Edge of Truth
NATASHA HANOVA
Copyright © 2014 Natasha Hanova
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Names, characters, places, and plots are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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eBook Design and Production by Word Genies
www.natashahanova.com
Praise
“Nevan is one of the most lovable, genuinely charismatic heroes I’ve encountered.” —Carrie Butler, Author of STRENGTH
“Readers will enjoy this book. It mixes the dystopian world with paranormal powers, two things I love.” —Dorine White, Author of Emerald Ring
“A refreshingly unique dystopian adventure…” —Teen Blurb
“Budding love, new friendships, and undying loyalty are only a few reasons I loved this story.” —Book Nerd And Proud
“Finding [a dystopian] that’s actually different has become something of a personal quest and I’m happy to say that Edge of Truth satisfied my small craving in a big way.” —Buried Under Books
Dedication
To Mama
Chapter One
Thursday, June 15, 2248
Late Afternoon
Rena Moon wished she could swap places with the canteen, held tight and pressed to Nevan’s lips. A drop of liquid trickled to his chin, and her mouth dried. After a final swig, he wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. The drained container echoed against the picnic table when he set it down.
“Come on,” she said to her best friend, Blaze. “Let’s move closer.”
“Why are you whispering? It’s not like he can hear us from here.”
“Habit.”
“We’ll have a better vantage point from over there.” Blaze pointed to a shaded spot across Transit Plaza, one table away from Nevan’s. “It’s outside his peripheral vision. We can stand closer, maybe even within hearing range.”
“Loving your attention to detail.”
While stealing glances at her secret crush, Rena strolled along the sidewalk under the elms. They were planted in a geometric pattern so the trees lined up no matter which direction she looked. Recycled plastic benches and tables broke up the monotony. Nevan’s group, agricultural workers according to the sage green t-shirts they wore, always sat in the third row across, fifth row back. It was the perfect distance from the platform, where eager people lingered to catch the first CityRail home.
“Sweet Mother Earth.” Blaze nudged Rena’s shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance. “He’s picking up the spoons. They’re gonna do it, again.”
“Wha…?” Transfixed, she watched Nevan’s biceps flex as he shifted and rested his forearms against the table edge.
After glancing down both sides, he nodded, once, twice, three times. Someone tapped a set of cups, creating a deep, resonant beat. Nevan joined in, drumming the spoons and knocking his wrist in perfect rhythm to bring the music alive. A single, perfect dimple formed on his left cheek as he swayed. Her fingers ached to touch the dreads that spilled over his shoulders.
With her gift to detect ground vibrations, Rena honed in on the cadence Nevan produced. Every tap thrummed through her, uniting her with his song on a level no one else could know. Enthralled, she drifted toward him as if he’d attached a melodic tether to her with the intent to reel her in.
“Be caref—” Blaze started to say.
Something caught Rena’s feet, and she tripped. The impact against the sidewalk stole her breath and forced an embarrassing noise from her mouth. The connection to Nevan snapped. She looked back at the small branch on the ground and shook her head.
“Stay down.” Blaze angled to block his line of sight.
Gratitude for her best friend bumped up a notch. Rena wanted Nevan’s attention, but not when she was making a bodink of herself.
She assumed her clumsiness went unnoticed because music continued to flow through the Plaza uninterrupted. Without her connection, she didn’t enjoy it as much.
Blaze glanced over her shoulder. “Okay, good news, bad news. You can get up, but everyone’s crowded around their table now.”
“Mostly girls, of course.” Rena sighed. Who wouldn’t want to watch Nevan? He was fit and beyond fine, the most quality boy in Hollowcrest. If she hadn’t tripped, she would’ve been able to sidle up next to him. But no, the branch ruined everything. Before she realized what she was doing, her fingers wrapped around it, and she lifted.
“Halt,” a Synbot commanded. Its six-foot frame, two inches shorter than Nevan, stopped in front of her.
Initial fear of discipline iced her blood. Thoughts of consequences chased it with angry heat. The combination made her brave and stupid instead of silent and compliant, as expected.
“I was only moving the stick off the path,” she explained before the Syn stated charges.
Blaze stepped forward as if to verify the story. Rena shook her head and shifted to put more space between them and draw the Syn’s attention away. Designed to look human, its synthetic skin appeared tanned, and every strand of its short brown, carbon fiber hair was in place. This particular model had blue eyes, which mimicked Overlord Andrick’s, except the robot’s lacked emotion. Rena wondered if she’d ever get used to the emptiness she saw when she made ‘eye’ contact.
The badge on its jacket had a tiny camera in the middle of the Overlord’s logo, which emitted a red light as it targeted and scanned the identification band attached to Rena’s pinky.
“Citizen 54325i, you are in violation of Conservation Laws 1, 21, and 28.”
“You don’t understand.” The words sounded louder than intended.
“You are also in violation of Conduct Ordinance 13.”
“Are you kidding me?” she mumbled. If she could go a week without a fine, it’d be a miracle.
