Outcasts

by Jill Williamson

  “Will anyone care if I just walk in?” Levi asked Zane.

  “Doubt it. Manufacturing isn’t the loftiest of tasks. That’s why it’s in the Midlands. Here.” Zane reached across Levi’s lap and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a large padded envelope. “Say you have a message for your peer, and someone will call him to the front. Don’t take too long. Make plans to meet later.”

  “What’s in this?”

  “A clean Wyndo. I was going to give it to you for Shaylinn, but I figured she could wait.”

  “She can. Thank you, Zane.” Levi took the envelope, got out of the truck, and entered the building. He stopped inside a small reception area. The air smelled of oil and leather.

  A woman looked up from a desk. “May I help you?”

  “Message for Beshup.”

  “Beshup Chua?”

  Beshup must have taken his son’s name as a surname. The five-year-old had likely been taken to the boarding school, away from both his parents and his little brother Matsiku, who’d be in the nursery. What a mess.

  “Yes,” Levi said. “Beshup Chua.”

  “One moment.” The woman tapped her GlassTop screen, and when she spoke again, her voice came out through speakers in the ceiling. “Beshup Chua, you have a message in reception. Beshup Chua to reception, please.” Another tap and she looked at Levi. “Go ahead and take a seat, if you like.” This time her voice didn’t amplify.

  Levi perched on the end of a chair, anxious to see Beshup.

  “What salon you go to, valentine?”

  Levi turned his attention back to the receptionist. “I’m sorry? We’re you talking to me?”

  “Are those plugs?” She touched her hair.

  “I’m not infected.” Maybe he should quit bathing. Then these people would stop staring at him everywhere he went.

  “Walls! How’d you manage that?” she asked.

  “I’m an outsider. Was.”

  “You need someone to show you around, outsider, you give me a tap. I’m here Wednesday to Saturday, eight to four.”

  She could dream. “I’m married.”

  She leaned forward, as if she’d misheard him. “You’re what?”

  “Levi of Elias,” a deep voice said.

  Levi looked toward the doorway behind the reception desk and saw his friend standing there. Beshup was a few inches taller than Levi and had long blond hair, which he wore in two braids. He was wearing a thin, gray jumpsuit like the one the medics had given Levi after they’d captured him and taken his clothes. The number four glowed white on his cheek.

  Levi got up, trying not to grin. “I have a message for you.” He held up the envelope, then glanced at the receptionist, whose gaze bounced back and forth between Beshup and Levi. “Why don’t we step outside for a moment?”

  “If you insist,” Beshup said.

  Levi pushed open the door and held it wide for Beshup. When they were both standing outside, Beshup clapped his hands onto Levi’s shoulders.

  “It is good to see you alive, my friend. You always were a wild rabbit. I’m surprised you haven’t waged war on this place.”

  “And what about you?” Levi asked. “Didn’t you say Jack’s Peak would kill all who stood in your way?”

  “I’m still determining whether I can do so and see my family and tribe live.”

  “I may have a way,” Levi said. “I heard through Mason that Tsana is well.”

  Beshup’s eyes widened. “How? Did he see my wife?”

  Levi explained how Mason tasked in the Surrogacy Center, how the Safe Lands had the Jack’s Peak women in the harem, and how Levi was trying to find a way to free the Glenrock children.

  “Are your women in this harem as well?” Beshup asked.

  “Not anymore.” Thankfully. “We got them out.”

  “Then you can help me free the women of Jack’s Peak.”

  If only it were that easy. “We can’t talk here.” Levi handed Beshup the padded envelope. “Inside is a Wyndo that can’t be traced. It works like a CB, but more high-tech. My number is programmed into the memory. We have a meeting tonight. Do you have transportation?”

  “I have two feet. But my tasking shift ends in a half hour. Can you wait?”

  Would Zane want to wait? Doubtful. “See that black truck that looks like a bullet?” Levi nodded to Zane’s vehicle. “That’s our ride. I’ll see you soon.”

  Zane didn’t want to wait, so they ran some errands and came back. Then Zane drove Beshup to his apartment and explained how the SimTags worked to track them. Beshup had no desire to wait until they met up with Mason. He cut out his own SimTag and wrapped toilet paper around his hand.

