Maggie didn’t know what to say. She felt a suffocating sense of responsibility—as if the whole revolution fell on her shoulders. Ember was equally speechless. He was now, more than ever infatuated with Kara and her mysterious past. Once again he felt a strong and inexplicable love for her.
“We revolutionaries,” Sven continued, “are a strange crowd. You’ll learn that in time. Some of us are militant. Some are pacifists. Some of us join for the glory of the cause and the camaraderie of the fight. Others just join for the longing of freedom—or various other moral reasons. Some are just curious about the outside world. We are, by and large, a jaded, cynical bunch, but we can also be hearty and deeply loyal. Everyone has their own reasons for joining and their own methods for acting… Not all of them are your friends… not all of them can be trusted… but… most of them can… It’s a tougher life, but I think you’ll find it to be more fulfilling. Like it or not, you’re one of us now. Okay,” Sven paused, “Any questions?” Maggie and Ember’s jaws were opened. They were so overwhelmed with information that they now felt sleepy. “No questions? Okay, great! Now what we’re going to need you both to do is to take a shower and change out of those clothes. You won’t be any good to the cause if an officer identifies you!”
Just then a knock came from above. Kara screamed, but quickly caught herself before she made too much nose. She walked over to Sven and whispered, “Did you tell anyone we were here?” Sven shook his head ‘no.’ The knock came again, this time louder than before. “Maggie, Ember, get under the couch,” Kara instructed. She looked at Sven, “I’ll answer it.”
Sven looked at Kara, and shook his head to suggest that she shouldn’t do it. Kara stared back at him for a few tense seconds, and then stubbornly moved a table to the corner of the room and stood on it. On top of the ceiling was a discolored tile with a hinge and big metal handle. Kara pulled it and slid the tile open.
A handsome, rugged man with worn boots jumped down into the room. “Are you Kara?” She nodded faintly as he walked up to her. “Styles,” he said in the manner of one giving his own name. “We need to talk.”
Chapter 12: The Seeds of Revolution
The mysterious man advanced towards her threateningly. Sven came to Kara’s aid, but the man did not so much as blink.
“Kara, the daughter of Marilyn and Marty,” the man said in a way that was both a statement and a question.
“Yes,” Kara said, still a bit timid.
“Woah, sir? Back off,” Sven said, putting his monstrous hand on the man’s chest to stop him from advancing any further.
“The name’s Styles,” he said, rudely flinging Sven’s heavy arm to the side. Though Sven was much larger than Styles, who was himself of above-average stature and imposing presence, the latter did not seem in the slightest intimidated. Sven possessed a kind and pacific nature that was conspicuously absent in the rugged man, and if anyone was intimidated it was probably Sven.
“What do you want from us?” Kara asked. Maggie and Ember were standing anxiously by their chairs from the other side of the room and could hear everything that was being said. Only Luna remained seated and seemed composed—so composed, in fact, that she bordered on cheerful.
“Does the name George Karpov ring any bells?”
Sven and Kara seemed deep in thought. “No, I can’t say that I recognize the name,” Kara admitted.
“About a week ago he came into contact with your father. Last night he was taken in by the Imperial Police.” Styles spoke with an indifferent viciousness, as if he were accepting of the event itself but nonetheless desired retribution.
Kara gasped. “I’m so sorry. Is he still alive?”
Styles did not answer. It was understood among the three of them that even if George were alive, he wouldn’t be for long. Sven shuddered to think about the tortures this unknown man could now be experiencing, and, deep down, longed for a way to share in his pain and reduce the burden. “Before they came, he told me about the possibility of a traitor amongst the revolutionaries. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” He spoke with the dark wryness of a man who seemed to enjoying indicting his peers.
“What exactly are you implying?!” Kara exclaimed fiercely, advancing towards him in a futile attempt to appear menacing.
Styles mockingly bent down to meet her at eye level and then said condescendingly, “How about you tell me.”
Kara was incensed and could see that he was calling her bluff. “How dare you!” She struck Styles on the chest but once again he did not so much as flinch.
“Awfully strange, don’t you think?” he continued as if nothing had happened, “That the Imperial Police would take George away shortly after coming into contact with your father.” Kara’s brows were angled in rage as he continued his prosecution. “You know, George was an introverted creature. He was a man of science. Didn’t get out much… Didn’t know many people… Didn’t trust many people… Especially you ‘revolutionaries.’” Styles said this word with particular slowness and disdain. “It doesn’t exactly leave many suspects…”
“How dare you!” she said again. “My family has always been devoted to the cause! We would never turn on one of our own!”
“And where is your father now?” he asked, seeming to already know the answer.
“He’s been missing for a week.”
“Oh… I see… he’s been missing for a week,” Styles repeated mockingly. “How coincidental, don’t you think?”
“He was looking for an alternative exit to the Underground!”
“Hmm… That’s strange… because I could have sworn that your mother also disappeared about this time, one year ago,” Styles said, dripping with derision. “She too was looking for an alternative exit, was she not?” Kara nodded tearfully. “Did you know that when the Imperial Police recruit sleeper cells, they give them exactly twenty-five years to complete their mission before they’re recalled to Imperium? It’s awfully strange that both your mother and father disappeared just before this period was set to expire.”
