Awakening Page 4

  A few people looked at me with polite interest as we passed, but the majority were deeply engaged in their work. It was a hive of red-and-black-clad bees, each knowing their individual purpose and role, against a striking backdrop of white, glass and steel.

  We approached another thick glass door, also opaque, though this one was etched with different words: “Office of Gabriel Minister of Prospect Eight.” I swung a look at my churlish guide, wondering why he would be leading me to our world’s highest official, second only to Prospect’s leader, Aresh Ambassador.

  The senator ushered me into a space bathed in deep purple with light pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room. I pulled my bag closer to my body, wanting to retreat in advance of the obvious backlash that was going to result from this blatant error.

  “Minister, Kira Metallurgist has arrived,” the senator announced as he placed the folder on the desk. Then he left without a backward glance.

  I turned reluctantly to face the minister, who, I was startled to see, was approaching me with a pleasant smile and an outstretched hand. According to reports, our minister was only a decade older than me. He was dressed in the required clothing of the Senate, but that was where his uniformity ended. The light purple of his hair and optic on his eyes were not part of Realm-sanctioned attire.

  “Metallurgist.” He grabbed my hand and shook it firmly. “Welcome.”

  I looked down at our hands and managed a baffled smile when I glanced up. “Thank you, Minister.”

  “Call me Gabriel,” he tossed over his shoulder as he returned to his desk. Gabriel threw himself into his chair and, with a flick of his hand in the general direction of the other available seat, encouraged me to sit.

  “Don’t mind Theo. He thinks he’s overqualified to be at reception.” He winked at me. “Hostile, isn’t he?”

  I blinked as I sat. “I …”

  “Never mind.” He picked up the folder, snapping it open. “So, let’s see what we’ve got here.”

  I watched as he scanned the few pages. Suddenly he looked at me and rolled his eyes. “Still using paper. Such a waste.” He shook his head ruefully, mirth lighting his eyes.

  I choked back a laugh.

  Gabriel threw the folder on the desk. “You’re quite the keener, aren’t you, Metallurgist,” he said, leaning back with a hand resting on the desk.

  Stifling a smile, I said, “Yes, one could say so.”

  “Top grades, tons of recommendations.” He thrummed his fingers on the desk. For a few moments he considered me. I started to shift under his scrutiny.

  “I think there’s been a mistake,” I said, unrolling my tablet and swiping across it quickly. Surely, digital confirmation would set things right. “I’m supposed to meet with Taran Adjudicator.”

  He snorted. “You think we could have mixed you up with someone else?”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “Taran works in trade negotiations. You actually want to work there?”

  “Well …” Not really. “It’s a start.”

  “It’s a bore.” He rested a cheek on a palm and made a guttural noise similar to a snore. “Where do you really want to be?”

  I glanced around the office furtively, figuring this was a joke the Judiciary ran on new blood. A monitor must be recording this entire interaction from somewhere in the room.

  He awaited my response. Soon he sighed and started to assess his blue fingernails. I gathered after a few moments that he was, in fact, serious.

  “Well,” I started, my heart thumping in my chest, “exploration has always been an area where —”

  “Excellent!”

  I jumped as he repositioned his monitor so that I could see the screen. He started typing rapidly. “Less than a month ago,” he said while he typed, “if you had told me you wanted to work in the Office of Exploration, I would have registered you as dead and happily signed off on your death certificate.” He grinned at me then nodded toward the monitor. “But today — oh ho! Today, dear girl, it’s the place to be.”

  I leaned forward to look at the document being displayed. With a quick scan, I determined that it was an official directive from the Corona to all ministers across the Realm.

  Gabriel rose and started to prowl the room, his excitement palpable. “As you know, many Argon citizens are being displaced as a result of their dominion’s foolish act of dissension. While most will be banished to Outer Realm status, millions will be exempt. As Prospect is the dominion that will accept the majority of these exempt citizens, our sovereign has asked that we take the lead in initiating a task force to develop law that will prevent future exploration. ” He turned to me on a heel. “This is a fantastically important and complicated project that will need to be handled carefully, and I need strong support.”

  I nodded. It was the right thing to do.

  He frowned and his shoulders slumped. “Metallurgist, my designate passed away of old age a month ago, and I have an Office of Exploration with prehistoric beings filling the seats. I need people of action, vitality, determination, and you come very highly recommended.” Gabriel walked over to reclaim his seat. “So, you ready to get to work?”

  I balked. There was nothing in my file that could have endorsed me for this. All Above, I’d just left Primary Academy the month before! A kernel of a thought took root.

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  “What exactly are you asking?” He began to type again.

  “You said I came highly recommended.”

  “Indeed,” he said. My tablet vibrated and I glanced down at it. “I’ve just sent my schedule of upcoming Prospect Council meetings to your scroll. Next week, a special delegation from Realm Council will attend to initiate the establishment of the task force. We need to be ready. Have Theo show you to your desk. After you get settled, we’ll put plans in motion.”

