Klim’s afternoon lecture had begun. In the days since Callen made the class famous, there had been nothing other than routine curriculum covered. Klim was being watched too closely to use any of his unusual techniques to expand his student’s minds. The lone guard sat high in the back row near the door. He had assumed his now familiar posture, slumped close to sleep. Klim spoke of the evils of the Outlocked and the death they wished upon any form of civilised being. He talked of mutations in the years since the Outlocked had given their lands over to pollutants. How they did nothing to try and combat the growing level of toxins in their world and he underlined continually the fact that the city’s way of life was the best ever encountered. It was a lacklustre performance, strictly text book stuff, without any of his usual witticisms or provocative statements skirting close to blasphemy.
There was a flash of light from outside as the door to the hall sprang open. Jenny rushed in, momentarily arousing the guard who paid her little more attention than to straighten his slumping posture. He’d sat through enough lectures over the past few days to know a late student was nothing out of the ordinary. Jenny found a vacant seat near the very middle of the hall. She interrupted quite a few of her colleagues as she crab walked her way between the chairs, knocking the protruding knees with a repetitious ‘sorry’ as she went. Sitting and dropping her books to her feet in one motion, she turned to Simone who sat in the next seat.
“It’s over.” She said. “They got him.”
“What?” Simone asked with great concern.
With little regard for where she was, Jenny allowed her voice to rise high enough for everyone to hear.
“They grabbed him. He didn’t get a chance to say anything.”
Jay was sitting about four rows behind the two girls and even though his position made it completely inappropriate, he joined in the conversation.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Callen,” Jenny said. “They got his girlfriend too.”
“Where?” Jay asked as heads began turning left and right with discussion of the breaking news.
“Near the quad,” Jenny said. “The guards have him, waiting for the cops to come and take him away.”
With that Jay jumped to his feet and quickly hurried from his seat and out of the door. Others followed and the guard, now very much awake, spoke with excitement into his miked headphone.
“What’s the status on Callen Helfner?”
Unheard by anyone but himself, his headphones crackled to life with the other side of the conversation.
“Nothing here.”
“I’ve got a report they’ve caught him. By the quadrangle.”
“News to us.”
“Well, apparently they have. They’re holding him for the cops. The kids all seem to know about it”
“We’ll send people over.”
The guard jumped to his feet with one last comment into the microphone that hovered near his mouth and headed for the door to leave alongside other departing students. The exodus slowed. Klim brought the hall back to order.
“We were speaking of the poor state of health and the associated threat the Outlocked pose to people from our more advanced world.”
Klim continued unaware of the door at the back of the room, which clicked and unlocked from the other side. The handle moved and the door opened to the blind side of the Professor. Callen and Eve walked a few paces into the room and came to a stand still looking out. Every person in the hall instantly saw them and erupted with shouts and screams befitting a major sports event. The students were celebrating Callen’s arrival and continued existence. Klim was dumbfounded and stood staring at him without uttering a word. Callen stepped into the field of the viewer cam and for the first time, those students at home, also joined in the celebration. High in the corner of the room, Jay re-entered the hall. Callen saw him and the two swapped a look. The plan had worked.
Callen had time to speak. Jay’s signal meant the guard was well away. Callen raised his arm for quiet, which only came after a few more seconds of celebration. With his hand tightly grasping Eve’s, he spoke.
“I’m still here and nothing’s changed from the first time I spoke to you. I’m not crazy; in fact I was an attending student here. Many of you know that and know me from here or from highschool. You know I’m telling you the truth, so spread the word. Eve’s still an Outlocked and she’s also telling you the truth. Those people the media dug up; her parents – who knows where they got them from, but they haven’t ever lived in that building. It’s up to you to believe me or not. Just remember one thing about the City and the people who rule our lives - they lie.”
With that Callen was done. For a second time the lecture hall audience went up as one. This time stamping feet and chanting led the celebration. It was a melodic chant. The words were simple and like the stamping of feet, they resonated loudly. Over and over again they repeated Callen’s most simple of phrases.
“They Lie - They Lie - They Lie.”
Jay was met at the door by one of their group and both began to scream with great intensity. Callen had let himself become swept up in the triumphant moment and he didn’t see them signalling. A number of guards violently crashed through the door and almost immediately a single shot rang out. Callen spun around and hit the floor. His shirt was bloodied, his shoulder felt like it was on fire. Eve screamed as the others in the hall fell silent alongside the echo of their chant.
As the guards began to head down the narrow stairs, a swell of protest built from the middle of the hall. Away from danger, students began to push those beside them, forcing a flow on effect, until those sitting directly alongside the stairway spilled out of their seats and into the path of the oncoming guards. Panic let out. The crush continued and the guard’s path to Callen and Eve disappeared before them as an unruly crowd became a mass of bodies in a crush for space.
