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Blood pounded in Eli’s ears as he ran with Mabel and Shane down Wagner Avenue. They would never be able to outrun the recruits, who were howling in excitement behind them, elated by the chase. Eli didn’t know where they were heading but knew instinctively that their only hope was the blind trust he had placed in Shane. Even if the odds were against them, it seemed logical that their best bet for escape lay with him.
A row of parked transports came into view at the end of the road. Shane bypassed the first few before hopping in the third. “Quick, get in!”
The siblings just managed to scramble into the vehicle as Shane floored it, but it was too late. Miles and his gang had caught up, one of the recruits leaping up onto the back bumper and grabbing hold of the tailgate. His expression was a mix of wild exhilaration and rage as he reached toward Mabel.
“Eli!”
Eli was already moving. He put himself between his sister and the recruit and held tight to her chair for balance as he raised his leg, kicking hard. His foot connected with the young man’s fingers and, cursing, he tumbled onto the asphalt, rolling and shrinking rapidly behind them. “We are in so much trouble,” Eli moaned. He squeezed past his sister, who was now seated on the floorboards with her head between her knees.
Shane shot Eli a look as he took a seat beside him. His mouth was set in a hard line, his eyes calculating, proof that his training was at work. It was the twitch of his lip that betrayed his worry. “We need to get you someplace safe to wait this out,” he said. “Maybe I can talk to Miles, smooth things over.”
Eli only nodded in agreement. He could not think of a decent reply.
Strategically, the streets of Gables were a horrible place to be the object of a pursuit by skilled military personnel. They wove together in neat lines, wide and clean and curving out of view far in the distance. Still, Shane seemed to have a sense of where he was heading. He kept his cool as Eli continued to stare at the road behind them, waiting for Miles’ inevitable appearance.
“Do you think they gave up?” Eli asked, attempting to keep his voice from shaking.
Shane chewed on his lower lip, risking a quick glance at Mabel in the back seat. “I can’t be certain,” he said after a moment. “They might just report the incident, because they know there’s nowhere to hide. But Miles—”
The sound of screeching tires finished Shane’s thought for him. Eli’s head whipped around again, and he spotted two transports turning out of an intersection and speeding in their direction. They were still a way off, but gaining fast. Mabel gasped, spotting their pursuers. “It’s them!” she cried.
Shane didn’t miss a beat. He yanked the steering wheel hard, pulling the transport to the right, leaving a black rainbow of rubber in their wake. He accelerated down the empty side street, the wind making Eli squint as he felt inertia dragging him across his seat. Shane made a quick left. They were headed toward the Maglev Station.
“You can’t be serious!” yelled Eli. “Even if they let us on the train, we’ll be sitting ducks!”
Shane’s face was set, grim and pale. “We aren’t getting on the train.”
They shot past the entrance and continued on, entering a service road. If there was one thing Eli knew about service roads, it was that they were dead ends, not throughways.
“Shane—”
“Hold on!”
The end of the road was approaching quickly, little more than a dirt ramp in front of them leading up onto the raised Maglev tracks.
“Are you crazy?” Eli asked, eyes darting back and forth between the tracks and Shane as he realized what was happening. “Shane! This is a bad idea.”
“They won’t follow us,” Shane replied through clenched teeth.
“Of course they won’t follow us,” Eli snapped, “this is suicide, they won’t need to!”
Shane slowed just long enough to position them on the tracks, which were just barely wider than the transport, before hitting the accelerator again. The ground around them disappeared as they picked up speed and the station shrank behind them. There was no guardrail, only a steep drop on either side. Eli tore his gaze away from the horrible death that waited to swallow them and focused instead on the lunatic driver.
“You’re going to get us all killed,” he said in a low growl.
“Maybe,” Shane admitted, risking a glance down at the dashboard clock. “Three twenty. That gives us forty minutes until the next train departs, and I don’t think there’s any way off these tracks before the next station.”
Eli swallowed hard, peering out the open window. The air bit at his face as he looked down. Between the edge of the tracks and the transport’s tire, a scant six inches of space existed. His eyes trailed outward. The ground below was a blur as they raced on, thirty feet or so down. He wondered how long it would take to fall thirty feet, and if they’d feel any pain at the moment of death.
