Clan World

by Jim Kochanoff

  “Stop it,” I commanded. “We have to work together on this. If we stand in front of it, we only give it one target to watch.” Tuko nodded while Jinn stood on the desk, waving her arms.

  “Hey, little bee, come down a little closer so I can talk to you. We really mean you no harm.” Jinn’s grin was mischievous and any human could tell that she meant harm. The drone focused on her while Tuko and I circled around it. I looked for something heavy and found a paperweight sitting on a desk. Tuko grabbed a dangling wire from the desk and began to whip it around in the air. A slight vibration sound caused the bee to angle its body toward him. With the distraction, I threw the paperweight. Even though the bee faced away from me, it evaded the object, as if it had eyes in the back of its head. However, as the object burst on the ceiling, a piece fell on the drone and it momentarily adjusted its flight to compensate. Then Tuko flung his wire.

  He hit the drone, and the wire lodged itself in one of the wings. The drone began to fly in a circle as if unable to regulate its flight. Tuko began to pull on his end of the wire, as if yanking a kite down from the sky. The drone protested but came closer until Tuko was dragging it across the table. Jinn lifted her boot.

  “See you later, little bot.” The drone was crushed under her boot. It twitched for a moment, and then its eyes went dark.

  “Good. Now that should stop anyone from spying on us.” Then the lights went dark.

  “Did we do that?” Jinn’s voice rang from my left. Suddenly I had a bad feeling. The lights flashed on again, and a red hue filled the room. An air horn bleated and nearly deafened me. The three of us looked at each other and realized that we had to leave. Now!

  The noise made it impossible to talk and we ran to the ladder. Before we could reach the bottom rung, the floor shook. An explosion came from the far end. It was like we had set off an alarm and now the lab was trying to bury us! Jinn went first, followed by me and then Tuko. We climbed quickly as another explosion rocked from below. I lost my grip on my left hand and started to fall. I was stopped as Tuko pushed up on my butt to prevent me from falling farther. I grabbed the hand-hold and we climbed out. The three of us gasped for air as we reached the surface.

  Another blast echoed from the tunnel and the surrounding rocks collapsed downward, crushing everything below. Dust filled the air and the three of us were silent, catching our breath. Tuko took a rock and slammed it against the ground.

  “Damn it! If I hadn’t turned that toy on, none of this would have happened. Everything else on that computer is gone!”

  “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known. And we learned some pretty good information,” I tried to reassure him.

  “Why were their videos of our parents? Was there other footage of them?” Jinn asked.

  “Perhaps and there were other clan folders as well,” I said.

  “Who would be watching us and why?” Tuko asked. I thought of my own world, where drones were everywhere you went, watching every move you made. It was obvious that we were being observed and everyone had unfortunately grown used to it. Even though we couldn’t see them, this world seemed to be under the same watchful eyes.

  “Another clan?” Jinn replied. I had different assumptions, but I didn’t share my thoughts.

  Tuko gave me an odd look. “You seemed pretty good with the computer.”

  “So? I’ve used them all the time.”

  “Really? I told you most computers have been broken down for years. You saw enough of them in the junkyard back at the Orphan town. Are you telling me there are lots of computers in your home?” I looked at Jinn, who nodded her head. “Pene — where do you live?” I swallowed as I decided to tell him about my home.

  “What is that?” Jinn interrupted. A buzzing sound grew louder, almost like a growl under the ground. The vent I had seen before dropping down the ladder was not covered by rubble and seemed to reverberate. The three of us backed away as the sound grew louder. I watched as a small metal bee escaped from the vent, followed by another and another. The three of them hovered in the air, their spacing even as they floated as one.

  “Big deal! We’ll crush them like the one below.” He kneeled and picked up a rock in his hand.

  “Wait!” I yelled, noticing something different about the drones. One of them tilted to the right and the stinger shone with a yucky green liquid. These drones were different; they were deadly! “Keep away from them! There is something in their stinger!” As if on cue, the three bees separated and picked each one of us as a target.

