“So you could what? Study them?” I was trying to make sense of what he was saying. It would highly unusual for a Commander of the International Peace Army to hire an Anthropologist, but then again, Adam was a medic. So it seemed Commander Marshall had wanted to hide the fact that Adam was serving two purposes.
“Well yes, but also to…” he paused, muttering something under his breath that sounded like an expletive. “He brought me here to do my best to protect them, to learn to communicate with them, and make them understand.”
I was drawn in by him, his voice was nearly shaking at this point.
“To make them understand?” I echoed him, begging to be let into his world.
“To make them understand that they have to hide, that they have to protect themselves.” He looked as if he might break down. How long had he been out here? The words he was uttering were treason, I knew that much. The only people they would need to hide from were the members of the Alliance.
“They seem to trust you. That’s why I decided to tell you everything.” He looked, for a brief moment as if he had been somewhat unburdened. “And I recognized your necklace. The Flower of Life was the insignia of my Grandfather’s University Department.”
“The Flower of what?” I asked, touching my necklace.
“It's an ancient design that represents the living connection of all of human life.” He was staring at me.
“So let me make sure I’m actually hearing this,” I recounted carefully the story he had told me. “You came to Sector 4 with the purpose of protecting a hidden tribe from the Global Peace Alliance.”
“Yes, that’s pretty much it.” His shoulders relaxed somewhat, now that he had finally gotten it out.
“Aren’t you worried you’re going to get caught?” Wow, that was a stupid question. Internally, I hadn’t yet decided what I was going to do with the information, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn them in.
“Every moment of every day.” He was holding the root that we sat on, as if for assurance. I could see his knuckles were turning white, so I put my hand on his. He didn’t move his hand away and my heart began to race like it always did around him. He had never looked vulnerable like this before.
“Well, I’m not going to tell anyone, so you don’t have to worry about that.” I hoped that my voice was reassuring. “But there is one problem.”
“What’s that?” He asked.
“The tribe doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of hiding themselves. I mean, I found them pretty easily.” I wasn’t trying to be a downer, but it was true.
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I didn’t see any evidence of their existence until they sought me out. Achi found me and brought me here. It seems that people can’t enter unless they allow them to… that is except for you. You shouldn’t have been able to get in here.” His tone was colored by surprise.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s like the vines know somehow, who is allowed in and who isn’t.” He was talking crazy now. The vines couldn’t know anything. They are plants. Then I remembered the way Achi had opened the curtain with no trouble.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I muttered. “And besides, what did they bring you here for anyway?”
“Something is going on with their leader.” He ran his fingers through his hair, “It seems like she’s some type of shaman, and she’s very ill.”
“The woman with the Leopard skin? She’s sick?” He nodded gravely in response.
“Very. It’s something I’ve never seen before, I don’t even know how to classify it. I would almost say it’s psychological, except for the fevers. She screams in pain, has hallucinations, but nothing seems apparently wrong with her.”
That would explain the cries of agony that Ellis and I had heard on our first trip into Sector 4. Ellis. I had almost forgotten. What does she know or suspect? I wouldn’t tell Adam’s secret, but it was only a matter of time before others found out.
“That does complicate things. Do you think all the aberrations have something to do with this?” I watched him lean back as we both sat in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m not sure,” He finally turned to me. “They let you in though?”
“I don’t know if ‘let me in’ is the right phrase,” I almost laughed remembering the strange bird, like some type of mysterious forest spirit. “I felt sort of sucked in, to be honest.”
“Hmm, that’s interesting.” He ran his hand through his hair.
“Why? How did you get in?”
“Well, I found the structure that they live in, but I didn’t know what it was. It didn’t seem like there was any way to get inside. For several days I felt as though someone was watching me, but I never saw who it was. I sat right here for a long time, just watching. Eventually, I saw Achi go into the structure, but when I tried to investigate the place where he had entered, I found nothing. Not a door, not anything.”
I knew what he meant about feeling watched. I had felt that too when Ellis and I first entered the forest. What I didn’t get, was what he meant about the structure.
“Surely you aren’t saying they use magic to open the door,” I said sarcastically.
“Of course not, but they do something that I can’t do. There doesn’t seem to be a way to enter without destroying the structure itself, unless of course, they allow you to come inside.” He was trying to answer my questions, but with every answer, a new question made its way to my mind.
“I’ve been looking at the structural pattern of the vine. It seems almost artificial how it grows. Maybe that will hold some explanation.” I said. He smiled at me as I began to walk back towards the tribe’s home structure.
“It might, but right now we need to head back to the Shell. You and I have been gone long enough. We don’t want to raise suspicion.”
