Sanctuary Falling

by Pamela Foland

  “Well, I should leave you to your business,” Max said, handing her a business card, and glancing around the bathroom.

  She glanced at it, and made note of the local number. “Maybe we’ll run into one another again.”

  “Hopefully not on the job,” Max answered unlocking the door and slipping back out. Three women pushed in after him and eyed Yllera with smirks and raised eyebrows. Yllera ignored them and stuffed Max’s card in her pocket.

  Then she ducked into a stall and started typing her report into her pop-pad. This morning had been less than promising, but maybe news about Max would help her keep her job.

  - - - - - - - - - -

  Chapter 2

  Brace for Impact!

  ------------------------------------

  Annette used the last gulp of milk in the glass to swallow one of the pills Tina had given her. Then she shoved the glass and plate from her lunch back into the food processor. Closing the clear fronted, microwave-looking door of the processor activated it and the dishes disappeared back to wherever they came from. Annette briefly thought about that, maybe they disappeared to some big empty room somewhere, where people then washed them and put them away for the next person who wanted something. That thought cheered her, in a dejected sort of way, because if some big room full of dirty dishes existed somewhere, then Sanctuary needed dishwashers and maybe she could someday get a job doing that.

  A deep depression had settled on Annette since her discharge from the clinic. While she had been a patient there, Tina had visited her and treated her like someone of special import, giving her small words of encouragement at every opportunity. Since returning home that small light in Annette’s life had dimmed and a cold grim certainty had settled in. Annette hadn’t heard from Niri since the incident, not so much as a get well e-mail, and none of her fellow classmates from Niri’s classes had been to visit. Being that Niri was the only one in Annette’s corner, and that she had no hope of appealing to Sinclair, it seemed certain that Annette’s dream had died, knocked senseless by the support pole and dealt a fatal blow by the floor of the practice cavern. Annette would never become a factor now.

  So, for the last week, Annette hadn’t left the house. There didn’t seem to be a point, and her foster mother seemed content to let her recuperate in the safety of the house forever. Annette’s homework had been delivered as a school linked pop-pad. She hadn’t bothered doing it. She blamed her poor throbbing, though nearly healed, head every time her foster mother even tried to call her to task. Her foster mother had relented every time. Instead, Annette had filled her days by flicking through the channels of the media screen pausing on one only long enough to torture herself with news of the exploits of the factors.

  Annette left the kitchen and flung herself onto the living room couch. She was just getting into the proper position for an afternoon of mindless channel surfing when the door bell rang. Annette contemplated ignoring it. Her foster mother would wake up and get it if Annette didn’t, or whomever it was would leave a message.

  Ambivalently, Annette decided to get it. She tilted her head back and asked, “Who is it?”

  “Tina, I’ve come to check on your head,” came the answer after a brief pause.

  Annette cringed, Tina would figure out she was better and Annette would have to hurry up and do her stupid homework. “Fine,” Annette mumbled, “Let her in.” The door hissed open admitting Tina.

  Tina walked into the living room. Annette stared at the media screen and tried not to feel self conscious about her pajamas. “So, Annette, how are you doing?” Tina asked, not even making a move towards pulling out a scanner to check Annette’s head.

  “Fine.” Annette said while trying not to think about anything.

  “That didn’t sound fine,” Tina said sitting next to Annette on the couch. “Is your head still hurting?”

  “I guess, once and a while,” Annette answered.

  “Let me guess, only when you try to do your homework,” Tina said, finally pulling out a scanner. She aimed it at Annette. Annette briefly wondered why it never felt like anything to be scanned. “Well, this shows that you’re pretty much healed, but if you don’t feel any better then, I guess I’ll tell Niri that things will just have to wait a little longer. After all, you can’t always tell everything from a scan.”

  Annette tweaked the remote, flicking off the media screen, and sat up straighter. “What about Niri?”

  “Nothing much, she’s just been waiting to talk to you. Nevertheless, since you were on medical restriction, she didn’t want to bother you,” Tina said.

