by Eden Wolfe
They tied their steeds at the entry of Geb and strode into the city in their traditional garb. Last time Leadon had wanted to be invisible in the crowds of the city.
Now she wanted to be seen.
She walked with her shoulders back, the traditional bodice jingled as she walked through the streets. Priyantha wasn’t far behind.
She approached a woman serving soup on a corner. “Excuse me, do you know where I find the East Counties rooming house?”
The woman looked at Leadon, serving spoon in hand, frozen in place. Her mouth was open but she didn’t speak.
Leadon looked back to Priyantha, who shrugged.
“Excuse me, madam.” She spoke slowly and clearly. “I am looking for the East Counties Rooming House. Do you know it?”
The woman gave a quick nod, her mouth still open, her arm still held in midair with the ladle of soup.
Leadon leaned forward. “Are you alright?”
The woman blinked and then finally lowered her arm, letting the spoon slip into the pot. “I’ve never seen anyone like you so close. You’re the spitting image of-"
“Yes, I know. I also come from Gana.”
“But the resemblance.”
“Uncanny, isn’t it?” Leadon smiled. “Now would you please tell me where I find the East Counties Rooming House?”
The woman pointed deeper into the city. “Over there.”
“Would you mind being more specific?”
The woman shook her head as if she was woken up. “Of course, of course. It’s down this road, then left onto Fifth Road B, it’s easy to find because A is to the right. It’s a few blocks down there.”
Leadon smiled and looked back to Priyantha who nodded.
“Thank you for your help.”
Leadon and Priyantha began down the road.
“Wait!” The woman called after them, “I’m so sorry, I’ve lost my mind. You’re so tall, so striking, I just lost myself. Please wait.” She rushed back to the pot and ladled two bowls.
“Please, take these with my good wishes for your time in Geb. Just bring the bowls back anytime, I have plenty.”
“Thank you,” Leadon and Priyantha bowed in gratitude.
The woman swatted the air, “Oh, it’s nothing. A great recipe though. Full of nutrition, and that isn’t easy these days. I use the fortification powder, too. Helps you grow strong, not that you need any more strength! I mean, just look at you! And you can be sure of the quality. No risk of poison, heavens no. Not like what you might find over in Cork Town." The woman slapped her hands on her apron. "Well then, goodbye, now.”
Priyantha and Leadon exchanged a glance and sipped the soup on their way to the rooming house. Their arrival was greeted with basic efficiency. The host had been friendly if skeptical, her first question asking when they would be leaving.
"Now what?" Priyantha asked as they dropped their satchels in the room.
"Now we go to the fortress."
"Already? We just arrived."
"That's why this is the best time. If we wait longer, then word might go through the city of our visit, and rumors cannot serve us well."
Leadon didn't say that the longer they waited the less courage she would have. She wanted to waste no time and ride the thin bravery she'd been able to muster thus far.
They walked through the city, letting the women watch them pass by. They returned the soup bowls to the seller, who offered a wide smile and deep bow. Clocks were mounted on every function building; seventeen hours was approaching.
Soon the streets will be filled with women heading home. I don't even know how to find Irene.
The fortress rose black into the blue sky, streaks of pinks starting with the sunset. It appeared out of place next to the concrete blocks that surrounded it, and ancient across from Central Tower. Leadon took in the sight of it now that the square was empty but for a few strolling women. There was nothing welcoming about it. A fortress from pre-Mist days, so vastly different from anything in Gana. Gana was ancient. The fortress merely a leftover from an earlier settler period. New peoples.
How many waves of change will we see before the earth is finished? Ancient times, settlers. Final war, more settlers. And if Upper Earth comes?
Leadon shook the thought away. She had to focus.
I must prepare myself. Irene might come into sight at any moment.
But she didn't. An hour passed as Leadon and Priyantha watched life evolve in the square. The timekeeper's ringing bells. Women came and went. Conversations. Mary on the screen declaring the end of the day and a new curriculum soon to be applied in the Girls Homes.
Still no Irene.
Priyantha whispered to Leadon, "Do you know she's here? Could she be away?"
"I don't know anything for sure."
Perhaps they wouldn't see Irene that day at all. They sat on two concrete blocks that framed the entry to the fortress. Waiting.
Another hour passed. The square was empty. Dinners were prepared, served, cleared. Leadon felt pangs of her hunger mounting.
The sun had nearly set, the square nearly in darkness, and Leadon finally saw Irene enter the far end of the Geb City Square, making the turn from behind Central Tower. Four guards surrounded her, all Geb women. Together they were a fearsome block, their uniforms catching glint just as the perimeter lights came on.
Leadon and Priyantha stood.
Irene appeared consumed by the conversation, the Guard listening to her every word. Pointing and hands gesturing. Their faces were all severe.
Something is wrong.
Leadon looked to Priyantha who nodded, and she felt encouraged. This was what they'd come for, she couldn't shy away now.
Halfway through the square, Irene appeared to see them. She lifted her hand to stop the guards from speaking. She turned her head and said something. All the guards stopped, waiting in the middle of the square as Irene approached.
