Heightened: The Federation Series

by Miria Masdan

  “He’s catching up,” says the man.

  “What’s going on,” I ask?

  “We need to abort and regroup,” says Sean. “She can’t handle it.”

  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” I shout. “What is going on?”

  “She is terrified,” he says, “have some compassion.”

  “I do,” Sean says, “more than anyone. I just don’t want to get caught.”

  “I wish I could explain everything to you, but I don’t have time.” The man says. He reaches over to my hand and pulls it away from Quinn. “I see; it’s him.”

  He gets up and charges towards Sean, “I thought I could trust you.”

  “I didn’t know,” Sean says.

  “It’s your job to know,” the man says, “How did he, get graduation patrol?”

  “I don’t know,” Sean tries to back away. “Everything is in jeopardy now. I know that…I’m trying to fix it, but we have to go now!”

  “We’ve worked too hard,” the man says, “for a mistake like this to ruin it all.”

  “It’s not too late,” Sean says. “We complete the transfer, and then she’ll be ready to download more information, and then we reset them. We’re so close.”

  He turns and glares at me, “Do you know him!”

  It takes me a second to decide between a lie or tell the truth. I choose to lie. I shake my head.

  “Nothing at all,” he asks?

  “No,” I say.

  “She knows him,” says Sean. “I heard her talk to him.”

  “How much do you know,” the man asks? “Damn it, Emma! We’re all risking our lives to save you.”

  He comes close again. He grabs my face. He’s looking right into my eyes. I can feel his breath against my face. His hands are rough. He smooth’s my hair back.

  “God, you are so beautiful.”

  “What?” I say. I’m confused.

  “I hate that you don’t remember me,” he says. He kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry that you don’t understand, but you need to know…you’re on our side.’

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” I say.

  “I know,” he says, “but you have to trust me.”

  I look at Sean. He looks mad and impatient. “We need to go!”

  “What do you remember,” he asks? “Do you remember me?”

  I look at him; his eyes, his face, his lips.

  I shake my head no.

  “That’s okay,” he says, “it’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

  He pulls me up.

  I look down to Quinn, “I can’t leave him.”

  “Emma,” Quinn whispers. “Don’t trust…”

  “He needs help,” I say. “Please.”

  “We have to go; he can’t come with us.” He says. “He’ll be fine. He’ll wake up with a massive headache, but he won’t be harmed at all.”

  “Will he remember me?”

  “I hope not,” he says.

  “I don’t want to forget him,” I say. A tear rolls down my cheek.

  “You never do,” he says/

  “Why is this happening?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he says, “it was years ago, and you’ve both moved on…without each other.”

  “Emma,” Sean says. “I’ll make sure he’s fine.”

  I lean over Quinn and kiss his lips. He opens his eyes. He gasps for air.

  “I’m sorry,” I say

  I leave with the man. We head down a stairway. It twists around, and around. We are a little over three flights down when I realize; we’re below the lowest level of the POE.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Down,” he says.

  “I understand that, but where?”

  “To the Under,” he says, “it’s not the best place to transfer, but it’s safer than up there.”

  “Transfer,” I ask?

  “Don’t worry about it,” he says, “it’s painless, and this is your last time for a while.”

  He leads me to a door. He opens it, and we step out into a dark roadway. He pulls out a gun, looks both ways and motions for me to follow him. I do.

  We walk for about ten minutes, in the shadows before we come to an ally. It leads to the back of the building. He goes first, holding my hand. Five men are waiting for us when we round the corner; they are armed with some serious looking weapons.

  They lower their guns when they see him. They walk with us into a building on the other side of the courtyard. One of the men opens the door, and he motions for me to go inside.

  “It’s nice to see you again, Emma.” He knows my name, and he's courteous. I look at him, but I don’t recognize him at all.

  “Nice to see you again too,” I say.

  He laughs. “It’s okay. I know you don’t remember me.”

  Who are these people and why do they all know me, and why is it okay that I can’t remember any of them? I have so many questions, but I am afraid to ask.

  We enter a room to the back of the building. He turns on the light. It is sparse, except, a table in the center and an elaborate computer right next to it.

  I back away, but he grabs my hand.

  “It’s okay,” he says. “Just lie down, and it will be over before you know it, and you can get back to your night.”

  I shake my head. I can’t talk. I start to cry. Someone grabs me from behind and lifts me towards the table. He sets me down, and him and another man strap my hands, legs and across my abdomen to the table.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier just to tell her?” one of the men says.

  “No, she needs to be able to convince everyone up top, that she’s one of them,” the other says. “Give her the sedative, before she hurts herself.”

  The man with the disheveled blond hair is holding a needle. He leans over and kisses my lips. I turn away. I push against my restraints.

  “Emma,” he says. “Someday soon this will be all over; I hope you can forgive me.”

  “Let me go!”

  “Don’t struggle,” he says, “it will hurt.”

  The other two men hold me down. I’m pushing and pulling so hard; they have to use all their weight. It’ hurts, but I don’t stop.

  “Please stop,” he says.

