Revealing Eden Read online

  —It’s the biggest leap in evolution since man discovered fire. Don’t forget what I said, Daught.

  Eden never had intended to tell anyone. But then, Jamal wasn’t just anyone. It had seemed only natural to share her life with him. Besides, he liked smart women. But if she were honest, she’d have to admit she really wanted him to know that one day she might be more desirable.

  An hour later the ride ended. Already, Eden heard the raucous sounds of revelers and loud music coming from the Regional Hall. She filed into line as the passengers began to shuffle off the transport. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw two FFP soldiers staring back at her. They wore drab, brown-and-black paramilitary gear with berets over their shaved heads. The larger of the duo, a blue-black giant, smiled at her and licked his lips. His tall, skinny friend laughed. Eden quickly turned away in a panic.

  She had imagined it, she told herself. Besides, they would be gone soon. But when she turned up the aisle they still stood on the side, watching her. Her heart slammed in her chest as she drew near. Just as she feared, Giant and his lanky friend stepped around her, forcing her to continue between them towards the exit.

  “Look what we caught,” the skinny one said behind her. “A real live Pearl.”

  Eden recognized the high-pitched, squeaky voice as belonging to one of the men who had followed her on board. Mother Earth, why had she come alone?

  An old childhood ditty echoed in her head. Her mother had refused to teach it to Eden, but she’d learned it all the same.

  Little Pearly whirly,

  lost inside the mines;

  tossed from Coal to Coal,

  in fear, she whines,

  “I’m sorry, Mother,

  he said he only wanted

  to see my white skin shine.”

  Frantic, Eden commanded her Life-Band: connect, Jamal. Why didn’t he accept her signal? He promised he’d be there. Time for Jamal to make a righteous move.

  She peered around Giant, hoping for a sign of her Dark Prince but Squeaky grabbed her. He pawed her dress, ripping it along the side.

  “Leave me alone,” Eden said, shakily. “Someone is waiting for me. Someone important—one of your people.”

  “He won’t mind if we share a little Pearl stew,” Squeaky said.

  As he pushed her out of the vehicle, into the security line, Eden began to scream. Giant turned, smothering her in his arms.

  “Be quiet, Pearly,” he whispered in her ear. “Or else.” He jabbed a sharp point in her side.

  The big solider had a knife, and Eden had no doubt he’d use it to kill her.

  EDEN WAITED for the security cage to admit her into the Moon Dance, her heart hammering. She pressed her face to the glass door, searching in vain for Jamal. Hadn’t he promised to meet her as soon as she got off the transport? Where on Blessed Earth was he?

  He was late, that’s all. Preparations for the Big Night at the lab must have detained him. He would save her. He simply had to.

  As the door opened, she stumbled out of the cage, caught again by the huge FFP soldier. Only the threat of Giant’s knife kept her from screaming. Maybe, she hoped, Jamal was inside. Any minute she would see him.

  Giant and Squeaky forced her into the huge hall, which was packed with writhing dancers, lit by flashing lights. On the main stage a band of Coals performed in whiteface. Eden’s sensors told her their name: The Lost Caucasian Tribe. A wild-looking girl whose wailing pierced the air fronted the group. Her sheer, electric orange dress flashed, like a beacon in the somber sea of black.

  High-class vendors and beauty attendants who catered to a Coal clientele pitched their wares along the front perimeter. In the dim recesses of the building, Pearls sold meager goods. A gaunt woman with feverish eyes, un-dotted and well past eighteen, stood at the edge of the fray, making provocative gestures to passers-by. The desperate Pearl probably would do anything for a shot of oxy.

  Eden’s head throbbed as she scanned the hall. Still, no sign of her Dark Prince. If he failed her, she’d end up like that poor woman, begging for a shot. She’d rather be dead.

  A watchful Ethics Officer strolled by. Eden took a chance and shot him a pleading look. He turned towards her when Giant spun her into the crowd.

  “Dance,” he said, the glint of the knife visible.

  She just needed to buy time until Jamal arrived. But she’d never been asked to dance and felt shy among the sea of revelers. She jerked her limbs, trying to imitate the crowd’s erratic movements.