Eve helped Callen to his feet and they moved though the lower door and away. Outside they tried to blend immediately into the crowd of students, but the guards were too many in number and Callen’s condition made him easily spotted. Holding his shoulder and in great pain, the two began a foot race, managing to find a stairway and a second level that gave them a small head start from those chasing. The guards had the benefit of thinking as one with the aid of their head pieces. They began to co-ordinate their chase and easily countered every move made. The only support the couple found came from the most daring students who found ways to slow the guards. Chairs and bins were used as projectiles, doors were being slammed and locked the moment Eve and Callen passed.
Finally, in a building with yet another long corridor, Callen and Eve felt the chase had come to an end. Both exits were blocked by guards. It seemed they had nowhere to turn. They frantically began checking rooms that led off the corridor, peering through the small window of each new door. One of the rooms had a fire escape leading from it and Callen called upon Klim’s key once more. The fire escape led to an open air stairway, linking them to the back door of yet another building. Entering, they found themselves in the university library. They moved into the rows and rows of condensed zip disks, stacked shelf upon shelf, in one of the city’s great stores of knowledge.
Callen and Eve stopped for breath by a shelf. They crouched down to take a closer look at Callen’s shoulder. Eve tore into his shirt, having dealt with serious wounds before. Callen wasn’t at all encouraged by her past experiences and flinched each time she even came close to touching the wound. All she could do was wipe some of the blood away and show him how to correctly apply pressure. He’d need surgery and Eve knew he’d need it soon.
She encouraged Callen to his feet, knowing they were a long way from being able to rest. They peered over the lines of identical disks housed in the shelves beyond. There were other students around the library, but the flow of guards into the building and their slow methodical advance was obvious. The guards peered down one shelf of disks after another, looking for their prey. The students in th
e rows being searched, glanced up with some curiosity, then went back to whatever task had brought them into the building in the first place.
Callen and Eve couldn’t swallow for nerves. They held their breath as the first of the guards neared, searching as close as two shelves away before changing direction and heading to another area. They both knew they would need to move around the search to avoid being spotted and to do so they’d have to rely more on luck than anything else. The guard assigned to search the line of shelves on a direct path with Callen and Eve approached quickly. Like all the other guards, he had his gun drawn and his finger on the trigger. Callen and Eve swivelled around the far end of their shelf as he neared, trying desperately to avoid his line of sight. They thought for a moment their luck was holding out.
“Oh my God, you’re that guy,” said a young student with a number of disks in his hand and a list on his compupad of more to be retrieved.
It was the last thing the boy ever said. His face exploded, spraying Callen and Eve, who ducked instinctively. All three hit the ground at the same time, as the disks above them splintered and broke apart under fire. A moment later a guard hovered above them with his gun close to Callen’s face. There was blood and flesh everywhere and it was hard to tell who had been shot. The student who had moments ago given them away with his innocent remark, lay over them, lifeless.
“Got them,” one of the guards screamed. “Got both of them,” he said with so much joyful enthusiasm it was difficult to comprehend he’d just brutally ended the life of an innocent student. The other guards gathered around, their guns also drawn. There was a great deal of back slapping and celebration as they held Callen and Eve heavily to the ground and cuffed them. Not one of those undertaking the task said a word about the faceless student, who was roughly moved and dumped nearby. All involved were confident this one minor unfortunate act, would be easily overlooked by their superiors and well covered up in official reports. It would certainly be dismissed against the greater good of capturing the young man and his girlfriend, accused of the greatest and most destructive hoax of the century.
Chapter 20.
The Library was cordoned off and police quickly arrived to take charge of the situation. The university was abuzz with news of Callen and Eve’s capture and a crowd had gathered around the library building. When a closed body bag was carried out, loud cries of protest rang out. Callen was assumed in the bag and those gathered were not pleased the saga had come to such a predictable and callous end. Callen had ignited the youth of the city and created a more curious attitude to the world beyond their walls, and this wasn’t the end the students had hoped for him. When a heavily guarded and shackled Eve emerged some minutes later, the crowd let forward a spontaneous cheer and began clapping hands and calling her name. Her part in Callen’s fight was certainly not lost on anyone. The transporter with Eve inside sped away and the crowd stood silent, unsure what to do next. There was no movement for a few minutes as most stood reflecting in a subdued mood.
Suddenly the actions of the police became quickened and more urgent. They braced themselves as they held the crowd at bay between the path from the library to the one remaining transporter. The curious students became alert again, unsure of what was happening. Then in full view, walking slowly, Callen emerged. The crowd’s reaction was wild, loud and exuberant. Callen was in great pain and had little time for the rapturous response, as he headed for the transporter. The guards seemed to be in no hurry, stopping a number of times for no apparent reason. By the time their journey was over and Callen had been placed inside the transporter, every person gathered had ample opportunity to see him close up and assess his condition for themselves. He was badly hurt from the initial shot to his shoulder, but otherwise, uninjured.
News of Callen’s survival and capture was rapid. The students could only wait and see what the government response would be now they had him as their prisoner. The Media’s response was predictable.
