“Hello, Lewis,” Devina said with her flirtatious mannerism.
It had taken a while before he picked up on her signals. It wasn’t that she was flirting with him, she just appeared to whenever she was excited—usually as they prepared to roll out a particularly malicious part of their plans.
“Hi, Devina.” He nodded to the monitor. “Everyone.”
It used to strike him as odd that none of the others had offered their names until he learned they were similar to the military. Their identities were fluid. The only identifier was so obvious, yet he had completely missed it for years: Rhetta was a surname, something the High Council had stripped from regular civilians long ago while the people only lived inside the mountain. The High Council felt that everyone outside their family was a number, including him. Surnames encouraged individuality, something they had worked so hard to remove from their people.
Regardless of the fact both Lewis and Devina were identities assigned for a particular mission, they continued to use them with each other out of familiarity rather than formality. If the other High Council members felt the need to address Lewis directly—which was rare—they referred to him by name yet offered nothing in return. It kind of made sense to him in the aspect that they functioned as a hive-mind. There was less individuality inside this family than there was inside the State.
They each had their role to play, but when it came to these meetings, he often wondered why they each felt the need to be there when they parroted each other. Maybe it was easier than meeting notes. Maybe they were fully equal. Maybe they had another reason which he could never conceive of, but he knew it had to be something malicious.
“We have some excellent news. Soon, we will have the artillery needed to neutralize the colony.”
Lewis’ skin blanched. Every delusion combined with every wonderful moment with Freya came crashing down. Somehow, he feared her death would mean his own. For that moment during her final address, he had really thought she was shot. His heart had nearly burst. He couldn’t handle her dying again.
Trying to save her seemed impossible, but he had to at least try. His vote was negligible against the High Council, which meant he had to come up with a compelling argument, and he needed it fast.
“Are we still planning that? I mean, do we even know that they survived the winter?”
“Lewis,” Devina began, “It’s what we have always done. We send them to the same area, Portland, and once we bomb the area, any evidence of their habitat is destroyed. This is how we could convince them they were on an alien planet. As far as they can see, the area was untouched by any human hand as it grows and rebuilds itself after the explosions.”
He took a deep breath as he tried to steady his hands folded tightly on top of his desk. “I think it sounds like a waste of explosives, personally. These people don’t have the skills necessary to survive without a clean environment and proper medical care. Their immune systems won’t be able to handle assimilation with nature. Why do we need to take any action when we can just let nature take care of it for us?”
Silence filled the room as the High Council held a statuesque posture.
This isn’t working.
“I think it’s wasteful,” he continued. “I think it’s wasteful to use our bombs to neutralize a group of people who pose no threat to us. They are too far away. They have no idea they’re on the same planet as us. I say, let’s let them alone and focus on what really matters.”
The eldest male leaned forward, “You want to forgo killing the rebellion? The petulant slime that has infected our civilization.”
Lewis knew he was on thin ice. He was outnumbered, but he had to stand his ground. “I think they will die off on their own without our intervention. It’s not that I want them to live, I just don’t want to waste our precious stock of explosives.”
“Lewis, we’ve never used bombs since the State came into power for any other purpose. We have a limited stock, because they’re only used when there is a culling. We produce just enough to clear the area. If we felt we needed more, we would make more.”
Lewis leaned forward toward the monitor. “Can we make more right now?”
She cocked her head to the side with her lips parted, staring at him. “For what purpose? And no. It takes time.”
Lewis sat back in his chair. “See there; that’s a good enough reason to hold on to what we have. These colonists pose no threat to us whatsoever. They don’t even realize we share a planet. I think we need to save our weapons for someone who could pose a threat while we are vulnerable and under gunned right now.”
“What for? The rebellion has been eliminated. There is no threat.”
Lewis picked up his tablet and began to type, searching the secured military database. He sent the image to the monitor and turned on the screen, showing the display in full view of the group.
The image was of a man standing outside the dome, peering inside. He was not wearing a hazmat suit, not wearing anything which resembled the standard uniforms worn inside of the State. This man had a beard and shaggy blond hair; he was most definitely not from inside the dome.
“There are people on the surface who know they’re on the same planet as us, are aware of our location, and are brave enough to approach our dome. I’m much more concerned about this group of people than I am about the colonists. This is a man who comes from a people who survived where most humans died. They have thrived on the surface and know how to live off the land while simultaneously hiding from us. They are intelligent. Too intelligent for our well being.”
Devina shook her head. “Lewis, that picture is old, and nothing has happened yet. If they had intentions, they would have acted by now.”
