Rebellion (14 page)

Suddenly, a door at the end of the hall clicks open and footsteps quieter than anyone's should be make their way to me. I scramble to my feet, slipping in the ichor on the floor, but managing to keep my balance to dart to the doorway and peer into the hallway. My heart slams into my rib cage when I see it's the first Enforcer.

What is
she
doing here? Did Mother send her after the first returned? Is it even possible the first made it back there already?

But none of that matters, because I'm trapped and dripping the nurse's blood and I can't get the smell of it out of my nose. A glance around the room tells me there really is no place to hide, but if I don't I will end up like the nurse.

The door! My mind screams at me as the footfalls draw closer. It's a horrible place to hide, but it's the only choice I have. So I dive behind the door and press myself as close as I can to the wall.

The Enforcer steps into the room and stops in her tracks. Confusion is as plain as day on her face. I can see it in the crack left by the hinges. If she turns her head just a fraction of a centimeter, she'll see me, too. I force my racing breaths to slow so she can't hear them, but my heart hammers so loud, I'm fairly certain my breathing is the least of my problems.

She mumbles something under her breath, but between my heart and my breathing, I can't make it out. She strides forward now, almost leaping across the distance between her and the nurse. She crouches, the hem of her dress swirling in the gore. Her hands travel the body starting at the neck, apparently looking for a pulse. When she finds none, her fingers trail over my bandages and everything else I used to try and stop the nurse from dying.

She stops then and tilts her head, before she turns it slowly, her eyes narrowing at the drips on the carpet leading to my hiding spot. She remains hunkered down next to the nurse, but stares at the spot where I'm hiding so long I have to wonder if she sees me. But she turns back around to study the body.

“Should've came earlier,” she says, startling me to the point I almost gasp. But then she laughs. The half-crazed laugh gives me goose bumps down my back and I squeeze myself closer to the wall. “Mother always knows what goes on behind every door. In every passageway. She's always at least a step ahead.” She stands then and I wonder again if she knows I'm here. If she's talking to me. But she continues staring at the nurse. “You shouldn't have sent that transmission.”

When she turns, there isn't even a hesitation as she saunters straight out the door past me and down the hall. The door at the end swings open and then shuts with a whoosh a few seconds later.

I don't move—I barely breathe—as I stand trembling by the wall.

That's when what the Enforcer says clicks in my brain. Mother knows. She knows we're hiding in the Caverns. That's what the Enforcer meant. She thought the nurse was working with those in the Caverns. Mother caught the message between us and Father.

The revelation finally makes my frozen legs move as I barrel around the corner and back the way I came until I reach the door to the other tunnels. I didn't even worry about the cams this time. Mother already knows. It may already be too late.

I knock the signal and when nothing happens, my heart feels like it's going to take off out of my chest. I knock again. Louder. I'm about to knock a third time, when I hear the telltale clank of the lock opening. I don't even wait for the door to open all the way before I push it open, and slam it shut.

“Where is the nurse?” Nadia asks.

I grab her by her shoulders. “Has she come?”

“Who?” Nadia asks.

“Mother! Has she come?”

“No. I told you, she doesn't know we're here.”

I let her go and jog down the tunnel. “We have to find another place to hide. Now. Mother knows. She knows everything.”

Nadia stumbles next to me as she obviously struggles to keep up. “Are you sure? How do you know?”

“The Enforcer said it to the nurse. Said that Mother knows what's behind every door and in every passageway. Then she said the nurse shouldn't have sent the transmission. She must have intercepted the message we sent to Father.” I burst into the Caverns and stop to get my bearings.

“Miss Evelyn, what you're saying isn't possible.”

“Anything is possible,” I mumble, moving directly toward where I hope Asher is.

“But there wasn't a message to intercept. Nothing to trace back to us.”

I finally stop and frown down at her. “Of course there was. That's how Father got the message on everyone's Links.”

“That's precisely why we don't use the electronics to send messages,” she says.

“Then how do you send each other information?”

“We leave a paper with a coded message in a predetermined location,” Father says from behind me.

I spin around to see him with his brows knit together as he takes in my appearance.

“What's going on?” Asher says from beside him.

Confused, my body still filled with so much adrenaline it doesn't know what to do, I pace in a circle around them and tell them everything.

“There were
two
Enforcers?” Father asks when I finish.

“Yes. One was already there and the second came after the nurse was dead.”

“This is troubling information, but not for you. It's possible Mother doesn't trust me as much as I'd thought.”

“Or she didn't trust the second Enforcer to get it right. She'd already screwed up with Dr. Moreau. She didn't want any more mistakes.”

Father gives Asher a look before rubbing his hands over his face. “For my sake, I hope you're right. Either way, Mother is preparing for some assembly. Mandatory attendance by all Citizens.”

“Are you crazy? You just said you thought she didn't trust you. This could be a setup!” Asher says.

“But if he doesn't go, he's proving it. He doesn't have a choice.” My stomach twists as I watch him.

“Then he stays here.”

“She'll look for me.” His voice is so defeated already it makes my heart ache.

“You said she couldn't find this place.” Asher's face is all squished up as he tries to figure everything out.

“I
won't
take that chance.” He focuses on me. “There are too many things here that I'm not willing to risk.”

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “Go. You should be there.”

“Evie—”

Asher stops talking when I stare at him. “Mother always has a backup plan. It's as simple as that.” I meet Father's eyes. “Just … watch your back.”

He gives me a grim smile. “Distrust is what keeps you alive.” He walks away looking as miserable as I feel.

Nadia pats my arm. “He will be fine. He's made it this long.” She marches away in her normal fashion, but even she's missing something in her step.

I turn my attention to Asher. “I need a way to watch the festivities.”

