-Worlds Apart- Ruination (19 page)

Sinking my hands under the water I watch the trail of dirt slide down the glass basin. Layer after layer melts away, it seems never ending. I turn the faucet off and make my way back to the living room.

“Tell me Ty, if you thought we were murderous barbarians then why’d you leave?” He asks from the kitchen.

“I didn’t have another choice. I was born in the Outer. Do you know about our sectors?”

“I know about them. It’s revolting the way they treat you.”

“Well I was a part of the Outer. I managed to make the leap and move to the Inner when I was fifteen.” I look to Jon.

“Go on, I know about your leap.” He says, so I continue.

“I met a girl from the Inner and we fell in love.” It’s a bit of a lie but I’m too proud to admit it’s a one-sided love affair. “We both got offered the leap but at the banquet we refused to take it.” He looks puzzled. “We would’ve been separated if we took it and we wouldn’t go without each other.” Now I’m really fabricating the story. “We were punished for refusin’. They exiled us to separate parts of the Inner. But they hid it from the other citizens. They paraded us in front of cameras and forced everyone to watch as Central declared us ‘scouts.’ They said we’d turned down the leap in exchange for a ‘once in a lifetime’ chance to protect the Inner.” I pause letting my stomach cramp, reminding me its empty again. “I haven’t seen her since we were exiled but I know she’s in danger. If I don’t get back to her with medical supplies she’ll die.”

“You know this how?” He asks. This definitely isn’t a conversation I wanted to have but I can’t really avoid it.

“I can see the future.” I pause waiting for him to laugh but he keeps his composure. “I’ve been seeing the future since I was a kid.” Still no laughter or questions. “In my sight I saw her die in a fire. I know it’s comin’ in the next month or so. I have to get back to save her.” Jon bites his lower lip raising his eyebrows in a sort of suspenseful look.

“You’re telling me you’re a Prem.”

“A what?”

“Fine, I guess I’m telling you…You
are
a Prem” he says. I gawk at him.

“What the heck is a Prem?”

“I shouldn’t be surprised your government hasn’t warned you about this.” He lifts the sleeve of my torn uniform exposing my immunization scar. I jerk my arm back to my side. “I bet they told you that scar was from your childhood immunizations,” he says as I nod. “It wasn’t medication Ty, it was conciliate-serum. Central injects it into all newborns to placate them. Since you were infants they’ve been controlling you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s used to soften your responses, keep the citizens mollified. Free thinking and unruly citizens could mean trouble for Central. They could start questioning things, things Central doesn’t want to answer.”

“And what’s a Prem?”

“Nothing’s perfect, not even the serum. In a fraction of the citizens the serum alters them on a genetic level. The side effect gives them premonitions. Or as you call it, ‘sight.’ Researchers document those outliers as Prems for short.”

“So I’m some genetic mix-up?”

“You could look at it that way. You
are
special, I’ll say that. Most Prems don’t last long in your position. Their free-thinking personality usually gets them murdered well before they reach maturity.”

“Murdered?”

“Prems are a threat. The conciliate-serum doesn’t work on you plus you can predict the future. Two threats Central can’t ignore. They look for people like you and try to eradicate the threat.”

“How do you know this?”

“My people are the good-guys, no secrets or mind control. We’ve known about conciliate-serum for a long time, we’ve even developed a cure.” My head hums with information. “So here’s the thing Ty, I’m not really sure how to handle this,” I can tell this isn’t going to be good, “our government has a treaty with yours and if we catch anyone who escaped from the divide we’re obligated to surrender them back. According to our government you don’t have asylum here.”

“Are you gonna surrender me?” I ask.

“Well here’s the thing, being that I’m one of the ringleaders to the largest sympathizer network, I don’t think it would be right for me to surrender you back to the organization we oppose.” Jon refills his cup, “Instead I think I can use you. In fact you might be just what we’ve been looking for.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve never had access to someone from the inside that
wants
to get back in.” I’m starting to see where he’s going with this. “I think if your people were given the opportunity to live free with us they’d take it. If those walls were to fall and someone led them to us they’d take arms against Central. If they knew what you know now we could end the divide.”

