Authors: Fredric Shernoff
Kylee had repeated this conversation to Theo. "What bothers me," she had said, "is that Michelle skirted around the actual question. I really think she agrees with a lot of what's happening here."
"What does Jamie think?" he had asked.
"She thinks I'm oversensitive. Too much craziness makes me look for more craziness. I don't know, maybe she's right."
Theo didn't think Jamie was right. Kylee might have been thrown off by everything they had experienced since the Event, but Jamie had also been greatly affected. She probably didn't want to think anything negative about her friend at a time when friends were in such short supply.
Theo kissed Kylee goodbye and walked out the door. Farmers got to work earlier than most other positions on the island and the apartment Theo shared with Kylee was far from the Margate fields. Leaving so early meant that he almost never saw anyone else on his long walks. That suited Theo just fine.
The streets leading out of the city had long been battered by years of strong storms and flooding in the summer and heavy snows in winter. The asphalt needed regular maintenance that it was no longer getting, and the Event had taken a heavy toll. Cracks spread like a dark circulatory system in every direction. Weeds grew from the cracks, spurred on and nourished by the torrential storms and ample sunlight.
Theo casually yanked a weed from the sandy soil, studied it for a moment and threw it over his shoulder. Funny that he still felt compelled to keep things tidy when the Supreme Leader couldn't be bothered. No, that wasn't quite right. Tiberius was a calculating man, and even the condition of the streets wouldn't go unattended. Theo guessed it was more likely this was Tiberius's deliberate effort to allow the streets to go to ruins. Even the government cars had run out of fuel. Atlantic Island was a pedestrian community for the foreseeable future, and Tiberius obviously wanted to route resources elsewhere.
A few blocks down Theo passed the water treatment operation. Here he saw the day's first signs of humanity. The workers scurried from place to place, carrying vats, hoses and tools. The water treatment facility desalinated ocean water for drinking and bathing, and recycled wastewater to be used again. Giant storage tanks collected rain from the heavy storms. The operation was beyond Theo's understanding. Its construction had occurred hastily during his brief spell working for the mayor. The sheer amount of people hurrying about told Theo that Tiberius knew water was a critical utility.
There were many things that Tiberius knew, Theo thought. It would be easy to dismiss the man as unqualified for leadership but the sad truth was that Paul Tiberius was a born leader. He knew how to keep a country going. The problem in Theo's view was Tiberius saw everything in black and white without any shades of grey.
Tiberius was prepared to do anything and everything to enforce his view of what would keep a government operational. He was willing to sacrifice anyone for the greater good of the island. That was simply not something Theo or his friends could accept. Any society was going to be filled with "haves" and "have nots." Everything Theo had ever heard or read told him as much. Yet Supreme Leader Tiberius pushed this paradigm to an absurd extreme, seemingly more so each day.
The tightening of rations, the endless forced labor, all these changes and restrictions were suppressing the majority of the population while the inner circle grew powerful and comfortable. Theo felt the impact of this as he walked the lengthy route to work. In the city, a short sprint from the majesty of the Palace, a checkered map had formed of affluence next to poverty. The farther Theo walked beyond the city limits, the more poverty reigned.
Three months in to Tiberius's rule, the Supreme Leader decreed that dissidents could lose their property. In the time since, a convenient selection of citizens who had won nice accommodations in the property lottery had been declared "rabble rousers" and had been removed from their homes. The lucky were sent to communal housing near the farms. The unlucky went to jail with no determined length of sentence. Tiberius loyalists now occupied the quality real estate left behind by the nonconformists. Tiberius himself and many of the government employees had residences in the Palace.
Theo wondered how long it would be before the government targeted him and his friends. He knew too much about Tiberius and the whole operation there to think that being removed from the advisory council was the full extent of any action against him. He thought about this more and more with each passing week. Was there anything he could do to protect himself and his friends? He didn't think so. In that one regard he agreed wholeheartedly with Michelle: Tiberius was the beginning and the end of authority on the island. If the Supreme Leader decided it was time to make an example of Theo or Kylee or any of them, they were totally and completely out of luck. There was nowhere to run.
