Walled City (The Elabi Chronicles Book 1)

by Maressa Mortimer

  Gax walks quickly, getting to the shop not long after Grabus. Gax sinks into a chair in the staffroom, telling himself to get his act together. Ashamed, he remembers Linu’s advice and his tendency to rely on his own strength. There will be other opportunities and there will be other customers today, he encourages himself. “Be logical,” he grins, taking a leaf out of Elabi’s book. Gax is soon busy dusting, sorting, straightening books, trying to take in titles. He flicks through some of the novels, wondering how people tolerate books only set in Elabi and remembers about the woman asking for the book about a dog. Gax realises that he hasn’t noticed any dogs around. No cats either. Maybe animals are banned in the city?

  He asks Inritia when he is working near the counter, cleaning some of the sticky workspaces. “Why don’t people have dogs?” She stares at him, horrified, looking round as if she expects guards to jump out from behind messy shelves.

  “Of course not,” she hisses, her teeth showing, “They haven’t been allowed for ages. When I was tiny my grandmother had a cat, it must have literally been the last one in the city.” She keeps looking round, then adds, “Dogs were gone long before that. It was the emotional stuff that surrounds pets, it just affected people’s minds, making them totally irrational, a menace to society. Some kids keep crickets,” she says, sounding as if small bugs more than make up for the lack of dogs. Gax dips his head, of course. Emotional attachment. In a society that picks their spouse based on their number, having a dog slobber all over you, or people crying when their dog dies, well, that just doesn’t work. He wonders what they did with all the existing pets, and Inritia shrugs. “Some were sent beyond the hills, to live with people who had been sent to serve the city for life. It made them work harder and live longer, apparently, so it was thought of as a good strategy.” Gax swallows. That’s a bit casual, he thinks, giving someone a pet, just so you get a better worker. On the other hand, looking at people’s attitude in the city, he can imagine that prisoners beyond the hills might take some motivating.

  The day feels slow and somehow Gax doesn’t get near a single customer. The streets are deserted when he walks home. He will need to go to the little shop to get more food, but as he was so late this morning, Gax has only brought his bag but not the glass storage containers. He will need to go home first. He feels tired, probably from the bad night. He unlocks the door, then stops as soon as he gets in. Something is odd. Something has changed in the house. He can just sense it, partly from instinct and partly from his training. Knowing when your home has been breached, knowing when people have searched your belongings; it was an important part of their preparation. He quietly shuts the door behind him, without taking his eyes off the room. He scans every part of the main room and kitchen with his eyes, looking for something, anything, out of place. Nothing stands out, but Gax knows somebody has been in his house. He almost opens his mouth to ask Yulra but decides against it. Slowly he walks round the downstairs space, looking in all corners, but there is nothing to be found.

  Gax walks upstairs, again checking the stairs as he goes. Nothing. He checks the bedroom, slowly revolving round, alert and keen. He looks at his bed, then looks again. There! The sheet and the mattress. He would never leave it like that, the sheet bulging a little, too loose on the side of the bed. Gax likes his sheets tight and neat, a proper fold right on the corners. Now the sheet is loose though, and Gax checks it out. Yes, somebody must have looked underneath his mattress. His heart speeds up a bit, relieved that he didn’t use his bed as a hiding place for his Book. From his bed he looks round the rest of the room again. The wardrobe. The wardrobe has definitely been moved. And one of the shutters is not as wide open as he left it this morning, he is sure of that.

  Gax fights his instincts to unscrew the large screen to check on his Book. He is a hundred percent sure they haven’t found it. Yet. If he now walks over, who knows what will happen. For instance, did they leave cameras? Have they instructed or modified Yulra? He needs more information first. And why did they come and search his house? Has he been noted or is it something they do regularly? Gax feels violated. What can he do though? Report it? But he is aware it was almost certainly the authorities in the city who ordered the search. Dinner is sober. He doesn’t even tell Yulra to play music, half annoyed with her for not telling him anything about the intruders. Quick to lecture him when he slips up, not so quick to take his side in trouble. Gax hesitates about going to the gym, what will happen whilst he is gone? He needs the shopping though and there is Caecilia of course.

