Although part of her felt unworthy, she knew the scene had been set. There were too many witnesses, too much respect and adoration in those witnesses for the Council to try to erase her.
“My beloved people,” she said into the microphone. “I stand before you today humbled. I see so much good in all of you here today.” She paused, and swept the room with her eyes. Chastity stood off to her left side, almost behind her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Chastity gave her an encouraging nod. “I see a people who know how to work, how to build, how to survive. I see a greatness in you, a people who together can accomplish anything.” The crowd remained silent; so silent a pin drop could be heard. The microphone was almost unnecessary, but she was glad to have it.
“I also see something else. I see a people who have been gravely injured. I see a people who carry the wounds of their forefathers. I know we have all learned greatly from our past. We have accumulated a collective intelligence, an intelligence that will lead us into a bright future.” Freya paused again, looking out at the people. It was time.
“We are a people who have outgrown the governmental system which currently rules us. Just as monarchies have fallen in the past, it is time for a new governmental body to rise. No longer will the Council be a body that dwells in secret, but a group who are elected by the people. We can take the knowledge of the past; history is such a cruel yet effective teacher. We will move into the era of the voice coming from individuals. It is time now for civilians to have the right to choose for themselves. To choose to have children, to choose their own partner, to choose which civil duty they find the most interesting and enjoyable, but most importantly, to choose who will lead them, who is most worthy of their trust, loyalty, and devotion.”
The atrium was still silent. Freya thought people would at least murmur, or gasp, but all she saw was eyes filled with tears. They hung on her every word. Freya looked back to Chastity again, hoping she would give her another reassuring glance or nod. Just as her peripheral vision focused on her, she saw a gun in her hand, aimed right at her. Freya didn’t see it in time to react; she just saw her, and then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before everything went black.
Chapter 21
Colin
He cast a glance around the room, unsure of what he was going to find. It was the first time he had been in a common room since being coupled. Freya seemed to have taken to exercising after her duty even more than she had taken to him. He could be patient, and wait for her to come around, but he also knew he had some old obligations to attend to.
It was going to be more difficult. He had less time available to make contacts, and didn’t know if any of his old contacts would be in the same area as him. As he looked around, his eyes suddenly landed on a familiar face—a little too familiar. She saw him instantly and waved him over to her.
“Colin, do you live in this area too?” Ida asked with a warm smile.
“Uh, yeah, I got coupled about a week ago,” he answered.
They were sitting at the most central table in the room, but Ida still leaned a little closer to him. “I got coupled about three months ago also.”
“That’s great.” Colin suddenly found himself struggling to speak with her. Conversation had come so naturally to them when they were younger, when their intentions were more flirtatious, their minds in a flurry of hormones, but now, it was feeling like a drain.
“How’s your partner?” she asked, trying to fill the silence.
“Ahh, I think it will be good.” He nodded, and smiled to himself. “She’s a tough nut to crack. You know they chose my partner based on their confidence in her to straighten me out.”
“Of course they did.” Ida nodded, and then looked around the room for a moment before continuing. “I heard she works at the State house—yikes.”
Colin laughed. “You know something, she does, yet she’s so stubborn, she has kind of this rebellious side to her. I hope that the State’s plan kind of backfires; maybe I’ll be the one to influence her.” He looked around, and leaned in a little closer. “First day she shows up, she refers to the dome as a prison. I mean, granted, she kind of hates my guts, but still.”
Ida raised an eyebrow, and replied, “She’s in a great position, you know. At least that’s what your mother says.”
“And how would you know what my mother says; video messages you have are also monitored.”
“I know a lot about your family, actually. Probably more than you do.” She then pretended to laugh at a joke which was never said, but Colin knew it was for the cameras, and it gave her another chance to look around the room.
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“Your parents are a lot more important than you think, Colin. I’m surprised they haven’t approached you yet, but maybe they want to protect you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your parents serve as mules. They make arrangements for groups of people to flee to the surface.”
Colin shook his head, “No, they don’t. That’s nuts. You can’t live up there.”
Ida laughed again, and looked around, then twirled a piece of hair in her fingers. “Well, some people think that you can, and your parents make that happen for those who believe.”
Colin laughed, it was his turn to throw any potential eavesdroppers off their scent. “I don’t have long. I just wanted to see if I knew anyone. Freya will be home soon.”
“A lot of people are wondering what your plans are, now that you have her.”
Colin stood, and leaned down to her. “I have no idea yet, I am going to have to get to know my partner a little better. She might shift, but it will take her a really long time.” He reached out, taking her hand, and placed his other hand on top. “It was so nice to see you again. I’ll see you around.”