“Mabel,” he said, wondering if his thunderous heartbeat might drown out the words, “if we don’t make it out of this, I just want you to know that you are the best sister in the world and that...I’m sorry.”
He looked back at her. She was pale, but she gave him a confident smile. “We’re going to make it,” she assured him. “We’ll be okay.”
Eli wasn’t sure how long he stared, unable to rip his gaze from the shifting landscape. It might have been hours, or only minutes. The transport veered ever so slightly to the left, causing Eli’s heart to leap into his throat and jerking him back to the present.
“Sorry!” Shane yelled. “Got distracted.”
Eli turned to him in amazement. Shane’s face had gone rigid. “Distracted? How could you possibly be distracted when you’re six inches from death driving at...sweet heavens! A hundred and thirty kilometers per hour? Shane, you’ve got to slow down. You said it yourself, they aren’t going to follow us up here.”
“I can’t slow down,” Shane said grimly. “There’s going to be a train on this track in less than twenty minutes. The Maglev tops out at six hundred kilometers per hour, and it’s normally a ten minute trip, but it takes a bit for it to pick up speed. So I’m thinking the total distance between that station and the next is about ninety kilometers. Now, if we had forty minutes to begin with and ninety kilometers to travel, I either need to keep a constant speed of one thirty to make it or the train is going to run right into us.”
Eli vaguely remembered doing problems like this in school. He’s always hated those problems. He hated them even more, now. “I can see why all that math might be distracting,” he admitted. “But please try to stay focused.”
“Wouldn’t the train slow down for us?” Mabel asked from behind them.
Shane frowned. “They’ve crashed into things before. They’re automated. They have sensors, but at that speed it takes a long time to stop. Oh, man, I didn’t factor in how long they take to stop!”
“I doubt the transport can handle this speed much longer, anyway,” Eli said, dropping back into his seat in resignation. “It’s designed to putz around the city, not outrun a train.”
“Actually, this is a military prototype. That’s why I chose it.”
“So?”
“So this isn’t a civilian taxi cab, Eli. It’s built tougher, and faster. Gah, my neck is starting to cramp up.”
“You just said military stuff was tough! Pull yourself together. Cramps are better than dead!”
Shane grimaced, but gave a curt nod. “Right.”
They were racing across a wide canyon now, a streak of blue far below. Ahead of them the bridge met the edge of the canyon and travelled a short distance before disappearing into the mountainside. Gazing up at the high peaks, Eli realized that he had never truly appreciated the fact that the Maglev travelled through the base of a mountain in a matter of a few minutes. Just how wide were they, anyway? But his musings came to an abrupt halt as a familiar, terrifying sound reached his ears.
Mabel gasped, and Eli turned to see her staring across the chasm toward a rapidly growing point on the horizon. The train.
“Oh, crap,” was all Eli could manage.
Shane was shaking his head. “We aren’t going to make it,” he told them. “We have to get off the tracks.”
“I don’t see how we’re—”
“Mabel,” Shane instructed, “If you aren’t buckled in, do it now. And hold on to whatever you can.”
“Of course she’s buckled in,” Eli shouted, “You’ve been going—”
The sound of Mabel’s buckle clicking into place cut him off and he looked back at her, appalled.
Mabel shrugged. “I didn’t think it really mattered at this speed,” she admitted. “If we crash, my seatbelt isn’t going to save me.”
“Try to stay focused, guys, this will all over in a minute, one way or the other.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Eli said, strapping his own belt and grabbing hold of the bar above his head. The Maglev was growing louder. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look...
“Hang on!” Shane said, “I’m going to pull us off before we reach the tunnel!”
“There isn’t enough distance to slow down!”
“It doesn’t matter. This is the only chance we’ve got.”
The whistling of the Maglev grew to a roar and Eli’s eyes snapped shut. “Mabel!”
“I know!”
“Here we go!”
