Fall: Cross of the past, key of the future (Numbered Book 4) Read online

  NUMBERED

  FALL

  Magus Tor

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Aurelia opened her eyes and stretched, feeling each muscle in her body spring taut and then relax. It took her a moment to identify the feeling in the pit of her stomach through the fuzziness of sleep. Yes, she was excited, but why? Then everything swam into clarity, and she sat up.

  She was getting paired today.

  “Married” was the old-fashioned word, though Empire pairing ceremonies were nothing like the old marriage custom. In fact, they barely warranted the use of the word “ceremony.” But still, she was excited.

  It had been only a few hours since Jonathon had asked her to pair with him, and she'd spent most of that time asleep, exhausted from the long trip back to Lunar City from Earth. He'd assured her that he could arrange the pairing immediately, and she'd sighed with relief. Why the rush? Because in two days—No, she corrected herself, tomorrow—the elections for the new Empire President would be held, and Jonathon was the prime candidate. Not only because he was tall, dark, and handsome with deep blue eyes that made her stomach feel liquid when he looked at her. He also knew how to play the game of politics, and he played it well.

  A Presidential wedding might not have been a bad thing, except for the fact that by now, Aurelia and Jonathon were sure the election was about to be followed by revolution. As the secret leader of the Resistance, Jonathon had sworn to overturn the current regime with its system of numbering people, controlling breeding, and inequality. And that meant if—No not if, she reminded herself—when Jonathon won the election, the Empire was going to change. This would not please the current Ruling Class. Although no one but those close to Jonathon knew it, the clouds of war were gathering.

  The uncertainty about the days to come was why Aurelia had begged Jonathon to arrange their pairing as quickly as possible. Who knew how long it would be before they would have another chance? And, she thought with a spike of blackness in her heart, who knows whether we will both survive? She wasn't being dramatic, just realistic. Death was no more than a fact of life for Aurelia, or for any other med Worker, and something that needed to be considered.

  She shook her head, getting rid of the last vestiges of sleep. She was about to climb out of bed when there was a knock on the door.

  “Awake?” asked Elza, sticking her head into the room.

  “If I wasn't before, I would be now,” Aurelia said and grinned.

  Elza was Aurelia's ex-boss at Lunar Hospital and now her Resistance colleague. She smiled back and entered, closing the door behind her. “Jonathon's told us everything. Congratulations, Aurelia!”

  Elza seemed so genuinely happy for her that Aurelia jumped out of bed and hugged her. She knew that one of Elza's deepest regrets was not pairing, herself. Her Resistance work had made it impossible, and seeing the complete lack of jealousy in the older woman's smile reminded Aurelia that Elza was one of the kindest people she knew. Of course, Elza did now have Nicholas, a thought that made Aurelia grin inside. It was early days yet, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be too long before she was attending a pairing ceremony that wasn't her own.

  “Enough of the sentimental stuff,” said Elza, pulling out of the hug. “We've got to get you ready. Jonathon's ordered a transport pod to pick us up in an hour.”

  Aurelia grimaced. She hadn't given the ceremony itself an awful lot of thought.

  “Don't look like that,” Elza scolded. “It's not fancy; you'll wear your uniform, as will Jonathon. But still, I thought you might like a hand with your hair, since your mother isn't around to help out.”

  Aurelia's parents were still on Earth. Her father, the newly appointed head of Earth Resistance, had quite rightly thought it impossible to leave the planet during election time. “Okay,” said Aurelia. “Let me grab a fast shower, and then you can help. Have you done this before?”

  Elza doubtfully looked at Aurelia's long, thick, dark hair. “No,” she said. “But I've tied plenty of bandages and stick wounds very neatly, so I'm thinking it's all in the fingers. I'll figure it out; it's not brain surgery.”

  Aurelia laughed, knowing that if it were brain surgery, Elza would probably be better equipped to deal with the situation. Still, it was nice of her to help.

  As they ran down the stairs to meet Nicholas and Jonathon by the transport pod, Aurelia had to admit that Elza had actually done a fine job. Her hair was neatly braided down her back, and it felt secure enough. The front door was already standing open, letting the fragrant smell of grass and trees in. The dome that covered Lunar City and made it habitable was glowing a bright, pale blue, indicating that it wasn't quite midmorning yet, and the light streamed through the door.

  “Wow,” said Nicholas, poking his head around the door to see if they were coming. “You look beautiful.”

  Aurelia bit back a smile. She knew that Nicholas was complimenting her—it was her pairing, after all—but his eyes were on Elza, who was smiling at him.

  “Ready?” called Jonathon.

  As I'll ever be, thought Aurelia, stepping outside. Jonathon was standing in front of the transport pod, its doors already open. He bent to kiss Aurelia as Nicholas and Elza climbed into the pod.

  “Are you still sure?” he whispered gently in her ear. “Because if you're not...”

  Aurelia put her hand softly over his mouth. “I'm sure,” she said. “There is no one else that I would rather spend the rest of my life with. And I want to do this now, not wait until everything is over.”

