Donor 23 by Cate Beatty Page A

used information about his subject as leverage—power over the subject, a weak spot waiting to be pried open.
    “I’ve heard the rumors in the ghetto. About the day your mother was arrested. You’re quite the hero for trying to hide that donor. Or so people think.”
    “I never said anything about that…day, sir. I don’t know how or why people think that, Captain.”
    “23, you should be proud of what you did. You did your duty. Of course…there are donors who wouldn’t agree. Do you want everyone to know the truth about what happened that day?”
    Joan couldn’t talk. Her voice froze in her throat. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. A feeble shaking of her head gave him her answer, as she stared at the ground.
    “As I said, if you know of any illegal acts, you should tell me. Do your duty to the Alliance. I have suspicions about some of your friends. That number 42 in particular ...”
    Kaleb.
She swallowed.
Kaleb is number 42.
Glancing up to face Nox, she faltered. Her gaze was drawn to a photo of the Governor on the wall. She stared at it a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut, as if forcing something out of them. She opened her mouth to speak, and this time she had control of her voice. Like her mother before her, she met Nox’s glare and stated unequivocally, “No. I don’t know anything about any illegal meetings. My friends aren’t involved in that.”
    Nox wasn’t sure. He narrowed his eyes at her. He could break her as before. “You are aware—”
    The door opened, and Jack walked in.
    “What’s going on?” Jack demanded authoritatively.
    “I’m questioning this—”
    Interrupting him, Jack commanded, “Why?”
    “She didn’t return or check in at the ghetto last night. I am—”
    Jack interrupted him again. “You mean to tell me you follow up personally with every donor who skips out for a night?” Jack saw his ranking on his sleeve, “A captain in the TEO has nothing better to do?”
    Jack towered over him.
    Nox tried to recover the upper hand, saying testily, “For a donor as important as she is, yes.”
    “You’re right. She is important. I’m her personal trainer. And you’re interrupting her exercise schedule, which is very strict per the instructions of her benefactor. Would you like me to inform her benefactor about that?”
    “No,” Nox said quickly, “If you can vouch for her whereabouts last night…”
    Jack paused. Joan held her breath. Jack wasn’t aware of what Joan had told Nox.
    Finally he replied, appearing exasperated by the whole affair, “Of course. She spent the night here, on my instructions.”
    After Nox left them, Jack said kindly, “Here, sit up on the table. You look exhausted.”
    Minutes passed. Then he said, “You don’t need to tell me where you were last night.”
    Joan sat quietly.
    “I guess you found out why you had all those tests yesterday?”
    She still said nothing.
    “Joan,” he used her given name, “nothing is certain. They haven’t made any decision and aren’t expected to for a month or two.” He gathered his thoughts. “Listen, I’ve thought about this all night.”
    Joan looked up at him.
    “Yes,” Jack continued, “we’ve both had a sleepless night. I think our plan should be for you to keep working out. I made a new schedule. It concentrates on certain sports. And most likely nothing will happen. They won’t go through with it. But… well, Joan, I want you to be ready and prepared for…whatever you decide to do.”
    “What do you mean: ‘whatever I decide to do’?” she asked incredulously. “I can’t
do
anything. Are you suggesting…?” Her voice trailed off. She had trouble saying the word. “Become an evader?”
    All her life the Alliance drilled into her how terrible it was to evade and how evaders were the lowest of the low, to be viewed with derision.
    She shook her head, “I can’t do that. I’ve thought about it all night, too. This is the way things are. If something’s wrong