“We can’t know that. But the colonists don’t know they are on Earth and won’t figure it out for generations. Even when they figure it out, they have to travel across those mountains on foot, and that’s if they even lived through the winter. I’m much more concerned about this group, the ones who know exactly who and what we are and know to hide from us. If they have known for generations, they’ve probably had time to make weapons. I think we should reserve all weapons and explosives to defend ourselves against these survivors.”
The room was silent. He wondered if they questioned how they could make such a grave miscalculation or if they weren’t used to having someone speak against them. He nearly held his breath in anticipation.
“He raises a good point,” one of the High Council remarked. “When we intercepted that army, I assumed that man was a scout. What if he wasn’t? What if there are multiple surviving tribes? We should consider keeping resources available for an unexpected attack.”
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Devina looked up at him, “Lewis, we will take this under advisement.”
“Of course.” He nodded. “We should also keep a close eye on the colony. I am simply asking for a more thorough risk assessment before we act. If it’s possible, we should hold off on neutralizing the colony until we have produced more bombs to defend us here. We can observe the colony through satellite imaging, correct?”
“Of course. We will watch them to ensure they are staying on their side of the mountain. If they start to build too high or too far away from their original spot, then we have no choice but to neutralize them while they are still clustered together.”
Lewis swallowed hard. “Agreed.”
He may have won today, but would it hold? Would it be enough time to make a difference?
His posture remained rigid throughout the rest of the meeting. The State was unchanged. The colonists left alive. But he had to be on alert. What was given today could be easily lost tomorrow.
Once the meeting ended, he leaned back in his chair and he retrieved the button and looked down at it, his one comfort during his imprisonment.
“Freya, you’re smarter than this,” he whispered. “Get out of there.”
Chapter 35
15 Years Later
Colin
Colin stopped walking, his gaze cast around the clearing. He spun around in a circle. “I think this looks like the spot.”
The area had been relatively clear of large vegetation with a perfect spot of flat ground before a sharp upward mound of earth. The further into the mountain passageways they built, the more they had learned to utilize the hills by building into them. It was in some ways easier to dig into the hill and use the dirt as walls for the shelters rather than building log cabins.
The project had moved at an excruciatingly slow pace, yet Colin never let the project get him down or frustrate him. The reality was, two days’ walk wasn’t terribly far away from their original village, therefore, making the migration East painstakingly slow.
Each spring, they would push forward to their next location, and spend the rest of the season building and hauling supplies into the posts. They considered six hours of walking a day’s journey, even though his team could walk much further. Especially with the steep inclines, they needed to take small children, pregnant women and the elderly into consideration while building. That’s why they had built the posts closer together than they felt was necessary.
Once the post was erected, they would spend the rest of the season filling it with supplies. Water, dried meats, pelts, arrows, clothing, herbs, firewood, flint, salt. It was all there. They stocked supplies with the assumption that their village would be evacuated without the luxury of packing ahead of time.
When Colin looked down the mountain, their community had long ago disappeared from sight. The more distance he could put between him and that spacecraft, the better he felt. Although his logical mind accepted that having these posts might not save them, it was better than nothing.
If he thought the Advisors responded poorly to their first meeting after spotting the satellite, it was nothing compared to how they acted now. Being labeled an alarmist was the least of his worries. The Advisors wanted him cut out of politics all together. If it weren’t for the community’s love for Freya, he wouldn’t have anything to do with governing their community.
The Advisors met daily. During the summer months, he focused solely on building outposts. When he was home, the Advisors allowed him and Aakil to come for a monthly debriefing on policy changes and new laws passed. Their attendance was incidental. They had made it perfectly clear that when Freya awoke, they would be nothing more than figureheads.
Colin might resent the Advisors if the people in the community still respected him—which they didn’t. He missed the days they spoke poorly of him behind his back. No one wanted to hear that the State was still monitoring them. Support for their project to build East was thin at best. He had asked for 20 volunteers and had gotten 12.
His team comprised an eclectic mix of workers. A few actually believed in relocation to ensure they were really safe from the State, some wanted adventure and to explore, where the rest of them wanted a more interesting duty than they had in the community.
Colin regularly questioned everything: his ability to lead, his decision to put Freya into hibernation, his, and the community’s, freedom from the State. Under the dome, the State had always been a step ahead. Was it really even possible they had fooled the State and beat them? Or was this all just another trap?
A scream followed by an audible thud snapped Colin out of his thoughts. One of their party members had disappeared into the ground. He pushed himself, running harder and faster toward his fallen colleague, then stopped a few feet away, throwing his hands out to the side.