“You've got to be kidding.” Asher groans. “You can't go back there
now
! Even with everyone milling around, you'll be spotted in seconds.”

“I'm not planning on actually
being
there. I'm not a fool. I just need to see what's happening.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I'm not sure,” I say, but then what the Enforcer said to me, about Mother always knowing, gives me an idea. “The same way Mother knows what's going on everywhere. Her cameras.”

He knits his brow together. “Gavin said something about them being activated by DNA.”

“The cameras are always watching. Always. They only trigger a signal when something out of the ordinary trips them off. Such as the wrong DNA. But the cameras are always watching, and Mother will definitely have them on and trained on the Square.”

“So we just need to use the cameras to watch? How do we do that?”

“There is a central monitoring area. In the Palace Wing. All the cameras are hardwired to it through the maintenance tunnels. I'm going to cut into the feed and watch what's going on in the Square from the tunnels.”

*   *   *

“… twenty-five … twenty-six … twenty-seven…” I almost laugh when I find S2-A8-J28. “This is it.”

Asher doesn't even ask if I'm sure, he just nods and hands me the tools I stole from a maintenance worker's bag left unattended. Sloppy of him, but good news for me. It has everything I need. Including the mini holo-projector they use to test the feeds to make sure they're working right.

“Let's get to it then.”

I pull out the Slate I also stole and pull up the circuitry map, then I open the juncture box. It's frustrating work, and while I vaguely remember how to read a wiring diagram, it isn't enough. Even with Asher's help, we're taking entirely too long. Sweat trickles from my forehead and down over my face into my eyes, blinding me.

“This is insane.” Asher blinks at the Slate. “We have as much chance of figuring this mess out as we do the meaning of life.”

A message beeps through onto the Slate. I press the ignore button, but it immediately rings again, and without me even touching anything, the Slate automatically answers for me. A scowling face pops onto the screen. He looks familiar. I know I've seen him before, but the memory that goes along with him is just out of reach.

But he smiles when he sees me. “Miss Evelyn. It's a pleasure to see you again.”

With a frown, I glance over to Asher, then back to the Slate. “How—?”

“How do I know you?” he asks, then answers without waiting for my question. “I'm Joseph. I'm the one who's been helping you send your messages to everyone's Slates and slipped that amusing video into Mother's speech.” He smiles at me, but it has this sadness to it that makes my heart hurt. “You don't remember me, because of what Mother did to you, but I was one of your Suitors. Along with Timothy. Father tells me you remember him, which makes sense, since it was obvious to all the rest of us that he was going to be the one you chose.”

“I-I'm sorry.” I wish I could remember him, but all I can come up with is a fleeting sense of familiarity.

He waves it off. “Don't be. I've been paired with a wonderful girl.”

I nod. “That's good. I'm very happy for you. Thank you for helping me.”

“You were always kind to me, Miss Evelyn. It's my pleasure to return the favor.” He grins. “Having trouble hooking into the cameras?”

It makes me nervous that he knows exactly what I'm doing, but I guess that's his job. “Right the first time.”

He laughs. “It's simple really. I'll walk you through.” He glances at something over his shoulder and a shadow of panic crosses his face before he blurts out, “Just match the colors. Gotta go.”

“Thank you!” I try to say, but the connection cuts off before I've finished the first word.

I close my eyes and take several calming breaths. It's easier than I'm making it. The answer is right there in front of me. Just match the colors.

I know this. I know this.

When I open my eyes, I'm surprised to see the diagram looks completely different to me. It's the same, of course, but I understand it. I can read it like I would any book or my Slate. And I know exactly how to do what we've been trying to do for almost an hour. I dig into the box without so much as a second thought.

Asher sits beside me, handing me the tools I request, and I only have to show him how to read the map once before he's digging in right next to me, speeding up the process.

Finally, I'm connecting the final wires and hoping I actually did understand what I was doing and wasn't just making things up.

When everything is in place I turn on the mini holo. Immediately a picture of a section of the Square lights up. I almost shout in happiness at our success.

“One down. Three to go,” Asher says, interrupting my thoughts. We dig back in, setting the rest up in a matter of minutes.

Finally I have four views of the Square. After a few minute tweaks, we have a perfect view I can shift by moving my finger around the mini holo of the view I want. I can also “pinch” the “screen” to zoom out and drag my fingers apart to zoom in. There are a few icons on the side that I don't recognize the symbols for, but for the most part it's really an intuitive design.

For a little while we watch the Citizens chat, but then something starts happening. They all start lining up and facing in one direction.

“There's something happening on the stage,” Asher says, pointing to one of the hologram displays. “Can you get a closer view?”

I touch the display of that camera, making it the main view, then zoom in. People are walking across the stage adjusting lights, pulling wires, aligning the podiums and a bunch of other things. It's obvious it's going to be used. After several minutes, Mother walks onto the stage. I freeze when I see her.

But I shake it off and zoom in closer, leaning in as if that's going to help me hear her. I can see her lips moving, but not hear her.

“Are the cameras equipped for sound?” Asher asks.

Memories run through my head of watching people through these cameras, listening through headphones to conversations I had no business listening to.

I nod and press the speaker button. Within just a few seconds the sounds from the camera blare loudly—very loudly—and clearly. Asher and I wince in unison. After a few more adjustments I get the volume to a more manageable level. One that will allow us to hear Mother's speech and to listen for anyone coming at the same time. I drop my hands from my ears, even though they still ring from the loudness of the echoes.

Asher shakes his head as if that will help the ringing, but I just try to listen past it to whatever Mother is saying.

“… I know these past few months have been difficult since my daughter was stolen from us, but all of you have shown an exemplary model of what being a Citizen of Elysium really means.