by G J Ogden
The gate finished opening and Yuna pressed the accelerator lightly, driving the crawler into the courtyard, as the GARD and the two massive turrets remained watchful for any threats. Zoie and Gaia were already waiting for them, and their grim expressions suggested they were also aware of the news. Yuna stopped the crawler and switched off the motor, which emitted a slowly descending whir, like the exhausted sigh of a huge mechanical beast.
“I take it you saw what we saw?” said Ethan, jumping down from the cabin.
The concerned look on Zoie’s face told him that she had seen the feed, but it was Gaia who answered. “Yes, I am afraid we did. We have sent a message back to Neils and the others so we can send a probe out to monitor, though the implications are self-evident.”
“Do you think there’s any chance this hermit could help?” said Yuna, getting immediately to the issue that had been on her mind for the entire journey back to the settlement.
Gaia’s eyes flicked over to Ethan, who was regarding her intently, and then back to Yuna. “The honest answer is that I do not know.” Yuna’s head dropped, only a fraction, but enough to make her disillusionment clear.
Ethan, however, appeared undeterred. “Have you made any progress deciphering the disc that the hermit gave me?”
“I have not, but Tyler has,” Gaia replied. “He has also managed to convert an area of the council chambers into a decontamination suite, which will make it easier for us to remain out here for longer periods.”
“If we don’t find the hermit and find a way to reverse the Maddening, none of us will be staying out here for much longer,” said Ethan, aware that Gaia appeared to be changing the subject away from the hermit.
“Speaking of which, we should return inside, especially you, Yuna, since you have been exposed for longer than the rest of us,” Gaia went on, continuing to be evasive.
Yuna checked the tactical monitor on her arm. “My stats are fine, mother, but you’re right, I should spend some time in decontamination, just to be safe.”
Gaia ushered Yuna ahead of her in the direction of the council chambers, and then they all started walking towards the wooden structure together.
“Gaia, if there’s even a slim possibility he could help, we need to take that chance,” said Ethan, jogging to reach her side.
Gaia glanced across at Ethan; he could read her mannerisms well enough to know she was trying to work out how to be truthful with him, while also not being harsh or discouraging.
“I do not want you to build up yours hopes on this one chance, Ethan,” said Gaia. “I was wrong to believe that your blood was the key, and my mistake has already caused us all to lose heart. Hope is a precious commodity, Ethan; we should not foolishly squander that which we have.”
Ethan understood Gaia’s sentiment, and he also knew that he was hanging all his hopes on the hermit being able to unlock the secrets of the Maddening, but there really was no choice. If they could not eradicate the sickness, eventually civilization planetside would die, and Gaia’s underground complex would become a living tomb. None of the survivors rescued from the destruction of the GPS space station would be able to set foot on the surface and feel the wind on their faces. Mere existence at any cost wasn’t enough, at least not for Ethan.
“I realize there are no guarantees, Gaia. But any hope is better than none; even a fool’s hope.”
Gaia stopped and turned to face Ethan, while the others continued on. “You are no fool, Ethan. And I know how much is at stake, which is why I do not want you to make reckless choices. Journeying to the location of this hermit will not be without dangers.”
“So, you do know where he is?” asked Ethan, and he couldn’t help but allow the corners of his mouth turn up into a rascally smile.
Gaia returned the smile. “See, I told you; no fool. Yes, we have managed to track down his location. The device was indeed an old UEC transponder disc, likely removed from what would have been a very early version of a modern PVSM. A mystery, indeed.”
“One I intend to get to the bottom of,” said Ethan. Then he pointed back at the crawler, and waited for Gaia’s eyes to follow. “If I have to, I’ll learn to pilot that damned contraption myself.”
Gaia sighed and narrowed her gaze. “If you are so intent on going then I will come with you.”
Ethan could not hide his surprise. “You want to come with me?” Gaia was an extraordinary woman, but she was no fighter. He tried to tactfully discourage her. “But you just told me how dangerous the journey could be.”
Gaia shot him an austere look and he felt like he was thirteen again, and being scolded by the lead ranger for messing about during training.
“You will need my expertise to pull off this bold plan of yours,” she said, looking down her nose at Ethan. “We will be far from the engineering complex, and time is of the essence. If we can get a sample of the hermit’s blood then I can use the equipment I have here to process it and send a probe back to the engineering complex so that Watson can begin the more detailed analysis in my absence.”
“I’m sorry, Gaia, I didn’t mean to offend,” said Ethan.
Gaia smiled. “Apology accepted, young man. Besides, it’s about time that I saw more of this planet than the insides of a mountain. I am sure Yuna will accompany us. Not that I could stop her anyway; now that my daughter has had a taste of the adventurous outside world, I wonder if she will ever set foot back in the engineering complex again.” Suddenly, Gaia’s gaze veered off to Ethan’s side, and her eyes widened. “Perhaps we have another volunteer too.”
Ethan looked to see who Gaia was referring to, and saw Summer scaling the wall from the outside, and jumping down onto the metal decking. The GARD that had been escorting her zipped overhead and then gently glided down into its re-charging dock in the center of the settlement square.
