RIFT (The Rift Saga Book 1) (4 page)

“So now there was peace in the South, and the second Covenant lasted for seventy-two years. In the North, the wars continued, lasting for months and years at a time, but there were no clear winners. The northern enemies never managed to capture land for more than brief periods, while the Covenant leadership, based in its capital, Legacy, had never wanted the barren lands of the North, anyway, simply because they are worthless, and the cost of making a final push north would have been too high. Also, another threat appeared, that not even the Janissaries could contain alone.” Dave cocked his head. He’d never heard of this.

“Far to the west, even further than we are now, lies the Rift. A deep depression created by the Fall that separates the furthest reaches of the Covenant from a wasteland far more dangerous than anything found up north. A poisonous river runs through the Rift, creating a natural barrier, and sheer cliffs rise on both sides of this depression. Beyond the Rift, there are people, descendants of other survivors of the Fall, but very different. Disease and radiation have turned them into aggressive predators, fighting amongst themselves, scavenging. Some of the tribes are cannibals, others have turned to some sort of twisted religion, and human sacrifice is common.” Dave shuddered.

“A zone was created, two hundred kilometers wide, between the Rift and the Covenant. A forbidden zone, where only a few select people, in Service to the State, would be allowed. These people would be rangers, soldiers, scientists, and independent thinkers who knew when to act and how. They would be sworn to secrecy, because the sights they would see out there, and the things necessary to do to protect our people, were something our leaders decided to spare the people of the Covenant. These were the first Wardens, and this camp is located inside that forbidden zone.” Dave’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked around. Others seemed surprised, as well, even Liz, who always seemed to take everything in stride, never letting anything faze her.

“When the first Wardens began patrolling the zone, there were still only Moon people officers in the Services. Eventually though, even the English had to be put in charge among the lower ranks, because the Moon people, though they have multiplied since the Descent, were only so many. And when disloyal Janissaries and Wardens revolted, it was English commanders who put down the revolt. In recognition of their Service, Covenant leadership decided to extend the privilege of citizenship to all who serve honorably to their term’s end. Also, because of the mortality rates among the Janissaries, the term was reduced to three years instead of the usual seven. A good many other laws were passed in the final year of the second Covenant. So many that by year’s end, the third Covenant was proclaimed. Among the new laws was the creation of the Students, the Service where the University and the Academy would select the very brightest young men and women to be groomed into scholars.” It still stung. Dave knew he should have been among the Students, although he’d fit in just fine here in the Wardens. But still, the way the lecturer had just described Warden Service, he now felt a pang of regret, for not being up in Legacy, with Chas and Felicia.

“For thirty years, there was peace, and then the first Corpus revolt happened. It was put down hard, and ever since, life in the Corpus has remained… well, let’s just keep it at that. Corpus Service is a sacrifice, something that someone must do for the common good of all the rest of us. Those who manage three years in the Corpus are usually transferred from mining and farming to factory work, which is a bit better. Still hard work, but those working the factories have earned the right to better conditions. I’ll put it this way, in the factories, there are foremen instead of whippers.” The Warden seemed to have eased into his lecture a bit more, and it seemed less of a recital, now that he was approaching modern times. The initiates also seemed a bit more eager. Now and then, a question would arise, and the Warden would try to answer as best he could.

“Why do those people on the other side of the Rift try to come here?” someone asked.

“Well, there may be several reasons, but I suspect life out there can be pretty unbearable. Unfortunately, disease and radiation have mutated their genes so badly, we cannot allow them to pass the zone. So we stop them. Sometimes we have to fight them and sometimes we just help them return to where they came from. Next question?”

“Does anyone ever go the other way?”

“No, or at least, they won’t get too far. We have motion detectors and sensors all over the zone, and if someone should enter from the east, they will be turned back. The zone is forbidden. The Rift is something only a Warden should see. And the wastelands beyond, well, I wouldn’t want anyone to go there. Crossing the Rift is death. Next!”

“What caused the Rift?”

“The Fall. Or rather, the thing that caused the Fall. Next.”

“What caused the Fall?”

“A disaster. Only the Moon people know the details. Only the Moon people are allowed to know. Next.”

“The Moon people come from the Moon, right? What were they doing there?”

“I am not privileged to that information, and neither are you.” Dave noticed the questions were taking a turn away from the history lesson, and the lecturer seemed to tighten up by it, like he wasn’t supposed to talk about some of these issues. Warden initiates all seemed to be like him—curious, and although this line of questioning was interesting enough, Dave wanted to know more of the history.

