Liam’s body tensed, prepared to roll from harm’s way. Ana turned toward him, as if sensing his presence, then slowly blinked her bright eyes—awake, alert, and appearing … happy.
Her cheeks had color and she seemed strong. Her hair no longer looked dull, but instead almost as if she’d recently washed it.
Even her cheeks, which had looked hollow the night before, appeared fuller.
“Ana?” Liam said, unable to believe his eyes.
Impossibly, she laughed. “I feel amazing,” she said.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Episode 6
CHAPTER 39 — JONAH LOVECRAFT
Jonah didn’t want to open his eyes. He just wanted to be back on the ground. This … flying … didn’t feel natural.
Jonah had never flown before. Planes were rare. There were only a few known Barrens Flyers, pilots who made their living renting out courier services to The State. Their planes weren’t state of the art like those flown near the end of the Old Nation’s reign, however. They looked more antiquated, like those from the early days of flight—rickety machines that had no right to be in the air.
But Captain Pete assured him, “Twenty-five years and I ain’t crashed yet.”
Still, sitting in an open cockpit with the clouds around him, the wind trying to rip off his helmet and goggles, Jonah felt anything but safe.
“Yer gonna miss it if you don’t look,” Captain Pete shouted over the loud, sputtering engine of the glider plane.
“I don’t wanna look! Just land the glider!” Jonah shouted over the loud wind.
“Only chance you’ll ever have to see City 1 in all its glory,” Captain Pete yelled back from the pilot’s seat in front as they drew closer to their destination.
Jonah braced himself, grabbed his seat tight—even though he was belted in and probably couldn’t fall out of the glider—and looked down.
Oh, wow!
Details of City 1 weren’t reported on so much as whispered about. No two descriptions ever sounded the same, probably because so few people—people Jonah had met, anyway—had ever actually been to City 1. So far as Jonah knew, most people thought City 1 was just like the other cities, filled with common, working-class people crammed into apartments. While some citizens whispered of large castles or dark spires stretching into the sky, few people outside of City 1 truly knew what it looked like. Sometimes, Geralt appeared on City broadcasts, but such broadcasts were always filmed from inside The State’s High Tower, so you never got to see much of The City.
In City 6, transports were all handled through a single depot, and the drivers had even higher clearance than Jonah at City Watch—all were personally chosen by Keller.
Due to the nature of urban legends, everyone claimed to know someone—or know someone who knew someone—who had once seen City 1, but Jonah knew for a fact that he did know someone who had seen City 1: Chief Keller, who routinely went to City 1 for high-level State meetings. But Keller had never spoken of The City except in generalities, and had never described it as anything remotely close to the grand spectacle Jonah was looking on now.
Staring down at The City, Jonah realized with a sickening certainty that he’d been wrong. The paradisiacal City 7 promised to winners of The Darwin Games and shown on the broadcasts wasn’t a lie. It was, in fact, City 1.
He doubted any winners of The Games actually made it to City 1—he knew he hadn’t been brought there—but the place shown on the broadcasts was very real.
Jonah stared in open-mouthed wonder, looking down onto the sprawling, beautiful City that he’d seen advertised as City 7 so many times on The Games. The same low and almost decorative Walls along the borders (nothing like the fortress-like Walls surrounding the other cities), the same ribbon of luxury with large sparkling pools, sprawling out-of-doors restaurants (rather than the arcade’s cramped food court), wide walkways, and row upon row of spacious living quarters sprawled out over plenty of space. The most shocking thing to Jonah, who had spent all of his life until recently behind The Walls of City 6, was the sheer amount of green, so rich and in such vast quantities, it looked bright even from the sky.
To the west of the homes, green grass, and rolling pastures, was a long stretch of beautiful white beach. On the other side of the beach churned the blue sea, which stretched to the horizon. Jonah had never seen the ocean, except for in movies, and could never have imagined how infinite it seemed in person, or how small he felt in comparison.
After many miles, the homes and green grass areas he recognized from City 7 disappeared. Rolling knolls crashed into large white brick Walls. Behind The Walls, everything was different.
Jonah realized he’d only seen a tiny part of City 1.
Beyond the beautiful green, stretched the immensity of City 1.
High gleaming glass towers rose into the sky, unlike anything Jonah had ever seen in real life—though they did look a lot city skyscrapers he’d seen in movies from the Old Nation. These buildings were shinier, cleaner, and gleaming with everything City 6 was not.
He could not imagine the manpower or resources needed to create, let alone maintain, such things. Nor could he fathom what he would see inside The City.
“A thing of beauty, eh?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
Captain Pete turned and winked at Jonah as he turned the glider. “OK, here’s the bumpy part.” The tiny engine sputtered as Captain Pete used a combination of brakes and the rudder to guide the craft toward a long runway stationed just outside The City’s northern Walls.
Jonah braced for the worst as the glider descended toward the road. The front wheel hit as Captain Pete applied the brakes. Jonah’s knuckles were white on either side of the seat. The glider bumped, shook, and rocked as it slowed to a gentle roll before turning into an open hangar marked Hangar 14.
Only after the glider stopped did Jonah realize he’d been holding his breath and finally exhale.
Captain Pete arched over and unbuckled Jonah. The captain clambered out and then helped Jonah from the glider before going to grab Jonah’s medical bag, which the captain had stored in a compartment in the glider’s rear.
Jonah took the bag, wondering if the captain had any idea what was inside it.
He didn’t dwell on it, though, because they were soon met by a young man in a tan jumpsuit. On his chest was a blue tag that read: City 1 and beneath that, Danny.
“Hey, Pete,” Danny said.
“Hey, Danny,” the captain said as he handed Danny paperwork that ostensibly detailed Jonah’s identity and purpose in The City.
Danny gave the papers a cursory look and shoved them in his pocket. “So, how was the flight?”
“Good. No storms this time.”
“Great to hear.” Danny smiled ear to ear. “Thought you’d want to know—I asked Joyce to marry me last week. And she said yes.”
“Great!” Pete said, slapping Danny on the back. “Glad it all worked out.”
“Thanks again for the advice,” Danny kept grinning.
Jonah felt uncomfortable being part of such a private conversation, but he was also relieved by the soft security. If this were City 6—not that City 6 had air hangars, all their couriers were trucks—City Watchers would have been all over both pilot and passenger, screening them carefully.
Here they had a guy named Danny, who seemed more interested in chatting than checking Jonah’s papers.
Jonah almost had to laugh.
Then, just as Captain Pete and Jonah were about to leave the hangar, Danny called out.
“Oh yeah, I need to check your ID!”
Jonah turned, keeping his face friendly and hiding his nerves. He’d been wondering since he left whether the ID would still work. If, as Sutherland said, Marquis had gone underground, maybe Marquis had been caught by City Watch. If that happened, there was a damned good chance Jonah’s ID was no longer a suitable disguise. City Watch might even be looking for him.
Nothing he could do about it now.
Jonah waited for the scanning to complete. He perused Danny for a weapon—none—then looked beyond the hangar, outside. Nobody around. No orbs—none that he could see, anyway.
If shit went south, Jonah knew he would have to kill Danny before he could sound an alarm. Jonah didn’t think he’d have to kill Captain Pete. While the captain knew Jonah wasn’t who he said, and that Sutherland had paid Jonah’s fare into The City, the captain probably didn’t know what Jonah was planning. Nor did he have any reason to turn Jonah over to City 1 Watch, unless he took issue with Danny’s murder.
The ID reader showed Jonah’s fake name and credentials on-screen as a light beeped green.
“OK, sir, you’re cleared.”
“Thank you,” Jonah said, glad he wouldn’t have to kill the young man, who seemed rather friendly.
He’ll die soon enough, after the infection spreads.
Stop. Stop thinking about that.
Captain Pete said, “OK, I’m going to walk the doctor out, then I’ll come back and tell you a story that will make you piss yourself.”
“Great,” Danny said, turning away as they left the hangar.
After they walked back onto the runway, Jonah looked back to make sure Danny wasn’t following them, then said, “Wow. This is security in City 1? Anyone can just fly in? And they have one guy checking ID?”
“They get a lot of couriers, and a number of the residents here have their own gliders and take them out on safaris. City 1 likes to keep things low-key for its residents.”
Jonah couldn’t believe it. “You can’t get within a mile of City 6 without going underground unless you don’t mind a City Watch escort.”
Captain Pete said, “City 1 has a large military presence outside The City and along the eastern Walls, which you didn’t see because your eyes were probably closed. They keep all the trouble out so their own people don’t have to live in fear.”
Jonah laughed. Most citizens behind The Walls in other cities lived under constant fear of both City Watch and its ubiquitous orbs. Here, he imagined, the wealthy truly lived free, without a care in the world.
Captain Pete continued, “You’ve gotta remember, folks here are the best of the best. They’re The State leaders, the brightest scientists, farming and industry leaders, many descendants of Old Nation power. If I were you, I’d try not to think too much about these people and what they have, or it’ll depress the hell out of you. Trust me, I’ve been coming here for years, but I’m a City 4 man, through and through. We don’t have anything like this back home.”
Jonah shook his head.
Captain Pete led him toward the edge of the runway, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a com. He tapped out a code, then waited. Finally, he spoke into the device, “Yes, we’re here … OK.”
He handed Jonah the com. “The boss wants to talk to you. See ya later. You can keep the com.”
He turned and headed back to the hangar without another word.
Jonah looked at the com, then brought it to his ear. “Yes?”
“Good, you made it.” It was Sutherland. “Are you still at the hangars?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve said good day to Captain Pete?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Now, look around you. Do you see the Pegasus?”
“The what?” The word seemed familiar, but Jonah didn’t know where he had heard it, or what it might be.
Sutherland repeated, then clarified: “A Pegasus—a horse with wings.”
Jonah looked around and at first saw nothing, then squinted at a sign past the hangars, far on the other side. It was a blue square with a white circle. In its center, a red horse with wings.
“Yes,” Jonah said. “I see the Pegasus.”
“Great! That’s a glider fueling station. City 1 gives its citizens free fuel, whether for car, bike, or glider. And the Pegasus is their sign for fuel. Your contact will meet you at the Pegasus station. You’ll know her as soon as you see her, and she’ll definitely know you. Good luck.”
“Wait! When do I call you next?”
“At the right time,” Sutherland said, then killed the call.
Jonah passed the hangars, then approached the flying red horse—the Pegasus—and the place where his contact supposedly was waiting for him.
When Jonah had asked Sutherland for his contact’s name, Sutherland said, “Her name doesn’t matter because I’ve no idea which one she’ll be using.” When Jonah had asked what his contact would look like, Sutherland said, “You’ll know when you see her.”
There were four people at the Pegasus station: a couple, a man by himself filling his glider tank, and a woman at the farthest pump, washing her glider down with a wet rag.
The man who was alone wasn’t dressed all that differently from Jonah, who wore casual gray pants and a blue shirt, though the other man’s clothes seemed like a much higher quality, with sharp creases that looked stiff to wear. The man from the couple wore clothes that reminded Jonah of suits and ties from the Old Nation, but the fabric seemed thinner and lighter and brighter, a screaming blue for his jacket and two slightly different shades of unnatural yellow for his patterned necktie. The woman on his arm was bedecked in many strips of multicolored fuzzy-looking fabric that wrapped her body in crisscrossing layers. Her hair was bright blonde, and her skin was flawless. She was probably the most beautiful woman Jonah had ever seen—in real life, anyway.
The woman who had been washing her glider looked up at Jonah as he approached. She wore khaki pants and a white button-down shirt. The word in Jonah’s mind when he saw her was crisp. She was gorgeous, with tight chestnut curls sweeping her shoulders just under the blades, but she wasn’t a jaw-dropper like the other woman.
She looked up at Jonah and smiled. “You’re the flower man, right?”
“Pardon me?”
The woman kept on as if Jonah hadn’t pardoned himself. “Sorry I had to cancel yesterday,” she said. “I thought today would be better because we were both out here and you could tell me all about the treasures you found. Come on, let’s walk.”
The woman waved her hand in no particular direction then started walking away from the Pegasus station. After a few steps she pulled something from her pocket and pointed it back at the glider. The glider chirped as she turned, then started slowly rolling behind her. As they continued walking, Jonah turned to see the glider rounding itself into the hangers and parking itself in an empty space.
“That’s my regular spot,” the woman explained.
They walked for another few minutes, past the hangars, to another long building with many doors, each about 20 feet apart. The woman took the same small black box from her pocket and pointed it at the wall between two of the doors. Jonah found this odd; all was explained, though, when she pressed a button and the wall split at a seam. A door appeared, which rolled up from the floor. A sudden bright light illuminated the interior of what appeared to be a small garage with a smaller version of the supply trucks that typically worked between cities. It was old and dusty from what looked like a million miles of use.
The woman stepped inside the garage, and Jonah followed her. The door closed automatically behind them.
“My name’s Maya,” the woman said. “And you’re Jonah Lovecraft.”
“Yes.”
“If you get caught, Jonah Lovecraft, find a way to kill yourself. They’ll torture you until you wish you’d killed yourself.”
He asked, “You live here, in City 1?”
“I do.”
“What’s it like?”
“Better than you think.”
“Paradise?”
“Nicer.”
“So why are you helping?”
“Maybe one day the world will get to a place in which I’ll want to hear reasons for things you do, and I’ll have the time to tell you mine. For now, we need to get you into the city proper
.”
“I’m ready,” Jonah said, trying not to be insulted. “Sutherland said you had a secret way to get inside.
Maya laughed. “He said I had a secret way, did he?”
Jonah thought. “Well, no, I guess he didn’t. I guess he said you had a way.”
“That sounds more like it.”
Without another word, Maya turned from Jonah, went to the truck’s cabin, then opened the door and pulled out a change of clothes from the driver’s seat. With no regard to Jonah, she started undressing, removing her white shirt and khakis, and replacing them with an all-brown jumpsuit with a City courier insignia on the left breast.
Maya finished dressing, reached inside the truck, then tossed Jonah a matching uniform.
Jonah started dressing, filling the moment with chatter.
“So, what’re the odds of you getting me inside The City? As easy as getting this far?”
“We just need to go through two gated checkpoints, but it shouldn’t be difficult with our credentials. City Watch here isn’t used to being on high alert, so once we’re past the gates you should be good.”
“And what about orbs and such?”
“We don’t have many orbs here. A few for emergencies, but for the most part, the City Watch blends in more than it lords over. Most of the citizens here live with blinders on, thinking nobody would ever wish them harm. The only way anyone could ever hurt them is if people like me are willing to help.”
She met his eyes and smiled. “And people like me don’t exist.”
She said, “Get in.”
Jonah went to the passenger side and got in. Maya got into the driver’s seat, backed out, and the garage door closed behind them. A minute later they were driving on a concrete road heading for the front gates.
Maya said, “If they’re suspicious of you at all, it will be now, when we’re trying to pass through the main gates.”
“Great,” Jonah said, trying not to appear as nervous as he felt.
CHAPTER 40 — ADAM LOVECRAFT
Adam stared at Michael, too shocked to stutter.
Michael asked, “So, did you rat on us to your buddy, Keller?”
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