  Jonathon nodded in understanding. “In that case, let's go. I got us an appointment at the ministry; they shuffled things around for me to fit us in.”

  Of course they had, since not only was Jonathon the hopeful future President, but he was also Ruling Class and therefore had privileges and priority over others. Not that he abused that—he didn't, or he rarely did, anyway. But still, he had the right to demand things that Aurelia, as a Worker, could not.

  “I know pairing ceremonies aren't ornate or anything,” she said, climbing into the pod. “But surely there's bureaucracy to go through. I mean, it should take a little longer to arrange, right?”

  “It usually does,” said Nicholas.

  Despite being a Military Clone, Nicholas knew an awful lot about Empire rules and regulations, as well as about technology, history, even biology. Once she'd asked him how he knew so much, and he'd told her that he'd had plenty of time to read during his military service. Not that he'll be serving again, Aurelia thought, looking at the space where Nicholas's hand would be had she not cut it off to save him from blood poisoning.

  Well, there was the lack of the hand, but there was also the fact that Nicholas would be either imprisoned or more likely killed if he were found in Lunar City, due to his defying a direct order. Not that he looked worried about that at the moment.

  “Workers have to apply for permission to pair, of course,” he was saying, “which takes time. There have to be genetic tests as well as blood matching to ensure that the pair are suitable for breeding should they apply for permission. Then there are the logistics of housing the couple and changing the female's identification number to reflect her paired state. It's very complicated.”r />
  Elza grunted in agreement. “Fortunately for you, Jonathon isn't a Worker,” she said.

  “For the Ruling Class, things can be done faster, as always,” Nicholas said. “It's unusual for an Elite to marry a non-Elite; therefore, there's little bureaucracy surrounding the matter. Elites choose Elites from other Elite families, and that's considered genetically safe enough—though, as you know, in a small breeding population that's not really enough. Which is why when a Worker with good genetic credentials such as yourself comes along, the Ruling Class are generally fairly happy to allow new blood as long as it's good blood.”

  “You sound a little like a textbook,” Jonathon said, keying coordinates into the pod's console.

  “That's because he just read all this last night,” Elza told him.

  “I was interested.” Nicholas shrugged.

  “Besides,” Elza added, “you passed a bunch of tests so that you could get permission to work in Lunar Hospital, so a lot of the information the ministry needed to approve your pairing, it already had.”

  The pod hovered and began to glide away from the house. Aurelia was glad for Elza’s and Nicholas's conversation; it took her mind off things. When she thought of what she was about to do, she got butterflies. Jonathon glanced at her and reached out to take her hand.

  “It will only take a little time,” he said.

  She smiled back. She wasn't worried about pairing with him. She was more certain of her love for him than anything else in her life, but she was still nervous about taking such a big step. And it was only the beginning. Today was going to be nothing compared to tomorrow; and after that, who knew?

  Lunar City slid past the pod windows. The large viewing screens were lit with the bouncing pictures of newscasts and updates from around the empire. There was no neon yet, but later in the day the entire City would be lit in hundreds of different shades, so different from the plain, dim life that Aurelia used to know in her Earth City. As home to the Empire's Elite, Lunar was bright, exciting, and full of things that Aurelia had never seen before. But it was starting to feel like home.

  The pod flew closer to the City centre, where the government buildings were located. A large area of tall buildings surrounded a small central space that was crowded with Workers and even Elite, looking for pairing permission or pod driving permission or housing relocation or any one of hundreds of other small chores. Slowing, the pod dropped down a couple of levels before hovering and then settling to allow the passengers out.

  “Come on,” said Jonathon, offering his hand to Aurelia.

  He led them into the ministry building, its interior bright and white like every other government building Aurelia had ever been inside. They approached a central desk where a sec Worker was sitting in her green uniform.

  “Hansen,” said Jonathon, shortly.

  Anyone else would have given their ID number rather than their name. But then, Jonathon was well known enough that he didn't really need to give either. The sec Worker nodded, gave them directions to the appropriate office, and opened the gate to allow them inside. Jonathon thanked her and strode towards the elevator bank.

  No one spoke as they made their way to the office. Aurelia was thankful for the warmth of Jonathon's hand in her own. When they came to the numbered door, he knocked and then opened it without waiting for a reply.

  “Mr. Hansen,” said a man in a black uniform with purple flashes on the shoulder that marked him as an admin Worker. “Right on time. Just a moment, please.” He pressed a button on his desk.

  Aurelia looked over at Elza, who raised her eyebrows towards a small door on the opposite wall. Sure enough, the door opened, and Aurelia saw the familiar white uniform of a Tracker. Used to track information in Workers, as well as to add new information to their genetic code, Trackers were mute. According to Nicholas, their tongues were removed to prevent them from leaking any information about subjects they may have tested. With a sigh, Aurelia rolled up her sleeve, knowing what was about to happen.

  The Tracker approached her and stuck a small needle into the crook of her elbow, bending to read the print on a small screen attached to the probe. He did the same to Jonathon, then nodded at the admin Worker behind the desk. He was about to test Elza, motioning for her to roll up her sleeve, when Jonathon stopped him.

