I wasn’t surprised by this because it was a small place and there wasn’t much else happening around here.
I decided to change the conversation. “So, what are you doing here?”
“The Resistance is helping us to find suitable homes and new identities so we can try to return to a normal life,” Claire highlighted.
“Ohhhh ... I didn’t know that was even possible,” I motioned.
“We aren’t supposed to tell anyone because it is a complicated process, but I have heard of others who have been able to live a new life in another town outside of the Council’s reach,” Claire gestured.
“Out of the Council’s reach?” I motioned. “You mean there are towns where the Council doesn’t have as much control?”
Claire smiled. “There are many towns like that. Some of them are because they are so far away from the Council that its reach is not as strong. Then, there are those towns the Council has kind of given up on for whatever reason I don’t know. I heard that in these towns the Magistrate is just one person and this person doesn’t even do much although there are quite a number of people living there.”
Maybe I could run away to one of those towns once this was all over. It was an intriguing thought and I was half-tempted to do it right now. If I just disappeared to such a town no one would be able to find me and after some time they would probably give up on me and I could live a normal life.
“What kind of town are you looking to move to?” I signed.
“We aren’t given a choice although it would be nice if someone at least asked us,” Claire signalled. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter to me as long as they find one for me before we have to move again from here.”
“Move again?” I motioned.
“You don’t know? The Council is actively hunting all of us you know?” Claire indicated. “I heard they moved a few times before they came to this current building. I think we will be gone from this place within the next few months.”
I didn’t know about the active hunting part, but it was a good motivation for me to learn faster because I knew my time could be limited at this building.
The good news was that I had been able to successfully memorize and silently mouth many words and even form a sentence, but I didn’t want anyone to know about it yet. The bad news was that I hadn’t been able to make a major sound similar to those in Thomson ever since I came to the Resistance, which was unusual.
“Do you think there are others like you out there?” Claire motioned.
She was the first person in Vinder to ask this question which was surprising.
I nodded. “I hope so, but I try not to think about it and instead just focus on learning how to speak for all our sakes.”
“Oh. It is time for me to go Marinette,” Claire gestured as she looked at Lara walking towards us. “Be careful with everything you do here.”
It was an unexpected warning from her and I was curious what she meant by it as Claire stood up, smiled at Lara and walked away as Lara sat down.
“I see you met Claire,” Lara signed and somehow I got the sense she seemed unhappy I was talking to her.
“Yeah, I guess everyone is curious about me,” I motioned casually. “It is like I am the new rare species in the zoo everyone wants to interact with.”
There was something going on between Lara and Claire, but I chose to stay out of it for now.
“How is your learning going?” Lara signed.
Although I felt close to Lara, at times, I felt she was all about getting things done and didn’t care for the other things in life.
“Progress has been slow,” I highlighted. “But I haven’t been able to make a sound yet unfortunately.”
“Give it some time,” Lara motioned. “The reason I came by was to ask if you would like to join me on one of the scouting missions I am going on.”
“What’s a scouting mission?” I signed.
“It is where we try to find parents being held against their will by the Council and try to rescue them,” Lara motioned.
Without even thinking I knew I wanted to go. “I am ready to go.”
TWELVE
As the van sped forward I turned to Lara. “So, where are we heading to?”
“Our sources told us of this place which is a possible location where potential parents are being held after the birth of their child,” Lara signed.
“What?” I motioned in shock. “I don’t understand.”
“The normal process is for the parents to be returned to their original homes after the child is born, but, recently, things have been changing,” Sam indicated.
“How come?” I gestured.
Sam and Lara exchanged looks, and I braced for what they were going to share with me.
“Ever since you made the sound in Thomson Dr Liverfield and her people have started changing the way things are being done,” Lara highlighted. “We don’t know if it was because they were expecting to find more people like you who were able to make sounds or was it because they wanted to cover up the process especially after all the news coverage on you in Thomson.”
“But the news coverage never mentioned anything about the sound,” I signed.
“Yes this is true,” Sam motioned. “But the rumours have been increasing ever since you made the sound and they aren’t going away. We even heard of people here in Vinder quietly murmuring about it. So, we suspect Dr Liverfield is getting nervous that things will get out of hand quickly and her process will be exposed.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; my sound-making ability had reached Vinder and it’s population and was putting so much more people at risk.
