Aurora (The Exodus Trilogy) (4 page)

As he climbed a low hill, the forest cleared a little and allowed him a view of the landscape in front of him. As far as he knew, no human had seen it before. 55 Cancri A, or just Cancri as they had started calling it just a few days after landing, would soon set. He looked around to see whether he could find somewhere to set up camp for the night. He spotted the perfect site after a few seconds, and smiled absently to himself. It was a patch of trees and bushes, surrounded by open ground where he’d be able to see whoever or whatever might be closing in on him, and it had two possible escape routes if needed. There was no water supply that he could see, but he’d stocked up on water for the night, so that shouldn’t be a concern. He allowed himself a minute to take in the beauty of it all. In front of him, a valley spread out, a sparsely forested landscape with open ground here and there. In the distance, he spotted a lake. Best to stay away, as lakes tended to attract the local wildlife, and there were worse predators than balders. He knew he had to find a way past it, if he was to get to the container in time. Six hours ago, he’d seen a shuttle in the sky, most likely checking up on the container. He was sure there would be others behind him, looking for the same thing as he. Before he’d set out on this trek, he hadn’t understood why they couldn’t just airlift the containers or whatever was inside, until he looked it up on his tablet. The shuttle specs were available to him because of his role in Havelar’s administration, and it didn’t take him but ten seconds to figure it out. There had to be something preventing the shuttle from landing nearby, and it was incapable of dropping passengers off from the air. He’d realized that, although the shuttles were in many ways able to act as military transport planes or helicopters, there were a lot of differences. All in all, without a safe landing spot, it would only be useful as an aerial reconnaissance platform.

Thomas Dunn considered his options. There weren’t many. He had lots of theories on what the container held, but there was one thing he was certain of. He needed to get to it before Havelar’s people. He also knew he had to get some rest at some point, but he still felt strong. If he continued now, he might be able to reach the container faster, but he’d be just as exposed to heat-seeking devices, and more importantly, more tired once the time came for his evasion. If they caught him, he’d be a dead man. For a second he wavered. Then he decided to take his chances, and started walking again. He was under no illusions. This was the first of the secret containers to land on Aurora, and there had been too little time to prepare properly. This was not the time for stealing whatever the container held. His primary goal was to find out what it was. Then, if it was, as he suspected, some kind of weapon, he might get a chance to render it impossible to use. He had some very powerful electronic equipment, smuggled on board the Exodus during those last chaotic days. If he did manage to destroy it, it would definitely raise the stakes, since so far no one had done anything to sabotage Havelar’s regime, or openly opposed it, although he knew there was a lot of simmering discontent here and there since his takeover.

Four hours later, he reached the far end of the lake. He had taken a big risk by moving this close to the lake, but it would be worth it. He took a moment to listen. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then he walked closer to the spot where the container should be. He knew the exact location, but there had been no way to observe it from a distance, as the forest was thick here. He would have preferred to spend a few minutes making sure there was no one else around, but he would just have to approach it carefully.

Then he saw it. Half buried from the rough landing in the soft dirt, and with an overturned tree hiding its features somewhat from the top. There were scratch marks on its side, probably from some curious beast, and the paint was scorched from atmospheric entry, but otherwise it seemed unharmed. His heart beat faster, and he felt the adrenaline pumping. He approached it carefully, one step at a time, all the while alert for anything out of the ordinary. As he reached out to touch it, he jumped at a twig snapping nearby. Then he almost laughed as a rat monkey scurried past him. Funny little creatures, and smart too, although completely harmless. The rat monkey paused and cocked its head at him for a second, before dashing into the bushes again. Thomas shook his head and smiled while taking out a small piece of equipment he’d carried in his bag. It was an instrument that would let him see inside the container without breaching it, like an x-ray. He turned it on and tuned it until he had a clear image. He had to move it across most of the surface on one side to be able to make out the contents. When he saw the rocket on its platform though, his worst suspicions were confirmed. The markings on the side only reinforced them. It was nuclear.

