Chapter Eight
A very grave feeling came over us in that transport. I knew that in a hopeful sense the three of us wanted things to go smoothly once we reconnected with the guards of the Court. Unfortunately, reality played a much larger role in our seemingly hopeless situation.
“Now, let’s try and play nice. You should know that while you are a Bin-Rah you are also still a woman in the presence of a man. Things work differently than the crazed madhouse you must come from.” He spoke with such a tone that would indicate he resented the dominating presence I tended to project. I was well aware of it and therefore you would have to be blind not to.
“Are you intimidated by a strong woman, Captain.” With a smirk I sat back again.
“Nothing intimidates me about a woman.” He laughed as if I had been joking. I laughed as well as he watched me closely. Form his wrist came another hovering set of scripts being sent by his officer Kress in the front from their base.
Leaning forward again and looking me up and down, the Captain pressed a button that would indicate our conversation would be documented to allow accurate responses in the questionnaire we would receive as to our disappearance and any information we might have on the rebellion. Whether it was the easily read face of the Captain or my inner soldier talking, I had a feeling I’d done such an interrogation myself. I also had an inner confidence I could pass one with flying colors.
The hard part would be diverting his attention from the obvious weakling, Zek, and onto myself. The weakest link would always break the chain and anyone knew that. One lie and they would have us caught. This would be an entertaining dance.
“Tell me step-by-step what happened once you arrived onto the island.” It was a simple request. He didn’t break eye contact with his green and brown eyes.
“Why don’t you tell me? Can’t you people keep track of your citizens?” I retorted and allowed myself the next devastating jolt with it. Oddly enough it didn’t seem quite as intense the second time. I could only hope it was my body’s strange sense of adaption.
Sadly, the Captain didn’t think this was funny and followed the jolt by a hard slap to my face. More blood came from my mouth and splattered across the clean, white floors for just a moment before being absorbed into the odd material it was created from.
When I turned back to face my interrogator, he grabbed my face and forced our gaze. I smiled again met with another slap.
“I am only going to warn you one more time, do not mess with me. If I have to deliver the Bin-Rah as a pile of meat in a bag I will do it. Don’t overplay our hand.” He then pulled a knife from his belt and placed it to Zek’s neck. My body tensed while I wiped the blood away again and raised my hands as high as I could to indicate he could back off.
It was hard to suppress my instinct to fight back. It was harder than being tortured. I knew if I was going to ever get off this god-forsaken island, helping the rebellion or not, I needed to do my job.
Instead of continuing on with this, I explained what happened that day with the Green family in so many words. When it came time to explain what had happened during the attack I made Zek look like the hero of the Circles coming to the new Bin-Rah’s rescue and breaking me free from a potentially dangerous situation.
Tommy came into the story as the drifter girl who helped us find food and shelter for the night. I explained that wherever I was from made it a custom to treat those who provided us with comfort and safety were obligated to the same. This was how we would continue our journey together. In reality, Tommy was more of a brain behind this operation than even myself.
As I spoke, she watched me very closely. She was acting as a set of eyes for the rebellion. Not only would she assist in getting this mission done for them but she would ensure anything I might have learned would continue to remain a secret. I could see her impressed face, bowed toward the refection on the table, as my stats all read clear as if I were telling the truth. It was hauntingly gratifying to know how well I could pull off such a scheme.
Without giving immediate acknowledgement to my recollection of events, the man stood and moved to the corner of the room. He began to tap onto his wrist reader. Several beeps came from it and then stopped. He looked over at me again and my bindings came off. I waited for Zek and Tommy’s to but that never came.
Instead, the Captain walked over to me and grabbed me by my upper arm. The hatch to the outside opened once more to reveal we had stopped again just before what looked like a farm house similar to the Greens. The three soldier’s from the front of the transport popped out and welcomed two other vehicles filled with cyborg soldiers in similar gear. There was a bright spotlight on the home as the family was walking out, pleading for their lives and praying to their gods with hands in the air.
“What is going on here?” I turned to the man as a cyborg walked up to him and saluted.
“Captain Grendalby, we are ready for your orders.”
