Final Student

"They wouldn't dare."

Neria ran a trembling hand through dark hair.

"They would, and they have!" she snapped. It was the fourth time she and her cousin Rin had had this conversation.

On the screen in front of her, Rin shook her head. "Central Control have no idea where the school is. There's no way they could send spies. Even if they could—"

"—they wouldn't dare," Neria cut across. "You already said that. Look, it was on TV and in all the newspapers!"

Rin gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Well, that last's something of a cock-up on Central Control's part, since there's only about one in a million Citizens who can actually read."

"Rin!" Neria's protest was half scream, half whisper. It was one thing for Rin to sit there and deride Central Control's actions from the safety of the school; it was quite another for Neria to do it from an apartment that the Patrols could burst into whenever they pleased.

Rin grinned. "What about our latest applicant?"

"Vanna?" Startled out of her fear, Neria blinked. "Gutsy, idealistic, driven...Rin, we can't talk about this here! If a Patrol hears us..."

"If they had, we'd already know. Stop worrying, would you?"

Abruptly Neria leaned forward, her voice more serious than her cousin had ever heard it before.

"Rin, I want out. I've been sending people to the school for three years now, and every time it gets a little more dangerous. The Patrols have been watching me. I'll get Vanna safely to the rendezvous, and then I want to come home. You can find a new representative; it's getting too hot for me here."

Rin was silent for a few minutes, chewing her bottom lip. Most representatives didn't last long; they either got killed, re-educated at one of Central Control's numerous facilities or fled home after about eighteen months. Neria was one of the best; not only had she lasted twice that time, she'd sent more students than any other rep.

After what seemed an age, Rin nodded once, slowly.

"Yeah. You're right." A half smile quirked her lips. "I'll find someone else to take over your area."

Relief rushed through Neria in a great flood. "Then I can come home?"

"Yeah. Take this – what was her name? Vanna? – take this Vanna to rendezvous A, then pack your stuff and get to rendezvous C. Someone will collect you."

Some of Neria's doubts must have shown on her face, because Rin said gently, "You can't go with Vanna, you know you can't. The shuttles only take one passenger, and hiding two shuttles there would be too difficult."

Neria swallowed, then nodded. In two hours, Vanna would be on her way to the school and in three, Neria would follow her.

***

It was eleven at night when there was a soft knock on her door, and Neria hurried to open it. Vanna stood there, long blonde hair brushed into a neat ponytail, every inch the demure Citizen.

Neria, however, knew better. Demure Citizens didn't leave their family to sneak away to an illegal school.

Ushering her hastily inside, Neria whispered, "Were you followed?"

Vanna shook her head. "No. A Patrol saw me leaving, but I escaped."

Neria tightened her lips, considering. The Patrols could complicate things, but not insurmountably.

"Dad gave me a letter from the family," Vanna added, lips trembling slightly. "He told me to hide it in—"

Neria raised a hand, cutting her off. "I don't need to know."

Vanna nodded. Neria saw that she hadn't underestimated the girl's intelligence, at any rate.

"Good. Let's go."

The trip out proved easier than Neria had expected; the Patrol Vanna mentioned had obviously found someone else to persecute. An hour's walk brought them to a lane that was bordered on either side by thick greenery.

"The shuttle's that way," Neria said very softly, raising a hand to point. She knew that she ought to go with Vanna, see her safely on board, but there was an uneasy prickling at the back of her neck that she couldn't ignore. "The pilot's expecting you. Tell him there's sharks in the river. Just that; he'll understand."

Vanna nodded again, then turned and broke into a run, vanishing into the darkness.

At that point, a voice from behind Neria said, "You are under arrest for aiding and abetting terrorists."

Heart suddenly racing, Neria forced a laugh. "Terrorists? She's eleven!"

"Anyone expressing dissatisfaction with Central Control's decisions for the well-being of its Citizens is classified as a terrorist. You and the girl will be scheduled for summary re-education."

Neria glanced around. The Patrol's uniform was familiar to any Citizen; black body armour and helmet with a bulletproof visor that concealed their faces. There was only really one option.

Run.

She bolted, tearing down the lane. Used to compliant Citizens, the Patrol hesitated, momentarily taken aback, then the Leader pulled out a long cylinder and clicked a button.

Neria suddenly found herself lit up as brightly as if she'd been standing in a spotlight, although the lane and foliage around her remained as dark as ever.

I was right, she thought as she ran on, heart thudding painfully in her chest. Central Control had managed to send a spy in. The Patrol Leader's device had been developed at the school, something designed to illuminate only a specific target. Neria knew; it had been her second student – a brilliantly gifted boy called Rodney – who had built it.

That thought made her smile, even as she ran. Students were considered a reflection of the representative who had sent them. Since Vanna was the last, she was the one that Neria would be remembered for.

Neria's last conscious thought was a hope that her final student would outshine the other seven, would make her proud.

The Patrol raised their guns as one, and fired.

1000 words