Deliverance (10 page)

His words sting at first, but then I realize they're absolutely true. I don't belong here, but since I am here I will do my best to finish the job I came to do.

“That's enough of that,” Professor Higgins says with a frown. He moves on, changing the subject. “I've arranged a trip to visit Lesser City 1 next week. I want you to prepare yourselves for what you will see. Some of you may work on staff with Supreme Moon someday—you will need to understand the inner workings of the other cities.”

He goes on for a few minutes, but I barely hear him. The Lesser cities! The travel was approved. I clasp my hands together in my lap when I realize they're shaking, and I want to throw myself at Professor Higgins and hug him. He's helping me after all, even if I'm not entirely trustworthy to him.

A girl with black hair and skin raises her hand. Meely is her name. “Will we also visit the Middle cities?”

I hold my breath, waiting for the answer. I hadn't even considered that we might visit my home city.

“We likely will, yes, though I won't be scheduling those trips for a few months.”

“I still say it's a waste of our time,” Berry says. “The programs we have in place for them are fine the way they are.”

“Don't you think all people deserve a chance? Don't you think they deserve to aim for something higher?”

Berry smirks. “What's higher than Greater? They didn't shoot for that.”

I grip the table so hard my knuckles turn white. “If you think there is nothing higher than Greater, than you are a fool.” As soon as the words are out I freeze. Stupid, stupid! I glance around, but the other students don't seem to realize what I said.

Professor Higgins watches me with an odd expression, though, and Guard Nev is scowling at me—which isn't so unusual.

Berry rolls his eyes and turns away, and the other students ignore me as if they agree with Berry's words from earlier. I don't belong here, and my opinion doesn't matter. Professor Higgins' warning from our first day runs through my mind—very few people want to help the Lessers, and even fewer want to get their hands dirty doing it.

I don't allow their opinions to bother me. They're partly right, and besides, I'm not here to please them.

Class lets out for the week, and I'm relieved to have a day off tomorrow. I already know that Keegan won't be in town tonight or tomorrow—he hasn't come all week—so I have two other options. I can try to get into Records, or I can figure out a way to get to the lake and learn what I can about the lights. My only obstacle is Guard Nev. He'll never let me do either one of them, so I have to find a way around him.

Professor Higgins stops me once the other students leave. “What did you mean when you said there was something bigger than the Greaters?” His words are soft and curious, not accusing.

“Nothing,” I say immediately, but guilt washes over me. What if Fischer had shut me out and refused to share the truth? What if Mom had never learned about Jesus Christ?

I look down and shuffle my feet, then I glance toward the door. Guard Nev faces the open hallway, and he seems to be talking to someone. I sigh. “I meant a God.”

Professor Higgins doesn't gasp or explode with anger. His reaction surprises me, because he smiles. He pats my shoulder. “That's what I suspected. I will see you on Monday.”

After I get over the shock of it, I hurry to Guard Nev and we leave.

Was Professor Higgins happy? If so, there is only one explanation. He knows God. He is a Christian. If this is true then there are Christians in Greater City. My heart speeds up and I match my steps to the rhythm. How can I find them? The possibility seems too good to be true.

We reach my apartment and the door man hands me an envelope. “This came from the post, Miss Norfolk.”

I take the letter and smile. He has just made my day.

 

 

 

 

16

 

I hurry for the stairs but Guard Nev stops me by the arm. He's never come close to touching me, let alone grabbing me.

“You don't know what you're doing.”

“What are you talking about?” I jerk away from him. We've learned to get along well over the last weeks, and I'm not sure about his sudden threatening appearance. Is he upset about the letter?

“I'm talking about what you said in training today. You may think you can spread your beliefs and help the Lessers, but you're doing nothing but sending them to die. You don't know the things I know.”

He follows me into the stairwell and nods slightly toward one corner. A smooth, silver disk is mounted on the wall—a cam disk.

