Dome Nine

by John Purcell

  Chapter 9

  10.19.2173.9:29PM

  I booted up at 5:30 AM and made my way silently through sculpture and screens to Mr. Wu’s front door. It was simple to unlock from the inside and the elevator required no key to ride down. I was walking out of DynaLink as the sky began to lighten.

  Miss Green had a reputation for arriving at school before dawn, even ahead of Principal Gumm. I was counting on it this morning. I hurried through the half-light and arrived at the school parking lot at 5:39 AM. A stand of trees at the far end offered the only cover. I concealed myself within and waited.

  At 5:47 AM, I heard the whir of an electric engine and saw a blue Impala turn into the parking lot, Miss Green behind the wheel. By the time she shut off her motor, I was crouched beside her car. I opened the rear door and slipped into the backseat, closing the door behind me.

  Miss Green swung her head around and her eyes widened, but she didn’t make a sound.

  I said, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I need your advice.”

  “I’m glad to see you, Teo. I was worried about you.”

  “Thank you, but we don’t have much time. I’m going Outside to find Dogan’s father. Where should I start?”

  “You’re going Outside? But how?”

  “There’s no time for that. Where should I start?”

  Miss Green wasted no more words. “Go to Washington, DC. Find the speaker for the Potomac clan. His name is Geff. Use my name and tell him you need to see Cassius.”

  “How do I get to Washington, DC?”

  “It’s about 140 miles southwest of here. Just follow Interstate 95.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s an old superhighway that connects Philadelphia to Washington.”

  “How do I find it?”

  “Head toward the ocean, you can’t miss it. But there’s one problem.”

  “What?”

  “You can’t go through Baltimore.”

  I was about to ask where Baltimore was when I heard another car approaching. I got down on the floor.

  A moment later, a brown Impala pulled up to the right of Miss Green’s. The motor quit, the door opened, and Principal Gumm climbed out. As luck would have it, he happened to glance into Miss Green’s backseat. Our eyes met.

  He blinked in disbelief. Miss Green was getting out by then, and he shifted his gaze to her, looking perplexed. As she turned to face him, though, he forced a smile, saying, “Good morning, Miss Green. How are you this morning?”

  I heard her say, “Very well, thank you. I have a question for you, if you would.”

  “Of course, of course.”

  He closed his door and walked out from between the two cars, disappearing from my view. I heard her lead him away toward the school building, distracting him with her question, unaware that he’d already spotted me.

  I waited 20 seconds, then hopped out of the car and headed for home at a fast walk. Dawn was breaking, and I wanted to retrieve Moto from the holly bushes before Eppi got up to make breakfast.

  I hurried down Glory Street. Principal Gumm’s behavior didn’t bode well for Miss Green. Pretending not to see me had bought him enough time to report her to the GR. People were turned in for unusual behaviors of all sorts, and meeting with me in her car certainly qualified. I could think of no way to undo the damage.

  The house was quiet as I approached from the back, and the kitchen window was dark. I thought about slipping inside to see Luma, a bad idea that was hard to dismiss. Instead, I went around to the side of the house, collected Moto, and headed back toward school, cradling her in my arms.

  The sun was rising now and Impalas were beginning to appear on the streets. Soon, kids would begin emerging from their houses and making their way to school. I wanted to have Moto safely stashed in the woods by then, so I hurried once again.

  After I crossed Salvation, I detoured around the school and cut into the woods, following the route Moto and I had taken the day before. I came to a suitable spot near the bleachers, still within the trees, and set Moto down on a bed of moss. There was no point in getting to school early, so I sat down next to her and let the minutes pass.

  Sneaking off from Mr. Wu’s quarters was beginning to seem like a mistake. Miss Green’s information, while helpful, had come at a price, one she would have to pay herself. And soon Mr. Wu would find me missing. He would discover I’d made it to school, but his suspicions would be aroused. I realized that there was no turning back. Once I went Outside, I wouldn‘t be able to show my face in Dome Nine again. Luma and Dogan would have to get to Blessed Savior on their own tomorrow, with Bim’s help.

  By 6:50 AM, kids were arriving at school from all directions, on foot and by car. I retraced my steps and emerged from the woods onto Glory Street. From there, I approached the front of the school and fell in step behind a group of 6th graders, passing by Principal Gumm unnoticed.

