Chapter Eleven
Jule woke to a sound he had spent all his life avoiding. At first, he thought it must just be an effect of the ocean of static in the air, but as the noise grew louder and showed no signs of receding he finally accepted it for what it was: the wailing of Corporation upcar sirens.
He jerked from his bunk to find Marton – who occupied one of five bunks – scrabbling his way through an old chest of drawers.
"Marton, what the hell…?"
"Come with me when I go to find Jared and you may find out!"
With that, Marton strode across the small room to the door, jerked it open and set off down the corridor, leaving Jule with no choice but to fall out of bed and follow.
A minute later the pair were catching their breath outside Jared's, a room that doubled up as his sleeping quarters at night. Marton banged on the door, although Jule half expected it to be empty. A grim-faced Jared emerged.
"I don't know." He growled.
"But surely-"
"I don't know! Except that this has something to do with that traitor, Kiaran, and we'll all be arrested if we don't leave this minute!"
Al traces of leadership gone, Jared shouldered past the two stricken roommates and disappeared around a corner.
"Do you think," Jule suggested hesitantly, " we should be following him?"
"Sure as hell."
The pair started down the corridor.
Come out quietly and nobody will be hurt.
They
froze.
"Did you just get that?"
"Yeah. Do we ignore it?"
"I don't think we should."
I
repeat; we don't want to hurt any of you. As long as you come out
quietly.
"You think everybody else here got it too?"
"I guess."
We'll give you five minutes.
"Goodbye,
Coalition of Pity."
"Good riddance, feed resistance."
And, Jule imagined, throughout the building, other people must have been saying the same thing.