Ben Chaney - Son of Sedonia

“ What. Is. The. TRUTH?! ” Matteo yelled into Corey’s face, locking on with bloodshot eyes. The murmur of the refugees died around them. Liani took it upon herself to run damage control.

“His cousin,” Liani pointed to Corey, then shouted to the crowd, “Asking if there really is a twelve-story skate park on the East Side. Move along!”

The shell-shocked throng turned back into the march as they approached the broad mouth of Wellington Station’s front gates. Corey leaned to Matteo’s ear. Spoke slowly.

“The Truth: your family died because a few of the highest players in the City thought your dad talked too much. He tried to warn people of what was happening to them. The price hikes. The food shortages. The fuel stoppages. The constant raids on the Slums. The congressional votes that allowed district by district to be sucked dry and left to rot. Building the Border was supposed to stop the spread of poverty, but many of us know why they really built it. To make people feel safe enough to die slow from debt and self-consumption. Put them to sleep to keep the money train rolling as long as possible until the wheels came off, and then bail on humanity! Look around and see it now! The wheels are definitely coming off.”

A few in the crowd eavesdropped. Others clasped their hands over their children’s ears and pushed away through the crush. Liani felt for Matteo’s reaction. The boy was hard to read.

Ahead of them, armed rookie police stood in sparse guard at the turnstiles. Progress crawled along as each and every citizen was instructed to stop, scan their chip, and pass through. Liani stopped and looked at her forearm.

“Scan your chip and move along!” One of the young officers held his SMG at the hip, pointing it at them. Liani and Corey froze with Matteo watching behind them.

“NOW!” screamed the officer, glaring at them down the sight of the gun. Corey stepped in front of Liani and rolled up his sleeve. He looked at her as he scanned in. She read his face. ‘No choice.’ Liani took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeve. It’s over.

“ ‘ Others have to see,’” Matteo intoned. Liani looked back, seeing him examine the crowd. The turnstiles. The guards. Out of nowhere, Matteo leaped up onto the scanner and hopped down on the other side. The business end of a SCPD rifle greeted him in seconds.

“Back in line and scan!” The same cop screamed in the voice of a nervous teenager trying to sound bigger and older. Matteo was a hard-eyed statue. People in the crowd noticed and started recording.

“Back in line, NOW!” Calm as water, Matteo took a step forward. Then another. And another. The shot never came. Liani’s lips parted as the scene unfolded before her. She started her own recording. Down the row, a square-shouldered young man with a shock of white hair planted a foot on his turnstile and stepped over. He turned and helped a cleaning lady over the bars. Few became many. Many became all. The refugees swept over the entrance in an orderly, silent deluge. As she walked across the tile floor of the vaulted station hall, Liani saw a few of the cops shoulder their guns, join the crowd, and press toward the platform.

The previous Superway cars sped away as the empty ones arrived. The doors hissed open, and bodies piled in. They filled the seats, squeezed into corners, pressed together in the aisles, and sat on the laps of strangers. Damp, still air tensed as the far-off thump of an explosion reminded them to be afraid. Liani rested her cheek on Corey’s chest. The lack of space didn’t give her much of a choice, but the warm, steady throb of his heart eased the pounding jackhammer in her own. Corey’s heavy paw rested on her back as the cabin chime sounded. The doors closed.

Matteo turned and caught a glimpse of the two of them as the train started to move. He quickly shied away and stared out the window at the clouds of smoke shrinking into the West. Liani sighed. Sorry, buddy . She lifted herself back up from Corey’s embrace and reached forward to stroke the thickening stubble growing on Matteo’s head. The shrug told her to stop.

“You said gettin’ back to… your friends was possible. If it is,” Matteo pulled a rectangular memory drive out of his vest pocket, “I wanna help.”

Corey nodded, took a look around, accepted the drive, and quickly slipped it into his jacket. No one else saw.

“We don’t have to go the way we came,” Corey lowered his voice, “Three stops from here, there’s an Inner City municipal building with a direct line down to the Foundations. Under it, too. Should have railcars down there that they use to check the grid. If we get our hands on one, Illyk’s people can meet us halfway.”

“Shit,” Liani said, the gravity of it pressing on her, “Couldn’t you just send it as an attachment or something?”

“Can’t. The Net’s overwhelmed. The transfer would take too long, and we’d get nailed before it even hit ten percent. A giant upload into a war zone would send up more than a few flags. Illyk has the gear and the connections, Li. They know what to do with it. We have to go.”

Liani groaned to herself.

“So let’s go,” she said. The words weren’t one second past her lips when she saw it through the window. A Fury Class transport dipped down at the rear of the train and accelerated along the curve of the connected cars. Scanning. Panic vibrated through the crowded train car as people turned to notice it. Tightly packed bodies surged in place. Payback for rushing the gates? The same thought seemed to occur to everyone as the train powered down to a dangling halt on the tracks.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” Matteo said as the Fury slowed, then hovered beside their train car. He squirmed in place, but couldn’t budge in the crowd.

“The cops?!” Liani asked.

“Kabbard!” Matteo shouted as the doors slid open behind him. A middle-aged food vendor howled as he fell back through the open door. Liani’s hand shot out, catching Matteo by the wrist before he could slip. The side hatch to the Fury swung open, revealing a suited man with a submachine gun. Against the blaring noise of the engines, a cold, clear voice spoke over the PA.

“Please remain calm. The train will resume shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience.” The suited man aimed his weapon at Matteo’s back and fired. Screams filled the tight compartment. Liani added her own as she watched Matteo slump forward.

“Spurs! They’re just spurs!” Corey shouted to an unhearing crowd.

“Please remain calm,” The voice repeated over the PA. With a blast of air, the Fury sidled in closer to the exit door. The man in the suit reached and grabbed Matteo with the gun trained on the crowd. Liani struggled to keep her grip on the boy.

“Li, you have to let him go! Li! There’s nothing you can—LIANI, LET GO!” Corey shouted, wrapping a powerful arm around her stomach. Liani felt Matteo’s clammy skin slip through her fingers as he was pulled from the train and onto the Fury. The suited man zip-tied Matteo’s limp arms as the hatch clamped shut. The train door slid smoothly to close.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” said the PA. The hum of the train rose as they ramped back up to top speed. The Fury lifted, turned, then sped off North and East. A blue, shimmering wake faded in the air behind it.

Coming to her senses in Corey’s arms, Liani jerked free, spun around, and slapped him across the jaw. Corey took it without a word. His sullen gaze drifted to the floor.

“ Why? ” said Liani.

“They would have opened fire… those guys—”

Liani slapped him again.

“He trusted us! Trusted me ! How could we just give up on him like that?”