The Breadth of Creation

by C. S. Johnson

  “Are you alright?” Meredith asked, concerned lines etching into her young face.

  Aerie shrugged. “I guess I’ll go and find out. Don’t want to keep the med center waiting.”

  “Yes,” Meredith agreed. “They’re the ones who like to keep people waiting.”

  “Exactly!” Aerie giggled, more delighted by Meredith’s slight to the government-run system than the joke itself. “Are you headed back there too?”

  “I’ll take you back. I’ve got a few more hours on my shift,” she said. “I work as a nursing assistant.”

  “Oh. That sounds interesting.”

  Meredith wrinkled her nose. “Interesting, maybe. I have to put in another couple of years before I get promoted,” she said. “As an assistant, I have to do a lot of the dirty work.”

  “Such as delivering messages to wayward patients?” Aerie asked.

  “Not quite,” Meredith said with a small laugh. “More like cleaning up after wounds and other bodily liquids.”

  “Ew!” Aerie shuddered. “Gross.”

  “It is,” she agreed. “This is actually my favorite part of my job. Even if this is technically my lunch break.”

  “Well, my brain might be damaged, and my shoulder might be strained, but my legs are fully functional,” Aerie told her. “I can speed up some.”

  She took Meredith’s arm and hauled her through the Comms Sec building, feeling better for the first time in a long, long time. It was nice to feel like she’d found a friend.

  ♦3♦

  “Here we are,” Meredith said, as she led Aerie down the hall of the New Hope Hospital.

  Aerie winced at the crowded waiting rooms as she passed by. There always seemed to be a shortage of medical supplies.

  I wonder why I never get calls about this down in the Comms Sec? Aerie shook her head sadly as she watched a little boy sit next to his unit director. He kept trying to hold her hand, but she wouldn’t let him. Aerie had a feeling Phoebe would do the same thing to her, so she smiled kindly at the little boy before Meredith pulled her toward the stairs.

  “If there are other people around who need care more, I can wait,” Aerie said. “I mean, it’s no problem to skip dinner with my unit tonight.”

  Meredith shook her head. “We have your room ready,” she said. “It’s up a few floors, so I’ll need you to stay close to me. I also need you to make sure you don’t talk to anyone, alright?” She gave her a tepid smile. “The patients and staff are very preoccupied. Don’t try to draw attention to yourself.”

  Weird, but understandable. Aerie nodded. “Okay.”

  They ascended to the top floor, and Aerie recognized it at once. “This is where I was brought to recover when I fell,” she said.

  “Shh!” Meredith reminded her, putting a finger to her lips.

  Aerie grimaced apologetically, before turning her attention to her surroundings. Her mind began to feel the familiar drizzle of pain.

  “Here’s your room,” Meredith said, opening the door. “Please wait here. The doctor will be along soon.”

  “Thanks.” Aerie smiled. “I hope you can get your lunch finished.”

  “Don’t count on it,” Meredith said, but she smiled. “I’ll see you around.”

  “Bye.” Aerie watched as the door closed. She decided she would do something nice for Meredith soon. Maybe I can bring her lunch one day, to thank her for her kindness.

  “It’s not like I have a lot of friends, especially ones I trust,” she muttered to herself. “Why not try to make one?”

  She turned and glanced around the room, not surprised to find it was still as eerie and uncomfortable as the last time she was there.

  Aerie sat down on the bed and looked at the clock. Meredith had joked before about the slow waiting times, but once she had a room, it surely wouldn’t be so bad?

  What did it matter if did take a long time? I’d only be missing out on dinner with my unit, and with Serena and the twins home, I’d rather not be there anyway.

  Ever since she was twelve and their mother died, Aerie had been determined to get into the military. Since then, her siblings had derided her or ignored her at every turn. Aerie never felt welcome at home. It was as if her mother’s absence had not only left a hole in her heart, but one in her family.

  Unit, she mentally corrected herself.

  Aerie sighed as she glanced at the time. As she was just about to go and look for someone, something caught her eye on the bedside table. She saw a folded jacket lying there. Just underneath it, there was a file with her name on it.

  Curiosity had always been a calling. Aerie reached over and took the jacket.

  As the smooth fabric touched her fingers, she realized the jacket was hers.

  It was hers, even though it wasn’t in the usual style for the URS. It was the same color, but the cut was slightly older, she realized. How is this mine?

  But she remembered putting it on, tucking it around her as she stepped out of a dark room.

  “When did I get this?” Aerie wondered aloud as she put the jacket on. It warmed her instantly. But she frowned as she couldn’t recall having it issued to her or picking it out among her selection of clothes.

  Pain followed instantly, and she gasped. Her hands flew up to her forehead, and she tried to block out the pain, to no avail.

  “Huh?” Aerie’s nose tickled as it caught the scent carried on the jacket. It was a warm and musky scent, one that was strangely and painfully familiar to her.

  She gripped her arms around her, holding herself as the pain in her head pulsated through the rest of her body.

  That was when she realized the jacket had a small hole near the left shoulder. There were dark stains around the hole, and Aerie remembered pain, excruciating pain.

