Chapter Text
“Dr. Michel wants you to come back next month,” Katie Holt said, looking up from the chart. “We’ll schedule your echo-cardiogram for then.”
“How much do I owe?” the elderly patient asked as dug through her purse with hands thick with arthritis.
“Don’t worry about it. You can pay what you can next time,” Katie said, trying not to regret not taking any money. There had been too many next times for too many patients.
They were going to have to start collecting money if Dr. Michel wanted to keep his practice operating. The Imperial taxes weren't getting any cheaper and they continued to rise each month. Each time Jenny, the nurse practitioner, mentioned it Dr. Michel would tell her not to worry. They would get by somehow. Katie noticed each time he said that he looked more tired than reassuring.
She set the appointment for next month and saw the elderly patient to the door before locking up for the day. With a quick look at the clock, she saw they had one hour to clean up before they had to be on their way home before curfew. Jenny gave instruction as if it was their first time cleaning the office.
“Katie, vacuum the lobby and clean the windows. Sammi, you can sweep and mop behind the counter. Then both of you will wipe down the counters with disinfectant and then the seats.”
Katie turned her head to rolled her eyes without being seen. They knew how to clean up at the end of the day as they had cleaned every day since they joined the staff. Jenny returned to the back rooms to help Dr. Michel finish up and to give the rooms a quick cleaning. Katie suspected that she sometimes spent the night on the office couch when they both worked a bit late. Dr. Michael had a room upstairs and had no need to hurry home before curfew. Jenny spending the night was a risk as the Galra locked down the districts at night. No one wanted to be caught out after curfew. Katie kept her eye on the clock while cleaning. She was anxious to get home for much-needed rest before her shift at the factory. However, there was someone else was watching the clock with absolute dread. Sammi cleaned the floor behind the counter with hunched shoulders as if to ward off a blow.
She was ahead and shoulders taller than Katie with long dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were blue and large doe eyes that reflected her emotional as clear as glass. She never went anywhere without a layer of makeup and she wore long earrings that chimed as she moved her head. Working with her had been frustrating as she rather flirt with handsome patients than do her job. And she leaves work early and left clean up to Katie to do alone.
Then something happened. Sammi became very quiet and said very little to patients she would have happily chatted. And she was always shooting furtive looks at the windows and door whenever it opened. Last week, she was able to take off the wrist brace. Katie didn’t know whether she liked this new Sammi or not. She was more willing to work and less annoying, but now it seemed so sad. Katie didn’t like seeing her like this, even more so after she learned what led to this sudden change.
“Katie,” Jenny called from the back door. “Could you take a look at the ultrasound? It’s been acting up again.”
“Sure, give me a few minutes.”
The ultrasound machine was a relic from the 2030s before every doctor’s office had their own MRI scanner. The Galra disallowed technologies in human hands, including advanced medical technology, was banned. Thankfully, Dr. Michel’s clinic had an old sonogram machine which was useful. Katie was called often to fix the AC, malfunctioning computers, and ultrasound. Everything in the office was beginning to fail, needing her attention more often as time went by with slim chances of getting replaceable parts.
Jenny watched her run diagnostics on the computer, fidgeting anxiously. “What can we do to fix it?”
“Other than getting a new ultrasound,” Katie said reading over the results. “Nothing much. Replacing the motherboard might buy us a few more months with it.”
Jenny moaned, “I have no idea where to get one now. We can’t exactly go online and order one anymore.”
There was no longer any internet. The Galra dismantled all the networks and servers upon their arrival. The public was only allowed the heavily monitored Empire intranet. Any orders for equipment for clinics had to go through their local requisitions office and they only granted requests they deemed necessary. Thus far, advance medical equipment wasn’t on that list.
Jenny looked hopefully at Katie, “Is it possible that you could . . .acquire one?”
Katie swallowed, taking a nervous glance at the nearby window and open door. She wished Jenny wouldn’t say this out loud where anyone could hear. Sure, the office was closed and locked, but it still made her nervous. She made a quick hushing motion with one hand and said in a quiet voice, “I’ll see what I can do.”
After a quick look at her watch, she hurried to the front where Sammi was putting away the cleaning supplies. “Sorry, I got caught up with the ultrasound. Are you ready?”
Sammi visibly swallowed and Katie noticed a bit of sweat on her brow. “I’m ready. Let me get my purse.”
