by Eden Wolfe
Ariane waved her hand, "You were always too poetic about it. I'll read your report in detail, have no concerns about that. But now I need you to get to the heart of it." Ariane pulled the chair even closer and took Maeva's hands in her own. "I know there is discontent. So who will it be? Who will rebel? And will they attack directly, or will it be subtle? Is it the Sisters? I have long felt that with their skills and insight they could pose a great risk. I feel tension in the air, I smell it with the morning dew. Treachery mingles with the first rays of sun, every single day. But I need to know who it will be. Is it Gana? Which county will dare first to make an offensive move on Geb, or on the fortress, or on me?"
"On you?"
"Tell me, Mother. You've seen them all. Is it the Sisters? The Ganese? They are the most powerful, but the Dark Counties have always had ways about them ever since the first settlers arrived. Who will it be?"
Maeva shook her head slowly, "No one is preparing any attack."
"Not yet. But they will. It's the natural order of things during times of shortage. We saw it in the pre-Mist days and we'll see it again. You have gone around the country unbiased in a position of observation. You have built some trust. I know you have. And now I'm asking you for the simple task of assessing those you reviewed to identify who will be the first, given the right conditions, to rise up against us."
She's looking for an enemy where so far she has none.
"Tell me, is it the Sisters?"
"The Sisters are in a weakened state. There is an illness amongst them that is affecting those with the greatest experience. Daphna is a researcher, her only experience coming from the Tower. She puts it to use in their fields."
"Daphna has an ingrained disdain for all we stand for. She hates the Direction of Lower Earth, each one of us. No wonder Lana ran off to her."
"You did not offer much alternative to Lana. And Daphna is concerned for the well-being of the Sisters. Rumors are that the illness is planted. They suspect it is from the Ganese." Maeva paused, wondering whether she should reveal her suspicion. But to hold it back wouldn’t serve her. “I, however, am quite confident it is not from the Ganese at all.”
Ariane’s face didn’t change. “Oh?”
“It looks like it came straight out of the Tower to me.”
"I see."
"The Sisters are in no position to launch any kind of attack."
"Illness or not, they are the very antithesis of Geb. The Sisters' reason for existence is to oppose the very institutions which are keeping us all alive. I don’t have to remind you of that. They pose a threat."
"I can understand your concern, but this will not be realized any time soon. They are consumed with their own problems and seek someone to blame for them."
"That is your assessment?"
"It is."
"Fine." Ariane stood, pacing. "And the Ganese?"
"Irene's genetic duplicate was an unexpected choice for Chief. But Leadon is simple. She's focusing on the needs of the Ganese. She doesn't look outside her borders. It's as planned."
"If Leadon is anything like Irene, we could find ourselves in grave danger. It would just be a matter of time."
"She has some of Irene's qualities, that is undeniable. But their characters are so different. In the little time I spent with her, other than looking upon Irene's face, I heard words no previous Ganese would have said. Not in our lifetimes."
"Explain."
"She is concerned about the divisions within the Ganese."
"East and West? Or more political than that?"
"East and West."
"Hmmm," Ariane looked up at the ceiling.
"They continue to follow instructions. Few move outside Gana boundaries. It was well instilled in them to remain. Any requests for further movement have been denied on grounds of health and safety, and the requests they'd made weren't out of necessity anyhow. They were learning expeditions. Easy to deny without consequence. They hardly use the Geb Free Route except for the planned exchanges."
"Queen Idia did well containing them."
Maeva shuddered at the sound of her mother's name. She'd never heard it on Ariane's lips before. She kept the voices at bay; they too were upset by the sound. "It's true she instituted measures which continue to be respected to this day."
"And the Ganese are not any wiser to the purpose of the restrictions?"
"They have no reason to be. They have their sacred lands, that's what they always wanted."
"Ambition among the Ganese would be dangerous."
"The words I heard from Leadon were of seeking peace internally among her people, and eventually to prepare them for the war with Upper Earth."
"Prepare for war?" Ariane marched at Maeva, "How could you leave that out, Mother! If they are going to prepare for war they could just as easily redeploy it against us."
"Daughter, they are far from any such position."
"These details are important!"
"I will detail everything for you in my report, and then you will see how insignificant they are."
"Hurry then. Tell me of the other counties, and then focus on preparing this report."
Maeva went through each of the other locations. Pests in West Fields, water diseases in the Lakes Region. Crows dropping dead in the Dark Counties, which the people took as an omen.
"Ariane," Maeva measured her words. "The Tower needs some additional strategies. Much of the discontent can be mitigated with targeted programs. If the people see some small improvements, and we attribute them to your dedication, the counties will give greater loyalty in return."
Ariane cocked her head and looked out the window. Maeva could see the thousands of ideas running across her eyes, the possibilities and scenarios measured in sprints. The Ariane who became Queen always had the greatest abilities to assess among the four.
"You are not wrong, Mother."
"Let me address it with the Tower."
"No."
