by SF Benson
We sat there in a silent tribute to my brother. The pain was too raw to continue speaking about him.
Ko cleared her throat. “Tru, you can't let on I've told you anything. Someone is watching all the time. I've got a meeting later today to go over our plans.”
“Anything else?”
“There's a new guard permanently assigned to you. His name is Sherman. He's on our side. He’ll be your contact. Zared met him last night.”
Sherman. That name sounded familiar. But why?
We stood and trekked back to the house. Halfway there, Ko stopped.
“Wait!” She gripped my shoulder. “I forgot to tell you something. Your conversations inside the house are overheard.”
I faced her. “Kind of figured that when his father made the video.”
She inhaled a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Sherman has orders that you may go for walks together. Walk to this point to talk in private. Cameras and or mics are on all fixed structures.”
I hugged Ko. “Thank you, my friend.”
“We better hurry back. I'll return tomorrow with details.”
“With this technology, we will be able to improve all of mankind. People will become healthier and smarter.”
—Interview with Jacob C. Venter, AR response to UN ban
Ko’s visit enlightened and unnerved me. I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. Everyone I knew withheld some kind of information from me. It was just a matter of finding out what people would do to keep their secrets.
I thought Ko was one hundred percent loyal to Riza and the New Order. Her vehement opposition to both of them troubled me. The possibility, however, that Ko and Zared worked for the same people bothered me more. Neither of them shared that info with me.
The crossroads were ahead of me. Accept the deception and continue with my life. Let those things that were hidden remain in the shadows. Or throw it all away—my friendship with Ko, my relationship with Zared, and my mother.
I flung myself onto Zared’s bed and stared at the ceiling. Sleep called out to me. It offered to soothe my aching muscles, but it had no solution for my torn emotions.
Which road should I choose? My head said take the high road. Forget everyone. Don’t trust a soul. After all, I tried trusting my mother and that didn’t go well at all. She constantly twisted the truth, rewriting every story she told me. On the surface, Katsuo Aoki seemed to be a kind man. But, he was a twisted evil man with no regard for his own son. I thought Ko was as wholesome as apple-pie. Turned out there was a worm under the crust. But she was my best friend. She would rescue us.
My heart spoke above the words coming from my head. It compelled me to take the road less traveled. Zared loved me, and he said he’d keep me safe. I had to…no, I wanted to…I needed to believe him. How could I throw away the one good thing left in my life?
I grinned. For years, Ko stayed on my back about being reckless. Who knew she was the bigger risk taker? If God still existed in our ravaged world, I prayed He would watch over my friend. My soul couldn’t handle another death.
The door creaked open, and Zared shuffled into the room. It was the first time I noticed just how fatigued he was. His gorgeous dark eyes no longer gleamed. The perfectly groomed appearance that made me doubt his story was gone. In its place were messy hair and stubble—it still had its sex appeal though. Wrong time for the hormones…His worrying about me was killing him. He needed to know I could stand on my own two feet.
He flopped onto the bed. “Did you see Ko?”
“Yes.” I should kick myself for what I was about to say, but we needed to talk. “Let’s go for a walk.”
Zared closed his eyes. “After a nap.”
“You'll rest better afterwards.”
“I need some sleep, Tru.” He rolled onto his side. “Can it wait a bit?”
“No. We need to go now before it gets too late.” I massaged his neck. “Please.”
He exhaled. “All right. Let's go.”
We retraced the steps I took earlier with Ko. Zared dragged his feet and wanted to start the conversation. Before we reached the tennis courts, he stopped.
“Tru, I’m tired. What’s going on?”
I threw my arms around his neck and whispered into his ear, “We’re going someplace safe to talk. Trust me.”
He shrugged his shoulders and continued following me.
Minutes later, we reached the court area. The cold breeze cut through my jacket.
Zared shoved his hands into his pockets. “Tru, spill it.”
I hugged myself. “I’m sorry. I know you’re tired, but we need to talk.”
“And, uh, we couldn’t do this in the room?”
“No. Remember the video? Ko confirmed everything we say and do is recorded.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Our plan…”
“Yeah.”
He balled his hands. We didn’t have time for him to lose control again.
“As soon as Ko told me, I assumed your father knew our plan.” I forced his fingers apart and held his hand. “But there’s a new plan.”
Zared lifted an eyebrow. “Since when?”
I smiled. “Since Ko. She’s helping us.”
“What?”
I wanted to tell him everything Ko told me, but I needed to find out what he knew first. Everyone else kept info secret. My turn to play the game. “She said something about a faction within RMA. It sounded like they were planning something big.”
“Go on.” He squeezed my hand.
“Do you remember the young guard who was outside our door last night?”
“Vaguely.”
“He’s part of that group. His name is Sherman. He’s our contact.” Sherman. I wished I knew why his name was so familiar.
“Okay.”
I couldn’t read his downcast expression. “There's more.”
“Of course there is.”
“I didn’t have to ask for Ko to visit. Your father and her CO planned for her to come and retrieve the card.”
