by C. A. Gray
“What’s a faraday cage?” I interrupted, annoyed that he was mostly talking to himself at this point. He always did that. He didn’t care whether I followed his train of thought or not.
“Oh. It just means an enclosure of conductive material that will pick up the external charge and distribute it evenly so that the effects are canceled out. Technically in order for this to happen it would have to be grounded so the charge has somewhere to go, but we can’t do that easily on our heads. Hence the need for insulation. A latex swim cap should do it.” He gave me a real grin this time. “After that, it’s just a matter of not being recognized. There aren't that many people in the Republic who will know to look for me, though, or who even know what I look like. As long as I don’t run into those people, and the control centers can’t identify my actual brainwaves, I ought to be perfectly safe.”
I almost tuned him out at the end. I was too busy thinking about where I could get my hands on some copper wire, yarn, and a pair of knitting needles. I knew how to knit. Not too many people had swim caps, but wouldn’t a shower cap work just as well? And if I could find all that, surely I could get my hands on a disguise of some kind.
“Kate…”
I looked up at the warning note in Will’s voice.
“You’re going to stay here, out of the way, where you belong. Say it.”
I bristled. Has he always spoken to me like I’m a child? I tried to remember, but my relationship with Will back in the Republic felt like a lifetime ago.
“I need to hear you promise me that you are not going to do something foolish and make me go in and rescue you,” he insisted.
“I’m not promising you anything,” I snapped, before I could stop myself. “You don’t control me, Will Anderson. Not anymore!”
A look of shock registered on Will’s face, but I didn’t stick around to listen to his objections. I stood up and walked back into the forest, my head high.
Little Kathryn Brandeis, the rebel who had landed herself in McCormick Reform School, would have been proud.
Chapter 2: Jackson
We hunted in silence, even after we’d brought down a deer and a couple of rabbits, which was more than enough meat to feed the remaining refugees. We had to be careful building fires of course, but we also had to eat, and the agros—those who specialized in gathering—were having a hard time finding enough root vegetables, nuts and berries to go around.
Nobody felt like talking—the tragedy was too fresh. Jacob and Pete skinned the rabbits, and Nick and Alec cleaned the deer. I offered to help, but Nick told me it was okay, that he needed to stay busy. It would distract him. I couldn’t argue with that.
I wandered off by myself while they worked, grateful for a bit of peace to sort out my chaotic thoughts. I needed that, if I wanted to regain my usual calm and focus. I took stock, examining one thought at a time as Grandfather had taught me to do: acknowledging it, and then letting it go again, like waves upon a shore.
The caves were destroyed.
Most of the refugees were dead.
The Potentate knew where we were; chances were high that his troops would find us again here, unless we continued to move. We had elderly and children among us. We couldn’t move quickly. The odds were stacked against us.
If we wanted to survive, defense wasn’t going to be enough. Our previous strategy of growing our numbers little by little wouldn’t work anymore either—they were looking for us now.
Our next move, then, would have to be bold. The element of surprise was our only chance. But what did that mean exactly?
Also… Kate’s fiancé was alive. I had mixed feelings about that, but ultimately I respected him. I was glad he'd turned up when he did. If he hadn’t been among the soldiers nobody in the caves would have survived. Including Kate.
I gathered Will didn’t like me much, but I couldn’t blame him for that. I’d just have to win him over, and prove to him that I didn’t intend to be a threat. Not anymore.
After our somber dinner back at our new home, consisting of game meat and root vegetables, the Crone stood up, along with her two bodyguards.
“It is time,” she announced. “Council members, you will please follow me.”
“Time for what?” asked Rachel, Kenny’s widow, in a tremulous voice. I saw that she was sitting next to Kate. Will was not. I frowned.
The Crone did not even look at Rachel when she spoke. Uruguay Stone stood to follow her, and so did the five other remaining Council members.
Nick called out, “If you’re planning to discuss our situation, I think we all have a right to hear it!”
The Crone whirled on him, her sharp eyes flashing. “How dare you! If not for you and yours, the rest of our kind would still be alive! We would all still be in the caves!”
“It’s not his fault what happened!” cried Molly. But nobody else came to Nick’s defense. Most of the remaining refugees stared at their feet or their food—anywhere but at Molly.
“What’s going on?” I heard Will ask in a low voice. I turned and saw him sitting beside Brian, whose arm was still in a sling from the fake bullet he’d encountered on our first raid. Brian whispered a reply that I did not hear.
“If you expect to make a decision that affects the rest of us,” Alec challenged, “then have your little meeting right here. No secrets!”
“Yeah, we should all be Council members now,” cried Nelson, one of the recent rescues. “It’s our lives too!”
“We cannot trust your judgment,” said Uruguay Stone curtly. “If not for your interference, our entire community would still be alive and undetected today. The Council intends to preserve what’s left of us, and you will abide by our decision, whether you like it or not.”
“Excuse me?” demanded Brenda Halfpenny. “Everyone here has risked his life to flee from a dictatorship. We fled for freedom. Don’t think for a minute that after that, we’re going to voluntarily subject ourselves to another oligarchy. You include us, or we go our separate ways right now!”