I position myself in front of him so the cam disk can't pick up my face and can only see part of his. “Then tell me the things you know.”

He shakes his head. “I am under orders.”

“Orders from a liar. He uses us all for the gain of himself.”

“You don't know what you're saying.”

“So you think Supreme Moon is a fair leader?” I ask in disbelief. He's making my anger boil to the top.

“Lower your voice,” he says. “And of course not.”

We're getting winded as we near my floor. “Supreme Moon has goals you know nothing about, and digging around for them will get you killed. If you think there's some kind of higher purpose in life, well, you're going to do nothing but start the war sooner.”

The war?

Shivers race up my arm and I swallow my nerves. If we're at war it is a well-kept secret.

We don't speak anymore, and he watches me until I make it inside my room. My gaze moves to the windows, and I search the horizon. What else is out there?

Food sits in a bag in my dumb waiter, and my HELP comp glows blue, waiting patiently for me to step over and play with it.

Those things can wait, though. For now, I have Keegan's letter. I act nonchalant as I slip off my shoes and head to the bathroom, but inside I rip the envelope open.

Dear Hana,

Seeing you in Greater City is like nothing I ever hoped for. Honestly? I thought I would never see you again. Learning you are still you, and that you're still as passionate as ever about your goals, makes me smile.

I have no idea if we can ever be together, or if you even want to be, but I will try everything I can to make it happen.

In answer to your questions, I think you're on the right track. I will do everything I can to find answers, but that won't be much. Kids talk—but it's only kids. You know more than us all, I think. Also, I will do what you say. I will think about it. That's all I can promise there.

I love you, Hana. I always have and I always will.

With love,

Keegan

 

I stare at the letter as a tear drops off my chin. He loves me. How am I supposed to refuse that? I want to condemn myself for the thought, but I'll probably never see Fischer again, and Keegan promised to think about the things we heard at the river-side meeting in Middle City 3. He promised to consider salvation. That's a start.

The letter is precious to me. I can't bear to tear it up or burn it or throw it away. Instead I pull my Bible from the hair dryer and slip the letter inside. It will be my safe-keeping place.

Once my face is sufficiently tear free, I exit the room to find something to eat, then I move to the HELP comp. I have one communication, from Sindy.
Coming by in the morning. I'll see you at ten o'clock for brunch.

Spending the day with Sindy is the last thing I want to do. I don't want to spend the day with anyone, if I can help it. If only all these people would leave me alone I could get some answers.

I delete the communication with a vengeance then settle in to eat. My one day off will be ruined now, for sure.

It's sometime after the auto shutters close that there's a knock at my door. I hurry to answer it, anxious to see who would be coming after dark. Kassy stands on the other side, smiling shyly. “I hope I'm not interrupting you. Can I come in?”

“It's OK. Come in.” I open the door wide. She doesn't seem upset or in trouble, and I let my guard down.

“You're probably wondering why I would come over so late.”

I smile and shrug. “I don't mind.”

“I'm just so bored,” she says. “It's always the same old thing. My mom is gone and my friends are busy. Why did they have to separate us all?” The frustration in her voice comes through loud and clear, but it's her last sentence that gets me.

“Separate you?”

She rolls her eyes and plops onto the couch. “They said we needed to separate—that we were too close. They sent my best friend to train for the military, and you already know about my boyfriend. It's like they wanted to make sure we could never see each other again.”

She is so utterly clueless that I'm not sure how to respond, but one thing is clear to me.

Kassy has answers. She may not even know that she has answers, but they're somewhere inside her brain.

“Why would they do that?” I cast a glance behind me to make sure the clock is covered, but they can probably hear us somehow.

She waves her hand dismissively. “I don't know. It's not like it was a big deal. We were out late one night, and we got caught.”

“Wait, are you saying there's a curfew?”

“No, it wasn't that.” She looks down, almost like she's embarrassed to admit her next words. “We were out past the city limits. We were looking for the Broken City.”