It was my first true lead to anything that might give me answers in this forest. Adam and I hiked out of Sector 4, doing our best to appear as if we had only been on a short stroll through the tents that morning. It was strange though, every tent we passed appeared to empty. There were no soldiers anywhere to be seen. Nausea began to spread in my stomach as we moved closer to the Shell. I pulled off my respirator, and we trudged into the massive bunker.
Chapter 12
The Atrium was empty and a large commotion was audible coming from the dining hall. Commander Marshall was speaking, but I couldn’t make out his words. Adam and I carefully peeked into the room full of soldiers, all standing at attention. Ellis was on the edge of the group and she caught my eye quickly, warning me with her expression. With a tap on his arm, I got Adam’s attention so we could sneak into the room without being noticed. It was nerve-wracking. We stood in the back of the dining hall, watching as Commander Marshall continued his address.
“Remember this is only a drill, but you should all treat it with the same responsibility you would an actual lockdown. The Shell will be opened in 24 hours, at which point you will all resume your regularly scheduled work placements. I have nothing further, so enjoy your afternoon off duty.” The soldiers remained standing, straight-backed and serious until the Commander finished, “At ease.” The room was filled with raucous shouts, the soldiers buzzing with excitement for an unexpected afternoon off.
Ellis accosted us as soon as we were released from the dining hall.
“What were you two doing? Didn’t you get a message about the gathering?” Her eyes were worried.
“Um no,” There had been a message? I don’t remember either Adam or me getting notified of the security drill by our badges. I tried to make my mind move faster, to think of some explanation that would make sense. “I was out taking samples, and I couldn’t find you,” I fumbled over the words. “So, I had Adam escort me into the forest instead… since he was around.”
“That’s right,” He agreed. “We were too far out to make it back in time.”
“But it was sent out early this morning,” Ellis frowned, suspicion darke
ning her eyes.
“Oh really? I missed it somehow,” I cringed internally, knowing my explanation sounded like an excuse. My only hope was that she wouldn’t see through me. I really hadn’t gotten a message, which was weird. For the time being, Ellis seemed like her curiosity had been satisfied.
After a moment, I interjected, “Did we miss anything about the drill?” It was curious timing, and I hadn’t been told anything about drills.
I began to notice the soldiers locking down the door out of the shell. There was a huge metal plate coming down over the entryway into the shell. It looked to be nearly a foot thick and each soldier was putting in place several large clamps that would presumably secure the entryway against any attack or explosion.
“Commander Marshall just told everyone that we would have to remain in the shell for 24 hours.” She repeated what I had already heard from the meeting, but after a moment she whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “I heard there were protesters outside Sector 4. Some of the soldiers stationed up by the gate said there were explosions. I heard there are even more of them now.”
I had all but forgotten the gate. I hadn’t been back that way since we got here. Was there really some sort of threat against the shell? Ellis could be mistaken. Gossip was never the best way to get accurate information.
“They said they were chanting - ‘Sector 4, Occupied No more’.” She continued, her arm raised miming a person holding a sign.
“That sounds pretty serious if it’s true.” I had never really seen protesters against the Alliance, unless you counted the signs I saw when I first got here.
“Nothing we can do about it,” Adam added.
The anxiety of almost missing the meeting stayed with me through the afternoon. I had decided to trust Adam, but I was putting myself at risk for him, keeping the tribe secret. It could backfire with big consequences for both of us. In any case, there was no use thinking of it, because nothing could be done.
Chapter 13
Ellis came and found me in the lab before dinner.
“Hey, do you want to come with me? I've got a surprise.” A mischievous tone colored her words and I raised my eyebrows.
“What kind of surprise?”
“I challenged Soldier Mason to a little competition.” Her wild grin told me everything I needed to know.
“I’m in,” I wasn’t going to miss seeing Ellis put him in his place. The arrogant lanky soldier would be no match for her, and I needed a bit of humor to lighten my mood.
“I thought you might be,” She high-fived me and we made our way down to the main stairwell. She walked with purpose through the winding tunnels, clearly familiar with their layout. When we finally reached the room labeled “Fitness Center”, I was thoroughly confused about my location. The door to the gym was the same thick, reinforced metal that everything else was made of, except this door had a small porthole window, making me feel like I was deep in the bowels of a ship. Inside was a massive training center, with a huge Olympic sized track and a field of fake grass. There was a gathering of soldiers in the middle of the field. Mostly, they were Mason’s friends, a group of guys that worked out in the tents on the Shell Expansion projects. They were the ones that hung out there all the time, smoking cigarettes and acting tough.
I was surprised to see a few of Ellis’s friends there a too. There were two people, a young black-haired boy and another female soldier who I’d seen with Ellis in the cafeteria that day.
Ellis handed her a timer and asked, “Alright Kerry. Do you have it?”