He looked at me just for a moment before he slapped a ring onto my wrist. It adjusted itself so that it was tight but didn’t restrict blood flow. Symbols that streamed across indicated it was providing feedback to whoever was on the other side of its receiver.
“I have it on good faith these people are housing contraband. Execute the plan.”
Things moved slowly again, a lot like they had before, only I had no control over what would happen to these people. It was possible I could put up a pretty good fight and make it out of this just dead enough to escape the trap surrounding me. Unfortunately, this might have done more harm to far more in the long run and being the one to make that call made me sick to my stomach.
The cyborgs split up, three shoving long posts into the ground while the others brought out all the members of this family to tie them up. There was a mother, a father, three sons and six daughters. The blood flowing downhill already was their livestock in the barn uphill.
It didn’t take long before I could smell the burning and propellant in the air. It was followed by tiny specs of ash hitting us in the face as well as walls of fire and smoke higher than the clouds. Captain Grendalby didn’t watch the scene and instead monitored my reaction very carefully.
Inside, I wanted to defend these people, these innocents. They prayed and swore their allegiance. They were not at the base for rebels. They were just trying to live their lives and adhere to the Gods approved by society.
The father was terminated first, then the children and last the mother. Grendalby made it a point to extend her pain to both provide the most horror as possible but to also show me firsthand what happens to women who do not mind their place in this world. My chest felt heavy while my eyes burned with the smoke shifting in the wind and lightly hitting at us. My new friend was satisfied with what he accomplished and in proving his point.
I had been squeezing my fists so tightly that my nails caused the skin to bleed. I hid it behind my back as he moved before me to command my eye contact. I looked up with the straightest face I could muster and watched as he smiled and placed a hand onto my shoulder. I felt a surge of rage flow from that spot and travel over me like the wind taking the smoke to all these people’s neighbors. Soon the smell of flesh and broken memories would remind the land why they obeyed.
“I hope I got my message across, little girl. I don’t care who you were or who you are going to be. You will be exactly what we say you are from this point forward.”
He didn’t give me time to react. Instead he pulled me back into the transport and locked me back into my seat. Zek and Tommy didn’t know what happened but as natives to this place they had an idea of what traitors were subjected to. During our long journey across the rest of the circle the silence in my friends spoke much louder than any of their words. I knew fear in Zek’s eyes from before but this was different. Tommy was reserved and focused, she knew we were in it deep and that none of us had a real choice to turn back and change our minds.
She was young but she had suffered a great deal. She was wise beyond her years and mysterious. It was somewhat refreshing.
From the cabin we were locked in we could hear some of the banter in the front with the guards, soldiers of the Circles, were speaking casually while their superior went down below to rest. I’d had a feeling he wasn’t resting so much as waiting and planning being the sort of man who usually did such things. I decided I would listen closely to my travel mates to find out who it was we would be traveling with from here on forward. They would be our companions as well as our captors. I hoped soon they might even free us from our binding.
I also wanted to monitor if anyone else on the transport knew of a forbidden secret one of them held.
“I lost 22 Xien on that match last week. It was so close! I thought I had that one.” Martin Raine was who I came to find shortly after was my personal guard and the one I had my suspicions of. Unlike the others driving, he was on break, legs kicked up and hands behind their head. I could tell how they sat by the way their voice echoed in the cabin.
It was funny to think that Martin Raine was as sly as even myself and my little team. This person was deceiving and getting away with something I could only assume would have gotten… him… in grand quantities of trouble.
From his right, Alyx Kress, the tall and dark skinned guard man with a scar over his left eye and expert in the intelligence side of things, laughed as he continued punching in codes to a computer and reading out data spewing from a different screen. It was obvious he was a master of multitasking and incredibly smart. Even the way he spoke was more refined, elegant and superior to even their superior.
“Are you referring to the mallet ball match? Don’t tell me you bet against The Soldiers. I have told you over and over again the statistics just don’t match up. The Suns will never be able to compete with their ratio.”
Nicolas Chezzek, the last of the three guards working for the night, laughed as he sorted through a different computer entering in reports of what had just happened. I could hear his fingers moving quickly through the air as he signaled to the devices.
“The Suns are well on their way for a comeback. They have improved after they recruited that Golden Circle boy.”
