Sunset Rising (21 page)

“Tell me about your parents, school,
friends, girlfriends… anything.”

“I don’t really have parents.
My mother gave birth to two pawns in her little game of chess with the Holts. My brother and I didn’t grow up as sons. We grew up as Liberty soldiers.”

“You have a brothe
r?” I asked, surprised. I thought I knew that, but it still sounded foreign to me. In the Pit, no one had siblings.

“Yeah.
His name is Ted. He’s a couple of years younger than me—about your age. He’s in his last year at the military academy. That is, if Holt doesn’t have him locked up with my parents.”

I felt a flush of guilt
at that. Jack must have been going through his own personal hell, yet he was in the Pit helping me through mine. “I’m sorry about your family.”

“They’re fine fo
r now. Until I’m tried by the tribunal and found guilty of treason, they can’t accuse anyone of being a sympathizer. The Families would never put up with that.”

“The
Families?”

“The ten most powerful
Families in the Dome, which includes the Kenners. The Holts, Wests, Powells and Forbes have made a powerful alliance, but the other six Families are still influential enough to keep those four a little more honest.”

“Okay, so what’s left?
School, friends, and girlfriends.”

“I went to school at the military
academy like all the other privileged kids. You may ask yourself why there’s a military academy inside a Dome that doesn’t have any immediate enemies. The reason is that the Holts come from a military background and they like to keep up the family tradition. Your turn. Where did you go to school?”

“The sixth
-floor common room every day from the age of five right up until I was twelve, just like all the other urchins; best friend Summer Nazeem; boyfriend you already met; favourite subject was nature and science. Your turn.”

“I won’t ask if you had any other boyfriends since you and Reyes got engaged when you were two
.” He snickered, obviously thinking this quip was funny. I chuckled halfheartedly and pulled his hair.

“
Ow!” He rubbed his head. “Best friend my brother Ted; girlfriend in my senior year, although I had to break up with her in order to pursue Leisel; favourite subject history.”

I resumed massaging his scalp and felt him relax into my lap.

“History? You went to a military academy to learn to fight like a ninja, but history was your favourite subject?”

“History is important.
Look how the Holts revised history in order to get everyone in the Dome to accept their despotic government. If the truth had been revealed two hundred and eighty-three years ago, we might not be in the mess we’re in right now.”

“Despotic?”
I asked, feeling stupid. Politics wasn’t a subject taught in the common room.

“Holt is a dictator.
A tyrant. You can even look at the history of the Pit. Your own people revere Benjamin Reyes. I mean everyone down here is named Benjamin or Reyes.”

“Because he led everyone from the Valley to the Dome.
He saved us from the nuclear holocaust.”

“He was also the one who
signed the treaty that turned you into slaves. How come no one remembers him for that?”

As
I mulled that over, my hands came to a rest. Jack nudged them, reminding me that I was supposed to be giving him a massage. My fingers started moving again.

“It’s not that we didn’t know
Benjamin Reyes signed the treaty, it’s just that we prefer to remember him for the good he did. From what you told me about Holt, he concealed the truth.”

“I’m just saying history can be changed in different ways.
It can be revised or it can be forgotten. But if we forget the mistakes we made in the past, we’re doomed to repeat them. That’s why I believe so much in Liberty, my family’s organization. We’re keepers of the truth.”

My fingers trailed down to his neck
, and he sighed appreciatively.

“What does Liberty do exactly?” I
was genuinely curious.

“Liberty was founded on the evidence left behind by Vice President Kenner.
It’s the true history of the Dome, not the false one the Holts feed everyone. Our organization is about sharing the truth with anyone who’s interested. We have several thousand members now. We look for ways to take away the president’s power without endangering the entire Dome.”

“You mean like marr
ying his daughter and becoming president yourself?”

“And trying to find out the codes to the nuclear warheads
. If we had those, Holt would lose his hold over the Dome and we would find out where everyone’s loyalties really lie.”

“
So you think there are a lot of people who support Holt because they’re afraid of him?” I asked, surprised. Although just about everyone in the Pit hated the president, we supported him because we had no choice. It never occurred to me there would be a lot of bourge in the same position.

