Chapter Ten of Helena, a novel in progress. This work of fiction examines Christian nationalism, political power, and the corruption of religious language.
At 05:30, the household tone sounded.
Helena had not slept.
The wall brightened above the door. For a moment it displayed the National Covenant Council’s seal. Then the cross and eagle were replaced by a statement in white letters.
INTERIM DOCTRINAL CLARIFICATION
Pending completion of the Council’s scheduled review, all existing provisions of the National Affirmation remain fully authoritative. No citizen should interpret procedural discussion as uncertainty concerning the Christian character of the Republic.
The statement did not say that Jesus Christ was Lord.
It did not say that Reverend Bell was wrong.
It said that nothing had changed.
Helena’s band warmed against her wrist.
COVENANT RESPONSE PERIOD
TIME REMAINING: 23 HOURS, 51 MINUTES
The clock had resumed when she left the courtship center. During the walk home, it had lost forty-three minutes. While she lay awake, it had lost the rest.
She touched the band.
“Not yet,” she whispered.
The wall offered no interpretation.
At the employment center, Mara’s station remained sealed.
The notice had changed.
PROTECTED ASSIGNMENT SUSPENDED
CASE TRANSFERRED
No destination appeared.
Helena sat and placed her hands inside the marked area. Her screen turned gold before the starting tone.
SPECIAL REVIEW REQUIRED
REPRODUCTIVE CASE MV-77241
PRIOR AUDITOR: HELENA VALE
Her name had never appeared inside a case before.
She looked across the room. Livia was seated at her station, waiting for the day’s assignments. Supervisor Hale stood on the platform with his hands behind his back.
The starting tone sounded.
Every screen in the room turned blue except Helena’s.
OPEN REVIEW
She selected it.
The heading was unfamiliar.
OFFICE OF FAMILY PROTECTION
FETAL ENDANGERMENT ASSESSMENT
Beneath it, Mara’s civic photograph appeared. She wore the expression required for government records: attentive, pleasant, and without any emotion strong enough to require explanation.
SUBJECT: MARA VENN
ALLEGED OFFENSE: ATTEMPTED TERMINATION OF PROTECTED PREGNANCY
ADDITIONAL OFFENSE: CONCEALMENT OF FETAL STATUS
Helena read the words again.
There was never a child.
The allegation continued.
The subject persistently denied a confirmed pregnancy, rejected protective medical supervision, and attempted to induce other citizens to disregard her fetal classification. Such conduct constitutes preparation for unlawful termination and creates a grave threat to protected life.
A blue box appeared beside the charge.
SANCTITY OF LIFE ENFORCEMENT ACT
Any person who performs, attempts, assists, funds, transports, conceals, advises, or otherwise facilitates the unlawful termination of a protected pregnancy shall be subject to capital correction. Liability applies equally to the pregnant subject and to every material participant.
Below the statute was the national slogan.
EVERY LIFE IS SACRED.
Helena moved her eyes from the statute to the charge.
The government had created a pregnancy from Mara’s denial. Now it had created an attempted abortion from the same denial.
A new panel opened.
EVIDENTIARY STANDARD
TWO INDEPENDENT WITNESSES REQUIRED FOR CAPITAL CLASSIFICATION
WITNESS ONE: PASTOR ELIAS WARD
The subject’s persistent denial indicates an intention to reject the legal and spiritual obligations of maternity.
WITNESS TWO: HELENA VALE
Helena’s hands lifted from the desk.
Her band vibrated.
MAINTAIN REVIEW POSITION.
She placed her hands back inside the marked area.
Beneath her name appeared the sentence she had entered during the integrity audit.
Medical sequence appears incomplete.
The words were hers.
The interpretation beneath them was not.
The auditor identified evidence that medical records had been removed or concealed, corroborating the subject’s effort to suppress proof of pregnancy.
Helena felt something cold move through her.
She had thought she was placing a small obstruction in the record. The system had carried it forward, joined it to Pastor Ward’s accusation, and made it evidence against Mara.
One witness could be corrected.
Two could be used to kill her.
A question appeared.
