It was only after making the decision to help John that Maddie slept that night and the next morning she was keen to find him. With Lana already up and gone it seemed that Maddie would have to seek John out by herself. As she dressed Maddie thought about what she might say to him and more importantly how he would react.
John was with Lana when she found him and it was evident that he had charmed her back on side.
“I see you two have made up then!”
“Oh yes John was just busy and he loves that I made him a place to stay when he comes back.”
“You are going back to your friends today?”
“Yes it has become obvious to me that I am not going to get any help here and there is a lot of work still to be done.”
Maddie found that she did not like the idea of John leaving without her one little bit.
“Before you go I need to speak to you.”
An Impatient john shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on Maddie.
“You have said enough and I have nothing left to say to you.”
An angry Maddie stormed off leaving John with a confused Lana.
“Are you two fighting? If it is over me and what happened then please stop.”
John smiled warmly at the concerned girl.
“You needn’t worry it is not about you, it is just that Phoebe and I can always find something to argue about.”
Maddie was sitting with Dylan when John joined them to say goodbye.
“I am sorry that you will not be joining the fight Dylan we could have used you.”
“I like a good fight John but I am not willing to participate in a massacre, my advice for you and your friends is to keep your head down, no-one needs to die for nothing.”
Maddie found Dylan’s words unacceptable and could not keep silent.
“DYLAN YOU ARE WRONG THERE ARE ALREADY PEOPLE DIEING FOR NOTHING.”
Maddie was on her feet now and although she was not shouting she was loud enough to gather a crowd from the camp.
“A YOUNG PREGNANT GIRL LOST HER BABY THE OTHER NIGHT AND BY ALL ACCOUNTS SHE THEN LOST HER OWN LIFE. DID SHE DIE FOR NOTHING AND HOW MANY OTHERS HAVE TO DIE BEFORE YOU ARE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING?”
With all eyes now on Dylan he too stood up.
“We do all that we can but the sad truth is that we cannot help everyone there is just not enough food or medicine for all of the people that come to us.”
“In the Capital there are doctors, hospitals and plenty of medicine; no-one dies there for basic lack of medical care. They deny it to you because you are non-citizens, simply because you did not fit in to their idea of a perfect society. You have to fight back or nothing will change and without change then you will freeze in the winter and starve when you cannot scare up enough food to eat this week.”
John’s words were passionate but they were not enough to sway Dylan who had heard them before.
“An attack on the Capital is suicide and I think you know that John. It may be that we are outcasts and have no access to the riches that the Capital has to offer but out here we are free.”
“Yes free to live in hovels, sorry George, hiding from the world while others are preparing to bring the fight to the State.”
Maddie was not sure if her voice was being heard until her last statement received a cheer from those crowded around her.
“Just come with me Dylan and listen to what others have to say, see for your-self the preparations that have already been made. If you decide that we are crazy you can always come back and tell everyone so.”
For a moment it seemed that Dylan was wavering.
“I have been listening to your argument for days and nothing has changed, you are an outsider and my decision has been made.”
“I will go with you if you prove yourself worthy.”
It was Lysette and she looked amused at the thought of John being worthy of anything.
“What did you have in mind Lissa?”
Dylan looked curiously at Lysette as he asked his question.
“A fight between John and me, no weapons just a demonstration if you will to show him what he will be up against. If he defeats me then I will go with him to checkout his friend’s preparations.”
“And if I lose what then?”
“I get the pleasure of beating on you for a while as my reward and then you leave never to return.”
Maddie closed the distance between her and John with intention to warn him.
“John you should just leave, I will go with you and we can plan on how to help them all on the way to your friends.”
John stubbornly refused to back down.
“It is ok Phoebe it is just a friendly roustabout to see if I am up to Lissa’s standards.”
“No John you don’t understand she is deadly and very well trained you cannot hope to win and even if by some miracle you beat her, Lissa hates the Imps and would never help us.”
John was in the middle of taking off his tunic when Maddie noticed his toned torso and muscled arms. He really had been here for a year and the change in his physique was dramatic.
“If I back down now Maddie we will have lost them for good.”
John was looking at the crowd they had gathered when he said this.
“She may just cripple you John and what use will you be to anyone then?”