  He tears my sleeve and reveals my shoulder. He pushes the contents of his needle into my arm. I can feel it burn, as it spreads through my flesh. A warm, numbness follows the burn. My body gives into the medicine quickly.

  His hand is on my face. He’s wiping away my tears. I can see his eyes. They are hurt, and lonely. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “I love you.”

  I try and lash out at him. My wrists hurt, and my will to fight is being taken over by my need to give in. The medicine is powerful. My eyelids are heavy.

  “Let me go,” my voice is just barely a whisper. “Please.”

  “Go to sleep,” he says.

  “I don’t want to,” I roll my head to the side. I close my eyes. I can see the man’s face, his blond hair. I force my eyes open. “Why?”

  “It’ll be okay,” he says. His voice is soothing.

  “Peter,” I say, “when I wake up…”

  “She just said your name,” I hear the words.

  “Emma,” he says. “Look at me. Do you remember me?”

  “Yes,” I try to say, but I can’t move my mouth. I can’t see anything beyond the white haze. “Peter, I want to go home.”

  “Emma,” I can feel his hands on my arms. He’s shaking me. I can feel it, but it stops.

  “She’s never done that before,” a voice, floating, drifting down to me.

  “Emma,” he’s calling for me. It echoes against my skull. I call back, but there is no sound.

  I am alone.

  Dark, warm, and dull; I drift.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Quinn

  I open my eyes. I’m in the forum, and I have no idea how I got there. The last thing I remember is leaving the security office and heading to the banquet.
I access my visual display.

  “Access data log.”

  REPORT: unavailable

  I don’t bother to try and access it again. There is something wrong with my program. Maybe Smith is right; the energy spikes must be interfering.

  I think about the unusual girl from the assigning ceremony. I need to find her and ask her some questions. I access my visual display. The banquet is over, and the interns have free time before they have to report to the health center.

  “Track: Emma Greene.”

  REPORT: location unknown

  “Continue and notify when located.”

  My program allows me to monitor a fifty-yard radius from my location. The POE should fall into my range. Could she have left the building? The off-line life force entered from across the meadow. If she is working with him, it’s possible she might be out of range. I decide to find a thermal scanner. It’s time to go old school,

  I open the door to the old security office. I wonder why they didn’t decommission the technology in this room. No one uses it anymore; it’s not compatible with the Federation program. I sit at the desk and look around the room. I still feel like I left something in here earlier. There’s a storage cabinet to my right. It’s locked. I search the drawers of the desk and find a ring of keys. I try five before I find the right one. Inside is the thermal scanner. It’s bigger than I anticipated. I find an old backpack and shove the scanner, and a bunch of other low-tech items inside. I grab anything that I think might be useful in tracking someone off-line.

  MESSAGE: suspect apprehended

  They found him. I go straight to the security office. I walk in, and no one looks my way. They are too busy with the suspect.

  “This is the last time I am going to ask you,” Max says. “Who sent you here and what is your mission.”

  The man sits in silence.

  “Neutralize him,” Max says.

  “Wait,” I interrupt.

  Everyone looks at me.

  “Where is she?”

  He’s still silent.

  “Who are you talking about,” Max asks?

  “Quinn,” Smith warns.

  “I’ve been searching for a missing intern,’ I say. “I think he knows where she is.”

  “Is she complacent,” Max asks? “Is she within protocol?”

  I hesitate, “Yes.” I lie.

  “What the Hell is going on here,” Max is furious. He slams his fist into the suspects face. He falls out of his chair. Another officer grabs him and slams him back into the chair.

  “You can’t come here and commit crimes,” he says. “The punishment is death. Where is the intern?”

  Max hits him again.

  The man starts to laugh. “You have no idea what is coming.”

  “Enlighten us,” I say.

  “Save us all some time,” he says, “and kill me now.”

  “Where is she?” I grab the man’s neck and dig my fingers deep.

  “What do you care,” he asks?

  “What did you do to her,” I ask?

  “You’ll never know,” he says. “You should have let her go with me earlier, and she’d be safe right now.”

  “What is he talking about,” Max asks?

  “I have no idea,” I say.

  The man gives me a strange look, “They got to you too.”

  “Who,” I ask?

  “The rebels,” he says.

  “He’s a rebel, isn’t he,” Smith asks?

  “What a mess you’ve fallen into,” the man says.

  What happens next catches us all off guard. The man somehow releases his restraints, grabs the closest officer’s weapon, and self-terminates.

  We all stand silently for a moment.

  “Who’s this girl that’s missing,” Max asks?

  “Her name is Emma Greene,” I say.

  “I’ve been tracking her,” I say, “and she went beyond my radius.”

  “Why were you tracking her,” Max asks?

  Smith starts laughing, “If you saw her, you’d know exactly why he’s tracking her.”

  “Really,” Max asks? “Is that what you’ve been doing all day long?”

  “No,” I send Smith an annoyed look. “I noticed her acting unusual in the forum, and I started tracking her.”

  “You scanned her, right?”

  “Yes, she was normal.”

