“Daphne’s such a bitch,” chunky Emily says over my shoulder.
I hold my gaze toward distant mountains. What does the governor’s lucky egg want from me now?
I shrug and glance down at the street below. A blue and gray city-bus lurches forward; bikes scramble out of its way. It reminds me of pictures I’ve seen in Mom’s study, showing China before they opened their economy and replaced bikes with cars. This is progress?
While she says hi to Emily, Janine nudges me: be nice. I get it, though I want to be alone. I’m tempted to take my chances by jumping off the roof to escape.
Looking past the city-bus, I stare at Michael’s School for Boys. It’s one of a handful of boarding schools for the few boys who remain in Knoxville. The state keeps them hidden behind high walls topped with barbed wire and patrolled by mech cops.
Will I ever meet a boy?
Mom says women stopped having boys because of high rates of autism, violence, and social disruption, and they didn’t read. That made it hard for them to adjust to our knowledge-based economy. After the war, most of the males fled. Then the city zoned our neighborhood and school to exclude them. Harmony Director Surroc and Captain Voss say liberated women don’t need men. Governor Battani says the only way to make females safe is to eliminate the source, meaning men.
The only other times I see the boys’ school is out the window of Harmony Director Surroc’s office while she lectures me. No class windows face this street. School buses bypass Michael’s, as if passing near them would pollute us.
Leaning over the concrete ledge, I spot a tall, lean redheaded boy in jeans. My breath catches. He glides along the outside of the concrete wall that surrounds the boys’ school. I try not to act startled as I wonder how he got past the school’s electronic surveillance.
To avoid alerting Emily, I look away and watch him from the corner of my eye.
Why am I drawn toward this boy I’ve never met?
For months I’ve noticed him on the roof of his school behind barbed wire. He looks out at the world like I do. He’s only a few years younger than my dad was when they threw him into the arena. I hunger to meet the redhead, to be with a boy and see what happens. Maybe he won’t be the brute shown in televised arena fights and news-vids.
While Mom doesn’t talk about it, I’ve seen dogs. It doesn’t seem as much fun for the bitch as for the horny bastard. Yet curiosity burns within me that I can’t share with Janine or Mom. I dare not trust anyone else. No telling who might post my thoughts. Soc-net police are on the lookout for any backlash against the Federal Union.
The boy glances around as he edges his way toward the alley. Like he can fool a zillion cams! Must be desperate. I’m with you, Red.
“There’s a boy,” Janine whispers. Worry lines crease her tanned forehead. I don’t think she remembers her brother George. He left for the Outland before Mom adopted me.
“A small boy,” I say, aware Emily’s watching. Hurry! I send him mind-waves to get moving, as if that ever works.
“Not a threat,” I say. “See mech cops out front and…” I start to mention his green student collar, but it’s masked or missing. It’s horrible to have to wear a choker like a dog, which is how cops I work with track males.
Emily leans over the ledge to look and calls it in. She has to get her goody points for the day. She gives the call center the location and description of the fugitive. “If there’s one, there could be more. They’re like cockroaches.”
Since there’s no point educating the devoutly ignorant, I shake my head. The boy disappears into an alley behind the school as mech cops out front receive the call. This gives me an idea.
Sirens blare at the boy’s school. Uniformed cops on electric cycles appear at nearby intersections. It pays to be the governor’s offspring. I’m sure her mom will reward her tonight. Mech cops in faded black exoskeletons split up and circle the school at mech-enhanced speed. They hold up remotes that zap collars within range, intended to immobilize males until cops can round them up. This is what cop and mech training leads to, one of many security jobs I don’t want.
I turn to Janine, who shows too much enthusiasm for the manhunt. That could be your brother, Babe. “You need to get to class. You don’t want detention.”
“What about you?”
“My class is nearby. Go on.”
After Janine leaves, I take a deep breath and head down narrow stairs.
Emily follows. “If you cut class today, take me with you. I hate this place.”
I reach the bottom of the stairs and hesitate. I’m tempted to take her. If we’re caught, she could lessen my punishment. I can’t trust her, though.
“Sorry, no plans today.”
She withdraws into herself. At times I feel sorry for Emily. She’s an early product of EggFusion Fertilization, the fertilization in the lab of one woman’s egg by another, meaning she has no dad but two moms. Living alone with the governor, Emily may not know who the other mom is. Maybe that’s why she acts angry and depressed.