The girl, an extraordinarily tall blonde, sent her a wicked smile and replied, “I’ve got it.”
I stood awkwardly between her two friends while Ellis went to talk to the jeering group across the field.
Kerry took from her bag two bottles that I instantly recognized as Soyka, an industrially processed meal replacement beverage. I use the word beverage loosely because it was thick and went down like quicksand. It was characterized by a mealy texture and a neutral flavor, the meal of last resort. One bottle of Soyka could last a single person for up to three days, or feed an entire family for a day. I had enough of it in my day to know that it would make you feel very full, but not satisfied like real food. I wondered now if that was because it was made using the fertilizer Adam had found. I shook my head trying to clear the thought. I didn’t want to think about that right now.
As Kerry mixed up the bottles with water it seemed that they each meant to drink an entire bottle. It made me feel sick just thinking about it. Ellis and Mason assembled in the middle each standing in front of a huge bottle of the thick soy drink. The soldiers behind Mason whistled and called out insults at Ellis, but she stood firm, unfazed.
Kerry drew the attention of the group and explained the rules. “Ellis, Mason,” she eyed them both. “You will each have two minutes to finish your bottle of Soyka, at which point you will run one lap around the track then come back to the middle to do 30 push-ups.”
“Only 30?” Mason scoffed at the striking blonde girl in front of him. She had to be at least 5 inches taller than him.
Ellis chimed in, “What’s wrong Jaaackiee?” She drawled out his name. Jack. It must be what the initial “J.” stood for in place of his first name. “Trying to show off? Let’s make it 50.” Her eyes connected with Kerry’s and they both nodded.
“You’re on,” he agreed, but I could see his jaw twitching.
They stood, straight-backed and fierce behind their respective bottles of Soyka. Mason, stretching his arms and trying to loosen up, and Ellis remaining fixed wearing a neutral if somewhat amused expression.
Kerry held up her arm, and counted down, “Five, four, three, two, one… Drink.”
Both Ellis and Mason picked up their bottles and began to take swift gulps. The gray sludge slowly emptying from the bottles. The lanky soldier’s expression soured as he choked down the concoction. It wasn’t a texture for the faint of heart. Ellis drank more slowly, taking a breath every now and then between mouthfuls of the foul substance. Mason finished his bottle in one minute, thirty seconds and took off. He ran as though weighted down in quicksand, his steps were shallow and his breathing already labored. Ellis took the whole two minutes to consume the rest of the gray drink but followed close behind. Standing next to him, it was clear that she was at least a foot shorter than him, but her stride was efficient. She hadn’t even broken a sweat.
As he rounded the first corner, I thought for a second that he might faint. His eyes were closed in concentration. His face was tinged with green. The cramps must be setting in. Soyka was well-known to cause “gastric distress”. It was ultimately harmless but made the whole culinary experience much less pleasant.
Ellis began to overtake him, slowly but surely. At the halfway point, I could see her small form overtaking him. Her pace was as steady as ever, her arms pumping strong. She managed a sprint for the last half of the circuit and made it back to the center of the field first. When Mason finally reached the end of the running portion, he was not doing too well. His shoulders heaving as he caught his breath. Kerry was watching him, arms crossed with a perfect smile plastered on her face. Ellis was already well into her pushups, effortless pumping her body weight, flexing her biceps. Her opponent’s arms were shaky, more like noodles than the fighting machine next to him. It was impressive, really, how tough she was. I watched Kerry appraise the small dark-haired girl with obvious appreciation.
When Mason didn’t appear to be able to go on, his friends started calling out to him, “Come on man, CRUSH HER!” But he was struggling to lift his body weight.
Ellis was already so far in the lead it was clear she was going to win, but she kept going, completely unbothered by the jeering. Her form was perfect, arms at a perfect 90-degree angle. She could probably continue on like that for a while, but when she hit fifty she stopped. Laughing, She bowed low, as Kerry waved her arms in victory.
“You punk,” the sickly soldier grunted, holding his stomach. “You set me
up.”
“What are you talking about, Mason? She beat you fair and square.” It was the first I’d heard from the petite black haired boy.
“Shut up, Max. Stay out of this.” At this point, he was wobbling around, and he looked like he was going to try to slug Ellis before he tripped over his own feet.
“It’s okay, Max.” She came over and punched her friend lightly on the shoulder. “Let them worry about him.”
“Lane, this is Max.” She proceeded to introduce me to her friends. “Kerry and I have known each other for a while, and Max is new to the IPA.” I shook hands with both of them.
“Lane is our new scientist,” she explained.
“Oh that makes sense, I wondered what your clothes were about.” Kerry gestured at my plain black uniform, which differentiated me from the soldiers of the IPA.
Emergence: Threshold Series Book I Page 10
