Chapter Nineteen Faith

Faith stared through the window at the darkened square. It had been raining earlier, but the downpour had finally stopped. Now, the streetlights were glinting off the wet pavement, sending reflections dancing across the metallic surfaces of the surrounding buildings.

Not that Faith could go outside and enjoy the view. Madeleine had forbidden it, for the time being.

"You're our figurehead now." Her tone had been brisk. "We can't afford to lose you."

It wasn't lost on Faith that she was almost as much a prisoner here in Bellator as she had been in the Eremus caves or at the academy. Desperate for escape, she had retreated to the only place she was permitted which wasn't officially within the Resistance headquarters: the library.

She understood the reason for Madeleine's caution, but it didn't ease her frustration.

Stella Thane had attempted to broadcast Faith's story a couple of times since their interview but, so far, she hadn't had much success. Each time she had tried, she'd only gotten through the first few sentences of her report before Danforth's tech team had found her show's channel and shut her down.

She'd had more success printing the physical leaflets, and had brought them to headquarters the previous day. Faith's picture was front and centre on one side, below a headline which read Danforth Academy Student Speaks Out. The rest of the page was filled with quotes taken from her interview. The other side of the sheet was dedicated to Stella's online broadcast, Bellator Exposed. Under the headline Citizens of Bellator Unite! were a number of bullet points. Each one stated a lie Danforth had told the Bellator citizens, followed by the reality.

The Resistance's most pressing job now was to distribute the information around the city, as widely as possible, without being caught. Once the leaflets had been distributed, Faith feared she'd never escape the headquarters again.

The delivery mission was huge, but she knew she couldn't be a part of it. No matter how much she wanted to. She had spent a large portion of the afternoon helping Robyn and Laura to fill bags with the leaflets, but it hadn't felt like enough.

Catching Faith's despondent expression, Laura had taken pity on her. "I know you'd rather be coming with us. But you're the focus of the operation. The Resistance will be in trouble if any of us are caught. But if Danforth gets her hands on you?" She had whistled under her breath. "We'd lose our biggest advantage."

"She's right." Robyn's tone had been gentle, but firm. "I know it's frustrating, but I'm afraid, for the moment, you're stuck here." She had nudged Faith's elbow. "There are other ways you can be helpful, though."

"How?"

Robyn had gestured to a datadev. "How about you take another look at the reports from the academy?"

"I've gone over them a thousand times." Faith had cringed inwardly at her exaggeration. She knew she sounded childish. "There's nothing else there that I can see."

"Alright." Robyn had given her a sympathetic smile. "I'll ask Madeleine if you can listen in to Anderson's office bug tonight. We've been trying to have someone listen 24/7, but with so many of us out on the leaflet run tonight, we might be shorthanded."

Faith had brightened. "You think she'd let me?"

"We can ask."

Grateful that Robyn understood her need to be useful, Faith had felt a little more positive. But when Madeleine had given her permission to take on the task, Faith had regretted it. Anderson's office was silent for large portions of the day, while the principal worked alone, or went out and about around the school. So far, she'd listened to Anderson placing her lunchtime sandwich order and disciplining a junior citizen who had repeatedly failed to complete homework. Faith's job might have been vitally important, but it was also dull.

And once the majority of the Resistance citizens had disappeared down the tunnel on the leaflet run she had felt lonely. She wanted to be outdoors with the others, actively doing something which made her feel like her escape to the city had been worth it. But she was stuck here while everyone else worked hard for the cause. Even Diane had been permitted to go.

Faith had spent four hours sitting in Madeleine's office with a set of headphones on, staring at a blank datadev screen. Eventually, she'd asked if she could take the equipment up to the library.

"Please?" She'd prayed Madeleine was in a charitable mood. "Just for a change of scene."

"If it will stop you from sighing every five minutes, I'd agree to anything." The leader had said, glancing up from her work. "Take the back stairs, mind. No sneaking out via the street."