Leadon spoke before Irene arrived, calling out the traditional Ganese blessing to her.
"Lassa Irilena weh."
"What are you doing here?" Irene's eyes were on fire. She leaned forward. Leadon suddenly felt very young.
"I need to speak with you."
"Did you learn nothing from Batrasa? Do you not know how this process works? You can't just show up in the capital like a rogue weasel. There are customs that dictate these ways."
"I didn't know - "
"Of course you didn't because you remain rash and self-concerned."
Leadon felt heat growing up her neck. Irene didn't bother to lower her voice; the guards could hear every word.
"Irene, this is important. Perhaps I still have much to learn of custom, but my reason is intact and I must speak with you about Gana's condition."
"You'll speak with me about 'Gana's condition' when you've followed protocol." Irene rubbed her forehead and approached Leadon, finally speaking only to her. "You have no idea what I'm managing right now. I really don't have the patience for whining discontent from Gana. There are larger concerns on our horizon. So go, Leadon, and don't show your face in the capital without a better approach, or else you'll receive no welcome from me."
Leadon was about to interject, even though she didn't yet have the words.
But Irene was gone. She turned and marched into the fortress, the guards silently following in behind her, casting a condescending look to Priyantha and Leadon as they passed.
They stood silently. Priyantha finally inhaled and breathed the air out through her lips. "Leadon - "
"Don't speak to me right now."
"You're right to be offended."
"Don't speak."
Leadon wasn't offended, she was humiliated.
My first visit to Geb in my official capacity, and I already made a laughingstock of us.
"We leave for Gana at sunrise. And Priyantha, I need you to gather any woman who ever served Batrasa, any who ever came to Geb. Any who served in the checkpoints. This must never happen again."
Leadon wat
ched Priyantha swallow hard and nod, knowing she was as much to blame as herself. Leadon would never let her people come to such shame again. She vowed it, even knowing that Irene could have invited her in now. She could have taught her their ways. She could have mentored and supported her.
But she didn't.
Leadon stormed back to the Rooming House, grateful that Priyantha stayed behind. She wanted some time alone. She needed some time to breathe.
12
Sara
Sara adjusted her satchel, making sure she had all the entry papers. Security was tighter at the Cork Town entry than it used to be. Just a few years ago she could have flashed her Central Tower badge and that would have been sufficient. Not anymore. The commune was now held under close watch.
She'd never really understood why. The Cork Town residents were by-and-large benign. Many of them had mental and physical defects that would prevent them from mounting any kind of large-scale rebellion. Even small rebellions had been easy to quench in the past. Backroom Men had always been tracked. Even Isaac. The screens said it was for their protection. No one outwardly challenged that. But inwardly was a different story, at least for Sara.
When Roman asked her about Lucius, Sara had thought she might die on the spot. Her heart was going to run off the rails and her palms turned sweaty. There was no way Roman could know of their history, could he?
Sara hadn't seen Lucius in years, but he had been the one to tell her Adam was gone. Disappeared. Vanished. And her body had been covered with samples from their genetic experiment, everything Lucius needed to keep their project alive. But had he? Had Lucius been able to make any advancement on 4957 over the past few years at all?
She'd had a massive lump in her throat that she hoped Roman couldn't see.
But somehow her panic pleased Roman; she saw his face relax and he went on to explain the mission he had in mind for her.
The whole time, Sara's brain had been running like mad. She could only nod to Roman as he went over it.
Now it was happening. She was going back to Cork Town. She was going to see Lucius. She was going to try to save the incubation program from utter failure. The stakes were high.
She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head.
I never thought, of all of us who worked on the old program, that it would be me who would survive. Or maybe I did know. I was the woman after all.
She stood a moment longer, taking in the sight of herself - brown hair, green eyes, olive skin, just like the Directive required. Her personal qualities overlaid on top of the basic model. Delicate facial features. Slender shoulders and slender hips. Not made for the Willing Woman program, she was made for research. Not only was she made for it, she enjoyed it and she was good at it. But Roman was right - she was better with people than most of the others in the Tower. He was right to select her for the sample collection.
But this side trip to Lucius, she wasn't sure. Convincing Lucius of anything was like melting a glacier with a match.
She threw her satchel over her shoulder and began the eight-kilometer walk to Cork Town. The residence for senior-level Central Tower researchers in Geb was almost as far as possible from the Cork Town limits.
"Papers?" the guard demanded on her arrival at the checkpoint.
She handed her the official documentation.
"Who will you be visiting?"
"The former Great Geneticist."
"For what purpose?"
"That's above your pay grade."
The guard gave an unfriendly smile. She had thick shoulders and a short haircut. Sara guessed she was from the Gillard line. They held most of the positions that required strict adherence to guidelines. Only a few of them ever strayed from the rules laid out for them.
The guard shifted her weight. "Nothing is above my pay grade when it comes to access to Cork Town. So speak up or go back home."
Sara sighed loudly. "You see as well as I do. That form has the stamp from Roman of the First Line. And unless you want to find yourself outside the regulations, you'll let me pass without further hassle."
