Again, her mother’s file was perfection. She was the eldest daughter from a breeding family, who had been on the team that developed the transport device. Since her partner’s death, she had been removed from the mountain and placed on a project to strengthen the dome. The woman was clearly a genius and had been leading the team forward in new advancements for the State.
Victor felt satisfied as it appeared the three people closest to him were safe. He returned his tablet once again to charge and turned in for the night. He closed his eyes, exhaustion almost instantly whisking him off to sleep.
His dreams rooted him to his desk and regular duties, looking through his tablet for more information about Chastity. His screen went blank, and he called her to fix it. When she didn’t respond, he called out again, but she did not come. Growing frustrated, he rose from his seat to search for her.
She was nowhere in the State House. He went into the military underground in search of her and ran down the impossibly long, dark hallway. Soon, he noticed that he was no longer in the underground, but running through the concrete, boxy structure inside the mountain.
He turned to the left and found himself in the cafeteria, his desperation peaked. He climbed on a table and yelled to the crowd, “Has anyone seen Chastity? I have to find her.”
The group collectively looked to him without speaking, pointing in unison at the door. Victor climbed down from the table and ran through. He found himself inside a laboratory; all the scientists wearing hazmat suits. He looked frantically around the room as the scientists worked without taking notice of him.
He held his tablet high above his head and called out to the group once again. “Chastity, are you here?”
All the masked faces turned in his direction. One removed her helmet, drawing in his attention. Chastity’s face appeared in a sea of blue.
“Oh hello, Victor. What are you doing here?”
He looked at the floor, suddenly feeling embarrassed to disrupt her. “I’m sorry, Chastity. My tablet isn’t working. You didn’t come when I called you.”
She shook her head. “Victor, I’m not your administrator anymore. Lenora will help you from now on.”
His heart raced. “But Lenora is dead.”
“Is she? How tragic. I guess you have to find someone else.” She shrugged. “I decided I want to be a scientist, like my parents. You have to find someone else to fix your tablet.” She zipped herself back into her suit and returned to her work. In unison, everyone in the lab turned their back on him.
He felt humiliated; he shouldn’t be in this laboratory. His eyes fell to the ground, realizing he was in his sleeping attire.
Victor pushed through the door into the hallway of the State House. Instead of returning to his office, he walked further down the hall and knocked on the door of Lenora’s apartment. There was no answer, so he tried the door. As he stepped inside, he saw her laying on her sofa bed.
“Lenora? Are you sleeping? My tablet isn’t working.”
He stepped closer to her motionless body, repeating her name again. As he got up close, he rested his hand on her shoulder, shifting her body onto her back. Her eyes stared without blinking, her skin void of color, her mouth hung open, a blue hue circling her lips. He shook her, but her cold, stiff body was rigid. He shook her harder, and harder, until he heard her bones crack and her head detached from her body.
With a sharp intake of breath, Victor sat up, his dream cleared from his vision. He looked at his clock to see it was five in the morning; hardly an hour of sleep, yet sleep was the last thing he wanted after a dream like that.
He quickly changed and went to exercise. As he ran on the treadmill, he mulled the strangeness of the dream around in his mind.
Chastity’s detachment had bothered him, but he didn’t feel that was the pinnacle of his discomfort. Why had she become an administrator? Was it common for children of scientists to go into a different field?
The thought kept rolling around his mind as he pushed harder and harder into his run.
Once he had showered and prepared himself for the day, the first item on his to-do list wasn’t to look further into Chastity’s file, but the files of the offspring of other scientists.
Chapter 20
Hope
Hope tapped on her tablet with intense concentration. There was so much data to sift through. So many minor changes they made every time they tested the glass. She nearly jumped out of her seat when a knock came at her office door. “Yes?” She called out with her hand clenched to her chest; working to calm her heart rate.
A military personnel who regularly monitored their work stepped through the door. “Hope, I’ve been sent for you. Please follow me.”
She swallowed hard as her throat instantly went dry. “One moment, please.” She continued to type on her tablet. “I need a moment to finish this thought and save my work to the network.”
He turned, standing guard of her door. She continued to type although her fingers trembled.
She placed her tablet gently in the docking station and stood from her chair. Without turning to look back at her, the military personnel led her to her destination.
They walked in complete silence through the military access, descended the steps and walked down the long dismal hallway. She focused all her energy on keeping her breathing even to ensure she stayed stable on her feet. The military personnel didn’t seem to present any sense of urgency in his steps.
They approached the door she normally used for video-conferencing with her superior. As they passed by the door, she realized this would be a face-to-face meeting once again; she hoped this meeting followed a similar pattern to her last.