Sammi didn’t like walking home alone anymore. Not after what had happened to her. Katie remembered when Sammi finally returned to work. She wouldn't meet anyone's eyes and looked as if she would burst into tears. Jenny asked her to walk Sammi home after work each day.
Katie had been taken aback by this request, “Why?”
Jenny pursed her lips, not wishing to speak, but she plodded on. “Sammi doesn’t feel safe walking home by herself anymore. She’s terrified of the Galra.”
“So is everyone else, but they pretty much leave you alone if you follow the rules.” Then Katie realized, “Sammi didn’t follow the rules, did she?”
Jenny again pursed her lips as if she could hold back what she didn’t wish to tell Katie. Then she said firmly, “I told Sammi I might have to tell you and she’s okay with it as long as you promise not to tell anyone else. Do you understand?”
Jenny told Katie what had happened to Sammi. One evening, Sammi had left work early to meet a boy for a date that lasted long after curfew. Jenny’s face hardened into a scowl. “And that little bastard let her walk home through the business sector alone. Maybe if he had been there or not let her go . . . anyway, a Galra patrolling the streets caught her out after curfew and . . .” Jenny hesitated, even taking a moment to look away as if to delay the worst part of the story, “one of them assaulted her.”
Katie felt her blood turn cold. Sammi somehow made it to the clinic and on that night Jenny and Dr. Michel were still there for late night cleaning. They treated the lacerations and bruises on her body and put a brace on the sprained wrist. She spent the day recovering upstairs and Jenny walked her home that morning. She almost went into hysterics when they drew too close to a Galra patrol.
“She’s a lot better now, but she’s still scared and she needs this job, but I don’t have time to walk her home each day. I live on the other side of the district and I won’t be able to get home in time for curfew myself,” Jenny said. Her voice spoke kindly, but needful, “I know you and Sammi aren’t friends, but it would really help out if you could.”
“I’ll walk home with her from now on,” Katie promised.
So each day, they walked home together after work. Sammi didn’t speak and cast nervous glances as if fearing her attacker would materialize. Katie didn’t know what to say to her and used the silent walk to think.
She made sure it was in her bag at all times, sitting inconspicuously with the other items in her purse. Her hair scrunchies, wallet, eye drops, and house keys all served to camouflage its true purpose. And it was something the Galra would arrest and execute her for having. Whenever a bored Galra checked her bag at the checkpoints, her heart would pound until he waved her along. Each day the contact didn’t show up at the checkpoint. The encrypted message said to look for a dark-haired woman at the checkpoints. Each day, Katie would come through with her eyes peeled, but never saw her contact. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps the plan had changed and they didn’t see fit to inform her.
She thought of this as they made their way, their shoes kicking up dirt and litter. The Galra saw no reason to pay for any sanitation department once took control of the area. The economy, government, and society crumbled once the Galra took control. There were small businesses that sold food, handmade items, and provided services. The only work that provided decent wages was they factories maintained by Galra.
The districts and sectors were enclosed by tall metal walls. They patrolled by drones and sentries and checkpoints connected the different sectors together. Passes were issued to employees and humans to come and out within curfew. Sometimes there were mandatory searches of persons and goods for illegal items. It wasn't too often that someone was caught and arrested on the spot. Last week, the Galra arrested a man for carrying a defunct smartphone. Katie heard the man kept it for the pictures of his family still stored on it. Other say that it carried secret rebels codes. Either way, he was gone now, gone to wherever Galra took their prisoners.
As they drew close to the checkpoint, Sammi drew close to Katie who touched her arm reassuringly. Most times, they could go through without a Galra soldier looking in their direction. The checkpoint was free of any soldiers and they were the only ones on the street. Sammi relaxed her tight grip on Katie's arm, but she looked this way and that like an animal hearing an odd sound. There was a scanner barring the way with a hologram bar that would elicit an alarm if they crossed it. They each wiped plastic id cards under the scanner. With a beep, it flashed green granting them entry and the bar disappeared.
Katie sensed the tremor flutter through Sammi’s frame and obligingly held her hand out for Sammi to take. When her hand was squeezed tight, she led the taller girl through the tunnel of the checkpoint. The silence was broken by voices. They were muffled as if coming from a room from the other side of a wall. There was a window almost opaque from the sunlight beaming from the other end of the tunnel. As Katie walked by she saw a woman with shoulder length black hair talking to a Galra soldier.
