by S. L. Baum
I took out the penlight I had in my desk. It was extremely bright and could be concentrated. I figured it would help us in our task. “Will this do?”
“Umm hmm,” Thorn mumbled, looking at my clothes.
“What?”
“I hate to ask… but can you put on some fitness clothes, the shorter and tighter the better?”
“Oh, sure. You hate to ask,” I mocked him.
“It is either that or take everything off,” Thorn said, his face flushed red.
I turned immediately and went into my closet. “Fitness clothes it is.”
The next twenty minutes were spent searching every inch of exposed skin, looking for the tiny scar that would be the insertion point for my Identity Chip. The embarrassing part was when we located it, at the very top of my thigh, right under the cheek of my right buttock.
“I cannot believe this!” I shouted in frustration.
“Shhh,” Thorn hissed at me. “Do you not remember what I said about maybe there being a sound recorder in this house?”
“What? I don’t think I even care about that right now. I have to let you dig into me and take this thing out. I can’t even do it myself. And great, what an embarrassing spot! Unbelievable!”
Thorn didn’t respond to my rant. He kept his face emotion free. “Do you have a dark colored towel we can put on your bed? You’ll have to lie still while I take it out and there will be blood.”
“Ugh!” I stomped out of the room and went down the hall to get a towel. “I can’t believe you have to cut into my backside,” I mumbled to myself. Thorn was still back in my room. “This is so dumb. His is in his arm. Mine is in my backside. MY BACKSIDE.”
Thorn poked his head out of my room as I neared. “I can hear you.”
“Good. Then you know how… It doesn’t matter.” I put the towel on the bed and lay myself, face down, on top of it. “Get to work. Dig it out.”
I closed my eyes and felt Thorn get onto the bed, his legs straddling mine. When his hands touched the top of my thigh, my whole body twitched. “I didn’t even pierce the skin yet.”
“It’s fine,” I sighed. “I’ll try to keep still.”
“Please do. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I felt the metal as it came into contact with my skin and gritted my teeth together when I felt the blade dig into my flesh. I heard the hiss of the numbing spray a moment later; there had to be actual pain for it to work. After that, I just felt pressure, and then I felt nothing.
“Are you finished?” I asked.
“Almost. I just have to apply the glue… and… there… all finished. You have water in here?” It was a question, not a statement.
“In the cooler drawer.” I pointed to drawer beside the bed without opening my eyes.”
I heard the drawer open and then the twist of a bottle top. There was a splash and then a tug at the corner of the towel, but I still refused to open my eyes. “You can look now,” he said. “It is all over.”
I shook my head.
The bed shifted under me, as Thorn moved his body again, and then I felt a slight pressure on my skin. My eyes flew open and my head whipped around. My fear was that he was going to start cutting into my flesh once again. My body twisted as I moved, and my backside came into contact with Thorn’s face.
“What are you doing?” I squealed.
Thorn stood up and put his open palm over his nose. “I was going to kiss the pain away,” his face, which was tinged red when he opened his mouth to talk, deepened in color with each passing moment.
“I’m numb.”
“I know.” Thorn took the locket off the bed and opened it. He placed the Identity Chip inside and closed it. Afterward, he ran a bead of the healing glue down the side of the locket, sealing it shut. He stepped over to me, his face having returned to its natural color, and fastened the locket around my neck. “You’ll need to keep this on.”
“I will.” I cupped his face with my hands and kissed him. “No matter what, we stay together in this. I don’t want to end up like my father and my mother. They split up and it’s been twelve years apart for them.”
“They did it for you.”
“I know,” I whispered into his lips. “You and me, Thorn. We stay together.”
Thorn nodded his head; our foreheads pressed together, our faces moving together. “We stay together,” he repeated.
Chapter Nine
The Gathering
It took a few days to work out the logistics, but we finally had a meeting day, place, and time. My father decided that, even though it was risky move, he was going to somehow get Aspen to drink a Sleep water and then slip her a Sleep pill as well. She’d know she was drugged when she woke up in the morning, but he decided to load the cooler drawer in the kitchen with Sleep water after she passed out, and then tell her that someone must have made a mistake when stocking the house.
Dallas, our chef, might get blamed, or one of the cleaning women Aspen employed, but it was necessary. Aspen had always kept very close tabs on my father’s location. She would know if he was somewhere unplanned, and she usually found a reason to check in with him while they were apart. Aspen trusted no one, because she knew that no one should trust her. She’d decided long ago that it was within everyone’s nature to deceive. She’d informed me of that little fact during a Visitation Day while I was in Year Eleven. I had to admit… I found it fascinating that she was honest about her dishonesty.
The evening arrived and my father declared that he was famished, the moment he was home from work. Aspen tried to delay him, saying that she wanted to wait to eat, but after I joined my father she relented. The three of us gathered at the table and my father poured us each a glass of water.
“How was your fitting, Aspen?” my father asked. Aspen had just arrived from Raleigh’s shop. “It was good. The suit was impeccable, as always, but I don’t understand why Raleigh wanted me to meet at the shop during the day, instead of coming over here this evening. She is usually more accommodating with me. I am her longest standing client.”
