Chapter 109

“No,” Seth said. “There are some in the truck bed, though.”
Rain slowly opened the door, taking her time and not making any quick movements. A woman came around to her side of the vehicle and patted her down so thoroughly Rain felt slightly violated. When she was done, the female officer, a woman who looked to be about ten years older than Rain with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail beneath her military hat, said through a device, “You may turn around and lean against the vehicle.” The rest of the party had been treated similarly. Rain caught Adam’s eyes as he turned to lean against the rear passenger door, and he gave her a small reassuring smile.
“What is your name?” the female official asked her.
“Rain Gretchintown,” she said, hating that she still had to use that last name. She heard Adam explain that he didn’t have a name, rattle off his number, and then say that he preferred to be called Adam Blue. When he’d adopted that last name, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t mind it.
“Where are you from?” the official asked her, taking notes on a different device as the translator hung from a cord around her neck.
“Gretchintown, Michaelanburg,” Rain answered. The thought that she might shortly find herself on a transport back to that very place entered her mind. She prayed they could trust these people. Had they heard about the insurrection, as Seth had suggested? Did they know that Spanish-America had moved against Michaelanburg?
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.” The questions continued. Date of birth, height, weight, reason for wanting to enter Quebec, finally the official asked Rain her parents’ names. “I don’t know,” she said.
That response got a bit of sympathy from the hardened official. It didn’t linger, but it was there just the same. “Come with me,” the woman said as her face returned to stone.
The others were led along with her, and Rain heard Seth’s engine start as another official moved the truck out of the way. Where they were going, none of them knew, but they had no choice but to cooperate.
A male military official led them to a door in the wall next to the gate, one that required both a thumb and eye scan to open. All of them trailed inside, along with the armed officials. They passed through the wall and through another door with the same sort of scanner, and then, Rain took her first steps into the country she’d been longing to reach since the rebellion had begun.
She didn’t have long to relish that first step as the officials led her on at a quick pace. They continued on foot for a few moments past several buildings near the wall, all of them clearly government buildings, based on their concrete structure and the few people Rain could see walking in and out of them. Hardly any windows gave a clue as to what might be going on inside of the buildings since that would make the structures weaker than solid concrete. She could only imagine it took a lot of military personnel to keep people out of this lovely, free country that wouldn’t fit in there. Criminals, those with political views that differed from the ones held by the persons currently in power--possibly escapees from enemy lands.
They were led into a long two-story building, through another door with a scanner, and down a dimly lit hallway to holding rooms. Each of them was deposited into a different small room with only a desk and two chairs beneath a light bulb adorned with a flimsy white shade hanging from the ceiling.
“Have a seat,” the official told Rain. “Someone will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” Rain said, managing a smile, though she was growing scared that this wasn’t going to turn out the way that she had hoped. What if she never even got a chance to plead her case to an official high enough up the chain that he or she could make a difference?
The female official smiled at her, which calmed Rain a bit, and then left the room. When the door snapped closed with a resounding thud, the nerves were back.
Rain sat in the small room for what seemed like an eternity. At first, she spent her time thinking about what she might be asked, how she should answer, worrying about her friends, wondering if Seth’s interrogation would take longer because he’d helped them or if he’d be out sooner because he wasn’t from Michaelanburg. Eventually, she began to grow weary of sitting in the uncomfortable wooden chair, and laid her head on the table. When the door finally opened, Rain sat up, nearly raising her hands in a defensive nature until she remembered where she was and that she needed to be cooperative. Realizing she must have fallen asleep, she wiped at a bit of drool in the corner of her mouth and tried to find a smile for the people who had entered.
There were three of them, though it seemed two were just there for the protection of the third. These two, a man and a woman, wore the same uniforms as the officials who had escorted them in. The other man, a rigid looking fellow who had graying brown hair at his temples, visible below his hat, looked like the sort of person one didn’t mess around with. His uniform was a dark brown, and he had several pins on his lapel.
He sat a bottle of water and the translating device on the table and then pulled out the other chair across from Rain, studying her. “Rain Gretchintown?” he asked her.
Rain nodded before she managed, “Yes, sir.” It was odd using that word--sir. It had almost fallen out of their language since no one ever needed it for anything in Michaelanburg.
“I am Lt. Gordon Laurant. It is my understanding that you are an escapee from the country of Michaelanburg and that you are seeking asylum in the Nation of Quebec, and that you are also seeking an audience with Prime Minister Bissett. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Rain said again, her voice cracking slightly as she answered.
Lt. Laurent slid the bottle of water to her.
Rain was surprised, thinking it had been for him, but she thanked him and opened it with shaking hands before she took a sip.
“I would like for you to explain to me, in as detailed a fashion as possible, what took place during the resurrection in Michaelanburg. I would like to know every part you played, where you’ve been for the last several weeks since the insurrection, how you’ve survived, and what your plans are now.”
Rain stared at him for a second. It was an overwhelming task, recounting everything that had transpired since the day she had agreed to help Mist free the men of IW. But… she knew she needed to tell the lieutenant everything without leaving out any details because otherwise, he might not see her urgency. He might not recognize how horrific the conditions were, not only for the men of Michaelanburg but also for the women who’d been left behind as well.
Without a clock in the room, it was difficult for Rain to judge how long she’d been speaking, but she assumed it had to have been at least two hours. By the time she got to the part where they’d reached the border, and she’d ended up here, she was exhausted from all of the effort she’d put into the retelling. But then, the hardest part was left to be said. He wanted to know what she intended to do now.
Rain spun the nearly empty water bottle around between her fingers for a few moments as she contemplated how to answer that portion of the question. The officer had hardly spoken since she’d begun talking, though she realized he was recording everything through the translator, so if they had questions about anything she’d said, they could go back over it later. Now, he stared at her with narrowed brown eyes, waiting for the last part. He knew there was no need to repeat himself. She was aware that she needed to tell him what she wanted from them--from this country. She just had to sort out all of the thoughts and feelings circulating around inside of her before she could form them into coherent sentences.
“What I want now… is to go back,” Rain began, watching his eyebrows arch. “I have to go back. Sure, it would be easy to ask for asylum here, indefinite shelter, perhaps even a path to citizenship. I have heard enough about Quebec to know this place is nearly utopia compared to what I’m used to, compared to the place I want to return to. But I don’t want to go back to hide my head in the sand and pretend that the indoctrination of all women to believe that men are inferior, worthless animals is correct. I have to go back so that I can finish what we started.”
He spoke then. “You want to… free the others? The men?”