“He’s good but he’s all rookie. Most of his best scores are by sheer luck.” Alyx Kress stretched out and sucked in a deep breath. Martin shook his head and sipped at a beverage.
“Care to make a wager on that?”
“Enough, guys. If the boss hears us making bets on the clock it will be our uniforms and our genitals.” Nicolas laughed and watched as disappointment spread over Martin’s face.
There was something familiar about the banter between these men and the sports they enjoyed that sparked the sensation of remembrance in me. I couldn’t help but smile to myself at the realization there were human traits in even the servicing men of the Courts after they slaughtered an entire family.
As the transport began to slow, the smell of the ocean came in again however it was much different this time. Unlike before, on the crisp blue waters before the Sixth Circle, the smell of salts and fish were much stronger accompanied by a metallic scent. The air had even gotten much thicker and once we stopped it was like we had been placed into a humidifier.
“Enough of the chit-chat, ladies,” Nicolas Chezzek commented as he opened the door to our cabin and placed his helmet back on. Before he had I could see he had midnight black hair and the pale skin of the mix. He instantly transferred his playful nature into that of a stern Court guard.
He was followed by Alyx Kress and then Martin Raine. The three, large guards pointed their guns at us again and waited in silence while they awaited their superior, Arthur Grendalby, to join them all again.
The air was very tense as I looked to my traveling mates again. Tommy had focused hard on the ground to not make eye contact and Zek was still pale but no longer shaking. He was familiar with how things went during a ship transport across the sea and it was interesting to see how the sea might vary this time. As we had traveled, not only had the smells of the ocean changed but the weather had dropped significantly in temperature.
Initially, the warmth from the Seventh Circle deserts allowed for a mild temperature and nearly pleasant stay. Now, as we neared the Fifth Circle, otherwise known as the Golden Circle, the terrible chills of its environment was overcoming us.
It had seemed that while the families of the circles would no longer be privileged to continue the tradition of escorting the new Bin-Rah to the Inner Circle we would still be carrying on with taking boats and transports across each circle. Slowly, up the steps from the bottom level of our transport, the crews superior joined us with his helmet off and under his arm.
As he looked down at us under the bright lights of our cabin in the transport, I could see he was not simply looking at us but through us into our very souls. He was trying to read what we were about. He had his suspicions, and for good reason. But I also knew he felt satisfied with how he’d handled me.
Most women here, from what I had seen of the well behaved citizens, were timid and obedient. There might have once been a flair of rebellion in them but for the most part, as a female, you did as told. I was told to fear what he did and to adhere to my role as a face among the leaders the moment I was christened into this sad lifestyle they had created.
This world was advanced and yet primal all in the same. I bowed my head, as was expected of me for now, and waited while our binding came undone and slinked its way back into the formation of the table.
“Now, we are going to board the ship. While going through checkpoint, the Bin-Rah will be escorted by a separate guard as she is the only one allowed pass through the port. The rest of you had better have your chips up to date otherwise the wishes of our foreign guest will be surpassed by law. Is that understood?”
“Chips?” I asked looking up at him with a smile. I couldn’t resist. He was required to serve me despite his need to torment me the rest of our journey in order to know who I was before anyone else did.
“You will have one soon as well, Bin-Rah.” Alyx spoke for him as he waved his hands through the air and brought up and image that hovered above the table, “This is a chip. It reads your personal data to separate you as an individual. It also charts all your destinations and keeps you registered to a residence. It cannot record video or audio but is simply a safty precaution for anyone who travels. Those who do not adhere to a chip are not granted access to leave their native circle.”
It was like a passport but more advanced. The little disclaimer about the recordings didn’t bode well as it was more of an admission of guilt. I knew that with the shifty work it seemed Cris did that Zek must have had the sort that only tracked him. It was an odd feeling I got but I felt confident in that assumption. As for Tommy, she was a professional. She was obviously well traveled and didn’t have the worries of a tracker and simply what was needed to get around.
I could only hope that the chip needed for this travel would be something I could find my way around.