  Giant smiled, his eyes roving over her body. He leaned over her, and Eden felt sick as his wet mouth landed on her neck. He pulled back, smiling again when a crazed look came into his eyes. She knew that look all too well; every Pearl dreaded it. Her hand flew to the spot on her neck where the seam in her dark coating had cracked open. Mother Earth, her white skin showed.

  A signal seemed to ring through the frenzied crowd. Hundreds of Coals turned to stare at her; a rabid look in their eyes. She would be lucky to make it out of there alive.

  “Hey, it’s 19:30,” Squeaky told his comrade.

  “Okay.” Giant yanked her towards the exit. “Let’s go, Pearly.”

  Eden realized that the soldiers must have a plan for her. Which meant her capture might not have been coincidental. She had a sinking feeling it had something to do with her father’s experiment. Do something, Eden.

  She quickly pictured her mother’s face and Austin’s smile. Be brave, she told herself. Then Eden bit Giant’s wrist. He yelled and loosened his grip. Immediately, she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled through the belly of the crowd.

  “Get her,” she heard Giant say.

  Several dancers tripped over her, falling to the ground. Over her shoulder, Eden saw Squeaky trip into the pile-up. She shot to her feet, her heart racing at the sound of Giant’s bellow.

  “Pearly!”

  She twisted her slender frame through the throng until a couple of hard-bodies pinned her between them. Grinning, two male Pearls bobbed with her to the beat. Their glassy eyes, full of wild hope, and their papery, red-tinged skin told her they had The Heat. Probably, celebrating one last Moon Dance.

  “Please, let me go,” Eden shouted.

  They just smiled. When they gyrated her around, she saw Giant lurch towards her. Eden kneed one of the men in the groin and he fell to the ground. The other man broke into desperate sobs.

  “Sorry,” Eden said, recalling her mother’s erratic mood swings at the end of her life.

  She tried to sprint forward, but her feet wouldn’t move. Heavy hands hauled her backwards.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Pearly?” Giant said.

  Squeaky slid beside them with a look of chagrin. Giant grunted his disapproval and once more led her towards the exit. This was it. Somehow Eden always knew she’d be caught by the FFP.

  A commanding voice rose above the din. “Let her go.”

  Jamal?

  She felt a slight hitch in Giant’s walk. He glanced over his shoulder, then tightened his grip on her and pushed ahead. A laser blast sizzled in the air. Beside her, Squeaky crumpled to the ground, stunned by the burning beam. Shrill screams punctured the air as the crowd dispersed.

  “I said, let her go,” the man repeated.

  Her captor turned around, dragging Eden with him. Dark shadows hid the man’s face.

  “What’s it to you?” Giant said.

  “She belongs to me.” Just then a strobe light passed over him, revealing his dark, chiseled features.

  Bramford. Of course, he thought he owned her.

  Predictably, a bevy of hopeful Coal women fanned around him. His bodyguard Shen stood nearby, an illegal laser in his hand. His loyalty stunned Eden. Bramford might live above the law, but even he couldn’t guarantee the Amber wouldn’t be punished.

  Still, she had to admire Bramford’s nerve. He stepped right up to her and held out his hand.

  “Shall we dance, Eden?”

  Giant shifted his weight
back and forth, as if weighing his options.

  Bramford kept his eyes on her while he spoke to him. “If you release the young lady in the next five seconds, I won’t have to kill you.”

  Eden wished she could tell the difference between the electric heat of his gaze and the adrenaline pumping through her.

  “You have three seconds left.”

  The standoff continued.

  “One-and-a-half seconds,” Bramford said, arching an eyebrow.

  Abruptly, Giant released her, pushing her straight into Bramford’s arms.

  “You can’t escape, Pearly,” he said. “I’ll get you later.”

  He hauled Squeaky to his feet, dragging him through the crowd. The bored spectators resumed their hyperkinetic gyrations.

  Eden sighed with relief. But why was Bramford still holding her? She looked up into his undeniably handsome face, the lights playing across it. His steely, dark eyes glistened. A shadow of a smile curled his lips.

