Rift

by Andreas Christensen

  Chapter 11

  SUE

  She was feeling better, finally. She couldn’t remember much of the past few days, only that she had been sliding in and out of consciousness until she finally remained awake long enough to notice more of the people around her. There were six beds in her room. All empty, save hers and one more. The person in the other bed lay on the far side of the room, covered in bandages, unconscious all the time. Sue remembered the doctor mentioning that a man had survived. She tried asking the nurses about him, but got no reply other than confused looks and gibberish in that strange language. None of them spoke any English, it seemed.

  On the third day—it must have been three days—the doctor returned. This time, a woman in camouflage uniform came with him. The two had the same angular features and the same sand-colored hair, but hers was cut shorter. And she had stars on her collar.

  “Mademoiselle Atlas, meet Colonel Renee Marsden,” he said. The woman remained standing, one step behind the man, Dr. Marsden. Sue cocked her head.

  “Your wife?” she said without thinking. The two laughed in reply.

  “No, mademoiselle,” the woman said, “he’s my twin brother. You are very perceptive.” Dr. Marsden motioned for one of the nurses to fetch chairs, and they both sat down. The doctor looked at his sister before he spoke.

  “So, your friend is still unconscious, I hear. I’m sorry. I am afraid he will not wake again.” Sue glanced over at the unmoving form.

  “Can’t you do anything?” Dr. Marsden shook his head.

  “If we had your technology… He has sustained severe damages to the head.”

  “But what if you got him back? What if you could arrange for a prisoner exchange or something?” What was she thinking? How many times had she heard the orders not to take prisoners?

  “The Covenant seldom takes prisoners,” the woman said, a hoarseness in her voice. “And even if you did, he would never get the necessary treatment. Rory, that’s an English name, yes?” Sue nodded, and swallowed hard. So it was Rory, and he was dying.

  “Only Moon people get cryo treatment, unless he already earned his citizenship.” Sue looked at Rory’s unmoving shape. A second-rate citizen, about to give his life for the Covenant. Even if she could somehow break them free, Rory would die. Simply because he was English. Expendable.

  Dr. Marsden got to his feet.

  “I’m sorry about your loss, mademoiselle. But I have other patients to tend to. My sister would like a word with you, though, so I will leave you two together.” He walked out, and Sue looked at Renee.

  “Time for interrogation, then,” Sue said drily. The colonel only smiled. Sue thought it must be a high rank, from the way the nurses looked at her, but then she hadn’t even known the northerners had ranks.

  “I believe we should talk,” Renee said.

  DAVE

  He felt sick. Someone had shot Greer, murdered him for what he had said: What have you done to us?

  To us. That was the part Dave couldn’t understand, no matter how hard he tried. He could easily understand why someone might react as Greer had to the carnage back there. Given the chance, the monsters would probably have slaughtered them all easily, but he could empathize with Greer feeling bad, sick even, for killing the beasts from a distance, one after the other until all were dead. He had heard of other boys in school, going out bow-hunting with their fathers, and after bragging about it in public, they would admit to feeling a little queasy, no matter how necessary the hunt was for feeding the family. Dave had never had to hunt, but he could easily understand how that might make you feel.

  To us. The words wouldn’t leave him alone. Greer hadn’t been the softest of them, either. Dave knew he had applied to the rangers, although he only made security. But he had seemed tougher than all of them, except Scott perhaps.

  Kirilov scooted over, and produced a small pack.

  “All right, guys, you’ve just passed your final initiate test. You’re full Wardens now,” he said, grinning. He opened the pack and let three small blue pills roll out into his palm.

  “One each. Final stage of the vaccine. Makes it last longer.” They all got one, and Dave swallowed his with some water from his half-full canteen. Better than taking another shot.

  Kirilov went to talk to the pilots, while Dave sat lost in thought. When the senior Warden returned, Dave considered telling him of his ideas. Of how Greer had been murdered. Of his final words. Perhaps Kirilov would understand what they meant.

  What was it Greer had said? Dave shook his head, struggling to remember. His head was spinning. He needed to remember the exact words. For some reason, the words were important. Which words? What was happening to him? He blinked once, twice, and looked around. Baldwin was sitting next to him, and Scott sat in front with one of the seniors. Kirilov returned, and Dave was about to speak to him, when he found he didn’t know what he wanted to say. He laughed softly at his own stupidity. He turned to tell Greer.

  Where was Greer?