Three knocks on our cabin door indicated the port security was ready for us. Four guards in black uniforms were awaiting us, one especially for Arthur as he needed to provide documentation and information on our travel. This was all information my first host, the chief from the sand people, took care of for us. He had connections whereas this man did everything by the books.
Martin Raine took my arm and had me stand. I then placed on my black cloak and had the hood thrown over my head to protect my identity. Even as the main authority in their world, the guards knew better than to allow the most valuable transport in their culture to remain exposed to the sorts of criminals that frequented ports such as this one.
With my head pressed down and my arm tightly gripped by my special escort, we made our way off the transport and through a crowded mess of people. I could hear Zek objecting from behind me but the guards did less than listen. The closer we got to the Inner Circle the more value he became as a former member of the Sapphire house but he would still have a silent voice in the ears of our escorts.
Tommy and Zek were taken immediately to the long line of people going through a beeping portal that inspected the passengers through an x-ray-like screening process. The moment the next passenger was allowed to step onto the white and blue glowing orb before the entrance of the incredibly large ship their bodies were thrust into the air and they became transparent. From their clothing to their skin and bones you could see straight through the people.
At their chests and necks, depending upon the implant location, their information read off to several port authorities running the scans. Another member would inspect the image before them during the portal screening to ensure no weapons or taboo materials were being tracked onto the ship. It seemed even disease was a disqualifier for these ships.
The man currently hovering in the air seemed to have some sort of black tar surging through his lungs. When he breathed in the tar would squish around rapidly through the lungs and then out it would resume to the center of the lungs near the heart. Because of this a loud alarm blazed just three times sending the man into the air and away from the entrance. He was definitely not of a richer background and began to yell in another language before he was threatened by the port authority.
My guard pressed my head down again as he moved further towards the head of the ship where a separate employee entrance was allowing cooks, guards, maids and the actual ship crew on that had not already boarded.
With a pass, we walked through the line to the front where just one woman in a gown that matched the uniforms the men wore was reading a chart. She scanned over the pass just once before waving us through and into the ship. It was from here we rushed to the cabins at the very bottom of the ship to wait for the rest of the crew.
Upon entrance of the ship, again you could smell the sweat, must and fish coming off of the people traveling. It was dark in here, much like the other ship, but it was not quite as old. The rooms had doors with copper handles and by the sounds of it the bathrooms had toilets that flushed and sinks that ran. The beds, from what I could briefly see in, were made of a typical cotton bedspring sort and came with suitable blankets. Even the walls had paint and were not splintered. It was all very old and under quality in comparison to what I knew this world had to offer but the days of sleeping on rocks would not be missed, even if only temporarily.
When we arrived, the guard locked the door to await the rest of the team. He sat me down onto the bed I assumed would be my own and then placed the bag of my things next to it. A chair by the door would indicate this was where my escorts would take watch and the mat on the floor would be for Zek… a slave’s bed.
“Where is the little girl going to be sleeping?” I asked looking up and removing my hood. At first, the guard didn’t want to address me. Finally when the silence grew agitating he looked up and removed his helmet.
“There is a cabin next to this one the child will stay in.”
“I’d prefer if the young girl was not left alone. I will sleep on the floor if she could be moved in here.” The guard was watching me carefully and didn’t seem comfortable by the fact that I was studying his face.
“I am sorry, Bin-Rah. I understand my superior officer has made you feel as if you are a prisoner. I apologize for this and you are in fact an honored guest of the Courts however we must follow procedure. Only slaves may stay in the same room as the Bin-Rah. Once sleep comes even your escorts must leave the room.”
“Why is this?” I asked leaning forward now. He seemed nervous, a piece of wavy red hair falling over his forehead. I could tell his looks were made to be rugged. He was tall and strong, just as the rest were, but the softness in the face during moments of doubt or fear were a dead giveaway to the fact that this particular guard was actually a woman.
“Tradition.” She replied.
“Of course it was.” I leaned back again and tucked my cold hands deep into the large pockets of the robe. In the pits of the ship it was so much colder than it even was outside. I could see my breath hanging in the air as I spoke and my teeth were beginning to chatter together.
It wasn’t until I allowed myself to calm and focused on control of my own body did it stop. I was a master of my own comfort. I needed to remain in a constant state of concentration while with these people.
