Aurora (The Exodus Trilogy) (8 page)

Chapter 5

TINA HAMMER

“Trigger-happy sons of bitches.” Dean grimaced as he tried not to let the pain show. Earlier that day, he’d been cutting firewood with Kim, when his axe had slid off the surface of the wide log he’d been trying to cut in half. The axe had slipped from his hands, and its head had buried into the shin of his left leg. Kim had helped him back into the cabin, and Tina had come minutes later. She had immediately seen that he’d been lucky. It was a flesh wound, the bleeding was easy enough to stop, and as long as the wound was kept clean, it would heal nicely in a few days.

“I mean, how do you not see the difference between a balder and three kids?” he continued. Henry shot him an angry glance.

“Come on, Dean, don’t be an idiot. You’ve been to war, you know this shit happens. Too bad, but it happens.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Dean shot back. “In war, it happens. When people are trying to shoot you dead, shit happens. But here? What, like some balder is carrying a bomb vest? You see, I thought balders hunted with their teeth or their claws. Never heard they were packing.” When no one else said anything, Henry got up and went to the door.

“I’ll go get some more wood,” he muttered. As he slammed the door shut behind him, a gust of cold air blew across the room, almost blowing out the candle on the table.

“Can’t say I envy those poor suckers though,” Kim said. “I’m glad I don’t have to patrol that perimeter in this weather. Makes you almost sympathetic to them.” She smiled mirthlessly.

There was nothing to say, so the room went silent again. Tina understood Dean’s reaction, but she knew better than to judge some poor freezing soldier on guard duty who makes a mistake. It was a mistake, they’d said. The three kids had gone AWOL two weeks before, and two nights ago, they’d come back through the perimeter. The guards had been alerted by the motion detectors and rushed out in their snowmobile to meet them. Then, by some freak accident, one of the guards had shot one of the kids. The officer who announced it said the soldier was not to blame, as he’d thought it was a balder attacking them. Besides, he’d said, this was the very reason no one was allowed outside the perimeter. It was dangerous.

She had recognized the names of two of the kids, Benjamin Waters and Lisa Hayden, two of the kids who’d been on that last, unauthorized launch from Earth. The two were now hospitalized with hypothermia and frost injuries, but the doctors said they would recover just fine. The third of them though, Harry something, was the one who’d been shot. When he reached the hospital it was already too late, and he died a cold, miserable, and meaningless death. Tina shook her head at the tragedy. She’d seen war, but mostly from the bird’s eye view of a scramjet, which tended to make everything a bit too technical and impersonal to really take in the suffering. Besides, this wasn’t war.

Harry would be buried in a few days, just outside Fort Andrews. The kid was the first person to die on Aurora, and people were already talking about naming the cemetery after him. Won’t happen, Tina thought wryly. Too embarrassing. Thinking about it made her shake her head in disgust. Sometimes she felt immensely relieved not to be a soldier anymore. This was one of those times.

GEORGE HAVELAR

George Havelar sat in a lounge chair in his office, with Ramon Solis, Thomas Dunn, and his chief of security, Colonel Shoshana Quellar. No one said anything; they all seemed to wait for him to speak. One thing Havelar missed from the old days in the Consortium was the discussions. He didn’t feel he held anyone back, but the need for a clear chain of command, and the necessary security measures, had made people wary, it seemed. It saddened him sometimes to discover that his closest associates didn’t have more faith in him. Thomas seemed to be the lone exception though, with his brash behavior, often bordering on rude, but he suspected even he held back now and then. He looked at Ramon, his old friend, who sat silent, not even touching his cup of coffee. Ramon had been drifting away from him during the last few years of the project, and now only held his seat in his circle of friends because of their shared history. He missed the old Ramon though. If he could come up with some suitable task to put him back on track, he would gladly do so for his old buddy.

This accidental shooting was a setback, but Havelar expected it to blow over in a few weeks. The soldiers had just been doing their job. How could they have known the kids would be there, when they were expecting armed saboteurs? Major Quellar knew, of course, but Ramon and Thomas had no idea. He had decided it was time to tell them though. They both deserved to know. Not everything, of course, but most of it.

