Preserving Hope by Alex Albrinck Read Free Book Online Page A

The silence in this era was nearly deafening, and yet the silence provided him with a sense of tranquility he’d not felt in months. His children were alive and well, and his wife – young though she might be – was here, under his watchful and protective eye.
    After spending time sharing Energy with the trees, a practice he resolved to perform daily, he decided he needed to get back to his room. He wasn’t certain that he could get back in without causing a commotion, and appearing suddenly in his room seemed a poor idea as well. Somebody might be looking for him to start the day. He compromised, teleporting himself to the top of the roof, which slanted down toward the outer wall, and hoped Eva wouldn’t notice the Energy burst. He then dropped to the short distance to the ground — the rear wall was only around five feet high — and climbed back in through the window. He’d need to figure out a way to ensure sufficient privacy to allow teleporting directly out of and into his room, one that didn’t rely upon him having to in and out of the window and then on to his roof to get in and out. Perhaps he could figure out how to use the nanos to accomplish this goal; he certainly had plenty of time to work that out.
    Uncertain as to what was expected of him to start the day, Will elected to exit his room and head toward the front gate. The sun was just over the horizon, as best he could tell through the walls and thick cover of trees; he could see the drops of dew still on the leaves overhead. The five wagons, burdened with the goods produced by the residents of the community, sat in a state of readiness near the gate, as if they, too, were eager to begin their mission. Will passed the silos which held the various grains stored by the community, aiming for his target location. He slipped quietly past the Lowell house, moving to the largest building, the building with the sign reading ALIO INCREMENTUM SCHOLA.
    Will’s Latin was a bit rusty, but he believed that translated to “personal growth school.” It was, in his mind, the obvious forerunner of the name Aliomenti, a contraction of the words naming a building holding something of great importance. Whatever secrets the building held would not be discovered by normal means, for a lock sealed a metal chain fastened the large double doors. Will reached inside with his Energy, but found it difficult to sense what was there. He could get in, of course, but doing so in any of the various approaches available to him would most certainly give away more about his abilities than he cared to reveal at this point. Though the community seemed sleepy, he had a hunch that his vanishing while standing in front of the Schola would be noticed.
    He needed privacy before vanishing. Ah, the irony.
    Will turned and began to head back to his room. The morning walk, though short, had the effect of helping to loosen his muscles. He could flood his joints with Energy to the same effect, but found that working them in this way gave him more satisfaction.
    As he approached his room, he saw Eva approaching his door. “Good, you’re awake. I wasn’t sure if Arthur had explained the community’s morning ritual.”
    Will shook his head.
    “Our original mission, years ago, was one not chosen by our founding members. There were ten of us — five men and five women — and all of us were serfs.”
    “You were slaves?” Will asked, surprised.
    “Serfs, not slaves,” Eva corrected, glancing at the ground. Will’s empathic and telepathic skills, however, caught the truth; being serfs was a modified view of their history. They had, in fact, been slaves. They were property to be used up as their masters saw fit, rather than serfs who retained some distinct sense of self and had the right to buy and own property. “The baron who owned our lands watched many of his… serfs… die at an early age, and live their few days in poor health. He reasoned that if he could keep us in a less-sickly state,