"No?" Maeva felt her temper rising. How could her offspring tell her no for such a reasonable and logical action?
"You haven't finished."
"I have told you everything, unless you seek the details of each location."
"You haven't said anything about the other one."
She means about her sister.
"You mean the other Ariane?"
"I mean the imposter who wears my face somewhere in this country."
"She's been gone since the day you were declared Queen." Maeva used every tactic to keep her blood from rushing at the question. Ariane would hear it. Maeva was not about to tell her what she felt in Gana. That would not bode well for the Ganese, nor herself. She quieted her heart. "I suspect she's left Lower Earth."
"You don't feel her?"
"Do you? You were always more sensitive to her than even I was."
Ariane looked Maeva straight in the eye. "No, I don't."
"Nor do I."
"She couldn't have just disappeared into thin air. She's hiding somewhere."
"I've always believed she went to an island, off the southern coast, where no one would seek her out."
"Or she's right here in better hiding than we believed her capable of."
"I saw nothing of her. Felt nothing. Heard nothing."
Ariane paused, her eyes ticking again as Maeva knew she was running the scenarios. "Fine." She took the chair back to the desk and sat down. "While I await your report, advise Irene that the Ganese must have stricter supervision. Further limitations on any movement. No one coming to Geb unless permitted, close down the Free Route. The checkpoint should now be managed by the Guard. Make sure it’s someone who will report everything. I will consider your proposal about the Tower. That will be all." Ariane turned back to her desk, opening a file.
Maeva backed toward the door, pausing a moment to look on her Queen Daughter, but Ariane showed no sign of continuing the conversation. Maeva lifted her chin and set her shoulders before walking into the corridor.
24
; Sara
Sara hardly paid attention to the pages before her. Activity around the Tower was as usual, everyone had their heads in their own business. She was left relatively alone but for the occasional intern who dropped another report on her desk.
She stared at the report in front of her on the rate of nutrient value of post-natal umbilical cords, but she was looking through it to somewhere far away. Deep into Cork Town. Her mind was in Cork Town with a woman who they'd been able to successfully confirm as pregnant.
Pregnant with 4957-209.
She laughed in spite of herself and quickly darted her eyes around, hoping no one heard her. She made up a quick backstory regarding conflicting genes that she'd unearthed, in case anyone asked.
She remembered the look on Lucius' face when the test came out. In his smile, his gleaming eyes, she could see the man he had been.
We've gotten this far. It's a miracle at all that we've gotten this far. We've finally done something, and we never could have done it without Adam.
Her heart swelled, she could feel it inside her. She thought of Adam, his eyes, brown, flashing blue, the morning sun as it rose red across their bodies, though all they had done was sleep in each other's arms. How fulfilling it had been. How natural even though it was forbidden. Natural, even though she knew well enough that desire had been coded out of them generations earlier.
"Oh, Adam, you'd be proud."
"You're talking to Adam?"
Sara spun around, her heart stopped and her stomach in her throat.
"Uma, I didn't hear you come in."
"Adam." Uma looked past Sara. "I haven't thought about Adam in a while." She looked back at Sara, "I should have caught on sooner. I never would have guessed he was planning a revolt, among the backroom men of all things. I'd always thought he'd stayed away from them. Goes to show that after years of working together, you don't really know someone. You see what I mean, Sara?"
Sara read the threat in Uma's tone. Her mind raced for any reason, any excuse.
"I was reviewing the conflicting genes." She grabbed the report from her desk. "Adam was the first to show me how to find them. He'd mastered their identification."
Let that be sufficient. Let her believe it.
The way Uma looked at Sara made her feel like she should say something more, but she didn't have anything more to say.
"He was your friend?" Uma asked.
"He was my mentor."
"You were close."
"We worked closely, but like you said, you never really know someone."
Uma pursed her lips and passed a page to Sara. "I need your best work on the incubation revisions. Stay focused, understood?"
"Understood."
"No more muttering to yourself about disappeared men."
"Hadn't even realized I'd done it." At least there she was telling the truth.
Uma nodded, turned, and left the lab.
Sara sank into the chair and closed her eyes. Her head was spinning. She quickly pulled together the pages she'd promised Lucius and slipped them into her sack before anyone else could wander in. Lucius asked for so little in return for all he was doing, she'd made the promise to bring the old files on the Male Program without a second thought.
But the rock in her stomach warned her to be more cautious. She was far from innocent now. Anyone who checked her records would see the additional trips to Cork Town. Everything was documented. She had a backstory. But a backstory wasn't worth the air on which it was told if someone really wanted to challenge it.
She zipped up her sack and let her head rest in her hands.
25
Uma
Uma leaned against the corner, keeping herself hidden, as she watched Sara put the papers into her bag. In itself, it wasn't unusual. But coupled with the utterance about Adam, Uma was getting a sinking feeling that there was more happening than she could see.
Sara put her head on her desk and Uma walked away. She'd seen enough.
I have to report her. But what for? For taking her work home with her? For whispering the name of a dead man, a traitor, during working hours?
