The Other Earth (25 page)

We walked quickly through the door and followed the path that we had come just a short time before. It was odd walking through the back of the sector again. In such a short time things had changed so much for us, that it looked almost completely different. We walked for a few minutes until we found the secret door out. I waited as Brandon pushed it open and looked out to make sure the coast was clear before stepping out. I quickly followed behind and waited again in silence as he closed it behind us.

I looked up as we turned to walk away from the gray
wall and I saw the waterfall in the distance. I had forgotten how far away it had been and regretted that I hadn't worn better walking shoes. I looked around and saw that the hills were empty around us.

"Do you think we'll see James?" I asked him.

Brandon shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I hope not, I don't want to have to try to explain anything to him. But, he's usually pretty close to the entrance and I don't see him so maybe he isn't meeting anyone today" he said.

I kept walking, struggling to kee
p up with the pace Brandon was setting, "Can you slow down a little? I didn't know we were going to be walking today and I wore heels" I said, wishing I could just take my shoes completely off and walk.

Brandon looked down at my feet and slightly slowed hi
s pace, "What was Flora talking about back at the house?" he asked me.

I sighed, "Oh, she had told me a story when you were gone to sector six. The last coalition people she had staying at the house almost got caught by the governme
nt. One of them was a woman who was working with Vanessa, and she opened up to her about being in the coalition and Vanessa trusted the wrong person and they told the government people who came to arrest them."

"What happened to them?" Brandon asked as he
took my bag from me, making it lighter on my already aching feet.

"Vanessa felt bad that the person she had confided in blabbed and so she came and warned Flora, who was able to get them out and back underground before the police made it there. She then p
layed dumb when they came looking for them."

Brandon shook his head from in front of me, "After all of that, I cannot believe you trusted her" he said. "That's just not like you. Do you have feelings for her?"

My mouth dropped open, "No. I do not have feelings for her. I care for her as a friend, but nothing more. I do not have any romantic feelings for her whatsoever" I said, shocked that he would even accuse me of this.

Brandon nodded, "Okay. I just had to make sure, sorry" he said, still walking.

I sighed, "I just don't think that after what happened last time that she would chance it again, but I've known you a long time and I trust your judgment." I said.

"Good. We will just wait it out for a couple of days and then venture somewhere else" he said.

I looked up from my feet, trying to gauge how much longer we had to walk and saw that we were not far from the lake and waterfall and sighed, "Can't we just leave?" I asked.

Brandon laughed, "What do you think Jessica will say when we get back nearly a year ah
ead of schedule and we tell her that we left before doing everything we could?" he asked.

I groaned, "She would flip her lid" I said, knowing that I was going to lose this fight.

I stayed quiet as we walked around the lake and headed toward the waterfall where our ship was hidden. It really was well hidden behind the water, we had already walked around the waterfall and I still could not see where the ship was. I followed Brandon to the small opening that we could slip through to get behind the waterfall without actually getting wet. It wasn't until we were completely behind the waterfall that I finally saw the ship sitting there dark and quiet.

"Home sweet home" I said, actually happy to get back inside where I had spent so much time.

Chapter Twenty Five

I looked down at the blank piece of paper, thinking of how I was going to tell someone that even though they were only looking out for me I was going to do something dangerous anyway.

I quickly wrote my note, "Brandon. I'm sorry, but I have to talk to Vanessa to make sure she doesn't tell anyone about us. I will be back soon, please don't worry. Love Randi."

I stood up and quietly walked to the door, hoping that Brandon was still sleeping. I took a deep breath as I waited for the door
to open and sprinted outside, hoping to get to Vanessa and be back before Brandon got too angry with me.

I made good time as I walked up to the gray wall, happy to not have run into anyone. I slipped through the hidden door and walked quickly down the stre
et toward the government building. As I approached the tall building, I took a deep breath and held out my empty coffee cup, hoping it made me look normal.

I walked through the doors and waved to the girl at the front desk like I did every morning. I was s
urprised though when instead of cheerfully waving back at me she just gave me a small smile and turned around in her desk. My heart started to pound as I tried to calm myself down long enough to make it through the door, hoping that it was just a coincidence that she hadn't greeted me in her usual way.