Katie’s heart skipped a beat. Was she the contact?
When they near the end of the tunnel, she drew her hand from Sammi’s vice-like grip, “Go ahead, I need to head back for a bit.”
Sammi wouldn’t have looked more frightened than if Katie had threatened to kick her off a cliff. “Katie, I – I can’t . . .”
“It’ll just be for a few minutes, okay. I’ll catch up, I promise.”
Before Sammi could say another word, Katie dashed back with her bag clutched to her side. Thankfully, no Galra could see her drawing close to the window and reach into her bag. She took out a tube of lipstick which she removed the top and twisted the bottom. Once the lipstick extended to its full length, Katie pulled it out. The bottom was a hollow tube where an earbud was coiled. Tapping it onto her palm, she unraveled it while keeping an eye out for any incoming soldiers. Sticking the single bud into one ear, she took the other end of the wire and held it against the wall, below the window. The voices inside increased in volume and she could hear them clearly.
A deep Galra voice said, “230.”
“Why do you wanna hurt my feelings for?” a feminine voice said with a slight southern twang. “500 or I walk out now and take my supply to the next guy who ain’t gonna insult my product.”
What are they talking about? Katie peered cautiously from the corner of the window. A Galra soldier, standing at a solid seven and a half feet, was towering over a woman with dark shoulder-length hair. She was wearing black jeans with a white shirt that showed off the curves of hips and a toned stomach. Though she was inside, she was wearing reflective black shades.
A travel bag with small plastic baggies scattered around it seemed to be the topic of the exchange. The Galra held one of them, sifting the puce color powder inside. Katie squinted, trying to get a better look without giving herself away. Was that Gall powder?
When the Galra came, they brought their own drugs and narcotics with them. It didn’t seem they had any laws against using performance-enhancing drugs. They often used a powder that acted as a steroid when mixed with a beverage. Someone had cut it with meth and cocaine to form a drug that not only granted enhanced performance but also caused a euphoric high. It became as popular with humans as with the Galra.
“I can do 350 and that’s as high I’ll go,” the Galra decisively tossed the baggy on the table. His amber eyes switched between the dark hair woman and the drugs. He wanted them, but he wasn’t willing to lose in negotiations with a human.
The woman made a show of sighing in resignation and shoved a hand into her pocket. She withdrew a wrinkled pack of cigarettes and tapped one out. She took on a thoughtful pose as she lit it with a brass lighter and took a deep drag. After pocketing the lighter and pack, she exhaled a stream of smoke. The smoke spilled from her lips as she spoke. “Tell ya what, I’ll let ya have the lot for 300, but I need something to sweeten the deal.”
“Like what?” the Galra said suspiciously.
“I want the patrol along the west wall delayed at 2:00 AM, tonight.”
Katie held her breath, expecting the Galra to arrest the woman on the spot. There was a long silence and Katie felt sweat breaking out on her brow.
“For how long?” he said cautiously.
“Twenty minutes.”
Again, there was a long silence.
“I can give you ten minutes,” the Galra said.
The woman beamed, “Then we have a deal.”
A gac chit was handed to the woman. She plugged it into a wrist comm and once the value was confirmed, the soldier collected the baggies. He deposited them into a metal container on a high shelf. The woman pocketed the chit and hefted the bag over a shoulder and headed for the door. Katie quickly rolled up the earbud into one hand and shoved it into a pocket. She bent down as if she was tying her shoe to disguise her actions.
The door whispered opened and the woman came out. She walked around Katie with the smell of cigarettes following her. Katie looked over her shoulder and was startled to see the woman’s shades directed at her. The woman pushed the shades up with one finger showing off blue eyes that reminded Katie of husky dogs.
“Hey, sweetie,” the woman said, her white teeth flashing through a friendly smile. “This is really embarrassing, but my, uh, Aunt Flo has made an early visit and I’m in need of a pad.”
Katie swallowed. This was the contact after all. “I’ll trade ya a pad for a cigarette.”
The woman’s smile brightened and she took the packet of cigarettes from her pocket, “Sure, hon, you can have the rest.”
Katie stood reaching into her bag, her heart pounding. If the Galra figured out what they were exchanging, they would be arrested or put against a wall and shot.
