Road to Clover (The Breanna Raven Series) (9 page)

“
What does she do for them?” Agni doesn’t seem to be too happy with this revelation.

“
To be honest with you, I have no idea what either one of them does.”

Agni responds,
“Does she even know what’s happening out there? People are getting shot and killed in the streets. We were in Allium Center when the Enlightened massacred almost everyone there, and do you know they destroyed Olympus Bridge, too? There is no way off the island.”

“
I’m sure she knows everything.”

Agni is angry. He turns
around to look out at the ships again.

Aunt Tillie comes back out onto the porch, and she hands
a pot to Mark. She says, “That’s corn in there. Okay, Agni, I’m sure you’re very curious about everything. The world has changed so drastically so fast, and I know it seems scary.”

I chime in, “It is scary. There is no seems to it.”

Aunt Tillie sits with a reassuring smile and says, “I know the both of you are uncertain about everything. I have to admit I am quite uncertain, too. I never expected the Enlightened to takeover like this and in such a broad scale.”

“
Did you know they were going to attack?” Agni asks, and he doesn’t hide his anger.

“
They were going to take over by infiltrating governments around the world, including the United States. At least, I thought that’s what they were going to do. Then they were going to move on to economic takeover. I guess they decided war was a better route to take.”

“How do you know about them?”
Agni’s tone of voice is more of aggravation now.

She admits with softness in her voice, “
I’m a member, Agni.”

“
I know that. Mark already told us, but I guess I’m asking the wrong questions. What I’m trying to ask is what do you know about them?”

“Well, Agni,
the Enlightened first started in 1940 after the Great Depression. They saw the United States and a lot of places around the world suffering economically for ten years. People had no income. Farmers’ lands dried up. It was really difficult times for a lot of people, and the founders saw the democratic system in America as the source of the problem. So they formed the Enlightened, and they’ve been planning this worldwide takeover ever since then.”

“Can you tell me
more about the founders, Aunt Tillie? I really want to know.” Agni states in a calmer tone of voice.

She takes in a deep breath and looks at both of us. She clears her throat and begins
, “The Enlightened was formed by four influential men. The first founder was Thomas Clyde Everett. He survived the Great Depression without a significant hit to his portfolio. He was the richest man in the United States during that period of time. Some believe in the entire world. It is believed he owned several banks, all kinds of companies, and even a handful of countries. The second founder was an officer in the British Army. His name was Field Marshal Archibald Cavanaugh III. He was extremely knowledgeable in military tactics, warfare, and mechanical engineering.”

Agni is completely enthralled, and admittedly, so am I.

She keeps going, “Harry Fairchild was the third founder. He was a politician and an architect. Many thought he was a genius. Others had the opinion he was a lunatic, but it always depended upon the person you asked. The last person was Donovan Monroe Lexington, my husband’s father. He was highly respected and very knowledgeable in the fields of astronomy, biology, and chemistry. He was also considered very dangerous. He has been known to create deadly viruses that could wipe out the planet in a matter of days.”

Mark comes over and sits down in the chair next to his mother. He’s
caught up in what she’s saying, as well.

“
It started out with just the four of them, but then the membership started growing in 1941. They recruited professionals, at first. Economists, teachers, lawyers, and doctors. They looked to people who were the leaders in their respective fields, and it didn’t matter their background, their race, their religion, or their gender. If these people could bring in fresh new ideas to the Enlightened, they were in. In return these people invented and built different kinds of weapons, ships, vehicles, robots, and God knows what else. Unheard of things you’ve never seen before, and some of the inventions were built on previous, common devices you see every day in life. The things they’ve done are all geared towards creating a whole new world, a better society.”

Ag
ni points out, “But none of that stuff really matters when they’re destroying this one.”

“
Oh, it matters. It matters to the millions of people loyal to the Enlightened.”

“Why not inject change peacefully?” Agni asks. “Why not let
everyone
benefit from all those so-called accomplishments you’ve just mentioned?”

Aunt Tillie says, “
I can’t speak for the decisions that were made, Agni. That’s all I know eventually everyone will benefit.”

“
The only ones that will benefit are the Enlightened.” Agni remarks.

There is a silence that settles between us, but I can tell Agni is figuring things out. He’s considering everything he saw today and everything his aunt is telling him now.

After a few moments, he finally reveals, “To spread that kind of knowledge freely and peacefully to other nations would mean relinquishing power, and the Enlightened doesn’t want to do that. They want to scare everyone into believing in them. They want ultimate control over everyone and everything.”

Agni is seeing things how I do
now. It’s like I said before. It’s about spreading fear to gain power.

