Earth Flight (13 page)

‘Raven, look at the fine detail on this. That means it was carved by hand, not manufactured in a mould. Back in the days before humanity reached Adonis, some artist spent ages lovingly creating this.’

‘Fascinate!’ Raven cradled it reverently in his hands for a moment, before handing it over to be packed away in a container.

As the heavy lifts moved away the larger debris, more came tumbling out of the front of the building. When it was stable, I searched through it, but found nothing except shards of glass. I tagged another batch of rubble for the heavy lifts, they shifted it, and the next rubbish cascade gave us the dented flexiplas case of some electrical item. Its contents were probably destroyed by time or already familiar to us, but we’d pack it and send it for examination by experts just in case.

‘Drag net, please,’ I said.

Amalie and Krath widened their heavy lift beams and used them to drag the smaller rubbish out of the way, while I indulged myself with a five-minute rest on the bench at the back of the tag support sled. When I stood up again, there was a nagging pain in my left side where the impact suit material had triggered to protect me from the block of rubble. I ignored it and headed back to the building. As a tag leader, I constantly suffered impact suit bruising from falling rubble and ricocheting tags, but my team always overreacted and blamed themselves when I got hurt.

We’d been working our way through rubble for at least another hour, when I saw a strange, fuzzy black object among a jumble of concraz lumps. ‘Hoo eee! We’ve got a stasis box!’ I yelled.

There was a chorus of cheers. Playdon must have been listening to us on the team circuit, because he came over to check the stasis box before we loaded it on to the transport sled.

‘What’s inside?’ asked Raven.

‘We won’t know until Lecturer Playdon opens it,’ I said. ‘It looks like a standard memorial stasis box. People were leaving Earth, never to return, and they left stasis boxes in their abandoned houses, preserving farewell messages and sentimental items like wedding dresses. If you’re lucky, the data chips include recordings of old newzie programmes and other precious data.’

‘If you find lost technology, you can get a small fortune in rewards,’ added Krath. ‘When we were working at Eden dig site, we found an ancient research lab and …’

Playdon interrupted him, speaking on the team circuit. ‘Team 1 will rest now. Team 4 continue the excavation.’

I groaned. Steen, tag leader of team 4, was already heading towards me. I went to meet him, and reluctantly handed over my hover belt and tag gun. The background hum of my comms changed note as Playdon spoke to me on a private channel.

‘Jarra, I can tell from the way you’re moving that you’re in pain.’

I set my comms to reply on the private channel. ‘Just impact suit bruising, sir.’

‘You’re quite sure you haven’t cracked a rib?’

‘I’m sure, sir.’

The rest of team 1 handed over their sleds to members of team 4, and we all went to sit with Raven on the transport sled. I set my comms to listen only, then unsealed my impact suit hood and opened it, savouring the moment when the fresh air hit my sweaty face. Blizz, pure blizz.

I watched Fian yank down his hood and struggle to sort out a tangle in his long blond hair using clumsy, fabric-enclosed fingers. I’d grown used to accepting the oddities of twenty different planets. Fian wouldn’t carry a comb around with him. Krath was scared of butterflies. Dalmora was horrified if she was late for something. Amalie held her shoes upside down and shook them before putting them on.

‘Fian, are those spots on your face?’ asked Krath.

Fian glared at him. ‘No! It’s a rash from the sun block irritating my skin. The doctors at Zulu base have sent me some better quality stuff that should fix the problem.’

‘It’s nice the Military worry about your spots,’ said Krath.

I heroically held back a giggle, used my Military lookup to send a message to my friend Issette, then displayed a holo image of a graph in midair.

‘I thought you’d finished that work on historical analysis theorems for Playdon,’ said Krath.

I sighed. ‘I have, but when Playdon saw it he said it showed I had deeper underlying problems. He’s started me on a remedial maths course.’

‘Can’t you get Fian to do it for you?’ asked Krath. ‘Playdon couldn’t tell the difference.’

‘I bet he could,’ said Fian.

‘Playdon’s right,’ I said. ‘I can’t spend my whole life dodging everything mathematical. The whole thing is my bullying school science teacher’s fault. She kept telling everyone I was stupid, and the maths teacher joined in because he didn’t like me.’

‘I’m sure you weren’t the easiest of pupils, Jarra,’ said Fian, ‘but those teachers sound very unprofessional.’

