by Eden Wolfe
“Why don’t you just come straight to the point?” Daphna’s face was so close to Roman’s cheek that she could feel the heat emanating from his body. The sensation washed over her though she tried to focus on him. “What do you want from me?”
“It’s not for me. There’s someone else,” he glanced again back over his shoulder.
Daphna couldn’t tell if the sound was his heartbeat or hers as it pounded loudly filling the room around them. She waited until Roman finally drew in a breath, speaking words to her in barely more than a whisper.
“It’s a boy.”
25
Uma
Uma rounded the last corner just in time to see Roman leaving the laboratory. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for the solution on Elgin.”
“She hasn’t given it yet.”
“So I’ve just heard.”
Damn it. I can’t have Roman getting in the middle of this now. No good can come of it. He will only muddy the waters.
Uma steadied her voice. “And what else did you hear?”
“I assume we’re going to start working on the disease facing the Sisters?”
“You can assume all you want, Roman.”
A low female voice spoke from behind them, “Assuming is a very dangerous activity, Roman.” Irene walked into the hallway. “I highly discourage it. I’ve spent my entire life opposing assumption at every pass.”
Irene wore her ceremonial robes. While out of place in the Tower, Irene had a way of even making Uma uncomfortable.
She’s on my turf here. Why should I feel threatened?
But Uma knew why. She had watched every crack of the whip against Lucius’ back. She had watched Irene take it in her hand when the first guard could no longer bear to watch the broken and bleeding body. Lucius had been Uma’s mentor, her hero. But Irene had been committed to his absolute demise in shame and indignity, nude in the middle of the square, already degenerated, and yet with a mind unmatched in all the history of Lower Earth.
And she destroyed it.
That was why Uma feared her.
“I’m looking for our guest.” Irene glanced over their heads.
“She’s occupied right now,” Uma gave a quick smile. “I promise to deliver her to you just as soon as I’m finished with her.”
Irene cocked her head, “You seem to be under some kind of misconception. I’m not asking for her. I’m taking her. You can have her back later. But first, the Queen demands her company. She is dissatisfied with the responses she was given last night. Daphna is to come with me now.”
No, I have to tell the Queen what she has told me. Ariane has to know that there are Sisters already planted throughout the city. And it will be me who tells her, not Irene.
Uma crossed her hands in front of her, “I’ll be coming with you then. I have new information to share with the Queen.”
“Then you’ll tell it to me, and I will deliver your message.”
“It’s scientific, I’m afraid. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I’ll remind you that this is not a scientific Queen.”
“She will hear it from me, and only me.”
“Fine,” Irene walked past them, her gait so long that she reached the laboratory within a few steps. She stuck her head into the laboratory, “You are coming with me. Now.”
“We haven’t been introduced.”
Uma couldn’t see Daphna, but she could imagine the irony written across her face.
“No introduction needed. Now get up. When you crawl out of the sewers, you’re treated like you’re from the sewers.”
Irene turned and walked to the elevator slamming her finger into the button. She inhaled loudly, straightening her spine. The leather straps of her garb cut into her skin as her chest expanded. Daphna walked at a slow and considered pace, bemusement in her eyes as the elevator door finally opened. Irene stepped in first. Then Daphna. Uma went in last. The elevator doors closed and Uma had the sense of being trapped in a cell with them. An enclosed and moving prison cell.
She looked from one woman to the other.
They both seem… relaxed. How can they possibly feel relaxed in the situation? Am I somehow overreacting?
No, Uma quickly thought, something is not right with the two of them. This should not be so easy. Daphna wouldn’t just come without a fight, and the calm across Irene’s face doesn’t belong for a second. What am I missing?
She caught Irene staring at Daphna out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t recognize the nature of the look.
Something is wrong. And somehow I am stuck right in the middle of it.
26
Ariane
“Irene! Where is she? Why is this taking so long?” Ariane screamed.
The waiting-woman, Ariane hadn’t bothered to learn her name and didn’t want to ever since Gale had left, slipped her head in through the doorway chin low.
“Shall I get her for you, my Queen?”
“Quickly.”
“Yes, my Queen. Right away.”
Even my waiting-woman hates me. Perhaps her hate only comes from fear. But indeed there is no love in her at all.
Ariane dropped herself into the velvet armchair, resting her head against the soft backing, letting pity wash over her as her mind ran the scenarios for Daphna’s imminent arrival.
The single knock on the door.
“Come in, Irene. I trust Daphna is with you.”
Irene was followed by Daphna who was followed by Uma.
Ariane frowned. “I wasn’t expecting a party.”
“Who do you prefer to see, my Queen?” Irene was unfazed.
“It’s fine,” Ariane stood strolling to the window, “You may all stay for now. It will make for interesting conversation, don’t you think?”
None of them replied. None of them dared.
These women are not so stupid. Well done.
Ariane looked out the window at the empty square below, Geb’s citizens all in position at their workstations. The screen in the square read just before noon.