  * * *

  Over the next week, I threw myself into my work like a woman possessed. Each day, I arrived with a growing sense of purpose that was born of an enjoyment over my tasks and enhanced by my impassioned colleagues. Yes, a number of them probably should have retired at the turn of the last century, but the majority of the group were eager and energized by the office’s new importance.

  At the end of my first day at work, I told Rhoan about my career-altering meeting with Gabriel. He was just as surprised as me to learn that I’d essentially been promoted the moment I walked into the building. I asked him about my suspicions: Uncle worked at Prospect Judiciary; he must have said something to someone before my arrival. Rhoan wasn’t convinced.

  “I’m not sure Uncle has quite that much influence, Kira,” Rhoan mumbled between bites of pine fruit. “Take the opportunity and run with it. That way, if it’s a mistake, they won’t take it away when they figure it out.”

  And so I did.

  The day before the highly anticipated Prospect Council meeting, I sat down at my desk to run a finger across the fingerprint scan that allowed me access to my computer and realized I had received a video message on my comm. Not checking the sender, I sent it through to my workstation’s monitor, since the screen was larger.

  Tai.

  Since I’d last seen Tai, he’d been copying me on messages to Rhoan about decisions regarding Prospect Eight citizens and, in effect, about the future of my family. When Aunt Marah and her family had gone to the arc station, they’d been questioned and told to return home until further notice. But, last evening, they’d been informed that a decision had come through on their status and they would hear about it soon. The back and forth was eating at my uncle, and Ma and Da were similarly distressed.

  I put my monitor’s volume on low and toggled the screen to view the time and date stamp on Tai’s message. He had sent it in the wee hours of the morning. I quickly pressed Play.

  Tai was seated in an office, or maybe it was a boardroom. There were monitors behind him and people walking to and fro beyond an open door to his left. He looked exha
usted, and my heart ached as I thought of all he had been managing over the last couple of weeks. In one of the messages he’d copied me on, he’d mentioned a skirmish in another town that had to be handled through use of force, resulting in the death of two citizens. There were dark smudges under his eyes, and his hair was in uncommon disarray. I could see a cup of what was probably coffee steaming to his right.

  “Kira, I …” His voice was gravelly, deeper than usual. He glanced over his shoulder and then stood up to close the door. Siting back down in front of the screen, he crossed his arms on the desk before him. “I … I’ve wanted to speak with you. I’m trying to get as much information as I can to you and your brother, but I can’t seem to find anything about your aunt and her family. I wish I could tell you it’s a good thing, but … I have to be honest, in most situations, it’s not.” He frowned and I placed a fist to my mouth, fear roiling through me. The gold flecks of his eyes flickered in the play of light as he shifted closer to the screen.

  “The other night … There’s so much I wanted to say. I wanted to stop by your apartment, but I’ve been tied up every hour since Argon’s expulsion, and then your brother … I’d prefer to say what I need to in person, alone.” He stared into the screen and my heart palpitated. The transmission was so sharp I could see the moisture on his lips after he licked them. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve thought so much about you this past week. Fuck, who am I kidding — it’s been longer than that,” he said, looking down at the desk.

  There was a knock at his door. I saw the edges of a grimace as he glanced back up to the screen. “This isn’t the time or the way I want to talk to you. Rhoan mentioned you’ll be at Prospect Council meeting tomorrow. I’ll look for you. Wait for me.” The message ended, my monitor flickering before reverting to my work dashboard.

  I sat there for a few moments, staring at the screen. There was so much I’d wanted to talk about following our unexpected interaction in my family’s study, but I’d refrained from reaching out to him out of fear that I was making too much of it, that I was misreading his intentions. I had welcomed my work partly as a way to avoid trying to figure things out. Tomorrow, it seemed, I wouldn’t be able to avoid it any longer.

  * * *

  Prospect Council buildings were strategically located between those of the Judiciary and the Advocacy, so it took us only a few minutes to get to the meeting. We were actually quite early, so anxious was Gabriel to get there. I could feel the blood pumping steadily through my veins in time with each click of my boot heels on the marble floors of the halls.

  As we approached the assembly room, I saw a crowd of maybe thirty citizens huddled in front of the main doors. Some of them held tiny recorders and wore lapel mics. It was the media, already buzzing around, eagerly awaiting someone of importance to arrive.

  One or two reporters threw a question our way and Gabriel neatly deflected each one. I was only mildly surprised that he didn’t stop to bask in the attention. It was the biggest day of his career; one would expect him to savor these moments. As flamboyant as he was, I’d learned during my brief time with him that Gabriel was serious and driven when it came to his work. He had exacting standards and was unyielding in his expectation that everyone perform to the highest level. His flamboyance seemed to be a tool more of disarmament than of attention-seeking.

  In the assembly room, a wide oval table stood in the center, large enough to seat fifty or so people around it. Gabriel took a seat beside our dominion’s ambassador, who sat close to spaces reserved for members of the Realm Council delegation, which would include High Chancellor Marcus Consul.

