by Ann Christy
By the time Greg and Zara, quickly followed by Bedie, entered the classroom; both students were well and truly tired of mapping. At Leo’s groan of relief at seeing them, Greg gave him the sympathetic smile of someone who knew exactly what level of difficulty he was experiencing.
Greg stood next to the door just behind Lillian’s seat while Bedie and Zara went over their schedule and the instructions for their visit. She was very aware of him standing there. He seemed to displace more air than his body size required and Lillian could almost convince herself that she felt the heat radiating off of him. It was disconcerting and she fidgeted in equal parts discomfort and warmth at his proximity.
Perhaps he noticed her fidgets because he pushed himself away from the wall and walked to the other side of the room. There, he promptly leaned back on the wall in the slim space between the edge of the blackboard and the corner. He was almost directly in her line of vision and she felt her belly clench when she accidentally met his eyes. She turned her chair slightly away from him so that she couldn’t look at him again and could have sworn she saw his lips lift in a small smile when she did. She was grateful that no one else seemed to notice.
Their instructions for the visit were as detailed as they could be without making them memorize speeches. Zara and Bedie took turns quizzing them on various possible answers to unexpected twists in the conversation and offered alternative answers. Leo complained that he felt like he was telling fibs but was satisfied when Zara told him it would be cruel to tell his family, now that their hopes for him were being crushed, that he had been mean to the other two candidates and skirted the rules as a matter of course. Lillian just had a hard time believing he was ever selected for the race in the first place.
They changed and made themselves look presentable before leaving, bringing with them a small basket of baked goods as a gift. Sparing their legs wasn’t possible now but at least they had their day of rest before the accident. Toby lived in the mids—not nearly as far down as their own families— but it was to the infirmary several levels above Toby’s home that they were headed. His family was reported to be there, though not yet able to visit their son.
During their trip most people respected their privacy, though everyone must have been anxious to find out if the two candidates knew what the repercussions of this accident would be. A few offered condolences, as if it were they who had suffered a loss rather than gained a greater chance at winning.
When they reached the landing, there was a small crowd sitting or standing outside the painted line on the floor around the big entry doors. The arc of paint was supposed to keep the area open, particularly for emergency medical traffic and it seemed to be working. The line extended in a path to the stairwell and it gave Lillian and Leo a clear shot at the doors.
With a look to confirm they were both thinking the same thing, they trudged forward with determined strides. A few people reached out a hand to stop them and ask them questions but no one got aggressive. Lillian slowed her stride just enough to convey the words Zara and Bedie instructed her to say.
“We’re here to wish our fellow candidate and his family our best for a speedy recovery. Please respect their privacy during this difficult time and I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” she said and tried to sound both sympathetic and warm, yet not smile.
Among the small crowd of odds makers from betting businesses, porters and the lift-post news writers there were a few of Toby’s friends. The racers had been told that Toby had been drunk when his accident happened. He’d been with friends and showing off. Lillian felt sure it must have been these friends when one of the boys called out and asked if they were the unnaturals that were trying to get Toby bumped from the race.
Leo turned beet red in an instant and the look in his eyes made the one who called out take a step back. Before things could get worse, Lillian answered, “Toby is our fellow candidate and that means we will have a bond for life. No one can change that. Leo and I are related, but I assure you, we’re both quite boring and normal. That was a friendly, if naughty, term shared only within the close confines of our training.”
Her words, said calmly and with a tone that made Toby an inclusive part of their trio, diffused the situation. The interested looks that came across the faces of those around the doors changed to amusement, disdain or even disgust toward the small group of boys. The one who spoke looked away, clearly embarrassed, and the others shuffled back as if they had no part in the insults.
Leo’s color had faded to a shade close to his normal one and the fire dampened in his eyes but Lillian wanted to take no chances. He was still looking in the direction of the boys and that didn’t bode well should one of them decide to make another verbal jab. She discreetly touched the back of his arm and urged him toward the doors and he complied by stepping forward after only a heartbeat of hesitation.
Once the doors closed behind them, Lillian let out her breath in a rush and sank back against it. “That was close.”
Leo turned toward her, the lines of his body still stiff with suppressed anger, and asked, “How long are we going to have to put up with that? Seriously, have they never met a family who actually liked each other before?”
Lillian shook her head. She was just as confused as he was. She wondered if they were too close and too comfortable with each other. Leo was her best friend aside from Forrey, her biological half-brother and her legal first cousin. Why shouldn’t they be around each other?
“Whatever,” she finally said. “When you get bonded to Sweetie and pop out a couple of adorable kids no one will think twice about this anymore. It’s just because neither of us is bonded, I’m sure.”
Leo took a few deep breaths and shook the tension out of his hands. When he was done he looked a little better, but hardly ready for a condolence visit and Lillian was worried he might get angry again. It was obvious that Toby had been spouting off with his friends about them. Depending on how Toby was with his parents, he may have done so with them as well. They could be walking into a less than friendly meeting. There was no help for it though.