He tilted his head to one side. “How long before Ko's group makes a move?”
“She's coming back tomorrow. We’re supposed to continue with our plans. Your father needs to think nothing’s changed.”
Zared frowned. “All right. We keep up appearances.”
“We keep talking in the bathroom.”
“But we give my father what we want him to know.”
He dropped my hand and crossed his arms. I watched his eyes become cold and hard. I understood the change in his mood, but we couldn’t afford for him to get angry again. It took too much time to calm him down. Katsuo Aoki must believe nothing changed. I edged closer and touched his arm.
“You okay?”
He observed my hand. His expression tightened. “Yeah, why?”
“You’ve got that look on your face.”
Zared narrowed his eyes. “What look?”
“The one on your face right now. It’s the way you looked when you saw your father for the first time.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You looked like you would kill him. It scared the shit out of me.”
“I—” He held his hands up and turned away from me.
“No!” I put my hand on his shoulder. “We’re not doing this again. I won’t deal with you shutting me out.”
Zared laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
He pulled me to his chest and hugged me. “I don’t deserve you. Stop worrying. I’ll be fine as long as I have you.”
“You better be. Your kind of my ticket out of here.” I relaxed. A little. He was in control for now. Ko plotted our escape. It was only a matter of time before we got off the island. I inhaled the fishy smell permeating the air. “We better get back. Sherman should be on post by now.”
When we returned to the room, a boy with blond hair stood outside our door. I froze when I saw his prominent ears and reddened nose. It was Mr. Rude from the Academy. I gripped Zared�
��s hand tightly.
“What’s wrong?” He whispered.
I pulled him closer to me and spoke into his ear. “I…that kid was at RMA the day I went there. He chased me out the building.”
“Remember, he’s supposed to be on our side.”
He placed his hand on the small of my back and prodded me toward the door. Sherman opened it for us. A slip of paper fell from his hand. The boy glanced at the floor but didn’t move. I picked it up and entered the room. I stepped into the bathroom and read the note: tomorrow night. I showed it to Zared.
“Be prepared,” he said.
“You have to be willing to die for your convictions.”
—Malcolm Rivera, leader, The Alliance
I woke up to an eerie, soul-chilling loneliness. I was a shell missing its pearl. A chill traveled down my spine. I sat up and rubbed my shoulder. Zared was gone. Surely we weren’t connected so deeply for me to miss him so much.
What was wrong with me? Maybe a lack of sleep? No. I’d been sleeping better. It might be the fact I was in the dark about the escape plan. Without a clear understanding of what to expect I was a bundle of nerves. Despite all her deception, my mother’s safety concerned me. Leaving her behind wasn’t an option, not after losing Dad and Cris. I wouldn’t lose anyone else.
I dressed quickly, laced up my boots, and tucked my knife inside. It wasn’t much of a defense against guards carrying military weapons, but it made me feel safer.
Somehow I had to convince Mom to go with us without divulging the plan. I tucked my hair behind my ear and stepped into the hall. No guards posted outside the door. Strange. Loud voices coming from Mom’s room, stopped me in my tracks. Mom and Eden argued.
“I've had enough of your defiance, Gabriela. Hand over Intrepid, now,” Eden demanded.
“That's not happening,” Mom said.
“Kat is willing to bargain with you. I'm not.”
“Eden, I don’t deal with grunts. Get Kat in here.”
“That's where you're wrong. But you've always been wrong about everything.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” asked Mom.
“You think Kat is in charge. He's not.”
“It's definitely not you.” Mom laughed.
“Gabriela, does the Bartlett family ring a bell?”
“No. Should it?”
“She was right.”
“Who was right?” Mom asked.
“Aunt Carmella,” Eden replied.
“What are you babbling about?”
“My aunt said you were a cold, heartless bitch.”
“Eden, I don’t even know your aunt.”
“That’s rich. Your drunken-ass husband stole my family, and you couldn’t care less.”
“My husband never stole anything from anyone.”
“But he did drink that ill-fated day.”
“I…” Mom stopped speaking.
“Memories coming back? Bitch, you’ll soon learn I’m nothing like Kat.”
Oh my God! I stopped listening. Dad never drank alcohol. Never. It wasn’t his thing. Eden had to be talking about my biological father. What on earth caused her to hate my mother?
Zared might know something. I ran into him at the bottom of the stairs. “Can we talk?”
I gestured for him to follow me outside.
He spoke first when we reached the courts. “What’s going on, Tru?”
“I went to see my mother.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing to me. She was too busy arguing with Eden. Ever hear of someone named Carmella Bartlett?”
“No. Why?”
“That’s the name of Eden’s aunt.” I put my hands in my pockets. “Something major happened with her family. Eden told Mom my biological father stole her family from her.”
“What did your mom say?”
“She didn’t know about the family. But when Eden said he had been drinking on that day, Mom stopped talking.”
His forehead puckered. “What are you thinking?"
“Maybe that’s the payback Eden was talking about.”
