by Melissa Faye
“No, it’s not enough people,” Alexis said. “And it’s childish.” Alexis’s tone was more condescending now, like when I talked to Charlie after he attacked the two Gray Suits in their car. “Two of us against, what, a whole group of adults with weapons protecting a bunch of kids who might not even know they’ve been kidnapped? You don’t understand, Yami.”
“Understand?” I shouted. “Those are children! Hope is Breck and Etta’s daughter, and if you know something –“ The bedroom door slammed against the wall as Etta burst inside followed closely by Breck and Charlie.
“What did you say about Hope?” Etta asked. She couldn’t maintain her composure, and her voice was raised almost to a shout. “What do you know about my daughter, Alexis?”
Alexis looked back and forth between us, her face stiff. “You don’t understand at all,” she said, holding her hands up in innocence. “Now that you’re here, and there’s so many of you, I think we might be able to do it.” She poked her head outside the door and called for Javi, who was already halfway up the stairs.
“The whole situation looks good on the surface, but nothing has really been solved. You saw that. Ann’s hoping to bring the community together around the fertility solution. The missing kids...Javi and I failed the last time we tried to break and enter, and that was just the Young Woods Records Room. We know we can’t do this on our own. It’s foolish to think otherwise.”
“Then we’ll all do it,” said Charlie, who stood now at the door. “Do what though? I missed the first part.” He laughed.
“We can go get Hope!” Etta said. “How do we do it, Alexis? We have a truck and a gun. And no one really knows how to use the gun. We need to fill up the gas tank, maybe find more weapons, gather some people who know how they work-“
“You can’t,” said Javi. “You don’t have any of those supplies anymore.”
I snapped my head around to face him. “What are you talking about?”
“Ann had the truck moved into storage once you unpacked,” he explained. “She put the weapons in the armory. Even if she knows exactly where Hope is, I don’t think she’ll let you leave.”
I felt my face get hot. Who did she think she was to take our things? Did she expect to keep us here until we somehow solved the fertility crisis for her?
“Why would she do that?” Etta asked. “That’s our daughter!” She grabbed Breck’s hand. “We have to get her back!”
“Ann knows that there’s a bigger picture here. We need to be a model community. Other communities should be able to look at our work and think, that’s how it’s done. That’s how to transition from the current system to a new democratic one. And she can’t get that done if we’re split into groups saving everyone in the country who needs saving.” Javi’s face was stiff, like he’d had this conversation before and was tired of always coming to the same conclusion.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We’ll go whether Ann wants us there or not.”
“It’s just about research and community progress to her,” Javi said. His nervousness was irritating me now. I chewed on my bottom lip to keep from talking over him. “I swear – Ann’s a good person. But she has a lot of people relying on her. If we went out to save everyone out there...Gentle Acres wouldn’t exist anymore. We’re on the brink of collapse already. If we went to help the kids, we’d be dispersed across the map. Or dead.”
“Fine,” Breck said. His face said otherwise, but his tone was collected. “Alexis, you said we have enough people now. What do we do?”
“We give Ann a chance,” Etta interrupted, hands firmly planted on her hips. “I’m not racing out of here and making her our enemy. She’s been welcoming, and I want to ask her, up front, one more time, what else she knows. If she truly won’t help us, we’ll make a plan.”
It was settled. Etta would talk to Ann in the morning.
Chapter 10 – Charlie
Etta woke me up bright and early. I wiped my eyes in the harsh morning sun and stifled a yawn. She apparently wanted to drag me along to talk with Ann.
“I swear, she likes you more,” Etta said while pulling me along towards the F-Lab. “Everyone does. You’re like Breck.”
“Then why not bring Breck?” I teased. Etta was faster than she looked and I was hurrying along to keep up.
Etta rolled her eyes and walked faster. “If I bring Breck...he’s not as charming as usual since Hope...” She paused. “Plus, if it’s just me and Breck, Ann will think this is just about parents suffering. That it’s all about Hope.”
Etta saw the look on my face and exhaled, annoyed. “Of course it’s about Hope. But also Teo, and all the other kids! You don’t know what it’s like, Charlie. I’m sorry, but you can’t. A part of me has been stolen away. Two parts, if you count Teo. Every day...it’s awful.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Ann was nowhere to be found. The F-Lab was already busy, though, and a researcher named Antonio invited us to look over what he was doing.
“We haven’t had much progress,” he admitted with embarrassment. “Before our rebellion, the F-Lab was using contaminated samples and poorly built modeling systems. We’ve corrected those errors, but the fertility problem is still a mystery. No matter what we throw at our modeling systems, nothing works.”
We leaned over the lab table to look at a recent research paper Antonio had published. “It’s useless, see? We’re getting right down into the man and woman’s genetic code and making microscopic adjustments using a variety of techniques and materials. We’re at a point where we’re making random guesses and seeing what works. And nothing works.”
Etta pulled the paper closer to herself and mumbled quietly while she flipped through the pages. Antonio showed me the modeling program on the lab equipment. I used my TekCast to pull up the code. It was much more complex than anything I’d seen before, but at least I could understand some of it. Antonio gave me the okay to store the code to look at later.
