City of Light

by J J Hane

  I wandered further from the city, until I was on the very edge of the buffer zone. Looking around to make sure I wasn’t being watched, I hurried across the glassy earth to the source of the blinking light to find Serenity holding a shard of a mirror at the very edge of the woods. I pulled up short when I saw her face, startled.

  “What’s the matter, city boy?” she asked with a grin. “Never seen someone after a fight before?”

  “What happened?” I blurted. A purplish bruise was forming on her cheek directly below her right eye. She wore her reddish-brown hair down to conceal what looked like more bruising on her neck and possibly her collarbone. The way she carried herself, leaning a little despite being on relatively flat ground, indicated that her bruises extended to the rest of her body as well.

  Serenity shrugged, then winced. “Training.”

  I stepped into the cover of the woods, closing the distance between us to get a better look at her injuries. “This isn’t training,” I said, anger rising in my voice, though why I felt so defensive was a bit of a mystery to me. We barely knew each other, yet it felt like we had some kind of connection. “This is abuse. What happened?”

  She put her hands on her hips, looking defiantly up into my eyes. “You don’t get to decide what this is. You weren’t there.”

  There was an accusatory tone in her last sentence that made me flinch. Was this somehow my fault?

  Serenity sighed, looking away from me. She seemed to deflate as she did so, the fire going out of her posture.

  “What’s going on, Serenity?” I asked gently.

  Her face scrunched up in thought. When she spoke, the words came out quickly, as if she had to get them all out before she could change her mind. “Azrael wanted me to get close to you so that you would bring us more medicine and maybe let one of our warriors in to sabotage the Martyrion’s defenses. That guy who died? The shooting? That was all a setup. He was a criminal Azrael used as a tool to convince you that I was in danger instead of being the real threat.”

  My mind went blank. I didn’t want to believe what she was saying. I didn’t want to think that I had been used by Azrael, but I knew as she said it that she was telling me the truth. But there was something else… I couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t telling me everything.

  “I’m tired, Raph,” she told me. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be Azrael’s slave. All of this,” she gestured at the bruising that was mostly hidden by her hair and clothing, “it’s because he thought I failed him when you didn’t show up yesterday. He thought that I didn’t do enough to convince you, that I should have done… more.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked, glancing back toward the fields to see if anyone had seen us. No one had, as far as I could tell.

  “Because I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not. I’m a warrior, not a spy or a pretty girl to be used.”

  “I thought you supported Azrael…”

  “Just because he’s good for my tribe doesn’t mean he’s a good person. And no, I don’t need your sympathy. I knew what I was doing when I agreed to help get into the city. He sent me here to try again, but I’m done with him.”

  “Not to interrupt your declaration of independence,” I said slowly, mindful of the possibility that she might yet take vengeance on me for getting her beaten. “But if Azrael did this to you when he thought you failed, what will he do when he learns that you are directly disobeying him?”

  “He’ll probably try to kill me to make an example out of me.”

  Her nonchalance was inspiring.

  “Okay, but then you’ll be dead,” I pointed out.

  “Only if he succeeds.”

  “…yes.” I was hesitant to make my next statement, knowing that the probability of me getting punched again was increasing with every word. “I saw what he did to Margot and Brandon. If he wants to kill you, I, uh… I’m concerned that he might… succeed.”

  Serenity eyed me. It took a great deal of self-control not to flinch away from her. She sighed, averting her eyes. In that moment, the tough, independent young woman looked a lot more like a scared, lonely girl. The barely hidden bruises and swelling only added to the effect.

  When she looked up at me again, her jaw was set in determination, her mind made up. She took a deep, steadying breath, as if she was about to jump off the Martyrion tower to fall to her death. “Will you help me?”

  “Of course,” I said without hesitation. Relief and sadness flooded Serenity’s face.

  It took me a second to realize the gravity of what I had just agreed to. As I thought about it, however, I really believed that I was doing the right thing. She needed help, not just a theory that one day, if her tribe behaved, the Martyrion might be able to do something. Right then, I was the only one who had both the power and the desire to protect her.

  In retrospect, I was maybe a little arrogant.

  “If I go back to my tribe, Azrael will kill me,” she said. “If I desert the tribe, anyone who finds me will try to kill me. There’s only one place where I can be safe.”

  “You’re not seriously thinking about going into the city…”

  “There is literally nowhere else for me to go,” she replied. “Please, Raphael. I need your help.”

  I rubbed at my face with both hands. “I can’t just bring you into the city. You don’t exactly look like a citizen. Not to mention getting you through security or what you’ll do once you’re inside.”

  “I can figure something out. I’m not a child. I can handle myself.”

  I gave her a skeptical look. “Out here, I’m sure you can. The city is a completely different world from what you’re used to. You can’t just beat people up whenever you want.”

  “I disagree,” she said with a grin. I think she was joking.

  “Security will catch you, and then they’ll figure out who brought you inside.”

  “They won’t catch me. Give me a chance.”

  I sighed, glancing back toward the city. There were still a couple hours’ worth of work day left.

