Inner City

  Chapter 9

  At camp, they let Callen rest. He was given his pack and opened it, searching for his skin spray. He applied it liberally to his grazed skin. The moment the synthetic skin met his wounds they seemed to heal instantly. His triage complete, he lay down to sleep, something he hadn’t been allowed to do for almost two days. The young woman who interjected to her leader earlier came to Callen and handed over his crystal pendant.

  “I thought you might want this,” she said, passing it to him. As she did, she smiled. Callen noticed, for the first time, just how beautiful she was.

  “My name’s Eve,” she said softly, unsure if she should be speaking to Callen at all. “His name,” she said, looking towards the leader of the group with a nod of her head, “Is Ky. He won’t let anything happen to you,”

  “I’m Callen,” Callen said, staring into Eve’s deep brown eyes. Eve was seventeen. She smiled coyly, before moving away. Callen watched her settle. When she looked back Callen quickly shut his eyes – he didn’t want to be caught staring. Eve smiled again. Callen wanted to check if she was still looking, but sleep robbed him of the chance, it also restored him in every way. He hardly moved until a hand shook him awake with the rising of the sun.

  Callen rubbed his eyes and sat with a stretch. The others were up and packing their few belongings into large flaps within their clothing. They prepared a meal of hard crusty bread baked over the open fire. One of the guards handed a piece to Callen, and he ate. While the crust resembled the crust from a synthetic loaf, the consistent soft centre was missing. Eve wandered up to Callen as he ate. She sat beside him on the ground. She took out a small clay pot and took off the material used as a lid. It was jam. It was lumpy, but the smell was remarkable, stronger and sweeter than anything Callen had smelled before. Eve dug some jam out with her finger and placed it upon Callen’s half-eaten crust. He smiled and thanked her as he took a bite. His body shuddered as the flavours hit him. The jam was so intense he didn’t recognise the fruit. His excitement surprised Eve.

  “It’s raspberry,” she said with astonishment.

  “Raspberry?” Callen was shocked, but he didn’t explain the raspberry of the city, the raspberry he’d known his entire life, was a dull paste that tasted nothing like this. He asked Eve for more, trying not to sound eager. She happily held the pot up and Callen dove two fingers into the jam and spread it thickly on the small piece of crusty bread he had left. The jam oozed over the sides as he took a bite and he snapped at the bread to beat a huge dollop of the wonderfully sweet spread sliding off one side. He chewed the sticky substance, savouring every moment. Eve smiled before giving a slightly embarrassed laugh. Callen smiled back as he swallowed his last mouthful, but Eve never once lost her awkward stare. Finally, she reached forward and ran the side of her finger up against Callen’s cheek. She held up her trophy, a blob of jam that had missed its mark. Now it was Callen’s turn to look embarrassed. Eve moved her finger to Callen’s lips. He was too stunned to stop her pushing her finger across his lips. Callen closed his lips around her to take the jam with his tongue. Eve let him get every morsel before she slid her moistened finger from his mouth.

  Callen stared at this girl; a girl who felt no shame about initiating physical contact in front of other people. He felt disappointment when she moved away. Callen watched her as she began to bury the smouldering ashes from the night’s fire. Occasionally she looked to see if he was looking at her and on these occasions, Callen quickly darted his eyes away, but he was mesmerised by everything she did.

  When they began to move Callen was allowed to walk freely. Ky came to him to let him know what was going on.

  “We have four hours to camp. You’ll stay until they decide what to do with you.”

  Callen thanked him. He was looking forward to seeing the sights of this new world without having to worry about being found out, but his attention drifted the moment he noticed Eve ahead of him walking relatively alone. He sped up to reach her, passing a couple of the other Outlocked as he did. One of them knocked a hand into the side of the other, to draw attention to the change in formation. Callen was showing obvious interest in Eve.

  The two walked side by side for about twenty minutes before Callen found the right moment to begin a conversation.

  “So, you’re like a soldier?” he asked, trying his best to sound nonchalant.

  Eve turned to look at him.

  “A soldier?” the term foreign to her.

  “You know, a guard, a protector?”