  “Medical restriction?” Annette thought, “Kids don’t go on medical restriction. Only grownups, like factors.” Briefly a hope tap-danced through the back of Annette’s mind, until it bounced off the mental image of the support pole.

  “Anyway, I guess I’ll leave you to finish, recuperating,” Tina said rising to leave.

  “What does she want?” Annette asked quickly. As she asked, Annette came to the depressing conclusion that Niri wanted to break the bad news to her in person.

  “How should I know?” Tina answered. Annette felt an itch at the back of her mind telling her that Tina did know, but didn’t want to be the one to tell her. “It can probably wait until you’re feeling up to going back to your old routine.”

  Annette’s heart sank, Tina was just trying to bait her into admitting she felt fine. Then would come the homework and the sheer depression of going back to school without the hope of ever being what she wanted to be. “Oh.”

  “Well, I’m leaving now, you call and let me know when you’re up to talking to Niri. For now, I’ll let your mom know you could go back to class tomorrow,” Tina went to the door.

  “Wait,” Annette said, shaken from her certainty by Tina’s words, “I guess I am feeling up to talking to her now.” Tina smirked and nodded and went to the door, she palmed it open and nodded to someone on her way out. The next thing Annette knew, Niri had taken Tina’s seat on the couch.

  “So, you’re feeling better,” Niri asked. Annette nodded still somewhat confused. “Good, because I don’t know how much longer Sinclair was going to wait, he really isn’t a patient man.”

  Annette’s mind seized. She couldn’t even visualize the head of factor training waiting on her for anything, not after what she’d heard him say. Sudden doubt about whether or not she had imagined overhearing that conversation didn’t help to lubricate Annette’s thoughts any. The only response Annette had, was, “Huh?”

  Niri looked at Annette for a minute and smiled, “I guess you’d like to know what this is about. Well, here it goes. I know you overheard Sinclair and I arguing. After your accident, it got even more heated. In the end we’ve come to an agreement. He’s going to allow you to do some testing to see if you are factor material, but. . .”

  Annette’s joy leaped out of her mouth in an excited scream which interrupted Niri, woke her foster mother and brought her running into the living room. By the time her foster mother arrived Annette was jumping up and down on the couch and beginning to regret it because of a slight residual dizziness.

  “What is going on in here?!” Annette’s foster mother shouted. Her tone of voice brought silence, and an end to Annette’s bouncing. Annette stood frozen on the couch cushion with a grin wrapped around her head.

  “I’m going to get to test to be a factor!” Annette ran off at the mouth.

  “That’s nice honey, how’s your head feeling?” Her foster mother asked nodding slightly at Niri.

  “Fine! Wonderful! I’ve never been better!” Annette bubbled, punctuating each statement with a bounce, but stopping as her vision wobbled just a bit.

  “I think you better sit so we can discuss this properly. I’m not sure if that is what’s best for you dear,” Her foster mother said taking a seat in a recliner across from the couch. Annette complied, landing on her butt and throwing her feet back towards the floor.

  “Well, Mrs. Jefferson, now that I can fi
nish, maybe I should start over for your mother,” Niri said, she briefly eyed Annette before looking to her foster mother, “Like I was telling Annette, Sinclair has agreed to some tests to decide whether Annette would make a good factor or not. The first test is no problem. She could do it now if she’s ready, and of course you agree to allow it. The problem is that after the first test she will need to do some intensive training, because part of the second test will be about how much improvement she’s made. Now, when I say >intensive’, I mean >intensive’. She will have to eat, sleep and dream factor training at least sixteen hours a day. It would be full time with physical, mental and equipment training, plus time set aside for school work. She would really need to stay in the dorms.”

  “She does already have the eat, sleep and dream part down,” Annette’s foster mother answered, rubbing the back of her neck, “but I don’t know. She is just getting over a pretty bad concussion and all. Plus, I worry that maybe factoring isn’t the best thing for her.” Annette’s heart sank, her foster mother was going to say no.

