After the Red Rain (9 page)

S
he wanted to be nowhere near Jaron and whatever his schemes might be, but Rose refused to back off. And she wasn’t about to let him go to L-Twelve alone the next day.

Not that she had much of a choice. If she missed work without some kind of proof of illness, she would either lose her job or be physically moved to the factory by the DeeCees.

“Last chance,” she whispered to Rose just before they passed through the scanner. “Go back to where you came from.” Wherever
that
was.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“If you keep going in there, he has you right where he wants you.”

“I’m sure he thinks that.”

Inside, she stowed her poncho and took up her position. Rose made sure to get the station next to hers. She tried to focus on her tools. Couldn’t. Stared at the vid mounted before her.

I don’t think we’re making air scrubbers
, Rose had said.

What else, then? What else could it be?

It didn’t make any sense. She blinked to clear her vision, forced herself to concentrate.

“Hey, Lissa.”

From her left, Lissa said, “Yeah?”

“What happens to drone video? Do you know?” Lissa’s father had once spent a six-month shift in the DCS Monitoring Division. He’d been a low-level tech, but maybe he’d learned something. And maybe he’d told Lissa.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when do they arrest people for the crimes the drones spot?”

Lissa cocked her head. “What crime did you commit now?” she joked.

She couldn’t tell Lissa that she was wondering why no one had at least come to her to ask about the video from the rooftop. For example, if you were out after curfew and a drone videoed you, you were given demerits at the very least. So shouldn’t someone have started an inquiry into the day on the rooftop by now?

“Just wondering why it would take more than a month. Did your dad ever—”

Lissa chuckled. “If it’s been more than a month, then you got away with it, Dee. I hear they wipe the vids after a month.”

Deedra forced herself to smile at Lissa’s joke, but fear froze her innards. If the video was gone, then there was no evidence that Jaron had ever done anything or tried to do anything. No evidence at all except for her word. And Rose’s, too, if anyone would listen to him. Two freaks against the word of the Magistrate’s son.

“What? Really?”

“I guess, unless it’s flagged for some reason.”

“But what if it wasn’t flagged?”

“Then no one’ll ever see it.”

Suddenly the belt stopped. Deedra looked over at Lissa, who shrugged. Next to her, Rose nodded patiently, as if he’d been expecting this.

Clong!

Clong! Clong! Clong!

Her teeth rattled at the ringing that presaged the arrival of the Bang Boys. When she turned around, all four of them stood with their pipes at the ready, Jaron at their center.

“Dr. Dimbali!” Jaron called out.

The doctor scrambled over. “Mr. Ludo,” he began, “the protocols currently in place require an adjust—”

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, Jaron didn’t even look in Dimbali’s direction as he spoke. Deedra felt as though he was staring right at her instead. “You assured me that we could increase our productivity, Dr. Dimbali.”

“Yes, well, the human reflex and muscle memory—”

“You assured me,” Jaron cut him off, “and I assured my father. Do you understand?”

Dr. Dimbali smiled nervously and adjusted his SmartSpex. “Mr. Ludo, one cannot make assurances with regard to unknowns. Improvement requires time.”

“We don’t have time, Doctor.”

Dimbali opened his mouth to speak, but Jaron held up his hand, silencing him. He stared out onto the workforce and suddenly pointed across the belt to Lissa.

“You! In the back! How many units have you completed today?” Jaron demanded.

“I… I don’t know,” Lissa stammered. It was impossible to keep track of how many units slid by on the belt.

“Unacceptable!” Jaron pronounced, and Hart banged his pipe on the floor to punctuate the disapproval. “Two ration demerits,” Jaron ordered.

“From now on,” he shouted, “your quotas are doubled. The belt will be sped up.” A ripple of concerned whispers bubbled up, and the Bang Boys each slammed their pipes against the floor to silence the babble.

“This is how it is!” Jaron cried. “You want to eat, you contribute!
You know that! This is how it’s always been! And this is what contributing means! Now, does anyone have a problem with that?”

Silence.

“I do.”

