The shadowy figure who approached him and told him that his sister was theirs. Everything he feared would happen, because of his sister, came to reality but he didn’t blame her. There were so many other factors that he knew her child and her choices were only one point where everything had gone wrong.
Then there was his capture and the realisation that everything he had done was for naught. His panic and fear of being trapped forever. The last scene was him in his tiny white room with a Serenity-powered sharpened butter knife pressed to his wrist. With just enough pressure to dent the skin but not part it. His breathing shallow as if a weight pressed down on him. The white of his knuckles around the blade before he threw it across the room. His head bowed as his whole body shuddered.
Sorcha was thrown back into reality as he let go then and she blinked owlish eyes. She hadn’t realised it was that intense. Her people were logical, they shouldn’t be susceptible to mind tricks. She had heard of Serenity powers but she had thought they had exaggerated their abilities.
She now wondered what he had seen of her life through his mind’s eye. Her own life wasn’t nearly as interesting or sad as his. She still had a father that loved her. She had a career. Though she had thrown that away. Her conscience was to blame but really she didn’t regret this sideways move in her life. Her childhood was pretty much idyllic compared to his own. She had been loved and she had friends. Even though her parents were separated she knew her mother loved her with all she had even if it was twisted because of her illness.
Unaware of her existential crisis he said, “Right. Let’s go.” He headed out to towards the fiain.
She said, “Wait.” She had come up with every forensic countermeasure she was capable of with only a few days planning. It did mean she had to find a way to hide her car for as long as possible. She returned to the driver’s side of the car and set it to roll by releasing all the brakes. She had made sure to park so it wouldn’t take much to get it moving. Dancing away from the open door, she made sure she was clear as it crunched quietly over the gravel. When it went into the small lake that had been created at the bottom of the pit it screamed with metal bending and meeting with stone.
Leaning over the edge she saw her car had tipped when it hit an overhang of rock and lay on its roof half in the water and half out. It glugged as water rushed into the open windows. It tipped one way then sunk quickly after that. The whole vehicle was gone within moments, with just a few bubbles showing where it rested under the water.
Kynaston asked, “Did you disable the tracker?”
She bristled that he would assume she was that incompetent. After all, he had managed to get caught while she had managed to free him and escape without pursuit. “Yeah, yesterday I had a small accident and turned it off, with prejudice. I had someone check it out and said they would order a replacement. They won’t know where we are though there are very few places to turn off on this road. They will eventually find it but hopefully that will be enough time for us to get to the Serenity city.”
“You know they know exactly where it is?” He cocked an eyebrow that reflected the arrogance she had seen from him so far.
Sorcha nodded. “I’ve seen the satellite pictures but no one can get in without some credentials. I had to hack two government employee computers to find that out.” She wanted him to be sure she wasn’t useless. After all she had successfully freed him.
“You can hack?” She hated that he sounded so surprised.
“Yes and no. My dad works for the government so I know how the logins and passwords work. It is just a matter of working out the algorithm and backtrack possible passwords. I also know which ones never change their password from the ones assigned them and there is one guy that always uses his pets’ names for passwords with an emoji afterwards. He was easy to hack.”
Kynaston gave her an enigmatic look and she wondered what she had said to gain that kind of gaze. He seemed to come to some understanding as he turned back and made his way through the fiains. He parted the brush with his mind so they wouldn’t need to cut through. That would have given away their path so she was glad he was thinking ahead. Even if they found the vehicle, they wouldn’t know where they had entered the fiains. Though they could probably guess if they thought they were heading towards the Serenity city.
They eventually came onto a path made by animals and started following that. They were able to cover more ground without having to wade through the thick underbrush.
Watching where she placed her feet on the uneven ground Sorcha asked, “I wish we could have left the car closer to where we needed to be. It will take us days to walk.”
“Maybe.” But Kynaston didn’t explain. She glanced up to see if she could figure out his mood but he had his back to her as he also concentrated on his steps. Maybe that was all it was. Not wanting to intrude on his solitude she kept her thoughts to herself and focused on walking.
It was close to evening when it started to rain. Sorcha pulled up the collar of her coat and hunkered down. But the rain still managed to fall down the back of her neck and it wasn’t long before she was soaked. She wouldn’t have minded if the weather was warmer but they were heading into their cold season and the water was searing it was so cold.
They stopped soon after the light left the fiains and made a small enclosure using the gear she had brought. It wasn’t large and they had to sit shoulder to shoulder.
Kynaston said after a long silence, “I’m sorry.”
She frowned, surprised by the humble tone. “Why should you be sorry? It isn’t like you can control the weather.”
He shook his head. “I’m just used to being the one who fixes things. It bothers me that someone had to come rescue me.”
“No need to take it out on me.” So much for his arrogance disappearing for a moment.
He snorted. “Now I really am sorry. I’m very rusty, this talking to people.”
“Did they not talk to you?” Though her degree wasn’t in psychology she didn’t think isolation was good for a person. She was pretty sure it was illegal.
