Z 2135 (22 page)

Jonah didn’t want to open his eyes. He just wanted to be
back on the ground. This … flying … didn’t feel natural.

Jonah had never flown before. Planes were rare. There were
only a few known Barrens Flyers, pilots who made their living renting out
courier services to The State. Their planes weren’t state of the art like those
flown near the end of the Old Nation’s reign, however. They looked more
antiquated, like those from the early days of flight—rickety machines that had
no right to be in the air.

But Captain Pete assured him, “Twenty-five years and I ain’t
crashed yet.”

Still, sitting in an open cockpit with the clouds around
him, the wind trying to rip off his helmet and goggles, Jonah felt anything but
safe.

“Yer gonna miss it if you don’t look,” Captain Pete shouted
over the loud, sputtering engine of the glider plane.

“I don’t wanna look! Just land the glider!” Jonah shouted
over the loud wind.

“Only chance you’ll ever have to see City 1 in all its glory,”
Captain Pete yelled back from the pilot’s seat in front as they drew closer to
their destination.

Jonah braced himself, grabbed his seat tight—even though he
was belted in and probably couldn’t fall out of the glider—and looked down.

Oh, wow!

Details of City 1 weren’t reported on so much as whispered
about. No two descriptions ever sounded the same, probably because so few
people—people Jonah had met, anyway—had ever actually been to City 1. So far as
Jonah knew, most people thought City 1 was just like the other cities, filled
with common, working-class people crammed into apartments. While some citizens
whispered of large castles or dark spires stretching into the sky, few people
outside of City 1 truly knew what it looked like. Sometimes, Geralt appeared on
City broadcasts, but such broadcasts were always filmed from inside The State’s
High Tower, so you never got to see much of The City.

In City 6, transports were all handled through a single
depot, and the drivers had even higher clearance than Jonah at City Watch—all
were personally chosen by Keller.

Due to the nature of urban legends, everyone claimed to know
someone—or know someone who knew someone—who had once seen City 1, but Jonah
knew for a fact that he did know someone who had seen City 1: Chief Keller, who
routinely went to City 1 for high-level State meetings. But Keller had never
spoken of The City except in generalities, and had never described it as
anything remotely close to the grand spectacle Jonah was looking on now.

Staring down at The City, Jonah realized with a sickening
certainty that he’d been wrong. The paradisiacal City 7 promised to winners of
The Darwin Games and shown on the broadcasts
wasn’t
a lie. It was, in fact, City 1.

He doubted any winners of The Games actually made it to City
1—he knew
he
hadn’t
been brought there—but the place shown on the broadcasts was very real.

Jonah stared in open-mouthed wonder, looking down onto the
sprawling, beautiful City that he’d seen advertised as City 7 so many times on
The Games. The same low and almost decorative Walls along the borders (nothing
like the fortress-like Walls surrounding the other cities), the same ribbon of
luxury with large sparkling pools, sprawling out-of-doors restaurants (rather
than the arcade’s cramped food court), wide walkways, and row upon row of
spacious living quarters sprawled out over plenty of space. The most shocking
thing to Jonah, who had spent all of his life until recently behind The Walls
of City 6, was the sheer amount of green, so rich and in such vast quantities,
it looked bright even from the sky.

To the west of the homes, green grass, and rolling pastures,
was a long stretch of beautiful white beach. On the other side of the beach
churned the blue sea, which stretched to the horizon. Jonah had never seen the
ocean, except for in movies, and could never have imagined how infinite it
seemed in person, or how small he felt in comparison.

After many miles, the homes and green grass areas he
recognized from City 7 disappeared. Rolling knolls crashed into large white
brick Walls. Behind The Walls, everything was different.

Jonah realized he’d only seen a tiny part of City 1.

Beyond the beautiful green, stretched the immensity of City
1.

High gleaming glass towers rose into the sky, unlike
anything Jonah had ever seen in real life—though they did look a lot city
skyscrapers he’d seen in movies from the Old Nation. These buildings were
shinier, cleaner, and gleaming with everything City 6 was not.

He could not imagine the manpower or resources needed to create,
let alone maintain, such things. Nor could he fathom what he would see inside
The City.

