Cave of Shadows

Deja vu

Chapter 19- Connor’s POV

I sat in Napoleon’s tent, in a chair in front of a desk that reminded me of the one in the Ringmaster’s office.  Napoleon sat behind it.  He was clearly waiting for me to start the conversation.  After about ten minutes of us staring at one another, I decided to oblige him.

“What is it now?”

“My dear boy, I just wanted to have a little chat with you about the upcoming memorial service for-“

“Don’t you dare say her name,” I cut him off, my voice dripping with hostility.

“All right then, son.  The memorial service for Roxanne’s parents and certain other parties who shall remain unnamed, then.  We have a tradition here of celebrating the lives of those who have passed on.  This is called remembrance, and while I know that you don’t do anything like this in the Colony, and this will be a totally foreign concept to you, I think it’s important for you to integrate into the community as much as possible.”

He was right about one thing; a memorial service was a totally foreign concept to me.  As I’m sure most of the historians among you are aware, the sick, crippled, and elderly of the Colony were sent to End-Of-Life Services, where their lives were ended before they had a chance to suffer.  The families of the deceased would never have to experience their deaths, and it would all feel for them as though their relative had gone to the other side of the Colony for a while, and that they weren’t really dead at all.  At least that was the theory, anyway. 

Because end-of-life services created the illusion that our relatives were still alive, it would therefore be extremely silly to acknowledge their deaths.  I had heard that the people who lived in this area before the Rebirth used to do something like what Napoleon was describing, but not once afterwards had anything like it been attempted, as far as anyone knew.  To be honest, the idea of having a remembrance for her bothered me.

“No way.  No way am I going to let you have a memorial remembrance thing for her!  Do whatever you want for Roxanne’s parents, but you stay away from her memory!”

Napoleon sighed.  “I was afraid you were going to say that.  Here’s the thing, Connor; we need to show the public that you’re on our side, and the best way to do that is for them to see you doing as we do, fighting our fight, manning our lines, ect., ect., ect.  I would really rather have the remembrance with your permission, but if you won’t give it, then I will be forced to go ahead and do it anyway.  Now, I will only make this offer once, and so you’d better think carefully before you answer; What can I do for you to ensure your cooperation?”

I thought about it.  Then I remembered why I agreed to see him in the first place.  “I do have something that I want, Napoleon.”

Napoleon grinned; at last he thought he had the trump card.  “And what would that be?”

“I want you to set Melchior free from wherever you have him detained.  I want him given full membership in this organization, and I want him treated with the same level of suspicion as everyone else.  I will vouch for him, if you think I need to, and take whatever’s coming to me should he try to derail our operations.  Alright?”

Napoleon sat and thought about this for a moment.  “Fine,” he said, and picked up a radio off of his desk.  “Operator?  Yes, give me the detention area.”  He waited for a moment for the detention area to pick up.  “Detention?  Yes, this is John.  I need for you to take the prisoner and bring him to my office.  Understand?  Excellent.  See you in a few minutes.”  He set the radio back down on his desk.

“John?” I asked.

“You didn’t think Napoleon was my real name, did you?”

I chuckled halfheartedly.  “No, I suppose not.” 

We sat in silence until two Collective members came in with Melchior and sat him down in the chair next to mine. 

“Well, Melchior, it seems that your friend has negotiated for your release.  You are to be given membership in the Collective, you and your friends.”  Napoleon leaned forward so that his face was inches from Melchior’s.  “I want you to be aware that Connor has vouched for you, and that any slipup on your part, any sign of disloyalty at all, will result in his swift and decisive termination.  Do you understand?”

Melchior looked at me from the corner of his eye and nodded. 

“Good,” Napoleon snarled.  He then looked at the two Collective members.  “Take these two to the barracks, please, and set them each up with a bunk and a clean set of clothes.”

They nodded and showed us out of the tent.

“Well, Connor, things don’t seem to be much better here than in the Colony, do they?”

I looked at him in disbelief.  “Melchior, if we were in the Colony, you’d be much worse off.”

“How do you figure?  They threatened to kill you, Connor.”

“That’s true.  But if we were in the Colony, it would be Roxanne they would be threatening, not me.”

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Author's Note

I haven't updated in forever, and I'm so sorry about that!  I've just been so busy with a show I'm doing, and then there was the computer problems, and the ACT is coming up... you get the picture.  So I'm terribly sorry, and now I'm done apologizing.

We only have like 3 or 4 chapters left, just so you know.  I know most of you don't really care, but just in case any of you do I'm letting you know.

So anyway... thanks for reading, and don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT AND FAN!!!