Revolution in the Underground (14 page)

“That’s preposterous!  They can’t get away with that!” Ember screamed, jumping to his feet.  Never before had Ember ever dreamed of such corruption.  Even in his most delirious states, he could never conceive of a conspiracy so great.  “If they want to stay here, that’s one thing!  But they can’t force every one else to do the same!  We are all living things for crying out loud!  We have a right to move about as we please! This… This… is a giant prison!! Why would they do that?!  Why?!”  Ember had worked himself up to a complete frenzy.

Sven stood up as well, and leaned in with utter seriousness, “You remember this.  Remember this feeling that you have!  Don’t let anyone
ever
tell you that you are wrong!  There are people here… within our own buffer zone… that will tell you that the governments are good… that they are here to help their people and that all this hatred we harbor is just a giant misunderstanding.  There are, if you can believe it, apologists among us that say that they are glad that the governments don’t let us leave.”

“How?!  How can they say that!  There is a whole world out there!  If people don’t like it, they can always go back!  People should at least be given the option!”  Ember was livid.

Sven smiled, greatly enjoying Ember’s raw passion.  “There is some intellectual stimulation to be found in defending the preposterous.  There will always be those intellectuals that will tell you the absurd and act like it is the profound.  Only fools can’t tell the difference.  They will tell you that a white wall is green and expect you to believe it.”

“What?!  That doesn’t make any sense!”

“No, Ember, it doesn’t.  They make all sorts of strange metaphysical arguments.  They will say things like, ‘what is a universe but an isolated system?  If we arbitrarily set the Underground to be the boundaries of the said system then we can contain the universe.’”

“But doesn’t referring to it as the Underground defeat their own argument,” Maggie opined.

“Well… they wouldn’t call it by that name, but that’s not the point.”

“And you know what,” Kara said grimly, “it’s working.  They have actually convinced people that it is not worth knowing that there exists a great, unexplored world around us.  They have convinced some that it is okay to go about our selfish lives without concern for the government slaves.  That’s how they work…  They start off with the most absurd argument they can think of and hope for a compromise.  They are so far extreme, however, that once you meet them in the middle, you are already lost.  They will make you think that you’re crazy.  It’s even worse outside of the buffer zone.  The governments have literally convinced their population that one plus one does not equal two.”

“Government
s
?” Maggie said curiously, “Is there more than one?”

“Oh yes…” Sven rushed to explain.  “After the government started lying about the Gate, they split into two.  Nobody really knows why it happened… but I have a few theories myself…” Sven waited for someone to ask.

“What’s your theory?” Luna inquired at last.

“If there’s only one government, then who’s the enemy?”  Sven smiled as though Luna, Maggie and Ember, would all follow the same path of reasoning from this singular prompt and arrive simultaneously at the same conclusion.  “Having two distinct governments allows each state to externalize the antagonist.  It distracts from the real enemy.  It was all done on purpose.  Can’t you see?! They are working together to control the people!  Why else do they perpetually prepare for war without ever actually going to war?!”

“It may help,” Kara suggested, “if we explained to you how the Underground is divided.  Think of the Underground as a giant rectangle… this is a bit simplistic, but it should communicate the major points.  The left third of the rectangle is controlled by the Empire of Imperium led by a man we call The Tyrant.  The right third of the rectangle is controlled by a kingdom called Auctoritas, and it is ruled by a man we call The Despot.  Auctoritas is a little bigger by both land and population, but Imperium is far more powerful.  Both have a strict totalitarian regime with a very hierarchal structure, and powerful cults of personality.  In Imperium, the masses believe that The Tyrant is omnipotent and omniscient.  Auctoritas isn’t much better.  They teach their people that it is a mortal sin to leave the kingdom and that the only thing in life that should be loved is the state.  There are stories about children suspecting their parents of treason and turning them in to authorities.  We, of course, can’t possibly know how bad it really is… And, in the middle third, between the two, is us… the Buffer Zone.  Sometimes called just the B-Z.”

