Skin Dominion

by Tania Hutley

  The ground here is uneven, littered with rubble though we’re still a reasonable distance from the breach. I pick my way through the debris with Cale by my side. Behind us, all the knights are marching together. Their boots crash to the ground in unison, in spite of the rocks strewn over the ground.

  They’re all coming to Deiterra with us, to protect us in case the imperator decides it’s easier to kill us than strike a peace treaty. I’m trying not to be alarmed by the fact Sentin thought we should take all forty-seven knights with us. But I guess it’s better than leaving them behind.

  I call ahead to Sentin. “Aren’t you going to tell us more about what we’re getting into?”

  He stops and waits for Cale and me to draw level with him. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything. Anything.” I motion for the soldiers to stop marching. “How about you start by telling us why you’ve always refused to say anything about Deiterra.”

  “Because that information is classified.”

  “Classified by who?”

  Sentin gives one of his slow blinks, and I think it’s his way of expressing shock that I’d ask a question with such an obvious answer. “Triton is severely overcrowded. What would happen if fifty million people learned how much space there was on the other side of the wall?”

  “The Fist would find a way to blow up the wall,” says Cale.

  “Anarchy.” Sentin nods. “The information was suppressed for fear of sparking an open revolt. If I were to speak openly about Deiterra, I would have been arrested.”

  A horrible thought occurs to me. I move close to Sentin and drop my voice to a lower murmur, trying to make sure none of the knights can hear us with their bat-like ears. “Does the imperator know it was Morelle who blew the hole in the wall? I mean, does he think I did it?”

  Sentin shakes his head. “Fortunately, the imperator is certain that President Trask ordered the wall destroyed.” He speaks in the same low tone, bending so his lips are near my ear. “The imperator is aware of how vulnerable he’s become in recent years, and assumes the President considered him an easy target.”

  Cale is bent close too, the three of us in a private huddle. Cale’s cologne mingles with Sentin’s, and both scents fill my lungs. Cale’s is fresh and crisp, while Sentin’s is a rich spice with a tantalizing hint of sweetness.

  My senses are so sharp, I can also detect both the wound on Sentin’s palm where he cut himself on the broken glass from Felicity’s window, and the faint tang of the healing spray he’s coated it with.

  “Why is the imperator vulnerable?” asks Cale.

  “When the wall was built, Deiterra was a progressive society. Since then, Triton has continued to advance while Deiterra’s technology has stagnated. When the knights invaded, Deiterra could offer little resistance.”

  I glance back at the knights, picturing them sweeping through Deiterra, slaughtering everyone they saw. It’s easy enough to imagine after I watched them mow down the Deiterran fighters who tried to attack through the breach in the wall.

  “Why hasn’t Deiterra kept up with our technology?” I ask, supressing a shiver.

  “It’s a rural economy with a comparatively low population base. Rather than having democratic elections, the Deiterrans are ruled by a single autocratic family. That family has always believed in preserving the integrity of their agricultural lifestyle. Schooling is considered to have been completed after the student graduates from a secondary level, and the imperator hasn’t prioritized innovation.”

  “When was the last time you were in Deiterra?” I ask curiously.

  His eyes focus on me. The bright sunlight turns his irises more silver than gray, reminding me of his Reptile Skin. “I left when I was fourteen.”

  “Do you miss it?”

  A cloud passes across his expression. “No.” He glances down, and I get the impression he’s remembering something unpleasant. Then he gives his head a small shake, as though dismissing whatever happened to him in Deiterra. “We should keep moving. The imperator is expecting us.”

  He motions to the knights and starts walking, obviously done with answering questions.

  “Before going through the wall, I’d like to know more about what’s on the other side,” mutters Cale.

  I nod. Sentin told us more than he normally does, but I’m still itching to turn him upside down and shake all the secrets out of his brain. There must be deep hurts in his past, but they’re buried deep and he’s obviously reluctant to go digging for them.