  With a wink at Annette, Niri offered, “Why not see how she does on the tests before deciding about that? Heck, if it isn’t for her, just having tried might be enough to get it out of her system.”

  “Do you really think she has a chance at making it?”

  A strange look passed across Niri’s face, “Trust me, I wouldn’t even have brought it up if she didn’t!”

  “Out of her system?” Annette’s foster mother mumbled to herself before taking a long look at Annette, “I suppose it is the only way I’m going to get her to catch up on her homework at this point.”

  “So that’s a yes?” Niri asked. Annette’s foster mother nodded quickly. Annette held herself still, almost believing that the conversation was just some hallucination cooked up by her concussion. “Well, Annette, if you’re ready and willing to work your butt off, I guess you should go gather up some of your personal things. You won’t need clothes or school stuff, that’ll be taken care of. Just grab the stuff that’ll help you feel less homesick.”

  Annette stood tentatively, then rushed to hug her foster mother, something she did only very rarely. Then she sprinted to her room. She spun around scanning the room quickly for what she would take. She looked at all of her posters of factors and faraway places, her books on factors, the dolls she had carefully sewn little prime jackets and made little factor gear for, and her files of clippings all about the daring deeds of factors. She didn’t need any of that, if she was going to make herself a factor! Still, part of her insisted she couldn’t leave the room empty handed.

  Annette looked around again, until finally she spotted the bi-fold picture frame by her media screen. In it was two family pictures; one of her real family, her, her brother, and her dead parents and sister; the other of her foster family, her foster parents, herself and her brother before he left to become a factor. Annette snatched up the picture frame. Then she noticed and grabbed her singed teddy bear. That was all she’d come to that house with it made sense to leave with it. She dumped out her backpack and put the bear and picture in it then she added her jewelry box and her diary from under her mattress. She couldn’t leave without that, her diary deserved to know about what happened after all the pages she’d filled talking about becoming a factor. Then on her way to the door, Annette remembered she was still in her pajamas. Quickly, she changed into a jumpsuit, stuffing her pajamas into the top of the bag. Then before she forgot, Annette grabbed the small bottle of pills Tina had prescribed. Finally with a last glance, Annette decided that if she needed something else she could just come back for it later.

  Annette swung the pack over her shoulder self consciously. Should she try to be casual, or how should she hold herself now. Undecided, she stepped out into the living room where her foster father had arrived and received the news. He smiled broadly at Annette and held his hands out for a hug. She raced to him, sweeping away any residual concern that he might veto her foster mother.

  He wrapped his arms around her. She heard a soft, almost silent whisper, “I know you can do it! I hope you know you are more special than a lot of people give you credit for. I bet you’ll knock that slob, Sinclair, on his butt and show him what a fool he is forever doubting what you can do!” He let her go when she straightened up against his arms in surprise at his words. It was the first time he’d said so much to her at once. He didn’t talk much in general, his first language had been telepathy. Then with him looking her straight in the eyes, but without his lips moving she heard the same soft whisper, “I am so proud of you.”

  Annette blinked in shock and turned to look at Niri. Niri smiled broadly and rose to leave, “If you’re ready we can go now.”

  Annette blinked again, didn’t Niri know that Annette had heard her foster father’s thoughts? Annette looked back at him. He continued to smile broadly at her. His face said he wasn’t aware of it either. Annette looked at her foster mother, who was now practically in tears. Annette squinted, finally faintly hearing her foster mother’s voice, “I hope she’s careful! She could get hurt again! My poor baby. . .” She didn’t seem to notice Annette’s ability to hear her either. Annette’s head spun counter to her injury, maybe she was hallucinating, or dreaming. She tried again to hear her foster parents, but heard nothing. Yes, she had to be dreaming.

  “Are you ready?” Niri paused at the door.

