New horizons, p.23
New Horizons, page 23
‘Sleep if you can,’ their guide said. ‘Facilities are this way.’
The ‘facilities’ was a tiny room with a plastic door and an overpowering chemical stench that in all likelihood masked other smells. Nisa got out of there as fast as she could, her heart sinking at the thought that this was the reality of her new life. She suddenly yearned for her comfortable bed and well-lit room, her eco-flush toilet and temperature-controlled shower.
She pulled the blanket around her and nestled beside Leela. Despite the coldness of the floor and the uncomfortable contortions of her body due to the lack of space, she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Nisa woke to the sound of people shuffling and talking. She untangled herself from the blanket and pulled herself upright. She felt rested, if sore, so she guessed it was probably daytime. The room was still dingy and dark, though now humming with restless activity.
Leela sat with her back against the wall, blanket over her legs, eating a rolled-up chapati. She gave Nisa a wan smile. ‘Hungry?’ She pointed to a rickety table next to the stairs. There were chapati rolls with jaggery inside them, and an insulated dispenser with tepid tea. Nisa helped herself and went to sit with Leela, studying the others. She counted ten people in all, some clearly travelling in pairs and others alone. The conversation was muted, and with her eyes adjusting to the gloom, she could see her own worry and fear reflected on faces of the others.
The woman who had guided them here in the early hours of the morning – ‘station master’ was the correct term – walked to the middle of the room. Seeing her face clearly for the first time, Nisa was surprised to see a worker. She had expected an Upper, but her roughly cropped hair, her small, thin stature and her manner of speaking said otherwise. When she started to speak, turning around to face the others, the girl even spotted a biochip scar. And yet, the woman – she said her name was Fatima – spoke with a confidence and assurance that Nisa would never have associated with a worker before. She missed the first few sentences, and when she caught up Fatima was giving them instructions.
‘There are three kinds of people we must look out for. First, Company guards, easy to spot because they are loud and obnoxious. They are also usually in and around check posts, which we will do our best to avoid. If they catch us, we will be worse than dead. The second lot are bounty hunters. These are the most dangerous because they could be anywhere and anyone. They could be you or I, we have no way of knowing. If they catch us, we will be dead because they are paid to return our bodies. The third danger, which is 99 per cent of anyone we come close to, is the general public. Most of these people are not dangerous in themselves, but being spotted by them might mean Company guards on our trail.
‘So, it’s simple. We have to stay hidden. We will travel only by night and mostly on foot. Sometimes we will have transport from allies who are part of the Underground Railroad. It will take us anywhere from six to fifteen days to reach the border. There are six stations along the way, and you may be joined by other travellers. You will meet your engine driver today, who will either take you right to the border or hand you over to another driver. Depending on how dangerous this crossing becomes, you may be joined by other drivers or be split into smaller groups. Any questions?’
There were none.
‘It’s hard to say when you will travel again. Rest when you can, but be prepared to set out every night. To freedom.’
‘To freedom,’ everyone murmured back.
Their driver arrived later that day. Nisa was stiff from sitting, but it was impossible to sleep all the time. The nervous energy in the room was palpable and when the door to the bunker clanged open, her heart leapt into her mouth. She pressed into the wall between Leela and Mohi as the dark outline of a man came down the stairs. He stepped into the bubble of light.
Nisa clutched Leela’s hand tight, making her gasp. She stared into the face of the man who would lead them all to freedom. She wanted to memorize every line, every shadow on his face.
‘Call me Nazir.’ Those were the first words he spoke. ‘Think of me as Nazir and nothing else.’ Nisa was sure he was looking straight at her and Leela as he said this and felt compelled to nod. A second later, Leela nodded too, and then Mohi and all the others in the room did the same.
‘We will leave in a few hours,’ he said. ‘We have to walk to the other side of the forest from where two trucks will pick us up. We will be passing through residential colonies, so speed and silence are essential.’
The next few days passed in a blur. The nights were mostly for stealthy travelling, following the firefly lantern that Nazir carried. Its flickering lights gave the impression of fireflies in the air, much safer than torches, which would give them away. The days were for sleeping or huddling in dark, airless spaces. Nobody spoke much, but almost everyone cried.
Nisa had no idea how far they travelled, but when they reached their third station, there were only nine of them. One young man, who had seemed sickly and cried all the time, was missing. Nisa tried not to think of the splash she had heard when they were crossing a bridge. Their station masters kept them fed, but food was often short. The constant gnaw of hunger made her weak. There were times she wanted to turn back, but of course she had crossed the point of no return a long time ago. She could either go on or wait for another bridge with a roaring river underneath.
She sought out Nazir whenever she found him alone. ‘How long have you been doing this?’ she asked him.
‘More than a decade now.’
‘Why do you do it?’ She wanted to understand what would make him risk everything like this.
‘It’s my repentance,’ he replied.
‘What are you repenting?’
Instead of answering, he said, ‘But this is going to be my last crossing.’
‘Why?’ When he didn’t reply, Nisa asked, ‘How many crossings have you made?’
‘About four in the last few years. Why? Don’t you trust me?’
