The Grower's Gift (Progeny of Time #1) (9 page)

"The air is safe enough to breathe. Safer than it was a hundred years ago, even," Maya said. "I think the real problem is the water. It doesn't circulate the way it's supposed to."

Rober studied her intently. "You think it's that simple? You may have a point. I'll have to look it up."

"What's all this to you anyway?" Maya asked. "You have everything here."

"I could never reconcile all this with the millions stuck out there in the Badlands." Rober sat up, his eyes flashing. "More needs to be done to fix the planet. I'm sure the technology exists already. All that's missing is someone who will use it for good. And I mean to try."

"Are you serious? Why haven't they done anything yet then?" Maya took off her backpack and leaned closer to Rober.

"The general opinion is that the Earth can't support so many people anymore. It's why the ruling families of the Ring have closed it off to refugees. Basically they're waiting for most of the population to die out."

"I figured as much," Maya whispered. Hearing it confessed so plainly made the room spin around her. "I'd love to help you in any way I can."

"I'll need all the help I can get. There are not many who agree with my plans," Rober said.

Giles cleared his throat. "You know, we should get some sleep. Maybe you two can continue this conversation tomorrow."

Rober shot to his feet. "Right, I have to get up early too. I'll show you how to get some food before I go."

He walked them to the kitchen and explained how to get food by choosing from a scrolling menu beside a large black oven. "If it's not on the menu, then tell it what you want. Though this model is a couple of years old, so that might not work out so—"

"You have machines that can make food from nothing," Maya interrupted, "and you say you want to help the Badlands? Why not start with giving these things out?"

Rober blushed. "I'd thought of that. Even took some out in the beginning. The thing is, they
don't
make food out of nothing, and it's a very serious offense to give this tech to the Badlands. Life imprisonment. I thought I could do more good if I remained free."

"You're probably right. Sorry I shouted. I believe you want to help," Maya said.

After he showed them the bathroom and bedroom he left. As soon as the doors rippled closed behind him, Maya ran to the door and pulled on the handle. The door didn't move by so much as a hair.
 

"He locked us in?" Giles asked, appearing at her side.

Maya nodded.

Giles put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the kitchen. "I'm sure they'll let us leave tomorrow. This Rober, he seems alright. He definitely liked your gift. What do you feel like eating?"

"I'm not hungry. He didn't hurt you, did he? When he led you away?"

Giles kept his arm around her. "No, he took me to a smaller compartment, then spent the whole time reading something and muttering to himself. Probably some of those notes he was talking about before. I was going crazy worrying about you all alone with the rest of them, but he said you'd be fine and kept on reading."

Maya's appetite returned once she started scrolling through the menu.
 

By the time they finished eating, it was all Maya could do to get to the bed. She hadn't slept more than a few hours in the last two days. And since no one had harmed her until now, and Rober seemed to be on her side, she figured she was safe to sleep. She could hardly keep her eyes open long enough to undress before climbing under the covers.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The communication panel by his apartment door in the Remarque skyscraper froze when Ty pressed his tattoo against it to get in. An image of his father sitting in the leather armchair in his study, flashed across the screen. "Come here now, Tyberious. And turn on your phone."

Ty hastily deposited Isis into her enclosure before retreating back into the elevator. This summons was still far preferable to the alternative of his father having him shackled and brought to him directly from the landing site, which Ty had half expected to happen.

His father motioned for Ty to approach as he entered the study. There was only the one armchair by the fireplace, so Ty was forced to stand.
 

His father leaned forward in the chair making the leather creak. His bulky frame filled almost the entire width of it. "You know how important tomorrow's talks are. You were supposed to be back yesterday at the latest."

Ty avoided looking directly at his father's eyes, knowing how unnerving the man found his cold gaze. He looked at his forehead instead. The vein on this father's temple stood out, thick and pulsing. Ty would have to choose his words carefully or risk serious punishment. "Isis was injured during the hunt. We had to wait until she was stitched up and ready to move."

