The Hourglass (11 page)

“Nothing.”

“Right.
Whatever.” Finn put his head in his hands and then ruffled his hair vigorously.
“You said you’ve never stolen anything before, right?”

Sarah nodded.
“Yup.”

“We’re going to
die.”

“Probably.”

Their misery was
interrupted by the return of Marland and April. Thankfully Colt was not with
them. They sat down eagerly at the table and leaned forward so that they could
whisper and not be overheard.

“So?” asked
Marland excitedly and worriedly at the same time, “what did she want?”

“And why was
Finn involved?” whispered April, who had been made up to date with all the
gossip by Marland as they waited.

Sarah gave
Marland a look indicating that she wasn’t please about her spreading gossip.
Marland brushed it off with a hand gesture. “Well?” she prompted.

“She wants our
souls,” answered Finn, his head still in his hands.

Both Marland and
April rolled their eyes.

“No, seriously,
what happened?” demanded April.

Marland nodded
in agreement. “How much trouble are you in? What did she want? Why did she come
alone without her group? Tell us what happened!”

“I’m not going
to tell you if you go blabbing your mouth off to everyone!” said Sarah,
exasperated. “I mean, how many people have you told already about my first
meeting with her?”

Marland threw
her hands up in the air. “Only the people at this table!” she said loudly. A
guilty expression flittered across her face as she realised that she was
drawing attention and she returned to whispering. “Guys, I’ve not told anybody
outside this group.”

“Where’s Colt?”
asked Sarah. She wanted to know exactly where he was before she started
blurting out secrets. She wouldn’t have trusted him with a rock.

“Look,” said
Marland, pointing over Sarah’s shoulder. Sarah looked. Colt was sitting at the Queen’s
table. He looked equally nervous and flattered. Finn was watching her and she
looked away.

“Good, I don’t
want him involved,” said Sarah. She glanced at Finn and he shrugged as if he
couldn’t care less. For a fleeting moment Sarah felt disappointed. She gave
herself a mental slap and focused on the problem at hand.

Finn cocked his
head at Marland and April. “They could help find out a few things for us,” he
suggested.

“Yeah, sure, we
can do that,” said April, hoping to prompt the story along.

Sarah frowned,
frustrated. Things were getting out of hand. She had to make them realise how
serious this really was. “You have to swear on everything dear to you that this
will not leave this table,” said Sarah. “And I’m not being overly melodramatic.
If word gets out she will kill us and probably you guys too.”

For the first
time Marland and April seemed slightly less eager and a bit more sombre.

“Tell us,” said
April, “we’ll help if we can.”

Sarah glanced
around the room. No one was paying them any attention. She imagined any
interest they had held had disappeared as soon as the Queen had walked away.

“The Queen wants
us to get her off the ship. We have a week from now,” she murmured softly. “There’s
some document in the infirmary she wants us to steal about transferring
terminally ill patients. We think, well, we think that something is going to
happen in a week’s time. We don’t know what, she didn’t tell us.”

April gave a
soft, low whistle of appreciation. “That is some ask.”

“I know,” said
Sarah, her stomach heavy.

“What do you
think is going to happen? It must be bad, right?”

Sarah shrugged.
“We don’t even know if it’s something that’s going to happen on the ship. As
far as we know, it could just be that the Queen has a super important event to
get back to on the mainland.” She said it sarcastically, but on reflection she
realised that as far as she knew, that could actually be the case.

“How would she
get out of the hospital on the mainland?”

“I don’t know!”
replied Sarah, more loudly than she had intended.

Marland gave
Sarah’s hand an affectionate squeeze. Unlike the Queen’s touch, Sarah
appreciated it. She squeezed back.

“What do you
want us to do?” Marland asked, a nervous tremor in her voice.

It was one thing
for April, who was usually so confident, to offer help. It was another thing
entirely for Marland to. Unless she was chatting about her conspiracy theories
or compiling evidence, Marland could hardly keep it together at even the first
hint of a threat.

Sarah smiled at
her weakly. “Nothing big,” she said. “Just ask around, quietly, you know? See
if you can find out what happens in a week. But if you guys think you’re
starting to draw attention to yourselves, then stop asking and don’t start
again, ok?”

