Perfect Flaw (13 page)

“I’m going to hurt you,” Tiffany said.

Tiffany reached out to grab Hope’s jumpsuit. Hope stepped away from her and bumped into the metal chair. Hope reached down and felt the cool metal of the chair’s upper back brace on her fingers. Her hand curled under the edge of the brace. Tiffany continued to move forward, closing in on Hope.

Her grip tightened on the chair and it felt weightless in her hand. Suddenly, Hope felt like she was back in the alley where her mother died. She felt fear and rage all over again. Hope locked eyes on Tiffany and swung the chair. The chair smashed into the side of Tiffany’s face and the girl dropped to the ground. The other girls grabbed at Hope trying to stop her.

Hope swung the chair again. She brought the weight of the chair down on a girl’s arm that was grabbing onto Hope’s shoulder. The girl’s arm snapped.

The chair bounced off the ground and Hope used the momentum to swing it in a wild circular arc to catch anyone else close by. She felt the chair bash into yet another girl. The girl toppled over, grabbing her knee. The other girls ran.

“That will be enough,” Arbiter said.

Hope dropped the chair and noticed Tiffany on the floor and bleeding from the head. Tiffany looked unconscious or dead, a pool of blood was expanding underneath her. Another girl was crawling out of the room while she tried to cradle a limp leg. Her jumpsuit was torn at the knee and a patch of red soaked the leg.

Hope’s scalp tingled in muted pain. One of the girls must have managed to pull her hair. Her lip felt puffy and numb, she tasted something of tang in her mouth.

“It is time to leave, Hope Unknown,” Arbiter said. “The crew of the
Wayfar
will tend to their wounds. The injuries sustained on the other children only appear severe. I believe congratulations are in order. You have earned your cherished memories.”

“I don’t want your congratulations,” Hope said. “You’re a cruel and evil little machine.”

“I am a reflection of my creators,” Arbiter said. “I operate strictly within mission parameters that your kind endowed me with. Though, in defense of humans, there are far worse things that exist in the galaxy. Things you will face soon enough.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Hope said.

“I am not programmed for ethics,” Arbiter said. “I am programed to expedite the acquisition of resources to ensure the survival of the human species. Ethics are a luxury of those not facing annihilation. Enjoy your victory.”

Hope took the small statue from her jumpsuit pocket. She held the object in her hand examining it shape. She committed the Statue of Liberty to memory and let it slip from her fingers to the deck. It bounced twice before it settled to a stop. The statue stood erect.

“Explain,” Arbiter said.

“I don’t need it anymore,” Hope said. “I’ve paid the price for the girls to eat.”

“The others were scheduled to eat no matter the outcome,” Arbiter replied. “Again, why would you leave the object you have so cherished?”

“Because I have my memories,” Hope said.

UNDER A POMEGRANATE SKY

BY MANDI M. LYNCH

YEAR NEW 643

“In the year M257, a large ship carrying reinforcements of every kind – food, people, medicine, supplies – encountered a series of problems that led them to an irreversible fate. They crash landed here, just up that rock face,” Mynerva stopped and pointed to a few old growth trees at the top of a seemingly sheer cliff before continuing, “on a planet they hadn’t noticed, without communication. In other words, they were stuck.

“Axl and Abel, twins onboard the ship, set out to do a search of the island and went off in the opposite direction. There, they found sloping land, numerous habitable caves, and a large source of water. Once satisfied that this would be their new home, everyone grabbed what they could carry and set off through the woodlands and into the city they would call Topan. When they woke from their first night’s sleep, they gathered together to make the rules for the new lands. By the time the meeting was over, the year was 1, and the city was called Utopia, for this was their opportunity to have the world they wanted to have, and everything was going to be perfect.”

In front of her, a group of children squirmed in their seats but otherwise gave her their full attention. Unlike many of the adults in Shellaghey, these children hadn’t been raised with the old stories and the iron fist of precision that they would have had in Topan. When adults told the stories, it was a rare treat. “But, My-“

Mynerva cast the child a look and kept talking, pulling bits and pieces of her story from her memory. “There were two islands off the coast, and one was set up for government, with room to watch over, but to send a point – government was separate from everyday life. That’s how they wanted it, and that’s how it would be. The other island stayed empty for many years, but as time turned, it became The Manor. They set it up as a utopia, and even called it that, although the name ended up as Topan.

“The year was New 314, and the area that had been able to withhold a population of up to 5000 people without much issue was feeling the pinch of a population of almost 17,000. A poorly prepared batch of seeds in New 299 had left them with an inadequate harvest, and a slew of health problems that they hadn’t faced before. People rioted. The government response was to build, and the planet got its first construction projects – the formal school, the residential buildings for the government employees and their families, boats for those set adrift, and The Manor took life. On the eve of the fourth full moon set, Georg, Ayja, and their four children made their way across the bridge and onto the island. Here, the children were free from the stares of people who didn’t like their misshapen bodies. It wasn’t long before a number of other people and families started joining them as well. They were allowed to in the beginning – families – but as The Manor took on more residents and the government took more control, all of that changed as well.

