C James - Dome Six

“Well I don’t know about you, but I didn’t agree to that. You didn’t. Art Behrens certainly didn’t.”

The Authority woman rose and approached Tosh. “I think that’s enough, Miss-”

Tosh whirled to face her. “Sit the fuck down, Brenda.”

Brenda returned to her seat and bristled. Art rose and put his hand on her back. “Tosh, it’s okay,” he said.

“No, it’s not,” she said, clenching her jaw so tightly she thought her teeth might shatter. She was angry. Angrier than she’d even realized. Byron met her eyes as though to say, Don’t stop now — you’re on a roll .

“None of this is okay. Art, you preached the Authority gospel for almost 60 years and they send some junior bureaucrat to preside over your execution? You all realize that’s what this is, right? An execution.”

Art had seen her break down before. He always just smiled and listened as though it was the most important thing in the world. That’s exactly what he did now. The Authority woman’s face flushed hot red.

“Art is my oldest and dearest friend and I don’t want him to die. None of us do. But that’s not what the Authority wants to hear. All this… this is just designed to make us feel okay about death. It’s not supposed to be okay. It’s supposed to hurt like hell!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tosh saw the guards rise and move toward her.

“That’s enough,” said Brenda. “Please help her to her seat.”

The guards grabbed her upper arms. “Don’t fucking touch me!” Tosh hissed.

Byron, Dek, and Owen shot to their feet, but the guards drew their sidearms and leveled them at their chests. Authority weapons shot neurobullets — needle-like rounds of compressed neurotoxin that dissolved in the body and caused unspeakable pain. They also carried the antidote, which they didn’t administer until you gave up.

The men pulled up short of the dais and glared at the guards.

“Let her go,” said Dek.

“Not until she calms down,” said Brenda.

That wasn’t good enough for Dek. He launched himself at the nearest guard just as Tosh tore herself free. The other guard panicked and fired his weapon, catching him in the upper abdomen with a neurobullet. He instantly collapsed to the floor. “Ahh, shit!” he said, clutching his side.

Tosh whirled and was about to start throwing wild punches when Art wrapped her up and pulled her to him.

“Don’t,” he whispered. “This isn’t the battle you should be fighting. Remember what I told you.”

“Dek!” Tosh yelled.

Owen, Byron, and Dee rushed to his aid. A bit of blood bloomed under his shirt.

“Go deal with him,” Brenda said to the guards. “I’ve got this. Give me one of your sidearms.”

The guard who shot Dek looked terrified. The other handed Brenda his weapon, then both of them went to haul Dek to his feet. His face contorted in pain. Tosh was filled with rage. She wanted to leap on them and pound their faces to mush, but she’d only wind up getting shot, too. One shooting was more than enough for a Quietus.

“It’s fine,” Art said to Brenda, his mouth inches from Tosh’s ear. Tears streamed down her cheek and soaked into the back of his uniform. “Relax. She’s okay.”

“Aaaaigh!” Dek screamed as the guards hauled him out the door.

Everyone stared at Brenda with murder in their hearts. Owen and Byron looked ready to tear her to shreds. She seemed to realize immediately that she didn’t have enough bullets for everyone. It was no time to be impetuous.

“They’ll give him the antidote the moment he gets to the Authority,” she announced, brandishing the weapon.

“It’s okay, everyone,” Art said. “Please. This isn’t what I want.”

That was all he needed to say. For a moment, everyone had forgotten why they were there.

“I’m sorry, Toshiko,” Art whispered. “This won’t be your fate. I know it in my bones. But I’ve made my peace. I get to be with Elaine now.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she said, shaking.

“All the best things are temporary,” he reminded her. “Even in this place.”

“I’ll miss you so much,” she sniffled.

“You, too,” he said. Then he whispered, “You get your boy out of here somehow and everything will change. I know it in my bones.”

Brenda approached them, keeping a healthy distance between her and Tosh. “I’m sorry, Mr. Behrens. We need the room for the next Elder.”

Tosh kissed Art’s scraggly cheek and soon felt Owen and Byron’s hands on her shoulders. They seemed to sense that she was still working out a way to stop this. Surely no pain could eclipse her rage. But she let them hold her as Brenda ushered Art toward the thick metal door of the Box.

Art turned back to her. “When you finally see the sky, think of me,” he said. “I’ll be looking back.”

Tosh nodded, her mouth twisting as sobs racked her body. Brenda opened the door to the Box and Art threw a wave back to everyone who had risen to see him off. They returned the gesture and Art walked into some sort of antechamber. He nodded toward her and smiled as the guards closed the door behind him with a final, resonant thud.

For nearly an hour after saying goodbye to Art, no one in Tosh’s entourage said a word. His other friends and extended family shuffled numbly outside and dispersed. Tosh felt like she hadn’t drawn a full breath in days. The moment she’d feared for years had come and gone, and her world shrank.She saw the look on the guards’ faces when Dek went down, and the panic in Brenda’s eyes. Dek’s defiance took them all by surprise, so much so that she couldn’t help but wonder about the strength of the Authority’s grip. Power had been conferred on them, not earned. Generations had let them keep it. Maybe that needed to change.

Owen hugged her goodbye and said he’d been ordered to return to work the instant the ceremony was over.

“It’s almost nine,” Dee said to her father.

“I know,” replied Byron. “I don’t know if there’s any school today.”

School. Tosh had been given an hour at the start of the day to attend Art’s Quietus and she was going to be late.

So fucking what .

But then she had an epiphany. Art’s parting gift to her wasn’t just the secret about Owen’s family heritage — it was hope. If what he said about Owen was true, then Cytocorp’s own legacy was built on lies. And if that was true, then maybe aspects of Dome Six were, too. She owed it to herself and Owen to find out what that meant.

She grabbed Dee’s hand and said, “Let’s go. We’re not following the curriculum today.”

Tosh and Dee made it to the classroom a few minutes after 9, just as the Authority-appointed principal, Randy, came out. He’d pinch-hit while she was at the Quietus.

“You’re late,” he said.

“You gave us an hour,” Tosh said. “Were we supposed to teleport from across town?”

He bristled but when Dee flashed her best puppy-dog eyes, he sighed and stepped aside. Dee went in but Randy grabbed Tosh’s arm. She was already on edge and had half a mind to pop him in his stupid face.

“You’re behind on the curriculum,” he said in a hushed tone. “If you don’t catch up, they’ll send another monitor. Is that what you want?”

“Don’t worry,” Tosh said. “I’ll bring them up to speed.”

Her eyes slid down to his hand, which he immediately removed.

“Catch them up,” he muttered, and left.

Tosh closed her eyes and took a deep breath. IDA was always listening, but only for certain keywords and patterns. She couldn’t process tone or subtext. It could work. She’d seen what death looked like in the Dome. It was walking into a room and never coming out. So what? Anything short of that was a piece of cake.