“What we’re all excited about, of course, is that Etta and Breck are here,” Antonio said when Etta finally slid the paper back to him. “With an actual sample of a fertile man and woman...well, we were all celebrating yesterday as if we already had a solution.”
“Breck’s in fertility, but we haven’t had a lot of time to talk about it yet,” Etta said. “We spent a lot of my pregnancy apart from each other or away from lab equipment. But I know he’s just as excited. He’ll come by later to give you some samples.”
Antonio took that as an invitation to draw some samples from Etta right that second. I handled the blood draw; it was clear that Antonio had only worked from samples in a petri dish. Etta pulled a few strands of dark blonde hair from her head and laid them individually in sample bags. I felt eyes on us from all around; the scientists’ excitement was palpable. I grinned. This could really lead to a development. Could I end up having a child, just like Etta and Breck? Would it be with Yami?
Ann finally arrived in the lab followed by the Chief of the Fertility Lab. They were deep in conversation, but waved when they saw us. They came down to talk with us.
“How can I help you two this morning? Charlie, will you be able to help in the Med today?”
“Sure, of course! I wanted to learn more about how the doctors are helping Matana. I’ve never seen a head injury of that kind before, and I’m wondering if –“ Etta elbowed me hard in the gut and I stopped talking.
“We actually came to talk to you more about the missing kids.” Ann opened her mouth to speak, but Etta tunneled through. “I know you said you don’t know, and I’m sure you don’t, but someone we talked to could have sworn she heard people talking about it...”
Etta’s technique was flawless. Direct with being confrontational. I watched Ann’s face carefully. The very corners of her lips twitched while Etta spoke, but her smile remained plastered in place.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Etta,” said Ann politely. She folded her hands in front of herself patiently, like she was t
alking with a child.
“Of course!” Etta said, waving her hands in apology. “I bet people just sort of talk about it under the table. Gossip and all. But I’ve heard the rumors are all clear that the kids are located at a sort of school not very far from here. And if you were to let us borrow a car, and maybe some weapons...”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Etta,” Ann said. Her saccharine tone put Etta’s to shame. “We do not have the resources to give you and your friends a vehicle, and have no weapons to spare. I’m sure you understand. We’re out here on our own, no longer part of the UCA. We must be ready defend ourselves.”
I jumped in with what Yami called my thousand watt smile. “That makes sense, Ann. It’s probably just rumors.” I mirrored her body language and tried to shrink myself down to her level by hunching over a bit. “We’ve seen how hard it is to transition to a democratic community. There’s a lot for us to learn here. But Etta here lost her daughter...”
“That’s enough,” said Ann with just a hint of impatience. “I will look into the rumors you mentioned and determine if it’s gossip or something more. I may be able to send a search party out with a single truck if I find any actual evidence. But meanwhile, please do not waste any more of our time arguing with me about this. Our goal at Gentle Acres is to solve the fertility solution. I hope you’ll join us in this work. If you can’t, you may leave.”
Etta’s face dropped, but she course corrected. We smiled and apologized more. Etta went back to talk to Antonio about the blood samples. She had been a cloning intern at Young Woods, and while she didn’t have the fertility experience Breck did, she could help with the research for as long as she was here. Breck would be coming by soon.
I messaged Yami about our conversation with the Director. By the time I closed my TekCast, excused myself politely and said goodbye to the others, she was standing outside the building. She was out of breath but anxious to talk in person.
“I showed your messages to Alexis,” she said. We walked towards the Med building as we spoke. “She didn’t seem surprised. Ann is a strong leader, she keeps telling us, and Ann isn’t the only one who sees the fertility solution as our only way forward.”
“I get it,” I said. Yami sighed, but I continued. “How can we take on an army of Gray Suits? We saw them up close; we even beat them when it was three against two. But we had no chance against the group that attacked the ACer’s camp. Imagine if there are hundreds or thousands of them out there, poorly trained but well armed. Imagine if someone like Lorenzo is in charge.”
“Sure, I get that. I suppose,” said Yami. We were nearing the Med and the streets were getting crowded as work hours began. “But that’s the whole country they’re thinking about. This is a group of kids, right now, at arm’s reach. They’re probably scared, and think of all of their parents out there! Etta is falling apart, did you notice? I don’t think she’s slept since the attack. We have to do something. Now.”
I nodded. “I’m glad she’s working in the F-Lab for the time being. At least it’ll take her mind off of Hope.”
WE WENT UP TO MATANA’S hospital room. Sven was there already, along with Javi. Yami trusted Alexis implicitly, even after their fight the night before. I wanted to trust Javi as well, but his nervous energy made it hard to like him. Still, he wanted to help. And it helped a lot that Sven had taken an immediate liking to him.
“Any news?” Yami asked. She pulled a chair over next to the Care Unit and took Matana’s hand in her own. Matana lay still. She wore a standard hospital gown and her long hair was braided neatly just like she always wore it. Some scrapes and bruises were still visible, but they were mostly healed by now. She wouldn’t need a brace on her arm for long. We just had to wait for her to wake up.