They both
nodded.

“And whatever
you do,” said Finn, “make sure the King or his buddies don’t overhear you.”

“Yes,
definitely,” added in Sarah. “Otherwise it’s going to be bad for all of us.”

Marland and
April spent the rest of the lunch mumbling together about different approaches
they could make to find out about the Event. Sarah could almost hear the
capital they had given it. Finn spent it eating in silence. Sarah couldn’t help
but feel that he was ignoring her on purpose. After a moment she got up and
went to the toilet. She spent the rest of the lunch period on the toilet,
crying. It had just hit her how impossible the task was and how completely out
of her depth she was.

The Thief and the Forger

They didn’t talk
much on the way back to the factory floor. Both Sarah and Finn were ignoring
each other and Marland and April appeared to be giving them their space. As
Sarah sat down at her usual seat in front of the conveyer belt she made a
decision. She was in this position whether she liked it or not. It wouldn’t
help her at all if she just moped about and said it was impossible. She had to
try. No, she had to do better than that. She had to succeed. She liked her eyes
and her friends too much not to.

“Boulder,” she
said, strengthened by her new resolve and throwing caution into the wind. “If I
wanted to get off this ship, how would I do that?” She had been thinking about
their options if they failed to get the paperwork the Queen wanted. So far she
hadn’t come up with much. Finn rolled his eyes, obviously thinking her less
than discreet, but she needed the opinion of someone who had been there more
than a week or so.

Boulder snorted.
“There’s only three ways you can get out of here early,” he said, sorting
through multiple tubes with a fluid motion. “One, you die.”

Finn nodded his
head, interested. “Go on…” he said, like it was an entirely plausible option.
Sarah waved a hand at him to be quiet.

“Two,” resumed
Boulder, ignoring Finn, “you join the army. Three, you volunteer to be
experimented on.”

“Experimented
on?”

Boulder nodded.
“The Hourglass Group takes volunteers god knows where and uses them to try out
new drugs, superweapons, you name it. The deal is that if you live through the
trial, you get to go free.”

Sarah’s eyes
flickered to the boxes that lined the walls of the factory floor. They all had
the symbol of the Hourglass Group stamped on their sides. The scar on her
shoulder-blade prickled and she thought again of the striking similarity
between the symbol of the Hourglass Group and her scar.

“And people
actually volunteer?”

“It’s a risk,
for sure. You don’t know what trial you’re signing up for, you see. On one hand
you could be used to test a drug that makes you faster and stronger, on the
other you could be in the firing range of some new weapon. Either way it gets
you off this damn ship. More people volunteer for it than you think. Some
people actually think it’s a safer bet than the army. At least with the
Hourglass Group you have a fifty percent chance of getting out alive.”

“Surely that’s
illegal, right? Maybe not the increased strength, but testing the weapons out?”

Boulder
shrugged. “They’re volunteers, they all signed on the dotted line, and in case
you forgot, we’re in a war. A war where resources are running out. Both sides
need something big.”

Finn frowned.
“You’re remarkably well informed.”

A sly smile
appeared on Boulder’s face. “I have my sources.”

“Do you know
what’s happening in a week?” This time it was Finn asking the revealing
questions. Sarah quickly glanced at Finn and then back to Boulder. She had
figured that her question wasn’t entirely unexpected from a newbie. Surely
everybody at some point in their incarceration wanted to get off the ship?
Finn’s question was specific and tied into hers too easily. She crossed her
fingers out of sight under the conveyer belt and hoped that Boulder didn’t know
all the answers because he was trading information with the King. If it got
back to the King, it would all be over for them before they even started. At
the same time, if Boulder knew, the information could be invaluable. She hoped
Finn realised what he was risking.

Boulder also
seemed to find this question oddly specific. He leaned back on his stool and
surveyed them through narrowed eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Finn shrugged
casually. “Just heard on the grape vine that something was happening.”

Boulder rocked
on his seat for a moment before leaning forward again, sorting through the
tubes. “If this has anything to do with the Queen’s little meeting with you
guys just before, you can keep me out of it. I want nothing to do with any of
it. From now on, just keep your questions to yourself.”

