The Sinner King: Book of Fire

by D. R. Crislip

  The two of them left the restaurant and walked through the blistering wind toward Rebecca's father's house. It was modest in size, a short two-story box that looked just like the rest of the buildings and houses surrounding it. When they reached the door, Erich stopped and turned to face her. He shouted over the wind, "Go ahead inside! This is where I leave you!"

  "Your not coming in?!" Rebecca asked while trying to hold the collar of her coat up to block the wind.

  "I wasn't invited!" Erich shouted. "Don't worry, they're good people!"

  "They're?! Who's inside?!"

  "I have to go!" Erich shouted and backed away. "Go inside before you freeze to death!"

  Rebecca hesitated and then did as told. She opened the door and found that it led to a between-room that had stomped off snow all over the ground. The door slammed behind her after she had let go.

  Shivering, Rebecca shook the snow off her coat and savored being away from the wind outside. There was another door in the small room. Rebecca looked at it for a long moment. Here I am, she thought, at the moment of truth. The fabled man known as her father was supposedly behind it. Rebecca suddenly wished she had a mirror to look in. She didn't want to look like a disaster on her first meeting with him. She patted her hair and used her fingers as a comb in order to try and flatten the parts that were tussled from the wind. She examined her coat and snow pants. There was nothing she could do about them, even with the bag of clothes slung over her shoulder. I'm not taking this jacket off. She wished it could be a little warmer; but again, there was nothing that could be done. It was time to go inside. Rebecca held in a deep breath and keyed the door pad with her index finger.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  The door hissed open, exposing Rebecca to the interior of the home. There was padded furniture scattered about in organized groupings along with wooden tables and end-stands. The walls were wood paneled; much like the restaurant Erich had taken her to. Rebecca stepped inside and saw what she perceived to be live plants but then realized they were replications. Of course they are, she thought, nothing can live down here. There were wall decorations Rebecca had never seen before. They looked like windows with people inside—but not. Rebecca walked up to one resembling a rail station in the middle of a Ministry controlled sector. It's a painting, she realized, having not seen one before. It was forbidden in The Collective to create what was known as "art." She reminded herself of what was taught in the Academy about paintings: This is a Heretique propaganda tool. Still though, Rebecca found it rather impressive looking. Someone actually did this by hand? It was hard to believe. It looked so real.

  Suddenly one of the wooden doors in the room creaked open. A man shuffled in, not noticing Rebecca standing by the painting. She looked at him and felt a jolt of recognition flow through her body. He looked just like someone she had not seen in a very long time. He had thick white hair, a trimmed white beard, and was wearing a heavy navy-blue coat and thick wool pants. The man went over to one of the end-stands and opened a glass box that appeared to have some kind of candy inside. Rebecca studied his face. The man looked up and was startled to see her standing there. "Good heavens!"

  Rebecca couldn't believe it. She was certain she knew who this man was. "Morlan?"

  The man took some settling breaths and grabbed the end-stand. "My goodness girl, you gave me a fright."

  "Morlan Haggins? Is that really you?"

  "Of course it is!" he said with glee and walked over to her, his arms opened wide. "And it's damn fine to see you again."

  Rebecca was utterly shocked to see her old mentor right there in front of her. He came in and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace. Rebecca remained stiff, too shocked to react. "Morlan, what on earth are you doing here?"

  "Waiting for you, of course!" He took her hand and pulled her toward the door he came through. "Let's go, there are others waiting patiently to meet you."

  Rebecca was speechless. She followed Morlan through the room and to the open door. Inside the next room were two other men, none that she immediately recognized. Rebecca's eyes danced all around as she tried to take it in. The first man she saw had darker skin and looked like he could have been a native of Sector 36. He was rather tall, had long braided black hair, and striking blue eyes. If she had to guess, she would have guessed him to be Iah Vadimas from William's manuscript.

  The next man in the room had a familiar look to him. His hair was completely shaved, had hard squinty eyes, but his mouth was curved into a friendly smile. And there was something about his nose that looked very familiar.

