Exodia (25 page)

Kassandra looks my way only briefly,
then my family walks away.

Part III 2096

Chapter 13 A Desperate Plan

From the first page of the
Ledger:

He will rescue the poor Reds
from oppression and violence. He will rise up against the usurper,
for he is noble. Ten times will he try. And on the tenth try he
will wrench the heart from the oppressor, the darkness will lift,
but the season to flee will be short.

I SHARE A schoolroom apartment with my
brother and sister. Harmon and Mira have been put to work in waste
management while Truslow has moved me to three different boring
jobs where I’m watched continually. I see Lydia and Barrett at the
secret Wednesday meetings. They speak to me, but others sneer and
whisper.

And call me names that parade my
failure. I was their hope. They trusted the prophecies and I let
them down. In the end we couldn’t force Truslow to let us go. Some
would argue that I gave up trying after my family left. But I did
try a fifth time, though it seemed useless to do so.

Harmon hid the rod that we’d begun to
affectionately call “Mateo”, that staff of technological genius
that the Krona cannot completely duplicate. They desperately want
it. My brother endures beatings and torture but Mateo stays hidden
as do the other metal cases of impressive technology that Teague
hid the day we arrived. I’m spared the beatings because of
Truslow’s superstitions. But I’m ostracized, exiled without being
expelled, and held in contempt by Reds and Blues.

For ten months now the government has
backed off, but they watch us, wait, try to coax and bribe us and
offer rewards to our neighbors. But Reds stick together and though
the people have lost faith in me they won’t betray a red
elbow.

By night I dream of Gresham and by day
I wonder how much he’s grown, whether he’s walking, and if he talks
yet. I also wonder if his little body has any gemfry effects. I
hope not.

Three months ago Barrett raced to
Ronel’s outpost and on to his current camp. He returned with a
simple message from Ronel to wait until I figured out “a rare
ringed anagram”.

Bear did me a favor and detoured past
Usala’s Rock and over to the Luna ranch on his way back. He brought
me news that Mr. Luna and Katie had re-gathered most of the herd
which had escaped the pens and had been wandering since our
capture. I felt relieved about that. They work the ranch while
Kassandra tends to Gresham all day. My relief turned to guilt. They
were both fat, he added, and I wondered why he would voice such a
rude comment about Kassandra. Unless it was a clue …

I stopped thinking about Ronel’s
message and Bear’s strange comment as soon as he handed me the torn
papers I hadn’t seen since I stole them from the archives: four
pages from the ledger. A parting gift from Kassandra, he said. A
parting gift. It meant she was divorcing me, an easy thing to do
when there were no prohibitions against it. Our marriage was
over.

I took the ledger sheets and read them
then. I’ve read them every day since and I found nothing in them
that helps me now. But they’re only four pages out of many. I need
to steal the rest.

“
A rare ringed anagram”
could only be a word or phrase in the ledger that is circled,
ringed in ink. Or maybe blood.

* * *

At the back of the gymnasium Lydia
stood next to Barrett and steeled herself for another encounter
with Dalton. Emotions were a funny thing and they would sneak up on
her in those sudden moments when she caught him staring at her or
when he said her name or when he tried to make her laugh. She’d
fallen hard for him nearly three years ago and those feelings
hadn’t diminished.

She saw him enter the meeting and she
tried not to hold her breath as he walked across the old wooden
floor. She clasped and unclasped her hands then tucked them under
her armpits, tossed her hair to the side, and kept a stubborn grin
in check. He was fair game, she thought, ever since Barrett told
her that Kassandra had released him. Still, she thought of him as
someone else’s, someone’s dad even, and she felt guilty for her
longing.

As he got closer Dalton gave in to a
habit Lydia was fond of: he ran his left hand through his hair and
tucked the longer ends behind his ear. She had thought he was
handsome when his head was shaved last year and she thought he was
even better-looking with his hair grown out now, even though his
beard looked scraggly. His magnetism came chiefly from his eyes.
When he looked at her she wanted to believe he saw into her soul.
She was sure she could see his. And she loved him.

“
Hey, Bear. Hi, Lydia.”
Dalton bumped elbows with both of them. Barrett moved a step so
Dalton could stand between them. Lydia dropped her arms to her
sides.

“
We’re gonna do it tonight,”
Barrett whispered. The meeting was about to begin and Korzon was
taking over for Teague.

Dalton frowned. “We? Who’s going with
you?”

Barrett pointed and Lydia opened her
palms. With a tiny smile and the lilt of a question in her tone she
said “Me.”

“
I don’t think that’s such a
good idea.”

“
Why not? I’m the perfect
distraction.”

Lydia could tell that Dalton was
conflicted. She put her hands on her hips and added, “I never told
you, but I met Truslow’s son once. I think he likes me. I’m pretty
sure he’ll be happy to show me around the capitol. One way or
another either Bear or I will get those ledgers.”

