“How is it that the Keepers have so much power over the earth, the wind, fire, water and yet are so weak? We should be more different to the Journeymen. We should live longer. We should look prettier. But no, we’re just as mortal and look just like them,” one girl remarked.
“That’s a strength. It helps us relate to them. And it puts us in our place, helps us remember our Purpose,” Dana replied patiently.
“That’s probably what Temba was thinking when he made those Formidables,” a boy answered.
“It’s Dr. Temba to you, son. Respect your enemies and you will be in a better position to defeat them,” John advised. “And yes, it’s harder fighting them when they look just like us. It’s difficult to get rid of one when we’re not sure if it’s a Journeyman or a Formidable. That’s one good case of camouflage.”
“And we all know what could happen if any of us Keepers killed a Journeyman, don’t we?” Dana said.
One eager boy raised his hand, then spoke up before anyone could give him permission.
“Nature turns against us!” the boy shouted excitedly.
“That’s one way of putting it,” John answered.
The headmaster took over, announcing that it was time to sing the school song. The piano began its introduction and, when the time came to sing the first verse, all the adolescent trainees broke into song.
For justice, for freedom we stand
To protect the pure and lowly Journeymen
For harmony and devotion to the cause
We unite and adhere to our laws
As the last voices died down, Dana and John looked over at each other pleased with the pride with which the boys and girls had sung. Then they set off after the assembly towards the adult training arena.
The life of a Keeper was that of continuously straining for mastery over the mind and body. There could be no complacency between battles. And so from birth to death, the Keepers trained. Dana could still remember the lessons she took as a child. She had started school at the age of five, learning languages, science and identifying the skill set that nature had given her. Keepers, in terms of ability, were a step above humans in that they were born with the power to control a single element of nature. It was the task of a five year old trainee to discover which element had been gifted to them -earth, water, wind or fire.
“Try harder, Dana,” her tutor had advised her as they stood at the edge of a customary cliff.
Dana had closed her eyes again, her legs crossed, hands placed on her knees. She settled herself, clearing all her thoughts from her mind. She focused on the sound of the wind as it brushed her face, hoping the wind might talk with her if it knew it was in her thoughts. But the wind did not take notice. It simply continued with its random motion, dancing to a tune of its own. Dana looked back at her tutor, her eyes pleading for guidance.
“Well, maybe it’s not the wind then,” Ms. Amelia the tutor said. “Move on to fire.”
Dana faced forward and closed her eyes again. This time, she balled her hands into fists and rested her knuckles against her knees. She had trimmed her nails that morning so that she could tighten her fists as much as possible without her nails digging into her palms. Mentally sweeping away any stray thoughts, she concentrated on her movements. But she could not feel any heat in her hands. They said a ‘friendly’ heat- not a scathing one- should creep into her fingers, her hands and then the rest of her body -rising through her hair until it appeared to be on fire. But that didn’t happen. Dana glanced back at Ms. Amelia again, fearful that she might not have any abilities at all.
“Of course you have an ability! You’re a Keeper!” Ms. Amelia had said that day.
So Dana closed her eyes again, then laid her hands flat on the ground at her sides. She should have heard the rumble and shifting of the earth as it conversed with her. But she heard nothing.
“It’s water!” Dana shouted excitedly. “I can control the seas!”
Ms. Amelia couldn’t help but smile as Dana trained her eyes over the cliff and watched the horizon as the sea rolled and churned, pleased at having found its kin. Dana stood up and raised her hands then, very slowly, above her head. As she did, the sea rose with her hands until a large wave stood casting a shadow over her. Dana smiled then lowered her hands slowly until the sea was calm again.
Now as she watched the adult trainees wrestling with each other, she was amazed at how far she had come since then. She had mastered all four elements over the last fifteen years. First water, then fire. Years after came earth, then wind. The day she won a contest with the wind, she was named a Great Keeper -officially capable of controlling all four elements.
But the training was never over. Even Great Keepers continued training to sharpen their senses and ease their frustrations. Because of the power they possessed, the Keepers were vigilant about keeping their emotions in check. There were rules in place since the beginning of time that ensured that there were consequences whenever the Keepers lost their temper or violated a fellow Keeper’s trust. Most important of all was the Purpose each Keeper was entrusted with: taking care of the human race. The murder of a Journeyman by a Keeper was strictly forbidden -the punishment being excommunication and the stripping of a Keeper’s abilities.
“What are you thinking?” John asked.
She had been lost in her thoughts, hardly noticing him at her side until now.
“Oh, just thinking about old times. Do you remember when we were children and they kept telling us how dangerous it was to murder a Journeyman?”
“How could I forget? My father told me that story all the time. And now I tell it to the children.”
“Right. But don’t you think it’s strange how they never finished the story? Even you end it with the same two sentences: ‘Nature turns against us. That’s one way of putting it’.”
“A terrible way to end any story. It’s awkward, to say the least. I asked the Bureau of Communication and Folklore if I could change it and they said no. They also said if I changed a word of it, I would be stripped of my office and demoted.”