  "Gentlemen," Morlan announced, "allow me to introduce my favorite pupil, Rebecca Badeau!"

  Both men greeted her but it was the man with the shaved head that seemed to be examining her as closely—as she was with him. Rebecca asked: "Are you Corbin Byrne?"

  The man took a step toward her and slowly bowed his head before saying: "You look just like your mother."

  Rebecca's heart almost stopped. She couldn't believe he was standing right before her, the man who truly started it all. Corbin walked over to his daughter and extended a hand. Rebecca hesitantly reached out and gave him hers. He then kissed it softly and said: "Words can't describe how happy I am to finally meet you." She was glad to not hear him say daughter, for she didn't feel like she was his daughter. I'm Francis Sommers daughter.

  The other man in the room came stepping forward and extended his hand. "Iah Vadimas, at your service."

  Rebecca remained silent until she realized she was being rude. "It's nice to meet you."

  "Morlan has spoken very highly of you," Iah informed. "I'm very glad to meet the woman who has impressed the man who has so thoroughly impressed me."

  Rebecca looked at her mentor who just shrugged. She said: "Morlan, what are you doing here? I thought you were retired and living in another sector."

  "I am retired," he said, "but retirement is so dull, especially when there is so much to discover."

  "What is there to discover?"

  "The truth . . ." Corbin said suddenly, ". . . the truth about our existence."

  Rebecca locked eyes with him and felt something she didn't understand. It wasn't hate and it definitely wasn't love.

  Iah said: "I'm going to cut to the chase, Rebecca. We've been waiting for you."

  Rebecca looked at the man and became lost in his eyes. The book was right in its description of him. "I'm sorry, what?"

  Corbin said: "We've been waiting for you. Francesca contacted me after you visited her. She told me about the trouble the two of you are in. She told me about the book."

  Rebecca felt doubly shocked. "She told you about the book?"

  Corbin nodded and said in a quiet cool voice, "It pained her to betray you but she was worried. And if everything you told her was true, then she had every reason to be worried." He looked down at the bags hanging off her shoulder. "Is it in there?"

  Rebecca gripped the bag tightly and said: "Yes. But why are you so interested in helping me?" Her tone sounded accusatory.

  "Because I'm your father."

  "Francis Sommers was my father," Rebecca said defensively, "you are a sperm donor."

  Awkwardness filled the room.

  Corbin nodded his head and smiled. "I guess I deserve that, but you have to understand that I wanted to be there for you and your mother. The choice wasn't mine."

  "It was yours," Rebecca said. "You didn't have to be with my mother. You had that choice. You two weren't paired. That should have been the end of it."

  Corbin nodded his head again and said: "The Ministry wants to control everything, but there are some things the Ministry will never be able to control. Love is one of them."

  Rebecca felt a fire light deep within. "So that makes it okay? If you're in love with someone then it's okay not to follow the rules? The Ministry created rules for a reason."

  "And yet, here you are," Corbin pointed out coolly, "fleeing from the very tyrannical government that you so willfully defend."

/>   "I'm here because of you!" Rebecca shouted uncontrollably. The outburst startled everyone in the room, including her. It wasn't like Rebecca to get so emotional. She held up the bag and said: "I'm here because this damn thing is ruining my life!"

  Everyone looked at the bag she was holding out. "So the book is in there?" asked Iah.

  "Yes, I brought the book. It's the bane of my existence."

  Iah stepped in-between Rebecca and Corbin and said: "On the contrary, that book is the light of your existence."

  "What are you talking about?"

  Morlan walked up behind her. "Rebecca, I don't know how to put this so I'm just going to tell you: the Ministry has been lying."

  That didn't surprise her. Rebecca had expected them to accuse the Ministry of some kind of deceit. "How can you—of all people—say that?"

  "Because I—of all people—would know." He strolled across the room and said: "Do you recall all of the secondary tests I conducted on the artifacts our teams had discovered?"