Of course it was Rose
, Deedra thought. Of course. Maybe he wanted to die. Maybe that was his big secret.

Don’t do this
, she thought fiercely.
Don’t goad him.

“You have a problem?” Jaron stalked over to Rose’s station, brushing past Deedra as he did so. “You know, the last time I checked, you don’t even officially work here. You’re here on my sufferance. So if you have a problem, maybe you should just leave.”

“I don’t think you want that. I’m twice as efficient as anyone else here.”

Jaron snorted. “The door’s that way, Rosie. You know how to use it.”

“Maybe if we knew what we were really building and why, it would be easier to—”

“No one asked you.”

“I’m just saying. It’s easier to do work like this when you can see the whole picture. Why are the fan blades arrayed this way? Why are the power couplings so large? An air scrubber with that much power would be counterproductive. Shouldn’t—”

“Shut up.” Jaron looked around a bit nervously. The longer Rose spoke, the more people were beginning to murmur among themselves. Deedra had never noticed that. Rose was right—what was going on here?

Clearly sensing that he was about to have more questions from more directions than he wanted, Jaron took a step back from Rose. “You put your piece in the right place, and you keep your mouth shut. And then you get fed. You don’t get rations for questions!” he announced. “You get them for
work
!”

Ignoring Jaron, Rose turned and spread his arms wide. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he asked everyone, his voice echoing. “Wouldn’t you like to know exactly what you’re building? And why? Wouldn’t—”

“Shut up!” Jaron yelled, but Rose kept talking.

Jaron gestured to the Bang Boys, who stepped forward. As Deedra watched, frozen in shock, Hart and Kent each grabbed one of Rose’s arms. “C’mon.”

Rose planted his feet and refused to budge. “For talking? You’re taking me away for
talking
?”

“You’ve been warned about your coat,” Jaron said. “Too dangerous on the line. So we’re removing you. For safety reasons.”

It was too convenient by half, and everyone knew it. But still, no one said anything. Lio and Rik joined in, tugging at Rose, who struggled to maintain his position.

“Just go along,” Jaron said. “It’s not so bad.”

And then, as Deedra watched in horror, Lio took a swing at Rose with his pipe.

Now
Rose moved, ducking out of the way at the last possible instant, shoving Kent and Hart aside. The pipe missed Rose by less than an inch and smashed into the vid at his station. Sparks flew and shards of glass and metal exploded outward. If that blow had made contact, Rose’s head would have been smashed wide open.

“Hey!” Deedra heard herself yell. “Hey!” And she ran toward Jaron, who stood off to one side, watching. “He could have been killed! Stop messing around!”

The Bang Boys encircled Rose, who stood amid them with no more armor than his green coat, which seemed as pathetic as a baby’s security blanket.

“Make them leave him alone!” Deedra insisted. “He didn’t do anything.”

Jaron favored her with a quick look over his shoulder. “Back off, citizen. This has nothing to do with you.”

Rose checked around himself, confirming that he was surrounded. His expression didn’t change in the slightest. He didn’t adjust his stance. He didn’t even raise his hands from his sides.

The poor kid was going to get creamed. He didn’t stand a chance.

Deedra grabbed Jaron’s shoulder and spun him around, too gratified by the look on his face to be shocked at her own boldness.

“If you hurt him,” she whispered in a voice only Jaron could hear, “I’ll tell the DeeCees what you tried to do on the rooftop.”

For a moment she enjoyed the panic dancing in Jaron’s eyes. But only for a moment. The panic was replaced quickly enough with a self-confident sneer. “You think anyone will believe you? Tell anyone you think will take your word over mine. And if you do, just remember that I can hurt you more than you could ever hurt me.”

It was the only stone in her sling, and it was gone. Either Jaron didn’t care or the video was gone or both.

She tightened her jaw. Nearby workers had gathered, in amusement or in horror, she couldn’t tell. Two rings formed around Rose—the inner circle of the Bang Boys and an outer rim of fellow workers. Deedra didn’t even consider asking them for help; she knew they would never risk angering Jaron Ludo and, by extension, his father.