  Annette looked at her and nodded, then followed Niri, out onto the walkway all the way to the elevator. Niri pressed the call button, and took the time to tap a brief message into her pop-pad. Niri’s pop-pad had already bleeped, indicating a return message by the time the elevator doors opened. They paused before entering the elevator, “Annette, everything’s set for you to take the first test tomorrow. We’ll just get you situated in your quarters this afternoon. After that you can rest or do whatever you need to do to relax a bit before tomorrow.” Annette nodded and followed Niri into the elevator.

  Niri took Annette the long way to the practice cavern and led her down the hall of instructors offices and from there to the dormitory elevators. Then Niri took an abrupt left-hand turn down the hall to where the instructor’s quarters were. Annette glanced at the doors as they passed. They all had knobs, unlike most of the doors Annette had seen around Sanctuary, which opened by sliding back into the wall. Also, each door was labeled with a subject and a name, like Director, Chavez or Temporal Theory, Carlson. Finally, they passed a door labeled Pre-Training Everett. They stopped at the next door which was un-labeled. “Here we are,” Niri gestured at the door, “Now, don’t go getting a swelled head. This is just until you qualify for training. Then you go down in the dorms with everyone else.”

  Annette blinked once, twice then three full times, before squinting at the door. Then she chuckled to herself, she must still be dreaming. There was no way she could have even temporary quarters in the same hallway as some of the people she’d admired since she was five. She turned and smiled at Niri.

  “Room, you are now assigned temporarily to Annette Peterson. She’s hoping to become a factor trainee,” Niri said out loud.

  “Excuse me?” A computer voice vibrated ironically from a concealed speaker. It didn’t sound like the usual computer voice. It was full of personality, mostly feminine, and Annette thought it sounded almost upset by the idea Annette was to inhabit it. “I was assigned to Corrine Dayton, last time I checked!”

  Annette sucked in a breath, Corrine Dayton? She was one of the first factors, counted highly among Sanctuary’s founders, but she had stopped coming back to Sanctuary, since Sanctuary was separated off from the rest of the universe. Passing through the filters with her symbiont was difficult and painful for her. In the end Corrine had decided to make her home elsewhere. If this was the room she had lived in, it had every right to refuse Annette.

  Niri sighed, “And when was the last time you heard from her?”

  “Thirty-five years, four months and two days ago,” The computer voice answered.


  Niri nodded, “And do you at this time continue to contain any of her personal items?”

  “No, Angela retrieved them thirty-four years, three months, and eight days ago.”

  Niri nodded again, “So you’ve sat empty for thirty-five-ish years now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t you think you could let this poor girl stay here temporarily? I promise that it won’t be longer than a couple of months,” Niri asked.

  “I’m afraid I’ve explained this many times to that pinhead, Chavez. I do not recognize his authority! Therefore why should I recognize the authority of any of his underlings?” The voice muttered. Annette was trapped between utter shock at hearing such things voiced out loud where Chavez might hear them, and wanting to giggle in agreement.

  “Maybe because the girl I’m asking you to let stay here is applying counter to Sinclair’s previously expressed wishes,” Niri answered as though that would make all of the difference, “Frankly, it would piss him off to find out that you let her stay here.”

  A slight mechanical burbling passed through the speakers and there was a click. Niri tried the doorknob and it opened. Niri gestured for Annette to enter first. Annette stood there in shock, she was about to enter the former home of one of her biggest heroes. She couldn’t remember how to tell her feet to move forward.

  “Well, come on girl, I’m letting you stay,” The voice grumbled, “Temporarily!”

  Annette shoved herself across the threshold and was rapidly disappointed to see that the room didn’t look much different than the one at her foster parent’s house. There was a twin bed set into a niche in the wall opposite the door, a wardrobe door built into the wall at the foot of the bed, a media screen centered in the wall to the right with a long desk under it. A bathroom door opened in the left-hand wall. Actually the room was smaller than Annette’s old room. For the first time since Niri showed up on her couch, Annette began to think this really was happening and wasn’t a dream. “It’s so small,” she whispered practically under her breath.