Secret Value of Zero, The (29 page)

“What time is it? How long have I been here?” Meke asked.

A small smile flashed on Donner’s face. “Ah, so you know about the attack? Well, so do we.”

Meke’s mouth fell open. They already knew. One mad thought circled her mind:
All of this had been for nothing
. Sterling had been right.
 

“What will you do to them?” she asked, dreading the response.

Lucio Donner shrugged. “This is a fortress. Every door and wall here are under my command. All I have to do is send them along a few different corridors, isolate a few of them and bang.” He crooked his finger, pulling the imaginary trigger. “They’ll be gone.”

Meke thought of Trove as one of the ones trapped. “You always had this plan, didn’t you?”
 

“Yes. I’ve thought about this. Isolation and control are key. The Equalists think they will win since they have more people and more weapons.” He tapped his head. “But brains win, always.”

Meke stood there, a bit stunned. Then she realized he was right, brains won. “I understand.” Meke finally said.

“I knew you would. It’s only natural.”

“You made the walls here impermeable for me, so I wouldn’t help them.”

“Smart girl. It was a tricky thing, too. We only had a few brain scans to work with, but we did it. We figured out how your sense works and we neutralized it.”

“That’s very smart. How did you do it?”

“It was a matter of figuring out what changed about you. Once we isolated the change, we had the answer.”

“I see.” Meke’s brain whirled. “So, you want to use this to help people?”

“Yes. Think about it. We wouldn’t need to have this tedious ranking system. We could really improve people. Just imagine it, a nation full of people who can see, hear and do all these incredible things. We’d stop being a has-been country and return to our former glory, but better.”

Meke blinked. “I understand it all now. I hadn’t heard your side of the story, but now that I have—” she paused, “I see your side of it. You want a better future for us. A truly prosperous Prosperon.”

“Exactly! The name is aspirational, but it doesn’t have to be.”

“Yes, it’s logical. Prosperon with improved people will be unbeatable.”

Lucio stopped nodding abruptly. “How do I know that you truly believe me?”

Meke’s throat constricted. Lucio had figured her out somehow. “What? Why are you doubting me?”

“Because even Stars have their moments of stupidity. Sterling had such potential. I was going to make him my first man, you know.” Lucio shook his head, his hair flopping into his eyes. “He got soft. He talked about how we needed to be kinder, more inclusive of the less capable.”

“Sterling was your friend?”
 

“Best friend, actually. We grew up together at the Ministry of Education. I even tried to stop him from running away and ruining his life. So, you see. I can’t trust you even if you’re Star material.”

Meke needed to gain his trust somehow so to draw him outside. If Lucio was outside, that would mean that Trove and the other soldiers wouldn’t be inside.

Meke inhaled slowly. “But I’m not jealous of you. Sterling was. He said that he knew you were responsible for Genex. He even said that he couldn’t believe that you went so bold and farsighted.”

“He did?” Lucio’s head poked up. “Why would he say that?”

“Because you were brave. You disregarded the ranking system for the greater good.”

Lucio leaned back, smiling. “I was, wasn’t I? I really thought about the grater good. Still, just because you’re not jealous of me doesn’t mean that I can trust you.”

Meke tried not to give into the burning sensation behind her eyes. If she didn’t do something, she would be stuck in this room as people—Trove among them—died only meters away from her. Meke needed to try. She could’ve been a Star. That knowledge gave her the tiniest glimmer of hope for what she could do.
 

“If you don’t trust me, why bother bringing me here?” she asked, carefully watching Lucio.

“Trust you or not, I need you to upset the global balance.”

“But you can’t do that with just me. You need the entire country behind you. The Foreign Powers could just take me and everything would be lost.”

Lucio furrowed his brow. “But—hmm. Let me think. Well, I must admit, it’d be optimal for me to have an entire country behind me.”

“So, if you just sit here and kill all these soldiers out there, nothing will change. We’ll be stuck here.”

“So,” Lucio frowned, “the risk is worth taking. I can’t gain anything by staying here. I can gain something by going out there and having you explain.”

Meke worked that glimmer of hope into a bright fire of optimism. Maybe Lucio would believe her. “Yes,” Meke said.

