The voice crackled and it skipped to the next part, “Without the work force, colonisation would be futile. These Rustics will they work for no pay? The Warriors would have to be fully committed to enforcing our rule.” The voice disappeared.
Kynaston asked, “Do we know who he is talking to?”
Sorcha shook her head. “It seems it is scrambled and encrypted.”
A slot opened and a small thumb sized drive was extruded. Kynaston palmed it and tucked it away in a pocket while she turned the console off. Together they went to the door. Hesitating to make sure there was no sound on the other side indicating there were people out there.
It took them a shorter time to make their way back to the entrance they had used to enter the back corridors. Mainly because they knew where they were going. There were still crowds of school children in the loading bay.
16
Scribe
They got complacent as they slipped out of the more private areas of the ship to the museum section. Two Warriors saw them exit and approached them. Kynaston’s hand clasped against her arm but she patted it and smiled at the Warriors. She had never had any trouble with them before. She knew they could arrest them and inform the Scribes but if she played it right, they wouldn’t even be delayed.
The first Warrior frowned at her. She widened her smile, “Hi there, Warriors. Are you on duty today?”
The second Warrior said, “No, we are just visiting.”
She glanced behind them and saw there were several very serious looking children. “Baby sitting?” she said with a smile.
The first Warrior grunted but he wasn’t about to be drawn into the conversation she was trying to start. Instead he asked, “What were you doing in there? That area is restricted.”
She raised her wrist and twisted to where the chip that was embedded inside was vaguely placed and said, “I have access. I was just doing routine maintenance.”
The Warrior glanced past her to Kynaston. She knew he didn’t look like a Scribe and they realised that as well. Her heart beat louder and she diligently kept the smile on her lips and asked, “What are their names?” Nodding towards the kids behind them.
The second Warrior touched the first Warrior’s elbow and the two nodded to her and Kynaston before leaving.
Sorcha said, “Rude, they didn’t answer any of my questions.”
Kynaston said, “Who cares? They are letting us go. We need to get out of here before someone notices us on the cameras.”
Instead of leaving they wandered around with the other children. They no longer got strange looks from the others and hopefully it would mean the guard would forget just which group they had come in with.
Sorcha stopped at one display. It showed the morphing face of a 3D image, moving from one model to another while a voice droned on the attributes of the different models.
Sadly, she wondered if she had accidentally been born into a Scribe body while her soul was Rustic.
She asked, “Would you think it strange if I wanted to be an artist?”
“What kind of artist?” She glanced at him when he spoke. It wasn’t the question she had expected. Actually, she hadn’t expected a question.
“I’ve always like watercolour.”
He grinned. “Old school. I like it.”
He frowned when she continued to stare at him. She didn’t want to explain to him she had been expecting an argument about why her being a Scribe, couldn’t do something that only a lowly Rustic could do. She couldn’t explain as emotion chocked her for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I think I’ll be an artist.”
“If the carving in the Serenity city is any indication, I think the other Serenities would be happy to have you.”
She chuckled. A little hysterical as she seriously contemplated following her dream. “What if I’m not any good?”
He snorted. “You can’t be.”
His faith a little daunting but it certainly warmed her.
17
Serenity
Sorcha asked, “Where to next?” as they left the Plato with no incident.
He shrugged then realised there was somewhere they could go. “This way.” He took them to a tram station and then to a subway station. This eventually took them to the business district in the Rustic area.
When they got off the train, there were only a few people around.
Sorcha asked, “What is this place?”
“I used to own this place.” The train left and they were completely alone at the station.
He pointed to the stairs and said, “This leads straight into my building. My father was the one that organised the trains in this area of the city and he made sure there was a station right here. It was one of the first things he did and it made him an instant success in the business world.”
When they got to the escalator, it was frozen. Kynaston frowned. It wasn’t that late in the afternoon. There should have been people around. He knew there were several offices in this building. There should have been people finishing up for the day and using this station but there was a feel of abandonment in the station.
He pulled himself back when he wanted to take the steps two at a time but kept himself to a moderate pace so Sorcha could keep up with him. When they got to the foyer of his building, there was a small tower of boxes piled up by the door. There was no security guard at the front desk either.
When he turned to look at the door, he saw that they were sealed from the inside. He asked the room, “What is happening here?” He recoiled backwards when the door to the elevator opened and a small, older woman exited with a box in her hands.
Kynaston asked incredulous, “Mom?” The woman almost dropped the box she was carrying but managed to recover.
“Kynaston? What are you doing here? I thought you were dead. In fact, you are dead.” She put the box down and opened her arms for him. He went to hug her but it was awkward. He had never been close to his mother. His father had been the one to mentor him and raise him. His mother had resented him for some reason that he could never fathom.
“Dead?”