“Stay back! Or we’ll all get trapped inside with him.”
He got down on all fours and slowly crawled toward the hole.
“Colin,” Aakil yelled. “Tie this around your waist.”
A rope smacked the side of his face. He grabbed it and secured it around him before he continued further. As he slowly crept forward, he could hear his team member moan.
“Hey, you okay in there?”
No answer.
Colin reached the edge, hearing a crack below him. He instantly rolled to the side as another chunk of earth gave way, falling into the opening.
“I think he’s unconscious. He keeps moaning but won’t respond. I need a harness.”
“Yeah,” Aakil nodded. “I’ll strap in too. It might take both of us to get him out if he’s hurt.”
His stomach churned as he crawled backward before returning to his feet. Thus far, their team had been lucky. There had been injuries, but they had been minor. Their team was already so small. Could they clear the mountains if they lost anyone?
We have to make it to the other side. It can’t be that much further. When we clear the mountains, we can build a new home just in time before I wake Freya. I’m running out of time.
Once they were both in harnesses and their team secured ropes around solid tree branches, he started his descent into the opening. Colin lifted his solar lamp to peer around. It was odd. It was rather geometric for a cave, almost like being in the underground walkway.
Before they had lowered him far, his feet touched the ground. He looked up and yelled. “I’m at the bottom. Send Aakil down.”
Colin could see their fallen team member laying in a heap off the side. He stepped over to him and placed the lamp on the ground beside them. The man moaned again, and Colin reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you okay? Can you move?”
The man groaned again before replying, “I can. I just don’t want to.”
Colin felt his neck, his ribs, then helped shift him onto his back. “I think you’re okay.”
Aakil dropped to the ground behind Colin. “What the hell is this? It feels like we’re in the dome again somehow.”
A chill ran down Colin’s spine. The fact Aakil had the same impression as he did pushed things past eerie into the realm of downright terrifying.
Has this area been inhabited by an intelligent being before?
Aakil helped the fallen man into a harness then back to his feet. The men above pulled him out of the space while Colin picked up his lamp and looked around. He reached the back of the space and saw what looked like a table and chair.
“You want a lift, Colin?”
He spun around. “No. I think we need to look around in here. Both of us.”
Aakil called up to the men above. “Hey, we want to look around for a bit. Maybe one of you could stay nearby. We’ll holler if we need help to get out.”
The solar lamp had already started to dim, a relic from the supplies the State had sent on the spacecraft. Aakil approached with a kerosene lamp and turned it up to a bright glow. As the area came into view, Colin stepped back, leaning against the wall.
“What if we aren’t the first colonist the State sent?”
Aakil’s gaze was locked on the table, and its contents, yet he remained silent.
“What if they sent a group here, they parted ways with the State—just like we did, and the State came for them and destroyed them?” Colin slid to the ground with a hard thunk. “And we’re next. We never stood a chance.”
A high-pitched hum rang in his ears. All of this had been for nothing. Building the posts. Putting Freya into hibernation. Everything.
An eternity seemed to pass in silence before Aakil finally ended it. “Colin, do you remember who Harry Potter was?”
He looked up at him sideways. “Who?”
Aakil shrugged. “Was he a Head of State? Or was he someone famous from before the dome?”
Colin didn’t answer. He just stared at Aakil in hopes his words would make sense. Aakil handed a rectangular object over to Colin. He had to squint to make out the letters, but this object was, in fact, labeled with this man’s name.
“What is it?”
Aakil sighed. “I’m pretty sure it’s a book. That’s how people used to read before the State. There’s an entire case of them here.”
Colin ran his fingers along the foreign object to discover how it functioned. Soon, he slowly pried the thick covers open to see words wri
tten inside.
“If this is a book, then did earth colonize this place before the State took over?” Nausea rolled through his stomach. If that were the case then he could only imagine where the inhabitants were now. “And did the State kill them?”
“Uh, Colin,” Aakil’s voice hardly audible, “you might want to come over here.”
He placed the book on the floor and stood on shaky legs. He knew that what Aakil found was bad, detrimental even. Part of him didn’t know if his mind could handle anymore, but also knew that no matter what it was, he needed to know. Everybody would need to know.
“I’m afraid I now understand how the State got those satellites into orbit.”
Colin looked at him, confused. His mind was still spinning from that book being written in English, even if he didn’t know of the person it was written about. He just couldn’t see the connection between this place, its contents, and the satellites.
Conspired: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance (The State Series Book 6) Page 24