I walk with her as far as her class. After she goes inside, I turn on my heels.
No plans except escape and find that boy.
* * *
Taking whitewashed corridors down the wing where obedient freshmen are already in class, I reach our large auditorium without bumping into anyone. The broad stage is set up for another pep talk on social harmony. Yippee. Behind the stage, stairs rise up into rafters where stagehands handle drops and lights. I snatch a hoodie from wardrobe and cover myself despite steamy heat for early April. I relish the adrenaline rush.
I place a makeshift aluminum patch over my wrist-com. It’s a trick I learned from cop intern training to mask GPS tracking. Gotta love cops and their toys. Then I wrap my student ID chip in aluminum. That’s to fool the school tracking system, which logs us on and off campus like store products. I’m the toilet-bowl cleaner getting crap jobs.
I crawl through dust-covered windows onto a ledge over the stage’s loading dock. It’s the only gap I’ve found in school security. This act of disobedience brings me closer to my parents. Plus I feel electricity I’ve never felt in class, with my boring cop internship, or even on the basketball court.
Cycle cops swarm the boys’ school while mech cops covered in dull black shields move south toward the river. It’s hot and clear, too hot to be outdoors. Swooshing mosquitoes from my neck, I pull the hoodie over my face. Then I dart across the empty street and head east. That’s where I’d go if I was a boy.
I want to meet him and make sure he’s safe. I need to understand this obsession: to know boys despite the horror drilled into me at school and online. This one doesn’t appear dangerous. No, he looks innocent, like Janine, in need of protection. I imagine catching the boy. Would you take me with you? Sounds stupid to trust a stranger who might be a brute.
I don’t slow down.
Wishing I had my basketball shoes instead of junky flats, I jog down an alley between Union Burgers & Subs and Federal Clothiers. They carry bland, government-approved food and attire to ensure health and harmony. Someday I’ll open my own shop and design variety as an alternative to becoming a security cog. As if they’d let me.
Seeing cops in the woods behind the boys’ school, I stop, catch my breath, and savor the excitement of blood pounding in my ears. I feel alive and certain I can catch the redheaded boy. Mom says I have a nose for finding people, like when I have to hunt down one of my eight adopted sisters–a long story.
Cops and mechs fan out. Feeling the pressure of the hunted, I head toward the river where vegetation is thicker. I like to sit there and watch the world pass. The water originates in the forbidden Outland, where there are plenty of boys who escaped my world. I say a prayer this one makes it.
When I reach the broad, rippling river, I spot among tall grass and thick weeds a tuft of red hair and a boyish face. I duck behind thick brambles and struggle to breathe. My heart pounds in my throat. I’ve never been this close to a boy who wasn’t wearing handcuffs. Close enough to count the freckles on his sweet masculine face.
I should flee. Instead, I study his eyes studying me, eyes as blue as a summer sky. My throat dries. I feel like a fawn. Yet I sense no danger except from cops. They swarm like mosquitoes from the direction of his school. Voss must have called the entire force for one boy. Cops thrash through the underbrush grid by grid, evidently without infrared. It must be too hot.
Sweat trickles down my neck. I remove the hoodie and prepare myself to approach Red. Bushes rustle nearby. I look up to see Janine’s adorable face. “What are you doing here?”
She plops next to me. “I saw too many sparks flying after the mech video. Whenever you get this way, it scares me.”
“I’m sorry, Babe. You can’t be here.” I look over at Red and no longer see his eyes. You wouldn’t hurt my sister, would you?
Janine squeezes my shoulder to get my attention. “I knew you’d run again.”
“This isn’t a game. We need to get you back before they catch you.” I pull Janine down behind thick bushes.
“I know you’re hurting, Belle. You talk in your sleep. Don’t keep things from me. I can handle it. Is this because of me?”
I study worry lines on her pretty face. “No, Babe. You’ve done nothing wrong, but you need to stop following me.” I pull her away from the boy into tall river grasses.
Janine smiles; acts oblivious to the dangers. “I want to help, Belle. Don’t shut me out. Is this about George?”
“Who?”
“You call his name in your sleep.”
I tug Janine down lower behind bushes. “You’re mistaken.”
“Is that who you’re meeting?”
“No!” I take Janine’s hand, gaze into her big brown eyes, and will her to stop digging.
“Are you in love with him?”