Lucio stared at the wall, eyes unfocused for a long while. Finally, he spoke. “Okay. It’s a calculated risk,” he glanced at Meke, ”but I think you’ll be worth it.”

Meke stifled her sigh. If a Star required only hard logic and no humanity, she wanted nothing of it.
 

THE SUN’S rays peeked out from behind the tall buildings, making the city shine. She squinted at the rays, accustoming herself to the newfound span of her vision. She closed her eyes and told herself that this was the best that she could do. That didn’t feel like enough.

Lucio Donner pulled her closer to him. Her shoulders brushed his. Up close Meke could see how calm and relaxed he was. A Star had followed her logic, just because he thought of her as a Star as well. That thought scared Meke more than anything else.

Lucio didn’t need to depend on her for protection. Several Elite Force guards circled both of them. Even if Meke wanted to run, she would run into a green wall of swords, crossbows and axes. They all formed a protective half-moon with the Ministry at their backs. Even more Elite Forces soldiers stood ready at the periphery. Donner had rolled out an army that Meke hadn’t known he had.
 

The Equalists hung back, giving them a wide berth. The space meant nothing. Meke could feel every weapon aimed at them, their ends sharp. If even a single one went off, she would easily become just another casualty.
 

Nobody moved. Even the wind had enough sense to remain still.
 

Lucio Donner shifted beside her. He opened his mouth and started to speak. He pointed at her, mouth moving unintelligibly. Meke watched everyone glance about, puzzled by his words.
 

Doubt slithered into her resolve. Maybe everyone believed Donner, believed that she had turned traitor. Her idea had depended on people believing in her loyalty. Perhaps it didn’t matter, she had gotten him out. No soldier would get trapped and killed in the Ministry.

A small movement in the crowd far to her left caught her attention. There was no mistaking the shape. It was Trove. Meke had to still herself so not to draw attention. She focused on him with all her strength, outlining his silhouette. She saw what he said as clearly as if he was in front of her. “Is all of this true?”

Meke slid one of her hands behind her and she signed one thing, “No.”

Trove placed his handheld near his mouth. His lips moved so slightly that Meke wasn’t sure they had moved at all. “We’ll attack in a few minutes. Can you take down Donner?” He signs were so small that Meke had to struggle to decipher them.

Meke blinked. Could she? What did he mean, take him down? She swallowed and kept her hand behind her. She curled her fingers, forming a fist and signed, “Yes.”

A female Elite Forces soldier behind her moved forward, her mouth open in a shout. She raised her sword, its tip directed at her.
 

Pandemonium exploded all around her.

Meke’s whole world turned into a writhing, twisting sensation. So many bolts flew in the air that the sky darkened. Swords hacked at one another. Axes whirled in the air. Bodies fell all around her, crumpling into the ground. A wall of bodies surrounded her, pulling and pushing against each other. The movement engulfed Meke’s mind.

She only saw the sword when it came directly at her.
 

Meke dropped to her knees, rolling as someone’s sword smashed onto the ground besides her. A heavy body fell on her, pinning Meke to the ground. Her heart pummeled her ribcage. She could feel the woman who had shouted push aside someone and head for her. The woman’s sword raised high in the air, ready to strike. Meke struggled to free herself from the dead weight that pinned her to the ground.

The woman was only a few steps away, shoving another Elite Force soldier out of the way. Her face dark with rage, her eyes fixed upon Meke, the woman swung the sword with both hands down on Meke.
 

Grunting, Meke shifted the body and felt the sickening thump of sword hitting flesh. With strength she hadn’t known she had, Meke pushed the body against the attacker. The woman stumbled backward, losing her footing. Meke could only watch as she fell into someone else’s fight. Someone’s sword skewered her neck. Meke closed her eyes, but she still felt everything.
 

As she extricated herself from the dead body, Meke looked for Donner. The writhing crowd turned Meke’s mind into a morass. She clenched her teeth trying to settle the uproar in her mind.
 

The constant vibrations, sensations and movements around her posed the smallest problem. She had no weapon, but everyone around her had one. She searched for something, anything that she could use. Grabbing a discarded sword, she wished for her poleax.