“And how would I do that?” I ask with his eyes cutting into mine.

“We need Central’s defenses incapacitated, we need the walls to come down.” He swallows his juice, “I have reliable information that makes me believe we’ve located the two areas where Central maintains control over the missiles. If we destroy those two areas Central would be defenseless. They won’t have weapons to combat our crafts. You and your lover could lead the citizens to freedom.”

“Why would anyone follow us?”

“Don’t you see Ty? You two are perfect. You said it yourself that Central broadcasted your faces across the televisions nationwide. You’re probably still being celebrated to this day. Central’s probably using their cover story to boost morale. There’re probably posters of you two all over and fabricated press releases reporting on the incredible work you two are doing. The citizens already love you and would recognize you. If they heard Central was a sham from you two they might believe it. You could lead them to freedom.”

“You’ll help me save Nessa then?” I ask.

Jon sets down his glass, “I guess so.”

Chapter 30

I found Jon on Sunday and the first two nights I felt like an intruder as I bumped into things randomly. Jon set me up on his black leather sofa and I felt guilty when I heard him tiptoeing around his own loft before leaving for work Monday. Sure the accommodations are temporary but I still feel awkward accepting his invitation to stay.

Jon left for work early yesterday. He’d shown me how to work the microwave and television, both were foreign to me. He left clear instructions that I wasn’t allowed to leave his loft for
any
reason. Just cause the foreigners weren’t homicidal thieves didn’t mean I was outta harm’s way.

It’s Tuesday morning now and there’s a thud in my gut. My nerves are acting up for tonight’s meeting. Tonight he’ll reveal me to the other sympathizers and he’ll share his plan to rescue Vanessa. I’ve been anxious and fidgeting since I woke up. I’ve been pacing Jon’s dark wood floors till my feet ache. I sit for a blink tops before I’m back pacing. By noon I’ve flipped through every magazine at least once.

I manage to sit for thirty-minutes as I stare out his bay window at the hordes of people bustling along the streets. They wear all sorts of mismatched and colorful clothes. Some carry shopping bags while others push strollers. So many of em with their freedom probably taken for granted. At last five o’clock hits and I hear the chain of beeps sounding Jon’s arrival.

“Any problems today?” He asks.

“Nope, none.”

“Good. The group should be arriving soon. Remember what we talked about last night. Give them time and let me do the talking,” he reminds me as I nod my head.

Within twenty minutes the members start showing up. I sit uncomfortably in the cream chair catching bits of Jon’s conversations with them. One by one the group filters in and again and again I see their probing eyes settle on me. Jon hardly raises his voice over the hordes of quiet murmurs.

“Okay everyone let’s take a seat and get started.” Everyone follows and sits, filling up every chair except the one next to me. “I may as well address the elephant in the room,” he says with his voice raising a touch. The members shift awkwardly in their seats. “This is Ty Jackson, he’s going to be joining us and quite possibly will be the primary force behind executing what we’ve been planning for so many years.” I don’t need to look around to tell eyes are burning into me. “Ty miraculously came to us a couple days ago, he escaped from the divide.”

He grabs the hook fixed to the scroll in the front of the room. With one quick tug he unravels an oversized representation of the image I’d seen on the flyer two nights ago.

“Ty came from the Outer.” He traces his hands in a big circle around the outermost ring. “It’s unclear which of the four regions he came from but it’s safe to say it was probably in quadrant three.” He points to the lower right quarter. Finally it starts clicking that this isn’t a random symbol, it’s a map of my nation. I had no clue till now that there were four Outer and Inner sectors.

I gawk at the map of my nation, a place I’d lived my whole life and clearly never understood. For my benefit Jon points out that Central sits in the middle, as far away from the foreigners as possible. Moving circularly around Central are the four Inner sectors, each divided by a massive wall. Just past the Inner sectors are the Outer’s, four sectors again divided by concrete walls.

Jon’s probably right, that lower sector’s most likely where I’m from. It has the ocean on one side and a range of mountains on the other where my people mine. Directly south is the city I’m in now.

