Geon nodded and walked toward the lab, checking down both hallways to see if anyone was coming.
This is going to be easier than I thought,
he thought as he walked through the sliding door.
Geon’s heart sank immediately the second he walked in, seeing the only person he didn’t want to see, standing in the back of the room. It was Shiv.
Unbelievable… my luck today,
Geon thought to himself as Shiv looked up at him. He squeezed his hands tighter on the bag he was holding across his shoulder.
What do I do now? Make something up, Geon!
“Oh. Um, hey, Shiv. I was… looking for Allea. Guess she’s not here. See ya.”
As Geon turned to leave, Shiv suddenly called out to him.
“What? You were looking for Allea? Don’t you know she has class right now? You’re her brother and you don’t know that? Typical.”
Geon suddenly felt a rush of blood to his face.
Don’t respond, Geon. Just walk away. You can’t risk getting caught. Walk away.
Geon did not walk away. He turned to face Shiv once again, still standing on the opposite side of the room as him.
“What do you mean…
typical
?”
Shiv exposed his teeth with a crooked smile and snarled back, “I think you know what I mean. Typical Shay family. First Allea takes my duplicator device, and now you show your ignorance by not even knowing her schedule. Typical Shay family stupidity.”
Oh no. How did he know Allea took it? There’s no way he could know. Maybe he was just guessing. What do I do now? Where’s Sabien? Just play it cool.
“WHAT?” Geon burst out, trying his best to feign insult and surprise. “Why would Allea take your stupid device? Who told you that?”
“No one told me. I just
know
it. She was the last person to ask me about it and seemed really interested in it. And I know that her stupid hunk-of-junk, scrap-metal project doesn’t even work! So yeah… I
bet
she stole it! She probably doesn’t want me to win the TechSci Concours competition. Or maybe she wants to steal my ideas. I dunno. You’re all just…
stupid
. You and your ado-brothers and sister.
Stupid.
Either way, I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
Geon felt himself getting angrier and angrier as he slowly clenched his fists. He could handle a few insults about himself, but when Allea was mentioned, he became furious and found it hard to control his emotions. Part of him wanted to just turn around and walk away and deal with the device later. Aside from a few insults, there was really no harm done yet. But another part of him was so angry at Shiv for his repeated attacks on his family and hostile treatment to him, that he would rather confront him and deal with the consequences.
“Allea didn’t take ANYTHING. She has more intelligence than you’ll
ever
have in your lifetime, and you know it. It burns you up that she is smarter than you, doesn’t it? And to me it sounds like YOU are the stupid one for misplacing your device anyway!” Geon said as he slowly took a few steps closer to Shiv.
Shiv looked surprised at Geon’s sudden brashness, but in response he too raised his voice back at him.
“Oh yeah? Well then maybe YOU took it. It had to be one of you hermits! If I find out who did it, I’m going to tell my dad. And then CARE will take care of you and your stupid family!”
Does he really believe his dad works for CARE?
Geon shook his head at Shiv in fury. He was enraged at Shiv for his constant attacks, but decided not to say anything about his father not being a CARE member. It wouldn’t do him and the others any favors to let Shiv know about their explorations, and deep down, he felt slightly bad for Shiv, standing there exasperated and emotionally unstable, falsely using his father and CARE as his only means of defense in the world.
“Why don’t you just tell your stupid sister to return it to me,” Shiv continued. “Or maybe I’ll tell her myself!”
Geon felt his emotional stability suddenly snap. The thought of Shiv attacking Allea and yelling at her in this same manner was not something he would allow, and he suddenly found himself not caring about the consequences of his actions.
“YOU KNOW WHAT? SHE DIDN’T TAKE YOUR IDIOTIC DEVICE, SHIV! I DID! I TOOK IT TO PLAY A PRANK ON YOU, SO WHY DON’T YOU SHUTUP ABOUT ALLEA! HERE. TAKE IT BACK!”
Geon opened his back and grabbed the duplicator, thrusting it into Shiv’s hands. He then calmly continued in a slow and serious tone, feeling somewhat relieved that the device’s whereabouts was finally revealed.