‘If you weren’t trustworthy, I’d be dead by now – we all would.’
‘Maybe. Or deleted.’
Nisa knew he wasn’t joking.
3
A week before Nisa escaped in the back of a container truck, when the Magadh Carpets factory was being surrounded by Company guards, she was in her room, getting a guitar lesson from her robotic music teacher in Japan. She had no idea how she had got approval for these online lessons. Access to websites outside Company-controlled areas was severely restricted.
Lately though, she had been losing interest in such things. The more time she spent in the workers’ colony in the Walled City with Leela, the more ill at ease she felt. Even today, practising her chords monotonously, she was thinking about Internet censorship. These days she couldn’t wait to skip school and sneak into the Walled City, Leela by her side. She hated the place, yet it kept pulling her back. What compelled her to go back week after week were the nameless handwritten magazines that circulated there. Just the thought of getting her hands on the illicit publications sent a thrill down her spine. She didn’t know if she believed the things she read in them, but she couldn’t keep away.
She almost dreaded finding out that there was a new issue – they weren’t regular, they only came out when the (unknown) writers had something to say. Everything about the threadbare sheets of paper stapled together, even their existence, made her uncomfortable. They turned everything she had ever known about her life on its head. Especially the idea that social structure had nothing to do with the natural disposition of different kinds of people, but was merely a ploy to keep wealth concentrated with what the magazines called the ‘Point Five Per Cent’. Was life really all about money? As distasteful as the idea was to Nisa, Leela once said that only those who had never had to think about money could afford to scoff at it.
Nisa logged out of her unfinished guitar lesson, her thoughts swirling around in her head. There was so much she had never considered before. What if it was true, as the magazines suggested, that workers were small in stature not because of genetic disposition but because exposure to radiation and pollution made them malnourished?
She wondered how she could possibly access the open Internet and find out more about these things. Forget the Internet, she wanted to travel, to see how people lived in places where everyone had the same rights and you could do what you wanted and live where you wanted. It was never going to happen, not with Mamu’s running of the family business. It would be a miracle if the family even retained their Upper status, forget getting to Elite level. Only the Es were eligible for foreign travel, of course.
Unless I escape via the Underground Railroad, thought Nisa. For a second, the adventure of trekking secretly to Nepal, being admitted to a refugee camp, and beginning a new life seemed deliciously thrilling. Then she sobered up, recalling the horror stories she had heard at Leela’s.
The kitchen staff wasn’t answering, so Nisa decided to go down and see to that snack. It was irritating how unresponsive they tended to be whenever her aunt was away. She clattered downstairs, only to find the kitchen deserted. ‘Hello?’ she called. ‘Anybody?’
No response. Nisa checked the pantry, and then stepped across the short corridor to the workers’ kitchen. That was deserted too. Disquiet welled up inside her. Where was everyone? The door leading out to the backyard was ajar. Nisa peered out in the night.
Wait – were those shouts? Panic gripped Nisa. She was all alone in the house – Mamu was probably in the factory, Mami was away and all the servants seemed to have vanished. What was going on?
The shouts were louder now. Someone barking orders, sounding suspiciously like Company guards. Nisa ducked into the house and pulled the door shut, latching it. She needed to check that all the doors were secure. But even before she made it out of the kitchen, she heard the bang of the front door. Whoever they were, they were in the house. And somehow Nisa knew that she didn’t want them to find her.
She stepped back into the kitchen, hands and feet numb with fright. She wanted to curl up and scream, but that wasn’t an option. She looked around, frantic. Then she remembered the walk-in freezer. She had loved going inside it when she was a child. She ran into the pantry and yanked the door open, blinking against the harsh blue light, and flung herself inside.
As she pulled the door closed, the light went out, leaving Nisa in near darkness. Which was just as well because it stopped her from shutting the door all the way. She wedged a thin packet in the door, leaving it open a crack, and squeezed herself into the opposite end, trying not to touch the walls or the frozen goods hanging from hooks above. She gagged at the smell of raw meat.
In her cotton shirt and jeans, she was already freezing. Her teeth were beginning to chatter when she heard the heavy tread of boots in the kitchen. They came closer and closer. Nisa wrapped her arms around herself, willing herself to become smaller and her teeth to stop chattering. The footsteps stopped. She held her breath. How close was the guard? There was an electronic beep, then a harsh female voice said, ‘Kitchen all clear.’
Nisa waited for the footsteps to die away, then exhaled with relief.
She remained in the freezer, letting the minutes tick by even after the guard had gone. She remembered her phone and fumbled to get it out of her pocket. She tried her uncle’s number, then her aunt’s, but the same recorded message told her they were unreachable. If only the Walled City had a mobile network. She could have called Leela and asked her what the hell was going on.
When Nisa was finally convinced that the guards had gone, she tiptoed out. The house was empty, furniture upended and valuables missing. She ran up to her room and found that her hybrid was gone. Distraught and confused, Nisa searched the house again. She went outside, right up to the lawn gates, which yawned open. But it was deserted. She could see a lone Company guard in his distinctive khaki uniform at the large main gate up ahead, lounging against the wall disinterestedly, smoking. She knew she couldn’t ask him for help, but she also knew that she had to get out. She needed to get to the Walled City.
