Legacy Code (9 page)

Era gripped the edge of the archivist station, the holo interface blurring before her. Six days. Dritan had been on Soren for six days. One hundred forty-four days left to go. Her limbs ached, and her mind felt dull from exhaustion. Each night she’d woken, gasping for breath. The empty womb, blood on the landing, being sucked into space…her nightmare made her fear sleep.

She tried to focus on what Mali was showing her on the stationary, but her eyes drifted to the colonists waiting to record messages for loved ones. Several couples, one little girl. Quiet, not engaged in conversation like they usually were. The change she’d sensed in the ship since the traitors were airlocked lingered everywhere.

In every sector, there were fewer words spoken, cut-off conversations, and more suspicious glances. Or maybe she was just seeing tension because of how she felt every minute of every day.

“Did you hear what I said?” Mali asked.

She stepped in front of Era. The holo shimmered, and the long list of commands merged with Mali’s clothing and skin.

Era twisted a wrist, and her eyepiece shut off, removing the nausea-inducing image.

“Do you need some time, child?”

“No. Sorry.”

Mali raised her eyebrows. “Dritan’s doing his job, and we’re doing ours. Being an archivist is important. I need to know you’re ready for this.”

“I am. I’m ready.”

Mali shifted her gaze to some point beyond Era. Era turned, half-expecting to see Zephyr. But it was only Chief Petroff, making his way to the station.

Mali had moved Zephyr to first shift, said she needed to train with other techs since Era would be too busy now. But someone else on second shift could’ve trained Zephyr. It seemed more about keeping Era from distraction than about training Zephyr. Era only got to see her during mess and midbreak now.

Chief Petroff reached the station and set down a large metal case and an archive case. “Comms and an order from the board.”

Comms.
Was it too soon for there to be one from Dritan?

Mali opened the archive case. Inside were the archive cubes from the last order, plus an additional cube, set off to the side. The new cube order.

Mali took the guard’s shift card, scanned it into the stationary, and handed it back. She popped the cube order into the slot on the stationary. “Is this urgent? I’m training her. It’ll take me a little longer to get everything today.”

Chief Petroff grunted. “I’ll be back by shift’s end for the order,” he said and walked off.

“I expect you’ll be granted access to the archives any day now. But until then, we’ll work on the stationary,” Mali said.

Era reactivated her eyepiece and tried to concentrate on the gestures Mali made as she moved through the system, but she couldn’t pull her eyes from the comm case.

“As soon as I show you this, you can sort through those cubes. But right now, I need you to pay attention.”

“Sorry.”
Focus, Era.

The cube order appeared on the holo. It contained a short list of numbers and letters, followed by descriptions.

“The numbers and letters on each line are the codes for specific cubes in the archives. The descriptions contain keywords for information they want us to find that they don’t have the codes for.”

Mali gestured and pulled up a search grid next to the words and used her index finger to draw one line of search terms into the grid. “You can drag the terms or say ‘new entry’ to search manually.”

Theory; Artificial Environments; Dome construction; Blueprints.

Era’s breath caught in her throat. Artificial environments? Dome construction? Did this have something to do with Soren?

Mali hit scan, and a new list appeared.

“The first cube code usually matches the query best, but not always,” Mali pointed to the top code on the list. “So we send that one up first. If executive sends down for more information, we send them the next relevant matches, in order.”

“Why would they be searching for—?”

“Era,” Mali said, her voice low. “You do not discuss what you see here. Not ever. Cube orders are confidential. Our job is not to analyze why they call up these cubes. Our job is to care for the archives and no more.”

“I understand. But—as an archivist, have you ever…looked at one of the archive cubes?”

Mali rubbed the back of her neck. “Only in very rare instances and only with prior approval. Though we do have access to cubes that relate to our archivist duties.”

Mali cocked her head to the side, considering Era. “Every time a cube from the archive is accessed,” she said carefully, “it logs an eyepiece signature to show who accessed it.”

Era swallowed. “I understand.”

Mali held her gaze for a moment and nodded. “Good.”

She brought up the cube order again, the keywords replaced by a list of codes. She pulled the order from the stationary and pushed it into the slot on her handheld. Then, she picked up the archive case. “While I return these and get the new order, you sort the comms and label them like I showed you.”

“Can I—”

“If you find one from your husband, you can look at it. I won’t make you wait.” Mali headed for the archives.

Era grabbed the comm case and unlatched it. Eleven containers lay within. The twelfth space was empty. It would have held comms for executive sector. The rest of the containers were labeled with the names of each of the ten dekas and Soren: all the places messages could come from or be sent to. Era reached for the container labeled Soren.

Something turned over within her womb, and her hand flew to her stomach. Then another small movement, more obvious this time.
The baby
.

She’d almost convinced herself she hadn’t felt anything that day in helio sector, that it had just been her imagination. But there it was again, the fluttering sensation.

The Defect is a lie.

Era’s amnio results were probably ready by now, but she hadn’t gathered the courage to go to Medlevel and schedule her appointment. She couldn’t put it off much longer. Zephyr said she’d go with her, but that didn’t make any of it more bearable.

Era took a deep breath and glanced at the holo. The search results were gone now, but the holo was still logged into the search grid. She really should turn it off and begin sorting the comm cubes like Mali had asked her, but what the traitor had said…

She took a quick look around to make sure she was still alone. Mali had entered the archives, and only a few colonists waited on the benches to record messages.

She tapped the grid.

“New entry,” she whispered. “The Defect. Legacy Code.”