So Havelar obviously thought he could bolster his regime by having nuclear weapons available to him. As disgusted as he felt, Thomas was by no means surprised. And he hadn’t come unprepared. He reached down into his bag and took out his Geiger counter. For a few seconds, he held his breath, until the device showed normal readings. So, the journey from Earth, atmospheric entry, and landing had presumably left the weapon unharmed, and there were no leaks. Then he put the Geiger counter away and took out a device that he connected to his tablet with a thin wire. It could be done wirelessly, of course, but if electronic surveillance of the area was already active, that would alert anyone watching. Then he readied his tablet and connected it to a control panel on the container. As expected, the container was one of the latest models, with smart-technology sensors hooked into the cargo itself monitoring the well-being of its contents. A fact that Thomas knew could be exploited. The interconnection between the container and cargo enabled him to send a specificially designed virus through to the device. The idea that something designed to protect the warhead was now in fact making its destruction possible made him smile. He watched as the screen showed a lot of meaningless numbers and letters, until he got two options. He tapped YES once, then once more, and then he heard a soft hiss from within the container. He packed up everything and without hesitation started moving through the forest, heading northeast. He had just incapacitated the weapon. It would be launchable as a conventional rocket, and it would even contain nuclear materials, but it would cause no chain reaction. It would be able to do some harm, of course, but Thomas didn’t expect it to pack much more punch than an ordinary anti-tank missile. As he dashed through the forest, he wondered how far the radiation would spread, and how fast. He had caused what could be considered a small meltdown in parts of the warhead, and there would be contamination in the vicinity. He didn’t think it would leak fast enough to harm him though, and the damage to the local wildlife would probably be acceptable. The best part was that there would be no way to tell there had been sabotage.
One down, three to go
, he thought, grinning.

BEN WATERS

“Catch,” someone called. Ben turned, but he was too slow. The ball caught him right in the face, and he was knocked backward. He immediately checked his mask, and found it was okay, even though it had a dent where he’d been hit.

“Oh shit... I didn’t mean to...” Harry mumbled, as he jogged over to his older friend.

“I thought you were ready. How’re you doing? You okay?” Ben just waved him off. He felt a thin trickle of blood running from his nose, but he was the oldest around, and bit his lip.

“It’s nothing, a little nosebleed is all. Been worse.” Of course. Benjamin Waters had been to war. He never mentioned it himself, but everyone knew. Every kid on Aurora knew that Ben was the boy soldier who had saved them all, taking the shuttle New Discovery to the safety of Earth orbit. Thirty-five kids between the ages of six and seventeen, sent by General Hayden’s rebels on the last shuttle ever leaving Earth.

“Sure,” Harry said, fishing out a hankie for Ben to hold up to his nose. Harry was one of the few who respected his reluctance to talk about it. Not like most others, kids and grownups alike, who constantly nagged him, pushing him to open up, ripping off the scar tissue of half-healed wounds. Never once considering his needs. Sometimes Ben couldn’t stand to be around people. The kids looked up to him, expecting him to be some kind of hero, while the adults seemed to be waiting for him to finally break down.

Yeah, he’d seen some ugly things, and he knew it affected him. But he was neither the hero nor the victim. He’d just been in an extraordinary situation, doing what needed to be done.

Harry was another one of the kids from the New Discovery. The son of a congressman who’d sided with General Hayden, he’d been among the lucky few to be put on that shuttle, while his friends and family had no options but to wait for the inevitable. Everyone knew that those left behind were long gone by now. Most likely from the impact of Devastator, although a few might have survived impact itself to eke out their lives in the aftermath. Not a pretty prospect. Whatever. They were all dead by now, more than a century and a half later.

