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CONNOR LOADED THE LAST of the dishes into the sanitizer, stifling a yawn as he selected the appropriate cleaning cycle. The machine’s hum reminded him of so many evenings over the years—the full meal, the ritual cleanup afterward, and now the familiar sound of the sanitizer purging all microbes from their dishes.
This evening was different, on several jarring levels. The presence of the savages, the lack of genuine camaraderie and conversation around the table, and the incessant gnawing of the unknown tomorrow—it was a marked departure from his childhood memories.
He touched the metal lump under his shirt, caressing the locket’s outline. His mind wandered beyond their mission to rid the Enclave of the Givers. He was going to rescue Megan from the savages, no matter what it took.
He yawned again, and when he opened his eyes, Darcy was there, standing in the kitchen’s arched entryway. Connor waved a weary hand at him. Everything felt hazy and fuzzy, and all he wanted was to lie down.
“Here, you’d better take these.” Darcy held out his hand, dropping two red tablets into Connor’s open palm. “They’ll counteract the sedatives.”
Connor mumbled his thanks as he popped the pills into his mouth, stumbling across the kitchen to help himself to a juicer from the cooler.
“Where’d you hide them?” He propped himself against the counter as he waited for the medication to take effect. “In the meat, or the potatoes?”
He snapped his fingers, trying hard to focus on his hand and failing. “The dessert. That’s it, right? You put the sedatives in the dessert.”
Darcy leaned against the counter opposite him, keeping a wary eye on the gathering room. The savages were crammed into the guest room to sleep—you’ll need your energy for tomorrow—but Darcy was too smart to drop his guard. Or allow his voice to be overheard.
“All of the above.” A sly grin creased his face. “There’s too much at stake not to lace everything with sedatives.”
He took a generous sip of the whisky in his other hand. “The Colonel and Sheila will enjoy the deepest sleep they’ve had since . . . well, since the night they received their Implants. They won’t even realize we’ve taken Don and—what did she call herself—Snake Lady?”
Darcy chuckled. “After tonight, she’ll be more poisonous than she could ever imagine.”
Connor managed to focus on Darcy’s face. “You’re going to go through with it—the node, I mean.” He admired Darcy’s unflinching commitment to their cause. “That wasn’t a speech just for savages’ benefit, was it?”
Darcy sighed, looking pensive. “We—I don’t have a choice. It’s a strategic risk, Connor. Yes, I’ll have a node, and that will limit what I can do and where I can go. But it will also deflect suspicion away from us.”
He took another gulp of his drink, swallowing mightily. “The Council’s called for an emergency session tomorrow evening. I’ll have a node by then, and they’ll track my whereabouts if I don’t show up. But by the end of the meeting, I’ll know which Councilors survived the bombing. Then we’ll match our new Implants to them.”
Something was off. Connor’s thoughts moved sluggishly. Are the sedatives still affecting me?
He massaged his temples, hoping to clear his mind. “You mean the collaborators. Not the entire Council.”
“All of them,” Darcy hissed between his teeth.
He put a hand on Connor’s shoulder, his eyes glittering, alive with malicious fire. “None of them can be trusted. We’ll rid ourselves of the aliens and the blind fools who followed them. The Enclave will be humans-only again.”
Connor nodded, anticipating their next move. “And then we’ll reverse the Anodyne Initiative.”
Darcy laughed, digging his fingers into Connor’s shoulder to emphasize his point.
“No, no, Connor,” he said, still chuckling. “I’ve realized what a mistake that would be. Don’t you see? The Givers have given us a gift—the ability to keep tabs on the Enclave’s entire population. Think of it—think of what we could do for the good of the Enclave.”
Darcy released his grip and staggered into the gathering room. Connor stared after him, shaken. He doesn’t mean that. He’s drunk, that’s all.
But the more he thought about it, the more Darcy’s plan made sense. Even the parts that made Connor uncomfortable.
It’s for the good of the Enclave.