The Hourglass (10 page)

A Fake Thief

Finn disappeared
into the bathroom at lunch time and came back minus the dried blood. He looked
much better for it.

“What’s this I
hear about you working for the Queen?” he asked with a frown as he sat down.

Sarah glared at
Marland, who pretended that she wasn’t there. She had noticed them chatting as
he had made his way to the bathroom. She hadn’t wanted to tell Finn about it
just yet. She figured that he had enough worries of his own.

“I haven’t done
anything yet. She sort of just indicated that she needs a thief.”

“So Heather was
telling the truth!” crowed Finn. “You steal things. You know, I wouldn’t have
guessed, I really wouldn’t.” He shook his head in mock-disapproval. Sarah had
managed to avoid telling him over the past few days, despite him asking
numerous times and trying to trick her into an answer.

“Shut up.”

“So you don’t
know what the job is?”

Sarah shook her
head.

“And what
happens if you don’t do it?”

“I end up like
you, only worse.”

“Worse?”

“Much worse.”      

“Doesn’t she
have other people, who are more, you know, criminal?”

“Apparently she
has better uses for them.” She had asked Gretel the same thing. Gretel had told
her that the Queen probably doesn’t want to waste her tried and tested
resources. Sarah, Gretel explained without malice, was expendable.
“So what will you do?”

“I’ll probably
try and do it,” Sarah said with an almost apologetic shrug.

“Right,” said Finn.
“Are you any good?”

Sarah looked
around. Marland and April were trying to tempt Justin into joining their
conversation. She lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear.
“I’ve actually never stolen anything.”

“But you’re
here.” Finn raised a confused eyebrow.

“Some shit-head
stole something and passed it on to me. I, stupidly, took it before I realised
what had happened, and then suddenly I’m running for it and a quick soldier
catches me red-handed. I mean, there I was, with the stolen item in my hand,
gabbling about being framed. Would you believe me?”

“Wow. You are so
unlucky. Remind me never to take to you anywhere chancy.”

“Thanks,”
responded Sarah dryly.

“And you’re
still going to do it? Steal whatever this thing is the Queen wants?”
Sarah shrugged again. “The way I see it, I don’t really have much of a choice.”

“Right, yeah. So
what do you think it is that the Queen wants you to steal?”

“I have no
idea.”

Colt

For the first
time in days Sarah found herself alone. A guard had stopped her from leaving
the cafeteria after lunch and had handed her a mop. Originally she had groaned.
The cafeteria was a mess after lunch. It always was but today was particularly
bad. A fight had broken out between two of the boys and there were food scraps
everywhere, including, Sarah noticed, the wall. It didn’t take her long to get
some enjoyment out of it, however. It was a change from the factory floor,
which she could only be grateful for, and she could be alone. There were no
sounds except those that came from the ship around her. Even in the middle of
the night she could hear people snoring or talking in their sleep. Silence was
bliss. It reminded her of being alone up on the tower back in her home city. She
felt homesick. She was halfway through mopping the floor when she felt, more
than heard, the presence of someone behind her. She turned around quickly. Colt
was there. She jumped slightly and looked around the room. Nobody else was
present. Colt laughed at her jumping. He had a surprisingly rich laugh.

“Colt, um, hi.”

“Hey Sarah,” he
said, stepping closer.

Sarah grinned
nervously. “How come you’re here? Shouldn’t you be on the factory floor? Don’t
the guards know you’re gone?”

He gave her a
lazy grin. “I got sent to get one of them a bottle of water from the kitchen.
The fact that you were here, well, that’s just lucky.” He took another step
forward. Without realising it Sarah took a tiny step backwards. Colt laughed
again.

“Nervous?” he
asked her, a teasing smile on his face.

Sarah blushed.
“No, I just…” she trailed off.

Colt smiled
again. He looked around the room. “You’re doing a very good job,” he said, mock
seriously. “Not a single spot left in that section.” He waved a hand over the
area that she had just mopped.

“Yeah, well, you
know, I like to avoid getting on the bad side of Mr Painter.” Mr Painter was
working today, much to the grievance of the entire prison population.

Colt nodded
wisely. “Yeah, that man’s a prick.”

Sarah giggled
despite herself, which made Colt grin again.

“Here,” he said,
“hand me that mop.”