Molly, Nick, Alec, and most of the other hunters murmured their agreement. The Crone fixed Brenda with an unpleasant smile. Then she glanced at Uruguay and said, “Did I not predict it?”
“You did, Madam,” Stone affirmed.
The Crone leaned over to Stone and whispered in his ear. His jaw locked and he gave a short nod. Then the Council moved to sit back down again.
“Our desire is for harmony and cooperation, not division,” said the Crone as she seated herself. “Please understand my position. My wish is to keep us all alive, and flee to a new land where we can live in peace and obscurity, as we have for decades already. Yet I see that we have among us some… alternative viewpoints. I cannot afford to entertain those viewpoints, however, as evidenced by the previous disaster… and yet, I cannot afford to leave behind our most valuable hunters.
“Threats are a last resort for us, and certainly too much blood has been spilled already. We must stand together. Though we are ready and willing to use force if necessary, we counsel you to give us your voluntary support.”
That was a veiled threat if I ever heard one. My eyes shifted to the guards on either side of the Crone. Both of their right hands were concealed inside their threadbare coats. They’ve got loaded weapons. I glanced at Uruguay Stone next, and saw a revolver casually resting in his hand, its barrel pointing straight at me—intentionally or not, I could not tell.
I understood the reason for the show of force—the Crone thought it was the only way to make us all fall in line with her wishes. But was it just for show? Or would they actually shoot if it came to that?
My instincts told me that for the Crone herself, it was show only. She wouldn’t kill her own people. But I wasn’t so sure about the rest of the Council.
I could move out of range and cross the distance to Stone in about a second and a half. I’d have no trouble disarming him. But I feared Stone might fire in the process, and hit either Will or Brian be
hind me. It wasn’t worth the risk, at least not yet. I stayed put, but decided to draw their attention to myself. Maybe they’d be reasonable yet.
“We can’t stay here,” I said. “We’re only ten miles from the caves, and I’m betting the Potentate knows by now that some of us escaped. If he hasn’t sent soldiers to comb the forest for us yet, he will very soon.”
“He’s right,” said Will. “I never intended this place to be permanent. It was just a place to stay the night and it was near water with a little bit of natural shelter.”
“The Council agrees that we must leave,” said Stone, “tomorrow morning at the latest. We will head for the docks, through the forest when we can and the wasteland when we cannot. We estimate the journey will take us just under two weeks on foot, if we want to stay outside of the control center purview as much as possible. It will still be risky at the end, but it’s our best chance.”
“The docks?” called Rachel. “Why?”
“They’re planning to flee to New Estonia, I’m betting,” growled Nick. I looked at him perplexed. He added, “Her home country.”
“Really?” I mouthed at him. I didn’t know much about the Republic given my brief time in the country, but I had heard New Estonia referred to as their number one Enemy of State quite a few times. I wondered why she’d come here in the first place.
“New Estonia is the safest place for us,” said Stone. “Though she has been gone for decades, the Crone is still a baroness. We will be protected and well cared for in New Estonia.”
A baroness? I glanced around. For the briefest of moments, I saw the faces of most of the refugees light up with hope.
“It won’t be safe there for long, though, no matter who she is,” Will interjected. Everyone turned to look at him. “The Potentate is building Control Centers there as we speak. As soon as they’re ready, he’ll release the vaccinia vector on the population, just like he did on us at the beginning, to make them anemic and susceptible to reprogramming. If they don’t find out what he’s up to and stop him, New Estonia will soon be no better than here.”
The Council fell silent. Then the Crone snapped, “How do you know this, boy?”
“Because I helped him set them up.”
I looked at Kate. She pursed her lips and nodded at me.
The Crone narrowed her eyes, but Will went on, “There is an alternative to fleeing to New Estonia, anyway. If we take the bullet trains, we can get to Beckenshire in about two days—”
“Beckenshire?” Nick interrupted. “You mean the place that was declared uninhabitable after the nuclear reactor explosion?”
Will nodded. “That’s the one. I found out that scientists believe it’s safe for habitation again now, or at least some of them do. My guess is they haven’t made the information public yet just because there aren’t any control centers with a long enough reach to cover the area. Which means we could hide there without discovery for a long time. Most of the agents and a good portion of the Tribunal don’t even know it might be an option.”
“What if it’s not safe yet, though?” Kate asked.
Will shrugged, and I saw his jaw tighten when he looked at her. They must have quarreled. “Die now for certain, or risk dying later. Take your pick.”
“We could just stay on the move, couldn’t we?” Rachel whimpered.
“Hold on,” I said. “We’re talking about this as if our survival is the most important thing. But did you hear what he just said?” I gestured to Will. “This is bigger than our lives. Much bigger. The goal shouldn’t be to find a place where we can hunker down and survive, it should be finding a strategic home base so we can figure out how to go back in there and take him out!”
“Oh, just like that, huh?” said Brian, and I could hear murmurs erupt around the camp.
