CHOSEN: A Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Dystopian Novel (28 page)

She then walked back to the departing
passengers to catch up with Zura.

“Dr. Zura, can I speak with you for a moment
before you leave?” Patawa asked. 

Zura stepped back. “Yes, what’s going on?”
Zura asked looking worried.

“Nothing is wrong. I just need to give you
something from a pilot friend we have in common. He said it took a while, but
he did his best and he’ll keep the other secure. I suppose you know what that
means,” Patawa smiled at Zura.

“Yes, I do. Thanks Captain and thank you for
getting us home safely. Will you be with us on the return trip?” Zura stopped
to ask. 

“I think so, we’ll know in a week or so. If
not, good luck,” Patawa said, waving her off the craft. 

Zura clasped the tiny package Captain Patawa
had given her. She stepped quickly back onto the aircraft and walked past the
two crew members before slipping into the small restroom. She needed to stash
it somewhere safe before the SEP Agents checked them again. She unzipped her
uniform slightly then placed the thin microdot concealed in a small piece of
candy wrapper into her bra, along the center wire frame. Zura zipped up her
uniform, checking that it wasn’t visible and headed back to the exit door. 

“Have a good night,” Zura called out to
Captain Patawa as she passed her on her way off the craft. She trotted to catch
up with her family and Mave. She noticed Mave was walking behind Stella, but
Johan and Stephen weren’t with them. She slowed down trying to give Stella her
space and scanned the hangar looking for them.

Johan waited at the craft with Stephen and
the attendants to collect the luggage. They used a rolling cart to push it
towards the hovehicle where their driver helped load the luggage into the van.
The five passengers, in various stages of exhaustion and frustration, claimed
seats. Stella jumped into the front seat next to the driver, surprising her. She’d
rather sit next to a stranger tonight.

They rode in uneasy silence back to their
home in the city. Stella loved the building. It was a historic landmark, built
almost two hundred years before but it still held its beauty. The glass
exterior and its round shape were her favorite features.

The top overlooked the city and was still
one of the most recognized parts of the busy skyline. It had stood up
beautifully to the changing designs over time and when she walked into the
lobby of their building, the pictures of the building at different times over
the years seemed to tell the story, a quiet history of New South City.

She and Stephen had often speculated about
what the people who lived there at the turn of the century were like. She
imagined they were at least not stuck wearing the boring uniforms everyone now
wore on a daily basis. 

She’d read in the building’s history that it
had once been a hotel. It was a strange idea to her to have a hotel that large
in the middle of the city. All those empty rooms when people needed places to
live. They still had hotels but most of the larger places were converted into
permanent residences to house the burgeoning population. Smaller places that
were once private homes or small apartment buildings were more often hotels. 

Stella’s thoughts of home had only partially
dampened the noise. She cradled her head in her hands and took a deep breath. She
wanted everyone to just shut-up, but she couldn’t say that since no one was
talking. At least not with their mouths. Despite the outward silence, everyone’s
minds were so busy. She hadn’t meant to tune in but she had gotten emotional,
and in trying to get answers, she’d turned it on. Now she couldn’t get it off
or them out of her head.

She needed to calm down and just focus on
herself, which is exactly what she was going to do once they got to the twenty-seventh
floor. When the elevator doors opened she practically ran out and down the
hall. She held her hand up to the pad and let herself in, not caring that the
door closed behind her. They wouldn’t be seeing her again that night. She was
over it - over them.

Zura looked at Johan and Mave and shook her
head. Stella had every reason to be upset. She knew that Stella knew and she’d
just have to deal with that in the morning.

They’d gotten themselves into this situation
and Zura had to accept that this moment was years in the making. Every decision
and choice. Every time she said yes to them – UniCorps and the World Consensus,
when she should have said no. Every time they’d decided to move forward on the
entire ARC program, they were building to this, and now it happened that their
sins would be visited on their children. Their children would once again have
to pay for their choices and it might not end with just a poorly planned
birthday party.

Zura needed a drink. A glass of red wine
while sitting in her favorite cozy chair in their bedroom sounded nice right
now. She felt guilty and although Johan hadn’t said much, he probably felt even
more guilt. The only bit of solace was in knowing that what they were doing
would help their children and many more.