Theo approached the edge of the tomato fields that marked the perimeter of the Margate farmland. The communal properties near the fields were still occupied at this time of day. For a reason Theo couldn't identify, men with families represented a large portion of those Tiberius had evicted from their homes. The women and children milled about on the porches. Their sad faces and emaciated bodies stayed in Theo's mind all day as he worked and they haunted him at night.
Every once in a while one of the forgotten souls on the porches would approach the farmers. Theo's boss, an enormous man named Jerome, was kind but firm in telling the women to leave. Once, someone got through and grabbed Theo and one other man by one shoulder each with her boney hands.
"Please," she had croaked, "I'm hungry. My babies are hungry. Please give us food."
"I'm sorry, we aren't allowed," said Theo. "And you can't eat what we have growing here. None of it is ready for harvest yet."
The woman didn't listen. She stumbled forward past Theo and his confused coworker. She worked her way through the patches of tomatoes and began clawing at the vines, trying to bring the green fruit to her mouth. Theo tried to grab her gently, but she forced him off.
"What's happening here?" asked Jerome. "Miss, you can't do this. You can't eat what we are growing here."
He took her firmly by the shoulders and she looked up at him. "I need food," she said. "We aren't getting enough rations."
Jerome looked terribly sad. "I'm so sorry," the giant man said. "You need to go or there will be trouble for all of us. If the Security Forces were here you wouldn't be getting away so easily. Just go. Please."
Theo and the other farmer escorted the woman away. Theo hated being a party to anything that caused the poor woman more suffering.
Today there were no incursions from the starving ghosts on the porches. Theo worked at turning over a patch of soil. The food grew fast on the island and was harvested quickly. The farmers were ordered to turn the soil and plant again as quickly as possible. Theo heard from some guys who seemed to know that this was not the best way to treat the earth, but orders were orders.
"Hey, Essex, you hear what's going down tonight?"
Stan, one of the farmers Theo saw on a regular basis, walked over to him looking strangely excited.
"No," said Theo, "I don't really get much news."
"Yeah, man, I know," said Stan. "I don't either. Just happened to hear some people talking. There's a big ass thing going on down at the convention hall. Tiberius is speaking! Nobody's seen him since he took over… I mean, other than the people who, you know, got busted. Something big is going to happen tonight."
"And you think this is a good thing, Stan?"
"Hell, yeah! It's time for things to change. I'm sure everything's gonna start getting better."
Theo sighed and clapped Stan on the back. "I wish I shared your optimism, buddy."
"Will you be there?" Stan asked.
"Hmm… yeah. Yeah, I will be." Whatever was going to happen, Theo wanted to see it for himself. He didn't believe in any way that things were going to get better. All he could do was get all the information he could to be prepared as things got worse.
Theo hadn't considered how uncomfortable he would be with returning to Boardwalk Hall. The vision of the attack on Mayor Lucas haunted him as he walked with his sweaty hand in Kylee's.
"You don't have to do this," she said. "I'm sure we can easily find out what's discussed tonight."
Theo shook his head. "No, babe. We need to be there. I don't for a minute believe that Tiberius is done with us. I want to know everything that's happening. We can't access his inner circle but this is…something, I guess."
"You really think he's going to come for us?" she whispered.
"Maybe. Maybe not you or me, but what about Bill?" He pointed ahead at Bill's and Jamie's backs in the distance. "Bill's sentence being overturned was the beginning of all of this. It was what started the rift that led Tiberius to kill Lucas and—"
"Don't do that." She pulled her hand away and wheeled around to face him.
"What?"
"Don't you dare blame yourself for what happened to Mayor Lucas."
"How the hell can't I? Everything that's happened here is my fault. It all traces back to my begging Lucas to pardon Bill."
