by Kelli Kimble
I shook my head. Why they thought I was holding out on them, I didn’t get. I began placing the plates around the table.
Leif turned towards the kitchen. “Tell us about this orientation,” he said, loudly enough for her to hear over her kitchen sounds.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. Easy. Every child here goes through it. You guys won’t have any problems.” She paused and looked away from whatever she was stirring in a bowl. “You all know how to read, right?”
“Of course,” I said.
Tennie grunted her annoyance. “We’re not stupid,” she said under her breath.
“I didn’t say you were,” Tabitha said. “Intelligence isn’t correlated with the ability to communicate in written form.”
Tennie blushed and slumped in her chair.
The smell of cooking meat and onions wafted from the kitchen. My stomach growled. “How much longer until we eat?” I asked.
Tabby laughed. “Patience,” she said.
“Back to the orientation. What is it?” Leif asked.
“It’s a series of classes,” she said. She bent and put a dish in the oven, then flipped the door closed with her foot, while she set a mechanical timer on the counter. “You’ll learn about our culture, how things are done here, what’s expected of you, that sort of thing.”
“When is it?” he prompted.
“We’ll probably receive your summons today or tomorrow,” she said.
“Summons?” he said.
“Yeah, it’s just the notice of when and where it’ll be—”
“It sounds like we don’t have a choice in going.”
She came into the dining room and locked eyes with Leif. “The choice is yours,” she said. “But, if you chose not to go . . .” She trailed off. “Let’s just say, if you choose not to go, it’s the same as asking to leave.”
“So, we have to go,” Tennie said in a small voice.
“You have to go, and you have to pass the test, and you have to swear allegiance. After that, you’ll be regular citizens, free to stay here without me interfering in your lives anymore. Nothing to it.” Tabitha smiled.
Tennie and Leif jumped from their seats and began arguing with Tabitha at the same time. Tabitha backed away.
“What do you mean, take a test?” demanded Leif.
“I’m not swearing allegiance to anything,” Tennie said.
“Whoa,” I said, coming around the table to stand between Tabitha and the others. “We don’t need to take it out on Tabby. It’s not her fault.”
“Tabby?” asked Tennie. “Did you just call her Tabby?”
“Now, wait just a second—” I said.
Tennie interrupted. “Are you telling me that you’ve already gone and gotten so attached to her that you’d just forget our lives—forget us—to be here?”
Fire licked at my cheeks.
“Silver?” Leif asked. “Are you two, you know . . . romantic?”
“Of course not,” I said. “We just met.” But, Tabby made a wounded sound and went back to the kitchen. “Wait, Tabby.” I followed her into the kitchen. “I didn’t mean I don’t like you; I just meant we’re not involved.”
She picked up the timer and shook it, then frowned. “Dinner’ll be ready in a minute. Just go sit down.” I moved closer to her, trying to meet her eyes. But, she busied herself with trying to get something out of the oven. “Just go sit down. I’ll bring it out in a minute.” Her back was now to me, but I reached out to touch her shoulder. At the last moment, I pulled back and retreated to sit at the table.
“I can’t believe you,” Tennie said. “We’re your family.”
“Look, the two of you went off together, and she’s cool, all right? If you got to know her, maybe you’d like her, too.”
They exchanged a glance.
“See? Right there. You do that thing between you, and it makes me uncomfortable. Clearly, you two don’t need me around. So, what? I’m just supposed to wait around for whatever table scraps you want to throw me?”
“I’d hardly call following you 100 miles ‘table scraps,’” Tennie said.
Tabby came in and dropped a platter with something brown on it in the center of the table. She came back a moment later with a large bowl of salad, and another bowl of green beans. She set them heavily on the table, too. “There you go. I’m not hungry, so you just go ahead and eat.” She went to her room and closed the door.
We ate in strained silence. I wanted to point out that liking Tabby had nothing to do with my feelings for them—that they’d always be my siblings, no matter what. But, somehow, I couldn’t swallow the lump in my throat to say it.
When I was done, I began cleaning up. Tennie frowned and left me to it, but Leif stayed behind. “I can get it,” I said.
But, he picked up the remaining dishes and followed me into the kitchen. “Look, I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight,” he said, as he began putting plates in the dishwasher.
“Me neither,” I said, “and she won’t replace you and Tennie. You’ll always be my favorite brother and sister.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Same.”
“She really is pretty cool, though,” I said.
“Probably,” he said. “Except for being one of the enemy.”
“I don’t think she’s one of them,” I said. “She’s just trying to get by.”
“She sure doesn’t pull any punches when she’s delivering bad news.”
“She’s only telling us the truth. What’s she supposed to do? Pretend nothing bad is going to happen?”
He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know.”
I put the last dish in the dishwasher and started it up. “She’s nice,” I said. “I like her.”
He tilted his head towards her room. “You should go talk to her.”
My eyes drifted upwards, towards Tennie’s room upstairs.
“She’ll get over it,” he said. “She doesn’t even know what she’s upset about.”
“I am upset about Fiona,” I said. “It breaks my heart to think she’ll die if she refuses to come. I know you don’t think I am, but I just don’t see what we can do to help her.”
