Across the Universe - Beth Revis [63]
He looks up at me now, but he doesn’t really see me. “The Feeder Level really is biological research—researching conditions of what Centauri-Earth might be like. There are records in the Recorder Hall of all the different methods we’ve come up with out of necessity. No... not necessity. It’s what Eldest does. It’s part of Eldest’s job....”
“That means it’s part of your job, too, right?” I say. “You’re the next Eldest.” I want to ask, Why didn’t he teach you all this? But it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I should say aloud. Elder can see the question in my face, though. He turns down the path toward the pond, but I can tell he doesn’t have an answer for my unspoken question. He’s just got more questions, too.
I follow him down the path. Hydrangeas with big, blossoming heads spill out onto the walkway.
The rain picks up. It has a steady, methodical way of falling, but it’s close enough to real rain that I tip my head back and let the water splash on my closed eyelids and pretend.
“This whole Eldest thing... I don’t see how it works.”
“Why not?”
We stop near a pond about the size of the swimming pool in my high school. A man and woman, laughing in the rain, collapse on a bench further down the path.
“He’s not a peaceful man. He must scare everyone into obeying him.” I don’t want to admit that he’s got me scared, too, but I think Elder can guess it.
“Eldest is a great leader. I don’t always agree with him, or his methods, but they work. You can’t deny that.”
“That old man’s a dictator—that’s how it works,” I mutter. I catch Elder smirking. “What?”
“I like how you call him an old man. Most people around here worship at his feet.”
“He seemed like a jerk to me. More than a jerk. He was pretty much King Asshole to me. I mean, I know he’s your leader and all, but he did want to basically kill me.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t really throw you out of the hatch.”
“Really?”
Elder stares at the flowers at our feet. “He might have. Yes. He probably would have.”
I kick at the big orangey-red flowers, like tiger lilies, that line the edge of the pool.
The couple on the bench are really going at it. The man’s got one hand up the woman’s shirt, another hand down her pants. Elder follows my gaze and stares at the couple.
“Eldest said that the Season would start soon.”
“This is the Season? People don’t act like that in public.” At least, they didn’t used to. Is this what happens when you coop people up together on a ship, or am I just a prude compared to their evolved standards?
Elder doesn’t watch the couple on the bench; he’s watching me. The rain is pouring harder now, and I think about going in, but in a strange way I like how the rain makes me feel as if I am grounded, connected to this place. Even though I know the rain is fake, it feels the same as real rain, and I desperately need that.
32
ELDER
ACROSS FROM US, THE MAN AND WOMAN ON THE BENCH ARE using the rain as an excuse to remove their clothing. The man rips the woman’s shirt off, and she arches her back, pushing up against him.
“That’s disgusting,” Amy says.
I don’t want to talk about the Season, though, even if the couple is giving me some ideas. I want to know if her hatred for Eldest is limited to the man, not the title. “He’s not all bad,” I say. “Eldest is actually quite a good leader.” I take a step closer to her. “I mean, I know he can be forceful, but he’s really kept everyone on board working together and happy.”
Amy snorts. “So, are you going to hate people because they’re different, too?”
“I would never hate you!”
It is her differences—her red hair, her Sol-Earth background, the way she doesn’t blindly follow Eldest—these are the things I like best about her.