Chapter 4 ~ Pledge
The next testing station turned out to be in a room crammed with equipment. No one spoke to her, just started hooking up devices to her—thin, wireless wafers that clung to her uniform. They looked more like something to eat than anything with a medical purpose.
“What’s going on?” she said.
“You’ll see. It’s nothing to worry about,” one of the techs said. They finished hovering around her and filed out. Tentatively, Anna pulled at one of the wafers. A low buzzing noise began and a speaker in the ceiling crackled on.
“Leave the sensors in place.”
She straightened up, hands at her sides. You could say please.
She heard the door whoosh open behind her, but didn’t turn for fear of dislodging the wafers, a few of which were perilously loose.
“There you are. Sorry for the delay. They never put potty breaks in my schedule.”
Anna nearly whirled around. The voice was familiar. It was Vasset, a man she’d known from Nampa. Half a dozen years ago, he’d been Imported into the Dome. He came around into her field of view.
He was broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, and what was in between was muscular and rippling under the form-fitting uniform he wore. His hair, once streaked from the sun as hers was, was an even black shade with short curls ringing his forehead. His skin looked soft and touchable and blue eyes that had once been muddy brown stared at her from beneath delicate lashes. He was drop-dead handsome.
Vasset. Handsome.
Her eyes nearly popped. “Vasset?”
“Yeah. Let me look at you. You’re Logan’s sister Anna, right? Wow, you have really filled out. You look great.” His eyes swept her from toes to the top of her head.
“Um, so do you.”
He patted his flat abdomen. “Nothing like a few years of Dome living. I finished my Defenders service and opted for a civilian life. I’m a fitness trainer now. I only do this Import Team work part time.”
I think I know why—to show off a Dome success story.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Vass said. “That I’m here to give a good impression of Dome life. You’re right. I’m living that good life.”
“Don’t they look down on us, Vass? Like we’re uncivilized or something?” She was alert to any deceptive emotion from him, but so far he was just what he seemed on the surface—a guy happy with his life.
Vass’s brow wrinkled in thought. “If you came in right from the Burb and tried to live among them, yeah, I think they might look down on you. On us. But after going through the programs for years, they know you’ve earned your status. Speaking of which,” he said, checking the equipment along the edge of the room, “it’s time to get on with the test, so I can greet my next adoring admirer.”
“One thing living in the Dome hasn’t changed is that you’re still so full of yourself.”
“Be nice or I’ll flunk you.”
That shut Anna’s mouth, because she wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. She hadn’t known Vass all that well because of their age difference.
“A few of the sensors are loose,” he said.
I could have told you that.
“Here, let me fix them.”
It seemed all of the loose sensors were in the area of her breasts and rear end, no doubt left that way by the cooperating technicians. She tolerated his lingering patting. Her sense of empathy told her exactly what he was feeling in addition to the parts he had his hands on.
First impression: Domers are dungheads.
“There you go,” he said. “This test measures your overall fitness level to make sure your body’s up to it. Having a baby a year is tough, I’m told. Step up on this platform. It’s called an Aero Shaper System—”
“Really? A.S.S.?”
“Not officially, but most people can’t resist. You’re going to be running but going nowhere. It’s a weird feeling, but once you get used to it, it’s okay. I use the ASS every day. The platform will tilt to make it seem like you’re running in open country, with hills and curves.”
He put a visor over her eyes. “I’ll be right here, if you have any trouble.”
He pressed a button on the side of her visor and the room lights dimmed. Then she was outdoors, the sun bright in her eyes. The platform started moving, and she began walking to keep up. After a few minutes, the angle shifted to a sharp decline, and she found that if she didn’t up her speed to a run, she’d be carried backward to—what? It was an eerie feeling. So she kept up with the pace. The terrain changed around her as she moved, uphill, downhill, and her heartbeat and breathing adjusted to a steady, comfortable run.
No big deal. I could do this for hours.
Then the test began in earnest. The platform slid beneath her feet, and she stumbled a little. It happened repeatedly. Avoiding painful falls, she soon reached her top speed just keeping up with the demanding movement of the platform. She pictured Vass behind the scenes turning some dial making everything go faster.
I’ll show him.
She clenched her lips to avoid gasping in air through her mouth, taking deep breaths through her nose, filling her lungs. Once again, her body adjusted to the demands she was making of it. Her stride lengthened and she moved with an internal rhythm, without much conscious thought. The landscape streaming by her eyes became more desert-like, the sun burning her back through the thin silk of her suit.
Is it actually so hot? Or am I imagining that because my eyes are telling me it should feel hot?
The platform slipped again beneath her feet and tilted upward so that she saw a large slice of sky. She was climbing steeply, faster.
Moon you, Vass!
Her heart started racing wildly and her breathing became erratic. If she were to stop, or trip, now, she could break a leg, or worse. Adrenaline spiked in her bloodstream and her running became fearful flight. She flew across the platform, feeling it shift faster to keep up with her. Then she realized she was doing the expected thing, exactly the wrong thing.
First she had to deal with the fear. Nothing was going to happen to her. She was a Candidate; other girls hadn’t come back from testing with broken legs. She tried a basic empathic device on herself. Ripping her eyes away from the scenes rushing by near her feet, she focused on a cloud in the distance. Picturing an infinity symbol in her mind, she tried breathing in on the upswing of the symboland breathing out on the downswing.
After a few tries, she had her breathing rhythm under control, her diaphragm moving rapidly but smoothly down and up, pulling air into her chest, then allowing her lungs to expel it. Her heart beat powerfully without pounding the inside of her chest with a frightened drumbeat. Her stride evened out, and even though she was running flat-out, it was a controlled run.
Now for the next step.
She slowed her pace, just a little. A tiny thrill went through her as the platform responded. She kept at it, reducing the speed, careful not to trip, until she was moving at a fast walk. Reaching up, she yanked the visor off her face. Dizziness engulfed her. She jumped off the platform before she could fall off, and crumbled in a heap on the floor.
“Outstanding, Anna,” Vass’s voice came through the ceiling speaker. “Your fitness score was off the meters, and hardly anyone figures out they can slow the ASS on their own. I mean, nobody, really. Congratulations. You’re Chosen.”
When I become a citizen, I’m going to kick your ass. That’s a solemn promise.