  “Isn’t everyone those things?” she asked.

  Callen nodded, feeling ignorant and out of place. His city defined people’s roles for them.

  “I haven’t thought about what I’m going to do once my time as a border guard finishes,” she said. “But I know I want to start a family before I get too old. Two kids would be perfect; I think - a boy and a girl.”

  Callen stared at her, stunned by the idea and even more shocked to hear it spoken freely. What was forbidden to him was completely natural to this young woman. She was talking about finding a partner and conceiving children naturally, the most daring of thoughts within the city’s walls. Callen ended the conversation. He couldn’t concentrate to ask any more questions. He stared straight ahead, trying not to show how uncomfortable her life-plans made him. Unfortunately, for Callen, Eve had no intention of letting the subject drop.

  “Do you have a wife?” she asked.

  “No. No, I don’t,” Callen stammered. “I had a girlfriend, but she dumped me. She got sick of me I think.”

  “I can’t believe that,” Eve said with a smile. Callen blushed. He didn’t know where to look or how to react to this clear sign she shared his interest. His awkwardness made Eve like him even more.

  Ky came alongside the pair and, largely for Callen’s benefit, put a hand around Eve’s shoulder in a show of intimacy. The gesture slowed Eve. Callen paused before realising he wasn’t welcome in the discussion. He walked on, trying to focus as best he could on what was going on behind him. Had he been able to hear he would have known Eve was being warned off talking to the intruder from the city.

  “Let Lien decide what he gets to know,” Ky cautioned. Eve nodded. She knew they had no authority to tell Callen anything. How much he’d be allowed to know was a decision for their leaders. Eve promised to steer clear of Callen for the rest of their journey back to camp. Ky nodded, satisfied. He placed a hand on the small of Eve’s back, but she moved away. Ky tried to hide his hurt and frustration. He and Eve were inseparable growing up, seemingly heading towards romance. At the moment those feelings were all one-sided. Ky moved forward to the front of the group, trying to look unaffected.

  The moment Callen saw Ky leave Eve’s side he dropped back, but just as he was building up the courage to ask what she and Ky had talked about, Ky announced they’d take a break. Callen was pleased. He went to sit next to Eve, but as he did, she rose to her feet and moved to sit with others. Callen watched her carefully, troubled by the snub. Eve never once looked in his direction.

  The break ended and the group walked for another hour. From the top of a large hill, Callen spotted the same camp he’d looked down on when he first entered this land. They walked to within ten minutes of the walls and Ky announced they should stop and rest while he went ahead. Callen wondered how Ky would explain what happened. The others sat around looking nervous. It made Callen feel uneasy. He glanced to Eve who was sitting nearby. She looked away. He turned to look out to the camp and then quickly turned back to Eve who was now watching him. She knew he’d caught her and this time she was the one who turned away, embarrassed. Callen stared at her. He watched Eve grow more and more uncomfortable until she gave up the charade of appearing unaware he was watching and stared back. A moment later Callen smiled, hoping to break the tension. The ploy didn’t work. Eve simply looked away and lost herself in conversation with others.

  Callen continued to watch her. This time, she truly didn’t care he was watching. She lo
oked perfect in the rags she wore and her provocatively loose top. Her black hair tangled, cut short, but in need of another cut to stop it reaching her shoulders. She was dirty and sweaty and nothing like the girls back home, but to Callen, she was so much more than any of them. Her expressions, her laugh, even the way she blatantly ignored him made her all the more appealing.

  Ky arrived at camp to be ushered below ground to see Lien, the camp’s leader. Lien listened to Ky’s report. He knew they’d need to take the matter to the Elders for a ruling, but decided, while they waited for the decision, they’d bring Callen into camp. He would live and work amongst them under guard, while Lien travelled to the Elders for a decision.

  Outside the camp, much of the conversation had trailed off. Most were dozing under the warmth of the sun. Callen was deep in thought when Eve approached and asked how he was.

  “Bruised,” he said, “but not too bad.”