“
There are people out there that will see through their lies, and know the Enlightened exactly for what they are.” He continues with new found anger. “I truly understand now. They’re terrorists, Aunt Tillie. They’re the enemy.”

“
Agni, this is for the greater good. It’s not all bad.”

“
It is bad, Aunt Tillie. Every single thing they’re doing is bad, and people will find a way to fight back.” Agni states.

“
Maybe,” she remarks with a shrug of her shoulders. “But the question is will they succeed?”

Agni is wearing his anger
and remarks with frustration, “It’s not right what they’re doing, Aunt Tillie, and you shouldn’t be condoning it. I sure hope the American military force will be able to stop them.”

“
The Enlightened has loyalists in all branches of the military, the government, and all parts of society here in the United States. They number in the millions, maybe in the billions, and unfortunately, America doesn’t have much of a chance even with her military. As a matter of fact, any country and her militia that are against the Enlightened will be met with war. There will be no summits, no back room deals, and no peace talks. It is the Enlightened or death.”

She’s beginning to sound just like that woman back in Allium Center.

“So do you know what they’re going to do after they finish bombing and killing everyone they can?” I ask.

“
You make them sounds like monsters, Breanna. Anyway, they expect everyone to be registered. Members of the new society will be electronically tagged. Eventually everyone will be assigned places to live and places to work. Everyone will be accounted for and play their part to better society, and they plan on eradicating crime through harsh methods of capital punishment. They plan on controlling everything everyone does.”

“
You believe in what they’re doing?” I ask as the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

“
I believe in some of the things they’re doing.”

Agni
notes, “You’re with them, Aunt Tillie. So, you must believe in them.”

“Honestly, I’m afraid of them. At first, I wasn’t. I thought their agenda was very inspiring, but I never thought they would go about
their plans like this.”

“
Is there any way they can be stopped?” I ask her.

“
I don’t think so. The one thing I know for sure about the Enlightened is that they are prepared to do whatever it takes.”

“
I don’t like feeling helpless, and that’s the way I feel right now.” Agni remarks as he stands and go back to the edge of the deck.

That statement is
definitely true for me, but there is another feeling that’s spot-on along with that helplessness, and that is my steadfast fear of the future.

The conversation ends with Agni getting up from the table
and going to the edge of the deck. When he’s angry at someone, he doesn’t want to look at that person. It’s more than apparent that he’s mad at his aunt. I stand beside him, trying to show my solidarity, and we watch together as the ships sail across our view. No words need to be spoken for him to know that I’m there for him, and that we’re in this crazy mess together.

Before we ate dinner, Aunt Tilly cleaned Agni’s wound. He flinched and complained every time she tried to put water
and ointment on it, but she got the bruise looking much better. I’m glad Agni didn’t get seriously hurt. I can’t even fathom going on without him now.

After he got the medical attention, we sat and ate dinner on the deck
. The steak and corn taste so yummy, but it might be the fact that I haven’t eaten a good meal in over two days. We ate in silence the entire time, but I have no complaints about it. The silence gave me the opportunity to really think about the Enlightened.

After dinner
, I took the responsibility of cleaning the dishes for Ms. Tillie. My mom always taught me to be a gracious guest. I find a bucket and fill it up with water from the pump in the back yard. I put some dishwashing soap in and set to my chore. I can tell Aunt Tillie is happy that she doesn’t have to do a thing. Well, that’s how it supposed to be according to my mom’s rules of etiquette. Her rule is simple. If I’m a guest in someone else’s home, it doesn’t mean my hands are broken. I can help with anything that needs to be done. So, I’m trying to make my mom proud. Even though, she’ll probably never know about it.

Agni
is feeding the dogs. He’s giving them the last of the dog food, and I can tell he’s worried about where their next meal is going to come from. He pets each one before going to sit on the top step of the deck.

When I finish the dishes, I take them inside
, which took several trips, and I wipe them dry with a clean rag from the kitchen counter. I’m not sure where the dishes go, but I start searching cabinets and eventually find the proper placement for the plates, glasses, and utensils.

By the time I’m done, Aunt Tillie is sitting on the porch
drinking water. Mark is nursing probably his fifth beer, and Agni is still sitting on the top step watching the sun making its last trek in the western sky. The battleships are long gone, and the water and the sky can finally show their natural beauty. I go sit next to Agni, and I see he has the short range radio in his hands.

“
Not too many people are talking,” he says as he switches from channel to channel. He sets it down between his legs on the next step, and he turns on the radio we got from the dead soldier. It has plenty of talking going on from the more distant signals, and as Agni is turning the channels, something someone says caught his attention. He turns it up so we can hear it clearly.