  “Nice dress,” he said.

  “Thanks,” she replied numbly.

  From the corner of her eye she saw the hopeful beauties shift impatiently. Of course, they expected him to leave her now that the danger had passed. So did Eden. Instead, he twirled her towards the edge of the crowd. Despite herself, she couldn’t fight his magnetic pull or the thrill that tingled through her. But his admirers’ cruel laughter reminded her of how pitiful she looked.

  “Thank you for your help, sir,” Eden said, trying to pull away. “You can go now.”

  Bramford seemed amused and held her tight. “Are you dismissing me?”

  Why did he always make her feel so small?

  “I said thanks.”

  “You don’t want to dance with me? Is that it?”

  She felt tongue-tied with his warm body next to hers. “Those women are waiting for you,” she managed to say.

  “Let them wait. Unless you’d rather we stopped?”

  Did she? Wasn’t she enjoying this? While she hesitated Bramford’s expression hardened.

  “Let’s go,” he said, turning away.

  Eden stared at his retreating figure. She crossed her arms, rubbing the lingering warm spots he’d left. Possibly, she hadn’t disliked his touch. But what was she thinking? She despised the Pearl-hating Coal.

  She looked around the room again, desperate to see Jamal’s killer grin. Sorry, Little Bunny, here I am.

  Bramford whirled on her, his eyes burning bright. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting for him?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, cool and easy.

  “Coyness doesn’t suit you, Eden. Jamal isn’t coming.”

  She sucked in her breath. So Bramford knew. It didn’t matter anymore because Jamal would save her.

  “He said he’d meet me here,” she said defiantly.

  He shook his head. “And you believed him?”

  “Why shouldn’t I?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?

  “Why? Because I’m a Pearl?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not what I meant.”

  “Really?” Eden jerked her head towards the waiting groupies—not one Pearl among them.

  “We’ve got important work to do,” Bramford said, turning on his heel. “Come with me.”

  Loyal Shen followed after him, leaving Eden alone. At once a few rough characters began to edge towards her.

  Sweet Mother Earth, what had happened to her Dark Prince? Once more, Eden tried to connect with his Life-Band. Still, no response. The devastating truth hit her: Jamal wasn’t coming.

  Eden caught a glimpse of Bramford weaving through the crowd. Any second, it would swallow him without a trace. She had no choice but to follow the arrogant bastard.

  EDEN LEANED forward, panting, as the angle of the tunnel tilted upwards. For several minutes they had been winding towards the Earth’s surface. She glanced at Bramford and Shen beside her. Neither one seemed troubled by their route.

  “Where are we going?” Eden said.

  “Where you should have stayed,” Bramford replied.

  She swallowed her panic, silently following him up a twisting stairway. Her ears popped. The temperature rose and she began to sweat, as they climbed higher and higher. Finally, they reached a heavily guarded gate in the upper level. The lead guard nodded deferentially at Bramford and waved them through—including her! She’d never once passed through any checkpoint without inspection.

  Eden was even more astounded when they arrived at a humming supersonic aircraft. She watched in amazement as Shen took a seat beside the pilot, a small-boned Tiger’s Eye. Bramford waved her towards the main cabin. Did he really expect her to fly? She'd never even been outside of the Combs.

  “Get in,” he insisted.

  “No,” Eden said, as stunned as he, by her daring refusal.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Can’t. Fly.”

  He seemed mildly amused as he dragged her inside the craft. She felt the blood drain from her head. Dark inky shadows fell behind her eyes. Her knees buckled under her and she fell into a seat.

  “Relax,” Bramford said, sitting down beside her. “You’ll enjoy it.”

  So he wasn’t simply cruel; he was crazy, too.

  He commanded the pilot to take off, and the hangar ceiling immediately retracted. Eden looked up at the vast, dark, ashen sky. If she had felt worthless before, she now realized she was nothing more than a speck of dust in that forbidding expanse. At least in the tunnels, she’d felt large, even confined.

