Marsh’s lower lip trembled, so I offered her a smile. I didn’t wait to see if she returned it or not, however, because we still had a lot of ground to cover before we met up with the others again.
They key to dealing with shock is to physically exhaust yourself so you can’t feel things anymore. It was an extremely shallow grave, not even deep enough to cover Minerva sufficiently, but when we put her face down, sprinkled her with dirt, and strategically placed a few branches, she was invisible to the casual observer.
“She’s concealed better than we will ever be, hiding from the patrolmen.”
I’m not sure my words consoled Marsh in the slightest.
Once our task was completed, we packed up our belongings, ate a small breakfast, and looked at our copy of the quickly sketched and copied map. Five miles ahead, there was another area of potential contact with survivors. I handed
the map to Marsh, and once she turned and headed in that direction, I picked up the overlooked handgun and put it carefully in my pack.
With a day of hiking ahead of us, I would be safe from the haunting images of the dead girl. But I already dreaded the night to come, and the awful stillness that always accompanies dreams.
Chapter Thirteen
Jade
The first thing I did after coating my hair in the goopy brown dye was check Walter’s supply of alcohol. Since it was relatively low, I could count on him working at the Factory for at least another two hours; he would need the wages to replenish his stash. So I poured myself a drink and proceeded to wander around the house while the color seeped into my hair follicles.
It had been almost a week since I had last seen Gideon. Because they had driven him back to Liminis, he would have arrived several days before I did, and I had no idea how long they might keep him alive. Nor did I have any idea when Cece might arrive with the other survivors, but I knew it would probably be too late to help him.
So I started weighing my other options, making myself at home on the large sofa in Walter’s living room. It had been Gideon who had gotten us out of prison last time—Salvador helped him not me, and it was unlikely that I’d be able to find him now, anyway. I could sneak to the jail, hope Gideon was being held in the same cells as last time, and say my good-byes . . . but I wasn’t ready to accept that this was the end, yet. Because there was still Victor. I don’t know what the hell he had been doing at the Doctors’ headquarters, but it seemed like maybe he had changed his mind about blindly following the rules of the Ten Colony Council. Or he was still a glutty jackman, but I didn’t really have another choice. I would have to risk it and talk to him. Find out what I could and then reassess the situation from there.
I hated not having a better plan than that. Hated having to depend on Victor. Hated that I felt powerless.
But on the other hand, I was beginning to understand why Walter enjoyed this stuff so much. Maybe I was his daughter, after all. I tilted the glass to my lips and let the burning amber liquid strip away my worries as it tore the lining of my esophagus.
Good stuff, I thought to myself, swinging my feet up on the cushions and starting to feel comfortably warm.
I mean, looking back, it was ludicrous that Gideon and I hadn’t just disappeared into the wilderness in the first place, right after the Docs bombed the roke out of the Erroris Factory. Why did we travel north at all? With Cameron? With Michael? It was stupid of us, but nevertheless, we persisted. And now Michael was dead. And Gideon was in a Colony prison. And I was sitting here like a glut, sipping whatever the hell this was. I took another drink and smacked my lips.
We were all a bunch of dumb gluts. Going up against the Ten Colony Council? And because I was alone, and because I felt like it, I laughed out loud and toasted the dark TV.
“Here’s to making bad decisions,” I said and then took another drink.
Before I got too comfortable, I hopped off the couch and poured myself another round. Then I grabbed the remote and a fuzzy throw blanket, snuggled deep into the couch, and let my head fall onto the pillow, not even caring if I stained it brown. I drank a little more and turned on the TV.
A bright ball bounced from corner to corner, side to side, spinning and bouncing and spinning over a swirling background of color. Blue to purple, purple to red, red swirling with yellow as it turned into orange. And then, despite everything that could—and probably would—go wrong, my eyelids started to get heavy. I hadn’t slept on a surface this soft since Gideon had rescued me and brought me back to his home. I was tired. So so tired. And I let myself drift into dreams.
I lay on a cloud—my toes brushed up against softness and the surface conformed to my shape. Light filled my body as I floated around lazily, the sky a mixture of pale oranges and pinks. Something dark and dangerous lingered in the corners of my mind, but I ignored it. It wasn’t time. Not yet.
His arms wrapped around me. Soft hands. Kind words.
“It’s okay, Ruby. It’s over now. I’ll keep you safe.”
And I knew he would.
He lay next to me as we floated on our cloud, the pinks and oranges fading to blue, and then eventually black.
It grew cold.
I backed away, my eyes wide and my body trembling. A dark shape moved in the blackness toward me. Then it multiplied. Three. Six. Twelve. They all laughed as the first dark shape aimed his huge fist at me.
Suddenly my nose filled with the smell of lilac. Or was it lavender? The woman who stood with her back to me caught the giant fist in her small hand.
“Walter, no.”
“Martha?”
“Martha!”
“She’s yours, Walter. Yours.”
His eyes widened. Grey. Terrible. Full of loathing. “No. She’s a filthy Smart.” He swung his arm back again. Let his fist fly. It came in contact with the side of Martha’s head.
