The List Keepers (The Justar Journal #3)

by Brandt Legg

The AOI Chief had issued the execution order twenty-four hours after Ander Terik’s death had been broadcast around the world via the Field. If she could have, she would have issued a second one for Lance Miner, the PharmaForce CEO who’d killed Terik, but he had

Goood note !!!!

“We’re free,” she said. “We’re at least a little free.” Fye patted her belly, four months pregnant with their child. “Grandyn Happerman is dead.” She laughed with the words – simultaneously nervous and joyous. The two of them were in a small safe house near Mount Shasta, in the California Area. They couldn’t stay long but, for now, it gave them a rare sense of normalcy. “For now,” Grandyn replied. “But there are no secrets in the Aylantik. Deuce and Munna know I’m alive, Drast knows, Nelson and Chelle . . . that’s a lot of people. The AOI will discover it soon enough. And then there’s Blaise. He may already be peddling the information to the highest bidder.” “But there are secrets,” she said. “Sure, there are plenty of secrets, but none long kept. And a secret told changes to something else. It becomes a danger.” “There are secrets long kept,” she said. “I’m one of them.” “The List Keepers?” “Yes.” “But even the List Keepers are rumored to exist. People know about them, they just haven’t proved it yet.” “List Keepers are more secret than that. Whether we exist or not isn’t the real question. List Keepers are actually more secret than secrecy itself.” She put her hand on her belly. He looked at her. “Tell me.”

“You know I want to, and I will, but I can’t yet.” Her lips pursed and her eyes darkened. “Why not?” he asked, so tired of the mystery. “We’re going to have a baby, we’re in love, we’re building a life together . . . and all that has to start with trust.” His hurt look tugged at Fye, but the loyalties to the List Keepers had been present since birth, bred into her. “I can’t, but I will,” she repeated, giving him a pleading look. “This is not something I can tell you, it’s something I have to show you . . .” Her gaze was drawn to an open window and the trees that stood strong, as if guarding them. Always the trees, she thought. “When?” Grandyn asked. “We’ll go there together.” “To the city?” “Yes, as soon as I get approval.” “Approval? Is that going to be a problem?” “No, you’re Grandyn Happerman. They’d probably invite you even if you weren’t with me.” “Do they know Grandyn Happerman isn’t really dead?” “The List Keepers know everything.”

“That’s up to Munna now, isn’t it?” Deuce responded in their latest volley, after Chelle had threatened to make his life difficult. She hadn’t forgotten that Deuce was the wealthiest person on earth, with the second largest army, and now in possession of the prophecies, but Chelle was not without assets and leverage of her own. She had the ability to disrupt the world at any time with the spark of revolution or guerrilla attacks. And, although Chelle and Munna had never been close, after the events on Runit Island during the decoding and with Nelson’s connection to Cope, Chelle might have a better chance of convincing Munna to release the INUs so they could start running the prophecies again. “Do I need to remind you that I have intimate knowledge of the AOI?” Chelle said, speaking from an undisclosed location. “You don’t need to remind me that you have intimate knowledge of a great many things. You are well known for your intimate work,” Deuce said sarcastically while staring at the stars on the ceiling of his private study. They made it seem as if he were viewing the night sky from one of his space stations.

Justar Journal

Editttt Good!!!

Testtttt!!!

“What?” he tried again, shaking his head at the VMs. “We’ve lost . . . we’ve lost, we’ve lost,” she said in a voice so sad his own eyes watered. “I’m sorry Munna. I don’t understand.” “No one does,” she whispered. Across the short distance of water that separated Runit and Ryder Islands, Deuce secretly watched the conversation between Munna and Nelson. The revelation that she could still see the prophecies caught him by surprise, but her tears concerned him. This woman was one hundred thirty-three. She had seen it all. Deuce couldn’t imagine anything to make a person like that break down. What are you seeing that is so upsetting? he wondered. War? That can’t really be so shocking to you. The miracle is that the war hasn’t happened sooner. “You have to tell me,” Nelson said. “Munna, please. Cope told me there were things worse than the Banoff. Is that what you saw?” She stared blankly at the two scrambling VMs and then to the other six dark ones. Nelson wondered if she was considering bringing them back to life. “Show me,” he said, gently touching her hand. She jolted and turned toward him. “It’s too late,” she said in a voice filled with despair. “The prophecies can change, right?” Nelson asked. “Tell me what you saw. We can change it.” “I saw the end,” she said quietly. “The cruelty of it. I saw the end.”