Eli felt himself lift off the seat as they began to turn. The weightless feeling continued for several moments that felt like an eternity as the transport came off the tracks and hit open air. It hadn’t looked like a great distance when Eli had seen it from the bridge, but now it seemed as though they were plunging toward the earth from somewhere high in the atmosphere. There was a horrendous jolt as their tires made contact with the ground, the force of the impact jerking Eli’s head toward the dash. An airbag exploded in his face, forcing him back as the bursting of several tires rang out like gunshots. Their inertia was still pulling the vehicle forward despite the tires and Shane’s desperate attempt to bring them to a stop as they careened into a spin that pinned Eli against his door.
Eli was just able to register the Maglev whizzing by them before the transport finally ground to a halt, the train disappearing into the tunnel behind them.
He struggled with the airbag, pressing it down until he could see. In front of them lay the open expanse of the canyon they had just crossed, the nose of the transport inches from the precipice.
Eli couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. He looked at Shane, who was breathing heavy with a look of disbelief on his face, then at Mabel, who was white as a sheet. A large red mark was fast becoming a lump on her forehead, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.
“I can’t believe you pulled that off,” Eli said, once he was able to think clearly again. He was looking at Shane with new-found admiration.
“I know,” Shane said, staring back with a black expression. “Neither can I.”
* * *
AS THEY DISEMBARKED from the transport, Eli still couldn’t figure out what had come over him. For a short while that day, he’d felt almost human. As if there really were hope for a better future. None of his normal pent-up anger or intrusive anxieties had plagued him. And then he’d found himself on top of Miles, assaulting a member of the military. It was an offense punishable by death, and they all knew it. For Shane to have risked his own life to help them escape was...was...
“Oh man,” Shane groaned, walking in a slow circle around the transport to inspect the damage, “they are not going to be happy with me.”
“What’s the punishment for destroying Next Level property?”
Shane’s frown deepened. “A lot less than for aiding and abetting someone running from the law.”
It was Eli’s turn to frown. “About that,” he said. “You...didn’t have to. What I mean is—”
“He’s trying to say ’Thank you.’” Mabel finished. “I don’t want to think about what they’d have done to Eli if we stayed.”
“Yeah, but now what?” Shane asked. “I was only thinking about getting you out of Miles’ hands. I have no idea where to go from here.”
“Wherever here is,” said Mabel. “Even if we wanted to get back, how could we?”
“Don’t worry,” said Shane. “This canyon is a tourist trap for city folks. If we head that way,” he pointed, “We’ll come to a ranger station. From there we can arrange transport.”
“But to where? We can’t go home. We just committed a felony. A couple, probably.”
Eli didn’t answer right away, but the solution was already forming in his mind. “Shane,” he asked, a sense of urgency overtaking him. “You said this was a military transport. Are there any supplies on it?”
Shane’s brow furrowed. “Sure, they always keep some emergency stuff handy.”
“Food? Water, shelter, stuff like that?”
“Yeah, here, see?” Shane rounded to the back of the vehicle and, with some difficulty, lifted the trunk. Several heavy-looking backpacks sat, unscathed by their brush with disaster. “For training exercises.”
“Mabel,” Eli said, rounding on her. “I want you to take one of these and go.”
“What?”
“Listen, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m sure Miles’ will have people waiting at the next station. When we don’t show up, they’re going to come looking for us. You need to take these supplies and head for the slums outside the Dead Zone. Lay low for a bit. Give things time to cool down. After that, contact our parents.”
Mabel just stared at him, wide-eyed with disbelief. “What are they going to be able to do, Eli? Come home and make everything all better? You think they wanted to leave us behind? They had no choice.”
“They’ll find a way to make it work,” Eli insisted. “I’m sure of it.”
Shane was nodding. “He’s right,” Shane said. “If you two travel at night and hide during the day, you should be able to make it undetected. There are plenty of passes through these mountains. They made them when they were building the Maglev tracks, but no one uses them anymore. No one would suspect you’d head that way.”
“Right.” Mabel had gone still, staring at the mountains with apprehension. “Because they’re called ’Dead Zones’ for a reason. The people in those slums are barely surviving, they’ve been pushed to the outer limits of habitability.”
“You have a better chance of surviving in the slums than you do if Miles gets ahold of you,” Shane said with dark sincerity. “He’s vindictive. He’s not going to show mercy. I don’t need to tell you the penalty for what happened back there.”