  Eve nodded, then turned and walked away in a fairly cold manner that disappointed Callen again. He watched her lay down alongside others who were almost asleep. He felt a little dejected, already fearing whatever it was he was feeling towards this extraordinary young woman wasn’t reciprocated.

  A long time had passed before Ky arrived back. When he announced Callen would be allowed to enter the camp, Callen realised he’d been waiting for a decision on his future – possibly his life. His mind began racing. What would happen if once inside the camp decisions went against him? He may be trapped in this world forever. Callen lost all thoughts of Eve. He walked quietly amongst the others and stared at the camp beyond the one remaining hill. His nerves increased as they approached and he reacted with a start when Eve touched the back of his arm. She rounded her hand to his shoulder – even this didn’t help ease his nerves.

  “You’ll be fine,” she said, spotting his anxious expression. Callen looked to Eve and nodded as confidently as he could. He didn’t know what lay ahead, but he was pleased for Eve’s reassuring gesture.

  Entering through the large wooden gates of the camp was the eeriest moment of Callen’s life. There was complete silence as the camp’s full contingent stood like statues, staring at him. Callen didn’t know where to look. Lien came from a passageway leading up from underground. He was an imposing man, dressed in natural cloth, well tailored and putting the escorting group’s rags to shame. He came to a stop in front of Callen and looked him up and down.

  “Welcome,” he said. “My name’s Lien, I’m in charge here. Come with me. I’ll explain things to you.” With that Lien walked back towards the passageway. Callen followed. Not a single set of eyes broke their stare until he was out of sight.

  Lien led Callen down a long corridor with many closed wooden doors. Halfway along the corridor Lien entered his office and ushered Callen inside before gesturing for him to sit. The chair was comfortable; hand stitched in leather. The room was imposing. The desk faced the door, and Lien sat in the high backed chair behind it. Pictures of vibrant landscapes hung on the walls, and bright electric lights lit the room.

  “You told Ky you'd been here before?” Lien asked. Callen nodded.

  “You came here injured and were healed?”

  Again Callen nodded.

  “But you don’t know for sure?” Lien queried.

  “I do,” Callen said as he stood and lifted his dirty, ripped shirt. “I got this,” he pointed to a long scar down the side of his chest. “The stitches aren’t city stitches. You can still see them,” Callen said pointing out the fine white stitch marks looking like insect tracks down each side of the scar. “A doctor would be sued for this in the city.”

  “Then why not sue?” Lien asked.

  “The other doctors said I left it too long. They said I imagined being stitched up out here. I was only seven I couldn’t argue with them. They said it would be hard for me to know the difference between a dream and something real at that age.”

  “Maybe they’re right? Maybe it was a dream?”

  “I woke in a hospital while I was here. Once I got back inside the city, I found the stitches. So it doesn’t matter what anyone tells me, I know it wasn’t a dream.”

  Lien looked disturbed and stared at Callen for a long time, mentally ruminating over his next move. He could see Callen was a serious young man who knew his mind.

  “You weren’t meant to wake up,” Lien finally said with some amount of frustration. Callen’s face dropped in astonishment. It was the first time in twelve years someone hadn’t accused him of having an overactive imagination.

  “I was here? I was here in a hospital?” he asked with growing excitement. Lien realised his mistake. He looked annoyed, knowing he’d given too much away. After a moment, Lien nodded, then told Callen everything he remembered about his first visit. Lien detailed how long Callen stayed in hospital and how he was supposed to remain unconscious. He explained Callen’s return to the hill near the city was supposed to make him think no time had passed. He was given a drug to wake him and give him that impression, but no one knew he’d already woken while he was in the hospital. Callen was jubilant. Here was the confirmation he’d been searching for his entire life.

  “I wouldn’t be too happy,” Lien warned. “It may mean you won’t ever be allowed to go home.”

  “You’re going to keep me here?”

  “It’s up to the Elders. The leaders of our communities,” Lien explained.

  “They’ll decide if I stay or go?” Callen paused. “Are they the only choices?”

  Lien stared at him but gave no reassurance. It would be up to the Elders of this Outlocked community to decide his fate and Callen was starting to understand it may well be a life or death decision.