“Only in interrogations. Not even the guy that delivered my food spoke to me. I don’t know where your people found servants so loyal to them but they kept that up for years.” She thought of all that isolation and she worried that he might be damaged by it. People were not designed to be alone. Humans became very strange if they didn’t get to socialise in one form or another.
She studied him from the corner of her eye, trying to see if she could see any of the damage those years had done to him. Maybe that arrogance wasn’t really part of his personality but rather damage to his psyche.
He must have known what she was thinking as he said, “My Serenity powers helped me to stay sane, I think.” There certainly was doubt in his voice. She had seen in his mind his attempts at suicide so she understood his doubts.
“Serenity powers?” She had seen him use them to walk through the fiains but she hadn’t given it much thought. Stories amongst her people said all Serenity were dangerous because their powers made them crazy. She asked, “Are you already crazy because of your powers.” Maybe it wasn’t the isolation she had to worry about.
He huffed. “Model profiling there. No, I’m not crazy because I’m Serenity. Besides the males of the Serenities seem to carry a gene for more stability. My mother explained it once. Apparently, the early generations came in two parts. The women held the power and the men carried the gene for turning off the power. They couldn’t combine it in-vitro so they had to sacrifice one generation of women and have them breed to the men that were chimeras. Unfortunately, the Scribes used the opportunity to upset the system and took over the government.”
That wasn’t what the Scribes said about the whole situation. They instead talked about the dangerous megalomaniac tendencies of the Serenities and the Scribes being forced to bring peace back to the planet. She didn’t add that though. He was probably aware of the story the Scribes told. The truth was probably something in bet
ween.
He seemed to be of the same thought as he shrugged and continued with his explanation, “The Serenities had to flee and hide which meant what should have only taken one generation, for the genes from the men to mix with the chimera women, happened over several generations. Most Serenities born have both sets of genes and are unlikely to go crazy.”
She hadn’t known that most Serenities were immune to the insanity that had once plagued their people. She was nauseated as she knew the length the Scribes went to wiping out the Serenity model. Those laws and tactics were still on the books.
Humbled though begrudgingly she asked, “Do you hate the Scribes for what they did to your people?”
“No, it was inevitable. The Serenities showed weakness and your people merely took advantage of the foolhardy choices of my people. It would be blaming a mako cat for eating a wounded animal.” There was no bitterness in his voice. Though he had lived with this his whole life, she was only just coming to terms of how devious her people could be.
“That is a little cold,” she stated.
He frowned and she wondered what he was thinking. She had seen into his mind and knew that he had to make some very cold and calculated choices in his life. If she had siblings, she wouldn’t have pushed them away. Except that her mother had done that to save her as well, so she understood the rationale.
She wasn’t sure if he had seen that in her thoughts. Her mother had been exposed to a disease unique to Ardin. It meant that if her mother came near her as an infant she could be exposed to this disease. Unfortunately, her fear had meant she hadn’t let anyone near Sorcha as a baby. In the end her father had to step in and that had ended their marriage.
Feeling a little morose she let the silence fall between them even after they made their shelter from the rain and settled in for the evening.
Their shelter wasn’t large enough for them to both lie down so they stayed propped up against each other as they dozed off. The fiains were noisy at night as creatures hiding from the high radiation came out to hunt. They didn’t have a kupal to keep away any predators so she kept waking at the slightest noise.
5
Serenity
Kynaston shifted with painful slowness. His back was numb but he didn’t want to wake Sorcha who was sleeping with her head in his lap. His legs had long since lost feeling but happened while he had been asleep so though he was uncomfortable it wasn’t his priority. But there was a single muscle in his back that felt like it was stretched over a rack.
He’d been awake for a while. The rain had stopped sometime around dawn. He thought of waking up Sorcha but she hadn’t slept well during the night. Besides, he enjoyed having the human contact. If she was awake, she might remember that they were strangers to each other and he had been recently a prisoner of her people. Or that she didn’t particularly like him. At that moment he didn’t like himself all that much either.
His hand hovered over her hair before he gave in to his cravings and lightly brushed at a few loose strands. His fingers working out some knots he found then smoothing them down afterwards. The simple task was soothing as his eyes unfocused on the world around them.
Some leaves moved, drawing his attention. A man stepped out of the bush. He was tall with white blonde hair. Clearly a Serenity. Dressed in camo he didn’t have any weapons in his hands. Raising a single eyebrow, he took in Kynaston and his Scribe sitting under a small tarpaulin that barely covered them.
The Serenity went to say something but Kynaston put a finger to his lips. Reluctant to end their time cuddled up together. He didn’t think she would be willing to put herself into this situation again when they were amongst civilisation. But with a sigh he realised there was no way to capture this moment for any longer.
He gently shook Sorcha. Moaning, she pushed up from his lap. A blush stained her pale cheeks. Even with her hair mussed from sleeping rough she was beautiful. Mind, any woman at this stage would be beautiful to behold. He really did need to get amongst civilisation again.