Lillian went up to the desk staffed by an attendant who had been watching them and waiting for them to ask for assistance. Given their race coveralls, it was obvious why they were at the infirmary. After a brief exchange, they were led to the visiting room that had been given over to Toby’s family and Lillian steeled herself for the encounter to come.
Ten
When they left the infirmary with a basket now empty of the baked goods they had brought, Lillian felt almost lightheaded with relief. She could see that Leo felt the same. It was with a much lighter stride that they began their trip back up to Level 34.
The visit had gone well. Toby’s parents were sweet people who had clearly been left out of a big part of their son’s life. They seemed to view him as the boy still interested in school and a far flung future dream of being a racer rather than an almost-grown man who had almost achieved his dream. They knew nothing of his training or anything else it seemed. They certainly hadn’t known about his drunken entrance to training or even that he had been near his home on a pass. They weren’t even aware that Toby had been drunk when his accident occurred. They were so nice that Lillian dreaded the moment they found out the truth and she hoped that they could be spared that.
When Lillian gave Toby’s mother the basket of baked goods, she had immediately made tea on the little hot plate provided in the visitor room and shared out the little cakes and cookies with everyone. Toby’s father, an equal in niceness to his wife, had done his best to complement his wife’s hospitality with his own, despite the situation they were in.
They had given their condolences but had needed none of the preparations they had made for this visit. Both parents had seemed almost relieved that Toby would not compete and embarrassed that they felt so. Lillian understood though, perhaps because of her father. Once they passed that awkward hurdle, the couple opened up and the racers heard all about what they had feared for their so
n. The couple was of the type that preferred not to think about the outside. It was just too dangerous, a menace above their heads that was best ignored. There were lots of people like that. Most were followers of the philosophy that the silo was their intended home and to look beyond that was to invite disaster.
Toby woke and was ready for visitors before they were done with their own visit and the parents offered to let them go in. Lillian demurred, saying that what he needed most was his family and not to be reminded of the competition, pointing at her coveralls as if to make her point. The looks on the faces of his parents let her know they would be skirting the topic of the race to avoid hurting their son. Lillian saw the gratitude on Toby’s mother’s face when she demurred and realized she had just skirted the rails on a potentially ugly meeting. It was a relief.
Neither of them spoke much on the trip back up. They were tired and it was getting late. It was already into the half-dim, lights at half power in preparation for the dim-time when the red lights glowed and a hush settled over the silo. It was out of habit that their steps were made with more care and less noise during the last few levels of their climb.
Zara and Greg were waiting for them in the common space between public IT and the training facility. They rose from their seats, curious concern for how the visit went clear on their faces, but they refrained from asking anything until after the door to the training facility closed behind them.
Stew and some corn cakes had been set aside for them. As Leo heated up their meals, they gave their reports on how the visit went and both trainers looked as relieved as Lillian had felt when they learned that all went well.
Lillian was anxious to find out any decision the council had made and both trainers made short work of passing their own news. The race would not be delayed and there was no additional candidate to be drawn up. Leo asked if this might not raise some bad feelings with people if they didn’t bring up a third candidate. Lillian wondered at that as well. Nothing like this had happened during her lifetime and she could think of no race before it where such a thing happened.
Zara and Greg shared a significant look before Zara answered them. “There really isn’t a viable third to bring up. And whoever we brought up would be significantly disadvantaged in the Race itself. They’ll miss a full third of the allotted training time.”
Leo’s eyebrows shot up and he asked, “How is it possible that there isn’t a good replacement? A lot of people must have entered, right? I can understand about the missed training time, but shouldn’t whoever the candidate is get a choice in the matter?”
Greg answered him, “Yes, of course, but this year we were looking for some specific skills and traits. Of those that registered and ran their trials, more than half would have failed to be chosen because they specifically lacked those traits.”
Lillian looked at Leo and wondered what skills either of them possessed that others didn’t. She certainly wasn’t special that she knew of and her marks in school were good, but not spectacular. She wasn’t even sure she would score high enough on skill tests to be sure she got her chosen profession, let alone be singled out as something unique.
She asked, “What possible skills do either of us have, or Toby have, that let us pass to the finals?”
Lillian looked from Greg to Zara, hoping to see some answer on their faces, but they only looked uncomfortable at the question. Leo sensed their discomfort too, shut off the stove and came to the table.
He stood close to the trainers, almost looming over them and said, “Just tell us. It can’t be that bad.”
Zara nodded agreement, or perhaps permission, to Greg and he spoke, “The three of you share certain traits. It’s not skills you have, exactly. It’s more characteristics that you possess that we needed this year.” He craned his neck to look up at Leo and added, “Go sit down, you’re looming.”
“And what are those?” Lillian asked, almost afraid of the answer as Leo sat in the chair next to her.
“Tenacity, a general lack of fear and a need to go beyond the norm,” Zara said. “You three never quit, no matter what.”
