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Echoes of the Imperium

By Angela D. Shelton

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Lexi’s eyelids popped open as an arm snaked around her and yanked her across the bed. They found me. With a growl, she pulled back her elbow, then used all her might to ram it backward into her captor’s ribs. A satisfying grunt preceded the release of her assailant’s grip. She jumped out of bed and ran to the door to escape.
A moan stopped her from turning the doorknob. “What’d you do that for?”
Reeves. She spun to the bed. There, her husband of less than a week gripped his ribs, his head bandage askew. She rushed back. “I’m so sorry. I thought…” Her cheeks burned as his pain-filled eyes gleamed. Dark smudges under them testified to their exhausting week. “I thought you were a Freedom Force fighter.”
Still gripping his side with one hand, he shoved himself up and dropped his feet over the bedside. He laced her fingers with his free ones. “You pack a wallop, Lex. From now on, I’ll remember you don’t like morning snuggles.”
The heat moved from her face to her neck. Did all young brides suffer this sort of embarrassment, or was it reserved for those on the run from the Imperium? She tried to pull away. “I’ll go look for an ice pack or something.”
His chuckle calmed her, as did the swirl of his thumb against her palm. “If I can handle a bullet, then I can survive a gouge to the rib cage.”
Her heartbeat, having slowed from her initial fright, ticked up once more. This must be how it felt to be a new bride. He leaned toward her and drew her in. Their lips touched, and the awkwardness evaporated. She deepened the kiss and reveled in her new reality—he belonged to her and she to him.
A knock stopped her from taking the next step to cement their bond. They broke apart, breathless, and eyes locked on each other.
Reeves scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck, huffed, then rose. She straightened her clothes as he strode to the door and opened it.
Her mom stood in the hallway. “Glad to see you’re up early. We’ve got a lot to do today. I’ll see you downstairs in fifteen?”
Lexi’s shoulders slumped until she remembered her father. How could she be so selfish as to want to play honeymoon games while the man who’d risked his life for her remained a prisoner? And the retirees they’d planned to save. What about them? “We’ll be there.”
After Reeves shut the door, he returned to the bed and snuggled Lexi into his arms. “This conversation can wait for tonight, but we definitely need to finish it.”
The chaste peck on her nose when he released her left her unsatisfied. “Definitely.” The memory of her father’s face on the vis sluiced cold water over her heart. Now wasn’t the time. “I need to run to the bathroom. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
She made her way down the hall, but as she raised her fist to knock on the door, a violent retch echoed from inside. A whimper followed, confirming her suspicion—it had to be Rumi, her father’s new young wife. Figured she’d have a delicate stomach. Everything about the girl seemed too fragile for the harshness of this life.
Should she knock and offer help? If Lexi had been the one tossing her supper, she’d prefer to be left alone. Probably best to find another bathroom.
She hadn’t taken five steps away before the bathroom door opened.
Rumi called out. “Lexi?”
Great. Pretend everything is fine. Lexi set her face to a neutral expression and turned. Rumi’s eyes blinked red, but the rest of her pallid face could have been that of a ghost.
Lexi sighed. “Are you okay?”
Rumi shook her head and sucked her lips into her mouth. Then her eyes brimmed, and tears trekked down her cheeks.
Lexi swallowed back another sigh. Why must it be her responsibility to take care of this girl? How fair was that? She nudged Rumi back into the bathroom. A washcloth lay folded on a shelf, so she ran it under cool water, wrung it out, and handed it to the girl. “Did something you ate disagree with you?”
Her response came through hiccupped sobs. “No. I’m fine.”
Lexi’s heart stuttered. Give the girl a break. She’s got nobody. “You’re welcome to hang out with me and Reeves today. We’ll figure this all out.”
“Thanks.” Rumi handed the washcloth back. “But I know you’d rather spend time with anyone besides me. You must be excited to catch up with your mom. I can find someplace else to be.”
Lexi couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen eyes so weighed down. She ground her teeth over this impossible position, but she unclamped them as the girl’s shoulders slumped and her quiet sniffles escaped. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with us.” Lexi patted Rumi’s back, the girl’s ebony hair slipping over her hand. “This can’t be easy—especially now that we know my mom is alive.”
