Model: Scribe (Model Humans Book 2)

by Nix Whittaker

  Stunned, Kynaston had worried his sister would never forgive him for trying to take her baby but instead she had been worried about him. Feeling humbled he followed Wynn to the gates of the city.

  They were met there by a few soldiers who took them into the city. Wynn returned to his vehicle. Sorcha’s hand found his and he held on. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling a little lost in their new surroundings. The Serenity soldiers took them to a large building made of glass and steel and pierced into the sky with vengeance.

  The foyer was equally impressive and reminded him of the building he had owned in Jing. Made of glossy stone and steel. He had no idea what had happened to his businesses or buildings. If Sorcha was right and that they had even changed his name then it was likely it was in their grasp as they had wiped him out of the records completely. Fictitious people didn’t own things. He wasn’t sure what he felt about that. He had worked so long to hold on to his father’s legacy but that was mostly because it could protect himself and his family. In the end it had done nothing to prevent him and his sister being taken.

  Two soldiers came up with them in the elevator. Kynaston eyed them. Though they stuck to the corners of the elevator they took up more of the space merely with their presence. His hand tightened around Sorcha’s.

  They were taken to the top floor. When they came out Kynaston was surprised that it was a home. They were brought into a kitchen living area that had stunning views over the city. The soldiers stayed at the door and didn’t enter. Kynaston went up to the window to look down. The building was in a prime location as it had unobstructed views of the fields and smaller homes that ringed the sky rises that clustered around the centre of the city. The kupal seemed overly close as well as it only covered over their heads by a few meters. That meant they were the tallest building in the city and they were in the penthouse.

  Whoever owned this place was probably the real power in this city. Off centre and worried that he had merely gone from the frying pan to the fire he turned when someone came into the room.

  It was a young girl. Only two or so in age. She came up to him and stared up at him. She had dark brown hair but the palest blue eyes. She passed him a picture. The flexi had a drawing of someone in a white box. He blinked as he realised the box was the same dimensions of his prison. There were even the lights in the same place as his prison.

  He studied the girl. She was clearly a seer. There weren’t many amongst the Serenities but she could not have drawn this picture from second-hand accounts as no one knew where he had been all these years.

  Kynaston said, “Thank you. Do you mind if I take a copy of this?” She beamed at him so he took that as permission. He moved the image to his own computer and handed the flexi back to her. She skipped off.

  Sorcha asked, “What do you think we are doing here?”

  They all turned when a voice said, “You are here because this is your home.”

  Aaru hadn’t changed from when he last saw her. But she looked a lot more content. She held a baby in her arms. Behind her was a Warrior. He was just as big and intimidating as he had been the first time Kynaston had seen him but at least this moment was filled with less violence.

  Aaru handed her child to the Warrior behind her and approached him as she said, “We looked for you. We were worried about you.” She stopped in front of him.

  Her brows furrowed and she raised a hand and slapped him. The sting burned. He did not expect the slap. His cheek stung but he didn’t retaliate.

  “And that is for thinking even for a moment that I would give up my baby for my own safety,” She explained.

  “Fair enough.” He knew he deserved it but it broke something in him to think he had only managed to hurt his family instead of protecting them.

  She huffed. Kynaston caught her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. He pressed his face into her hair and tightened the hug. Her arms slipped around him and she mumbled that she had missed him. Kynaston squeezed his eyes shut and convinced himself that it wasn’t to stop the tears gathering in his eyes. He held on as he felt his panic attack nibbling at the edges of his mind.

  Another voice said, “Enough of that.”

  Kynaston stepped back to see a small older woman. He could see his mother’s eyes in hers.

  He asked, “Aki?” He had communicated with her in secret messages but he had never been so bold as to ask for an image of her.

  “Yes, and you are a mess. Get over here.” He let go of Aaru but only reluctantly. His grandmother motioned for him to crouch down. She placed a hand on his cheek and asked, “You want some tools to deal with it all?” He nodded slightly so not to dislodge her hand.

  He couldn’t talk as his emotions were clogging his throat. He couldn’t feel her work but he felt the emotions fade a little like they were something he had felt a week ago instead of this moment. He breathed with relief. Aki dropped her hand and waved for him to go away and she left the room.

  He frowned and asked, “Does she hate me?”

  Aaru answered, “No, she is an empath and she can’t turn it off. Being around you would have been difficult.”

  He didn’t doubt that. His emotions were a mess. They were a little more manageable now with them slightly muted. They weren’t so razor sharp that just breathing was difficult.

  Kynaston turned to Sorcha who had been standing by the window. Probably pretending there wasn’t a thick miasma of emotion in the room. He introduced her, “This is Sorcha. She helped me to escape, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. She said she had something to tell you guys.”

  Sorcha looked a little stunned that she was suddenly the focus. She cleared her throat and said, “I need to tell someone in authority.”

  Aaru said, “Aki is the governor of the city and Kaidan is the head of security for the city. I doubt there is anyone more qualified to be in authority around here.”

