Every Missing Piece

Chapter Sixteen

"Up."

The harsh voice of a guard temporarily shatters any illusions I might have about escape or freedom. Through the window, the faintest rays of sunlight streak across the floor in a hazy glow. There's no time to admire it as the guard strides to the side of my mattress and grips my shoulder, yanking me upward.

"The Assembly wants to see you. Don't keep them waiting."

I'm immediately on my feet and praying that the guard doesn't notice the collection of scratches around the door hinges. In my first lucky moment since I've come to the Assembly, the door is opened so widely that all of my hard work is out of sight. The guard doesn't give the door a second glance when he walks into the hallway and waits for me to follow.

From the moment I step outside, it's as if something has shifted overnight. More guards line each hallway of the headquarters, a striking contrast from the normally empty passageways. Whether the guards stand at attention or convene in small groups, each one of them has a hand on their weapon and an uneasy eye. The guard that directs me to the Assembly says nothing, but I can still see the tension in his face as we walk.

We reach the end of the hallway and the guard throws open a pair of double doors. I walk into a new meeting room, much larger than the typical rooms where my lessons are held and even larger than the room where I first met the Assembly. Tall windows reach from the floor to the ceiling, but they're all covered with heavy black fabric. Glaring overhead lights provide the only illumination. The Assembly watches as I enter. They sit around an expansive table, but they aren't the only ones seated. Others fill the seats between them and I recognize these strangers as the rest of the Assembly's liaisons. All of them appear worn and wary, but a handful of them look at me like I've met them before.

I don't know why the Assembly's brought me here, especially this early in the morning. It usually takes them a few more hours to remember I exist. Then I see Mason, sitting amidst the Assemblymen, and my worst fears come to light.

They already know about our plans.

It's impossible when Mason and I only talked last night, but the Assemblymen are experts in achieving impossible things. Now they're here to put an end to everything before it's even begun, and I can forget about any kind of freedom, let alone earning their trust.

Mason's eyes meet mine and I catch an almost imperceptible shake of his head. I know immediately what it means.

Tell them nothing. Deny everything.

Josef gestures to an open seat next to him and I gingerly sit down. Once I'm seated, he surveys the group of us, no words needed when he has the intensity of a gaze that can see through all of our secrets. If a look was a dagger, I would be bleeding to death.

"Some of you already know why we're meeting now with so little advanced notice." he says, then looks at me. "Others are still unaware. Allow me to enlighten you."

At Josef's signal, two guards approach the table, each carrying an open wooden crate. I crane my neck to catch a glimpse, but I can't see what's inside until Josef nods and the guards upend the contents onto the table.

A thousand pills clatter onto the wooden surface. Some of them are in labeled glass vials; others spin on their own, careening against other pills and falling off the edge of the table. An excited murmur fills the room, but Josef stares at the sea of white pills that stretches before us with his jaw set and his eyes hardened.

"Last night," he says, "when our medics were making their rounds to the units, seven medics in the south of Gotten were ambushed and detained from their duties such that these pills could not be delivered. Even though they were isolated incidents, we have every reason to believe them connected. We believe-no, we know-that the Keeping was behind this."