Deliverance (8 page)

I remove the lid and inhale deeply, closing my eyes and remembering. I will see her again. I have to, if for nothing else than to say goodbye.

Maybe whatever I learn today will lead me to answers.

Guard Nev stands near the outside door, watching the people coming and going.

“I hoped you would be here,” I say.

He turns, his stance as rim-rod straight as ever, his shoulders square and his head held high. It's only his eyes that betray him. He doesn't want to be here.

My thoughts turn to the secretary woman at Supreme Moon's office. Did Guard Nev have plans?

“I'm glad it makes you happy,” he says, “because this is exactly how every guard hopes to spend a day off.”

I laugh. At least he isn't going to be mad all day, which is more than I could say about myself. Maybe I have a thing or two to learn from Guard Nev. “I'm sure. So, can you tell me how a person gets a transporter in Greater City?”

He frowns, his eyes narrowed. “You plan to go out in this?”

“Sure. I went out in the rain all the time back home.” Slight exaggeration, but not by much. We were still required to attend school in the rain, and I did go tracking Jamie that once. That was the same day I saw the blinking red lights. The suspicions I have about my destination today aren't so far removed from those lights.

“Whatever you say. I can get us a transporter.” He steps outside and raises his arm, and a transporter pulls to the curb. Guard Nev waves me out, and I rush through the deluge and hop inside.

“Where to?” he asks.

I hesitate for only a moment. “The Lake.” The transporter moves away from the curb and we're off.

“How does it know where to go?” I ask. My questions about the transporters bubble to the surface. Now is my chance to get answers.

“The HELP comp.” He points to the dashboard where a small screen sits. “Each transporter comes equipped with one. They take you wherever you need to go.”

I lean forward and watch the street pass below us. “How does it run?”

“It's an electric current built right into the streets, and the currents charge the transporters as they ride over the grid. I found them fascinating when I first came here.”

I can't deny that they fascinate me, too. The city passes in a blur. I watch the street for signs of the grid he talks about, but I can't see an electric current.

“So, what's at the lake?”

I watch his face, unsure how he'll react to my words. He's loosened up some around me, which is good. He's asked and answered questions. But does he trust me? Is he willing to risk something for my sake?

“I ate at a restaurant with Sindy the other night. I had salmon.”

“The Creel,” Guard Nev says with a nod. “It's a popular place among the Greater-born. I doubt they're serving food yet, though. It's early.”

I take a deep breath and go out on a limb. “It's not the restaurant I'm interested in. While we were eating, I saw something across the lake. Lights in the distance. I want to see them again. I'm curious about what was over there.”

Guard Nev's face shuts down as quickly as Professor Higgins' face changed yesterday. “That is nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

“I only want to see.”

“I can't allow you to do that, Hana. Take us back to the apartment building,” he tells the transporter.

“No! I only want to see them.”

He stares straight ahead, his nostrils flaring.

I sit back with a huff as the transporter turns around. We ride a moment in silence before I can't keep the questions in any longer. “Do you know what's over there?”

Guard Nev stays silent.

I look right at him. “I think I do.”

His gaze flies to me, but he quickly looks away. “You don't know anything.”

“It's a prison, isn't it?”

His cheek twitches and I know my suspicions are right. I don't believe the lights are only a prison, though. I believe the prison is Lesser City 5. What other place would they call an internment camp?

Back home, Keegan and I went to a meeting with Fischer on the river bank. Other people had seen the red, flashing lights, and Keegan said he'd heard there was a prison. He said the people made clothes and food for the Greaters. Now that I know there are other Lesser cities, I'm not sure that's what the prison is for. But whatever they do there is kept secret, and I want to know why.

“I know it's there,” I whisper, leaning closer to him. “There were rumors in Middle City 3, and I saw information about it in one of Professor Higgins' files the other day.”

His jaw works as he grinds his teeth.

“You don't have to answer me. I know I'm right. I want to know what goes on there. How can I help the Lessers if I don't know everything about them?”

He finally looks at me, his eyes full of anger. “You won't ever be able to help the Lessers.” His words hold so much venom that I pull away.

“I will help them.”

“You'll send them to their deaths.”

My breath catches and my heart thumps against my chest wall. Why is he saying such terrible things to me? “Can we see the lights or not?”

He slowly shakes his head and turns away.

The ride back to the apartment building is agonizingly slow. I don't understand why he won't help me, and sitting beside him is torture. When we reach the building, he follows me to the stairs and walks up with me. “You have to be careful, Hana,” he says quietly—so quietly I can barely hear him.

I turn toward him to catch everything he has to say.

“Don't look at me!” he hisses.

I quickly face forward and continue up the stairs, pretending I don't hear anything. “Aren't the Greaters allowed to do anything they want?”

“Not when it comes to military matters.”

I put the pieces in place. “So the prison is a military camp?”

“Not exactly.”

We reach my floor and he marches me to my door.

“Will you help me?” I ask.

“I don't see why you need to know anything about it,” he says. “Someone will see us. They will turn us in.”

For the first time, I realize that my actions here could still get me demoted to Lesser. I shiver.

“Are you going to turn me in?” He has a right to—I've put him in danger.

“No, but I hope you'll stop being so careless.”

“I will,” I say quickly. I'll say whatever he expects if it means he might help me in the future.

“Good.” He doesn't wait for me to go inside before marching to the elevator and stepping inside.

I watch the doors close in front of him, any hope of getting inside the prison vanishing away.

“Hey Hana.”

Kassy's voice makes me gasp and I spin around.

“Hi.” Did she hear my conversation with Guard Nev?

“Did you go out in the rain? Gosh, it's pouring out there.”

