The Grower's Gift (Progeny of Time #1) (11 page)

"I don't know much more than that myself," Giles said. "I was only eight when we left. The Ring is made up of five megacities. This is Neo York, and then there's Chicago, Toronto, Dakota and New Los Angeles. There's no real government in any of the cities or the Ring as a whole. They're all run by families that control most of the wealth, technology and commerce."

"Didn't New York drown after the North melted?" Maya asked, trying to recall from her studies what the city once looked like. Tall buildings were all she remembered, but none of them as tall as the ones that surrounded her now.

"The old city was, yes. They safeguard it, it's a tourist attraction of sorts now."
 

"Great, so they preserve a drowned city, and let the rest of the world die off," Maya muttered. "It figures. They plan to leave it all behind anyway."

Giles leaned back and looked past her out the window. "Anyway, Neo York is run by a panel of six of the most powerful families, Greenwood, Schwartz, Weinstein, Orsini, Montague and Remarque, of course."

Maya recognized the names of the kids in the hovercraft. No wonder they had no problem getting Maya and Giles into the city. And no wonder they expected her to bow at the mere mention of their names.

"I don't know much more than that," Giles continued, "except that you don't want to get on the wrong side of any of them. They made sure every Citizen knew that from the start."

Out in the Badlands, no one knew very much about how the cities of the Ring operated. If they wished to let everyone die out, would they even let Maya help? How could they not? They couldn't enjoy spending their days cooped up in these tall buildings.
 

After a while Giles suggested they play another game and Maya agreed, mostly to pass the time before Rober finally came.

She stayed awake as long as she could. The Orsini kid didn't come like he promised he would. And after all Giles said, she was beginning to doubt they were anything other than prisoners in these comfortable rooms. The only thing she couldn't understand was why.

~

A gorgeous black skinned woman with slanting blue eyes smiled all the way to the doors of the elevator that led to boathouse eight, miles above the Earth, where Ty was expected by Rober. Seven hostile pairs of eyes locked on him as soon as he entered, but Rober said, "Ah, there you are. I'd begun to worry you wouldn't be able to make it. What happened after I left?"

"More or less as you predicted. Only there will be no trials, just executions," Ty said and sat down in one of the plush egg-shaped chairs.

Sage Montague leapt up, sending her chair spinning. "And I suppose that was your darling mother's idea? She does like to simply kill anyone who stands in her way."

"You're right about that, Sage," Ty replied, fixing her with his icy gaze. "So it's better not to get in her way."

It was all Ty himself ever tried to do, and the only sensible way to deal with his mother.

Sage eyed him up and down. "She doesn't scare me."

The rest in the room were listening intently, but none spoke.
 

Ty glared at Sage. "She should."
 

When Sage made to protest, Rober interrupted.
 

"Calm down, Sage. We're just here to talk."

Sage rounded on Rober. "Why did you even ask Ty to come? We don't need his help and I doubt we'll get it."

Ty looked from one to the other. "Help with what?"

Rober motioned for Sage to sit down and she obeyed. He leaned over the table and poured Ty a glass of cognac, not the real stuff his father drank, but the artificially made one his father despised. Not that Ty had a taste for either.

He swirled his drink in the glass and scanned the room. Adam and Sage Montague. Tanya Weinstein. Anne Greenwood. Henrik Schwartz. Liam and Michael Northman. All the ones who agreed with Rober's plans, all younger children of the panel families that controlled Neo York. His friends. Outside the window, the Earth was a blue and brown ball, swathed in thick white clouds.
 

Rober stood up and looked at Ty. "I've called this meeting because the future of our planet is threatened and no one else is doing anything about it. We want to and we will. We need you with us, Ty."

Ty leaned forward in his chair. "Need me for what?"

Ty had listened to Rober's rants about the planet often enough. He'd been certain Rober understood he wanted nothing to do with it. The whole setup felt like a deadly trap all of a sudden, and it would be best if he simply got up and left before they said any more.

