by A. S. Hames
An excerpt from
Ice in the Soul
Rise of the Empaths: Book Three
1. Spy
JAY
Early morning sun shines through the small window into my eyes. I don’t know whether to welcome it or curse it. I’m so tired because I haven’t slept all night. I’ve just sat here, on a hard floor, with my back against the wall, thinking.
You get plenty of time to think when you’re in jail.
I can’t take the sun any longer, so I get up and stretch. I ache all over, so I pace up and down the small cell until I annoy myself and the other girl who’s sharing it with me.
Her name is Ani and she’s sixteen. She doesn’t eat much but her belly is more pronounced than normal, like she’s expecting a baby. Only, you don’t want to be expecting a baby when you’re in jail for spying.
“Are you pregnant?” I finally ask her.
“No,” she says.
I’ve been stuck here with her for two days while we wait for the East State interrogation team to show up in Forbearance. It seems they go around the towns of what used to be the Nation, questioning those who fought in the war. I don’t know what they expect to learn, but I’m worried. A specialist team sounds capable of digging up all kinds of information, and I have plenty to hide. For one, I’m an empath and I don’t wish to suffer the usual fate of my kind – to be burned alive or to have parts of me cut from my body and buried separately to disperse the evil, as they see it. I also killed the Leader of the Nation, although the official notification said he died of natural causes after a short illness.
I suppose I could tell them how I freed Colonel Steven Rose, but that would open the whole thing up, which I’d prefer not to do. My guess is I’ll try to convince them I was a volunteer who saw no action and ran away to return home. I’ll say I’d be happy to join the East State Army, and this accusation of me being a spy is stuff made up by whoever informed on me.
That’s the thing bugging me. Who told them I was a spy?
It’s strange Ani being so silent and lost in thought. I only know her a little from her having a thing for Dub. I saw them once across the river. If she’s five months’ gone, that would tally with what I saw them doing.
Poor Ani.
And poor Dub. I haven’t told Ani how last time I saw him, he shot dead our colonel and the Leader’s Representative before fleeing to join the rebels. I can’t tell her any of that, or how I killed the Leader. Or how I returned home and killed the man who was trying to take over our farm. A few months ago, I don’t think I had a single secret. Nowadays, it’s hard to keep track of them all. The only relief I have is not being pregnant like Ani. I wouldn’t take away a single second of what I shared with Ben, but I was mightily relieved when nothing came of it.
“You must be scared, Ani. Having a baby won’t be easy.”
“I told you – I’m not pregnant.”
She’s lying, of course.
“I don’t blame you for keeping it quiet,” I say. “I don’t think you’ve done anything terrible. It’s not like Dub was married.”
Her eyes. They give her away too easily.
“How…?”
“I was friends with Dub in the army.”
“He told you? I can’t believe that. He wouldn’t.”
“No, he didn’t tell me.”
Me and my big mouth. It’s always getting me into trouble. Maybe I should concentrate on developing my empath abilities and sew my lips shut.
I’ve been working hard on my ability. Every single day I’ve found some quiet time so I can think and feel. I never knew it was so natural. I’d always buried it, but now I feel it gathering as a force in me. Getting a sense of what others are thinking and feeling is… well, it can be fun, but that’s not right. You have to respect people’s privacy. It’s difficult sometimes. Young men are terrible. They think about one thing a lot of the time. You can be talking to them about the price of onions and they’re talking back to you about the same thing, except, in their minds, they’re studying your body and getting a sense of what intimacy with you would be like. I don’t think they can stop it.
“Do you know what became of him?” Ani asks.
“No,” I lie.
I pace around the confined space for a few minutes. Then I sit down again.
“How did you know it was Dub?”
At some point I have to stop telling lies. Maybe now is a good time to be straight with Ani.
“I saw you.”
“Oh.”
“It was by accident. I was up by the river. You and Dub were on the other side.”
“That was our place. We thought…”
“No-one came up there? You were right – mainly. I like to walk when I’m thinking. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“That’s okay.”
