Token (Token Chronicles) (11 page)

Before we enter our shack for the night, Yency pulls me aside privately.

“Listen, Kincaid. I know how excited you are to see Hadley again, and it has luckily gotten you back on track. But, you do also need to face the possibility Hadley may not be where you are heading.”

“But, the Emissary,” I say defensively.

“I know. She hinted to you Hadley would be there, but she could also just be pacifying you. Placating to your blind desire. Telling what you want to hear so you will behave. After all, whoever paid that much money for you will not want a disobedient and love sick Token.”

He optimistically adds, “I am not trying to dash your hopes. She could be there. I just think you should be ready for both possibilities. We have all seen what happens when you are without her. Just keep your head up and stay out of trouble. Don’t lose yourself again.”

What Yency says begins to resonate through my mind while I toss and turn in my bed. What if she isn’t there? I have put so much hope into this possibility. I suppose I should be thankful for Yency at least bringing me back down to Earth. To at least prepare for this possibility so I am not completely crushed. I need to be strong. If she is not there, I need to ensure I am the best Token in Camp. I will need to do whatever is asked of me to make sure I am worth their investment. I will have to find a way to earn my freedom.

As my eyes finally give in to their heavy weight, there is a loud knocking at our door. Since I am already awake, I get up and turn the bamboo knob. Zeke is standing outside.

“Come on. You are all scheduled to leave for processing in 30 minutes. You don’t need to bring any of your possessions with you, they are not allowed. All of you, let’s go.”

Benja, Nayze, and Yency are all slowly moving about, and we head out the door following Zeke. We march down the trail through the cold morning sand to the edge of the beach. The salty smell begins to pierce our nostrils. Floating out in the waters are our ship transports. There are five lined up across the shoreline with some of the Tokens who have already been purchased boarding.

Zeke looks down at his schedule and directs, “There. Ship 5,” as his finger points to our assigned ship. Before we begin to make our way through the calm waves, Zeke gives us all a firm handshake and wishes us good luck. As the others begin to head into the water, Zeke grabs my shoulder and says one more thing.

“Until we see each other again, Kincaid.”

He gives me another shake of the hand and leaves before I can question him. Why would he think we would ever see each other again? I will be a Token of Ridian, and he will live out his life as Hold on Island 3. Maybe he is just an optimist who hates goodbyes. I shrug it off and begin to follow my friends towards the ship transport.

As I make my way through the waters, I mimic Nayze diving through the oncoming waves. When we reach the edge of the ship, the ocean waters are now chest deep. The craft is a long slender gray-bodied ship with two identical turbine engines that extend upward and flare out from the back of the ship.

We are pulled in by Grods waiting in the boats. There are six others already waiting on the boat. I can make out Isamar and Benoit, but the others at the back are difficult to see because the sun has not yet come up.

One particularly irritable Grod hoarsely grunts, “Sit down and shut up. I don’t want to hear a peep out of any of you.”

He proceeds to go behind the wheel and starts the engine. A loud boom fires, and the engines begin to emit bright blue waves of light while the ship hums softly in idle. He roughly pushes the throttle forward, and we are all nearly whipped out of our seats. Our wet bodies are completely dry in a matter of seconds as the winds fiercely swirl around us. As the sun begins to emerge from the horizon, I spot our destination as one of the Islands becomes visible as the ship approaches closer. Island 1. This will be the first time I actually remember ever being anywhere but Island 3.

Unlike when we boarded the ships on our Island, Island 1 has a dock that extends out into the ocean so we won’t have to make another swim in the cold waters. The Grod whips the ship around to the side of the dock with a profound expertise. Ours is the last ship to dock while the other four have already begun to unload.

“Single file! Get off the docks. Let’s go, move it!” one of the Grods yells.

I fall in line behind Benja, and we march down to the end of the docks. There are Grods standing there with scanning devices in their hands. They are shoving them in between our shoulder blades. They are scanning to get a reading for which Elite camp we have been sold to. They must have already programmed the information into our trackers. Benja goes just before me.

