Fourth round of Testing: Failure recommended by staff. Candidate is not questioning enough of others and not committed enough to her agenda to do whatever is necessary for the country’s future development. Does not have a strong enough personality to make difficult choices.
Failure. I shake my head and read the words again. Not a strong enough personality. If the committee sought to eliminate me as a candidate, why was I accepted?
Interview: Candidate surprised committee with emotional restraint and strongly worded responses. Some have been swayed to allow her passage. Most have not.
Committee recommendation: Failure
Final result: Pass
Despite everything I did, the committee believed I had failed. Those words on the page make my knees go weak. It shouldn’t matter what The Testing officials believed. But seeing proof that I was not good enough or strong enough to them is like a slap in the face. My best wasn’t worthy of their acceptance.
“None of this makes sense,” I say, looking up from the folder. “Why did I pass The Testing if the committee recommended I fail?”
Raffe shakes his head. “It looks like Dr. Barnes intervened. Maybe that’s the reason Professor Holt has been upset about your presence at the University from the first day you arrived in her residence. She would have known you had been marked for failure and yet somehow survived. What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know.” And there is only one way to find out. I pick up my bag and shove the folder inside. “We have to find Dr. Barnes. Let’s go.”
Raffe glances around the room. “I don’t know if it’s important, but it just occurred to me what’s been bothering me since we got here. The lamp in this room was on. Dr. Barnes would never have left a light on all day by mistake.”
“Why . . .” I don’t ask the rest of the question because I guess the answer. Dr. Barnes left the light on because he wants people to think he is here. The Safety patrols that roam this street, even though all other officials are looking on the other side of the city for whoever set the explosives.
This is a trap.
Chapter 18
RAFFE AND I look around the room for a sign that I am right and find it beneath the desk. A black box with wires and a blinking light. An explosive. Is it on a timer or is it waiting to be tripped by something else? It’s impossible to say. Only one thing is clear. “We have to get out of here.”
Raffe must agree, because he grabs his things and is right behind me as I hurry into the hall. We are halfway down the stairs when a door somewhere below us closes.
I turn off my flashlight and consider our options. Going upstairs will get us out of sight, but this is the only staircase down. If we hide in one of the second-story rooms, we risk being stuck in our hiding place. So I hurry down the stairs as quickly as I can. The front door is only about twenty steps to the right, but when I calculate the time it will take to get there, unlock the door, and get out, I discard that option. Especially since I hear the sound of footsteps from somewhere in the back of the house.
Grabbing Raffe’s hand, I race down the last six stairs, race to my left, and duck behind the sofa. Raffe joins me just as the lights in this area flare to life.
“You two, stay here,” a familiar voice says quietly.
Symon. If he’s here, what happened to Zeen?
Raffe stiffens beside me. He too has recognized the voice.
The carpet dulls the sound of footsteps as Symon climbs the stairs, but what I do hear makes me think more than one person made the ascent. A few minutes later, Symon calls down, “He’s not here yet. We’ll wait. Turn off the lights. One of you go to each end of the block
and hold that position. The minute you see him, signal me.”
The lights blink out. Footsteps disappear down the hallway, toward the back of the house. A door slams upstairs. The minute Raffe hears that, he peers around the side of the sofa. He waits for a moment and then whispers, “Stay there,” as he slips out from behind the couch. Several seconds later he returns, taps me on the shoulder, and motions for me to follow him.
Slowly we cross the dark room, careful to steer clear of the furnishings and avoid making noise. I want to go up the stairs, demand to know where my brother is, and put a bullet in Symon’s head. But if Symon sets off Dr. Barnes’s trap, I don’t want to be caught in it too. I brush my fingers along the wall to guide me and am relieved when the hall opens into the kitchen.
When I head for the door, Raffe grabs my hand and whispers, “We have to split up. If you move fast, the two people he sent to guard the ends of the street won’t yet be in position. You’ll get out of the area without being seen and be able to get back to campus. Go to The Testing Center. I’ll deal with Symon. You have to find Dr. Barnes.”
“You saw what’s in his office. You can’t go up there.”
“Symon’s working with him. He has to know about the bomb. There’s no choice. We have to eliminate him.”
“Then I’ll stay.” If Symon knows anything about Zeen, I might be able to find that out before I pull the trigger.
Raffe shakes his head. “The minute a gun is fired, the guards will come running. Knowing this neighborhood is the only thing that’s going to help me get away.” He walks me toward the door and takes my hand. “This is our only shot at getting them both. You know I’m right.”
I don’t want to agree, but I do. Raffe has a better chance alone. I have to trust him to do this. Just as he is trusting me.