The State Series Box Set

by M. J. Kaestli

  She wished she knew what his most recent assignment entailed or at least where he was. If he was going to be taking off regularly, she wanted to ask for reassignment so they could be together. The Council, the State House, none of it meant as much to her as Colin did. He had chosen her, and she needed to show him she would choose him also. He had put her above the life he held before her, and she was willing to let go of the life she had if that was what it would take for her to be with him.

  The database revisions had merely been a distraction to keep her mind off how painful his absence was. Freya lay on the sofa, simply staring at the ceiling. There was no fire in her to do anything, no motivation whatsoever. The lie behind the distractions had surfaced, and as she was now fully aware of what they were, they lost their effectiveness. Completely drained of energy, she got up and prepared for bed. She was doubtful that sleep would come, but since she was just lying there staring at the ceiling, it seemed more practical to do it in the dark.

  ***

  In the morning, it proved to be a monumental task for Freya to get out of bed. She didn’t know if she had even slept that night. After washing up and changing, she left the apartment. She hoped, with every part of her being, that she would be sleeping next to Colin that night. They can’t possibly keep him any longer. They just can’t, she seethed. If he did not return to her that evening, Freya was prepared to speak to Victor and demand to see Colin.

  With a sense of empowerment, Freya walked over to the door and turned the handle, only to discover it was locked. She tried the door again, this time turning it in every thinkable direction and adding a little force, but there was still no movement. Freya was about to grab her tablet to send a message, but then she saw the light on the monitor flashing, indicating there was a message in her inbox:

  Freya 117:

  For security purposes, the door to the room you are currently occupying will remained locked. We apologize for the inconvenience.

  Regards,

  The State

  White-hot anger flamed through her. All of the sudden, she was a prisoner, held without any explanation. A feeling of complete helplessness took her. There were no tears, no curses, and no obscenities. Freya sat down on the sofa, feeling defeated. She just sat, wondering what was going on. Is this about Colin? Is he really in trouble? Is Security on their way to question me? Or what if something’s happened to him?

  At the thought of Colin possibly being hurt or killed, Freya instantly had to run to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach. She tried to clear her head, knowing she had to stop thinking, before the unexpected imprisonment drove her insane. If she tried to figure out why any of it was happening, she was surely going to go mad.

  The monitor on the wall started to flash, snapping Freya out of her thoughts, as it was the warning signal that a State broadcast was about to start. On the monitor, she saw Victor’s face. A large weight rapidly lifted off her shoulders as the realization hit her: They had only locked her in so she wouldn’t disrupt the broadcast. She started to laugh, nearly a mad cackle. What’s gotten into me? Of course they would detain me. It makes perfect sense. The staff of the State House couldn’t very well be walking around during a broadcast. It was then she realized that Colin’s extended absence had done something to her, knocked her mentally off balance. I am not a prisoner, and of course Colin is fine, she reassured herself.

  Her mind traveled back to Victor’s remarks at the evening meal, when he talked about Colin being a rising star in Security. As she thought about it, her pride swelled even more. Colin had left the rebellion for her, but it had certainly paid off for him. He was on a fast track to a promotion, and he might even land James’s head of Security position someday. Freya knew she needed to toughen up. As painful as it was for them to be apart, it was what was best for the both of them. He would most definitely be selected for the Council, and they could serve the State together. It was actually lucky that she was locked in the room just as she was about to go to Victor to demand reassignment. Now, she would stay at the State House, fulfill her duty as a councilmember, and cherish every moment she had with Colin when they were together.

  As soon as she worked out her thoughts, another realization dawned on her: If I am going to serve on the Council, I really need to start paying attention to the broadcasts. In her youth, she had found the broadcasts boring and redundant, but she was an adult now, and it was time for her to grow up. She wanted to earn that seat on the Council, to really deserve it, and she couldn’t possibly be a good Councilmember if she didn’t pay attention to the State broadcasts.

  Freya focused her mind, or at least tried to. It was the first broadcast she had seen since her arrival to work at the State House, and it was really quite different now. She had spent much time in Victor’s office, and now, seeing it on the broadcast was almost strange to her. It wasn’t that different from having a videoconference with her parents, except it was Victor speaking.