“Preliminary search
of the wreckage has come up with nothing.” A man announces in the radio. “We think it might be destroyed.”

“The key and card was in a fire proof case. Has the area been cleaned up entirely?” The woman
asks.

I forgot
about the key and the card. I think Agni did, too. He looks at me nervously.

“Negative,” the man answers.

“Continue with the clean-up, and keep me posted. I want that briefcase found. Orange Team One needs those items as soon as possible. Gray Team Leader out.”

Agni says, “I sure wish I knew what that key and card is for.
I also want to know what all those colored teams stand for.”

“
Where did you get that radio from?” Mark interjects as he’s leaning on the railing beside Agni.

He answers
, “We found it.”

“In our neighbor’s house,” I add. I’m trying to
alter the information, and I’m hoping Agni understands what I’m trying to do. “King’s owner has all kinds of neat things in his house.”

“
This looks like the same radio you have in your room, Ma.” Mark says as he reaches over Agni and takes it out of his hands.

“Your neighbor must be with
the Enlightened. What is his name?” Aunt Tillie remarks.

“Mr.
Everett Dory,” Agni says uncomfortably. He doesn’t like aiding and abiding in lies.

“How far can this one reach?” Mark asks as he
puts the radio to his ear like a phone. “Does it get signals from around the world?”

“
Yeah, I think so.” Agni answers. He looks at me, and I give him a stern look. He doesn’t need to be telling anyone what we have, especially after what we heard. Agni decides to turn on the short range radio.

Mark asks, “Why did you turn
that one on if this one can catch signals farther away?”

“Well, since you took that one without asking, I need this one to listen for our parents. It’s
getting close to 6:00 p.m., and we left a note asking them to call us at this time if they make it home. If they don’t, I’ll check the radio again at 9:00 p.m. We do it every 3 hours on this channel.” Agni shows him the digital screen.

Aunt Tillie remarks, “That’s pretty smart, Agni. Ha
s your dad made contact with you yet?”

“None of our parents have.” He answers.

“I’m sure he will. Don’t you worry,” she remarks with a confident nod and smile.

“Aunt Tillie, I have a question.” Agni shifts around to face her. “We’ve heard them talk about teams. We’ve heard them mention Blue Team
, White Team, and others. What are they talking about?”

“The military part of
the Enlightened is organized into teams, and each team is labeled by colors. Each color represents what they specialize in.”

“How many teams are there?”

“Maybe ten, but there could be more.”

“
Can you describe what these teams are or what they do?” Agni is on a fact finding mission, and I’m glad to be here for it.

“Well, the Gray Team is the air squadron. They are pilots
, aircraft mechanics, and other flight personnel. They’re equivalent to America’s Air Force. White Team is the medical branch. Black Team is infantry. Soldiers that fight on the ground, hand to hand combat. Violet Team is the royal squadron. You’ll probably never see them. They handle security for the Enlightened’s leadership. Indigo Team deals with communications. Blue Team is law enforcements and apprehension teams. You’ll see a lot of those types when the Enlightened starts setting up new cities. Green Team is technology and high tech engineering. They are the ones setting up the scanners. Yellow Team is the chemical company. Those are very bad people, Agni. They create chemical weapons for chemical warfare. Orange Team is explosives, and then there’s the Red Team. Those soldiers are snipers, the world’s best marksmen. They work alone, and they take orders from unknowns within the organization. You better hope you’re not on the end of their scopes. You won’t know what hit you. I believe that’s all the military teams. There may be more, but that’s all I can recall for right now.”

Now, their call signs make sense. We have an idea who is calling and what they represent.

Mark draws our attention as he’s switching through the channels on the long range radio. Mark looks back at his mom, who is simply drinking her water with disinterest.

Agni twists around and asks, “Aunt Tillie, when they start making people register, are you going to do it?”

“I’m already in the Enlightened’s database, Agni. See.” She points to a spot near the crease of her left arm.

We go over to see it, and there’s a tiny
silvery square spot. It’s a computer chip, and it’s attached to her skin. I cringe as I stare at that thing. Why would she let them do that?

“They can track you, Aunt Tillie?” Agni asks as he lightly grazes the spot
with his forefinger.

“
They sure can.” She answers.

“How long have you had this?” Agni leans in to get a closer look at her chip.

“Since the first day Philip proposed to me.”

“Mark, do you have one, too?” Agni asks.

“Nope,” Mark answers.

“Why don’t you have one?” I ask him.

“Because I’m not in the Enlightened. At least, not yet.” He says as he goes back to his chair. He has the radio to his ear.

“Do you plan on getting registered?” I ask.

