by RS McCoy
On the shelf opposite the door, a ceramic sun stood on a glass pedestal. It looked handmade, probably pre-war, with streaks of scarlet and amber painted on each ray. Maggie’s hand went straight for it.
“Why did you keep this?” Her eyes were on the sun, and her voice cracked, though he couldn’t see her face from where he stood in the corridor.
“Oh, you know, didn’t seem right to just throw it all away.” Again, he tried to sound like it didn’t matter, like it wouldn’t have killed him to clean out the room. “I thought you should know it was here, in case I’m not here when you get back.” Who could tell when Nick would try to stab him in the back again, or if he’d be any more successful at it.
“Thank you,” she said as she placed the sun back on its stand.
“That’s why you wanted that tattoo, isn’t it?”
She nodded and rubbed her hands together. “It was in a book. He read it to me when I was little, and then it just sort of stuck. Good night, sleep tight, see you when the sun is bright. It was the last thing he ever said to me.” Maggie wiped at her face, but he was too close to see her tears.
He had to do it.
He had to tell her.
He couldn’t let her leave without knowing.
He should have told her from the beginning.
Silas sucked in a deep breath and said, “Look, I know I put you through a lot, and you have every reason not to trust me, but—”
“I trust you.” She looked up him with those piercing blue eyes. They were three little words, but they meant everything.
After that, it was easier to tell her. “I know it was really hard on you when Alex was gone, but it wasn’t as simple as you think. Alex had a bug.”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you trying to say?”
“Alex had a Slight. We didn’t know. He just, he started forgetting things, imagining things. We’d never seen a person with a Slight who was still alive. We just didn’t know.”
“You extracted it?” Her jaw was set so tight, he was almost afraid to tell her. But it was too late, he’d already started.
“I did. I extracted it, and I smashed it under my shoe and I’m not sorry I did it. But Alex was gone, Maggie. He was alive, but he was gone. He wasn’t there anymore, he was just—he was empty.” Silas could see it as clear as the day it happened. Alex on the table in cleaning, the scan image hovering against the wall. The Slight’s black body shining red with blood at the base of his neck. He remembered everything.
“But he’s alive?” She covered her mouth and breathed hard out her nose.
“Yes, but Maggie, listen, he’s not the same. He was infected for weeks. Between the bug and the extraction, he has no memory. He doesn’t know any of us. I worked with him for a decade. He looked me straight in my face and introduced himself like I was a stranger. He’s gone.” Silas gripped her shoulders hard and tried to get her to see the sense of it.
“Where is he?” She crossed her arms and glared.
Silas sighed. This was a terrible idea. Why had he thought she would listen? When it came to Alex, Maggie was as obstinate as they come. “I applied to have him sent to an off-world colony.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You sent him off-world? After all he—”
“They were going to kill him!” Silas shouted his anger and his frustration right in her face, so loud he regretted it a second later. He sucked in a deep breath and continued, quieter this time. "Maggie, he was compromised. He’d been in CPI too long. They were going to terminate him. It was the only thing I could do.”
She glowered at him as she fought away from his grip in the small space. “So Alex isn’t dead, but they were going to kill him, so you sent him away?”
Silas sighed. “Yes,” he admitted.
Maggie chewed on her lip for a long while. “Then, I guess I should say thank you.” Then she pushed past him back into the corridor and pressed the button for the elevator, looking anything but pleased. All in all, she’d taken it better than he thought.
“There’s something else,” he called after her.
She didn’t even ask. She only tilted her head toward him impatiently, waiting, like she couldn’t stand to hear another word from him.
“I found your son. He was in a service in Phoenix—” Maggie’s mouth fell open.
Silas continued, spewing out the information he’d so long held inside. “He didn’t have any immediate offers, and he was a good candidate for an off-world colony, once they found out who he was. They approved him and sent him to the same colony as Alex. They’re together—” Silas stopped when he saw her features dissolve. Her hand pressed the elevator button repeatedly, as if it could save her from knowing. Her mouth twisted as desperate tears fell straight to the floor.
Silas scooped her in his arms a second later, refusing to let her fight this alone. Angry fists beat against his chest and shoulders, pathetically pounding out the hatred she couldn’t feel. She wanted to hate him, he knew. But he knew Maggie, he knew she wanted her son’s safety more than anything. He was the reason she did all this, the reason she ran, the reason she gave up her Scholar future. Maggie was nothing if not a good mom. Now, knowing her son was in the care of her brother, she released her pent-up worry in a crashing wave. He held her tight as her fists fell to her side, and she gave up her useless fighting.
“It’s good, isn’t it? It’s good.” He spoke to the top of her head, to the newly blonde hair that nodded against his chest.
When she pulled away, she looked downright awful. He eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks puffy and tear-streaked. “What’s he like? Does Alex know?”
Silas smiled, his real one. “No, he doesn’t know. No one does. And he’s beautiful. He has these beautiful blond curls and big fat cheeks,” he told her, describing the boy he saw grow in the periodic updates. “He’s smart, though we knew he would be. They say he’s really sweet.”
