Aurora (The Exodus Trilogy) (6 page)

“Ah, you’re always so… right!” Geena exclaimed. Kicking at the dirt, she looked like a teenager still, just like Maria remembered her from that sunny morning back in Arizona, when they had first met. She remembered the pink pants, the silver belt, the golden movie-star hair, and the enormous sunglasses. The thing that had made the strongest impression on her, in that absurd situation, was Geena’s wide grin, perfect white teeth from ear to ear. Now, she looked almost grumpy. Maria was about to tell her how it didn’t become her, when she saw the twinkle in her eye. That was the old Geena, she thought. She started laughing softly, and it was as if they read each other’s minds. Geena grinned then, and those perfect teeth lit up the entire world, just as they had on that day so long ago.

BEN WATERS

Ben didn’t know this Thomas Dunn fellow very well, but he’d heard the rumors. They said he was close to Governor Havelar, and being summoned to his office couldn’t be anything good. He’d thought he was finished with being nervous, but something about this man made the hairs on his neck stand up. Maybe it was just the setting, as if being interrogated, or having an important exam. Or it could be the questions; several of them were way beyond intimate. He noticed Thomas staring at him, waiting.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that last one,” he stuttered. Thomas Dunn repeated the question.

“Did you ever go any further?” he asked. Ben had no idea why he had to answer these questions, which were highly inappropriate. But he had been taught to obey, and to hold a low profile. He shook his head.

“No, sir.” Thomas motioned for him to continue, so he did.

“We never got the chance. I was… picked up by General Hayden’s men, and I never saw her again” Thomas’s hands danced across the keyboard as he entered Ben’s response.

“So you’re still a virgin then? I mean, technically.” Red faced, Ben nodded, staring down at his knees. Thomas must have noticed, because he stopped typing, and gave him a quick smile.

“Don’t worry, kid, your secret’s safe with me.” Then he reached out and got a soda can for himself and another for Ben.

“I’m sorry about all this, you know. But it’s for the good of the community.” Ben eyed him sideways, but said nothing. He opened his can and gulped it all down. Since landing on Aurora, he’d never grown accustomed to the facemasks, so being able to breathe freely felt nice. Downing a full can of soda, and not drinking it through a mask with a straw, felt even better. Still, something about all these questions made him queasy. The feeling of being interrogated wasn’t the only thing that unsettled him. It was also that so many of the questions seemed irrelevant to almost anything. Not to mention the fact that he simply didn’t understand what he was doing here. Why had Thomas Dunn—or rather his employer he’d guess, taken such interest in him? After all, he wasn’t even supposed to be here. The kids from the New Discovery were basically stowaways, and they were lucky to be alive. He knew there had been issues over whether or not to let them on board the Exodus, and if not for Admiral Hamilton and Major Hammer and probably a number of others, they would all have been shipped back to Earth. So if there was some sort of mapping or selection now, whatever could it be? He and the kids had already been through the sessions with the shrink, Taylor something, and also the “debrief” sessions with both administration and military. Their stories were already well known.

“Okay then. I guess that’s enough about sex for now,” Thomas finally said. Ben let out a deep breath of relief, which Thomas seemed to notice.

“So, let’s move on to the mental issues, shall we?” he grinned, as Ben slumped back in his chair.

MARIA SOLIS

The rains had come earlier than expected, and the second harvest had been only partially completed. Almost half the crops spoiled. With winter upon them, the extra supplies from the Exodus would come to good use; if not for them, everyone would be starving by spring. Despite the failed crops, there was still optimism in the air, Maria thought. The kids had been a challenge, and a lot of people were grumbling about the restrictions on movement, but still, most seemed content that their little community was slowly developing. And besides, they were safe inside the perimeter. There were predators out there; balders and who knew what, and most seemed to accept the restrictions as a safety precaution.

But at the moment, Maria was wallowing in disappointment. She’d originally been part of Jeremiah Lowell’s team of scientists, set to explore the area to the west, and she’d really been looking forward to it. Then, just half an hour ago, Jeremiah had entered her living quarters, red faced and fuming.