Eli looked from his sister’s frightened face to Shane’s determined one. “What are they going to do to you?”
Shane looked surprised. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I can handle myself.”
But Eli was shaking his head. “No. I did this. This is my fault. I want you to take me back with you.”
A look of horror flashed across Shane’s face. “Uh, I’m sorry, but did you not see what I just did to get you away from the city?”
“If I don’t come back with you, you’re going to be the one paying the price for my mistake.”
“Eli, I’m a member of the military, not...” he swallowed, cutting his own thought short.
“Not what?” Eli demanded. “Some lowly corporate orphan, like us? You’re right. You have rank, and maybe that helps with a lot of things. But if anything, you’re going to be punished more harshly for what you did because of that rank. No. I’ve decided. Mabel will head for the Dead Zone, and I’m going back with you. You can turn me in. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to satisfy Miles.”
“No!” Mabel shouted, finding her voice. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you do this.”
“There isn’t time to argue about it, Mabel,” Eli said. “If Shane turns me in, he’s off the hook, and it will buy you time to get away from here.”
“If you’re going, I’m going, too.”
Eli groaned in frustration. “Mabel, please. Miles doesn’t care who hit him. We’re nothing to him. I won’t let you get dragged into this because of me.” He steeled himself, looking to Shane. “Give her whatever might be useful.”
Shane studied his face. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
How could I possibly be sure? “Absolutely.”
Shane started transferring supplies from one bag into the other, packing in as much as he could fit. Eli was watching him when he felt Mabel’s hand slide into his and give a gentle squeeze.
“Eli, they could kill you.”
He forced a chuckle. “How often do you see capital punishment handed down for minor infractions?”
“There’s nothing minor about what we—”
“What I,” he corrected her. “What I did. I’m most likely facing a life of indentured servitude at worst. And really, could it be any worse than working for Farway?”
Mabel’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a joke, Eli.”
He released her hand and took her by the shoulders, willing her to understand. “I need you to do this for me, Mabel. I need to know you’re safe. I could never forgive myself if you get caught up in this. I’ve already cost our family so much suffering. I’ve...” He shook his head. Now was not the time. “Go,” he told her. “Just go. Get out of here. Keep out of trouble, call mom and dad. Draw beautiful pictures. The slums, they aren’t the city. But they’re not a death sentence. And it won’t be forever. And at least you’ll be free. I know you can make it out there. If anyone can thrive under pressure, it’s you.”
Mabel bit her lip as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Shane returned to their side with a pack in his outstretched hand. “We need to get going,” he said.
“I love you, Mabel,” Eli told her earnestly as she threw her arms around him.
“I love you, too.”
Wiping her nose with her sleeve, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll find a way to get you out,” she whispered. “I’ll find a way. I promise.”
“Okay,” Eli agreed, watching her as she slung the pack over her shoulders. She began toward the mountains, glancing back with longing in her eyes. He smiled at her, giving an encouraging nod. Okay. The last thing he would ever say to his sister. It seemed so inadequate. But she had offered an empty promise, and he had accepted it because he knew it was the only way she could bring herself to leave him.
He couldn’t recall a single other time in his life where Mabel had lied to him.
“Let’s go.” Shane grabbed his arm and tugged. Eli turned and followed, the surroundings no longer appearing in sharp detail. Everything was blurred, somehow. Like when they’d been racing along the tracks. Now, it seemed, they were once again racing toward death. He didn’t feel the same, though. He didn’t feel unease and fear. He followed Shane with a single focus.
“Checkpoints.” The hot sun was unforgiving, beating down on the back of his neck as they trudged along. “Where can we find some?”
“All over. There should be one at the ranger station.”
“Good. I want to keep Miles’ eyes on us. Give Mabel time to get farther away.”
Shane nodded with understanding. “All right,” he said, his voice a bit hollower than Eli had ever heard it.
He followed the older boy on a long, circuitous trek that seemed to circle the entire city. He was tired and hot and thirsty, but none of that mattered. When Shane came to a halt, Eli watched him with detached curiosity. Shane seemed hesitant.
