02

Foreword:

The year is 2136; it has been one hundred years since World War 3 decimated the planet. The few people who have survived the nuclear fallout have banned together and formed a new society, but the lingering effects continue. Only half a percent of the world's people survived the War and the lingering radiation is having an effect on the newborn population. Few are born completely normal, and the government is determined that these few be the only ones to continue on.

With this goal in mind the government, lead by a ruthless dictator, sent out decrees that every baby be registered at birth and scanned for any DNA anomalies. Many people, knowing themselves to have mutated genes, escaped to the barren wilderness and the fringes of society, hoping to elude capture. Many of the mutations were almost impossible to spot, so everyone passing from one settlement to another was genetically scanned to be sure that no anomalies entered into a "clean" society. Every "normal" human who had been cleared had a pass tag with their picture, a run down of their skills and genealogy, and a scan pass that contained every bit of information about them on record. Anyone found with mutated genes was "relocated" to a separate settlement. Upon arriving at the "settlement" these people were sterilized, put into cells, and fed the smallest rations possible to keep them alive.

People became afraid to be associated with "Annom's" as they were dubbed and became very isolated even within their societies. Everyone was viewed with suspicion, even those with pass tags, as anyone might end up having a genetically abnormal baby, and there was always those who slipped through the cracks and got their tags even with a mild mutation, though these were few and far between. Babies found to have a mutation were killed soon after birth, and pregnant mothers lived in fear that the life they carried would be destroyed before their first day was up. Many women decided it was not worth getting pregnant when that would be the result. With the population so low, birth control was outlawed so there was only one way to avoid pregnancy, which made the male population very unhappy. This combined with the limited resources and desperate situation of living day to day caused a major rise in crime.

Under the convenient excuse of having to control the crime rate, Madar, the leader of the New World Order, assembled a "Police Force", presumably to help eliminate crime, but really to help exterminate all the Annoms living outside of government control. This force, called Peace Makers, became one of the highest causes of crime in the settlements, taking full advantage of the authority bestowed upon them to terrorize and demoralize the population. If you dared stand up to them you were branded an Annom and shipped out to the relocation site.

Despite all these hardships, the settlements continued to grow slowly, with the Annoms out breeding the Norms and trying to find new ways of concealment. The land was still trying to recover from the war itself and survival was hard at best. Though some technology still existed from before the war, it was restricted to the government officials and P.M.s only. The few animal species that survived were also under attack from the radiation and some of the mutations made them useless to people.

Trying to make the best of an impossible situation, the people continued to revert to skills mostly lost pre-War and managed to scratch out an existence in their harsh environment. Living mostly in the ruins of previous structures, the majority of what they managed to grow or raise went to the government, supposedly to form a reserve for "lean times", though everyone knew the government had their own ways of growing food. Many tried to move further from the settlements so as to expand on their farms, but were pulled back by the P.M.s "for their own protection" making them dependant on the government for almost everything.

It was into this precarious life that Iskara was born.

*

Chapter One:

The End Of Childhood

PW 2136

She was only 6 and already on her own. She kept low to the ground as she crept around the corner and away from the P.M.s that were walking down the broken street. Only a month ago her mother had been taken by others dressed in those black uniforms, and the others she knew told her that her mother would never come back. She watched as they walked up the street, black boots shining in the harsh light of the sun, dust swirling about their ankles as they went. No one else had boots like that, not even the Norms.

She started off in the opposite direction of the P.M.s, knowing she needed to stay well away from them. She crept to the edge of the fields of crops trying feebly to maintain a grip on life in this harsh land. She nipped a few peas off the stalk and grabbed a carrot or two, then carefully covered her tracks and headed back toward the hillside in back of the village. The sparse line of trees betrayed the bank of a river, sluggishly moving through the land. It wasn't enough water to keep the settlement supplied, so no one ventured here, no Norms anyway, so it was almost safe.