  “Run!” We headed to the thick forest, hoping to get some cover. In the open we were easy prey. Tuko threw his rock at one of the drones, which evaded it easily. Instinctively, we spread out, trying to avoid giving the drones an easy target. They came at us with the speed of a bumblebee, fast but not so difficult to jump out of the way. I waited until the last second and the drone drilled itself into a rock. It seemed caught for a second and I stretched the gap as it struggled to wring itself loose.

  Jinn’s pursuer was close on her heels. She ran fast across the grassy terrain as the bee closed in and then she stopped suddenly, which caused the bee to overshoot her. We were about fifty feet from the woods. Tuko’s bee had weaved back and forth on him, staying just out of reach. Tuko was faster than the two of us and closer to escaping to the woods. He went too fast, clipped a rock, and stumbled down to one knee. Damn — he’s going to get stung. He looked up, defenseless as the bee sailed down, stinger first. Tuko grimaced for the inevitable when the drone went flying, one of its wings clipped by a branch. It tried to recover but spun mostly in a circle because it couldn’t compensate with only one wing. I looked over at Jinn, who had a big smile on her face, twirling a branch.

  “You must play a sport, Jinn. You’ve got a great swing.” I beamed. Tuko was back on his feet.

  “Let’s congratulate each other later, okay.” We reached the woods with the two drones close in pursuit. Unfortunately, the woods slowed us down as much as it did the drones and made it much more difficult to watch their progress. But they were noisy little thingsand we could tell when they were getting close. I saw a clump of trees with a large boulder behind them.

  “Over here!” I commanded as the three of us converged.

  “Why here?” Jinn asked.

  “I wanted something at our backs so that we can control how the drones approach us.”

  Tuko gave me a look as if he was impressed. “What did you take, strategic warfare in school?” I thought about my history lessons replaying the battles of my city. Using our technology, I could replay any attack in history through my mind. Maybe it did prepare me for this.

  “Down!” I yelled as the drone extended its rear end at Jinn. It missed and lodged itself into a tree trunk. I scrambled around, looking for a weapon. Jinn beat me to it.

  “Clank!” The drone was crushed by a branch. It twitched several times and then stopped. Green liquid leaked down the trunk.

  “Two down!” Jinn grinned. The third drone buzzed overhead, circling above like a shark waiting to pounce. We took this opportunity to run deeper into the forest. The three us ran hard, but we were kidding ourselves if we thought we could outrun this thing. Drones never tired. Humans did.

  I felt the sweat dripping down my back. We needed a plan. I turned to look at Jinn, her face tight with exhaustion. She was holding her shoulder, as if her earlier wound was bothering her. She tried to smile, but then her face turned panicked. I turned to where she was looking, but I was too late. My body snapped back as I hit something soft but unbreakable. It was white and sticky, and the more I struggled, the tighter I was ensnared.

  “Tuko! Jinn! Are you out there?” I couldn’t turn my head, but I heard a muffled reply and sounds of people moving around. The drone buzzing became louder, and then I heard the impact of metal on wood. Then silence.

  I felt like an insect caught in a trap, waiting for their captor to decide their fate. I didn`t have to wait long. The web was cleared from my eyes, and all I could see
was a hand with a ring. A white gem with an eight-legged creature emblem. A teenage face looked at me.

  “Who are you?” I commanded, although I had no power to demand an answer.

  He smirked, ignoring my question. “Welcome to the Spider clan. You have had a lot of people looking for you. Your capture will put our clan on the map!”

  11

  Caught

  Most of the webbing had been pulled off, but my legs and arms were now lashed together. Each bump on the road made me wince as the metal in the van was hard and unforgiving on my shoulder. I didn’t know if Tuko and Jinn had been captured with me or if they had been left alone to return to their family. I didn’t think their capture was worth angering the entire Armor clan.

