Captives

by Jill Williamson

  Omar’s enforcer friends studied him, their eyes questioning.

  “It’s okay,” Omar said. “Why don’t you get us a table?”

  The enforcers glared at Levi and walked to Londie’s counter.

  “So, I guess you know that Beshup never showed at the cabin,” Levi said.

  Omar rubbed his scar and stepped toward the enforcers. “I don’t have a really long lunch break, Levi, so I should get going.”

  “You’re an enforcer, huh? What’s ‘strong’ mean?”

  “My last name.”

  “Omar Strong? So it’s a play on words, huh? An oxymoron?”

  Omar scowled. “You’re the moron.”

  The enforcers came back to stand beside Omar.

  “Marcellina’s a little out of a cleaner’s credit range, isn’t it?” the enforcer with the sissy mustache and the name Skott on his uniform asked. “How much they give you to start?”

  “Four hundred credits,” Levi said.

  Skott laughed. “Better stop eating at steakhouses, shell.”

  “He just means that those credits have to last you until you get paid again,” Omar said.

  “What about you?” Levi asked. “You’re eating here.”

  The other enforcer snorted. His name badge read Charlz. “Enforcer captains make a great deal more credits than street cleaners.”

  “Hey, Skottie.” Londie walked toward an empty booth. “Got your table ready.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Skott said, trailing after Londie. “You free tonight, femme?”

  Omar waited until the enforcers were across the room. “Look, Levi. It’s not a good idea for us to spend time together. People will think we’re up to something. I’ll see you later.” Omar started to follow his friends.

  But Levi grabbed Omar’s collar and pulled him close. Despite the intimidating uniform, Omar was still scrawny. “Why’d you do it?” Levi whispered.

  Omar tried to pull away. “Get your hands off me, Levi. You can’t touch an enforcer and get away with it. It’s my job to maintain order.”

  Levi held tightly. As much as he wanted to beat his brother into mud, Omar was right. Levi would likely end up back in the prison with a second X on his face. “Our elders are dead because of you. Our father’s dead because of—”

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen that way!” Omar blinked back tears.

  Refrain from anger, and turn from wrath. Levi pushed Omar back and released him. Omar stumbled against a table where a man and woman were eating, knocking over a pitcher of water. “I didn’t mean for things to happen the way they did, brother,” Omar said. “I’m sorry.

  Truly I am. But … life is so much better here. You’ll see.”

  “You’re a fool, Omar. A pathetic, sissy—”

  “Don’t call me that!” Omar drew a gun from his belt and pointed it at Levi. “I’m sorry so many died, but I fit in here. And we all know that was never going to happen in Glenrock.”

  Destroying an entire village to fit in? “Just make sure that the thing you’re living for is worth dying for, Omar. Enough people have lost their lives for you to fit in. But everything has a cost, and you had better be ready to pay up.”

  “You know what I’m ready for, ‘brother’?” Omar said with a new edge to his voice. “I’m ready to hammer you for the first time in my life.” He waved his arm at his lapdogs. “Take him out back.”

  As the enforcers hauled Levi from the steakhouse, Skott told Londie, “Hold our table, femme. We’ll only be a minute.”

  CHAPTER

  19

  We need to up the dosage on her fertility stims,” Ciddah said. “Change it to 150 milligrams.”

  Mason made a note on the CompuChart. “But isn’t that a lot of hormones? Won’t that affect her body in other ways?”

  “I’m the senior medic here, Mason. Let me worry about that.”

  “But—”

  Rimola leaned around the doorframe. “Enforcers just dropped off a patient in exam two.” She’d been Roller Painting her skin dark pink ever since Luella Flynn started wearing red and black. Her spiky black hair hadn’t changed. “He’s been arrested for assaulting an officer.”

  Ciddah looked away from the CompuChart. Mason watched her profile as a strand of her wispy blonde hair fell from her hair clip. “What’d they do to him?” Ciddah asked.

  “Don’t know,” Rimola said. “His face is pretty bloody. They said to keep it quiet.”