“Ann still won’t help us,” I told Sven and Javi. “I’m trying to see her side of things, but I can’t. I don’t see why she can’t spare just one car and just a few weapons. We’re not asking for that much.”
“Matana led the camp, but I did a lot of the type of work that Ann is doing,” Sven said. “Resource management was always an issue. There was never enough for us to do what we needed. But we still made space when new people arrived. We made do with what we had. I’m not sure how Matana would respond to this request.”
“She’d say no,” Yami said with her arms folded. “She’d say no, and she’d be rude about it. It’s always one thing or the other, isn’t it? Solve the crisis or save the kids. Get the medical equipment or save Etta and Breck. Protect Vonna or get the information we need to implicate the Chancellor. We’re always making choices.” She rubbed her temples with her hands in silence before continuing. “But I don’t think the Director is making the right one.”
“Why is that?” Javi asked.
“This is something we can do right now, right this second, to make a difference,” Yami said. “We can save those kids and in the process, learn more about what the government even wants them for. We can find their parents, and in the process we can grow our communication network. We can return the kids to their parents, and spread the word around the region that the government is hiding their very existence from all of us. And we can collect more samples to help with research.”
I couldn’t help smiling when Yami spoke up like this. She wasn’t only this secretly kind caretaker. She also had a knack for explaining things exactly how they were whether people liked it or not.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “There’s enough of us now. What do we need?”
“We’ll need at least one truck,” Sven said. “Something as big as the one we drove here. That will allow us to transport the kids out of there.”
“I can help get us into the armory,” Javi said. “I used to work in leadership, and my experience has led me to a position here where I can go where I want when I want most of the time. Not many people know what’s in the armory and how to get inside. But I do.”
“It’s a start,” I said with a nod.
Yami took my hand and beamed. It was like getting a gold star on a math test. That is to say, it was the very best.
BY THE END OF THE NIGHT, we found ourselves sitting around Alexis and Javi’s dining room table, paper and pens strewn around and holoscreens projecting up from TekCasts with different angles of a map of the area. We had an outline of a plan for escaping Gentle Acres with all the resources we would need to find the bio kids. Well, almost an outline. We knew we all wanted to go, but Alexis pressured Breck to stay. “You’re the only one with fertility experience,” she said. “Between your research, your genetic makeup, and a sample Etta can leave us with, it will be enough to pacify the community once you leave.”
Alexis and Javi were staying back, too. Alexis worked in the F-Lab, and Javi had a way with Ann. He could help smooth things over once we were out. Sven had reservations about leaving Matana behind, but there was no other choice given her condition.
“Is Ann going to stop treating her?” he asked Alexis. “I can’t take that risk.”
“No, of course not,” Alexis said, shocked. “She’s not going to be happy, and she’ll try to stop you from leaving. But she isn’t like the old Chancellor, not like that. She wouldn’t hurt your friend!”
“So when can we leave?” I asked the group. I was raring to go. Point me in the direction of a bunch of Gray Suits and I was ready to act. “Tonight? Midnight? How soon can we make this happen?”
“We need more time to plan” Javi said. “It’s not going to be that easy.”
“We can’t rush this, Charlie,” Breck said. We hadn’t spoken much since my attack on the two Gray Suits. I knew he was glad I did it, but he wouldn’t show it outright.
“But we do need to make this happen as soon as possible,” Etta said. “I want those kids out of there. I want Hope back. We need her back, Breck.”
Alexis’s hands were on top of her head, scratching her scalp. She sighed. “I want to get us out of here tonight, but it’s risky. Javi, can we really make that happen?”
/>
“If I can get into the armory...yes. I think so. If we start...right now.”
“Then let’s start right now,” I said. I stood up, and Etta followed suit. “I’m ready when you are.”
Chapter 11 – Yami
I was impressed by Charlie’s passion. He was always willing to jump in and help, but something had changed since the attack on the camp. He was constantly itching to do something more. His attack on the two Gray Suits along the road was imprudent, and I wanted him to hold back his temper. But it did help us get a gun and understand just a little bit more about the Gray Suits. We knew they were former Grays and had been promised to be promoted to Silver careers if they enlisted in this strange army. Motivation was delicate. If we could promise the Gray Suits better careers and opportunities ourselves, we could turn them to our side.
Not to mention the strange things they said to Charlie. “We’re just doing what’s best.” The Gray Suits were convinced they were on the right side. Maybe they didn’t know as much as we knew about fertility research and about the missing kids. It was all possible leverage.
Charlie’s nose was healing, but the black and blue marks around the bridge were a constant reminder of what had happened. He tried to push me off every time I felt the bones of his nose and cheeks with my fingers, but I shushed him. If he was going to be a rebel leader, he needed to be a lot tougher.
We didn’t have a lot to do while Javi organized our escape. Within two hours, he had filled two duffle bags with guns and ammunition. We were all leery of the weaponry. None of us had done more than touch them during the attack, and Sven’s research hadn’t given him much of an advantage.
Alexis took Sven to the alleyway where most of the cars and trunks were stored when not in use. Breck stood as look out while they picked a truck and quietly backed it out of the alley. Etta took over driving while we packed up the back of the truck.
