Chapter Fifteen Faith

Faith quaked as the journalist's eyes bored into her. On the surface, she was a mousy-looking woman, but as soon as she'd started asking questions, Faith's opinion of her had changed. The timid exterior she'd perfected made a good front, but Stella Thane was sharp as a tack.

A Resistance sympathiser, she worked undercover at the Bellator Blade. As soon as Faith had agreed to act as Resistance spokesperson, Madeleine had brought Stella in for an interview. The city's media was government-controlled, and the news channel wasn't able to print or broadcast anything which wasn't approved by the chancellor.

Stella's position was delicate, and she had to be extremely careful what she wrote in the Blade. But she conveyed her real thoughts through an anonymous broadcast where she could comment on political issues freely. Madeleine had been feeding her pieces of information for Bellator Exposed for months, but Faith's input would be the start of a more targeted campaign, aimed at waking up the citizens to the constant lies they were fed by their chancellor.

In addition to the online newspaper, the Blade also printed a number of old-fashioned physical copies, popular with some of the city's older residents. This gave Stella access to a printing press, which Madeleine wanted to commandeer. A leaflet containing information about the existence of Eremus or the suspicious medical experiments going on in the city was the leader's initial aim. She was hoping it would help them to spread the word more widely and get the message across to those citizens who weren't aware of Stella's underground broadcast.

Madeleine was convinced that Faith's information would be vital in opening the citizens' eyes to the corruption. Faith wasn't so sure. Despite having made the decision to help the Resistance in this way, she was nervous. And Stella's gruelling questions hadn't put her any more at ease.

They had been talking for what seemed like hours now. Faith had recounted her experience with the femgazipane in as much detail as she could. The dizziness, the vomiting, the exhaustion. How she had struggled to even walk across a small room to use the bathroom. The reason she'd been alone, locked in the small room. The food she'd been permitted to eat. The amount of exercise she'd managed to complete whilst imprisoned.

So much had happened since the experience that Faith struggled to remember the details. Those she did recall, she had trouble recounting as they only reminded her of what Sophia was going through at the moment, alone in her hospital room. But as the interview rolled on, she had done her best to answer honestly.

How long the drug affected her? Which symptoms had stayed with her the longest? What follow up tests had she been given? When she'd gone to Eremus, what kind of diet had she experienced? Had her symptoms worsened or improved as a result of the food or the limited exercise she'd been permitted whilst staying at the cave settlement?

The questions went on and on, many of them seeming irrelevant. The journalist was thorough, Faith had to give her that. And Faith really wanted to be useful. She couldn't shake the feeling that Sophia's fate was directly related to the depth of her responses.

But after two hours of grilling, she was exhausted. "I really don't think there's any more I can tell you. I'm sorry."

Blinking, Stella looked up from her datadev. "That's alright. I just want to make sure I have everything I need." The journalist glanced at Madeleine. When her eyes returned to Faith, they were serious. "You said when you first arrived in Eremus you weren't conscious."

"That's right."

"When you regained consciousness, where were you?"

Faith frowned. "In the large cave which acts as their canteen."

"And you were dressed the same way you had been when you were kidnapped outside the hospital?"

"Yes."

"You're certain?" Stella pressed. "They hadn't stripped you off… couldn't have–"

Realising what she was suggesting, Faith's cheeks flushed. "No!"

Stella gestured to Faith's jeans and sweatshirt. "Can you describe what you were wearing when you left the academy?"

"My uniform." Faith forced her tone to remain polite, resenting the implication that she might not be remembering the experience accurately. "We all were."

"And that includes…?" the journalist prompted. Noting Faith's mutinous expression, she clarified. "I just want you to be certain you were still dressed the same way when you woke up in the caves."

"I am certain." But Faith could see Stella wasn't going to be happy until she answered. "Black tailored trousers, a shirt… a white shirt…" She ticked off the items on her fingers, "a jacket with the school badge on the lapel."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "Every item, please."

"Black shoes, socks, underwear, bra, academy pendant…" Faith blushed as she thought of the necklace she'd left with Noah. "Wait… no. I didn't have the pendant on."

