The Darkside War Read Free

shackles holding my wrists to the table in the middle of a sterile oval room. Two chairs flanked the table I sat at. Ovoid screens displayed deep ocean water and the room was filled with a faint bubbling sound. A contrast to the simple chain-link holding cells I’d been tossed into outside the building along with hundreds of other protestors swept up in the last several hours.
    The door opened. The man in the black Armani suit screamed lawyer. He moved like lawyer. Smiled like lawyer.
    â€œYou’re not Stephan,” I said suspiciously. “Where’s my family lawyer?”
    The man sat across the table from me. He crossed his hands and gave me the considered, serious look. It came down like a mask, along with a mildly patronizing, lecturing tone. “I’m Gregory Stafford, and I’m your Interceder, not your lawyer. We don’t have lawyers anymore, Mr. Hart, you should know better. And I’m assigned to you because there’s a conflict of interest in your being represented by your previous Interceder.”
    â€œI’ve been standing inside a chain-link cell for three hours,” I said. “In the sun. It’s too small to sit or lie down in, and too hot to lean against the metal. I want Stephan. I have the right.”
    â€œThe right?” Stafford looked pityingly at me. “You have no rights , Mr. Hart. You are involved in an act of sedition during war. Your parents are due to be executed, and you’ll be lucky to be back out in that cage if everything goes well.”
    I tried to jump out of my chair. I shouted at Stafford, and my manacles crackled with electricity. My back wrenched straight and every muscle in me clamped down hard enough that I tasted blood.
    My head struck the white table as I fell forward. I lay slumped, drooling out of the side of my mouth, every muscle in my body screaming.
    Stafford leaned forward so he could meet my stunned gaze. “The Accordance has been waiting for the right moment over the last few years. All the while, it has been modeling how best to stop threats to recruitment. Now, all over the world, movements such as your father’s have been raided and rolled up. There is no more antioccupation movement. Tomorrow morning, live broadcasts will show leaders of movements and cells being executed for treason. Your question, Devlin, is how you survive the next few hours.”
    â€œTegna Gnarghf,” I spat as best I could, still trying to get feeling back into my checks as I moved my jaw around.
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    I took a deep breath and tried again. “Tentacle licker.”
    Stafford’s high cheekbones reddened. “Listen, whether you like it or not, the Accordance came here. They have superior weapons. They destroyed DC. They took Manhattan. They sit in every major world capital. We’ve ceded them the moon, and other planets because we’ve never even reached them. And in exchange for that legal grant, we get some autonomy. The fact that, under their agreement to follow some human protocols, you’re considered a minor and will not die with your parents: That’s all that keeps you alive. Time to shape up, now, Mr. Hart.”
    I could sit up now, though the room wobbled and spun around me. I rubbed my eyes and groaned as I tried to process all this. From betrayal to capture. Everything turned upside down so fast. My father had organized peaceful protests, not fought on the streets. This was protest, not the damn Pacification. “What . . .” I gritted my teeth. “What do we do?”
    â€œThere are some options.” Stafford tapped the table, and documents appeared on the surface. “The main concern the Accordance has is that they’re in the middle of a war. It was why the Accordance was even created: defense. And they need recruits. You understand about the war, right?”
    â€œYes.” I rolled my eyes. “We hear it all the time. About the