  “I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said without any hint of his former confidence. Lien recognised his fear and sympathised, but he had a role to play in this, a duty to perform.

  “You’re free to move about and use our facilities, share the food, drink, and enjoy the hospitality of anyone you meet, just don’t try to leave the camp.”

  “I have to wait, like a prisoner, for a decision?”

  “Yes, and the guards are armed and have strict orders.”

  “To do what?”

  “To stop you if you try to leave.”

  Callen stared at Lien with alarm. It was no longer an implied threat.

  “Am I allowed to talk to people, to ask questions?”

  “Of course,” Lien said, “But don’t be upset if no one gives you the answers you’re looking for. Guard,” Lien called out abruptly. A young teenage guard posted outside the door came quickly.

  “This is Callen. He’ll be staying with us for a while. Find him a bunk in the junior male barracks. Show him the food hall and general areas and explain how the camp works. He’s free to move around but not leave. Let them know at the gate.”

  The young man nodded and waited for Callen to move. As Callen walked to the door, Lien issued one last piece of advice.

  “Sometimes, not knowing isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you.”

  Callen considered this. He looked to Lien one last time and then left the room.

  The guard led Callen to a large dormitory. It housed two dozen of the youngest males. He settled down in his assigned bed and rested. When the others in the dorm left for the evening meal, he followed, trailing a respectful distance behind as he entered a long hall lined with tables and bench chairs. Above him, large wooden beams crossed in patterns of great strength. Callen queued in a line leading to a serving table displaying steaming pots and dishes. As he approached the service area, he copied those in front of him and took a bowl and plate. There was metal cutlery sitting neatly in segregated trays. Callen strained to see what was on offer. It was a simple stew, but the smell was extraordinary. There were potatoes and a tomato and onion dish baked with cheese and bread crust. Callen took large helpings of each. As he moved to the tables to eat his meal, he came across the bread, not perfectly symmetrical and round like city bread, but of differin
g shapes. Some of the slices had holes through them. Callen smiled a patronising smile. If someone served bread like that in the city, they’d spend all day issuing refunds and fielding complaints.

  Callen moved to a table and began to eat. It was one of the great moments of his life. The morning’s experience with the jam faded into insignificance as the sensations of the meal lit up his taste buds. Meat covered in the stew’s rich gravy, potatoes with butter and to finish, the flawed bread soaked in juices of the entire meal. The others sharing his table stopped to watch with amusement. Every mouthful forced another orgasmic groan of satisfaction from his lips. When he wiped the plate clean with the last of the bread, he noticed he’d become the centre of attention.

  “I was hungry,” he said a little apologetically. The others at his table laughed. It was the first time since his arrival they’d viewed Callen with anything other than suspicion. It helped him relax and warm to these young strangers around him. Some of the bolder ones smiled as they went back to eat, obviously enjoying the fact the young man from the city loved their food.

  Callen was about to leave when Eve placed a full plate beside him. Without a word, she took a seat and began to eat. Callen did his best to act as if he had something to finish, but his plate was spotless. Eve glanced at him, trying to look nonchalant.

  “Do you want this?” she said holding her bread aloft. “I’m not going to eat it.”

  “Sure,” he said, gratefully taking the bread that gave him an excuse to stay longer and enjoy Eve’s company. There was little to enjoy. She sat in silence as she ate, never once looking beyond her plate. Callen couldn’t work this girl out. On the walk to the camp, she had first seemed overly friendly, only to ignore him shortly after. Here she was again, sitting next to him, only to stay silent. Callen was growing tired of the games. He watched her eat, trying to catch her eye, but she never once looked up from her meal.

  “It’s good,” he said, hoping to spark conversation. Eve made a sound that hinted agreement, but it wasn’t close to being a word. She never stopped stuffing her face and never once looked at him. Callen gave up. He shook his head with annoyance, getting up from the table and walking out of the hall. Had he looked back he would have seen Eve watching his every step.