“I assume Raleigh is getting busier. With Bluebell being thrust into the public, and usually dressed in something she created, the demand for the woman’s services was bound to increase,” he replied.
“She had better not forget who it was that made her so well known. I could have had someone else design Bluebell’s gowns, but I chose her. Maybe I should have someone else design my more public outfits, in the future,” Aspen frowned.
“I’m sure Raleigh is nothing but grateful to you for the exposure,” I assured her. “And everybody knows she was your designer first, so when they see a Raleigh outfit I bet they also think of Aspen. So really, you are on the tip of every fashion minded Citizen’s tongue.”
Aspen’s face brightened. “You think so?”
My father reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “I know so, my dear.”
“I suppose you are right, Bluebell. I will attempt to be a little more patient while you are on everyone’s mind, and on their tablets. You were just involved in a broadcast event. It stands to reason that Raleigh is more in demand. But I will need to have a talk with her about making sure that I am taken care of as well.” Aspen stressed various words throughout her little speech. It wasn’t something she regularly did, but I had noticed it happened more often when she was trying to adjust herself to something that lingered outside of the parameters she normally functioned within.
Aspen sipped at her water, and I waited for the Sleep to kick in. A bite of dinner, a sip of water, a scowl of frustration… she repeated the movements while my father and I continued to humor her by feigning interest in her meaningless conversations. And then I noticed the heaviness in her eyelids, and her struggle to keep them open. “Are you feeling alright, Mother?”
“Strangely tired,” she yawned. “Jackson, this isn’t…” Aspen blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to focus them. Her head began to droop down. “Jackson.”
“Aspen.” He got up
from his chair and moved to her side. She grabbed onto his sides and attempted to stand, but collapsed into his arms instead. “Aspen, you are asleep,” he stated as he lifted her up. “And now you are going to bed.”
“Was it just the water?” I whispered.
“No. I managed to sprinkle a crushed tablet into her vegetables, as well,” he told me as he carried her up the stairs. “I’ll be down in a minute. Will you please clear the plates and give them a thorough rinse-off?”
“Absolutely. I just have to ask, are there sound recorders in here? I’ve been wondering about them for days.”
“There are not,” he called down the stairs. “Aspen hates the idea of them,” he said as he reached the top step. “She convinced her father they were not needed in this house, that we didn’t entertain enough for it to be considered a public area. She would have installed a scrambler if she felt it was necessary, she expressly told him so.”
It was still light outside, and Aspen was sound asleep in her bed, when my father and I left the house. The locket that held my Identification Chip was around my neck, mostly because we hadn’t come to a clear decision on whether or not it would be a good idea to leave it somewhere else for the meeting. My father still had his Chip in place, he told me that it had been inserted into his wrist under his brand, and it was necessary for the Chip to remain where it was, because of the full body scan that was required of him every day before he was allowed to enter his office. The scans were mainly to ensure that no one tried to bring a personal tablet or mini to work, but they also verified the identity of every Councilman and Citizen that walked through the door.
We were on our way to a Treat shop that had been “rented out” by Thorn’s father for a special party. When we arrived, there was a sign on the door that read, Closed for a Special Event. I knocked on the door and a moment later it cracked open. “Hello, Blue,” Thorn said, and then he opened the door fully.
“How did you know it was me?” I asked.
He pointed to the camera positioned above our heads.
“Of course,” my father said, with a nod.
“Come in. Everybody is in the back room.” Thorn took my hand as we entered and locked the door behind us.
We walked through the main area of the shop and then through a door that was opposite the one we’d entered. On the other side of the door was a small, cramped room, stuffed with Citizens. There were many faces I didn’t know, but I concentrated on the ones that were familiar, some of them shockingly so.
Gilbert stood next to Thorn’s father. Raleigh was seated at the back. Thorn pointed out that Stone was also in attendance, but I noticed that Fisher was not. That fact made my heart sink. If Stone didn’t trust Fisher with the information, then I still didn’t know if I could trust Lily. How could I be so unsure of my best friend? I waved to Stone. He blew out a bubble of air and then waved back. Rosebud came to his side and handed him a bottle of water, she turned to look at who Stone was waving at and smiled when she saw that it was me. There was a girl from the CEC, a man that worked at the Butcher’s shop, and the perfectly preserved older lady that made the flower arrangements Aspen loved. I saw the guard from the tunnel, and former Peace Keeper, Berkley, who’d told me he was the one my father ordered to take me away, the day my mother escaped. But there were many other faces that I couldn’t place.
All those people, the familiar and the unfamiliar, were unsatisfied with Concord and The Council. And almost every one of those faces expressed complete shock at seeing my father, the son-in-law of the head of The Council, by my side. But that shock quickly morphed into hope. The knowledge that there was someone with his status who was willing to stand against the rest of The Council… it silenced the room and calmed the worry on many of the faces.
Thorn’s father stood in front of the group, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone is here. We should get to task as quickly as possible. Group meetings are always suspect, especially unscheduled ones. I think most of you know who I am. I’m Payson and my son, Thorn, is over there.” He pointed to where Thorn and I stood. “I want to start off by asking a question. How many Citizens here have lost a close family member or a friend to a fatal accident?”