“What happened after the first Corpus revolt?” Dave asked. The lecturer looked almost relieved at the question, and eager to answer.

“Well, when the Corpus first revolted, the third Covenant was deemed to have come to an end. After that, the leadership decided there would only be one “Covenant,” where new laws and orders could simply be incorporated into the old system.” He paused for a moment, thinking hard.

“Once the first revolt was put down hard, you would have expected there to be a long period of peace. But the opposite happened. The third Covenant ended seventy-one years ago, and in the first fifty years, there were three major uprisings. Now, this is classified information, not to leave Warden territory, you got that?” He waited until everyone either nodded or answered yes, before continuing.

“All evidence point toward outside involvement. That makes it different from the revolts of the past, which have all come from within the Covenant. The last three were instigated from the outside. Which poses a difficult question: who had the capability to threaten the Covenant?”

“Savages from the North?” someone asked. The lecturer made a gesture.

“Who knows? Could be that, or someone from the less damaged populations out west. They do have weapons out there, you know.” He shrugged.

“Either way, the last revolt was more than twenty years ago, and the Covenant has been very prosperous since then. Nowadays, I don’t see an uprising as a likely thing to happen. The economy is good, the Corpus seem quiet, the Janissaries are in control of the northern borderlands, and we have noticed nothing unusual out here. A few intrusions now and then, but they are swiftly dealt with, and it doesn’t seem organized in any fashion. No, I’d say this is a good time to serve, and hopefully you’ll all earn your citizenship in a time of peace and prosperity.” Dave couldn’t agree more. As long as there was peace, he would deal with the challenges his Service would throw at him. But as the lecture ended, he wondered if his time of Service would be as quiet and uneventful as the lecturer had expected, or if the last fifty years had just been the calm before the storm.

Chapter 4

MARK

He was late for his meeting with Head Servant Lunde, and should have been in a hurry. Instead, he took his time dressing after a long and invigorating shower. He figured Head Lunde would put up with it; after all, if not for Counselor Mark Novak’s mind, Lunde would be long dead, along with his wife and all of his mistresses, his children, and his children’s children. Come to think of it, the head servant’s children’s children’s children would probably be long gone, as well. He chuckled without mirth.

No, Moon people or not, everyone waited for Mark Novak.

He turned toward the mirror and looked at his face. Once, it had been a young man’s face, and one women tended to fall for. Although it rarely changed much these days, it had been a long time since his face had the features of a young, successful scientist and womanizer. His ice blue eyes still had that particular twinkle, and his hair, long, blond, and slicked back, showed not a single grey hair. Still, he could see where youth had lost, not to age, but rather agelessness.

He looked closer, putting a finger up near his right eye. A wrinkle forming. Crow’s feet. He exhaled deeply. It would be time for another treatment soon. Months of isolation, cryo sleep for weeks at a time, while the doctors worked their magic.

His magic.

He had long abandoned performing procedures himself, but he still worked on perfecting the small parts, all those little details, whenever he felt like doing a little work. Not that he needed to; it was just something he liked doing now and then, whenever his need to feel useful threatened to overwhelm him.

He wondered for a moment if he should call for a pleasure lady and some stimulants for after the meeting, but decided against it. He usually felt more tired afterward, and with another treatment coming up, he knew he needed all the energy he could muster. Besides, it just made him feel more empty, the kind of empty only someone as privileged as he would ever experience.

He looked away and put on his slippers. He should be grateful. The Moon people had given him everything in return for the treatments and his advice. He was a trusted citizen, a hero respected by everyone. The one who witnessed the Fall. The one who dealt the final blow to a dying nation, clearing the way for the Moon people to come into their right. The one who gave every citizen the chance to live forever. Or as close to it as anyone could possibly know, given that he was the oldest man in the world. The one who enabled the reign of the Moon people through the power of life itself.

Something gnawed at him, though; this constant feeling of… wrong.

That everything about this was so very, very wrong.

He had been a rebel once. He even brought his best friend into it, and look where that got him. His friend died, a broken man fallen from grace, held captive in a prison cell somewhere. And though Mark eventually got his revenge, in hindsight, it all looked pointless.

No, he was done rebelling.