When Adam had been revealed for what he was, Uma had gone back through all the records. There had been no concrete sign of his treachery. Even if Adam had always been among the smartest in the Tower, still, he couldn't possibly hide all his tracks. The only known associate of concern was Isaac of the first line, and he'd been so near degradation at that time, and his association with the backroom men so well-known and tracked already that there wasn't any cause for concern with him. He hadn't lasted long after Adam went. Died while waddling his way to the Tower, his degradation complete. He nearly toppled over his own gut.
When the Queen had announced Adam's transgressions during an assembly at the Tower, Uma had felt she might throw up. It wasn’t just that Adam had been found out.
She feared for herself.
What if Roman decided to talk about her secret excursions to the blowouts? What if he told about what he’d seen?
The memory of it brought red shame to her cheeks. Hot shame. The woman had been an opie, desperate for a hit. She’d only wanted a few credits, she’d do anything for a few credits, she’d even… she’d offered… she’d reached out and touched Uma, and Uma didn’t recoil. She let it happen. Innocuous to most who might happen to walk past; a stranger would dismiss the scene of two women huddled together in an alley corner as opies on a trip. They wouldn’t see what was happening under the fabric, the waistband of Uma’s standard-issue suit pulled away. No one would see it and no one would suspect anything.
But suddenly Roman had appeared in the entry to the alley.
She’d seen him. And he’d seen her.
His shoulders had been hunched, but he was a man, and he walked with the telltale hunch that had been Roman’s for as long as she’d known him. He’d stayed, watching for a while. Uma kept control of her breathing as the woman continued, uninterrupted and unmoved by Uma’s distraction. Perhaps it had only been a minute, but it felt like hours passed before Roman finally stepped away. Uma passed a credit to the woman but her whole being was numb.
All of it had transpired years ago, before Cork Town was closed off, but the fear lived in Uma’s veins. Even now, she couldn’t be sure just how much Roman knew about what he’d seen, but it didn’t matter.
He’d seen her, and that was enough.
She’d had to lay low after that. Toe the line. Be invisible.
That’s when Roman had shot up the ranks in the Tower. He’d flown right past her. The years she’d dedicated didn’t matter. She watched his glory as he became second in command to Lucius, then the de facto Great Geneticist when Lucius went into exile, and now he held the title she’d always thought would be hers.
She prayed for his degradation, but it was slow – too slow – in coming.
Adam a traitor. Uma verging on deviant herself. Something wild that lived behind Queen Ariane’s eyes. So long she'd had the strange feeling that something was going on right under her nose, and she couldn't figure it out.
She had that feeling again now.
With Sara.
I've got to trust my instinct. Carole never liked her and Carole sniffs out disobedience like a hound. But even Carole has never been able to articulate it. I need to put it into the right words. Roman seems to have some kind of a soft spot for her. I better get it right before I report it to him. Maybe Carole can do it. She'd relish the opportunity, anyway.
She called Carole to her office immediately. She couldn't wait. Uma wouldn't sleep with this on her mind. She just had to do something, however little. Get the wheels moving.
Carole arrived in a flurry, quickly closing the door.
Uma felt something bad was coming. Her instinct rose bile into her throat. "Carole? Why are you so flustered? What's going on?"
"You haven't heard? Maeva is here."
"Maeva? Doing what?"
"How am I supposed to know, but she's been walking up and down each of the
floors, scanning desks and nodding at staff but not saying a word."
"Did Reception ask what she wanted?"
Carole put her hands on her hips, "You really think Reception is going to question the Queen Mother who has just walked through the door?"
"Where's she now?"
Carole walked out of Uma's office to the central corridor, where she could see each of the levels down from the open column that stretched up the full height of the Tower.
"Looks like twelfth floor, judging by the bodies rushing around."
"Are the upper floors in order?"
"How should I know?"
"Carole - "
"Fine, I'll check on them."
Uma's heart raced.
What does she want?
Or has she come for someone?
Should I report Sara before the Queen comes?
What if she senses my apprehension? Maeva always read deeper into all of us than we ever understood.
Uma gathered the results of the recent review; Roman would want those close at hand. She pulled the incubation report and the files on West Fields that had recently been updated.
She rushed up the two floors to Roman's office, silently praying that whatever Maeva was looking for, it was something Uma could give.
26
Maeva
Maeva relished each second. The eyes on her, full of wonder, surprise, and fear. She recalled the many times she'd walked through Central Tower as Queen. How her words inspired activity. Just a single word, and an entire floor would rush into action.
It seemed they were still sensitive to her presence. With every room she entered, a wave rolled over them, bodies stood to attention on the sight of her. She walked up and down the rows of desks, tables, laboratory equipment all covered in pages of code, sequences of different colors, Petri dishes with varying forms of life in various stages of growth.
Silence cast over each floor as she passed. She heard blood accelerating, veins throbbing in foreheads as she paused to look over their work. Breathing became shallow, perspiration beaded.
