The man nodded and looked down. Everyone was silent for a moment more until his head rose and he had tears in his eyes. He stood and looked straight at me. "I think the clip is perfect."
Another man stood. "Me too."
A woman in the back of the room took a step forward. "It's awesome."
"Impactful," a man yelled from the far side of the conference room.
I nodded as tears streamed from my eyes. I looked up to scan the room and slowly turned until I found the video editor. He was beaming. I clapped and nodded at him. "That guy gets it," I said to the room.
Everyone turned toward him and applauded.
Once the commotion calmed and people began to socialize, I made my way over to him. "Excellent work."
He blushed. "The story you told was perfect. It only needed some visual embellishment." He winked.
"I'd like for you to do that for every video."
"Add embellishment?"
"Well, maybe, whatever you think it needs. My point is I want you, and you alone, to edit my videos. You get what I'm trying to do."
He nodded. "I heard you're going to be going out on 'excursions' for the videos as well?"
"Yeah, I want to show other people rising with us, the riots from a different angle, and the tyranny as a whole. I want to change people's minds online and in person."
"I want to go with you," he said.
"You do?" I was surprised. I was a wanted 'felon,' and he wanted to be included? "You realize these aren't going to be fun, right? It will mean a lot of hiding and running."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then why?" I asked.
"If I need a shot to input into the video, I'll be there to get it. You're going to be busy doing the stuff, and sometimes it helps to have a second set of eyes. Someone who's not so involved and can see the whole story."
I slowly nodded. He was right. "So you'll be my cameraman and editor?"
"If you'll have me."
I nodded and held out my hand. He shook it, and we smiled at each other. "Thank you," I said.
He gave a curt nod and walked away.
I glanced around the room, now alone in the small crowd, and watched as people came and went from the impromptu party. I didn't see Smith anywhere though.
The hallway outside the conference quickly deadened the racket coming from the party so that I walked down a quiet corridor. The farther I went, the more serious a place my mind settled into. I was near Smith's door when I heard the TV blaring from the bowling alley a couple of doors down. I hesitated, then decided to check out the noise.
After lightly stepping down the hall so I didn’t further disturb anyone, I peeked around the corner and saw Smith lounging on the couch while watching a sitcom.
Seriously? At a time like this?
"Whatcha doing?"
The sound of my voice made him jump, and he quickly turned. "Hey, um, watching some TV."
"Mind if I join you?" I motioned at the cushion next to him.
He seemed surprised. "No, I don't mind."
I sat next to him and put my feet up on the coffee table, then sank back into the soft cushions. I sighed and tried to pay attention to the show, but I couldn't. Instead, I glanced at Smith from the corner of my eye. His red hair and freckles normally made him look extremely young, but now the dark circles under his eyes showed his age. "Are you getting any sleep?" I asked gently. I didn't demand answers, only requested as a concerned friend.
He pressed his lips together. "Enough, I guess."
I nodded once. "Everything has been okay for you here? The brothers are kind of particular sometimes. I could see how that would get under someone's skin," I offered.
He sighed loudly. "Aella, do you want to watch the show, or are you here to hound me?"
I felt my eyes grow wide, but then I talked myself out of giving him a piece of my mind. Everyone needed a friend. "No, I wanna watch the show. Really."
We both faced the TV. When I had first walked into the room, I couldn't understand how he could focus on the show when so much was happening around us, but the more I watched, the more I realized it was a welcome distraction.
We stayed up for most of the night binge-watching the reality TV marathon.
"THERE IT IS!" I EXCLAIMED and pointed at the news. "That's where we need to be!" All the exhaustion from lack of sleep the night before vanished when I saw the riot.
There had been an overnight raid on a local food market near what used to be Kansas. The Divinity had decided they were low on provisions and needed to take all the food from a group of local farmers that had worked hard for it. Now their efforts were for nothing. The Divinity had deemed it taxation and necessary to the peace on a global scale. The farmers didn't want to lie down and take it, so they fought back. This inspired a large number of locals to protest and riot in their honor. However, The Divinity had brought out guns and used deadly force against farmers who had already had their weapons confiscated. The media painted the farmers as criminals, but I knew better.
"The riot is over though. What can we do there?" Philip asked.
I stood incredulous. "Seriously? Those people are mad. They need an organized cause, and that's us! Let's get their story out there and rally the troops!"
He shrugged.
"Can I take the plane or no?"
"Whatever you want to do," he said dismissively.
I took off to pack my bags and grab the editor. How did I not catch his name? While running down the hall, I encountered Jane. "Are you coming? We're going to Kansas to film!"
"When?"
"Now!" I called as I passed her.
"Yes! Let me get my things!"
"Meet me at the hangar!" I yelled over my shoulder.
ONCE IN THE HANGAR, we stood and waited for the pilot. Jane, the editor—whose name I learned was Chris—my bodyguard and myself were all present. It was awkwardly quiet until Jones, the pilot, made his way across the concrete to us. "Who's ready for a trip to Kansas?" he yelled excitedly.