Rober turned to him. "Help us change the way things are!" He pointed through the window at Earth and continued. "They spend days arguing who has more right to be the first to leave this planet behind. I am sure, we are
all
in this room sure, more can be done to save it. If they can terraform Nova 18, they can terra save Earth!"

A few of those gathered chuckled.
 

"Maybe we should find another slogan, though," Liam said. "Terra save Earth sounds a little forced."

Ty laughed along with the others to hide his shock. Rober's face turned red.

"Who cares what we call it? We're not selling anything. Millions are still displaced in the Badlands, lacking food and shelter, lacking safety, while we in the cities draw the last resources to live in made up worlds, with
pictures
where real nature should be."

Ty stopped listening. He'd had no idea Rober had begun acting on his wishes to help the people of the Badlands. Organizing meetings, going against his parents' orders, the panel's orders. If he had known, Ty would have tried to stop him. Did Rober imagine he was the first to have these ideas? Didn't he see that likely thousands had been prevented from carrying out similar things in the past?

The stones on Ty's bracelet turned so cold he was sure they left burn marks. He fought against the feelings of anger, betrayal, terror before something went wrong. He imagined stuffing it all into a metal chest in his mind, its walls thick, its locks infallible. Exactly like Salvio taught him to do all those years ago when he started teaching him how to control his power. Ty hadn't had to perform this exercise to control his gift for years now.
 

"What do you want from me?" he asked harshly, cutting across the rest of Rober's speech.
 

The others turned to glare at him.
 

"Let him finish speaking," Tanya barked.

"Hear me out, please," Rober replied. "Between us we wield enough power to control the entire Ring. I have the power to make the shields fail, the Montagues control the space technology. We could make this world a good place for all to live. You, Ty, will be in control of this city soon."

"It's time someone did something to save the Badlands," Sage cut in. "We're in a great position to do so. It's our responsibility."

Ty looked at her. "Responsibility? How? None of us caused what is happening."

"We can't let them all die," Tanya insisted, "not when we have the means to save them. It's the right thing to do."

Ty admired their fire, wished he could share it. However, too much depended on him staying on his mother's good side. Eve's safety, his own survival. And now this.

Ty had heard too much. They all had. There was no way to unhear it ever again. He couldn't believe Rober would ambush him like this. But telling everyone in the room how he really felt about their insane plans wouldn't do any good either.
 

"My parents plan to rule for at least another fifty years, Rober. And you, Sage and Adam, how will you two get past Hercules to seize power?"

Unlike the ancient son of a god, Hercules had no weakness. And his only goal was to become the head of House Montague.

"The plan we propose is a long term one, one that will be carried out in stealth," Rober explained. "We will give the towns and villages the ability to begin healing the land and keep their efforts secret. Once that is achieved a coup will have to take place."

Ty locked his fingers into a tight ball in his lap, still struggling to stuff all his rage, anger, sadness and panic into the large metal chest in the darkest corner of his mind, slamming the lid down, locking it tight before the emotions could make him lose control and lash out with his power. Using his power on them all now would likely be a kinder fate than his mother finding out about their plans.

He grit his teeth, forcing himself to ignore the thought, his jaw aching. The stones on his bracelet turned so painfully cold he wanted to rip it off. Maybe that meant it was working. Maybe it was helping him stay in control of his power.

Finally the waves of dangerous panic began to lessen. He had to choose his words carefully. Merely saying the things Rober was saying carried a death sentence, and Ty's mother would not be satisfied with mere executions for speeches and plans like these. No. She'd keep every one of Ty's treasonous friends alive for months, ripping out their teeth, pulling out their nails, cutting away fingers and limbs. Then she'd execute them, if there was anything else left to kill. That in itself might spark a revolution, though not likely. The panel deferred silently. And Violetta Remarque took her power very absolutely, and very personally.
 

