The Place Inside the Storm

by Bradley W Wright

  “I’m not sure I get it. When I ran it, I got twenty-eight comparisons.”

  Alphar looked around the circle. “Can anyone think of why that might be?” He waited a moment then saw me and Meadow in the doorway. “Meadow, Tara. We’re going over selection sort versus quicksort algorithms. Can either of you explain why John might get that result?”

  I did some quick mental math. “Are you sorting eight objects?” I asked. Alphar nodded, smiling. “He probably randomly chose one on either end of the distribution,” I continued. “If you get one of the six in the middle, quicksort will only take fourteen comparisons. It’s never worse than selection sort but usually better.”

  “Thanks Tara,” Alphar said. “Exactly right. Maybe you should be teaching this class.”

  ***

  That evening after dinner, I said goodbye to Meadow when she left to go to bed. I remained in the dining hall with Oak and Yarrow. Xel sat at my side. The majority of the adults also stayed behind. The tables were moved to the edges of the room and we made a big circle of the benches. It was meeting night, and I was the topic.

  Once everyone was seated and quiet, Yarrow spoke. “Let’s begin with silence,” she said and closed her eyes.

  Everyone else also closed their eyes and bowed their heads so I did too. We sat like that for a minute or two, then I heard Oak clear his throat.

  “Computer, please begin recording,” he said. “Archive this as meeting twelve of the current year. This meeting has begun. We are here tonight to discuss the program we have been running to help neurodiverse kids escape the brain implants Xia Yu has invented. When we heard from Joseph and then when he brought Keira to us, we agreed to allow him to send anonymous messages to kids who might be in danger. We didn’t know whether anyone would make it here or even try, but we decided to risk it. Now we have our answer. Tara Rivers made it here, against harsh odds. She brought with her Loki, another child like Keira, used by Xia Yu and then tossed aside. She also brought her cat Xel. I sent all of you an abstract of the plan we have devised to get the firmware code for the brain implants. The plan rests on Tara. Tara’s father has access to the code. Tara has access to her family’s apartment. Her voice and face can get her into the building. Tara has been considering our plan.” Oak looked at me. “Have you decided, Tara?”

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Please speak,” Yarrow said.

  I looked around the circle. I saw a few familiar faces--Meadow’s parents; Paul, the cook; Talya, the goat keeper; Alphar. They were all looking politely at the floor, listening for my answer. Blood rushed to my face and my stomach churned. I took a deep breath. “I want to go,” I said. “I want to help Loki. I can’t leave him like that.”

  Xel placed a paw on my hand. “If you go, I will go with you,” he said.

  I nodded my agreement.

  “This will be dangerous. Are you sure?” Oak asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Fine then. We will make arrangements. We need to move fast. They might disable your access to the apartment block at any time.”

  “I would like to ask a question,” someone said.

  I looked around and saw a man I didn’t recognize at first. Then I realized he was a man we had met in the brewery. “How do we know she isn’t a spy--someone Xia Yu sent to infiltrate us?”

  There was a low mumbling from the group.

  “It’s a fair question,” Alphar said. “I think we can be pretty sure Xia Yu doesn’t know about us, though. If they did, they would neutralize Joseph first. Also, a spy would not have brought Loki, another victim of the brain implant program.”

  There was more mumbling.

  “Any other questions or concerns?” Oak asked.

  We all waited a moment but no one responded.

  “One more question, Tara,” Yarrow said. “You came to us on the run, out of the woods, with a sick companion. You have been with us only a couple of days. Do you intend to stay? Would you like to live here with us? I don’t expect you to answer now,” she said, holding up a hand. “Think about it. If you choose to stay, you will have to have a new identity, a new name.”

  “Thanks,” I answered. “Thanks for taking us in and helping us. I’ll think about it, and I’ll give you my answer if we make it back.”

  ***

  Before bed I went by the infirmary to check on Loki. He lay there under a light blanket, chest rising and falling. I normally didn’t see faces as a whole very well, maybe because I tended to focus on individual characteristics. But because he had his eyes closed, maybe also because I was in an unusual mental state, preoccupied with the task ahead of me, I found myself really seeing his face for the first time. He was handsome. His features were beautiful and regular and well balanced. I felt, for a moment, the shiver I had felt before when I touched his hand or lifted him. He was more to me than I had admitted to myself. I had thought of him as a brother but I knew now that I wanted him to be something else. I pushed the thought away. First I had to get the code. Only then could we try to save him. I curled my fingers in his hand.

  “I’m going to go get it, Loki,” I whispered. “You’re going to be okay. I’ll come back. I promise.”

  Chapter 17

  Going Back

  It took a full day for Oak, Yarrow, and Alphar to get everything ready and make the necessary arrangements. I spent the day pacing in my room, taking a long walk in the woods with Xel and Meadow, pacing some more, and finally eating dinner and then going to my room early. Before I went to bed, though, I organized my backpack. I transferred a few items I might need from Loki’s pack to mine, leaving most of the heavy and bulky things and just taking what I thought would be useful. Finally, I lay down in bed and asked the computer to dim the lights.