  He considered getting some sleep, but found he wasn’t tired. Actually, he was feeling better than ever. Stronger. More alert. He looked at Kirilov and almost guffawed when he saw that the senior Warden had unusually long teeth. Why hadn’t he noticed before? He gazed over at Baldwin. Hadn’t he been clean-shaven? Now he had a long, bushy beard. Strange. He looked at Scott and sat up straight. His eyes were glowing red, and his grin exposed a set of sharp fangs.

  What the hell is happening here? Dave wondered.

  “Easy now, Wagner.” He heard Kirilov’s voice, a note too gravelly. His vision was quickly fading. Scott was laughing hysterically in the background, and an inhuman shriek came from somewhere far away.

  “What is happening to me?” he whispered. Kirilov’s reply was a growl, almost incomprehensible.

  “You are a Warden now. One of us. Time to let go, Wagner.” Kirilov’s voice grew more distant, and his final words were so far away, Dave wondered if he had actually spoken, or if it was all in his own head.

  “Ignorance is Bliss,” the voice said.

  SUE

  “So you are telling me there’s a world out there, with people living their lives, and we are not even allowed to know about it? That people get to live until they die from natural causes? That the Moon people didn’t save us at all?” Sue shook her head, dumbfounded, and Renee smiled at her.

  “I know it’s a lot to process, Atlas. And you are more eager than most. Hah, most of those we capture don’t believe any of it, at first. They cling to their beliefs like it’s a loved one, even when we show them proof of the opposite.” She set the books aside and produced her infopad. While she swiped and moved boxes and images around, Renee continued speaking.

  “Most end up crying, whether it is from relief or anger or sadness, or all of those reasons, I don’t know. That’s when I know they are beginning to understand. And nobody ever wants to return. Not even those of the Moon blood. Can you imagine that?”

  Sue stared at the map again.

  “I knew there had to be others out there, but they taught us you were primitives, scavengers, savages… That the Covenant was a lone beacon of civilization in the world. And yet, look at this map; the Covenant is so small!”

  “Beacon of civilization…” Renee grumbled. “Look at this,” she said, pointing at a red dot by the sea, far to the north.

  “Here’s Hudson, our capital. Built from scratch after the Fall, ninety-nine percent underground to protect the people from air raids from the south. Like most of our cities. The Moon people think they have us subdued, but we have never succumbed to them. One day, we will set your people free, as well. After all, we are the same.” There was a silence between them while Sue studied the map. Hudson was about the same distance from the Westfold as Legacy, although north instead of southeast.

  “Why do some of you speak English, while others speak… I don’t know what your language is called…” Sue trailed off, as Renee began to laugh.

  “Don’t you see, Atl
as? We are also English, at least part English. And French, although you probably have no idea what that means.” The officer’s laugh died, and she began to explain.

  “Before the Fall, your land was ruled by the English, but Latin, French and many other peoples lived there, as well. They were basically equals. Up here, my ancestors were English and French, two peoples that had lived together for ages in this land. Most of the English-dominated areas succumbed to the Fall, and the entire western part of this country became a wasteland, while the French, living in the East, managed to save many of their kind. Some of the English survived, as well, and in the frantic final weeks, a lot of people even fled here from the South—your ancestors—because it was said that this land would be spared. Well, it wasn’t, not completely, but it fared better than the lands of the South, what you know as the Covenant. So in a way, it is true that the Moon people saved your people, or what remained of them. But at what cost? They enslaved you! Made themselves your masters while you were weak. Those who wouldn’t comply fled north, or ended up in camps. That’s where they perfected their techniques for euthanasia, by the way. And my people, still too weak to give them a proper fight, had to stand by and watch what they did to you.” She fumed now, while her infopad produced images of war, prison camps, and piles of dead bodies.

  “But you did fight,” Sue said. Renee stopped, and waited for her to speak.

  “You have fought for as long as anyone can remember. That’s what we were taught in school. That is true at least, isn’t it?” Renee shook her head and closed her eyes.

  “No, we didn’t. We have never fought, except in self-defense, to defend our villages, our children. Once it became clear that the Covenant was too strong to beat, we dug in. We have always skirmished, prodded your defenses, and raided for information, for technology. But we have never tried to tear down the Covenant, as we should have. Because it would have meant the end of us.” Sue could see she was deep in thought. After a moment, Renee looked into her eyes.

  “There is only one power that could tear down the Covenant, and sadly, it is not us.”

  “Who is it?” Sue asked. She felt cheated, and a simmering anger at everything she had been taught, everything she had taken for truth—her entire life a lie.

  “Who could set things right?” Renee looked at her, as if considering her next words. In the end, one word was enough.

  “Buchanan.”