“I dared her,” says Nathan to the table. Jill puts a hand on his arm.
Cyrus says, “She’d have had her back laid open for sure, kid or not, except that it was Adam Archiva in the parks that day, not much more than a kid himself, and he let her go. Kept watch while she got back up the cliffs.”
Cyrus has his brow wrinkled now, as if this memory gives him pain.
“Two years later, Adam was a supervisor, training, and his route took him by the workshop. He remembered Nita, of course, and she was scared, but he said he wouldn’t tell, and I talked to him a little. And pretty soon it was every day, at this table, both of us risking our skins to tell about what it was like to live Outside and Underneath. How many hours we worked. Food rations. No medicine. No learning. What went on inside your head when you’re Knowing. And I told him about a sickness that was hidden, that makes us Forget. And he said he’d been trained to take anyone with those symptoms Underneath for treatment. And I explained that if they go Underneath, they don’t come back out again. That we hide our sickness instead. And he decided to help us.”
“Help you do what?” I ask.
“Rebel,” Annis whispers.
“Adam told us things we could’ve never found out on our own. That the Council wasn’t really running the city. That there was a sect, secret, obsessed with creating a Superior Earth … ”
I see Jill blink.
“… fulfilling the so-called directive of our ancestors. They were the ones to be afraid of, Adam said, because they were fanatics—judging, killing off any who questioned or didn’t measure up. He didn’t believe in any of it. He said Earth was a story, made up to keep the Outsiders out and the Knowing Underneath … ”
“Do you believe in Earth?” I ask. Jill nudges me with her knee.
“I think even the Knowing don’t know all there is to Know. Would you agree with that, young man?”
I tilt my head.
“Adam did, too. Mostly the boy didn’t like to be told how to think. But he said the way to shift things was simple. When the Knowing shut themselves in for Judgment, don’t let them out again. Block the doors until they agreed to our terms. The Outsiders had the power, he said, because the Knowing didn’t actually Know how to do anything, not with their hands, and the change would be better for everybody … ”
“We did what he said,” Annis interrupts. “Made pins for the gates from metal scraps, and for the door in the parks, blocked the light and ventilation shafts big enough to crawl through. He showed us … ”
“There were only about thirty of us,” says Cyrus, “and it was a white sunrise, after Judgment, when Adam said most of the Knowing would be distracting their minds, which means drunk … ”
I’m leaning forward so hard I’ve got the table pushed into my stomach. “What is a white sunrise?”
Cyrus and Annis look at me funny. Even Nathan is staring. Jill gives me another nudge with her knee.
“The white sunrise,” Cyrus says. “Every twelve years … ”
They mean the comet. “Right,” I say. “What happened to Adam?”
Annis jumps in again. “We did it, we blocked the gates. And he climbed on top of the gates, looking for the signal from the parks, and he just … He … ”
“Forgot,” Cyrus says. “We didn’t know then, that the Knowing could Forget … ”
“He panicked,” Annis whispers. “Went crazy. And he opened the gates. And the Knowing came out like they’d been waiting. Someone had betrayed us. They got everyone who was on the gates. Even the ones that ran first. Pulled them out of their houses. Even Ruth Smith’s daughter, who was just watching from the street … ”
Because they’ve got a camera on the gates, I think. I’ll bet Adam didn’t Know about that.
“We lost eight to the Forgetting that day,” says Cyrus.
“Wait,” I say. “Eight on the same day? Has it happened since?”
“Not that we know of,” replies Annis, “but we might not know … ”
“We lost eight to the Forgetting, and ten to the Knowing. Four blinded. Two disappeared. And six flogged until they died. Including Nita and Nathan’s father, who was on the gates … ”
Annis sits with a face of stone, but Nathan’s eyes are hot. Jill lets out a slow breath.
“… and Adam was taken Underneath,” Cyrus says. “And we saw the smoke rise from the mountain. We weren’t sure exactly what had happened to him until Nita started taking care of Samara.” Cyrus clears his throat. “But we learned something that day. That the Knowing can Forget, just like anybody, and that they didn’t want us to know about it … ”
I say, “Sam thinks the Council gave Adam bitterblack to cover up that he’d Forgotten. We were down there looking for whatever causes the Forgetting, trying to understand how it works”—another blown breath from Jill—“because she wants to use it to heal the Knowing. Sam thinks they’d want it, that they would overthrow the Council to stop living the way they are.”
“Adam did not seem healed to me, young man. But it’s not the Council. They could be reasoned with. It’s them, the fanatics, the head of their sect. The judge … ”
I remember Reddix beside the cliffs. Always everyone thinks this is about the Council …
“… Adam was Judged and condemned, for rebelling as much as Forgetting. And it’s Lian Archiva who’s been doing the condemning. She’s the judge. Adam told us. She’ll have to be the first one to go … ”
Sam’s mother? I run both my hands through my hair. And I sent Sam straight back into her arms. Sam thought her parents needed saving, and her mother turned around and condemned her, just like her brother before her. Did Lian Archiva really give her own son bitterblack? I’m sick in every way you could be. Stomach, head, heart, and mind.
“And how could we tell her?” Annis is saying. “When she can barely survive hearing Adam’s name? We just had to do something about it … ”
“And this time,” Cyrus goes on, “we have more on our side. The floggings have seen to that … ”
This time. I thought we must be getting to that. “What about Sam?” I interrupt.
“That’s where you can help us,” says Annis, fingers wrapped around her long-cold cup. Cyrus makes a noise and she says, “No, Dad! You said you trust him and we’ve given him the truth. It’s only fair to ask him to do the same. How many are you?”
For one second, I think she’s asking me how old I am. Then I realize she’s asking me how many are on the ship. Now Jill looks right at me, and I know what her eyes mean. Don’t say it. But we’re way past protocol. “We—”
“We have been asked not to discuss these things,” Jill breaks in. “And that’s all we can say. Please accept our apologies.”
I roll my eyes.
“Did you two run?” Cyrus asks. “Is that it?”
“Grandpapa,” says Nathan. He looks uncomfortable. “She said they can’t say. So just leave it … ”
“Look,” Cyrus says, “it’s dangerous for you here, but since you’re here, I’m thinking that means it’s more dangerous for you there. But we didn’t know there was anyone else … ”