‘Callen was a violent criminal, his attempts to evade authorities had culminated in the death of an innocent student. His cruel hoax was at an end.’
The students, however, were beginning to mistrust the official accounts and the government was well aware of their suspicions. The fire Callen had started in the city’s belly would not easily be extinguished.
Callen was quickly in surgery and less than a day later, given the city’s advanced medical capabilities, was well on his way to recovery. Within two more days, he was looking fresh and revived, the sling holding his arm remained as the only sign of his recent ordeal. He was walked into a large room, through a set of large wooden doors. The room was too large for any of the furniture in it. Too large for any office. It was an office in a ballroom. It stood silent with its polished wooden floorboards, ornately carved wooden walls and a large sandstone fireplace at the far end. The ceiling in white plaster with gilded cornices and a large centre rose, stood almost five metres above the floor; the height of no real advantage other than to waste valuable space. A woven carpet in natural fibres warmed the floor and disturbed the echo of footsteps within the room. The large banker’s desk in wood and leather, surrounded by elegantly upholstered chairs, gave the centre of the room an imposing focus. Everything had the look of luxury. The pride of workmanship in every piece was obvious. It was a stark contrast to the commercially mass produced production line goods most common within the city’s walls. Callen was told to wait and ushered to a long three seated leather couch against one of the walls. He sat nervously as he watched the wooden doors close him in. Once more the city was making him wait alone while his fate was decided elsewhere.
Moments later the doors opened again and Eve was ushered into the room. The couple embraced, before sitting together, holding hands in a gentle reassuring gesture. They swapped small talk, neither wanting to think of what lay ahead. As the minutes ticked away, the subject could no longer be avoided and they tried to conceive the most positive scenarios about what they may face. Finally, the doors opened once more and an elderly man, well dressed, and a team of other equally well dressed men and women entered to take up positions within the room. The elderly man sat at his desk, looking at a viewer and tapping at the screen in order to scroll the information to a desired point. It was done with a methodical familiarity that belied the unusual nature of Callen and Eve’s presence.
Finally the old man looked up from his viewer and spoke.
“I am Alexi Prior, the current City Chairman. I don’t normally deal directly with issues involving law breakers, but the board, of which we have some members here today, felt this was important enough to warrant my attention,”
Alexi spoke as if the events now underway were an inconvenience to him.
“Could you show them in, please,” he said to the youngest member of his board who was standing nearest the wooden doors.
Callen and Eve turned to watch who he was referring to, as the man poked his head out of the room and called for others to enter.
First through the door was Gerda, followed by Lien. Callen and Eve couldn’t help but be shocked.
“You have been a great help to us with this matter,” Alexi said. “And as promised, the young lady is free to return with you.”
Gerda and Lien thanked him. Eve felt utterly betrayed and her face showed it. Lien couldn’t take his eyes from his daughter. He was relieved she was safe, but very aware that if he didn’t make some sort of explanation immediately, he may never be able to redeem their relationship.
“I didn’t know any of this,” he said softly, staring intently at his daughter as his hands grasped her shoulders, short of a fatherly hug.
“You’ve been helping them?” Eve said, still balancing her reaction short of outrage.
“Lien,” Gerda issued sternly. “We have more important things to deal with.”
Lien turned sharply.
“Nothing, is more important to me than my daughter!” he bellowed at his Chief Elder.
It had been many years s
ince anyone dared raise their voice to Gerda and the two stared at each other, Gerda in shock and Lien not the least bit apologetic for the tone he’d used. Slowly he turned back to Eve.
“I just wanted to make sure you were safe, but I didn’t know about all this. I swear to you I had no idea we had contact with them.”
Eve nodded. She was still annoyed by many things and she’d have more to discuss with Lien at a later date, but his reaction to the situation and his stand against their leader had excused his collaboration to a certain extent in Eve’s mind.
“Are we ready to continue with this?” asked the Chairman.
“I’m sorry, Chairman,” said Gerda, as subservient as anyone could be. “Please go ahead.”
Gerda’s reaction to the Chairman left Eve in no doubt who she should blame for keeping the city one step ahead of herself and Callen.
She locked her eyes on Gerda who continued speaking with the Chairman. Only once did she look at Eve directly and then only for the briefest moment. Gerda knew exactly what Eve thought of her, she knew the young girl would never again view their society with the same youthful innocence as others her own age. In all likelihood, she would never view anything the same way again.
Once Gerda and Alexi had ended their brief discussion, Alexi turned towards Callen.
“Callen Helfner,” he began. “You too are free to return to the world of the Outlocked, provided you make a cabled statement that your experiences and your relationship with this girl were lies. Announce that everything you’ve reported was a hoax, a product of your own imagination and you’re free to go and begin a new life, outside the city.”
There was a brief silence in the room. All eyes were on Callen. He was still coming to terms with the casual air that the Chairman of the City was paying towards the Chief Elder, in a relationship obviously cultivated over time.
Inner City Page 19