I smile and shrug. She stands with her hip propped against the wall. Her shoulders are relaxed. She seems normal. Maybe she didn't hear anything about the prison. “I just wanted to ride in a transporter.”

She frowns and I realize she doesn't know me, doesn't know I come from a different place.

“What have you been up to?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

“Getting ready for training. It starts tomorrow.” She rolls her eyes. Obviously she isn't all that excited about it.

“You don't like what you tested for?”

“I didn't really care what occupation I got, but they stuck me with the most boring.”

Her words make me sad. She's here in this place—this fascinating and luxurious place—and she isn't impressed with it at all. “What will you be training for?”

“Government work.” She makes a face.

“Kassy, I'm in government. We'll be together!” Besides seeing Keegan, this is the only time I've felt excited over something in Greater City—well, besides the hot baths. It will be nice knowing someone in the class.

This seems to make her happy, too, and she smiles. “Great. Maybe we can ride to class together.”

Somehow I know that telling Kassy I have to go everywhere with a guard isn't the best way to keep her as a friend. I smile and nod, not really committing or disagreeing. “I'll see you tomorrow, then.”

I hurry into my apartment and find Sindy waiting on my couch. My hand flies to my mouth to hold in my gasp.

“Out for a morning drive?” she asks.

How to answer? “I wanted to ride in a transporter, because I saw others coming and going. Guard Nev went with me.”

“Transporters are nice, I suppose. I came to see how your first official free day was to be spent. I understand you must have especially enjoyed the concert that we attended, because you went back.”

“I knew the guitar player,” I say. There is no point in trying to talk around it. They obviously know.

Her eyebrows rise and she smiles. “How lovely!”

How does one become such an adept liar? Is it years of practice, or does it come naturally?

“And are you staying in for the rest of the day?”

“I plan to, yes.” I wish it weren't true.

She watches me as if she's waging whether or not I'm lying. Finally, she nods and points toward the HELP comp. “Our logs show you haven't used your comp. Is there a problem with it?”

No problem, other than the fact that they can use it to spy on me. “It's just so new to me.”

“That makes sense. You may want to give it a try, though. You'll have to use it when your training officially starts in the morning. Feel free to learn it thoroughly.” She waves me over and shows me again how to turn it on and get my communications and training sessions.

“You have the rest of the day to work on it.”

“Absolutely.” I tap a few icons just to show her I mean it. Is she going to stay with me all day?

But she doesn't. I thank her for her help and she leaves soundlessly, leaves me to get myself caught in something illegal, no doubt.

 

 

 

 

13

 

I tap the
Receive Communications
box and the screen changes. It shows pictures of various people and beside each picture are messages. Sindy has sent me several—one for every day I've been here. She knows I haven't looked at the HELP comp even once, so why continue sending messages?

The most recent message was this morning.
I will be arriving at your apartment around nine o'clock. See you then.

It's pleasant enough, but there is no thought for whether or not I had other plans.

It doesn't matter—I have to do what they say if I want to eat their food and use their transporters. Does everyone in Greater City live this way, with daily check-ins and constant monitoring? I would have to say no because most of them are happy to follow the rules, but Supreme Moon knows I am not.

There is a generic welcome message from the Great Supreme himself, and also an introductory message from Professor Higgins. Other names are listed in his message, and when I look through them, I realize it must be a class message he sent to all the trainees. Nothing else interests me, and I delete them all. Now to figure out how to get back to the main screen.

I tap an “x” and the screen goes black.

“No!” I quickly tap the screen again, and the picture reappears. This time I tap the
Watch Movies
box, and I spend the next two hours fascinated by the people on the screen. This must have been what Keegan talked about in his letters—a play on a large screen. Fascinating.

The Greaters have all this, and yet they can't print new books?

Chalk that up to another lie. They don't want to waste their resources on printing new books for the Middles and Lessers. I'll add books to my list of things that could help the Lessers.

When the movie finishes, I mess around with the screen until it returns to the main menu, then I go to the music link. When I see what's there, I realize I should have tried it first.

I find what I'm looking for immediately.
Local Concerts
. I tap the box and a list of upcoming concerts appears. Not only does it show the concerts, it also shows who will play them. I tap that list first, and I see there is a concert tonight. Keegan will be there.

I told Guard Nev and Sindy that I would be staying in, but my plans have changed.

I back out of that screen and go to the list of recent concerts. After I find Keegan's name, I tap
play
, and the sound of Keegan's playing fills my apartment.

My breath catches and my chest tightens as tears fill my eyes. I can hear him whenever I want to hear him. He can serenade me and comfort me, even when Supreme Moon keeps me from him, even when I am alone.

I am with you.

The thought comes from nowhere, but I don't have to question what it means. I am not alone, not ever.

Suddenly, the past few weeks seem way too heavy a burden to bear. Being promoted to Greater, leaving my family and friends, starting over in a new city, and being kept prisoner to Supreme Moon is overwhelming. I miss Mom and Jamie. I miss Keegan and home. I miss Fischer.

Again I wonder where Fischer is. What has become of him? It's something I don't know if I'll ever find the answer to.

Darkness comes much earlier than usual, due to the rain. Getting across town shouldn't be a problem, though, not if I have a transporter. Guard Nev stands at the stairs when I reach the ground floor. “Going somewhere?”

“I want to see my friend again. He's playing at the concert arena.” I've come to the realization that being upfront with Guard Nev is the best way to get what I want with him.

Questions are written all over his face, but he doesn't ask them. Apparently, we are back to that. “I'll call the transporter.” He steps into the rain and gets a transporter to stop for the second time today, and he helps me climb inside. Then he tells the HELP comp where to go.