“Oh yes. I had you declared dead and sold the building. It was no good for me to stay here. I want to live where I can be with my grandbabies.”
He swallowed a lump in his throat at the thought of the sale of the building. His chest hurt with the mixed emotions. “But this was dad’s dream. He wouldn’t want it sold. He put his soul into this place.”
His mother shrugged and went back to the elevator where there were several other boxes. Kynaston kicked himself into gear and went to help his mother with the boxes.
He asked, “Why don’t you have anyone helping you?”
“Well, that is a little awkward, actually.” He frowned with no clue why his mother was being so evasive.
“Mom?”
“Well, after your sister went on TV to tell everyone she was a Serenity and that the humans are coming no one has wanted to be associated with us. It didn’t help that you were taken. It was just further evidence to them that the whole family were made up of crazed Serenities.”
He had set up things so this kind of thing wouldn’t happen but he also knew it wasn’t fool-proof. “What about the workers? I mean I paid to have people here to look after you and the business. It shouldn’t have fallen apart with me gone.”
His mother didn’t seem overly upset at the demise of the company his father and her husband had created. “Most of them quit. The ones who stuck around were just in it for the money. I ended up firing them before they could steal us all blind. But since only your name is on the building, I couldn’t sell it until you were declared dead. That only went through three months ago.”
Kynaston felt his heart ache like a steel clamp. He didn’t want to ask how much his mother had sold the building for. She wasn’t wrong and he knew very well how quickly the business world could turn on a person. It just felt wrong for everything his father had lived and died for was just nothing now. There was no way h
is mother would have got top dollar for the building but he knew better than his mother that they didn’t have a place here.
The city in the fiains run by the Serenities was probably their only home at the moment and Jing City was too dangerous.
He asked, “Are you leaving tonight?”
“No, in the morning but you can’t come with me.” He pursed his lips at the quick way his mother rejected him. But he knew why she had said it. She was probably going to go through the sanctioned gates into the fiains. He was a fugitive and he would have to sneak out of the city. Though if Sorcha’s codes were still working, they might be able to just use one of the less used smaller gates to leave.
His mother must have realised he was hurt by her words as she patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll meet back at your sister’s then.” She moved on to the boxes and put them onto a trolley. He helped her.
Sorcha asked, “Kynaston?”
Kynaston blushed as he realised he had forgotten she was there. He cleared his throat and said, “Mom please meet Sorcha. Sorcha please meet my mother.” Sorcha offered her hand and his mother used it to pull her close for a hug. Kynaston wasn’t sure but he thought this hug was warmer than one he had received from her.
The jealousy he used to feel for his sister choked him and he pushed it away. Those feelings would only harm his relationship with Sorcha just as it had done with his relationship with Aaru.
Once the boxes were set up on the trolley, he said his goodbyes to his mother and left. He didn’t wait to see if Sorcha would follow, he just needed to get away before the seething mess of emotions he was struggling to control got the better of him.
When he got up to the penthouse, he was deflated to see it was completely empty. The desk his father had sat at to work at home was gone. Kynaston pressed his back against the wall and slid down. He put his head on his knees and then for even more protection he put his arms over his head. His whole body shuddered and he was concerned that his insides would leak out somehow.
He didn’t look up when a presence came into the room. Sorcha sat down next to him against the wall and she placed her arm around him. She didn’t say anything but she didn’t need to. Her presence was enough to have his skin feel more substantial.
He wasn’t sure how long they were there but after a while he spoke. “Dad always seemed to understand me more. I think mom was scared of me. She was scared of getting close to any Serenities. I still don’t know why that never mattered with Aaru. Aaru was the more likely of the two of us to have to deal with insanity but Mom was just protective of her. Instead, I had to figure out where I fit and I didn’t fit anywhere. Dad used to make it easier but when he died, there was nowhere for me anymore. The business world that had accepted him turned on me. Apparently, my Serenity traits were too obvious. Or Aaru’s traits made us all tainted.”
He took a deep breath that shuddered through his whole body. Sorcha still didn’t say anything but the arm that was around him tightened.
“I thought I was alright with the way Mom treated me and Aaru. But when I pushed Aaru away, I realised I resented her for the relationship she had with Mom.” He looked up and saw the pity in her eyes.
She said, “My Mom has a rare disease. She caught it when she was just a baby.”
He knew what she was talking about. She had shared with him before that her mother suffered from this disease. He had listened to Aaru when she had spoken about her studies. There was a disease that only hit children in the first few months of their lives. Once they had built up their immunity, they were fine but the disease had long-term effects and made it very difficult to have children when they were older.
Most people who got the disease didn’t even marry because children were the number one reason for marriages and the stress of not being able to produce children held a stigma of its own.
