Contrition (The Perception Trilogy) Read online

  He turned back to Mrs. Tammoli. “Which boy?”

  “Don’t know,” she said. “Since you only have sons, it’s got to be one of them. My kid, Byron, said he found it up against your shed. He saw it from the back alley.”

  Dad’s eyes landed on me and Jonathon again. My heart jumped, and I kicked myself. How could I be so stupid? My pulse thudded with my guilt and I blurted out, “I just borrowed it. I meant to take it back.”

  Now Dad’s face turned red with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry,” he said with an expression of regret and disapproval.

  “It’s okay, Reverend,” Mrs. Tammoli said, softening. “Boys will be boys. Got the bike back. No harm, no foul. Just thought you should know.”

  “Yes, of course,” Dad said. “I’ll deal with Noah. In fact, you can expect him to show up to mow your lawn for the next month.”

  He closed the door as Mrs. Tammoli left, even though it was the height of summer and blistering hot in the house. I knew I was about to get an earful.

  “Noah, how could you? Stealing? It’s one of the ten commandments. You must assume that I expect you to obey all ten, right? I work hard to keep my reputation spotless, and the reputation of this family. It’s imperative that I gain the respect of the people if I hope to sway opinion. They follow me, Noah. Everything I say, everything I do. If I fail, the whole organization fails with me.” His shoulders hunch over as if the weight of the world rested on them. “If word got out that Reverend Brody’s boy was a thief, the movement would lose credibility. Our behavior must not jeopardize the movement.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “I thought I could count on you. You’re my right-hand man.”

  It crushed me to hear Dad speak to me that way. I wanted to be his right hand man. To stand beside him in the fight against GAP inequality.

  “He didn’t take the bike,” Jonathon said. “I did.”

  I flashed him a look that said What are you doing? He shook his head subtly.

  “Noah?” Dad prompted.

  “It was me,” I insisted.

  Dad’s chin dropped. “I see what’s going on here. You’re taking the hit for your younger brother. That’s very admirable but not necessary.” He turned to Jonathon. “I’m disappointed in you, but I’m glad you spoke up to prevent a further injustice from happening to your brother. You will mow the Tammoli lawn for two months.” He sighed heavily and opened the front door. With a small shake of his head he left us standing there. I knew where he was headed. To the church. He was always going to the church.

  I raised my hands in question. “Why’d you do that?”

  Jonathon shrugged. “He needs to believe in you.”

  I was amazed at his insightfulness and his willingness to take the fall for me, even at eleven years old.

  Hannah filled the doorway of the tech cave with her hands primly folded in front of her. I’d just accused Taylor of reporting us to the authorities in St. Louis, and now she stood there claiming she’d made the call.

  I didn’t believe her.

  Zoe’s mouth hung slack. “Really Hannah? Why?”

  “Does it matter now?” she asked. “We’re here together and we need to trust each other. I’m sorry.” She rubbed her stomach, a new habit, and turned away.

  I bore into Taylor. “You’re going to let her take the blame?”

  He blew out a long breath. “I don’t know what’s going on. I just know I didn’t make the call.” He stared hard at Zoe. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  The look they shared made my stomach turn, and I stormed out, needing some air. Mary’s eyebrows jumped in question as I hustled past her. I pinched my lips together and waved my hand, indicating I’d tell her later.

  About twenty feet away under the mesquite tree, I stopped and ran hands through my hair, blowing out a hot breath of frustration. I kicked at the hard, dusty sand. What was I doing here with these people? I should be home with my brothers, not withering away one drop of sweat at a time in the desert, but I was stuck. There was no going back.

  “Noah!”

  I groaned at the sound of Zoe’s voice. I knew she wanted me to be okay. With where we were, and who we were with.

  With her.

  Right now I both loved her and hated her. For my sake I needed to let my hate trump the love. “What?” I spat out.

  She hesitated at my venomous tone, and I didn’t blame her. I kept my expression hard and my stance stiff.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “No, I’m not. Just leave me alone.”

  She slapped her palms to her thighs. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

  It wasn’t. Not really. But it was what I needed.

  I ignored the stabbing pain in my heart as I watched her walk away.

  Chapter 9

  ZOE

  Two months. That was how long we’d been living in this desert and our little group had found a sense of routine. Sleeping during the day and awake from dusk to dawn. We took turns starting and tending to the fire, cooking the food, doing the dishes. We collected water, washed laundry. We laughed and told stories. Treks into Tucson for supplies happened every couple of weeks, with Taylor and one other to watch the buggy while Taylor used his chip to make purchases. Once in a while some of us would go back to Aguila to see what else we could loot. Mostly we went there out of boredom. I didn’t go anymore. The heat made me feel nauseated.

  Mary’s ribs were still sore but her headaches subsided. She grew stronger each day, and I wished I could say the same for myself. I felt weaker and lightheaded, which I didn’t understand. I was a GAP and should be able to hold my own to Mary. Something wasn’t right with me, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it could be. It shouldn’t be anything. I pushed the worry away. I was just sensitive to the heat and used to eating more food, that was all.

  Noah helped Jabez cut off his cast. His arm was prune-like for a few days before it normalized, and we made a lot of jokes at his expense. His hair grew into an Afro, another subject for bad humor. Mary talked him into letting her braid it into corn rows. I liked the look. It suited him.

  Rebecca’s ankle improved but her attitude hadn’t. I had the feeling she was tormented in some way. Homesick maybe. At least she didn’t seem to be so judgmental anymore.

  Hannah’s stomach got larger, and her friendship with Jabez grew stronger. This caused no small amount of consternation with Taylor and Rebecca. Mary was also quick to show her disapproval.

  Jabez and Hannah tried hard at the beginning to resist the pull that was obviously growing between them. As time went on though, they started caring less about what the others thought.

  I waited for Noah and Mary to make some kind of public declaration regarding their relationship. Were they together or not? They hung around a lot, sat close together during meals and disappeared together once in a while, but not as a daily thing. They were hard to read.

  Taylor was always there for me, always seemed to know when I needed company, when I needed space, when I needed cheering up. He had the tech cave up and running using his and Mary’s laptops, and I felt relieved that he was with us. I felt safer because of his presence.

  He monitored desert activity, weather systems and world news. The snow caps kept melting and the ocean levels kept rising. Florida was nearly all under water now. The debate about the Chinese cyborg army, whether it was a real threat or not, continued. Russia, North Korea and some Arab countries were now included as part of the threat against America. It was impossible to know how much was true and what was my grandfather’s propaganda aimed at controlling us with fear. His fist was wrapped tightly around the media outlets.

  Noah fed his blog and kept us informed regarding rebel activity. The movement opposing government policies, particularly where cyborg technology and the ongoing police state was concerned, was growing—in numbers and fierceness. Riots continued to occur in all major cities and the resulting death toll was rising.

  The global peace poli
cy that we’d enjoyed living under for two decades was officially done.

  Taylor’s ability to keep our location secure was of the utmost importance. Grandpa V wasn’t just after me as his missing granddaughter. He was after everyone who actively opposed the building of his super-soldier army. That included rebels like us.

  That was why we went to the trouble of burying the plane wreckage in the sand, and why we kept the buggy covered in sagebrush when it wasn’t being used.

  The heat had gotten worse as summer approached—beyond record-breaking, Taylor said—and staying out of direct sunlight for any length of time had become necessary to survival. Now I understood the need for the dome over Tucson.

  We’d cleaned up the dishes and prepared for sleeping.

  Jabez snuggled up against Hannah. Taylor called her name, and she waved him off. I felt like telling him to mind his own business, but he clearly felt his sister was his business. More than she was mine, so I kept my mouth shut. Jabez flashed him an irritated glare and pulled Hannah closer.

  It had become a regular part of my nightly routine to have Taylor pat the empty space beside him, hoping I’d move my mat over. I always checked to see if Mary and Noah had moved together, and each night, Noah continued to sleep on the opposite side of the fire from her. As long as he stayed away from Mary, I stayed away from Taylor. Once again I grinned at him but shook my head.

  I punched at my makeshift pillow and ignored the discomfort of my hipbones grinding into my mat. It wasn’t like my days (or rather, nights) were busy, but they were long, and I was always exhausted when it was time for sleeping.

  The fish cooks on the fire, and it smells terrific.

  I’m starving. Noah flips the fillets over on the grill then places them on a plastic plate. He offers me one before sitting down on the log beside me. The fire crackles, bright against the darkening sky. The flames cast warm light against Noah’s skin.

  “This is really good,” I say after taking my first bite. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

  He catches my eye. “Besides stay away from you?”

  He’s flirting with me and a smile forms on my face.

  Then suddenly, my happy feeling turns to terror.

  Jackson is here.

  He’s dangerous. I know that, but I can’t remember why. His face is stern as stone. He’s angry. I know he’s here for me. I tuck myself behind Noah. Jackson’s eyes flash with fury.

  The fire reflects off the metal mesh wrapped around his forearms and biceps. He’s been outfitted with cyborg parts. “Zoe!” he demands.

  I cling to Noah’s arm. “No.”

  “Fine,” he says, his face hardening. “If that’s the way you want it.”

  Noah dives for his backpack, but Jackson is on him with unbelievable speed. I fall to the ground and cry out. Jackson rolls Noah away from the fire toward the trees, then springs to his feet in a super-human fashion. He grips Noah by the neck, lifting him off the ground like he’s a rag doll. He thrashes his legs, choking.

  “Jackson!” I shout. “Stop!”

  I can’t let him hurt Noah. There’s a gun in my hands. I cock it.

  “Drop him, Jackson.”

  Jackson loosens his hold on Noah as he stares at me. I have the gun aimed at his head. He lowers Noah to the ground and he collapses, holding his throat, gasping for breath.

  “Why?” I say. “Why did you keep going with the experiment? Don’t you know Grandpa V is just using you? You’re nothing more than his pawn.”

  “I’m no one’s pawn. I’m my own man. I’m powerful, intelligent and strong. And I accomplished what Liam didn’t. I’m the first one, Zoe. It’s just a fused cyborg encasement, but it’s the first step to full non-organic human existence. I will live forever.”

  “Unless I shoot you,” I say.

  Jackson takes a small step toward me.

  “Don’t move. I mean it.”

  “No, you won’t. You and I, we belong together. We’re a team.”

  “You’ve never wanted me,” I say. “You just wanted my name. I’m sorry, but I’m not your ticket into the family.”

  “But I love you.”

  I scoff. “You don’t love me. You love yourself.”

  I pull the trigger.

  Jackson screams.

  I pull it again.

  I jerked awake, breathing hard.

  My gaze darted across the room, taking in the prostrate positions of the others as they slept. I scanned the floor for snakes and scorpions, but they, like us, were nocturnal in this heat and safely hid under rocks and other dark, cool places. Everything looked normal, but my mind was telling me that something was different.

  Then I registered what it was. A red glow flashing from the tech cave. And a low pinging sound.

  An alarm. Something was wrong.

  Chapter 10

  I immediately went to Noah and shook his arm. The sun was setting, and in the growing darkness of the cave, I could hardly make out the grimace on his face.

  “What?” he mumbled.

  “An alarm in the tech cave,” I whispered urgently. I didn’t want to wake the others.

  Noah’s eyes snapped open to the direction of the flashing red light. He scrambled to his feet and eased around Mary and Rebecca to where Taylor was lying on his mat. He nudged him with his foot. “Wake up, man.”

  Taylor moaned, and Noah pushed his toes further into Taylor’s gut.

  Taylor slapped at Noah’s leg. “Buzz off.”

  Noah crouched low and spoke into Taylor’s ear. “Your alarm system’s going off.”

  Taylor registered the flashing light, the soft ping, and sprung off his mat and into the tech cave. I wiped sleep out of my eyes, ignoring the fact that Taylor only wore boxer shorts, and followed him and Noah in.