“I expect you to have guessed the official explanation is a pile of shit, right?” he barked, and both Ramon and Thomas started. He smiled wryly.

“Balders… Hah…” He turned toward Quellar.

“Couldn’t you have come up with something slightly more believable?” Her face turned red, but she said nothing.

“All right, I guess you need to know the truth.” He leaned back in his chair and noticed Thomas move a little closer to the edge of his seat.
Good
, he thought,
I have his attention
. Ramon only looked at him, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

“When the project first got started, a few of us, meaning the president, Director Shaw, and I, decided we needed to make sure the future colony would survive whatever it might face. One of the things we feared was intelligent life forms that might turn out to be less than friendly. So we decided to bring a few items, just to make sure we didn’t survive Devastator just to be wiped out by hostile aliens.” He didn’t say nukes, and he didn’t intend to.

“There were four containers. Throughout summer, all four of them landed in remote areas, away from what would become Fort Andrews. I cannot tell you what they contain, only that they were meant as a safeguard, and hopefully we will never need them.” He glanced up at their expectant faces.

“Just a few weeks after landing, one of the containers was sabotaged. I have no idea how anyone here could possibly know its location. Only Colonel Quellar and I have the codes to locate the containers, and only when these codes are linked together. But nevertheless, the first container was rendered useless, meaning we only had three left. Three weeks ago, the contents of the second container were destroyed as well. Naturally, the guards were informed there might be saboteurs passing though the perimeter, and their instructions were to act swiftly and use lethal force if deemed necessary. They were informed that the saboteurs would most likely be armed.” He slumped down into his chair, and shook his head.

“Damn kids… No one would fault the guards for firing if only they knew. But we cannot tell anyone, because the containers need to be kept secret for now. That is more important than whatever people think.” Ramon surprised him by speaking.

“I guess we all know the story of the Mars colony. I mean, it was terrorists back then, and now it seems we have brought terrorists here as well. Same story all over again. Shouldn’t be surprised, though I never saw it coming.” Havelar interrupted him.

“Yes, they are most certainly here. But now that we know, we’re going to smoke them out and give them what they deserve. I don’t pretend to understand their motives, and I don’t care. My responsibility is to make this colony viable, to give us a future, and that future has no place for terrorists or their sympathizers.”

Havelar was angry with all those ignorant people who didn’t understand what building something like this entailed. They needed to stick together, even when they didn’t agree. The burden of responsibility weighed heavily upon his shoulders. His job was to save them all, the last remains of humanity, and make them stronger than they ever were back on Earth. People like Admiral Hamilton, who spoke on and on about personal freedoms, rights... Bah! Selfish was the only word that came to mind. Only thinking about themselves and their own personal needs, when they should be thinking of humanity as a species.

“Colonel, although I believe most of this will blow over, we need to be firm, so no one else gets any ideas. I need people to do their jobs, and work together. We need to establish a curfew. Make sure the troopers understand how serious this is, that we cannot take any chances. But nothing about the saboteurs, of course. Just blame it on the weather, balder packs crossing the perimeter, whatever.” The colonel nodded firmly, and moved as if to leave. Havelar motioned for her to wait, and she sat back down.

“I also want you to prepare to arrest those who openly oppose us.” Thomas tried to say something, but Havelar dismissed him. He’d heard it all before. This was no time to make arguments about legitimacy or winning the favor of the people. George Havelar had made up his mind. Whatever spring would bring, if they were to make it through winter as a community, they needed to stick together, and he couldn’t allow political strife to take priority now, with so much to be done.

“If we are to make this work, we need to tighten the reins, or everything gets out of hand,” he said. He thought for a moment, and Colonel Quellar stood up again.

“Governor,” she said.

“Is there anyone in particular you want me to deal with immediately?” He smiled briefly at her, before shaking his head.

