Lise, DM Arnold [bearly read books .TXT] 📗

father died, I vowed to put it right. I vowed to use my undeserved privilege to help the unprivileged.”

“Oh, Thom... You were doing such good work with Novonid Rescue...”

“That work will continue. As I said before, Novonid Rescue is perpetual.”

“Evolution -- not revolution,” she said.

“Evolution is too slow. I wanted to see change in my lifetime.” He sat down again. “You asked me why. Now I've told you. And, it would've worked, too. It would've worked if someone hadn't pulled off one too many links and that single farm hadn't gone out a day early. It tipped our hand, and the authorities were ready for us.”

“No, Thom. It wouldn't have worked. Grott had it figured out. He said anyone who had spent time on a pomma farm would know how the owners would respond. He predicted the farms would begin to capitulate after four days. You needed at least ten for the crop to shoot into seed. Your plan was doomed to failure. You told me once you were many things, but never wrong. You were wrong about this.”

“Perhaps.”

“And, you've set us backward. How long will it take for us to regain society's trust? How long before the people living in Quadrant Four forget it was us who killed so many when the police station was bombed?”

“I told you -- that wasn't my doing.”

“It was our doing, and we wouldn't have done it without you, goading us. I was happy, Thom -- happy to live a normal life. Then you came along with your chains and your guns and your ... facilitation.” A tear ran down her face. “I saw the results of your so-called motivation. Tagg was a sensitive artist and you turned him into ... I don't know what -- someone I didn't recognize.”

“Again, I did not. Mott was merely the catalyst. Your life was hardly normal, living in squalor ... burning discarded fry grease for lighting ... no power, no communications, no hot water ... no water at all.”

“And I never missed them. My parents always told me, when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose... When you're on the bottom, you can't fall down.”

“Nothing to lose but the bonds that enslave you.”

“In my case I never considered myself enslaved.”

“Then, you are one of the fortunate few. You should've attended some of my meetings, Lise, and heard some of the tales.” He drew in a deep breath. “This isn't why I wanted to see you. I didn't intend to argue politics with you. No -- I wanted to confirm my suspicions regarding who turned me in. And, I wanted you to know I hold no hard feelings.”

“It was the hardest thing I've ever done, Thom. I admire you and I admire the good work you've done. Novonid Rescue is a fitting monument for anyone.”

“I also wanted to tell you -- I still love you. I can't help but love you. I don't know if I'll see you again. The magistrates will decide my case in a few days.” He looked into her eyes. “Lise... Do you still love me?”

“I don't know. All this has made me numb inside. I'm sorry, Thom.”

“No room for sorry, now.” Thom nodded toward Broc, who stood and rapped on the door through which he had entered. A guard opened the door and led Thom from the room.

Lise stepped outside and saw Bryce pacing. He walked with her and two deputies toward the underground garage.

“Lise,” he said, “the authorities are done examining the house on the hill. Thom wanted me to tell you -- you may continue to live there, if you'd like.”

“I'd rather not. Take me back to Megan's house.”

Bryce spoke to the deputies and sat in the back seat with her.

“I still can't believe it,” Lise said. “Bryce -- did you have any idea what Thom was doing?”

“None whatsoever,” Bryce replied. “I was as astonished as anyone. I've spoken to Novonid Rescue folks who knew Mott...”

“Do you mean novonids?”

“Exactly. I spoke to some who had direct contact with Mott ... with Thom as Mott ... and their description of him was so out of character with what I knew... I consulted a psychologist and he explained that sometimes alter-egos do take on personalities of their own. It must be what happened to Thom.”

“What will happen to him? Life imprisonment? I'm sure they'll come up with enough charges to keep him locked up for the rest of his life.”

“No. They've charged him with sedition -- the attempted violent overthrow of the government. It's been over a hundred standard years since they've used that statute.”

“Sedition?” Lise gasped. “How could they regard this folly of a strike as that?”

Bryce leaned toward the deputies in the front seat. “Our conversation is attorney-client privileged,” he said. One officer pressed a control and a transparent panel rose from behind the front seat and sealed off the rear compartment.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a handheld mediascreen. He slipped an optical chip into a slot on its side and switched it on. “During the search of Thom's house they found this ... the original that is. As a member of his legal team I'm entitled of a copy of the evidence they hold against him. I shouldn't be showing this to you, but since you asked... I'm sure I can count on your discretion.”

“Of course.” Lise took the screen. The document Bryce had brought up was titled Novonid Manifesto. She scrolled to the table of contents. “My goodness...”

“It's an outline for a new society -- one that emancipates novonids ... dissolves the current charter ... expropriates property from owners...”

“I can't believe it...”

“Two items are particularly troubling to the authorities. One is the section titled Interim Government. It describes an authoritarian council comprising novonids and sympathetic whites to oversee the formation of a new constitution.” He pointed to the screen. “The other is a roadmap to achieving it -- by seizing the pomma farms, and inciting uprisings in the cities as diversions.”

“Bryce -- this is some sort of pipe dream. They can't possibly imagine Thom would...”

“Are you sure? Look the document over, Lise. It advocates disarming the constables and using their weapons to arm enforcement squads; as well as replacing magistrates with paramilitary tribunals.”

“This makes my blood run cold,” she said as she scrolled through the document. “This section outlines training camps in the countryside. I know members of Mott's gang were recruiting runners and training them in the wilds.”

