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  Chapter 2

  Jordan was still too enthusiastic about her turn of events to give the invitation too much thought. “Yes, sir. I’ll be there.”

  The Director nodded, “Good, I’ll send a vehicle to pick you up from your housing facility say six o’clock, after work?”

  Jordan was stunned but could feel her self-nodding. Vehicles were only used by high-ranking officials or as a means to travel from the city to the surrounding wall. If anyone else in the city needed to go anywhere, they would walk.

  Jordan left the review room. She passed the guards outside that she didn’t know with a wave. Their rigid stance and stern demeanors didn’t change but nothing was going to ruin Jordan’s day.

  You did it! You really did it! All those years of hard work.

  Jordan’s legs continued to walk to the large building with the words “Physical Education Department” written on top. The joy of the promotion was overwhelming. Ideas for how she could enhance the way the department was run sped through her mind.

  She had the autonomy now to implement her own ideas. For years she had seen ways to promote production, in the department but her suggestions were always met with, “thank you’s” and “We’ll take it under advisement” instead of action.

  Now she was going to be the one running the department. The responsibility would have been daunting to anyone else but Jordan was ready for the challenge.

  The day was warm and Jordan soon found herself jogging past the open green parks and tall buildings beside her. She was too excited to walk. Coming straight from work she was still in her exercise clothes; black tank top, long athletic pants that hugged her body and running shoes.

  Ponytail bobbing behind her, Jordan arrived at her building a few minutes later. It was only as she was reaching to open the large glass door that she was reminded of the events that preceded her own good news.

  There was a group of grey suited men and women at the front counter checking in with the receptionist. The suits, the lack of smiles throughout the group made them easily recognizable as transition counselors.

  Transition counselors where the men and women the city used to meet with employees after someone had been relieved of their duties. It was mandatory that each and every employee would sit through an hour long meeting with a counselor to ensure that they were aware of why the employee had been let go and were on the same page as the city.

  Jordan took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out as she wiped off perspiration from her face. It wouldn’t be a great first impression if the new head of the physical education department entered the office full of sweat.

  Examining her reflection in the glass door for a split second before she entered Jordan was happy with her appearance.

  She walked in greeted with the cool fans of the air conditioning units that ran diligently throughout the day. Every eye in the room turned her way. Both men and women looked her up and down.

  The looks they gave her reminded Jordan of when she poured liquid in a measuring cup and examined the fluid to see if she had poured too much or too little. Jordan wasn’t sure if it was from the cool air or the gaze of the transition counselors that made her skin prickle.

  “Oh, Jordan,” Kelly, the receptionist, said around her headset. “Let me be the first to congratulate you on your new position. You definitely deserve it, sweetie.”

  Jordan stopped eyeing the group of counselors and turned to Kelly. “Thanks, Kelly. It was a surprise but couldn’t have been a better one.”

  Kelly smiled again and nodded toward the counselors. “I’m arranging meetings between the transition counselors and the rest of the staff now. Counselor Carter herself just checked in. She personally requested to meet with you. She’s waiting in Rober—in your office now.”

  Jordan’s mouth went dry. She had been through her fair share of meetings with transition counselors, more than she wanted to remember. But it wasn’t the thought of another meeting that made her hesitate now, it was the woman she would be meeting with.

  Holly Carter was the head of the transitioning department. As head of the counselors she had a reputation of no non-sense, firm woman without personality. Stories about her meetings were practically legendary.

  The head of the transition counselors mostly managed those who reported to her. It was only out of a great necessity or when there was a particularly troubled employee that Counselor Carter came out now.

  “Okay, thanks, Kelly,” Jordan said.

  Jordan walked past the group of transition counselors who still eyed her like children looking at an animal at the zoo.

  Why would Holly Carter come out now? What did she want? More importantly how does it involve me? I didn’t do anything wrong… did I?

  These thoughts and more ran through Jordan’s mind as she jogged up the long flight’s of stairs leading to her new office.

  Jordan passed other fitness educators on the way up and down the stairs along with citizens of the city in for their training. Jordan nodded and smiled as they passed. The fitness educators were all in matching black exercise clothes; the city’s population wore a similar outfit except theirs was light blue instead of black.

  Physical fitness had been a mandated practice in the city since its inception hundreds of years before. It was soon found that in order to sustain a populace able to meet deadlines and fulfill goals, things like sickness and injury needed to be avoided at all cost.

  As a result the department of physical education had been established. It was mandatory that all citizens attend hour-long training sessions with physical educators five days a week. It was also strongly encouraged that they come the other two days out of the week on their own but not required.

  Jordan passed them without a second thought as she reached the fifth floor of the building. Wishing she was wearing something more professional she made her way to the corner office that had belonged to Robert Greyson earlier that morning.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised to see a short man in grey overalls scrapping off Robert Greyson’s name from the glass door but she was. Robert was a man that had served diligently for years. Now he was nothing more than a name being chopped off of a door.

  An idea surfaced enticing her to the possibility that she should feel sad. That nagging feeling that always came when someone was released to the land outside the walls of the city. But this is how it was. This is how it always had been. For the betterment of society, this is what had to happen,

  The small man scrapping away at the glass door must have heard her approaching because he turned around with a smile. “Oh hello, ma’am. Would you be Mrs. Jordan Shepherd?”

  “Miss, but yes I am.”