“No, not immediately. We need to make sure we round them all up at the same time. I want Thomas to have a list ready by tomorrow.” He turned toward Thomas, who had also risen from his chair, and now stood waiting for instructions.

“Thomas, I want the list comprised of no more than ten names, the most prominent potential dissidents, Hamilton for instance. I want their whereabouts, and I want you to keep track of them, what they do, where they go, who they speak to. I also need you to point out three or four incriminating actions. You’ll find something, I’m sure.” Thomas nodded, and when Havelar motioned for him to go, he left quickly. Then Havelar turned to Ramon.

“I need you on my side, old buddy. Now more than ever.” Ramon looked at him quizzically.

“All this… It won’t be forever. We just cannot take any risks before we’re safely established.” He paused for a second, wondering how far to go, how far to trust his friend.

“Besides, the Human Expansion Program will make great demands of us all, when the time comes. I cannot tell you everything. You have to trust me. Just know this: our task is no less than to secure the survival and cohesion of these last remains of the human race.” Ramon seemed to wait for him to say more, and Havelar didn't let the chance to speak go.

“I need you for this,” he repeated, taking a hold of Ramon’s shoulders, staring intently into his eyes. Ramon looked back, and then a smile broke through, as if he suddenly realized that their years of friendship still counted for something.

“Have I ever let you down, George?” Ramon said. The two old friends hugged, and relief washed over Havelar. They would soon have to face some very difficult decisions, but for now, it was just like old times.

KENNETH TAYLOR

Kenneth Taylor sat quietly watching the soldiers patrol the perimeter in their quad bikes, while the last light faded from the evening sky. He’d been out here so many times by now, and knew their routines in and out. He honestly didn’t know whether he did this because he actually enjoyed these excursions, or if he just needed the feeling of doing something illegal. He’d gotten more and more sick of the restrictions; new ones were being imposed on them every week. Last week, it had been booze. This fellow he only knew by name, Quentin something, had been interrupted while carrying a crate of booze from his own still that he’d intended to sell to the shipyard workers up in Port Hammer. Havelar’s goons had confiscated the crate, reprimanded him, and sent him off with a warning. Kenneth shook his head. There were no laws against moonshining on Aurora. The guy had just been creative, for Christ’s sake! The booze was probably being sampled by Havelar himself right now, as far as he knew.

It was cold as hell, and Kenneth could see his own breath steaming. Winter had come early. It was only October, but the Aurora calendar was different. Winter would last longer here.

Ideally, he should have been more careful out here on clear nights such as this. The snow wasn’t deep, but it already covered everything. His tracks would be clearly visible for anyone searching. It was as if he wanted to get caught, just so he could speak his mind. To finally let off some steam, after keeping everything bottled up for so long. If only someone else could see what he saw. They were heading in the same direction as back on Earth. Havelar had such a firm grip on them all now. Aurora was turning into a repressive, authoritarian place, just as America had been under President Andrews. And except for his talk with Maria Solis a while back, it seemed he was the only one to have taken notice. It was so frustrating, he sometimes wanted to scream.

His introspection was interrupted by a sound. A twig breaking just a few steps behind him, back where he’d left his small backpack. He spun around, just in time to see a shadow coming at him, knocking him backward. He tried desperately to fend off the assailant. He couldn’t say whether it was a man, or some native beast, and he didn’t care. It was all movement and shadows and something grabbing at him. He punched out with his fist as hard as he could, and he hit something hard. Then, to his surprise, he heard muffled laughter, and stopped punching. Someone, a man, was hunched over him, slowly staggering back on his feet, laughing with blood dripping down on the snow. The man held both hands up to his face, but the voice was familiar.

“Shit, Professor. You really do know how to throw a punch.” Thomas Dunn bent and scooped up a handful of snow. Then he held it up to his chin, grimacing. “Didn’t know you were such a fighter.” Kenneth opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“So, Professor… What are you doing out here all by yourself?” The younger man cocked his head to the side. “Anything you’d like to tell me?” he pressed on.