Ben carefully lifted his facemask, careful not to breathe. They said the air might be breathable, but so far, the doctors and scientists had placed strict orders on them not to remove the masks. They said there could be trace elements or parasites they hadn’t discovered yet, that might prove harmful to humans. So he held his breath as he wiped the blood off his face. Then he tore shreds from the hankie, which he twisted until they fit into his nostrils. Damned uncomfortable, but at least it stopped the bleeding. Then he replaced the mask and pressed a button on the left side, which produced a hissing sound for a few seconds. Sterilization procedure.

“You good?” Harry asked. Ben waved it off as he filled his lungs with air. One day someone would breathe Aurora air, if not by design then by accident.
Then we’ll see
, he thought. He looked around. Cancri was still high, and a warm eastern breeze made the leaves of the ancient hardwoods rustle.

“Wanna go for a swim?” Ben nodded. Harry waved for Lisa, Drew, and John to come over, and they all picked up their stuff and walked toward the Trickler.

The Trickler was wide, and sometimes the currents proved dangerous. At first, the kids hadn’t been allowed to swim there, but that had proven a futile mandate soon enough. So, instead of having kids swimming in places that could be particularly dangerous, the adults had given in and made them promise to stay within one of two areas that were deemed mostly safe.

There were three kids and one adult there already, and soon they were all splashing in the cool water. Ben though that this could be paradise, if they could only get rid of those demons that seemed to haunt them all the time. The adults seemed mostly fine, but the kids... The kids of the final shuttle were all psychologically damaged in some way or another. Some, like himself, had been soldiers, and seen unspeakable horrors. Some may even have done some pretty ugly things themselves. Ben knew at least one kid, just fourteen at the time, who’d shot an unarmed prisoner and laughed about it afterward. Others, like Lisa, had been spared the cruelty of war, only to be brutally separated from those they loved. Lisa had been the only daughter of General Hayden. Everyone knew the rebel leader had shot himself when the rebellion had fizzled out, but no one told Lisa. She found out by studying the history files on her tablet, close up pictures and all. She’d been real quiet afterward, until one day she exploded and cursed them all for not telling her. Several of the kids, Ben among them, had cried with her, and those quiet moments afterward were probably the first time he’d shared in the feeling that everyone talked about here on Aurora: hope. They were the future of this planet, the future of mankind, and they were slowly mending.

Chapter 3

THOMAS DUNN

Yawning, he had almost decided to call it quits for the day. He’d been working for more than ten hours straight, being Havelar’s spy and henchman, and the one job was demanding enough. If anyone knew he had another, they’d be amazed at his stamina. But he had no one to confide in. Thomas Dunn was still the lone operative working his web of lies and deception, and the strain of it sometimes got to him. Lately, he’d been so exhausted, he’d started doubting his own abilities. Who was he to change the fate of humanity, all alone?

It was only a matter of time before the situation would blow up, if his suspicions proved correct. He still couldn’t be certain what Havelar’s Human Expansion Program was all about, but the reason it was being kept secret, and the task he’d been assigned, gave him a vague idea. It would take more research though, and until he had hard evidence, there was no point in taking it any further. What he suspected though was ugly; something mankind hadn’t seen in two centuries. And Havelar, from what he could tell, thought he was their savior!

There was a knock on the door, and as he turned around Maria Solis, smiled at him. She was beautiful, despite the lines from the facemask around her nose and mouth. Inside the administrative compound, they were now able to walk around without their masks. He waved at her to come in.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said. Cancri would soon set, and he hadn’t expected her to come this late. But she was here, so he logged into the personnel file, and entered her ID number.

“I wasn’t sure I’d make it today,” she answered, as she took a chair and moved it closer. He thought she smelled like almonds. A sweet smell, but not obtrusive, just a hint. He coughed, staring intently at the screen.

“So… Let’s do this, shall we?” She gave him a quick nod. He tapped lightly on the screen and a questionnaire opened. He hesitated for a second.

“It’s all routine, you know. Some of these questions are… Well, a little intimate,” he said. She laughed, but there was a hint of something… Distaste perhaps, although it could just be something he imagined. He shook it off, and they started filling in the form together.