by Lan Chan
“What is that thing?” I ask.
“Gimme a sec,” Acacia responds. She disappears into the building where a soft glow of light is already turned on.
Through the window, I can see it’s a storage shed with garden tools and shelves stacked with bottles displaying the hazardous chemical sign. Aiden takes Yuri and me around back. He opens a gate, and just as we step through, the building is flooded with bright lights from the roof of the house.
I gasp in awe. It’s a hot air balloon. Translucent heat is already inflating the balloon, and several people in dark-green jumpsuits are running around attaching lines and checking the gas fixtures.
“This is how the canopy is pruned?” I ask Yuri.
“Of course,” he says. “Everything in this garden is as untouched as possible. This is the gentlest method I’ve come up with. Plus, it’s beautiful for the visitors to watch.”
I can do nothing but stare as Acacia and the crew work to ready the balloon for our flight. A cold fan inflates the fabric envelope to the halfway point, and then suddenly the gas burner flares into life as blue and red flames fill the balloon with heat. This process takes less than ten minutes, and soon the crew are holding on to the sides to keep the balloon from lifting too far. Acacia scampers up a set of ropes like she’s done this all her life, and I would do the same if it weren’t for this infernal dress.
Aiden and another crewman assist Yuri into the basket, and the thing dips as the older man lands inside it. Acacia adjusts the burner and soon the basket is set back to equilibrium. I place my hand on one of the ropes, thinking I’ll use it to swing in, but Aiden turns towards me and in one sweep, he has me cradled in his arms.
I open my mouth to object, but he’s already throwing me over the basket’s lip, and I have to concentrate on not tripping as I land. Any minute, I expect Aiden to join us, but though his fingers grip the rope, he doesn’t appear any closer to getting in.
“Come on, Forrester,” Acacia calls. “Get in the bloody basket. We don’t have all night.”
In the firelight, Aiden’s complexion is white as a sheet. If this is what he’s like now, how is he going to be once we’re in the air? He catches my eyes and mustn’t like what he sees in them, because his jaw sets and he lifts himself off the ground and leaps into the basket.
Yuri pats him on the back as he takes a crouching position in the basket as far away from me as possible. One by one, the crew releases the rope, and suddenly, the balloon is rising into the air. Acacia controls the gas so we ascend slowly. I slip my arms into the sleeves of Aiden’s jacket and cling to one of the ropes as a sense of freedom overwhelms me.
“Could you compensate for it if I sit on the lip?” I ask Acacia.
“No way,” is Aiden’s immediate response.
“I wasn’t asking you,” I say, but Acacia is already shaking her head.
“Sorry,” she says. “Couldn’t risk it. If you fall, we’re all dead.”
I crinkle my nose but don’t push it. We fly higher and higher until the arms of two intertwining trees catch us. I worry the branches will puncture the balloon, but Acacia remains calm. She takes a device from her pocket and turns a dial. Then she spins around in a circle as the device creates white noise.
“All clear,” she says. “No other devices.” What an odd thing for her to say.
I peer out into the distance and realise I can see Harlan’s marquee glowing like the last flaming ember of a dying fire.
“Rory!” Aiden says. The seriousness of his voice makes me turn.
All their expressions are grim, and it makes me wonder what I’ve done wrong. Yuri looks to Aiden, who is gripping the rope attached to the balloon for dear life.
“Don’t look at me,” Aiden says. “It was your idea to include her.”
Yuri sighs, his demeanour uneasy. “Rory,” he says. “I’m aware that we don’t know each other at all, but I feel I’m a good judge of character and I think we have similar goals. We can help each other.”
I’m bewildered and trapped in a hot air balloon with three Seeders. Acacia follows the direction of my frantic eye movements. “It’s at least a hundred-metre drop,” she says. I scoff to show I’m not afraid, though I won’t let them know I could get down via the trees if I really needed to.
“Don’t be alarmed,” Yuri says.
