Reap (The Harvest Saga Book 1) (20 page)

My mind spun out of
control, and I began to feel like a child who’d whirled around in one place for too long, dizzy and disoriented. “What
are
you here to harvest?”

Crew gently cupped my elbow and led me to the couch, where he settled down beside me. “We are here to harvest females of childbearing age.”

“Excuse me?” My words barely left my lips as a whisper.

“The Greaters have prided themselves on eradicating a multitude of diseases that plagued humanity even just a couple of generations ago. As children, we are all given a battery of vaccinations against these illnesses.” Crew shrugged off his jacket, and unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt sleeve at his wrist. He rolled up his sleeve one crisp, white fold of fabric at a time, until the muscles of his forearms, and then biceps were exposed.  A one inch square filled with tiny white dots of raised flesh rested upon his right bicep. “See?”

“Yes.” I look quickly at my arms, even underneath to make sure I don’t have any marks like that.

He laughed, deep and hearty. “You don’t have one.” He recovered, “Only Greaters are inoculated.”

“Oh.” Well, I felt stupid. “Just making sure.”

“With the vaccines, come side effects. We thought most were safe. There was swelling around the injection site, redness and soreness, as well. Some individuals would be feverish for a few days; others would experience nausea or vomiting, sometimes both.” He searched my eyes.

“Okay.”

“Over time, all Greater children were vaccinated and it became mandatory to do so. There were no long term complications or side effects, or so we thought. When the first round of children came into adulthood, about half had trouble conceiving after reaching adulthood. Testing revealed that the problem lay within the reproductive system of the female population. Greater males were not sterile. However, the females were barren. At first, no one understood what was happening. But after more and more of the female population became sterile, and fewer and fewer Greater children were born, the problem was tracked to the series of vaccines given to the females as children.”

He continued, “We’ve since stopped giving the vaccines to female children, until we can isolate which specific one or combination is causing the infertility. But, all Greater women of childbearing age right now are barren. No more Greaters will be born in this generation, maybe for several.”

“So, you want Greater males to take Lesser females as wives? Breed them like cattle? What?”

“The scientists want to harvest eggs from Lesser women, inseminate them, and place them into the wombs of Greaters so that the Greater females may have children of their own. Information about this issue isn’t widely known. The procedures are mostly painless and can be done in doctor’s offices discreetly, so as not to cause a panic.”

“So the Greater women don’t know they’re having Lesser babies.”

He swallowed and nodded. “Yes.” Rolling his sleeves back down, Crew buttoned the cuff and looked back over at me. “Look, I know you don’t understand all of this and probably think it’s wrong, but—”

“Oh, I understand it all very well. And, it
is
wrong. What you’re doing is deceitful, to the Lesser and Greater women, and the population of Olympus itself. Your father is a master manipulator and your standing by his side tells me a lot about your character, Crew. And, I don’t like what’s been brought to light.”

He lowered his eyes and turned his head away, then stood, grabbed his jacket and stalked silently out the door.

∞

What felt like an hour
later, while still sitting on the blanched couch in the ghostly car, I heard the unmistakable sound of screaming erupted outside the train car. All of the girls who’d been helping Orchard Village with its harvest were being rounded up like cattle. I could see the girls from Wheat and Coal, from Vineyard and Maise. Then came the ones from my own village. Girls I’d known my entire life, were being dragged toward the trains by an army of guards, clad solely in black, like thieves in the night. The car roughly rocked to and fro as they were loaded into the cars attached to Crew’s.

Laney!
Two guards dragged Laney down the hill. She dug her heels into the dirt, causing a two-foot high dust trail to follow in her wake. She thrashed and pulled, scratching and clawing for a freedom that would never be hers. I banged on the glass panes of the windows. “Laney! Laney! Let her go! Please! Laney!”

I moved toward the front of the car watching as she disappeared into the train car in front of me. What are they going to do to them? To us?