  In the back of the van was a small workbench and a stool. A curtain separated the front of the vehicle, and although someone must be driving, I didn’t see their face. Next to me, my captor worked connecting wires to electronics, occasionally looking at me as if I too was a puzzle to solve. He was my age, taller and lean, with short brown hair and an uptight demeanor. Although he knew who I was, he refused to divulge his name. This was so frustrating. Where were they taking me? What would they do with me once we arrived? Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, he looked over at me.

  “Hey, Fred, can you loosen these bonds a bit? I’m losing circulation.” He smiled but didn’t respond or act to help me. I almost found he enjoyed me calling him different names, like we were playing a game. He turned on a radio in his workbench. A familiar DJ belted his voice through the airways.

  “There is a rumor that one of the clans has our killer. Big reward and prestige to whoever that is. Some clans don’t agree with her capture, but the council will decide her fate. No one can escape all the clans. Guess this little bird has finally been caged.” I had never met Diga, the radio announcer, but I wanted to wipe that smug attitude right out of his voice.

  “George, does the radio jockey always talk like he knows everything?”

  “Knows more than you,” he answered smugly but turned down the volume.

  “I don’t know who you think I am, but you need to let me go. You don’t want to mess with my clan,” I postured. The only language any of these clans understood was a threat. Somehow he didn’t seem to be buying it.

  “Ha!” He had a crooked grin that was half cute and half infuriating. “And I guess you were just out for a run in the woods. We know who you are and what you did to Luther. For a girl, you’re pretty dangerous.” He went back to work on an old circuit board as if talking to me was an afterthought. I had to get his focus back to me.

  “I am dangerous. I could break out anytime. I’m just hanging out with you to learn more about your clan.”

  “As if we were that interesting.” He didn’t even look at me and focused on his project.

  “Where are my friends?” I yelled. He jumped and turned toward me.

  “Fine. You would find out eventually. We let Armor clan know where to pick them up. They were none too pleased. The last thing we want is to get that clan upset.” Keep him talking.

  “What was that netting you caught me with? Felt like an actual spider’s web.”

  He grinned back at me and stopped his wirework. I had found a topic he was interested in. “I came up with that. Analyzed an actual spider web in school. It’s made with cotton fibers mixed with a slight adhesive. You’ve got to know how to handle it to make sure you don’t get caught.” I smiled at him. “What?” He looked confused.

  “Everyone complains about how everything breaks down. Yet you seem to be able to create things. Sounds like you’re smarter than most of them.”

  “That’s not hard to do. Most teenagers just mimic their parents.” My mystery captor was a bit full of himself. Maybe he liked to listen to how smart he was?

  “What you working on, Phil? Some other genius product?” He kept stripping wires but smiled. He liked the attention.

  “Electronic fencing. A way to corral the animals without having to kill them when they go on a rampage. It sends out a sonic signal that makes it uncomfortable to approach the wire — the animal stays away and keeps you safe.”

  “Where were you when I had a killer dinosaur chasing me?” He nodded like he had already heard the story.

  “Might have helped, but that beast was pretty large and angry. Can’t guarantee this machine would work against something that big. From what I heard, you handled yourself pretty good against that monster.” My face flushed. What did I care about some praise from a guy who was holding me against my will?

  “Who taught you to be so smart? Are your parents geniuses like you?” His face darkened, as if I had something painful.

  “My father is a mechanic, keeps this vehicle and a bunch of other clan vehicles running. He’s always supported me. My mom,” he hesitated, “died when I was young in an animal attack. I never really got to know her.” He looked down as if the missed experience was painfully enough. I understood his pain; my mom supposedly died in an explosion when I was young. Now that I had seen her face at a computer terminal, I wasn’t so sure. I just knew that I had to find out.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  “There is nothing to be sorry about,” he interrupted abruptly. “Animals are dangerous, and if we don’t protect ourselves from them, more people will die.”

