Chapter 14

“Lise! Grott!” Lise awakened to her mother calling.

“What is it?” she asked, pulling aside the sheet to her room.

Rayla was holding her mediascreen. “The pomma farms -- they’re all on lockdown!”

“Lockdown?” Grott asked. “All of them?”

“All within five hundred kilometres of Vyonna.”

“Someone must’ve got wind of the strike.”

“Yes -- one of the farms struck a day early.”

“The idiots! There goes the element of surprise.”

“What does lockdown mean?” Lise asked.

“They bar the doors to the farm workers’ barracks and close the shutters. The workers are locked inside, away from sunlight. I was in a lockdown, once. It’s terrifying. You’re shut in the dark -- you lose track of time, of the sun rising and setting. Then, the sun hunger sets in. It takes a strong worker not to crack after three or four days.”

“So, Mott has lost the farms,” Lise remarked.

“Right. Before the pomma crop is ruined, it’ll be worker turning on worker in the barracks. They’ll hand over the strike organizers and it’ll be over. They’ll be begging to go back to the fields. Without the threat to the pomma crop, the city strike will have no teeth. None at all.”

“The strike’s a failure before it started,” Lise replied. “They might as well call it off.”

“And, regroup for another day,” Grott added. “That won’t happen. Mott has whipped those hotheads into a frenzy.”

Lise headed up the steps to bathe. She spotted Tagg heading toward the building. He stopped and faced her. “It’s not going to work, Tagg,” she said. “Leave this bunch. Come back and do what you’re good at doing.”

“No.”

“You’ve lost the farms, Tagg. Before the strike started you lost the farms.”

“It only makes it more important that we all go out tomorrow. All of us, Lise. You, too. That’s why I’m here. I want to know you’ll go out with us.”

“I’m not striking, Tagg. I have no complaint with Megan.”

“She’s white. That’s complaint enough.”

“She’s my friend. She’s a mom who needs work. Her kids need watching.”

“It’s all for one and one for all, Lise. I was up all night. I need sleep.” He pushed past her and down the steps.

“Tagg!” Lise shouted after him. “I thought you said you were moving out!”

“He’s welcome here,” Rayla replied.

Lise bathed and dressed. “Mother -- I’m going.” She headed back up the steps and toward the gate leading from the Zone. A group of novonid men loitered around the gateway. She looked them over. They were a motley bunch, with many unregistereds among them.

She passed through the crowd. “Strike tomorrow,” they chanted.

Lise made her way to the corner and waited for the bus. Her ride to Megan’s house was uneventful. She rang the bell. Megan greeted her with an embrace.

“The strike is all that’s on the news this morning,” Megan said. “It seems somehow someone let it slip.”

“Yes -- one of the pomma farms struck a day early. I don’t think it’ll amount to anything. Some of the factories in Quadrant Four will be shut for a few days.”

“Do you expect violence?”

“I don’t know. I expect to be here tomorrow.”

Megan headed out her door. Lise sat on the sofa and flicked on the mediascreen.

“Hey!” Klarissa said, “I thought you didn’t like watching.”

“This is the news,” Lise replied.

“The news is boring,” Geddes added. “Let’s go to the park.”

“When I want to go to the park, you want to watch. Now I want to watch and you want to go to the park.”

“Let’s watch Jaks.”

“No, Geddes. I want to watch the news.”

“Why?” asked Klarissa.

“Because it’s about the strike. Please be quiet and let me watch. Go look at a book or something.”

Lise watched the news reports. Klarissa sat on the floor with her back against Lise’s shins.

“Lise?”

“Yes, Klarissa?”

“What are they saying about the strike?”

“They’re interviewing people ... both humans and novonids. The consensus is that it’s the Zone that’ll be striking.”

“What’s the Zone?”

“The Green Zone -- the part of the city reserved for novonids.”

“Is that where you live?”

“Yes, Klarissa.”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to strike.”

“I’m not. Not everyone in the Zone agrees with the strike. I think it’ll be just a couple of factories that will strike.”

“Why?”

“Because these factories hire lots of workers from the Zone who are likely to strike. Klarissa -- I want to listen to this. When this news report is over, we’ll go to the park and then I’ll make your lunch. Okay?”

“Okay...”

Lise heard Megan unlock the front door. “How did it go?”

“Fine,” Lise replied.

“What’s the word on the strike?”

“The city wants to make sure anyone who wants to work will be able to. They’re assigning constable’s deputies to ride the buses.”