“Yes
, I do. The man is insane.”

“
Do you think a lot more people would support Liberty if they thought the organization stood a chance of taking Holt’s power?” My interest was growing. If Liberty already had a few thousand members and there were more people in the Dome who might join… Add to that the population of the Pit and we could have our army. The bigger question was whether or not Liberty would accept the Pit into their organization.

My hands had stopped what they were doing again
, and Jack wriggled his shoulders. I resumed gently squeezing his muscles, coaxing them to relax.

“You seem to be going somewhere with your questions.
What are you really asking me?” His arms tightened around my legs, and he snuggled into my lap.

“I’m just trying to make sense of it all.
You told me that Liberty was about restoring democracy, which you described as a type of government where the people get to pick their leaders, right?”

“
That’s right. If Liberty ever does succeed in taking control away from the Holts, and democracy is restored, then there would be an election.”

“And would
the people in the Pit be included in that election? Would we be considered equals under your democracy?”

I f
elt him tense up for a moment, my question obviously giving him pause. “I assume so,” he said slowly.

“I just find it curious that all of the members of Liberty are from the Dome.
Didn’t anyone ever think to ask us? I mean, there are roughly five
thousand people down here, and we all hate the president.”

Jack didn’t respond immediately.
I thought maybe I had pushed him too far. I didn’t want to alienate him. After all, I was hoping he could help everyone down here organize themselves into a rebellion.

“Do you believe in fate, Sunny?” he asked after a while.

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it. Why?” I was relieved that he didn’t sound mad.

“I was brought up to believe that my main purpose in life was to get rid of our dictator and restore equality and freedom back to the people.
My mother was convinced that the best chance we had was through my marriage. And here I am married to you… the girl who just found a way to raise an army.”

“Except we’re not really married
.”

“I think everyone inside this Dome would disagree with you.
They watched us get married on television—the urchin girl who married the bourge and humiliated the president in the process. That’s when your rebellion started,” he said thoughtfully. He sat up, stopping to wince at the pain in his head for a moment, and then leaned back against the wall beside me. “All the clues are there—holding you up as a hero, starting riots over you, knowing both of us are down here but they protect us. You’re valuable to them. They’re looking for you to lead.”

“I disagree.
I’m not a leader. I don’t know the first thing about organizing a rebellion. That’s why I’m asking you for your help. You have the training, you know the bourge and how they work, and you even have Liberty with thousands of members.”

“So I’ll repeat my question
: do you believe in fate? Because together we might actually stand a chance of pulling this off.”

Now I understood what he was saying.
Our marriage could form an alliance.

I woke up early and found
the place next to me in bed was empty. I felt the heaviness of disappointment. After he had fallen asleep last night, I decided to stay in case there were any side effects from his concussion. Or at least that what’s I convinced myself I was doing. But truthfully it had just felt so good to have the warmth of his body against me as I fell asleep. Now the bed seemed cold and empty.

I heard movement and heavy breathing from the living room.

“Really, Jack?” I called. “You’re working out now? You must be feeling better.”

“Want to join me?
You have time before work.”

I
reached for my glass of water from the night before and finished it. I might as well get up and join him. The exercise made me feel better. I pushed myself out of bed and went into the living room. I could see his shadow in front of the two chairs in the room. I walked around the chairs and lay down next to him.

“How do you do that?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“See in the dark
. I almost killed myself getting out here.”

“It’s n
ot completely dark.”

H
e was doing sit-ups, and I fell into rhythm beside him. We did about fifty of those and then flipped over for push-ups.

“I missed our sparring session last night,” I
said.

“Get home on time tonight
, and I’ll let you try to beat me again.” I could almost hear the smile on his face.

“One of these days I will beat y
ou.”

“There’s no doubt in m
y mind that’s true.”

“I don’t see why we have to wait until tonight.
Why not now?”

“Be
cause I can’t see in the dark.”

“Then you’ll learn a new skill
, too. Come on. How many bourge know how to fight in the dark?”

H
e stood. “All right.” He swung his arms wide around him, testing to see if he was within touching distance of anything. I stood up and threw a punch at his face, stopping an inch from his nose. He reached up and batted my hand away, but he was too slow to block my blow. “Well, this is going to be one sided,” he said wryly.