“I’d still prefer if she was in here with me. She is an orphan child and I tend to be somewhat… nurturing.”
The words felt somewhat unnatural. In fact, it felt so unnatural to say I felt the surge of memory wash through me again. This time it came with an excruciating headache. As my body flew forward, I grabbed each side of my head and gripped my hair tightly. Electricity ran up and down my back leaving a lingering pain. This memory came hard and fuzzy.
“What do you mean by that?” The man’s voice, the only man’s voice I tended to hear in these visions, sounded disappointed.
“Bin-Rah? What is happening?” The guard shouted. I continued to lean forward with the pain growing harsher.
My memories seemed to have been buried behind an injury that needed surgical attention from whatever crash I survived. My reply to the voice was inaudible but the reply came through like someone shouted it down a tunnel.
“I thought… family… don’t you want that?”
I knew, somewhere inside of me, that what I said next was awful. When I sat back up, my eyes were red and stinging but I didn’t allow a tear to fall. Instead, I closed my eyes and sat back up again. The guard was on her radio with the rest of the team but when she had seen I was fine again she withdrew.
“What just happened?” She asked me pushing red locks back from her forehead and kneeling down next to my bed.
The cold came over me again and I did my best to forget what had just happened. Instead of focusing on whatever emotional trauma just occurred, I turned to the guard and placed my hand over her radio.
“You are a woman.” Her body tensed instantly as I said it, eyes growing red and she pushed back against the wall.
She had a look in her eyes that would indicate she had just seen something horrifying and yet miraculous. It seemed my immediate change of thought might have played to my favor after all.
“You have… gifts?” She asked stuttering.
I laughed to myself. I had gifts only they pertained of the sorts that came with vigorous military training, both mentally and physically, “You could say that.”
“Then it is true… what the old folk say that is. You are the one.” She circled around the room and then sat at the edge of my bed. She looked at me as if I were a marvel all in my own. Her eyes were very wide and bright only further confirming the suspicion of her femininity.
“The one?” I asked again edging on the thought.
Martin Raine cleared her throat and bowed her head as she spoke to me, “The Bin-Rah who will come bringing great change from the Gods.”
It was a shame to crush the faith of such a strong follower. While we had yet to address the secrecy this woman kept from her beloved courts, she was obviously, as most were here, deep in the faith of the scripts they all spoke so fondly of, “I am not so sure the Gods are the ones that sent me.”
“Do not humble yourself, Bin-Rah. You have come during a most ideal chain of prophecies. It is not wonder the High Priestess Sanka has ordered for you on a special request.”
“I assume that not all the Bin-Rah receive such… first class service.”
Martin Raine again came closer, “It is customary for the citizens to show Bin-Rah through the Circles in accordance with tradition written in the scripts. Never has the well-being of a Bin-Rah overcome tradition.”
The ship rocked slightly as the sounds echoed in the halls of crackling thunder outside. Not only would this ride be much colder but it would be through a storm hitting the seas in this mucky, metallic water. As it did, the ship rocked violently for a moment. Some of the others who had already boarded made shocked sounds as it did and then calmed again.
“So, how have you gotten away with it for so long?” She knew what I was asking and yet didn’t respond right away.
Instead, Miss Raine stood up and adjusted her suit. She opened the door to ensure no one was around and then shut off the communicator on her arm. Shutting the door tightly, Raine sat next to me and spoke in a very low tone.
“Please, prophet. Do not share my secret.” She looked as if she would cry.
Despite it being somewhat deceptive of me, I put on my mask. This was the mask I knew I would need to wear in order to complete this mission. Yes, I had now seen this life as just a mission. It was the first just before my mission to escape this place once and for all, “Are you asking me to betray the beliefs of the people I will soon be overseeing?”
“I do not! It is not so simple.” She stood up and started to pace. Her hands moved as she spoke and the images of her story started to paint themselves in the cold air of the boat cabin we hid in, “A long time ago, as a young girl, I knew I was not meant to be a wife or maid. My father, he was part of the Courts Guard and told me stories of honor and service. I admired them so much more than the fabulous lives of women.