“You mean on the back?”

“Yes, where we ride.”

Megan laughed. “It’ll serve them right. I never knew why you had to ride there.”

“The fare’s affordable,” Lise replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good luck. Lise -- don’t do anything foolish.”

“I won’t.”

“We should go to the bus stop together tomorrow,” Rayla said. “Some of them might try blocking the path, but they won’t get in Grott’s way.”

“Or, we could use the tunnel,” Lise replied. “Not everyone knows about it.”

“It’ll be interesting,” Grott said. “We might as well turn in. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Lise stretched out on her mattress. She wished Tagg were there, but imagined he’d spend all night in meetings with Mott or his henchmen, planning strategies to attempt to enforce the strike. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

Morning’s light woke her and she could hear a commotion outside and chanting of “Strike! Strike! Strike!” She performed her morning routine and joined Grott and Rayla as they headed toward the path leading from the Zone. Grott had armed himself with a piece of iron pipe.

A mob of novonid men and boys milled around the gate leading outside the Zone. The three of them paused. “They look nastier than I figured,” Grott said.

“I hope the fervor fades in a few days,” Rayla replied.

Lise spotted a young novonid male hanging back from the crowd. He approached them. “There’s no way through,” he said. “All the entrances are blocked.”

“Come through with us,” Grott said. The young man shook his head.

“You two go through,” Lise suggested. “I’ll take him with me through the tunnel.”

She watched as Grott and Rayla approached the mob. Grott took Rayla’s hand and walked through. The crowd parted to let him pass.

“They won’t mess with him,” Lise said. “Follow me.”

She led the young man into one of the other buildings, down into the basement and through passageways. She picked up one of the sticks and felt her way through the tunnel until she saw light filtering from the street.

Lise set down the stick and climbed the steps. At the corner was a smaller crowd harassing those awaiting the bus. One of the coaches lumbered down the street and stopped at the corner.

Lise grabbed the young man’s hand and made a dash for the bus. She felt hands grabbing for her and feet trying to trip her but she made it to her goal and climbed onto the platform. Standing there was a constable with his weapon drawn. It was the first time in her life she was happy to see one. He smiled and nodded at her. She grabbed the overhead rail and held on as the bus pulled from the corner.

Megan greeted Lise with a hug. “I see you made it.”

“No real problem,” Lise replied.

“It’s pretty quiet in this part of town.”

“It’s pretty raucous over in Quadrant Four.”

“I hear some of the farms are back to normal operation already.”

“Yes,” Lise replied. “It’s playing out about how Grott expected it would.”

“Who?”

“My stepfather. He spent time on a farm before coming to the city. The farms have hundreds of years of experience in dealing with this sort of thing. They just locked them down -- shut them into the barracks without sunlight. A white person can’t appreciate how distressing it is for us to be locked in a dark room.”

“They need to lock the strikers in a dark room.”

“That’s the trouble here in the city. There isn’t that sort of control.”

“Lise -- I’m surprised to hear you talk that way.”

It’s the few that spoil it for the many,” Lise replied.

“I suggest you stay indoors today,” Megan added. “No sense asking for trouble. I even told the children they could watch Jaks.”

Lise sat in the courtyard soaking up the last strong rays of sunshine. Her mother sat beside her with her mediascreen. “Grott pegged it,” she said. “The only disruptions were to the factories here in Quadrant Four. In a few days the fervor will burn itself out and we’ll be back to normal. So far, we’ve avoided bloodshed. That’s good.”

“The constables on the buses help,” Lise added.

“Yes ... I never expected to be happy to see a deputy.”

“We should go below and lock up,” Grott said. “Just in case things get rowdy after dark.”

Grott followed Lise and Rayla into the basement. He dropped the bar across the door.

“Maybe we should turn in early and get up early,” Lise suggested. “We can beat the mobs to the bus stop. I wonder how long it’ll take them to figure out about that tunnel.”

Lise stretched out on her mattress. Dusk had given way to night. She closed her eyes and attempted to sleep. She was beginning to drowse when pounding on the door snapped her awake.

“Lise! Open up!”

She lifted the bar and let Tagg into the basement. He carried a backpack.

“Tagg! What are you doing here?”

“Waiting. I have a mission.” He opened his pack, withdrew a lump of charcoal and began blackening his face with it.

“What mission?”

“We’re going to blow up the Quadrant Four Safety Building.”