I still didn’t understand why were people making such a big thing about the sound as this was the way it used to be for humans many years ago. Why couldn’t people let it happen and let everyone speak again?
Lara must have read my mind. “This isn’t your fault Marinette.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” I motioned without thinking and I realized I shouldn’t have said it. “To be honest, the only reason I am here is because of the sound I made. Isn’t that right?”
Sam stared at me.
“What happens to these parents?” I signed.
Neither of them said anything until I asked again. “I mean do we have any idea what Dr Liverfield is planning to do to them now?”
Sam shook his head. “This is the first time we are going to such a place because we only heard about this new change a day ago.”
“There have been rumours though ...,” Lara motioned staring at Sam.
“I don’t think ... ,” Sam started.
I interrupted. “Rumours of what?”
“Rumours the parents are being brought to places like the one we are going to as part of some post-birth processing thing,” Lara signed. “But we think it isn’t the real reason.”
Lara looked at Sam.
Sam paused a bit and then continued. “We think they are brought here to be terminated because Dr Liverfield doesn’t want any more parents running around telling anyone what is going on.”
“Wait! What? ... the parents are being killed????” I signed in disbelief.
“This is what the rumours have been saying and this is why we are on the way there to find out what is really going on,” Sam motioned. “I mean the woman in the car explosion in Thomson was the first breakdown of the system behind the process. Before that everything had always been running smoothly for Dr Liverfield. However, the Thomson car explosion nearly revealed everything about Dr Liverfield’s process. You need to know Marinette that Dr Liverfield will go to any lengths to keep it hidden. The process is her child and she will protect it.”
“Are you sure about this?” I gestured. “This is like some kind of mass killing which we only hear of in wars.”
“We will soon find out,” Lara indicated.
I turned and stared at the front window of the van lost in my own thoughts. Killing my parents was one thing, but a mass genocid
e was unacceptable and had to be stopped. I didn’t understand how Sam and Lara could be so calm talking about this kind of mass killing as if it was just another thing Dr Liverfield was doing. I hoped I would never become like them one day when talking about such things.
“Why can’t the Council intervene and stop this even if they don’t have enough evidence,” I signed. “If the Council refuses at least the police or someone higher should get involved.”
“In Vinder everything goes through the Council,” Sam indicated. “So, the police and military all serve different members of the Council and follow their orders. There isn’t anyone else left except for us. I can see you are upset hearing about this, but we need you to stay calm later to help the parents okay? I cannot afford to have you going all crazy out there Marinette. It is too dangerous for all of us.”
I chose to listen to his instructions.
There were some large elevated tracks, which seemed bigger than the train tracks in the air next to the road the van was travelling on. “Are those for trains too?”
“No. Those are special elevated roads for cars and other vehicles to be transported on,” Lara motioned. “A person’s vehicle is simply placed on them and the track pulls the vehicle along. There isn’t a need for anyone to drive the vehicle itself when they are on those tracks. It was one of those ideas to save fuel, be more eco-friendly and minimize the chances of accidents.”
I realized how technologically far ahead Vinder was when compared to Thomson, which only had normal roads to travel on.
Lara continued. “Those roads are for specially designed vehicles that have gotten approval from the Council.”
“So, I guess we cannot use them?” I signed.
Lara shook her head. “Those cars are also specially made by the Council. It is an easy way for them to avoid the traffic and stay one level away from the people as they move around Vinder. Those tracks have powerful high-voltage electric barriers protecting them so if anyone goes near them they would be electrocuted, and dead within a matter of seconds. The Council mentioned there were security considerations that had to be taken to protect the people who used these roads.”
“Dead? Are you serious?” I indicated in disbelief.
Everyone always talked of Vinder being the city of opportunities, but to me it was a city of division and elitism where the Council reigned supreme and everyone else had to serve them and as I learnt more of this city, the more disgusted I got with it. I used to be a bit jealous of my classmates who had the money to go to Vinder, but now I knew I wouldn’t ever want to stay here. This was the last place I would want to live and work in.
“With all this why do people still come here then?” I signed.