I smiled with satisfaction.
“It does help level the playing field.”

I brought my leg up into a side
kick and again he was too slow to ward me off. I followed through with a punch to his torso, then a kick to his other side. He almost blocked my last kick.

“Why aren’t you trying to hit me
back?” I asked.

“Because I can’t see you and I don’t want to actually hit you
. But I like this. I heard your foot come off the floor and had to gauge where it would hit in order to block it.”

The lights came on then
, and the
bong bongs
tolled the start of another workday. I saw that Jack still had his shirt off and was covered in sweat. Without warning he came at me. I raised my arm to ward off any blow he might throw at me, but he grabbed my arm and brought it behind my back, pinning it to one spot.

“You’re pretty good when the lights are on
.” We were only inches apart, and his blue eyes twinkled.

“I know
.” He laughed and released me. “I thought we could go down to the sixth level for breakfast this morning.”

“I don’t want to
run into Reyes.”

He raised an eyebrow at my statement, but didn’t address it.
“I want to see Bron. It’s okay. I can go down on my own.”

“Why do you want to see Bron?”

“I kind of have a plan, and I need to see if it’s going to work out.”

“Are you going to share yo
ur plan with me? I thought we were in this together.”

“We had a good talk last night
, Sunny, and it made me think. If my family is locked up right now, then I can take control of Liberty. Bron can help me with that. I also want to know how many Liberty members are guards down here. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I guess I was too busy feeling like a fugitive.”

“You mean yo
u might have members down here?” This was huge news.

“That’s exactly
what I mean.”

“
How do you take control? How fast can it happen?”

“I don’t know.
I’m on the run from Holt, so it’s a long shot that Liberty will accept me as head. It’s an even longer shot that they’ll accept an alliance with the Pit, but if everyone is as loyal to me as Bron seems to be, then I might have a chance.”

“Ok
, I’m coming with you.” I was about to put my hat on and walk out the door when I realized I still needed to color his hair. “I forgot about the coal.”

I retrieved the coal from the cupboard and turned to find Jack already sitting in the chair waiting.
He was just as anxious as I was to see where this might go. I darkened his hair as quickly as I could without making a mess.

“Your vest,” he
said.

I ran into the bedroom and put it on under my
t-shirt. Finally ready, we left the apartment. We found Bron in her usual spot.

“Good morning
, Bron,” Jack said. She looked pleased to see him.

“How are you
, Sunny?” Bron asked, concern in her voice.

“Have you heard anything about my dad?” I asked.

She shook her head, but t
he look of pain that flickered across her features was unmistakable.

“We were hoping to talk to you about something.
Is this a safe spot?” Jack asked.

I raised an eyebrow at Jack.
He wasn’t wasting any time getting to the point.

“It’s safe at the moment.
The other guards on this level are opening up the common room right now.”

“Have my parents sent out any messages from Liberty since the wedding?”

Bron looked from Jack to me and back again. She motioned us to a quiet corner in the hallway. It gave us more privacy.

“No one has heard from t
hem. Word is the president has them under house arrest. I’m terribly sorry,” Bron said.

“Then I’m going to assume control of Liberty.
Is there access to the mainframe down here?” He took his tablet out of his back pocket. “I haven’t been able to get a signal.”

“There’s no reception down
here. Too much rock.”

“How do the cameras work then?
How do you communicate with the other guards?”

“The cameras and televisions are all hardwired to the mainframe.
I communicate with the other guards down here using this.” She unclipped a small appliance from her belt. “It’s like a walkie-talkie. It only has a short range.”

“
Then I need to ask you a big favor. Can you help get my messages out to Liberty? I assume you have access to the mainframe when you’re in the Dome?”

A
huge smile crossed her face. “Yes, sir. But I’ll need your verification codes to make it legitimate.” She unhooked her communicator from her belt and handed it to Jack.

“I can trust you wi
th this, right?”

“Yes
, sir,” she said proudly.

Jack took her communicator
, typed in the information, and handed it back to her. “How many other guards down here belong to Liberty?”

