Select Few

by Marit Weisenberg

  I stood next to George as we waited for the elevator. He didn’t look at me when he spoke quickly, in shorthand, “Liv never told him about the bar that night, how we suspected back then. Play dumb. Let Novak think Angus just discovered him.”

  At that moment I was surprised and grateful for Liv’s loyalty. “How did Angus get back in?” I asked.

  “Liv said Novak has people watching your mother. When they saw your boyfriend show up, they approached Angus, and he made a deal in order to come back.”

  All of those trip wires I hadn’t seen—Donna, spies watching the cove, and then, my best friend. I remembered a change in Angus’s behavior when we drove away from the beach that last time. I hadn’t really believed it when he’d said he wanted to be with the group. Now my heart couldn’t fathom the depth of his betrayal.

  The elevator arrived. George stepped into the spacious enclosure. I hesitated for a moment. George held out his hand in an act of kindness that I wouldn’t have expected. I took it and squeezed hard as we descended one floor deeper into the heart of the mountain.

  The doors opened. I was now in the salon I’d been watching, in the same room as my family. In unison, everyone looked at me, suddenly frozen. Then they turned back to what they were doing.

  George kept me on the periphery instead of walking through the middle area where the older members of the group were. Wilted orchids decorated the side tables. The vents at the seams between the wall and the ceiling that made up what looked like a shoddy ventilation system were another reminder that this was an artificial environment, a bunker for hiding. They hadn’t gone back to their roots nor was this living in nature.

  From her perch on a leather bench, Victoria scrutinized me, eagle-eyed. The gazes pulled me to look at them, but I couldn’t connect with any of my former friends. I was too intent on calibrating my walk so I could come face-to-face with Angus.

  George led me to an exit and just before I reached it, Angus’s progression around the outskirts of the room landed him, perfectly timed, right in front of me. He wore a grey T-shirt and loose olive-green cargo pants. He looked strong and healthy in comparison to the Puris who had been living underground for months. He had said he wanted to be back with his boys, and apparently it suited him. He looked at me long and hard as we passed.

  It took all I had not to lunge for him. I had really believed he loved me, and I hope my harsh stare told him as much.

  We exited the great room into a dark passage, leaving behind the fishbowl of Puris—so many and all so beautiful, you could almost no longer tell the difference between them.

  The air felt even closer and thicker. George walked me through room after room of a substantial palace. We passed pods of living areas as we traveled down the hallways. Instead of mimicking corridors that looked as though they belonged in an upscale home, the halls were rough-hewn rock tunnels, as if the job had been rushed to completion. The passage became more difficult to walk through, tighter, the ground uneven in places with sharp rocks cutting through the earth. We passed a large window beyond which I could see an expanse of hydroponic vegetables growing under lamps.

  “We’re here,” George said, halting outside the only double doors I had seen. The smooth doors coated with glossy white paint were a sharp contrast to the rock walls streaked with orange veins. “I’m supposed to leave you here,” he said, gesturing for me to go ahead.

  George slipped away behind me, beginning the long winding path back through the narrow tunnels. The lights along the sides of the tunnel flickered, putting me in pitch-black momentarily, like I was buried alive. With an outstretched hand, I found the peaks and valleys of the rough stone wall, orienting myself until the light came back.

  In my heart, I knew I would have always been looking over my shoulder, wondering when I was going to find myself in this exact spot, when Novak was going to punish me for my hubris in thinking I could make a life for myself.

  I placed my hand on the stainless steel lever of one of the glossy white doors. I was back to needing permission, and it did me no favors if I revealed my hand before Novak told me what abilities he knew I had. Novak was the jailer with the keys to John. I pushed, opening the door to my father’s rooms.

  The suite was smaller than I would have expected—almost cozy with low ceilings and dim light cast by two glass wall sconces framing a sparsely filled bookshelf. Carpets in hues of red were piled on the ground as well as oversized cushions, similar to the ones used for meditation at Elizabeth’s beach. I’d expected a series of rooms where Novak and Victoria and probably my sister dwelled—much smaller than the mansion where we’d lived together but just as interesting and well appointed. Instead, I entered into a den, right off a hallway.

  A man sat on one of the cushions on the floor, cross-legged. He was in the center of a ring of chairs. Two simple flower arrangements were placed on matching glass side tables nearby. He wore jeans, no shoes, and a long sleeve T-shirt. He didn’t stand when I opened the door. His head was bowed, but when he lifted it, I was nailed in place by his gaze.

  Novak regarded me, his prodigal daughter, with familiar eyes that blazed. But the rest of his facial appearance had drastically changed. I would have assumed he’d had plastic surgery had I not seen the photo in Miriam’s office—the one taken of him with Elizabeth. Like in that photo, his hair was darker, his face more chiseled. Was this what he really looked like? Had he been his real self with Elizabeth? He was far less beautiful than he had been during the years I lived with him. Then he had looked like a sun god with his glowing tan, appearing half his age. Seeing him like this, the only Puri who looked drastically different, I wondered why the other adults were holding on to their Austin visages before I realized they didn’t have to change their looks; they never left the cave.