Would the Greaters let them come home after they strip their ovaries? The thought left a sour taste in my mouth. Bile burned my throat and tears stung my eyes, before spilling onto the flesh of my chest. And I cried. Sobbed. For my friends. For what would be stolen from them, ripped out and given to someone else. I seethed with hatred for the Greaters and Crew was very lucky he wasn’t in my presence right now.

∞

I looked like a big
stain of color in a room of nothing, dirt upon perfection. For twenty minutes, I cried, sitting by the window looking out at the only home I’d ever known. Unable to escape this prison. Two angry, deep voices boomed just outside the door of my car: Crew and his father.

“I told you to leave her alone. What part of that did you not understand?”

“She
is
a Lesser. You also said I could choose from among the eligible females. The only stipulation you gave me was not to bother with those who were betrothed. That was it, Father!”

“Do you not have eyes, Son?” Exasperation laced his voice.

“What are you talking about?”

“She may have been raised a Lesser, but look at her eyes.” Silence. “Ahh, now you get it. She was born Greater. She may have been inoculated. She may be infertile. And, you...you have to give Olympus an heir.” His voice raised with each word.

“What about Cam?”

“You
are
my firstborn. It is your responsibility.”

“That is archaic, Father.”

“Perhaps, but it’s just the way things are. Does she even know of the ring?” Silence. “I didn’t think so. The mirrors here are aged. At best, most are tarnished and warped.”

“I love her.”

“I know you do, Son. But, you have a duty to your people. I’ll have her tested. If she is fertile, you can have her.”

They were speaking of me like I was a possession. Have me? And why would they think I was born a Greater? How would a Greater come to be a Lesser? And what freaking ring?! They weren’t talking about the one around my neck.

The door of the car opened with a whoosh of air and Crew climbed the three steps and then walked down the narrow aisle way decreasing the physical distance between him and me. “I know you probably heard part of that.”

I nodded, not having anything to say to him. Most of what left his lips was a lie and I was worn out and tired of his lying tongue. The mouth he’d used to love me with had cut me in two.

“We are about to depart. This train is on a designated Greater track and is state-of-the-art, amazingly fast.”

I stared at him.

“You’ll need to rest. We will arrive in Olympus in only a few hours.” He looked at me and I looked away, out the window. The leaves had begun fallen off of the trees. Stragglers clung for dear life to the knobby, awkward limbs that birthed them just months ago, like toddling children to the legs of their parents. The full harvest moon stood proud in the sky spilling light over the landscape.

I realized that I now sat on the same train that Kyan had dragged me up the hill to look at just after those from the other Lesser villages had arrived. We had climbed the hill just up there, on the hill beyond the depot and took it all in. The sleek styling of the car seemed new and awesome as we stared, taking in the unusual shape and curve of the metal that night. I had no idea then that it would be a prison, a hound dragging me back to hell with it.

“I’ll sleep on the couch. You take the bed.”

He walked to the bedside, tugged down several stark blankets and then the pale sheet. He stepped back and dragged his hand down his face before approaching me on the couch. “Please?” He extended his hand to me. Ignoring it, I rose and stepped around him, collapsing upon the plush bed before covering myself completely. I imagined the charcoal tracks of my tears staining his spotless pillow and a grim satisfaction bloomed in my chest.

I had to do something. I couldn’t let the Greaters get away with this. They had to be stopped. Perhaps Olympus should know about the secrets their King has made. Perhaps I could learn to lie, too—at least until the truth needed to come out.

The muffled sounds of him shrugging off his jacket, unlacing his shoes and kicking them off, and then settling on the couch filled my ears. I wondered if he pulled the fur blanket over himself. He blew out a tense breath. The blankets that covered me sealed me in their warmth, cocooning me, while the sheets and featherbed below me softly cradled my body. After a while, I heard his soft, even breaths. Peeking out at him, I leaned forward to see him better. Crew lay on his back on the couch, one arm beneath his head and the other draped over his eyes. Sleep did not claim me during the train ride. I lay curled up on my side, clutching the blankets and watching my region slip away from me.

