“Ma’am? Do you have any other orders?” Carson asked.
Katherine pretended to wipe a drop of rum from her lip, enjoying the way his gaze went to her mouth. She rewarded loyal soldiers, and she intended to reward this one personally. Sooner rather than later.
She met his eyes, allowing that promise to show on her face. “I expect that we will complete this operation later tonight, after my conference call with all six heads of state has ended.”
The captain nodded, standing straighter, his face now a mask of professionalism. “Everything will be ready on your word, ma’am.”
Katherine waved a hand. “You’re dismissed, Captain Wells.”
Once he’d exited the room and shut the heavy wooden doors behind him, Katherine turned to face the windows, her drink in hand. As she did, the first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, streaming into her office, bathing her in warm light. It was as if some higher power wanted to let Katherine know that it saw her plans… and it approved.
Pride swelled within her, and she couldn’t help but smile. She drained her glass.
Progress required sacrifices.
And luckily for the world, Katherine always knew how to make the right ones.
Selene pushed the wheelbarrow down the dirt drive, sweat dripping into her eyes. Telmont’s pleasant dawn weather had ended with the storm, and the noon air was like moving through thick soup. The beating sun had dried the soil afterward, leaving behind a thick curtain of moisture that choked her with every breath. She focused on her steps, measuring the distance to the shimmering cracked asphalt of the highway ahead. Holy hell, she wouldn’t judge Nan again for avoiding this.
The best way to get through these summer days was to try to nap until the heat faded. And that’s exactly what Nan and Eli were doing right now. The second they’d fallen asleep, Selene had taken off with a wheelbarrow full of food to sell by the road. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Once she reached the end of the drive, she erected the weather-beaten stand hidden in the brush and quickly unloaded the fresh produce and canned food. The cooler doubled as a chair and gave her a good view of the deserted two-lane road that connected with the highway into downtown.
Selene’s knee moved up and down of its own volition, and she spun her cuff on her wrist, sliding it over her implant, feeling exposed.
The police worked for the Corporate Coalition, and Infinitek was its most powerful member. If a cop car decided to turn down this road and saw her selling food illegally…
What would she do? She hadn’t thought that far ahead. She’d have to sprint home, hide with Eli, and let Nan explain her way out of this. Selene swallowed, doubt creeping into her veins. Coming down here had been a mistake.
But… Eli’s only pair of shoes had holes in them. None of this was fair—none of it was his fault. A little flame of anger ignited in her chest, making it tight. If Nan wouldn’t do what needed to be done, then Selene had to.
A glint of metal appeared in the distance, and she squinted, her pulse picking up.
Not a cop. She blew out a breath.
Two cars and an SUV drove toward her, and by way they wavered on the pavement, no way were they being autodriven. It was strange… They were as untethered to the network as Nan’s second gen electric, even though turning off autodrive was also practically illegal these days.
Definitely untethered. The driver of the first car, an old Goog model, had his hands on the steering wheel.
Selene didn’t have more time to think about it, it pulled to stop right in front of her stand. She took a quick sip of water from her thermos and stood, her heart beating too fast.
The other car and SUV, both older Tesla models, but newer than Nan’s, slowed to a stop behind the first.
A bearded man got out of the driver’s side of the blue Goog, and a slim blond woman stepped out of the first Tesla. An old heavyset man came around from the SUV.
They congregated behind the vehicles, talking in low voices. One of them pointed back the way they had come. Were they arguing? Selene’s pulse picked up, and she reached for her waistband, wishing, for once, that she had a gun holstered there.
After a moment, the woman lifted a hand and gave Selene a friendly wave. Selene forced a smile and waved back, relaxing a little. It would be fine. They were just normal folks, like the dozens Nan had sold to in the past. Vacationers, it looked like. They had suitcases in the cars, and a child peeked out from one backseat window, looking at her curiously. What would it be like, just getting in a car and driving anywhere you wanted to? A black lab stuck his head out, his pink tongue lolling to the side.