“If it was something
big though, you’d hear about it, right?”

Boulder chucked
one of the metal tubes at Finn’s head in reply. Finn dodged it narrowly.

“Alright, jeez,
I get it, topic closed.”

They didn’t
discuss the job for the next hour until Boulder was escorted to the bathroom.
Sarah glanced around to make sure that there was nobody listening nearby. She
had been thinking about something the Queen had said.

“So,” said Sarah
softly, her words only just audible over the sound of the machinery, “you’re a
forger.” She tried to look nonchalant but failed.

“Ah, yeah, I
suppose so,” replied Finn.

“You suppose
so?” Sarah threw a metal tube in his direction. It landed with a metallic thud
in front of him. “It is not fair that the Queen gets to know about you and I
don’t.”

“I’m not the
only one keeping secrets.”

“What are you
talking about?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe whatever is happening between you and Colt? Besides, why should I tell
you anyway?”

“Because I’m
your… I’m your friend,” spluttered Sarah.

“Are you?”
replied Finn, his eyebrows crossed. “Don’t you think it’s a bit of a
coincidence that the two of us, with our particular skill sets, become
‘friends’ and then those skills are needed for us to work together?”

Sarah stared at
him, surprised. “Are you saying that I am involved in the Queen’s plan?”

Finn just
shrugged in reply.

“In case you’re
forgetting,” said Sarah coldly, “I don’t actually have a skill set, so if I was
involved in this, it would be pretty damn stupid of me.”

Finn paused in
discarding one of the tubes and a sheepish look spread across his face. “Oh,
right.”

Sarah didn’t say
anything, she just went back to work. Finn ruffled a hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m thinking anymore. It’s just, well,
this is shit.”

“Yeah, I know,”
pointed out Sarah, “I’m under threat of an eye gouging.”

“An eye gouging?”

“Yeah, it came
up in our previous conversation.”

“Oh. Shit.”

There was an
awkward pause. “My parents used to run a fruit store. They died in a bombing
attack five years ago when they went out to pick up supplies, so my older
sister took over the business,” blurted out Finn, not looking at her.

“I didn’t know
you had a sister,” said Sarah, her voice softening.

“She’s dead,”
replied Finn. “The soldiers just took what they wanted from the store without
paying, making us bankrupt. She was forced to join the army to get by and
support us. She died two years ago. They told me that she was shot protecting
one of the farms. Ironic, right?” He gave her a sad grin. “Anyway, by that
point I had realised that I had a knack for writing in other people’s
hand-styles. Some other people found out and started employing me to fake
signatures and things. Just petty stuff, you know, like redirecting a crate of
food supplies away from the army barracks and into a shop where they could then
break it up and sell it on the black market. I didn’t mind doing it.” Sarah
could picture it. He would have felt like he was getting some kind of revenge
on the soldiers who bankrupted their parents’ business. “Then one day one of
the guys who knew about me got caught and sold them my name to get a leaner
sentence. And voila, I’m here sorting through metal tubes giving you my sob
story.”

“I’m sorry about
your family.”

Finn shrugged.
“Don’t be. It wasn’t you who killed them.”

Boulder returned
from the bathroom and sat down. He looked between the two of them. “You lot
look mopey.” He held up a hand to stall any reply. “You know what, don’t tell
me.”

“Do you have
much family?” Finn asked Sarah, ignoring Boulder.

“I have my mum
and uncle. We live in this tiny little flat. Although it looks pretty good now
compared to my cell.”

“Friends?” He
hesitated for a second. “Boyfriends?”

“I have a friend
called Abby,” said Sarah, consciously omitting the fact that Abby was nine.

“No one else?”
asked Finn, surprised.

“Not really,”
said Sarah, feeling oddly defensive. “You?”

“You talk a lot
for being a loner,” said Boulder before Finn could reply. Sarah flushed a dark
red and threw a tube at him. It hit him on the chest. “And yet I understand why
you were,” said Boulder, rubbing the spot where it hit.

“Shut up,
Boulder,” said Sarah and Finn in unison. They grinned at each other.