  I guess I can relate. Butterflies and rainbows weren’t a feature of my childhood either.

  Cale and I follow Sentin, and when we get close to the breach in the wall, he stops again to let us catch up. The knights stop behind us, somehow managing to stand in formation, though we’re surrounded by enormous piles of concrete and steel debris.

  This is where Tori went through the wall.

  Thanks to the mountains of rubble, it’s difficult to tell how wide the opening is. Part of New Triton collapsed, so there are actual apartment buildings lying across the breach. The wall’s a lot taller than Old Triton, perhaps as much as one hundred stories tall, and rubble descends from the damaged section like giant stone waterfalls. It’s as much a labyrinth as an opening.

  At least we don’t have to worry about the wall’s automatic defence system any more. If Triton still had aircraft, we probably could have flown to the other side without being shot down.

  “So we just walk through?” asks Cale. “And the Deiterrans will be waiting for us on the other side?”

  “That’s right.”

  Cale glances at me. “Tori went through at night. Maybe the Deiterrans didn’t see her. She might be taking a good look around Deiterra.”

  Sentin shakes his head. “Your friend shouldn’t have tried to get in. She’ll be a prisoner by now, if they haven’t already executed her.”

  My stomach drops. “You have spies over there, right? Somebody must have given you that footage of the Knight Skins. Have you heard anything about Tori?”

  “I haven’t received any word about her, but I know the imperator.”

  “If he’s hurt Tori—”

  “Even if he has, the peace we’re going to negotiate is too important to jeopardise.” Sentin fixes me with his direct gaze, his jaw set. “If the Deiterrans develop their own Skin army and launch a counter attack, millions could die on both sides of the wall. Is that what you want?”

  “Of course not.” Irritated, I press my lips together. Tori’s my best friend. How am I supposed to shrug it off if the imperator’s hurt her?

  “Don’t you think you should tell us more about the imperator?” Cale sounds as worried as I am. “Milla needs to negotiate with him. She should know his strengths and weaknesses.”

  Sentin shakes his head. “I’ll be the one negotiating the deal. President Morelle is merely accompanying me to give legitimacy to our agreement. The imperator won’t speak with her directly.”

  “He sounds like a great guy.” Cale blows out a loud breath. “So we can’t do anything to help Tori, and have to wait around helplessly while you do all the talking?”

  “I’ll let you know if I need you to do any more than that. Now, shall we go?” Without waiting for an answer, Sentin starts forward, picking his way through the debris.

  Following him, I catch a glimpse of green. It’s the giant tree I spotted last time I was in front of the wall. The sight makes my anger slip away. In spite of my fear for Tori and unease about meeting the imperator, my heart starts beating faster. I’m going to walk through the green fields of Deiterra. The thought fills me with awe.

  But first we need to pick our way across the broken concrete and rock, passing the remains of peoples’ shattered lives and destroyed homes. I see filthy rags that may have once been clothes, broken electronics, and even a child’s pink sandal. I can only hope its owner is still alive.

  Then the wall itself is looming on either side of us, and our path turns into a tra
il that’s been cleared of rubble.

  The closer we get to the tree, the more enormous it seems to get, until it’s towering over us. And as we emerge from the shadow of the wall, the sun hits us. Though we’re on ground level, like Old Triton, it’s as hot and bright as New Triton. Not for long, though. In front of us, shade is cast by the tree’s enormous branches. And there’s not just one tree. There are hundreds of them. From my window in the Morelle scraper, the trees look a lot smaller and almost insignificant compared to the expense of green behind them. From here, the giant trees are jaw-dropping.

  “What kind of trees are they?” I ask Sentin, my voice coming out breathless.

  “Different kinds. They mostly bear hybrid fruits, bred to withstand the heat.” He points to a cluster of smaller trees with bare trunks and huge leaves. “The only non-hybrids are those banana trees.”

  “Banana trees,” repeats Cale. “You mean, like the fruit?”