  “Something’s wrong here,” she said. She reached over and grabbed the folder with her name on it.

  Sure enough, there was an X-ray with her name on it, with several spots of shrapnel dotting her shoulder.

  “I was shot.”

  Aerie heard herself say the words, but she wasn’t sure if she believed them.

  Her body’s memory of the situation swept through her, and Aerie could see it; she could see her tears, and feel the blood as it seeped out of her arm. She could feel the panic as it swelled up inside of her.

  She could also hear the sounds coming back to her. A helicopter—or maybe several—were flying overhead. A man was holding her, pleading with her to stay with him.

  The information in her file slowly slipped onto the floor. Aerie just stared at it, even though her mind was reeling.

  The last week or so had been hard on her. She had instances where whole scenes would floor her mind, and Aerie, knowing herself, had squashed them down, thinking they were just daydreams.

  But now, the daydreams morphed into memories.

  The pain in her head roared.

  “Augh!” Aerie grabbed at the back of her head and rubbed it, trying to massage away the mass of agony that had settled inside.

  The door opened, and Aerie looked up to see a doctor, one she was not familiar with, standing in the entrance. “What are you doing in here?” he asked.

  “I ... I have a terrible headache,” she said. “Can you help me?”

  He glanced down at the screen in his hand. “You’re not on my chart,” he said. “How did you get in here?”

  Aerie felt her suspicion turn into fear. She didn’t have an appointment here.

  Someone was trying to tell her something.

  And other someones—namely, Brock and her father­—had lied to her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “I just didn’t know where else to go.”

  The doctor’s lips tightened. He was clearly annoyed. “We can get you into the system downstairs in the med center,” he said. “The hospital is really only for admitted patients.”

  “I’m sorry,” Aerie muttered again. She ducked her head.

  “Come along,” he said. “I’ll take you back down there.
I need this room, so you’ll have to hurry up.”

  “I can find it on my own,” Aerie replied, pushing past him.

  She faltered only when he grabbed the file out of her hand. “This is for our records,” he said. “I don’t know how you got them, but these files stay here.”

  “Oh. I brought it from home,” Aerie lied. She had to keep those files. If she ever wanted to figure out the truth, she needed to know what happened. The file was her first major clue, and she couldn’t lose it.

  He tightened his hand around the file. “I’m sorry, Comrade,” he said. “These are clearly hospital files,” he said, pointing to the watermark on the back. “When you get your appointment set up, we can see about sending you home with a declassified file.”

  “But—”

  “Now, I need you to leave. I have another patient coming,” the doctor snapped.

  The file disappeared along with the doctor, as he hurried down the hallway. Aerie stared at him, mindlessly, as he headed toward a patient in a wheelchair.

  Rage bit at her as she realized she’d lost her only real clue.

  Inspiration struck. Meredith!

  All she had to do was find Meredith again. Then Meredith would be able to help her find out the truth. Aerie wandered through the hospital, keeping her eyes open for any medical assistant who looked like Meredith.

  “Excuse me,” Aerie said, as she came up to an information station. She smiled brightly at the man behind the desk. “I’m looking for a med assistant named Meredith.”

  After some blatant lies and unsuccessful attempts at flirting to get her way, the man agreed to look up Meredith.

  Aerie cheered silently as she waited. This is going to work. This has to work. I need to know what’s going on.

  The man was quiet, but cordial, as he informed her there was no one on staff as a medical assistant named Meredith.

  Aerie heard the signal call for shift change a moment later.

  “I can’t help you, Comrade,” the man said. “And my shift is over. It’s time for me to leave, and you probably should too.”

  “But I need to find—”

  “This is a hospital,” he reminded her. “You’re not the only person who needs something.”

  Aerie shut her mouth. At least the headaches have gone away some, she thought appreciatively. She walked through the hospital halls, still carefully looking for the woman who had come to see her earlier.

  I have to find her.

  Aerie stepped outside of the med center, bitterness metastasizing inside of her.

  What am I supposed to do now?

  Aerie wrinkled her nose. She knew what she was supposed to do. It was nearly dinnertime.

  She didn’t want to go to dinner with her unit, even if it was required. Earlier, when she was hopelessly bored by her work, she thought about going to the arena instead, where her so-called accident happened, to try to finish the climbing course again.

  That was out of the question now. Aerie mentally berated herself. She was one of the best climbers in her class. Short of the building collapsing, she should’ve been able to hold on.

  “Aerie!”

  Anger further sparked inside of her at the sound of Brock Rearden’s voice. She glanced over to see him as he came up to her.

  “What?” she asked, barely containing her vitriol.

  “I was wondering where you were,” he said. “Your unit is looking for you.”

  “I don’t want to go to dinner,” she said. “I had a bad day at work and I have a headache.”

  “But it’s your eighteenth birthday,” he said. “Your unit had a special dinner planned for you, under the General’s orders.”

  Aerie was briefly diverted from her newest mission. “My birthday?” she repeated. “That’s today?”

  “Yes. You didn’t remember?” Brock laughed. He put a hand on her shoulder as he steered her toward her housing unit.

  Aerie said nothing. She couldn’t believe that she’d forgotten her birthday.