I stepped up to the door and slid my card, nearly fainting when the door light did not flash green as I was used to. I quickly looked around as I tried it again, hoping with every part of me that I had just m
essed up somehow. I watched the light stay red, after swiping it three more times.

"Randi" I heard a man say behind me.

I turned and saw a tall man with brown hair that was graying in the temples standing behind me with five guards standing behind him.

"Y
es? Why is my badge not working?" I asked, practically whispering as my heart pounded in my chest.

"I'm going to need you to come with us" he said sternly.

"What is this about?" I asked, calculating my next move.

The man inched forward toward me, "You need
to come with us now" he said, this time more loudly.

I looked around, panicking and decided to try and run back to the ship. My heart sunk a little as I realized that I didn't want to lead them back to the ship, so I would need to try and lose them along
the way.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I ran away back toward the front door. I didn't make it far when I felt something hit me in the back and all of the air rushed out of my lungs as I collapsed onto the floor.

Suddenly there were hands pulling me up and carrying me away from the door. I managed to finally look around and saw what could only be described as a cattle prod in the hands of the graying man. I wondered for a second if he had shocked me and it was why I had fallen so suddenly.

"Stop!
You can't do this, where are you taking me?" I asked, yelling as loudly as I could.

There was no answer as the men holding me pushed through a double door and walked inside. I looked around and noticed that this was a part of the building that I had
never been to before. I was in a hallway with nothing but doors on each side. I struggled to free my arms from their hands as they walked into a room at the end of the hallway, but they managed to hold on to me without even struggling.

They sat me down in
a chair in the middle of a white room and before I could try to escape, tied my hands down onto the chair's arms.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" I yelled at them.

All of the guards turned and walked out of the room, leaving me along with the gray haired man.

"Please calm down Randi, we are only trying to help you" he said, setting his cattle prod down next to the now closed door.

"What are you talking about, why are you doing this to me?" I asked, my eyes burning as tears threatened to escape my eyes.

"I
t has been brought to our attention that you are having some very grand fantasies and I am here to help you see reality" he said.

"Fantasies?
What are you talking about?" I asked, the tears finally escaping and streaming down my cheeks.

"Well you see
, Vanessa came to me with concern for you because you told her you were visiting here from another planet. There are no other planets and you need to drop these fantasies immediately" he said.

I gasped, "Vanessa told you that?" I asked, realizing that I should h
ave listened to Brandon.

He nodded, "Yes, but before we can give you the treatment you need, you will have to be cataloged" he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I looked over to the door, which was slowly opening.

There was an older woman with short whi
te hair coming into the room and closing the door behind her, "I'm sure you remember Alberta" he said as the therapist I had worked with since arriving here walked into the room.

"Don't be
afraid Randi, I just need to scan your birth mark" she said.

My eye
s widened as I wondered what mark she was talking about. The only birth mark I had was a small mole on my arm, but I was sure that she wasn't interested in such a small mark.

"What are you going to do?" I asked quickly, afraid to admit that I had no idea w
hat she was talking about.

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal, I just need to remove your bra to get to the mark okay." She said, her voice portraying that she was not happy about having to be the one to do this to me.

I just nodded and hoped that something would keep them from digging too much. I held my breath as Alberta walked behind me and lifted my shirt just enough to pull open the clasp holding my bra closed. She walked back around and stood to the side of me and untied my arm, the man quickly grabbing my arms and holding it up over my head. Alberta then pulled my bra to the side and gasped.

"What is it Alberta?" the man asked, his eyebrows coming together.

"She doesn't have it" she said, touching my skin as though her touch would make this mark appear for her.

"What do you mean she doesn't have it?" he asked.

Alberta grabbed my arm from him, "Come and see for yourself" she said.

He walked around to me and shook his head, "I'll be damned. She must be from the underground. Alberta please go and call the
guards back in please."

She let go of my hand and ran from the room, leaving my hand untied and my bra open. I watched as the men came back into the room and untying my other hand, lifted me back up into their arms and carried my deeper into the building.

***

I held back my tears as the man once again stuck the cattle prod into my side. I didn't have any idea how long I had been standing in this room after they had taken me to the end of the building and into a room where they had tied my arms above my head in
the middle of the room, essentially baring me to the sting of the cattle prod as he asked me questions about the underground. Questions I didn't know how to answer, and with every wrong answer I was once again jolted.