The jibe only served to remind Faith how trapped she was. Tearing her eyes away from the square below now, she took a deep breath and tried to draw comfort from her surroundings.

The library was quiet, and she liked the slightly dusty, papery scent of the books. Madeleine had linked the earbuds to her wristclip so she didn't have to carry the datadev around with her. This made her more mobile. And whilst walking laps of the library wasn't quite running around the track at the academy, or walking through the forest close to Eremus, it was better than nothing.

But Faith was tired of wandering in circles while Anderson's office remained silent. She needed to do something to distract herself. Spotting the Records Room at the rear of the space, she headed towards it. Her last visit had revealed some shocking truths. Perhaps the files warranted further study.

Locating the book filled with the genealogy records, she flipped it open. The first time she had looked through it, she'd been too focused on the basic information the document contained, and the shock of discovering Avery's parentage had distracted her.

Now, with a clearer head, she scanned her own entry for a second time. Her mother's name was no surprise. This time, she was more interested in the Seed Origin code. She snapped a picture of it and moved on to Sophia's listing. This time, the code was different. Snapping another picture, she looked for Noah's entry. The code was different again.

Just how many seed donors had there been?It was unlikely that she would ever know her father. All the men kept by Danforth for procreation purposes had been executed, aside from Jacob. But it had struck her, since spending time in Eremus, that she might have sisters out there, or a half-sister, at least. And, with horror, she had wondered if she might even share a genetic bond with Noah. It was a relief to know she didn't.

Her eyes scanned the different entries, beginning to find links between some of the girls in the list who she knew from the academy. There were several girls who had the same seed code listed as she did, but she didn't know any of them well. Sophia, it appeared, had the same father as Mary, but otherwise she couldn't find many connections between the academy girls. There were hundreds of other citizens who had the same Seed Origin code, but they were not girls who attended the academy.

She traced her finger across her best friend's name. The failed mission, her injury, and the leaflet delivery had distracted Faith temporarily, but she was still desperately worried about Sophia. And with the confirmation that Danforth's testing was linked to reproduction, Madeleine had rejected the idea of a rescue. They had a responsibility to observe her a little longer, she had said. Discover once and for all what Danforth was up to.

But watching her friend lying in the hospital bed, pale as milk and vomiting regularly, was too much for Faith. If, as Robyn and Madeleine believed, she was pregnant, did Danforth somehow have a secret store of seed? What part did the two drugs play in the experiment? So far, Sophia appeared to be the only student who'd been given both drugs. Clearly, she was their prime test subject.

Did Sophia know she was pregnant? Was she aware of what they were doing to her? Was she too weak to fight? Faith had tortured herself over and over with questions. Robyn had tried to reassure her, telling her that Sophia was important to Danforth, that there was no way they would risk her death when she was the only candidate currently showing a promising response to the experimentation.

But Faith wasn't just worried about Sophia dying. Being confined to a bed for so long, with no company other than the medics who were overseeing her, had to be affecting her mentally. What of the long-lasting effects of the cocktail of thus-far-untested drugs she was being given? Faith shuddered just thinking about it.

Until the leaders permitted a rescue mission though, there was little she could do.

She snapped a few more pictures of the seed codes, making sure she had a record of all the people she knew for future reference. As she was sliding the genealogy book back into the file, there was a crackling in her headphones. A firm click Faith knew was Anderson's office door closing. A slight creak of the chair as the principal sat down. And then, the intermittent buzzing that suggested an incoming call.

Faith moved across to the table where she'd left the datadev. Anderson was probably ordering dinner, but she should pay attention, just in case. Dropping into the nearest chair, she listened.

The buzzing stopped, and she knew the call had been answered. There was silence, as the call recipient spoke first. On Anderson's reply, Faith froze.

"Put me through to the chancellor, please."

Faith held her breath through the pause which followed. Eventually, the academy principal spoke again, her voice low and terse.

"Abigail, we have a problem."