“Ty made the leap at fifteen and was most likely transferred here.” He drifts his finger toward the Inner sector just above. “He’s a Prem so it helped him make the leap. It also brought him to a young woman named Vanessa. She’s from this area too.” Jon pauses, “Ty and Vanessa were both offered the leap to Central but refused.” The members mumble, sounding like bees swarming a comb. “I know what you’re thinking but it’s the truth. It doesn’t matter
why
they refused, all that matters is they did and Central punished them. They were exiled to die in the wilds,” he says. A man sitting in the middle of the room speaks up.

“Their citizens wouldn’t be ok with that. They may be sheep but even
they
would’ve done something. They would’ve tried to stop Central.”

“Thank you Dave, you’re right. Central didn’t want to risk losing face amongst their people. They concocted a story that Vanessa and Ty had been offered a new and prestigious job opportunity. A…” He looks at me.

“Scout,” I say.

“Yes, a scout. They were told they’d be an elite team that would spy on us and provide intel to keep their people safe. Central made like they were martyrs when in reality they were serving a death sentence.” Some of the members start shaking their heads side to side. “Ty escaped and he’s pressed for time to get back to Vanessa. He knows she’ll die soon unless we help. He tunneled his way out of the divide undetected and we
are
going to help him.” Jon stops, letting his people absorb that this isn’t open for debate.

“Once they’re both back we’ll use them to carry out
our
mission. Once their people see their esteemed Central deceived them, that they left their martyrs for dead, they’ll join our cause.” Heads start nodding in unison, his plans coming together. “The fewer people that know about the details of the mission the better. We haven’t crossed the walls in decades and if our plot’s exposed we’ll
all
suffer the consequences. That being said, I need Jake and Kara to stay. The rest of you are dismissed.”

The members must understand the risks or respect Jon enough not to gripe. He’s a good leader. He stands at his door embracing each member and thanking them by name as they leave. He has a way of making people feel important and cared for without compromising his status as leader. The room empties and he turns to Kara and Jake.

“Sorry to spring this on you two, but-”

“Don’t even Jon. After all you’ve done for us, it’s nothing.” Kara cuts him off.

I look over to Kara and it hit’s me that she’s attractive. She’s older, probably in her early thirties but there’s something mature in the way she carries herself. Her brown hair spirals in tight coils just below her square shoulders.

“Just tell us what you need and we’ll do it.” She smiles and Jake nods agreeing.

Jon holds up his index finger instructing us to wait. He withdraws to one of his rooms. We hear the sound of boxes being shoved and pulled followed by squeaking wheels coming down the hall. He crosses the threshold of the sitting room with the projector screen coming first. After minutes of watching him attach cords in and out of his tablet the map of my past nation flashes on screen.

“According to my talks with Ty, Vanessa’s somewhere in this region.” He traces a red circle around the area we think she’s in. “We’ve got one month to get the three hundred miles of land between us and her secured from detection.” I’m confused, but Kara and Jake sit focused. “I’ve activated our contact in Mourse and they can provide two thousand beacons. Our source in Gorham will cover the remaining ones.” He’d told me not to talk, but I want to know details.

“Beacons?” I ask.

Jake talks for the first time all night, “They obscure Central’s hovercraft detection devices.” I stare at him. “It takes a massive amount of energy to block out a hovercraft’s signals, so their range sucks. You put them within five hundred feet of each other and voila, you’ve got an undetectable path.” He grins.

“You’re takin’ a craft into Central?” I ask in shock.

“God no,” Jon says. I’m immediately relieved. A craft over the walls would be suicidal.

“We’re going to take the craft to Vanessa,” Jon says. That isn’t much better. Jon looks at me, “Your job will be to secure the beacons starting ten miles outside the wall all the way to her location. The slightest mistake will result in Central detecting our craft, meaning certain death to our pilot and Vanessa.”

Jake speaks up. “So what do you need from us?”

“You two will be manning the craft.”

Jake looks at me. “Don’t mess up boy, you hear me?” He smiles, clasping my shoulder. He’s taking it in stride like it’s all fun and games but this isn’t a joke. This is life or death.