The Weapon (The Hourglass Series Book 2) (2 page)

Over
the next day or so Sarah, Marland and Finn were gradually allowed more freedom
around the town. Some of the townspeople, especially those who wanted nothing
to do with the military or any outsiders, gave them less then welcoming attention,
but most were friendly and pleasant and sympathetic to their cause. Some were
outright excited. Gary, in particular, was dogging their steps wherever they
went. Or rather, he was dogging Marland’s steps. They seemed to agree on almost
everything.

On
the fourth day, Gary ran up to them, his face hardly able to contain his grin.

“Guys,
come with me,” he said, grabbing Marland by the hand, “Harmony wants to talk to
you.” Marland had glanced back at Sarah and Finn excitedly as she had been
hauled off after Gary. Sarah and Finn exchanged a more wary glance.

“Gary’s
excited,” commented Sarah darkly.

“I
know what you mean,” replied Finn. “Gary gets excited about sneaking into
secret lab facilities where they do terrible, terrible things. Gary being
excited,” he summarised, “is not a good thing.”

Nevertheless
they followed after Gary and Marland to a small, private garden where Harmony
and one of her lieutenants were already seated on a bench.

“Marland,
Sarah, Finn,” said Harmony, greeting them all individually as they arrived and
nodding to the benches in front of her. They sat down, Gary and Marland
eagerly, Finn and Sarah cautiously.

“How
are you finding our little town?” asked Harmony pleasantly. “Settling in I
hope?”

“It’s
fantastic!” gushed Marland. “I didn’t even know a place like this was
possible!”

“Excellent!”
beamed Harmony. “Finn? Sarah? Is everything all right?”

“Um,
Marland’s right, it’s a lovely town,” said Sarah.

“Lovely,”
echoed Finn, rather unnecessarily.

“I’m
glad you’re settling in,” said Harmony. There was a pause and then Harmony,
clearly not one for subtlety, jumped right in to it. “You’ve probably guessed
by now that I didn’t just invite you here to make sure you’re making friends.
Actually maybe you already know why I’ve asked you here,” she added with a wry
glance at Gary, who managed to look both offended and joyously excited at the
same time. “When we went to investigate the alarm going off at the Hourglass
Group, it wasn’t just in the hope of sabotage, like I told you earlier. Our
main hope was actually to find survivors. You see, for some time we have been
hoping to expand our activities, and in order to do that we need more people on
our side. We need more people who know what is actually going on in the outside
world, that is, the atrocities the Covenant, the Accord, even the Hourglass
Group are actually committing for power. We have an idea, but we needed proof.
You three are our proof.”

Marland’s
jaw dropped open. “You want us to be whistle-blowers?”

“We
want you to tell your story,” said Harmony persuasively, mistaking Marland’s
amazement for horror. “So everyone knows what you’ve had to survive. And you’ve
got those barcodes to prove it. People might finally listen! They might finally
accept that this war needs to end, and that we, the common people, can end it.”

Sarah
was afraid that Harmony was going to launch into a full speech about duty to
the people and country when Marland cut her off joyously.

“Are
you serious?”

“Look,”
said Harmony soberly, “I understand if you don’t want to say yes straight away,
but take a few days to consider-”

“Oh
Harmony,” said Marland, “I’m in.”

“I
knew it!” yelled Gary, punching the air in triumph. “I knew you would want to
do it. You’re amazing, Marland.” Gary leaned down and kissed her.

“Oh,”
said Harmony, as they all waited awkwardly for the kiss to end. “Excellent.”

Marland
and Gary came up for air eventually. Marland’s face was red and she exchanged a
quick, excited glance with Sarah. Sarah wasn’t sure if that was about the kiss
or the whist-blower position, but she gave her a congratulatory nudge anyway.

“And,
er, you two?” asked Harmony, towards Sarah and Finn.

Sarah’s
heart sank. She didn’t want to be in the spotlight. She was probably already on
a wanted list somewhere, and she didn’t want to make it to public enemy number
one. She thought back to a month ago when she had believed that she only had to
survive three months on a ship and then she would be home. Now she was on the
run from both the prison authorities and the Hourglass Group. It was unlikely
that she would be able to return home anytime soon. If she went public with
what she knew, she would never be able to see her mother again.

“I’m
sorry Harmony,” said Finn as these thoughts were whirling through Sarah’s mind.
“I’ve found that during war it’s best to go unnoticed. Bad things happen when
too many people are looking at you.”

Sarah’s
sunken heart rose back up in her chest. At least Finn would be with her.

“I’m
sorry too,” she said, hoping that Harmony took bad news well. “I have family in
a Covenant city, and I would like to go back to see them some day.”

Harmony
sighed disappointedly but she didn’t look that upset.
“Well, three would have been better than one, but one was more than we were
expecting,” said Harmony.

Marland
looked over at them, their words finally sinking in through her bubble of
happiness.

“You’re
not going to stay, are you?”