The Syn’s gaze flicked to the grass beneath her worn shoes. “You are also currently in violation of Conservation Law 35.”
She growled under her breath, knowing it might earn her another fine. Releasing her anger in small doses prevented her from accidentally triggering an earthquake. It kept everyone safe, especially Rena. The consequences for Others, like her, were more permanent than the petty fines she faced now. One step put her onto the permitted walking area.
“Your total fines amount to 8,500 units. How would you like to pay? Cash or debit?”
Rena glanced at the branch, wishing she could incinerate it with a glare. If the stupid thing had stayed in the tree where it belonged, she would’ve stayed off radar. She wanted out of Hollowcrest so bad. Surely, people weren’t scrutinized so closely in the Eden biodomes. If only she could avoid daily fines, she might be able to save enough to buy her way inside.
“Cash or debit?” the Syn repeated.
“Neither,” she answered.
“Credit, then.” A panel, which resembled a large pocket on the Syn’s jacket, slid open. A hand shaped icon flashed on the screen beneath, signaling her to press a palm to it and transfer the violations to her record.
Eight thousand five hundred units, almost three month’s wages. Wages she couldn’t earn until she completed another year of Internship. If she combined the new amount with what she already owed... Animosity burned away the moisture of her tears and blurred her vision. Her dreams of Eden fell further out of reach.<
br />
“Do you understand the charges?” the Syn asked when Rena’s clenched hands remained by her sides.
“No. I don’t. I’m not trying to start a riot. And I don’t understand the charge for harming foliage when the branch was already on the ground. I tripped over it. I didn’t break any trees.”
The screen showed her holding the branch with an angry expression, then faded to the flashing icon. “You are strongly encouraged to consider your response according to Conduct Ordinances 1 through 6, unless you wish to incur additional fines.”
And you’re strongly encouraged to stop fining people with false charges, unless you wish to end up in a recycle yard. She swallowed the words. Tension coiled in her calves and caused a shiver to shoot through her. She bit her lip to quell the pain.
Bracing for the sight of her total debt in big, bold numbers for everyone to see, she lifted her hand toward the screen. Her palms tingled, rarely a good sign. She hesitated centimeters from contact. If she touched the machine in her current emotional state and something happened, she might accidentally out herself as Other. If she didn’t comply with the law, she’d be detained and her dad punished.
When she touched the Syn, a current zapped her palm and the screen blanched to blue. She yanked her hand away. The machine’s eyes went dark, its head tilted forward, and its shoulders slumped. People getting busted for breaking one law or another was so commonplace that Blaze was the only one who noticed what happened to Rena’s Syn. One less thing to worry about.
Seconds later, the Syn righted itself and the standard message ‘Your safety and security provided by Overlord Andricik’ scrolled beneath his image on the screen.
“Do better,” the android said in a slightly different voice. Without additional questions or a lecture on the importance of Hollowcrest laws, it marched toward a transport vehicle.
Relief alleviated the pressure strumming through Rena.
“What was that?” Blaze asked.
“The blue screen of death? Weird, huh? It probably had some kind of malfunction.” She wasn’t sure whether she’d short-circuited the Syn or not. Since it didn’t arrest her, she had to assume something else caused the reboot.
“Maybe the violations won’t transfer.”
“Not with my luck.” Rena shifted her backpack and looked at Nevan’s empty table.
“They headed toward the CityRail already,” Blaze said.
She didn’t get a last look at him. “Can you believe this? I need to get away from here.”
“We can hang out at my house for a while.”
“I’d probably pick up ten more fines on the way.” She shook her head. “I’m thinking someplace farther away.”
“The Market?”
“Westrock,” she whispered as they left Transit. The rumbling of the CityRail through the ground was like white noise, constant and level. “Come with?”
“There’s no way the gate guard will let us pass without authorization.”
“Don’t need it. I found a way out.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Rena held her gaze.
“Sweet Mother, you are. Do you know what kind of stuff goes on outside the boundary?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She headed toward Ugly Forest. “And it’s not what you think.”
Chapter Two
The air smelled fresher with every step into Westrock and away from Ugly Forest with its ‘rotting’ tree, which curved over the twenty-foot high boundary wall. Rena had no idea how something so beautiful created such an awful odor. It was worse than anything her ten-year-old brothers produced, and they prided themselves on making her gag. A warm breeze swept past, and she drew another lungful, attempting to purge the smell from her nose.
The surrounding rocks still radiated warmth from the Burning, which ended almost four hours ago. Every day, from noon to two o’clock, the sun’s scorching rays pounded the earth making the air hot, arid, and difficult to breathe. It was tolerable the first twenty minutes, maximum. Any longer meant the difference between tanning and searing.