“Roughly speaking, Auctoritas and Imperium have four tiers,” Sven explained.  “This, is, of course, a general approximation… in reality there are some differences between the two but, you’ll have to forgive me for simplifying it for now…  At the very top is either The Tyrant or The Despot… though it is highly probable that these figureheads don’t actually exist.  Below them are the inner ranks.  These are high security government dignitaries.  Below them are the lower ranks—mostly government functionaries and bureaucrats—people without which the government wouldn’t run.  At the bottom are the commoners.  The commoners probably comprise anywhere from one-half to three-quarters of the overall population, but they are the most disenfranchised.  They live in conditions even worse than ours. 

The inner ranks, as might be expected, live in complete luxury.  Some people even believe that they have places outside the Underground that they don’t tell anyone else about.  The lower ranks, have a much better standard of living than the commoners, but enjoy almost no freedom.  They are probably the most scrutinized people on the planet.  Even though they probably all hate their government, if they express it in any way, they will be killed.  The commoners are mostly allowed to do whatever they want so long as they fulfill the government quotas and don’t organize against them.  Some people believe that if a revolution is going to happen it will be from the commoners… but they are a deathly bunch… they have lived on strict rations for so long and have been so brainwashed that this prospect seems unlikely.”

“You mentioned a buffer zone.  The B-Z, I think you called it?” Ember said.

“Yes,” Sven continued, “that’s where we are.  The B-Z was created as an intentional division between Auctoritas and Imperium.  It is probably the smallest of the three sections but it has more people than both of the states combined… but… we are the weakest.  We have no government or central organization—they see to that.  We are a very fractured people whose existence is only tolerated because of the necessity of separating the two governments.  Should they see us organizing in any way, they will come and break it up.  They have no problem intervening in our affairs, and frequently send officers to survey us.  By and large, however, they leave us alone.  It’s important to note that, besides for the inner ranks and the occasional officer, people aren’t allowed to enter or leave either state.  The punishment, if discovered, is death.  So, to be clear, not only are we trapped in the Underground, we are also trapped in the B-Z.

And… as I said earlier, there are lots of different kinds of people in the B-Z.  Some of us, particularly the scholars, are apologists.  Others, like are ourselves, are revolutionaries.  Most people, however, simply don’t care.  They don’t care about freeing the brainwashed slaves of Imperium and Auctoritas, and they don’t care about seeing the outside world.  All they care about is their own existence.  I don’t doubt that some people are simply frustrated… I’m sure some people turn to their self-interests because they think the cause is fatally doomed.  I myself can empathize with their feelings of insignificance… but… I truly believe—and Kara, correct me if I’m wrong—that most people just simply don’t care.  There is a kind of amoral malaise that shrouds the Buffer Zone.”

“Nope, I agree,” Kara said with a nod.  “I will add that you two are very lucky that you landed here, because if you didn’t… or if you had wandered out of the zone by accident… you would have been killed.  You see, Imperium and Auctoritas, having already taken the position that there is no outside world, will see you as a threat to their very existence.  You have the power to remind everyone that there is something out there.  You can unify the people and offer them hope!”  Tears were now streaming down her face.  She got up quickly, but calmly, and ran to a corner of the palatial room.

“What’s wrong with her?” Luna asked.

“Kara has had a tough life,” Sven explained.  “You see, Maggie and Ember, you’re not the only ones who have come to the Underground from the outside.  Kara came when she was only five.”  Ember and Maggie gasped audibly.  “No, she’s not from your village.  Kara’s from… well…  I’ll let her explain it to you…  It was, however, difficult when she first arrived.  Fortunately, a kind family found her before the authorities did.  When she told the revolutionaries where she was from, they all laughed at her and called her crazy?”

“What?!  Why?  Aren’t they on your side?” Ember said angrily.

Sven sighed.  “You don’t understand…  Kara, and her adopted parents, are/were eccentric characters.  It was very easy to discount what they had to say…  I, of course, believed her, but I understand why others didn’t…  You’ll understand soon enough…  At any rate, that’s why she’s so glad to see you.  Now that there are two of you claiming to be from the outside, the revolutionaries will have to believe you.  You guys are going to be celebrities.  Every revolutionary in the B-Z will want to see you.  You’ll have to be careful though, because officers from Auctoritas and Imperium will be looking for you too…  I think,” Sven said, looking up at the room’s white tile ceiling, “that part of Kara is jealous of all the attention and honor you guys will get… and that she didn’t get…  It’s not like her, you know… you’ll have to forgive her… but she is only human…  she has a lot of baggage.”