Lillian felt the little hairs on her arms rise and a shiver ran down her spine. Leo just looked happy at such a pronouncement so Lillian knew he didn’t understand what it meant. It meant something she wouldn’t like, she was sure.
“And why, exactly, does this year’s racer need more tenacity than any other year? Isn’t tenacity just a nicer way of saying stubborn? And my mother says a lack of fear is just another way of saying stupid.” she said to the trainers, her voice flat and wary.
Leo got it then and his face paled. The reference Lillian just used hit home. The two had been caught as children watching some older kids spin the center rail, a dangerous maneuver, and talking about how they might do the same. The family meeting that resulted was memorable and had introduced them to the saying.
Greg looked at his hands where they were knitted together on the table. “Because this year the racer is going to go further than ever before. Into new territory.”
“Where the Others are?” asked Leo, real fear in his voice.
“No, no!” Zara exclaimed, reaching out to take Leo’s hand and reassure him. “We are forbidden by the Tenets of the First Heroes to approach the land of the Others. We would not breech those rules, no matter the reason. No one would risk another attack by the Others.”
The trainer shivered in revulsion at the thought of the inhuman Others, digging with clawed hands to reach the tender human meat of the people in the silo. It was known to all who lived in the silo that the great enemy who destroyed the world above, the Others, still survived somewhere. They were on the left hand of the sun as it fell from the sky and the people of the silo knew that no racer, no matter the reason, was ever to step to the left of a line between the silo and the setting sun. They had gone so far as to make an arc of glass balls that no racer was to pass.
Greg explained, “New territory, yes, but not the land of the Others. But to go further, to run when there is no guidepost to show that someone came before and to brave dangers where there is no wisdom to guide you is a frightening thing. It has become imperative that we push our boundaries of the known land above outward. That’s what we need to discuss with you.”
There was nothing to be done except listen, so she settled into her chair and waved for them to just get it over with. “Bad news doesn’t get better with age.”
Greg shook his head with a little laugh but it was Zara who spoke. “It’s nothing urgent or anything like that, but it is time. You all remember the shaking of a few years ago?”
“Of course,” she answered and Leo nodded. It wasn’t something they could easily forget. A rumble had echoed along the silo and then the entire structure had shaken for a few moments. It was a short occurrence but it had been profound in effect. Aside from having belongings crash to the floor throughout the entire silo, real damage had been done in other ways. Long flakes of concrete had shed from the walls, though no walls had actually come down. Behind some of the deeper flakes, criss-crossed bars of metal had shown through like the rusted bones of the silo. Crews had patched all of it over time, but even now cracks bled reddish brown around the patches.
“Well, when that happened the Watch went outside shortly afterward and a column of dirt and smoke was still falling to the earth in the territory of the Others. At first, we assumed there was some battle or perhaps the Others were dead, but the sky didn’t turn blue. It was only with time that we noted the dust was clearing by small amounts. It was such a slow and gradual process that it took a while for the observers from IT to notice it.”
“So, does that mean the Others are dead?” Lillian asked, confused.
“No, we don’t think so.” Zara answered in a voice that was far less sure than her words.
Greg broke in and said, “It’s just that we can’t be sure either way. When the last Other dies, then the sky should turn blue and the ground turn green. That hasn’t happened.”
&n
bsp; Both Lillian and Leo nodded. This was what all children were taught and they understood that.
“So why the urgency, then?” Leo asked, getting straight to the point.
Greg pointed to one of the ceiling lights, one that was no longer lit, and to the threaded crack of darker grey that ran along the ceiling. “Because the silo is falling apart for one thing. And for another, you all know that the runners have seen blue more than once in the distance. It’s been too far for a runner to reach, but it is getting closer. There is a possibility that it isn’t just that the Others must die, but that we must get away from where the Others lived. That we have to reach the blue.”
Silence met his words. Lillian was astounded at what he was saying. She knew about the blue. Everyone did. It was all over the Memoriam from the first Race to the last. But if they had to leave to reach the blue, how would everyone get there? Would only the runners get to leave?
“Wait, wait,” she said, holding up a hand against what she understood him to be saying. “How does that help the silo? If you have to keep pushing runners harder to reach it, how will people like my mom get to go there?”
“We don’t know,” Zara answered. “We just have to find it, reach it. Maybe the answer will be there.”
Leo looked at Lillian and she knew exactly what he was thinking. He was thinking of her father and what her mother would do if Lillian was lost too. “That means this will be more dangerous than other years, yes? More chance of, uh, failure?”
Greg nodded. Both he and Zara knew of her father, yet neither of them looked directly at her so she knew they were thinking of exactly that. She slammed both palms on the table and stood, causing all three of them to jerk in surprise.
“Enough!” she exclaimed. “I’m not afraid of going out there. You can’t pass being lost outside or bad luck with a suit to your children like the color of your eyes. No more of this. If we have to reach it, we have to reach it. Whether it is Leo or me that does it, we’ll get closer even if we don’t reach it. All will be well!”
