"Thank you, Maya, you have been most cooperative." She smiled predatorily at me.

They both stood, wooden chair legs scraping along the tiles. The man gathered everything, including the two additional chairs and headed back out through the sealed door. Lucretia paused to look down at me where I still sat in front of the empty table.

"So when will I get to leave?" I asked, hoping my ordeal was finally all over.

"Someone will come to escort you to a hearing where we will come to a conclusion about your punishment in due course. Please try to remain calm and relaxed in the meantime." She turned on her heel and headed for the door.

"Punishment?" I asked in a small voice. She hesitated by the door, one blue-taloned hand clutching the frame.

"You broke the law, Miss Summers, and we have your signed confession to that fact. There must be a punishment for endangering all of our lives wouldn't you agree?" I listened to the clicking of her high heels as she disappeared down the hallway and out of sight. She was gone, and I was all alone again.

Chapter Seven

I sat staring at the white walls for a long time after Lucretia left. Eventually I decided to eat the muffin and realised they had found a new place to hide the sedative.

I kept up a monotonous routine for eight more sleeps which I presumed equated to days. The only thing to make it more bearable were the new books I'd been given.

Occasionally, I would hear a shuffling from outside my door but no one ever responded to me calling out.

I stopped trying to avoid the sedative when they put it in all of my food. There was no point in me starving and at least it helped pass the time.

On the twelfth day, or night, or whatever, I woke with Lucretia standing over my bed.

A guard of six Wardens were positioned behind her. I spied Unibrow and Hook-nose amongst them. Blinking away my weariness, I sat up and scowled back at her.

"Is there a reason you're here while I'm in bed asleep?" I challenged her. She was wearing a beige power suit with matching nails. The colour washed her out, making her look even colder than usual.

"It's time for your sentencing." She smiled. "We have gone through your statement and that of your coconspirator and have deliberated on many things from the intent behind your actions to the threat you posed to the population. We have drawn our decisions accordingly. Follow me."

She turned and left without waiting to see if I was following. The Wardens looked down at me menacingly. I glared back and darted into the washroom to throw on a fresh tracksuit. I wasn't going to find out my fate in yesterday's clothes.

The Wardens didn't look impressed when I emerged but didn't make any comments either. A pretty blonde standing at the back of the group looked like she was trying not to smile.

We walked out into the corridor and headed back down towards the elevators, the numbers on the doors descending as we passed them. A Warden, who I named Needs-a-wash as a waft of rancid air blew into my face from his direction, held the elevator door open for us.

Needs-a-wash opened the secret pad as before and the retina scanner did what it does. I surreptitiously moved as far away from him as the elevator and my escort allowed.

"Warden seven-five-five-four, where would you like to go?" the smooth voice asked over the speakers.

"Transport," he replied and the elevator soared up. My ears popped and my knees buckled a little under me.

The journey took several minutes before coming to an end and we stepped out into an empty corridor.

"Level eighty, alight here for Transport."

"Are we there?" I asked.

"It's not in this tower," the pretty female Warden supplied. She had kind eyes, soft blonde hair and didn't look much older than me. We headed on down the corridor at a brisk pace.

"But there are no Walkways up here," I said to her, feeling confused.

"Wardens don't have to use the Walkways to get around," she replied before going quiet at a look from Unibrow. It may have been a frown but it was hard to tell.

At the end of the corridor, we moved through another pressure sealed door into a huge chamber with the far wall open to the air. The wind whipped around us as it was funnelled through the confined space and whooshed back outside again.

The chamber was at least two storeys high and was lined with small helicopters. I had seen the helicopters flying back and forth between buildings, usually whilst I was trying to forge a path along the Walkways. I never thought I would get to see one up close, let alone ride in one.

They were mainly painted the sleek grey that marked them as Warden property but here and there I spied some with different coloured paintwork. Those had names scrawled across their sides which labeled them as belonging to various high ranking officials and Guardians within the city.

Tags: Susanne Valenti Science Fiction
Source: readsnovelonline.net