Fervor (29 page)

Sarah gave him a nudge, and shook her head disapprovingly as Elliot lifted his head to centre on the Finder with a disconcerted stare.

“
I don’t think you would really want to hear the truth, and I can’t predict how you or the Bigs will react. I will say that Francis is right, and Fiona is wrong. You were designed to be what you are. The scholars tailored you to fill perceived gaps – the ones that the Controls could not fill properly,”
he admitted, directing his attention back to his work, specifically so that he would not have to make eye contact with the two children as he spoke.

“
You mean the way that we were raised and our education?”
Sarah asked.

“
No,” Elliot mumbled. “More than just that.”

He was growing tense and as he tried to remove a part with one of the household tools that he had brought with him it slipped, twisting in his hand and the sudden movement resulted in the technician gashing his thumb open against a sharper edge. He cursed and he shook the offending digit, which immediately began to drip blood. Sarah moved quickly forward to help him, her Fixer compulsion kicking in.

“
Our parents, then? They were selected more carefully than they were for the Bigs?” Sam demanded.

Elliot hissed in pain, allowing Sarah to take the injured hand. She set about fixing it right away.

“
I don’t want to talk about this right now. Just let me do my work. You’ll get your answers when I’m good and ready to give them,” the technician protested, relaxing slightly as Sarah’s efforts drew some of the pain away.

Sarah and Sam talked quietly between themselves as Elliot continued to pull pieces of the old hover. They decided that if they encountered anyone in the other house-family spaces that they would have to traverse, their story would be that they were searching for a necessary part required to repair a needed device. They would be referring to Elliot’s hover, but they would be hoping that anyone asking might jump to some other conclusion. If they were lucky, the questioner might assume that they meant a part for some kitchen appliance, such as the cooking implement. This would not be a find that they would be able to locate in their own space, and ought to be explanation enough as to why they would need to stray outside of their boundaries. This plan was far from fool-proof, leaving a lot to chance and to the interpretation of the person with whom they would be speaking.

When Elliot had accomplished what he could, they set off toward the closest school. In addition to the necessary tools for the hover, Sam hoped that they might find some adult-sized clothing there, left behind by their teachers, particularly footwear. Anything even somewhat snug would be better than what Nathan was making do with at the moment.

Just as they feared, on their way trespassing through the second house-family’s space, Sam felt the familiar mental prodding that suggested someone recognized that they were there. Giving Elliot an abrupt shove into the bushes, Sam threw his walls up around the ill-prepared adult. The Finder knew that anyone searching would push through the man’s paper-thin walls with little effort. Throwing up his guard to protect Elliot from scrutiny might draw some suspicion from anyone that they happened to encounter, but it was their only option.

Within seconds, a wiry Little, with strawberry blond hair and freckles, rounded the corner along the pathway that they had been crossing. He looked up at them with some surprise, his pale blue eyes also displaying some excitement.

“
Who are you?”
the thin boy demanded. He did not bother with any pleasantries
. “Or better yet, what are you, and why are you here?”

“
I’m Sam, and this is Sarah. I’m a Finder,”
Sam said.
“We’re sorry for the trespass, but it was unavoidable. We needed parts for one of our devices that made leaving our space necessary. We’re only passing through, and we won’t disturb anything here
.”

The strange Little’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he looked them both up and down.

“
She must be your Keeper then, eh? My name’s Julius and I’m a Finder, too. I heard that there were some Big Finders out there, but you are the only one that I’ve met. Don’t worry about crossing over. I’ve had to do it a few times myself. That’s how I met Cynthia and Jerome. They’re Finders near here, too, but they are both Littles like me.”

Sam was trying to do the math in his head. There were only fifty Littles, from what he had learned, and three hundred children altogether. That meant that if the Littles were evenly distributed amongst the house-families, there would be one per group. Since he and Sarah had both been Littles, it was clear that this had not been the case. That meant that some groups would not have any Littles whatsoever, perhaps in the case where their Big Finders and/or Fixers had proven to be sufficiently strong. Then again, it was hard to predict the scholars’ rationale behind any of this. Perhaps the Littles had been purposefully concentrated in an area. There was no way of knowing for sure, not unless Elliot’s information gathering had offered some insight that he just had not gotten around to sharing yet.

“
Well, we’re still sorry for the intrusion, Julius,”
Sam offered.
“It was nice to meet you, and we’ll try not to make it a habit.”

“
Just promise me you’ll be as forgiving if the tables are ever turned, and if so, then we’re good. It’s nice to meet a Big outside of my house-family as friendly as you. Some of the Bigs around here are pretty surly,”
the smaller Finder chuckled. Sam couldn’t help but wonder if Julius had had a run-in with Royce or any of his friends. He also wondered if the boy might be referring to his own Control.

“
If it’s up to me, you’ll always be welcome in our space.”

Sam had meant it when he had said it, but realized a few seconds later that Julius wandering freely through their space could quickly prove to be problematic, particularly if he laid eyes on Elliot, any of the Bigs, or Elliot’s hover.

“
I wouldn’t go at the moment, however,”
Sarah chimed in, giving Sam a chastising nudge.
“Some members of our house-family are not feeling their regular selves. It would probably be best to keep your distance for now.”

There had been no signs of illness in the children since they had been abandoned on Fervor, and it was likely that the Fixer would be able to resolve any health issues that arose, but for the moment that theory remained untested. Her words seemed to be enough of a deterrence.