“And if you ever mention Allea again or ever talk to her like that, you’ll have to deal with us directly. Not with CARE. Not with our adopted mother. Not with Headmaster Ulie. With
us
.”
Shiv looked down at the device in his hands and then up at Geon, a smirk slowly forming on his face.
“You took it? You think that was funny? Let me tell you what’s really funny. Maybe you should have thought this through, because when I tell Headmaster Ulie what you did, you’re going to be in serious trouble. You’ll be suspended, no doubt. Even expelled! How does that sound?”
Oh my God. Maybe I didn’t think this through
.
What was I thinking? If I get expelled I won’t be able to go to school with my friends… with Allea. What if CARE finds out about this? There must be a way out of this. Think, Geon, THINK!”
Geon decided to bluff. “They won’t expel me for playing a prank, Shiv. Go ahead and tell them if you want. I really don’t care.”
Shiv had a curious look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out Geon’s motive.
“Maybe they won’t,” he said. “Maybe they
will.
Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”
Geon could sense that Shiv was up to something, but didn’t know what. He shrugged in response to him.
“Well, I’ll make you a deal. I won’t tell anyone about this, but you have to do something for me.”
Unbelievable
.
Who does this guy think he is?
“Do something for you? You must be joking.”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Do you want me to head straight to Headmaster Ulie’s office?”
Shiv suddenly began moving toward the door. Geon realized that he needed to hear out Shiv to have any chance for saving himself at this point.
“Okay, Shiv. Talk. What do you want?”
I can’t believe I’m even asking him this
.
That snake.
Shiv smiled and stopped walking. “You placed third in the time trials for the race today. I placed fourth. I want you to make up an excuse and drop out of the competition. That will move me up to third position.”
Geon felt the blood rushing to his face again. He couldn’t believe the nerve of Shiv to blackmail him like that.
“Are you KIDDING me? Why in the galaxy would I give you my position? I
earned
it!”
“You know why, Geon. Do it. Or deal with the consequences.”
Shiv was right. There was just no way out of this. I finally get back onto the jetboard and take a high position and now I’m going to lose it all again.
Geon realized that Shiv had cornered him and he had no other options at this point.
It’s not the end of the world,
Geon thought to himself.
It’s just one race.
But deep down he was angry at himself for letting his emotions get the best of him with Shiv and was upset at the prospect of missing yet another race. He looked up at Shiv and began to walk out of the room.
“Fine. I’ll do it at the end of the day, so I know that you won’t try to double-cross me.”
Shiv just smiled as Geon walked back into the hallway and toward Sabien near the corner.
“Well… what happened? You were in there forever! I was getting worried.”
Geon shook his head in frustration and anger. “You don’t even want to know,” he said. He explained everything to Sabien who in turn, became furious himself until Geon calmed him back down again.
“You know what, G? You’re right. It’s one race, and as long as he doesn’t tell, we’re okay. Don’t worry about it. You did the right thing.”
“What? I blew it in there! That snake Shiv makes me so mad that I can’t control myself around him. He’s so… so…”
“Inhuman. That’s the word you’re looking for. Downright savage.”
Geon nodded in agreement as they headed back to the Commons.
“By the way,” he asked, looking back at Sabien. “What does hermit mean?”
“Hermit? Did that reptile call you that?”
Geon nodded as Sabien became provoked again.
“It’s a demeaning way of calling someone an orphan. He’s pathetic. Don’t worry about it.”
Geon couldn’t help but feel sad by the insult. To tease someone about not having a family was truly evil. He wondered why Shiv was full of so much anger and hatred.
There must be more to him,
Geon thought.
There must be a reason for his behavior.
He told Sabien about how Shiv threatened him with his father and CARE again.
“What a joke! Now that we know his father isn’t a CARE member, he just looks like a big fraud. I wonder if he thinks his father is in CARE or if he’s just making it up?”
“Exactly what I was thinking, Sabe.”
The two headed to the Commons and waited for Allea and Kumuki to join them for lunch. They each got their daily ration of fish-carcass puree and sat down and Geon told them everything. Allea was so overwhelmed with guilt that she began to tear up and continually apologized to Geon.
