Spaceborn, p.20
Spaceborn, page 20
The burly, young man grabbed Julian’s wrist and forcefully lifted his sleeve up to his elbow. “Mr Walker… it shows here you should be detained in flat 7E. Any particular reason you have broken free of your confinement?”
‘I just needed some air. Look, it’s not like I can go anywhere anyway since you’ve locked us all in here,” he beckoned towards the blast door of the outer bridge.
“Oh, he talks back. I like that, it gives me an excuse,” the guard reached for the long black stick that was strapped around his leg.
Julian took a step back and winced as the man raised his weapon, ready to land a blow.
“Woah woah woah. What the hell are you doing, man?” a familiar voice made the guard halt his attack half way.
Julian turned around and narrowed his eyes as the man that had saved him approached from the residential quadrant entrance. He had shaved the sides of his head apart from an afro mohawk but that was still definitely James.
“And you are?” the guard pointed his baton at James.
“James Parker. I told Julian to meet me here so I could show him around,” he extended his arm with confidence.
“Curfew is still in effect, Mr Parker. He needs to be back in his confinement before red lights.” The guard sheathed his weapon after inspecting James’ wrist.
“Give him a break, he’s new here. We’ll take a walk and I’ll escort him back.”
The men in the Icarus uniforms eyed James down and gave a cautious nod before walking past them towards the residential area.
“So it’s true,” James exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Julian’s shoulder but he winced away. “I didn’t know if I should believe Lucas when he said you’re here,” James said as though nothing had happened, like they were still back at school waiting for class to start.
“Yeah, here I am… unfortunately. How can you hang out with people like Lucas, James?”
“He’s not as bad as you think. He’s actually a decent guy trapped in a tight body.”
“How could you keep all this a secret?” Julian flailed his hands about. “I thought we were friends.”
“It wasn’t up to me, Julian. There are psychological evaluations for each passenger. When your name came up, they said you were… unreliable, that you couldn’t be trusted with our secret,” James showed him inside the Cylidome.
“That might be true actually. I don’t think I would’ve let it go if I knew beforehand. I would’ve either told everybody or run away. I tried to run away last night as well but they stopped me.”
“Wait, so you’re the guy everyone was chasing last night? Did they really shoot you with electric bullets and you peed yourself?” James sucked his teeth at the realisation of his babbling.
“My mum must’ve left that part out.” It had to be true—it would explain the change of clothes. “How can you be on board with all this, James?” he snapped, the emotional whiplash caused by those he thought close to him draining the last bit of his patience.
“Come on man, don’t be like that. Focus on the future. We get to see Aquanis.”
“At what cost, James?” he cried, stopping to study his former friend. Who knew how many others had betrayed his trust. “What about Liam?”
“You think I don’t feel like shit about that? You think I didn’t try to bring him here?” James snapped back at him, his voice gaining momentum and intensity with every word, “I had to choose between him and my mum. You think it was an easy choice? You think I didn’t cry for days knowing I had to leave him on the other side?”
“Leave him to die, you mean.” Julian countered his hollow argument—there was no reason to believe anything anymore. “Along with all our friends and twenty thousand people?”
“Hey, we wouldn’t be in this situation if they had stuck to the original plan.”
“Are you really blaming innocent people for something they didn’t even know was going on?”
“They’re all responsible. They shoved us in the shadows, they forbade HITs and cyberware like we still live in the twenty-first century, they…”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard the speech yesterday.” He shook his head, too annoyed to even continue talking to him.
“It was the only way, Julian. There was no other choice.”
“There’s always a choice, James.” Julian patted him on the back and turned away.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to be alone for a little bit, you know… process all this.”
“OK, just don’t get me in trouble as well, yeah? Back before red lights.”
Julian only gave him the thumbs up and dragged his slippers through the dried leaves. He really wanted to keep the middle finger up instead but hesitated at the last second.
He reflected on their conversation as he walked through the tall pine trees. He definitely wanted to step on the new planet but not without his father, his friends, Rachel. His train of thought repeated in a cycle that always ended with the same question. Why couldn’t there be a middle ground? Was the possible happiness from reaching Aquanis able to compensate for all the lives sacrificed? Of course not. Maybe the other side could be persuaded and there wouldn’t be a reason for division. Was the science even true though? All his life he had learnt to trust in it, but it didn’t feel right this time. The only way to refute science is with better science.
He stopped at a small clearing and sat on the grass to clean his slippers from the tiny pebbles that had found their way between his toes. He leant back and balanced himself on his arms wondering what to do next. He imagined spending day after day in that clearing looking up at the steel lattice that held the massive pieces of glass of the elongated dome. That was a boring thought, maybe even a miserable one. He checked his surroundings for any sign of bugs and laid on his back. Why couldn’t they carry on with their plan with the whole Sagan, why detach the Ring? Maybe the mass would be too much. He felt ashamed again. Understanding how science worked was one thing but actually practising it was a completely different one.