“
I’ll keep that in mind, and consider myself warned,”
Julius assured her
. “I don’t foresee the need happening soon, but in the future I may take you up on your offer. I’ll see you both around. I’ve got some errands to run. I’m sure you understand.”

Sam nodded, and the Little set off down the path again. They waited until he was out of sight, and his walls seemed to be quite solid again. Sam kept his walls up around Elliot, letting Sarah in instead.

“
Well that proves one thing – the stasis is still up around here,”
Sam remarked.
“Obviously, that effect of the Languorite doesn’t extend beyond the limits of our space. If it had, there would be nobody like Julius around here.”

“
You have to be more careful, Sam. We can’t be inviting others into our space. It’s too dangerous,”
Sarah chided.

“
What else was I supposed to do? He had just caught us in his space and he was being gracious about it. I couldn’t exactly refuse him, now, could I,”
the Finder retorted. The two had rarely argued, but the tension of the moment had been weighing heavily on both of them.

“
No harm done,”
Elliot intervened.
“The crisis was averted and we don’t have time to spare for bickering. Point me the way to that school.”

The remainder of the trek was uneventful, although Sam kept his walls up around the ghostly presence of the technician in the connection, just to be on the safe side, until they had arrived.

The school looked much the worse for the wear, the result of years of disuse. It had been a very plain building to begin with, just like the majority of the buildings on Fervor. Now it looked ragged around the edges, where the storms had dislodged siding and roof shingles, and on one occasion, had forced a large broken tree branch into one of the windows, shattering it in the process. There were no signs of life, and certainly no evidence of upkeep. It disheartened Sam to see it that way, remembering the productive, and sometimes joyful, days that he had spent there. Elliot pushed his way past some of the overgrown shrubbery to the front door.

“
I was expecting to have to disable the lock, but someone has seen to that for us,” he observed. “Of course, my method would have left it intact. Whoever did this didn’t much care.”

Sam and Sarah joined him by the entrance. Someone had wedged something solid into the door crack and had worried at the edges until they had worked the door free of the lock. As a result, it now hung loosely on its hinges, unable to be closed properly. It creaked loudly as Elliot pulled it back.

“
Well, if there’s a welcoming committee, that may have just let them know that we’re here,” the technician muttered. He peered into the dark corridor and activated the magic to illuminate the lights there. There was a soft hiss, a flicker and then a warm glow that lit up the space before them.

Sam held his breath. Looking at the empty hallway brought back memories that made him heartsick for the days when he had lived an innocent and uncomplicated life. He wished that he were still ignorant to what he really was and why they were on Fervor. He wished that he were still his minder’s charge and not responsible for anything more than a few small chores around the house and his performance at school. He missed that life. Now he was facing a very ambiguous future that might be spent perpetually on the run. If he had had the ability to go back in time and freeze things as they had been at that moment, that day before he woke up to the screams in his head and to Francis in his room, he would have.

“
This was your school.”

Sarah didn’t phrase it as a question. She could see from the expression on his face. She had come from another part of Fervor, with different classrooms and teachers. Sam hunched his shoulders and shrugged, trying to pretend as if it held no greater meaning for him.

“
Where would your teachers make any repairs?” Elliot asked gruffly.

Sam’s misery in the face of his old school made the technician horribly uncomfortable. He wanted to rush in, get the tools, and make a fast exit again, as quickly and as painlessly as possible. He did not want to seem heartless, but he did not have the patience to tolerate a dejected boy dragging his feet. Sam gestured further down the hallway.

He led the technician through the maze of corridors that brought them, eventually, to the place where the teachers were known to store and repair various equipment, including hovers. As the dim lights came up in response to Elliot working their magic, the technician’s eyes lit up as well. He jogged into the centre of the room, and snatching up a heavy duty bag obviously intended for transporting tools, he began to scan the room for any of the items on his list. A conscientious Sarah joined him, but she began rooting through the lockers there and pulling out adult-sized work boots, and coveralls similar to Elliot’s. Distracted as they were, they did not pick up on the shifting shadows at the far end of the room. But Sam did.

Sam guessed that the boy crouching there and watching the search had heard them come through the squeaky door and had fled ahead of them, seeking possible escape in here. He had not anticipated anyone having the ability to bring up the lights and had started when it had happened. Now his dark eyes were glued to the pair who clambered around the floor, gathering what they had come looking for, and Sam would recognize that face, framed by black hair, anywhere. It was Royce.

The Finder froze, not knowing what to do. Their Control had clearly sought shelter here after his exile from the house. There had been some supplies to scrounge up within the school proper and when those had run out, Sam assumed that Royce had turned to scavenging the surrounding area, avoiding the house-families in the process. He would still meet with his Control friends, but in many ways he was very much alone.

The Control observed Sarah and Elliot for a little while, awe-stricken at the sight of an adult, and then he noticed Sam. There was a gleam of recognition in his eye, and his jaw dropped. He strode immediately towards the Finder, and Sam started backing away, but he had soon edged himself right into a corner, with nowhere left to go. He stood his ground nervously at that point, until Royce was upon him.

“
How?” Royce demanded, staring Sam practically eye-to-eye.

Royce was only a little taller than Sam was now, but at this point, not by much. The Finder was unsure if he should give an answer to the question, nor was Royce actually expecting him to, still believing him deaf. Sarah had now noticed the Control and had approached Elliot, grabbing his arm at the elbow and giving it a vigorous shake. The technician paused in mid-reach, looking up.