  Of course, I can’t believe I forgot I was shot, either.

  Her attention snapped back to Brock. He’d been her friend throughout their education. He helped her train, showing her advanced techniques and offering her alternative moves when it would benefit her. She had invited him over to dinner in exchange for his tutelage, and she’d given him some of her father’s memoirs on his battle with MENACE to read. They were close. Or as close as they were allowed to be, anyway.

  Now, he was in the military, training to be a fighter pilot. With only a few weeks of training in, he was already one of the rising stars of the new grads.

  Aerie was slightly jealous. She wanted to go into the military, too.

  Or did she?

  If nothing else, after her injury, she was more than reluctant to admit to herself she was glad she hadn’t been assigned to the military.

  Of course, Aerie told herself, sitting around and hearing complaints from all over the city was far from what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

  “You really should stand up straight,” Brock said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Huh?”

  “I said, you really should stand up straight,” he repeated. “We’re new grads and now full citizens of the URS. We have a reputation to uphold.”

  Despite her anger and frustration, Aerie gave him a small smile. “You do, maybe,” she said. “But I’m not military. You can stand straight enough for the both of us if you’d like.”

  “Come on, Aerie. It wouldn’t hurt to go in to see your unit with your head up.” His hazel eyes, speckled with green and brown, softened as he held her gaze. “I know they bother you.”

  “Well,” Aerie replied, “you should know why, considering you see them more often than I do.”

  “Cal and Dorian are pretty cool,” he remarked. “We do hang out in class and after training. But I know they think you’re ... young yet, and don’t have much experience in the world.”

  “Young” must mean “weak” in their eyes. Aerie grinned. “I take it Serena’s already hit on you?”

  “What? Oh, uh, no, of course not.”

  Aerie laughed at the obvious lie. “I knew she would. She goes after all the best-looking guys, no matter how much younger they are.”

  Brock smiled. “So, you think I’m good-looking?”

  Aerie flinched. Did I really just say that?

  It was her turn to struggle with her words. Finally, she just shrugged. “I guess so.”

  He reached over and took her hand.

  Instantly, she pulled away. “We’re almost at my housing unit,” Aerie said.

  “We have a little bit of time to ourselves,” Brock said. He looked at her for a long moment, and Aerie knew he wanted to spend the time with her. Because he liked her, and because he wanted to be with her.

  Aerie sighed. “All of our time is for the URS,” she said, repeating the words Director Anand had been so self-righteous in declaring earlier.

  Brock didn’t seem to recognize the scorn in her voice. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he agreed, and then he straightened his shoulders even more. “I should remember that. After all, the General said he would be at your dinner tonight as well. I better make sure he knows his colleagues are doing a good job instructing me.”

  Aerie only sighed and snuggled into her jacket, letting the scent of it soothe her as they continued to walk in silence.

  ♦4♦

  Exton struggled to find peace inside of him, even though he knew it wasn’t there. He had a duty toward others, and he knew the full weight of that responsibility. He had to be careful, objective, and sure.

  None of that ever seemed to matter when it came to convincing Emery.

  “I fail to see why we allow her to stay here,” Emery muttered as she moved around the small cabin Aunt Patty had prepared for them. “Aerie’s mother or not, I say we kick her out tomorrow.”

  “She did save me,” Exton reminded her.

  “Mew.”

&
nbsp; Emery was briefly distracted as Aerie’s cat, Moona, jumped up onto the desk she was attempting to straighten up. “I’m beginning to think she did that on purpose, to ingratiate herself to us,” Emery said darkly, as Exton reached out to pet the white-faced kitten. “Or, more likely, to just convince you to launch into a full-scale war against the URS.”

  “We’ve technically been at war with them for years now, Em.” He shrugged. “Ever since we stole the ship out of their military base.”

  “We’ve been against them,” Emery said. “We’ve never tried to conquer them.”

  “Which is where Merra makes a good point. How are we ever going to win a war when we don’t have anything to offer besides our opponent’s destruction?”

  Emery grabbed another pile of Tyler’s papers and stacked them neatly on his desk. “We have plenty to offer,” she said. “Faith, freedom, liberty, the right to choose your own life. We have dreamers, they have workers.”

  “But no way of ensuring it, which means at worst we’re making an empty offer.”

  Emery frowned. “The URS can’t guarantee a good life, either. At least our community gets the chance to choose.”

  “The URS can enforce it.”

  “Well, no one would want that sort of life.”

  “I don’t know, plenty of people seem content with it. Or at least, enough to go along with it.”

  “Well, then, why would you want to go to war with them, if you’re worried about people being content?”

  Exton sighed. “You’re making this difficult.”

  “No, I’m not,” Emery told him as she sat down in the desk chair. Moona jumped into her lap, and Emery, while she had initially been wary of cats, smiled down at her. “Sweet kitty,” she murmured.

  “What are you doing then?” Exton asked.

  “I’m pointing out that you wanted to steal the Perdition. I understand that. It was Papa’s ship, and the URS sent out St. Cloud, and he killed him for the ship. Now it’s fallen into our hands, to protect his legacy and his property.”