I shrugged. ‘Most Handicapped babies are abandoned at birth, so Hospital Earth has huge problems finding enough staff in all areas of childcare. The Nursery units must be properly staffed, because babies can’t feed themselves, so other residences and schools have to take anyone they can get. My history teacher was brilliant, he loved his subject, but my science teacher just wanted victims to bully.’

‘I’d always assumed Hospital Earth hired people from other worlds,’ said Raven. ‘I’m an idiot. If people won’t go to Earth to care for their
own
Handicapped babies …’

‘We were constantly lectured about it in the residences,’ I said. ‘We had to be mature and self-sufficient and help care for the younger ones. We should choose careers in childcare because it was our responsibility to raise the next generation of abandoned babies from other worlds.’

‘It surely isn’t all left to the people who grew up in residences themselves,’ said Raven. ‘Don’t some of the children of the Handicapped …?’

I shook my head. ‘Nine out of ten of the children of Handicapped couples are born norms and head off to live on other worlds when they grow up. Hospital Earth keep talking about solving the problem by passing a law to force all the Handicapped to work in childcare for five years after leaving school.’

‘Hospital Earth couldn’t force a law like that on people,’ said Fian.

‘The main board of Hospital Earth run this planet and they can do anything they like,’ I said. ‘They aren’t elected by us, they’re off-worlders appointed by the sectors.’

Raven frowned. ‘You can’t mean the citizens of Earth have no say in its laws.’

‘That’s exactly what I mean,’ I said. ‘The only thing stopping the board members passing that law is they’re worried forcing people to work with children would increase the child abuse numbers. They don’t want to mess up their performance statistics and lose their precious Year End bonuses.’

The sensor sled alarm wailed, and we all turned to look at where team 4 were working. I saw the lifeline beam snatch Steen up into the air, and there was a crash of falling masonry from inside the building.

‘What the chaos was that?’ asked Raven.

‘The two remaining upper floors must have collapsed,’ I said. ‘That’s good. It’ll be safe to work inside the building now.’

Steen was lowered to the ground and went back to work. For the rest of the morning, I battled to make sense of mind-numbingly boring maths problems, occasionally asking Fian to explain something. Eventually, Playdon’s voice came over the team circuit and put an end to my suffering.

‘Cassandra 2 tell me they’re stopping work now, so we’ll pack up as well and head back to the domes with them. After we’ve eaten lunch, I’ll open the stasis box, and then we’ll start the afternoon lectures.’

A few minutes later, the sleds of Cassandra 2 drove past us, and our sleds started moving to follow them. By the time we reached the dome, I was wondering if I should put a fluid patch on my side. I didn’t usually bother to treat impact suit bruising, but this was especially painful.

We all hurried into the dome, hoods down, eager to strip off the rest of our burdensome impact suits and shower. Team 1 all had rooms close together near the store room, so we headed down the corridor as a group. Raven was in the lead, followed by me and Fian, then Krath, Amalie and Dalmora. We’d nearly reached our rooms when I heard a sudden shrill sound I didn’t recognize.

‘Down!’ Raven screamed the word.

I stared at him like an idiot for a split second, and he threw himself at me, knocking me to the floor. Another weight landed on top of me, which meant Fian was playing hero and protecting me too. The shrill sound must be coming from the tiny sensor Raven habitually carried. Fian and I had joked about the way he constantly scanned and rescanned the dome for threats but …

There was a deafening sound, and the flexiplas wall of the corridor flew straight at me.

I must have been unconscious for a few seconds after that. I woke to the sickening sight of Amalie lying on the floor next to me, her face slashed open to the bone and pouring blood. Krath was bending over her, seemingly unaware of the shard of metal that had stabbed right through his impact suit into his left arm.

Playdon’s voice shouted from somewhere close by. ‘Outside! Everyone, get back outside!’

I tried to sit up, but my head hurt like chaos. Arms grabbed me from either side, and Fian and Raven carried me back down the corridor, Fian’s voice softly cursing in my ear. ‘Nuke it, nuke it. Chaos typical that something would miss both of us and hit Jarra. She attracts trouble like …’

‘I’m all right,’ I said. ‘Help Amalie.’

‘Playdon and Krath are bringing Amalie,’ said Fian.