  “Okay,” I said at last. “But if we’re going to do this, you have to agree to listen to me. Also, to not hit me anymore.”

  “I’ll listen,” she agreed, pointedly ignoring my second condition. It had been worth a shot.

  “I’ll go back into the city to get you some clothes that will let you blend in. When the work day is over, we’ll go in together with the rest of the workers. We’ll figure out the rest later.”

  Serenity nodded. “Let’s get started then.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “By ‘let’s get started,’ do you mean ‘Raph, go get the clothes while I wait here and relax?’”

  “I was trying to be gracious,” she said with a laugh. “But yeah, basically. Get moving, city boy.”

  I shook my head, smiling.

  When I crossed back over the buffer zone, I headed straight back into the city. I did my best to look casual as I headed into one of the agricorps’ smaller storage units. Inside were a variety of tools, as well as a stash of the simple working uniforms worn by all of the laborers in the fields. I had to guess at Serenity’s size. Picking one of the uniforms, I headed back into the field as quickly as I could, eager to avoid any awkward questions from my friendly coworkers.

  I walked right past my tiller, over the burned ground, and back into the woods where Serenity was waiting. She was leaning back against a tree, toying with her knife.

  “Here,” I said, tossing the clothes to her. “Get dressed and we’ll go back to my plot so I can finish my work. This whole mess is already making me late, and you don’t want my supervisor to find you out here.”

  Serenity inspected the uniform with disdain. “Your clothes are ugly.”

  I looked pointedly at her own clothing. The thick, rough fabric looked sturdy enough, but there were several visible holes and tears. “Whatever you say, Serenity.”

  The young woman just looked at me for a minute.
<
br />   “I’ll turn around now,” I said, repeating myself from the last time I had brought her clothes. “Don’t disappear this time.”

  Serenity laughed. “No promises, city boy.”

  She didn’t take long to switch clothes, and I was relieved to see that she had not run off this time. She stashed her tribal clothing in a hole at the base of a nearby tree. I noted that she kept her knife with her, though I didn’t say anything to her about it.

  “When we cross over,” I began once she was ready, “do your best to look like you belong here, not like you’re going to stab the first person to give you a funny look.”

  She smiled sweetly up at me. “Don’t worry, city boy,” she said in an almost childlike tone. “I’ll only stab the first boy who thinks it’s a good idea to condescend to me. You know, make him an example.”

  I let out a sigh. “You’re kind of scary sometimes.”

  Serenity winked at me. We crossed back to the field. I keyed in the activation code for my tiller and set to work breaking up the ground. The tribal girl kept pace with me, her back stiff, eyes darting around the open space as though she expected an attack to come at any moment.

  “Would you relax?” I asked after several minutes.

  “There’s a lot of space out here…” Serenity said quietly. I gave her a quizzical look. She cleared her throat, shaking her head. “I’m just saying that it would be easy to get shot out here.”

  “By who?” I asked, looking around at the relatively empty field.

  “Anyone,” she replied. “Azrael’s men with bows or guns. Your security forces with their solar rifles. Even the Archangel.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, the Archangel could hit you pretty much anywhere you go, so being in the field doesn’t really make it any worse.”

  She looked at me. “Thanks. That’s very kind of you.”

  I grinned. “Just trying to help.”

  Serenity looked like she was about to say more, probably something unkind, when her gaze caught on something past my shoulder. “Who is that?” she asked, nervous.

  I turned to see Abishai striding confidently across the field, making a point of looking unhappy about the mud getting on his shoes. “Crap. That’s my friend.”

  Chapter 11

  “Want me to stab him?” she asked, her tone sweet.

  “No! Geeze, would you stop that?”

  Serenity snickered. It took Abishai only a moment to reach us.

  “Shirking your duties again?” I asked, trying to head off his questions and buy myself some time to think.

  “Always,” he replied, winking at Serenity. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Abishai grinned mischievously, offering his hand to the girl. “I don’t think we’ve met,” he said smoothly.

  “Small mercies,” Serenity replied, rolling her eyes and walking away from him.

  “I like her,” he said, watching her go. Then he looked at me with obvious curiosity. “So?”

  “So what?” I went back to my tiller.

  Ab smacked my arm. “So, who is she? Why is she out here with you? Most importantly,” he bobbed his eyebrows, “what were you guys doing in the woods?”

  My face reddened at the suggestion. “We weren’t in the woods,” I replied, knowing the denial was stupid even as I said it. “We’re not supposed to go beyond the edges of the field, remember?”

  Ab rolled his eyes. “Yeah, nobody ever goes past the edge of the field,” he said sarcastically.

  “What are you doing out here?” I asked him, trying to deflect the conversation.

  “No way,” he said, leaning closer so that Serenity wouldn’t be able to overhear. “You’re out here with a beautiful woman, sneaking around the woods, and you’re not going to tell me about it?” He placed his hand over his heart, making an exaggerated wounded expression. “I’m hurt, Raph. I really am.”

  I huffed. “Later,” I grumbled.

  Abishai grinned, tapping his temple knowingly. “Whatever you say, killer. At least this explains why you weren’t at home a couple days ago. Anyway, I was going to tell you to come to my place for dinner tonight, but if you’re too busy….”