“It’s been too long,” he said. He clenched his fists several times. “We couldn’t help her now, even if we tried.”
“She’ll come. She’ll come because she wants to see us,” I said. “You’ll see.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said. He left me in the kitchen and went upstairs. His footsteps bypassed his own door and went to Tennie’s. Hopefully, he’d get her in a better mood.
I stood still, trying to collect my thoughts. What should I say to Tabby? Was she expecting an apology? I cleared my throat and moved on heavy feet to her door. I raised a hand to knock, but before I could get my knuckles against the wood, Tabby’s muffled voice bade me to come in. Tentatively, I poked my head in first. The lights were off, and the curtains were drawn, making it hard to see. “Tabby?” I asked.
“Yeah?” she said, from somewhere to my left. “Are you coming in?”
“Okay,” I said. I entered, then shut the door behind me. “I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“What do you need.” She didn’t say it like a question.
I licked my lips and took a step towards her voice. “Um, I just want to apologize, for earlier?”
“Do you? It sounds like you aren’t sure.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just wanted to say, I didn’t mean it like it sounded.”
“It’s clear where your priorities lie. I get it.”
“No, look.” I sighed. “I’m screwing this up, and I didn’t mean for it to go this way.”
A light snapped on, revealing Tabby, sitting on the bed. “How did you mean for it to go?”
I took another tentative step towards her. “I meant to tell you that I like you. A lot. I don’t really know where to go from there. It’s supposed to be instinctual, right? The courtship ritual?”
Her eyebrows clenc
hed together, then released as she began to laugh. “The what?” she finally managed to say.
Heat crept up my neck. My entire face must have been red. “My programming didn’t include anything about, um, love?”
“You love me?”
“I don’t know what it is I feel for you,” I said. “I don’t really have a frame of reference for this.”
“You had enough of a frame of reference to think Tennie and Leif were together,” she pointed out.
“I only knew they had a stronger bond, and it made me uncomfortable,” I said. “I don’t really know how they feel. Do they think they might vomit at any moment? Do they feel like some part of them is going to go flying out of their chest because the other one smiles? Do they feel compelled to constantly touch?”
She lowered her eyes and traced her finger over a design on the blanket she was sitting on. “Is that how you feel? Are those your feelings?”
I licked my lips and nodded, but she wasn’t looking.
“Are they?” she demanded again—this time, looking up at me.
“Ye-Yes,” I said. Against my better judgement, I rushed to the bed, sat beside her, and caught her hands in mine. “Is that love? It’s agony,” I said.
“It’s attraction, at least,” she said. She tipped towards me, and my eyes shifted to her lips. They looked soft and inviting.
“Do you feel that, too? Attraction?” I asked. I leaned just a little closer, my gaze still on her mouth.
“I can’t tell for sure until you swear your allegiance,” she said. “But, maybe.”
My lips tingled, and I realized I wanted to touch mine to hers. Not with affection, like with Fiona, but with something deeper. I closed the gap between us and brushed my mouth across hers. Her hands tightened in mine, but she didn’t pull away. “Tabby,” I said. “I’d swear to anything to make you happy.”
“Oh,” she said. She leaned away from me. “I think we probably shouldn’t spend time alone. Not until you’ve sworn your allegiance.”
“Okay,” I said. “Why?”
She withdrew her hands from mine, and I fought the urge to snatch them back to me. “If Preia suspects there’s anything between us . . . it could be bad. Once you’re a sworn citizen, though, she can’t object.” She jumped from the bed, as if she’d been pinched. “Come on,” she said. “Janeeta is asking for all four of us to come to Preia’s office.”
Chapter 9
We were, once again, settled on the couch in Preia’s office, though Preia wasn’t there. Janeeta offered us a cup of tea and retreated from the room.
“Why are we here, Tabitha?” Leif asked. “You must know something.”
“I don’t know any more than you do,” Tabby said. “All I know is that we were sent for.”
We sat in uncomfortable silence, until the door slammed open violently, revealing Preia. The four of us jumped nearly out of our skins at the sound.
“Oh, dear. Janeeta, do have maintenance come and fix this door. I want to make an entrance without doing damage to the walls.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Janeeta said, pulling the doorknob free of the wall it was now embedded in. Plaster and dust fell to the floor as she exited and shut the door.
“Thank you all for coming over so quickly,” Preia said. “I trust you’re enjoying your time in our fair city?”
Tennie scowled, but I answered before she could. “This is a lovely city. A place we’d like to call home.”
“That’s good news,” Preia said, smiling at Tabitha and nodding, “and I have more. You know that a group was dispatched to your home, correct? That’s been explained?”
“You mean, how you sent someone to kill our family?” Tennie said.
Preia was unruffled. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Then, yes, that’s been explained,” Tennie said. She crossed her arms over her chest and set back against the couch, a huffy expression on her face.
“But, we only kill those who won’t join us, as you know,” Preia continued, “and I’m delighted to tell you that your entire family chose to return with our delegation. They’re here in the city now.”
“They’re here? They came here?” Tennie asked, her voice rising with excitement.