  Once that was done, Zane drove them to the small house where they’d left Jordan that morning. Apparently, it was the same house the people of Glenrock had come in through the basement after deserting Bender’s bunker on their way to the cabin. Here they would have the men’s meeting while they waited for it to get dark enough to return to the cabin and meet with everyone. Getting the men together in advance allowed for more purposeful talk, as some of the women tended to get emotional.

  Zane parked out front and they went inside. The place reminded Levi of the Old houses in Crested Butte. It had a small living room that opened into a kitchen in the back of the house. A cluster of mismatched recliners and kitchen chairs were circled up in the center of the living room. Mason and Omar had joined Jordan, and all three greeted Beshup and expressed concern for the people of Jack’s Peak.

  “What happened that day?” Jordan asked. “Did someone in your village betray you?” He shot Omar a dark glance.

  “No. Their warriors came before dawn. They came in the copters. The noise woke us, but their lightning guns quickly put our men to sleep. Once we knew what was happening, our men and women fought bravely and killed many enforcers. But our ammo ran out and theirs did not. By dawn, it had ended. The children were loaded into a copter. Then it returned for the women, then the men. My father was taken and Chief Kimama as well.”

  “Elsu lives? And Chief Kimama?” Levi couldn’t believe it. The woman was almost ninety.

  “They took them alive,” Beshup said, “but I have not seen them since we left the City Hall.”

  “Liberated, like my mother,” Levi said.

  “What does this mean, liberated?” Beshup asked.

  “We don’t exactly know, but we’re trying to find out.” Too many things to worry about and too little time.

  Beshup asked more questions about the harem, so Mason did his best to explain what he knew, how he’d helped free the women, and how Mia and Jennifer had chosen to stay behind.

  “They are fools,” Beshup said. “Dancing with the coyote is a dangerous game.”

  “I think everyone who lives here is dancing with the coyote,” Levi said, which made Jordan laugh.

  But Beshup nodded solemnly. “The coyote is always making mischief, but time is evolving again. We saw America come and go. And now we will see the Safe Lands come and go. Mother Earth must purify the land before it can be renewed.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Jordan said, “but I’m all for it.”

  Levi knew. Beshup was speaking of the typical Jack’s Peak superstitions. “He means that even though the Safe Lands has a lot of power right now, and they were able to destroy our villages, they can’t continue with their way of life forever. What they’ve done here is not natural. They’re already failing. And they can kidnap and pillage all they want, but over time, they’ll still fail. Life will find a way to return — whether by Beshup’s Mother Earth or Papa Eli’s Creator Father.”

  “There are only six Jack’s Peak men that I know to be registered here,” Beshup said. “Tomorrow I will gather them and cut out their tags so they can attend the next meeting.”

  Mason passed around the letter he’d gotten from Penelope, which gave Levi hope they would be able to get the kids out of the school.

  “I was thinking we could schedule a rescue f
or the fourteenth of August,” Mason said. “That would give us two weeks to plan and two more Tuesdays for me to speak to Penelope.”

  “What about the women in the harem?” Beshup asked.

  Levi knew Beshup would keep bringing this up, and he could hardly blame him. “We’ll help you free your women, but not until after we get the children out.”

  “I cannot leave my wife to become pregnant while I wait for two weeks to pass,” Beshup said.

  “I understand, Beshup, I really do.” The mere idea of Jemma being captured, especially now that she was Levi’s wife … maddening. “But we’ve been working on our plan to free the children for a while now. And if you and your men will help us, we’ll free the Jack’s Peak children as well. Are you with us?”

  “I cannot see any reason to stand against you,” Beshup said, though he did not look at all pleased.

  “I brought supplies for Jemma to use when Naomi goes into labor.” Mason patted a fabric sack on the chair beside him. “And has Shaylinn reduced physical activity? Omar, how are you two holding up?”

  Nuts. Levi looked at his baby brother, who straightened in his chair.

  “Me?” Omar said. “What about me?”

