plantation

by Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  “Come on, Biscuit, you can’t be serious, don’t stop now, go on.”

  “What do you mean go on?”

  I roll my eyes at him. “Tell me what Tilly said.”

  “I’m pulling your leg, I knew what you meant.”

  Give me patience. “Well?”

  “She said that the rain reminded her of something that Daphne said to someone, something about a dream of hers about a flood or something.”

  “Too many somethings,” I say. “What did she mean?”

  “She didn’t explain what she meant when I asked for specifics. But then she did something even stranger.”

  He makes an attempt to reach for more honey but changes his mind when he sees my expression of exasperation. “She patted me on the head,” he says. “As if I were a cat or something. Three times. Pat, pat, pat.”

  Cats. There were entire armies of cats at the breeding village and they were feeding off whatever scraps they could find in the trash bins. I loved caressing their warm fur and hear them purr.

  Suddenly I remember that I never asked Tilly about Finn and Daphne, or if it was indeed Daphne that Finn was talking to in private. There’s definitely something that requires investigation. Sometimes it feels as if everyone has gone mad. Or maybe it’s just me.

  *

  The moment I step out of the kitchen, I know something huge has happened, something completely unexpected and out of the ordinary.

  The Saviors are gathered in the combat ring with Theo in the middle. Nya stretches the string of her bow again and again. Rabbit runs in place. Daphne stares at Zoe’s touchpad screen. Finn and Damian talk amicably. What is happening?

  Biscuit passes me by with long strides. He reaches the combat ring a second before me. “What’s going on?” he asks.

  “Something that could change everything,” Finn says. “Theo and Zoe have accidentally intercepted a message about an alien ship that will land in the plantation district in just three days from today.”

  “How did that happen?” I say, quite shocked at the news.

  “Theo was attempting to reconfigure the communication satellite’s hooks when Zoe realized that a message was being transmitted to Plantation-4 and they were actually able to block it,” Finn says.

  “What good is that to us?” Biscuit says.

  Theo looks up from his touchpad. “We are pretty certain that the message never reached its destination. The Director at Plantation-4 may not know about the landing and, as a result, they won’t send the Sliman escort that was requested. We might be the only ones who know about the ship. And we are also able to respond to the message on behalf of the plantation so the senders will be reassured.”

  I can barely believe what I’m hearing. If this is true, it could mark a whole new era.

  “What do you mean by respond?” Nya asks.

  “We can send a message back to the ship to let the aliens on board believe that the Sliman escorts will be waiting for them,” Zoe explains.

  “And you’re sure it won’t be traced back to us?” Damian says.

  Theo nods. “They won’t know the difference.”

  “The aliens are very weak without Sliman around,” Finn says. “Especially at dawn. Which is when we should attack.”

  “Attack?” I say in disbelief.

  “Nothing has been decided,” Damian says. “It’s all speculation. We can’t be certain they didn’t send a second message that you weren’t able to intercept, Theo, or that this whole thing isn’t a trap.”

  “A trap?” Daphne says. “They don’t know about us.”

  Damian eyes her. “How do you know that, Daphne? How do you know that there isn’t somebody else out there that we don’t know about? What if they’re setting a trap for someone other than us and we end up falling in it?”

  “I think we won’t have an opportunity like that for a very long time,” she insists. “The ship will practically land in our backyard. It’s our one chance to drive some fear into their hearts, let them know there are still free people in the world.”

  “That doesn’t make it any less risky,” Doc cuts in.

  “Are we even ready yet?” Tilly asks. I am glad to see that she is in a talking mood again.

  “What do you think, Finn?” Daphne says as she glances at him.

  Finn takes his time before he speaks. “I think we can’t keep hiding forever. Maybe the time has come to make some sense out of our alliance and to put the Saviors to work.”

  Damian swallows hard. “We’re not ready,” he says. “You know that.”

  “We shouldn’t underestimate the element of surprise,” Finn goes on. “They will not expect a sudden attack even if they do suspect we exist.”

  “You do realize we’d have to abandon the camp,” Damian says. “If we survive intact, we will have to live on the run.”

  Finn nods, but does not waver from his conviction. He never does. It’s all over his face.

  “We should take a vote,” Daphne says.

  Damian agrees without looking at her. We type yes or no on our touchpads and we send the answers straight to Zoe’s screen. Doc counts the ballots before he announces the results.

  “It’s nine votes for yes and three votes for no,” he says, staring at his feet. “We are going to war.”

  There’s silence as his words sink in. We’ve been living and breathing war for years but it’s the first time someone has said it out loud.

  “All right then,” Damian says without resentment. “We’ll do it. But we’ll have to come up with an airtight plan and a good escape route. We’ll have to work day and night to get ready. We don’t have much time. Theo, send out the message to the ship and put their minds at ease.”

  Doc must be the only one besides me who is not convinced. I don’t know why I have a bad feeling, but I do. Maybe it’s my natural tendency to worry, to over-think and to be suspicious. Maybe it’s my fear and my ominous premonitions that never let me relax or get truly excited. Doc is probably being overcautious as always.

