The Testing (The Testing 1)

Before I can ask what he plans to do, Raffe opens and closes the door, leaving me alone to wait and worry.

Time passes slowly. Though my throat is still sore, I eat an apple and swallow some water. I think of Tomas. Did he make it back to the University without anyone noticing he had been absent? Is he worried that I might not return? When I stand and stretch my muscles, my eyes stay glued to the ground below.

An hour passes. Two. Part of me wonders if Raffe was caught, while the other part wonders if he was telling the truth about

his sister. Raffe’s father is in charge of the Department of Education. Surely, he would be able to protect his daughter from the punishments Dr. Barnes might exact.

The clock taunts me as its hands move from one number to the next. Closing my eyes, I picture the people I love. My parents. Zeen. My other three brothers. Daileen, who so badly wishes to be chosen for The Testing and join me at the University. Tomas. Would they understand what I am doing now? I know my father would agree that putting a stop to The Testing with bloodshed is just as wrong as ending lives because of incorrect answers. Fighting death with more death was the choice that led to the Seven Stages of War. Our country barely weathered the consequences. We may not survive if the same choice is made again.

I hear footsteps outside and hold my breath. Is it Raffe, or has someone Raffe alerted come in his place? Was putting my faith in him correct, or will I now be punished for once again ignoring my father’s advice to trust no one?

The footsteps pause.

The door swings inward.

Raffe stands alone in the doorway. In his hands are a bag and a gun.

Chapter 19

RAFFE TURNS THE gun around and offers me the handle. I look at him before wrapping my fingers around the hard wood grip, and he gives me a satisfied nod. “I grabbed this out of my dad’s private office. Since you’re trying to stop a war, I thought it might come in handy. This will too.”

He reaches into the bag hanging from his shoulder and pulls out a palm-sized machine. A recorder.

“I’m pretty sure the recording in this machine and the others in the bag are what you’re looking for. And you’re right, Cia.” His expression darkens. “What’s on these recordings needs to end.”

“It’ll end as soon as Michal gets the recordings to Symon,” I say.

But when I leave and return with Michal, Raffe refuses to hand the recordings over. “No offense,” he tells Michal. “But I don’t know you. If you want to deliver this to your people, you’ll have to take me with you.”

Michal stiffens. “I’m not taking the son of one of the biggest advocates of Dr. Barnes into rebel headquarters. Not only do I not trust you, but even if I did, Symon and the other members of the rebellion would see you as a threat. They’d eliminate you as soon as you walked into camp.”

That Michal believes the members of the rebellion would kill so easily makes my blood run cold.

“Raffe is on our side. He’s trying to find out what happened—”

“Look,” Raffe says, cutting me off. “There’s nothing I can say that will make you trust me. All I know is I have the recordings from The Testing. If you want them, you’ll just have to make sure your friends don’t see Cia and me. Otherwise, the two of us are walking out the door and taking the recordings with us.”

I blink at Raffe’s assumptions not only that I will side with him over Michal but that I plan on going back to the rebel camp. However, when I think about it, I know he’s right. I have to go. While I do not doubt Michal’s dedication to ending The Testing, President Collindar’s first assignment taught me that the only way to know the truth is to see it for myself.

But while I know what I need to do, I hesitate. If Tomas safely returned to the University, he is now waiting for me to signal him. Hours have passed since the time he must have expected me. Does he think I have been killed or captured? Will he stay in his residence and trust that I will make it back, or is he already planning to leave in search of me? I should let him know I am okay. But without knowing if my absence has been noted by Professor Holt or my fellow students, I cannot take the risk. If I return to campus now, I may never have this chance again.

Straightening my shoulders, I walk over and stand next to Raffe to show we are united. We will all go to the rebel camp.

Michal sighs. “It won’t work. The three of us together will attract too much attention on the Tosu streets.”

Raffe smiles. “Cia and I already know the way to the airfield. Just tell us where to meet you, and we’ll be there.”

That Raffe knows the location of the rebel camp decides the issue for Michal. He tells us to meet him at the fence near a revitalized evergreen tree whose trunk is surrounded by a circle of stones. Once we arrive, he’ll lead us to a place where we can watch Symon’s headquarters unobserved.

“Wait ten minutes before leaving the building, and make sure you aren’t followed.” Turning to me, he says, “Those recordings better be exactly what we need, or I’m turning him over to Symon as a potential traitor.” With this threat hanging in the air, Michal disappears out the door.

“That went well.” Raffe looks at his watch and takes a seat. “I can see why you like him. He’s a lot of fun.”

Despite my concerns about Michal, I leap to his defense. “Michal lived through The Testing. He helped me survive it. The two of us will do anything it takes to bring it to an end.”

“He might do anything, but you won’t. You’d never kill someone for being a potential threat.”

“How can you be sure? Look what I did to Damone.” The blood has been cleaned from my fingers, but I can still smell the stench and feel the way it spilled across my hands.