  When I entered the classroom, Miss Green was seated at her desk. She didn’t acknowledge my arrival in any way. The room was half filled already, but I decided it didn’t make much difference. I took the long way around to my desk, passing by Miss Green. I didn’t look at her but I spoke loudly enough to be heard.

  I said, “Gumm saw me.”

  A few kids turned their heads. Miss Green didn’t react to my words at all.

  And that was all I could do.

  I was about to sit down at my desk when Luma rushed into the classroom. She headed straight for me, saying, “There you are! It was so weird not walking to school with you!”

  I said, “Hi, Luma. How are things at home?”

  She laughed. “Pretty good! Mom gave Drake a black eye!”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah! She— ”

  Miss Green cut us off, her voice cold. “Miss Jomes! Please take your seat!”

  Luma said, “Yes, ma’am,” and went reluctantly to her desk.

  During the Pledge of Eternal Gratitude, I peeked at Miss Green again. She was lost in thought.

  She put up a good front all morning, ignoring me completely. When the bell rang for recess, she watched us file out of the classroom, as usual, then stayed behind herself, as though she were going to skip the teachers’ meeting.

  Mr. Catwaller grouped the classes into formation and marched us out to the playground. When we’d finished the Democratic Peoples’ Salute, Luma, Dogan, Bim and I went straight to the bleachers.

  As soon as we were around back, Dogan asked about Spags’ iPup. Luma and I recounted the whole episode, ending with Miss Veiny being carried off by the peacekeepers.

  Dogan smacked his fist into his palm. “I knew she wasn’t an art teacher! She can’t even draw!”

  Bim said, “The real question is whether they’ll keep her or let her go.”

  Dogan and Luma looked at me in annoyance.

  I repeated Bim’s words.

  Luma frowned. “Why would they let her go?”

  Bim said, “They don’t want her inside Dome Nine. She’s much more useful to them Outside.”

  Luma was leaning in close to Bim, her hand cupped to her ear. Dogan stood back, grinding his teeth.

  I said, “Bim, this isn’t going to work. I can’t repeat everything you say to Luma and Dogan.”

  “Then I won’t say anything at all.”

  “That won’t work, either. We’re going to need your help every step of the way. You’ll just have to speak up.”

  “I don’t think I can.”

  “Why not?”

  Bim shrugged. “After I learned to make myself invisible, my voice just faded away.”

  “When was that?”

  He looked down at his hands. “After my mother died.”

  I could see where this was going. “How old were you?”

  “Five.”

  The problem was more serious than I’d thought. I turned to Luma and Dogan. “You’ll have to be patient with Bim. He’s speaking as lo
udly as he can.”

  Dogan greeted this news with a skeptical look. Luma, however, had been following the conversation, filling in the blanks through intuition. She understood.

  I said, “Why don’t we talk through the plan for tomorrow and Bim will just listen. Then you two can go back to the playground and I’ll talk with Bim on my own.”

  We all sat down on the grass. Everyone agreed it would be best to steal away at the beginning of recess tomorrow, as soon as the Salute ended. I mapped out a route to Blessed Savior that kept them off the main thoroughfares and avoided the security arrays. With any luck, they’d be most of the way there before they were missed.

  After Luma and Dogan left, I pulled Bim’s map out of my pocket and spread it on the ground.

  I said, “Please explain this to me.”

  Bim said, “You have to remember that all the Domes are perfect hemispheres. They also have to be spaced at least a half mile apart. That means that there’s a lot of negative space left over, areas that never got Domed in.”

  “So these circles represent Domes?”

  “Yes. This is Dome Nine, that’s Dome Ten, to the northeast, and that’s Dome Eight, to the southwest. And these lines represent the old storm drain system.”

  “What’s this area, right here?”

  “That’s the old city center. It got destroyed during the Invasion and now it’s known as the Ruins.”

  “I’m not sure of the scale here. How far away is that?”

  “About a mile. That’s where I go most of the time.”

  “Is that where the library is?”

  “No. UNK/C leveled the library there. They meant to do that everywhere, but they missed a few. The one I found is over here. It’s tiny.”

  “How far away is that?”

  “That’s a much longer hike, about five miles to the north.”

  “So that’s in the gap between Dome Eight and Dome Nine?”