Ethan laughed. “It’s a good job that roamers don’t climb as well as Summer does.”
“Indeed!” said Gaia, smiling. “I shall rejoin the others, and inform Yuna of our plans. Providing we spend a few hours in decontamination, and Yuna and I journey inside the crawler’s shielded cabin, I can bring enough medication to protect us until we return.”
“Thank you, Gaia,” said Ethan. The generosity of this strong, but kind-hearted woman never failed to amaze him.
Summer had jumped down into the courtyard and was walking towards them. Gaia waved to her and, much to Ethan’s surprise, she waved back. Gaia departed while Summer approached and Ethan waited, wondering what frame of mind she was in, and whether they were going to end up arguing and fighting again.
“Hey…” Ethan called out, as Summer got within earshot.
Summer waited until she was closer, but then returned the greeting. “Hey, Ethan. I heard you went out with Yuna, scouting for monsters. How did that go?”
She sounded genuinely interested, and much more like the Summer he was used to; Ethan could physically feel the tension slide off his shoulders. “Well, the good news is that these mechanical defenses work.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming…” said Summer, raising an eyebrow.
“A pretty big ‘but’…” Ethan replied. “We went out in the crawler and followed a few of the stragglers that turned tail after those turrets unloaded on them.”
“The maddened retreated?” Summer cut in.
“I know, it sounds unbelievable, and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes then I wouldn’t have believed it, either.”
Summer rested her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together, contemplating what Ethan had said. “I guess when you think about it, we know hardly anything at all about those things”
Ethan nodded. He’d had more first-hand experience with the maddened than most rangers, and even his encounters had all been brief, violent affairs. “One thing we do know is that there are far too many of them to fight.”
“What did you find out there?” asked Summer, narrowing her eyes.
“We followed them out across the moorland. That thing ov
er there can seemingly go anywhere. But we reached the valley on the other side and saw thousands, all following the path of the river out from the city.”
Summer threw up her hands, angrily. “But that river must run close by to… I don’t know, maybe fifteen or twenty other settlements!”
“I know.”
Summer pressed her hands back to her hips and shifted her head to one side, shaking it in small, jagged, near imperceptible motions, while scowling off into the distance. Ethan smiled; he had seen this look many times before, but he always remembered the first time he had seen it, or at least the first memory of it that stuck in his mind. They were teenagers, maybe thirteen or fourteen, and already training to be rangers. One of the younger kids had been crying and Summer had gone to ask why. It turned out that she was being picked on by one of the other ranger trainees, and Summer had got almost the exact same look she had now; the same barely contained shaking of the head, the same fire in her eyes as she turned away, trying to contain the explosion inside her. But, like redirecting the flow of a powerful river, the forces within her could only be contained for so long, before nature demanded they be released and resume their natural course. She had waited until the next session of physical training, and made sure that she was paired with the bully, and then as they sparred the explosion went off. Ethan hadn’t seen all of it, but he had seen Summer, standing over the other girl, eyes flashing brighter than the lights in the night sky, willing her to get up.
The woman standing in front of him was the old Summer, alright, and he knew what she was going to do.
“Has Gaia found that old hermit yet?” she said, staring back into Ethan’s eyes.
“Yes. She and Yuna need to spend some time in decontamination, but then I hope she will take me to him.”
“I’m coming with you.” The forcefulness of Summer’s statement left no scope for refusal, not that Ethan would have considered refusing her. Summer joining the party would significantly increase their chances of finding the hermit and making it back unscathed.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Ethan, smiling. “It’s good to have you back.”
Summer held Ethan’s eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “It’s never going to be like it was, Ethan.”
“That doesn’t mean it has to be worse, Summer,” Ethan hit back, keeping his eyes locked onto hers, despite the sensation that his own eyes were burning. “I’m not asking you to forget, or to forgive yourself; hell, I know that you won’t. I’m just asking that you not let it define the rest of your life.”
“We both know I’m dying, Ethan.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Summer’s eye narrowed, but neither of them wavered, or even blinked.
“So, tomorrow then, we go and find your strange old hermit,” said Summer, letting her arms slide back to her hips.
“Tomorrow then,” repeated Ethan, nodding gently.
Then Summer glanced down. “I’m… sorry for what I said. In the ranger hut. I didn’t mean it.”
Ethan stepped forward and gently held her shoulders. “I know.”
Summer reached up and wrapped her arms tightly around Ethan’s back, pulling him close until their heads rested on each other’s shoulders. He felt her increase the pressure and, as he squeezed back, it felt like she was charged, like an explosion waiting to happen.
Chapter 18
The crawler had been making quick progress across the undulating terrain for a little over three hours, and they were now deep in uncharted territory. They were also moving further away from the cluster of known settlements that mainly lay scattered around the lowland areas, along the line of the river or close to it.