“G, I’m so sorry. I should have returned the device. I’m so stupid! I know how important the race was to you and I messed it up for you. Please forgive me, I’m really so sorry.”
Geon looked at his sister’s flushed and teary face and smiled, letting her know that it’s not a big deal and that he wasn’t mad.
“Ally, don’t worry. Look, we got the device back. One way or the other. And it’s just one race. Besides, now that I won’t be in it, maybe Sabien has a chance of finishing first!”
They all laughed as Allea wiped away her tears and smiled.
“G, you know I love you,” Sabien said. “But now YOU’VE gone too far. Too far! You know I always take mako!”
“Or porpoise!” Kumuki added.
“And sometimes otter!” Allea said with a laugh.
“Or tortle!” Kumuki shouted with glee.
Tortle?
Sabien sat staring at the others, dumbfounded, then began to laugh himself. “Well, sometimes I feel charitable. You know how it is.”
“Listen, guys,” Geon said, suddenly more serious. “Forget the race. We have
so
much to talk about that we haven’t even discussed in detail. I mean… the
Dissenters
. Aurora. Enkia. Zenith!
Aurora
!”
“You said Aurora twice,” Allea said, sounding irked.
“Aurora!” Sabien repeated.
“AURORA!”
“Okay, we get it,” Allea said, shaking her head back and forth and rolling her eyes upward. “Aurora. She’s pretty! Let’s move on, shall we?”
The three agreed and they talked in detail about their theories about everything. Allea mused about why the world they lived in now was called Ancia by CARE members.
“I mean, think about it. Ancia is short for ancient, which basically means antiquated… archaic. Doesn’t that make you feel
obsolete
?”
She has a point.
CARE had already built this new city under the ocean that none of them even knew about. Were they, the citizens of Ancia, condemned by CARE? Do they really even care about us or is it all a facade?
They discussed their ideas together and also talked about the logistical and technical possibilities of the existence of Zenith.
Allea did some calculation on her LifeCuff and projected a three-dimensional blueprint of the city and skyline in front of them. “Assuming for a moment that Aurora was correct and that Zenith even exists, and depending on how high it was in the air, it could actually be an ideal place to protect the highest level CARE members. If it’s high enough, it might actually be above the permamist, or at least into the less dense portion where there is more sunlight. Also, there is probably a simple device that can take water from the moisture in the permamist as well. Somehow, food and other supplies would have to be occasionally taken up to them, though. It can’t be a hundred percent self-sustaining, but it can be close.”
“Guys, you know what we need to do,” Sabien said, smiling at Geon. “We need to find out more about this place and take the next step to getting there.”
“And then what?” Kumuki suddenly blurted out. Geon could see that he had become suddenly very visibly upset, as his eyes were bulging out more than usual and his entire body was twitching rapidly.
“We get to the truth, Kumuki. Isn’t that what you want?” Sabien responded.
“I dunno, Sabe. I just don’t wanna… I don’t wanna… if CARE finds out… I don’t know…”
“Look, Kuki,” Sabien continued, seemingly unaware of Kumuki’s fragile state at the moment. “We
need
to know the truth. We’ve come all this way and we need to find out more. Underst—”
“Listen, Kumuki,” Geon interrupted, sensing that Kumuki needed to be handled gently right now. “We’ll decide as a group what to do, okay? You’re as much of this group as any of us. We know there are risks, so that’s why it’s important that we ALL make this decision together.
Right, Sabe
?”
“Yeah, okay,” Sabien mumbled. “Together.”
Kumuki smiled and went back to eating his lunch and they talked more about the recently uncovered mysteries of their world. Allea also expressed frustration about her TechSci project, but Geon didn’t mention any details of the things Shiv had said about her.
“Is there anything we can do to help you?” Geon asked.
Allea sighed and scratched her head. “It’s the parabolic antenna. It’s the only thing missing to make it work. I’m just so annoyed. The competition is only days away and I’ve
nothing
to show! Right now my project is a useless hunk of scrap metal.”
Where have I just heard those same words?
He realized there was only one way to help Allea, but it would require a huge risk. But for her, he was willing to make it.
“Ally,” Geon said, putting his arm around her. “You know I would do anything for you, right?”