Sweat-dampened clothes clung to Rena’s back, tugging against her with each arm swing as she hiked over the slanted terrain. In the forbidden land of Westrock, she was free. She didn’t have to worry about touching the wrong kind of plant, not that many survived outside the city. She didn’t worry about saying anything deemed offensive about the Overlord. She didn’t worry about playing Russian roulette with her secret every time she had to touch a Syn. Because no matter how hard she tried, she collected fines like her work overalls collected smudges.
Remembering her recent fines brought a swift heat to the back of her neck. Painful spasms spread through her legs, as tension churned through her. She ran her hands down her thighs, hoping to work out some of the tightness, but knew it was too late. The encounter with the Syn had sparked her power. To avoid the debilitating pain of restraining it, she needed to either let it out in small doses or risk triggering an earthquake.
She scanned the horizon. A few spiked plants struggled to grow between the rocks and cracked earth. A two-mile wide dried riverbed separated them from the Jordan Mountains. It seemed safe enough.
She imagined the pressure inside her seeping into the ground with every footstep. The tiny shockwaves created small, safe ripples without disturbing the landscape. Blaze didn’t appear to notice the short-lasting tremors.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Rena jabbed her finger in the direction of the cities. “That place suffocates me.”
“We shouldn’t be out here anyway.” Blaze gestured toward the valley behind them. “If you want to head home, I totally support you.”
“Home is the place that’s smothering me.” Rena continued forward. “I can’t go anywhere without Anata constantly following me around and asking me to do things. Maybe I should change my last name to Canyu. Rena can you get water? Rena can you help the twins? Rena can you…can you…canyu?” She spun to face Blaze. “And if that woman thinks she’s going to make me go to the Solstice Celebration after what happened last year…”
Unconcerned about more Conduct Ordinance fines, Rena screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound reverberated off the boulders.
“That should scare away predators looking for an easy meal,” Blaze joked.
“Never underestimate the freedom of shouting.” Rena pointed at her with a gnarled walking stick. “You should try it.”
“Not feeling vent-ee at the moment.” Blaze tripped on a rock then caught her balance. “Will you slow down a little?”
“I told you to pick up a walking stick. It shouldn’t be breaking a Conservation Law if the branch is dead on the ground. And don’t even say what you’re thinking.”
“Well, it’s true,” Blaze said. “It’s bad enough we breached the border. I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.”
“We’re at least eight miles away from Hollowcrest by now. The Syns don’t patrol here.” She cringed at the thought of them in Westrock. She needed a break from the confines of the endless laws force-fed every minute of every day.
“I don’t want to miss curfew. How long will it take to get home?”
“I’m tired of Hollowdump,” Rena grumbled.
“Nowhere else for people like us to go. You sure they can’t track us here?”
“I come here all the time. Been scanned both ways…” She splayed her fingers, identification band glinting in the sunlight. “Nothing happened. The Syns are number two on my Give-Me-A-Reason-Not-To-Kill-You list, but they still can’t compete with always-there-Anata and her can-yous. She acts less like a houseguest and more like a hovering stepmom. I… I need some space.” Rena adjusted the shoulder strap of her backpack. “Wait until she wakes up tomorrow and there’s no one to—”
“Tomorrow!” Blaze staggered. “Rena, we can’t stay out all night. Who knows what kind of wild animals might be out here? What if they’re carriers? We could get infected.”
“You worry too much.
”
“And you don’t worry enough,” Blaze said.
From the small hill where they walked, the Hollowcrest quadrants weren’t visible anymore. Nor were the Eden bio-domes. Rena couldn’t even see the factory where she completed the second half of her school day, sans pay until she turned eighteen and graduated.
She’d never ventured to this side of Westrock before. The riverbed rocks here were much larger, some taller than her. It slowed their hike, but was still safer than the area where Rena usually went to vent. To get there, she had to cross the bomb crater zone surrounding what was left of the old city after it was destroyed and looted during the war.
She tugged the brim of her hat to shield her eyes and pointed to it in the distance. “See that rubble? It’s Crimson.”
Blaze squinted. “Wow, it looks worse than the image files. Should we be out this far? Are we lost?”
“No rules out here, remember. And no, we’re not lost.” Rena didn’t have any desire to go home. She’d had enough of Anata’s interference, enough of “supervising” her brothers, enough of her dad siding with the enemy. The thought of last year’s Solstice made her skin crawl, but then she realized, it wasn’t the memory that raised the hairs at the base of her neck.
“Sweet Mother Earth,” Rena whispered. Those tiny tremors she’d sent into the earth must’ve hit a fault. “Something bad’s about to happen.”
Blaze hunched and scanned the horizon as she whispered, “Synbots?”
Rena shook her head. Rapid vibrations tickled her feet and resonated through her bones. “We have to go.” She tugged Blaze away from the towering boulders.
“Rena, stop!”
“You don’t understand, we need to—”
“What we need is a break from the sun.” Blaze sat on a boulder and pulled off her faded blue sunhat. A hot breeze rustled her wiry red hair. Flushed cheeks added more color to her freckles. “Ugh! My clothes still stink.”
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