The Queer Rebels

Chapter 21: Risking

I take the service elevator down to one of the basement levels, just like Alex instructed. And even though the map they drew is rudimentary, it is easy enough to follow. I head right when I get off the elevator, walk past the yellow double-doors, hang a left at the fire extinguisher, and look for room B206.

I find the room easily. Through the cracked open door, I see Harry. He is dimly lit, his face etched with determination as his hands manipulate something obscured by shadows.

I knock tentatively and Harry glances up, then refocuses on whatever he's working on. He doesn't waste time on pleasantries. "Just you?"

"Yeah." I push open the door and step in.

"Close it all the way," he directs without looking at me.

I obey, shutting the door, and then approach him.

When I get closer, I notice Harry is standing in front of a make-shift workbench. There's an assortment of tools on the wall next to him. Hammers and hacksaws. Wrenches and pliers. There are plastic cups filled with nuts, washers, and bolts. Spools of wire, tubes of glue, several cans of spray paint, and, oddly, a canister of glitter are scattered around.

I'm about to ask what he's working on, but Harry speaks first.

"Training's canceled because Christopher and Sequoia are meeting with the Luddite leaders," he says bluntly. "They're considering an alliance, which I think is complete bullshit."

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. The wind is knocked out of me. An alliance with the Luddites? The thought seems incongruous with everything the Queer Rebels stand for.

"What the fuck?"

"Tell me about it."

The Luddites are anti-tech and pro-violence, while the Queer Rebels are pro-tech and anti-violence. The only thing they have in common is that they are enemies of the Great Olek.

Is that enough for an alliance?

And what compromises would the Queer Rebels have to make for such an alliance to work? The Luddites have strength, sure. But what do we have that the Luddites would want?

Even contemplating it makes me shiver.

"Haven't they been attacking us? Isn't that what those strange noises have been?" I ask.

Harry scoffs. "What? No. Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh." My ears burn. I was foolish for trusting news with an unknown source. "Just a rumor, I guess... What was that, then?"

Harry shrugs. "The city. Sending us warnings. Trying to intimidate us."

"Oh," is all I can say.

"Anyway," Harry says, leaning over to pick up a duffel bag that's by his feet, "while they're distracted, I'm going to make a statement."

"A statement?" I ask stupidly.

Harry unzips the duffel bag and throws stuff inside of it. A pair of work gloves. A few cans of spray paint. "Fifty fucking years of hiding," he mumbles.

His anger is so visceral that I can feel it hit me in waves of heat, and I understand why Alex backed out.

A moment later, Harry zips the bag with a flourish and he looks up at me, his eyes burning with a fierce intensity. "People deserve to know there are options outside the city. Real choices, not just those crazy Luddites."

"Why are Christopher and Sequoia considering an alliance with them?" I dare to ask.

"They're afraid of the city. That the authorities are paying closer attention to us. Thwarting our attempts to help..." His voice trails off and he shakes his head. "And they know the Luddites aren't."