She managed to find Trove in the moving, bloody mess. Shoving and weaving past fighting bodies, with a few hacks with her sword thrown in, Meke finally reached Trove. He shoved her poleax toward her. Her fingers tightened around its coolness, glad to feel the familiar weight again.
 

“Where’s Donner?” Trove asked.

“I don’t know. I was knocked down and I lost track of him in the commotion,” Meke said, her signs frenetic.
 

Trove swore. “Can you find him?”

“I need to concentrate. I can’t do it with all of this, worrying if someone will kill me.” Meke’s mind swam with the moving bodies. She could feel every one of them.

“I’ll cover you. Do whatever you need to do, but try to hurry,” Trove said, raising his sword.
 

Meke closed her eyes and let everything in. Everyone jumbled together, pushing against each other. She tried to ignore the feeling of Trove striking someone, several someones.
 

Then she seized onto a figure that wasn’t fighting. A thin body slunk through the mayhem. Meke’s eyes flew open. “I found him.”
 

“Let’s go,” Trove said, letting Meke take the lead.

Lucio Donner got further and further away as Meke and Trove pushed against the unyielding bodies. Meke’s arms ached from deflecting sword blows.

A gap in the crowd opened up and Meke ran for it.
 

A large man stepped between her and Trove, an axe raised. He was taller and broader than even Trove. Meke could see his forearm muscles ripple as he gripped the axe. She turned around, positioning her weapon.

Trove shook his head and mouthed, “Go.”

Meke hesitated. The man’s axe and Trove’s sword crashed. Trove angled his sword to trap the axe blade. Meke exhaled. Trove knew what he was doing. He didn’t need her. She still gulped in some air as she ran.
 

The crowd thinned at the edges, only isolated patches of fighting. Meke, ducking a few crossbow bolts, ran toward the Ministry’s door.

Lucio stood by the door, ready to escape into the Ministry’s fortress. He spun around and stared at her. “You’re responsible for this,” he said. “I thought you understood.”

Meke bit down on the inside of her cheek. Lucio Donner probably had no idea how she felt about this. She did feel responsible. Even standing in front of the thin man, Meke could feel the blood flowing on the ground. She didn’t need to look to know the ground was far redder than it should be. She wasn’t even sure she had saved any lives with the stunt that she pulled.

“It’s over. Give up,” Meke said.
 

“Never. Despite what I thought, you’re still a Zero, stupid and lacking foresight.”

Meke seized upon some righteous anger. “I may be a Zero, but you’re worse than that. You pretend you’re smarter than all of us, but you’re barely human.”

Lucio laughed. “Zero-talk. Worthless.”

Meke stared at him. “Just give up. It’s all over,” she repeated.

Her nails dug into the base of her palm as she gripped her weapon. “Give up?” His hair was wild now, almost as wild as his brown eyes. “I won't give up to this insanity.”

Meke pointed her weapon at him. “It’s over.”
 

And it was almost over. She could feel only a few spots of resistance remain. Most of the Elite Forces either lay on the ground or had their hands up in surrender. It was over, almost.

Lucio laughed, his face contorted into deep lines of anger. “Over? No, it’s not over. You will all ruin everything I’ve worked for. This society was supposed to be the greatest society on earth.”

“You’ll stand trial. You’ll answer for these dead,” she said, still holding her weapon steady by Lucio’s neck.

Donner reached into his pants and retrieved a silver dagger. The sun’s rays shone off the blade. Donner’s veins protruded from his hand as he held the dagger out in front of himself. “No, dear Meke. I will never stand trial. I won't have people who are not my equal judge me and my life’s work.”

Meke watched as the dagger made its way toward Donner’s heart. For one insane moment, she thought about letting it complete its course. Maybe it would be best to forget about him, wipe him from their collective consciousness, just as Barbara said.

No. He couldn’t die. Amelia, Tino, Cecil and all of the others deserved better. If Donner died, nobody had cause to remember them.
 

Meke dropped her weapon and leapt at him. Her fingers seized Donner’s hand as the blade’s tip touched his chest.
 

Donner tried to shove her away, but she hung on. Meke pulled at the dagger, but Donner held on tight. The dagger wavered between them for what seemed to be hours. Somehow Donner scrounged up the strength to hold fast. Meke felt her hands grow slick with sweat; she would have to release it in a moment.