Boulder rolled
his eyes. They tried once more to discuss ways to get off the ship but Boulder
put an end to it by drawing the attention of a guard. He separated from them as
soon as the bell rang for dinner, as if even by association he would find
himself in the midst of whatever it was he suspected them of being part of.
Sarah didn’t blame him. If she could have stayed invisible, as she had planned
from the very start, she would have. It just turns out that the immovable
Boulder was more successful at it than she was.

“Any bright
ideas?” asked Finn under his breath as he watched Boulder depart.

“It must be something
bad. The Queen is at the top of her game on this ship. She’s not going to be
treated the same on the land. For her to give it all up…” she trailed off.

“But,” said
Finn, cutting to the point, “is it something that is bad only for the Queen, or
is it something that will be bad for everyone? If it is, we might be in need of
those forms just as much as her cowness.”

Sarah blinked,
surprised. It honestly hadn’t occurred to her that maybe they too should escape
the ship. “But what if they catch us? And where would we go? I’ll never be able
to go home again. I won’t see my mum or my uncle. They’ll go mad worrying about
me. I’m only here for three months.”

Finn put a hand
on her shoulder. The physical contact made her pause and she realised that she
had been working herself up into something close to hysterics again.

“Sarah, its
fine. If whatever it is that the Queen is so afraid of only affects her, then
we can leave her to her escape attempt and be done with it. But if it affects
us, I mean…” he trailed off, trying to find the right words. “We don’t know
what it is she is afraid of. What if Marland’s actually right?” Sarah gave him
a dubious look but he ploughed right on. “What if our numbers are getting too
large to sustain and they have to cut it down by chucking some of us overboard?
If it’s something like that then we’re better off trying to escape and make
things work once we’re out, then staying here and courting death. We just don’t
know yet.”

The idea of life
on the run terrified Sarah, but she grudgingly accepted that he had a point.

“How can you be
so calm about this?” she mumbled.

He shrugged. “I
have no one to go home to.”

“Oh.” There was
a pause. “Marland is not right though,” she said stubbornly.

“Yeah, probably
not,” said Finn with a grin. “But crazier things have happened.”

“I think one of
Marland’s conspiracy theories coming true would top that list.”

They reached the
cafeteria and collected their dinner before returning to their usual seats.
Dinner consisted of a brown chunky soup. Much to her disgust Sarah had
discovered on her first night that the chunks weren’t meat, simply diced
protein bars covered in sauce and gluggy rice. By this point in the day Sarah
wasn’t even the slightest bit surprised when the girl with the red curly hair sat
down at their table uninvited.

“Hey, I’m
Winter,” she said, shovelling the soup into her mouth with a speed that
fascinated Sarah by its very improbability. “The Queen sent me to tell you
about where the papers are kept.”

Sarah and Finn
exchanged glances. Winter seemed to know what they were thinking. “I’m the one
who told her about them,” she explained. “You, me and the Queen are the only
ones who know.”

“How did you
find out?” asked Sarah.

“My twin was on
this boat with me. She developed a bone cancer. I was with her when he signed
the papers and transferred her out.”

Sarah kicked
herself. “Oh, damn, I’m sorry.”

Winter shrugged
philosophically. “At least she’s off this boat.”

“And you didn’t
tell anyone else?” asked Finn sceptically.

“The Queen paid
me enough to keep it to myself.”

“What do people
think happened to your sister?” asked Sarah.

“Official story?
She volunteered for a drug trial.” Winter shovelled three heaped spoonfuls into
her mouth without pausing to chew or swallow.

Finn watched
her, frowning. “So what can you tell us?”

“Right,” mumbled
Winter through a mouthful of food. She swallowed noisily. “Sorry, talking with
my mouth full. That’s rude. So there’s the main room,” she used the end of her
spoon to draw out a map in the remaining sauce on her bowl as she talked. “There
are six beds, three lining the two walls opposite each other. At the end of the
room there is a door that leads in to the doctor’s office. There are windows
set into the wall so that he can see what you’re doing while you’re in bed. If
you go into the office his desk is right in front of you. He has filing
cabinets behind his seat on either side. The bottom draw to the filing cabinet
on your right hand side as you enter is actually fake. That’s the safe. The
papers are inside the safe. The safe is old-school though, you only need a
punch-in code to gain access.”