Maggie didn’t know what to say.  She felt a suffocating sense of responsibility—as if the whole revolution fell on her shoulders.  Ember was equally speechless.  He was now, more than ever infatuated with Kara and her mysterious past.  Once again he felt a strong and inexplicable love for her.

“We revolutionaries,” Sven continued, “are a strange crowd.  You’ll learn that in time.  Some of us are militant.  Some are pacifists.  Some of us join for the glory of the cause and the camaraderie of the fight.  Others just join for the longing of freedom—or various other moral reasons.  Some are just curious about the outside world.  We are, by and large, a jaded, cynical bunch, but we can also be hearty and deeply loyal.  Everyone has their own reasons for joining and their own methods for acting…  Not all of them are your friends… not all of them can be trusted… but… most of them can…  It’s a tougher life, but I think you’ll find it to be more fulfilling.  Like it or not, you’re one of us now.  Okay,” Sven paused, “Any questions?” Maggie and Ember’s jaws were opened.  They were so overwhelmed with information that they now felt sleepy.  “No questions?  Okay, great!  Now what we’re going to need you both to do is to take a shower and change out of those clothes.  You won’t be any good to the cause if an officer identifies you!”

Just then a knock came from above.  Kara screamed, but quickly caught herself before she made too much nose.  She walked over to Sven and whispered, “Did you tell anyone we were here?”  Sven shook his head ‘no.’ The knock came again, this time louder than before.  “Maggie, Ember, get under the couch,” Kara instructed.  She looked at Sven, “I’ll answer it.”

Sven looked at Kara, and shook his head to suggest that she shouldn’t do it.  Kara stared back at him for a few tense seconds, and then stubbornly moved a table to the corner of the room and stood on it.  On top of the ceiling was a discolored tile with a hinge and big metal handle.  Kara pulled it and slid the tile open.

A handsome, rugged man with worn boots jumped down into the room.  “Are you Kara?”  She nodded faintly as he walked up to her.  “Styles,” he said in the manner of one giving his own name.  “We need to talk.”

              The mysterious man advanced towards her threateningly.  Sven came to Kara’s aid, but the man did not so much as blink.

             
“Kara, the daughter of Marilyn and Marty,” the man said in a way that was both a statement and a question.

             
“Yes,” Kara said, still a bit timid.

             
“Woah, sir?  Back off,” Sven said, putting his monstrous hand on the man’s chest to stop him from advancing any further.

             
“The name’s Styles,” he said, rudely flinging Sven’s heavy arm to the side.  Though Sven was much larger than Styles, who was himself of above-average stature and imposing presence, the latter did not seem in the slightest intimidated.  Sven possessed a kind and pacific nature that was conspicuously absent in the rugged man, and if anyone was intimidated it was probably Sven.

             
“What do you want from us?” Kara asked.  Maggie and Ember were standing anxiously by their chairs from the other side of the room and could hear everything that was being said.  Only Luna remained seated and seemed composed—so composed, in fact, that she bordered on cheerful.

             
“Does the name George Karpov ring any bells?”

             
Sven and Kara seemed deep in thought.  “No, I can’t say that I recognize the name,” Kara admitted.

             
“About a week ago he came into contact with your father.  Last night he was taken in by the Imperial Police.”  Styles spoke with an indifferent viciousness, as if he were accepting of the event itself but nonetheless desired retribution.

             
Kara gasped.  “I’m so sorry.  Is he still alive?”

             
Styles did not answer.  It was understood among the three of them that even if George were alive, he wouldn’t be for long.  Sven shuddered to think about the tortures this unknown man could now be experiencing, and, deep down, longed for a way to share in his pain and reduce the burden.  “Before they came, he told me about the possibility of a traitor amongst the revolutionaries.  You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” He spoke with the dark wryness of a man who seemed to enjoying indicting his peers.

             
“What exactly are you implying?!” Kara exclaimed fiercely, advancing towards him in a futile attempt to appear menacing.

             
Styles mockingly bent down to meet her at eye level and then said condescendingly, “How about you tell me.”

             
Kara was incensed and could see that he was calling her bluff.  “How dare you!”  She struck Styles on the chest but once again he did not so much as flinch.