  Kaidan came further into the room and motioned for Sorcha to take a seat. He still had his boy on his hip. When he sat down, he placed the child on the floor for him to crawl away. The boy made a beeline for Aaru and Kynaston had to smile. Sorcha took a seat. “You know about the humans coming?” Kaidan nodded sagely. He seemed a very contained person. Calm at that moment. Sorcha looked nervous. Kynaston sat next to her and picked up her hand. He wasn’t sure if it was for her or for himself. She tightened her hand over his in appreciation of his support.

  “Well, I work in the observatory out at Cashin Mountain. There is a conspiracy not to look at a section of space. Every part of space gets examined. It is policy. Mostly to make sure we don’t get hit by an asteroid. The other night it was my turn to look at this section.” She tugged on her collar showing her anxiety about the news she was sharing.

  “I took some precautions and went around their protections. I knew it would be dangerous but I had to know what was there.” With her talking about it he was also curious. He had only heard of it but he wondered what it looked like.

  “You can see the humans’ ship. I can tell you roughly how many people will come from the size but there is something else. There is a smaller ship also heading this way and it is a lot closer than the other ship. I’m assuming that it is a scout. The thing is, years ago when they first spotted the big ship, they wouldn’t have been able to see the smaller ship. Now that it is closer you can make it out. But because of the need for secrecy the Scribe government haven’t looked at it in over thirty years.”

  His heart leapt. The idea of humans arriving sooner than expected had an interesting effect on him. He wasn’t sure if he was excited or scared of the prospect.

  Kaidan asked, “Another ship. How far away is it?”

  Kynaston was glad he wasn’t really part of the conversation as he took this in. He had known about the humans coming as they had mentioned that in their interrogations. They had wanted to know if he had been the one to tell his sister. In the time he had to think about it he knew that there was more to it. The Scribes were trying to create an army and you only
did that if you were planning to fight. If there was a scout on the way that no one knew about things could get heated very quickly and the Scribes might turn their army against them.

  “The scout should arrive in a few years, more like five to ten years.”

  Kaidan gave a thoughtful, “Mmm.” He didn’t telegraph his thoughts so Kynaston had no idea what he thought about humans coming to their planet. Kynaston could appreciate that his people were here first and that they had settled in but he also knew the planet was massive. If his people really couldn’t get along with the humans straight away there were whole other continents for them to populate.

  “I don’t think the Serenities know about it. I know for sure the Scribes don’t,” Sorcha said, but he could hear the doubt in her voice.

  Kynaston tightened his hand over hers to draw her attention. “He’ll do something with this information. You don’t have to worry.” He didn’t know much about Aaru’s husband but he doubted he became the head of security of one a city hated by the Scribes without being proactive and deadly.

  Kaidan backed up his words with, “This is significant. As so far, we have been just playing catch up. To know something before the Scribes will be a great advantage. We don’t have access to any observatories. When do you think the satellites will pick it up?” There were satellites that were placed when they had arrived. Mostly they were used for communication but they did have other capabilities.

  Sorcha shook her head. “They only deal with looking at the planet. There is nothing pointing outwards. That was the point of the observatory. They won’t know about the scout until it enters the planet’s atmosphere. They will be able to move fast after that but surely there are things we can put into place to intercept the scout before the Scribes do?”

  Aaru bounced her child on her knee as she added, “Kaidan will know what to do. That is what Warriors are good at. He is a long-range thinker.” She beamed at her husband. Kynaston was relieved as that look alone showed him how much in love she was with him. At least she hadn’t been miserable like himself the last few years.

  Kaidan grunted at the unexpected compliment and added, “Or I can delegate and use the brains of those greater than mine.”

  Sorcha grew agitated next to him. “You have to keep it secret. At the moment by taking Kynaston they will think that is why I left rather than my earlier discovery being the catalyst. I also needed him to get entry into the city. The Scribes will try to neutralise me. This isn’t the only thing that makes me dangerous. My dad is a senator. He never tells me anything but they will assume that I know more than I should.”

  Kaidan said, “And though you don’t agree with the other Scribes, you aren’t willing to betray them.”

  Kynaston was surprised by the insight. He knew from looking into Sorcha’s mind that Kaidan was correct but it could have been easy to assume because she had turned her back on her old life that she was completely on the Serenity side. Kynaston still wasn’t entirely sure that Serenity and Scribes were on the opposite side but rather like two groups wanting the same goal but with a different approach. It was just unfortunate he had been caught in it all.

  Sorcha let out of a breath. “Yes. I see you understand.”

  Kaidan merely nodded and added some advice. “Mmm. Don’t tell others who your father is and they shouldn’t put any pressure on you. We will keep it secret. But I understand the Serenities loyalties and they don’t understand ties to your model very well.”

  Aaru snorted. She came up behind them and put her hand on Sorcha’s shoulder; the baby propped on her hip to free up her hand. “Everything will work out. You’ll be staying here with Kynaston?”

  Kynaston gulped as his panic surfaced for a moment and he said, “Please. I…”

  He didn’t want to explain his baseless fears of being trapped again. His brain had connected her with freedom and he worried that if she left, he would somehow no longer be free. Sorcha patted their combined hands, reassuring him.