He turned his back to her and left. He had no idea what he was going to do. He hadn’t planned on being coupled with a poster child. But he had been honest with Ida; he did see some potential in her, but she would have to at least warm up to him a little first.
***
“Please take a seat,” she said, and gestured to the chair on the opposing side of her desk. “I am Dr. Rheta.”
Colin’s entire body was rigid, his movements and expressions all forced. This woman claimed to be a psychologist, but how could he really know that? If someone had given his name, or his parents’ names, she could be trying to extract information from him. It was how the State worked; they tried to get people to come in willingly, without knowing they had been caught—that is what he learned in school.
“You look uncomfortable, Colin.”
He tried to laugh, to pretend he wasn’t terrified, but it just made matters worse. “Well, you know, getting called in for the head doctor can’t ever be anything good.”
She looked at him for a time, as if waiting for him to break, and then finally replied. “It isn’t a bad thing, Colin. I am here to help you, to support you, to make sure you are adapting to your new environment.”
“Oh, well, thank you, but I’m fine.”
“Are you? It doesn’t appear that your coupling is going too well, does it?”
“Uhh, I’m not sure why you think that. We are fine.” Colin couldn’t understand why, but he felt as though he was walking into a trap. The State requires coupling, and he had never heard of any good coming from complaining about that coupling.
“I’m not sure why you think things are going along fine, Colin. You see, we have record of Freya acting in quite a hostile manner towards you.” She looked up from her tablet, “and your relationship hasn’t progressed physically, has it?”
“Our relationship is just fine.”
“Colin, if you are not happy in your coupling, we could make other arrangements for you. We don’t often make such an offer, but we feel your circumstances are a little special. You have done your best to be compliant in your coupling, and she has been the problem. We recognise that, and don’t want to see you be punished unjust
ly. I don’t know if working at the State house has given her a false sense of superiority, or if she is just a foul tempered individual. If you would like to make other arrangements, we can do so.”
Colin was absolutely dumbfounded. He had never heard of a coupling being broken apart, and even if he had, he would still be surprised to have such an offer made. It was never that bad between them, even on the first day when she was a bit hostile. He had watched enough couples on camera. He knew he didn’t have it all that bad. Some couples fought constantly, and some simply never spoke. Freya hadn’t made things easy on him, but she did make life interesting. There were even moments when he thought he was in love with her.
“I like my arrangements just fine, thanks.”
“Do you? Don’t you find it difficult? At duty, don’t the guys make fun of you?”
The hairs on his arms stood on end. There was something about this woman, about this situation, he didn’t like it. She was playing some game, and he wasn’t going to take any part of it. She had ulterior motives she wasn’t sharing; he knew it, and he knew that it wouldn’t play out in his favor to give in to her.
“Yeah, but I’m sure if you asked them, they’d say it’s payback.” He laughed, trying to get out of saying anything more. She had some sort of a card up her sleeve, and she wasn’t showing her hand. He was in deep waters, and he knew he couldn’t give in to her.
“So you want to stay put, try to work things out with Freya?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You won’t get another chance like this. If you would like to be re-coupled, I suggest you leave now, or you’ll be trapped in a loveless relationship forever.”
“I’m not—in a loveless relationship. It’s only been a month, we will be just fine. Thank you for your concern, and your offer, but I got this.”
“Very well then,” she said, and typed into her tablet. “Good luck.”
It took all of the willpower he possessed to keep his mouth shut, and to just leave the room. This meeting had nothing to do with him or Freya. This had something to do with the rebellion; he just couldn’t imagine what it could be. All he knew was, it had been a close call, and perhaps it was time to walk along a straighter path—they were, after all, being closely monitored.
***
He had no desire whatsoever to be in the common room, yet he knew he couldn’t stay away either. One of his co-workers had mentioned a female asking about him in the common room. He had brushed it off, pretending he had absolutely no idea who she was or why she would be looking for him, but in truth he had instantly known it was Ida.
It was so incredibly dangerous for her to do that, to draw attention to the fact they were still acquainted with the kind of past they shared, and the affiliations they also shared. With the State watching over his shoulder, he couldn’t take any risks.
“There you are,” Ida said, and soon as she saw him.
He smiled, acted happy to see her, and took a seat the table.
“It’s so nice to see you; it’s been too long.” Ida spoke in a tone louder than necessary, and then it was his turn.