The Grod barks, “Silon Elite. Go to Port 2.” He jams the device in my back to read my tracker and yells, “Ridian Elite. Go to Port 4.”

There are several breezeways with the corresponding numbers inscribed onto the overhangs. I head towards the 4 with Nayze following behind me. I quickly look to my left to see Yency and Benja heading towards 2. I am glad we took the time last night to say goodbye because it seems as if this will be the last time we see each other. Possibly for the rest of our lives. We give each other nods of encouragement before we enter our designated ports.

As Nayze and I cross the sill of Port 4, we are immediately roughly scanned again by a Grod to confirm we are in the right location. Directly in front of us is a hovercraft. But I don’t think it belongs to Grodar because I do not spot their seal. Then, I make out the words at the top of the tail, RIDIAN 001. This is one of Ridian’s hovercrafts. The pewter ship is gigantic, several stories high at least. The massive engines are attached to the sides of the ship with the thrusters directed towards the ground to allow for vertical take offs and landings.

A man and woman dressed in identical blue jumpsuits immediately escort us onto the ship. There are three Tokens already waiting on the ship. The hatch clicks shut behind us. I guess this is it. So there were five of us purchased by Ridian. I recognize them. Rogan, Cydnee, and Butler. Rogan and Butler could be brothers. They have the same brown cropped hair with short and stocky builds. Cydnee is probably the tallest Token from Island 3. A woman who has been towering over me for as long as I can remember, but despite her lofty height, she has always been one of the kindest and most caring individuals I have ever met. If anyone can sympathize with me, it is Cydnee. She and Miles had started a relationship almost a year ago, but Miles was one of the Tokens who was passed on. He is still on Island 3 while she is on her way to Ridian with us. It will be nice to have someone who at least understands.

The male and female escorts push us into our seats and demonstrate how to properly strap ourselves in as we prepare for takeoff. The engines roar to life. A crushing force shoves me against my seat as the craft shoots upward into the sky and bursts forward away from the Island. My body is unable to move. The force desists, and I regain my normal sense of balance.

The escorts quickly unstrap themselves and move swiftly down a hallway in the ship and disappear from view. I unstrap myself as well and move to the nearest window I can find to get a view. I look out only able to see water now. The Islands are no longer in view. And in an instant, the Hawk Islands are out of our lives forever.

The escorts return seconds later no longer wearing the bland blue identical jumpsuits. They have navy blue military fatigues on now with jackets displaying their names on the right side of their chest and a badge with the word FREEDOM sewn directly over their hearts. I am puzzled. They are dressed like they are soldiers. Hasn’t the war been dead for more than a decade now? Hadley told me about the Rebellion, or else I never would have known. She told me about the cruel nature of Cromus, and the two different factions who led the Rebellion. Jackson Maddox led Vurthoes and Laurel Creed led Dopicance if I remember correctly. We only talked about it once because we both knew it would be too risky to bring it up again. I am thankful now because I know how much our conversations were monitored over the years. I am positive Tokens learning about the history of the Rebellion against Grodar is not exactly something they would have tolerated.

“I am Jayce. This is Daylen,” he says as he gestures to the girl.

“We want to congratulate you on being purchased by Ridian. It seems like just yesterday we were being purchased too.”

“You are Tokens?” I blurt out reflexively.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, you don’t seem like you came from the Islands,” Nayze follows backing my initial assessment.

They didn’t. Their body movements, eye contact, their general demeanor seemed to indicate they were more like Grods than Tokens.

“It’s quite alright,” Daylen replies. “I was from Island 8, Jayce was from Island 6. We have both been out for quite a while now. I forget the way we may come off to others.”

Jayce interrupts, “Before we continue this conversation, there is a little bit of business we must take care of first. I need all of you to stand up.”

We do as he says, and he walks up to me first.

“You will understand why we have to do this later. I am sorry.”