The guard stared Sara in the eye. Then she looked back at the page.
Thrusting it back at Sara, the guard turned to open the gate.
"Out by timekeeper's bells. No reason for you to stay beyond seventeen hundred. Understood?"
Sara knew she wasn't bound to a timeline when she had Roman's stamp, but this wasn't the time to get into a power struggle with a Gillard.
"Understood." Sara walked through the gate and heard the loud clang and click behind her of the lock closing.
"People of Geb," Sara could hear Mary's voice on a screen, but she couldn't see it, and the quality of the sound was poor. Mary's voice crackled in a way that it never did on the screens in Geb Center. "I remind you that the upcoming session for potential Willing Women will take place in less than two weeks' time. Are you ready to dedicate ten months minimum to the gift of Lower Earth's next generation? Gestation period remains at four months, with a possible post-natal period of six months before the child qualifies for one of the homes. Be sure to bring your latest physical results with you for initial screening. Regarding crop killers, we have news that County D in the north has seen some success with the use of refined fertilizer from Central Tower. Great news in the combat against the most current strain!"
Sara walked deep into Cork Town and Mary's voice faded away. Only one screen in Cork Town, not like Geb Center at all.
Sara knew a shortcut through the side alleys, but she had to stay on Cork Row until she was well out of sight of the guard. Her familiarity with the commune would only draw even more attention to her. Already there were more eyes on her than she wanted.
She walked along the main strip, the gravel crunching under her feet.
This used to be paved. Only the alleys had gravel.
The old cork factory rose up beside her. The stories told of it being a bustling hive, of cork being the center point of life in the commune, back during the time of the first settlers. It had long since been converted into smaller manufacturing. Some sewing, some carpentry, some welding. The front service doors appeared rusted shut, only the single doors for staff showed any sign of life.
Sara turned down the eighteenth alleyway, eager to get off Cork Row. The narrow alleyways comforted her, even if the last time she'd come had been with tears streaming down her face.
Five years. How does time pass so fast and so slow? We've never mastered our understanding of time's passing. The relativity of it, even within a single person's consciousness. Five years.
She made a turn and almost tripped on two women who were sat against the wall.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you - "
Sara stopped, the women were still, didn't even react at her kicking their feet. Their eyes stared straight ahead. After a moment, one of them looked up, and then the other.
"I'm sorry, excuse me," Sara repeated.
The women said nothing. Their cheeks caved in. Their eyes all but dead.
Opies. Poor women. They look far along now.
Sara stepped away from the women and continued down the alley when voices rose around her. The apartment buildings were all close together; sound echoed and bounced between them.
"You promised," she heard.
"And I couldn't do it," another woman's voice joined.
"But you promised!"
"Screech at me all you like, they won't take us anymore! Do you know what it took just for me to get permission to leave Cork Town?"
"We have nothing left! You brought the kid in. You have to make this work! I'm not going to starve just so that she can have a full belly. It's not fair. I didn't want her, and now you're letting us down. You're lazy and thoughtless."
"You're not hearing me, Rhonda. They won't take me. They won't hire anyone from Cork Town anymore."
"Then you're kicking the kid out."
"No!"
Sara reached another corner and quickened her pace. Central Tower had
put a policy in place a few years ago. No more cleaners, servers, or runners from Cork Town. Even at the time, Sara wondered what that would mean for the commune's residents. So little was actually produced in Cork Town and almost none of the manufacturing plants or other industries were based within the commune's walls.
She wove through the alleys, finally arriving at the twenty-ninth alleyway. The apartment jutted out from the main building, an unremarkable ground floor studio. From the street, it looked like any other extension on a building. The oddity of it didn't stand out in Cork Town. In Geb, the buildings lined up, even if they were built across several generations after the Mist. There was an understanding, an urban plan that unfolded as the city grew.
Cork Town had no concept of apparent organization. There was the main road and then side roads, and then alleyways that sprung off each other. They were like tree branches overlapping so that the main artery was the only visible connection between them. Even the alleyways blended into each other, new buildings popping up as the population of Cork Town had grown. Fewer genetic outliers were moved to the outer counties; more and more of them were kept under lock and key in Cork Town. The scare from Upper Earth's scouts those years ago had resulted in many knock-on effects across Lower Earth. The further ghettoization of Cork Town had only been one of them.
Sara approached the studio, her heart picking up in speed. She was quite certain Lucius would recognize her. But would he accept her in? Would he hear her out?
More importantly to Sara, had he made any progress on 4957?
She rapped with one knuckle on the door.
"No," she heard from inside.
"Lucius?"
"I said no."
"Lucius, it's Sara of the seventh line. Please let me enter."
"Sara." She heard the sound of shuffling and furniture moving. "A minute." Papers rustled and there was a bang like a chair falling over.
The door opened.
"Hello, Lucius."
"Sara. I can't say I was expecting you. Perhaps if this were a few years ago."
"The rules on Cork Town access have changed."
"Changed. That's the euphemism of the decade."