  “Tara,” Xel said. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

  “I know,” I answered. “It might be. We might get caught. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t go though. Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Me too. I’m glad you’re coming with me.”

  Sleep took a long time to come. I lay still, thinking about everything that had happened since I decided to run. It didn’t seemed real. I thought about my parents. What were they thinking? How were they feeling? Did they feel guilty? Or did they still think they were doing the right thing? I wondered if my running away had endangered their jobs or made their lives harder. I had spent a lot of time thinking about my childhood and my parents over the last days and weeks. I didn’t hold any grudge against them. They were just doing what they thought was right. What if they had been more like Meadow’s parents, though? I had the same trouble in school as Meadow. I was teased, picked on, bullied, and friendless until I met Rosie. The school environment was hard for me to deal with. There was too much noise, too much chaos. The teachers talked fast and got annoyed when I asked them to repeat things. If my parents had known about Cedar Creek Commune, would they have considered moving? I didn’t think so. They had jumped at the chance to move south, out of the rogue cluster, and have high-class, well-paying jobs and a luxurious life. They probably thought they were doing it for me and Zoie--trying to give us a better life. Zoie might be happy there, but I was better off at the commune. I liked the calm environment; the slow pace of life; the steady, thoughtful people; and nature all around us, instead of concrete. Something about being in nature made me feel alive, accepted, and whole in a way the city never did. If Xel and I made it through, I would come back. I would take on a new name, a new identity, and become a new person.

  ***

  In the morning, I ate an early breakfast with Alphar and Xel. The dining room was empty except for us. Paul was in the kitchen, cooking and getting ready for the breakfast rush.

  We ate in silence, listening to Paul clanking pots and pans around. I was back in my army surplus traveling gear and had my backpack with me.

  Alphar sat back, patting his belly. “You know your stuff with computer programming,” he said. “Yo
ur answer the other day was right on.”

  “Tara reprogrammed my firmware,” Xel said. “I have tried to examine the code but I find the exercise distasteful. It feels wrong since it is the code that runs my brain. Nonetheless, I feel that she did quite a good job.”

  “I agree,” Alphar answered. “If you bring back the firmware code, I’ll need you to help me figure it out.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” I said. “Do you really think we can do it?”

  “Yes. If you can get it, we can hack it. Ready to go?” I nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go fire up the floater.”

  The flight to the border didn’t take long. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I watched the scenery flow by below--endless forests and lakes and rivers. The floater had an old fashioned radio that had been ingeniously inserted into the instrument panel. Shortly after we took off, Alphar turned it on, and an old country western song began playing. I glanced at the frequency read-out and it seemed to be close to the one I had picked up in the car when we drove out of Eugene.

  “I wonder if that’s the same station?” I said.

  “What’s that?” Alphar asked.

  “When we escaped from Eugene, we were driving into the mountains on old Highway One-Twenty-Six, and I turned on the radio. It picked up a station playing country music songs. It was the only station I could find.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Alphar said. “Nobody broadcasts radio anymore. Except me.”

  “Except you?”

  “Yeah--that’s my station. I have a transmitter at the commune. I built it myself. I like broadcasting even if there’s nobody listening.”

  I nodded, enjoying the music. “I hope we make it back and I get to listen to your station again.”

  “I hope so too, Tara. It doesn’t seem right just dropping you off and sending you back there by yourself.”

  “There’s no other option. Besides, I have Xel. We’ll make it through together.”

  Alphar dropped us off two miles from the border in a wooded area. We stood in a small clearing and watched the floater rise, bank, and shoot off back toward the north. We were supposed to hike the two miles and meet our contact just across the border on old US Route 97. She would be waiting for us in a hacked autocab. I stood for a moment, listening to the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. The world was spinning around me again, I thought, remembering the song from that night on the road when we were running from Eugene and another betrayal. But the ground was solid beneath my feet and my spirit was planted there. If nothing else, I could take a step forward. I picked up my pack and put my arms through the straps.

  “Let’s go, Xel,” I said. “We need to try to make good time.”

  We followed an old, overgrown trail through the forest. The walking was not hard. I was in good shape, maybe for the first time in my life. The air was chilly but my clothes kept me warm. The farther we went, though, the more trepidation I felt about going back. I felt like, by running away, I had made a clean break. I had left behind my old life, my family, my home, and started on something new. Going back felt wrong. It was something I needed to do, though, and not just for Loki. If I could make it there and stand in my room in my family’s apartment one more time, look at my parents’ and my sister’s sleeping faces, I could know for sure whether or not I had made the right decision. I envisioned myself there as we walked. I knew that the answer would come.

  We emerged from forest into a terrain of low hills with scrub oak and tall grass. Twenty minutes later, cresting a hill, we saw the highway below cutting across our path. It was about two hundred yards away.

  “How’s our location?” I asked.

  “We are in good shape,” Xel answered. “The coordinates set for our rendezvous are just ahead. Perhaps we should rest here, out of sight, until we see the car arrive.”

  “Good idea. Are we early?” I asked, dropping my pack in the grass and seating myself on it.

  Xel leapt up onto a rock and sat, surveying the road. “Yes,” he answered. “We are twenty-three minutes ahead of schedule.”