The Crone held up her hands, and with just that simple gesture, everyone quieted down. “While I would love nothing more than to kill the Potentate for what he has done to us, young man,” she said, fixing her beady eyes upon me, “perhaps you are familiar with the concept of a lost cause?”
I gritted my teeth. “We can’t just give up.”
She looked away like she’d forgotten I was there. “The Council and I are practical enough to realize when we have no chance of success, and my first priority is to keep us alive. You all have had your say. Now I will tell you what will happen.” She cleared her throat. “We shall flee to New Estonia, and begin the journey tomorrow. We will need the help of the hunters to eat along the way, so no one will be left behind. We would of course prefer you to come voluntarily, but we have prepared contingency measures, should that not be possible. They are as follows.
“Hunters from now on shall hunt by archery or slingshot only. All firearms have been confiscated by the Council, and Council members shall be armed at all times.”
I closed my eyes. After our hunt that afternoon, we’d all deposited our bulkier weapons in a clearing not twenty yards from where we sat. I’d noticed before dinner that they’d been put away, but thought nothing of it at the time.
“Given the present circumstances,” the Crone went on, “we shall suspend all trials for potential lawbreakers among our ranks. We will have neither the time nor the energy for them. Therefore, anyone found not complying with the will of the Council shall, regretfully, be executed on site.”
Chapter 3: Kate
I watched in horror as Uruguay Stone, the Crone’s bodyguards, and the remaining members of the Council pulled guns on us openly. I looked around at the hunters—at Jackson—hoping they would do something. But none of them moved. Jackson caught my eye, and I somehow felt his message, like telepathy.
Don’t fight. Not yet.
“Let’s get into the specifics, shall we?” the Crone went on. “Taylor, bring the map.”
A middle-aged man with a thick curly beard delivered a map to her that had probably been pilfered from an abandoned home on one of the hunters’ raids, along with a highlighting pen which might have come from the same place. How they’d saved that from the explosions in the caves, I had no idea… unless the Council had gone back on the grid earlier that day to steal them, when everyone else was out gathering food for dinner.
“We are here,” she drew an X on the map to represent our current location, “and we need to get here.” She drew another on the southeast coast of the Republic. “We are going on old information, but once there was a thriving port in this location. It is where I arrived in the United States all those years ago.”
“That route will take months on foot!” Nick protested.
“Who said we’d be on foot?” the Crone looked up, arching an eyebrow at him.
There was a confused silence, and then she turned to look at my fiancé.
“Young man,” she snapped at Will. “You know where we might find at least one military barracks, the one you yourself infiltrated. Are there any—” here she glanced at Taylor, who finished, “Boeing VC-25s?”
Will stared at her for a minute. “You mean a plane?” Planes were a relic of the old United States. To my knowledge they’d never been used in the Republic. I’d only seen them in pictures.
“Yes,” she snapped. “It’s a plane.”
“They were de-commissioned long ago,” said Will. “I heard rumors that the Potentate was rebuilding an Air Force, but I didn’t pay much attention—”
“I asked you a simple question,” the Crone snapped, “I didn’t ask for a dissertation on the subject. Where is the base you infiltrated, and were there any passenger or cargo planes on the premises, decommissioned or otherwise?”
“It needs to be a Boeing,” murmured Taylor.
Will set his jaw. “Sure, but they haven’t flown in decades. I don’t see how that will do you any good.”
Uruguay Stone stood up, strode past Jackson right up to Will, and struck him across the mouth.
“Stop it!” I shouted, leaping to my feet.
Stone pointed his gun at
me next, as Will sat up and spat blood upon the ground. He looked from me to the barrel of the gun.
The Crone snapped, “Put the gun down!” Stone obeyed, but he still glared at me. Then the Crone announced to the group, “I do not prefer violence as a method of controlling insubordination. Uruguay has acted out of turn. But please understand that we will use force if you force our hand. We have only your best interests at heart, but we cannot tolerate insubordination at this time. We must be unified and work together if we want to survive.”
Stone moved back to his seat.
The Crone continued, “Taylor had a commercial pilot’s license before the Crash. He tells me the Boeing VC-25s are quite similar to what he used to fly, and he believes he can get the plane in working order, provided we can obtain fuel. We can do this by force if necessary.”
“You want to fly to the docks?” Nick interrupted. “In a plane and with a pilot who both haven’t flown in twenty plus years?”
“It’s the last thing they’ll expect,” said Taylor. “They’ll be looking for us on the ground. Nobody flies anymore. They’ll still be scouring the wilderness for us, months after we’re safely in New Estonia.”
“There is one more glitch,” said the Crone, “and that is that the plane holds only forty-five passengers.”
The refugees gasped, and looked around, wide-eyed, wondering which of them would be left behind.
“This is a hardship, but not an insurmountable one,” the Crone went on. “It means that Taylor will need to make two trips from the barracks to the docks. The most difficult part will be the timing of hiding our second group near enough to the barracks to climb aboard quickly when Taylor comes back, as we will no longer have the element of surprise on our side, while avoiding detection.”