“No!” I dropped to my knees and cradled her head in my lap. “What did you do!”
Walter laughed, swallowed into the gloom.
“Martha?”
She looked into my face. Her blue eyes were filled with tears as she touched my hair.
“I liked it better red,” she whispered. And then she was dead.
Tears streamed down my face. I hadn’t done it for her. I had done it for me!
But was that a good enough reason?
“What am I supposed to do?” I screamed into the dimness that began to suffocate me.
My answer came from up above: “We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to air a public execution. Please standby.”
A public execution…
My eyes snapped open. The bouncing ball had disappeared, replaced by a wide shot of the town square. I must have been asleep for several hours, because the light outside had turned golden, and a sizable crowd had gathered in the plaza. They all faced the same direction.
Toward a newly erected gallows.
The glass of liquid tumbled to the ground and spilled all over the carpet as I sat up, blinking hard at the TV. The image wouldn’t go away.
Gideon stood directly behind the noose.
I was too late.
Falling to my knees, I stared at the giant screen in front of me, unable to look away.
A fat woman with spiked brown hair stepped up to the microphone at the front of the stage. She was dressed in a Doctor’s coat, holding a white piece of paper out in front of her.
“Citizens of Liminis, we have gathered here on a joyous occasion. The dark period that has spanned the past few months has finally come to an end, and we will feel peace and security within our homes once more.”
The crowd clapped enthusiastically.
My stomach tightened, pushing bile up into my throat.
“I will now read a letter from the Ten Colony Council, outlining the crimes, judgement, and sentencing of this delinquent:
“To the people of Liminis, greetings. Gideon Aarons, who is a Second Class Citizen, was brought into custody for violating Statutes 3, 53, and 89. He had a relationship
with a Third Class Citizen, and she gave him the Knowledge he needed to escape. This Third is now dead, and Mr. Aarons has returned to face the punishment with which he was originally sentenced. No one can break the laws of the Colony, put in place to protect its beloved citizens, and not suffer the consequences. Sincerely, the Ten Colony Council.”
I was aware that my face was covered in hot tears, though I didn’t remember crying. Of course they were blaming our insurgency on Knowledge. Knowledge was evil, and anyone who gave into it would suffer the same fate as Gideon and me.
“For the record, Mr. Aarons, please state your name and birth status.”
“Gideon Aarons. Second Class Citizen.” His hands were cuffed behind his back, and the lowering sun turned his hair gold. But he spoke without a tremor in his voice, his face hard as he glowered into the crowed.
I couldn’t reach him. There was nothing I could do.
“Gideon Aarons,” the fat woman spoke again, “by the authority given to me by the Ten Colony Council, I hereby sentence you to death by hanging for redemption of your sins. Please step forward.”
He obeyed and my eyes moved to the Doctor who stood next to the length of rope.
Fury flooded my veins and a shriek ripped through my throat as I recognized his hawking face. Snatching the glass off the floor, I slammed it against the opposite wall. It shattered as I screamed his name.
“Victor!”
I knew he hated Gideon. Knew he hated me. But how could he do this? He already had Michael’s blood on his hands—how could he afford to get any filthier? His soul could go straight to the deepest, hottest, blackest corner of Hell, and it still wouldn’t be enough. I would follow him there and make sure he got what he deserved. Kill him again, if I could, and then scatter his soul across the entire, hawking galaxy—
He slipped the noose around Gideon’s neck.
This wasn’t real. How could it be? My heart thundered in my chest as the scene seemed to slow to a crawl—
“Do you have any last words?” Victor’s voice was steady and calm, as though he wasn’t about to murder a man in front of a whole crowd of people.
The camera zoomed in on Gideon’s face, and he looked right into the screen. Walter’s TV was so huge that it was almost like he was in the room with me. But he wasn’t, and I would never get a chance to say good-bye.
“My only crime was discovering the truth, and I will not rest until every single person in Liminis knows what I know.”
I didn’t understand his words. I was caught up in his flashing, angry green eyes, willing them to stay open. To look at me. To live.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the fat Doctor nod at Victor. He moved toward the lever.
The room around me swirled, the ground no longer solid under my knees.
No.
His hand gripped the handle.
No!
And he pulled.
Thud!
My hands flew to my mouth as I gasped, unable to look away as the floor dropped out from beneath Gideon’s feet, and he fell toward the earth.
There was a muffled crack.
No.
He didn’t struggle. He hung limp. His neck had been broken.
Gideon was dead.
Chapter Fourteen
Victor
Days Earlier
“How’s he doing?” Meghan was working on dinner by the time I got home from the clinic.
“Really well,” I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before going to put my coat away.
“Will he be ready in time?” she called from the kitchen.
I grabbed a hanger and carefully hung my jacket. “He’s strong. As long as we keep up our end of the bargain, I think he’ll be able to keep up his.” Smoothing out the fabric, I hung it up between my casual tunics and my bondsperson one, which I hadn’t warn in over a year but couldn’t seem to get rid of.
“And you think we can?” She didn’t turn to look at me as I left my bedroom, concentrating instead on keeping whatever delicious-smelling concoction she was working on from burning.
