Beyond the Crystal City

by Logan Brookfield

  ‘I’m not telling you any more until you untie me and let me out of here.’

  ‘Well, that’s not going to happen just yet, is it? We can’t have a crazy pregnant Wretch running around the facility half-naked can we, honey?’ she said leaning over the bed. ‘But if you tell me who the father is and how you know him I might cut you some slack and untie your feet, how does that sound?’

  Amy turned her head away. ‘Leave me alone. I’m not talking to you any more.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Carl walked across the concourse area towards the workroom. His boiler suit had now been replaced with clean white cotton clothing and his noisy slippers were swapped for suede moccasins. The few days of training he’d received had prepped him adequately for his new career, although he didn’t see this as a new job, just a means to an end, something he had to do to stay alive until he could find his friends and escape.

  He showed his pass which gave him limited access to certain areas within the facility, but only those needed for work and rest. The patrolling Black Hats had started to get used to him over the last few days and tended to ignore him each time he showed his ID card.

  Carl entered the room and walked over to his workstation. Some of the other boys had already started work but he was by no means the last to arrive. He logged into the computer and looked at the schedule of tasks that had been drawn up for him. He was to produce a report on solar flare activity and all the data for the last few weeks was available, but mixed together. It needed to be separated into date order then by order of severity.

  ‘Hey, Carl, how’s it going?’ Hugh said as he entered the room.

  ‘Think I’m finally understanding this system,’ Carl said tapping away at the keyboard.

  Hugh nodded. ‘Good, seems like you’re picking things up quite quickly. Must be that basic education they tried to give you in the projects.’

  ‘Or maybe I’m just smart to begin with.’ Carl smiled.

  ‘I’ve no doubt about that. OK, I’ll leave you to it, just ask if you need anything.’

  Hugh left the room and Carl continued to organise the data in front of him. The quicker he completed the task, the quicker he’d get a break and a chance to snoop around a bit.

  ‘I’m smart to begin with,’ said a mocking voice behind.

  Carl turned around but all heads were down and concentrating on work.

  ‘Smartass dickhead.’

  Carl spun around and only one boy was looking back at him. The large freckled face ginger kid at the back of the room.

  ‘Do you have a problem? the big kid said.

  Carl turned around and carried on with his work. He resisted the urge to beat the freckles from the fat kid’s face. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself, but instead work hard and find a way out of here for him, Amy and Pete. He continued with solar flare data crunching until he felt something sharp hit the back of his head. As he turned round he saw the ginger kid walking past towards the door. He could feel the anger starting to boil deep in his core. Carl wasn’t a violent person, but he’d been pushed from zero to near boiling in the space of a few minutes. He could feel his pulse beating either side of his neck, which was slowly turning purple. He placed his head in his hands, wondering what he could do.

  ‘Watch where you’re going, stupid,’ the ginger kid said walking past.

  Carl flinched expecting another elbow in the head but thankfully it never came. He didn’t turn round and heard the chair creak as the boy sat back down in it.

  A warning message popped up on the computer screen advising him that there had been a lack of activity detected and that he needed to work faster and his manager had been notified.

  Carl started entering data as fast as his fingers could type. His head felt full of cotton wool as the stress hormones raced around his body. He certainly wasn’t going to run anywhere but he had an overwhelming urge to pick up his computer and slam it on the boy’s head, but again the repercussions would be too great. He glanced over his shoulder and the ginger boy sat there smiling, giving him the middle finger. Carl turned back and tried to ignore him.

  Carl became aware that someone was standing close behind him but he didn’t turn around and continued to work.

  ‘You want to watch yourself, stupid. There’s no place here for ass-lickers and pussies like yourself,’ the boy whispered into Carl’s ear.

  Carl turned around. ‘Do me a favour you big idiot and sit down and take the stress off your fat knees.’

  Sniggering rippled through the workplace.

  ‘These fat knees will slam into your head if you use your smart mouth again. Go on, please say something else so I can pick you up and dump you on your thick skull,’ the boy said.

  Carl turned back around and attempted to ignore the goading.

  ‘That’s it, you weak little pussy, get on with your spreadsheets while the real men do the real work.’

  Carl tried to ignore the comments and placed his head in his hands. If it wasn’t bad enough being held prisoner in this work camp he’d now got a bully to deal with every day. It wasn’t even the end of the first week and all he could do was pray that the day ended quickly so he could shut himself away in his pod. He didn’t feel stressed when he slept although he always woke early with a feeling of dread about the forthcoming day.

  Hugh entered the room. ‘Is there a problem here? Why are you standing up?’

  ‘Sorry, Hugh, I’m just going back to my desk,’ the ginger kid said.

  Hugh leaned against the wall with his arms folded. ‘I’ve received a couple of violation warnings. Some of you don’t seem to be working to the level we expect. You’re not producing results when we need them. You boys that have been here longer know that if you collect more than two violations you’ll receive punishment and maybe lose your place on the team. Please be sure to remind our new start of this during your break time. Is everyone clear?’