Sarah frowned. It
was very unlike him if he was offering to help. He just wasn’t that kind of
person. She handed the mop out to him nonetheless, interested in what he was
going to do. He grabbed the end of the mop proffered to him and before she
could let go he tugged the mop towards him, causing Sarah to topple forwards.
He discarded the mop and caught her before she could fall to the ground. His
hands were clutching her shoulders.

“Careful there,”
he said, their faces inches away from each other.

“Sorry,” said
Sarah breathlessly. “I…” but she was cut off. Colt had lent in and kissed her.
His lips pressed firmly against her own. Sarah caught her breath. This was her
first kiss. It was kind of nice, she thought, but a bit more aggressive than
she had imagined. Colt’s hands slid from her shoulders and down her back. After
a pause she kissed him back. His right hand moved to her stomach and then
travelled upwards towards her chest. She grabbed his wrist and moved it back to
her back. Colt drew away.

“No?” he asked.
He frowned. Sarah got the impression that many people didn’t say no to him.

“No,” said Sarah
definitively.

Colt shrugged.
“That’s ok. We can still do this.” He drew her back in for another kiss.
Without thinking Sarah pushed him back.

“What?” asked
Colt, completely confused.

Sarah blushed.
“I just, I don’t think I’m ready.”

“Sarah, all
we’re doing is kissing.” He guffawed, like she was an idiot.

Sarah blushed
again. He was physically gorgeous. She felt incredibly flattered and good that
he chose her, but she wasn’t even sure if she liked him as a person, let alone
wanted to make-out with him.

“Right.” Sarah
took a step away from him and bent down to pick up the mop. “Look, I’ve got to
finish this or I’m going to get in a lot of trouble.”

“What?” repeated
Colt. “Are you serious?” He took a step towards her. Sarah retreated
automatically. There was a thud as a door slid open and a guard came through.
Sarah had never felt more grateful to see a guard in her life.

“You!” shouted
the guard, pointing his truncheon at Colt. “Where’s my bloody water.”

“Shit,” muttered
Colt under his breath. He gave Sarah one more confused look and then jogged
over to the kitchen, where he disappeared and then re-emerged two seconds later
with a bottle of water. He handed it over to the guard. The guard clapped him
over the ears and then escorted him out of the cafeteria. Sarah watched them go
and then went back to her mopping. She let out a large breath of air. That
wasn’t how she had pictured her first kiss going.

Kissing

Over the next
week Justin deteriorated further. It got to the point where one morning Finn
arrived alone.

“He wouldn’t get
out of bed,” Finn told them at breakfast one morning. “He just sat on his bunk,
rocking back and forth. He wouldn’t respond to anything. The guards have taken
him to the infirmary.” The others sat there in silence, shocked. Finn threw his
bowl angrily across the room and the rest of them jumped in their seats at the
sudden violence of the action. A guard yelled and strode towards them, his
truncheon raised. “This place is killing him,” said Finn, not caring about the
approaching guard. The bitterness in his voice was lethal. “And they’re just
letting it happen.” The guard reached their table. Sarah stood up hurriedly.

“No, please
wait, his friend’s sick, he-”

The guard
ignored her completely and smacked Finn across the back with his truncheon.
Finn spasmed awkwardly and fell to the floor. Sarah went to help him up but
before she could so much as extract herself from the bench the guard had hauled
Finn upright by the back of his shirt and marched him off to collect a mop so
that he could clean up the mess he had made when he threw his bowl. Finn looked
like he couldn’t have cared less. Sarah shuddered. She had never seen him look
so black before. Her eyes skimmed over to where Colt was sitting. He was
chatting with a boy Sarah didn’t know. She had been avoiding him as much as she
could ever since he had kissed her. Every now and again she caught him smirking
at her, as if their kissing had given him some power over her. She blushed and
looked away every time, and hated herself for it. She turned back to her table
only to find Marland staring at her quizzically, one eyebrow raised.

“What’s been
going on with you two?” she asked.

Sarah blushed
again. “Nothing.”

“Nothing my
ass,” said Marland. “You’ve been avoiding him and keep on blushing.”

Her blushing,
Sarah decided, was a serious curse. “Fine,” said Sarah. “He kissed me.” It felt
good to get it out. The girls’ reactions were glorious. Marland shrieked and
covered her mouth with her hands, and April choked on her food.