“WHAT?”

“You heard what I said.”

“The constables?”

“Precisely.” He took a brick-shaped object from his pack. “I have fifty kilos of high explosive here.”

“Where did you get that?”

“From Mott. He supplied it. We’re going to show them we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

“Don’t do this, Tagg. This isn’t the way. None of this is the way.”

“It’s the only way, Lise.”

“Tagg -- if you do this, it’s over between us. I won’t have anything to do with it or with you.”

“Too late. It’s going to be glorious, Lise. First we set charges on the security pylons that watch the Zone. Those are going down, one after another. That’ll draw the deputies out of the Safety Building. We’ll go in and BOOM! I’m in charge of one of the pylons. We assemble as soon as curfew sounds.” The warning chimes reverberated across the city. “Not long, now! See you later, Lise.”

Tagg packed the block into his pack and headed up the steps.

“Mother! Father!” Lise yelled.

“What is it?” Grott came from his room.

“It’s Tagg -- They’re going to bomb the Safety Building. You’ve got to stop him.”

Grott grabbed his length of pipe and headed up the steps. He returned a short time later. “No sign of him.”

“Use your mediascreen,” Lise said. “Call the constables and warn them.”

She grabbed it. “Low battery,” she said. “I was using it all afternoon to follow the news and didn’t have the charger.”

The curfew siren wailed. “Shall we risk breaking curfew to warn them?” Lise asked.

“No,” Grott replied. “We’ll just have to let this play out.”

Lise paced around the basement, chewing her lip. “How much longer?”

It wasn’t much longer. She felt the concussion a split-second before hearing the blast. Then another and another -- six in all, followed by the wail of sirens.

“That was Tagg’s doing?” Grott asked.

“I ... I’m afraid so.”

Grott shook his head. “I don’t know what thrall this Mott holds over the young ones.”

Then, there was a flash in the sill windows, followed by a grunting thud and a blast that shook the foundation and dislodged dust and bits of concrete.

“A force to be reckoned with, are they?” Grott remarked. “Now we’ll see who’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Dawn twilight began to fill the basement through the sill windows. Then came an unfamiliar sound -- the whine of turbines. Lise jumped up and peered out the window. She saw trucks.

“They’ve opened the main barricade,” Grott said.

“The one closing off the Zone from the rest of the city?” Rayla asked.

“Yes.”

Amplified announcements could be heard. “Attention. The city of Vyonna is now under a state of emergency. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is now in effect. All registered novonids living within the Green Zone must report to their owners by sundown tomorrow.” The announcement repeated itself.

“Report to our owners?” Rayla said.

“In my case,” Lise replied, “it’s Novonid Rescue. That must mean Thom Bromen.”

“I suspect we should pack some clothes.”

“Mother -- make sure you bring your mediascreen and the charger. Keep the battery charged.” Lise grabbed some shorts and bandeaus and packed them into a polymer sack. She pulled her stash of scrip cards from under her mattress. “Here...” She handed some to her parents. “In case you need it.” She pocketed the rest and took the card with Megan’s call number.

“Let’s go,” Grott said.

The three of them headed toward the gate leading to the bus stop. A crowd was there, but this time it was of constable’s deputies in full riot gear holding long arms. A growing line of novonids waited to pass through the gate.

Lise reached the checkpoint. A deputy keyed in her registration number. “Novonid Rescue. What the f...”

“Thom, Lord Bromen,” Lise replied.

“Bromen ... Okay, find your bus.”

She turned and saw Grott and Rayla speaking with deputies. Her mother was arguing with one. He was blocking her path with his baton.

“What’s the matter?” Lise asked.

“He ... he said my number is invalid!”

“Go on ... back into the Zone.”

Lise looked at her stepfather. “You’d better find your bus,” she said. “When I see Thom I’ll tell him about this. He’ll know what to do.”

Grott nodded and squeezed Lise’s shoulder.

Lise embraced Rayla. It was the first time she could recall seeing fear in her mother’s eyes. “Don’t worry, Mother. Thom will know what to do. Hang onto your mediascreen. Keep it charged up and I’ll be in touch.”

Rayla turned and headed back toward the courtyard. Lise crossed the street and waited for the inbound coach. It pulled to the corner and she hopped onto the platform at the back.

She regarded the factories along the route, now deserted because of the state of emergency. The bus entered the curve approaching Thom’s house. She pressed the stop request. This time it worked and the bus pulled to the side of the road.