Stella sat forward. "They took it from you?"

"No! I didn't have it on when I left the academy. I hadn't…" She hesitated, unsure of how much to tell the stranger. A glance at Madeleine's face told her to tell the truth, or at least as close to the truth as possible. "I'd, um… lost it. A couple of days before Anderson locked me up."

"Alright. And the uniform… you were definitely dressed the same way once you got to Eremus?" Faith nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

Relieved that Stella finally seemed satisfied, Faith sneaked a look at Madeleine. Was she satisfied with her responses? She was still hopeful that the leader's stance on rescuing Sophia might change if Faith helped her in this way. But Madeleine wasn't even looking at Faith. Instead, her gaze was fixed on Stella, the intensity of her gaze quite frightening.

Finally, the journalist looked up. "Alright. I think I have what I need." She turned to Madeleine. "I'll write this up tonight and try to broadcast it tomorrow. You know how it is… I might not get all the information out the first time. Depends how long it is before they shut me down."

"Shut you down?" Faith was puzzled.

"Danforth always has her tech staff on alert. They try to get me off the air as fast as they can, once they know I'm broadcasting." Stella shrugged. "Madeleine even sent Blake to look at my set-up, but even with her help they usually find my frequency sooner or later. Once they have, that's it."

"That's it?"

"Until the next broadcast, when I set up on a different channel and try again."

Madeleine gave a sly grin. "They never manage to shut you down completely though."

"Nope." Stella chuckled. "Not so far, anyway." She turned back to the Resistance leader. "The physical leaflets will take a little longer. I can only access the presses on certain nights."

"Alright. When you have them ready, let me know. I'll arrange for them to be collected. We're aiming to distribute them throughout the city but doing that without being detected will be a real challenge."

Stella turned to Faith. "Thanks for being so honest with me. There's just the picture left now." She frowned at the cuts and bruises, which were still inflamed. "Though we might want to take it at an angle."

Faith's heart sank. "Do you have to have a photograph?"

"We do." Madeleine was firm.

Stella leaned forward. "There's nothing more powerful than an innocent victim endangered by those in power. But we need them to see you. To know how young you are, how innocent."

"Okay." Faith glanced around the room. "Where do you want me?"

Stella was already glancing around the room looking for potential places to take the picture. "Stand against that wall, please." She turned to Madeleine as she hustled Faith into place. "I'll crop out anything that would give away her location, of course."

"Sure." Madeleine had returned to her usual position behind her datadev.

"Can you turn your head towards the door?" Stella gestured with her hand. "A little more… that's it. Now we can't see your injuries at all."

Faith allowed herself to be posed and positioned as Stella wished. As the Resistance's representative, she needed to look professional, to present the group as serious and organised. Not like its spokesperson was a bareknuckle fighter who'd been dragged off the streets. Or someone who had been beaten by the Eremus men, if Danforth spun the story the way Madeleine suggested she would.

When the journalist was finished, she patted Faith on the shoulder. "All done."

As Stella began to pack her camera equipment away, Madeleine looked up from her work.

"Thank you, Faith. I know this wasn't an easy thing for you to do, but I'm certain it will make a difference." Madeleine shrugged. "I hope you can see now that this is where your strengths lie. You've more than made up for the issues you caused on the BellaLab mission. I mean, between this and your discovery about Danforth having a child…"

Faith felt herself blushing at the mention of the failed mission. She hurried to cover her embarrassment. "What will you do with the information about Avery?"

Madeleine pursed her lips. "Not sure, as yet. I'm waiting for Eremus to get in touch. For now, the best thing to do is to keep her there, out of sight. I do have a few of our spies trying to discover more about the relationship, but a secret that's been buried this long, well… I suspect very few people know about it."

"You won't… do anything to put her at risk though?" Faith disliked the older girl but didn't want her to be hurt. Being so closely linked to Danforth would make her a pawn in a very dangerous game, should the wrong people decide to use the information to their advantage. "Or let Eremus hurt her."

