Among the Betrayed

CHAPTER SIX

"There's the deal," the man said.

• •It was the middle of the night again, Nina thought, blinking stupidly and trying to wake up. The overhead light was blinding again. She felt dizzy from lack of food. Two crusts of bread and one small apple — in what, a day and a half? — did almost nothing to stave off hunger.

"We think you can be useful to us," the man was saying smoothly. He was holding out his hand to her. Nina blinked a few more times and made her eyes focus. What the man had in his hand was too incredible to be believed: a sandwich. And it wasn't black bread and moldy cheese, the kind of sandwich Nina was used to, but a towering bun, thick and golden brown, with pale pink curls of — was that ham? — ham overflowing the sides. Nina had seen such a thing only on TV, on the forbidden channels that showed life before the famines.

"Here. Take it," the man said, waving the sandwich care-lessly before Nina's eyes.

Nina had half the sandwich shoved in her mouth before she was even conscious of reaching for it.

"I see nobody ever bothered to teach you manners," the man said in disgust.

Nina ignored him. The sandwich was divine. The bun was light and airy and hid a slice of pungent cheese along with the ham. There were other flavors, too — the words from an ancient commercial flowed through Nina's mind: "Lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion…" Nina wasn't sure if that was actually what she was eating, but the sandwich was wonderful, absolutely perfect. She slowed down her chew-ing, just to savor it longer.

"That's better," the man said huffily. Nina had almost forgotten he was there. He handed her a bottle to drink from, and the liquid it contained was delicious, too, sweet and lemony. Nina drank deeply, thinking of nothing but her thirst.

When the sandwich was gone and the bottle was empty, she finally looked back at the man.

"A… a deal?" she said hesitantly.

"By law, we could have executed you the day we arrested you," the man said. "But sometimes even the Population Police can benefit from ignoring certain aspects of the law."

Nina waited, frozen in her spot.

"Oh, not that we would break the law," the man said. "Given the importance of our mission, there are loopholes written specifically for us. Say we have a criminal in front of us who might be rejuvenated to serve our needs. What purpose is there in executing her?"

"What," Nina asked through clenched teeth, "do you want me to do?"

The man shrugged. "Nothing that you and your buddy Jason weren't pretending to do anyway."

The words flew out of Nina's mouth before she could stop them: "Would Jason help me?"

"Jason, alas, did not seem as useful as you," the man said with an even more careless shrug.

"So he's—"

"Dead? Of course," the man said. "Swift and efficient justice, that's our motto."

Nina felt like everything was falling apart inside her. Her lips trembled.

"Now, now," the man said. "Don't give me any of that fake grief. He betrayed you, remember? Didn't hesitate an instant to stab you in the back when he thought it would save his own neck. Which it didn't, naturally. But I guess someone who would betray his own country wouldn't care in the least about betraying a mere girl."

Nina tried not to listen, but it was impossible. Jason had betrayed her. She remembered his voice on the tape, cold and calculating. She felt her anger coming back, and it was a relief, something to hold on to.

"Why did you think I could be useful and not him?" she asked, doing her best to hold her voice steady.

"I dunno. Maybe I can't see a little girl with braids as a hardened criminal," the man said carelessly. "Maybe I think the ones you need to trick would be more likely to trust a girl. Maybe I just didn't like Jason."

Nina longed to defend Jason, to yell and scream at this man that he was a fine one to be calling Jason unlikable. But it was impossible to defend Jason. Surely he had known that betraying Nina would lead to her death.

Why had he done it? Why had he tried to trick the Population Police himself?

Nina didn't have time to lose herself in such questions. The man was talking again, explaining what he meant for her to do.

"We have a group of illegals that we've arrested," he said. "Shadow children with fake I.D.'s—"

"I thought you said that was impossible. Shadow chil' dren can't get fake I.D.'s," Nina interrupted.

"Well, not good ones. Not ones that would fool anyone in authority," the man said. "That's why these kids got caught. I wouldn't be surprised if these kids made the fake I.D.'s themselves. But they're not talking. I have a duty, to the Population Police, to find out who made those I.D.'s, if there's anyone else involved in this evil. And we need to know who's been harboring these illegal children all these years. They were all found out in the street, and they refuse to reveal their parents' names or addresses. You see our dilemma? If we execute the children immediately, other criminals — the ones who hid them, the ones who made their I.D.'s — will never be caught. But if we put you in the same prison cell as these kids, and you get them to trust you and tell you the truth, then you can tell me, and we can get rid of all the criminals. And society's needs will be served. Do you understand?"

Nina understood, all right. That was why she was shiv^ ering violently. Even her braids were shaking.

"And if I refuse?" she asked. Her voice shook, too.

The man raised his eyebrows. "You would dare even to think of that as an option?" he thundered. "If you refuse, you join your wonderful friend Jason. You die."

The sandwich that had tasted so good only a few min^ utes ago was now churning in Nina's stomach. How could she possibly agree to do what the man was asking of her?

But how could she not agree, and let them kill her?

Jason had betrayed her. Her friends had not defended her. It was the way of the world to look out only for your^ self.

"Why would any of these shadow children trust me, anyway?" Nina asked.

"Because," the man said, "we'll make them think you're an exnay, too. Surely you can act the part."

Oh, yes. I can do that, Nina thought.

But can I live with myself if I get these kids to trust me, and then I betray them?

The man was already standing up, brushing crumbs off his pants.

"So, it's settled," he said, as though the conversation was over and Nina had agreed to help. "We'll move you into their cell in the morning."

He turned around and walked slowly toward the door.

It seemed to take him a good five minutes to get his key out, put it in the lock, turn the key so the door sprang open. Nina kept telling herself to call out to him,

Wait! I won't do it! I'd rather die than work for the Population Police! I am an exnay! My name is Elodie and I'm proud of it….

But Nina couldn't get her mouth to open, her tongue to move.

And then the man was out the door. He flipped a switch and Nina's cell was plunged into darkness again. She heard his footsteps echo down the hall, a lonely sound in the bleak prison.

I belong here now, Nina thought.

I am a betrayer. I am evil.