Chapter Two
Miles
The white glow of my arm was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen. I’d woken in the middle of the night to see it, and I was too excited to go back to sleep. I stared at it, ran my fingers over it, hoping it wasn’t some trick of the light or a bad joke.
But no. I was active. I’d done it. Less than a third of people who bore Omega marks ever came online. I’d won the lottery. Father would be so proud of me. I’d be everything he always wanted me to be. I’d fulfill my potential and do my duty, to my country and to our Alphas.
I felt a little nervous as I dressed, careful to look as presentable as I could. Father was a stickler for neatness. He’d pulled all of us up on it at one time or another. Glancing in the mirror, I grimaced and made an attempt to tame my hair. It was all but useless. For a moment, a thought fluttered through my head, out of place with the rest. Would they cut it, at the Intake Center, during processing? The Omega in uniform they showed on TV never had buzz cuts, and I couldn’t see why it would be a requirement for us.
The bell rang for breakfast. I was late. Father extolled punctuality. But it was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays Father ate breakfast in his study while attending a video conference. Logistics or troop movements? I couldn’t remember. He never talked about that kind of thing around me. Omegas didn’t need to know that stuff.
Rounding the last set of stairs, I went left instead of right, heading toward Father’s office and away from the breakfast room. If I was going to be late, I might as well make it count. Lavinia, Father’s secretary, was typing away in her office.
“The General’s in the Tuesday conference,” she told me, not glancing up from her screen.
“I know. Can you pencil me in to see him after? It’s important.”
“He has a meeting at the base at nine-thirty. How about this afternoon, three-fifteen?” she said, checking his calendar.
“I don’t think it can wait.” The glow from my arm felt like it was burning through my skin. Father wouldn’t want me to delay informing him, not about something this significant.
Lavinia did look up then. “What on earth is so import-”
She trailed off as she caught sight of my arm. I smiled politely at her. It was an offense to hide or otherwise cover an active mark and what use would it be to do so? It was a badge I should and would wear with pride.
“Oh. You’d better take a seat. I’ll see if I can call him out-”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m not going anywhere and neither is this,” I said, gesturing to my arm. “It’ll keep for a few minutes.”
Father hated being interrupted during his meetings. I sat down on the chair by the door. Usually, when one of us was sitting there, it meant we were in trouble. I could almost feel my younger self squirming on the hard chair as I waited to be called in.
After a moment, Lavinia resumed her typing, glancing at the door to my father’s office. His raised voice could be heard now and then. The Tuesday morning conference was always a trying one, it never failed to put him in a bad mood.
Ten minutes later, his door swung open.
“Lavinia, I need those personnel reports from last month. And that budget brief Lieutenant Gates sent last week. And… Miles, why aren’t you at breakfast?” my father demanded to know as he caught sight of me.
“General, sir, he…” Lavinia started to say.
I stood and held out my arm, so he couldn’t fail to see my condition. His calculating gaze fell upon it and a smile of triumph crossed his face.
“You’ve come online, at long last.”
“Yes, Father. Sometime during the night.”
“Good, very good. Sit there while I make the arrangements.”
Officially, the arrangements were already made. I had a legal responsibility as well as a moral duty, to present myself to the nearest Intake Center for processing. From the gleam in Father’s eye, I knew he had something more in mind. But that was part and parcel of being the son of a General. It carried extra responsibilities as well as privileges.
He returned twenty minutes later accompanied by Fred Jameson, his right-hand man.
“Fred will escort you back to your room, Miles. You’ll stay there for the day. I’ll have the kitchen bring you up meals on a tray and I’ll be up to speak with you shortly.”
“Shouldn’t I report to the Center?” I was keenly aware of my duty and anxious to fulfill it. There were others who ran from it, who betrayed our country, and our Alphas, not to mention themselves.
“All in good time, Miles. We have a unique opportunity here.”
I wanted to ask what sort of opportunity but Father had already retreated to his study and Fred was herding me out into the corridor and up the stairs.
“What did he mean by ‘unique opportunity’?”
“You’ll have to speak to your father about that,” Fred replied, his usual reticent self.
As I stepped inside my room, I turned to ask Fred another question, but he was already closing the door, a key in his hand. I heard it turn in the lock a moment later. On instinct, I reached for the door handle and turned it. It didn’t budge of course.
“Fred?”
