The Jayhawk War
Sleep—you never know how much it means to you until it's taken away from you. I remember for most of my life I would lie in my bed, so nice and warm under my blanket, feeling the night wrapping my mind up, letting me forget the day. I used to actually look forward to bed; now sleep just doesn't work for me without the drugs. I had gone to bed and pretended to go to sleep, just because it was part of the ritual Katniss and I have, but I was up again. I just couldn't face using the drugs.
The train was still speeding along toward District 11, my first Victory Tour stop. It was very late and dark; I went to find some ginger ale to help settle my stomach. I wandered the seemingly empty train until I reached the dinner car. It was empty, as you would expect; I found the ginger ale behind the bar, sat at one of the tables, and just stared out at the night. I was alone, and I felt alone. Out the window it looked like the whole world was gone; it was as if we were traveling between stars.
The day had been hard, because people were just so happy to see Tess and me—a little too happy. Most of the people in my team had not seen me in six months; they remembered me as an emotional wreck and thought it was the greatest thing ever that I found someone. Their big smiles and wink-wink-nod-nod attitude were just insufferable.
I almost jumped when I heard, "Excuse me, Mr. Mellark, do you need anything?" I looked up to see a porter. I didn't recognize him, which was strange; I had made a habit of learning my porters. This porter seemed old for the job, late thirties, maybe early forties. He had dark hair and eyes. His build was strong like some kind of athlete.
I lifted my glass. "It's okay. I got my own drink. I don't know you, and I thought I knew all the porters—what is your name?"
He smiled and said, "You can call me Gaius. Too bad it is so dark out there. Here during the day you would see the huge gray stone monuments to the Jayhawks." He pointed out the windows.
"Jayhawks? What are Jayhawks?"
Gaius sat down right across from me, something a porter would never do. "I guess the Great War is not something they teach much anymore; it was so long ago, most have forgotten. Late in that war during the great nuclear winter, this whole area was a snowy wasteland. It never snows this far south anymore, but then they had huge snow drifts, and the winds were terrible. North of here nothing could live for long, so all the people migrated south, including the great tribes of what was then called Kansas. The tribes of Kansas took the name Jayhawks and traveled south, till they got to here. Here on this huge flat plain, one hundred thousand Jayhawks ran into one thousand Suran supermen. The winds here were too strong to have air support, and the snow formed such huge drifts that armor couldn't continue, so when the two armies met they would fight almost all hand to hand.
"The story goes that when the Jayhawk scouts told them about the Surans in their path, all the Jayhawk chiefs swore a blood oath not to leave the battlefield until all the Surans where dead. The battle would last two days, and in the end only about one thousand Jayhawks were still alive, mainly because they got lost in the storm. You see, normal humans like the Jayhawks were no match for the Surans. The Surans had implants in their muscles which made them stronger and brain implants that not only made them smarter than normal humans, but they also had psychic powers. The Surans won the battle but lost half their men, and in two years were wiped out. Ever since then brain implants like they used have been forbidden." Gaius paused to let me imagine that terrible time. He spoke almost as if he had lived through it. He must be a great lover of history. Who is this man?
Gaius continued, "The devices themselves were originally designed to help people with terrible brain injuries. It allowed the doctors to have Nano devices repair the damage. So say someone took a poison that attacked brain cells—back then all a doctor had to do was get the toxin out of the person's system—and add the Nano devices. Today doctors just let that kind of patient die."
It was clear that it was a message to me, but who wanted me to know that?Is this really what happened to me? Whoever he was, he was not a porter. "Who are you?" I asked again.
He placed a small square device on the table. "It's okay—no one is recording this conversation, but we don't have much time before someone comes to check the microphones. I was sent here to talk to you. There are people who want to know how you feel about the government."
I chill ran down my leg. This could be a trap, but I must know the truth!"You represent the rebellion?"
Gaius leaned back in his seat to relax; he must have wondered if I would call for Peacekeepers. "To say any one person represents the rebellion would be presumptuous, but we do oppose the government. What do you say to that?"
How does one verify such claims? "I would say, 'How can I trust you?'"
"I can tell you a couple of things that I don't think a government agent ever would, and then you'll answer my question. Is it a deal?" Gaius said with anticipation.
"Okay. Do I really have a Suran brain device in my head?"
"Not a Suran device, but a device derived from one, yes," Gaius replied. "One of your doctors was involved in illegal experiments. Someone in the government thought his research might lead to better interrogation techniques, and so he hid his work even from Snow. After you and Katniss took the poison, President Snow threatened to kill all the doctors if they couldn't give him a victor, so they broke the law. After you recovered, whoever was responsible for funding the experiments had all the doctors killed to hide their evolvement."
"Why didn't they save Katniss too?"
Gaius paused and visibly considered his words before continuing: "They did. They saved Katniss' life, but when they told Snow they saved both of your lives, he told them he didn't need both and to kill the girl."
His words hit like bricks! She survived! He killed her!I felt rage fill me. I heard the fabric ripping under my hands. I saw the shadows lengthen all over the cabin, as the lights dimmed. The train engine, which was humming, started to whine and then became a distinct scream. Things started coming out of the shadows; things with pincers and many legs scurried around the corners of the lengthening shadows. The overwhelming smell of blood filled the room. Gaius shook with fear and turned pale. I knew everyone for miles was suffering through my nightmares.
Gaius managed, "Believe it or not, that is my answer. Now about my question."
I took a big breath, closed my eyes, and pushed my anger down. I must control myself! Down, demons all! When I opened my eyes again the room was normal, but Gaius was still shaking. "Tell your people I'll side with them. You can also tell them I already have a lot of information I think they'll find useful, but I demand all the information you can get on this device in my head."
Gaius wiped the sweat from his upper lip and said, "No one knows much about them. It was a long time ago, and time and wars have destroyed most of the information about them."
I was still very angry, but I stayed in control. "Do any of the stories speak of contacting the dead, making people see things, or Surans getting sick by using their power?"
"Contacting the dead! No, I've never heard any stories like that. Yes, they could make people see things. I suppose the effort of influencing others must have taken some kind of toll, but none of the stories we have come from their point of view. Have you been able to read minds, move things, or make people see things?"
I said with as much frankness as I could muster, "I can't read yours or anyone else's minds, but I can make people see things when I want. As you just saw."
"Wow, that is amazing! Thanks, I'll go get more orders and get back to you later. I'll give you the contact phrase 'blue green sea' just in case someone else needs to contact you. I'm sure you are a good man, but damn, you are scary. I just hope you stay out of my head." He got up, picked up his device, and just left. I calmly nodded to him as he departed, but my hands tingled from the hard grip they had on the chair.
I am going to kill President Snow!
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