Sarah
glanced at Finn, and then shook her head.

“But,
the Hourglass Group… after all they’ve done?”

“We’re
not giving up entirely, Mar,” Finn assured her. “We’re just going to do it
quietly. We might,” he threw Sarah a quick glance, and she nodded, “throw a few
spanners into the works if the opportunity arises, but we’re not going out
machine guns blazing.”

This
seemed to mollify Marland a little bit until she remembered that they were
still going.

“But
you’re still going?”

“Yes,
hopefully with a little help from Harmony,” said Sarah with a hopeful glance in
Harmony’s direction.

“Yes,
of course,” said Harmony with a glint in her eye, “especially if you were
serious about those spanners.”

“We
are.” Sarah turned back to Marland. “Mar, come with us, hey?”

Marland
shook her head sadly and grabbed Gary’s hand. “Sorry Sarah, this is where I’m
meant to be. This is my purpose. It’s everything I’ve dreamed of.”

“Yeah,
I thought so,” said Sarah with a sad grin, “it was worth trying though.”

“Excellent,”
said Harmony, standing up and ending the session before Marland could change
her mind. “I’ll start talking to people about preparations. Marland, we’re
going to need to find you somewhere permanent to sleep.”

Finn
stood up as well.

“Harmony,
before you go, can I chat to you about this?” He held up his wrist with the
barcode burnt into it. “It has to go.”

“I’ve
been thinking about that.” She turned to Marland, “Marland, I think you should
keep yours, as further proof that what you say is real.” Marland nodded
happily. Harmony turned back to Finn. “Are you sure you want to destroy yours?
They prove who you are.”

“I
hate every second it’s there,” said Sarah. Finn nodded in agreement.

“The
options of removing it aren’t exactly gentle, you know,” said Harmony
warningly. “We’re a small, independent town. No laser removal here.” Sarah’s
heart sank.

“What
about a tattoo?” Sarah didn’t really want a tattoo either, but the alternative
was unthinkable.

Harmony
just shook her head. “A tattoo won’t work. The scanner reads the raised edges
of the scar as well as the image. Unfortunately ink alone won’t smooth out your
skin. We can cut it out, but you’ll probably need a skin graft and those things
take weeks to heal. If you went on the road with a new one of those, even if it
did take, it would probably get infected. The only other option is-”

“I’m
not getting it burnt off.” It was a statement. Sarah had enough history with
burns to last her a lifetime.

Harmony
shrugged. “Then you cover it up, because that’s it.”

“You
can burn me,” said Finn, determined. “I want it off.”

Sarah,
Finn and Marland sat tensely on the table in the small kitchen, waiting for
Harmony to arrive. Greg was there as well, standing next to where Marland was
sitting. There was a small but hot fire burning away fiercely in the corner.

Sarah
bit her lip nervously. “Are you sure you want to-”

“Yeah,”
cut in Finn.

There
was a pause.

Marland
had a go. “But its proof that-”

“Don’t
care. Want it off.”

Marland
nodded silently and Greg squeezed her hand supportively.

Finn
turned to Sarah. “You should do this too. If they catch us they’ll know
everything about you as soon as they scan you.”

“I
know, I want it off too, but…” the Hourglass insignia burnt onto her
shoulder-blade and the barcode on her wrist itched simultaneously, “I just, I
just can’t be burnt again.”

Finn
stared at her for a moment and then nodded once. He turned back around to the
stove, which they were all facing.

Harmony
walked through the door and they all jumped slightly. She was carrying a metal
rod. She held it up briefly, showing it to them.

“I
got the medic to clean this so it should be nice and sterile. The fire should
do the job anyway, but I just wanted to be sure.” Finn nodded at her in
appreciation. Harmony went to the sink and wet a cloth before throwing it at
him. “Clean your wrist as well, hey? We don’t want to burn in any bits of dirt
or fabric that might be lingering there.” Finn scrubbed at his wrist while
Harmony moved over to the fire and heated her metal rod.

Nobody
spoke as they waited. Finally the rod glowed red and Harmony pulled it out.
Finn took a gulp of the nasty alcohol the town self-brewed and had offered to
him for pain relief. As the town was independent, the only medical supplies
they had were the ones they made themselves or that they managed to buy on the
black market from other, sympathetic sources. Finn had seen how tiny their anaesthetic
supply was, and turned down their offer to use it on him. If they went live
with what Marland knew, their town could easily come under attack. They might
need it themselves pretty soon.

“Ok,”
said Finn. “Let’s do this.”

Harmony
nodded and walked over. Finn jumped off the table, Sarah and Marland quickly
following. Harmony reached over and turned on the nearby tap.

“As
soon as I burn you, stick your wrist under the running water. Leave it there
for twenty minutes, no matter how much it hurts. The burn will still work but
it will diminish the scarring and the pain.” She hesitated. “At least, that’s
what the medic tells me.”

Finn
nodded grimly. He stuck out his arm.