“What is it?” His dry throat made his words raspy.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Shane pressed. “Once we hit a checkpoint, they have us. They’ll be on us quick after that.”
Eli nodded, at peace with his decision. “I don’t want you to take the fall with me,” he said.
“I’d probably get a slap on the wrist.” Shane waved his hand with unconvincing indifference. “You, on the other hand...”
“It was stupid, and it was my fault,” Eli told him. “I’m not going to run. Let’s just get this over with.”
Perhaps Shane spoke on the journey after that, perhaps not. Either way, Eli wasn’t paying any attention. He was thinking through all of the what ifs of the morning’s events. What if he had not let Mabel talk him into accompanying Shane to the ball game? What if he had been able to walk away, ignoring Miles’ provocation? What if he had let Shane take the fall, leaving with Mabel and making for the slums?
But there was a common element among all of his “what if” scenarios. None of them focused on his responsibility for his actions. They all placed the blame on others. Shane, Miles, Mabel...oh, Mabel. They’d always been a team, the two of them against the world. How would she fare now, without Eli watching her back? She’d always put everyone else first. What if she ignored his advice, refused to burden their parents by dragging them into this mess? What if she decided to try to make it on her own? What chance did a fifteen-year-old girl have in the slums?
No. She would make the call. Mom and dad would find her, and they’d do what needed to be done. Take another job somewhere, learn to live with less.
But what about before that? He shuddered to think of her out there on her own. She had always been so naïve, so trusting. And yet...and yet Eli had always hated being labelled because of his status. He had to believe that the people out there were not what the media portrayed. Not shady criminals and violent hooligans. They were people, down on their luck, trying to survive. People who would, he could hope, embrace Mabel and help her. Life at the edge of civilization had to have made them tough. Maybe it could do the same for his sister.
He would never find out. Eli wasn’t fearful that they would take his life for his momentary lapse of judgement, even though the law said they could. But he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that a lifetime of incarceration in some form or another was the only future Val Int would have in store for him. And yet, somehow, he was at peace with the choice he had made. He’d given Mabel her best chance, and Shane would be able to get on with his life.
He looked the blond boy up and down slowly, studying his stiff gait and his solemn expression. Shane had shown him what a hypocrite he’d been, quick to judge while bemoaning how he was judged himself. The world needed more Shanes, especially in respect to the military. People with genuine hearts, who saw people as people instead of what Val Int had designated them to be. Eli would be the one to take responsibility for his actions, for once in his life. And maybe that would pave the way for Shane and those like him to be a force for good in the world.
The ranger station came in to view. They approached it in silence and entered the little café area. Eli looked around, noting the pleasant chatter of the scattered tourists, the happy smiles on their faces. Surreal.
“That’s it. They’ll know we’re here. Now we wait.”
Eli nodded.
“Anything you want to do? I could...buy you a cup of coffee?”
This brought a faint smile to Eli’s lips. “No, thanks.”
Just as Shane had predicted, a ring of uniformed Enforcers stood waiting for them at the door when they stepped out of the station a few short minutes later. He found himself smiling as he allowed himself to be led to a waiting helicopter. At least they would not have to walk. He was tired of walking. He was tired of a lot of things. Now, maybe, he could just rest.
Shane was riding in front, speaking into the headset they’d given him. Eli couldn’t make out the words over the whirling propeller. The Enforcers sat stock still and did not acknowledge whatever the young man was saying. When they arrived at their destination, Shane continued to badger the men, Eli several paces behind and flanked on either side by silent guards of his own. He found himself rather surprised to see Shane treated so disrespectfully. He would have expected an Enforcer to respect a military recruit, or at the very least acknowledge one. They were, after all, on the same team.
The inside of Next Level HQ was much different from the parts of the campus Eli was familiar with as Farway’s lab assistant. The high ceilings were painted a clean white, the walls a pale yellow that, while not Eli’s particular favorite, was far better than the stealth lab’s grey, porous cement. And it smelled better, too. No hint of mildew or stale pastry tainted the air. The lights were bright but spread far apart, so that their intense beams spilled down in cones between which the floor lay in shadow. Eli felt as though he were marching from one cage to the next as they made their way across the long foyer through the pools of light. He looked up as they stopped, finding himself before an impossibly high desk behind which stood a stern-looking man whose eyes skimmed over them like a hungry predator. Clean shaven and bald, the man’s head gleamed beneath the overhead light, glinting like metal as he turned his thin face to look down his nose at the party.