"Bull. It traces back to the Event. It traces back to Tiberius being given the authority to make the decision that sent Bill and the other protestors to jail in the first place. You don't know everything about the dynamic between Tiberius and Lucas before you came along, but I bet you it wasn't any good."
"That may be. Still… my involvement did something. I think I upset a balance of power."
"Big words," Kylee was getting frustrated. "But what do they mean? What I see in front of me is a well-intentioned guy trying to be a big martyr. I don't mean this as an insult, Theo, but have you considered that all of this is bigger than you? Or me? Or any of us? If you want to do something to fight back against Tiberius, okay, I'm with you on that. But if you want to sit around and beat yourself up for what happened to Mayor Lucas or what's happened here since he died, I'm not going to sit with you and join your pity party."
"But…Lucas listened to me, and now he's dead!"
"Well, now you listen to me! Sam Lucas was a grown man. A wise man. If he acted on your request it was because he thought it was the right thing. He made up his own damned mind, just like Tiberius did. You are not to blame, Theo! Stop doing this to yourself!"
Theo was stunned. Kylee rarely expressed so much emotion. Bill, Jamie, Ryan and Michelle circled around, drawn by Kylee's shouting.
"You guys okay?" asked Bill.
"Yeah," said Theo. "We're okay. I was just being dumb and Kylee's helped me to figure that out."
"Oh," said Bill. "You were being the martyr again, huh? Yeah, we all think that's pretty stupid."
Theo laughed. "Okay, fine. You guys know I just want what's best for everybody."
"We do," said Ryan. "Nobody blames you for anything, and for what it's worth we believe in what you and Mayor Lucas wanted for Atlantic Island. That's why we are all coming out here tonight."
Theo couldn't help notice Michelle rolling her eyes at Ryan's words. What was the deal with that girl?
"Okay," said Theo. "So none of you has any idea what's going on tonight? What Tiberius is supposed to announce?"
"I just kept hearing the words, 'big event,'" said Jamie. "Because what we need is another big Event. Do you guys know how this thing leaked out? There weren't any fliers as far as I can tell. Who started the word of mouth?"
"Tiberius, probably," said Kylee. "Whatever this is, he wants people to think they are seeing something important."
The crowd around the hall was buzzing nervously. Theo knew that many of them had been present for the assassination of the mayor, though few of them had been as close to the incident as he had been.
Bill walked up next to Theo. "I don't want to put any more pressure on you about anything," he started, "but do you think we're safe here? Tiberius doesn't like us."
"I think there's only a pretty small group he actually does like," said Theo.
"There aren't many opportunities to get this close to the action and I think we will be safe mixed in with all these other people. None of them has any idea who we are."
"Good thing," said Bill, "I don't play well with others and I'm not much of a leader. It might not hurt for people to know who you are though. Mayor Lucas thought you had some good ideas for the country."
Theo decided to resist exclaiming that Mayor Lucas wasn't around any longer. No need to kick that beehive again. "Well," he said, "it's something to think about. I'm just not positive I want to paint that big a target on myself."
"Yeah, I hear ya," said Bill. Theo thought he looked mildly disappointed. "Just, you know, keep it in the back of your mind."
"Okay, man. Will do."
They walked into the arena and found seats high above the ground. Theo had no interest in being close to Tiberius. He settled into his seat and looked down at the arena floor. Something was odd. There was no stage and no podium. The bare concrete expanse was strangely foreboding.
"Do you guys see this?" he whispered. "There's nothing set up at all."
"Well," said Kylee, "There are those." She pointed at the ceiling from which hung giant banners with the Atlantic Island flag.
"Nice," said Bill. "Still think they could have sprung for some balloons."
The audience was still entering the arena, but Theo could tell that he and his friends were not the only ones noticing the lack of staging for the night's event. The crowd chattered in low tones, nervously anticipating the arrival of the Supreme Leader.
A voice boomed over the loudspeaker, startling Theo. It was not the same voice heard in previous gatherings.
They fired the announcer?
He thought.
Seriously?