A bitter laugh rang out. Rumi shrugged. “It’s not exactly what they taught us to expect in marriage classes, is it?”
Understatement of the year. Nothing she’d experienced in the last weeks had been topics in the Imperium school curriculum. If only they’d offered Rebellion 101. Mom would have been an excellent instructor. Scratch that. Mom’s talents would have been better used to teach Deception 101. “I’ll see you downstairs?”
Rumi wobbled a weak smile. “Sure.”
Within minutes, Lexi met Reeves, Ms. Becky, and Fletcher in the living room. When Rumi arrived but hovered in the doorway, Lexi held back an eye roll and motioned her over.
Mom entered. “Let’s get started.”
She led them to a set of wooden pocket doors. Guards on either side slid them apart, and the group walked into a high-ceilinged space. Lexi’s mouth dropped open at its magnitude. Wall-to-wall monitors and computer equipment flickered and hummed. Helmeted men sat in a row of chairs. Shields covered their eyes, and they sported gloves with sensors running from a center source in their palms to their fingertips. Vis displays allowed observers to follow the drones they controlled. The aircrafts’ speed coupled with sharp turns and dips over the outdoor terrain made watching the monitors nauseating.
Thrym stood in the center, surveying his kingdom while monitors displayed camera feeds from all over the Imperium. Including what looked like the headquarters conference chamber.
Fletcher harrumphed. He sidled up behind a vis projecting a drone above a farmhouse. “I’m assuming this is where we are now?”
Mom nodded. “We’ve got full squads watching the compound. The Imperium can’t get within miles of this place without us knowing.” She waved at the banks of monitors. “Our technicians have also tapped every feed we can manage inside the Imperium. Just brought one online yesterday with a view outside of Reclamation, which is how we knew you needed a hand.”
Ms. Becky’s gaze flitted from screen to screen. “This is amazing. We could save every retiree if you’ve got access to their systems.”
The label Retiree grated. The Imperium had coined the term for those deemed no longer useful and claimed they moved to Solitude for rest and relaxation. Instead, the Imperium executed anyone they considered too old or frail to serve their purpose.
“Saving the retirees isn’t our end goal.” Mom’s lips thinned. “We’re tearing it down. All of it.”
Reeves frowned at Lexi, then her mom. “Are you crazy? You’re going to war against the Imperium? You can’t possibly have enough soldiers or technology to win.”
Fletcher pointed to the aerial property view. “Look at the number of tents. Not sure how many of these hold retirees, but I doubt half the occupants are able-bodied fighters. Even if you had the tech to back them up, there still isn’t enough.”
Mom bristled. “I know what I’m doing. We’ve got the tech, and the people will come with our recruiting plan. We’ve been stealing weapons, medical supplies, and food, usually from sympathetic workers at the plants—easier to cover up the theft. Add trained soldiers, and the Imperium is going down.”
Ms. Becky grabbed Fletcher’s arm. “No. We won’t be a part of any war. Y is a peaceful movement.”
Fletcher’s eyes flashed at his mentor before he let out a huff, nodded, and placed his hand over hers.
A vis came to life. The first of the Imperium’s mottos scrolled across it. Unity above all else.
Lexi’s stomach knotted. Whatever the coming announcement was wouldn’t be good.
Thrym grumbled. “We keep up with the propaganda. Technicians we recruited spliced into their network, so we see everything the Imperium does.”
Tempest Malachy, the Imperium’s mouthpiece, looked smart wearing a Freedom Force dress uniform as if newly recruited. She timed her first words for the moment the final motto scrolled off the display. One marriage—many children. “We have new information about the identities of rebel spies. All citizens should be on the lookout for dangerous members of the rebel group known as Y. Any sympathizers will be treated as combatants.”
Three images flashed in the upper right-hand corner—Lexi’s school ID photo wedged between pictures of Rumi and Reeves.
Tempest continued. “I recently interviewed a former friend of this renegade family.”
The scene changed to a video of Tempest standing beside Courtney Blakeslee, Lexi’s nosy neighbor. The girl’s smug smile beamed at the camera. “I knew something was suspicious about the Verity family. I told my parents, but of course, they wouldn’t listen. Too trusting,” she gushed, at ease with her moment of fame. “I especially worried about their daughter, Lexi. She never fit in.”