             
“Awfully strange, don’t you think?” he continued as if nothing had happened, “That the Imperial Police would take George away shortly after coming into contact with your father.”  Kara’s brows were angled in rage as he continued his prosecution.  “You know, George was an introverted creature.  He was a man of science.  Didn’t get out much… Didn’t know many people…  Didn’t trust many people…  Especially you ‘
revolutionaries
.’”  Styles said this word with particular slowness and disdain.  “It doesn’t exactly leave many suspects…”

             
“How dare you!” she said again.  “My family has always been devoted to the cause!  We would never turn on one of our own!”

             
“And where is your father now?” he asked, seeming to already know the answer.

             
“He’s been missing for a week.”

             
“Oh… I see… he’s been missing for a week,” Styles repeated mockingly.  “How coincidental, don’t you think?”

             
“He was looking for an alternative exit to the Underground!”

             
“Hmm… That’s strange… because I could have sworn that your mother also disappeared about this time, one year ago,” Styles said, dripping with derision.  “She too was looking for an alternative exit, was she not?”  Kara nodded tearfully.  “Did you know that when the Imperial Police recruit sleeper cells, they give them exactly twenty-five years to complete their mission before they’re recalled to Imperium?  It’s awfully strange that both your mother and father disappeared just before this period was set to expire.”

             
“That’s not true!  They’ve always lived in the B-Z!”

             
“Actually, I checked with your neighbors and the consensus was that your parents were both about forty years old when they moved in.  Tell me, how old were your parents when they disappeared?”

             
“You don’t need to answer anything,” Sven said to Kara.

             
“Sixty-five…  But that doesn’t prove anything!  My parents were true believers in the cause!  I promise you!  I lived with them, I would know!  Ask anyone!  They were highly respected amongst the revolutionaries!!”

             
“Just what exactly was George’s business with Kara’s father, and what was your business with George?” Sven asked, trying to give Kara sometime to recuperate.

             
“Let’s just say, George was a father-figure to me.  As for his business with Marty… Why don’t you tell me.”

             
“I don’t know!” Kara screamed.

             
“I think you do.”

             
“I don’t know!!”

             
“Why did you even come here?!” Sven argued.

             
“Excuse me everybody,” Maggie said timidly as she walked up to the trio.  Everyone in the room, save for Luna, seemed surprised to hear her speak.  “I have something to say…  It may be important…  Before Ember—that’s my brother,” she said politely to Styles, pointing in the direction of Ember, “and I came to the Underground we came in contact with a man who said that he was from the Underground…” Kara and Sven looked at her with anticipation.  “He was badly injured but… he managed to tell us about this place…  and he told us to help his people…  He gave me this,” Maggie said, pulling the key from around her neck and in front of her clothing.

             
“Where… where did you get that!” Kara said, gasping from excitement.  “Did he… did he give that to you?”

             
“Yes, a man gave it to us,” she said.

             
“Was… was… his name Marty?  Did… did he have a large but gentle, round nose?  Did he have white hair, combed over his balding head?  Was there a scar on his left arm?” Kara’s lips curled upward with each description, forming what appeared to be a rudimentary smile each time.

             
Maggie shook her head.  “I’m sorry, I don’t remember.  It was really dark… I don’t know.”

             
“This is the key he gave me on my tenth birthday.  Give it to me!” Kara commanded, taking it from Maggie without waiting for a reply.  She held the necklace in her hand and as she admired it, the rest of the world seemed to disappear.  She was reminded of the distant memory of her birthday party.  It was a quiet evening in her house, and her mom had just brought the cake to the table.  Kara breathed in heavily, remembering in full the cake’s saccharine smell and her parents’ adoring eyes.  The nostalgia was broken when Styles snatched the key from her hand.

             
“Hey!” Sven protested on Kara’s behalf.

             
Had Kara not turned to ask Maggie additional questions, Sven might have considered reclaiming the key—perhaps even turning against his pacific nature if necessary.  “Did he say anything else?!”

             
Maggie scanned her memory but found nothing else.  “Uhh… I don’t think so.”

             
“Actually,” Ember said, joining everyone in the corner of the room, “he did say one more thing.  He told us to ‘tell her that I love her.’”  Ember was pleased that he was the one to tell this to Kara, and secretly, in the more self-centered crevices of his sub-consciousness, hoped that it would make her more affectionate towards him.