“That’s one strong no. Why don’t they tell us why they do things the way they do?”
John smiled, “You mean why don’t they tell you why they do things the way they do.”
Dana blushed.
“Well, you have reason to expect some perks. You’ve done a lot for Espérer and the Journeymen. Not to mention singlehandedly putting us back together again after the last battle. Our very own Joan of Arc. But it’s probably best if as few people as possible know what’s behind the Rules and the Folklore.”
“Yes,” Dana said quietly, “You’re probably right. But do you think Lieutenant Blade is one of those people?”
John thought for a moment before he spoke, “I hope not.”
“Why do you say that?” Dana asked, surprised. “You don’t have anything against him, do you?”
“Good morning, Captain Reeves, Sergeant Howard,” a passing student said bowing his head reverently.
The Keepers believed it more respectful to bow than to salute. Dana and John returned the gesture, and carried on with the inspection of the adult trainees. As they walked, they reminisced about old times.
“Do you remember Ms. Amelia?” Dana asked.
“How could I forget?” John laughed. “She made me spend an entire day filling, emptying and refilling a bucket of water at the well just because I’d grumbled about the seasons passing too slowly.”
Dana smiled, “Patience wasn’t your strong suit. You were always the first one to head for the dining hall when the siren went off for lunch.”
“I was not.”
“Yes, John, you were. You were the first to do everything that could be done without thinking too much.”
“Everything was so simple back then,” John sighed.
“It was, wasn’t it? All we had to do was follow instructions and pass tests. Now we have all these responsibilities.”
“Are you, Captain Dana Reeves, actually c
omplaining about your responsibilities?”
Dana laughed, “It’s just that sometimes I wish everyone didn’t expect me to have the solutions to all our problems. Even Lieutenant Blade seems to think I should have everything figured out.”
“And you don’t?”
“You know I don’t.”
“You definitely seem like you do. In the Savvy meetings and even in bed, you always sound so sure about what needs to be done.”
“I can’t believe you just compared a Savvy meeting with a sex session,” Dana said, amused.
John turned red, “Well, I mean you’re always so confident. It’s like you were born to be in your position. And yet here you are, doubting yourself.”
Dana sighed and took John by the hand. They sat down on a nearby bench.
“I doubt myself all the time, John. For one thing, I didn’t see the Christmas attack coming. For another, it seems like this war is dragging on and on. Who am I to think I’ll be the one to end it?”
“You could be.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You know our history. According to folklore, every generation has a hero or heroine. It’s always someone who is ready to put the wellbeing of others above their own. Someone truly self-sacrificing and just. You managed to pull us out of the rut that we’ve been in ever since the last major conflict. Morale is high again. The academy is turning out some of the best graduates even Blade has ever seen. Don’t you see, Dana? We’re building up to a victory.”
“You really think that this next offensive will be successful.”
“We can’t afford to think we’ll fail, can we?”
“No,” Dana said, squeezing his hand, “We can’t.”
Chapter 2
Wondering how she could possibly know what he had done, he stumbled toward a cupboard in a corner of the large living room. He felt grateful the meeting was over. They had all gone. Retrieving a bottle of brandy from the cupboard, he consoled himself with the notion that she probably sensed something but didn’t actually know anything.
A cold draught blew through the castle as Blade stood in his living room. He raised his glass of brandy to his lips, savoring the bitter liquid as he rolled it around on his tongue. It was careless of him to be drinking when he needed to be alert and in charge of his senses at all times. But he was in no state to be reasonable. The events of the night before- a full moon night he would never forget- slowly paraded through his brain one after another like a funeral procession. The course of his life had changed in a matter of minutes. Blade could not help but marvel at the service he had given over the course of his fifty-nine-year life. All that hard work just so he could meet a disgraceful end.
As he paced around the room, Blade caught sight of a drop of water accelerating through the air and towards the floor.
“Damn this leaky roof...,” he muttered to himself.
He’d have to call someone to see to it later today. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he laughed at himself. If only he could keep worrying about leaky ceilings and counteroffensives instead of this mess he had gotten himself into. Finding a chair nearby, he settled himself and let his thoughts drift to the old days.
“And there she is,” Ms. Amelia had said back then as she pointed Dana out from a group of children reciting the Periodic Table of Elements.
“I’d like to talk to her.”
“What is your interest in her?” Ms. Amelia said, baffled.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Blade answered mysteriously.
