connecting to them. It meant that her son would have less of a chance to be spotted by the Compound. The orphanage itself was not much better though. There were three cracked windows and one window on the third floor was completely boarded up. Long dried grass grew in the places where there was grass and not powdered dirt. Paint peeled and cracked on the walls like spider webs and before she stepped on the sidewalk to the front door she could hear shouts and screams from inside.
As she made her way to the main door, she noticed there were several children playing quietly in the yard almost hiding behind the tall grass. Without knocking she entered the orphanage and stopped the first adult she saw, a round woman with a red face and her gray hair pulled back.
“Who should I talk to about placing a child here?” Allia asked.
“Father Merrick’s in charge. Down the hall.” The woman pointed to the right.
Allia followed the hall pressing herself against the wall when four boys ran by. The only open door had the word ‘office’ painted in white block letters, but Allia still felt the need to know for sure. An older woman said, “Come in.” She had her back to the door and her small wiry frame was stretched as far as it would go trying to put a book back on the top shelf.
“I’m here to see Father Merrick,” Allia said.
“Name?”
“Allia Washington.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“Wait here.” The woman rapped twice on the door inside the room and then opened the door without waiting. “Father, there’s a woman here to see you. An Allia Washington.”
She could see the Father look up and see her as he said, “Show her in.”
The secretary waved her hand and Allia squeezed past her to enter the room. Wood paneling covered the walls and a flag in the corner next to a painting of a gentleman that reminded Allia of her grandfather, a strict man who always expected the truth. Everything had a small coating of dust, except the desk and the chairs, and musty air filled her nose making her want to sneeze.
“Please be seated.” Father Merrick pointed an opened hand at an empty chair. “How can I help you?”
“I heard you take in orphans and care for them,” Allia said.
“I do.”
“I have a boy, four years old, who needs a place to live.” Her fingers caught and twisted at the fabric of her pants.
“I’m sorry. Perhaps you did not understand. We don’t take in children with living parents.”
Allia nodded. “I do understand, but I cannot care for him where I live. He is not safe.”
“There are many government programs I am sure you could apply for that will give you food, shelter and clothes. I can help you find the ones right for you--”
“I can’t go to the government.” Allia stood up, as if by that single act she could rise higher than the threat she feared. “You are my last hope.”
“But I cannot take in a child who is not an orphan. Our resources are limited enough as it is.”
“They will kill him.” Allia placed her hands on his desk and leaned over it. Then she spun around and began to pace across the room. There had to be a way she could make him understand. “I had a young charge for thirteen years and when she died they promised me that my son would never have to endure what she did. They--they tortured her, with their new experimental treatments and the training they put her through. But she died before they got what they wanted from her. I found a release form for my son to enter into the candidate program and if he does they will push him until he dies or they kill him. I have to get him out before that happens. You must help me.”
Father Merrick dropped his gaze to the desk, his fingers straightened papers. “I can’t. Even if I could make an exception for your son, to go against the Compound is more than I am prepared to do. I’m sorry.”
“Please.” Allia caught the Father’s eye, but then he looked away.
“I am sorry, truly I am.”
There was no way she could convince him. She could see that in his eyes, kind though they were. He was just too overwhelmed to take on the Compound as well. But this was the life of her son and he was slipping away. She rushed out of the room, through the main door and into the street and she kept going until she found her way back to the motel. Once her room door was closed behind her she collapsed on her bed with thoughts and disappointments swirling around her. Unable to change the bend in her neck to work around a lump in the pillow she lay there. At first tears came, but then they slowed to a stop. A maid entered the room and checked her pulse before cleaning and leaving again. Still Allia didn’t feel like moving.
She kept going over all the encounters she had. No one was going to help her. No one was going to help her son. The more she thought about Brian the worse she felt. How could she see him again knowing that she couldn’t save him? Those thoughts tormented her again and again until she curled up inside and screamed. Yet when she did that Brian’s face appeared. His dark brown eyes and baby teeth smile. She couldn’t give up. Not as long as he was alive. Slowly she sat up in bed. The knob was jiggled and the maid entered again.
“Oh good, you are up,” she said.
“What time is it?” Allia asked. Her mouth was dry and her voice cracked.
“It’s 5pm. On Tuesday.” The maid handed her a glass of water and Allia sipped it. Her whole body seemed to awaken at the meager liquid and started to remind her of aches. Her neck in particular was stiff and protested at every movement.
Allia tried hard to remember. “What day did I come here?”
“Last Tuesday,” the maid said. “I was afraid you died.”
With a shake of her head Allia tried to remember a whole week going by, but she couldn’t. The Compound would be wondering where she was. They had only given her two days off and she’d taken a whole week.
“I need....” Allia tried to stand up but her head began to buzz and her knees buckled. She plopped down on the bed.
“I’ll have some dinner brought up and start you a warm bath.” Then the maid was gone.
After eating and taking a bath she almost felt normal. When her muscles shook she only had to remind herself that she was doing this for Brian and they would shudder to a stop. She settled her tab and took a speeder back to the Compound. No one really noticed her when she came into the main house. A gardener looked through the landing area window, but then went back to raking.
She felt old. Her inspection in the motel bathroom had shown her a few more white hairs than she’d had last week and several more wrinkles around her mouth. Although she knew she should report straight to Ninth Official Yama she had to stop by the nursery first. In the hall looking through the glass at the children playing was Eighteenth Official Anderson, a man she had seen around, but never spoke to. She paused near the glass and saw Brian coloring on paper, surrounded on either side by one-year-old girls. She glanced over at Eighteenth Official Anderson and realized that he’d been promoted. His uniform now had a seven stitched on the sleeve in gold thread. He’d moved up since the last time she saw him and she wondered what he’d done to jump that high. Or what Seventh Official Kochowski had done to be moved. She didn’t feel like talking so she muttered a quick, “Congratulations, sir,” and left the moment he acknowledged it with a curt nod.
The days slipped by somehow. There was a stern talk and then Allia was reinstated into the daily routine of the science lab. She visited the nursery every chance she had and it was while she was on her way there with two days left before Brian officially began training that her handheld chirped with a video message.
“Hello?” she answered after pressing her thumb to the screen. It was Captain Harrell.
He cleared his throat and glanced at something off screen. “It seems as though I have an opening, if you are still interested.”
Allia’s heart stopped.
“Are you?”
She nodded.
“It’s going to be expensive.”
“I have money,”
Allia said. The words rushed out of her quickly. She would spend every cent she had.
“Be at the dock by tomorrow night 12 at the latest. If you’re not there we’ll leave without you.” His eyes shifted to the screen and then away.
“I’ll be there.” She could barely get the words out around the excitement in her mouth. Hope flooded her mind and clouded her vision as she felt for the button that would turn off the call. Instantly her mind began to run through when the best time to take Brian would be and how to get to the city with him. Tomorrow after the children had gone to bed was when they had the least security. The caretakers would have rotating night shifts so most would be off.
Instead of going on to see Brian she turned back to the Science Labs and worked on some of her paperwork. She waited until the middle of the night when everyone else was gone and then checked the supply closet for chloroform to drug the nursery workers and Brian. He might not be comfortable coming with her. They hadn’t spent much time together and even though she often watched him from behind the glass, he did not see her. They didn’t really interact often and she was more of a stranger. She hated the thought of drugging him but she could not take the risk that he would scream or cry at the wrong moment.
Next to the supply closet was the refrigerator where all the candidate samples were kept. She slipped inside and scanned all the candidate numbers until she found Brian’s. Not only did they have the usual emergency supply of blood, marrow