Kynaston pointed towards their visitor who was patiently waiting. Turning, she went very still when she took in their visitor. He placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. If the Serenity intended to kill them, the man had plenty of time to do that already.
The Serenity in camo addressed Kynaston, “Your grandmother has been looking for you.” Kynaston hadn’t expected that. The sound of the Serenity speaking drew the others and Serenities came out of the fiains, rustling through the leaves they didn’t hide their approach. Their presence filled the small clearing that they were in. He wasn’t worried by them but Sorcha jumped to her feet. Then nervously packed up their camp while Kynaston asked, “I’m hoping you have a ride nearby.”
The blonde Serenity offered a flash of a smile before he answered. Kynaston wondered if he was amused by the tableau, he had found them in or Kynaston’s complete lack of fear of being surrounded by a group of soldiers, even if they weren’t Warriors.
“Yes. When the seer saw you out in the fiains we set our trackers onto finding you. This is probably the last place we expected you. And ironic.”
“Ironic?”
“Yes, your sister was found close by here a few years ago.” The Serenity offered his hand and helped Kynaston to his feet. His legs numb from being still for too long. The Serenity offered his name. “I’m Wynn. If the two of you head this way, we have a vehicle nearby.”
Kynaston picked up his pack and resisted the urge to groan. His back wasn’t used to bending after being still for most of the night. Sorcha moved as slow as him and he wondered if she was also as stiff.
“Sorcha got me out.”
He wanted to make sure they knew she was one of the good guys. There certainly hadn’t been anything in her mind except she was doing this because it was the right thing to do. Kynaston didn’t even know many Serenities that would be so altruistic. He certainly wasn’t. His people often lauded themselves as better than the Scribes but he wondered if that was just a model prejudice.
“A Scribe.” Wynn’s tone more interested than accusatory.
Sorcha had obviously gotten over her shock of being found by a group of Serenities as she snapped, “I’m right here.”
Wynn chuckled. “Some fire. Good. I find most Scribes have no fire. You’ll fit in fine.”
Sorcha’s anger must have dissipated as her shoulders slumped. He knew it was because she was relieved that they would accept her in the Serenity city. Kynaston wasn’t worried about that. From what he knew of the Serenity city it was made for people like Sorcha. Those who had burned all their bridges with the Scribe society and needed a place to stay. That concern had been the top of her mind when he had read her thoughts. He was almost tempted to lean over and touch her just to make sure he was right but he had already invaded her thoughts once, he wouldn’t do it again.
It didn’t take them long to get to the vehicles and Wynn even had some food for them when they arrived. In the relative safety of the Serenity vehicle he allowed himself to doze off. Sorcha settled in next to him and she also tried to sleep. He was glad she wanted to spend time with him now that there were others around. He didn’t want to tell her how much he needed that human contact.
He was rattled by it all and the thoughts of the past days flittered in his mind even though he had his eyes closed and desperately tried to sleep. This abrupt change in his routine was discombobulating him more than he thought it would. He was so used to knowing what his day was going to be like. Even though the endless routine had frightened him and that he had literally dreamed of being free it still bothered him to finally have that eventuality. The freedom he had was disconcerting to his senses.
Having Sorcha nearby anchored him. He threaded his fingers through hers and she tightened her hand around his for a moment telling him with actions that she understood. Sleep came easier then.
It took them a few hours to reach the city and Wynn woke them as they approached. The city stabbed out of the fiains that surrounded
it. There weren’t any fields outside which meant they must get their food somewhere else or they were inside.
The kupal shrouded most of the buildings inside but the centre was made up of tall slender buildings.
Wynn leant his arm on the chair and turned to them. “You guys ready? They will want to have a chat with you.”
Kynaston snorted. He knew they meant an interrogation. He had been behind enemy lines and Sorcha was a Scribe. They would be considered hostiles until they could ascertain their loyalties. He certainly wouldn’t trust this set up. He had been in prison for too long for him to have simply been released. Without Sorcha they would never have believed that he had escaped.
Wynn said, “I know your sister. I’m friends with her husband.”
Kynaston’s breath left him. He should have spent the time talking to Wynn to find out what he knew. But he admitted to himself he wasn’t ready for any revelations. Curiosity had him asking, “Husband? You mean the guy that was shot. He survived?”
A memory flashed in his mind. He had been a large Warrior and though he had fought like a fiend, he had still gone down. The gun had been so much louder than he had expected. The shock of the violence had been enough that the soldiers had been able to take him away without him fighting back. Not that he could have. Though they were Scribes, they were armed and he hadn’t been. He hadn’t expected the wounded Warrior to survive his injury.
“Yes. We were close behind you guys but not fast enough to stop them from taking you and your sister. We got him to safety. They even have kids now. Two. A girl and a little boy. But I wanted to say I’m glad you got out. Aaru has been worried about you. She felt guilty that it was her fault that you got taken.”
Model: Scribe (Model Humans Book 2) Page 4