Radioactive (12 page)

Quickly I enter and close the door behind me.

I lift my hands up calmly. I approach slowly and cautiously toward Zoe. “Do not worry; it’s only me, Cleo.”

“D518?” she replies thoughtfully. It really is worse than I thought.

I walk carefully in front of her, careful not to frighten her.

“Or should I say A518? So, you’re one of them now, huh?”

Although her voice is weak, I can clearly hear her sarcasm.

“It’s not what you think,” I try to explain, but she interrupts me.

“You’re so damn proud now, huh? You got exactly what you wanted. Now you’re better than me. You deserve it.”

Her voice is filled with so much hate that it hurts me. She does not let me explain my situation. It would be pointless to continue to try to convince her otherwise, instead, I decide to drop the bomb directly.

“Finn is here.”

Her eyes widen in shock. “How did that happen?”

“He threw stones at the Legion commander sphere.”

Anxiety and sheer terror appear on her face. Her lips and hands tremble when she answers me. “And they did not kill him?”

“They would have, but I prevented it.”

Instantly the hatred leaves her eyes and gratitude remains. Tears conceal her vision and she shakily stretches out her hand to me. She is weak, but her grip surrounds my hand. “I do not know how to ever thank you. You saved my brother!”

I do not deserve her gratitude because she only knows part of the truth. Nevertheless, I accept her handshake. “There is just one problem. In saving him from being executed, they had to delete all of his past memories.”

She snatches her hand back from me. “And you chose that? How could you? Finn would hate you for it.”

“I know,” I assure her and can no longer hold back my tears. Her accusation is more than I can bear. I was grateful that I saved his life. “I love Finn. I could not let him die,” I confess to her, sobbing. I finally said it. At last I could tell someone how I really feel about him.

Her eyes widen in surprise. Her hard facial features become finer, more compassionate. She stretches her hand out again to me. “I love him and would have done the same thing in your place.”

“Her understanding calms me and helps me dry my tears. Finally, we are a team again. I missed her so much these past few weeks.

“Together we must try to remind him of everything. I was with him when he woke up. He seemed to be ready to be reminded of his life. But when I spoke to him recently, he maintained a very negative attitude toward me.”

“How can I help you? I’m stuck in here day and night, remember?” She reminded me. “You have to bring him here.”

“I cannot,” I reply. “I cannot possibly ask A566 to bring Finn here. There must be some other way.”

“Why not? You’re a Legion commander,” Zoe replied, as though it is the solution to all problems.

“Exactly, and right now I cannot take any chances. Even meeting with you is a risk.”

“Please! You have to be able to do something. I must go to him. Do you know how long it has been since I last saw him?”

She does not have to tell me. I know. Finn never missed an opportunity to tell me. One year. An endlessly long year.”I know and I promise that I will do my best. But you have to have patience,” I extort insistently.

“Your best is not good enough. You have to do everything in your power. Damn, you’re a Legion commander! If you can’t find a way, you will make one!”

Her words put me under even more pressure. She must know that nothing is more important to me than having Finn’s memory restored.

Everyone thinks it’s easy to be a Legion commander, yet it is harder than anything else. After all, the responsibility now lies with me.

The next morning I’m awake before D560. She stayed up waiting for me to return last night and was relieved and surprised at the same time that nothing had happened to me. What did she expect A566 would do to me? Or had she been afraid of me being caught by A350? I look at her and she’s persistently silent. Why can’t she just tell me? I trust her.

But that’s not the reason I laid awake half the night. I racked my head about Zoe and Finn. How should I get Zoe out of the sickbay? And even if I can, how would Finn react to her? Would he remember her? After all, she knows his life and she is his sister. But I fear it would hurt me if he could remember her but forgot me. Nevertheless, it would be nice. Some memory is better than none.

In addition, I do not know if the attack on the rebels has taken place yet. Could Ruby have warned them in time?