I sit very still. Her words send tingles up my back and excitement fluttering though my heart.

Guards will probably bust through the door any minute now. I glance toward the hallway and hurriedly ask my next question. “What's the Broken City?”

Someone knocks at the door and I groan.

Kassy frowns. “I'm sorry. Were you expecting someone? You should have just said so, really.”

I shake my head and move toward the door. Guard Nev stands on the other side, frowning and glaring around me. “Is someone here with you? I just got a message to break up the party.”

Kassy moves to my side and glances at Guard Nev. “Oh, hi.”

“You should probably go home, Miss.”

Her face fills with fear and she glances at me. “I'm sorry, Hana. I didn't mean to get you in trouble.”

“No, it's OK. I promise.”

She hurries out the door and rushes down the hall to her own door, glancing at us the whole way.

Guard Nev turns back to me, frowning. “What was that about?”

I want to know more about the place Kassy mentioned, but after Guard Nev's earlier lecture, I'm sure he won't help me. “It was nothing. She was lonely and wanted to talk. She said a few things about the city that I guess she shouldn't have said.”

But the fact that she is unhappy here is huge. Are there others who feel the same way she does? Professor Higgins comes to mind.

“Keep to yourself for the rest of the night, will you?”

I have some thinking to do, and I can't do it with Guard Nev around. I nod and close the door.

Sindy arrives at exactly ten o'clock the next morning. It's eerie how punctual she and Supreme Moon are. “I trust you haven't eaten? We will be enjoying brunch with Supreme Moon.”

I force a smile and follow her to the elevator. “It seems odd that Supreme Moon has so much time to spend with me.”

“He wants to hear about your progress with Professor Higgins. Your work with the Lessers is of much interest to him.”

Her words put me on edge. They remind me of when Supreme Moon said he had invested in me. Why does he care so much about what I want to do with the Lessers? He hasn't seemed too concerned with helping them in the past.

The mansion is even more brilliant today than it was two weeks ago. A rainbow of flowers spread across the flower beds, and vines and flowers work their way up the pillars.

“Beautiful, isn't it?” Sindy says. “The gardener planted them just this week.”

Beautiful is an understatement. In Middle City 3, there were only small flower beds around the most important buildings. I've only seen flowers like that once before. We had taken a family trip when I was a child, and there was a field of wild flowers during a hike.

Supreme Moon awaits us in the dining room. He stands when we enter and waves for us to have a seat. “Professor Higgins tells me your classes are going well.”

“Yes.” I smile, going for innocent, but it's hard when I'm not sure how to take Professor Higgins' reaction to my statement about God.

“Please tell me about it. He says you had a breakthrough idea about training them.”

I shift in my seat as a servant puts eggs on my plate. “I thought we could have the more self-disciplined Lessers—the ones who run the businesses or lead the others—teach their fellow Lessers. They can train them to garden, to run a business, or to use basic math skills. If they were more self-sufficient, they would depend less on the society as a whole.”

Supreme Moon pulls back. “Brilliant. With all my advisors, I can't believe no one has ever suggested such a thing.”

I hate it—I loathe it—but his words make me sit a little taller. For the first time ever, I see how it was that he became the Great Supreme. He makes you feel like a genius.

The rest of the meal passes uneventfully, and we discuss more of what I've learned in class. By the end of it, I'm even comfortable enough to mention I feel held back by the other students.

“I hope your passion will wear off on them,” Supreme Moon assures me quickly. “You don't mind, I hope.”

“It's fine,” I say.

He walks Sindy and me to the front door, and as he opens it, Guard Nev and the secretary from Supreme Moon's office walk up the steps. They freeze when they see us, but it's pretty obvious they were enjoying one another's company.

“Guard Nev,” Supreme Moon says icily. “You may escort Hana home.”

Guard Nev's skin turns as red as the flowers in the newly planted flower garden. “Yes, sir,” he says, snapping to attention.