  “No, its fine,” I replied quickly.

  “The lady can come, too,” he said, raising his voice and directing his statement to Serenity’s back.

  “I’m sure she has something else to do tonight,” I interjected before Serenity could respond.

  She looked back at us, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a little smile. “Actually, I might be free tonight.”

  “You might,” I said, hoping she would catch the stern warning in my voice. She seemed unperturbed.

  “Great,” Ab said, clapping his hands together. “We love having company. What was your name again?”

  “Serenity,” she replied, clearly amused by my mounting anxiety.

  “A lovely name for a lovely woman,” Abishai said with a little bow. Serenity snorted in a decidedly unlovely way. “What was your last name?” Ab continued.

  Serenity’s expression barely changed, but I noticed a slight widening of her eyes. She flicked a glance at me that was laced with a slight edge of panic. I realized for the first time that maybe Serenity didn’t actually have a last name. It made sense, in a way. Her tribe was her identity; a surname was nearly pointless in her culture.

  “Jack,” I blurted. Both Ab and Serenity looked at me like I was insane. “It’s her last name. Serenity Jack.”

  “Ah,” Abishai said, a look of confusion passing over his face. “If you say so.”

  “Why don’t you head home and let your mom know that we’ll be coming over after we’re done here?” I suggested. Abishai looked like he might protest. Instead, he nodded, telling us he looked forward to seeing us later, then sauntered off toward the gate.

  “Jack?” Serenity asked. “Really?”

  “You didn’t come up with anything,” I said defensively. “Jack for Jackal. It makes sense.”

  “No it doesn’t.”

  I shrugged, annoyed by the fact that I was embarrassed. “Too late now. You’re stuck with it.”

  Serenity muttered something under her breath. I’m pretty sure I heard words like ‘stupid’ and ‘moron’ being thrown around.

  The end of the day didn’t come long after that. With sweaty palms and pounding heart, I lead Serenity into the city again. If anything, it was actually more frightening than the first time. We blended in with the dozens of other workers who, now that their labor was finished for the day, were chatting and laughing contentedly.

  Serenity watched them all with a curious expression, intrigued by their behavior. When she thought I wasn’t looking, her mask slipped a little, revealing the curious girl beneath the hard edges. Even then, though, she carried herself more like a wary predator near the bottom of the food chain.

  We were able to slip through the gate without anyone taking much notice of us. The few other people our age were not exactly friends of mine, some of them still holding prejudice against me for not being city born. That had hurt through most of my life, with so many other kids thinking of me as an outsider, unclean despite having endured humiliating, if painless, gene therapy to repair the damage my lost parents had passed along to me.

  That day, it served me well. Since nobody was interested in me, most of them weren’t interested in my companion, either.

  Once inside the city, I put my tiller away, filled out a quick form on the touchscreen inside the warehouse, and headed away from the agricenter with Serenity in tow.

  “Wow,” she said once we had moved a block away. “Your security here sucks.”

  “You wouldn’t have been able to get inside without my help,” I pointed out, defensive. “Since security assumes that we aren’t going to be hanging out with outlanders, it isn’t something they worry much about.”

  When we reached the main thoroughfare, Serenity paused to stare at the towers in the center of the city. I couldn’t blame her. It was a breathtaking sight, with the sun sin
king behind the city and the busses and smaller vehicles zipping through the streets. For someone who had only seen the shells of the vehicles that had once choked the streets of the Old World, the sight of so many fully functional machines must have been overwhelming.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” I asked.

  Serenity’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. Sure. If you don’t mind the fact that it’s all built on the same system that you use to destroy my people whenever we become inconvenient.”

  “That isn’t how the Archangel is used,” I told her firmly. “It’s only for self-defense.”

  She studied me, her deep brown eyes seeming to bore into my mind. Shaking her head, she quietly asked, “You really believe that, don’t you?”

  “I do,” I said firmly. “The ruling Council decides when it needs to be used, and they aren’t murderers.”

  “Whatever you say, city boy.” Serenity looked around, the moment of wonder lost behind her jaded expression. “Shouldn’t we be getting to your friend’s place? We don’t want to be late for dinner.”

  I looked at her. “You’re kidding. You aren’t seriously considering going, are you? They’ll figure out you’re not from the city.”

  Serenity shrugged. “I need to eat tonight, and this seems like a better option than stealing something.”

  I rubbed my face again. “I am in way over my head here.”

  “Yes,” she said thoughtfully. “You really are.”

  #

  When we got to Abishai’s housing unit, he was already there helping set out plates of spicy-smelling food along with his little sister, Maya. His mother, Sri Salman, was still working in the tiny kitchen in their apartment on the third floor. Despite the limited space, Mrs. Salman was busily creating a feast that was more than up to the task of feeding the four teens.

  “Hey, Maya,” I said, waving at the diminutive thirteen-year-old. She looked up at me through her long black hair, then to Serenity, who was following along behind. Her eyes widened in surprise and she made some small sounds that probably started out as words before being shredded by her filter of shyness.