  “Wonderful.” Ciddah patted Mason’s back, her hand lingering there longer than necessary. “Why don’t you assist me, Mason?”

  “Sure.” Mason followed her out of the office. So far, he’d done little but enter data into CompuCharts, weigh patients, and take blood pressure measurements, all of which constituted a multi-stepped process Ciddah called taking the vitals. Ciddah allowed him to do some saliva tests, but no blood draws until she had time to teach him. All of it was fascinating.

  But Mason never met a more bewildering woman. Or more beautiful. Her wisdom and care with patients impressed him greatly. Yet with him, her words were all business, her eyes communicated a longing to be elsewhere, yet her hands touched him more than was necessary. So many contradictions.

  None of it mattered, of course. Mason needed to focus on his goal of getting his people back to Glenrock, not how long Ciddah’s eyelashes were, how tightly she wore her scrubs, or how her hair swayed against her waist as she moved down the hallway.

  Having seen her medical history, Mason knew she was Levi’s age and that she’d had four miscarriages. Four. After having learned about embryonic transfer from Ciddah on his first day, he knew that four miscarriages didn’t necessarily mean she’d been intimate with a man yet, but Mason wondered. He also wondered about the psychological impact of such losses.

  He followed Ciddah inside exam room two. A man in a gray uniform had been secured to an exam table. His face was purpled and bloody, the bridge of his nose cut open.

  Levi.

  “Looks like the enforcers paid him back double,” Ciddah said. “Dumb shell. Why don’t you get him cleaned up, then I’ll check him over?” Ciddah left Mason alone to deal with the patient.

  Mason looked his brother over, wondering what had happened. He must have snuck into the city compound, trying to free them, and, like Jordan, discovered that fists wouldn’t work against these people. They were too strong to defeat that way. And the numbers on his face and hand already had two Xs behind them. From what he’d learned through seeing reports on the ColorCast about some guy named Lonn, that wasn’t good.

  Mason put on a pair of rubber gloves and located the bottle of sterile water. He poured the water over Levi’s face and wiped it with fresh gauze. Levi jerked his head to the side, which startled Mason. He’d thought his brother was unconscious.

  “My name is Mason Elias,” Mason said in a voice louder than necessary.

  Levi’s eyes, somewhat hidden behind his swollen face, shifted until they met his brother’s. “Mason.” His voice croaked, and he panted in a few short breaths before speaking again. “It was Omar. He did this.”

  “Omar? He beat you up?”

  “No. Well, yes. But … it’s his fault we’re here. All of us.”

  “What?” How could any of this be Omar’s fault?

  “The little maggot sold out our village …” Deep breath. “For a job with the enforcers. To fit in here, he told me.”

  Mason groaned, remembering Levi and Jemma’s engagement party, when Father had mocked Omar. “I knew he was unhappy. But … you’re sure?”

  Levi coughed and worked to clear his throat. “He all but confessed … wearing his enforcer … uniform … with his enforcer buddies … smiling before he stomped on … my face.”

  Mason squeezed the bottle in his hand, and sterile water overflowed, slapping onto the floor. Keep it together. “Hold still. I’ve got to clean you up before the medic comes back.” Mason grabbed some fresh gauze and some paper towels, tossed the paper towels onto the floor and st
epped on them, then mopped up his mess on the exam table.

  Levi’s eyes found Mason’s again. “Aren’t you the medic?”

  “Uh, no. Just a lowly assistant.” Mason wiped under Levi’s nose.

  “Was I really that bad to him?” Levi paused to gasp in a breath. “Mother and Jemma both said I needed to be nicer, but they’re girls, and I figured … what do they know about men, you know? About brothers.” Another large breath. “Did he ever say anything to you?”

  “He said he wanted to be included. With you and Father. He wanted to go along.”

  “Even if he hated us … Even if that hatred was justified … why betray the entire village?” A tear ran down the side of Levi’s face, pooling in his ear. “I found eighteen dead, Mase … Papa Eli died in front of me. I buried him myself.”

  Mason inhaled slowly, fighting back his emotions. He’d failed to save Papa Eli.