Katie held out a sanitary pad. Folded within the powder blue plastic paper was a list of security codes. She had risked her neck stealing these from the mainframe at the munitions plant she worked at. In exchange for the codes, the rebels would give her a list of humans in custody of the Galra, off planet. Her hand squeezed around the pack and she felt something small and solid within. She could feel the solid drive through the aluminum paper and shoved it into her pocket. “Thanks.”
“No. Thank you,” the woman never stopped grinning. “By the way, I heard that we’re going to have clear skies tomorrow night. Is that true or is the weather forecaster pulling my leg?”
Katie swallowed, glancing around, her pulse skipping. This was too much! Exchanging secret packages and passwords right under the Galra’s noses!
“I think it’s true. It’s usually dry this time of year,” Katie said, “Though sometimes we’re surprised by rain.”
“Ah, have a good day then,” the woman said shouldering her bag.
The woman headed for the business sector and Katie hurried in the opposite direction. She slowed her trot to a steady walk and drew slow breaths to calm her thumping heart. There was no sound of pursuit nor klaxons screaming, so their exchange had gone unnoticed.
She came to a sudden halt and looked around for Sammi. Did she go home by herself? Or was she waiting somewhere? As much as Katie was eager to get home, she couldn’t leave if Sammi was still out here on her own. Katie began walking frantically, not in the direction of home, but towards the school park.
Public schools remained open for students to learn Imperial history. and instructed on how to be loyal subjects of the growing Empire. The park was usually empty this time of day, especially when it was close to curfew. However, right now there was someone sitting on a swing. Sammi was rocking back and forth with her feet planted firmly on the dry ruts formed by years of kids swinging. Katie almost ran to meet her, so relieved she was to see Sammi.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that. I got hung up,” Katie said, catching herself on the swing set pole. “Hey, are you okay?”
“No,” Sammi said, kicking at a dirt clod.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you alone . . .”
Sammi pulled on chains of the swing and kicked off, letting herself swing with her feet off the ground. “It’s okay. I made it here by myself. I used to play here when I was a kid.”
“Really?” Katie feigned interest. She didn't care to hear Sammi reminiscing about her childhood as she really wanted to go home.
Sammi shoved her heels into the dirt, digging trenches with soft crunches. The chains rattled and twisted as Sammi turned in the swing to look at Katie with somber eyes. “Do you - do you think I . . .deserved what happened?”
Katie blinked. “What?”
“I shouldn’t have been out after curfew. My mom told me not to go out at night.”
It was like Sammi was dropping heavy stones in her stomach. The data chip was forgotten in the brunt of Sammi talking about her rape. No, she didn’t want to hear this, but she feared that if she ran away or refused to listen, it would cause Sammi more harm.
“No, I don’t think it’s your fault,” Katie said, firmly. “They’re all bastards.”
Sammi stared at the school. On the brick walls was graffiti of purple figures in metal armor saluting the Imperial emblem. It was a sharp, angular like a sharp weapon. Before there had been a mural of a rainbow and children playing beneath it.
“I hate all of them. I want them all to die,” Sammi muttered, staring at the graffiti. “Someone should invent a virus that’ll kill all of them. Like a plague. Just kill ‘em dead where they stand.”
A cold swing blew across Katie’s neck. Rubbing it, she checked her watch and saw that curfew was looming closer. She didn’t have her after curfew pass with her and Sammi didn’t have one at all. It would be dangerous for both of them if they lingered out here any longer.
“Sammi, let’s go home, okay?”
“Okay.”
* * *
She didn't have much time when she returned home. She ran upstairs with a brief shout to announce her arrival and locked her bedroom door behind her. The Galra had confiscated all computers and mobile devices to curb communications. Good thing that Katie had been able to build a computer since she was five. It had taken months to locate all the parts, but she managed to put together a functioning laptop which she hid beneath a loose floorboard beneath her bed. She turned it on and as it was booting up, she tore open the packet of cigarettes to get at the true prize within. It was a dark grey thumb drive like the ones she had stored school assignments on.
Once the computer finished booting, she thrust the thumb drive into a USB port. It took moments for the laptop to recognize the new drive and access it.
"C'mon, c'mon," Katie murmured, thinking back to how her old computer could have opened the drive within seconds.
Finally, the drive was accessed and had a single program. Katie opened it and a list filled the screen. There wasn’t a search function, but there were names and dates.
She sorted the takes from earliest to latest and looked at the first few names.
Matt Holt
Dr. Samuel Holt
Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane