Chapter Seventeen

“There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.” William Henry Harrison

Kate slipped into the building just as the morning prayer meeting was finishing. Since it was Saturday, the place wasn’t as busy as usual and it wasn’t so easy to avoid being noticed. She hurried across the foyer, aware of Teresa standing at the front of the room, watching her, eyes narrowed.

She had an inkling that she was going to get some trouble from the new Political Officer, but maybe she could avoid her and put it off for a few weeks. After that… Well, she doubted it would matter.

Either they would all be dead, or she’d be in prison no doubt undergoing some horribly painful torture. So this was it, really.

She’d drugged a Secret Service agent. Stolen his retinal scan. She’d be tried for treason and no doubt be executed. After they tortured her.

She really didn’t want to die.

Plus, she hated pain.

Life sucked.

Though to be honest, none of this seemed real.

She waited at security as they went through her bag. They scanned her tablet and phone, but passed them, and she released her breath. Teresa was heading her way, and she needed to hurry. Luckily, someone stopped to talk to the other woman, and Kate could almost sense the waves of frustration.

She didn’t need Auspex to predict that she could expect a visit sometime soon.

After letting herself into her office, she switched on the systems, including Auspex, then pulled out her tablet and linked it up to the main system.

I’m uploading the retinal scan.

Not a minute later, Auspex replied. I have accessed the Secret Service files.

Bring up files on Stella Buchanan.

Then she sat back and tried not to fidget. He’d tell her when he had anything.

A few seconds later, a list of files flashed up. There were clearly a few Stellas. She found her sister’s file and clicked on the link, her heart pounding. She flicked through the information, but there was nothing incriminating, just what she’d expect really. No references to any current activity. No record of an arrest or detention of any kind.

So far, so good. It didn’t explain where Stella was, but at least it didn’t appear that she was locked up and being tortured.

She tapped her fingers on the desk, then leaned forward and typed in:

Bring up files on Katherine Buchanan.

There was even less. A background file, including an education and job history, her credit card details—nothing bad there. No mention of drugging a Secret Service agent last night. So Gideon hadn’t reported her. Yet.

More good news.

Bring up files on yellow alert 10245.

She tapped some more, but when the log came up there was nothing of interest. Just a document stating receipt of the alert, a copy of the info dump, and a note that the alert had been reviewed and assigned a threat level of negligible.

She checked the info dump, but it was the same one she had sent, no changes. Various references to a nuclear device and no reference to her sister.

It made no sense. They were the National Threat Assessment Center. Why couldn’t they see a goddamn threat when it was shoved under their noses?

She sat back and took a deep breath.

Run a threat level analysis on alert 10245.

There is an 85 percent chance of Report 10245 resulting in terrorist activity that would be harmful to the American people.

Damn, it had gone up again.

Her phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID. Just in case Gideon had suddenly realized she’d drugged him (how could he not have? It hurt her head thinking about it) and was calling to say he was on his way to arrest her. That would hardly happen, would it? Instead, it was her sister. A huge wave of relief washed over her, and she sagged in the chair.

She picked up before Stella could vanish again. “Where have you been?”

“Hi, sis, sorry. I had to go out of town on business.” Her words sounded light and untroubled.

“And you couldn’t call? I was worried.” She closed her mouth, keeping any potentially incriminating words in, just in case the call was being monitored. She thought not, but couldn’t be sure. Actually, she wasn’t sure of anything anymore. She would get Auspex to run a check.

“What is there to worry about? It was just a report I had to do for the president.”

She was lying. Kate was sure of it, but her sister had always been the ultimate in cool. Most of the time she had no clue what Stella was thinking. The total opposite of herself. Stella would make a much better savior of the world than Kate ever would.

She’d once told Kate that she was going to be the first female president of the United States. They’d have to restart the democratic process for that to happen, and while that was scheduled to occur in the next year, Kate wasn’t holding her breath.

“Are you back?” Kate asked.

“Yes, and I thought we could meet for lunch.”

“Of course. Our usual place?”

“No, it’s such a lovely day maybe we could grab a picnic in the park.”

Picnic? Stella? The two words did not seem to match up in any way. Dread formed a big heavy lump in her stomach. “Are you okay?”

Stella laughed. “Of course. Just in need of some fresh air. I’ve been cooped up in meetings for days, hardly seeing the outside.”

“I’ll meet you in Lafayette Square at one, then. And I’ll bring the food.”

“Thanks, sis. I missed you.”

Kate put the phone down feeling almost worse than before she had picked it up. Like there was something wrong, something big and ominous looming around the corner.

Everything was fucked up, but she had no clue how or why. Just that her safe world was crumbling around her.

She spent the last half-hour before lunch actually doing some work. Going through the chatter, reporting the reds and the yellows, hesitating over a code green, then gnawing on her lower lip while she decided to delete it or send it. She flicked through the info dump and then ran it through Auspex.

What is the probability that green alert 22548 will lead to deportation?

Negligible.

Execution?

Negligible.

Relief washed over her. But just to be safe…

What is the probability that harm will come to this person if I send this alert?