She dropped below the bank of the waterway and walked slowly toward the trickle of muddy water running down its center. She acted more like a deer than a little girl, pausing frequently, her eyes half closed, as though feeling for the presence of any other creature. This was in fact what she was doing. She was able to feel the presence of others before they ever got close enough to her to detect her, and was able to conceal herself better than most would believe. She didn't know this was unusual, she just knew that if she didn't she would get caught, and she didn't want to disappear and never see anyone again. Finally she reached the edge of the water and bent to scoop some up in her hands. Muddy though it was, she had never known water any other way, and so didn't hesitate to drink deeply.

She froze suddenly, not moving a muscle, as she heard a movement behind her. She had no hope of concealment silhouetted as she was against the stream, but every nerve in her body cried out for her to hide.

"Growing careless, Iska! If I had been a P.M. I would have had you by now!"

She breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly coming down from full alert. It was only Dask.

Dask walked quietly up to her and gave her a once over. Unlike most kids her age, Norm or Annom, she had a well fed air about her, even if she was unkempt and dirty. Her hair was greasy, but not sparse as most were, and she had a slight roundness to her cheeks not seen in any settlement save Capital, where the politician's kids ate off plates and had meat three times a week.

"How do you manage to keep yourself fed, Iska? Everyone thought you would have been wasting away now without your mother giving you every scrap of food she could find."

"I find food for myself; I don't need anyone's help! Mom was not giving me everything; I found most of my food myself!" she retorted, feeling defensive and guilty.

She knew she ate better than anyone, but she just couldn't explain how it was that she got her food. She just "knew" where it was and got it. She could tell the difference between edible and non-edible foods just by looking at them and she didn't succumb to the normal stomach problems that other Annoms and even a few Norms seemed to be plagued with. As far as meat went she seemed to have an easier time hunting the small lizards and rodents that were found here than others.

Then there was the settlement itself. Though she didn't do it often, when even she couldn't keep her belly full on foraging she would slip quietly into the settlement and steal a few eggs from the chickens or maybe some vegetables from the gardens, never enough to arouse suspicion, but enough to keep hunger at bay.

She knew that the others would not approve of this so she was careful to make sure they didn't know. They got blamed for enough stuff around here, with the P.M.s telling everyone that it was the Annoms committing all the crimes in the settlement when everyone knew it wasn't. The P.M.s would love to be able to prove it, but they couldn't catch an Annom to make them "confess".

Dask looked deep into her eyes, as if trying to read her mind, but couldn't seem to get anything out of her and gave up, looking away. He could never look into her eyes for long, they seemed to glow as he tried to pry the information he wanted from her mind, and that glow blocked all chances he had of reading her. He had no problem reading most people, but always made sure they knew what he was trying to do for privacies sake, letting them retreat if they wished. This was the reason he was made leader of the Annoms in this area. Everyone respected him and trusted him to give them sound advice and help keep them out of Resettlement.

Iskara was his worst headache and biggest pride. He watched over her like she was his own since her mother, who was a Norm, appeared with her and had no clue how to live in this environment. She seemed to be from Capital, though she never told anyone about her former life. It was only a matter of time before she was caught, but she had made Iskara as secure as any Annom could be. Iskara had lived with them for all but 6 months of her life and was always astounding people with the range of her talents.

Iskara's mother, Nihar, had been travel worn when she arrived and spoke with a learned air, yet had trouble with some of the simplest tasks. He had never seen a Norm so poorly adapted to settlement living. They were on the outskirts of the far flung settlements, not many chose to live here voluntarily, yet Nihar seemed determined to get as far from Capital as she could.

Poor thing, Dask thought, she was probably raped by every P.M. from here to Capital, pretty as she was. He knew how most of the Norm girls got pregnant and was repulsed by it. The P.M.s did as they pleased and didn't give a lick about who they hurt along the way. Madar and the politicians didn't care as long as the Norm population kept rising and the taxes kept coming in. He often thought that the Annoms had it better than the Norms, even with the living in exile and fear. At least they didn't have to worry about the P.M.s raping all their daughters, stealing all their goods and taking anything they wanted from any table in the settlement. He could only hope that Nihar had found a way to get herself back to her family, and that she knew that Iskara was as safe as he could make her.