"I am only going to ask you one more t
ime, what underground city are you from?" the man asked slowly.

I had already been asked this question five times and each time I had answered with I don't know, and had received a poke.

"Italy" I said, naming the first city that popped into my head.

The
man shook his head, "There is no such city. Since you have decided to continue to lie to me I will have to take more drastic measures" he said, pulling the end of the cattle prod to him and pushing a small red button on the end.

I watched in horror as thr
ee strips of leather fell out of the end, wondering what he was going to do next. I didn't have to wonder long, because just seconds later he threw the prod toward me and the leather straps hit my legs, sending a stronger zap of electricity through my body. I screamed out as the pain was much harder to take and as I looked down at my legs saw that the leather had actually cut through my gray jeans and blood was already started to stain them.

"Are you crazy?" I asked.

The man laughed, "No, you are. That's why we're here remember" he said, slashing though my jeans again.

"Please stop" I pleaded for the first time, no longer holding back tears.

The man pulled back, "Okay let's start simple" he said. "Were you born in a sector?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No."

The man smiled, "Okay good. Were you born in an illegal underground city?" he asked.

I shook my head again, "No."

The man's face turned red, "Were you born anywhere on Terra?" he asked.

I looked up at him, "No."

The man frowned as he looked at me, "Since you are determined to lie to me, I am going to teach you a lesson of always telling the truth to a government official" he said.

I closed my eyes as he pulled back his hand and I felt shock after shock as he hit my legs over and over again with the leather
cattle prod. I lost count after a few seconds and started to scream as the pain became too much and I felt my vision start to go black around the edges.

I felt my head slump forward and he finally stopped, "There, that might help to loosen your tongue. I
want you to think about what the truth is, and when I get back you are going to tell me everything, or I can come up with a worse punishment for you" he said, walking out of the door and slamming it shut behind him.

I looked down at my legs and started to
cry as I saw that the entire part of my upper thighs were nothing but ripped jeans and blood.

I don't know how long I stood there crying when I heard a noise coming from the other part of the room and I stiffened up, expecting him to be back with a worse
toy.

"Oh my god Randi!"
I heard Brandon yell.

My head snapped up and I saw him standing in front of me, bathed in the light like an angel. "Please help me" I said.

"Oh baby, we are going to get you out of here now" he said.

I caught that he had said we an
d as I looked around him, I saw Vanessa standing behind him. I looked back to Brandon, trying to tell him silently that this was a trap and that Vanessa was the one that had turned me in.

"I see that way you are looking at her, but it's really okay." Brand
on said, trying to figure out how to untie my wrists.

"Randi, I am so sorry. I thought maybe you were losing your mind and I confided in Paul, but I had no idea he would do this to you" she said, looking down at my legs.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"After Alberta saw that you didn't have a birth mark, she came to me and told me what was going on and that was when I knew that you had to be telling the truth" she said.

I shook my head, "That man thought I was from the underground" I replied, hoping that Brandon would get me untied soon.

She nodded, "Yes I know, but he doesn't know things that I know. Underground citizens are given the mark at birth just the same as we are, so that if they are caught they look like
regular people. Only someone not born of this planet would not have a mark at all" she said.

"What kind of mark are you talking about" Brandon asked, managing to get one arm free.

"They brand us at birth" she said simply, looking behind her. "Are you almost done? He could be coming back."

"I've almost got it" he said, gritting his teeth.

"Vanessa I trusted you. I can't believe you would do this to me" I said, delirious.

Tears started to stream down Vanessa's cheeks, "I'm so sorry Randi. I really had no ide
a he would even try to get you. I was waiting for you to come into work so that I could talk to you about it."

I finally felt my other arm come free as I slumped into Brandon, "Can you walk?" he asked.

I pushed myself away from him and nodded, "Yes. Let's get out of here." I said.

He looked back from me to Vanessa, "Okay I found a break in the wall close to here and I flew the ship close, so we can be back inside the ship in just a few minutes, so let's go.

"Wait, how are we going to get past everyone?" I asked.

Vanessa pulled out her key card, "I know a way out the back door" she said.