Using the transponder’s unique signal, Tyler had traced the location of the counterpart disc with reasonably high accuracy, considering his limited resources, and determined that the hermit had journeyed an impressive distance since his last known location. Initially, Ethan had been skeptical of the transponder’s accuracy, questioning why the hermit would travel so far into the barren mountains, far beyond the outer limits of the ruined megacity, Green Haven. But, Tyler had insisted the signal location was correct, and the decision to investigate had been unanimous.
Gaia and Yuna were sitting up front in the sealed cabin, while Ethan and Summer had chosen to ride in the exposed rear compartment, partly to take in the spectacular scenery. This was Ethan’s favorite time of year, when the leaves and tall grasses turned to a palette of gold, bronze and rich, burned orange, contrasting against vivid evergreens and the sharp blue sky and shimmering, glassy lakes.
It was on days like these that Ethan could imagine how the planet used to look, until the illusion was shattered by the sight of scorched craters, smashed and broken roads, or large swathes of blackened, dead land. But, the further they travelled towards the harsh mountainous region, the fewer such sights seemed to occur, and Ethan realized he was venturing into areas where no ranger had ever travelled, at least not in his lifetime.
Their route took them higher into the hills alongside Green Haven, though the crawler’s automatic navigation systems had been required to make numerous lengthy course corrections to avoid regions of particularly intense radioactive toxicity, as well as clusters of movement that could have been bands of roamers or the maddened, all of which had added to the time and distance of the journey. Ethan and Summer had both been amazed by the sheer vastness of the city as they had made their way past it; neither had seen it from this angle or elevation, and although it had always been an imposing sight, neither had comprehended just how staggering a feat of engineering it was. It was sprawling yet also ornate, with multiple tiers that spread out from the center, like layers of an onion. Ethan wished he could have seen it before the Fall, before the towering buildings had snapped like fractured bones and the layers had been scorched and smashed. That a fragment of the former GPS space station had collided with the city’s central region so long after its destruction somehow seemed sad to Ethan in retrospect; it was like kicking someone when they were already down and defeated. The burning remains of the fragment, and the fires that seemed to simmer under the surface, like smoldering coals beneath the surface ash of a barbecue, still sent shafts of black smoke in to the air, as if warning travelers to steer clear. It was a message that the crawler’s navigation systems frequently seemed to heed.
The crawler begun an ascent higher into the mountains, and even Ethan found himself pulling his coat more tightly around his body as the temperature dropped and the wind grew even more biting. They had spoken little during the journey, but had frequently exchanged gleeful looks, and each had pointed out features of the landscape to the other, so that neither missed something special. For those few hours, it seemed like nothing else existed but the two of them and that all the sorrows of the past were a distant memory. Ethan knew it could not last, but if nothing else came of their expedition to find the old hermit, he was glad of the time they had spent together, wordlessly watching the beauty of a planet that suddenly did not appear as broken as they had always believed.
There was a loud tapping sound behind them and Ethan twisted around to see Gaia rapping her knuckles on the partition glass. She then used her index finger to make a stabbing motion towards her neck, which she then aimed at Summer. Ethan nodded, comprehending her meaning. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out an injector pack and then glanced up at Summer, who was already regarding him suspiciously.
“What’s that?” she asked; her keen archer’s eyes rarely missed anything.
Ethan shot her a coy look; he knew she was going to put up a fight. “It’s an injector. Gaia made up a special medicine that would help with your… condition. And it will also help to keep you on your feet while we’re out here in the wilderness.”
“My condition?” said Summer eyebrows raised.
“Don’t be difficult, Summer. You need this, so how about you just let me do it, and not give me a hard time?”
Summer�
��s eyebrows remained raised, then she did something Ethan did not expect; she agreed. “Fine, just get it over with.” She drew her long red hair off her neck and sat back against the cabin partition.
Ethan was so surprised that he just froze, holding the box in his hands, as if he’d forgotten what it was or what he was supposed to be doing.
She glanced across at him. “Come on, before I change my mind!”
Ethan jerked back into action, popping the lid off the small box to reveal the injector and a single, bright red capsule. He fitted the capsule into the injector, as Gaia had instructed him to do, and then held it close to Summer’s neck. “Ready?”
Summer rolled her eyes, grabbed the injector from Ethan’s hand and plunged it into her own neck. It hissed and the red capsule liquefied in an instant. She then tossed the injector into the compartment, where it rattled against the metal floor and rolled into the far corner of the rear compartment.
Ethan laughed. “You’d make a terrible medic with a bedside manner like that.”
Summer’s eyes flicked across to him again, and then she continued to watch the scenery roll by, her lips pressed into a thin smile.
“How do you feel?” said Ethan, not dissuaded by Summer’s attempts to ignore him.
“I feel like someone is trying to annoy me...”
Ethan laughed again, and gave up. That she had taken the medication at all was victory enough, he decided.
The crawler finished its steady ascent and as the terrain levelled out again, Ethan spotted a huge lake in the far distance. Ethan had seen lakes before, but this was at least three or four times the size of anything he had ever encountered. He tapped Summer on the shoulder and pointed it out to her.