“So you’ve had a night and a morning to become acquainted with our fine Geb city, Daphna, leader of the Sisters.” Ariane didn’t look at them. “Or, I suppose I should say, reacquainted. So, what do you think of my improvements to the city?”
On that, she turned and looked directly into Daphna’s eyes.
Ariane caught her breath.
There is something in that woman’s eyes. Something that doesn’t belong.
A sense of discomfort snuck its way into Ariane’s stomach.
“The city looks well, though I fear for your water supply lines.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Uma muttered.
Ariane looked at Uma, “I hear some history in your tone of voice.”
“She’s obsessed, my Queen,” Uma threw her hands up. “Indeed, there is more history here than I wish were the case.” Uma looked at Daphna with daggers in her eyes, but Daphna held her gaze on the Queen. As Ariane watched, Daphna’s eyes made micromovements, left and right.
What is that? It is not that she is consciously emitting something, no, there is something in her code. It is too familiar. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.
But she couldn’t identify it. Ariane chastised herself for not having the answer.
There is no reason I cannot identify this thing.
Thing. I can’t even put a name on it.
She spoke, “It’s a reasonable concern.” Ariane kept her eyes on Daphna.
“It’s not reasonable when you hear where and why, my Queen.” Daphna’s voice was calm.
“Do tell, Daphna. You have my undivided attention.”
“More than twenty years ago I found a flaw in the water purification process, a lack of offsetting in the transport lines. We have the ability to implement it, that’s no question.” Daphna lowered her head for a moment and then raised it again, “I say ‘we’ because it’s a habit that dies very hard. I was committe
d to my role in the Tower, until the point when my role was to identify problems and then shut up about them.” Daphna looked at Uma and then back to the Queen. “The water supply to Cork Town is compromised. The risks I pointed out all those years ago weren’t mitigated. There are measures in place to protect the rest of Geb from it; I can see where the investment has been. But at some point, those will also break down. The entire line needs to be addressed. Had it been done originally with the ATG sequence I provided, had greater focus been put on Cork Town at the time, you wouldn’t find yourselves in this position now. You’ll need to invest heavily or soon all of Geb will need massive filtration measures in place.”
“So noted.”
“But that’s not why I came.” Daphna’s shoulders pulled back.
“I gathered as much.” Ariane tilted her head, “And yet we’ve been standing around here for several minutes now and you haven’t come to the point. Perhaps you have not been informed, but patience is not one of my greater qualities. I’d recommend you come to it and quickly.”
But Ariane was in no rush.
What code is it that gives her this gleam? It rolls under her quiet confidence.
Ariane needed to understand what was sitting behind the eyes, the way they ticked as if reading something far off in the distance, a movement so minute, so subtle.
Ariane knew it meant more than what it appeared.
“I don’t come empty-handed,” Daphna continued, “I have the cure to Elgin. It’s ultimately a simple question of sequencing, once you identify the weakness. But alas I have seen from the Tower’s exploits that they are far from identifying anything in Elgin.”
“Unbelievable.”
“Uma, you would do best to keep your mouth shut right now.” Ariane turned back to Daphna, “And?”
“And in return, I ask that the Tower puts some of its attention on the illness that is afflicting the Sisters. I’ve been able to identify enough to know that it is a manipulated sequence. It’s not natural. It came from the Tower. Whether or not it was intentional, I cannot say. With Subject Zero disappeared or dead I cannot identify the source.”
“Subject Zero. How poetic.”
Daphna’s mouth opened. At last, Ariane had caught her off guard.
“Yes,” Daphna replied, “And isn’t it even more poetic that she had been your beloved waiting-woman?”
Everything in the room froze. Ariane heard their heartbeats quicken, along with her own.
Gale. So she knows something after all.
“Gale has nothing to do with this,” Ariane smiled. “That’s fine of you to try to create some kind of conspiracy theory, blame this on someone other than yourself. I know about the various experiments you’ve got going on in your hidden labs. I don’t need to find the labs myself to know they exist. And who can say what you’re concocting down there?” Ariane narrowed her eyes. “This could have been a mistake made by one of the Central Tower cast-offs that joined you. Or worse, some kind of treachery brewing that got out of control among your own people. Who can say for sure?”
“Except that I’ve traced it back to Gale. She had all the symptoms but instead of dying in wretched in pain she just – disappeared.”
“She’s likely long dead.”
“Or spreading the illness elsewhere.”
“If she’s alive then she’d hardly be in a stage of transmission.”
“Unless the illness has mutated. Why did she leave your service, exactly?”
“You’re trying to damage my credibility, bringing Gale into the equation.”
“This has nothing to do with you, my Queen. Or does it?” Daphna moved towards the Queen, her steps almost a swagger, her voice lowered to near silence so only the Queen could hear, “Gale is where this all seems to have begun…”
“Sounds to me that it attacks the weakest amongst you. Those who were likely genetic deviants long before this illness came along. Perhaps it’s not as bad as you think. Perhaps it’s just another example of natural selection.”