  “Right. I think that area was too hard to Dome because a ravine runs through it.”

  “How do I know when I’ve gotten there?”

  “That’s easy. There’s a big hole in the pipe. I think it was damaged in a drone strike.”

  For the time being, that was all I needed to know about the map.

  I said, “I spoke with Miss Green before school. I asked her how to go about finding Dogan’s father.”

  “She told you to see Cassius.”

  I was past being surprised by Bim. “You’ve heard of him?”

  “Everyone’s heard of Cassius. Anyone who needs anything goes to see him.”

  “So we have to get to Washington DC?”

  “Yes. If Dogan’s father is alive, Cassius can point us toward him.”

  “But how?”

  “He’s the only person Outside who has access to the DataStream.”

  This raised a host of other questions, but recess was almost over.

  I said, “The storm drain seems to run southwest for quite a distance.”

  “Yes. I’ve never gone all the way to the end.”

  “Why not?”

  “I couldn’t risk being away from Blessed Savior overnight. If I didn’t clean my plate at suppertime, there was a chance they might come looking for me. I couldn’t let them find the manhole.”

  “I’m going to have to leave it uncovered while I’m Outside. What if someone comes downstairs and sees it?”

  “Don’t worry. They only unlock the door twice a day: once to let me out for school and once to shut me back in. That’s it. They pass my plate and cup through a slot at the top of the stairs.”

  “Once we’re Outside, though, they’ll come looking for you.”

  “Eventually.”

  “And they’ll find the manhole.”

  “I imagine the GR will seal it shut forever.”

  “Then we won’t be able to come back into Dome Nine through Blessed Savior.”

  “I’m not coming back at all, Teo. Are you?”

  “I was thinking of Dogan and Luma.”

  “It’s better not to tell them. We have a long way to go before we even think about coming back.”

  The bell rang, signaling the end of recess.

  I said, “You should go, Bim. Take care of Dogan and Luma tomorrow.”

  I watched him round the bleachers, then headed back to the trees.

  I sat down next to Moto on the moss again and let the time pass. It seemed best to stay out of sight until everyone had gone back inside.

  There was something very odd about Bim’s map. If the Ruins were just a mile from Dome Nine, they should have been visible from some vantage point on the Rim. And, given their size, Domes Eight and Ten should have been visible, too. I knew from experience that this wasn’t the case, and concluded that Bim’s map was wrong. The alternative defied belief.

  After five minutes had passed, I retrieved Moto’s remote from my backpack and stood up. When I hit the power button, Moto jumped to her feet. Instead of barking three times, she looked around, got her bearings, and bolted out of the trees onto the field. As I came up behind her, she looked at me over her shoulder and barked once.

  I said, “What is it, Moto?”

  She unfolded her paw into a hand and pointed toward the school. Following her point, I saw that a black Ford Falcon had pulled up to the front entrance. The occupants, it appeared, had gotten out, leaving their doors open, and entered the building. All was quiet.

  Just as I magnified the image, two GR peacekeepers burst through the doors and onto the sidewalk, striding toward their car, dragging Miss Green between them. She was blindfolded and gagged, her hands manacled behind her back.

  I said, “Moto, you take the one on the right and I’ll take the one on the left.”

  Moto nodded.

  “Let’s go.”

  As we raced toward the school, the peacekeepers began to move in slow motion. By the time they saw us coming, we were already past the diamonds. As we approached the parking lot, they were letting go of Miss Green’s arms. As we cleared the parking lot, they were reaching for their shock wands. They were in the process of pulling them from their holsters when time ran out.

  Moto sprang, hitting her peacekeeper full force. He went over backwards and slammed his head on the concrete, his helmet skittering across the sidewalk.

  I waited for my peacekeeper to finish drawing his shock wand, then twisted it out of his grasp and turned it on him. The jolt sent him reeling backwards and he dropped to the ground near his partner, paralyzed. I stepped over him and gave his partner a jolt, just to be sure.

  I set down the wand and turned to Miss Green, saying, “It’s me, Teo. Lean over so I can reach your blindfold.”

  As she dropped to one knee, Moto came over and crouched next to her, keeping watch. I pulled off her blindfold and untied her gag.

  When she could speak, Miss Green said, “I don’t know how to thank you!”

  I knelt beside one of the peacekeepers and detached his key ring. “Let’s get those manacles off. Do you have somewhere to go?”

