“When Taylor discovered the betrayal, she was going to have Holt formally charged. She had already confided in Vice President Kenner about everything she had found out, which is why all this ended up in his journal. But from this point on, much of what Kenner wrote is hearsay. The president and her husband were murdered just hours after she made her discovery, and General Holt was the first one at the murder scene. He took complete control of the investigation and claimed to have found evidence that their murder was the result of a conspiracy by the civilians—the same civilians they had so generously given shelter from the bombs—to take over the Dome and throw everyone else out. As the head of the military, it seemed natural for Holt to be the one to step up as leader to get the civilians under control. That’s when he made the famous treaty with them—the treaty that turned you into slaves.”

What Jack was saying was a lot to take in—especially after the day I’d had. I was exhausted. How was I supposed to react to all of this information? He seemed so self-righteous in his confession, yet I saw another side to his story. If the Dome had been built right in our own valley, why hadn’t the president and her entourage invited us in when the bombs were launched in the first place? Why did the civilians have to fight their way in at all? It sounded like there should have been more than enough room, if they were driving vehicles in…

“Considering the amount of time and effort the ruling class put into building a secret shelter to protect themselves from a nuclear holocaust, it seems to me they had damned us long before they launched the bombs,” I said. Jack looked surprised at my words. I wondered if he was going to hit me, but I pressed on. “So the Kenners have known this all along and haven’t exposed the Holts? Why? Why didn’t anyone fight for us? Why didn’t Vice President Kenner step up and have him arrested?”

Jack looked at me thoughtfully. I wasn’t sure if he was mad or not. “I’ll try to explain, if I can. By right, Vice President Kenner should have become president, but General Holt had control of the military and felt it was in the best interests of the Dome to retain a military government. And not only did he have the military behind him, but he was also in possession of both his own codes and President Taylor’s codes for the warheads. Remember I told you that two people are needed to launch the missiles? There are warheads inside the Dome. It’s part of the Dome’s defense system.

“The codes get passed to each president when he’s sworn in and only the Holts have held that office since the beginning of the Dome. There are a lot of people living here who would like to see a return to our democratic government, but the Holts still control the military and the warheads. Every Holt who has come to power has threatened to blow up the entire Dome if there’s an uprising—and each Holt has been crazy enough to do it. They would rather see the end of civilization than relinquish their power. So we try to have a quiet revolution. We plan and plot and hope that one day we’ll find the codes and usurp their control. I’ve searched the computer memory banks, but I can’t find them,” he said.

“I don’t understand why General Holt wasn’t exposed back then. I mean if he had the president’s codes, then the only way he could’ve gotten them was from Taylor herself. But if he found her already murdered…” I shook my head. If I could see the flaws in Edward Holt’s story, couldn’t the people back then see them too? “Maybe he doesn’t have the codes. Maybe the Holts have been lying all along in order to stay in control.”

“That’s a really astute observation, Mrs. Kenner,” he said, giving me an appreciative look.

It annoyed me that he was surprised I had a brain, but he went right on talking, oblivious to my irritation.

“We have medical evidence that President Taylor’s husband was badly tortured before he was killed; however, there are two different stories to explain this indisputable fact. Holt’s explanation, which is in the official report, claims that the civilians tortured President Taylor’s husband in front of her. This was supposed to be an attempt to manipulate her into giving the order for all officials to leave the Dome to the civilians. But VP Kenner wrote in his journal that he believes Holt tortured President Taylor’s husband in order to get the codes out of her. Officially, Holt claims the president whispered them to him before she drew her last breath.” He pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them. His anger seemed to have been replaced with melancholy.

“It doesn’t change anything, though, does it?” I asked. “I mean, knowing the horrible history of how everything came to be doesn’t change it. People in the Pit will continue to live as slaves, you and I will be executed as traitors, and the bourge will continue to win.”

“That’s not true. The Kenners know, and we’ve shared the information with as many people as we can trust. We do have supporters. We’re trying to change things the only way we think we can without harming the entire Dome. Try to understand that our family was cast way down after Edward Holt became president. He didn’t want any reminders of the old regime. We clawed our way back up, getting back into the good graces of the other influential families. My marriage to Leisel was the moment my family has been waiting for. Once I became president, we would have the codes. The Holts would lose their power.”

“If the Holts dislike the Kenners so much, how did you become engaged to Leisel in the first place?”

“Because there is no one else. When Edward Holt claimed the presidency, he made it law that the title can’t be passed to a woman. And they’ve been lucky because every generation has produced at least one son, except this generation. Usually the Holts choose their spouses from the West, Powell, or Forbes families, but right now there’s a generation gap. The only boys in those families are under the age of twelve. It’s the first time in the history of the Dome that this has happened. My mother noticed last year that Leisel was showing interest in me and told me to pursue her. When I asked the president if I could marry his daughter, I promised she would keep her last name and all our children would carry the name Holt as well. He liked that. It also helped that Leisel said I was what she wanted, and the president always gives his daughter what she wants.”

“So you were prepared to spend the rest of your life with someone you didn’t love in order to restore democracy?”

Jack nodded. “I just wanted to be honest with you. After all that’s happened, you were owed an explanation. I am truly sorry you got caught up in all of this.” He reached for my hand and held it in both of his. Slowly he brought it up to his lips and tenderly kissed it, then placed my hand back on my lap. “Time’s up,” he said.

And he went back out into the living room.

Chapter Ten

I kept my hand in my lap exactly where Jack had put it down. A tingling sensation lingered where he had pressed his lips against my skin. I stared at my hand, but it didn’t look any different. I never expected kindness from a bourge, especially one so aristocratic. If he thought I had anything to do with Leisel’s betrayal, why didn’t he just beat me? Or kill me? No one would care. But instead of hurting me, he confided in me. In fact, his openness about his feelings toward President Holt and Leisel shocked me. Treasonous words were never heard in the Dome.

I didn’t know what to think of Jack Kenner or his story. If his family really was intent on restoring democracy to the Dome, they had had almost three hundred years to do it. Yet there we all were, still at the mercy of the Holts. I wondered if life would be any different if Liberty succeeded. For all Jack’s talk about wanting to get rid of the Holts, never once did he actually say life in the Pit would get any better.