How can a person sleep with so many questions in their mind? D560’s sleep was as strong as ever. Every night she curls up like a wounded animal. Sometimes she moans in her sleep. Nightmares seem to plague her and sometimes she screams. It would be better if she slept in her own bed, since hers would shut down her dreams. My bed, the bed of a Legion commander, does not do that. It’s yet another privilege of being a Legion commander, one which I’m not always happy about. To know one’s own dreams gives one true control over their life, but sometimes it can be very painful when the cruel experiences of the day still pursue my mind at night.

Only a knock at the door startles D560.

I look at the monitor and am relieved to see A350. I am relieved to see that her mouth does not look quite as pinched as it had in recent days. Perhaps my good behavior has had a good effect on her.

I open the door for her.

“Good morning, A518,” she greets me warmly, but is irritated when she sees D560 stand behind me. “What are you doing here?”

Now I’m the one who looks confusedly back and forth between the two.

D560 acts uncertain and seems to be searching for words. “I thought it was your wish that I continue guarding A518,” she finally said.

A350 suspiciously puts her eyebrows together. “I only ordered you to watch her for one night.”

So A566 was right. D560 lied to me. She spent the nights with me for the past few days. But why? Was it really only for the comfort? I cannot imagine the best of intentions.

“I’m sorry, I did not want to be pushy,” D560 hastens to apologize.

“Do just what you’re told. If I want something else from you, I will order you to do it,” A350 declares with strict words. D560 seems to be getting smaller. Although she lied to me, she feels sorry.

“She only meant well,” I don’t know why I’m trying to defend her, but even then, I’m not sure this is true.

A350 ignores my defense and says, “You will not harass A518 again, now go!”

D560 obeys immediately, so I will probably have no chance to talk to her again. On the one hand, I’m relieved that A350 is treating me more familiarly, unlike in recent days, but on the other hand; I do not like her harsh tone against D560. I’m sure she had a reason that she would rather spend the night with me rather than in her own bed.

No sooner than D560 has disappeared from view, A350 turns back to me. “Did you really think I would send a D-Class person to guard you?” She asks incredulously.

“I thought you did it to attract less attention,” I try to explain, but as I say the words, I notice on A350’s facial expression that it was exactly the wrong thing to say.

Her forehead breaks out in wrinkles. “You cannot expect that I will cover for each and every one of your blunders. I have already tried to help you out more than once and I am tired. It’s about time that you stand for your own actions.”

“I will,” I assure her. “Why did you come?”

“A conference was convened; I wanted to pick you up.”

“Why?”

There is news from the north. The attack on the outcasts took place early in the morning.”

I feel my heart skip a beat. I knew it would go fast, but I did not expect it would be so quick. Was Ruby able to warn them in time? Or are Iris and the others already dead? I imagine I would have felt it if it were true.

I
sit in my seat before the conference and can hardly stay silent with my excitement and anxiety, but none of the other Legion commanders act as though this could be any different from previous meetings. To them, the rebels mean nothing. They have never seen them, never spent time with them. They don’t know them. It would be the same to the rebels; the fate of the people in the safety zone would not matter to them. It’s sad. Do they not understand that we are all basically the same and should join together, rather than make war on each other?

Finally, the senior doctor and the chief fighters walk into the conference room. A489 rises to begin the conference.

“I welcome you. To make a long story short, I will begin directly with the report on the other Legions. This morning we received sad news from the north. The Legion has fallen after an attack by outcasts. They used explosives to destroy the Legion commander sphere. Contact with the central Legion broke off immediately. The electric wall now runs between the western and eastern Legions.”

Silence reigns in the great hall. For the first time, I share the emotions of the others. We are shocked. I never expected that a Legion could really fall. They have so many fighters and weapons, how could the rebels beat them?

I lift my hand urgently to ask a question. A489 draws his eyebrows angrily together. Obviously he does not trust me to have a sincere interest. “What?” He barks at me.

“How could the outcasts attach explosives to the Legion commander sphere unnoticed? Was there no video surveillance? Where were the fighters?”

The other Legion commanders begin to nod affirmatively. They have already thought the same questions.

A489 clears his throat. “In the Northern Legion, there must have been a traitor in the top management levels. Obviously the camera shots were manipulated and the fighters of the Legion replaced by outcasts. They silently crept into the Legion.”

In a way, the rebels must have taken advantage of the laws of the Legion. The Legion forces us all to look the same. They do not tolerate individuality. Only in this way would it be possible for the rebels to send one with a shaved head and in the clothes of a fighter into the Legion. If the Legion were to allow us to have our own eye color and to grow our hair as long as we like, such an invasion could never have been possible. But I do not say anything.

“What happened to the people in their safety zone?” I ask instead.

Instead of answering me, A489 starts showing film footage from the Northern Legion. Obviously it was filmed from the air as we are looking down on the ruined Legion commander sphere. In its place is a large black hole. Around the explosion point are glass splinters, scattered, glistening in the sun. If the significance of the whole thing was not so terrible, the sparkling glass would almost look beautiful. It reflects the sun in thousands of colors and reminds me of a rainbow.

The camera zooms closer to the Legion commander sphere and now people can be seen climbing out of the hole. Most of them are wearing brown and green suits, though a few blue suits can be seen. They act disoriented and seem to be in shock. A few of them suffer from burns, but the majority of them at least act physically healthy. Even toddlers and adolescents are among the survivors. Some of the youngest survivors whine, but there is no one to comfort them. They are lost.

The film ends and the stunned silence returns.

“What will happen to the survivors?” A233 surprisingly asks. Obviously I’m not the only one interested in the survivors of the safety zone.

A489 ruefully looks at the floor. “They are now outside the electric walls. There is no hope for them.”

I cannot believe it. They are going to leave them there?

“Could we not turn the electric wall off for a few minutes to retrieve them?” A350 says.

A489 just shakes his head. “The risk would be too great.”

“We could at least take measurements to see if the radioactivity is still strong,” I propose.

“That’s not it,” A233 comments simply. Obviously they all know something I do not and I now remember again the words of the top fighter in one of the last conferences. He said something about sightings. I wanted to ask A350 about it afterward, but I completely forgot about it after the troubles with Finn. What is out there that is causing the Legion to not want to drop its protective barrier for a few minutes? It can’t be radiation.

Although my head is full of questions, the others just move on to the next item on the agenda. It is the report of the top fighter. This is the report I’ve been waiting for.

“As planned, we carried out an attack on the outcasts. But when we reached their camp in the caves, they were gone. We divided in order to pursue them, but they hid in the woods and we failed to catch or kill any of them. Two of our fighters were injured.”

No dead? I can hardly believe it and will have to control myself to not look too relieved. Ruby did it.

“What do you suggest we do?” A489 asked the top fighters.

“If we were to burn down the forests, the rebels would have nowhere to hide. With no cover, it would be easy to exterminate them.”

This is unreal! I was relieved and now they are figuring out new ways to torture and extinguish the rebels? Why did I not see this coming?

Apparently I’m not the only one who does not entirely agree with the proposal of burning down the forest. A233 stands up, “These forests have been growing for forty years. They are healthy and free of any radioactive contamination. That forest is the beginning of nature’s reconstruction. If we burn it down, we would destroy the work of forty years.”

While it is not the argument I would have put forth, at least A233 is on my side, even if he appears to be more worried about trees than people.

As usual, A489 tries to sway the others. “If the outcasts succeed in an attack on us, as was the case in the north, there will be no forests or a Legion soon. We will all die.”

“But it does not have to end this way,” I interject immediately.

The view A489 throws at me from across the table is full of anger and contempt. “Oh no? What do you suggest? Shall we shake the outcast’s hands and watch as they destroy everything that the Legion has built? Would that make you happy?”