“I’ll have the kitchen bring you up some breakfast,” he called, his voice sounding distant.
I sat down on my bed. As much as I was eager to get to the Intake Center, if Father had deemed that I was to have a few extra hours at home, in my own room, I’d make the most of them. I was twenty years old; ready to say goodbye to my childhood and take my place in the world.
My breakfast sat mostly untouched on my desk. It was hard to work up an appetite when I was buzzing with anticipation and nerves. The nervousness was normal, I knew that. It was a big change, leaving my old life behind in place of my new. Unable to sit still, I went through my things, mentally saying goodbye to my childhood. I put together a few things to take with me, a pin my grandfather gave me, my clarinet, and a few books. Then I set aside a few things I thought my siblings might like. A set of paintbrushes for my sister, the model train set I’d long outgrown for my brother.
My name carried through the door on a whisper and I crouched next to it.
“Ben, is that you?”
I could see one clear blue eye belonging to my younger brother as I peered through the keyhole.
“Mom’s in her room and Karen is bossing everyone about. Are you really going away?”
“I have to, Ben. My Omega mark has turned on, it’s my duty.” Ben had been born neither an Omega nor an Alpha, just a regular person. There had been times when I’d envied him that, but not now.
“Couldn’t you just turn it off again?”
Oh, how I wished it were that simple. If it was, I’d have switched it on the moment I turned eighteen. I knew how our armed forced struggled without our support, they needed every Omega they could get.
“It didn’t come with an off switch.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Yeah, it kind of is.” He was too young to fully appreciate the importance of the role I would play, to really understand the meaning of duty.
“You’re going to be the man of the house now, when Father isn’t here.”
Grant, our eldest Alpha brother and the apple of our father’s eye, was on active duty overseas.
“Will Karen still boss me around?”
I smiled at that. Our sister could be a little overbearing. “Probably. It’s just her way of showing she cares.”
“I’m going to miss you.” There was a scrabbling sound and then Ben slipped his hand under the door. I laid my fingers on his, hearing Karen’s voice calling in the distance.
“I’ll miss you too. You had better go, you shouldn’t keep Karen waiting. You have summer school.”
His hand disappeared from under the door.
“You’ll come back won’t you, like Grant does? For Holidays and stuff?”
“Maybe.” I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that it didn’t work like that. Once I walked out those doors, I wouldn’t be back. Omegas were too scarce for their time to be wasted on trivial things like vacations.
Karen called him again, and I heard running footsteps as he took off down the hall.
My father returned just before lunch, looking pleased. I stood, waiting to hear what it was he’d come to say.
“Everything is prepared. You’ll leave here first thing tomorrow morning to present yourself to the Intake Center. The event will be televised.”
“Te… televised?” That wasn’t what I’d expected.
“Yes. This is an invaluable opportunity that we cannot pass up. To show the people of the South, and the world, that our Omegas answer the call and believe in their duty.”
“Of course.” I wasn’t much for cameras. Omegas weren’t supposed to be. We were unobtrusive, meant to fade into the background. Alphas liked the limelight, liked the glory.
He set a folder down on my desk. “Your itinerary is enclosed, alongside the speeches you’ll give before the press as you depart the house tomorrow morning and at your arrival at the Intake Center.”
“Speeches?” Public speaking was not my forte.
“Don’t worry. They’re short. You’ll need to memorize them, of course. And you must not deviate from them, not by a single word.”
“No, Father. Of course not.” Why would I?
“What’s this?” he asked, gesturing to the small packed bag sitting open on my bed.”
“Just a few things I wanted to take with me. My clarinet...”
He glanced at me sharply.
“You’re leaving that life behind you, Miles. You won’t have need for anything from this house once you enter the Center.”
His tone told me I should have known better, a hint of disappointment in there.
“You’re right, of course, Father. I’m sorry.”
He inclined his head in acceptance of my apology.
“I’d like you to use this extra time you’ve been granted to really contemplate your position, your dedication to your duty. The eyes of the nation will be on you tomorrow, you will be an example for generations of Omegas to come. You must be truly humble, truly selfless.”
My father’s words weren’t new, not the words themselves and not the sentiment behind them. I’d known since I was old enough to listen that I was an Omega-in-waiting, that my purpose lay in sacrifice, in submission, to allow our Alphas to fulfill their potential. I was ready to embrace that purpose, wholeheartedly.