Wrapping my arms around her waist from behind, I dropped my chin on her shoulder. “Well, Dr. French thinks I’m obsessed with antique interrogation practices, but I don’t think she’s suspicious of anything.”
She spun around in my arms and wrapped her own around me, watching my face now.
“There is a lot that could go wrong,” I told her.
Nodding, she looked down at my chest and bit her lower lip. “But he trusts you. And so do I. I know you’ll do your best to do what’s right.”
I kissed her on the forehead. “It’s hard to know what that is anymore.”
“I know”—she rested her head against me—“but we’re doing the best we can.”
She finished dinner while I set the table, thinking about the day. There was no doubt that Gideon’s lungs were getting stronger, but I wished we had more time. Asking for it might attract questions, though, so we had to work with what we had. Meghan had been working with our carpenter contact, and though Mata and Galilea seemed to be keeping a close watch on us, I didn’t think they suspected we had gone rogue.
“Damn, why did you have to wait until after I was dead to get cool?”
That was Michael again.
“How was your day?” Meghan asked, once we had sat down at the table.
I blinked up at her and tried to smile. “As good as could be expected, I suppose. Yours?”
“Mata has been getting Galilea into the clinic for lots of ‘specialized’ appointments. They don’t think we’re trying hard enough to track down that film.”
“I don’t know what else they expect us to do.” It was stupid of them to get any more involved than they already were.
Meghan shrugged. “And Galilea isn’t exactly being inconspicuous. She’s already visited all her friends and has been talking to some Seconds, too.”
“Yeah. Like Mark and Lindi’s friends.”
The unspoken criticism hung in the air between us.
“At least it will make Gideon’s job easier,” she said.
“If we don’t get caught first.”
Meghan nodded her head in agreement.
The rest of the evening was spent determinedly not talking about the next couple of days. We finished dinner, cleaned up, and sat on the couch, chatting with the TV on in the background. But I knew we were both nervous. This was beyond our experience, and though neither of us would admit it to the other, we both would feel better if Jade and Michael were there to help. This kind of thing was far more their forte than ours.
“Well, I should be getting back.” Meghan took her legs off of mine far too soon and stood with a stretch.
“Are you sure?”
She reached out her hand and helped me to my feet. “With everything that’s going on, I need something to keep me grounded,” she smiled sadly. “Until I’m free, I’d like to abide by the law. And that means curfew.”
“I guess you’re right.” I pulled her to me and squeezed. I knew what she meant: first I was a Third, and then I was a Doctor, now I was a rebel. Most days I could still hardly believe it.
“See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow.”
I kissed her and she was gone.
---
I slept badly, and it was with an unfamiliar “salty” mood that I sat through the morning briefing with the rest of Liminis’s Doctors. Dr. Lazarus was a pompous ass on the best of days, and today I just wanted to punch him in his glutty face. Of course, out of the three senior Doctors, he would be the one to address us all this morning. Brilliant, I grumbled to myself. Just brilliant.
Though he had been speaking for ten minutes, it wasn’t until he said the name “Lindi Kabwe” that I started to pay attention.
“Sorry, sir, could you repeat that?”
He glared at me in annoyance. “Are you in need of more coffee this morning, Dr. Doe?”
“No, sir.”
“Fine. Since it is you
r mother in question, I will start from the beginning. We have received a tip from Mrs. Lindi Kabwe that there is a First roaming around Liminis, stirring up trouble.”
The coffee I had had that morning seemed to sour in my stomach.
“Obviously this is a serious accusation, but it is one we cannot ignore in the current climate of unnatural unrest.”
At this, Mata leaned forward, tapping all ten of her polished fingers on the table in front of her. “Excuse me, Dr. Lazarus, but don’t you think that this situation will right itself, once the Second is dead?”
He looked at her with recognizable attraction. “Obviously that is the hope. Once Gideon Aarons is dead—made a public example of, as Dr. Doe suggested—those who still wish to make waves will see what happens when they step out of line.”
And realize how unfair that is, I added in my head.
“But until then, we must keep an eye on the situation. We will send a private security unit to keep tabs on this First until we know that the danger has passed.”
Mata’s gaze locked on mine from across the table.
For her and Galilea, things just became exponentially more complicated.
---
“Well, you just have to pull back. That’s all.” Mata stood with her arms crossed in front of Galilea, who sat grumpily on her couch.
“But—”
“Look, we can use this to our advantage. If the focus is on you, it won’t be on Victor. He can redouble his efforts, and I can make sure no one is watching him. That’s why you agreed to let me help you in the first place, right?”
Meghan’s face was pale as she looked back and forth between the First and the Doctor she didn’t fully trust. She and I sat across from Galilea in her living room, reassessing our plans after what we had learned from Dr. Lazarus earlier that day. Mata paced anxiously between the three of us.
“I guess,” Galilea mumbled.
“And since they trust me—Champion of the Erroris Bombing, and all that—I can convince them to make increasingly poor decisions. People who are desperate, paranoid, and scared of losing power get sloppy. Even the Docs. And that’s how we can really get people to doubt the Ten Colony Council.”
Fallen Firsts Page 13