“It is always good to see a friend from my school days,” he replied, also at an elevated pitch.
They shook hands, and looked around. Ida started nattering about unimportant and uninteresting things, until she finally leaned in a bit, lowering her voice.
“Why haven’t you been around? There are some interesting rumors going around you might like to know about.”
Colin looked down, and then cast his eyes around the room again.
“I had a meeting that didn’t sit too well with me, been laying low.”
“How are things going with Freya? Any chance she’s had a change of heart?”
Colin shook his head. “Nah, she is who she is. I don’t want to rock the boat, you know?”
“Colin, this is important; we need her.”
“Well, right now, if I told her, all that’s going to happen is she will probably report me.”
“Are things not going well between you two? I thought when you disappeared for a while…”
“No, things are great, so much so that I would prefer to keep them that way.”
“Colin, you have to tell her. She is your partner. I’m sure she won’t report you.”
“Well,” he sighed, “that makes one of us.”
Ida leaned in a little closer, “If you don’t talk to her about it, I will. You’re just being a big chicken. We need to get this ball rolling.”
Colin sat back in his seat. He wanted to jump up from the table and flee from the room. It took all his strength to keep an air of neutrality. It was an empty threat, but it still shook him to his core.
“No, you won’t—you can’t. You’re not going to get anywhere near her.” He stood up, getting ready to leave. “I will let people know if she suddenly becomes open to new ideas, but until then, I think I best just focus on the life we have together.”
“It’s only a matter of time you know, before she comes into a common room, and I’ll be here.”
Colin laughed, genuinely laughed as it was the funniest thing he had heard in quite some time. “Good luck with that,” he said, and turned to leave.
***
Ursa embraced Colin for a very long time. If he were a little younger, he would have shrugged her off, thinking her display of affections to be an embarrassment. Now that he was able to see her so rarely, he knew it was just something he should let her have.
She had struggled so much when he left home for his education, and even more once he was coupled. Of course they were able to make calls to each other, but it wasn’t really possible to talk, not about what really mattered—the State monitored calls too closely. He stood there, gently rubbing her back, until she finally pulled away and leaned up to kiss him on his forehead.
“My boy.” She kissed him again. “My beautiful boy, here to see me. What a wonderful day.”
“Don’t get all teary-eyed on me, Mother. It hasn’t been that long.” He finally pulled away from her and took a seat.
“I just can’t believe the luck of this. You getting sent over here, that I would get to see you in person.”
“Yeah, that did work out nicely. I’m glad they gave me time to come and see you.”
“So tell me everything,” she said eagerly. Her eyes traveled around the common room, checking to see who was near them before her eyes returned to him.
“What would you like to know that I haven’t already told you?”
“I want to know everything about Freya, and I mean everything. Do you love her?”
Colin’s face flushed a little, but he nodded. “Yeah, I do,” he said. “I really do. She is amazing. I feel very fortunate.”
Ursa took his hands across the table. “That makes me happier than you can even understand. I was worried. I don’t know if I really trust the State to match people properly. I thought the worst when you told me she works at the State house.”
Colin laughed a little. “Oh, yes, I thought that too. The State put us together to keep me on the straight and narrow—I have no doubt about that. I also agree that the matching system is a sham, but I got lucky somehow, so unbelievably lucky. Just like you and Dad did.”
Ursa’s eyes filled with tears. She reached out and stroked his cheek. “That is what I really wanted to know about her. I wish I could meet her.”
“I doubt that would be possible in person, but I can pull her onto the screen with our next call if you like.”
“That would be lovely. I want to see her, know the woman who owns my son’s heart.” She cupped his face again before she let go. “I did want to speak about her more, but on a slightly different tone.” Ursa lowered her voice.
“No.” Colin shook his head. “She’s got this total poster child thing going on. There is no chance, and I wouldn’t even ask her.”
“But you love her; does she not love you also?”
“I do believe my affections run deeper than hers, but
it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t know, and she never will.”
“She doesn’t love you enough to find out who you really are?” Ursa pressed. Colin looked away from his mother, not able to acknowledge what she had stumbled on. “If she really deserved you, she would listen. We need her, Colin. We need someone who can get close to the head of State. There are rumors—they sound crazy—but I think great change is coming to us. We need to have a person in a position to act.”
Colin sat back in his seat, still avoiding his mother’s gaze. “I won’t do it, Mother. I’m done. I can have a good life with her. A life that is not worth risking. I honestly thought when I got called to do this job that I was in trouble or something. It gave me some perspective.” His eyes moistened.
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