  “You recognize your father?” Novak said, his voice retaining its soothing quality.

  “I saw a picture of you when you looked like this. From before I was born.” My voice faltered. My knees knocked together. Staring at his new face but into the same eyes was terrifying.

  There was something that passed over his features at my mention of a photo. I saw it—Novak looked like he wanted to ask me a question but thought better of it. For almost twenty years, he may have kept tabs on her, but he didn’t know what she was really thinking. But now I knew.

  “When did you understand who he was?” Novak asked. Like an animal, Novak leapt and had his feet under him so quickly that I took a startled step back.

  “Understand?” I asked.

  “About the boy? It was in my office, correct? That night you left.”

  I knew complete subservience was my only path to stay in this dwelling with John. I had to let Novak win.

  “It happened slowly. I didn’t really know until just a couple of months ago. And then I had no way of letting you know.”

  He didn’t buy it. “What was it I said that night that made you leave instead of telling me the truth?” Novak walked closer, intimidating me with his proximity. He didn’t look like my father, and the trace of him that had acted like it was gone. I was smart enough to know I was dead to him. I’d left him. It didn’t send a good signal to the rest of the group.

  “I just didn’t want to go,” I said.

  “No one could figure out why in the world you would ever choose to leave. We all thought it was young love—you chasing after Angus. I was sad to lose you. You were my firstborn.”

  His sweet breath fanned my cheek. “But then you stayed in Austin. Longer than I would have thought. I knew you were smart enough to evade the authorities and stage your own Relocation. I left you the money to do it properly and hints that your advisor could arrange it. So when you walked back into your mother’s life, I was surprised. I had assumed you were finally sick of the attention and had gone underground. I didn’t know you would have any interest in finding Elizabeth.”

  Why had he always h
ad someone watching my mother?

  “I was informed Angus was with you. And then I heard about this boy who showed up looking for you. I was curious. You always wanted to be one of us so badly, I didn’t know you would have a romantic involvement with someone outside.”

  “But you did,” I said, immediately wishing I’d kept my mouth shut.

  “With someone special. That’s what made me want to take a closer look.”

  “Angus helped you?”

  “I had my helper make contact with Angus. I knew he and his family would do anything to be back here.”

  “Does Angus know you won’t let his father back in?” I kept my eyes on Novak’s shadow on the carpet, a garishly long silhouette.

  Novak didn’t answer until I glanced back up at him. He smiled, “You’re a smart girl. I’m sure he’s figured it out by now. Why are you shivering?”

  I shook my head, indicating I didn’t know why. Nothing should be bothering me. I was with my own father after all. If I were smart, I’d be expressing relief that I was here after a long, disappointing journey apart from the group.

  “So when did you know? Did you read his mind, Julia? I need to know who he is. Just one of the few who try to be like us or is he the one I want?”

  He wanted to know if the wrong child had carried out his vision after he’d spent years preparing Liv.

  If I told him, he’d know I had abilities he didn’t want me to have. If I kept it to myself, it would make a difference in how John was treated. As much as I hated it, I knew John was the one Novak had been seeing in his visions and he would be cared for accordingly. If Novak thought he was just another struggling outsider who was a moth drawn to the flame, who had some special abilities but would ultimately break, John would be treated like Kendra had been—disposable.

  It was an easy decision.

  “I did,” I answered. “I read his mind.”

  Novak closed his eyes, and I could see relief ease his stance. He was going to deliver on his promise, the pursuit of which had weakened his power, had at times made him look like a fool. It had been the one thing that made his leadership vulnerable. Since he’d introduced my mother to the group and she’d been rejected, he had been trying to redeem his reputation.

  Novak opened his eyes, brought his fingers together in a steeple, and placed them to his lips for a long moment, seeing me anew, not happy about the other part of what this meant.

  “When?”

  “At Barton Springs, the day we were arrested.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Novak’s voice was low—kind even.

  I kept my eyes on his lips and his bony right shoulder. “I didn’t want to get in trouble. You said not to do one thing out of the ordinary after we were arrested. All I wanted was to be part of Relocation. But then I walked into that school and he was in my first class.”

  “Of course he was. Fate,” Novak said, almost to himself.

  I could see him calculating, now knowing how dangerous it was for me to be down in the cave. It was fate that we’d found John, but it was also fate that I was here, his successor.

  The room was far too hot despite the fans strategically placed in the four corners of the close room, the ventilation inefficient in the most important room in the cave. The ambient noise of the fans thundered in my ears.

  Novak approached. He reached his long fingers to touch my cheek and lifted my face with his thumb. I tried to relax even though everything in my body wanted to push him away. If I’d thought it difficult to force myself to fit in before—with my family, with outsiders—I knew this had to be the performance of my life. That’s what it would take if I wanted to remain near John. I had to go back to who I used to be.