  He works out more quickly than usual, somehow anxious about leaving the house. Caecilia is already in the cooling down room when he gets there. Her eyes light up for a moment, but Gax thinks her face looks tight. After a split second glance round she flicks her eyes towards the cooling down mat next to her. He obeys, of course. They both lean over to stretch, their faces relatively close together. “Don’t come,” she hisses and after another stretch, “you’re followed.” Gax has to consciously close his dropped mouth. He is being followed? He almost opens his mouth to ask more, then seeing her warning look he decides against it. How does she know? Has she told somebody about his Book? Did she share their talk and what happened last night? But why? And surely then they would be more open about it?

  His breath is going fast, no longer from his cardio workout, but from the tension that has gripped him. It’s the lack of details, the not knowing who and why, that is troubling him. He looks again at Caecilia, who looks away, but breathes very quietly, “I will tell you when safe. Until then, be careful!” She lifts her chin the tiniest bit, her eyes filled with tears, grabs her belongings and is gone, leaving Gax stunned, spread on his mat, mechanically twisting and pulling limbs. After this day without a single opportunity, this is it? The one conversation he has replayed in his mind more times than he can count, that one conversation has just vanished, walked right out of the door. He gets up, feeling dazed; feeling as if the whole evening has lost all purpose. It is only the clanging noise from his glass containers on the way home that reminds him to do his shopping. He hesitates, he just wants to go home, think about this new twist. He knows his cupboards are empty though, so Gax walks into the little shop, the large sullen shop assistant there as usual, not bothering to raise his chin.

  After shopping he walks straight home, only glancing sideways at the little path that leads to the tower, wondering if Caecilia will be there and whether anybody is actually truly watching him. He has been looking around casually, trying to spot a watcher, but without success. He feels nervous though. The thought of somebody keeping an eye on him gives him the creeps. Walking into the house, already feeling on edge, he stops, again. Somebody has been in again! Gax looks round, feeling annoyed. He stills when he sees the camera. It is tiny, but Gax spots it straight away, thanks to his training. It is high up, in the corner of the room, having a brilliant view of everything Gax does in his house. He feels like going up to it, and rant into it, but instead he walks into the kitchen, grinding his teeth in frustration. How is he going to get to his notebook now? Or his little Book upstairs, for there will be another one up there, no doubt. Will they watch him all night? Does it have night vision, will he be able to creep about in the dark? Gax puts his glass containers down with more force than is probably advisable. What now? Does this mean the whole mission is compromised?

  Chapter 22

  Gax slowly unpacks his shopping, his mind doing overtime. There has to be a way round the camera system, there just has to be. When he goes upstairs his searching look soon spots the camera mounted high in the corner. Would it make matters worse if he lets them know he has found their minuscule cameras? Or is it better to pretend he doesn’t know, hoping they will relax their watch a little? Gax gets ready for bed, feeling self conscious, but making sure he doesn’t look at the camera at all.

  The next morning he almost looks up to check the camera, but manages to stop his look just in time. He is relieved to get out of the house; not too early of course.
The guards don’t take any notice of him. Gax feels a little disappointed that he hasn’t seen the guard he met in the Gardens again. On the other hand, being too pally with a guard might not be the best idea. Nearer the bookshop, Gax suddenly spots the man he had a short conversation with only a few days ago. The man who reacted so strongly. The man stops Gax, looking round fearfully and whispers, “I did have a better day, after, well, after seeing you. I did!” Gax smiles, nods and tells the man how pleased he is. Then the man frowns a little and says, a bit more sternly, “I do believe every day is a good day though, but you were right, I had let my emotions and feelings get the upper hand. Just for a moment though, not longer than that!” He looks at Gax, as if checking to see if Gax will doubt the man’s words.

  “I’m glad you’re having a better day,” Gax says, carefully, “and I hope this day will be a blessing to you as well. I hope you will learn to find true blessing in your life.” He almost groans then, how lame can you sound! The man looks at him with an odd expression and Gax adds, “I hope you will find a joy and peace in your heart that will never leave you.” The man takes a step back, looks round anxiously, then hurries off, without even raising his chin! The fear in his eyes is real though and he is muttering to himself. Gax stares after him, feeling tired, lonely and suddenly thoroughly homesick.