“Is this the one?” he asked, addressing the Enforcer beside Shane, who nodded.
The bald man’s eyes slid over the others and came to rest on Eli, who swallowed hard under the intense distaste that seemed to pierce him. “Assaulting a military recruit is a felony offense. You are aware of this fact, yes?”
Eli nodded. “Yes.”
Shane was shifting from one foot to the other, clearly not wanting to interrupt the bald man, but at the same time desperate to speak. Eli wished he would be still. He was going to get himself in trouble.
“And you have come here of your own accord?”
Eli pointed to Shane. “I was escorted by this military recruit.” He didn’t want to name him and make it appear that they were friends, nor did he want to elaborate and let the man incriminate Shane in some sneaky way. He just wanted to make clear who was responsible for his capture and say no more. “He brought me in.”
“But you came willingly?”
Shane cast a glance at Eli, who refused to return it under the interrogator’s scrutiny. But out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Shane give a faint nod.
“I didn’t wish to come,” he decided on. It was the truth, after all.
There was a long pause as the bald man studied him further, crinkling up his nose as he at last said, “Very well. Take him away. I will record the charges and sentencing will be scheduled.”
This was too much for Shane. “Sentencing? But there needs to be a trial. He isn’t even proven guilty. He’s only been accused—”
“You are already on thin ice, Mr. Stokes, and I would advise you to hold your tongue,” the bald man snapped, releasing Eli from his icy glare and turning to address Shane. “We have eye witness testimony from a dozen military recruits, as well as video footage from bystanders. There is hardly a need to put this to trial. Not to mention that you yourself have shown a serious lapse in judgement by allowing one of the perpetrators to escape. Rest assured that there will be consequences for your actions.”
Shane shut his mouth, his tight lips forming a thin line, his brows furrowed over troubled eyes.
Eli’s cell had no windows, and the light never went out. There was a small cot with no blanket, and a toilet but no sink. Though he called out, there was no answer from either guard nor fellow prisoner.
He kept track of the days to follow by the number of plastic trays stacked haphazardly beside the cell door. The slot opened, and a meal would appear, but no one ever bothered taking them away. By tray nine, a thin carpet of mold began to peek out from the corners of the first few in the pile. By tray twelve, he stopped placing the pile in the slot in hopes that it would be taken. Each time, the new tray simply shoved the old ones back into the cell, toppling the pile to the floor with an angry clatter as bits of mold flew in all directions.
By tray eighteen, he gave up asking questions. No one ever answered them. His life was silent now, lonely. He did not know when he would face sentencing, and though he had once believed his life was in no danger, now he felt nothing but a nagging uncertainty. What did his life matter to Next Level, or Val Int? Nothing. He had no allies, he held no high station. Miles had said it; he was trash, and no one would be troubled when he was tossed away.
Huddled in the corner, a threadbare pillow clutched against his chest, Eli spent long hours pondering Mabel and Shane’s fates. When he was awake, he had hope. But when he slept, their cries tormented him. He watched as they were chased by Miles and the bald man, faceless Enforcers blocking every escape.
He awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. His eyes stung. He counted the trays again. Fifty-four. How much longer would they make him wait before they sentenced him? Was the punishment alone not enough? Was the waiting necessary? Eli wondered if the courts were so busy prosecuting criminals that his own case was just not a priority. Still, they had refused him so much as a trial—how difficult would it be to declare his punishment and move on?
Not for the first time, he considered the chilling idea that perhaps he had been sentenced in secret. Sentenced to live out the remainder of his days in silence beneath the glaring light until the trays overwhelmed him and he died, buried and unable to breathe beneath their moldy depths.
The hollow sound of footsteps approaching drew Eli cautiously to his feet. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, but his stomach did not suggest that it was time for tray fifty-five. His shoulders did not have the characteristic stiffness that they usually exhibited after long hours supporting him in the cold corner of his cell.