  “Why were you with him?” Novak asked.

  “I fell in love with him,” I said.

  “Ah,” my father said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  I knew better than to beg Novak to let John go. “I can make his transition easier. The way you did for my mother. Gentle instead of forced. I can help you.”

  Novak ignored that. The lights flickered again, putting us in pitch-black for a brief moment. “I heard about your actions when they approached you, you fighting back like that. You can do other things beside read his mind?”

  I cleared my throat and shook out my hands, trying to draw out all emotion from my voice. “Not much. I can move things with my mind. But so can everyone else.” In other words, I am not a threat. I’m a good girl.

  Novak moved away. “I want to thank you. Thank you for bringing him to us. You executed the plan laid out for you. That’s exactly why I sent you to that school. You were able to retrieve him for us when the rest of the group needed to take shelter. For that, we thank you.”

  This was the cover story. This was what he was going to tell everyone out there who wondered why I had been with John when they’d caught up to him.

  I nodded, indicating my consent. I would never breathe a word of a different version. In exchange, I took it that I could stay.

  “Can I ask a question?” I asked politely.

  “Yes?”

  “He’s only one person. I don’t understand why he means so much.”

  Novak put his hands in his pockets. “He’s the proof. He’s the beginning. He’s only the first.” He said this like I was an idiot.

  “But, I thought—”

  “I have my ways. I’ll keep looking above.”

  “What about everyone else?”

  “They’ll be secured down here. I’ll assume the risk. I’ll be the one to draw them in.”

  He’d lied to them. Even if John and I had made it to Stanford, Novak would have still been at large. With an eye on me. I imagined an odd tug of war between Miriam and Novak, building competitor societies. I knew who I trusted more. If it hadn’t been obvious to me before, it was now. If I ever had the chance to get out, I would throw my lot in with Miriam, who wanted to help me become who I was meant to be.

  Novak brushed past me. “We need to get moving.”

  “Why down here? I mean you could have done something similar above.”

  “It’s no longer safe out there. In a few short years, the world will be a different place. You don’t need to be like me to see it. The cracks are apparent now.”

  “If you’ve seen what’s going to happen, why can’t you do something? That’s your gift. Outsmarting every system.” I hated my father now, but I hadn’t lost my little-girl notion that he could do anything. If he could be so reckless in Austin while not getting caught, I knew he was invincible and slippery, a fish that could swim out of any situation.

  “I’m sick of people hunting me and my loved ones.”

  Of course there was the not-so-distant history of our people being slaughtered for their differences. Still, Elizabeth had said he’d wanted more. He’d been interested in figuring out how to live a real life instead of a shadow one. What had changed him so completely to lead to this? Maybe she had—when it seemed as though someone he trusted and loved had been hunting him.

  “Elizabeth would have done anything to go to Austin with you,” I said. “It’s like she’s been trying to recreate the state she was in when she was with you.” Novak should know he had steered the course of his life based on false information about Elizabeth’s character.

  “She was a liar,” he said. “She wanted to entrap me and the entire family.”

  I’d never before seen the look I was seeing in Novak’s eyes. It was a wavering somewhere between interest and having long ago put something to bed—telling himself he’d put it to bed.

  “She told me she was ready to forget her parents, change her identity, everything.” It felt like I was talking about two strangers. Not the people who were once a couple and became my parents. “I know she was the first to show you that there are other people like us. They haven’t
made it as far, but they will. The difference is they’ll be living their lives out there. If you’d stayed with her, you would be twenty years ahead of this—you’d be integrated into society instead of trying to keep the group frozen in time. You said it in Austin; this is just a beautiful coffin.”

  “No, this is enlightenment.”

  “But there doesn’t seem to be any purpose.” That drew his ire.

  “The way you feel is purposeless? I somehow doubt that. You feel better than you’ve ever felt, am I wrong? Here you can use every advantage you have. The full expression of your powers.”

  “Why do you still have her watched?”

  “It’s time to go,” Novak said, in one motion pushing me aside and opening the door.

  I’d overstepped, unable to help myself. The course of Elizabeth’s life and mine had been altered because Novak had made a snap judgment about her intentions. I felt strangely lighter knowing Novak had all of the information even if it was too late.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as Novak led me through passage after passage.

  “Do you want to see him?” Novak asked.

  I paused, unsure if Novak was being sincere. “Please,” I said with gratitude.

  “He’s in the zone you came from,” Novak said, striding ahead of me down the tunnel. Maybe Novak was tempted to take me up on my offer to guide John through the transition. I couldn’t imagine Novak would have left Elizabeth alone for one second in those first days if she’d been allowed to cross the boundary and live in Puri territory.

  “He’s okay?”

  Please tell me.

  “I’ll show you,” Novak said with a forward thrust of his chin.

  My heart rate increased as Novak’s pace seemed to slow, his sharp shoulder blades jutting beneath his shirt. He strolled with a leisurely pace through the tunnels, as if he were taunting me, dragging out the endless walk through the thick air.