“The same inspectors that were going around and welcoming new population were also checking for unwanteds. By New 320, citizens that were sent to The Manor were stricken from the life record, blacked out in a way that prevented anyone from seeing who they had been, instead of merely being crossed out at death with a line that left their name still readable. They were taken away as if they had never been, and the bridge back and forth had become a one way walk of shame, full of screams and tears. The citizens of Topan acted as if they didn’t know that anything was on the other side, but the people of The Manor got their news whenever a new arrival joined them. New additions to the population were always greeted with love and attention, and in many ways, they found The Manor to be more of a paradise than their former utopia had ever been…”

***

Year New 588

The grey clouds were dissipating, and Eirene sat at the front of her cave, looking out at Topan and rubbing her huge swollen belly. A cart rumbled past her, full of goods and trash, forcing itself through the muddy ruts left in the ground from carts that came before.

“Good morning, Miss Eirene. Do you have any trash today?” the garbage man asked, forcing the cart to stop for her and her immediate neighbors.

“It’s in the can with everyone else’s,” she said, pointing at the neighbor’s doorway. “Bad day for pickup, isn’t it?”

“Hard to run this through the mud, but I’ll make do. You know the law, pickup every ten days. Gotta do my part.”

Eirene stared at the city around her. “Almost looks like the law should be changed so you can come more often.”

“That’s true, ma’am. But for now, it is what it is. Just do your part and pick up what you see laying around.” He tipped the contents of the can into his cart and then grabbed the handles of the cart again, exerting great force to get the cart rolling again through the thick mud.

She watched him work his way downhill. Behind her, a crash startled her out of her thoughts. Wax puddled behind her on the floor, the candle extinguished by the force of the landing. Its holder was broken into dozens of pieces. She surveyed the scene. Her children were out of sight, but certainly not out of hearing range. Clearly, they were the culprits. Now to find them. There were nine rooms in her cave, shared between herself and a long list of extended family, the back three rooms devoted mostly to the small children of the family. She passed her sister’s room and gave a wave through the open curtain. Her sister was also pregnant but having a much worse time of it. The noise of the children was doing little to alleviate her illness.

“Garricke and Ursule! Get out here right now!” Eirene waddled quickly into the back room. “Both of you! When I call you, you come to me imm…” She stopped suddenly, mouth agape.

“He won’t take it off, Mother.” Ursule looked at her brother and continued. “I told him to take it off and he told me no. I tried to change his clothes and he wouldn’t listen to me!”

Eirene continued to stare at her children. “Garricke…”

“Mynerva. My name is Mynerva. Don’t call me Garricke. That’s a boy’s name,” the small child said.

“You’re a boy.”

“No. I’m a girl. My name’s Mynerva.” There wasn’t disobedience in his voice, but an absolute, yet quiet, assurance that this was the right way, the only way.

Eirene didn’t know what to say. “I don’t care what you say you are, I know for a fact that you are a boy. You have boy parts. Take off that dress immediately.” She reached for him, but he pulled out of her grasp.

“NO!”

“Garricke Davys!”

He opened his mouth and let out a scream that could wake the dead. “I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, I AM GOING TO WEAR THIS AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!!!!”

“What the hell is going on back here?!” Gaylen bellowed, entering the back of the cave. He brushed past his daughter, tousling her hair as he did and joining his wife at her side. He didn’t need an answer, just followed her gaze to the back of the room, to his four year old son, who cowered behind the bedroll in the dress his cousin had just outgrown. “What’s the meaning of this, son?”

“I’m not your son. I’m a girl and my name is Mynerva.” Now the child crossed his arms and pouted. “I’m a girl. I want to be a girl. You can’t make me not be a girl.”

“I most very well can make you not be a girl. You are a boy. Boys have penises and pee standing up. Don’t you do that?” He didn’t know what else to say to him.

“Nope. Never ‘gain. From now on, I’m going to pee sitting down like Ursule does.”

It was hard to argue with a young child’s determination, no matter how wrong the child was. Still, Gaylen knew better than to let this continue. “You will not, do you understand me?!” Now it was his turn to reach for his son. The child bit him and forced himself under the bed, having to completely flatten against the ground to fit under the slats of the furniture.

“Mother-“

“Stop, Ursule. Go clean up the mess you left in the living room. You broke the candle plate,” Eirene replied.

“Sorry, Mother.” She put her head down and worked her way to the front of the cave, taking care not to step in the wax that dripped from the wall sconces.

Gaylen and Eirene went into an adjoining room, taking time to light the lantern as they entered. The light sputtered as it filled the dark space, casting a shadowy glow on everything.