  “Oh my apologize, Miss Shepherd. I just want to make sure I have the proper spelling of your name.” The little man stopped himself with a hand over an open mouth, “Oh and to tell you congratulations on your new position. I have nothing but respect for what you and yours do on a daily basis. Why if it wasn’t for you and the other physical educators, I know I would be in bad shape.”

  Jordan smiled despite the meeting she knew was about to take place. “Thank you. You don’t have to worry about putting a ‘Miss’ in the title just ‘Jordan Shepherd’ is fine. It’s spelled just like it sounds.”

  The man bobbed his head and opened the door for Jordan motioning her inside.

  “Thanks,” Jordan said as she stepped inside the plainly decorated room. The corner office was designed with glass windows on two sides, a large desk in the center and uncomfortable looking chairs provided seating for the person sitting behind and in front of the desk.

  There was a woman standing with her back to Jordan. The woman stood with perfect posture. She didn’t bother to turn around when Jordan entered. “Hello, Miss Shepherd. Do you need water after your run? Maybe freshen up before we start?”

  Jordan’s mouth moved to ask how the woman had known she ran but she stopped any words from coming out of her mouth just in time. The cou
nselor must have seen her run, from her vantage point at the window. She had seen her run as well as straighten herself up before entering the building.

  Jordan wasn’t sure how to feel with someone practically spying on her but she cleared her throat and responded, “No thank you.”

  The woman standing at the window slowly turned. She was in her late fifties with a short haircut and eyes that said they knew what you were going to say before you did. She motioned Jordan to sit as she took the seat behind the desk.

  For the second time that day Jordan found herself in a meeting she had not anticipated.

  Jordan sat straight with her shoulders back and palms on her knees. The feeling of inferiority couldn’t be shaken as Jordan looked at the transition counselor. Holly Carter wore a perfectly fitted grey suit with an emblem pinned on her right shoulder identifying her rank. Jordan’s own exercise outfit seemed more and more out of place by the minute.

  “Jordan, I was told that the Director has already informed you of your new position. I wanted to come and be among the first to congratulate you on your promotion.”

  Shock must have been clear on her face because Holly gave a quick smile before she continued, “You are head of one of the most important departments of our city now. Without you and what you do, who knows how many of our citizens would be unable to fulfill their goals everyday. I wanted to meet you personally. You can only tell so much about a person from their file.”

  Jordan wiped the perspiration gathering on her palms over her pants. Everything the counselor was saying was positive but Jordan couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being examined. It was as though there was some kind of psychological test being administered and Jordan didn’t know the rules. “Thank you. It’s a position that I have been working towards for awhile now. One I know I will be able to fulfill for the good of our community.”

  The Counselor pursed her lips, nodding at the response as though she expected Jordan to respond with nothing less. “Jordan you are well aware that after an employee is relieved of his or her duties each employee in the field is required to meet with a transition counselor.”

  “Yes.”

  “Very good. I understand you were at Robert Greyson’s review when he was relieved of his duties. How did the conversation make you feel?”

  Jordan had to stop and think for a moment before she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

  There was a pause in the room as Jordan shook off the feeling that she was being stalked like prey in the wild. Fixing the Counselor with resolve in her eyes Jordan answered, “I didn’t feel anything. Robert Greyson was a good man and a good boss…” Jordan noticed Holly’s eyes narrow the slightest bit as she started to speak. Before the Counselor could open her mouth again Jordan continued, “But he failed our society by not meeting his goals not once, but three times. Our rules are here for a reason, order has to be maintained.”

  Counselor Carter’s expression changed as she slowly nodded. “And you seem fine with Robert Greyson being released outside the walls despite your long history under his leadership.”

  “I am. It is what had to be done.”

  “Why?”

  Jordan furrowed her brow looking for meaning.

  “Oh, I of course I know why, but I would like to hear it from you, Miss Shepherd. Why did Robert have to be relieved from duty and released outside of the city?”

  Jordan reached back to her early days growing up as a child and being educated by the city’s teachers. “We all have a job. Every member of society is raised to perform a task. If we fail to meet our goals then we have failed ourselves and our community. A healthy, prosperous society cannot survive like this. To be strong we must all pull our own weight. If we are unable to do so we are sent out from the city. This is the way things have always been, it’s what has kept us strong all of these years since the forming of our society.”

  Jordan stopped, hoping that she had said enough. Hoping that whatever the Counselor wanted to get out of her Jordan had provided.

  Holly looked Jordan up and down tapping a metal pen against the table top like a metronome. “Very good. I’m sorry if I seem a bit harsh, Miss Shepherd, but there have been rumors, whispers if you will of employees beginning to become discontent with our society. As new head of the physical education department I wanted to make sure you were confident in the way we have things established here within the city walls.”

  Jordan licked her lips. Rumors? People becoming discontent with the law? It was the first Jordan had heard of anything of the kind.

  “Good, I just wanted to confirm you didn’t know anything of the rumors. It will be dealt with quickly and efficiently as is the way of our city.”

  The Counselor rose to leave, collecting her pen and folders from the table. Jordan found herself rising from her seat as the events of the day continued to become more confusing.

  “Well, Miss Shepherd, we are glad to have you on board. The Director told me you will be accompanying us to the city walls tonight as Robert is released.”

  “Yes, I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Well I’ll leave you to it. I’m sure you are already feeling the pressure your new title brings. I know I would be.”