Sorry? Sorry for what I think until he pulls out a weapon and aims it directly at my chest. I have no time to think before he fires, and my body feels an immeasurable pain far worse than any jolt I have ever received. Fortunately, my mind allows me to black out so I can avoid any further anguish. I hear the thud of my body hit the ground, and I see the weapon now being fired at Nayze as my eyes close.

As I regain consciousness, I immediately realize I am in a detainment chamber similar to the one I was held in at the Ambassador’s mansion. At least this time, I am not handcuffed to the wall. I stand up to go knock on the door to summon a guard, but the doors slide open at the slightest detection of my movement. Maybe this isn’t a detainment chamber. I peak my head out into the hallway to see if there is anyone standing guard, but no. I step out and immediately hear a noise. I quickly jump back into my room. But the sound was familiar. It was one of the doors sliding open from the rooms next to me. I step back out into the hallway and see Nayze standing there.

“What is going on?” I ask.

“I don’t know. After you got shot, they turned the weapon on me, and the girl was shooting the others.”

Rogan, Butler, and Cydnee all begin to exit the chambers at about the same time as we congregate out in the hall.

Jayce comes walking around the corner and exclaims, “Good, you are all awake. Follow me to the dining room. I will explain everything there.”

We are all incredibly confused. First, we are treated cordially, and then shot, now they are acting as if nothing has happened and everything is business as usual. Regardless, we are Ridian property now and don’t have much of a choice. We all follow Jayce to the dining room where Daylen is already sitting there waiting.

“Please, have a seat,” she says. “Dinner will be served shortly.”

We all reluctantly take our seats around the large table. Jayce sits down at the head of the table and eyes us all.

“First, I would like to apologize for the pain from the shot. Trust me, I remember how excruciating it was.” He pauses to snag a piece of bread from the table and takes a bite as he continues to address the table.

“It was necessary, however,” with morsels of bread still swirling around in his open mouth. “The pain you were experiencing from the shot was the tracking chip being fried from your spinal cords. We cannot take the chance of those chips giving away any of our plans to Grodar. The Islands leave them in place and give us control of your jolting devices to use for obedience the same way they did, but Ridian is not about control, we are about freedom and choice.”

Wait. My mind begins to comprehend what he just said. If we no longer have our tracking devices internally attached, we could leave. We could escape. I begin to look around the table and understand everyone is having the exact same thought.

Jayce is swallowing down his last bite of bread with a sip of water.

Daylen continues, “You are the lucky ones to be coming back with us. Your friends who were sold with you at auction, all the other Tokens sold before you to the other Elite camps. Let’s just say, being a Token is not what the Grods and the Federation make it out to be. You have all been lied to your whole lives. There is no glory in it. Only violence, brutality, humiliation, and eventually, death.”

Uproar of protest and anger erupts from us all.

“What do you mean death?”

“Our friends are out there.”

“That can’t be true.”

“We have to do something. Turn around, we have to save them.”

I cannot even speak. I am frozen with fear. The fear of Hadley being sold anywhere else. The fear of never getting to see her again. I am not the only one who is distraught. Everyone’s faces are distorted with angst worrying about their friends. The friends we thought were safe. Benja and Yency run through my mind. We always thought it was bad to be left behind on the Islands, to live your life as a Hold. I look across the table and notice Cydnee. Although I know she is worried about those who were sold to the other Elitists, she cannot hide the relief she must be feeling. Only hours ago, she was disturbed at how Miles was left behind, unwanted. Now, she must be overjoyed he is still on Island 3. Safe.

“It is too late to turn back now, but you will all get your opportunity soon enough. To save your friends who have been sold. To set those free who are still on all of the Islands,” Jayce says.

“We have started the beginning of a new Rebellion against Grodar. We are stronger than last time, and we are the key to success,” Daylen says as she gestures towards everyone in the room. “Those of us who have toiled our lives away on those Islands just so Grodar can profit from our existence. We are nothing more than slaves, pets for the Elitists’ amusement. We are now the leaders of the Rebellion.”

Jayce passionately interjects, “Yes! You have all been specially selected. You are the ones that were identified as leaders. People who could become commanders. You are all head strong, independent, and have a mind of your own.”