  Inritia doesn’t look at him when he gets to the staffroom, barely raising her chin. Gax is too despondent to notice. His job feels more futile than ever, with books hardly ever put back where they belong. He is busy putting a shelf in order when suddenly the lady who had been looking for the dog book appears. She pretends to look at a book near him and whispers, “Thank you so much for trying to get that book for me. I now know I was wrong in even asking you. I hope it won’t cause you too much trouble, but thank you for your kindness.” He smiles at her and nods, looking at the shelf. “It was a distrustful reaction of me, to long for an animal and it shows how easily we can be led astray by our emotions. I’m having some extra counselling at the moment,” she adds in a whisper. “You’re different, you seem more…I don’t know what to call it, but like you do extra things in life. Like doing your work now, you really work in your job, if you know what I mean.” She blushes, obviously embarrassed and a little lost for words.

  “I enjoy my job,” Gax smiles, inwardly questioning himself. He does get satisfaction out of it though, so he feels it is still a true statement. “I believe in doing things well. I also believe in being kind and helpful to people.” The lady’s face lights up and she whispers urgently that that is exactly the word she was looking for, such a quaint old fashioned word, but kind describes him to a tee. Gax feels sad at that, but he manages to smile at the lady, her words stuck in his heart, hammering away. Kind is seen as a quaint, old fashioned word? “It is easy to be kind,” he whispers back, “and it’s a blessing to the giver as well as to the person receiving it.” The woman looks a bit surprised, then gives a soft giggle.

  “You certainly have an unusual vocabulary,” she says, with another giggle. “Must come from working with books all day.” She raises her chin, leaving Gax to the messy shelf. He noticed she has put the book she was looking at in the wrong place. He sighs, not just because he now has to put it back, but because of her reaction to his words. She’d obviously appreciated his kindness and helpfulness, but sees them as weird character traits, rather than something to copy. “How much longer, Lord,” he whispers, then frowns.

  Grabus mans the till at lunch time, watching Gax whenever he walks into view. It makes him nervous, then he suddenly wonders if he is being followed at work as well. Will Grabus know? Is it to do with work? Inritia ignores him more than usual and Grabus keeps glaring at him. He sidles up to a customer who is looking for something, judging by the pile of misplaced books he is creating. “Can I help you at all, or are you happy to carry on browsing,” he asks, trying to make his smile look helpful and professional, forcing his eyes away from the now messy shelf. The man looks up with a start, then says the usual, “Why?”

  Gax almost sighs, and feels like telling the man that in a normal society people like to help out and when you see a fellow citizen struggle, it is the done thing to come to their rescue. He doesn’t though, but shrugs, “It’s just that some people appreciate some help when they are looking for something.” That does not go down the way it was meant to.

  “You saying I’m not appreciative?” The man now glares at Gax, “You saying I’m ungrateful to be part of this society? Are you saying that even though I’m an Umbo, I should be begging for your assistance? Are you really implying that?” He has raised his voice more and more with each question, leaving Gax speechless. Grabus appears, not improving Gax’s life at all.

  “Can I help, fellow Umbo,” his voice is pleasant, and for a moment he looks pleased that he can show off his own Umbo Status. Then he looks at Gax and his glare outsparks the customer’s one. The angry customer tells Grabus how Gax has been implying that the man needs help and is ungrateful for not accepting an underling’s service. Then they both glare at Gax, who gives a quick shake of his head and opens his mouth to defend himself. Grabus doesn’t give him the chance, he points at the till and growls, “Clean that till, help whatever customer comes next, but do not let me hear your voice at all!” Gax dips his head, hesitates when looking at the customer. Should he raise his chin at the man? The man’s furious glare answers that one and Gax hastens to the till.

