at…”
“20:03,” Petra, Jotha and Liam replied at once.
“Good. Now remember, that’s just the diversion. At some point, word will get out that Officer Wilcox is under threat, leading the other Officers and Guards to this area here.” She gestured in a circle around the X Caltha had drawn.
“You all need to be out of there by then.” She looked at Jotha, Liam and Petra pointedly.
“No excuses, no hanging back. You get yourselves cornered in this section and it’s over before it’s even begun. We need you here.” She pointed to another section marked with a Z.
“Zeta Circuit, right?” Rafaella looked over at 292 questioningly.
292 nodded.
“Yes. That is the location. That’s what Officer Gyron told me. His fellow Officer, Lenn was scheduled on Zeta duty. Only a few Officers are selected for this. They are not supposed to discuss it, but Gyron had given him too much cider that night, he…”
“You better be right about this,” Rafaella warned.
“It’s true. That’s the location of Zeta Circuit. I… kept the company of both of these Officers. They spent a lot of time talking about it, amongst other things. Zeta Circuit is the location where they keep the ones that disobey or can’t work in Kappa any longer. They did not go into detail about what goes on there. Only that… well, those relegated to Zeta are likely to disappear after a time. As I told you earlier, I truly fear that the Zeta Internees are in danger, that is what I have grown to understand in my time with the Officers. They did not tell me as such, I just… had a feeling.”
“Okay. Okay. Like I said, you’d better be right about this. Otherwise we’re going to be risking our hides for nothing. Jotha, Liam, Petra, you meet up with Bonni, Symon, Ginnie, Kap, Vern, me and Cal at the entrance to Zeta Circuit. With the power out, if its anything like the facilities Wes used to tell me about, it will be a feature of any power failure that the surge will freeze the locks in position, be it locked, or unlocked. You said the door to the ration supply unit is usually wedged open. That’s our main path, our chance to get inside. We’re assuming that the doors to Zeta Circuit will be locked, so setting up the charges and blowing the doors will be the only way in or out of there.”
“What about me?” interjected 292.
“What about you?” Rafaella breathed out, frustrated.
“What do I do?”
“You stay here with Lina, look after Adira, make sure she doesn’t eat everything from the pantry. So, let’s go through the plan again.”
“But… I came all this way. I expired my Vendee. I have proven myself worthy. Now I want to fight, I want to help. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t know the location of FERTS, let alone…”
“Listen!” Rafaella shouted, banging her palm on the floor. “Did you forget that you have one of those things inside you? We don’t even fully know how it works, how it could be affected. You only managed to get away from Vendee Yuri because the township beacon had not yet been installed. You know this! It could kill you!” 292 crossed her arms defiantly, scowling at Rafaella.
“But… you said, the plan was to take out the Ward Beacon at 19:55. No Ward Beacon, no charge. So therefore I cannot be expired when we make our escape through the suspension zone.”
“Yes, and what if… and this is a small if, but nonetheless, what if we can’t knock it out completely? Or what if they have a backup beacon on standby? These are the things we need to consider and more importantly, the things you need to consider. I cannot let you do this. It is simply too much of a risk, at least until we can get you somewhere to get it taken out of you for good.”
“Fine. FINE!” shouted 292. Clearly furious, she stood her ground, making no move to leave the room, instead she fixed her gaze on the map and its details.
“Okay what else do you need? I’ve got it all up here.” 292 tapped the side of her head. Rafaella locked her eyes on 292, regarding her thoughtfully, respect dancing beneath her flinty gaze.
“It is regretful. I should like to have you with us, no doubt you showed a lot of guts with all you had to do to get here.” Caltha looked over at Rafaella curiously. It was rare that Rafaella demonstrated any kind of deference to anyone, let alone a newcomer.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get on with it.” 292 pushed her elbows on to her knees, squishing her cheeks in concentration. For a moment, she reminded Rafaella of Caltha as a little girl, waiting for the potatoes to cook by the fire in that moonlit clearing, some thirty years ago. Rafaella smiled a secret smile, glancing over at Caltha, who returned the look with a fond grin.
“Now, let’s go through the plan again. 19:50!” Rafaella called out.
“Arrive at suspension zone. Synchronize timepieces.” Came the slightly jumbled reply, voices clamoring to blend together.
“19:55!”
“Raf and Cal knock out the power and Ward Beacon with charges.”
“20:00!”
“First charge, stairs near Officer Wilcox’s chambers.”
“20:03!”
“Second charge, same spot, time to get out of there.”
“20:15!”
“Regroup at entrance to Zeta Circuit. Prepare to blow doors.”