“Are you
serious? Mr Hot Body kissed you?”

This time it was
Sarah’s turn to laugh. “Mr Hot Body?”

Marland waved a
dismissing hand. “I was never good with code names, but that doesn’t matter.
Give me the details.”

“There’s nothing
really to give,” said Sarah, this time a rich scarlet. “He kissed me, I kissed
back, and then I pushed him away. I don’t… he’s actually a massive jerk.”

“Yeah,” said
Marland, “but a hot one.”

“It wasn’t even
that nice.”

“Ah well. I can
still dream.”

Sarah giggled
again. Marland, when she wasn’t a bundle of nerves, could be hilarious.

“So do you think
you’ll, you know, see each other again?” asked April.

“Did you not
listen to the part where I said he was a jerk?”

April held up
her hands defensively. “Just asking.”

Sarah rolled her
eyes. She looked back across the room and saw Finn bin his mess and return the
mop before heading back over to them.

“You can’t tell
Finn,” she said. “Promise me, we keep this between ourselves.”

“We promise,”
said Marland, holding up her hand as a sign of integrity. April nodded in
agreement.

Finn sat back
down heavily at the table. He looked angry. He glanced at the girls’ faces and
settled on Sarah’s, who was still bright red.

“What happened?”
he asked.

Sarah coughed.
“Nothing.” She took a bite of her food.

“Are you ok,
Finn?” asked Marland, with a sideways glance at Sarah. “That must have hurt.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.
It’s just. This whole place is…” he struggled for a word. “It’s hell.”

Sarah didn’t say
anything. Justin was suffering some sort of mental breakdown and she was
giggling with the girls about boys. She felt like an awful person.

The Job

Two more days
passed and Sarah was almost starting to hope that the Queen had changed her
mind, and that she wouldn’t be required to do anything after all. Then one
morning Sarah and Marland arrived at breakfast to find Finn groaning over his
porridge. He had a split lip and was clutching his left side.

“Oh no, not again,”
said Sarah softly. “Finn, what happened?”

He grinned
painfully at her. “I was minding my own business. The guards had me mopping the
floor. The King came by and shoved me on the shoulder. And don’t look at me
like that,” he added, giving her a look, “I kept my head down, didn’t say
anything. He seemed to find this offensive, however, and came back. He shoved
me again, so I asked him what he wanted.” Finn gave a painful grin. “He was
actually a bit surprised by that, I think. He told me if I wanted to prove
myself I should beat up that guy,” he pointed to another table where an
annoying looking fourteen year old was sitting and chewing loudly with his
mouth open. “I asked why, he said because the kid has been giving him the
shits, not that it’s any of my business anyway. I refused, and well, here I
am.” He groaned. “I think I’ve broken a rib.”

Sarah was both
proud and exasperated. She didn’t know how to respond so she settled on the
immediate problem. “You should probably get checked out this time.”

“No way. It’s
not just Boulder sprouting the tales about the infirmary. Haven’t you noticed
it yet?” he asked, his voice dipping to a low whisper. “People go in and they
do not go out.”

“Gah. You sound
just like Marland,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Hey!” said
Marland indignantly. “I’m right here!”

“What’s happened
to Justin then?” demanded Finn, ignoring Marland.

“Maybe people
like Justin just need extra care on the land?” offered Sarah.

“So you’re both
ignoring me now, is that it?” asked Marland.

“We’re
criminals, Sarah, and there is a war going on. Our health isn’t a top
priority.”

“But there would
be families asking questions, surely, if people just disappeared?”

“Oh my god,”
said Marland, waving her hands, “can nobody hear me? Hello? Hello?!”

“We’re on a boat
with the worst offenders,” continued Finn. “They’re not like us. They have long
sentences. And half of these people will end up joining the war effort just to
get out of here and get killed anyway. They could just say that’s what’s
happening to the kids who disappear.”

Marland had
given up trying to be heard and was now listening avidly with her mouth
slightly open. She turned to look at Sarah with a knowing look in her eyes. “I
told you, remember, on that very first night in the cell? They chuck them
overboard.”

“Marland,” began
Sarah, but she was interrupted.

“Ok, maybe I was
a bit wrong and it wasn’t everybody, but the sick, the ones who cost money and
aren’t of any use on the factory floor? Well, it just stands to reason that they
would be chucked.”