The knot in Lexi’s stomach tightened. If she could get her hands around Courtney’s neck through the monitor, the girl wouldn’t utter another syllable. Instead, she prattled on until Lexi couldn’t take in another word. “I need some air.” She headed toward the door.
Reeves followed. “Wait up. I’ll come with.”
She spun and held up a palm. “No, it’s okay. I just need a minute.” She waved toward the walls of video and data feed. “You can figure this out.”
His wince brought an ache to her chest, but he stayed put as she walked away. She paced to the front of the house, out the door, and flopped onto soft green grass. The sensation of plants under her palms soothed her tattered soul. If her plan had worked on testing day, she’d be with the growers now. Maybe she’d never have found her mom’s diary. Her father would be safe, and she’d be elbow-deep in the hydroponics.
It was a lie, but she’d rather believe that than think about her mom’s betrayal.
“Lexi?” Mom hunched beside her. “Walk with me, will you?”
Since the initial shock of seeing Mom and Nana and Gramps alive had worn off, Mom’s deceit took center stage. How could she have left Lexi behind? Left her to the Imperium’s whims and thinking they’d all died horrible deaths? She needed to confront her. For that, they needed privacy. She rose and followed.
They walked around an open area where men and women, dressed in black from head to toe, practiced hand-to-hand combat. A petite woman performed a leg sweep that took down a man who stood a foot and a half taller than her.
Whoa. Lexi wouldn’t mind a lesson or two herself. Though, if it resulted in more dangerous attacks on Reeves in the early morning hours, it might be a bad idea.
“I’ve got something to show you.” Mom rested a hand on the small of Lexi’s back. “You’ll like this.”
They passed several tents, ranging from small ones, probably sleeping quarters, to larger ones with open flaps revealing medical beds and equipment. Other tents held tables and chairs for meetings, and one narrow tent housed gray-haired adults resting in beds or sitting in wheelchairs.
The moment they passed the infirmary, their destination came into view. Even if Mom hadn’t pointed it out, it would’ve been Lexi’s stopping point as soon as she sighted it.
The greenhouse overflowing with plants stood in an open field. Her heart melted, and she ran to the building’s doors. As she stepped inside, heat and moisture enveloped her. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scents of earth—of life. Her ears drank in the water’s trickle through the hydroponic tubes, like a brook running through a forest, green with life.
It’ll take the entire Freedom Force to pull me out of here. Never. Leaving.
A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her reverie. Sadness flattened her mom’s smile. “I’ve been dying to share this with you. It’s been so hard to be away.”
The words jolted Lexi back to reality, dragging with them the searing memory of the explosion and the heartache that consumed her as she mourned. The anger she’d been holding back surged, spilling over in an unstoppable wave. “How could you let me believe you were all dead? You know people really died in that explosion, right? I was in the hospital.”
Her mom’s flinch said Lexi hit home.
Good. She needed to hurt too.
Then Mom’s slight nod offered an unspoken acknowledgment of the pain she caused. “I had to choose a different path from your father. If I’d brought you with me, I’d have chosen for you as well. I couldn’t steal your options.”
“But you left the diary and the necklace on purpose.” Lexi’s hand went to the locket, warm from her skin. “Did Father know what was in them?”
Mom motioned for Lexi to follow her down the first aisle between rows of bean plants heavy with pods. “For years, I tried to accept the teachings of Yeshua. I snuck food into the Favela. Wormed information out of your father whenever I could to rescue retirees without him knowing.” She plucked a pod from a plant and broke it in two. “It wasn’t enough. People suffered from hunger and died of diseases we could have cured. I couldn’t accept the way we treated our grandparents. When it was Nana and Gramps’s turn to ‘retire,’ something inside me broke. I couldn’t run fast enough to join the rebels who’d had enough of Y’s peaceful movement. The Imperium declared war on older adults right from the beginning. It was time to fight back.”
Lexi froze. “You could have told me.” Her voice trebled , her emotions scarcely restrained. “You could have given me the choice back then. Instead, you let me believe I’d lost everyone I loved. You left me with a father who cared more about his status than he ever cared about me—only about how my career could boost his own.”