She had been living with her lie for so long, she rarely worried about getting caught for her time spent on the surface—or Chastity’s paternity. Once she saw the photograph of Joshua, all that tranquility instantly disappeared. She had been foolish to assume she had gotten away with anything. What if the State hasn’t punished me because they find me a higher value than a risk?
Of course, she intended to remain silent until either she escaped or went to her grave. Even if she wanted to tell someone, who would believe her? Before her accident, if someone approached her and told her they had lived on the surface and conceived a child there, she wouldn’t see them as noncompliant, she would question their mental health.
Hope couldn’t be certain of where they were, but she knew that this was the deepest she had ever gone into the military underground. She was certain she had also passed the small meeting room where she had spoken to her superior and seen the image of her husband searching for her.
Paranoia set in.
Was it a test? Do they already know who Joshua is—who he is to me?
He abruptly came to a halt and opened a door, stepping off to the side and gesturing for her to step ahead of him. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped into the room. She had to fight to keep from letting out a breath of relief as she saw that she was in a boardroom, not a holding cell. She immediately recognized her project supervisor sitting around a large table. There were many faces unknown to her, but she suspected this meeting would not be hostile in nature.
“Hope.” He nodded to her. “Thank you for joining us.” He gestured to an open spot at the table. “Please, take a seat.”
She sat down as instructed and placed her hands in her lap, keeping a straight back in her chair.
“Hope, this group is a committee I have formed specifically to assess the risk posed to us from this humanoid race living outside the dome. You are the only non-military personnel in this committee. I’ve requested your presence as one of our top scientific minds to aid us in this risk assessment.”
Hope tried her best to smile and nod to the group. She swallowed hard, nearly gagging on the dry lump in her throat. “I am honored to be selected for this task.”
Maybe they don’t know who Joshua is. Or maybe, they are waiting to see if I divulge any information on him or his
village.
He began his presentation. “Today, we are running through simulations based on the concept that these beings have a moderate intelligence, capable of making tools, but lack the technological capacity of the State. We will focus on one scenario at a time while we seek the proper countermeasure for that scenario.”
He flicked on the monitor. “We have searched the historical records in the database for the kinds of tools humankind invented before the use of modern technology. Assuming this race of beings is as advanced as what history refers to as the dark ages, this is an idea of what types of weapons they may create. In this scenario, there will be no use of explosives, or gunpowder.”
A series of devices displayed on the screen. The only weapon Hope had ever conceived of was a firearm or some type of explosive. They were quite genius in a way. Each one was simple in construction and relied on the laws of physics to perform.
“If this group were to attack near Cheyenne, we would expect them to attack using swords, spears, bows and arrows, sling-shots and clubs. If they attack the dome directly attempting to shatter the glass, we would expect them to use a battering ram or catapult.”
The images on the monitor changed to a simulation of a battering ram striking the dome.
“We have run computer simulations for the expected force the glass can withstand verses the impact force of a battering ram, based on what we believe would be an average tree size. Their chances of breaking through the glass are the highest with a battering ram, but so are their chances of discovery. Battering rams are difficult to move. They may have to construct it right outside the dome which increases their chances of discovery. This is the reason we feel a catapult may be their first choice. They could construct a catapult and strike from a safer distance.”
He paused and took a sip of water. “I open the floor for discussion. It is time to address your immediate impressions of how we would survive an attack such as this. We will all leave here today with some research to do in hopes of forming a strategic plan so we may train our soldiers to handle such a situation.”
He nodded to Hope. “Hope is here to help us all understand why these machines they could build would work and what we would need to stop them. She will run simulations in her lab to ensure our dome with endure such a scenario.” He gestured around the table. “The floor is now open.”
Chapter 21
Victor
Wesley closed the door and walked across the office, closing the distance between them. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
Victor looked up from his tablet, pushing it off to the side. “Yes, Wesley. I did.” He interlaced his fingers on top of his desk. “Thank you for coming to see me.” He smiled warmly, then decided to cut to the chase. “I’m afraid this meeting might not be the normal type of meeting you have on your agenda.”
Wesley chuckled and shifted in his seat. “My civil duty may surprise you.”
Victor nodded. “I didn’t mean that as a slight; I’m sure your civil duty is equally interesting as mine. Pertaining to the type of conversation I would like to have with you.” Victor looked down at his desk, trying to conceive the most delicate phrasing. “I am seeking additional information on my administrator, Chastity.”
“Oh?”