  After the basic plan is laid out in the Armory, we split up and begin the preparations. Damian, Daphne, Finn, Zoe and Theo will figure out the details of the plan while the rest of us have to deal with practical matters like weapons, supplies, outfits and training.

  I wish I could speak to Finn. I could use the reassurance of his voice and confidence right now. He can be secretive and act strange all he likes. Nothing and no one can replace him. No matter what, he will always be my home, my family and the place that I come from.

  Chapter 14

  Finn is absentminded and unusually quiet. We sit on the grass in the faint light of early evening. We don’t have much time. Damian wants everyone in the Armory after supper for a late meeting. I know that Finn has probably accepted my invitation to spend some time in the forest only because he feels guilty about something he’s hiding. He will not confess to me so I won’t even try.

  The trees look oddly shaped and menacing in the half-light of dusk. Shadows get longer and stretch over the flapping wings of birds that are in a hurry to get back to their nests and branches. Little feet scurry across yellow leaves and twigs.

  The world is in preparation for the terrors and fairytales of nighttime.

  When you take on a responsibility as crushing as that of saving an entire world, you start to notice how that world defines your existence. How your surroundings have become part of your emotional landscape and your perception of reality.

  I want to say these things to Finn but I don’t know how to give sound to my words and thoughts. How to call them to life without diminishing them. To express what you feel is a special kind of art that I haven’t learned yet.

  “I’m glad we’re doing this,” I say instead.

  “You mean the attack?” Finn says.

  “No,” I say, smiling at him. “I mean us, taking a few minutes to be by ourselves like we used to. Remember? It hasn’t been that long.”

  “Ah,” he says. “That. I’m glad, too. It�
��s always been a pleasure to be your trusted friend.”

  He’s not my Finn anymore. He has aged these last few weeks. He looks taller, heavier and scruffier. His boyish charm has been replaced by the dark roughness of the adult he is destined to become. He is handsome and achingly serious, but also vulnerable like all honest, unguarded people.

  “You know that I’d still be trapped in the plantation, withering away, if it weren’t for you,” I say hoping to give him energy. “Or worse, I might have disappeared on one of their midnight transfers and no one would have cared.”

  “I would have cared,” Finn says. “And I think you’d have found a way to break free anyway. It was a matter of time. Or they might have released you once they knew the kind of brat you’d become.”

  “Don’t hold anything back, Finn. Tell me what you really think about me.”

  Finn smiles for the first time today. “I think you haven’t scratched the surface of what you could be, Freya.”

  I laugh. “You realize that’s just a clever way of saying I’m no good now.”

  “Not so clever it seems,” Finn teases. “If you could see through it.”

  We smile at how mean that last bit was. For a moment, it’s like old times.

  “Do you really think this is a good idea? To give away our position, our home, our very existence just to kill a few aliens?” I watch him and realize he won’t answer. “There’s so many more out there. Is it worth it?” I go on.

  “We have to start from somewhere and this seems to be a one-time opportunity to strike without Sliman intervention.” He gets even more serious, more rigid than I’ve ever seen him. “Nothing stays the same forever, Freya. Kids become adults. Rulers become slaves. If we are to be the Saviors, then we must attack and we must live on the run and we must give hope to others.”

  “I just don’t see what we can do to change that, Finn. We’re just twelve kids and they are an army.”

  “We twelve kids will not win alone. We must give out a call to others. Our legend must grow.”

  “Even if that means death?” I say, but I know he will not answer directly.

  “Tick, they are not as strong as they want us to believe. If they were, they would not need us, they would not need to alter us into dangerous weapons. The invaders are intelligent, but not strong anymore. They need the Sliman and they need us. Why? I don’t know, but I think they are desperate. Why would you give your slaves such powers and knowledge? Desperation. Have you seen what Tilly can do? Nya? Daphne? Rabbit? Have you seen Damian in action? There’s not a single Sliman that could compete against him.”

  “Not a single one, but what about one hundred of them?”

  “Have some faith. The Sliman are controlled. They can be controlled. This is our advantage. We cannot be controlled. We will always rebel. We must make them realize this. Once they realize humans cannot be put down forever, that we will always rise and strike back, then we will see their desperation.”

  “I don’t have any special skills or powers.”

  “You’re part of the team, we can’t work without you. And you can do some pretty amazing things. Maybe there’s more hidden in you.”

  “Like what? Damian wouldn’t agree with you, I don’t know how many times he’s told me that I’m useless and dangerous.”

  “So now you care about what Damian thinks? Freya, no one makes it this far if they don’t have something special burning in them. You understand weakness better than anyone. It’s not a small thing to be able to perceive everything that’s going on around you.”

  He hugs me and places a kiss on my forehead. I can feel my eyes getting warm and wet. I stop my tears in their tracks. I don’t want him to know that I’m scared, afraid, not of dying or being captured, but of losing him.

  “Listen,” he says, “we will have to sit down and talk after the battle. There are many things I need to tell you.”

  “Why not now?”

  “It can wait. For now we should stay focused. It’s not a big deal, okay?”