We had a dog like that back in Seattle. The memory flitted to the surface before Selene could push it away. The scent of chocolate-flavored coffee permeating the air. Mommy laughing in the front seat, applying her lipstick. Daddy reaching out to grasp her hand across the console, the car driving itself. And Selene, in the backseat, with a yellow dog she’d loved beside her. He’d hung out the window, ears flapping in the wind as they drove, experiencing the kind of high that dogs dream about.
Her parents had died in that car.
Selene pressed her lips together, and the memory dissipated. Her whole childhood came and went in pieces—scents and images. Like someone else had lived it. It was as if the night her parents died she’d stepped into a parallel universe—one where the old Selene had never existed.
The three travelers finally came over to the stand to survey her offerings.
Selene spun the cuff on her wrist. “Hey folks.”
The woman murmured a greeting and wiped a hand across her damp forehead. She looked overheated. They all did. Townsfolk were so spoiled by air conditioning.
“Where y’all headed today?” Selene asked.
“Just driving to the coast,” the woman said.
“Sounds fun.” Selene averted her eyes and straightened the jar closest to her.
“How much for the jars?” the woman asked.
“Ten bits each.” Selene looked back up, so she could gauge the woman’s reaction.
The woman’s eyes widened, and she exchanged glances with the men.
Maybe her prices were off. Food prices fluctuated constantly. “But—you know, the more you buy, the more you can save,” Selene said. Dammit. She’d spied on Nan haggling before, and it had sounded a lot smoother than this.
The woman cleared her throat. “Ten, then. And the fresh produce?”
“Ten bits’ll get you five peaches or two bunches of collards. And I’ve got a few dozen free-range chicken eggs in the cooler. Twenty bits a dozen.”
The bearded man pointed to the zucchini. “Are these—are these GM?”
“No, sir. No genetically modified stuff here. Organic and pure.” Unlike me. Selene forced herself not to touch her cuff again.
The blond woman reached into her pocket and slapped a silver bitstick onto the stand. “How much for all of it?”
Selene’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”
“All of it. Everything here.” She glanced back at the vehicles. “I think we can make it fit.”
“Umm… Let me see.” Selene’s pulse raced as she tried to add up the cost.
All of it? No one had ever bought all of it. Had she heard them right?
The old man laid a hand on the woman’s arm. “We’re in a hurry. We’ll give you three hundred bits for it.”
Selene went still, swallowing. They were offering more than what she would have charged them. When was the last time they’d made three hundred bits? Nan would be very quick to forgive once she heard what Selene had made.
“Well… I’m not sure,” she said, trying to keep the excitement from her voice. Should she try to haggle for more? “I really couldn’t part with it all for less than four hundred and fifty. And that’s with a discount.”
“Fine. We’ll take it.” The woman activated her bitstick and typed in the amount.
Selen
e’s stomach clenched as she removed her own bulky bitstorage card from her pocket. She hesitated for a moment, the knots in her gut pulling harder. Something was off with these people.
Be happy. Who cares why they want it all? It’s none of your business.
She tapped her offline card against the woman’s thin networked device, and both blinked, verifying that the amount had been transferred. Selene checked hers. 450.00. Her mouth went dry at the amount. “Great. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have enough bags—”
“It’s fine,” the bearded man said. “We’ll load it up.”
Selene nodded and began stuffing collards into some of the bioplastic bags Nan saved from their rare trips to the market for dry goods.
“Here, let me help.” The woman said kindly, taking a bag from Selene’s hand. She hurriedly filled it with the loose fruit.
The two men helped move most of the bags to car, then headed back to the SUV and pulled a cooler from the back. An urgent voice, a girl’s, spoke to them from inside the vehicle.
Selene worked faster to bag the last of the produce.
“So you have a farm around here?” the woman asked. “What’s it like around these parts? Good soil?”
Selene shrugged.