“20:20!”
“Lead Zeta Circuit out the door.”
“20:25!”
“Sneak out. Get through suspension zone.”
“20:30!”
“Regroup. Arm up and make sure we’re not followed!”
“You better make damn sure we’ve got this. We’ve got to all make sure we’ve got this down. Forwards, backwards, learn it right to the last detail. Memorize all the steps. No screw ups. We can’t have any screw ups. This has got to go right.”
None of them noticed the presence of their twelfth member
. The dim figure of 201 stood, cloaked effectively beside the heavy curtains, her form swimming in vibrations, focusing her energy on the plan, learning, cataloging, memorizing.
– 61 –
Sitting on the floor of her bedchamber, 201 relaxed, taking a break from her nightly stretches. She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them, shuffling back to lean her back against the wall. She thought of Raf, of Cal, of Jotha, Liam, Petra, Bonni, Symon, Ginnie, Kap, Vern, of little Adira, but most of all she thought of Beth 259292. Former Vassal, former Internee. 292, who had escaped her Vendee, escaped FERTS and somehow found her way to Raf and Cal.
Implant Marker. Ward Beacon.
Was it possible that she could have one of these, buried somewhere within her? She supposed it was likely that all Internees were marked in this way. The thought of something inside her body made her break out in gooseflesh. She ran her fingers over her collarbone, trying to feel for anything that might indicate a foreign object, a point of entry, any hint of what might lay underneath.
Five to six minutes to return within the perimeter or the charge goes through from the Implant Marker here, right through to the heart.
201 shuddered.
I don’t want to be expired.
201 went through the plan once more, committing each detail to memory. The map was already seared into her mind, the hallways, directions, marked points of interest, were all clear, glowing strongly in her consciousness. She was getting better at traversing the halls, pinpointing the paths with her mind. She had managed to splice the map with her awareness of the layout, marking all the points in bright blue, overlaying everything that Caltha had outlined on the map. Merging the two, she scanned the halls. She could feel the presence of the Officers guarding the doors, could feel the whereabouts of Pinnacle Officer Wilcox, much stronger now, as if he were a red, glowing figure, illuminated brightly in her mind.
“Now let’s go through the plan again,” she whispered to herself, echoing Rafaella’s words.
19:50 arrive at suspension zone.
19:55 Raf and Cal take out the beacon.
20:00 first charge, stairs near Pinnacle Officer Wilcox’s chambers.
20:03 second charge, same spot, get out of there.
20:15 regroup at Zeta, blow doors.
20:20 lead Zeta Circuit out the door.
20:25 sneak out, get through suspension zone
20:30 regroup and arm up.
201 repeated the plan until she was tired of hearing herself think. She wanted to help. Though they had never met, in a sense, she had come to regard Raf and Cal as her companions. 201 wanted to do something that would assist them in their quest, something distracting, something dramatic, something… terrible.
19:50 arrive at suspension zone.
19:55 Raf and Cal take out the beacon.
20:00 first charge, stairs near Pinnacle Officer Wilcox’s chambers.
20:03 second charge, same spot, get out of there.
20:05… no, wait. There was no 20:05. There was no 20:05!
Something was going to go wrong. She just knew it. Something was going to go wrong.
– 62 –
201 awoke early that morning. She gingerly lifted herself from the bed, wincing as the ache ripped through her. She stood tall, arms outstretched, releasing the tension locked within her body. She made her way to the door frame, crying out as her bruises throbbed in protest. She gripped the door frame, facing her bedchamber, the memory of Officer Ryan etched in the bedcovers. She hoisted herself into the air, back down again, into the air, staring at the spot of blood halfway down the covers. She lifted herself up, down, muscles burning with the effort, rising and falling as the spot stared back at her.
She dropped to the floor, crouched in Fighter pose, leg outstretched, arms relaxed, ready to strike. She folded herself on the floor, stretching, raising to her toes, lengthening, loosening her muscles, narrowing her mind to the single spot of blood.
She ran side to side, touching the floor at each pass, circling the perimeter of her bedchamber, the stain of blood burning, glowing before her eyes.
She dropped to the floor, dripping with sweat, hair plastered to her temples. Entering the shower she bathed in regulation order, cleaning, cleansing, inch by inch, layer by layer, until her skin squeaked. She smoothed her hair, applied her cosmetics and regarded herself in her evaluation mirror.
The words from her seduction manual rotated through her mind, reminding her of her duty as an Omega Internee, as a Vassal.