  Callen went straight to bed and slept that first night soundly. He spent much of the next day looking forward to meals. He’d spend the rest of his time sitting on his own, thinking about his life and his home world and how they’d failed to discover the truth about this world so close to their gated city. He longed to have more details of the Outlocked lives. Lien’s trip to see the Elders proved other communities existed outside the camp. Unfortunately, with his confinement, his search for answers had been placed on hold. He thought of escaping and continuing his explorations without permission, but decided to be patient and wait for Lien’s return. He refused to believe he was in danger and the more he saw of the camp’s rigid routine and the young people assigned to its keep, the more he felt sure they’d treat him decently. If the decision came to hold him indefinitely, then he’d think about escape, until then, he’d bide his time.

  After dinner, on his second night, Callen wandered the perimeter of the camp. He came to rest at the well, sitting on top of the rock wall where he peered within. He could see nothing and dropped a small rock to gauge the depth. Silence gave away distance before a distant plop echoed back to him. The camp was dark and quiet. Most kept to the hours of the sun and had already gone to bed, but Callen, without any work to tire him was wide awake. He was happy for the solitude as it gave him time and space to sit and think. He began to travel back through his memories: his first visit to this land, his days at high-school, the thrill of gaining marks that allowed him to attend university and finally, a sobering thought, how worried his parents must be about his disappearance.

  He flinched from the touch of a hand to his shoulder. It was Eve.

  “Sorry,” she said apologetically. Callen looked at her with cold eyes. Was this to be another of her games?

  “You aren’t happy to see me?” she asked in response to his expression.

  Callen couldn’t believe the question.

  “Why would I be happy to see you? You haven’t talked to me unless you think grunting with your mouth full counts?”

  Eve laughed.

  “How is it funny?” Callen shot at her accusingly. “Why are you avoiding me? What have I done that’s so bad?”

  Eve liked his anger. She understood it and admired his fight, even if he was holding her responsible for orders she had to follow.

  “It’s not my fault,” she said as she came close and lowered her voice to be as intimate as possible.

  “Who’s fault is it, then?” he asked derisively. Eve ignored him and moved closer, then, as the two held a stare, she kissed him full on the lips. Callen jerked his head back.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What I’ve wanted to do since I first saw you.”

  “Well don’t,” Callen said, wiping his mouth in disgust. “It’s not safe.”

  “Kissing’s not safe?”

  “Yes!”

  “Why? Lockjaw?”

  Callen began listing diseases and infections. Eve laughed in astonishment. Exactly the wrong thing to do to a nineteen-year-old caught in the maelstrom of burgeoning sexual chemistry. Callen began to stomp away, heading towards his dorm. Eve chased after him, grabbing his arm.

  “What is it you want from me?” he spat at her, almost in despair. Eve paused.

  “You don’t know?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Eve rubbed his arm and looked into his eyes. She knew what she wanted.

  “I like you, a lot and I’ve got a room of my own,” she said quietly.

  Callen stopped, dumbfounded. He looked into Eve’s eyes for a sign this was another of her games; a joke she was playing. She never shied away, pulling his arm with very slight pressure to lead him towards her room. Callen began to walk. He was numb, his expression frozen, unable to show any of the intense feelings trapped within. His city morals taught and learnt verbatim, were at war with his hormones. His moral code was coming a distant second.

  Callen and Eve arrived at a door down the same corridor as Lien’s quarters. Eve opened it and led Callen inside. He was shaking with anticipation. His objection to being kissed was from his city conditioning. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kiss Eve, he did, very much, but an arbitrary social code had made him fight against his natural instinct. Now he was in her bedroom, unsupervised, unsimulated, her bed right in front of him, her body, warm and inviting. Eve was leading him towards an experience he’d coveted since he was a seven-year-old boy staring wide-eyed at a young couple in that secluded park.

  Callen and Eve stood toe to toe, staring at each other. Eve had never been with a boy she needed to lead towards sex before, but Callen had come to a complete stop. The quaintness of the room, the small fireplace, the mantle of stone, the dresser with a crocheted cover that spread to each of its four corners and a candle lamp that sat atop a small bedside table all went unnoticed. Eve placed her hand to Callen’s chest. She felt his heart pounding.

  “I’m going to kiss you again,” she said quietly, suddenly nervous about doing the wrong thing. A timid voice came from the top of Callen’s throat.