“I just like to know where our food comes from.” The woman let out an awkward laugh, and Selene realized how rude she was being. These people had just given her a windfall.
“We just have a small homestead,” Selene answered quietly.
“A homestead. Your family off-grid then?” The woman gently touched Selene’s arm. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she said, lowering her voice. “They shouldn’t ban you folks from using bits. I admire people who are brave enough to live off the grid. You can take care of yourselves.” The woman’s eyes seemed too bright, and Selene tried to smile back but couldn’t.
Eight years of isolation swept over her in a wave. Her rare trips into town had been met with suspicion and judgment. When was the last time a stranger had been kind to her?
The woman’s brow furrowed at Selene’s expression, and she drew her hand away. Selene turned around, grabbing another bag, her eyes burning. The woman’s soft touch and kind words had shifted something inside her, shattering a wall Selene hadn’t even realized was there. She blinked away tears as she watched the men transfer everything from her cooler to theirs.
“You know, I lived on a farm, once,” the woman continued. “Just my mother and me. Not off the grid but still lots of hard work when you don’t have enough hands to help you run it.”
“Tell me about it.” Selene swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I can’t imagine running a farm with two hands. It’s hard enough with our gardens.”
The woman passed the last bags to the old man. “Thank you again,” she said to Selene.
She hurried back to her car as the two men finished loading the other car. The older one rapped on the tinted window of the SUV, and it slid down. A teen girl with long, straight black hair and Asian features grabbed one of the bags from the bearded man and rolled the window back up. Then they were all restarting their cars.
They’re leaving, see? Everything’s fine.
By the time the tail end of their little caravan disappeared around the curve, Selene had her gear packed up in the wheelbarrow and was pushing it home, dust kicking up in her wake. A sudden feeling of doubt niggled at her, but she shoved it aside.
I did it. I sold food by myself, and nothing bad happened. She started grinning, her chest light, new energy flowing through her. Then she glanced up.
Nan was waiting for her at the gate, and she looked livid.
Selene kept her head down as she pushed the wheelbarrow toward the front gate. She didn’t meet Nan’s eyes until she had no choice.
“Do not tell me you were down at that stand,” Nan said, her hands on her hips.
“I sold some food so we can get supplies in town.” Selene’s words came out in a rush. “Only vacationers saw me, I swear. Nan—they bought everything. I got 450.00 bits.” Selene sucked in a breath to keep defending herself, but she stopped.
Nan wasn’t even looking at her anymore. She had a hand over her mouth and was staring past Selene. The anger in her eyes had faded, replaced by something else. That look… Worry? Fear? Nan was brave, a fighter, someone who didn’t back down in the face of adversity. Whatever look was on Nan’s face right now… Selene never wanted to see it again.
“Nan.” Selene let go of the wheelbarrow and went to her, wrapping her in a hug. “It was all fine, okay? They’re gone now. We have bits. Eli needs clothes and a new math book. We can replace the broken pump! Maybe we can get something to plug the roof!”
Nan let out a rough laugh and held Selene tighter, like she was afraid to let go. “Okay.”
“Okay… meaning you’re not mad?” Selene asked.
“Oh, I’m mad.” Nan released her and shook her head. “But… we did need the bits. You did good, girl. I’ll try to get the car started so we can go to town this afternoon.”
“Thank you!” Selene wrapped her in a hug again, giddy with excitement.
“But… I think this will be our last trip to town for a little while,” Nan said. “And you have to promise me—next time we need bits, you let me do the selling.”
Selene hugged Nan tighter. “I promise.”
One hour later, Selene’s high spirits had dissipated.
Nan rattled off her latest string of curses as she slammed down the hood of their car. “It’s not going anywhere today. It’ll be a while before I can get it working again.”
Eli’s face fell, all his excitement from moments before draining from him like water escaping a cracked watering can.
Selene kicked a pebble with her boot and grabbed his hand. “Then we’ll walk to town.”