  The next customer glares at Gax as well, eyes hard and cold, not raising his chin at all. Oh dear, offending an Umbo is obviously not a good idea in Elabi. Gax sighs a bit, still smiles at the customer, still raises his chin respectfully, but struggles to not let the smile drop as soon as the man walks away. Why didn’t Grabus let him explain? It’s not fair. Grabus’ heavy steps are heard coming to the counter and when he and the customer appear, Grabus gestures with his head that Gax should clear off. Gax goes, feeling hard done by, angry now that he is treated like this, all because the guy misunderstood him. He works here, but it isn’t part of his job description to be badly treated and he will tell Grabus that he doesn’t appreciate this kind of treatment. He might not be an Umbo, but that doesn’t make him less of a human being. The shelves bear the brunt of his anger, but by the time Grabus comes up to him, most of his feelings have been reduced to more manageable levels.

  Gax hesitates a split second, then decides that offence is the best kind of defence, so he puts his placating hand up and in a soft voice says, “I did not tell the man any of that, I merely asked if he would like me to help him locate the book he was looking for. That’s all.” He looks at Grabus, seeing that the placating hand has only partially done the trick this time.

  “It’s not your business. Why would you even ask someone if they want help? Why would they want help? If he wanted you to find the book, he would have told you to get the book for him,” Grabus growls, his face red. Gax begins to explain that as a shop assistant… “You’re here to keep things looking acceptable. You’re getting way beyond your station,” Grabus continues, “The way you clean for instance, it’s meant to look alright, you’re pretending the place is falling apart and disgusting. It makes us all look bad when you’re going round like that! Always turning up early, always raising your chin at customers as if they’re friends! Who does that, yeah, who does that? Why grin at them as if they’re making some hilarious joke, when they haven’t even said anything? You are weird, really weird, and it will be your downfall. We need you in the shop, what with the recent wave of people sent beyond the hills, and their families reduced to Mansit Status, otherwise I would report you, I really would. That man this morning,” he gestures wildly towards the door where the man has long gone, “that man was born an Umbo and he will receive his Altiorem Status any day now, any day! And you offend him, here, in my shop! What do you think that does for my own Altiorem Status? Well?” He glares at Gax, clearly furious, as Gax has compromised Grabus’ status ambitions.

  “I’m really sorry,” Gax sa
ys and he means it, although some of Grabus’ statements need thinking about. “I really didn’t mean to cause you problems,” but that’s as far as he gets. Grabus waves his hand angrily like you do at a pesky wasp, then, after leaning into Gax’s face, telling him loudly that he really is very weird, he stomps back to his office. Gax takes a deep breath and decides to clean the bottom shelf for a while, needing to sit down after all that. What did Grabus mean about the recent wave of people sent beyond the hills? Had something big happened, involving a lot of people? Or were people sent beyond the hills once a large enough group had been formed? More questions, always more questions! Gax is relieved when the day is over, Grabus yelling at him from the other side of the shop to go home, Inritia ignoring him still.

  Gax feels a little lost in his home, he can’t get to his notebook, he can’t get to his Book and it’s too early to go to the gym. He tells Yulra to play some music for him, his favourite and he just sits on the sofa. After a minute he lowers himself on the sofa, quite sure that the camera can’t pick up his face like that. He closes his eyes, his lips only showing that he isn’t asleep and he mumbles all his grievances and discouragements out into one long complaint. Yulra stops him, telling him it is time for him to go to the gymnasium, as it is two minutes past his regular time. “Thanks Yulra, glad you’re so observant,” he says, sarcasm lost as usual and she thanks him politely.

  Caecilia is in the cooling down room, but after a very quick look, avoids eye contact, shaking her head only the tiniest of bits. He does his stretching, slower than normal, his heart heavier than his muscle mass by a long shot. He walks home slowly, only glancing at the entrance to the little path leading to the tower. When he gets home, he goes to bed earlier than usual, but he doesn’t feel like more sitting around, knowing someone is watching his every move. He might as well get some rest. Only a few days till he can get a computer, then hopefully he can get in touch with his team. Deep in his heart, he hopes that they will agree that the mission is pointless with him being watched and the people beyond the reach of one operator. Imagining the order to return home, his heart beats faster. He will need to start building a coracle soon…whilst being watched? He spends the rest of his waking moments trying to think of ways of building the little craft without the watchers realising.