Ms. Amelia eyed the man standing before her. He wore a navy blue uniform with a Chinese collar that suited his fit body perfectly. On his left chest, just above his heart, were four platinum badges showing his Great Keeper status. The first was shaped like a leaf, showing that his primary ability was to control earth -the ground, the vegetation that was rooted in the soil, the volcanoes on the surface of the earth included. The second was in the form of a drop of water, the next a whirlwind and the last, a wooden torch set alight. Blade wore black shoes that never seemed to lose their shine, even when he had been walking in the forest. At five foot six inches, he was not necessarily an imposing figure. But his eyes made up for that. They were gray, set under his furrowed brown brows and gave him the air of a serious commander wise beyond his years. He had no interests other than the welfare of Espérer and the Journeymen. He had no time for love affairs or challenging his fellow Keepers to duels just for the fun of it. He could usually be found at the training arena, strengthening his body, or under the shade of an outdoor café, reading a book to keep his mind sharp. He was reliable and strong. People felt safe around him.
So when, on that day many years ago, he asked to see Dana, Ms. Amelia fetched the little girl and handed her over.
“Hello, little girl,” Blade said as he bent to look Dana in the eye.
Dana kept silent, in awe of the great man she had heard of. Most of the battles they had won against Biolance so far had been led by Blade.
“I want to be just like you when I grow up,” Dana finally said.
Blade felt his features stretching to accommodate a smile, something they rarely did.
“You will be much stronger than I am, little girl.”
“Thank you. But how can you tell?” Dana asked, always the one to say what she was thinking.
Blade simply produced a spherical platinum pendant he had forged himself. It had longitudinal and latitudinal lines on it, as if it represented planet Earth. A gold chain ran through it and it shimmered in the sunshine as Blade fastened the pendant and chain around Dana’s neck.
“Wear this always to remember this day,” Blade said so seriously that Dana nodded and asked no more questions.
As Blade sat now in the comfort of his cold home, he took another sip of cold brandy. It wouldn’t be long before the decomposing body in the forest gave him away. He tried to imagine the look on Dana’s face when she found out what he had done. But when the image began to materialize in his mind’s eye, he quickly flushed it down his throat with the brandy.
PART II
THE JOURNEYMEN
Chapter 3
The footsteps came crunching down the gravel as the sun rose over the city of Metz. Exhausted from her graveyard shift, Rosie twisted the door knob and let herself into the house she had grown up in. Heading towards Simone’s room to check on her, she heaved a tired sigh and wondered if she could live like this for the rest of her life. But, at twenty-three, her job as a caterer at Biolance was finally secure. After spending the last five years of her life proving that she could provide the scientists who worked around the clock good food and stellar customer service, they had awarded her a one hundred year contract. She couldn’t wait until daybreak so that she could tell her parents they would soon be moving away from the outskirts of Metz, the rough part of town where most people lived in dilapidated housing and scavenged for food and clothing in the dumpsters of the richer Central Metz. Finally, her father could stop lending his body as an experimental subject in exchange for money. As she stealthily cracked the door of her little sister Simone’s room open, she felt a hand touch her shoulder and jumped.
“Shhh, it’s only me,” her mother said.
“Oh, thank heavens it’s you. Mom, what are you doing up so early?”
“I thought you were your father. He hasn’t come home yet.”
“But he should have been home hours ago.”
Rosie’s mother seemed worried as she pulled her daughter into the main bedroom, shaking her head as if under some type of spell. They sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing their hands together as much for comfort as to stave off the cold.
“Something has happened to him.”
“We don’t know that, Mom. Maybe he got delayed at the lab.”
“I told him he shouldn’t get involved in those experiments. He just keeps getting weaker and weaker. They’re killing him, treating him like a lab rat.”
Rosie looked across at her mother, feeli
ng helpless. She could think of no way of finding out what had happened to her father. All they could do was wait.
“Well, he won’t need to work as a lab rat anymore,” Rosie said, trying to cheer her mother up, “I’ve just landed a hundred year contract.”
Rosie’s mother looked over at her daughter, “Really?”
“Really.”
For as long as she could remember, Sophie had been pushing Rosie to go after her dreams and not let the constant disappointments ordinary citizens of Outer Metz faced. But now, as she looked at her daughter, she saw what a hopeless feat it all was.
“Aren’t you happy for me, Mom?” Rosie asked, confused.
“Of course I am. We’re finally getting out of this place and because of you. I’m proud of you.”
“But?”
“But you were competing for that contract with your best friend. As it is you both were earning enough only to buy supplies and couldn’t afford to help out at home or pay for an education. Now he’s back to square one. His family has lost out on an opportunity to live a better life. It’s a harsh world we live in. He’ll be signing up as a lab rat next, won’t he?”
“There are other opportunities,” Rosie said.
“You know that’s barely true. Only educated Journeymen can become lawyers and profit from all those intellectual property battles we have now. Or scientists and engineers, who conduct experiments on people like us.”
“Well those people need to eat too. And they need all sorts of services that ‘people like us’ can provide.”
Sophie looked at her daughter and sighed, “Rosie, don’t you see? You... We are part of a vicious cycle that won’t stop until you stop trying to work the system and start fighting it.”
“How can you say that, Mom? You know we’d only end up dead. Anyway, am I not the one who’s supposed to be talking about revolutions and changing things? If I’m content with the way things are, why aren’t you?”
The Great Keeper boxset: Science Fantasy Page 8