  The Senate caste was led by a high chancellor, who advised Council on all matters impacting our system, particularly as they related to trade, resources and technology. In addition to the Corona and the high chancellor, Council members included High Marshal Thaddeus Centurion, leader of the Protectorate, and five ambassadors, one representing each of our dominions.

  I’d never been more nervous in my life. I took three deep breaths then stopped because it reminded me of my panic attacks and that was the last thing I needed. I settled quickly into a seat directly behind Gabriel and engaged the small lap desk that was attached to my chair. There were similar chairs behind each of the seats surrounding the table — designated spaces, I’d been told, for subordinates to take notes and provide information when necessary.

  Gabriel looked at me over his shoulder with a twinkle in his eye. He had toned down his hair color for the day to a rich burgundy, though his nails were still a colorful blue. In honor of the day’s significance, he wore deep purple eyeliner that made his gray eyes gleam a bright silver. It was a look that could only be carried off by one Gabriel Minister.

  “Ready, set, go,” he said with a grin. He turned back to his tablet and tapped away frantically. He was probably sending a message to Theo, who was back at the office, holding down the fort.

  I wished I was holding down the fort. I had no idea what I was doing here.

  To top off my anxiety, Tai loomed constantly in my mind. That afternoon we would speak, and All Above, I had no idea what I would say. I’d tried to prepare myself for anything, but after fretting most of the day, I’d decided I would simply allow him to speak first and then take it from there. There was only so much worry I could take.

  A few minutes after I settled in, a large group entered the room.

  The day before, Gabriel had had me sit in the middle of his office with a recorder trained on him as he roamed the room, orating the opening speech he would give to Council members. I was impressed and told him so, but it was only after another five recordings that he believed me.

  Now I watched as Gabriel went into action. He approached the delegation while the room started to fill up in response to the presence of authority.

  People took their respective seats and I swallowed my tongue as Tai strode in. He spoke briefly to a woman, similarly clad in a Protectorate uniform, who immediately took up a position closer to the ambassador. Tai stood beside her, his gaze surveillant as it ran over the room. His eyes landed on me, snagged and then kept moving over the group. I reminded myself to breathe and looked down at the few papers on my desk, shuffling them unnecessarily into order.

  Suddenly, I started feeling a familiar tingle up my spine and closed my eyes, willing the sensation away. This was neither the time nor place to be swooning over Tai. I bit the inside of my cheek and snuck in a quick glance his direction as I pulled my tablet from my bag. Tai was looking at me, his eyes now warm with familiarity. I flushed and unrolled my device, determined not to look his way again until this whole thing was over, or I would lose my job before I’d even got started.

  The meeting went swiftly. It lasted half the day but felt like only a third of that, so animated were the discussions. I was intrigued by the efficiency of the process. I had never been to a Council meeting and so had nothing to compare it against, but there was an order and focus about it that comforted me. At a time when I was wondering what would happen to my family and other citizens, I was pleased to know that the arguments were rational and weighed with careful consideration.

  The high chancellor was obviously the highest authority in the room, but I was proud when Gabriel held his own, presenting his points clearly and negotiating counterarguments with practiced ease. There was only one tense moment — when discussion turned to the task force’s objective.

  “How can we truly develop an enforceable law to prevent exploration when arc travel is used by so many citizens across the Realm?” inquired one brave soul. “Clearly, the ban is not effective. Perhaps it’s time to think differently about this matter.”

  A murmur of opinion rose around the table.

  I remembered that during one of my meetings with Gabriel, we had reviewed a file concerning the attack on Septima One and a recommended sanction that had been denied by Realm Council not because of its invalidity, but because our system was not established enough to manage its administration.r />
  I swiped quickly through the files on my tablet. Finding what I was looking for, I messaged Gabriel, who looked back at me with a question in his eyes. After a thoughtful second, I nodded.

  He turned to the table. “High Chancellor, when we suffered the incredible loss on Septima One, we were mere adolescents in terms of structure and technology. Now that our system’s governance and law have matured, there may be an opportunity to turn our minds to more strategic and customized protocols on exploration rather than enforcing a widespread ban.”

  The high chancellor drew himself up in his chair, a clenched fist on the table in front of him. “We are not here to debate the validity of a law that has protected us for hundreds of years,” he said.

  Gabriel gave a slight nod in deference and sat back in his chair.

  Heat burned my cheeks. Had I done the right thing? Perhaps I should have allowed Gabriel to decide whether to bring up the file rather than interrupt him with the information.

  Within a few minutes, the meeting adjourned. People started to engage in post-meeting discussions in smaller groups and to make their way out of the room. Gabriel stood up and began to collect his things.

  “I’m so sorry, Gabriel,” I said, rising from my chair.

  Gabriel shrugged and looked at me. “Not to worry, Metallurgist. A little eagerness is always a good thing.” His gaze shifted over my shoulder as his lips pulled into a wide smile. He stepped around me.

  “Well, it has been some time, hasn’t it,” Gabriel said to someone behind me. “I didn’t know you would be joining us today.”