  “Is it a false alarm?” I asked. I hoped Taylor would nod his head, assuage my fears. His system hadn’t made a peep in the two months we’d lived here.

  I didn’t get the nod I was hoping for. Instead, Taylor’s fingers flew across the laptop keys.

  Mary appeared, standing behind Noah and staring over his shoulder. “What’s going on?”

  Noah shook his head. “Dunno.”

  Taylor’s fingers paused, and we all froze at the silence. He turned stiffly to face us. “They’re here.”

  “Who?” Noah asked.

  Taylor pointed to the screen. Tiny infra-red bodies, at least twenty, moved slowly in some kind of formation. “It’s hard to see in the dark,” he explained. “But it looks like cyborgs are setting up shop on the northwest side of the peaks.”

  Our cave faced east, and our water supply was north east.

  “Why are they here?” My voice trembled as I tried to push down the trepidation. “Do they know about us?”

  Taylor squinted. “I don’t think so. So far the images are staying on the northwest side. Looks like they’re setting up a camp.”

  “They’re training here,” Mary stated.

  “A super-soldier army base?” I said incredulously. “Do they know about the stream? Is that why they chose this location?”

  “It’s possible,” Taylor said. “If we could find it, certainly they could. And even though they’re cyborgs, they’re still human. They need water. It’s also possible that they trucked in their own, which I’d count on. I don’t think they’d take a chance on not having enough water.”

  “You’re sure they don’t know about us?” I pressed. It just seemed like really bad luck otherwise. Actually, bad luck either way.

  Taylor stared at the screen. “If they did, I’d think some of them would be skulking around on this side of the peak. So far they’re all on the other side.”

  “I’ll scout,” Noah said. “We need real eyes to assess this.”

  “I’m going with you,” I said.

  Mary grabbed my arm. “No, I’ll go.”

  “I already said I’m going,” I insisted. She and Noah may have a thing, but Noah was still my guy in emergencies.

&nbs
p; She coughed and winced as she placed a hand on her chest.

  “No sense taking any chances with those ribs yet,” I added. “I’d hate to see you stumble in the dark.”

  “Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll keep watch with Taylor.”

  Noah stopped to dig through his pack and I knew what he was looking for—his gun. Mine was in easy reach of my mat. Even though I didn’t think we’d be bothered in the heat of the day, by human or beast, after hours was a different story and I preferred being on guard. There were coyotes and snakes and the like to worry about. And now there were cyborgs.

  My gun slipped in my sweaty hand, and I gripped it tighter.

  All the excitement in the cave woke the others. Jabez eyed us as we armed up. “What’s happenin’, man?”

  “We’ve got neighbors,” Noah said. “We’ll be right back. Watch the girls.”

  “Last I checked, Zoe was a girl,” Rebecca said. She resented how Mary and I didn’t fit into her image of feminine propriety.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Jabez said. He was on his feet now and followed us to the cave opening.

  “Cyborgs, on the other side of the range,” Noah said. “Taylor can fill you in.”

  The vast desert sky was a dusky blue, like a massive wool blanket covering the earth. Just enough moonlight to see without needing to use our flashlights.

  “How do we know they don’t have their own infra-red tracking system?” I asked in a hushed voice. I imagined a group of cyborgs huddled around a computer system, watching our two little infrared dots moving up the mountainous trail.

  “We don’t know that for sure, but I’m assuming they didn’t come out here looking for us. Why would they?” Noah pointed out. “Besides, we know this range better than they do.”

  I supposed two months of exploring the peaks might give us an advantage. But they had superior technology. Taylor was good, but he wasn’t government trained.

  I began to second-guess the wisdom of this venture.

  Noah led the way up a semi-steep, narrow path. Loose rocks tumbled down from under our feet, and Noah shot me a worried look. We had to be quieter. I studied the ground, nervous about snakes and scorpions that ventured out after dark. Noah had reassured me many times that the desert creatures were more afraid of me than I was of them, a platitude I didn’t really believe. We just had to make sure they could hear us. Which was difficult when we were trying to be extra quiet.