“She’s making
sense,” agreed Finn.

“Really?” said
Sarah, surprised.

“Our cities are
controlled by the Covenant,” said Finn, caught up in the argument. “You know,
‘destroy the sick so the rest of us can live’ sort of business. It was pretty
much their policy even before the Survival Wars.”

Sarah gave him a
dirty glare. “No one is being chucked overboard,” she declared, but now she was
starting to doubt herself. After all, she didn’t have any proof that they
weren’t.

“I’m going to
start a list,” said Marland enthusiastically. “Put everyone on it, note who
goes to the infirmary and who comes back. Then we’ll know.”

“No we won’t,
they could still have gone anywhere,” added Finn, mulling it over.

“You’re not
seriously believing this?”

Finn turned an
appraising glance at Sarah. “Come up with some solid argument against it and
I’ll listen to you too.”
Sarah sighed, exasperated, and gave up. Marland had pulled a scrap of paper and
a pencil from somewhere and was writing people’s names down. She looked like
Christmas had come. All of her usual nervousness had disappeared. After a
moment she paused and looked up at Finn meditatively, chewing the end of her
pencil.

“You know, what
would really cinch the matter is if you agree to go to the infirmary and send
us reports from the inside.”

“No way! What if
they take me away? What if they chuck me overboard?”

“It’s a risk I’m
willing to take.”

“Well it’s not
one that I am!” announced Finn, scandalised.

Marland sighed
regretfully and returned to her list, every now and then throwing an
encouraging smile at Finn. This had the effect of creeping Finn out. As soon as
the bell rang for them to tidy up and enter the factory floor he shot up out of
his seat, only to collapse again clutching his side. Sarah picked up both their
trays and deposited them in the designated area before returning and gently
assisting Finn in standing. She struggled under his weight as they made their
way up the stairs.

“All we eat is
porridge and protein bars,” she huffed, shifted the arm around her shoulder for
better purchase, “how can you weigh so much?”

“It’s all
muscle,” he gasped out between clenched teeth.

Sarah snorted in
exasperation but otherwise didn’t reply. She was too busy trying to stop them from
overbalancing and falling into the person in front of them.

They spent a
dull morning sorting the metal tubes before slowly making their way back down
to the cafeteria for lunch. Sarah ate her potato and rice concoction with a lot
of salt and tried to swallow it before her taste buds registered the flavour. Colt
had joined them at lunch, much to Finn’s and Sarah’s annoyance, and had been
flexing his arm muscles every time he took a mouthful. Sarah tried not to look
but it was mesmerising in a nauseating sort of way.

“So Sarah,” said
Colt, “have you been thinking of me?”

“What?” said
Sarah, aghast that he was talking like this so publicly. The others stopped talking
immediately. Sarah wished the ground would just swallow her whole. She was
acutely aware of Finn in particular looking at her out of the corner of her
eye, but she couldn’t face him.

“It’s just that
I couldn’t help but notice you staring, and after we-”

Sarah cut him
off. “Colt, how is it that you even get through doorways?”

This time it was
Colt’s turn to be thrown off guard. “What?”

“It’s just you
head’s so big, it’s concerning.”

Colt looked
thunderous, then a sly expression slid across his face. “You didn’t seem to
mind before.”

“Wow,” said
April, cutting through the tension between Colt and Sarah, “you’re right,
Sarah, he is a jerk.”

“What?” demanded
Colt, rounding on April, but she was no longer looking at him. Sarah realised
suddenly that the noise from the tables around them had died down. Sarah
glanced up and nearly chocked. The Queen was standing at the end of their
table. Sarah didn’t think that it was possible, but her lunch had gotten even
worse. The girl made a jerky motion with her head and Colt, Marland, April, and
Finn got up to move away. She made a small gesture at Finn, telling him to
stay. Confused, he slowly sat back down again. Marland and April seated
themselves at a nearby table, trying to eavesdrop without appearing to. Colt
tried to sit next to April but she pushed him away. Sarah couldn’t watch
further to see how that played out as the Queen had sat herself down on the
bench opposite them. This time none of her bodyguards were with her.

“Hello Sarah,”
she said pleasantly. “Finn,” she added, nodding at him.

They both forced
a smile in return which only made them look more nervous.

“Do you remember
that talk we had, Sarah, just over a week ago?”

Sarah nodded.
How could she forget?