“Get her out of here,” Jaron told Hart, and Hart peeled away to snatch Deedra by the elbow.

“Let go of me!” Deedra shouted as Hart dragged her away. “Let me go! Rose!” she screamed as she realized she couldn’t break away. “Run! Get away!”

“Aw, don’t run away, Rosie,” Jaron said, grinning. “What would we do for fun?”

“Are you planning to hurt me?” Rose asked mildly.

Jaron gaped for a moment, then guffawed. The others joined in. “Hurt you? Not too bad.” He thought about it for a second. “Or maybe pretty bad. We’ll see. I’m improvising.”

“I understand,” Rose said. “Are you sure this is something you want to do?”

Jaron answered with a haymaker from the right, smashing his fist into Rose’s face, just above the jawline. Even as she was hauled off by Hart, Deedra caught sight of that blow and gasped as if punched herself.

Rose’s head snapped to the left with such precise violence that no one would have been surprised if it popped off and rolled along the floor. Then he shook his head, his arms still down, hands relaxed, and gazed levelly at Jaron.

“Okay,” he said, even-tempered still. “Now that you’ve hurt me, are you happy?” His tone and his searching eyes were unironic.

Jaron blinked rapidly, as if unable to process what Rose had said. “Can you believe this guy?” he asked Lio, who was closest to him.

“Totally not,” Lio said.

“Hold him still for me,” Jaron ordered, and Rik and Kent stepped forward, reaching for Rose’s arms. “This will be an instructive example, won’t it, Dr. Dimbali?”

Dr. Dimbali adjusted his SmartSpex and cleared his throat. “Well, uh…” He stumbled over his words. For a man who always seemed to have something to blurt out to anyone who would listen, he seemed suddenly and uncharacteristically dumbstruck. “Look, Mr. Ludo, perhaps… that is to say, maybe…”

Rose took a step forward, then seemed to duck somehow, but without ever bending. He didn’t hurry; he didn’t jerk or jump. He was just suddenly, barely out of range of Rik’s and Kent’s hands.

“Stop messing around,” Jaron growled. “Hold him still.”

“We’re trying!” Rik said.

Meanwhile, Hart shoved Deedra as hard as he could, sending her colliding with a clutch of workers. With yelps and cries, they all collapsed on one another, a tangle of arms and legs, and Hart rejoined the Bang Boys.

Rik and Kent made another grab at Rose, who seemed to shrug them off like dust, his movements fluid and nimble. Lio and Hart jumped in, but Rose avoided them, too.

“Maybe we could talk about what’s really bothering you?” Rose asked with infuriating, impossible calm.

Enraged, Jaron lunged toward Rose, jostling Lio out of the way. In close quarters, he threw a punch at Rose, ready to bash that serenity right through his face.

Rose slid to one side gracefully, his movement precise and economical. Hart and Rik tried to grapple with Rose, but he ducked down, then scooted forward, and they found themselves crashing into each other instead. Lio tripped over them as he sprang at Rose, blocking the way for Kent, who tried stepping around them, but by then Rose had made it halfway toward the door.

At the same time, Deedra had managed to get to her feet in the crowd. She got close enough to hear Rik tell Jaron, “Let’s just call the DeeCees on him.”

“Are you crazy?” Jaron asked, rounding on Rik. “You want my dad to know we can’t handle this? Don’t let him go! Get that freak!”

Deedra realized Rose had paused at the door, his hands still not clenched, his arms still not raised in defense. He’d been lucky so far, but he would be ground into paste by the combined fury of the humiliated Bang Boys.

“Run!” she shouted to him.

Jaron charged. Behind him by only a few paces were the Bang Boys.

Rose hesitated just a second, then turned and ran.

Deedra never made a conscious decision—she ran, too, chasing them all as they raced out of L-Twelve.

Outside, Rose ran with a fleetness she could barely perceive. He ran with long, effortless strides, seeming to float above the ground for the space of each step.

Jaron and the Bang Boys were not half as elegant. Deedra followed them, pumping her arms and churning her legs.