Dalton gave a low grunt and leaned
against the block wall, arms crossed. Lydia tried her hardest not
to reveal with her behavior that she was hiding a secret. Sometimes
it seemed as if Dalton could read her mind. She wanted to reassure
him that everything would be fine; she almost touched his arm, but
reached across and punched at Barrett’s shoulder
instead.

“
This guy’s been in and out
of tighter places, besides he owes me a mission,” she
said.

Korzon got up on a chair to be heard
and people shushed one another. The meeting lasted barely fifteen
minutes. Reports of tainted food ended the list of problems. Most
of the people eyed Dalton. They blamed him for the bloody water
last year and the dead rats, the biting fire ants, and the pesky
flies. When Truslow had refused the mass departure the day after
the Lunas left a miserable Dalton moped around for several days,
then he threatened the Executive President with contaminated food.
Somehow his threat came to pass and Reds and Blues alike suffered
for weeks, hungry and weak. This new report of food problems meant
Dalton, Harmon, and that rod of wonder were the main
suspects.

Dalton shook his head slowly at Korzon.
There was no way he was responsible this time.

Lydia stepped in front of
Dalton. “It’s not Dalton’s fault,” Lydia said, speaking up over the
nasty comments that were gathering volume. “It’s because of the
poor conditions and long hours at the food plant.” She raised her
voice louder. “But if it was brought about by something Dalton did
then we should get behind him. Barrett brought back word from
Ronel–” The crowd went silent at Ronel’s name. “–and we need to be
ready to leave. We
will
get our miracle.”

“
We’ve heard that before,” a
man to Korzon’s right said. “We endured the spoiled food, the lack
of clean water, suffered the ant stings, hid from the rats …
Weren’t all those Ronel’s or rather Dalton’s doing?” People began
to grumble agreement; several started to shout over one
another.

It took Korzon several minutes to gain
back control. He wanted to hear from Barrett. Barrett moved to the
front, snaking through the crowd and drawing attention away from
Dalton. He spoke of his treacherous journey, his short stay with
Vinn and Carter, and his detour to check on escaped Reds. When he
reluctantly spoke of the message from Ronel about a rare ringed
anagram, he was met with snorts and scoffing laughter. Lydia and
Dalton ducked out into the hallway.

“
They haven’t completely
lost hope, you know.” Lydia kept step with Dalton as they walked
toward his shared quarters. “I still hear people singing about Bram
O’Shea.”

“
Yeah, people that don’t
realize that’s me.”

They reached his apartment and stood
awkwardly at the door.

“
So … when are you going to
the capitol?” Dalton put his hand on the knob, fumbled for the
key.

“
About eight
o’clock.”

“
But that’s too early.
There’ll be people everywhere. Late diners.”

Lydia gauged the concern in his eyes.
There was no use keeping a secret. “Actually, I have a date with
Jamie … a late dinner at the capitol. They say the food is– What?
What’s wrong?”

Dalton kept his lips tightly pursed. He
shoved the key back into one of his belt sacks and looked up the
hallway. Some people were walking back to their classroom-sized
apartments and Barrett was passing by them.

“
And what about Bear? Is he
going on this date, too?”

“
Sort of. He’s my
chaperon.”

There were all kinds of
post-Suppression implications to that which Dalton didn’t want to
consider.

“
Ready, my lady? We need to
take a quick dip in that homemade blue dye.” Barrett tilted out his
arm for Lydia to grasp.

“
Listen,” Dalton warned,
“you have to be ready for anything. The ledgers may have been
moved, re-shelved, destroyed … that room may not even be used for
archives anymore. And if they catch you–”

“
We know, we know, but they
never caught me before.” Barrett used his free hand to calm Dalton
with a steady back patting.

Dalton gave them some suggestions laced
with warnings.

* * *

Lydia laughed at Barrett when he showed
her the disguise he intended to wear.

“
Did you steal
those?”

“
Mm, more like borrowed,” he
said. He fanned out the wide-sleeved blue shirt and slipped it over
his head. “It’s old. One of those vintage ‘never-needs-washing’
shirts.”

“
But it’s
hideous.”

“
Goes with the pants.” He
pulled the silken blue trousers up over the skin tight pants that
were his daily wardrobe. He adjusted his belt sacks over the top
and snapped the shirt down tight. “Stylish, huh?”

“
Sure and the guards will
never recognize you through the tears in their eyes from laughing
so hard.”

“
Just wait.” Barrett took
two things out of his backpack and disappeared into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later a darker, different version of the same handsome
young man emerged.

Lydia’s mouth dropped. “What? How? Wait
a minute. Who are you and what did you do with Bear?”

Barrett held a razor in one hand and a
jar of some kind of gelatinous brown goo in the other. “Do I look
mysterious?”

“
What does that do? Your
cheekbones are higher, your eyes wider apart … did you always have
a cleft in your chin?”

“
Did I ever tell you about
the time I had to pass as a girl right after my dad
returned?”