  “I haven’t told him,” Levi said. “It’s been a little crazy with the move and Bender’s demands and everything.” But he felt like a coward. He’d talked to Omar at the bunker on Thursday. He should have told him then. And he hadn’t exactly tried to track him down yesterday. He should have.

  “Told him what?” Jordan asked.

  Maybe the news would be best received in a group. More bodies to hold Jordan back when he tried to kill Omar. “Why don’t you tell us now, Mase?” Coward. Elder Coward.

  Mason stared at Levi a moment. “Gee, thanks, brother.” He shifted in his chair. “Um … well, first of all, Shaylinn is carrying twins.”

  “Two kids?” Jordan asked. “Hogs teeth! How can you possibly know that?”

  “I looked up her file in the CompuChart,” Mason said. “And Ciddah told me that when they do embryo transfers, they always try for multiples. Beshup, you should know that they’re trying for three with your friend Kosowe.”

  “My cousin is no man’s wife,” Beshup said. “And now she never will be.”

  Levi rubbed his hands over his face. The nightmares never ended in the Safe Lands.

  “Speak English, Mason,” Jordan said. “I can’t understand doctor talk.”

  “They put multiple babies in every woman in hopes that she’ll birth more than one,” Mason said.

  “They’re trying to repopulate the Safe Lands,” Zane said. “That’s just the way things work in the harem.”

  “Poor Shay,” Omar said, rolling his vapo stick along his thigh. “It’s not right.”

  Levi could only stare at Omar. How was he going to respond when Mason told him the rest?

  “What else?” Jordan said, practically yelling. “You’re all acting like maggots. Is Shaylinn infected? Is that what you’re hiding?”

  “No. Her donor wasn’t infected at the — uh …” Mason took a quick breath. “He was from, uh … Glenrock.”

  “What!” Jordan stood, and the rocking chair he’d been sitting on bounced back and forth behind him. “I never donated a thing.” His eyes were wild and desperate as he looked to each of them as if to prove his point. “Levi?”

  Here we go. “Neither did I.”

  Mason sighed. “Nor I.”

  “If none of us made donations, who’s the father of Shaylinn’s babies?” Jordan asked.

  Mason looked at Omar.

  Jordan’s head turned slowly, and his desperate expression morphed into an angry one. “You dung-licking maggot!”

  Omar’s eyes bulged, and he looked from Jordan to Levi to Mason. “You can’t know it was me.”

  “I can, actually,” Mason said. “The donor’s ID number for both fertilizations was 9-G1. What was your Safe Lands ID number, Omar?”

  Omar’s face went very pale, and a soft moan seeped from his lips. “I – I … didn’t know that, that it would …”

  Levi couldn’t help but feel sorry for his brother, but he needed to say something elder-like. “What did you think would happen?”

  “You didn’t think, as usual.” Jordan growled, and it grew into a scream as he pulled at his hair. “My sister. Hogs teeth, my sister!”

  “I must point out that Shaylinn would be pregnant whether or not Omar donated,” Mason said. “She was ranked first. If they hadn’t used Omar’s sample, they would have used another.”

  “That’s true,” Zane said.

  Omar cowered in his seat, his hands on the sides of his face. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’ll have to stop seeing Red,” Levi said, glad for any reason to get his brother away from that conniving woman. “If you’re going to be Shay’s husband.”

  Omar’s eyes met Levi’s. “Husband?”

  “Oh, no,” Jordan said, pacing inside the circle of chairs like a bull in a pen. “Don’t any of you think I’m going to let this pathetic excuse of a man-child anywhere near my sister.”

  Levi folded his arms. “But he’s the father, Jordan.”

  “I’d rather Shaylinn’s children think their father died beside mine in the raid than have this maggot in their lives.”

  Omar lifted his vapo stick to his lips and inhaled, his eyes closed.

  “Now, wait just a minute, Jordan,” Levi said. “That’s not really how things work. Plus, Shaylinn should have some say in this, don’t you think?”

  “She’s too young to have a say,” Jordan said. “I’m her guardian.” He poked his chest. “I say.”