Victor shifted in his seat. “I am aware of your team’s diligence. I am also aware of the team of psychologists who take the data your team collects and performs complex analysis. I don’t want my inquisition to seem distrustful of these people or practices, but I have made a discovery which I find… interesting.”
Wesley looked at him blankly, shaking his head. “I’m at a loss here, Victor. I’m not sure where you are leading me.”
Victor nodded. “I’m not quite certain myself.” He chuckled. “I do not want to sound any alarms as I am not certain there is any need. It’s more a… curiosity, if you will. A curiosity which is causing me some discomfort.”
He straightened a few of the items on his desk before proceeding. “You see, I have found an anomaly. Although I have been very pleased with Chastity’s service, I’m dissatisfied with the information available to me. You see, there are many things about Chastity which I feel don’t compute. I began to investigate, and I feel it left me more confused than where I began.”
“Sir, I will have her immediately replaced if she is causing concern.” Wesley leaned forward, ready to stand.
Victor held up a hand to stop Wesley from leaving. “No, Wesley, I don’t want her removed. I simply want information. There is something about her that is off, or at least seems that way. It may be that I don’t fully understand the profiling system. Maybe it is simply a random calculation which hasn’t worked out according to my expectations.”
Wesley sat back in his seat. “You feel something is off?”
Victor winced, realizing he went in too strong. “You see, Chastity was born to parents who were both from breeding families. Her parents were both scientists at Cheyenne. Yet Chastity, was neither selected for reproduction, nor sent out to Cheyenne. The girl is sharp as a whip, but she doesn’t have the same level of IQ as her parents. Something about her file just doesn’t add up to me.”
Wesley shrugged. “I’m sorry, sir. You may have to speak to the department of psychology for those types of answers. I don’t know the inner workings of the system, I only focus on ensuring I have reliable and compliant teams in place to perform the monitoring tasks.” He scratched his chin. “Do all scientists’ children end up like their parents? I have a boy; he wasn’t selected for Security.”
It became clear to him in that moment that Wesley either didn’t know the information he was after or wouldn’t tell him. If he was withholding information, Victor didn’t suspect it as a personal slight, more as a sign of disinterest. Perhaps, Victor was the first Head of State to request such information.
I can see this was a waste of time. It would be best to end this meeting quickly.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you with a trivial matter. I was hoping you would have more insight than what is listed in her file. I thought perhaps these files were an abridged version of the information collected. Maybe I could find a file with more detail if I knew the right place to look. I feel it is important to trust the people around me and to do that I need to know who they truly are.”
Wesley nodded. “I appreciate your concerns. A man with your position needs to feel safe. All I can say on the matter is, you are. Chastity wouldn’t have made it into this position if she hadn’t shown the utmost compliance since birth. I don’t know why she’s not as intelligent as her parents or why she wasn’t chosen for reproduction. I just know that she was the top of her class across all fields. I personally review each file of each candidate who is considered for a position in this house and wouldn’t put anyone here I didn’t trust with my life.”
Victor smiled warmly. “Wesley, I apologize. I have forgotten myself. I have been so overworked and exhausted, I have forgotten how much scrutiny each member of my household has undergone. I was simply having a conversation with Chastity and when I learned her background, I was taken by surprise.”
Wesley gave a curt nod. “A man of your position never needs to apologize. I wish I had more information to tell you than to simply trust the system. I can do a more thorough investigation if you would like?”
Victor smiled but shook his head. “No, thank you for your time. I won’t waste it again on such a trivial matter.”
Wesley stood from his chair. “Being in your service is never a waste of my time.”
With a nod, he turned and left the office. Victor waited for a moment before he retrieved his tablet and began typing. He scrolled through some information and then drafted an email to the department of psychology, requesting a meeting.
Chapter 22
Hope
She walked into the common room—a place she hadn’t been since before Cheyenne—and even then, she was not a frequent visitor. Her work had taken up such a large portion of her time, she rarely t
hought of socializing. Perhaps the shunning she experienced while married to Joshua tainted her view of social occasions. Or maybe, she had never been a social being to begin with.
Her eyes swept the room, looking for a face she wasn’t certain she would recognize. So much time had passed since she last saw Ursa. Ura had sporadically sent messages about her son and asked about Hope in return, but she hadn’t seen her since she was a little girl.
As Ursa was still at home with her son while Hope was living in independent living, there was a long commute between them, making any in person contact impractical. If anyone under those circumstances other than Ursa had requested to meet with her, she wouldn’t have bothered taking the time from her full schedule.
Betrayed: Book Five of the State Series Page 13