“I’m not,” I say all too quickly.
“Damn, she’s cold,” Acacia says. “I almost believe her!”
“You shouldn’t,” Aiden chimes in. “She’s good at saying things she doesn’t mean.”
I take a menacing step closer to him. “You’re one to talk,” I say. “You’re the master of bullshit.”
“All right,” Yuri says. He scratches his beard. “How did I not know this was going to happen? Show her the footage, Aiden.”
Reluctantly, Aiden straightens up from his crouch. His hands never leave the solidity of the ropes, and he keeps his gaze perfectly honed in on me and not overboard. I consider rocking from side to side to put him off balance, and somehow he reads the intention in my actions.
“Don’t even think about it,” he says.
This makes me smile. It’s great having the upper hand. I have to get Harlan up here soon, though the temptation to push him overboard might be too great. From his pocket, Aiden produces a small electronic tablet the size of his palm. He holds it out to me. I take it gingerly, not sure what I’m meant to be seeing. At first the screen is fuzzy, and then the picture is righted and the pixels sharpen to reveal the face of a man. Gideon.
His eyes are bloodshot and he needs a good bath, but otherwise, he’s exactly as I remember him. A grizzly of a man, frightfully handsome, and I had thought kind. He’s in a dark room of some kind, but I can’t get a good visual as his head is in the way.
I inhale softly as my fingers tighten around the tablet. I hit the pause button. “What is this?” I accuse.
“Just watch,” Aiden says. His expression is pained, but I don’t know if it’s from fear of heights or from seeing his father again, if only artificially. I animate the image of Gideon once more, even though what I want is to whip the tablet at the tree trunk and run away.
“Aiden,” Gideon says. “I’m so sorry, son. I wanted to take you with me, but there wasn’t the right excuse. Watch yourself, stay alive, and I’ll come for you. Above all, look out for Rory. We need her, now more than ever. I don’t have time to explain. Be safe.” Suddenly, Gideon’s head swirls around at the sound of breaking glass. Then the device he’s using to record must topple over, because all I can see is feet and suddenly the picture goes dead altogether.
Thirty
“What does this have to do with me?” I say as I hand Aiden back the video that, although alarming, must be precious to him.
“My father was a part of the Rebellion,” Aiden says. “The Council ordered his arrest the same night your mother was killed.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I say. “Why would he have signed my mother’s death certificate if that were the case?”
“That was a forgery,” Aiden snaps. I can tell he wants to throw his weight around, but he’s too afraid, and it’s almost laughable. “My father would never do something like that.”
“All right,” I say. “Let’s assume what you say is true. If Gideon didn’t betray my mother, then where has he been? He said he’d come and get you. Why hasn’t he? Six years is a long time.” The others exchange knowing glances, and that’s when it hits me. “You’ve been in contact with him, haven’t you?”
“He’s sent messages,” Aiden confirms. My head is spinning. All this time I’ve been kept in the dark and Gideon has been accessible. “It’s near impossible to arrange a meeting, though. He’d be shot on sight if he’s caught.”
“It wouldn’t have been hard for him to meet me,” I say. My voice is rising by the second. “In fact, it would have been pretty easy, since I spent most of my time in the forest, cursing him and pretending to throw knives at his head.” I don’t
know if this meeting is meant to make me feel better, but right now, I want to punch somebody.
“Henry wouldn’t let my father see you,” Aiden says. “He wouldn’t let either of us see you. I wrote you letters, hoping Henry might see those as less threatening. When I didn’t get a response, I thought he wasn’t giving them to you, but then you wrote back—”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” I scream. My voice carries through the canopy and makes it shake. “None of you have said a word or even looked in my direction in six years!”
Acacia’s eyes become all pupils, and Yuri covers my mouth with one big hand.
“Shhh,” Yuri says. “The wind carries our voices very far.” He shakes his head at Aiden, no doubt to change the direction of this conversation. I throw off the muzzle of Yuri’s hand and pull Aiden’s jacket tighter around me. Acacia fiddles with the burner, and the balloon descends a little and moves horizontally across the dome.