Johan and Stephen dropped the luggage in the
middle of the living room floor, and Mave came in and sat on the sofa. Over the
years, she’d stayed many nights at their home. She’d make her way to the guest bedroom
soon enough, but first, she needed to talk to Johan and Zura. 

She knew Zura well enough to know she’d be
back out soon, in cozy bedtime clothes, to get her welcome home drink. Stella
wasn’t coming back out of her room and Stephen was still dragging from multiple
days on too little sleep. Mave was sure she wouldn’t hear from either of them
that night. She’d talk to them when she could get them both together and when
they were rested and preferably, in better moods.

“What are you going to do Mave? Turn in for
the night? It’s been a long day,” Johan asked, as he got ready to walk back to
the bedroom and change too.

“I need to talk to you and Zura, Johan,” she
said seriously. “When you get changed can you both come out here? We can all
share a much deserved glass of wine,” she added.

Minutes later, the three sat around the
living room on the soft sofa and chairs Zura had picked out a few years before.
When the twins turned thirteen, she thought it was safe to replace the
furniture they’d destroyed as children. Wine glasses on the table were already
nearly drained and a bottle of Cabernet sat in a wine holder on the counter. 

“I need to talk about what is supposed to
happen here, Johan and Zura,” she said and gave both of them a look to make
sure they knew what this was about. 

“The twins will be sixteen and that’s
already a big deal, but they are also supposed to have their ceremony. We’ve
talked about doing it soon, but we hadn’t said how soon. In light of everything
else going on we need to make sure it happens before their birthday - it can’t
wait. If we wait, we may be back on the ARC and we can’t miss it if we are
going to make good on the other mission. There are a lot of people depending on
us.”

“If I’d known we were going to be so pushed
for time this year, I would have tried to do it sometime last year, any time,
for that matter. That’s neither here nor there – it’s done. We are all sacrificing
so much with the ARC but we cannot sacrifice these two kids. They are critical
to the mission being successful. Besides that, I love them,” she paused again
looking Zura in the eyes and then Johan. 

Mave could make you feel like you were under
a microscope at times. For this mission, she was the leader of their small
group. They hadn’t had time to discuss it before leaving the ARC with all of
the extra commotion.

Mave waited a moment and then she continued
in a firm and deliberate tone. “The twins and the others need to have their
Awakening Ceremony within the week leading up to the their sixteenth birthday. It’s
the only way to do it before we are gone. There are things that will be
happening here and in other places while we are stuck in Antarctica and those
things have a better chance of being successful if they have their Awakening
Ceremony.”

“Yes, I understand,” Zura said in a tired
voice with the hint of just a little too much wine.

“Do you remember the two girls I told you
about in Southern Liberty? Then there is the other girl and boy, both with connections
in Southern Allegiance? And then there is Ren, who we will bring in. You
remember Ren?

“Yeah, of course. His mom is Kim. They used
to come around but stopped a few years ago. I think he had some adverse reaction
to the serum. He was the first Dr. Lima injected,” Johan said, nodding as he
remembered Ren.

“That’s him. He’s been through a lot but we
need him. He’s in New South City already for his regular treatments and will be
participating with Stephen and Stella. They all need to do the same thing and
soon so our timeline doesn’t get blown to hell. With the new demands from
UniCorps we don’t have time to waste, we have to move things forward.” Mave
took a deep breath. There was still more. Zura saw her about to speak again and
jumped in.

“Wait, Mave. This is a lot and very fast. I
know we agreed to this concept but please slow down just a little. It’s been a
very long day,” Zura said.

“Okay. I get it, Zura. You’re tired. We’re
all tired, but bear with me. The Awakening Ceremony needs to happen on the night
of the ninth. It is the first day of the full moon, one of the most ideal times.
We’ll be gone by the solstice so that is not an option The other Keepers are
making arrangements with the help of the Council for all of this to line up.
We’ve had to work really hard to pull this off and to coordinate everything. Screwing
up the planning of the most important birthday party for your kids cannot be
what unravels the entire plan,” Mave chastised them and then stopped for a
moment to let it all sink in.

“Their party is after the ceremony but we
need to make this party special and having their friends here and Ren will make
it seem like you have worked hard planning this. They haven’t seen Ren in years
and he’ll be here for the Awakening so they might as well get reacquainted by
having him at the party. With that said, tomorrow you must figure out a way to
be here for their birthday. Piss off that dictator Mylar. Don’t miss this
moment in their lives. You won’t get over it and neither will they,” Mave
warned them. “I know this and I don’t even have kids.”