He drew a long breath and turned his cheek to the soft grass. The itchy blades tickled his face as the smell of dry soil reminded him of the last time he was here. It was a different Cylidome but the scents carried around in the air were the same. Similar pine trees towered above him and thick bushes surrounded him; there was only one thing missing. He tried to imagine what she would be doing at that time and how she would have taken the news of the Ring’s detachment. His imagination brought her to life above him, pinning him down like last time. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to see those piercing green eyes again that so symmetrically opposed her pixie nose. If she was there, she would’ve definitely given James the middle finger. He on the other hand was too reserved, too dejected to do it himself.
He sighed and hunched over his crossed legs looking around at the overgrown flora. He had always felt trapped inside the ship—‘floating prison’ he used to call it but he never thought there were worse prisons than that, ones that not only kept him away from oceans and beaches but also away from the people he cared about.
Chapter 18
Rachel
The voice of the AI rang inside her ears, vibrating her already pained temples. It wasn’t the usual greeting; it had addressed her as a guest. The sheets had a familiar musky scent and she nuzzled her face in the pillow. She rubbed her eyes and scratched her fuzzy hair as she sat at the edge of the bed. All her stuff was gone from the bedroom apart from a set of folded clothes on the desk and a model of a black sailing boat underneath it. She was sure she had seen that boat before; it was one of the ancient ones that had a mast and an actual sail. This was Julian’s room, the one before he had moved out. The pungent smell of her sweat made her nose twitch as she pulled the strap of her dress aside to take a whiff of her armpit. Ugh…
Julian’s old flat was transformed into a base of operations. Monitors of all sizes were hung on the walls and Mr Walker’s old study was now housing a few angular canisters in a row which emitted a faint blue light from the top. The apartment seemed rather busy, occupied by men that were yelling at each other until they took notice of her and eyed her from top to bottom. The tall, blonde man had wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes, while the one next to him was younger, probably a little bit older than herself. Two middle aged men were occupied with the cabling in the study and a small group of young people around her age—two boys and a girl—were discussing in front of a large monitor.
Only the man sitting with his back to her seemed uninterested in her presence and kept tapping on his roller, “Scott, she’s awake,” he said without losing his focus.
Julian’s dad popped out of the kitchen and smiled. “Aaah, you’re up. Good, good, I see you found the clothes I left for you. Listen Rachel…”
“NO, you listen!” She interrupted him, her own voice giving her a headache. “Why did you stop me? And better yet, how did I end up here? I need to call Julian, make sure he’s ok.”
“You can’t. Ring Six has disabled all communications beyond their bridge.”
“No… no, don’t tell me they actually detached it?”
“Not yet, thankfully. I’ll answer all your questions, I am sure you have a lot. How about you go take a shower and we can talk about it over a fresh cup of coffee?”
She scowled but adhered to his advice. Dousing her skin and muscles under hot water was much more pressing than yelling at him.
The new shorts and t-shirt were quite big for her but at least they were clean and fresh. It felt weird wearing Julian’s mum’s clothes but it would have to do for now. She stepped into the living room, her hair still too wet to tie up and left dripping on her shoulders.
“Here you go, Miss Watson.” The blonde man offered her a warm cup of coffee and she studied him again. It was probably the clean uniform he was wearing or his broad smile that made him look younger than he was despite the wrinkles below his icy blue eyes.
“Thanks.” She felt forced to return the smile and sat on the couch, crossing her legs. “So, Mr Walker…” she started, feeling the peering gazes of the men around her.
“Come on, Rachel. How many times have I asked you to call me Scott?”
“Fine. So, Scott… What’s with all the secrecy and knowing everything but sharing nothing? You knew about Nightfall and said nothing and now this whole shitshow with Six detaching and there you are yet again, one step ahead of everyone else.”
“We were actually one step behind but go on, it seems like you’re on a roll there,” the man in the chair said without turning.
“Rachel, I told you when we brought your brother in, I had nothing to do with Nightfall. If I knew where all these people were, you think I would’ve let it happen?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore and the only person I can trust is apparently stuck in Six all by himself.”
“Rachel, you can trust me. Did I not save your brother? I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
“Then what about the classified folder with the crescent moon Julian found in your archive? You still haven’t given me a clear answer.”
“That was basically a compilation of all the evidence we had at that point.”
“Yeah, I am sorry about your brother, Miss Watson, but we really didn’t know what Nightfall was even about.” The blonde man sat at the other end of the couch, one leg crossed under him and his chest bent so he could face her.
“Ok, seriously who are you?”
“I guess some pleasantries are overdue. I am Richard Lahtinen, head of interstellar engineering for the Sagan. The young man over there is Noel, my apprentice. The operations trainees are Lee, Christoff and Alina.” His finger traced their heads from left to right. All three of them were in space uniforms instead of the standard Sagan tracksuit as if they had just come back from outside the ship. “Toz and Mo are working on the generators in the other room and behind me, you should already know your own councilman.”
“Councilman?” She repeated. The hair did match the description and his voice had been strangely familiar. She rushed in front of the man who was still sitting unaffected by this conversation and squealed. “You’re Kieran Bolek!” She cheered and clapped. “I am such a huge, huge fan. I’ve followed your work since... since I was born, basically.”