“I think not.”
“We’ll be fine.”
Nan ran her hand along the car’s bumper and rubbed her dust-covered fingertips together, frowning.
“We went alone the last time the car wouldn’t start. It doesn’t get dark until late now. We have more than enough time to get there and back.” Selene pointed to Eli’s beat-up tennis shoes. After this trip, they’d need to go in the trash. “Besides, he really needs new shoes.”
“You know I don’t like you going alone.”
Selene dropped Eli’s hand and walked over to Nan. “Please. We’ve done it plenty of times. We’ll be fast. We’ll go to Thrift and come right back. No one will even notice us.”
“Please, Nan,” Eli said. “You always stay in the car when we drive there anyway.”
Nan’s face scrunched up. “But I’m right there with you.”
“Nan, seriously. Nothin’s gonna happen. We’ll come right back. Eli hasn’t left the homestead in months.”
Eli had been thrilled at the prospect of a trip to town, but the truth was that she needed to get out of here, even if only for a few hours.
Nan sighed and wiped her hands down her apron. “I don’t like it. If you go, you take a gun.”
Selene shook her head, remembering the last time she’d walked to town with a gun on her. Too stressful. “We don’t need a gun. I’ll take a knife.”
“You know that if you go into town without me, you take a gun.” Nan leveled her with the look until Selene nodded in defeat.
Nan headed for the house, and Selene went after her.
“What if I get caught?” she said in a low voice.
Nan grabbed the keys from the hook inside the kitchen and tossed them to Selene. “Now that’s the whole point of bringing the gun, isn’t it? But don’t get caught. You go to Thrift, and you come right back.”
Selene stopped arguing. The longer she stuck around, the greater the chance Nan might change her mind. Keys in hand, she turned and jogged past the gardens to the shed at the end of the yard. She unlocked the door, stepped into the tiny space, and sneezed. They needed to clean this place out. Ha. Correction: she needed to
clean this place out. No one else was gonna do it.
She grunted as she shoved the heavy toolbox off their trap door. Buried in the earth beneath, lay three gun cases and two locked trunks of ammo. Illegal, but Nan had a supplier. When the ammo ran low, she’d drive off and come back with more. Selene wanted to know where she went, but Nan’s only response was: “The less you know, the better.”
So hypocritical. Nan insisted Selene watch casts like Scraggle’s so she could learn the “truth” about the world. So why did she always try to shelter Selene from the things she should know, like where to get more ammo if there was ever a crisis… or the truth about the Protecteds being defective?
Nan seemed to have double standards about a lot of things.
Selene lifted a gun from the locked case, loaded it, and clipped the holster to the waistband of her jeans. She had to admit, the weight of it on her hip was comforting. But she’d have to tie her jacket around her waist to conceal it, in this heat. Nothing suspicious about that.
Nan was waiting for Selene on the porch with her windbreaker and backpack. Selene took the bag and peeked inside. A thermos and peaches. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Be safe.” Nan kissed them both and hugged Selene tight enough to crack a rib.
“We’ll be back in a few hours,” Selene croaked out, and Nan let her go.
Selene wrapped the jacket around her waist, slung the bag over her shoulder, and she and Eli set out. By the time they reached the end of the dirt drive, the underarms of her thin t-shirt were soaked through.
“What’s a quarantine?” Eli asked.
Selene went cold. What had Eli heard? She tried to act natural and lifted a brow. “Ha! I knew you were listening at Nan’s door this morning. You shouldn’t do that. You’re lucky I’m not gonna tell on you.”
They turned, wading through the grass at the edge of the highway, and Selene’s stomach churned. Had he heard the part about the Protecteds, too?
“Sooo… what’s a quarantine?” Eli asked again.
Selene’s damp hand slid down the strap of her bag. “When people get sick, they have to stay in one spot so they don’t get other people sick.”
Defective (Fractured Era Book 1) Page 6