The heavy door creaked as it swung open. The stick-thin man who stood on the threshold did not make a very threatening prison guard. His uniform was ill-fitting, too baggy for his arms but too tight around his pot belly. The electric prod he held in his right hand, however, was quite enough to command the required respect from Eli. “Come on,” the guard said, his voice nasally and irritated, as if doing his job was somehow an inconvenience that Eli himself had caused. “Time to go.”
“Where are we going?” Eli asked. His voice was somewhat hoarse from lack of use. He’d stopped speaking all together sometime around tray twenty-eight.
“House of Justice.”
To have someone acknowledge his existence seemed like more than Eli could ask for. He felt a surge of gratitude toward this irritable, oddly-proportioned man. A warmth of kinship.
“I’m to be sentenced, then?” he asked. “It hasn’t happened already?”
The guard turned a cold, disbelieving expression to Eli which all but vanquished the warm feeling. “’Course it hasn’t happened yet, moron. Think they’d let you miss your own sentencing?” He shook his head.
Eli was processed out of the prison and soon after found himself outside. It was dark, though whether it was very early or very late, he could not be certain. The guard escorted him to a prison transport that waited by the curb. Eli got in the back, which reeked of sweat and vomit. The driver did not look back as they made their way toward their destination, and the House of Justice was not far. Soon enough, Eli was out of the transport once again. He had never been so grateful for the filthy city air than he was as he climbed out of the potent backseat of the transport.
Inside, Eli was brought to a large audience chamber. There were many people seated on the long benches, but he did not recognize their faces. Then his eyes settled on two witnesses that were familiar, and his heart leapt with shame and exhilaration. Looking worn and tired, his parents sat near the back of the room, watching him with eyes that radiated with despair. He looked away, unable to face them. What were they doing here? Had they spoken to Mabel? Their haggard faces suggested they hadn’t. They looked sick with worry. A tight ball formed in his stomach. He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but she should have called by now. Why hadn’t she called?
Had something happened?
Eli tried to force the intrusive thoughts away, focusing instead on his surroundings. His accuser was nowhere to be found. But then, that was unsurprising. Miles would have been sent to Antarctica shortly after the incident.
The judge sat alone behind a tall desk much like the one the bald man commanded in the Next Level headquarters. But rather than straight, simple lines of plain wood, the judge’s high seat was opulent. Carven images adorned the front, and tiny men with large muscles knelt at the corners, as if holding up the base. The judge peered down at Eli without malice. In fact, his expression lacked any sort of emotion at all. He looked exhausted.
“Eli Harper,” the judge stated, looking down at something on his desk. “You have been made aware of the charges against you?”
Eli nodded. “I have, your honor.”
“And you do not deny them, nor wish to make an appeal?”
“I do not.”
The judge nodded, the dark bags beneath his eyes jiggling with the motion. “Very well,” he said, picking up a large, ornamental quill and scribbling something on the paper before him. “You have been convicted via standard protocol concerning both abundance of evidence and confession. Your sentence for the crime of assaulting a military officer, disturbing the peace, fleeing a crime scene and destruction of military property, combined with a previous record of general delinquency, shall be death, to be carried out this evening after the conclusion of today’s proceedings.”
There was a moment of silence broken only by the stifled wail of his mother as Eli took in the judge’s words. They were difficult to process. The callous, unfeeling way in which they had been spoken, the abrupt delivery, seemed wrong somehow. It didn’t fit. Surely, he had misunderstood.
The judge continued to peer down at him, perhaps looking for some sign of emotion on Eli’s part. Waiting for some reaction to the sentence. But Eli had hardly had time to process the sentence, let alone react to it.
The bailiff stepped up next to the judge, dipping his head respectfully as he approached, and whispered something in the man’s ear. Eli watched, his chest heavy, as the judge rolled his eyes and waved the bailiff away.
“Eli Harper.” The judge spoke as though the name were an accusation. “Due to a series of fortuitous circumstances, you are being afforded the rare opportunity to take part in a pilot program. Should you choose to accept the terms of this alternative, and should you comply fully with the program, your sentence shall be commuted.”
