Joshua pointed at the map. “You have land going west of Spade that’s unaccounted for.”
“Actually it’s not,” Henry answered. “It’s where we keep the drones we’ve taken down.”
“We could move everyone to a western city? Someplace by Thena or Shadow?”
Joshua frowned. “Those cities were destroyed. Transferring everyone through another portal is too risky and traveling through the Gravelands would be deadly. Spade has better defenses. We have a fortified wall we can expand and enough soldiers and new people willing to fight.”
Henry laughed. “You’re going to send women to stand on the battle front?”
“Why not?” I narrowed my eyes.
Henry held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not speaking about you, dear. I know what you’re capable of. You’re different though. Stronger, tougher. Most of the women out there are terrified.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” I questioned. “They believed they were in a different world, happy, taken care of and woke up to realize they’d been in a medical lab for God knows how long!” I stood up, pacing the length of the room. “We can’t abandon them.”
“We won’t,” Joshua interjected. “They’re our greatest asset right now.”
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
Joshua stared at me, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. “They’re all like us now, Olive. They’ve all been treated with Mindonsiphan.”
I realized it had been mentioned before. I hadn’t quite known why we had administered the antidote. I’d assumed wrongly that it had been to counteract the Mindonsiphan, but they’d told me Isaura had another compound she’d given them. “What’s this mean for us?” I asked walking towards the window. I stared down at the corridor. A few women walked outside but it wasn’t crowded like it had been.
Henry studied the map before glancing over at me. “It means we have a greater army, a better defense than we could have ever imagined. We need to work fast though, reinforce the western walls and build another settlement to house our newest families.”
My gaze turned towards Joshua. “Are we to train them?” I understood what they were suggesting. “They could retaliate and decide they want to return to Torv. They have families there,” I reminded them walking away from the window as I glanced at the maps. “There has to be another way.”
Henry agreed. “There is, Olivia.” He sat down behind his desk. “We send word to their families. Offer them an alternative, a place to live, here.” He pointed at the map. “We go in and strike Torv here.” His finger landed on the state building and justice center.
I hung my head, confused. “How is that going to help anything?” I didn’t want another war or uprising. One rebellion was enough. Did we not fight for justice and independence? Did we not fight for the freedoms we deserved? Had we not been granted what we asked for?
Joshua spoke up, “It’ll bring light of the conspiracy and corruption within the new government. It’s not our best option but it seems our most direct.”
I held up a finger to pause him. “What is our best option?” I wanted to hear all of it before making any rash decisions.
Joshua sat in his chair, his eyes locked with mine. “We go to Torv and negotiate a treaty. I doubt it’ll work, though. Isaura is in cahoots with the leaders of the new government. They want everyone treated with Mindonsiphan along with her concoction. We don’t actually believe there to be any effects on women being able to conceive.”
“Then why? What’s the point in it?” I didn’t understand what Isaura was planning. She had me and I escaped. Why had she wanted me in the first place?
Joshua stared at me. “She wants to destroy you.” His voice sounded grave, his tone sad. “You’re the key to everything. If you’re dead, she has ruling power.”
I grimaced. “No. If she wanted me dead, she’d have just killed me. She had me sedated for a reason.”
“She was gathering information. Do you remember any of it?” Henry asked.
“Of course!” I groaned, “I told her about both of you and Cate. At the time I thought I was talking to Joshua, but I realize now…” My words trailed off. “She knows you’re both like me.”
Henry stood up, glancing towards his bookshelf where he found and retrieved a text. He carried it over and placed it on the table beside the maps.
“What’s that?” I asked.
He blew the dust from the cover and wiped it clean. I couldn’t read the archaic language. “It’s a series of stories, mostly fables, some fairytales, except I’m not sure everything is mythological.” He admitted, “While you were both gone I did some studying… I was reading to Adelaide.” Henry said, “The portals that you make only work in mirrors and glass. Correct?”
“Right,” I agreed.
“Have you ever heard of Through the Looking Glass?” Henry asked.
Joshua stood up, walking towards the book to see what he was talking about. “It was a children’s story we read in school. What about it?”
“In the same way Alice can travel through a mirror, you’ve unlocked the key for traveling to another place in Cabal.” Henry paused trying to explain it to me. “Fairytales may be more real than we think. I believe Mindonsiphan has been used for generations. I did a little digging and there was a physicist, Gerald Feinberg, who introduced the idea that telepathy existed due to elementary particles he called mindons. It was all hypothetical in his lifetime.”
“When was Gerald Feinberg alive?” I questioned.
“The twentieth century. Now, I recognize that Through the Looking Glass was written long before he was born and Mindonsiphan does more than just telepathy. However, it doesn’t change the fact the elementary particles, mindons, existed all along.”
Joshua glanced at me and I felt his arm wrap around my waist. “It makes sense,” he reasoned.
“I guess so.” We had no idea where the drug had originated only that Chancellor Collins had administered it in Shadow. Had he found the concoction on his own or the ingredients to make it buried away in Shadow?
“Suppose it’s true. What does it mean?” I asked Henry. “You can’t tell me the children’s story is real.” There were some fantasies I couldn’t believe.
Henry held up a hand. “I’m not saying everything we’ve ever read is factual. I’m saying some things may be based on truths. Stories we’ve often overlooked. My point is our abilities are all limited on what we see and know. If we study these ancient texts, perhaps we can uncover something else. A way to stop Isaura and maybe even make Cabal fertile again.”
I leaned back against the desk, crossing my arms. “I guess your experiment with Rane didn’t pay off?”
Henry laughed. “No, we tried, but it wasn’t successful.”
“Where is she? I haven’t seen her since I left with Isaura.”
Henry smiled warmly. “She’s been spending time with Adelaide and helping keep an eye on the newcomers. That’s not to say I don’t trust them,” he reiterated. “But they’ve been held against their will once already. We’re not exactly showing them the door out of town.”
“They’d be killed if we did that!” I yelled and Joshua rested a hand on my arm. “I know. I’m sure you’re right.” I rubbed my forehead exhausted. “What are we going to do?”
Joshua sighed. “Right now I’m going to grab lunch. We could use a break. Everyone else agree?”
I pushed off the table to stand up. “Yeah, I guess that works.” I was frustrated with the government, the system, everything. I still had so many questions. Things Joshua told me while I was sedated. I imagined they were all things Isaura had told me or I’d told myself, but I wanted to be certain nothing had seeped in that was real.
The three of us headed down to eat in the dining room, finding a few familiar faces. Rane, Elsa, Cate, Adelaide, Hunter, and Gavin had already started their meal. “It’s good to see you again, Olivia.” Rane smiled warmly as she ate a bite of her salad.