  The room slowly nodded in unison.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The hot food market happened once a week in the shanty town and was the place to meet and eat if you lived in or were passing through this sector. Boiling pots of home-made food bubbled away on several stalls as the cooks stirred them and offered out small samples. The aroma travelled many blocks and even the odd Black Hat would drop by and see if there were any spicy noodles going. It was a relaxed and safe place to be and a source of some rare delights that came about from contraband dealing that the local authorities had turned a blind eye to in the interests of keeping law and order.

  An 18 years old Wretch made his way through the market with its hustle and bustle and the smell of strange and exotic food. It was a chance to get out, on a night when the drones rarely patrolled, and meet new people and maybe a local girl. It was also one of the few places to have electric street lighting, crude arrays rigged up high on buildings and stealing the power from nearby city power cables.

  He walked slowly down the street past those who sold their bodies for food and supplies. They looked ragged and thin, but there again so did everyone else. The bad diet and constant exposure to poisonous air and gas took its toll. But lonely men could find someone to talk to and have fun with here. Nobody cared who you were or what you did as long as you had something to pay for your pleasures.

  A live band played their broken instruments in the doorway of a ruin. The mixture of popular and rebel songs hurt the man’s ears as he walked past. It was out of tune and painfully loud and he blocked the din out with his fingers until he was further down the road. His contact would be in the agreed place but he was running a little late so broke into a trot to make up time.

  ‘What took you? the voice said from within the shadows.

  The Wretch tried to speak but was out of breath and coughing. ‘Sorry, got here as quick as I could. Have you got it?’

  ‘Yes I’ve got it, I didn’t just come here for a night-time stroll. Are you sure you weren’t followed?’

  The Wretch looked over hi
s shoulder. ‘Nobody followed me, trust me nobody cares. This is one place people don’t ask questions so stop worrying.’

  The man in the shadows handed over the bag. ‘You know what you’re doing, right? They’re rare and expensive so don’t mess it up.’

  He slung the heavy bag over his shoulder and nodded. ‘Yes, I know, I’ve practised this many times, I won’t let you down.’

  ‘OK, good, concentrate and be aware of your surroundings. We want a minimum of four, OK? Don’t waste it on one, four or more would be ideal.’

  ‘I’ll do my best, now leave me to it, you’re making me more nervous,’ the Wretch said.

  ‘I’m going, don’t forget the sequence. It won’t work unless you do things in the right order,’ the man said as he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.

  The bag was heavy on his shoulder and he reseated the strap to stop it cutting into his neck. He stopped at the first stall, where a huge cauldron of noodles was bubbling away. The smell was like heaven but he didn’t have anything to barter with so he had to carry on and pass it by. On the next stall some kind of vegetation had been made into a giant stew. It boiled away while the stall owner used a ladle to scoop portions into the tin cup of an old lady.

  Further down the road he noticed a riot truck parked and a group of Black Hats talking to a stallholder. The heavily armed men had their weapons slung over their shoulders and they were being served some kind of hot soup. The Wretch approached from the other side of the road and pretended to take an interest in another stall.

  ‘What you got there?’ a voice said.

  He turned around to see an old man from the stall opposite.

  ‘I said what you got there? Anything good, anything worth my time? You come to barter or just look around?’

  ‘Oh no, sorry, it’s nothing. I’m just looking for now, thank you.’

  The Black Hats were busy eating and laughing. He walked closer while pretending to take an interest in a nearby stall, knelt down and opened his shoulder bag, reaching in to flick the switch that armed the modified land mine. His heart thumped in his chest and his knees started to buckle as he moved closer to the men. He looked around and removed the bag from his shoulder and still nobody was paying much attention. They were too busy eating and drinking while making small talk with the stall owner. He swung the bag behind him, then threw it as high and as hard as he could forwards and turned round to run in the opposite direction. The Black Hats turned round, noticing him running away. The bag landed right in the middle of them and exploded, ripping through the men and the stallholder. The explosion was deafening and the Wretch threw himself to the floor as the shock wave hit him. He looked back and saw that the five Black Hats had been blown to bits, there was little left and no survivors.

  He jumped up, ears still ringing and dusted the dirt off. People were running towards the area where the bomb had gone off as he ran the other way and slipped into the shadows of the night.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Outside of work hours and the night-time curfews, few places were as welcoming and serene as the library. Not everyone was a reader and not all the Wretches had the luxury of a projects education as Carl had. As basic as it was, it gave those lucky enough to have had access to it a simple grasp of reading, writing and maths.

  Carl walked down the hallway and stopped at the highly polished white marble steps of the library. At the top of the six steps was a double gate made of iron, one of which was slightly ajar. He pushed it very slowly and it made a loud creak. He stepped inside the dimly lit room and looked up. A white high vaulted ceiling was decorated with what looked like ancient gods seated in ornate arches, and it was all held together with thick wooden beams. More ancient statues were dotted around and the only thing these monuments had in common was that they were all made of white marble and wearing robes.

  Rows and rows of dark wooden bookshelves filled the floor area, each one crammed with literature of all shapes and sizes. The centre was left clear and had six desks with bright reading lamps on each one.