  At first, he went over the normal reports, discussing rations and resources, all pretty standard information for a broadcast. Then his demeanor changed, and he paused, looking directly at the camera. “My fellow citizens,” Victor said, then hesitated, “I know how many of you view these broadcasts. For many years, I have appeared here to deliver information to you, and every broadcast is little more than a clone of the one before it. In fact, the State has been delivering similar messages to me since I became the head of State, and those messages were similar to the ones presented by the head of State before me, and so on and so forth,” he said, then paused again.

  Freya’s heart began to pound in her chest. She knew he was going somewhere with the odd remarks, and she was sure it was going to have a large impact, but she had no idea what he was possibly going to say.

  “The State has done what has been necessary to maintain life on this planet. We have had so little power to change anything, yet change is what we all desire,” he said. “I don’t know that I will live long enough to see these changes, but I now have hope. I have hope that in generations to come, we may be able to reap the rewards of our diligence. It gives me such great pleasure to announce that the State has taken a large step forward into a new era. This is not without great risk, and we must leave room for error, but I have hope.”

  Freya stood, resting her hands on the wall beside the monitor, almost begging the contraption to hurry and tell her more.

  “After so very many years, our team of scientists have made a major breakthrough. It is my hope that this breakthrough will far surpass any that have come before. When they developed the glass to protect us, allowing us to move above ground, it greatly improved our way of life. I believe we can do more. For so many generations, colonization has been out of our grasp, but I am here to tell you today that we are laying the proverbial first stone! Today is a day that will change the history of humankind forever. Today, we are launching a spacecraft, and its destination will someday be our new home. It will take twenty-two years for our brave team of civilians to reach this destination, and there, they will work to set up a homestead, so that others may follow. It is my great honor to present to you the team that will lead the future of humanity. This is where I leave you great citizens of Earth, and the broadcast will now switch over to the launch sight.”

  The monitor momentarily went blank, and a man appeared in a full-body, masked suit. The cameras pointed at a large group of people, in front of an odd-looking vessel, and the main camera focused on one man.

  “Thank you to the head of State. This is a monumental day in our history,” the man said.

  The camera zoomed in a little closer, and even through the mask, Freya could tell who it was. “James?” she said, astonished.

  “Please witness our first step forward into colonization, as our group of over 300 brave civilians board the spacecraft. These courageous individuals will willingly take great personal risk to further mankind. This plethora of citizens were carefully chosen, for they will perform civil duties simi
lar to those they have diligently performed on Earth. These doctors, scientists, cooks, agriculturalists, and builders will work together to create our new home. They are now moving into the decontamination unit, where they will shed the protective suits needed to travel above ground. Once they finish this process, they will board the spacecraft, where they will be placed in hyperbaric chambers. They will be hooked up to life support and sleep through their long journey, in a coma-like state that will prevent their bodies from aging. Upon arrival, they will awake and feel as if they have been sleeping only one night, but twenty-two years will have passed. We are lucky to have this technology, as we need our team to be healthy and strong to build our new home. We are grateful to these civilians for the personal sacrifices they are willing to make for our progress, for the greater good. Everyone sent letters of farewell to their families, as it is not certain if they will ever see them again.”

  Freya was overcome with mixed emotions. Suddenly, everything was changing, and she was excited for that. On the other hand, she could not help but feel sad for the people being left behind. She wondered how her parents would feel if she had left them with a simple letter of farewell. Some of their relatives would surely pass away before any contact could be established. She could not allow herself to focus on the negative though. Those citizens had chosen to make sacrifices for the good of all humanity. Freya knew the focus should not be on the grieving left behind but, on the heroes, who were brave enough to take on the assignment.

  The line of people continued to move into the decontamination unit, and it would not be long until the spacecraft lifted off. Freya couldn’t help but notice that the camera had picked up a large number of people in suits, shepherding the volunteers to the unit but not going in themselves. It was then that it all clicked for her, and she knew that was where Colin was. She screamed and laughed at the same time. Of course they would use Security on the launch site, some undisclosed location. She was sure he’d been taken there, to ensure the safety of the civilians boarding the spacecraft. With an undertaking of that size, they had to have as many Security officers as possible, and if any information about the mission fell into the wrong hands, the rebellion would most certainly try to compromise it.