The words appeared on the entry line, and Era selected scan to begin the search. A long list of cube codes appeared, and Era’s pulse quickened.

What was she even hoping to find? The Defect wasn’t a lie. The Defect from the Legacy Code was real, and here were all the files to prove it.

Era memorized the first result, repeating it over and over until it stuck. CD-1
dy34b
.

She accessed the program’s memory core and wiped her search. What was she thinking, looking this stuff up? What was the point, when she couldn’t access the cubes anyway?

Era picked up the container labeled Soren. At least three dozen cubes lay within. If Dritan had the chance to record a message, he would’ve. And she really needed to see his face and hear his voice right now.

She found his message halfway through the stack. His still holo image made her heart hurt. His features were downcast, and his shoulders slumped. He didn’t look like the man she’d kissed good-bye. And this message would’ve been recorded as soon as he’d landed. How bad was it down there?

She hadn’t been close to anyone who’d been there, but she’d glimpsed those who’d come back to the
London
after the first draft. She’d heard their stories, second-hand: cave-ins, malfunctioning air purifiers, tainted water supplies, accidents with machinery. Many workers from the first draft had broken bodies and were nothing more than a burden to the fleet.

The survivors had stayed on their levels, rarely venturing upward. She’d seen them during her brief visits with Dritan in the sublevels. But
all
the survivors, visibly broken or not, wore haunted expressions, as if the people they’d lost on Soren still visited them at night, stealing their sleep. When Dritan came back, would he look like that? If Dritan came back…

Era’s stomach flipped, and she reached for a handheld under the station. She took Dritan’s comm cube from the stationary and sank to the floor behind the desk. No one needed to watch her cry. The tears were already coming, and she hadn’t even started the holovid yet.

She tapped the file and splayed her fingers wide, palm out, to launch it.

Dritan’s face appeared, and she involuntarily reached for him. Her hand passed through the holo, causing it to shimmer, and the pressure in her throat intensified.

Dark circles lined Dritan’s eyes, but he was still as handsome as ever. The scene behind him could’ve been the scene from inside any cubic, but the panels were clean and undented. If only the shiny, new cubic wasn’t deep underground on a toxic planet.

He cleared his throat. “Name: Dritan Corinth. Message for: Era Corinth. Destination:
Paragon
.” He smiled, but it looked false. “I only get a minute. I miss you, and I love you. I can’t wait to see you again. I hope things are okay up there.”

Dritan paused and ran a hand through his tight black curls. He leaned closer to the vidrelay. “By the time you get this, you’ll probably know the test results. Whatever they are, it’ll be okay,” he said forcefully, as if saying the words would make them true. “I wish I could be there for you. Let me know what’s happening.”

Tears slid down Era’s face, but she didn’t wipe them away.

Dritan seemed to want to say more, but he shot a glance past the vidrelay, where the witness would have been sitting.

“I’m staying safe. It’s great down here. Plenty of food. Everything works. I love you.” The holo blanked.

She pressed her lips together and watched the vid again. She needed to find out her test results and send him an answer. He deserved to know. He didn’t need to be worrying while he was doing his job.

Era wiped her face, sniffed, and got to her feet. She turned, searching for Mali, and saw her leaving the storage cubic. Era straightened.

She only had one more day to record a message for Dritan before the next shipment of cubes went out from the
Paragon
. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She should’ve gone two days ago to schedule her appointment on medlevel.

Mali walked up to the archivist station. “Did you get a message?”

Era nodded and rested her hand on her belly. “I need to make an appointment on medlevel. They had to give me an amnio. My results are probably ready. He’ll want to know what they are…”

Mali rested a hand on Era’s arm. “I’m sure he will. Why don’t you leave a little early today? Take care of what you need to.”

Had Mali had a failed pregnancy, too? Probably. Era had never heard her speak about any children. She took off her eyepiece and gave it to Mali. “Thank you.”

This was it. She’d schedule her appointment, and then she’d know.

She’d either be bringing new life into the fleet, or…

No point considering the alternative.

Era stepped up to the Population Management station and swiped her card.

The same girl from last time stood behind the station. Era drew a deep breath to steady herself. “The medic said I had to schedule an appointment.”

The clerk splayed her fingers wide and tapped the air. “Era Corinth. Ah. Your test results are ready.”

Era shifted her stance and fought the urge to walk out. She’d try to schedule her appointment for midbreak tomorrow, when she and Zephyr would both be free. She didn’t want to do this alone, not any more than she’d wanted to do it alone last time.

“Medic Faust can see you now,” the clerk said.

“What? I…I have to go to mess. Can I do it tomorrow?”

“No. Your appointment is flagged priority. And no one’s scheduled this block.” The clerk moved around the station and headed toward the corridor.

Priority? That was bad, wasn’t it? Why would she be flagged priority if they had good news for her?

Get it over with so Dritan can stop worrying
.
So you can stop wondering.

She struggled to keep her breathing even as she followed the clerk back to a cubic.

The clerk left. Era sat down on a stool and tapped her foot on the ground. She pressed her hands to her swollen belly and stared at the floor, willing herself to stay calm. Her mind wandered to the bare shelf in her cubic, to the pale green scrap of bedding folded there. Would they get the chance to wrap their newborn in it?

The buzzer sounded, calling an end to second shift and announcing the beginning of last mess.

Medic Faust entered, looking tired and older than she’d seemed just a week before. She sat down on a stool by the curved cabinets, a hard expression on her face, hands folded in her lap. Era’s shoulders caved in, and her stomach twisted on itself.

“I’m sorry. The cells have markers for the Defect.”