  She did remember them. "You told me you conducted those tests at home in order to further verify that the Ministry's timetables were indeed accurate. You told me each test confirmed what the Ministry machinery had concluded."

  "I lied."

  It took a second for the words to sink in. "You lied?"

  "The Ministry machines never published a single result that conflicted with the dating of The First Time. Those secondary tests I conducted proved otherwise. I found results that dated to thousands of years before The First Time. In some cases they were tens of thousands of years before."

  Rebecca couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Your tests were flawed then."

  "No, Rebecca, they weren't. I tested them over and over again. The Ministry machines are flawed. They were calibrated to never allow anything to be older than 3,500 years. You have to trust me on this."

  "How can I trust you?" Rebecca said anxiously. "You just admitted that you lied to me all those times. How do I know you aren't lying right now? All of you; how do I know all of you are telling the truth?" She gripped the bags tighter. "Everyone has been lying to me, including my mother."

  Morlan raised a hand and said: "I'm not lying to you now. I'm sorry I did in the past but it was necessary to protect both of us. The Ministry doesn't take treasonous talk lightly. Corbin told me he had Erich escort you here. Did he tell you what happened to him? Did he tell you what happened when he took the anomaly he found to his Director?"

  "Yeah, he told me about it. He told me he was indicted for treason. He told me that's why he's down here, that his partner was terminated in his place for helping him escape."

  "Then you must understand how evil the Minister is."

  "No," Rebecca spouted out, "I don't understand! She had helped an indicted man escape to the Vriezen. She betrayed the law she had sworn to uphold. She deserved to be terminated."

  The three men looked empathetic toward her, as if they understood her perspective. Corbin said: "I'm sorry you have been programmed to feel that way."

  "I'm not programmed."

  "We all were at some point; it's okay. You had no choice, nor does anyone else in The Collective. The Ministry controls your thoughts."

  "They don't control my thoughts," she argued.

  Corbin's face kept composed. "The Ministry teaches you what to think. They keep your schedule tight so that there is no time for free thinking. You spend hours of your day meditating on subjects they planned out for you. Whether you want to believe me or not, the Ministry is controlling your every moment."

  It was true, Rebecca knew it. Everything was controlled. But it was done for a reason. "The Ministry is good."

  Iah collapsed his fingers together and said: "Do you know what the Ministry does with its prisoners?"

  She didn't. No one outside the MSF knew—or so she thought.

  "Erich didn't tell you?" asked Corbin.

  "Tell me what?"

  Iah stroked his chin before reluctantly saying: "Erich's wife was captured by members of her own team and brought down to the Southern Point. That's where they take everyone accused of treason. They locked her up for one week before impaling her with a pole. She was placed on the far off border and left to die."

  Rebecca froze. That wasn't what she had expected to hear. "You're lying," was all she could muster. The look on everyone's faces, however, said enough. Rebecca suddenly felt light headed. Her stomach had turned and she felt like she was going to faint. "I need to sit down," she stammered out.

  Corbin and Iah rushed over to help her to a wooden chair by the door. Rebecca slowly sat and began to shake her hands. "This can't be real," she said over and over again.

  Morlan joined them and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Rebecca, this is the real Ministry. They are imprisoning The Collective. Anyone who challenges their authority is executed. And the worst part is that most of the people doing the oppressing don't realize they're oppressors. Like you, they have been fooled. Rebecca, Minister Theoman is evil."

  Rebecca shook her head as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

  "The proof is along the border of the Southern Point," Corbin said. "Erich's wife is still there: frozen. We can't cut her down. The Ministry has the Secret Border Guards constantly watching the area in order to catch any of us trying to get the bodies back. There are literally thousands of frozen bodies impaled along the border, still wearing the clothes and expressions from the day they died."

  Rebecca continued to shake her head. "This can't be real."

  "It's real all right. We can take you there if you want—"

  "No!" she said suddenly, "I don't want to see it."

  "Okay," Corbin said, "we won't take you there."

