Recompense

Betrayal sneak peek: ONE

The air in the gym feels stifling after my cool morning jog. Perspiration drips off my body by the bucketful. I pull my chin over the bar, counting out each repetition in my head. ...twelve...thirteen...fourteen...

I feel strong. It's been five days since the battle with Emerson and the other Bruelim in the mountain valley, and a full week since I woke up from a reaction to the radiation beaming in through the portal in Settlement 56. Since that time, I've rested, gained back the few pounds I'd lost, and focused on returning to full strength.

...twenty-five...twenty-six...twenty-seven...

The timer dings. Two reps over the Military minimum.

I drop to the floor. I'm stronger than I was last spring, when I took the Military test and failed. I was hired in at Axis because of my unique ancestry, but I've felt a lot more comfortable since I actually achieved all the Military marks. My success came too late, however, to qualify me as an official Initiate of Military caste, so the gulf between me and my dearest friend Will Ransom still stands. During his twenty-year tour of duty, he's not allowed the distraction of relationships with anyone outside of his own caste except for family. Since I'm merely a Lower, the absolute bottom tier on the social ladder, I've been cut off.

Then five days ago, Will turned up in my armored vehicle on our way to the battlefield. The precious, stolen moments afterward still put color in my cheeks. I'm hopeful, so crazy hopeful, that we'll be thrown together again.

I grab a towel and swab the rivers of sweat from my neck. Actually, I've had little time to miss Will since my return. The battle resulted in a prison full of captured Bruelim—including twenty-four who are hibernating. And none of us are sure how Governor Macron will react once she finds out, if she hasn't already. She's demanded a meeting first thing Monday morning.

I wish I had a better read on the governor. I've never met her. Only viewed her on camera. At least twice a year, she issues speeches that are mandatory viewing throughout Capernica. All of Settlement 56 packs into the school gymnasium where we can see the village's only screen. On air, the governor is beautiful and soft-spoken. A calming presence. A benevolent protector. That's how I viewed her growing up. I didn't love all her rules, but the Provocation weighed so heavily on the memory of the older generation that I understood the purpose behind them. Now my boss, Willoughby, has hinted at a different side of her, one the public never sees, and I am left to reevaluate my opinion of her.

According to Willoughby, Governor Macron expressly forbade him from following up on the evidence my grandmother gave forty-seven years ago regarding the existence and plans of the Bruelim, that race of super-beings that broke with the rest of humanity long ago and has plagued us ever since. Despite that order, Willoughby quietly continued the investigation and has been hiding away his findings ever since. The Bruelim became the key focus during our recent kidnapping investigation, and they made up the enemy force we fought against only days ago. Now that Major Norvis has stolen our case files and turned them over to the governor, the secret's out. Macron will soon know everything.

I've never really understood why she didn't support the investigation to begin with. Sure, it's a lot to take in. A secret civilization abducting our women by the thousands to repopulate their own culture. But Willoughby gathered enough evidence to convince me. He thinks the governor turned a blind eye to maintain her new and tenuous hold on the government. At that time, the nation was on the brink of collapse after the chaos of the Provocation. But now she'll have to listen. Won't she?

I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

After another fifteen minutes in the gym, I head out to the woods for a cooldown. Sometimes I miss having as many reasons to go outdoors as I did back home in 56. Here at Axis, I spend far too much of my day within walls. Now I lift my face to the breeze and let it snatch away the heat radiating off my body. Leaves drift down like brightly colored confetti and gather on the path to crunch underfoot. Each footfall releases the rich aroma of spent earth and decay. I follow the running trail until the trees thin and the valley opens up below. Then I sprawl in a sunny patch of grass, click on my holoband, and connect with home.