"No!" The reply was rapid and definite. "She's a Bellator citizen, same as you or me. We would never wish her harm." Madeleine stood up and moved towards the door. "Would you excuse Stella and me? We've much to discuss, and we're finished with you for the time being."

Dismissed, Faith followed the Resistance leader to the door. As she pulled it open, Madeleine's voice stopped her. "I meant what I said. Thanks for agreeing to do this. I know it's going to make a real difference."

Faith heard the door close behind her. Outside in the common area, she found that her hands were shaking. It was over, for now. But what was she getting herself into?

She headed through the hub towards Blake's room, wanting to check on Sophia. In all the chaos of the last few days, she'd had little time to dwell on her friend's situation. Easing the door open, she peered in. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the low light, but when she made out a single figure, her heart sank.

Hoping that Blake might be so involved in her work that she hadn't heard her enter, Faith began tiptoeing backwards. The other woman was leaning close to one of the monitors, engrossed, as usual. But she wasn't seated in her usual position. Instead, she was staring at the monitor which displayed Sophia's hospital bed.

Faith froze. It wasn't like the tech genius to involve herself in the drama going on at the hospital. She had actively gone out of her way to state how she had no time to sit staring at a girl who did nothing but sleep when she had so many other tasks to complete. Yet here she was, transfixed.

Reversing her retreat, Faith took a step into the room, craning her neck to see what had the other woman glued to the screen. Her movement alerted the other woman to her presence. But instead of shooing her away or glaring, Blake turned and beckoned her over.

"Something's happening." She frowned, tapping a finger on the screen. "Not sure what as yet. But something."

Keeping her eyes on Sophia, Faith hauled a second stool over from the corner and sat down. Blake was right. There were two people in the room, when Faith had only ever seen one. The first was small and wore the ordinary scrubs of a medic. The other was tall and thin. She wore a lab coat, denoting her status as a doctor. Faith squinted at the screen, her hackles rising. It was Dr. Sanders, who had visited Faith in her prison cell at the academy and injected her with femgazipane. Sanders had first arrived at the academy dressed in a technician's uniform, presumably hoping no one would recognise her. The next time Faith had seen her, she had realised Sanders was actually the doctor in charge of Danforth's entire experiment.

Breathlessly, Faith counted the machines which surrounded her friend. There were still four, and they didn't look to be set up any differently. Not for the first time, she wished that she was able to zoom in on the dials and readouts on each one. Lily had used her limited medical knowledge to try and explain their purpose, but she hadn't been able to identify what procedure Sophia was undergoing.

The atmosphere in the hospital room seemed to change, somehow. Faith could tell, even without sound. She and Blake strained closer to the screen.

"What are they…?" Blake whispered.

Dr. Sanders had moved to one side of the bed. She was bending over Sophia, partly obscuring her body from view. But as the petite medic moved towards one of the machines, she straightened up. The two exchanged glances, nodding at one another. Slowly, the woman twisted a dial on the front of the large metal machine, her eyes were glued to the numbers on the readout.

"Looks like they're altering her dosage," Blake muttered.

"Increasing it, do you think?" Faith felt sick.

But Blake was consulting a set of notes on a different screen. "I don't think so. Lily said that machine is probably administering a sedative." She looked back at Faith. "It's making sure she stays unconscious."

"But too much of that would be harmful, surely." Faith's stomach flipped over, and she found she was digging her nails into her palms. "If they're increasing the amount of that, they could kill her."

"I don't think they're increasing it." Blake tapped a finger on the screen.

Dr. Sanders was leaning over Sophia again, obscuring their view. The other medic returned to the bedside, lifting Sophia's head so she could slide another pillow underneath it. When the pair backed away, their eyes were glued to their patient.

"She's reducing it." Blake hissed. "Look!"

Faith leaned closer to the screen again. Now that Sanders and the medic had moved, she could see her friend clearly. Sophia lay, propped up on the extra pillows. And her eyelids were flickering.

"She's awake." Blake slapped her hand on Faith's back, almost choking her. "She's actually awake."