Leaving his luxurious apartment felt good. It was but a few minutes’ walk to the Palace, but he enjoyed the vigor and bustle of Legacy. Although most people here, at least those visible to him, never had to work, they still seemed busy with some thing or another. If he managed to suspend disbelief for a few moments, it felt almost like walking through a prosperous city in the old world.

Almost.

He hardly noticed as he walked straight through the gates and up the walk to the Palace entrance. The Moon Palace Guard officer on duty saluted him, but Mark hardly acknowledged his presence. As the doors opened, he strode through the great reception hall. Everyone he met knew him by sight and moved out of his way. He ignored everyone as he walked to the elevator leading up to the apartments occupied by Head Servant Lunde.

Once the elevator stopped, he exited, and entered the head servant’s office, which took up the outer part of his apartments. The room was lavishly decorated, with gilded ornaments everywhere, in addition to the white and black of the Moon people covering the walls and ceiling. The carpet, oddly, was a deep crimson, and only a few people knew the symbolism. All of them Moon people, except for Mark Novak. Earth history from before the Fall was banned from non-citizen schools, and nothing of Moon history before the Descent was taught to English kids, either. And while most Moon children had learned of the Youth Revolution by the first grade, the grisly details were a long forgotten chapter. But he knew.

“Ah, there you are, Counselor,” Head Servant Lunde said, rising from his chair behind the enormous oak desk. He motioned for Mark to follow him over to the lounge chairs in front of the ancient fireplace, an artifact salvaged from the ruins of the house of the last president before the Fall. Mark thought it fit right in here, although, he mused, Lunde probably didn’t even know that president’s name. He held back a chuckle. Mark knew.

“You look tired, friend. Is it time again?” Mark nodded.

“No way around it.”

“Well, don’t hold off for too long. Everyone depends on you, Novak.”

“Yeah… Although I guess there would be plenty of people ready to take my place if I didn’t take it this time.”

“Don’t speak like that,” Alexej Lunde said, a frown interfering with his otherwise perfect features.
Movie-star face
, Mark thought.
Too perfect
. He half-smiled.

“Don’t worry. It’s just an old man’s grumbling,” he said.

“Well, you are old.” The head servant’s frown turned into a grin. “But I guess you are entitled to grumble.” He snapped his fingers, and a hologram appeared before them, showing a model of the continent.
Still so strange
, Mark thought,
to know that most people, citizens or not, would never see that image. They would only see the smaller version, the one showing less than a fourth of this.

“The Covenant,” Head Lunde said, as the model morphed into a three-dimensional map seen from a bird’s point of view, with the Covenant in white, the border in black, and everything else a dull brown.

“Surrounded by enemies. The coast held clean for the last century, thanks to the battleships and our orbital stations. The land border, though…” He shook his head. “We control the northern border, as we have for so long, although who knows what is brewing up there. The savages are a nuisance, but no real threat. Cannot even speak properly.”

“French,” Mark said, “or rather what used to be French. Evolved.”

“I know, and you know that I know,” the head servant snapped, “but it’s a brute’s language. Primitive.” He sat back and moved his fingers to enhance the westernmost part of the Covenant on the map.

“The Rift, though. There have been more than a few episodes lately.” Mark nodded. He’d seen this coming.

“Four years ago, it was the aircraft. Luckily, we had an orbital platform nearby and took it down before it reached visible airspace. Then, for the last two years, the number of incursions, both hostile and civilian, has increased. The Wardens consume twice the amount of Bliss now, compared to five years ago. The labs are hard pressed to keep up with demand. Some self-medicate because the latest version of Bliss tends to let fragments through from time to time, but kissweed or whatever they do these days, doesn’t fix their perception. Dulls it a little, I guess, but without Bliss, everything would unravel.” Mark nodded, impatiently.

“So what should we do about it, Alexej? Can we hold the Rift?” he asked.

“We need to ramp up production. More Corpus initiates, more labs, longer hours. No way around it. We need more Bliss, a lot more. As it is, the dosages are pushed so low, someone could develop immunity or worse, total recall.” The head servant paused, before he stared back at Mark, jaw set.

“Whatever we have to do, we will do it. The Moon people have always done whatever it takes. It is the will. To desire the means, as well as the end. We shall hold the Rift for a thousand years, Mark. A thousand years.” Mark saw it as clearly as he ever had then. The will to rule, the determination to use any means necessary to achieve their goals. The legacy of the Moon people, forged in the Moon dust, a force that had led them back to Earth, and one day would make them rulers of the entire planet. He saw it and shuddered. And yet, he was part of it, for better or worse. He had chosen sides a long time ago, and he meant to see it through.