Gaylen took a bundle of textiles off the nearby chair and offered his wife a seat. She accepted without argument or discussion, more than happy to rest her weary body. The silence was interrupted only by the crackle of the candle wick and the sound of their breathing. Gaylen sank to the floor and massaged his wife’s legs. “Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know. One minute I was talking to the trash man, the next I heard a crash behind me.” She went on to recount the scene and the following argument. “You heard and saw what I did, honey. Garricke shouted that he was a girl and we must call him Mynerva. Imagine!” Her anguish showed on her face.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“The inspector comes through soon!” she wailed and hung her head on her husband’s shoulder. “What if he’s still determined by then?”

“It’s okay, sweetheart, everything will be okay.”

***

“I’m glad your child is well, Prisca,” inspector Avrom said, handing the baby back to Eirene, who passed it again to her sister. “And you, Eirene? When for you?”

“Forty days, I believe. I’m hoping for another boy, since Prisca had one.” Eirene looked at the sleeping child. “I’ll settle for healthy.”

“Yes, well, where are the other two?”

“Garricke is down for a nap,” she said.

“But I can get Ursule for you.” Eirene tried to beckon her eldest child without the inspector following, but he followed too closely behind. They entered the back room on each other’s heels.

“Who’s child is this, Eirene?”

“Just a playmate,” she lied as her son greeted the man.

“I am Mynerva, daughter of Eirene and Gaylen.”

Eirene’s face went ashen. She cast a look at Ursule, glaring at the girl. The inspector had control enough to banish him to the Manor without any thought. Because of this, she had given her daughter one task – quiet her brother and stop any talk about Mynerva until the inspector had left their cave. Law was law, and once the inspector left, he wasn’t allowed back in for a number of months. Now, however, he had cause to take her son or come back unannounced whenever he felt the need to.

“Eirene?”

“Yes, Inspector?”

“Is this,” he consulted his clipboard, “Garricke? Your son? Why is he in a dress?”

“QUIT CALLING ME GARRICKE!!!” The child was dressed head to toe in girls clothes and took quite a bit of pleasure in raising a booted foot and kicking the inspector in the shin.

Inspector Avrom cursed and glanced at his leg. The heel of the boot had ripped his trouser and cut his skin. “Eirene, how long has this been going on?”

“This morning, sir.”

“Eirene, how long has this been going on?” He repeated the question, absolutely sure that it had been happening for more than a day. “I won’t ask again.”

She understood the repercussions of what was being said to her, and she didn’t want to answer. She knew what the ultimate result was going to be.

“Come with me, son.” Inspector Avrom grabbed at the child and missed, falling to the floor. Now he’d have bruises and a concussion to add to his list of ailments.

“You can’t take him! He’s four! It’s a phase!”

“Eirene, stand down.” Cautiously, he pushed past the pregnant woman, unwilling to lose the child in the system of caverns. As inspector, he knew of the two tendrils of cavern that snaked backwards into the ground. Avrom was much too large to fit down them, but there was ample width for a four year old to get quite a ways in before getting stuck. He grabbed the child again, this time receiving a bite on the arm. He yelped in pain, but tightened his grip on the squirming child anyway.

“You can’t take him! Not like this! Don’t!” Eirene tried to run after him, but her huge belly hindered even normal slow movement.

Avrom spun, swinging the child’s legs like a broken pendulum. Garricke’s foot connected squarely with his mother’s belly and she fell to the ground in pain, a gush of water coming from her almost instantly.

Gaylen was torn between his wife and the inspector. Ursule appeared at her mother’s side, waving her father on without word.

He ran after Avrom and his son, stepping into the inspector’s path. “You can’t have him. This isn’t right!”

“This is the law, the way it is supposed to be! You know you’re wrong here!”

“Consider my wife. She’s already lost so many children, and now you’re taking this one?”

“Sir! I am not telling you again. Stand down, or I will take you in as well!”

A scream came from within the cave, and Gaylen’s hair stood on end. “If your actions have cost my wife this child, too, I will have you sent to the Manor, do you understand me? Unhand my son, right this minute!” He reached for his child, but Avrom swung his free hand, hitting Gaylen square in the face. Blood immediately spurted out of his nose. Avrom walked down the hillside, the squirming child kicking harder at him as he walked.

Gaylen knew it was futile to follow him, so he turned back into the cave and to his wife. The look on his daughter’s face said it all. Ursule was now all he had in the world. He fell to the ground with his daughter and cried on the cold stone floor until he could cry no more.

***

Down the hill, Avrom had crossed the kilometer and a half to the bridge in record time. After crossing words with the sentry, he was granted pass of the bridge. The evening was already darkening, and the oil lamps were casting an eerie glow on the wooden planks of the bridge. It felt to Avrom like six kilometers, but in reality was only three hundred and twenty-nine meters long – he knew the number for sure because he not only helped build the bridge, but also was assigned to inspect it every year.