  “The food that’s marketed as bananas in Triton doesn’t bear much resemblance to the fruit that grows on this tree.”

  Whatever food they’re talking about must only be available in New Triton, because I’ve never heard of it. “Will we get to taste it?” I ask.

  Sentin’s lips quirk up in one of his rare smiles that transform his face. When he smiles like that, it’s easy to forget how secretive he can be.

  “There’s a popular fairy tale in Deiterra about a child who ate so much goldenfruit, he turned yellow and grew roots of his own.” He points to some heavy golden pods hanging beneath the leaves of one of the trees. “You’ll no doubt try a variety of Deiterran fruit, and after you do, you may not want to leave.”

  Cale shades his eyes, peering toward a different cluster of trees. “I see soldiers.”

  Sentin looks too. “They’re called legionnaires.”

  A structure has been built into the trees. It’s a long, squat building, covered with branches and foliage. It’s well camouflaged, but with my sharp eyesight, I should have spotted it right away.

  Sure enough, several soldiers—legionnaires—are marching from the building. A few are olive skinned, but none look like they’ve been tweaked. Their faces have the same uneven features as sinkers, and one man has a scar pulling up his top lip. They’re wearing khaki uniforms, and carrying large rifles.

  “Stand down,” I order the knights behind us, just in case any get it into their heads to do something foolish. We stop and wait for the legionnaires to approach. They’re not pointing their rifles at us, but they’re not putting them away, either. They’re holding them in two hands, ready to fire if they need to.

  I stand stiffly, unwilling to make any move that might be misinterpreted. I’ve always hated guns.

  They march up to us and stop in front of Sentin, ignoring Cale and me altogether. They’re not wearing bands, and it’s jarring to see them walking around openly with naked wrists. Of course we’re not subject to Triton laws over here, but it still makes me feel uneasy.

  The legionnaire in front salutes Sentin. “We’re here to escort you to Reliance, sir.”

  I exchange a wide-eyed glance with Cale. Why did the soldier call him sir?

  Sentin nods at him. “Lead on, tribune.”

  The legionnaire doesn’t move. “I need to ask if your companions have any weapons, sir. We’ve been ordered to confiscate any we find.”

  “Only the knights have weapons. The rest of us have none.”

  “My orders are that the knights may come up to the outskirts of Reliance, but they can’t come inside.”

  “Very well. Your terms are accepted.”

  The legionnaire salutes again, then the entire troop all pivot at the same time and march away. Sentin walks behind them without looking back.

  Cale and I frown at each other, and I can tell he’s wondering the same thing I am. How does Sentin expect the knights to protect us if we’re leaving them behind?

  Ten

  This part of Deiterra has no roads, only dirt paths that look like they’ve been worn into the ground over many years. Around us are the green fields I’d imagined walking through, and the reality of them is even more incredible than I dreamed.

  I’d pictured grass, because of the small parks they have in New Triton. But the plants in these fields are nothing like grass. The ones nearest us are tall, with large flat leaves, and they’re planted in neat rows. The plants in another patch are even taller, with long, thin leaves. And there are short plants with tendrils. The fields seem to go on forever, with only a handful of people working amongst all the greenery.

  In Triton there are crowds everywhere you look. A population of millions, and barely space to breathe. I’ve spent my life working and sleeping in buildings crammed with people, so to see this huge expanse of land with hardly anyone in it feels dizzying. My gut keeps trying to tell me something must be wrong, as though the entire population has fled from an unknown disaster.

  Cale and I are walking together, with Sentin and the Deiterran legionnaires a small distance in front, and the knights marching behind us. The few people in the nearby fields stare at us, their expressions hostile. One old man spits on the ground, then makes a gesture that I have no problem in recognising as obscene, though I’ve never seen it before.

  “They don’t like us,” I say, stating the obvious.

  “Do you blame them?” asks Cale. “Our knights came to their side of the wall to fight their legionnaires.”