“I’d say about
a hundred, give or take a few.”

My eyes opened wide at her admission.
There were guards in the Pit
on our side
?

“Are they all
as dedicated as you?”

“The ones I know are, but I can’t vouch for the others.
I think anyone who belongs to Liberty must be dedicated.”

“Are they supportive of the people down here in
the Pit?”

“I’m not sure I follow
, sir.”

Jack shot me an apologetic look.
“Do the Liberty guards on duty down here hate the urchins or like them?”

Bron
looked taken aback by his question. She looked at me, maybe to see my reaction to his statement. But I always assumed the guards hated us. Finding out some of them liked us was a revelation for me.

“Anybody who believes in Liberty also believes in equality
,” Bron said, her voice indignant. “Life down here is far from equal. We do what we can to help the people in the Pit.”

“Would you join with them?
If there was a revolt, whose side would you be on?”

“The right side
.” Jack looked pleased with her answer.

“I want to join the Pit with Liberty and start training an a
rmy—would you support that?”

“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation.
“Most of the people I know would feel the same way.”

“That’s what I’m counting on.
We’ll need a place to meet and start training. Are the common rooms the only places with cameras?”

Bron nodded.

“If a camera was broken, how long would it take to be replaced?”

“The last time one was broken it took two months to get a new one replicated.”

“Let’s get the camera in the fourth
-floor common room broken. Once our numbers start to grow we may need more rooms, but we’ll do it strategically.”

“Why not the sixth level?
” I asked. “I know more people there.”

“Which is why we should stay away from
it. They’ll expect you to return home,” Jack said.

“He’s right.
They’ve already done a preliminary search here, and a camera being knocked out on this level might raise suspicion,” Bron said. “I should tell you that we do expect a more thorough search of the Pit within the next day or two.”

Jack
thought for a minute. “Can we arrange for Liberty guards to conduct the search down here?”

“I don’t know.
Domers are carrying out the searches, not us. I don’t personally know any of them.”

“May I see you
r communicator again?” She handed it to him. He typed a lengthy message out and gave it back to her. “Please send that after you’ve sent the first message.”

“Yes
, sir.”

“Can I have you arrange for the fourth
-floor common room to be secure by tonight? Camera gone and only Liberty guards on duty in there?”

“I’ll make sure it happens
. And might I suggest, sir, after your unfortunate episode yesterday in the mines, that I assign Liberty guards down there as well? There are rumours that the guards you took out yesterday might have it in for you.”

“That’s not a bad idea
, Bron. If there are only Liberty guards in the mine, that would give us another place to train. Start phasing them in and let me know when it’s all friendlies down there.” Jack shook her hand. “You’ve been extremely helpful.”

“I’m honored to be a part of this
, sir. It’s been a long time coming. Is there anything else I can do?”

“Actually
, there is. Sunny and I could use a change of clothes—is there any way that’s possible?”

“I’ll see to it.”

I was amazed by her willingness to help.
Bron had always been the kindest guard I had ever known, but I still had no idea how she felt about things in the Pit. I had always assumed she was just a kind bourge, but still a bourge. This conversation had been an eye-opener.

“Thank you
again, Bron,” I said.

Jack and I left
and made our way to the sixth level common room for breakfast.

“What were all those messages you were typing into her communicator?” I asked.

“Encrypted messages for Liberty members. I announced I was taking over Liberty, we were joining with the Pit, and I needed some Domers down here on our side.” He shrugged. “Either I just started raising an army or I just gave away our location. We’ll see what happens.”

“That’s really great, Jack.”
I shot him a dry look. He was smiling.

The common room was full when we arrived.
It occurred to me that that morning might be the last time I came there to eat since we were securing the fourth-level room for training. I looked around for Summer and was disappointed to see her parents sitting alone. If she were here, she would be eating with them.

My eyes fell on
Reyes, Mica, and Raine sitting together and they noticed us too, but Reyes turned his head away from me. It was fine with me if he wanted to be that way. Jack and I picked up our food and water and found a table in the corner where we could sit alone together. I deliberately sat with my back to Reyes.

“You shoul
d talk to him,” Jack said when we sat down. “Make peace.”