  “Were you there when your mother died?” My question caught him off-guard.

  “Yes. Why?” He stopped fiddling with his wires and gave me his full attention.

  “How did it happen?” He looked away and was silent for a second, as if deciding whether to dredge up the memory. I didn’t blame him if he didn’t want to share. I was nobody to him. “You don’t need to share this. I lost my mother. It’s not something I would share with just anyone.”

  He tilted his head at me. “You are not what I expected.”

  “You thought I was a cold-hearted killer who murders your leaders. The Hunter clan is intent on implicating me. Makes me think they have something to hide.”

  “Could be. They are always jockeying to be in the top tier of the clans. When we hand you over to them, it will make them look strong.”

  “So don’t do it. If Spider clan has any balls, don’t hand me over. Do I look like a killer?” I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. A teenage girl or super-assassin?

  “Doesn’t matter what we think. The deal’s a deal. Hunter clan is much bigger than us, and we already notified them of your capture. We’ll see them soon. Your innocence or guilt doesn’t matter to us.”

  “It matters to me!” I yelled, pulling on my bonds. “What kind of clan captures people to sell?” He did a double take and pretended to look around him, as if I was talking to someone else. He must be a riot with the other clan boys.

  “If you were from a poor clan, you would understand,” he replied.

  He made me so mad. I wanted to stomp away, but the bonds were restricting my ability to move. None of this was fair — I should have just kept to myself when I entered this world. As soon as I got involved with other people, all this trouble began.

  The radio blared with an interruption that they were cutting to a prerecorded segment. My captor turned up the volume. Our conversation was forgotten.

  “Thanks to all of my listeners who have asked for this earlier interview,” Diga introduced. “Just because he was taken away from us doesn’t mean we still can’t learn from him. Please listen to this previous conversation.” A familiar voice began to speak, his charisma dripping through the radio.

  “When I was a child, my mammie asked me what I wanted to become when I came of age. Who I wanted to be. I thought for a second, because even at seven years old, I knew she wanted a thoughtful answer. An answer worthy of her question.”

  It was Luther’s voice, although he sounded younger and his voice echoed as if in a large space. A crowd murmured as if he was speaking in front of a large group.

  “I told my mammie that I wanted to survive.
That the world was a cruel place and I didn’t want to die young like my parents. I looked up her, thinking I had given a worthy response. I waited for praise that never came. She fixed me with a stare, and her silence spoke more words than the greatest speech.

  “‘Luther, you must strive to more than just live in this world. Lots of people live in this world, but not all of us make it a better place. You must reach out to people, get to know them. Understand their needs and help them achieve greatness.’ I looked up at her and naively thought I understood what she said.

  “‘Do you mean helping bring groceries to the family down the street?’ I inquired, knowing of the poor people that lived near us. My mammie smiled as if she knew I didn’t fully understand what she was talking about.

  “‘That’s a start, Luther. But what will that family do tomorrow? Or the next day? You help them today and they will need you tomorrow. But if you teach them to grow a garden, they will feed themselves with vegetables. If you teach them how to hunt, they will have meat for their table. If you teach them how to barter, then they will trade for the things they need to survive. These are the things that you need to do — teach people and give them power to run their lives. Then my son, you have had a life worth living.’”

  Both of us looked at each other for a moment. We had been so mesmerized by the speech that neither of us had thought of anything else. The van bounced off a pothole, and the radio lurched. The station became static-filled, and my captor tried to regain the channel, but he couldn’t regain it.

  “He’s an amazing speaker,” I said, stating the obvious.

  “He was. Until you shot him.” He gave me a black look.

  “Says Abraham. Do you even care if he’s telling the truth?”

  “Do you care what happens now that Luther is dead?” I didn’t know. Maybe I should understand why everyone was after me.

  “He seemed like an important man. I assume someone else will take his place,” I said stupidly without really thinking about my response.