“Did you tell
your friend about it?” she nodded gently towards Finn, her eyes never leaving
Sarah’s.

This time Sarah
hesitated before nodding. Although the Queen hadn’t specifically told her that
she wasn’t meant to tell anyone about it, she had a pretty good idea that she was
meant to keep her mouth shut. Apparently the hesitation was enough of a
confirmation that the Queen needed, because she continued talking without a
verbal answer.

“I have a job
that I think both of you can help me with.”

If she expected
a reply she was going to be disappointed. Sarah and Finn were both just staring
at her now, waiting for what was to come next. Sarah was confused. She thought that
this was going to be about the thieving job the Queen had told her about
earlier, but she had no idea why Finn was there.

The Queen now
turned her head to look at Finn. “It has come to my attention that you are
having some difficulties with Eric.” They both stared at her, confused. “The King,”
she added for their benefit.

“I-” began Finn,
but he was cut off.

“You see, I can
help you with that. Eric and I have a working relationship.”

“You can stop
them?” asked Sarah, surprised.

“Of course.”

“I appreciate
your offer but I don’t need your help,” said Finn.

The Queen’s eyes
flickered back to him. “Yes,” she said, staring straight at him without blinking,
“you do.”

There was a
pause where nobody spoke.

“What is the
job?” asked Sarah eventually.

The Queen
smiled. It was a soulless expression.

“I want you two
to get me off this boat.” Sarah and Finn stared at her, flabbergasted. “You
can, of course, refuse me,” said the Queen with a small smile. “But then I
won’t be there to put a restraining hand on Eric’s fists,” she said, looking at
Finn. Her eyes shifted to Sarah’s, “or any of my own girls’ either,” she added.
Sarah didn’t need her to explain herself any further. She understood that the
previous threat towards herself and Marland from before still stood, and that
Finn’s beatings would most likely increase in number and savagery if they
refused. 

There was a
pause.

“Tell you what,”
said the Queen. “I’ll sweeten the deal. Campher is due back in two days, and
let me tell you, she’s pissed. I’ll not only make sure that she’s in a
different cell to your spirited little friend, but I’ll also ensure that there
will be no physical retribution.”

Sarah hadn’t
needed any further motivation. She knew from the start that she would do
whatever it took to prevent her friends from getting hurt, let alone prevent
her own eye gouging. She just didn’t want to do it. Now that she knew that she
could save at least two members of her group from active persecution, she felt
less dirty about the deal. Here on this ship, so far away from her mum and uncle,
her friends were the only family she had.

Sarah met the Queen’s
eyes. “How do you expect us to get you off the ship?”

The Queen
grinned. It was an unsettling expression.

“There is a
form, locked away in a safe in the infirmary. It has the power to send terminal
patients to the mainland. I want you to get it for me. You already look broken
and bloodied,” she added to Finn, “so it shouldn’t be too hard for you to get
in there in the first place. You then get my little thief in and she’ll extract
the document. Then I want you to forge the madman’s signature.”

“The madman?”

“The doctor who
runs the clinic doesn’t have the right to call himself one,” replied the Queen
in a voice so contemptuous that Sarah wondered what had happened to create such
a strong emotion.

“And you want
Finn to forge a signature?” Sarah frowned but Finn surprised her by his next
words.

“I’ll need a
copy of his signature to practise with.”

“Then Sarah will
have to steal that too. Also Eric isn’t to know about this, understand? If I
find out that he got word of the details of this meeting, all of my promises
will be null and void.”

Finn nodded.

“Good. I’m glad
this was settled so amicably.” Her cold hands closed over one of Sarah’s hands
and one of Finn’s. She squeezed them gently, then released them, standing up.

“What if we
can’t do it?” asked Sarah suddenly. She realised that she was wiping the hand
the Queen had grasped on her pants. She stopped, hoping the Queen hadn’t
noticed.

“Then you’ll
find another way to get me off. You have a week from tomorrow.”

Sarah and Finn
watched in stunned silence as she walked away.

Sarah turned to
face Finn. “What’s going to happen in a week? I mean, it has to be something,
right> She’s too big on this ship just to give it up for no reason, surely?”

“Who knows? And
what’s going on with you and Colt?”

Sarah blinked,
studded. They had just been given the worst jobs ever and he wanted to talk about
Colt?