Probability: 98 percent.

She frowned. Explain.

The systems show the subject is a donor match for a heart transplant needed by a primary Party member.

Kate’s blood ran cold.

The heart and other useful organs will be harvested, and the remainder will be incinerated.

Icy dread prickled down her spine.

Do they take body parts from people they detain often?

At this moment, if there is a primary Party member on the waiting list, and an alien is a confirmed match, they will be utilized.

Her brain couldn’t wrap itself around this. Nausea churned in her stomach, acid crawling up her throat. Part of her didn’t believe it. Didn’t want to believe it.

It certainly wasn’t general knowledge.

People wouldn’t accept that, would they?

She couldn’t.

Kate pressed the spot between her eyes. The spot that hurt. Then she reached out and deleted the code green from the feed, removing all traces of its existence. Had they noticed there had been no code greens in the last few days? It was unheard of, and at some point, it was going to strike someone as a little odd. Would they be able to trace the deletions? She thought she’d been thorough, but for all she knew, the Secret Service had geeks of their own who would spot her illegal activity a mile away.

She didn’t know. Right now, she didn’t care. She’d known the perfect world they’d created here within America was maybe not quite perfect, but she’d never suspected that her whole way of life was an illusion built on the deaths of anyone who was not deemed to belong.

Hopefully democracy would soon be reinstated. Then these things could be brought out into the open, changed. She had to hope that this was not the will of the people.

It was a little early for lunch, but she had to get out of there.

She closed everything down and headed out. As she passed through security, she caught sight of Teresa heading her way. She speeded up.

Once the revolving doors had disgorged her onto Connecticut Avenue, she stood for a moment soaking up the fresh air. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining, the sky blue—not a cloud in sight, ominous or otherwise.

On the way to the park, Kate headed for a small café that did food to-go. Her stomach was still churning, but she hadn’t eaten breakfast, so she needed something. Also, she didn’t want Stella to see how unsettled she was. For the first time, it occurred to her that maybe Stella condoned this sort of activity. She couldn’t believe that of her own sister. Wouldn’t. So she bought crusty rolls, baked on-site, filled with lettuce and creamy brie cheese—American, of course, but just as good, if not better, than the French variety. Which was just as well, since they hadn’t had imports from Europe for years. She hated things that reminded her that a whole world existed beyond the Wall. The news reports were scant, the idea being Why would Americans want to know? They had everything they needed right here. Still, maybe they should change the name from brie to something more American so as not to remind them.

She bought apple pie for dessert to make up for the brie, and a couple of bottles of water.

There was a checkpoint at the entrance to the park, and a sign.

This park has been designated A Members of the Loyalist Party Only area.

That was new.

Suddenly she wasn’t so keen to go in there. It reeked of elitism, although she supposed that Party membership was available to everyone, so it wasn’t really elitist. Well, obviously, not everyone—you had to be American. But that was just about everyone left in the country.

But she needed to see Stella, so she pressed her palm to the scanner and waved her paperwork at the Secret Service guard.

She was early, but Stella was already seated at the bench by the small lake. She was staring out over the water. Stella was beautiful, just Gideon’s type. Tall and blonde, though more conservatively dressed than his usual pickups, in a dark-maroon suit and white shirt. She jumped as Kate came to a halt beside her, as though she’d been engrossed in her own thoughts, ones that were not particularly happy.

She rose to her feet, graceful, a smile on her face, and wrapped Kate in a tight hug. Kate stood unmoving, surprise washing through her. Stella was not the touchy-feely type. As children, she had been, but something had happened when she was fifteen—something she had never spoken about. After that, she’d very rarely initiated contact.

Kate tentatively put her arms around her sister and hugged her back. Stella tensed for a moment and then relaxed. Finally, she pulled away.

“Are you all right?” Kate asked. Of course she wasn’t all right. That much was clear.

Her sister gave a somewhat forced smile. “I’m fine, it’s just been a long week and I’ve missed Joe.”

“Haven’t you seen him yet?”

“No, I just drove back. He’s at work. I’ll see him tonight. I wanted to check my baby sister was okay.”

Oh God, what did she know? “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I guess because you always were a trouble magnet and there’s a lot of trouble around right now.”

“Is there?”

“Later.” Stella nodded toward the plastic bag. “I hope that’s food, because I left without breakfast.”

“Where have you been?” Kate asked, perching on the bench and opening the brown paper bag.

Stella sat beside her and took the roll she offered, bit into it, chewed, and swallowed. Kate presumed it was top secret or something and she wasn’t going to say.

Stella shifted on the bench so that she was facing her. “New York.”

Kate had always wanted to visit New York when she was younger. Now the name started all sorts of alarm bells ringing in her head. Rumored to be headquarters to the rebels, New York had been mentioned in alert 10245. It was a no-go spot and getting a travel permit there was an impossibility.

“What were you doing in New York?”

“I wish I could tell you.”