There was the sudden warmth of sunlight as we went outside, and I saw the shocked figures of my classmates, Dalmora at the front with tears streaming down her face. Members of the Cassandra 2 team were running towards us, with the unmistakable purple and silver impact suit of Rono in the lead.

‘What the chaos happened here?’ he asked. ‘Something lethal in your stasis box?’

‘No,’ said Raven. ‘It was a small-scale, proximity activated, explosive device. A Military Security team are already portalling in to secure this dome. We’ll use the portal in your dome to evacuate casualties to Zulu base for treatment.’

‘Explosive device,’ repeated Rono. ‘Someone planted a bomb?’

‘Petra,’ said Steen’s voice in instant accusation.

‘Not Petra,’ said Raven. ‘The bomb was brought here while we were working on the dig site.’

‘You can’t be sure of that,’ said Steen.

‘I
am
sure of it!’ snapped Raven. ‘I’m not completely incompetent. I run constant sensor checks for threats, and this dome was totally clean when we left it.’

‘But I …’

Playdon interrupted the argument. ‘Rono, I’m going to Zulu base with my injured students. Can you take charge here?’

‘Of course,’ said Rono.

‘But I still think …’ Steen tried to speak again.

Rono turned to face him. ‘Steen, if you don’t shut up, I’ll throw you in the pool to demonstrate that people wearing impact suits sink like rocks!’

Ten minutes later, I was lying on a bed in the Medical Centre at Military Base 79 Zulu, while the Medical team leader waved a scanner at me.

‘I’m perfectly all right!’ I wailed at her. ‘You should be taking care of Amalie and Krath, not wasting time on me. There’s a piece of metal stuck in Krath’s arm, and Amalie’s face …’

I broke off my sentence because the memory of Amalie’s face made me feel queasy and horribly, dreadfully guilty. I’d known that agreeing to my clan’s plan, defying the prejudiced, would make me a target. I hadn’t thought an attack could injure not just me and Fian, but my other friends as well. People could be dead right now and it would be my fault. I’d been stupid, stupid, stupid!

‘They’re receiving treatment, Commander,’ said the Medical team leader. ‘Your own injury is potentially far more dangerous. You were hit on the head by a metal bolt and knocked unconscious.’

‘I’m fine now.’

She sighed. ‘Possible brain injury must be taken extremely seriously. Even massive injuries to the rest of the body can be successfully treated in full body regrowth tanks, but there are strict legal controls on the regrowth of brain tissue since it can result in loss of memory and personality.’

She frowned at her scanner, turned round to reach for something, and I felt the distinctive chill of something being sprayed into my neck.

‘What was that?’ I asked.

‘Medication to prevent concussion. You can sit up now, Commander.’

I hastily sat up, swung my legs over the side of the bed, and stood up.

The Medical team leader sighed again. ‘Please avoid exercise for the next twenty-four hours, and report any symptoms of nausea.’

I opened my mouth to say that my only symptoms of nausea were when I thought about Amalie’s face, but thought better of it. Any mention of feeling sick would probably get me imprisoned in the Medical Centre for days.

I hurried out of the room into the adjoining waiting area, and nearly collided with Playdon. ‘Where are …?’

I let the words trail off into nothing, as I saw Krath and Amalie sitting in the corner of the room. They were wearing sleeveless hospital robes over their skintights, and Krath had his right arm protectively around Amalie. He had a grey regrowth unit wrapped round his left upper arm, while Amalie had a red regrowth unit covering one side of her face, like some peculiarly lop-sided insect carapace.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said. ‘This is all my fault.’

‘It’s the nuking bomber’s fault, not yours,’ said Krath.

‘But the bomb was aimed at me. Civilians shouldn’t have to cope with things like this. Amalie’s face …’

Amalie spoke in a slow, slurred, but determined voice. ‘My face will be perfectly healed by tomorrow. Anyway, we aren’t civilians, Jarra, we’re archaeologists!’

I was torn between tears and laughter at her words. Before I could give way to either, three more people entered the room. Fian, Raven, and Colonel Leveque.

‘Jarra, how is your head?’ asked Fian.

I ignored him, turning to Colonel Leveque instead. ‘Sir, we can’t stay with our class any longer. We’re putting their lives at risk!’

‘I’ve already had this conversation with Major Eklund,’ said Colonel Leveque. ‘For security reasons you will both remain at Military Base 79 Zulu until after the Tell clan ceremony is safely over.’