  “Shaylinn is smarter than you think.” Omar, still hunched like a scared dog, blew out a quick breath of black vapor and glanced at Jordan. “And she’s — ”

  Jordan lunged across the open floor, grabbed Omar’s shirt, and lifted him out of the chair. “Don’t you dare speak her name, you — ”

  Levi jumped up and wedged himself between Jordan and Omar. “Come on, that’s enough. We’ve got important things to discuss here.” He elbowed Jordan in the ribs. “I said, back off, Jordan. Let go.”

  Jordan snarled and pushed Omar back into his seat, then thundered out of the living room and into the kitchen. Levi followed him.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Jordan said when Levi reached him. “I mean, why’d she have to be first? She’s only fourteen. Why not Aunt Mary or Eliza or one of the others? Why Shaylinn? And why him?”

  “I don’t know,” Levi said. “But, Jordan, Omar and Shaylinn might have gotten married any — ”

  “No. It wouldn’t have happened. Your father was going to send Omar to Jack’s Peak. And then Shaylinn could have married Trevon,” Jordan said. “I like that kid.”

  Levi had to bite back a laugh. “Trevon is ten!”

  “So? Four years matters little to adults. When Trevon is twenty, Shay will be twenty-four. Not a big deal.”

  “You want her to be alone for ten years? Raising two kids?” Levi said. “Jemma thinks this is God’s way of making a match.”

  Judging from the snarl on Jordan’s lips, he did not agree with that theory. “How long have you known it was Omar, Levi?”

  “I found out Wednesday night. I wanted to tell Shaylinn and Omar first thing Thursday before we moved, but then Bender wanted that meeting and there was no time to talk to Omar before you all left for the cabin.”

  “Jemma told Shaylinn?”

  “Yes.”

  “So she didn’t tell me, either?” The anger faded from Jordan’s face, and he just looked tired. He slapped Levi’s chest. “Finish your meeting, Levi,” he spat, then walked back to the living room.

  The men didn’t get much done after that. Jordan and Mason both sank into moody silence, and Zane, Levi, and Mason spent the next few hours answering Beshup’s questions about the Safe Lands.

  When darkness finally settled over the city, they all piled into Zane’s fancy truck and drove back to the cabin
. The women had dinner ready, so they gathered around the kitchen table to eat while Beshup shared his story about the attack on Jack’s Peak again for those who hadn’t heard it.

  Levi couldn’t help but notice that Omar continually stayed on the opposite side of the room from Shaylinn and took three trips to the bathroom during dinner.

  While Omar was still in the bathroom on his third trip, Mason leaned over to Levi and whispered, “He needs to run away and paint. It’s how he deals with things.”

  But there was no painting left here. Omar had already done all the windows. “It won’t be much longer.” Levi picked up his butter knife and tapped it against his water glass. “If everyone will quiet down, we’ll get started.”

  All heads turned toward him. He stood at the head of the table, nervous for some reason. Because of Beshup and Zane? Maybe. He met Jemma’s adoring smile and the fear melted away.

  “I’d like to open this meeting with a prayer.” Levi had never prayed publicly before, and he wasn’t thrilled to start doing so now. But he agreed with Jemma’s concerns that their people needed consistency during this traumatic time, so in an attempt to be more like Papa Eli he recited the prayer Jemma had helped him write based on Psalm 13. “Father in heaven, you didn’t promise us peace. Look on us and answer, Lord. How long will you forget us? We wrestle with sorrow. Day after day we weep as our enemy triumphs over us. But we trust in your unfailing love. In the hope of your salvation. Bring us victory, Lord. Set the captives free. Amen.”

  “That was lovely, Levi,” Aunt Chipeta said.

  “Lovely words don’t bring my husband, Mark, back,” Eliza said. “They don’t bring my children back to me. Why did this happen? We follow God. Yet it seems like he’s punishing us.”

  “Where in the Bible does it say God’s people will be safe from violence?” Mason asked Eliza. “Where does it say his people will always be rescued here on earth?”

  “It’s unfair,” Eliza said, tears filling her eyes. “And what if this is just the beginning? What if we’re stuck here forever? What will become of my babies? Will they remember me? What I taught them? Or will they become like him?” She gestured to Zane.