Refracted

- - 14 - -

I was still snickering as the previous events but I knew I needed to stop. With a final glance at a still Sam, I began to focus on the class.

"Here, we learn the truth. The truth gives us knowledge. Knowledge is power, power to rebel."

The teacher had introduced himself as Juan, the guy who had led the rescue team yesterday. The guy who had returned without any casualties along with Elyse and Alex. I still felt bitter about it.

Yet, you could tell from his demeanour that he was confident in what he was doing. He enjoyed teaching, educating; he probably felt that it gave him purpose. And slowly, I was finding my own purpose too.

"Today, we will study the structure of our government and its society / citizens, particularly in Zyphia."

There was a rustle of paper as everyone in the room opened a notebook to take notes. Clearly, in this sense the Resistance was slightly behind as in school we had all used tablets to make notes. They weren't even state of the art tablets but they were much more functional than grimy paper that could be damaged in any number of ways.

However, this subject was intriguing to me. In school, we had learnt the structure of our amazing government from the moment we could speak but I still found it interesting. Of course, I never had agreed with any of it but I enjoyed the psychological aspect of one man (Alpha) and a couple others being able to literally take over the world.

"So," Juan continued, "our government..."

"Alpha is the highest in the hierarchy and our supposedly fearless leader of Terra. For safety, both Alpha's and Beta's identities remained unknown. This prevents terrorism and assassination. His right hand man, Beta, is second in line for control and will soon take over, becoming Alpha himself. This will happen in less than a month at the Solar Elections, when Helios will eclipse with Selene. On Earth, in most countries there was democracy where the people could choose their leader freely and the leader actually changed accordingly. That is our goal for the future.

"Underneath Alpha is the Higher Authority, they control the general policies of Terra along with Alpha and Beta. They also manage the Lower Authority which acts as security and surveillance, local to their cities. It is the Lower Authority that controls the VISORs but overall, all policing is overseen by the Higher Authority. However, all the Local Authorities are also very well communicated so there will be no easy infiltration or manipulation of directions and instructions there.

"All these groups make up the United Nations which is essentially the party of the government, some prefer to think of it as the embodiment of Terra. Whichever you choose, but remember one thing, our goal is to bring it down. The tyranny and pain has gone on long enough so the Resistance's and every Resistance's (in every city) goal is to lead the revolution.

"This cannot happen without the support of the people though. We need to inspire the fight and courage within them because what we are about to do is extremely risky. And we need to do it before the Solar Elections. Once Beta becomes the new Alpha, it has been rumoured that policies will become stricter and they have zero tolerance for any resistance. We will be found out. So, now we have a deadline: less than a month.

"And one more thing, unfortunately these classes will end following today to free up more time for preparation. This will be the biggest battle yet and no amount of time will make us completely ready but we need to try. From now on, instead of heading to class, go directly to the briefing room where you will be led by Lucas. Class dismissed."

I looked in utter surprise at the clock to see that two hours had passed! My notes had five full pages of scruffy handwriting and yet I was pretty sure that I had written the least. Juan was yet another amazing Resistance member. We really needed the best of the best for what we were about to engage in.

"All members report to the briefing room. All members report to the briefing room."

A droning robotic voice crackled over the intercom and directed us to the briefing room. I guessed today really was going to be just as hectic as the last. Hopefully, with less casualties.

We filed into the briefing room and sat down with our squads, great, more time with Elyse. This time, Lucas was onstage straight away. Rachel has taken his place slightly off stage and she looked terrible. She was much more thin and pale than when I had last saw her.

"First announcement," Lucas shouted, "for the love of Terra, cover your tracks when entering the tunnel! Yesterday, there were footprints leading right in and we could have been found out at any moment."

That was surprising, I thought, I was near the back of the line, returning from the construction zone and I knew I had seen people covering the tracks. It did explain why Rachel was so angry on the first day we met when I was going to the compound from the same tunnel but it didn't make sense now. I knew security was an issue but the footprints had been covered and no one else had left the compound until now. Yet again, I knew there was something they weren't telling us, another piece of the puzzle missing.

"Second announcement and your job for today, several squads will be heading back out to interrupt the delivery of some supplies to Zyphia. We need them for ourselves and can't afford for the Lower Authority to get them. So, Elyse, Juan and Alex, take your squads out to stop the incoming hover truck and once you are done, Elijah, Daisy and Maria will bring their squads to meet you and help you move them back to the compound. At the compound, the rest of us will be waiting to remove the tracker and store them before the Lower Authority can get to us. Any questions?"

Several hands went up.

"Juan?"

Juan stood up.

"Where will we be intercepting the delivery."

"On the Plains, roughly the same coordinates as last time."

I gasped, the Plains were notorious for their intense conditions and they were impossible to navigate. Just a few hours out on them without the proper equipment could be fatal.

"Oh relax," Elyse muttered next to me, "we'll be prepared."

I tried to interpret her words as kind consolation and endeavoured to settle my nerves. I saw Amir give her a small thumbs up and realised that he must have had a word with her about her treatment of me. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or annoyed.

"Katie?"

Another girl stood up, one I hadn't seen before.

"What's in the shipment?"

"NukeFusions, so be extremely cautious when handling them. They will be crucial in our strategy for the Solar Elections.

The room became immediately unsettled but I had never heard of that technology before.

"What are NukeFusions?" I quietly asked Elyse.

This time, there was no snarky remark only wide-eyed fear as she replied.

"Bombs, and very, very powerful ones."