“That’s not true! They’ve always lived in the B-Z!”
“Actually, I checked with your neighbors and the consensus was that your parents were both about forty years old when they moved in. Tell me, how old were your parents when they disappeared?”
“You don’t need to answer anything,” Sven said to Kara.
“Sixty-five… But that doesn’t prove anything! My parents were true believers in the cause! I promise you! I lived with them, I would know! Ask anyone! They were highly respected amongst the revolutionaries!!”
“Just what exactly was George’s business with Kara’s father, and what was your business with George?” Sven asked, trying to give Kara sometime to recuperate.
“Let’s just say, George was a father-figure to me. As for his business with Marty… Why don’t you tell me.”
“I don’t know!” Kara screamed.
“I think you do.”
“I don’t know!!”
“Why did you even come here?!” Sven argued.
“Excuse me everybody,” Maggie said timidly as she walked up to the trio. Everyone in the room, save for Luna, seemed surprised to hear her speak. “I have something to say… It may be important… Before Ember—that’s my brother,” she said politely to Styles, pointing in the direction of Ember, “and I came to the Underground we came in contact with a man who said that he was from the Underground…” Kara and Sven looked at her with anticipation. “He was badly injured but… he managed to tell us about this place… and he told us to help his people… He gave me this,” Maggie said, pulling the key from around her neck and in front of her clothing.
“Where… where did you get that!” Kara said, gasping from excitement. “Did he… did he give that to you?”
“Yes, a man gave it to us,” she said.
“Was… was… his name Marty? Did… did he have a large but gentle, round nose? Did he have white hair, combed over his balding head? Was
there a scar on his left arm?” Kara’s lips curled upward with each description, forming what appeared to be a rudimentary smile each time.
Maggie shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember. It was really dark… I don’t know.”
“This is the key he gave me on my tenth birthday. Give it to me!” Kara commanded, taking it from Maggie without waiting for a reply. She held the necklace in her hand and as she admired it, the rest of the world seemed to disappear. She was reminded of the distant memory of her birthday party. It was a quiet evening in her house, and her mom had just brought the cake to the table. Kara breathed in heavily, remembering in full the cake’s saccharine smell and her parents’ adoring eyes. The nostalgia was broken when Styles snatched the key from her hand.
“Hey!” Sven protested on Kara’s behalf.
Had Kara not turned to ask Maggie additional questions, Sven might have considered reclaiming the key—perhaps even turning against his pacific nature if necessary. “Did he say anything else?!”
Maggie scanned her memory but found nothing else. “Uhh… I don’t think so.”
“Actually,” Ember said, joining everyone in the corner of the room, “he did say one more thing. He told us to ‘tell her that I love her.’” Ember was pleased that he was the one to tell this to Kara, and secretly, in the more self-centered crevices of his sub-consciousness, hoped that it would make her more affectionate towards him.
Kara’s heart seemed to melt. She opened her mouth slowly but then closed it again. She brought her hands to her chest and asked with closed eyes, “Is he still alive?”
“No,” Maggie said curtly, not knowing how else to break the news.
“It’s okay,” Kara said, with her eyes still closed… “It’s okay… He did it. He made it.” She turned to Styles and questioned him violently, “Do you believe me now?! Huh? Do you?!”
Styles was busy inspecting the key. He tapped it against the wall and seemed to be listening for an echo. “I suppose,” he said, too distracted by his examination to give her much attention, “but if I ever find out that you are traitors…”
“You’ll do what?” Sven said, trying to look daunting.
“I’ll kill all of you… Even the quiet one in back.” Everyone looked at Luna, who was still sitting down, and then back to Styles to gauge his seriousness. He was not laughing but did possess a confident smile that seemed to suggest that he looked forward to the task. Ember and Maggie laughed awkwardly. “I need a place to stay by the way.”
Sven threw his hands up in the air, “Are you kidding me? Anything else that you need? A hot shower? A warm meal?”
“A pot and a lamp will be all,” he said, snapping off the ostentatious base of the key.
“Hey! Just what do you think you are doing?!” Kara exclaimed.
Styles brought the key under Sven and Kara’s line of sight. Kara seemed winded, and Sven jolted backwards. Wide smiles fell upon both of their faces. Ember crowded around them to see what they were looking at. Maggie tried to squeeze her head between Ember and Sven’s shoulders, but was too short to see. “What is it? What’s going on?!”
“Seeds!” Ember exclaimed, understanding the significance of the finding.
Maggie crouched down and stuck her head between their elbows. Styles lowered the key for her to see. Inside the key was a hollow chamber containing seeds from the plant species Toxicodendron radicans.
“One week ago,” Styles said slowly as if he were just now deciding that they could be trusted, “George and Marty met to discuss the Code. George had been studying related plant species for years and had designed a program to predict the sequence based off of its surviving relatives. He believed that with the program, and with its relatives as models, he could predict a reasonably accurate sequence that would open the Gate. However, it soon became obvious that the task was harder than it appeared… That’s where your father came in… Your father told George that he knew of a way out of the Underground. It was arranged that your father would leave the Underground and return with samples of the plant, and that we would subsequently sequence its DNA using another program that we made.”