Mave could see the exhaustion in their
bodies and in their eyes, but that didn’t matter. She had to say what she
needed to say just as they needed to do what they needed to do. 

“Johan, have you sent for the Awakening
Ceremony materials? Please tell me you have,” Mave asked, looking less than
optimistic. 

“I’m sorry, Mave. We have been so busy, buried
with work, and-,” Johan tried to finish when Mave cut him off.

“Never mind. I’ll send the order off for
them but you will need to pick them up. You’ll also need to work on the
entertainment first thing tomorrow. Zura, you make sure their friends are
coming and that we have a place and a theme for this party. They want separate
cakes so Johan, you take Stephen out to pick his and Zura, you take Stella out.
It’ll give you two some time to make this right.”

“Are you really sure about all of this,
Mave? So much is happening right now,” Zura asked as she rubbed her temples.
They were still her babies.

“If you still want this mission to work, it
has to happen and we don’t have much time. Besides, this is more than the
Awakening Ceremony. They are turning sixteen. They’ll be para-adults and that
by itself is momentous.”

Johan took a deep breath in. He couldn’t
help but feel the same reservations that Zura did, but he knew they had to make
their own marks. They couldn’t protect them from their future.

“I’ll pull together a plan for those
specimens on the ARC. Mylar is concerned about their age suddenly, so there
must be a reason we don’t know about,” Johan said trying to get his head around
what lay ahead.

“The Council is concerned about this new
timeline crunch as well. It puts pressure on our plan. The Council needs to be
assured that whatever happens, we’ll be ready to handle it,” Mave said and then
stood up.

Zura and Johan both looked at Mave, their
eyes glossing over. Mave downed her last couple of ounces of red wine and put
the glass on the counter in the kitchen. “Good night. I’ll talk to you in the
morning.”

The Capital City, Northern
Liberty

Preston Rochester
Davenport
, II didn’t want another meeting with one of the founding
partners, Sontamon Foods. He already knew what they were going to say. 

However, they were one of the original
organizations and their President had one of the purest bloodlines aside from
Preston.

“Preston speaking,” he finally answered
before missing the call.

“Preston? Grapper Bellarde from Sontamon
Foods.”

“Hello Grapper. How are you today?”

“I’ll be honest, Preston. I’d be doing much
better if my distribution channels weren’t from here to the ends of the earth. I’ve
been telling you, we can’t move food that far affordably. Then there is the
issue of safety. Those damn homeless are robbing our transports. Compounding
the logistics issue and outright thievery, is the fact that people aren’t moving
themselves fast enough. Do you hear what I’m saying? 

“Of course, I hear you Grapper. We’re
already using trained SEP Agents to handle the transports. I really do
understand the issue beyond that and I do hear you,” he said sitting down, one
hand on his head.

“It’s a basic supply and demand problem,
Preston. Basic economics. We have the food, nearer to the cities yet the people
are spread out. We can’t continue to try to feed twenty billion people like we
are, especially when we have less land that can grow food and each year the
crops are worse. We have more people needing the food and each year more babies
are born. I don’t need to spell it out any more for you. We need to get the
World Consensus to agree to our population plans.”

“Like I said, I hear your problem Grapper
but relocating that many people is a nightmare. It would bankrupt the World Consensus
and probably us too. I understand it’s a logistical problem, but unless there
are fewer people to move, it’s not going to be feasible.”

“Well, hell. How long is that gonna take? Our
grandparents didn’t take care of it, not like they should have when they had a
chance and now here we are. Preston, I think we need to push a lot harder on this.
We’ve been sending fewer rations to the outlying areas hoping people would
eventually move. Those people are barely budging. What do you think about us
reducing it to the bare minimum? To the point that they realize that unless
they move, they’ll starve.

Preston listened to Grapper with veiled
impatience. Sontamon Foods wasn’t the only one calling with the issue. All of
his major corporate partners were arguing for more central distribution. On
more than one occasion, he’d looked at the option with the Population and
Relocation Management Division. The timeline was at least ten years to have the
housing supply to handle them, let alone the general logistics of moving
billions of people, wasn’t going to help any plan they had now.

“Grapper, let’s table this conversation
again. You know the long plan. This isn’t it. Just be patient and your
stockholders’s demands won’t even matter anymore.