  Fear then gripped her momentarily. What if something goes wrong? What if Colin is in harm’s way? No! she thought, shaking her head. She could not think about that; she simply couldn’t. She told herself the launch would be successful, and Colin would return home that night or the night after. She worked in the State House, and she had never heard about the mission before, so she was sure the secret had not gotten out. She had to trust that everything had been done carefully and properly, that everyone had been screened since birth and that there had been no security leak. Freya closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself, telling herself over and over again that the mission would be a complete success and Colin would be safe and come home to her soon.

  “The ground crew is now finished with moving civilians through decontamination. I will now sign off, and we will switch over to a camera inside the vessel,” James said.

  The monitor went blank again, and then an odd sight came into view, a line of people in white robes, standing on a balcony. One at a time, they were escorted to individual rectangular boxes. As each civilian stepped into their respective box, they dropped the robe and were secured inside the chamber, with cords attached to various places on their bodies. As soon as the door closed, lights and displays came on to indicate pulse and oxygen levels. Freya marveled at the scene, she had never seen anything like it.

  The next male walked down the walkway, and as he turned around to step into the chamber, Freya saw his face. The room around her began to spin, and her vision blurred. She looked at Colin’s face until everything went black.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to give a BIG thank you those who supported and contributed to this book. I couldn’t have done it without you!

  Alice May, for showing me this dream could become a reality, and being my biggest cheerleader.

  All the talented and wonderful people who run Nanowrimo, where I found the courage and discipline to write.

  My family, who not only gave me unlimited support but turned this into a group project.

  My Beta readers Erin Lai, Janalyn Reil, and Mary Allred, who helped me shape this book and guided me along the way.

  Vivian Gassner, for feeding and housing me, giving me my own personal writing retreat and quiet space to work on her beautiful farm.

  The incredibly talented artist Grant SpottedBull, for providing me with custom illustrations for my book covers.

  Stacy Sowers at AuthorsMojo.com for book formatting and being my go-to for tech help.

  Last, but certainly not least, Ella Barnard and all the Bosses at Author Boss Academy. I was lost until I found you!

  Conflicted

  Book Two of The State Series

  https://mjkaestli.com/

  No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or any other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief quotations for reviews, or noncommercial uses and with proper and correct citation.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 MJ Kaestli

  All rights reserved.

  Conflicted - Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Books in The State Series

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Someone repeated Freya’s name while gently shaking her—she could hear her name and feel her body move, yet it somehow felt as though it were a dream. This person couldn’t be trying to wake me up; that was what the alarms were for, she surmised. The hands moved away momentarily, and a sharp foreign odor jolted her awake. Chastity’s face came into focus as she opened her eyes.

  “Freya. Freya. Look at me. Wake up.” Chastity jiggled her shoulders again.

  “What are you doing here?” Freya asked through the fog.

  “Are you all right?” Chastity asked franticly. “Did you hit your head? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine. Why did you wake me up?” As her mind started to clear, she looked at her surroundings. The realization came to her that she had been sleeping on the floor. What an odd place to have fallen asleep. “Why am I on the floor?”

  “Oh, Freya, I am so sorry.” Chastity pulled her into her arms. “You scared me. I thought you were hurt.”

  Freya was still trying to understand what had caused this odd encounter, and she looked over Chastity’s shoulder to see Victor in the room also. He looked at Freya with a soft yet distinctively concerned manner, his body held tense and rigid, while trying to convey kind concerned eyes.

  “What’s going on, you guys?” Freya still could not grasp the situation, but knew something must be terribly wrong.

  “You must have fainted. Do you remember why?” Chastity still held onto Freya, but was struggling to put some space between them, as though it was Chastity’s embrace which was clouding her mind.

  It was a surprise to learn of her fainting, and she started to think back and wonder whether she had a history of fainting. I don’t rem
ember doing this before, but why else would this happen? Why now? She looked at Chastity and shook her head.

  “Oh, Freya, I am so sorry.” Chastity pulled her back into a tight embrace.

  Freya realized Chastity was crying. Something was very wrong, and she needed answers.

  “Chastity, what happened?” Freya tried to escape her grip once again.

  Chastity held on too securely for her to simply wiggle out. Victor came over to them and squatted down so that he was close to eye level with her. He then gently put a hand on Chastity’s shoulder and urged her to let Freya go.