DAVE

“So, basically, the Covenant consists of two economic systems?” Dave asked rhetorically. Scientist Hughes nodded back at him. Dave was eager and had found that the Wardens, although not as prestigious and well known for their research and knowledge as the Students, were a Service where those who had a thirst for knowledge might find themselves well situated. The scientists were only too eager to welcome initiates such as Dave, who had barely missed Student Selection. One of them, Rogers, claimed that those picked by the Wardens often had stronger motivation than Student initiates, which made them better scholars in the long run. Dave had learned that while the Students had their Academy and their University, the Wardens had their Cottage. It wasn’t well known, or glamorous in the least, but Dave was beginning to believe it might be equal to the Legacy institutions in quality of research and inventory of knowledge.

They had spent the first few weeks in camp, learning everything from how to build a fire and constructing improvised shelter, to physical training, to intermediate physics, chemistry, and economics. They had even learned the basics of handling a weapon. When they were deemed worthy, the initiates moved into the Cottage for a month of advanced learning. The scientists assessed each initiate individually, and Dave was among the first group to be awarded the honor. This was the first lecture at the Cottage he attended, and he immediately felt more at home with the more advanced levels of learning here, than with the more basic levels taught back at the initiate camp.

“Indeed, Initiate Wagner. How many of you have ever thought about why most people just sells their goods locally? Simple, it’s a matter of price and demand. To move goods further than a few towns away would increase the cost of goods, making them too expensive to sell, and unable to compete with goods carrying lower transportation costs. So that limits the business geographically,” Hughes said. Dave thought of how he had learned that all motor transport outside your allowed area was forbidden, and that trains and their cargo were controlled by the government in Legacy.

“So the people in Legacy, who get all their goods from the Corpus lands, though paying a higher transportation cost, actually pays less altogether because of the cheap labor,” Dave said.

“Service. Not cheap labor. Service to the State,” Hughes admonished mildly, a hint of a smile touching the corner of his mouth, before he addressed the class.

“But yes, a little blunt, but Initiate Wagner got it right. Those are the two economic systems we have in the Covenant. One that sustains a strong State and the welfare of its citizens, and one that ensures a sound economy, with an optimal distribution of goods among the non-citizens in every town from Charlestown in the south to Fort Winter in the north.” He looked at his watch. Unlike school back home, there was no set time and no bell to signal the end of one class and the beginning of another. No, it was all up to the scientists. And there was plenty of time between classes for such a flexible system, time that the initiates spent discussing amongst themselves, asking follow-up questions to the scientists, or just hanging out with friends. Dave found that even though he had thrived in the more disciplined system back home, he actually learned more, or rather, he gained a deeper understanding of the subjects, within the Warden system.

“Time for a break, folks. Scientist Kasparov will be ready in half an hour, so let’s try to stay close, shall we?” Everyone scurried out of the classroom, speaking loudly amongst themselves.

“Initiate Wagner. Will you stay for a few minutes, please?” Scientist Hughes said. Dave immediately froze. It must be something he said. He was terrified of messing up, now that he was beginning to think of the Wardens as so much more than just a second best option for his years of Service. He held back until everyone had left the room, standing a few steps away from Scientist Hughes, waiting nervously.

“David Wagner… Charlestown boy, right? We don’t get too many from your parts…” He made a swiping movement on his infopad, and read quietly for a moment. Dave remained quiet.

“Hm. Such a clever young man. I bet you expected to be somewhere else right now though, didn’t you?” The scientist sighed. Dave tried to think of something to say, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“Well, there’s not much glory or fame to be had here, so if that’s what you were hoping for, I can assure you, life here will be difficult for you.” He peered at Dave, cocking his head slightly to the left.

“But that’s not it, is it? No, I don’t think it is. You have something there, kid. Potential, yes that’s it. You don’t care about the fame and the prestige and all that, no… You seek knowledge. And such a seeker of knowledge can have a bright future here. Unless of course…” Hughes stopped abruptly. Then he smiled and closed the folder.

“The system isn’t perfect, far from it. But it’s the best we could possibly have. Before Descent and the Great Recovery, there was chaos. Before that, a system that in the face of danger, couldn’t protect its citizens.”

“But isn’t it unfair that…” Dave began, but stopped when he saw the hard look the scientist gave him.