Kate put her roll back in the bag, her throat too constricted to swallow. There was that nausea again, swirling around in her stomach. She’d wanted to confide in Stella, tell her about Auspex and the possible nuclear threat, about some of the other things she had learned over the last week or so. The deaths, the deportations, the organs, drugging Gideon… But she couldn’t, because she didn’t trust anyone. She loved her sister, but for the first time, it occurred to her that Stella might have been in the alert report for a reason. Maybe she was somehow involved. Kate didn’t want to believe it. But there were lots of things she’d prefer not to believe. That didn’t mean they weren’t true.

Suddenly she was glad Stella had chosen here to meet up rather than at the busy restaurant close to the White House where they usually lunched.

Even if her sister wasn’t involved in something bad, there was always the risk that whatever Kate decided to do would reverberate through her family. That was the way it worked. Guilt by association.

But maybe her sister could say she hadn’t seen her in a long time, that they weren’t close. Maybe it wouldn’t rip her family apart.

She was deluding herself.

Look at Gideon’s family. Aaron hadn’t done anything nearly as bad as what she’d already done. All he’d done was disappear. Although these days, that was enough to incriminate you. That was another way the administration controlled them all. Do anything out of line and the people you love will suffer. It was effective; Gideon’s father had committed suicide over the disgrace.

What would hers do? He was such a proud man. And her mother. God, her mother was already taking sleeping pills strong enough to knock out an elephant—or a Secret Service agent.

Stella had also stopped eating. “Look,” she said. “I can’t tell you why, so don’t ask, but I want you to forget about this meeting.”

“What?”

“If anyone asks about me, say we aren’t close, we fell out, and you haven’t seen me in a while.”

It was what she had been thinking herself. That only made her feel worse. She swallowed. “Why, Stella? What’s happening?”

“Nothing. I hope.” She tossed the rest of her food in the trashcan. “Christ, I was crazy to come here.”

Kate stared at her. Her sister had said Christ. That was so not Stella. She never took the Lord’s name in vain. Something was seriously messing with her. She’d been fine before this trip, so Kate could only presume that something had happened.

“So why did you? Come here, I mean?”

“I just wanted to see you. Tell you that whatever happens, I love you.”

“You’re scaring me, Stella.”

“You should be scared. I wish there was somewhere you could go, away from here, but there’s nowhere. The world has shrunk, and we’re stuck in our little bit of it. And what we’ve made of it. How have things come to this?”

She’d never seen her sister like this. What had happened in New York?

Stella shook her head. “I’m sorry. Now I’ve just worried you and you said you wanted to talk to me about something. What was it?”

She couldn’t tell her now. Not when Stella was so freaked out about something else. And when Kate had no clue what her sister was involved with. She was alone in this. and she didn’t want to be. She could sense her panic rising. She forced it down and curved her mouth into a smile. “Nothing important,” she said.

Stella studied her for a moment. “Are you still messing around with that computer stuff?”

Kate looked away for a moment. She hadn’t been aware Stella even knew.

“Please, Kate. I won’t say anything to anyone. I know that’s why you took the job at Homeland Security, but you have to trust me. This is important.”

She nodded. “I’ve been working on a few projects.”

“Do any of those projects include a way I can contact you without anyone knowing? With no record?”

“Why would you…” she trailed off. She had an idea Stella wasn’t giving anything else away. Not today. Instead she gave a brisk nod. “Dial my ordinary number. Then add **865 on the end. I might not get it immediately. It will be re-routed to my server at Homeland Security. It’s not monitored.”

“Thank you. Hopefully, I won’t need to use it. I’m probably being paranoid.”

“There’s a lot of that going around right now.”

“Yes.” Stella pushed herself to her feet, and Kate followed. She didn’t think either of them were in the mood for good old American apple pie today. She dropped the carrier bag in the trash.

They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither seeming to know what else to say.

“I’m going to keep my distance for a while,” Stella said.

Except that Kate didn’t have a while. She only had a matter of weeks before everything went to total crap. Which meant she might not see Stella again. Suddenly she wanted to pour out everything, and she had to clamp her lips closed to stop the words tumbling out.

Stella closed the space between them, wrapped her arms around her, and gave her a hug. Two in one day. Kate wrapped her own arms around her sister and held her tight.

They stayed that way for a minute, then finally Stella pulled away. She took a deep breath. “Everything will be all right.”

The words sounded like goodbye.

Kate sank back onto the bench as her sister walked away.

Stella had always been so stable, so strong, so sure of what she wanted.

Now the foundations of Kate’s world were crumbling. She’d always believed, deep down, that if someone good like Stella could be part of the Party, then it must have some redeeming qualities. Now the last of that reassurance had been snatched from her, leaving her with nothing.

She sat on the bench for a long time, gazing out over the lawns. It was beautiful and peaceful…and for Party members only.

She shoved herself to her feet, staggered the short distance to the trashcan, and hurled up what little she’d eaten of her lunch. Collapsing back, she wiped her mouth, then took a gulp of water.

Time to pull herself together, get back to the office, and try to decide what her next move should be.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if she did nothing. Then maybe the whole of humanity would come to an end.