“A thing of beauty, eh?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

Captain Pete turned and winked at Jonah as he turned the
glider. “OK, here’s the bumpy part.” The tiny engine sputtered as Captain Pete
used a combination of brakes and the rudder to guide the craft toward a long
runway stationed just outside The City’s northern Walls.

Jonah braced for the worst as the glider descended toward
the road. The front wheel hit as Captain Pete applied the brakes. Jonah’s
knuckles were white on either side of the seat. The glider bumped, shook, and
rocked as it slowed to a gentle roll before turning into an open hangar marked
Hangar 14.

Only after the glider stopped did Jonah realize he’d been
holding his breath and finally exhale.

Captain Pete arched over and unbuckled Jonah. The captain
clambered out and then helped Jonah from the glider before going to grab
Jonah’s medical bag, which the captain had stored in a compartment in the
glider’s rear.

Jonah took the bag, wondering if the captain had any idea
what was inside it.

He didn’t dwell on it, though, because they were soon met by
a young man in a tan jumpsuit. On his chest was a blue tag that read: City 1
and beneath that, Danny.

“Hey, Pete,” Danny said.

“Hey, Danny,” the captain said as he handed Danny paperwork
that ostensibly detailed Jonah’s identity and purpose in The City.

Danny gave the papers a cursory look and shoved them in his
pocket. “So, how was the flight?”

“Good. No storms this time.”

“Great to hear.” Danny smiled ear to ear. “Thought you’d
want to know—I asked Joyce to marry me last week. And she said yes.”

“Great!” Pete said, slapping Danny on the back. “Glad it all
worked out.”

“Thanks again for the advice,” Danny kept grinning.

Jonah felt uncomfortable being part of such a private
conversation, but he was also relieved by the soft security. If this were City
6—not that City 6 had air hangars, all their couriers were trucks—City Watchers
would have been all over both pilot and passenger, screening them carefully.

Here they had a guy named Danny, who seemed more interested
in chatting than checking Jonah’s papers.

Jonah almost had to laugh.

Then, just as Captain Pete and Jonah were about to leave the
hangar, Danny called out.

“Oh yeah, I need to check your ID!”

Jonah turned, keeping his face friendly and hiding his
nerves. He’d been wondering since he left whether the ID would still work. If,
as Sutherland said, Marquis had gone underground, maybe Marquis had been caught
by City Watch. If that happened, there was a damned good chance Jonah’s ID was
no longer a suitable disguise. City Watch might even be looking for him.

Nothing he could do about it now.

Danny grabbed the portable ID reader from his belt and
lifted it to Jonah’s wrist.

Jonah waited for the scanning to complete. He perused Danny
for a weapon—none—then looked beyond the hangar, outside. Nobody around. No
orbs—none that he could see, anyway.

If shit went south, Jonah knew he would have to kill Danny
before he could sound an alarm. Jonah didn’t think he’d have to kill Captain
Pete. While the captain knew Jonah wasn’t who he said, and that Sutherland had
paid Jonah’s fare into The City, the captain probably didn’t know
what
Jonah was planning.
Nor did he have any reason to turn Jonah over to City 1 Watch, unless he took
issue with Danny’s murder.

The ID reader showed Jonah’s fake name and credentials
on-screen as a light beeped green.

“OK, sir, you’re cleared.”

“Thank you,” Jonah said, glad he wouldn’t have to kill the
young man, who seemed rather friendly.

He’ll die
soon enough, after the infection spreads.

Stop.
Stop thinking about that.

Captain Pete said, “OK, I’m going to walk the doctor out,
then I’ll come back and tell you a story that will make you piss yourself.”

“Great,” Danny said, turning away as they left the hangar.

After they walked back onto the runway, Jonah looked back to
make sure Danny wasn’t following them, then said, “Wow.
This
is security in City 1? Anyone can just
fly in? And they have
one
guy
checking ID?”

“They get a lot of couriers, and a number of the residents
here have their own gliders and take them out on safaris. City 1 likes to keep
things low-key for its residents.”

Jonah couldn’t believe it. “You can’t get within a mile of
City 6 without going underground unless you don’t mind a City Watch escort.”