  Stop. He needed to stay focused. This wasn’t his fault.

  Levi seemed to be pleading with Mason through his eyes. “If I would’ve been nicer … Do you think Omar would’ve …? Is it my fault that …?”

  Mason wanted to smile. Stage two of the grieving process: they were both blaming themselves. “This is not our fault, Levi. The Safe Lands is the enemy. Not Omar. He’s just their pawn. General Otley killed Father and Papa Eli, and Lawten Renzor sent Otley and the enforcers. And they’ll likely kill us if we aren’t more careful.”

  “Mase, I can’t breathe too good.”

  Mason stopped swabbing and gave Levi a chance to breathe. “Your nose might be broken.”

  Levi’s shoulders shook. Tears pooled in the hollow between his eyes and the ridge of his nose, mixing with the blood.

  “Try to stay calm.” Mason tossed the bloody gauze then started on the other side of Levi’s nose.

  “Have you seen Mother?” Levi asked.

  “I haven’t seen anyone but you since they took Jordan away.”

  “They brought him down to the RC.” Levi paused to gasp in a breath of air. “That’s where I was … They showed us movies of Jemma and Naomi … We had no choice but to —”

  “How’s it coming?” Ciddah asked, appearing at Mason’s elbow.

  Mason jumped, wondering how much she’d overheard. “Almost done.”

  “It’s fine.” She stepped in front of him so that her body brushed against his, filling his senses with the smell of vanilla and cinnamon. “I can work with that.”

  Mason stepped out of her way and set the bottle of sterile water on the counter.

  “Here.” She handed him the CompuChart. “See if you can fill in more of that.”

  Mason looked over the chart. Levi had chosen the last name Justin. Not surprising—Levi and their father had been close.

  “My name is Ciddah.” She smiled down on Levi, gloved hands held out to the side, no unnecessary touching. “I’m going to take a look at your nose, okay?”

  “I can’t breathe through my nose,” Levi said.

  “That could be due to swelling, or maybe it’s broken.” Ciddah slid one of her gloved hands behind Levi’s neck and tilted his head back to examine him. Mason watched, intrigued by everything Ciddah did, especially her gentleness with patients. As much as Mason didn’t want to be in the Safe Lands, he longed for Ciddah’s medical knowledge. She was a level nine medic. And from what she’d told him, the highest medic ranking was a twenty.

  Mason desperately wanted to rank a twenty.

  “Looks like it’s broken, Levi.” Ciddah released her hold on his neck. “Come back in a few days if you’d like to have your nose reset. I don’t like to set the cartilage until the swelling has gone down. Later on, if your nose looks crooked and you’re interested in reconstruction, we can set up an appointment with the Cosmetic Center.”

  “I don’t care,” Levi rasped.

  “Maybe later, then. Mason, finish cleaning him up.” She left the room, blonde hair swaying. All business again.

  Mason pushed away his confusion with Ciddah, got some fresh gauze, and resumed cleaning the blood from Levi’s cheeks and neck. Levi needed a shave. “They have stores here. G.I.N., which Ciddah says stands for Get It Now. Anyway, you can use your ID to buy razors and soap. They have special cream to shave with too. Keeps away the rash.”

  “Penelope said the women are in a place called the Highland Harem.” Levi fixed his bloodshot eyes on Mason. “Jordan says they’re going to make them have babies. Explain that, Dr. Mason.”

  Mason grunted, still somewhat confused at the process. “They call it surrogacy. With the thin plague, most Safe Lands nationals are sterile, so they reproduce by using a medical procedure, selecting those who are still healthy enough. Ciddah explained it to me. They harvest seed from the males—”

  “The Donation Center?”

  Mason shuddered. “Yes. Did you?”

  Levi choked on a breath. “No!” Another cough. “Did you?”

  “Not yet.” Mason thought of those all-knowing eyes on the top floor of City Hall. “I had to get clever. But the task director general is watching me. It’s important to the survival of their people that they get us to comply. They need uninfected nationals to repopulate their city with uninfected people. Without us, they’ll die.”