Maddie’s mounting concern was not for the loss of a champion to the Imps but for the brave young man that she now saw before her.
“Please John we can leave now and never look back.”
John could see the concern in Maddie’s eyes.
“If we leave now then we could never look each other in the eye and you know it. I have to do this and if I fail you must carry on with the mission.”
My god when did this all become so serious? When did she start to care so much for him that the thought of seeing him hurt turned her stomach into a tight knot?
“Be ruthless John, she will not hold back.”
It was the only advice Maddie could think to give him.
“So Lissa this should be fun and don’t worry I will try not to hurt you, no promises though.”
Lysette knew she was being baited and silently ignored her opponent, waiting for an opening.
The first move was made by Lysette and it was beautiful and deadly, she wanted to get this over with quickly to make an example of the outsider.
John’s stance was deep and long to give him both power coupled with stability and he was quick enough to block Lissa’s succession of kicks.
“Not bad Lissa but you lack power and oh yes you hit like a girly girl.”
John’s stance and movements were proving effective at blocking Lissa but he looked stilted and lacked her fluidity of movement.
Predictably the first blood was credited to Lissa with a side swipe to John’s jaw causing him to bleed a little from the mouth.
“Nothing like the taste of your own blood to put a fire in the belly.”
John was still in defensive mode when he heard Maddie’s voice.
“You have to take the fight to her or she will be all over you.”
John knew Maddie was right and that he would have to attack the girl before she breached his defences a second time. His opportunity came during Lissa’s next attack which if it were not for the fact it was aimed at him John would have admired for its form and beauty.
The roundhouse kick caught Lissa full in the stomach and the strength of it knocked the wind out of her.
“You seem to have been caught by a stray leg of mine I am so sorry it was just beautiful watching you do your dance thing and I did hate to interrupt.”
John knew he should have moved in for the kill but that was not why he was here and hurting Lissa would not further his cause.
“You are a fool that talks too much.”
A quickly recovering Lissa stood up to continue the fight until she saw John take a step back from her.
“What are you doing?
The fight is not finished, why are you not attacking me you have had the perfect opportunity to finish me off?”
A smile from John was the only answer Lysette received.
“I have no wish to fight someone that is not willing to fight back.”
“I will keep fighting until you deem me worthy or you knock me on my arse.”
“You are not fighting you are playing and in a real confrontation you will be defeated as you do not show the will to……”
“If you mean the will to kill then I am not ready to kill you just to show you that I can fight but I am willing to keep this fight going until you agree to come with me.”
Lysette did not understand what was happening but she too wanted to end this non fight.
“I will come with you and report back to Dylan for what it is worth and you should know that if we continued with this I would have bested you.”
John did not mind the idea of being bested it was the idea of being seriously injured by Lysette that really worried him.
“Yes Lissa keep telling yourself that and you will be able to sleep at night.”
Lysette shared a look of exasperation with Dylan.
“You are not a serious opponent even though you seem to possess skills that I have not seen before. Your techniques are rudimentary at best and though they give you power you lack the necessary will to use them to their full affect.”
A fairly damning review thought John as he walked back to Maddie.
“You have only been here a year and you have learned to fight like that.”
“Don’t be silly I have been going to karate with my father since I was five and to be honest I never really took it that seriously.”
“Well you seem to be very capable; I don’t think many people could hold off an attack from Lissa.”
“Thanks but what happens now if she is truly down on the Imps I have achieved nothing by getting her to come with me.”
Maddie decided to hold her tongue and not bring up the fact that she already mentioned this to John.
“We can only keep to our end of the bargain and let your friends try to persuade her of how serious they are in their intentions.”
It was good to have Maddie on side thought John as Dylan spoke.
“I have a contact in the Capital and I will find out when it is safe for you to leave.”
Having spoken Dylan gestured to Lysette to follow him.
“Do you think this wise Lissa?”
“Yes we have to know how their actions will affect us and if we should inform Patrice.”
“No Lissa I forbid you to do that we are not agents of the State and I refuse to help them in anyway.”
Lysette loved Dylan but did not feel bound by his principles and would do what she thought was right when the time came.
“You forget sometimes that the State raised us, clothed us, fed us and kept us warm for years and that means something to me.”