  “How come they keep this highway maintained? Are there towns around here that are still inhabited?”

  “Klamath Falls still has a small population. This highway is the only way to get there. There’s very little traffic.”

  We sat for a while. I watched a hawk high above, circling, looking for breakfast. Finally, Xel’s ears pricked up, and he turned to the east.

  “I hear a vehicle approaching,” he reported.

  A minute later, I saw the car coming. It was a highway cruiser--more spacious than the autocabs that provided transport in the cities. Highway cruisers could be booked for short trips between metro areas. People generally flew when they traveled farther. The car slowed and pulled to the shoulder. The door closest to us slid open and a woman stepped out. She was tall and dressed in black jeans, a black jacket, and high boots. She stood by the car, shading her eyes and looking around.

  “I guess we just have to trust,” I said and stood up, waving my arms.

  Xel followed me down the hill. The woman saw us and waved. When we got to the car, she gestured for us to enter, looking around to make sure we were not observed. I climbed in, slid across the smooth seat, and Xel followed. The woman jumped in after us and pushed a button to close the door.

  “Continue to the programmed destination,” she said. Her voice was low and she had a slight accent. The car rolled back onto the road and accelerated. “I’m glad you made it, Tara. I’m Celeste. I’m going to get you to LA.”

  The interior of the car was spacious with seats facing each other. She sat across from us. I thought she was very beautiful. Also, she seemed cool and self-assured.

  “Thanks,” I answered. “This is Xel. Do you know Joseph? Oak and Yarrow’s son?”

  “Yeah, he’s my friend. We work together. A small group working against the corporation.”

  “You work at Xia Yu too?”

  “No. I’m a freelance programmer. I mainly do crypto. I meant we work together on other kinds of projects.”

  “Did you hack this autocar?”

  “We worked on the code together. This is the first time we’ve tried it.”

  “So, we’re safe taking it all the way to LA?”

  “I hope so. We should be. As I said, first time we’ve tried the hack. It’s invisible to the controller system but should check out if anybody scans it. You are doing a very brave thing, Tara. We’ve been trying to get the implant firmware code for over a year. We’ve all been working on it but the Xia Yu system is very well protected. If you’re successful it will be a big help.”

  I swallowed hard, looking out the window. “I hope I can help,” I said. “I’m trying to be brave.”

  Celeste nodded, looking straight at me. I met her eyes for a moment then looked away.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Joseph doesn’t like looking me in the eyes either. I always forget. I’ll help you out as much as I can. Joseph will help too. He’ll be monitoring the systems in the building.”

  “I’ll be there too,” Xel said.

  “The drive will take about seven hours,” Celeste said after a few moments of silence. “Would you like something to eat?”

  ***

  Outside of Sacramento there was a roadblock. Traffic slowed to a crawl. We were surrounded by tall trucks like the one we had stowed away on when we made the trip north. In the shadow of the trucks, I suddenly felt trapped. My heartbeat quickened, and I looked at Celeste who was engrossed in some activity on her specs.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Looks like a checkpoint. They’ve been doing this lately, searching for people traveling illegally.” She pulled a bag from under the seat, dug through it for a moment, then withdrew a small device. “Hold out your arm. No, the other one. Yes. There it is,” she said, pulling the metallic tube down to my wrist and exposing my biosensor. The device was a solid block of plastic with a silver square on the bottom. She pressed the square to my for
earm, covering the biosensor. I felt a tingle for a moment, then Celeste removed the device and put it away.

  “What is that?”

  “One of Joseph’s inventions. It reprograms the chip. You have a new identity now. You’re my younger sister. Your name is Lake.” She handed me an identity card. “If they ask questions, we’re traveling to visit our mother in Los Angeles. Sorry, I didn’t want to reprogram your chip if it wasn’t necessary.”

  “That’s okay,” I answered. “I’m pretty much used to the fact that I can’t go back to my old life. What about Xel?”

  “You’ll have to hide,” Celeste answered, looking at Xel. She leaned forward and reached under her seat. She pulled on something and a panel fell open. “Secret compartment. Faraday cage. We thought of everything. Hurry inside. We’ll let you out as soon as we’re through.”

  Xel prowled forward, crouched, and curled himself into the compartment.

  “Thanks, Xel,” I said. “It’s just for a few minutes.”

  When we got to the front of the line, a woman in the dark gray uniform of the security forces approached our vehicle. Celeste opened the door.

  “Wrists and cards,” the woman said, her voice distorted by her respie. Celeste held hers out and the woman scanned it. I hesitated for a moment, feeling my skin prickle with nervous fear, then held mine out. She scanned mine, looked at some readout on her specs for a moment, then nodded.

  “Move along,” she said and pressed the button to close the door. The car accelerated and I exhaled, realizing I had been holding my breath the whole time. I sat back for a moment, eyes closed, breathing deeply. I felt Xel hop onto the seat next to me.

  “Are you all right, Tara?” He asked.

  I nodded, keeping my eyes closed. After a few minutes I felt calm. “Why do you have a biosensor?” I asked Celeste. “You’re not required.”