“Always glad to meet a fan,” he grinned, stretching his thin beard across his cheeks, the white hairs on his chin even cuter up close.
“As I was saying,” Richard cut in, “We thought Nightfall was some sort of branch of Icarus up until yesterday, cutting out loose ends to maintain the secrecy of their operations.”
“Exactly,” Scott agreed, “We still don’t know who’s responsible for it or what happened to the rest of the disappearances. We only found fifteen people down there.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Out of a hundred and thirty-five.”
“You mean I found.” She coughed on purpose.
“Yeah you, my oblivious son who would follow you anywhere and a guy who broke several laws by breaking into the control room. Quite the team.”
Rachel gulped and lowered her eyes without an answer. So he had found out about that after all.
“The evolutionists have always been one step ahead of us.” He took off his glasses completely to rub his eyes with a long inhale.
“Evol-evolutionists?” She looked away, her eyes unfocused. Mrs Yau had mentioned something about them that night at the cylidome.
“Or ‘crazies’ as we like to call them,” Noel finally spoke. His voice was thin and betrayed his younger age.
“Actually, I don’t know how you managed to uncover Nightfall while chasing around the wrong group,” Scott said. He looked like a different person without glasses. “Lucas is an evolutionist, his parents are too.”
“And what do these evolutionists want?” Rachel crossed her arms while raising an eyebrow.
“They believe that we should be able to use our full potential as humans with complete disregard to rules and ethics. They want to introduce gene editing once again, synthetic integration to human bodies, eugenics and pretty much everything our ancestors tried so hard to put an end to.”
“And I assume you guys are against that?” She opened her arms to address the room. “Is that why they want to detach the Ring?”
“Yes and no,” Richard replied with a head bob, “At first, we let them be because we thought they just wanted to be in their own Ring.
“We?” Julian’s dad interrupted him. “No, we warned everyone multiple times that the evos had a hidden agenda.”
“Scott, don’t start,” Kieran exasperated. “You know the council’s decision was unanimous. They never listened to me.”
“Yes and now we’re all paying for it.”
“You still haven’t answered my question though,” Rachel cut in through the sudden bitterness in the air. “Why detach the Ring?”
“We can’t be sure yet but…” Scott started hesitantly.
“Yeah, we’re sure,” Richard dismissed him with a sharp gesture. “They believe they can reach Aquanis in the next forty years or so.”
“Seriously? Wait, can they though?” She asked, tired of turning around to whoever was speaking. Her mind went straight to Julian. He had wished for this so many times, an unending desire to see and explore the new planet. Was he really in Ring Six against his will? Maybe he wanted to be there. Maybe he was even an evolutionist himself by now. She didn’t know how she felt about all this new information but setting foot on Aquanis was indeed intriguing.
Richard’s mouth hung slightly opened as his eyes darted somewhere behind her. “In theory… yes,” he said after a loud exhale.
Rachel couldn’t contain the soft gasp. “Really?” She didn’t mean to squeal but her voice came out quite high-pitch.
“I hear a lot of excitement in your voice, Miss Watson,” Kieran Bolek said from the dining table.
“Well excuse me, it’s not every day you find out there’s an alternative to living your whole life trapped in a steel bucket.”
“Really, Miss Watson? So you wouldn’t mind carrying on your shoulders the deaths of thousands of people, let alone jeopardising the first major human colonisation attempt?” The councilman finally looked up from his roller, his cold blue eyes piercing into her soul, questioning and judging her.
She stared at her feet then, chewing her bottom lip, the warmth in her cheeks no doubt making them red. “How is it even possible to detach a whole Ring?”
“It’s not that easy, hence why we never gave it too much thought.” Richard shook his head.
“Wait, why haven’t they detached already?”
“We blew a hole in their water. Can’t go anywhere without water.” He choked a forced chuckle.
“So what do we do now? Are you planning on stopping them somehow?”
“What we plan doesn’t concern you, little Miss,” Richard replied sharply.
“Yes, Rachel. How about you let us take it from here?” Scott suggested.
“Let you take it from here? Oh no no no. I am in this as much as you are. I’ll get Julian out of there either with or without you so you’d better count me in,” she exclaimed and even Lee, Christoff and Alina turned with a glaring stare.
Scott sighed as his eyes bounced around the room and finally nodded with discomfort.
“You can’t be serious,” Richard protested, “She’s just a kid.”
“Trust me, knowing Rachel she won’t let this go no matter what we say to her.”
“She can bring nothing to the table, she…”
“Oh you’ll see I am full of surprises,” Rachel interrupted him.
The men exchanged a few looks among them until Kieran sliced the uneasy silence with his authoritative tone. “If Scott says it’s fine then I’m good.”
Richard sighed but eventually sat down at the dining table mumbling just as the main door hissed open.
“Sorry I’m a little late. I had to take care of some other stuff first,” the handsome man she had seen at Administration walked in as if it were his own home. He was wearing a sleek, blue suit again, although different from the first time she’d met him. The fabric was sharper, its weave tighter and it sparkled as he moved under the bright ceiling lights.