  Levi groaned and shifted his head on the exam table. “Wish they’d die quicker.”

  Ciddah came to mind then. Mason didn’t want someone so smart and beautiful to meet that fate. “Well, despite the reason they’re doing it, the whole process is pretty amazing.” He wiped away a bit of crusty blood on Levi’s cheek.

  “Amazing?” Levi’s eyes flashed. He grunted, pulling against the restraints until his face and neck were flushed purple. “They’re going to make Jemma pregnant, and you’re amazed?”

  Mason hated this side of Levi, the part that reacted in anger like their father. He stepped back and tossed the bloodied gauze toward a trash can. “I’m just saying the technology is amazing. I don’t want anything to happen to Jemma or anyone else.”

  Levi closed his eyes, breathed in and out, silent for several calming breaths—a trick Jemma had taught him to calm down. Mason sent a silent thank you for her wisdom. Levi opened his eyes and said, “So if you visit the Donation Center, Jemma could carry your child?”

  “I …” The question knotted Mason’s thoughts. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible.”

  Levi lifted his head off the exam table as if trying to sit up, but the restraints caught him again and his head slapped back against the table. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course not!” Mason glanced over his shoulder, saw the empty doorway, then whispered to Levi, “I’m trying to learn so I can help the women. I have a … plan … to deal with the donation issue, should it arise again. You and I need a way to communicate. And you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got two Xs already.”

  Levi choked out a cough. “Two? I only had one this morning. How’d they change it?”

  “It’s a computer chip. They just change it. Three Xs and you’ll be liberated.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. But liberated people go away and don’t come back.”

  Levi panted in a breath. “I’ve got some radios in my backpack. I’ve just got to find it.”

  “What building did they put you in?”

  “Larkspur. It’s in the Midlands, I guess. Haven’t gone there yet though …”

  Leave it to his brother to get in a fight before even spending one night inside the compound. “I’m in the Highlands, at the Westwall. I’ll send you a message. I’m pretty sure all messages are read, so I won’t say much. But send one back, okay? Don’t write anything you don’t want the enforcers to see. If we can message each other, we can communicate. Maybe we can use a code or something.”

  “And I can tell you if I get the two-way radios—”

  “Mason?” Rimola knocked on the doorframe. “Ciddah needs you in exam four.”

  “I’ll be right there.”
He turned back to Levi. “Keep in touch.”

  Mason found Ciddah in the exam room standing over a girl who was crying.

  “What took you so long?” she asked.

  “Sorry.” Mason stopped on the other side of the exam table and glanced at Ciddah, whose wide blue eyes were focused on the patient.

  “This is my third miscarriage.” The girl couldn’t have been more than eighteen.

  “Your best bet is to keep trying,” Ciddah said. “And next time you conceive, come to the harem right away. I can’t promise we could have done anything to save the baby, but we do have methods to assist with delicate pregnancies.”

  The girl’s words came out in a mournful sob. “I promise.”

  Ciddah swept a strand of hair from the girl’s face. “I’m going to give you a med that will help your body recover, and might even help prepare you to carry a child again.” She motioned Mason to follow her to the counter against the wall.

  In a very soft whisper, she said, “Mason, what I’m about to give her is going to hurt her—a lot. I’m going to need you to grab her and keep her as still as you can once she inhales.” Ciddah then reached into a drawer and removed a small disposable vaporizer.

  They returned to the patient’s bedside, and Ciddah administered the drug. As Mason held the girl’s arms, he looked up to see tears welling in Ciddah’s eyes.

  As soon as the girl was still and breathing steadier, Ciddah left the exam room. Mason jogged after her.

  “You interested in Rimola?” Ciddah asked without turning around. “I hear she’s gratifiable.”

  Mason stopped in the hallway. “What? No. I barely know her.”

  Ciddah glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised. “What’s that matter? She’s attractive, you’re attractive …” She continued down the hallway.

  I’m attractive? Mason started after her again, killing this bizarre line of questioning with one of his own. “Do you know why that girl miscarried?”