  “Okay,” he croaked with a furious and enthusiastic little nod.

  Slowly they moved their lips together and kissed. The kiss lasted a long time and then Eve moved her mouth to Callen’s neck, then an earlobe. She broke away.

  “I can hardly see you without the light going,” she said. She opened a small drawer on the bedside table and took out a large box of matches. She struck one. It crackled bright with a pungent sulphur perfume. She lit the lamp and shadows danced as the flame inside the glass shield flickered.

  Eve moved back to Callen. He hadn’t moved. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. She broke away with a smile. Her hands wandered back to his heart. It was stron
ger than ever. She liked its intensity and moved a hand around the contours of his strong chest; her fingers, a team of five explorers, charting unknown territory and making a note of every landmark. She undid the buttons on his shirt and slowly worked it open. She ran her hand to feel his smooth chest, then his stomach. He arched his shoulders and let the shirt drop to the ground.

  Callen left the rules of his city far behind as he dropped Eve’s top off her shoulders. His hands were shaking as they ran over Eve’s bare skin. His touch evoked a shiver and raised goose bumps across her skin. They took turns helping each other with the rest of their clothes until they stood naked.

  Callen had experienced simulated sex many times, but this was new. The one advantage of his simulator was experimentation. Only he and his simulated partner would ever know of his many dreadful mistakes. These were embarrassingly pointed out by the simulated programs as if it was schooling him on technique, but slowly, through trial and error, he’d discovered how to bring the most favourable reactions from his partner. Now Eve was to benefit from this knowledge. The two climbed onto Eve’s bed, and they lost themselves exploring.

  An hour passed. Eve and Callen took full advantage of the privacy. When they came to rest, both were exhausted and panting. They lay in each other’s arms. The flickering light played over them as they lay together, barely covered in the tangled sheet. Eve was panting. She had a look on her face that was a mixture of surprise and delighted satisfaction.

  “There’s no way you haven’t done that before,” she gasped, gathering her breath. Callen smiled. It never hurt anyone’s ego to be praised in bed.

  “We have simulators,” he said, trying to be humble. “They’re meant to be better. They’re not, but they’re good for teaching you a few tricks.” Callen rolled and stretched slightly to reach Eve and kiss her tenderly as his hand played with her hair.

  “What’s a simulator?” Eve asked when the kiss ended.

  “A computer.”

  “You have sex with a computer?”

  Callen reacted sharply. He lost his proud satisfaction over Eve’s praise of his performance, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the one thing every person in the city learnt, over generations, held no shame.

  “It’s more than a computer. It creates a body image out of a silicone gel. It looks and feels like the real person,” Callen explained.

  Eve pulled the sheet up over her and sat up slightly, resting her back against the wall behind the bed.

  “They teach us about the city in school. How nothing’s real.”

  Callen screwed up his face in confusion.

  “It’s real,” he said. “It’s just controlled.”

  “It can’t be real if you control it. At very least that makes it not natural, and if it’s not natural, it’s not real.”

  “We don’t change things by controlling them.”

  “That’s what controlling something means.”

  “We only do it so it suits our lives, like the weather.”

  “You control the weather?” Eve asked in amazement. Callen sat up next to Eve and took his share of the sheet.

  “With a magnetic field. It rains every second night between three and five. The temperature stays at twenty-five, and the UV rays get filtered out, so it’s safe.”

  “And you hump a computer?”

  “A simulator.”

  Eve was growing more fascinated about the city with every new detail, but she still couldn’t work out why anyone preferred a controlled and simulated world to the real thing.

  “So when you had a girlfriend, you’d leave her and go home and make out with your computer, pretending it was her?”

  “I didn’t have to pretend it was her. I told you, it creates an image of the person. They have their body scan and personality encoded in a crystal, and we swap crystals. It’s like being with the person, but without any of the risks.”

  “Risks?”

  “Diseases, or having a baby you can’t afford, or doing something that upsets someone upset, or embarrassed yourself.” Callen was doing his best to justify the process. Eve stared at him with a dumbfounded look. Callen could sense he’d fallen short.