She returned to the Annoms camp with Dask as dusk was settling. She and the other orphaned children were given a tent of their own. Most weren't allowed to roam as freely as she was, but no one even tried to stop her now. She was impossible to keep track of, and people had given up trying to keep tabs on her. At 6 years old she had a better knowledge of the land around Settlement 8 than anyone else, even the Elders. She was adept at avoiding detection and frequently was able to glean much needed knowledge from the settlements inhabitants. This had allowed them to move their camp to avoid the patrol routs of the P.M.s and keep away from the Norms scavenging and hunting in the Barrens.

It was mostly a game to Iskara, a spy game that she loved to play. She could make herself almost invisible against a building just by thinking of herself not being there. It was fun to see people looking directly at her and not seeing her. She would have loved to play with some of the Norm kids but knew that was not permitted, so she learned a few of their games and brought them back to camp with her. The other Annom kids enjoyed learning new games and the adults appreciated the opportunity to work on projects and gather food.

As night came on in full, the Annom camp went into stealth mode, keeping any fires down to coals and hidden by broken walls or buildings. Iskara felt a change in the wind and found herself a partially intact shelter that used to be a building, and piled up grass to make her bed. The orphan tent was very crowded right now due to the large number of Annoms caught recently by the P.M.s, and she didn't want a bunch of cry babies keeping her wake all night, it would only remind her of her own loss. As she settled into her improvised nest with a rag of cloth covering her, she let her mind go blank in preparation for sleep. Tonight, however, sleep would not be what it normally was.

With her mind open there was a flood of information pressing in on her from all sides.

She had learned to filter out the background mental noise long ago, but tonight one bit of information would not be ignored. Through all the normal bee like hum of thoughts came an extremely clear picture of a place she had never seen. She heard with ears that were not hers and heard voices she did not know. She saw faces unfamiliar to her, and had no idea what she was seeing.

She walked quickly down a long corridor toward a portal that opened at her approach. The walls were unlike anything she had ever seen and though she wanted to stop and examine them, she was unable to, not having control of the body she was inhabiting. She passed a reflective surface and caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar face that she felt she should recognize. A man with piercing blue eyes and high cheek bones stared back at her from under a well trimmed and clean shock of strawberry blonde hair. His jaw had clean and well formed lines, and had she been older she would have called him handsome, except for those eyes. Those eyes in that brief glimpse seemed to bore straight through her like no one else could.

She heard herself speak in a voice that was not hers.....

"And what is the status of the problem with the Runaway?"

"My Lord, She has been found, but the child was not with her. We tried all the normal means to discover if it still lived but she refused to say. Unfortunately, she died before we were able to make her talk, but we have sent reinforcements to the Peace Makers in Settlement 8 to help round up all the Annoms. We should be able to find the child without a problem," replied a cool voice from behind her. She could hear a trace of fear and contempt in his voice, but was unable to figure out the cause.

"Like you have found it in the past, Brosk? Like how you found it when she escaped 6 years ago? I need that child eliminated! The DNA results were off the charts! The havoc that thing could do to our society is monumental! I want it found now!" said the voice that was not her own. She had turned to face the other man, and saw him as a tall black man with no hair and piercing black eyes. He was wearing the same uniforms the P.M.s wore, but a better quality than any she had ever seen. He had a very muscular body that was obviously well nourished. His eyes were the only thing that showed even a glimpse of what he was feeling, and what they showed was fear. "I don't want to hear of another failure, General, or you might not keep your rank, or your head."

She turned back down the passage and moved through a portal on her left, pausing only to press a hand much larger than her own against a pad beside it. As she moved inside she caught a glimpse of the rooms contents and sat upright, sweating in fear, a scream tearing at her throat.