             
Kara’s heart seemed to melt.  She opened her mouth slowly but then closed it again.  She brought her hands to her chest and asked with closed eyes, “Is he still alive?”

             
“No,” Maggie said curtly, not knowing how else to break the news.

             
“It’s okay,” Kara said, with her eyes still closed…  “It’s okay…  He did it.  He made it.”  She turned to Styles and questioned him violently, “Do you believe me now?!  Huh?  Do you?!”

             
Styles was busy inspecting the key.  He tapped it against the wall and seemed to be listening for an echo.  “I suppose,” he said, too distracted by his examination to give her much attention, “but if I ever find out that you are traitors…”

             
“You’ll do what?” Sven said, trying to look daunting.

             
“I’ll kill all of you…  Even the quiet one in back.”  Everyone looked at Luna, who was still sitting down, and then back to Styles to gauge his seriousness.  He was not laughing but did possess a confident smile that seemed to suggest that he looked forward to the task.  Ember and Maggie laughed awkwardly.  “I need a place to stay by the way.”

             
Sven threw his hands up in the air,  “Are you kidding me?  Anything else that you need?  A hot shower?  A warm meal?”

             
“A pot and a lamp will be all,” he said, snapping off the ostentatious base of the key.

             
“Hey!  Just what do you think you are doing?!” Kara exclaimed.

             
Styles brought the key under Sven and Kara’s line of sight.  Kara seemed winded, and Sven jolted backwards.  Wide smiles fell upon both of their faces.  Ember crowded around them to see what they were looking at.  Maggie tried to squeeze her head between Ember and Sven’s shoulders, but was too short to see.  “What is it?  What’s going on?!”

             
“Seeds!” Ember exclaimed, understanding the significance of the finding.

             
Maggie crouched down and stuck her head between their elbows.  Styles lowered the key for her to see.  Inside the key was a hollow chamber containing seeds from the plant species
Toxicodendron radicans.

             
“One week ago,” Styles said slowly as if he were just now deciding that they could be trusted, “George and Marty met to discuss the Code.  George had been studying related plant species for years and had designed a program to predict the sequence based off of its surviving relatives.  He believed that with the program, and with its relatives as models, he could predict a reasonably accurate sequence that would open the Gate.  However, it soon became obvious that the task was harder than it appeared…  That’s where your father came in…  Your father told George that he knew of a way out of the Underground.  It was arranged that your father would leave the Underground and return with samples of the plant, and that we would subsequently sequence its DNA using another program that we made.” 

             
“He did it!  We did it!  We’re going to free the Underground without a drop of blood!” Kara shouted in ecstasy.  She turned around and gave Maggie a big bear hug, and kissed Ember on the cheek before dramatically falling into Sven’s embrace.  Sven lifted her off the ground and spun her around the room.

             
Styles looked at them with the pitying face of one who knew just how much toil lay ahead.  Though he was annoyed and wanted to break up their celebration, he decided not to.  He jumped up onto the table, key still in hand, and leapt through the narrow opening without using his hands to pull himself up.  The display of agility seemed even to Maggie and Ember, who were both accustomed to similar stunts back home, to be super-human.

             
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?!” Sven shouted, still wearing a smile.

             
“Your place.”

             
“But you don’t know where it is!”

             
“I’ll find out,” Styles said calmly before vanishing.

             
Kara could not contain herself.  She bumped into Sven intentionally and said between laughs, “This is crazy… this is crazy…  We finally find the seeds and we let… some strange guy who calls himself ‘Styles’ take it away!”

             
“I know…  right?” Sven said, also laughing between words.  “He didn’t… leave us… much of a choice…”  Sven and Kara were now jumping up and down.  They jumped over to Maggie and Ember and brought them into their embrace.  As Kara’s delicate fingers fell on Ember’s back, a surge of delight spread down his spine.  Ember was so happy that he felt that he could have died right then and there and still have been fulfilled.  Though it had hardly been forty-eight hours since Maggie and Ember joined the Underground, already Erosa seemed like a distant place.  Luna walked up from behind and put her hands around Ember and Maggie, resting her head between their shoulders.