I tried! I tried to see her, to dodge what I knew was coming—no good. Her first blow drove me to the ground.

She kicks like a donkey.

I curled up and covered my head, protecting my vitals as she vented her rage.

She knelt down, peeled my hands from my skull and hit me in the ear. I heard something pop. I covered my temple. She seized my hand, pushing the little finger sideways. Snap!

“I said, look at me!”

My overwrought senses obeyed. I saw her in vibrant color: her red face, her blue eyes, her crystal-clear excitement.

“The Assembly is three weeks away from passing the most significant piece of legislation the new world has ever seen,” she spat in my face. “The only thing capable of defeating us is Dana Kumar. My job is to find out what insurrection he’s planning. Yours, you stupid beast, was to find out whose side he’s on!”

She punched me viciously then threw my hand down. I whimpered. She dragged me to my feet, kicked a chair forward and pushed me into it.

“Now, listen to me, girl. The New Seed is already in the ground.” She slapped me. I felt my lip split. “Are you listening?”

I nodded vigorously but my finger throbbed and spots dotted my vision. She snatched my hand up and squeezed, forcing my loose knuckle into place. I screamed, fully alert.

“The New Seed is already in the ground,” she repeated.

Her words penetrated. The New Seed is in the ground? “I don’t understand,” I said.

She shoved her face close to mine. “The first batch of New Seed was ready at the first of the year. The workers have been planting it for days now. It’s done, and there’s nothing anyone can do to reverse it.”

I shook my head. She lied. Surely she lied.

“Now you’re listening,” she growled. “The harvest will flourish with or without the workers. Your fever merely saves us the trouble of extinguishing that which is now of no use to America.”

I closed my eyes, resisting the import of her words. The New Seed! How had I not seen its inevitable consequence before? Without a harvest to tend, the workers were of little use to America. Their role would be diminished and the strict efficiency of the Compromise would demand that the population of workers be controlled to avoid waste.

“But the bill hasn’t passed,” I said, logically, trying to think past the pain in my hand. “It’s illegal to plant the Seed without Assembly approval.”