The train began to slow
steadily a few hours later, just as Crew said it would. It was still dark outside, but the full moon created a sickly pale blue glow over the landscape. It was desolate. Silhouettes of bare trees scattered along what look like marshes stretch on as far as the eye could see. There were no houses. No buildings or signs of human beings anywhere.

I threw my covers off and padded to the window, taking a seat at the small table across from Crew, who still snored lightly. We slowed more and then passed between enormous gates made of concrete. Two halves of the Olympian insignia was carved on either side of the entrance, illuminated by bright lights. I watched out the window in awe of the enormous concrete and metal structure.

It was taller than I could stretch to see out the window. As we were riding in the last train car, we had a panoramic view out the very back window. After we passed through the gate, I could see an enormous shiny, silver door slide closed and seal itself behind us. We were in the city. The City of Greaters.

Great towering metal and brick stacks stretched to the sky pouring steam and black smoke into the air. One skinny, tall tower even spewed flames into the atmosphere. Tiny lights flickered throughout the area. I scrambled to see it again, but it was already out of sight. “Factories,” Crew said, sleep clouding his voice. He yawned widely and stretched his back out like a cat. Factories. I’d heard of them. They were where the Greaters took the things we grew and turned them into other things: wheat into flour, apples into applesauce, sliced apples, etc.

What I didn’t imagine was how enormous and widespread these structures were. Some seemed tall enough to brush the sky. The train crawled along until the factories were completely behind us. More forest surrounded us for a time until finally, the trees thinned. “Here.” Crew stepped behind me and leaned over my head, fiddling with the window, until it dropped down. “What do you smell?”

I sniffed the air. A faint smell of smoke filled the air. “Smoke?”

Crew laughed. “It lingers from the factories, but what else do you smell?”

I stood up and stuck my head out the window. The wind whipped my hair across my face. I could smell the lavender soap that I used to wash it with just last evening. But, that wasn’t it. Something else hung heavy in the air. I closed my eyes. Salt.
That’s strange
.

“I smell...salt.”

Crew sat in the seat across from me and smiled proudly. “Yes. You smell the ocean. The salt water.”

“The ocean?”

“Yes. Olympus is settled near the ocean.”

The sky was no longer the deep sapphire of the dead of night. It faded to cerulean and lighter still to the east. The train seemed to be circling to the left, in a wide arc. “If you want the best view of Olympus, come here.” Crew crossed the train car and stood silently on the opposite side of the car, at the windows near the couch. He ticked his head for me to come.

I stood and slowly walked over. “Look.” His eyes tracked to the right and mine followed suit. The trees that surrounded us disappeared suddenly, and plush lawns surrounding stark white buildings, at least six stories high lined up one after the other, one behind the other, in a matrix of green and white. “What are those buildings?”

“Housing. Every Greater male is assigned housing based upon how many family members reside with him. With the current...situation, our housing for couples is currently overflowing.”

Of course it was. If housing was assigned based upon the number of family members and no Greaters were currently able to conceive, it would definitely be overcrowded. Didn’t they understand what that meant? Or were there bigger factors playing out here? Were the Greaters afraid to question their King? Perhaps being a Greater wasn’t so wonderful after all.

The housing buildings, or complexes, as Crew called them, grew larger, the buildings taller. All were white. The train slowed. Its wheels grated and squealed. “Almost there.”

“Where?”

“City Center.” I looked for him for clarification. He ticked his head to the right again. In the distance, enormous structures burst forth from the ground. I lowered the window and stuck my head out to see the tops of them as we began to pass by.

“Oh my gosh! What are these? Are these houses?”

Crew chuckled. “No. Well, not exactly. Some are apartment buildings, where a family lives on each floor. Some are offices, where people work. Business is conducted.”

“Greaters work?” My mouth hung open and I shut it quickly, feeling my cheeks warm.

“It’s okay. Some do work. It takes a lot of organization to keep a city clean and functioning properly. To keep food distributed fairly, for example.”

“Do Greaters work in the factories?” I marveled at the passing structures that were tall as the clouds and painted to mirror the same, craning my neck to see their tops. They must have been a thousand feet tall. Maybe more.