  At one desk sat a bearded man. He had white hair and was much older than anyone Carl had seen before. He wore robes similar to those on the statues. He looked up from a thick book. ‘Can I help you?’ he said.

  Carl stepped forward slowly. ‘Sorry to bother you but I was told I could use the library.’

  The man sat back in his chair. ‘Use the library, what on earth for?’

  Carl looked around and tried to find the words.

  ‘You can read a book here if you wish, young man, but the library is the domain of the book curator, so you won’t be using it for anything else and it’s certainly not a place to come and sleep or play games. But if you wish to learn and study it’ll be ideal for you and you are welcome here,’ he said standing up and outstretching his hand. ‘I’m Joshua and I’m the current book curator and guardian of the ancient books.’

  Carl shook the hand. ‘Thank you, I’m Carl and I’m fairly new here so just trying to settle in.’

  ‘Or find out as much as you can about this facility so you can formulate a plan to escape?’ Joshua said laughing.

  ‘It’s…well…’

  ‘It’s OK, son. I know you didn’t get into the city voluntarily and it’s only human nature to want to get out. But you should stick with it a while longer, we don’t get many Wretches in the library, probably because most of them can’t read. It’s nice to have someone with reading skills. Plus big things are afoot and everything will change for the better soon. There’s nothing out there for you, everything you need is here.’

  Carl nodded. ‘So what kind of books do you have here? Where do they all come from?’

  Joshua walked over to one of the bookcases. ‘These are all that’s left of humanity’s attempt to put their thoughts and feelings down on paper. The collection is priceless and irreplaceable and it’s my job to preserve it and ensure that it survives for future generations. What kind of stuff do you like to read?’

  Carl looked at some of the titles on the shelves. ‘I’ve never heard of any of these but when I went to school in the projects we had simple books to read, mainly learning books to increase our basic skills. But there were some ancient classics that we were allowed to browse, but never read in full. I think they were worried that if we read too much we’d gain too much knowledge and start rebelling.’

  ‘Rebellion is certainly in the air.’ Joshua nodded. ‘It’s kind of understandable maybe, we’d all do the same if given the same set of circumstances. But I’d urge you to think carefully now you’re here, do you really want to suffer outside, scratching a living with the other Wretches? Isn’t it more comfortable here in the clouds with us, surrounded by these beautiful crystal walls?’

  Carl looked at the floor then back up. ‘What’s behind that?’ he said pointing to a single iron gate at the end of the room.

  ‘Those are our most valuable possessions from a literary perspective. Ancient religious books of many faiths. The original plans for this facility and many more documents, only for the eyes of those in power.’

  ‘So I can’t go in there?’

  Joshua shook his head. ‘Not if you want to keep your eyes and your tongue. Theft isn’t tolerated well around here and I’d advise you to keep your nose clean and not snoop around too much. Unless you want to end up in the prison block or mulched into Wretch food.’

  ‘I’d rather just stay alive for now, thank you very much.’

  Joshua smiled and walked over to a bookcase. He took out a large dusty book and handed it to Carl. ‘Here, take a look at this, it may interest you.’

  Carl placed it down on a table and ran his fingers over the leather-bound cover. ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s a book written by the ancients, the only copy we have. It describes the many battles between gods and mythological beasts. It has some handsome illustrations too, you might find it interesting.’

  ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Carl said.

 
Joshua stretched his back; the years of sitting down hunched over books made his back hurt when he stood up. ‘That’s because outside of the city a leather-bound book many years old would have been destroyed. Perhaps bartered for or even used on a fire. Only those that run this facility and the book curator can fully appreciate the text of our ancient ancestors.’

  Carl turned over the first few pages. ‘It’s beautiful,’ he said sitting down and placing his head in his hands. ‘But I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.’

  ‘Perhaps this is one for another day, young Carl,’ Joshua said closing the book and putting it back on the shelf. ‘The fresh air takes some getting used to, doesn’t it? You’ve been breathing pollution all your life and this rich oxygen mix acts like a drug. Go and get some rest and come back another day.’

  Carl sat back in the chair. ‘I really would like to spend more time here. It’s so peaceful and you seem quite normal compared to everyone else.’

  Joshua’s laugh rumbled and echoed throughout the library. ‘I’m not sure what normal is, to be honest, perhaps these people know,’ he said pointing at a statue. ‘These are our ancient ancestors but their names and roles in society have been long lost, more’s the pity. They silently watch over us and I’m sure they know exactly what’s going on.’

  Chapter Twenty

  Carl walked down the corridor towards the rest pods. Eighteen silver cylindrical habitats in three rows stacked on top of each other, one for each boy in this sector.

  He climbed up the steel ladder to the middle row to access one pod from the left which was his allocated place of rest. He swiped his card and the door beeped, swinging open to reveal a small but comfortable space. It wasn’t big enough to stand up in but had a simple bed, refreshments, a toilet and a small monitor that played endless loops of Cloud people propaganda crap. It could be turned off after a certain amount of time but it was mandatory to watch an hour of it in the evening. Cameras tracked where his eyes were looking and would warn him if he didn’t watch for the specified amount of time.