Lara smiled. “It’s a good question and the simple answer is because people want what others have and Vinder is place where certain people have so much. It is all about the dream and wanting it for yourself. I haven’t shown you the extravagant neighborhoods here in Vinder where the rich and famous live. All I can say is these elevated tracks are nothing compared to what you see in those neighborhoods. I know we make Vinder sound out to be a cruel and heartless place, but it has many positives too.”
“Like what?” I signed.
“There is much research and innovation being done here,” Lara highlighted. “All these fancy technological advances were created here in Vinder. Many of these advances have also helped the normal people here but, unfortunately, many people fail to see those things and instead focus on those things the rich have access to.”
“I doubt I would want to stay here,” I signalled unexpectedly and wished I could take back my words.
Lara smiled. “I didn’t expect that from you, but we all have our own preferences.”
I couldn’t tell if Lara was being genuine in her reply or a bit unhappy with what I had said.
“We are here,” Sam interrupted.
I looked out and the van had stopped in front of a forest and I couldn’t see any buildings around us.
“From this point onwards we need to walk through the forest,” Sam pointed ahead as we got out of the van. “Stay close together at all times!”
THIRTEEN
The trek through the forest with Sam and Lara was a short one, and after about ten minutes we reached a high barbed wire fence.
“Although it looks high it is your typical fence,” Sam indicated.
Lara took something like a laser cutter out of her backpack, began cutting a hole in the fence with precision as if she had done this many times before, and once it was big enough for a person, the three of us crawled through it.
Sam pointed to a smaller white building nearest to us, and we raced to it without being detected. There didn’t appear to be any guards or robot patrols of any kind around, which was strange for such a facility, especially if it was housing the parents.
Once we were behind the building Sam pointed ahead. “According to what our sources reported the parents should be inside the hanger-like building over there.”
What he was pointing to appeared to be a very large building like those which were used to house airplanes. The giant doors were shut and there were a few windows on the ground level, but we didn’t see anyone, including guards, around.
“Do we know how many parents are there inside the building?” I motioned.
“I would guess about twenty or more,” Sam indicated and he seemed surprised I was taking more initiative in this scouting mission.
“Now what?” I signed wondering what was their next step.
“Let me think a bit,” Sam indicated.
I was becoming a little impatient with the two of them. There were parents out there who could be killed any minute now by Dr Liverfield’s men and the two of them didn’t seem to have a plan.
“We need to ...” Sam started before two figures walked out from around the corner, saw us and all of us froze.
I immediately knew there were parents, and I didn’t know how I knew, but I sensed it strongly. The couple were frightened when they saw us, and before Sam and Lara could say anything I stood up and smiled at them. The woman hung onto to the man as if she was in danger and it seemed like they were ready to run.
“Don’t be afraid we are here to help you,” I motioned as I slowly approached them. “My parents were like you. I was born through the process many years ago.”
My words had the right affect on them as the tension on the couples’ faces left and they stared at me with curiosity.
“Who are you?” the man gestured.
“We are here to help you,” I continued pointing at Sam and Lara.
I realized Sam and Lara had kept quiet all of this time and were watching my interaction with the couple.
“I know this is a scary time for you, but can you tell us what is going on here?” I signed.
The woman started. “After my baby was born we were told we would be brought here to this facility for some kind of briefing on the next steps ahead for us. We were confused because many months ago when we volunteered for this programme, the people who we met told us we would be allowed to return to our home towns once the babies were born, but now we don’t know what they want from us. No one has said anything to us since we came here.”
“How many of you are here?” I signed.
“There are about thirty of us in there,” the man highlighted pointing in the direction of the hanger-like building. “A group of guards brought us here by bus today morning. We tried asking them what was going on, but they threatened us and told us to stay quiet.”
Sam stood up. “How many guards are there inside the building?”
“I think about four to five guards,” the man gestured looking at the woman.
“Are there any walking around outside the building?” Sam motioned.
The man shrugged. “No. All of them are inside with us.”
“Can you please help us?” the woman signed. “I don’t know where my baby girl is. I just want to find my baby and return home.”
It was clear she was quite distraught about what was happening and I didn’t want to tell her the truth that she may never see her baby again. Obviously, Dr Liverfield had decided to change her methods and now these poor parents were going to be the first casualty if we didn’t do something to help them. I knew I had to help them because I felt I was partially responsible for this mess. If I hadn’t made a sound these parents wouldn’t be here right now.
Emerging Above the Silence Page 5