Daphna carried on as though Ariane hadn’t spoken. “Meanwhile, Elgin is going to destroy Geb, and soon. The Tower will never solve the riddle of Elgin. It surpasses all their abilities.” Daphna’s eyes narrowed. “But I’ve got the antidote. I’m not made of the same stuff as your cronies in the Tower. You have me disappeared, you kill me on the spot, you whip me to death in that square right down there, and you’ll watch all of Lower Earth crumble under hunger and disease.”
Daphna pulled tall and then Ariane saw it.
She has Lucius’ code.
Does she know it? She looks at me expecting a response to her inane ultimatum. But I have to know where she comes from.
Ariane took a deep breath and let it out with something like a smile coming across her face.
“Well, the answer is obvious then, isn’t it? Uma, what have you been doing all night? Get your people to work on this mystery illness afflicting the Sisters.”
Irene, Daphna, and Uma all looked at each other, their confusion obvious.
“My Queen,” Uma’s voice rose in pitch, “She’s trying to manipulate us. You can’t let her!”
Ariane felt the heat coming up her neck. A voice deep within, a voice of an old Queen took her over as her fingers curled, claw-like.
“No one manipulates me.”
Fear finally made its way across their faces. Their blood rushed and breathing quickened.
“Now, get out of my chambers, and get to work. I must prepare for our sacred Settlement Day. We cannot forget our roots, most especially at a time like this. In times of chaos is when we most need those who came before to rain their benevolence upon us.” She walked between each of the women, “You have two days to make advancements. I want something positive to share with the people, concrete examples of how the gifts of the settlers are being materialized through the hands of Central Tower. Two days. When I stand up on that balcony, I want every Willing Mother, every soup seller, every deviant from Cork Town to hear how I have gathered up the wisdom of the settlers and given it back for the good of Lower Earth.” She stopped in front of Irene. “Your eyes are empty, Irene. You may be Ganese, but even you will not deny the benevolence of the settlers. I allow you to parade without the lava rock as a symbol because your loyalty to me should be the only sign anyone needs to know your allegiance. But do not look upon me with empty eyes as I speak of the settlers.”
Irene bowed her chin, “My allegiance is to you, my Queen. I humble myself to the… the settlers through my commitment to you.”
“Yes,” Ariane nodded, though she was not fully satisfied that Irene’s heart was in her words. Uma clasped the lava rock with white knuckles.
Ariane raised her arms and eyes up, looking through the ceiling to the spirits of the settlers beyond.
“Settlers, make your wishes clear to us. Let us be grateful for all you’ve done. Let our day in your celebration be soul-fulfilling to those in greatest need of belief. And settlers… get these women out of my chambers before I find myself needing to teach them the meaning of respect, that which you entrusted in me and why you’ve made me Queen. Let them be gone, settlers, let them understand the importance of the two days I have given them to have some answer. Even before I lower my eyes from your divine seat in the heavens, let them be gone, settlers, before I… before I…”
She heard the door click and she lowered her gaze, smiling.
They were gone.
Her smile faded, everything sinking in as her teeth clenched.
Daphna knows about Gale. But she cannot possibly know it all. She cannot have seen all that took place. She doesn’t know that Gale deserved it. She deserved worse! Certainly, she cannot know…
But she has Lucius’ stock. I must not underestimate her.
And she has the cure for Elgin.
This woman just might upset the delicate hierarchy of Central Tower.
Her blood slowed as the voices within spoke words of strategy and approach, of angle and perspective. Ol
d Queens living in her blood; they didn’t love her but they loved what she stood for. And their advice hadn’t let Ariane down yet.
She turned herself inward.
Settlers, voices of the Queens of Before, all those in this land who love me, remember why I am Queen. I am Queen. I am Queen, and none of them can take that from me.
The voices squealed, delight and warning. Sounds without words told her of the continued lull of betrayal that was never far from a Queen. Betrayal was the only thread that ran through their history from Queen to Queen. Ariane had tried to stamp it out in Gale, not just a disappearance, there was no message in a disappearance for one who had done something that dreadful, that harmful, that hurtful. No, Gale had been taught a lesson. A lesson that was put into her blood. She would have to live with the effects of her betrayal.
Ariane had infected Gale herself. It was what she deserved. Gale had slept like a child, no sign of the guilt she should have felt for all she’d done to Ariane’s heart.
How Ariane relished the sensation of the hair-thin needle entering Gale, as if she were less than human, no skin to protect her, the pressure of the poison running into her veins.
And all Gale did was stir.
Her DNA would be forever altered, and she hadn’t even woken up to know it.
Ariane let the voices take her back to the memory, of sweet revenge, of a lesson taught, of justice served in a syringe.
A hand tapped the door.
Flames of rage flew up Ariane’s body as she was yanked out of the memory.
“You make me lose my temper, Uma! Come in, but may the settlers save you for interrupting my communion with them!”
27
Uma
“My Queen, forgive me,” Uma closed the door behind her, “But I could not in good conscience leave without ensuring you understood the precariousness of our position.”
Ariane’s eyes were sharp. “Explain to me this ‘precariousness’, Uma. Explain to me what you think I don’t understand.”