  Rebecca lifted her workbag to her lap and pulled out the stolen d-reader with the translation. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Rebecca cued up where she had left off and showed them the part about the impaled bodies. She read it aloud.

  The three men bore scowls on their faces. Morlan asked: "What is this?"

  "It's the bane of my existence," Rebecca cried with frustration. "This is the translation."

  Iah and Corbin looked at each other with confused stares while Morlan said: "Continue please."

  Rebecca wasn't sure if she could. Her stomach was very queasy. But even she needed to hear it for herself, so she continued. Rebecca read William's description of what he saw outside the stone cellar, the impaled bodies.

  "Hang on," Corbin said suddenly, "what's going on here? Is that supposed to be Theoman the Minister?"

  Rebecca nodded. "Yes. This manuscript has everyone in it, including you three," although she hadn't crossed Corbin's role yet.

  The three men stared blankly at each other. Corbin said: "Who wrote this manuscript?"

  "Someone named William Coulee," Rebecca said. The shock that rippled across the three men's faces startled her. "Do you know him?"

  Corbin looked terribly conflicted. "Francesca didn't mention him."

  "Who is he?" Rebecca asked.

  "I thought this manuscript dated to 3,500 years ago?"

  "It does," Rebecca said. "Who is William Coulee?"

  Iah looked to his two companions and said: "Could he be the one?"

  "Impossible," Corbin snapped, sounding agitated.

  "I do agree," added Morlan, "the likelihood is very unrealistic."

  "But Rebecca says he is the one who wrote the manuscript. We have to at least consider it a possibility."

  "This can't be right," Corbin said with distress.

  Rebecca was completely lost. "What are you three talking about? Who is William Coulee?"

  The three men looked at her as if they had forgotten she was there. Iah said: "I'm sorry Rebecca. We're talking about a . . . myth or a legend . . . for lack of better words."

  "It's more like a legend," Morlan chimed in. "It came from an ancient codex kept here, within the Free People's Society, since ancient times."

  "A legend?" Rebecca said, "An ancient codex? What are yo
u talking about?" Her agitation was coming through.

  Morlan looked to Corbin who said: "Show her."

  Morlan looked to Iah who nodded in agreement. "Okay," he said and sighed. He left the room through a door way on the opposite wall.

  "What is he doing?" asked Rebecca.

  "Stored inside this house," explained Corbin, "is an ancient book recorded by the founders of the Free People's Society. They were considered prophets, or holy men by some. You probably don't know what the word "holy" means but—"

  "The translation has the word in it," said Rebecca. "It means something of importance, does it not?"

  "Something like that, yes; however it means a bit more, metaphysically speaking."

  Morlan returned with the ancient book, thick with pages, in his hands.

  "This book," Corbin said, "dates to 2,000 years ago. It has been kept safe by persecuted men who refused to conform to the order of the Minister. The original authors of this book were executed for their defiance. This book is their record of all things that had occurred since what you know as The First Time, but seen through the eyes of the Free People's Society: your Heretique." He held it up and said: "The last chapter of this book is called Revelations. It is the only chapter dedicated to the future."

  "Revelations," said Rebecca with suspicion. She knew that title. It was mentioned in the translation. How can it be so? The feeling of deception blanketed her once more. This is too much for coincidence.

  "Have you heard of this title before?" asked Morlan, clearly intrigued.

  "Yes," Rebecca finally said, "in the translation."

  All three men shared another moment of intrigue before Morlan said: "Astonishing."

  Rebecca shook her head and said: "I would say so. How can this be true? How is this not some thickly woven plot drawn up by you three?"

  "It's not," said Corbin and Iah, almost together. Iah then said: "This is extraordinary, I know, but none of it's false."

  "Of course you would say that."

  Morlan placed a soft hand on her shoulder. He said: "Rebecca, your distrust is understandable. But if you hear us out, if you can suspend your disbelief for this evening, I think you'll see that this is far bigger than anything imaginable. I think you'll see the impossibility of this being falsified."