Dylan had forgotten nothing of what the State had done for him or to him.
“You and I will never agree on this and though we were both brought up through the system we have very different memories of it.”
Lysette said nothing but it was obvious to Dylan that she had been hurt.
“Rudimentary Lissa really, it looked to me as though he kicked your ass because you underestimated him.”
Dylan could see that John’s last kick had really hurt Lysette and that it would have finished a lesser fighter.
“He got lucky and I could have continued on to defeat him.”
Dylan was not sure this was in fact true.
“Why not just admit that his technique allows him to deliver blows with considerable force?”
Lysette was not in the mood to admit anything of the sort.
As an opponent he shows promise that is all.”
Dylan knew better than to argue with Lysette when she was in this mood.
“Fine have it your way, now let’s get you inside that kick will have left one hell of a bruise.”
“I’m ok and I don’t need you fussing around me so go find someone else to irritate.”
Dylan would have liked nothing better than to stay and take care of Lysette but her hatred of showing weakness to anyone even him would not allow that to happen.
“Get some rest while I tend to our people.”
That was a joke thought Lysette these were not her people and they never would be.
“That’s right go see to the poor filthy little urchins they might need you to hold their hands.”
Once alone inside their hut Lysette lifted her top to reveal her stomach and gently examined her tummy. Dylan was right there would be one hell of a bruise there by the morning, which did not surprise Lysette as she felt as though she had been kicked by a horse.
“John that was an Impressive showing, Lissa is not easy to defend against.”
Maddie who was in earshot of Dylan’s compliment felt she had something to say to him.
“You are the one that should be coming with us Lissa has no sympathy with our cause.”
“Your cause, up until this morning all you wanted to do was go home.”
It was true though Maddie but that did not change the fact that Lysette was a poor substitute for Dylan.
“Do you even remember the girl from the other night? She is dead and her baby is dead. It is not enough to feed them scraps and tell them everything will be ok.”
Dylan looked at John and Maddie then with sadness in his voice tried to defend his position.
“It is not perfect here but we do what we can and that is all we can do. You want to change things that cannot be changed. I have lived in the Capital amongst the citizens, I have lived as one of them and they will not give up their lives of privilege easily. You two are going to get a lot of people killed if you continue with your plans.”
John was confused by Dylan’s complete refusal to accept that change was possible.
“If you are so convinced that we are wrong and nothing can be done, why are you allowing Lissa to come with us?”
A big hearty laugh from Dylan was not what Maddie and John expected.
“You think that I can stop Lissa from doing something now that is funny. Once Lissa decides to do a thing it gets done and no-one gets in her way.”
Dylan was still laughing as he walked away.
“It does not matter we will just have to carry on without him.”
John sounded disappointed but still determined as he said this under his breath.
“You will have to tell me all that you know of this world John if I am to help you.”
Over the next few days Maddie asked John many questions and he did his best to answer them all as clearly as he could.
“Yes in the Capital they have doctor, hospitals, medicine and food is plentiful but it is only for the citizens. Imps are not allowed to enter the Capital unless they are on a work detail and even then it is unofficial, a kind of backdoor child labour market if you will.”
Maddie’s education on various aspects of Velarian society both fascinated her and shocked her at the same time.
“So all of the riches are in the Capital city while those outside are left to starve, how does a country let that happen?”
John was casual when he reminded her of home.
“Before we left London had record homeless people, food banks and I read that they were putting metal spikes outside of shops to stop people with nowhere else to go from sleeping in their doorways. If you look further afield children are dying from lack of basic medical care and no food, they are forced to drink filthy water that carries disease. Is it really that different here than where we come from?”
Hearing John say these things out loud was tough but Maddie recognised that he was just being accurate and that at home it seemed easier to turn your back on these facts, as you told yourself there was nothing to be done about it.
“Those starving children are on a TV screen and thousands of miles away what are we suppo
sed to do about them?”
John gave this some thought.
“Something we are supposed to do something other than turn away and buy the latest gadget to amuse ourselves with.”
Maddie was feeling guilty now and did not like the fact that John had made her feel this way.
“You may have had the latest games, computers, phones John but I might remind you that I was in a home where there was no such luxuries.”