“He did it! We did it! We’re going to free the Underground without a drop of blood!” Kara shouted in ecstasy. She turned around and gave Maggie a big bear hug, and kissed Ember on the cheek before dramatically falling into Sven’s embrace. Sven lifted her off the ground and spun her around the room.
Styles looked at them with the pitying face of one who knew just how much toil lay ahead. Though he was annoyed and wanted to break up their celebration, he decided not to. He jumped up onto the table, key still in hand, and leapt through the narrow opening without using his hands to pull himself up. The display of agility seemed even to Maggie and Ember, who were both accustomed to similar stunts back home, to be super-human.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?!” Sven shouted, still wearing a smile.
“Your place.”
“But you don’t know where it is!”
“I’ll find out,” Styles said calmly before vanishing.
Kara could not contain herself. She bumped into Sven intentionally and said between laughs, “This is crazy… this is crazy… We finally find the seeds and we let… some strange guy who calls himself ‘Styles’ take it away!”
“I know… right?” Sven said, also laughing between words. “He didn’t… leave us… much of a choice…” Sven and Kara were now jumping up and down. They jumped over to Maggie and Ember and brought them into their embrace. As Kara’s delicate fingers fell on Ember’s back, a surge of delight spread down his spine. Ember was so happy that he felt that he could have died right then and there and still have been fulfilled. Though it had hardly been forty-eight hours since Maggie and Ember joined the Underground, already Erosa seemed like a distant place. Luna walked up from behind and put her hands around Ember and Maggie, resting her head between their shoulders.
“We did it!”
“It’s all over! We’re saved!”
“You have done a great thing Ember and Maggie! You will go down in history!”
“We all will!”
“We did it!”
“You know what?” Sven said with a crooked smile of one who was about to propose something reckless. “I think this calls for a celebration!”
“Shouldn’t they change their clothes first?” Kara asked, still jumping up and down.
“It’ll be fine! The revolutionaries will love it! You’re not worried are you Maggie? Ember?”
“Worried about what?” Maggie asked. “Uhh… no… we’re not worried, are we Ember?”
“Nope!”
“You can’t tell anyone about the seeds, though. Got it?” Kara warned, seeming to speak more to Sven than either Ember or Maggie. Luna, who had mostly been forgotten, was smiling contentedly in the background.
***
The mess hall was stationed a few blocks from the seminar room and was also ‘under the Underground’—which just meant that it was buried beneath the soil and was only accessible through a few hidden doors. The room was large and filled with hearty revolutionaries who promptly prepared a giant feast upon learning of Maggie and Ember’s travels. They sat around a long, massive wooden table with bench seats and were, as Sven expected, pleased with Maggie and Embers’ attire.
“So, is that what they wear where you’re from?” a woman near Maggie asked, speaking slowly in order to distinguish the homophones.
“Yes. These low-cuts are particularly fashionable,” she said, standing up on the bench for everyone to see. The crowd roared with excitement as she spun around. Maggie loved the attention and did not tire of telling detailed stories about her home life. They didn’t seem too interested with the particulars about Erosa’s technology—or lack thereof—nor did they seem to care about its politics or living arrangements. They were, however, infatuated with her discussions about the sky, forest, and waterfalls, which she, upon discovering their curiosity, spoke about with excruciating d
etail and exaggerated veneration.
Ember sat by Sven and was eating with a gluttony that only Sven seemed to rival. Sven pointed Ember one at a time to each food item—describing in intricate details its varied salty or sugary flavors in a way so elaborate and in a manner so eloquent that a poet would have been jealous. After each description Ember would devour the food and look at Sven to begin again. They laughed loudly and knocked each other around playfully, admiring each other’s inhuman appetite. On occasion Ember would stop to share a story about his home, or correct a facet of Maggie’s stories.
Kara, who was sitting across from Ember and adjacent to Luna and Maggie, told Ember about nuanced aspects of life in the Underground and occasionally engaged Luna in conversation. Kara laughed at Ember and Sven’s ostensibly insatiable hunger, and from time to time, issued some sort of challenge or suggested that they try one of an assortment of sweet desserts.
Luna did not eat or drink anything but was very talkative. She had come prepared with a seemingly endless barrage of jokes and had overtime accrued a small crowd. In general, the revolutionaries went back and forth between Maggie’s encapsulating stories and Luna’s surprisingly raunchy jokes.
Merriment continued for the next three hours in more or less the same fashion. Over time Ember and Sven’s interest shifted away from food and towards Maggie, who was still relating details about the outside world. Now that Luna had stopped telling jokes, Maggie was the complete center of attention, and she stood on top of the table as if to prove it. Ember, who was practically on the verge of a food coma, was far too tired to share any more stories himself, and only half listened to what his sister had to say. Besides for the occasional question or call for clarification, only Maggie spoke.
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