“We’re not here to make things worse for you, Rory,” Yuri says. “But Aiden is correct, and there are things at play here much bigger than your mother’s death.” I open my mouth to speak, but he holds up a finger to silence me. “I’m not trivialising what’s happened to you, but right now, in this time and place, we need you to listen.”
I want to point out that there are a lot of things I needed that no one seems to care about, but that’s probably exactly the kind of talk he doesn’t want to hear. “All right,” I say. “I’m listening. Just don’t expect me to believe any of it.” Acacia turns her head away so I can’t see she’s laughing.
“The lotion you came to the Citadel with, does it really cure the rotting sickness?” Yuri asks. I raise an eyebrow at him in an expression I hope says, You should know better. “I didn’t think so. Just had to check.”
“You know, then, when you’re found out, the Chief Warden will no doubt kill you? Her brother is very ill and you’ve given her false hope. Her fury will be enormous.”
“I had thought of that,” I say.
“How did you think you were going to get away with it?” Aiden asks.
I shrug. “Hope for the best; plan for the worst. The formula in the lotion will ease Tom’s symptoms for a short time at least. Where I go from there, I’ll decide when I think of a plan.”
“How did you think you were going to fool me into believing what your potion does?” Yuri says.
“Sheer charm?” I say. “And if that failed, it’s a really good formula.”
“One of your mother’s?”
“Nope. Figured it out all on my own.”
“How’d you do that?”
I’m about to blurt out the secret when the eagerness in his eyes stops me dead in my tracks. I close my open mouth and survey the group. They’re all strangers to me.
“You don’t trust us,” Yuri states the obvious. “What can we do to change that?”
“Probably nothing,” I say.
Aiden growls in frustration, but Acacia punches him softly in the arm.
“I wouldn’t trust us either,” she says. “I was the same when Aiden approached me just after my father shipped me in from the Mill. I was training to be a not very good baker before Skylar opened her big mouth and told Dante I could be a lot more useful with electronics in the Citadel. I haven’t seen my mum in three years. I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”
“Words don’t mean anything to me,” I say. “Nothing you’ve said wouldn’t be common knowledge.”
“How about this, then.” She takes the tablet from Aiden and plugs in some information, and up pops the image of a skintight bodysuit. “It’s a glider suit designed to enable the wearer to leap from heights without going splat.”
“Why would you need that?” I say.
“To get over the walls of the Citadel, of course.”
“My stepbrother was good with electronics too. He used to make pretend videos all the time by splicing images and sticking them back together. He taught me never to believe anything I don’t see with my own eyes. That goes for Gideon’s video too.” I direct this last bit at Aiden.
Acacia whistles in appreciation. “Man, you’re a tough nut to crack. All right, what can we do to get you to trust us?”
“Show me the suit in real life,” I say. “Also, your father is in charge of the service staff in the Arts Centre, isn’t he? My friend Gage is one of those staff. His safety is very important to me, and if anything happens to him, any deal we make today is off.”
“I don’t think anyone would hurt your friend given your reaction tonight, but okay. Done.” It’s still not a concrete guarantee, but I feel better for having at least tried to help Gage. Suddenly, I miss him really bad. Part of it is just knowing I can say anything to him and trust he’s not a spy. I would never have anticipated Gage Casseldon would be my only friend in the world.
“I want to talk to him too,” I say. “First chance you get, I want to speak to him.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Acacia says.
“Then take me down,” I say.
“What does it matter if you speak to him or not?” Aiden says. “She’s given you her word he’ll be safe. What more do you want?”
I don’t know why he’s so unreasonably annoyed, but it makes me long for a friend even more.
“I’ve learned the hard way that most people’s words aren’t anything to rely on,” I say.
He takes a step closer. Yuri throws out a hand to stop him.