“You were clothed, you were fed and you were kept warm. That is more than you can say for a lot of the unfortunates here and at home.”
Maddie was not at all sure that it was that simple but John was right about one thing.
“It is all too easy to say don’t turn away John but when you have your own problems what else can you do?”
John could see that he was upsetting Maddie and that was the last thing that he wanted to do.
“I am sorry but I have been here a while longer than you and it brings certain things home to you. I am not blaming you or judging you it is just that I am guilty of being selfish here and at home. I have to remind myself every day to be a better man.”
You are a better man thought Maddie; the John Harrison she first met would not have been so hard on himself.
“You are doing something here John and if we ever get home then I am sure that your dad would be very proud of you.”
John was a little surprised to hear the warmth in Maddie’s words.
“Thanks but it is you that will make the difference here and not me, of that I am sure.”
Maddie did not really know what John meant by this and so continued to ask questions of him concerning the Capital.
“I take it they have electricity, running water, communications and other mod-cons in the City?”
“Oh yes I am told that they have personal computers and even mobile phones of a sort but of course these are only for the citizens. All access to computers, communication devices and the airwaves is strictly restricted, the penalties for breaching their rules are draconian.”
“What do you mean by draconian?”
“They seem to enjoy a public flogging here and then of course you will be thrown into Juvi.”
“Lana was terrified of Juvi can you tell me anything more about the place?”
John’s expression took on a look of disgust as he thought about the vile place called Juvinescence.
“It is a human dumping ground where anyone that opposes the State is dispatched to and not only that if you are found on the streets and have no ID you can be sent there without trial and for life.”
“Dylan said that you could not be sent there until you were eighteen.”
“He is wrong we have reports that there are children as young as ten inside that hell hole.”
“You seem to fear it as much as Lana does!”
A short pause later and John carried on imparting the information he had accumulated on Juvi.
“It is a prison city that is surrounded by mines, guarded turrets and electric fences. Once a week food and supplies are dropped in by airship as you can imagine the distribution of these supplies leaves a lot to be desired.”
Maddie thought perhaps they were both right to be afraid of this place.
“Do you know anyone that has been sent there?”
John’s voice faltered a little as he answered.
“Yes a few of our people have been rounded up and then disappeared; we assume that is where they are.”
“I am sorry John.”
“There are mainly three factions in there that hold any power the Five/Sevens, The Dev’s and the Old Tarians.”
Here we go again thought Maddie as she asked what the hell these factions represented.
“I have heard of the Dev’s but not the other two.”
“The Five/Sevens are incarcerated under Correctional Procedural Code 357 which means they have been caught in the commission of a violent act and they are the most powerful faction in Juvi as for the Old Tarians they were thrown into Juvi for their political opposition to the State, they hold less sway within the prison.”
“You seem to have learned a lot since you have been here John.”
“The most Important thing that I have learned is that you cannot survive here alone you need the help of others.”
Maddie did not think his last statement was necessary and sounded a little preachy but she got the message.
“Yeah, yeah all for one and one for all I saw the movie.”
This made John smile.
“You would look good in a mouseketeers uniform although you look pretty good the way you are now.”
“You are not very funny and less of that leering at me when you say things like that.”
It was not fair John had a whole year to sort out his feeling for her and to Maddie it had only been a few weeks since she had attacked the insufferable boy. At least now she did not feel too bad at her poor performance he was probably a black belt in karate or something.
“Leering I will have you know that my smile has been known to lighten up many a fair maiden’s day.”
“You are a fool John Harrison and I will not have your eyes devouring me like that so back off or I will steal Lissa’s Lektro and teach you a lesson with it.”
The following days were spent in much the same way until Maddie suggested that John give Karate lessons to George and Lana.
“I have already taught quite a few groups that we have reached out to but do you think there is interest here?”
“George is keen to learn and Lana will fall in with her so I think that is a good start.”
Maddie called George over and found that she was as keen as ever to learn to fight.
“You bet I would love to learn to kick like you John.”
“Fine we will start in the morning and you can tell everyone that they are welcome to join us but I am not sure just how long I will be here.”
Maddie knew it was time to find out if Dylan had been in contact with his friend in the Capital and to see if he had any idea when it would be safe for them to leave.