A fire ignited in Mom’s eyes. “Don’t you get it? I can never go back to safety. Now that you’re with me, you can’t either. We either fight to live—fight to free the Imperium’s people—or we die. I wanted you to choose this rebellion of your own free will. The government has looked the other way when Y rescued retirees. They ignored our trips into the Favela to feed the homeless. They aren’t ignoring this new movement, this offshoot of the passive Y.”
Lexi gulped, but the truth was hard to swallow. “I need some time alone. Time to think.”
Did Mom’s eyes glisten before Mom spun on her heels and strode down the aisle and out the door?
<<>>
The sun began its descent while Lexi helped with the bean harvest. When Reeves strode into the greenhouse, she held a basket belted to her waist so she could use both hands to pluck the ripened pods. The opportunity to sample fresh vegetables proved to be a bonus of working the harvest. If not for the confrontation and the looming threat of the Imperium, this would have been the best day in her seventeen years of life.
Reeves’s face was haggard, as if he’d aged in the hours they’d been apart. His ruffled mop of blond hair stuck straight up through the crooked bandage that protected his wound. “You, okay? Your mom said you needed time alone, but I didn’t expect you’d stay away this long.”
“Sorry.” She waved to her surroundings. “This is my happy place. I’ve wanted to work in the greenhouses since I was little.”
He nodded. “I can understand. It’s peaceful here.” He plucked a bean from her basket and munched the end off. “It’s getting late, though, and they’ve assigned us to a tent. Ready to see our new home?”
She dropped her basket of beans on the counter for the cooks to process, then followed her husband out. After the greenhouse’s heat and moisture, the cool and dry outside air stung her exposed arms and face. She slid her arm through his, taking in his spicy scent. “What have you been up to today?”
“I’ve been learning about the plan of attack against the Imperium. It could work if they can finish their training and find enough recruits before the government finds us.” He hugged her arm closer. “I want to be a part of it. Now that I know what they’re doing to older citizens, I can’t stand by and let them keep killing.”
She shivered. Must they talk about the Imperium or any rebellion? “It’s peaceful here. Green grass. Plants thriving and producing. There seems to be enough to eat. Can’t we just hang out, help with the harvests, and take a break?”
He squeezed her tight, then stopped at a tent, and zipped open a flap. “Here we are. Home sweet home .”
Inside, two cots each held a folded blanket and a thin square pillow. No way could they sleep together in one of those. Her heart sank. She grasped her husband’s hands. “I don’t want to fight forever, but if we could rescue my father and sneak him to safety, then we could have a real life out here. Maybe we could convince the others to let the Imperium be. If we leave them alone, maybe they’ll return the favor.”
He shook his head. “It’ll never work. Even if the Imperium ignored us, could you live with yourself, knowing they kill people just because they’re old or sick?” He wrapped her in a hug, his breath warm against the top of her head. “I’ve already made my decision. I’m joining the fight to take down the system. You need to make your own choice, though.”
She nodded, but couldn’t form her thoughts into a sentence, even for her internal narrative. Reeves had a point. But the thought of hurting another human…
Later, she lay awake, listening to her husband’s quiet snores. They’d pulled the cots together, but the rod frames separated them, preventing them from even cuddling. It didn’t matter, anyway. He’d fallen asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.
In the weeks she’d known him, he’d been the decisive one, so his mind seemed to sleep soundly while her indecisive thoughts swirled. She’d never given Reeves an answer—hadn’t wanted to choose. What the Imperium was doing was wrong. But Ms. Becky had a point as well. They could continue to rescue people and bring them to this new city. There didn’t have to be a war, at least not one the rebels started.
Could she convince her mom and the rest of the leadership that war wasn’t the answer? Or would they sway her to their opinion? Battles meant more loss of life, perhaps even Reeves’s. She pressed a cold hand against the lump in her gut.
Her father invaded her mind as well. In the dark, with no greenhouse to distract her, the guilt ate at her like a rodent gnawing at a protein bar. Her father broke the rules for her. Yes, he’d probably done it for selfish reasons, but he’d done what she asked him to do and landed in prison for it.
Now she had a choice to make, and his life may depend on her decision.

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