‘A Vassal must project the ultimate ideal of beauty. She must be dutiful and ready to please her Vendee. She must keep her head down at all times, looking up towards her Vendee with reverence. She must understand the ideals of the Vassal. To be beautiful, dutiful and ready to serve and please at all times.’
201 stared into her evaluation mirror. The face in the mirror stared back, head straight, chin slightly forward, hazel eyes glinting and flaring in the early morning light. A slow smile edged across her features, spreading widely to reveal her smooth, white teeth. As she stared at her reflection, a chill began to prickle in the base of her spine, making its way slowly upward.
The face in the mirror winked back at her as she turned away from her evaluation mirror, the door sucking shut behind her.
– 63 –
In the ration room that night, the Vassals chatted excitedly amongst themselves, arguing over who had been sold to the wealthiest, most influential Vendee, and who was likely to be sold at the next visit to the township. 201 ate silently, eyes flicking from one Vassal to the next.
“You do not deserve Vendee Garron,” 261 snapped at 201. He is the wealthiest money lender of all the town’s Resident Citizens. “He has poor taste, I suppose.” She shrugged, returning to her discussion about how she planned to serve her new Vendee, Lendan, once she had contrived a way to make herself irresistible to him on their next visit.
201 scanned the room, stopping as she spotted a familiar face. Titan’s eyes widened as he noticed her. He was careful to school his features into an impassive mask as she signalled to him to wait for her after the scheduled ration allotment.
201 turned to find 271 staring back at her, a slow smile dawning on her symmetrical features.
“Ah, I see why 201 is so churlish all the time. She has eyes for Titan,” 284 cooed, her light brown hair shimmering as she leaned in close to 271.
“He is quite an Officer, on that I must agree with you.” 201 raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Such fine shoulders, and that face!” 284 looked expectantly at 201. “Was he good? When he chose you? Tell me!”
“I wouldn’t know,” 201 shot back.
“You wouldn’t? Oh. He did not choose you.” She studied 201 with mock sympathy.
“How unfortunate for you.”
“He chose me!” 237 gloated, rolling her eyes in a vague approximation of pleasure, her blonde hair, freshly curled, bounced around her head as if connected by invisible springs. “And he was by far the best of all of them. You have missed out, 201. How very sad.”
“You lie,” 201 said quietly.
“What was that, 201? I didn’t quite hear you,” 237 challenged.
“I said, you lie!” 201’s voice carried above the chatter, silencing the Vassals around her. She lowered her voice, leaning towards 237. “Titan does not do what the other Officers do. He did not take me when it would have been easy to do so, and he most certainly did not choose you. You can speak of the other Officers in any way you like, but do not speak of Titan in this way again.”
“Come, 237.” 271 stepped in. “201 is just jealous because he chose you and not her. It cannot be helped.”
201 ignored them, eating every piece of her regulation protein tonight. She would need her strength.
As the Vassals filed out for the evening, 201 stood closer to Titan, facing the line of Vassals, pretending to wait.
“Titan.”
“201.”
She saw him out of the corner of her eye. H
e raised a hand as if to reach out to her, abruptly stopping as he reconsidered his actions.
“You’re hurt.”
So he had seen the bruise, dark purple, almost black. She felt at her neck, realizing her hair was no longer covering the mark. She smoothed it down, obscuring it once more.
“It is done. We cannot concern ourselves with such things. Not now.”
“How can you say that? Who…”
“Listen. I need to tell you something. It is important. I will do something tonight. I will not tell you what it will be but I need you to be gone from here before it happens. Create a story, say your father needs you, whatever you have to say, but make sure you are far from here tonight.”
“Okay, yes, I can do that. Why will you not tell me what you are doing?”
“It is not safe. I need you to do something else, this is a lot to ask.”
“Go on.”
“I need you to never return here. Go back to Ignatia, transfer to another fellowship, do not come here again. Your safety depends on this. Please do not make the mistake of thinking I am not serious.”
Titan sucked in a breath. “I will do this only because I trust you. I believe you when you say it is important.”
“Oh, one more thing. Do you have a timepiece? And does it keep good time?”
“Yes. The Officers must synchronize before each line check. It keeps good time.”
“I need it.”
“Fine. I suppose I won’t be needing it here, anyway.”
“Thank you. You have been good to me, Titan. I will remember you.”
“What will you do? Will I see you again?”
“I hope that the answer to that question is yes, but this is something I cannot answer.”
“201?” His voice seemed to waver slightly.
“I… care for you, Titan. You need to know this.”
“I care for you too,” he whispered as 201 slipped into the line of Vassals, blending into the mass of blue jumpsuits, lined up in regulation order, filing out the door in a seemingly endless stream.