“Preston, I’m tired of tabling it. Our
partners want action. I want action, Preston! Are you willing to do what’s best
for your people?”

“Don’t I always look out for us, Grapper?”

Preston hung up with Grapper, and called
Mirkal ‘The Stache’ Dempstead

“Dempstead? You let those closings get
pushed through and now production is down. I need you to make sure something
else gets through. Consider it a way for you to make it up to us, since you’ve
let us get into a bad situation.”

Preston could hear movement in the
background and then the sound of a door opening and closing.

“What do you need, Mr. Davenport?” The
Stache finally responded. He never talked business in front of his mother. No
matter who it might be.

“I need you to get your friend Magiro to
back down about getting information out. I don’t want people moving. I don’t
want people leaving their homes.”

“People are moving already, sir. People are
starting to move because of the earthquakes and because of the issues with
food. They are moving to the areas with higher populations. That’s what you and
your partners want, right? Better for logistics and management?”

“Yes, that’s right. We don’t want those in
the cities to leave because of the perceived threat of earthquakes, understand?
That becomes counter-productive to our plan, Mirkal,” Preston said, his voice
tired.

“I understand,” Mirkal responded.  

Preston ended the call abruptly before he
began coughing violently into his handkerchief.

“Is everything alright, sir?” a well-dressed
woman with her hair in a neat bun asked, as she entered Preston’s lavish office.
She carried with her a small gold-plated tray with a matching tea set made of white
porcelain with golden inlays. On the side of the saucer were a tea bag and two
lemon wedges. A small spoon rested on a white napkin. She set the tray down
beside Preston as she poured hot water from the side table. 

Preston’s coughing spell ended and he looked
at the woman, his eyes teary and cheeks red. “Please close the door.” He
couldn’t allow his regular staff to see him like this. “I will be fine, Mel.
Did Mylar’s report from his ARC visit come in yet? Are we going to be able to
move forward with the shorter timeline?”

Mel sat down and put the tea bag inside his
cup before pouring the hot water over it. “The report did come in. It seems
there are several on the ARC who don’t view your decision to not report the
findings, favorably. However, Mylar has reported that the core staff and
leadership will be returning after a four week break, which they’ve already
begun. He cannot promise that with the specimen they have and even with the new
ones they are gathering that one year will be enough. I’m sorry,” she said
whispering. She touched his hand and squeezed it before kissing his forehead. 

“Will you still be going home for the World
Memorial Holiday?” he asked her. 

He hated when she left. It was all the way
to the far eastern side of Northern Liberty, and whenever she was gone he
missed her. He could never marry her but she’d been by his side for fifteen
years.

Now she was in the unenviable position of
watching him slowly deteriorate and there was no medicine to stop it. They had
managed to slow down the degenerative blood disease, but stopping it would take
a miracle of science.

“I will. Just remember, I’m only a flight
away. If you need anything, Preston, I’m here for you. Before I forget,
Rochester called. He wants to know if you will be home this evening for
dinner?” Mel asked already prepared for his response.

Preston looked at his watch. It was 6:45 and
he still had calls to return from the leaders over several of the other key
members of UniCorps. For the most part, he knew what they were calling about
but the conversations wouldn’t be easy, or brief.

“I’m sorry. Please let him know that I will
have to miss dinner. Tell him I’m sorry again and that,” Preston’s voice
trailed off. He didn’t want to make any more promises to anyone that he might
not be able to keep. “And tell him, I’ll call him this evening if I don’t make
it in before eleven or so. Thanks Mel.”

Mel nodded. She kissed him once more on his
cheek this time, now that the flushing and wetness were gone.
Sixteen years
.
A tear, barely visible, crept from the inside of her eye but was nearly gone by
the time it reached her cheek. She wasn’t born of the right blood and if
Preston accidentally sired a child with her and it became public, it would
compromise his legacy, Rochester’s legacy, and both of their positions.

She walked out of the office and called
Rochester to give him Preston’s message. She could hear the disappointment in
Rochester’s voice, like so many times before. It was not as pronounced as it
had been when he was a child, but it was still there, she could tell.

Tonight she couldn’t spend time trying to
comfort him or reassure him of anything. Not that he needed it anymore. He’d
stopped asking questions years before but she always felt guilty, being the one
to deliver the bad news each time. Tonight she couldn’t worry about that, she had
a flight to catch.