“As soon as they set up a registration station.” He says.

“
They are going to start setting them up in the next day or two right here in Penny Valley.” Aunt Tillie remarks with excitement.

Agni asks, “Aunt Tillie, we saw them putting up cylinders in
Allium Center. Will those cylinders be able to scan the chips?”

“
Aren’t you so smart, Agni? That’s exactly what they do. Those cylinders can also scan for DNA. It’s one of those high tech inventions from someone within the Enlightened. They scan people’s DNA and their chip as they walk by, and it sends their information to a program where it’s collected in a database. That’s how the Enlightened will keep track of people. Anyone without a chip will be documented and assigned a number until that person’s name is entered into the system.”

Agni looks at me uneasily, and I know exactly what he’s thinking. The cylinder in Allium Center that he was so curious about has documented his DNA.
The Enlightened has his genetic makeup, and now if he decides to register, the computer will match him with what they have. I don’t know how he truly feels about that, but it sounds like the Enlightened is one step closer to owning him. I wish he would have kept away from that thing.

“What are they
going to do with that information?” I ask.

“
Eventually, they’re going to track down unregistered people with that information.” Aunt Tillie answers. “The program will pinpoint exactly where they are in real time, and the Blue Team will apprehend them and eventually, they will be presented with the option to join the Enlightened or die.”

“I’m really not doing it now.” I state defiantly.

“You won’t have a choice, Breanna.” She remarks.

“Then I’ll hide,” I shot back.

“There will be no place on this planet you can hide, my dear. Those scanners will be placed all over the world.”

“
That’s impossible.”

“You’ll be surprised, Breanna.” Aunt Tillie
says nonchalantly as she finishes her drink. As she stands and is about to go inside the house, she stops all of a sudden. She reaches down towards Agni’s shirt and her hand brings out the key that he had hidden around his neck. “What is this, Agni?”

He takes it from her
. He eyes me and then Mark. He answers as he stuffs it back under his shirt, “It’s nothing.”

Aunt Tillie asks, “Is that some kind of jewelry?”

“Well, huh, not really. I found it. It’s nothing special.” Agni is just incapable of lying. He nearly falls apart if he says something that isn’t true.

“It’s very neat looking. I wish you would have found two. I would
n’t mind a necklace like that.” She says as she gently pats his shoulder and goes inside.

Mark is still staring at Agni, and we can read his mind like an open book. He’s looking down at his shirt where the key is hidden.
That dude can’t be trusted.

“You found that key, huh?” Mark asks in disbelief. “Kind of funny how
the Enlightened is looking for a key, and you have a key around your neck. I didn’t hear where you said you found it.”

“I didn’t say.” Agni remarks. He stands and walks off the deck. I take the radio from Mark and the radio from
off the deck step, and I run to meet Agni in the yard. We go to the back fence and look out beyond the cliff. Below is a rocky drop that goes directly below to the beach, and the tide has come in. The spray from the water hitting the rocks is rising up, but it doesn’t reach us.

I whisper, “
Agni, maybe we should leave tonight. If we wait until morning, we might not be able to.”

He
says, “We need to stay overnight like we planned and get some rest, Breanna.”

“
Mark is already suspicious about that key around your neck, and if he finds out we have the card, he might contact the Enlightened.”

Agni
doesn’t reply, but he’s clearly worried about our situation. He turns his attention back to the view.

“I don’t trust Mark, but we’ll do as we originally planned. I just hope he doesn’t tell on us.”

I decide to let Agni be to let him think on what I said. I’m tired anyway. It’s still kind of early, but that’s good actually. Hopefully, I can get a full night’s sleep and be set to go first thing in the morning.

First, I have to get cleaned up. After everything we’ve gone through today, I need a bath and it’ll only help me sleep better.
I get a bucket from under the deck and pump water into it. I go back inside and ask Aunt Tillie where I can wash up for the evening. She takes me upstairs to a room that looks bigger than my own bedroom. There’s also an attached bathroom to it. It’s not decorated elaborately. There’s a bed and a nightstand. There’s no dresser, but there is a chest at the foot of the bed. I don’t need much anyway. The setup is perfect.

I go back downstairs to get my backpack, and I call for Miss Kiki. She follows me
back to the bedroom, and I close us up for the evening.

After I wipe down to the point where I feel as clean as I can, I dump the water down the tub drain and go to bed. There’s a battery operated lamp beside the bed
room, and it’s giving off a soft glow. It’s creating shadows and dark corners in the room that’s making me real nervous. It’s not keeping me awake, though. The sleep overtakes me quick, and I’m dreaming before I even realize it.