Jane gave a sarcastic "Woohoo!" and everyone followed him onto the plane. Jane and I sat together, and Chris sat across the aisle from us. He stared at his laptop for most of the flight as Jane and I talked about the old days on Earth before Circadia. Since I had gone to school at Kansas University, the memories flooded back.
"Why KU?" she asked.
"It was fairly close to home, and they had a great agricultural program."
"Do or did you have family around there?"
The droning sound of the plane’s engine grew louder in my ears, and I suddenly heard my heartbeat. My breathing was heavy, and tears pulled at my eyes. "My mom lived in Chicago. When the nuclear war happened, I had no idea if she was dead or alive. I’ve done some research since landing on Earth. I found out that she was in D.C. for the weekend visiting an old friend when everything went down so, she's gone now."
Jane's head went down, and I heard sniffling. "I'm sorry. Why didn't you say anything?"
I thought for a moment. It had everything to do with me being private about my life before Circadia and not wanting to show emotions in front of my colleagues, but I offered, "I felt like everyone had lost someone, and I didn't need to bring it up."
"Yours was new," she pointed out. "You just found out, but I understand not wanting to share. When my dad passed away, I wished people would stop talking about it. I loved him dearly, but it hurt to talk about him. Not that I didn't ever want to talk about him again, because I did, but not when it was so fresh."
I nodded. Jane always had a way of getting me, which was strange since we were opposites. "What about you? You ever been to Kansas?" I asked.
"A few times. We drove through a couple of times on road trips. I liked hanging out in Seattle back in the day, and we always had to drive through Kansas on the way. Awful state to drive through!" She laughed. "Nothing but crops and wind turbines."
"That's no joke," I agreed. "Perfect for not having many distractions in school though."
"
Yeah. I always forget you were boring before all this."
"What? Boring, really?”
"Oh, don't be like that! We both know you were." She laughed and nudged me with her shoulder.
I chuckled. "Okay, maybe."
"Now look at you. World revolution leader," she proclaimed playfully and dramatically.
"Yeah, yeah."
The pilot's intercom throughout the plane crackled to life, then he announced, "We're on approach to land at our destination. Please make sure you're buckled up and armed. Thank you."
"That's something you don't hear on a commercial flight, that's for sure!" Jane remarked.
I grinned. "This is a little different.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Stepping off the plane was eye-opening. When I looked around at what used to be Kansas, it was the only place we had seen so far that somewhat resembled its pre-war state. The fields of crops were abundant, and operations seemed to have kept moving here. "How is this possible?" I asked.
"D.C. got hit with a nuclear blast. You would think the fallout would have made the soil unsafe here too," Jane said. "I'm not eating that stuff."
The plane had landed on a gravel road near a local gathering place close to where the riot had happened. We didn't have access to a vehicle, so we had to get as close as possible. We watched as the farmers walked our way, away from their large machinery. "Hello," I hollered and waved.
The gesture met with grim faces who seemed apathetic to my greeting. Our group stood ready to meet with the farmers, while Chris filmed a little farther back. As they approached, one of them made his way to the head of the group, clearly identifying himself as the leader. "Can we help you?" he asked. His voice was gruff and low.
"I'm not sure, but I think we can help each other." I smiled. "My name's Aella Toms." I waited for any signs of recognition on their faces but saw none. If anyone had watched the news, they'd know who I was, but it was apparent that these men had not. I tried to gather the words to explain who I was. "My friends and I were sent to Circadia before the war, and now we’re fugitives from The Divinity."
"Seems like you're doing fine to me." The farmer nodded at the private jetting sitting in the road behind us.
"That's the reason we're here. We had a lot of trouble on Circadia. We didn't know it at the time, but it was because of The Divinity. We were stranded with no help, and two citizens from Earth showed up to help us. They said you guys were having the same problems here, and we wanted to help."
One of the farmers raised an eyebrow. "You're that girl?"
Jane laughed. "Yeah! She's that girl."
"So what?" the lead farmer countered. "What's that have to do with us? One little girl ain't gonna be able to do anything for us."
"That's why I'm here." My voice rose and the power behind it strengthened. "Would it be possible for one of you to do these operations by yourself?" I looked out at the perfect fields.
"Well, no." He grew agitated.
"Exactly. It takes a team. The Divinity will be no different. You're not the only ones suffering. People all over the world have had The Divinity take something from them. We can put an end to that if we rise together."
Silence hung in the air. The tension was palpable. "I don't think so," the leader rebutted. "We don't need more trouble."
I nodded. It wasn't the answer I'd hoped for. Turning slowly, defeated, I heard Chris speak up. "This won't be the end of it, you know!"
The farmers looked infuriated as their faces turned red and their eyes shot wide open. "What did you say, boy?" one of the farmers yelled back.
I watched Chris's Adam's apple rise and fall with difficulty. He straightened his stance and smoothed his shirt. "I said this, won't be all. The Divinity will never stop. They'll be back soon, and they may take more next time. What happens when you don't have anything left to give?"
I turned back to see the farmer's reactions. It was an incredulous look of disbelief. "They wouldn't do that! We fought them off. They learned their lesson."