“Service girls who made it to the Sapphire House were revered by so many and had much wealth. The women of the Courts lived glamorous lives of worship and power. Even man small town mothers from my circle, the Ruby Circle, had husbands that paid them large sums of money and they wore the finest gowns. Some even ran shops and became theatrical entertainers, also loved by many.”
She rushed me and took both my arms, the urgency flowing out of her in a chaotic energy. Her gloves were cold against my already freezing skin but I kept eye contact fiercely, “My real name is Marissa Rainenbothe. My father, a proud serviceman of the Courts for 37 years, started his career out as a prized fishermen of the Ruby Circle. One moon, when the High Priest Josef came to visit our town for spiritual faith rejuvenation, he began to coke on his food during banquet. My father saved him and he honored us.
“Years later, just before his death, I pleaded with him to grace me with the ability to serve. He sent me to several military connections who owed the dying priest a favor for this crimes against the Gods. They provided me all I needed to train and physically prepare for what the Trials of the Guard required. Now, when physicals are required, they allow me to pass.”
The sound of people moving into a room down the hall stopped her rant, sweat falling down her forehead. She was so nervous. To these people I represented judge and jury. I may not have had the power yet but to her I was still the person who could decide her fate.
“I can help you out on this journey, Bin-Rah. I will get the girl in here after sleeping hours, I will fetch you the rarest of fish and dining on the ship! I will be forever at your beck and call if you please understand why I have dishonored you, the Courts and Gods.”
This put me in a very good position. Wrapping my hands up again, I sat back and watched her stand and fidget with her things. There was no time for me to verbally confirm I would agree to her terms and so she would be forced into proving to me she deserved my silence. It was manipulative and borderline cruel but I could use it.
As I stood, the superior officer, Arthur Grendalby, pushed my door open and threw Zek onto the ground. He then grabbed the arm of his officer and turned her radio back on. Marissa would forever be Martin if things went well for my friends and I.
“Why was this off?” He demanded as she stood at attention and pointed to me.
“The Bin-Rah needed refreshments and so it must have been shut off while I was in the crowded hallway, sir.”
The Arthur Grendalby dismissed his officer and slammed the door shut. I assisted him in sitting onto the bed with me only to find he’d been hit in the face during their journey into the ship. Before I could think about it, I stood and had pushed Arthur up against the door and wall behind him.
“What did you do to him?” I demanded as he struggled to push me off. It wouldn’t have been easy as my feet were well planted into the ground and my adrenaline was making me so much stronger than I already was.
“Back down, civilian! This is punishable by imprisonment.”
“You and I both know that anything I do on this trip can be forgiven. I have the power to have your head. If you don’t tell me what happened to my friend right now I will have it on a platter!”
“The slag got out of line and so he had to be put into place.” The man shouted. He seemed relieved when I lowered my arm at his words only to yelp out when I sent him flying through the air and into my sink.
Water instantly began to spew from the walls and onto the ground. It wasn’t a moment later and both Alyx Kress and Nicolas Chezek burst in, Tommy untouched in their custody.
Placing the gun into my face again, my arms raised and I sat before Zek to protect him from the violence.
“Stand down, now!” He shouted as he grabbed my arms and locked them behind my back.
Arthur stood up and pushed the gun down. From his tanned face and dark blond hair, the blood splatter was beginning to drip down onto his white and gray uniform. A red laser on his chest was aiming at my head in defense until he also informed that command to back down.
“I warned you, woman.” He spat as he yelled and flipped open a device that popped from his sleeve. It did not look familiar but as he pressed the buttons the feelings that came brought back memories of our journey to the ship.
As the boat sailed away from port, my body was shocked so intensely that the smell of burning from my wrists filled the air. The little cuff had run so high for so long. The hairs on my body were standing while the legs under me gave out and I twitched on the ground. Zek had tried to come to my rescue as we were so far from land now it could not be seen if you tried, but he was also shocked into unconsciousness only it didn’t quite take as long.
The officer was shocked and somewhat frightened by the duration of my stamina that he finally kicked my head to knock me out. Again, it was something I could have gotten away from easily. I was sure this also didn’t corrupt the authenticity of my dedication to make it to the inner circle.
It did hurt, however.