Sorcha continued in her soft voice that caressed over his skin, “She kept me hidden away for the first few years. Even though there was no longer a chance I could get the disease. But she didn’t touch me or pick me up. She was too scared I would catch the disease from her. I almost died. It was my dad who stepped in and saved me. He took me away from my Mom and raised me himself. She never forgave him the betrayal and they have been separated since. I know for my Dad to have married her he must have really loved her. Nobody would take on someone like my Mom unless they really loved them. But something must have broken in her when I was born as she is cold to everyone now. I see her sometimes but she won’t touch me just in case. If it wasn’t for my Dad, I don’t think I would have known what it meant to be hugged by someone who loved me.”
She tilted her head so it was resting against his own. He let out a sigh. They sat in companionable silence and in their shared pain.
Kynaston wasn’t sure if he made the move first or Sorcha but they turned their heads towards each other and kissed. The fierce feelings he had welled up inside himself and he moved. Gathering her into his arms and deepening the kiss. She mumbled against his lips but the words were intelligible.
He knew she was asking about his doubts. He still had them but one thing he was sure of. They were both broken and leaning on each other wasn’t an unhealthy obsession. He kissed her lightly and asked, “Will you sleep with me?”
She frowned. “Sleep or sleeeep?” He shook his head.
“Just sleeping. Nothing else. I’m not ready.”
“Would you hate me if I said I wasn’t ready either?”
He kissed her forehead.
She said, “There is some bedding in the other room.” The wash of relief through him had him on his feet and helping to her own before he had completed the thought. She wasn’t backing out but she was right that this was the wrong place. Especially for him. He had never thought he would be able to get this close to a woman and he wanted it to be special.
He brought her hands up to his lips. He kissed them lightly. Pleased that she had slowed things down so they could appreciate this.
He said, “We should find some food as well. Maybe take a shower.” Her eyes softened but she didn’t disagree with him.
18
Scribe
Sorcha woke up warm. She was pressed up against Kynaston’s side. He snored very softly with one of his arms thrown over her. She shifted so she was more under the blankets. To get up was to return to the world where she had thrown her career away. Where she was hunted by assassins. Here she was with a man she seriously thought she loved though she wasn’t completely sure.
Kynaston seemed sure. Which scared her. Kynaston groaned and moved the arm that was around her to his face.
He rubbed his face and muttered, “We have to move.” She didn’t want to agree with him but they were in a vulnerable place without any security and it was only a matter of time before the Scribes figured out, they were in the city and came for them.
Jing City had cameras everywhere. They might think they were still in the fiains but that wouldn’t last forever. With her own sound of disappointment, she got up.
Kynaston caught her arm and she gazed at him. He said softly, “Are you alright?”
She nodded, glad he cared about her feelings though she wished she didn’t show them so clearly.
She had never been good with the words. That was the reason she had never married or even seriously dated. She had given it a go in college but when she realised, the only men interested in her were also the men who wanted political careers she had realised her father was the true person they were in love with.
None of them had even bothered to see who she was as a person but only as a means to an end.
She tugged on her arm and helped Kynaston to his feet. “No lazing about. Today we have to dodge assassins and sneak out into the fiains with our secret information that could bring the whole of Ardin into a world war that will decimate us before the humans arrive from earth to finish us off.”
She had intended it to be facetious but her words were too close for comfort and they fell flat. Kynast
on winced but didn’t add his own thoughts as he dressed. Sorcha was glad he didn’t point out they really could be the harbingers of their own people.
Instead, they ate a small breakfast and dressed in another disguise. This time as a Scribe worker and a Rustic middle-class man. They were both very nondescript but it wouldn’t be able to fool any facial recognition that would be running on the city surveillance.
Wynn would meet them further along the kupal wall from where they had first entered so they headed for one of the lesser-used gates. There were small gates all along the edge of kupals that was mostly used by the Warrior patrols when they cleaned out the wildlife around the city. There weren’t any farms in this area as it abutted the dense jungle of the fiains.
The other side was out to the plateau and easy to travel but it was also completely open and easy for anyone to follow them. Kynaston said as they stopped at the gate, “Try your codes. See if they work.”
She frowned. “They shouldn’t. I mean I’ve never had access to the kupal codes before. I never really needed them.” But she stepped forward and placed in her codes. The gate faded and winked out. Kynaston raised an eyebrow but she was pale. What could it mean that her Scribe security codes were so comprehensive?
Her father was a senator and he had organised her codes but she still couldn’t figure out why he would use his political power to give her access to things she would never need. If she had followed her career path, she would never have gone past the science facility and the observation platform in the mountains.
She hadn’t even used them to get into her father’s home. She would call ahead or knock like a normal human being to ask for entrance. Now she couldn’t ask her father as that would ruin him politically. She didn’t know who had sent the assassins after her but she doubted anyone had told her father about them.
Model: Scribe (Model Humans Book 2) Page 10