The compassion card was always his best bet with his father. Though as he got older, Ty wasn't sure his father still believed he had any left.

It worked this time, because his father's eyes lost some harshness. "So your lateness had nothing to do with the weapons that are missing off the craft? Or the two displaced you brought back?"

They'd only just landed. How could his father know all about that? Though if he was waiting this eagerly for Ty to return, he might have gotten word from any of the other checkpoints they'd passed.
 

"We took the weapons with us to the hunt, and forgot to retrieve them after Isis was torn up."

"You forgot the weapons?" his father yelled, then shook his head in disbelief. "What about the displaced? Did they get on the craft by mistake too?"

"Bringing them was Rober's idea. I didn't think it'd be a problem," Ty replied.

"Maybe you're not ready to take on extra responsibilities to your family and city. You'd clearly still rather be playing with your friends and your pets full time."

"I am ready," Ty mumbled. He very much hoped the day when he would have to take over as head of the family was still a long time away.

"I'm seriously beginning to doubt it," his father countered.
 

The door on the other side of the room slid open and his mother walked in. She fixed him with her kind gaze, smiling widely. If Ty's own eyes matched the kindness of hers, and not just the color, he wouldn't have such a hard time staying on his father's good side, he was sure.
 

"Don't be so hard on him, Caesar," she said. "Ty only wanted to have a little fun. You give him too many responsibilities."
 

His father took a long swallow of his drink and leaned back. "Maybe you should stop forcing him to help you at that facility of yours so much. Then I'd have more time to prepare him for running the city."

His father's tone was mocking, but at least he hadn't mentioned Isis and the real reason Ty was late. If his mother actually knew how much Ty cared about Isis, she'd do something about it as a matter of principle.
 

"Ty is indispensable to me and my work at the facility, and he's showing a real aptitude for it." His mother wrapped her arm around Ty's and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Ty fought the urge to back away from her.

"He's my son too," his father muttered into his drink. His mother ignored him.

"Ty loves to help me with my work, don't you? More than he likes helping you with yours."

Ty would love to never set foot into his mother's terrible facility ever again. However, it was his mother he had to fool, not his father. Of the two she was by far the bigger threat. At least that's what his old teacher Salvio always insisted.
 

Ty grinned at her. "It's certainly interesting to work at the facility."

The lie settled like a rock in his stomach.

His father let out an exasperated sigh. "He's never going to learn how to take over the family by tinkering with other people's special gifts all day. Though if that's what you prefer, Ty, I'll start looking for a new heir."

Most days for as long as he could remember, Ty wanted nothing more than to strip off his tattoo and go somewhere far away from Neo York. Tonight was no different. Yet, it could never happen. They'd find him, drag him back.
 

He looked directly into his father's brown eyes, willing the man to believe he was telling the truth. "I'm ready for more responsibility. I've proven it more than once since you gave me command in the Special Forces. Haven't I?"

The corners of his father's lips flickered up into a hint of a smile. "Yes, you certainly have lots of talent for that. But it's how you perform tomorrow that's going to prove how ready you are for more substantial command. I'd suggest you spend the rest of the night studying up on our plans for evacuation to Nova 18."

Ty drew a deep breath. "I've read and reread all the materials you gave me. Dakota and New LA are in breach of the contract on Nova 18. They've been secretly terraforming a whole section of it, and are already building the first settlements. They've been hoping to gain control over the whole planet while diverting your attention with the trade war over the new medicapsules. Now that we know, that won't happen."

Because you will have them all executed and claim the planet Nova 18 for yourself and Neo York.

Ty didn't say the last part out loud, and made sure nothing on his face betrayed he was thinking it. Nevertheless, he knew it was very likely the only possible outcome of tomorrow's meeting. His father hated alliances with the other cities in the Ring. The agreement on Nova 18 was one of the last such contracts he inherited from his own father and had not yet managed to terminate. It was a kind of open secret that Caesar Remarque had his sights set on becoming the head of the most powerful family in the Ring, a king of sorts. But no one spoke about that too often or too loudly.