  I glance over my shoulder at the Skins marching behind us. The sunlight glints off their black armor, and their heavy footsteps are throwing up a low cloud of dust. “It’s a shame we had to bring them. They couldn’t look more menacing if they tried.”

  Cale’s mouth twists. “I’m more worried about what’s going to happen when we’re forced to leave them behind.”

  Once we’re well past the people who were staring at us, I look back to see them returning to their work, bending down to the soil. Harvesting their plants? Caring for them? I know nothing about growing food.

  “I wonder if they use robots here,” I say, thinking of the gardener who looks after Felicity’s garden.

  Cale shakes his head. “I think they must be tending to the plants by hand. If they had robots, surely we’d see them.”

  “What kind of plants do you think they are?”

  “Different types of food, I suppose.”

  The plants don’t look anything like any food I’ve ever seen, and it’s hard to imagine wanting to eat something that’s been lying in the dirt.

  “I think I’d prefer a YumYum Bar,” I murmur.

  Cale brings up his band’s control panel, then frowns at it. “I wanted to see if there’s any information on plants, but I can’t connect to the feed.”

  “What?” I tap on my own control panel. “I’m getting error messages too.”

  “We must be out of range of the Triton network.”

  “So we won’t hear about anything that happens while we’re gone?”

  “I guess not.”

  I should be used to being without a band, but maybe it’s because I had to go without one for so long that not being able to connect makes me so uneasy. The worst part will be not knowing what’s happening in Triton. The Beast could be attacking my factories, or the ex-knights I sent into the shelters could be wreaking havoc, and there isn’t a thing I’ll be able to do about it.

  “Look!” Cale points.

  I follow his finger to something big behind a large patch of very tall plants. It’s a huge brown animal, even bigger than my Leopard Skin, with four legs and a long head. I’ve seen animals like that on the holo, but I never thought I’d get to see one in real life.

  “Is that a horse?” Cale breathes the question, and I’m too shocked by the sight to do more than nod.

  We stare at it wordlessly. It’s in a pen on a large square of ground that’s almost bare, stretching its neck over the wooden fence, reaching for plants to eat. Its tail flicks from side to side as it chews.

  For qu
ite a distance beyond its pen, the ground is black instead of green. It looks like a fire may have burned through here, destroying all the plants. And in the middle of the burned ground is the charred remains of a structure.

  A woman walks out from behind the tall plants, near the horse. She spots us and freezes, staring wide-eyed from beneath her wide-brimmed hat. She looks terrified, and I have an overwhelming urge to call out, so I can reassure her we’re not here to hurt anyone. Before I can, she ducks back into the tall plants.

  “They’re all wearing big hats and long sleeves,” says Cale. “And none are wearing bands. Have you noticed?”

  “The big hats must be to protect them from the sun. I wish Sentin had suggested we bring some of our own. The sun’s getting fierce.” I wipe the sweat from my face. At least this Skin has been tweaked so I won’t get as sunburned as I did in my human body.

  “Did you expect it to be like this?” he asks.

  “How could anyone have expected this? It’s like we’ve gone back in time. Way back.”

  “Into a holo movie,” he agrees. “One with cowboys.“

  “Is all of Deiterra like this?” I wonder aloud. “Or just this part?”

  “You should catch up to Sentin and ask him. He’s more likely to answer your questions than mine.”

  “Why do you think that? He barely tells me anything.”

  Cale shoots me a sideways look. “The only time I’ve ever seen a smile on his face is when he’s looking at you.”

  I frown, trying to think whether that could be true.

  “Good thing I’m not the jealous type,” he adds, his lips quirking up to tell me he’s joking.

  “Jealous?” I shake my head. “How can you be jealous when you can barely stand to get close to me anymore?” In the whirlwind of becoming President Morelle and trying to change things for Old Triton, I’ve missed the easy way we used to be with each other. I hate that there’s a distance between us now. He used to touch my arm when he spoke, or take my hand. Now every touch is grudging.