“You looked happy.”
“Oh, I was. Dub is… was… quite the man.”
This I understand. Ben is quite the man, too.
Ben.
My beautiful Ben.
Where are you now?
I drag myself back to the here and now. If Ani lives through this, her baby will be taken away to be adopted by a childless married couple. I thought things might change under the East State, but they take the same view as the Nation. That shouldn’t surprise me, of course – they’re both run by the same squabbling family. If Dub knew Ani’s situation, I’m sure he’d marry her, but I have no idea what’s become of him.
The door opens. It’s the guard.
“There’s someone coming to see you.”
“Who?”
“He’s part of the investigation team.”
“Who informed on us?”
The guard doesn’t want to say, but he’s seems a fair man. I send all my need for sympathy at him. All I can muster, that is. I really need to practice more.
“I… I can’t say. Now come with me. And I don’t want any trouble.”
Seeing as there’s no means of escape and I don’t want to experience a baton assault…
“We’ll come quietly,” I say.
We follow him to room with a table and chair at one end facing the two chairs Ani and I are put in. To make sure we don’t leave, we’re tied into position by our wrists and ankles.
Before we even wonder what’s going to happen next, a man walks in a sits on the front of the desk to face us.
“We’re going to ask you some questions. You will answer those questions. Then we’ll be done.”
“What happens after that?” I ask.
“The East State believes in fairness and justice. If you are innocent, you will be free to go.”
I don’t like the sound of that. It doesn’t match the feelings I’m getting.
“What if you aren’t satisfied with our answers?”
“I’m sure we will be. Sometimes prisoners just need a little help.”
I sense him. He’s a hunter who has trapped his prey. There’s something else too. Like he’s going to get something more from the interrogation. I can’t bring myself to study it further. It’s too worrying.
“Have you interrogated many prisoners?” I ask.
“Hundreds.”
“How many went free?”
“That’s not important.”
Again, I sense something not in balance.
“Will we be tortured?” I ask.
I sense impatience in him.
“Torture is an ugly word. We only use force against prisoners who refuse to reveal everything.”
“Using force doesn’t make sense,” I tell him. “People will say anything to stop the pain.”
“That’s why we prefer to interrogate two at a time. We make sure you become friends, then we ask you questions while applying the force to your friend. That way the pain won’t cloud your mind. Your thinking will be crystal clear.”
I can’t believe they could be so callous. But it makes sense. If my refusing to talk means Ani being hurt… would I be able to hold out? I know I wouldn’t.<
br />
Now a woman comes in. She comes straight over to us and stares at Ani for a moment, and then me.
And I feel her.
Ohhh…
It’s horrible, like having my head opened up.
She goes to the chair behind the desk and sits, leaving me to recover.
“Begin,” she says to me.
“Begin where?”
“You’re an empath.”
“No,” I say.
“That’s why you’re here,” she says.
This is scary.
“No, I’m here because they think I’m a spy. I’m not. It was a lie told by someone to claim a reward.”
“That was the story we arranged,” the man says. “We never use the word empath in the open. It causes fear and confusion.”
“There’s been a mistake,” I tell them.
“According to our records,” the woman says, “your brother was rated near the top of our ability scale.”
“Ax? You knew him?”
“Yes, I’m Cyn Longwood. He murdered my daughter, Julia.”
“Oh…” This changes everything. “I’m so sorry to hear that, but we haven’t seen each other in over a year.”
“Interesting. He says you were with him recently.”
“Ax?”
“He’s in an East State prison charged with murder. The only thing keeping him alive is you.”
“Me?”
“He says your ability exceeds his own by a distance.”
“I’m sure that’s not possible.”
“Jay, save your friend a lot of pain. Allow my mind to merge with yours. If you resist, your friend will die in agony and you’ll be left with a straight choice – being burned alive or having your organs cut out while you scream.”
I have to get away. I have to escape this prison. I have to free Ani, too. But how?
*****
To find out what happens next, look out for
“Ice in the Soul”
Coming April 2018