  “So let’s get this straight,” Max sounds pissed off. “You had contact with the suspect and didn’t report him, and you were using Federation Defense technology to track a citizen because you thought she was attractive?’

  “No,” now I’m pissed.

  “Everyone, leave the room,” Max orders.

  He waits until the door is closed before he speaks. “What is going on?”

  “She’s missing,” I say. “I need to find her.”

  “Who is she,” he asks?

  “Just an intern,” I say.

  “Let’s look her up,” he uses the monitor to access her profile. “Emma Greene, eighteen, Agricultural, blah, blah, blah; Wait this is interesting, Adam Benson has applied to be her partner.”

  I feel like a knife is twisting in my gut. I sit at the desk and take a closer look at the screen. She is important.

  “She’s missing,” he asks? “We need to report this.”

  “Wait,” I say. “This can’t be true. It says she’s in the girl’s dorm.”

  “Access Emma Green location.”

  REPORT: unknown

  It’s me. My program is broken. I don’t say anything to Max. I’ll have Smith look at it again, maybe he can fix me before anyone finds out.

  “She’s not missing,” he asks? “So what was he talking about?”

  “Maybe she stepped outside,” I say. “It’s not forbidden. And maybe he was just playing along.”

  “I’m going to get someone in here to clean up this mess,” he says. “You need to head to the health office and start receptor duty.”

  “My punishment,” I ask?

  “Yes,” he says. “Count yourself lucky that tonight is the Heightening, and I need you with me tonight. Otherwise, you’d be in the brig.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Emma

  I open my eyes, and I have no idea where I am. My eyes aren’t adjusted to the dark room. I stand up. I take a step and run into something. I feel the object. It is hard and covered with fabric. I reach to my left, and to my right. It’s a row of chairs. I’m in the forum. I feel my way to the aisle, and head to the doors.

  I exit into the hallway. I’m alone. I access my calendar; it’s almost time for the heightening. I think back to my last memory. It’s of me and Quinn talking in the forum. We were arguing. I don’t remember anything after he grabbed me.

  I head to the lobby of the health office. I look around the room for Quinn. He’s sitting at a station. His head is down. I go over and stand in his line, and I wait for my turn.

  Each scan is uneventful. He doesn’t pay any particular attention to any of the interns. I watch the girl in front of me. It seems painless and quick. I hear him explain to her that there will be a series of three shots. She leaves and head into the office for her series of inoculations. I place my hand on the receptor. He’s not paying attention. He reaches over to clear the screen, and I grab his hand. He looks up at me. I recognize the look on his face; it is the third time today that I have surprised him. He looks confused because he is confused. It’s the same reaction, all over again. I prepare myself to explain it to him, one last time.

  He yanks his hand away and looks around the room. I was late, so I am one of the last interns in line. I lean closer to him.

  “Quinn,” I say, “I need to talk to you.”

  “Excuse me,” he whispers. He looks around quickly and then looks back at me. “Where did you go?”

  “I’m sorry, you remember me,” I ask? I wasn’t expecting him to know me at all. “We need to stop meeting like this.”

  “Are you okay,” he asks? “I looke
d for you. I thought you went to the forum, but when I looked you weren’t there. It was like you disappeared.”

  I hesitate, but I oblige. “I’m fine.”

  “You should be careful,” he says. He is furious. “Something is going on here.”

  “How are you feeling,” I ask? “I was worried. I thought…it doesn’t matter. You’re here.”

  “Did something happen,” he asks? “I have to make a report.”

  “No, I have too much going on right now and an investigation would just complicate things.”

  “Are you sure,” he asks? “I can help.”

  “I’m fine,” I say. “It’s very kind of you to be concerned.”

  “Why do you look so familiar?”

  “What?” I must look like an idiot because I can’t stop looking at him. His eyes are locked on mine. The space in between, us seems small, and I can’t see or hear anyone else. I can imagine him against me, our bodies are tight. “We talked earlier, remember?”

  “Yes, but it’s more than that, right?’

  “No,” I say.

  “It’s time,” he says.

  I place my hand on the receptor. It’s the low vibration that I am used to at first, but it intensifies. I clench my teeth. I can feel the heat from the upload spread into my arm and then all over my body.

  The pain recedes. I wait for him to release me. He looks up at me.

  “You’re finished,” he says.

  “I have to go,” I say.

  “Wait,” he says. “Where are you going tonight?”

  “To the reception,” I say.

  My night is not turning out as I had hoped. I look around the room. I see Adam looking right at me. I look back to Quinn. He notices him too.

  “Maybe, I’ll see you,” he says.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I say. I look back towards Adam.

  “What is going on,” he says. “My offer of help still stands. I can help.”

  “I don’t want you involved,” I say. “I will be fine.”

  I walk over to Adam. He goes inside the offices with me. They call my name, and I enter a small room.

  “I’ll be right back,” the nurse says.

  “What was he talking to you about,” asks Adam? “He seemed a bit familiar with you.”

  “It was nothing,” I say. I am very careful about my choice of words. He still thinks he re-set me. “What are our plans for tonight?”