“Possibly. I promise we’ll look into it. For now, getting off the island with Intrepid—”
“Is our primary concern. Never mind. I’ll find out myself.”
“How?”
“Don't worry about it.”
“Tru?”
“I'm just going to talk to my mom.” I remembered we met on the stairs. “Were you on your way to the room?”
“I, uh, wanted to see you.” He clasped my hand.
“What’s going on?”
“I just needed to see you.” He wrapped his arms around my waist. “In case things—”
I put my arms around him. “Nothing’s going wrong. We’ll be—”
Zared’s warm lips on mine interrupted me. His hot hands moved down my back, caressing my butt. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His kisses intensified, but there was something wrong. It was as if he were committing my lips to memory. I broke off the kiss and stared into his dilated dark pupils.
“What was that about?”
“I—”
Someone cleared her throat. I looked over at Ko dressed in full uniform and dark glasses. Crap! I’d forgotten she was coming by.
I stepped back. Zared scraped a hand through his hair.
“Zared.” Ko smiled broadly.
“Ko, it’s been a while.” He rubbed his neck.
“Yes, it has.” Ko gazed into his eyes a little too long for comfort.
I ground my teeth.
“I guess I should be thanking you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Not so fast. Thank me later when we all get out of here. Did you get my message?” Ko placed her hand on his arm. It didn’t matter that she was my best friend. If she didn’t take her hand off him, I would lose it.
I cleared my throat. “Yes. It's going down tonight?”
“That's the plan.” Ko dropped her hand and pried her eyes off my boyfriend. “There’s a training session tonight on the island. All level five cadets will meet at the conservatory building. We have an operative who will take care of the cameras in the house. Sherman will leave Riza gear for you.”
“Won't we still be recognized?” I asked.
“You haven't seen our combat gear. Thanks to dark visors on the helmets, team members don’t recognize each other.”
He interrupted. “I need to get back to work.”
“Yes,” Ko said. “We have to make it look like nothing has changed. Zared?”
“Yeah?”
“Our operative is Asher.”
Zared’s face lit up like the night sky on Independence Day. Who was Asher and what did he mean to him?
“He’ll seek you out. Oh, and Zared, be sure to thank your father for letting Tru see me.”
He stared at the ground. Ko’s eyes were fixed on him. The more he avoided eye contact, the harder she tried to catch his eye. She touched his arm again. I lost it.
“What is going on between you two?”
Ko squeezed his forearm. “You didn’t tell her?”
Zared continued watching the ground. “No.”
“¡Dios mio!” She shook her head. “You have ten minutes.” Ko stepped away from us.
Dread tapped on my mind like the black bird from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem. My stomach rolled. Nothing good would come from this.
Zared placed his hands on my shoulders. “Tru, you’re my world. I love you more than life itself. I don’t want—”
I stepped back. “To hurt me?”
“I’d never hurt you.”
I pointed at Ko. “I’m not stupid. You and Ko—”
“No, no, no, no.” He swept his hand across his forehead. “We’re friends. We have history, but nothing happened between us. I’m not her type.”
I crossed my arms. “I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Yes. Besides, she’s spoken for. I don’t think Asher would appreciate somebody else making a play for his
girl.”
Ko never told me about a boyfriend. I exhaled. “So that’s the big secret you were supposed to tell me?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “No. It’s about my mission.”
Here it comes. The thing my parents warned me about and I refused to listen.
“You used me?”
The color drained from his face. “No. I never used you. I’m…uh…um… Damn it, Tru, I’m an operative with the Alliance.”
“What the hell is that?”
“The Alliance is the rebel faction within Riza.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Ko and I work for them.”
“Some may argue that genetic engineering is in fact playing God. We beg to differ. Is it wrong for any nation to want the best for its citizens? Some may argue that creating better citizens will in fact discriminate. We argue that what is good for one is good for all. No citizen shall be left behind. It is through banning this technology that we discriminate.”
—Interview with Jacob C. Venter, AR response to UN ban
Well, I didn’t see that coming. I squeezed my eyes shut. Traitors. My best friend and my boyfriend. I inhaled. Why didn’t Ko trust me with this? She let me go on and on about my Inoculation Day when she should have been telling me about the Alliance. And, Zared…he worked undercover as some sort of spy? Man, I was such a fool. Tears blurred my vision. No. I mustn’t cry. Tears showed weakness.
I opened my eyes, swallowed hard, and squared my shoulders. “So, you’ve never been a street person?”
Zared lowered his head. “It wasn’t a lie. When my father abandoned me, I lived on the streets for two years. The Alliance rescued me. Gave me a place to live.”
“But you thought an abandoned, dirty-ass factory would be more appealing to me?”
He hunched his shoulders. “It wasn’t like that. My room is at Alliance’s headquarters. I couldn’t take you there.”
“Why not?”
“My superiors wanted me to stop getting close to you.”
Did he know he dug himself in deeper with every word he said? “Why?”
He looked up and my breath caught. Those amazing dark eyes burned with so much emotion. Sorrow. Regret. Love. It was all right in front of me.