  “It’s the law. We don’t get a choice. You get arrested for doing what we just did in my world.”

  “So that’s not why she dumped you; because you were sexing your computer and not her?” Eve teased.

  “I was dumped because I told her about being here when I was little.”

  Eve raised her eyebrows and snuggled into him with a mischievous giggle.

  “Then sleeping with me isn’t going to go down too well, is it?”

  Callen knew she was teasing now and he grabbed her, tickling her with both hands. Eve bucked and convulsed and flew to the end of the bed, desperate to escape. Callen chased after her, and they both slid off the mattress to the floor in a heap.

  “I found the Outlocked weakness!” Callen shouted tickling her again as she bucked and tried to grab his hands to stop the tickling. She was gasping for breath between laughter.

  “Okay! Okay! Sorry. I won’t ask anything else about your girlfriend or the city, or getting off with a computer, I promise,” she squealed. Callen stopped tickling. Eve gathered herself as Callen hovered over her smiling and enjoying their closeness.

  “Wait until I get the news of your weakness back to my people.” He held his hand up in the air and wiggled his fingers, tickling nothing. The couple rested in each other’s arms on the floor a moment as Callen kissed Eve again. They sat up with their back to the bed and Eve took Callen’s hand and stroked his fingers.

  “Do you think they’ll let me go back?” Callen asked. Eve shrugged and came back up the bed, pulling Callen up after her. She wrapped his arm around her shoulder and twisted, so her back nestled into his stomach as they lay spooning. She pulled the sheet over them.

  “There’ve been others from the city,” Eve said, trying to reassure Callen.

  “Who?”

  Eve hesitated, unsure if she should say. Callen grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him.

  “Who?”

  “Lien,” she said after a moment. Callen recoiled.

  “He’s from the City? How long’s he been here?”

  “You can’t say anything. He hates people knowing,” Eve warned. She instantly regretted saying anything given Callen’s excitement. “Please?” Eve implored. Callen could see this mattered to her, so he nodded, assuring he’d keep the secret.

  “How did you find out?” Callen asked.

  “Because he’s my dad,” she said a little patronisingly, assuming Callen already knew. Callen pulled away from her in astonishment.

  “He’s your dad?”

  “You didn’t know? Why do you think I have the room next to his office?” Eve pointed to the second door to her room. Callen looked to the door in a panic. He leapt up and madly began searching for his discarded clothes.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” he said loudly to himself.

  “He’s got a three-day ride before he gets back. He’s not going to walk in on us.”

  “He’s been gone two days!” Callen shouted back in a whisper.

  “And that means he’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Callen slid his underwear on and desperately tried to find his socks.

  “What if he rides fast?” he said as he searched. Eve stood in front of him, her foot on his pants. Callen grabbed at them and pulled them tight to her foot.

  “Can you get off?”

  “No,” Eve said enjoying every moment of his frustration. “What if he’s riding slowly? Then we have more time,” she said.

  “Get off my pants!”

  “No.” Eve grabbed the pants and threw them across the room.

  “You’re insane!

  Eve giggled.

  “Your dad is off deciding my future, and you think it’s some big joke.”

  “He doesn’t decide. The Elders decide.”

  “Yeah, after he tells them whatever he decide
s to tell them.

  Callen retrieved his pants and threaded a leg into them. As he stood on one leg, trying to put his second leg into the pant, Eve pushed him, sending him crashing to the floor with a thud.

  “Eve!” he screamed. Eve jumped on him, grabbing his head and kissing him as he lay prostrate on the floor. Callen tried to push her away, but became tangled in the pants and Eve’s full weight made it hard to move. She kept kissing as he tried to protest. Her lips muffled his words. Slowly he lost the will to make himself understood; then he started kissing back.

  When Eve came up for air Callen shook his head with a smile. This girl was extraordinary, possibly insane, but to him, she was like catching lightning. He laughed with quiet resignation.

  “He’s going to kill me anyway, right?”

  “Probably,” Eve said with a huge grin. She kissed him again. This time Callen didn’t try to resist.