Rober was eyeing him with a hint of fear in his eyes now. As well he should. He, better than anyone, understood the terrible position Ty was in. He knew how thin a line Ty walked every day, keeping his mother happy and his sister safe. Rober knew Ty would always keep him safe too— keep all his friends safe if he could. Rober was counting on it.
Why else had he dragged Ty into this?

Right then Ty hated him for it.

There was no walking away from this meeting, not ever. Neither could he go back. Rober and his revolutionaries had to be stopped before they got hurt.

Ty took a long swallow of his cognac and leaned back, smiling, knowing full well that the smile never reached his ice cold eyes.
 

"I agree with you all that something should be done. Rober knows this, and now you all know it as well."

Ty paused and looked at the others. Sage still eyed him suspiciously, but the rest visibly relaxed at his words.
 

"What you propose has to be a long term plan alright," Ty continued, "one that needs to begin now. Between us we have the command of the Special Forces. We can begin transporting the necessary tech to the towns and villages. Our family names will keep us safe from too many questions. I will make sure my mother doesn't find out."

The silence that fell in the room was absolute. They all stared at Ty with their eyes bulging out. Ty laughed. "What? I said I would help. I have no love for the way things are done here either. Now tell me more of your plans."

By the time they finished explaining all their intricately laid plans Ty's head was spinning from the strain of keeping his emotions under control.
 

Ty held Rober back once the others left the boathouse. "You do realize that this isn't like the plans we used to make when we were children, right? This can get you killed."

Rober fixed him with a cold gaze, nearly icy enough to match his own. "I know. And I never stopped planning. You did."

"Because
I
know it's pointless!"

"It's not! Worst case scenario is that all of the panel families leave for Nova 18 and give us command down here. The way the terraforming is going that could take years. I believe if we're going to save Earth we need to start trying now."
 

Ty shook his head and looked out the window. "Worst case scenario is my mother finding out about your trying."

"Our trying. Because you'll help us, right?"

Ty still did not meet Rober's eyes. "I'll do what I can."

He had other things to worry about first. Maya had to be transported out of Neo York.

"Let's go see Maya and her friend now," Ty said.
 

Rober checked his watch. "It's past midnight. They're probably asleep by now."

Ty strode towards the elevator. "Then we'll wake them up."

~

"Wake up," a voice from the dark was urging Maya. "You're not safe. Wake up."

Maya turned and opened her eyes, expecting to realize she had only been dreaming. Ty stood next to her, shaking her shoulder. Outside the window, the sky was the dark green of a deep river. She had fallen asleep on the sofa.

Maya sat up and brushed her fingers through her hair. "Finally, you came," she said, her voice thick with sleep. "Take me to the school now, please."

Ty sat down on the sofa across from her and fiddled with his gemstone bracelet.
 

"Tomorrow morning, I will arrange transport back to your town for you and your friend," he said.

Maya recoiled, feeling like he had struck her. Cold waves emanated from him as though from a block of ice. "No, please. I want to learn to use my gift. You can't send me back!"

Ty let go of his bracelet and fixed her with his dead eyes. "People from the Badlands aren't allowed to be in the Ring."

Giles stirred on the sofa across from them and sat up. "I thought the school for the gifted welcomed students from all over. At least that's how I remember all those ads for it."

Ty shot him an angry look, but Giles didn't seem cowed.

Rober came over and sat on the armrest beside Giles. "Maya's gift could be very useful for our plans to save the Badlands. I don't think she should go home."

Ty looked at him with such murder in his eyes Maya was almost sure Rober would drop dead from that gaze alone. She could've sworn the blue stones of Ty's bracelet glimmered, though it could've been a reflection of one of the advertisements in the sky outside.

"Seriously, Ty," Rober continued undeterred. "You should hear her speak of her gift. She only wants to help her people. As do I. As do we."

Maya took the cue. She looked deep into Ty's eyes, willing her warmth to melt the ice there, wishing it could. "I just need a little guidance. Once I have a good grip on how to use it, I'll go back home. Please help me. I know I have the power to make the Badlands flourish again."