Captain Pete said, “City 1 has a large military presence
outside The City and along the eastern Walls, which you didn’t see because your
eyes were probably closed. They keep all the trouble out so their own people
don’t have to live in fear.”

Jonah laughed. Most citizens behind The Walls in other
cities lived under constant fear of both City Watch and its ubiquitous orbs.
Here, he imagined, the wealthy truly lived free, without a care in the world.

Captain Pete continued, “You’ve gotta remember, folks here
are the best of the best. They’re The State leaders, the brightest scientists,
farming and industry leaders, many descendants of Old Nation power. If I were
you, I’d try not to think too much about these people and what they have, or
it’ll depress the hell out of you. Trust me, I’ve been coming here for years,
but I’m a City 4 man, through and through. We don’t have anything like this
back home.”

Jonah shook his head.

Captain Pete led him toward the edge of the runway, reached
into his pocket, and pulled out a com. He tapped out a code, then waited.
Finally, he spoke into the device, “Yes, we’re here … OK.”

He handed Jonah the com. “The boss wants to talk to you. See
ya later. You can keep the com.”

He turned and headed back to the hangar without another
word.

Jonah looked at the com, then brought it to his ear. “Yes?”

“Good, you made it.” It was Sutherland. “Are you still at
the hangars?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve said good day to Captain Pete?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect. Now, look around you. Do you see the Pegasus?”

“The what?” The word seemed familiar, but Jonah didn’t know
where he had heard it, or what it might be.

Sutherland repeated, then clarified: “A Pegasus—a horse with
wings.”

Jonah looked around and at first saw nothing, then squinted
at a sign past the hangars, far on the other side. It was a blue square with a
white circle. In its center, a red horse with wings.

“Yes,” Jonah said. “I see the Pegasus.”

“Great! That’s a glider fueling station. City 1 gives its
citizens free fuel, whether for car, bike, or glider. And the Pegasus is their
sign for fuel. Your contact will meet you at the Pegasus station. You’ll know
her as soon as you see her, and she’ll definitely know you. Good luck.”

“Wait! When do I call you next?”

“At the right time,” Sutherland said, then killed the call.

Jonah passed the hangars, then approached the flying red
horse—the Pegasus—and the place where his contact supposedly was waiting for
him.

When Jonah had asked Sutherland for his contact’s name,
Sutherland said, “Her name doesn’t matter because I’ve no idea which one she’ll
be using.” When Jonah had asked what his contact would look like, Sutherland
said, “You’ll know when you see her.”

There were four people at the Pegasus station: a couple, a
man by himself filling his glider tank, and a woman at the farthest pump,
washing her glider down with a wet rag.

The man who was alone wasn’t dressed all that differently
from Jonah, who wore casual gray pants and a blue shirt, though the other man’s
clothes seemed like a much higher quality, with sharp creases that looked stiff
to wear. The man from the couple wore clothes that reminded Jonah of suits and
ties from the Old Nation, but the fabric seemed thinner and lighter and
brighter, a screaming blue for his jacket and two slightly different shades of
unnatural yellow for his patterned necktie. The woman on his arm was bedecked
in many strips of multicolored fuzzy-looking fabric that wrapped her body in
crisscrossing layers. Her hair was bright blonde, and her skin was flawless.
She was probably the most beautiful woman Jonah had ever seen—in real life,
anyway.

The woman who had been washing her glider looked up at Jonah
as he approached. She wore khaki pants and a white button-down shirt. The word
in Jonah’s mind when he saw her was
crisp
.
She was gorgeous, with tight chestnut curls sweeping her shoulders just under
the blades, but she wasn’t a jaw-dropper like the other woman.

She looked up at Jonah and smiled. “You’re the flower man,
right?”

“Pardon me?”

The woman kept on as if Jonah hadn’t pardoned himself.
“Sorry I had to cancel yesterday,” she said. “I thought today would be better
because we were both out here and you could tell me all about the treasures you
found. Come on, let’s walk.”

The woman waved her hand in no particular direction then
started walking away from the Pegasus station. After a few steps she pulled
something from her pocket and pointed it back at the glider. The glider chirped
as she turned, then started slowly rolling behind her. As they continued
walking, Jonah turned to see the glider rounding itself into the hangers and
parking itself in an empty space.