She was about to turn away when something moved in the shadows close to her. A scream almost escaped her, but she clapped her hand over her mouth at the last instant. The figure moved slowly towards her, keeping to the wall. Nisa knew she should run, but her feet refused to move. When the figure rounded the last corner and came face to face with her, she felt she would die of relief.
It was Leela, who caught her arm and dragged her towards the back of the house. ‘Guards?’
‘All gone. What’s happening?’
‘There was a raid on the factory. There are rumours of a conspiracy against the Company.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’ Nisa exclaimed. ‘Mamu can barely run the factory, let alone mastermind conspiracies.’
‘They are saying he was trafficking workers. He’s on the run.’
‘What! Oh, they haven’t arrested him?’ Nisa felt relief washing over her. He might be inept, but he was still her uncle.
‘They haven’t been able to find your aunt either. They’ll be back, Nisa. They’ll be back for you. Your uncle sent a message for me to come get you.’
‘G… get me?’
‘Yes, let’s be quick. Pack your stuff.’
‘How are we going to get out? There’s a guard at the gate.’
Leela thought for a few seconds. ‘We’ll disguise you as a worker.’
A few minutes later, Nisa was blinking back tears at the uneven way in which Leela had hacked her hair off. She had stuffed herself into a worker’s uniform. Leela also used a black pen to draw an approximation of a biochip scar on the back of her neck. They realized the Company guard at the main gate wouldn’t let them carry anything out, so Nisa wore as many clothes as she could under the uniform. She stuffed her phone and charger into her pocket, even though they would be useless in the Walled City, and grabbed as much money as she could find.
Then, with heads bent, they scuttled out towards the gates. There wasn’t much acting needed – Nisa was terrified. If the guard chose to scan them, she would be caught since she didn’t have a biochip. But as it turned out, Leela played her part to perfection, snivelling and shivering. ‘We were so scared, sir,’ she whined to the guard. ‘We hid in the freezer. Please, sir, let us go.’
The guard waved his taser at them. ‘Get lost. Useless things.’
They ran all the way to the Walled City.
Nisa took a cup of tea and a bowl of rice porridge from Leela. The house was dark, everyone asleep. They had the outside room to themselves. Ever since Leela’s father’s death, her aunt, aunt’s baby and Leela’s two siblings slept inside, in the only room in the house with air-conditioning.
‘How did my uncle get in touch with you?’ Nisa asked.
‘He sent a messenger. You remember Raghu?’
‘The one-legged guy who was deleted last year?’ He had lost his leg in a work accident. ‘How does Raghu know my uncle?’
‘He’s resourceful. Much more useful than most people with two legs.’
‘Will you take me to him in the morning?’
Leela shook her head. ‘You should probably stay hidden. Morning will be too risky. We can go now if you want to meet him.’
They walked through the narrow lanes of the Walled City, Nisa huddling under a large shawl to cover her face, to the tiny tin-roofed shack that Raghu called home. He didn’t seem surprised to see the girls. There were a couple of other men in his shack, who melted away into the night as soon as they arrived.
Raghu only repeated what Leela had already told her. ‘Your uncle is in hiding. Don’t worry about him. He said he’s sorry he couldn’t get you out. He didn’t know about the raid till it was too late.’
‘And my aunt?’
‘I heard she’s safe too.’
‘Raghu, do you know where my uncle is? Can you take me to him?’
He shook his head. Nisa didn’t know which question he was answering. Nani was right, she thought. Mamu can’t be trusted. And he’s a coward. He ran and hid when his family was in danger.
‘What am I going to do?’ she said. Her voice shook. ‘I have nowhere to go.’
Leela’s hand pressed into her shoulder. ‘You can stay at our place for now.’
Raghu seemed uncertain. ‘They’ll be looking for you, though. There will be a reward for information. You can’t go back, but you can’t stay here either.’
‘You don’t have to come with me,’ Nisa told Leela. She tried to sound firm, but her voice shook.
‘I want to go. I would have gone eventually, Nisa. Even without you. I want to get out, so I can make a better life and buy my family’s freedom. It was my father’s dream and now it is mine.’
‘But it’s dangerous. What if…’
‘What if I stayed here and nothing ever changed? And it’s dangerous for you too.’
‘But I have no choice.’
‘Neither do I.’
4
Eight months before Magadh Carpets was raided, Nisa skipped school for the first time to visit the Walled City. The two girls had planned it meticulously. Leela had taken leave, using her father’s ill health as an excuse. She told Nisa she would wait for her at the gates of the Walled City. Nisa took the school bus in the morning as usual, but got off at the next stop saying she had forgotten her locker pass and had to go back for it.
She almost didn’t recognize Leela in her faded cotton T-shirt and brown trousers, carrying two threadbare umbrellas – she was used to seeing her in the drab uniform of the house servants. But it was Leela who looked at her up and down in dismay. ‘Everyone will stare at you.’
‘Why?’