“Yes, I’m pleased to say they are, and they’ll be joining you tomorrow for your orientation. I’m sure Tabitha has mentioned orientation, and the requirements?”
Before Tennie or Leif could argue, I answered, “Yes, she has. We’ll be there.”
“Very good. I want you to know this is a rarity. We’ve never had so many people choose to come with us to the city before. Usually, only a handful will abandon their way of life for ours.” She smiled, but her eyes somehow looked angry.
“We’ve got a strong familial bond,” I said. “Since we’re all genetically the same.”
“Uh-huh. I’ll leave you to Tabitha. She’ll take you to your first orientation session.”
“Oh, so after that, she won’t be with us anymore?” Leif asked. A flutter of panic rumbled through my chest.
“Oh, my. No. She’ll attend everything with you, until you’ve sworn your allegiance.”
Tennie snorted.
Preia looked at Tennie. “I assure you that we take the oath very seriously. It isn’t enough to pass the test. You have to swear your allegiance, as well.”
“We understand,” I said, trying to smooth things over. “We’ll let you get back to your work now,” I said, standing.
Preia nodded, and we filed out of the room.
Tennie managed to wait until the elevator doors were sliding shut to burst. “The nerve of these people! To demand that we just assimilate, like. . .like robots! We’re human beings with thoughts and feelings of our own!”
Tabitha calmly pushed the first floor button. “I think you’ll find there are few people who take the oath seriously,” she said. “They’re just words. Words that don’t have much meaning anymore. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the time is coming when this sort of thing falls to the wayside.”
Tennie goggled at her. “I take an oath seriously, and I don’t want to swear to believe something that I don’t.”
“That’s your choice, of course,” Tabitha said. Her eyes slid up to watch the numbers descending to 1 on the display. “I hope that you’ll say what they want to hear, though. What harm is there in words?”
“You sure didn’t like words when you thought Silver said he didn’t like you,” Tennie said.
“Hey,” I said. “Back off.”
The elevator doors slid open, revealing the guard, seated at the desk. “Have a good night,” Tabitha said to him as we walked by. Her back was stiff, and she kept her eyes averted from Tennie.
Out on the street, Tabitha suddenly turned on Tennie. “I don’t know why you dislike me so much, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t any of your business how I feel about Silver, or how he feels about me. Go stick your nose somewhere else.” She stalked off down the street, giving us no choice but to follow.
Chapter 10
We arrived at orientation with plenty of time to see Fiona and the others. I couldn’t wait to see her—and even, to some extent, my siblings. Tabby took us to a building behind the fancy one where Preia’s office was. It was made of red bricks, with large, paned windows across the front. She told us it had once been an elementary school.
I saw Fiona from a distance. She was standing at the edge of a cluster of the siblings, who were tittering together without taking much notice of anything else. Fiona was scanning the area, and when she caught sight of us, her face brightened, and her mouth turned up into a smile. “Silver!” she called. She started to walk towards us, but someone watching over the cluster of them—he must have been a telepath—shook his head at her and motioned for her to stay put. It didn’t matter because the three of us broke into a run when we saw her and were soon wrapping our arms around her.
“Fiona,” I said. “I’m so glad to see you. We didn’t think you’d come.”
“Of cour
se, I came,” she said. “I came to see you three. I couldn’t believe when they came. How have these people survived? Just look at this place.” She gazed around for a moment, but then her eyes locked back on me.
“I’ve missed you,” Tennie said. She started to cry.
Leif and I backed away to allow Fiona to comfort her with soothing shushes as she stroked her hair. “It’s all right,” Fiona said.
“No, it isn’t.” Tennie flashed a look around to see if anyone was near. Only Tabitha was within earshot, and she already knew how Tennie felt. “We’re being held here, and they want us to swear some kind of oath of allegiance—to live like them.”
“It’s not all that bad,” Fiona said. She looked at me. “You could find a mate here. Have a family. You wouldn’t have done that in the mountain.” Fiona’s eye twitched a little as she said it.
“We could all find mates,” Tennie said. “But, we won’t be free to live as we like.”
“Actually,” Tabitha said, stepping up to our group. “There is very little interference. The rules are basic.” She ticked them off on her hand. “Don’t steal; don’t kill; perform a useful job—which you can choose; contribute to the community garden. That’s pretty much it.”
“And marry as many people as you like. At the same time. And be punished if you don’t do that?” Tennie asked.
“There were extenuating circumstances,” Tabitha said. She paused for a moment. “It’s time to go inside.” She pointed to the doors, where two men were standing to hold them open for us. We moved inside and were ushered into a room with chairs, where we were told to have a seat.
The day passed in a blur, mostly with me thinking about Tabby. I tried to pay attention, but with her sitting so close, it was hard. She was sitting at the front of the room, next to where our instructor stood. The instructor was a telepath and was using her to speak to us. She repeated his words with little intonation, and from the way she ground her teeth and glared at him when he wasn’t looking, I’d bet he was critical of her performance.
At the end of the day, we were given a practice exam. I didn’t pass, and Tabby gave me a look of concern when she handed me my results. But, then, it was time to separate from Fiona and the others—who’d largely ignored the three of us—and return to our own house with Tabby.