"Did they?" Chris challenged. "Because they did the same thing in India, and now everyone is starving. They won't take your uprising from the other day lightly. It won't deter them."
Their eyes went even wider. Was it fear? Disbelief? I wasn't sure. Did they really have no idea? "We can help. Not us personally, but together, we can fight back."
The farmers stood quiet in their group. The moment dragged on for what seemed like forever until one of the men in the back raised his hand. "I'm in."
The man next to him raised his hand too. Then another, until the leader stepped forward. "Come on, I'm not sure where you came from, but I'm sure you're tired of the plane. We have food." He waved for us to follow him, and we did.
We went across the field toward three enormous barns meant for holding the combines and other large equipment used on the properties. Aside from the buildings in the middle of nowhere, fields of crops extended as far as the eye could see. We followed the men through one of the structures until we reached a concealed door in the back that led up some stairs to living quarters. The secret loft was quaint, with very little decoration or accessories. There was a stove, an oven, a sink, three beds, and a dining room table.
"Where do the rest of the men stay?" I blurted.
"Most of the men drive the pickup truck back to town to stay with their families. We rotate shifts of staying here through the night. Three of us at a time for safety and protection," the leader explained.
"Protection?" Jane asked.
"Yeah. There's a lot of people in this world who want what we have. We try to distribute everything the best we can. Once our operating costs are covered, we donate the rest at the local farmers market with limits. We're not looking to be greedy, just wanna be fair. Someone coming out here and taking over our operation or stealing our crops ain't fair if they're not gonna do what we do. Right?"
I nodded. His reasoning matched Circadian thinking, and I started to like the prickly older gentleman. Maybe we weren't so different.
"Everyone grab a seat. We'll have dinner together tonight."
Jane cleared her throat, and I looked over to see her jaw working back and forth as she bit her lip. She could never keep a comment or question to herself. "Jane? You all right?" I asked.
"I...I hate to bring up tender subjects, especially right now, but how can these crops possibly be safe for consumption?"
The man chuckled. "What d’ya mean?"
"I mean, D.C. was nuked. Kansas is far enough away not to get hit with the blast, but it’s close enough to be worried about soil contamination from the radioactive isotopes dropping from the sky. Do you guys glow in the dark later?"
The lead farmer let out a guttural laugh and opened the fridge to retrieve a bundle of corn cobs. "Sunflowers, girl!"
Jane stood there and looked dumbfounded. "What?"
"Sunflowers!" he repeated.
My brain tried to backtrack to school to remember what sunflowers had to do with nuclear situations. I remembered something vaguely but not enough. "Do they protect the soil or restore it?"
"They restore it, as long as it's not too much. You plant a whole field of sunflowers and wait until they get good and stocky. The plants normally pull potassium and calcium from the soil for nutrients, but the radioactive isotopes mimic them, so they pull those too. Neat, huh?"
"Wouldn't you have to worry about local wildlife being radioactive then? Surely the birds and mice eat the sunflower seeds," I said.
"That's the thing. The plants store the contamination in the stalks and leaves. We always cut them before they flowered out anyway, just to be safe, but it cleared out our issues pretty quickly. That first dinner from these fields was scary, but they tested safe, and what other choice do we have? The way I understand it from you all is that we're lucky even to see food, let alone regularly."
"That's pretty innovative," Chris chimed in from the back.
"Yeah, it honestly worked pretty well and was cost-effective. Worke
d great," the lead farmer said proudly.
"How did you dispose of the waste though? The sunflowers don't neutralize or decay the radioactivity, right?" Jane asked.
"That's correct," I said. "That would be a lot of sunflowers."
"After the nuclear war, several cities opened big holes in the ground and poured a concrete hull, kind of like a basement deep in the ground. Once they were full, they poured more concrete over the top to cap them. It allows the radioactive isotopes to decay eventually. So we found a disposal center and filled it."
"Handy," Jane commented.
The room went quiet, and I decided now was the time to ask them. "We need to ask you gentlemen something. "
THE WEATHER TURNED for the worse as we walked back to the plane, so we hurried. We waved goodbye to the farmers as we waited for takeoff. The rain streamed past the windows as we rushed down the gravel road that served as our runway, then lifted off.
"Where to now?" I asked.
Chris suggested, "Let's go over to D.C. We're already in the States, and it's the only wreckage site that's open to the public now."
"Open?" I asked. He made it sound like a tourist destination. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Not at all. It’s the only city that's been decontaminated and deemed safe. The whole city is basically a memorial."
I'd been to Washington, D.C. before the war and reveled in the enormous historical monuments. My time there had been short, but I had thoroughly enjoyed it. The thought of seeing those same monuments that had brought me so much pride now standing in ruins as burnt relics of the past was an off-putting idea. I caught myself getting emotional about it. Not only was it my nation's Capitol, but it was also my mom’s last known location.
"For what purpose?" I asked.
Chris scratched his scruffy face. "Shock factor."
"I don't like that. I'm not trying to shock people. I'm trying to educate them."
"You have to be listening to learn. We need to make them listen. It's your call though."
The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series Page 31