“We’ve given you something,” Yuri says. “Now you give us something.”
Just then I think of another thing I want. “Not without proof. I speak to Gage and you show me the suit, and I’ll take you to where the base of the serum comes from.”
“It would be risky for us to try and sneak you out,” Yuri says.
“It’s fine,” Aiden says. “I’ll get you out and you show me your secret plants.”
I nod in agreement. Yuri sags against the side of the basket and throws out the balance again.
“This isn’t how this exchange was meant to be played out. Then again, you weren’t meant to beat Skylar in the stadium.”
There they go again, mentioning the circus. “You seem awfully obsessed with what goes on in the circus,” I say. “Looking for a wife?”
Everybody knows the Seeders only put on the charade of a social season so they can ensure the human gene pool remains viable and they can monitor the situation up close. At any other time, region dwellers are discouraged from interaction, and if the current state of affairs is left alone, there’s a good chance inbreeding could occur. With most of the world’s population wiped out after the Famine, part of the Seeders’ main concern must be extinction. They are a contradiction unto themselves because they do a lot more killing than would happen via natural selection.
Yuri makes a disgusted grunt at my suggestion of his copulating. “How much do you know about the reason the circus exists?” he says.
I give him my explanation.
“A good cover story,” he says. This catches me by surprise. “Did your mother never mention to you the Wanderer stories about a secret seed storage facility? Is that not why the man from your region was shot during your hearing?”
Not this again. “What does that have to do with the circus?” I ask.
“That is something we’d all like to know. Including your father.”
“What does my father have to do with anything?” I say.
“He spent a great deal of his time asking questions about why it’s so important for the Citadel to train aerialists like you. He and Gloria argued often about the dangers of asking such questions. The day before he was shipped back, he had a very interesting conversation with Thomas Dempsey.”
“What did they speak about?” I ask. What could Papa have said that would possibly lead to his being infected?
“We don’t know,” Aiden says. “All we know is Tom Dempsey is adamant about aerialists needing to be trained, and until a few weeks ago, Skyla
r was his best bet.”
“And now I am,” I say breathlessly. As usual, I’ve managed to really dig a deep hole for myself. The Seeders will never let me out of their sight now, and if I suddenly don’t perform very well, they’ll be suspicious.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Acacia says. “We’ve all had to find ways to make ourselves useful to the Council. At least this way you know you’re safe as long as you’re the best. And it’ll stop Aiden from having to pretend he actually has human feelings and gives a shit about the Skylark.” Her face twists into a mask of hatred as she says this. Maybe my initial impression of her was wrong.
“We better get going,” Acacia says. “We’ve been up here too long already.” She starts manipulating the gas so the balloon goes down steadily. I feel myself deflate as well. Suddenly, I’m cold and my stomach rumbles. The weight of the many secrets I’ve learned tonight is as heavy as my eyelids. But I’m not too tired to ask one last question.
“What’s the end game for you? What are you planning to achieve through these secret meetings of yours?” I say.
“We want what your people have wanted since the Famine,” Yuri says. “We want seeds. We want freedom.”
“And how does what you’re doing, whatever it is, achieve that? There are only three of you against how many guards and Council members?”
Yuri smiles at me and there is compassion in his eyes. “You’re coming at it from the perspective of a lone operative. There are more of us than you think, Rory. Many more.”
I find that hard to believe, but I don’t contradict him. People say all kinds of things in the safety of their trusted friends, but in the face of the Seeders, they somehow always end up towing the line. Everyone likes to think they’d do something if it came down to it, but more often than not, it is human nature to do what will enable you to survive. I know that; I’ve done it many times before. I’d probably do it again if I had anyone else to care about. But I don’t, and maybe that’s what makes the difference. Yuri said as much about himself. I don’t know Acacia well enough yet, but I get the feeling she doesn’t see eye to eye with her father. As for Aiden, Gideon is out of the Citadel’s reach, so there is no one he needs to keep safe.