“Commuted...” he whispered, then, “pilot program...” He looked back up at the judge. “So you’re saying that I... get to choose?”
The judge rolled his eyes again, more forceful this time. “Yes, yes,” he said, exasperated. “You can choose execution, or inclusion in the program.” He looked down at his paper again, and Eli felt certain that he was poised to strike something out.
“What kind of pilot program are we talking about?” Eli was feeling somewhat bolder now that his imminent death was no longer a certainty. The judge raised an eyebrow at him.
“Does it matter?” the robed man asked.
Eli thought for a moment. “Yes,” he decided.
The judge, though incredulous, looked toward the bailiff, who stepped forward and whispered in his ear once again.
“The details cannot be disclosed,” the judge said in a loud, clear voice. “But I am able to tell you that it is a medical program which falls under the umbrella of Cedar Grove Innovative Technologies.”
Eli’s mood darkened. Mabel had always said it would be his stubbornness that would get him killed one day. As it turned out, she’d been right. Eli could not be a hypocrite, not this time. He could not allow himself to be so weak as to sell himself, body and soul, in exchange for his life. It wasn’t worth that much. Not worth giving up his principles. Not worth crawling to Val Int for salvation.
“I respectfully decline,” he said, his voice as clear and steady as the judge’s had been.
The judge and bailiff exchanged glances, and there were whispers from the benches of onlookers behind Eli. He heard his mother whisper, “Eli,” and then heard his father shushing her. His father was right; there was nothing they could do. They shouldn’t draw attention to themselves.
Now it was the judge’s turn to be confounded. “You...respectfully...” He placed his quill down and leaned forward, as if trying to get a bit closer to Eli, like he wanted to have a real heart-to-heart with the obviously unstable youth before him. “You would rather die than volunteer for a simple medical program?” he asked in disbelief.
“That is correct, your Honor,” Eli confirmed, feeling his resolve wavering as a second wave of whispers erupted from the room behind him. Perhaps, just maybe, it would be a program that could improve, even save lives. Perhaps Eli would be a part of something bigger than himself. Perhaps refusing was just throwing his life away.
No.
The voice in his head was firm, strong. Nothing good could come from submitting himself to Values International or any of its branches. He would rather die than help them. He would gladly give his life if it meant that their ravenous desire to destroy the world would take even one day longer to accomplish.
“This is...highly unusual,” muttered the judge, scribbling furiously. “No one has ever refused before.”
This confirmed Eli’s growing suspicion that this was some new Val Int tactic. They weren’t getting enough volunteers, so harsher sentences were being handed down to procure more victims for their endless experiments. He bit his lip, feeling intoxicated by the strength of his defiance. His final action would be to deny Val Int what they wanted. It was small, perhaps insignificant, but it was something.
The judge finished writing and raised a hand. The room quieted, everyone waiting with bated breath to see what would happen next.
“Very well,” said the judge. “You are within your rights to make that choice. Though I would strongly suggest you—”
“Thank you for your concern,” Eli said, cutting him off. “But I’ve made my decision.”
Looking flabbergasted, the judge shrugged to the bailiff, who came down the short set of steps from the high seat and took Eli by the elbow, guiding him to the back of the courtroom. There was an empty row reserved there, a neat line of sturdy metal rings bolted along the bench. Eli sat, heart thumping as he came to terms with what had just taken place. He looked toward his parents, his mother’s shoulders heaving with silent sobs. He wanted to talk to them, to tell them how sorry he was for breaking their hearts. How sorry he was that he’d been a disappointment. To make them understand why he had to do this.
Neither turned. His desires went unspoken.
The bailiff locked his cuffs to the ring and Eli sat, hunched, while wary eyes cast furtive glances back at this reckless, foolish wretch. Eli wondered if his had been the first hearing of the day. It seemed it might have been, given the darkness outside and the empty seats beside him. That meant that he would be forced to sit here through the long hours ahead, contemplating his choices. He just hoped his convictions could hold out that long.
“The court will now cause to be heard the sentencing of case two thousand, four hundred eighty-two. Convictions include: accessory after the fact, aiding and abetting, evading justice, destruction of military property. The convicted, one Mabel Harper.”