“The bastards won’t let us go,” he’d said.

“There was no explanation, other than saying the mission was canceled.” Maria had to sit down.

“They canceled it? But that makes no sense,” she said. Jeremiah nodded.

“Yeah, they sure did. And no, it makes even less sense now that the crops went bad. Hell, we could have discovered something useful out there, you know. Like food…” He shook his head. Neither of them said anything for a while, and just when Maria was about to say something, Jeremiah interrupted her.

“Well, I guess there are more important missions going on right now.” Of course. After Jeremiah’s original request to explore the south, where the photo from the Exodus had shown the single plume of smoke, a military detachment had been sent to investigate. There had been talk of intelligent beings being the only ones capable of producing it, even among the skeptics. The soldiers had come back empty handed, but they did find the origin of the fire. Weeks later, a team of scientists, including Jeremiah, had been allowed out to survey that very same area. Though the soldiers had dismissed the ash and charred sticks scattered on the ground, the scientists had brought them back to Fort Andrews to conduct chemical analyses of the remains. Upon their return, Jeremiah had proposed his own survey, and Maria knew he’d intended to conduct a much larger sweep, including large areas where no one had ventured so far. But so far, that had not been approved.

“You’re probably right,” Maria said. Jeremiah said nothing, and she was still upset about his original expedition being canceled, thus leaving her out of it, so she just kept on talking.

“There are rumors they’ve found traces of hydrocarbons. And from what I’ve heard, that got everyone all fired up, because there is nothing to indicate that hydrocarbons should occur anywhere near that spot.”

“Unless someone, or something, brought it there.” Jeremiah looked up sharply, interrupting her. Few people said it aloud, but Jeremiah had never been shy to speak his mind, even back on Earth. “Well, I guess this means the western expedition will have to be postponed for now, but look at the bright side, the larger sweep of the south is still on, isn’t it?” she said. Jeremiah gritted his teeth.

“Yeah, for now. But the longer we wait, the colder it gets, and given the speed with which those bureaucrats operate, you can be certain winter will be upon us before we get an answer. So it’ll probably have to wait till spring,” he said and exhaled slowly.

“So I guess we’re in for a long winter then,” Maria said, as she saw her dreams of discovery postponed once again.

Chapter 4

BEN WATERS

It had been Drew’s idea from the beginning, but he’d pulled out at the last minute, mumbling something about science lessons as he darted off. When John never showed up, that left Ben alone with Lisa and Harry. The three had decided to go anyway. Just yesterday the five of them had been sitting inside their warm cabin while the rains poured down outside, with nothing to do, quarreling over nothing, and growing more restless as the day went by. Drew had been grumbling about not being allowed to venture outside the perimeter, and finally said they should do it anyway. There was an entire world to discover, he’d said. If they didn’t explore their new world, who would? Both Ben and Harry had objected, while John remained silent. But boredom tore at them as well, and when Lisa said that if they didn’t do it together, she would go alone, the rest of them reluctantly agreed.

So here they were, the three of them, in the woods just southwest of Fort Andrews, watching as the passing patrol disappeared in the distance. The rains had slowed to a drizzle, and they were all eager to get moving. They wore several layers of heat-retaining, breathable fabric inside their rain-repellant shell suits, and they had stocked up enough supplies for a couple of weeks. They even had a rifle to share, so they could always add some game to the menu if the opportunity presented itself.

Ben thought they were as well prepared as one could expect. Even so, this was forbidden territory, and there were dangers out there, such as balders that could rip a grown human in two with a stroke of its clawed paw.

“All right, I think they’re gone now,” Lisa said, rising. Harry and Ben followed suit, and wiped mud from their clothes. They all picked up their backpacks, and trotted off, away from the perimeter.