  “Yes, I’m not alone here.”

  I stood up and tried one of the keys. “I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  It didn’t work. I tried another key. “Why did you come to Dome Nine?”

  “Cassius sent me.”

  The second key didn’t work, either, but the third did.

  I let the manacles drop to the ground. “Why?”

  Miss Green rubbed her wrists. “To keep an eye on you, Teo. He knew your hundredth birthday was coming up.”

  There was no time to pursue this, much as I wanted to.

  I said, “You have to get out of here.”

  She glanced toward her car. “I know. So do you. But there’s something in Miss Veiny’s desk. I didn’t have a chance to get it, but you should to take it with you.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure, but
I know she didn’t mean to leave it. I know it’s very important to her.”

  Miss Green bent down and kissed my cheek. “Goodbye, Teo. Good luck Outside.”

  As she started toward the parking lot, I said, “Wait.” She turned. “You said I should use your name, but you never told me what it was.”

  She smiled. “My name is Emerald. My mother named me for the color of my eyes.”

  As she hurried to her Impala, I turned my attention to the school. Where was Principal Gumm? He would have been watching as they dragged Miss Green away, which meant he also would have seen us come to her rescue.

  That was why the school was so quiet: Gumm had called the GR again, the moment we took down the peacekeepers. Now, he was keeping out of sight until they arrived.

  I snatched up the two shock wands the peacekeepers had been carrying and shoved them into my backpack.

  I said, “Come on, Moto, we have to go to the art room.”

  As we raced past the office, I could see Principal Gumm and the secretaries goggling at us through the window. Our secret was out.

  A sign taped to the art room door read: Miss Veiny absent today, all art classes report to the gym. Despite this notice, the room was unlocked. I went through Miss Veiny’s desk drawers, looking for anything out of the ordinary. In the back of the bottom drawer, behind some rolls of masking tape, was an intricately carved ebony box. I didn’t open it. Instead, I wrapped it in tape and put it in my backpack.

  The hallway was quiet when we emerged, but that wasn’t reassuring. For all I knew, peacekeepers were busy surrounding the building. We raced to the end of the hall and around the corner, to the JaniTron’s closet. It was locked.

  Just up the hallway, the JaniTron was swinging a mop, dressed in the standard uniform: work shirt, overalls, and boots. As we approached, it said, “Wet floor, watch your step.”

  I said, “Would you unlock your closet for me?”

  “That is not permitted.”

  “May I borrow your keys?”

  “That is not permitted.”

  Distant shouts and footfalls echoed down the hallway. I yanked the key ring from the JaniTron’s belt.

  “Teo Jomes, I must report your behavior to Principal Gumm.”

  Unless I could shut it down, this JaniTron would reveal our escape route. I had never attempted anything of the sort.

  An image flashed before my eyes, a schematic of the JaniTron’s electrical system. A failsafe button was located just above its collarbone. I reached up, found the button with my thumb, and held it down. The JaniTron crumpled to the floor.

  We raced back to the closet. As I tried different keys in the lock, I could hear peacekeepers approaching from both directions. I got the door open, whisked Moto inside, and locked it behind us.

  The JaniTron closet housed a ladder to the roof.

  I said, “Come on, Moto, we’re going up the ladder.”

  As I began climbing, Moto unfolded her hands. iPups are programmed to climb ladders, so they can accompany children at playgrounds. She followed me up.

  A moment later, we were crouched on the roof of the building. I told Moto to stay, and crawled to the edge overlooking the front entrance. Ford Falcons were parked everywhere, peacekeepers stationed behind them. I crawled to the opposite side. Peacekeepers were fanned out along the back of the school, covering the rear exits.

  I crawled to the southwest edge of the building. Since it had no doors or windows, no one was covering that side,

  I crawled back to Moto. “Listen, Moto. We’re going to start back there, run the width of the building, and jump as far as we can. We’re only 25 feet up and we’ll be landing on grass. Roll when you hit the ground. Ready?”

  Moto nodded.

  By the time we launched ourselves off the roof, we were running at 37 mph.

  I don’t know if anyone witnessed our leap or our landing. We didn’t stick around to find out. As soon as we were on our feet, we took off down Pyongyang Boulevard, straight for Blessed Savior.