  She screamed as the aircraft shot into the turbulent skies. Her stomach lurched up into her throat. She dug her hands into the armrests, as if she might steady the rollicking craft. Stories of catastrophic air disasters, common due to the erratic jet streams, passed through her mind.

  She glanced at Bramford, who appeared calm as usual. Probably enjoying her distress. Well, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Breathe, Eden. Her mother always had said it was the key to happiness. But Eden couldn’t slow down her rapid heartbeat or stop the anxious feelings that surged through her as unpredictably as the vehicle’s erratic path. If only she’d stayed home.

  She tried to focus on a fixed point on the empty seat that faced her. Even here, Bramford had stamped the upholstery with his ego-driven logo. How had he obtained the leather, anyway, when the world treated its scant remaining livestock like gods?

  A flickering movement distracted Eden and she turned to find him watching shocking Holo-Images of an eight-year-old albino boy. Tuning into the same news feed, she learned that the young Cotton had been found in a cave near the Sahara. Apparently, he’d hidden there for most of his life.

  But how had an albino been born in the first place? The Uni-Gov proclaimed that the sterilization program aimed at carriers of the gene had wiped out albinism. Whenever a rare birth occurred, they took away the newborn and cut off the parents’ oxy supply.

  Eden watched as a mob tied the screaming albino to a funeral pyre. It was the only time she’d seen Coals and Pearls united in action. The Cotton’s white skin and hair stood out among his attackers; his pinkish eyes pleaded for help. Strange how she didn’t feel deep hatred for the albino, as she had been taught in school. She might even feel sorry for the poor boy.

  Bramford’s ring flashed and the news story changed. Eden quickly glanced at him, surprised to see the anxiety in his face. Why would a megalomaniac like him care about the doomed Cotton?

  The aircraft took a sharp turn, nearly throwing her into Bramford’s lap. He looked stunned and she wondered if he had felt the same mysterious electric charge. Was he wearing some new device that generated overwhelming magnetism?

  “Sorry,” Eden said, scrambling back to her seat.

  Shen slid open the partition and gave her a sympathetic look. “Would you like an oxy tablet?” he said.

  Was he kidding? She’d like a dozen. Only the military had tablets, which gave them the freedom to move around.

  “Sure.” She accepted the smal
l, green pill with feigned nonchalance.

  “Here,” Bramford said, offering a glass of water.

  Eden stared at it, bewildered. “But I’ve already had my allotment tonight.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Like Sweet Earth, it did. The image of her dying mother, desperate for a drink of water, burned in her mind. Many times, shame-faced, she’d allowed Eden to sacrifice part of her nightly share. Lasers and leather and oxy tablets, Eden could understand. But extra water? She wished that greedy bastard could know how it felt to live on the edge.

  She shot him a defiant look and popped the tablet in her mouth. But as her mouth turned gummy, she regretted her stubbornness, if only a little.

  “Change your mind?” Bramford said.

  Eden shook her head, trying to swallow.

  “Suit yourself.” He shrugged and drank the water.

  The man wasn’t human.

  Shen turned around again, his face anxious. “A fire has broken out in the hills above REA, sir.”

  As usual, Bramford kept his cool. “E.T.A.?”

  “Five minutes and forty-five seconds.”

  “Make it two.”

  The aircraft screamed forward.

  Bramford’s ring flashed and a Holo-Image of Eden’s father appeared, along with live images of the lab. “Delay the firewall until I arrive,” Bramford said.

  “What!” Her father blinked fast. “Extreme heat will put the delicate environment here at risk. The viral samples must be cooled.”

  Eden gagged as the jet nose-dived.

  He looked at her, wide-eyed. “Daught?”

  Before she could respond, the plump assistant, Peach, hurried over and whispered in his ear. The girl’s careless proximity stunned Eden. What could be so urgent? As her father’s expression turned grim, she figured it wasn’t good news.

  “Doctor Newman?” Bramford said.

  “I don’t understand,” her father said, stammering. “It appears the test subjects are missing. Security has searched the premises to no avail.”

  “Both of them?” Only one test subject was necessary; the other had been a safety.

  “So I’m told.”