His father's eyes flickered with something akin to pride. "Well, I'm glad to hear you haven't been wasting your time. Go to sleep now, the meeting starts at nine tomorrow morning."

His mother ran her hand across Ty's forearm. Her fingers caught on the bracelet Ty had forgotten to remove before coming home. "What's this then? A trinket from some Badlands girl? Is this why you're late?"

His mother's eyes lost none of the kindness, but her measured tone could cut glass.

Ty pulled off the bracelet and showed it to her. "No, this is just something I picked up for Eve. Do you think she'll like it?"

His mother took the bracelet and ran it through her fingers. "I suppose. She does have a certain fondness for such base products."

Ty took it back from her and put it in his pocket, then leaned over and kissed his mother's cheek. "Alright then, I'll see you both tomorrow morning."

~

Ty dialed Rober's number as soon as he was back in the elevator.

"Did you get them to your house alright?" he asked as soon as Rober finally picked up.

"Yes," Rober said groggily. "Don't worry, they're safe for the night."

"Where are they? I want to go explain the plan to them."

"What plan? You can see her tomorrow. They're probably asleep by now."
 

"I'll wake them up then," Ty insisted.

"Just go to sleep. There'll be plenty of time tomorrow."

Ty reluctantly hung up and changed the coordinates in the elevator to take him up to his own apartment.
 

First thing tomorrow morning he'd organize transport for Maya and Giles back to their home town. With luck, he'd even be able to go with them, make sure it was done properly. Once back in his room, he set the alarm for six in the morning, and was asleep in minutes.

He and Maya were sitting by the rushing river near her town, no drowning lady to save this time. Maya had just leaned in to whisper something in his ear when the shrill beep of his phone tore right through Ty's dream.
 

"Are you ready yet?" his father yelled when Ty answered the call. He could still almost feel Maya's soft hair brushing against his hand. The dream left him with a warm, pleasant feeling and made him sleep right through the alarm he'd set.

Ty tossed the covers off and got up, assuring his father he'd be ready in five minutes. The suit was already prepared for him, accompanied by a note from his mother written on the interactive wall of the closet door to wear it. She'd picked out a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and a collarless jacket that fit tightly over his torso and flared out at the back. Not what Ty would have chosen to wear, but it was impressive enough, made of thin, hand-woven wool, the shirt real cotton.
 

He dressed hastily, popped the breakfast ration into his mouth and ran down to the garage. The ration pills were so much less messy than eating actual food and worked equally well. His mother and father waited in the craft with the tiger that was his family's emblem worked in gold into the sides. The craft sped away as soon as Ty sat down.
 

His father shot him a disapproving look, yet didn't seem eager to voice any criticism with Ty's mother right there, which suited Ty perfectly fine. She'd defend him, and then his parents would spend the whole ride to City Hall arguing again.
 

A few minutes later, they entered the assembly room at the City Hall building through the back, coming in behind the raised panel table that looked out upon the conference room. His parents took their seats at the center of the table and Ty took his place behind them as their heir. A few seats down, Rober was standing behind his own parents as their heir. At the far end of the table Hercules Montague cast a shadow with his eight foot frame made up mostly of muscle. There wasn't much left of Hercules that was naturally grown with all the procedures the man had had. The last Ty heard, Hercules had had the bones of both arms replaced with a biotitanuim skeleton.

Ty tried to catch Rober's eye, but his friend was looking straight ahead at the far door of the room. It didn't matter, they couldn't talk about Maya here.

Someone ran up to hand Ty a microphone as the delegations from the offending cities were led into the room by four black clad Special Forces officers. The men and women looked haggard, like they hadn't slept at all. Ty glanced at their tattoos while they took their seats. Most bore smaller versions of the ruling families' marks, so Ty doubted any of these people were in any real position to make decisions. He was certain his parents and the rest of the panel would not forgive a slight like that from Dakota and New LA.