After clearing his throat, Crew answered, “No. We have Lessers that work in that district. They work in the factories. Their housing is also within the district walls. They live and work just outside the city, separated from the Greaters, but still within its walls. They receive food and goods for their role in helping the City of Olympus.”

I nodded. The train wheels screamed, slowed, and jerked to a stop. I was jerked forward, but steadied myself on the window sill. Immediately, the warmth from Crew’s hands upon my waist registered with my brain. For a split second, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and press my lips to his. But, then I remembered that this is all some sick game to him and pushed his hands away.

“Abby.” His eyes clenched shut.

“Look, I’m not happy and I’m not going to pretend like I am. You forced me to come here. You put this…thing on me and claimed me like some piece of property.” I spat. “You cannot expect things to be the same after lying to me, earning my trust, and then treating me like the Lesser I am. If you had been honest with me from the beginning, we wouldn’t be here right now. Blame yourself.” His eyes of molten gold met mine.

“And what did your Father mean about me being born a Greater? I’ve been a lesser all my life.”

He shook his head and walked to a five drawer dresser next to the bed, removing something from the top of it and returning to me. A mirror. Glass framed in smooth, cool silver. “Look at your eyes, Abby.”

He extended the mirror and I grabbed hold of it, but not before rolling my eyes at him for good measure. My eyes were blue. Always have been. Lulu said that’s why my father named me Abigail Blue Kelley. I held the heavy oval in front of me. It was so clear, I gasped when I saw myself.

The mirrors at home were dark and distorted the images they reflected. If you were lucky, you’d be able to tell if your clothes matched and were crooked, but in this orb, I could see every pore in the flesh of my face. My lips were still pink from Laney’s ministrations last night. My nose was small and slightly upturned.

The brows that guarded my eyes matched my dark, auburn hair. Black tracks stretched from beneath my eyes, fading away as they trailed down my cheeks before fading away, making the skin of my face feel tight, stretched. My eyes
were
blue. Very blue. A deep, blue, not so dark as the sapphire of last night, but not like the daytime sky either. A blue settled somewhere in between. Lighter blue streaks radiated from the black pupils in the center. I looked at one and then the other. Then I saw it. I gasped.
Oh my God.

Moving the mirror closer, it brushed my nose. The pupil of my eye was encircled by a small, golden ring. The ring? It must be what Mr. Cole was talking about last night. “You see it.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Do you understand?”

“No.”

“After the first vaccinations were given out, changes in the iris of the eyeball of recipients were noted. Usually a small, golden ring appeared around the pupil. Within a couple of generations, the rings became almost a genetic trait. Do you know what that is?”

He wasn’t condescending when he asked. “No, and what is an iris. I know what the pupil of the eye is. It’s the black ball in the center.”

“Yes. The iris is the colored portion of the eye. Genetic traits are passed down from parents to their children, generation to generation. Like hair color, for instance, or the ability to roll the tongue, like this...” He demonstrated, twisting his tongue to the side. I mimicked his motions. I could roll mine, too! “Yes. You got that ability from one or both of your parents. The stronger the trait, the more often it is passed down in the family line.”

“I understand.”

“So, all Greaters are born with a golden ring, even if it’s small, like yours. After the person is vaccinated, the medicines within cause the ring to spread. My ring was quite large, so after my inoculation, the gold spread almost all the way to the edges, erasing most of the brown that had been there. Scientists aren’t sure why this happens, but it isn’t something harmful to the individual or detrimental to society, like the infertility of the Greater women. So, it is accepted and ignored. Eventually all Greaters will have completely golden irises.”

“Couldn’t some Lessers have a ring?”

“No.” His fingers brushed my eyelashes gently. My breath hitched. “You said your parents gave you to Lulu, that they couldn’t raise you?”

I nodded. “Can I suggest something and can you please not get angry at me for it?” I nodded again, looking into his eyes. “Perhaps, they sent you a way to keep you safe. So that you wouldn’t receive the vaccines. Wouldn’t be barren later in life.”