Bryce pointed to the screen. “Look here ... there are even lists of urban targets ... like the constable's station. The prosecution will use this as proof Thom was staging something more serious than a work action. They claim he was attempting a revolution.”

“Evolution, not revolution,” Lise replied. “I shudder at the outcome. But, after looking at this and after my conversation with him I fear perhaps they're right.” She handed the display back to Bryce. “What will happen to him?”

“If they get a conviction -- and we believe they will -- he'll be hanged.”

“She buried her face in her hands. “No... Poor Thom. He told me he's not a brave man.”

XVIII

Lise sat on the sofa in Megan's living room. Klarissa snuggled under her left arm with the electronic book reader. Geddes cuddled to her right, sucking his thumb.

The news was on the mediascreen. Lise watched a reporter state that Thom, Lord Bromen was not contesting charges of sedition, and that a Varadan magistrate would sentence him tomorrow. She pressed a remote control to switch it off.

Megan sat in a chair. “Hey,” she said, “I'm beginning to feel a little jealous.”

Klarissa looked up at her mother, then hopped off the sofa and climbed into Megan's lap.

“I do feel like a member of your family,” Lise said. “It's a wonderful feeling.”

“You are a member of our family,” Megan replied.

“Does that mean we've adopted Lise?” Klarissa asked.

“In a way, I suppose it does. Lise, I mean it. You're always welcome here. You're so good with the twins. You gave them unconditional love and look how they responded. You're good for me, too. I never knew unconditional love, so I didn't know how to bestow it. You've taught me.”

“Surely you exaggerate.”

“Surely I do not. You're a role model for me. Speaking of families -- have you heard from your mom and dad?”

“Yes. They're still living at the temporary shelters. They'll be reopening the Zone in a few days, so I imagine we'll head back there. There's no telling what we'll find. Since no one owns the buildings, it's homesteaders' rights. I don't know if we'll get our old place back again or not.”

“If I had the space, I'd invite all of you to live here.”

“At least, we've gone back to the old curfew.”

“Yes,” Megan replied. “Dusk-to-dawn was beginning to wear on one.” She smiled. “I wonder if we'll have a curfew-fueled baby boom within the next standard.”

The doorchime sounded. “I'll get it,” Lise said. “Excuse me, Geddes...” She went to the door and swung it open. “Bryce...”

“Lise, may I come in?” She stood aside. “The civil reserve are busy clearing debris in the Zone. In doing so, they ran across a group of novonids who had been holed up in the basement of one of the burned-out buildings They were caught in the firefight, so to speak. Some of them are injured -- one in particular. He happens to be registered to Novonid Rescue, so he's our concern. We had him transported to a novonid clinic in Quadrant Two. He's in pretty bad shape and they don't expect he'll last the night. He's asking for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes.”

Lise glanced at Megan. “Go to him,” she said. “We'll manage 'til you return.”

Bryce led Lise to a constable's squad car. “Are these people your private taxi service?” Lise asked.

“They're helping us get around with curfew.”

Lise heard the warning chimes sound as the car headed toward Quadrant Two. They drove past Ramina's breedery and stopped outside a single-story building. Bryce led her inside and spoke to an attendant.

“This way,” the attendant said. “I should warn you, it's not a pretty sight.”

“What happened to him?” Lise asked.

“He has a punctured spleen.”

“Can't you help him?”

“This condition is invariably fatal in novonids. The spleen is a vital photosynthetic organ. There's nothing we can do.”

Lise was led to a cot. She knelt beside him. Tagg' skin had faded to a pale yellow and he lay, gasping. “Tagg... Oh, Tagg...” She cradled him in her arms.

“Lise... You came.”

“I came as soon as I heard. Oh, Tagg... You should've listened to me. All your talent...”

“Don't scold me, Lise,” he gasped.

“Oh, Tagg -- I'm sorry.”

“I wanted you here, Lise ... to tell you ... I never stopped loving you.”

“I never stopped loving you, either. Oh, Tagg... Your art. It did make a difference.”

“My art?”

“Yes. One of your sketches is on the cover of the Novonid Rescue newsletter. It means you reached people, Tagg. You got their attention.”

“Lise... Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Mott... Any news of Mott? They said he was captured.”

“Mott turned himself in. The strike is over, Tagg. They've called off the demolition of the Zone.”

“We'll keep fighting...”

“There's nothing left to fight for.”

“Oh, Lise... I'm so tired. I've been staying awake 'til you came. I can't any longer. I'm going to sleep now. Don't leave me, Lise. I want you to be here when I wake up.”

A tear ran down her face. She squeezed his hand. “I'll be here, Tagg.”

“I love you ... and that's forever.”

“Tagg... No, Tagg...”

He closed his eyes, shuddered and was still. Lise eased him back onto the cot. The attendant covered him with a drape.

Tears blurred Lise's vision. Bryce approached her. “I'm sure you comforted him.”

“Who's going to comfort me? I loved him, Bryce. Such a waste. Such a waste of his talent...” She sniffed back tears. “What happens next? Can we claim the body?”

“Claim the body? Surely you know novonid remains are disposed by...”

“Yes. By the city department of sanitation. Bryce -- Thom bought Tagg so he could live like a white. He never had the chance to do so. Can't he at least die like one?”

“We'll need to