“How? I’ve never met any boys.” I pull Janine deeper into tall grass.
Cops move closer. My heart’s ready to burst for Red and for my sister. I’ve been dying to tell her how she has a brother and I’m adopted: all my baggage. Yet Mom made me swear to keep this to myself. That’s hard because I love Janine more than if she was my blood. My need to protect her is an open wound that can’t heal. I still see her on her first day of school picked on by two older girls until I stepped in and sent the girls packing.
Janine grips my hand to say it’s okay. My guilt explodes. If she knew we weren’t bio-sisters, would she stop looking up to me? Will she think less of me because I lost my parents as enemies of the state? I savor the unquestioned love in her eyes. I can’t let anything sour it.
I whisper, “I need time alone to think.”
“Why won’t you tell me what’s troubling you?” Janine’s most convincing pouty look tugs at me. But this isn’t the time for her to get her way.
Surrounded, I see no way out unless the cops leave. They linger, scan, and tighten the circle. I push Janine down among reeds. “Stay put. No point both of us getting caught. I’ll draw the cops away. You get to school before I tan your hide.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I’m serious. They’ll hunt until they find something.”
“Sisters stick together.”
“Not this time,” I say. “It won’t help me if you get caught. Hide until the cops leave and be careful.”
“Belle, I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”
“You didn’t, Babe. Do this for me.” I steal a glance in the direction of Red. Don’t you dare hurt Janine.
He looks more frightened than she does.
“Stay low, Babe. You don’t want to bump into that boy.” I see a flash of worry in her eyes and raise my voice. “If I were him, I’d slip upstream about 100 yards and find me a nice shallow cave until sundown. Then I’d make my way upstream to the Outland. So you wait here until the cops leave and head back behind Union Burgers up there.”
She nods and sinks low in the weeds. Satisfied I’ve done what I can, I scoot out from the cover of tall grass in a crouched position. I don’t see Captain Voss, though she wouldn’t miss this. I spot my intern partner Lieutenant Brooks. Her coarse, wrinkled face makes her look older than her years and carries the weight of one who had to fight all her life.
After removing the aluminum shield over my wrist-com, I stand, raise my hands, and march toward Brooks. “I surrender.”
“Halt!” A frightened brunette in uniform tenses her slender body and aims her zapper at me. I recognize the thin-faced recruit as new to the intern program.
I freeze. “I saw a boy on the run. I thought I could catch him.”
“Nice try.” It’s Captain Voss, the stupid cow. Her round face twists into a scowl as she marches toward me. “Truancy is a serious crime.”
“I saw a boy from Michael’s School.”
“You should have called it in.”
“We did.” I regret the “we” bit.
“Who’s with you?”
“She chickened out.” I should have brought Emily–not.
“Get your sorry ass to school. I’ll deal with you this afternoon.”
I’m sure you will. Forcing myself not to glance back and check on Janine, I hitch a ride with a cycle cop.
Back at school, I hide in the rafters over the loading dock. When I see Janine sneak in by the cafeteria, I head for class. I’m ready to slip into boring advanced algebra when cabbage-face Surroc grabs my arm.
“Annabelle, you should consider it a privilege to be in security so you can serve your community. Yet you risk it all for silly stunts.”
“What have I done this time?” I inch toward Surroc’s office and away from my sister’s classroom.
“You know very well.” Surroc follows. “I got a call from Captain Voss. You want off the intern program?”
I smile inwardly. If this visit is because of Voss, maybe Janine’s safe.
“Look at me while I’m talking to you. I’d give you detention, but you seem to like that. Besides, we’re out of paint.” Surroc shakes her head, sending her ratty brown hair bouncing. “So, I’m suspending you from basketball for four weeks.”
I don’t mind until I recall promising Janine I wouldn’t miss tonight’s game. There’s no point pleading with Surroc. That only gives her pleasure. I hold my stony-face instead.
Surroc wags her stubby finger at me. “If the governor wasn’t coming to watch her daughter play, I’d suspend you tonight.” She seems disappointed that my punishment hasn’t upset me more. “If you keep acting disharmonious, who will take you? Not the police, not the mechs, and not security guards. Do you want environmental cleanup?”
Thinking about the nearby nuclear power plant shutdown and radioactive cleanup, I shake my head and act with such contrition I hope it releases me. I still have to face Voss and Mom.