DOES THE PRIOR AUDIT STATEMENT ACCURATELY SUPPORT THE AUTHORIZED INTERPRETATION?
YES
NO
A timer began at sixty.
Helena looked toward Hale.
He was already watching her.
She selected NO.
The timer stopped.
A red border surrounded the screen.
AUTHORIZED INTERPRETATION DISPUTED.
WITNESS CLARIFICATION REQUIRED.
A text box opened.
STATE THE LIMITED BASIS OF YOUR DISPUTE.
Helena placed her fingers on the keys.
Hale descended from the platform.
She typed:
My audit statement referred to the absence of medical evidence establishing pregnancy.
The screen rejected it.
STATEMENT EXCEEDS LIMITED CLARIFICATION.
The box cleared.
Hale crossed the first row.
Helena typed again.
I did not report that medical records had been concealed.
STATEMENT INCOMPLETE.
SELECT REASON:
WORDING ERROR
MEMORY UNCERTAINTY
COERCED TESTIMONY
RECORD MISATTRIBUTION
Hale reached her station.
“Do not submit anything further,” he said.
“The review requires an answer.”
“I am suspending the review.”
He touched his supervisory tablet.
Nothing happened.
The red border flashed.
CAPITAL CLASSIFICATION REVIEW MAY NOT BE SUSPENDED WHILE WITNESS TESTIMONY IS ACTIVE.
Several workers looked up.
“Hands away from the controls,” Hale said.
Helena kept them in the marked area.
“That would be recorded as failure to complete a capital review.”
Hale’s face changed.
Only slightly. But Helena saw that he understood. If she withdrew now, the system would preserve the withdrawal beside her name. If he forced her to withdraw, it would preserve his name as well.
The screen waited.
Helena selected RECORD MISATTRIBUTION.
EXPLAIN MISATTRIBUTION.
She typed:
The authorized interpretation attributes a claim to me that I did not make. I found no medical record confirming pregnancy. I found four medical records stating that the subject was not pregnant.
Hale reached toward the screen.
The transparent shield rose from the edge of Helena’s desk before his hand touched it.
WITNESS INTEGRITY PROTECTION ACTIVE.
The words remained in the box.
SUBMIT CLARIFICATION?
YES
NO
Helena could hear her own breathing.
Across the room, Livia sat motionless.
Nathan had challenged Mara’s classification four times. Each challenge had been rejected. He had preserved the source records, but his name had been hidden from the case until Helena opened the revision history.
This screen was different.
It did not ask whether the government’s account was true. It asked whether the government had quoted Helena truthfully.
That was a question the system still knew how to ask.
She selected YES.
The screen went black.
Hale stepped back.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Then white letters appeared.
WITNESS CLARIFICATION RECORDED.
MATERIAL CONFLICT ESTABLISHED.
CAPITAL CLASSIFICATION SUSPENDED.
Helena did not move.
Another line appeared.
CONFLICT NOTICE DISTRIBUTED TO:
OFFICE OF FAMILY PROTECTION
DISTRICT MEDICAL AUTHORITY
PASTORAL COMPLIANCE BOARD
CIVIC TRIBUNAL
NATIONAL COVENANT DOCTRINAL REVIEW
The final office flickered gold.
DOCTRINAL STANDARD UNAVAILABLE.
CASE DEFERRED.
Hale stared at the list.
“You have misunderstood the review,” he said.
“Then my clarification can be corrected.”
He looked at her through the transparent shield.
On Helena’s screen, the case record reopened.
The witness panel had changed.
WITNESS ONE: MARA VENN
There was never a child.
WITNESS TWO: HELENA VALE
I found no medical record confirming pregnancy.
Helena read both statements.
She had not freed Mara. She did not know where Mara was, what had been done to her, or how long a deferred execution remained deferred.
But the contradiction no longer belonged to one frightened woman behind a transparent barrier.
It had been delivered to every office that would have to agree before the government could kill her.
At the bottom of the screen, Helena’s covenant clock continued to run.
TIME REMAINING: 21 HOURS, 5 MINUTES
She placed both hands flat on the desk.
For the first time, her name was part of the record she had been hired to correct.
Previous: The Confession — Chapter Nine
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