  “Thank you. I have nowhere else to go.” Her voice tinged with defeat. He wanted to comfort her but he was struggling with his own emotions that clogged his throat and had his heart rolling in his chest.

  Kaidan said, “The Serenities know how to exploit people’s strengths. I doubt you’ll be sitting idle for long.” He gave a wistful smile and Kynaston wondered how long he had been in the city before they had offered him his current position.

  “I doubt the Serenities need an astronomer.” Sorcha lamented.

  “They could be interested in your hacking skills.” Kynaston teased. She laughed at that. She was smarter than she admitted. A whole model of humans had tried to free him and she had done it on her own. Knowing she was alright he extracted his hand and excused himself.

  He wandered the home until he found his grandmother. She was working in a corner office that was the size of a small house. She didn’t look up as he entered so he took that as permission. He flopped into the chair and took a deep breath. He looked over her shoulder to the view and said, “I could get used to that.”

  “No, you won’t.” Hurt, he frowned but she looked up. “You will never take that for granted again.” She was right. Her face softened and said, “I’m sorry we didn’t find you sooner.”

  He waved it off. “You freed Aaru and kept me relevant. They couldn’t kill me as long as you guys loomed out here.”

  She frowned, “You know you don’t have to pretend with me.” He sighed. He hadn’t expected her to understand him. They had only ever communicated with notes left in drop sites in the city. Coded and short they rarely held anything of a personal nature.

  “I didn’t realise I was this broken,” he admitted.

  She snorted. And he wondered what feelings she could get from him. So he elaborated, “Okay, I didn’t realise I would remain broken once I was out.”

  She put aside the stylus she was working with and placed both of her hands on the surface of her desk. “You are used to being the fixer. Some things can’t be fixed but think about this. Do you need to be fixed to be happy? Figure out what you need and fix that. Don’t worry about the rest.” She then flicked her hand and shooed him away. He assumed she had gotten to her maximum and he left. Thoughtful if not hopeful.

  6

  Scribe

  Sorcha woke up to a feeling of being in a strange place. It disconcerted her. Enough that she couldn’t go back to sleep. Instead of letting it stew in the base of her spine she got up and had a shower. Not because she needed to but because it was something she could do. Even though they had only been in the fiains for just over a day, she wasn’t going to take a hot shower for granted.

  Once clean she dressed in some clothes Aaru had left for her. They were a little short but otherwise fit all right. Sorcha was taller than Aaru but about the same size elsewhere. So the dress she wore hit her mid-thigh instead of going to her knee. She slipped her hands into the pockets with a smile. Sorcha preferred pants suits but the dress was acceptable because of the pockets. Aaru had seemed like a sensible sort and this just confirmed it.

  Once dressed she explored the rest of the apartment. They had been given rooms a floor down from the apartment where they had spoken with Kaidan and Aaru. She almost woke up Kynaston but he probably needed his sleep. She knew the isolation over the years would have impacted him but she hadn’t realised by how much until he had been with his family.

  He had been so close to falling apart. It had touched her and also given her the strength not to panic herself. She was putting her life in these people’s hands, knowing the Scribes were ruthless she was suspect of the Serenities motivations. For Scribes it was part of their genetic makeup or at the very least they used their genes as an excuse to do anything they thought was expedient. She wasn’t sure what Serenities taught their children.

  Sorcha rubbed her hands over her arms. The place didn’t feel right. Anxious, she looked out the window. Dawn turned the kupal purple. A park was near the building and she could see it just at the
corner of the view out the window. A moment outside in the fresh air would help her with this feeling. She couldn’t just leave though. Still reluctant to wake Kynaston, Sorcha left a note on the grocery list on the fridge explaining that she had gone out.

  There were no soldiers to follow her this time but she wasn’t going far. A small postage stamp of a park surrounded by tall buildings of nano fibres and laminated glass.

  Once inside the small fenced in garden she felt calm. It had a pond in the middle with a few fish. There was a feeding meter by the pond that dispensed a set amount of food each day but since it was barely dawn, there was food for visitors to feed the fish. She sprinkled some flakes in and watched the silver and blue fish rise to the surface to consume her offering.

  Sorcha saw some red in the water and spun around before she knew what it could be. There was a man behind her and he lunged for her. If his red shirt hadn’t reflected in the water she would have been taken unawares. His attack wild, he missed her and went into the water.

  Without waiting to see if he had someone else with him, she ran. Slamming into the gates of the park, she rattled the gates before she realised they were locked. Silently cursing the man that had attacked her she ran for some cover. The man scrambled to get out of the water and chased her. Dripping foul smelling water that made it easier to figure where he was in the garden.

  She went into the bushes hoping he wouldn’t see her but she could hear him searching for her. Tucking herself behind a particularly dense foliage she tried to calm her breathing so she didn’t give away her hiding place. Her heart beat loud enough that she worried everyone could hear her.

  He was mostly silent except when he moved the branches of some of the shrubs. He would find her soon as the miasma of the rancid fish fouled water signalled his slow approach. But moving would give away her position. Sorcha searched around her for some way to escape. The fence was close by and there was a small hole in the base. It looked like some critter had made it as some of the ground was dug out as well.