Dask was worried, more worried than he had ever been. After hearing Iskara's scream he and half the camp had rushed to her side to find her unconscious. Iskara knew as well as anyone that the noise level must be kept to a minimum to avoid detection, so nothing but mortal terror would have made her scream like that. He had shaken her to try and wake her, but it was no use, he would have to wait till she came to on her own. Meanwhile he had ordered all fires put out and absolute silence on the camp. The others had scattered to carry out his orders. Now he was alone in the dark, pacing beside Iskara and waiting for her to wake up.

What could have caused her so much terror? He had never heard her scream like that before, even when she was in trouble. In fact, she was the quietest child he had ever known and not given to screaming at all. She had always been a child that kept to herself, not letting many things bother her.

She stirred and he immediately was beside her. She opened her eyes to see his worried ones looking back at her and squealed, pulling away from him. When she realized who it was she calmed down, seeing warmth and concern in the blue eyes staring back at her, and no trace of the iciness that had inhabited the eyes in her dream.

"What happened Iska? Why did you scream?" Dask asked gently but with much concern.

"I had a bad dream." Iskara replied sheepishly.

She knew you weren't supposed to make noise after dark, and she didn't think a bad dream was good enough reason to break that rule.

Dask knew better than to think it had only been a dream, nothing was normal with this child, so he crouched down next to her and carefully took her hand. "Iska," he said in his gentlest voice, "let me see your dream, let me in so I can see what you saw."

Iskara almost panicked. "But Dask, It was only a dream!" she cried, trying to keep the tears from running down her face and the fear out of her voice.

"Iska, you must let me see." Dask said firmly. He got a hold of Iskara's head and made her look into his eyes, not trying to read her yet, just showing her the concern he felt for her. Finally he felt her resistance drain away and the glow that had always defeated him slowly faded from her brilliantly green eyes. She was more vulnerable now than at any other moment in all the time he had known her. He almost felt sorry for her, looking so fragile with the light gone from her eyes, it made him want to hold her and protect her so no one would ever hurt her. He took a deep breath and dove in.

At first he met with some mild resistance to his intrusion into her mind, but sent a thought to her that reassured her he would not harm her. He found the dream that had woken her so violently. He watched and listened to the strange voices with her and entered the room with the two strangers. He could see why she had screamed. The sight made him want to vomit. There was a shining platform in the center of the room with a person lying on it. The person was still alive, yet its skin was peeled back to expose all its organs and muscles. The muscles seemed unusually large, and from the little he knew of the human body he thought that some of the glands were larger than normal, but he couldn't be certain. The vision ended abruptly due to the awakening of the recipient, and so he slowly and carefully withdrew his mind.

Although the vision of the room was disturbing, it was the conversation the two men had had prior to that that made him nervous. He heard them say they were sending more P.M.s to Settlement 8 to find the child that had been lost 6 years ago. That could only be Iskara, and they had said something about the tests being off the charts.... He couldn't think about that now, he knew he had to move the group now! No wonder the P.M.s were more aggressive than normal lately, they had found Nihar here in Settlement 8 and knew her child would be nearby.

"Thank you, Iskara. You have helped save many lives!"

Dask went and rounded up all of his "lieutenants", the men and women that helped him keep his group together and safe. They talked all night and finally came up with a plan to escape. They would split up into small groups and move off in different directions. They would all end up in the same spot about a month from now and start up their community there. It was a place that had been scouted out and was likely to be a good hiding place. It consisted of a little oasis off to the west that was likely unknown to any save the Annoms due to the fact that few Norms wandered outside the boundaries of the Settlements, and the few that did were seldom seen again. There wasn't enough water to attract the new settlement scouts so no worries there. The only problem would be finding water along the way, but the Annoms had "talents" that varied in strength and direction. The same genetic anomalies that caused them to be outcast from the Norms allowed them to survive better in the hostile environment that was post World War 3 earth. Some of them could find water, others could move objects with their minds, others could detect food or lure animals in with just their thoughts. Together the group of Annoms was well suited to live in their hostile world, and many survived better than the Norms in the settlements. That isn't to say they lived well by todays standards, but they at least had one meal a day, even if it didn't fill them.