Within two hours, they had already spotted a couple of rat monkeys, a shindie, and a few jerrybirds, small featherless birds whose official name was completely unpronounceable, commonly named after a comedian who used to be big back in the 1990s. The shindie was an especially peculiar creature, kind of a miniature cow that had the sharpest fangs ever, but with an undisturbed demeanor. Ben noticed the drizzle had stopped completely, and Cancri rays began to warm them nicely. He smiled as they plodded on. This was going to be an exciting journey.

After four hours of walking without anything but short breathers, they stopped for the night. Lisa and Ben put up their tent, while Harry prepared a warm meal from MREs. Soon after, they got a fire going and sat by it chatting about this and that for a few hours. As the fire died out, the stars became more vivid, and Cancri’s moon Rotane crept up past the horizon, bathing them in an eerie light. Something in the upper atmosphere added a greenish hue to the light from Rotane, which gave it an almost supernatural feel.

“Jeez, that is powerful,” Harry almost whispered. Ben only nodded.

“Yeah… You can’t see it like that back in Andrews,” Lisa said, almost reverently.

The next morning, they packed up their tent and rolled up their sleeping bags, and headed out. Soon enough, they reached a lake surrounded by marsh and a few rivers, and had to detour around it, which took them until noon. Once on the other side, they made a quick lunch before moving on. The weather was nice, though it had gotten colder over night, and none of them suggested any long breaks before it was time to set up camp again.

Throughout the next few days, the temperature dropped steadily, and one morning they woke up to a thin layer of snow on the ground.

“So what do we do? Turn back or move on?” Drew said as they peered out from the tent. Lisa laughed as she stepped outside.

“Come on, boys, this is beautiful!” she said. As they took in the magnificent vista, Ben couldn’t have agreed more. It was the landscape of a fairy tale, with naked trees that had just a hint of fresh snow covering the tops of the branches, Cancri light glittering off a thousand snow crystals, and most of all, silence. Not even birds chirping or the rustle of leaves in the breeze. The silence of snow muffling every sound in the world of winter. They eagerly packed up their belongings and moved further into the unknown, relishing the beauty and sheer awesomeness of the new world.

That night the blizzard took them completely by surprise.

KENNETH TAYLOR

“Come on in, girl, it’s freezing out there,” Kenneth said as Maria came in, brushing off the worst of the snow before entering. He held the door just long enough to feel the chill himself even though inside it was warm and cozy. Maria looked like she was thinking hard, and Kenneth didn’t know why she was here, so he waited as she hung up her coat and placed her shoes by the door.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Taylor, but I talked to Geena Travis, and she told me to speak to you…” Kenneth smiled. He and Geena went back to Selection and were close friends, even though she was almost half his age.
Common experience can do that
, he thought. He motioned for her to follow him into the living room / kitchen / office, and Maria sat down as he went over to the counter and got them both a nice cup of hot chocolate. He said nothing as he handed her the cup. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her or anything, but he was a scientist at the core. He liked having all possible information at hand first.

“So I guess… I should tell you that it’s not because you’re a psychologist or anything…” she said. Kenneth motioned for her to continue.

“But Geena said you know so many things… That you sometimes see things from a different perspective…” She sat up a little straighter.

“Well, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t know why certain things have happened. And I desperately need to know, because it’s driving me crazy. Because it makes no sense to me! Because what is happening isn’t right, and nobody will listen!” She sat back and averted her eyes from him.

“I’m sorry. I got a little carried away.” Kenneth waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it. And by the way, I’m not that kind of psychologist.” She smiled back at him.

“More of a scientist actually. Such as studying how people cope with cutting off all physical ties to their past and building something new. Or how people adapt to new environments when old reference points prove to be invalid.” He paused.

“But enough about me. What has happened?” Maria told him how the Havelar administration had effectively stopped Jeremiah Lowell’s plan to explore the area west of Fort Andrews, and her hopes of joining such an expedition. She continued by telling him all about the postponed mission to the south, and how every attempt to get some exploration going tended to get bogged down or outright forbidden.

“You see, it’s not just that they stopped the expedition, though it makes you wonder.” Kenneth nodded.
What are you hiding out there, Mr. Governor,
he thought.