  We get back to the camp just in time for supper. Biscuit has prepared nothing less than a feast. There’s apple pie and cherry pie, stuffed zucchini, fried tomatoes and fresh orange juice, and there’s even a vegetable soufflé. All the youngsters, Rabbit, Biscuit, Scout, and Tilly, are restless and chattering. The room is lit by candles and the best tablecloth is set on the table.

  “Did you see Nya hit that target from like a mile away with her arrow?” Tilly asks me. She sits next to me and I have Scout on my other side. Between the two of them, I feel like I’m trapped in a cage with small birds that can’t stop chirping.

  “A mile? Tilly, really,” Nya says from across the table.

  “You could blow up the entire alien ship from miles away,” Scout says excitedly.

  “She did a great job,” Damian says. “I’ve never seen you be that accurate before, Nya. A hundred times out of hundred. Well done.”

  Daphne raises her glass to Nya and everybody follows suit which makes Nya blush and lower her head.

  “Everybody has gone above and beyond today. We are ready,” Damian says with a gleam of appreciation in his eyes. I have no idea if he means it, but it’s his job to encourage us and he has managed to do just that.

  We eat, but we have a long evening still ahead. Every detail must be discussed and rehearsed, every Savior must know their place and their value. Together we will face our greatest challenge and even though no one will be watching, and few will ever hear about the day we took our first stand against the alien invaders, we must be ready.

  Deep down in the dark bottom of every slave’s soul there is a light and a hope that a day will come like the one that now approaches for the Saviors.

  Chapter 15

  The view from the observatory tower is clear and quiet like an undisturbed crater on the moon. Nothing has stirred for the last hour while I’m keeping watch. There’s no breeze or wind, no trembling of leaves, no crackling sounds. Everything’s keeping still to avoid overexertion in the late afternoon humidity and heat.

  The day has been an exhausting round of talking, arguing, agreeing, disagreeing, planning and organizing. Just when we thought we had covered everything, a new doubt would arise that led to new discussions. It was the determination of Damian, along with his knack for passing orders and delegating in the most forceful way, that finally put an end to the madness.

  It will be dark soon and we’ll have to try and get some sleep before our departure in the morning. My watch will be over in less than an hour and my hope is that I will have time to chat with Finn before turning in.

  A message from Damian appears on my touchpad screen. He wants to see me in the Armory in five minutes. He doesn’t say anything about finding a replacement for the watch. Maybe he doesn’t think it matters anymore.

  I go down the thirty steps, leave the building and stop to look around. This could very well be the last time my eyes linger on the buildings, the camp, the tents and the trees that have been part of my life for two years.

  I find Damian in the Armory sitting at the big table all by himself. He punches out keystrokes on his touchpad, his left hand on his forehead. I have a very strange feeling, like a cold wind has blown into the room and made everything ice. Damian’s strong and perfectly symmetrical features turn to stone. My own hands get heavy like marble and I have a strange sensation inside my chest, as if my blood can sense something terrifying.

  “Good, you’re here,” Damian says and his voice kicks me out of my trance. I realize I have no idea why he would want to talk to me of all people, a few hours before the mission. We have not exactly been friendly to each other over the years of our acquaintance and although it seems we might have reached some kind of understanding the other day, it doesn’t make sense that he’d want to talk to me in private.

  “Doc will join us soon,” he says and I feel like an idiot. Why on earth did I assume this would be a private discussion?

  At the same time, I feel relieved and the
icy feeling diminishes. I move my hands and fingers again and take the few steps that stand between the table and me.

  I sit down across from Damian and straighten my hair behind my ears. “What’s this about? Is there a problem?” I ask.

  “No, not really,” he says. “I just want to inform you of a decision I’ve made that involves you.”

  “I’m all ears,” I say, already dreading the words he will utter. If I know him at all, he’s not one to make introductions.

  Damian hesitates for a moment. I can sense that he’s worried about the effect his words will have on me, something that throws me off completely. Damian practically lives to give orders and pass out pronouncements. He enjoys being in charge and he’s not ashamed to admit it. Hesitation is not a thing for him.

  “You know how things are,” he says. “We have to face the first real danger as a team since we first came together. We have tried our best to come up with a plan of action that will guarantee our success in our endeavor. I’ve gone through everything a million times and I believe—”

  He stops cold which causes additional alarm. What if he thinks our plan is not viable, what if he calls everything off on the eve of our journey? I don’t think that we could survive this kind of disappointment. It will cast a shadow upon the camp that will be extremely hard to lift.

  Damian checks his screen, despite the fact that there is no sign of activity, and takes a sip of water before he goes on. “I have decided that you should not be involved in the fight,” he says, avoiding my eyes.

  I’m not sure I’ve heard him correctly. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not ready, Freya, and I don’t want to take a chance. You and Doc will stay in the back with the medical kit. You should be able to take care of injuries if there are any. Doc will tell you what to do.”

  “You want me to become a nurse? I’m a fighter, Damian.” My mouth is dry as my hands get clammy and I can feel my heart beat faster.

  He looks at me with his brow furrowed. “You’re impulsive, you have a temper and you don’t always think straight. How many times have you got shot, stabbed or ran over during simulation?”