“Sarah,
hold his arm tightly,” said Harmony.

Sarah
nodded and stood closely next to Finn, one of her arms snaked around his elbow,
supporting it, the other hand gripped his forearm.

“Ok,”
said Harmony, taking a big breath. “Ready or not.”

She
bought the rod down onto his wrist. Finn screamed. His arm shook and his
fingers went white as he squeezed his fist, but he didn’t pull away. Harmony
rolled the rod so that it covered all of the barcode and then took it away. The
whole thing lasted two seconds, but it was long enough.

“Quick,
get him to the sink,” said Harmony. The hand that she was holding the rod with was
shaking.

Sarah,
her face white as chalk, clumsily pushed Finn over to the sink and thrust his
wrist under the running water. Finn gave a small yell but kept it there with
her support.

“Ok,”
said Sarah, breathing heavily, “twenty minutes.” Her eyes flickered up to the
clock and marked the time. She looked back at Finn’s wrist. The rod had
blistered the skin and burnt through the top layer. There was no sign of the
barcode left. Finn was taking large, gulping breaths of air next to her. She
leaned into him as she continued to support his arm. He leaned back. It was the
closest they had been to each other since that evening underneath the pier.
Despite everything, it felt nice.  

After
twenty minutes had passed Harmony put some paste that the medic had given her
over the wound and wrapped it in a bandage. She then passed Sarah a thick,
leather bracelet that tightened around her wrist like a watch, covering her own
barcode.

“It’s
hardly foolproof,” said Harmony, “but better than nothing.”

“Thank-you,
Harmony,” said Sarah, meaning it. “For everything.”

They
left the next day. Marland left a meeting with the others to say goodbye. Now
that they had her insider knowledge of the layout of the Hourglass Group
compound, the townspeople were planning on breaking in and releasing the other
prisoners. After that they were going to use Marland and any of the other
prisoners who wanted to stay around and help their cause to publicise what was
happening. They already had an underground radio station in play. Now they were
going to go mobile as well, sneaking in to other towns and cities, telling
their stories, spreading the word. It was, Marland had told them
enthusiastically, just the start. The first step, she said, was to make people
aware of what was happening, get them on their side. Once they had convinced
the populace of what was happening, then they could coordinate further
infiltration, sabotage bigger things, make more of a difference. Sarah didn’t
want to say goodbye but Marland’s eyes had shone with so much enthusiasm and
hope that she wasn’t going to force her into coming with them. That being said,
she still tried.

They
were standing outside the building where Harmony’s group were discussing their
next move. Both Finn and Sarah were wearing backpacks stuffed with food and
water and other basic equipment to help keep them alive over the next few days.

“Mar,
are you sure you don’t want to come with us? What you’re doing is going to be
dangerous. Really dangerous.” She thought back to how nervous Marland had been
when they had been dealing with the Queen, and this was on a whole different
level.

It
was like Marland knew what she was thinking. “Don’t worry, Sarah,” she said
with a smile. “It’s not like before. Now I have a whole town behind me, and it’s
not just about us anymore. We have a proper cause.” Her smile was beatific.
Somehow in the last few days the nervous, conspiracy theory-spouting girl she knew
on the ship had changed into this dedicated, determined rebel.

“Yeah,
but-”

“Besides,”
cut in Marland, “it’s not like what you’re doing is without risk. Anything at
all could happen to you guys. Do you even know where you’re going?”

That
stopped Sarah in her tracts. Marland had a point. Even if they somehow managed
to avoid the military, they could get lost in the woods, run out of food, get
attacked by an animal… the possibilities were endless.

“Harmony
gave us a map,” replied Sarah, ignoring the part about risk. “There’s a city a
couple of days walk from here. If we can slip in somehow we can maybe start
anew, incognito.”

“And
then what?”

“I
don’t know,” Sarah shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, like it had just occurred to
her, although she had been thinking about it quite a lot, “after a bit of time
has passed, I might be able to get back into my old city. See my mum and uncle
again.”

“I
hope you succeed,” said Marland, meaning it. She leant in and gave Sarah a hug.
Sarah hugged her back.

“Thanks
Mar,” she whispered. “Good luck with, well, everything. I hope you change the world.
Oh, and Harmony’s given us some tips on how to throw those spanners.”

They
pulled apart, Marland laughing before turning to face Finn.

“And
you?” she asked kindly. “What’s in store for Finn?”

“I
just want a fresh start,” said Finn with a shrug. “What I had before was…
messy.”

Marland
nodded and hugged him as well.

Greg
came out of the building holding the meeting. “Mar,” he said, “we’re going to
take a vote.” He nodded at Sarah and Finn and then ducked back inside.

“You
better go,” said Sarah with a smile.

Marland
burst into tears. “If you ever need anything, just let me know,” she said. “I
owe you two everything.” She darted forward and gave them each a quick hug and
then hurried back inside.

Finn
and Sarah turned to each other. Finn executed an elegant half bow. “Lead the
way.”