I looked around the room, at the hands that began to rise. Some were slowly and timidly lifted, while others shot straight up in the air. Thorn, his father, Gill, Rosebud, and my father were the ones I was already aware of. And I knew there were more mishaps attached to many of the Citizens not in attendance. But I was sure the reasons for the accidents, if there were actual reasons, varied.
“There have been many of us over the years who have suspected The Council of wrongdoing. The death of a loved one in an unlikely accident was a common trigger for many of our suspicions. The fact that Concord expects us to accept the deaths, quickly fill the hole that the missing person leaves, and then no longer think about them, is what caused most of the people here to seek out someone with similar misgivings and a longing for change.
“The escalating occurrences of these accidental deaths, failing memories, and personality erasures is troublesome. When a small group of us came together, about fifteen years ago, we simply wanted someone to share our concerns with. We tried to help each other deal with the loss, and there have even been a few Citizens that we’ve helped to leave Concord. We do not know if there is anything but the Banished outside of Concord, but that was enough for some.
“As time went on, we decided to examine the ten men on The Council, to see if any one of them would work with us, and we narrowed in on Jackson,” Thorn’s father said as he gestured toward my father. “He was the newest member of The Council, quickly sworn in by his father-in-law after the expiration of the oldest Councilman. We discovered that Jackson might have had a Second Wife, the possible biological mother of his daughter, Bluebell. My own wife and son knew the woman, Hope, and little Bluebell, before the children were sent off to Training Tech. My wife, before she was taken from me, had mentioned on more than one occasion that Hope treated Bluebell more as a child than as a charge.
“Gilbert had attempted to help Hope escape; she wanted to go beyond the borders of Concord, but she didn’t show up at the appointed spot. No trace of her was ever found; she completely disappeared and no one seemed to want to speak of her, or for that matter, could remember her. Even Jackson had no memory of Hope. We had an associate inquire about the services of the woman who cared for his daughter when she was little, he responded by saying, ‘You know, I remember we had a Caregiver, but I really couldn’t tell you much about her.’ We knew then that Hope had been erased from his memories. When Bluebell finished Incorporation, was Branded Lush, and became a public figure, we had a glimmer of hope that our concerns would have a voice, especially after she was told the truth about her childhood. We were fairly certain that she would join our cause. And she has!”
There was no clapping, no fanfare; these people were not excited to see Bluebell the Lush Ambassador. The faces were hopeful, wishful, and it made me feel like a failure. “I don’t know what you think I can do,” I said. “I will help in whatever way I can. But I don’t have any inside knowledge. I don’t know how to expose Concord.”
My father took a step forward. “She may not. But I do. I made myself forget Bluebell’s real mother, Hope, so that she could flee to safety and that one day we would be able to follow. I knew that by returning Bluebell to Aspen’s father, I would be appointed to a seat on The Council; he had been dangling one in front of me for months. He said that if I was a loyal Citizen, I would be rewarded when the time was right. Hope and I knew that we needed to do what we could for every Citizen that wanted out of Concord. We knew that if we were patient, and I gathered as much inside knowledge as I could, we could save more than just the three of us.”
“But what did you learn, Father? What is it that you know, that everybody else does not?”
“I learned the truth. There are still incurable diseases that invade our bodies. If there is a Medical issue th
at cannot be solved, a Citizen will soon be involved in an unfortunate accident. The Council puts all new members through processing; it involves days of brain scans and drug administration, where we are convinced that it is all done for the benefit of everybody. We were told that past studies had shown it was better for everyone around if a Citizen were to perish in a sudden, unexpected act, than to waste away from an incurable illness. It was considered an act of mercy. But I recently discovered that certain Senior Councilmembers were ordering these unplanned accidents upon Citizens deemed to have loyalty issues.”
Payson stepped to my father’s side. “We knew about the deaths, Jackson. Well, we assumed. But your confirmation is exactly what we needed to hear. This is why we must expose these terrible acts. Bluebell is often called upon to appear at events and give nationally broadcast speeches, and I am in Media Distribution with access to every tablet in Concord. If we can get her to expose these wrong doings, I can make sure her words reach every single person in Concord, without interruption.”
My father put his hand on Payson’s shoulder. “It’s not just the horrible fact that Concord perpetrates methodical executions of Citizens who dare to disobey the rules, there is more you need to know.”
“Are you talking about the fact that there must be something else outside of Concord?” Payson asked.
My father nodded his head. “Yes. Hope escaped to somewhere. We didn’t know if there was anything else other than the Banished at the time, but that was enough; we knew she had a better chance for survival outside of Concord than within. Since becoming a member of The Council, I have discovered that Concord is not the last remaining populated area of the world. Concord is what would be called a country, elsewhere. I know there are many other countries outside of the electronic barriers that protect our waters. There are lands beyond the sea, populated lands, where people do not have every aspect of their lives controlled. I know that The Council keeps us walled up in our four Concords because our founding fathers decided that their way was the only way. They didn’t want any other interference, or its Citizens longing for another way of life, so The Council convinced the people that its way of life was the only way,” my father explained.
