Dawnrunner

Chapter 16

The first steps into Amsterdam are the equivalent of trading my reality for a dream. There are no lights, no lamps, no fires… and no darkness. All I feel is the brilliant, breathtaking warmth of sunlight streaming on my face, unbidden by dark clouds.
We are standing in a stone courtyard surrounded by people on all sides. The two masked soldiers are gone, but a small group in uniform are waiting nearby behind the thin man. I can see his eyes clearly now, hardly hidden at all behind the nearly-invisible frames. Precise and calculating, they seem to take in everything before finally coming to rest on me. For a few moments he holds my stare until a lack of nerves forces me to look away.
“Miss, could you look this way please?” The voice belongs to a stern-looking doctor in a white coat standing next to me. I was so distracted I didn’t even notice him arrive. Another one – a woman – is talking to Rachel, trying to direct her eyes away from the beautiful clear sky and down to a small scanner. The man next to me is holding up a scanner of his own.
“This will only take a second,” he tells me. I put my eyes to the device and wait for the flash. When I raise my head again I’m blinking.
“Thank you Miss… Webb,” the man finishes, thumbing through the readout. “Welcome to Amsterdam.” As he turns to scan the next passenger I run the two short steps to Rachel’s side.
“We did it!” I scream. “We finally made it!”
“I know!” she cries back. There are tears in her eyes. “Look! I can’t believe it…” she points towards the clear cloudless expanse above us.
For the first time in a long time, my mind feels free, unshackled by the truth I learned in Sofia. This is not about GE or the Sanctuary. This is not about Lazarus or the resistance, or the mission that is still to come. This is just the sun. I close my eyes and let the warmth envelop me.
“Sorry to interrupt,” comes a chilling voice, made all the worse for the way it shatters through our blissful moment. The childish part of me stamps its foot and scowls deeply, telling me in no uncertain terms: this had better be important.
Standing in front of us is the thin man. Up close I can see he is the exact opposite of Michael. His body is un-athletic and pale, and his features are finely manicured. His hair, teeth, and even his hands have been cleaned and treated with meticulous care. He is wearing an expensive suit without a single wrinkle. Though he appears to be leading the soldiers, he is clearly not one of them.
“Forgive my intrusion. I know the sunlight can be a wondrous thing for those who have never seen it. It is unfortunate that this area will no longer be sky-clear after this week’s end.”
Rachel shoots me a sideways glance, which I pretend not to notice. This man has bothered me since we arrived, but if Rache is feeling it too, then it must be serious. The man holds out his hand, and I glimpse a row of perfectly cut nails before I take it in my own. Some of my luggage made it to Sofia, but I still feel unassailably dirty and ragged in front of him. He’s smiling a tight smile that twists my stomach.
“It’s a shame,” I say with the intrinsic sincerity of an undeniable fact. “But just seeing it is enough. It makes it all worth it.”
The man’s eyes flinch and he takes my hand tighter. “Yes, of course, your ordeal. How shocking, to be captured by those… rebels.” He spits out the last word like a bad taste. “Well, you’re safe now.”
Free of his grip my hand falls down to my side. Something’s coming, I can feel it.
“There is just one matter we have to attend to before we can get you settled in the city.”
“We’re not staying,” chimes Rachel, a little too aggressively. “We want to go back to the Sanctuary, as soon as possible.”
The smile vanishes from his face as the man turns to face her directly. “Of course,” he says, “but that will not be possible until the Dawnrunner arrives in a few weeks. Until then you will be given temporary quarters here, in the city.”
“What is this ‘matter’ that we have to deal with?” I ask. The knot in my stomach has advanced to a sick pull that is getting stronger by the second.
“An interview,” he replies coldly. “Just a few questions about your experience during your abduction.”
My stomach is playing host to a three-car pileup. We’re going to be interviewed about the resistance? About Sofia, and Michael?
I swallow and nod, trying not to show any hesitation. I guess I fail because the thin man raises an eyebrow as he watches me. “It’s strictly a formality, of course. Nothing to worry about.” I nod silently, hoping it’s enough to make him leave.
“These men will escort your group to the central offices,” he waves towards the soldiers standing behind him. With a slight bow he turns and disappears into the crowd of onlookers. Without turning away, I reach across and grab Rachel’s hand. Right now it’s the only thing I can do to stop myself from throwing up.

The central offices are a group of large buildings overlooking the river, protected by a heavy steel fence and armed sentries. The Global Effort flag waves from the rooftop. Only twenty minutes away is the large Amsterdam Central train station, where the Dawnrunner will one day arrive to take us back to the Sanctuary.
I’m sitting in a small waiting room with bright white walls and deep red furniture. With me are Rachel and two men I don’t know from the train. Christy is in another group, in another room, in another building. For some reason they won’t explain, each group is being interviewed by different people. As the door swings open I see who has arrived to interview us, and my heart plummets. Standing in the doorway is the thin man, and he’s calling my name.
The thin man’s office ends in a giant window, which takes up most of the back wall. It is perfectly positioned to catch the sun as it begins to set behind the city, flooding the room with warm orange light. As I make my way towards a high-backed chair, opposite his long wooden desk, I keep my eyes on the view as long as possible.
“I understand you must be very tired,” he says. His voice has lost none of the disturbing tone I felt when we first arrived. “I promise we this won’t take long Miss Webb… or may I call you Carliah?”
Nobody calls me ‘Miss Webb,’ but I don’t like the idea of being called anything by that voice, so I just shrug my shoulders. “Anything’s fine. What do I call you?”
The thin man’s eyes grow wide in exaggerated alarm. “Oh, how rude of me! I haven’t introduced myself at all. My name is Rudolph Stein.”
My mind flashes back to the group of soldiers standing obediently behind this uninspiring man. Unlike Lazarus, this Stein is clearly not some hero-leader. Whatever authority he possesses, it is bureaucratic in origin.
“Why are you interviewing us yourself?” I ask. “There must be lots of people who you could ask to do it.”
“I thought your case merited special consideration.” His voice is cold, like I’ve somehow offended him. “I am a special-investigator in charge of counter insurgency here, at the Global Effort base of operations in Europe. It has come to my attention that you and your friend are regarded in some respects as ‘leaders’ among the passengers that were taken to the resistance stronghold. I therefore feel it is my duty to take a personal interest in your handling.”
About a thousand alarm bells start ringing in my head at once. Not the least of them is the knowledge that if this guy says anything like that to Rachel we’re both in very big trouble. I try to get my breathing back under control as I go through the list.
Special-investigator: scary! I knew this guy was trouble! Leaders: who are we leading? I still don’t know most of the people from the train. Resistance stronghold: he’s going to ask me about Sofia! Personal interest: we’re going to see a lot more of Mr. Stein. That sick feeling in my stomach practically erupts.
The thin smile spreads his face again, though whether that’s because he can see how uncomfortable I’ve become or not is unclear. “Please, don’t be alarmed,” he says. “All you have to do is answer our questions as honestly as you can, and you’ll be back with your family in no time. What’s more, if the information you provide leads to a military advantage against the rebels, you and your friend may well find yourselves returning home as heroes!” As I hear Michael’s promise repeated from Stein’s cruelly twisted lips, the gut-wrenching sickness in my stomach threatens to consume me.