Maggie placed a palm over each of her cheeks in disbelief. She’d likely resigned herself to never knowing her son. “What’s his name?” she asked quietly.
“His name is Kellan.”
THEO
CPI-RQ-05
SEPTEMBER 11, 2232
Theo slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and walked into the corridor—it was the last time he’d be in his room. By the time they got back, some other recruit would live there, his belongings all in recruit storage upstairs.
Everything important to him was coming with him.
Mable was already in the hall, her arms wrapped around Georgie’s neck as she said her goodbyes.
Theo could hear them talking but couldn’t make out the words. He moved toward the group as he choked back a sigh. He was no good at leaving.
Dasia was the first to say goodbye, her blonde hair in a messy braid from the night before. “You take care of her, you hear? I get one word—”
Theo laughed. “You’ll kick my ass?”
“And then some.” She squeezed him hard in a hug and kissed his cheek, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d never had much to do with her, nice as she was.
Georgie came over to shake his hand. “Good luck up there. Let us know how it goes,” he said with a smile, though they all knew better. Limiting comms with CPI was part of their cover, restricted to emergencies only. Theo would send no messages back to them.
Osip shook Theo’s hand but grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him aside in one quick movement. “You lucky bastard! Gonna have a hell of a trip!”
“I don’t feel that lucky,” Theo admitted.
“Didn’t tell her yet?” Osip cocked his eyes playfully.
“Tell her what?”
“Seriously? You didn’t tell her?” he all but yelled, then lowered his voice when he realized she stood at the other end of the short hallway. “You have got to get on that man,” Osip said laughing.
“What are you talking about?” Theo rubbed a hand through his short cut hair, only two inches long.
>
“Mable! Did you see your face yesterday? You are totally into this girl, and you didn’t tell her. What the hell is wrong with you? You have got to tell her!”
Theo’s mouth fell open. “I’m pretty sure she’s not interested.”
“What? Why? Because of her thing with Dasia?”
“Well, yeah. I saw them once.”
Osip laughed so hard he covered his mouth with a fist. “So, you think because she messes around with Dasia, she’s not into guys?”
Theo nodded.
“Since when have you known her to follow any kind of rule? She pretty much makes her own. Want me to tell her?” Osip asked with a half-hearted punch to his shoulder.
“What? No, shut up.” Theo waved him off.
“Fine, but you should. If you come back in a year and you still have that sad look on your face—”
Theo walked away. He couldn’t hear any more, not today. He wanted to leave, to get it over with, but Mable was still wrapped in Dasia’s arms. The two embraced for a long while.
At last, Mable waved a final goodbye to the group. Theo walked her toward the pod garage.
Neither of them said a word until Mable darted back into the galley, calling, “Hold on,” behind her.
Theo sighed and followed her in. Sure enough, she stood on her toes to wrap her arms around Knox’s massive shoulders and peck a kiss on his cheek. The poor guy smiled wide and kissed her forehead before she walked back to the corridor.
Then Dr. Arrenstein appeared. Theo cursed his luck. They were never going to get out of here.
“Your clothes, supplies, everything you need will be sent up in monthly shipments. It’ll take a bit of rationing to make it last, but it should do,” he started, his tone professional.
“Won’t we have everything we need there?” The LRF was a city within the moon. They certainly had enough food and supplies for the two of them.
Dr. Arrenstein smiled. “You’ll see. You’ve already forgotten what it means to be a Scholar.” Then, he turned to Mable. His smile faded in an instant. “You’ll be all right?”
“Perfectly fine,” she said too fast before she turned and walked toward the pod garage.
To Theo, he said, “I just dropped the bomb on her. Keep an eye on her, would you? Take it easy on her for a while. Let me know if she needs anything.” Dr. Arrenstein kept his eyes on Mable as she walked away.
“I’ll do my best.” It was true. He would.
“I’m sure that you will.” Dr. Arrenstein held out his hand, and for the first time, they shook hands as equals—as two men with the same goal: killing bugs and protecting Mable.
MABLE
SHUTTLE DOCK NYY-616, NEW YORK
SEPTEMBER 11, 2232
Mable took her seat on the shuttle that would take them to the Interplanetary Vehicle Dock in Miami. It would be a long, tiring day of travel. She pulled out her tablet and downloaded a dozen new books—enough to last her a while.
The shuttle whirred into the air and the words sat before her, but Mable couldn’t concentrate. Too much had happened.
She was leaving Dasia behind. No more late night visits. No more conversations until dawn. What Mable had for Dasia wasn’t love, but it was close. She appreciated her growth, her happiness, her company.
And now, she would go a full year without it. It wasn’t until she was on the shuttle that she fully processed how much she enjoyed Dasia.
Then her son, her Kellan, was on an off-world colony with Alex. Maybe even on the moon.
She would see them again someday. If it meant she had to give up Earth entirely and live in a colony for the rest of her life, that would be fine. Mable would do whatever it took to have them in her life again. Neither would know her, but she would know them.
And Arrenstein had worked to make it happen. For the thousandth time, he had done the impossible for her. Not to impress her or bribe her or manipulate her, but only so she would have the peace of mind in knowing the truth.
She was hurt, she was as cut up inside as she’d ever been, but there was a light there, too. Her brother was alive. Her son was alive. They were safe in the isolation of a colony. They were safe from the dismal future of Earth. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing, and no one could take that from her.
“You okay?” Theo said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’ve been reading that page for an hour.”
“I was thinking. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Yeah, this is a pretty big deal. I mean, only a small percentage of Scholars get to the LRF. It’s crazy to think that we’re going.” Theo was trying to be nice, but he was utterly wrong about the source of her boggled mind.
Mable returned to her book and tried to read, but again, found she couldn’t. A boy with blond curls filled her thoughts. Arrenstein didn’t have a picture to show her, but she filled in the details with some of Alex’s pictures from when he was young.
“Can I ask you a question?” Theo’s voice broke through her scrambled thoughts again.
Mable rubbed a hand over her eyes. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”
“You’re Margaret Wilkinson, aren’t you?” She looked over and saw Theo’s certainty. He already knew the answer.
“Yeah. Not anymore, but I was.”
“You know we heard about your disappearance in Lancaster. It was on the news for weeks. Your parents were convinced you would never defect. They had collectors looking in every city, a major reward was offered. It was a really big deal.”
Mable nodded. “I remember.”
“You knew?”
“Yeah. It took me a few weeks to get to Dacha. That’s where Alex told me to go. I saw the news projections in Charleston and then in Philly.”
Theo started to laugh.
“What?”
“Before your disappearance, you were on the list of ‘suitable matches’. My mother had been working on the list for weeks. When you went missing, she watched the news hoping you’d show up. She didn’t want to cross you off. She wanted us to get married.”
“Okay?”
Theo laughed so hard he covered his mouth. “And now we’re technically married. My mother waited my whole life for this.”
Mable, too, had to laugh. Theirs was a twisted version of the Scholar dream.
“Here,” Theo said out of nowhere.
Mable watched as he scratched behind his ear before reaching across toward hers. Then, she heard music. Good music, actually.
“How did you do that?” She touched her ear, felt around every nook, but nothing. She couldn’t even quiet the music that played.
“It’s an audio device. It sits here.” He pointed to the ridge of the cranium just behind his ear. When she felt her own, sure enough, a tiny sliver of slick plastic was there.
“You’ve been listening to music on the shuttles?” she asked, suddenly realizing.
“Yeah, what’d you think I was doing?” Theo coughed out a laugh. “Thought I was sitting in perfect silence for hours?”
“Something like that.” Putting it to words, it did sound stupid.
Mable let the music fill her ears and quiet the tumult in her head until the shuttle landed in Miami. Grateful for the reprieve, she felt revived, if only a little.
“Just peel it off?” she asked as passengers started toward the door, her fingernail already underneath it. Before she could get it off, the music disappeared.
“Keep it. I’ve got the playlists on my wristlet. Just let me know what you want to hear.” Theo pulled their bags from the storage bin overhead. They walked down the tube as he checked for the IPV wing, the last place on Earth they’d see for the next year.
It was as hideous and ugly as the rest. Dismal white walls, Scholars in body suits enthralled in their tablets. Then again, that’s what they were now. Both Mable and Theo wore the indigo body suits of their false class. His hair was cut and styled appropriately for a Scholar on his first assignment outside the Academy. She
had spun her blonde locks into the boring bun they so loved.
This was going to be a long year.
From her pack Mable pulled the bag of food Knox had made for her. She hadn’t expected it from him. She’d only gone in to say goodbye, but she should have known. Knox showed his love with food.
She held the bag out to Theo, a silent offering. He plunged his hand in and eagerly grabbed a handful of berries. “Think we’ll have to eat provisions on the shuttle?” he asked as he munched the first few.
“And the LRF. We’re Scholars again, remember?”
Theo’s face twisted in disgust. “I thought I was done with those.”
“Me, too,” she admitted. There were definitely perks to being on the outside of society.
It would take a while to settle back into the Scholar life, though it would never be the same. They both knew better.
This time, she already saw the cracks in society. There was no way to unsee them.
THEO
INTERPLANETARY VESSEL
SEPTEMBER 11, 2232
Theo’s mind raced in the stillness.
In a few hours, they would arrive as the newest researchers to the premier scientific research facility in existence. Even at the peak of his career, he couldn’t have hoped to earn a position there. His focus had never been space-oriented. Only through CPI had he been given this opportunity.
A position in the LRF—in Robotics no less. He had spent far too long away from that passion. It would feel good to get his hands busy again, to create useful devices. Mable enjoyed the modifications to the cam. He could only imagine what he could accomplish in such a facility.
And they were married now, at least in file.
Mable didn’t want to be his wife. She didn’t want to share an apartment with him or anything else. She only wanted to work alongside him to eradicate the bugs.
But Theo couldn’t find it in himself to dislike it.
There was no denying it. He’d been wrong about her from the start. Now he knew her. Now he wanted her. He could only guess if Osip was right.