  “No, they're not here to pair,” he said.

  “Why are they here, then?” asked the admin Worker, suspiciously.

  “They're our witnesses,” said Jonathon.

  “Ah,” said the admin. “Most...unusual.”

  He looked thoughtful, and for a moment Aurelia thought he might demand that Elza and Nicholas be tested anyway, or ask for their ID numbers. But in the end he shook his head at the eccentricities of the Elite and pressed some icons on the screen in front of him.

  “Info,” he said to the Tracker, who pulled out another machine.

  This was something that Aurelia was more than familiar with. Worker children had their genetic information updated at the end of every school year, though adults got updates only for important things such as new job postings or changes of location. Or pairing. The needle slipped in, and she felt the usual flood of cold through her vein as the new code was injected. The Tracker nodded once more at the admin Worker and exited back through the door by which he'd entered.

  “You'll find your new ID number on your personal screen,” said the admin Worker mechanically, turning back to his own screen dismissively.

  Aurelia didn't even have time to thank him before Jonathon ushered them all out of the office. In fact, she hadn't spoken the entire time, she realised.

  “That was it?” was the first thing she said as the four of them walked back down the corridor towards the elevators.

  “That was it,” said Jonathon. “We're officially paired.”

  “Unless you're willing to submit an application for un-pairing,” Nicholas said, knowledgeably. “Though it will most likely be denied unless there's a genetic reason why you should not be a match.”

  Stopping in front of the elevator, Aurelia couldn't believe it. The entire process had taken less than five minutes. Elza caught the shock on her face and began to laugh.

  “Congratulations, Aurelia,” she said, kissing her friend on either cheek. “And you too, Jonathon.” She repeated the gesture.

  The elevator arrived, and they stepped inside. Jonathon pulled out his screen and tapped something into it.

  “I've ordered a second pod,” he explained, as the elevator slid down. “Nicholas and I need to get back to the house. Elza, I was hoping that you could go with Aurelia?”

  “Sure,” said the blonde woman. “I'd be happy to.”

  “Go where?” asked Aurelia, confused.

  “Shopping,” Jonathon said. “Don't worry, Elza knows where to take you. Just follow her lead.”

  “Shopping?” Now she was even more confused.

  Finally, Elza took pity on her. “Aurelia, you can't wear your uniform anymore,” she said. “You're not a Worker. You'll need new clothes. You're Elite now.”

  Aurelia grabbed onto the elevator railing to stop herself from succumbing to the spinning in her head. Crap. Gods. She hadn't even thought about it. It had never occurred to her. But of course. As soon as she'd paired with Jonathon, she'd automatically become Elite.

  The day was one of constant little shocks that kept Aurelia reeling. Just when she thought she'd got used to something, something new appeared, and she realised how terribly little thought she'd given to the process of pairing. It was nothing to do with love—that, she had pretty much figured out. She just hadn't thought about how much life would change.

  The first place that Elza took her was to a ministry building on the opposite side of the clearing, where she was to pick up a new uniform.

  “It's for official purposes only,” Elza explained. “You know, formal dinners and the like. The rest of the time you can wear whatever you please.”

  Aurelia surveyed the glistening, deep purple
fabric of the uniform. It was unlike any other uniform she'd ever worn. The material was soft, silken, and cut to show off curves. Even the colour was different, somehow deeper and richer than any other purple. She sighed. This was going to take some getting used to.

  When they got to the large department store, with mannequin robots accosting her at every step, Aurelia found that having freedom to choose was a lot more difficult than she'd imagined. The mannequins came in all shapes, sizes, and colours, and were programmed to recognise shoppers similar to themselves. Aurelia suddenly found herself surrounded by robotic women wearing different outfits, all of whom looked disturbingly similar to herself. Thankfully, Elza took charge, ordering several items and having them boxed up.

  “You look like you've done this before,” Aurelia said. She rolled her neck to try to relieve the headache that she was developing from the fake scents sprayed around the store.

  “On occasion,” Elza admitted. “Mostly for dinners where I had permission to be out of uniform.” She hesitated and then smiled. “I've got to say that when I agreed to join the Resistance, I didn't think that shopping was going to be a part of my job.”

  Aurelia knew that when Elza shopped for herself, it was to buy dresses so she could accompany important men to important dinners. It was a key part of her role in the Resistance movement and part of the reason that Elza had never paired. She was about to say something when Elza pointed out yet another mannequin, and she groaned. Her legs ached, her head ached, and she really wanted to go home now.

  Finally, laden with boxes and packages, they took a pod back to Jonathon's house. Gods, she had to stop thinking of it as that. This was home now. Her home. Elza handed her a pain patch once they were in the pod, and she gratefully dozed her way back home.

  Elza helped her carry everything upstairs to her room. Once the packages were inside, Aurelia sank onto the bed. Elza smiled and came to sit next to her.

  “Lots of stuff you didn't think about, right?” she asked.

  Aurelia nodded. “I can't believe I didn't even consider the fact that I was going to be Elite.”