by Andrew Gates
As she shouted, the EO’s guard instinctively reached for the small firearm holstered on his hip. Fielder raised his hand, as if signaling the guard to stand down.
Sanja chuckled.
“That’s right, stand down. I’m no danger to you,” she said to the young man.
Fielder shook his head and stood up, joining her.
“I’m not so sure that’s true,” he replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Baltir may not tell anyone where he got his injury, but I have a theory,” Fielder answered. He stared her down.
Damn, that sure was blunt.
“But I admit, you do have a point. You have the right to eat in privacy if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you,” she said, not breaking eye contact.
Fielder lifted the tray from the table and took a few steps back.
“Remember, Sanja, stay out of this. You’ll do more harm than good,” he said before finally turning around and walking away.
The woman let out a deep sigh and waited until the invasive EO and his guard found a seat at the other end of the room. Once he sat down, Sanja stood up, not bothering to finish the rest of her slop.
Fuck you, Fielder, she thought.
She left the mess hall in a huff.
What a shitty hour. First Zoran taunts me, then Baltir, now Fielder. She closed her eyes, trying to put them all out of her mind. Adapt, she told herself. I need to adapt. I need to adapt.
But how?
THE WHITE HALLS ECHOED WITH the sound of the girl’s footsteps as she ran at full speed. Trace was still ahead of her. He had always been slightly faster. As much as the girl tried, she could never keep up with him.
They neared the end of the hallway, where the white walls met yellow. Almost there, the girl thought. Suddenly a door swung open. Trace had to slow down and eventually stop or risk colliding right into it. A man came out of the open room with a surprised expression on his face.
This is my shot! Now, while he’s distracted!
Iris rushed forward with all the power she had left. She passed Trace and continued into the yellow halls. Once there, she stopped and turned, jumping up and down in excitement. The girl knew she had won.
Trace walked up to her, huffing and puffing. His white shirt was covered in sweat and his black sweatpants seemed like they had travelled a few centimeters lower on his waist. He leaned down and shook his head in disbelief.
“No fair!” he eventually said, leaning back up. “That guy came out of nowhere!”
“It’s the station!” Iris replied. “What did you expect? I won fair and square.”
“You won’t win again! Trust me,” Trace teased.
Iris smiled, though she knew he was probably right.
Trace walked up to her and patted her on the back.
“Until next time,” he said.
“Yeah.”
They took a moment to catch their breaths as pedestrians walked past them in the busy yellow zone. After a few seconds, Iris turned to face the residential hall again.
“Should we head back now?” she wondered.
“Well, what do you want to do?” Trace asked.
“Not another race. I’m too tired,” Iris said. “Plus, my mom won’t be happy if I’m home late again.”
“It’s not late!”
“Maybe not for you, but it is for me. Your parents don’t care. Mine do.”
“Your parents are possessive.”
Iris lowered her head and sighed. She’d heard those words before but kept telling herself it wasn’t true. Her parents loved her. That’s why they wanted her home all the time. Nothing more.
“Well… whatever,” was all she said back, not totally sure how to respond.
Without questioning it further, the two kids started walking home. They were not too far from their residences.
“You’re getting faster,” Trace noted as they walked along. “I had to really try that time!”
Iris chuckled. Just that time, huh?
“Thanks,” was all she said back.
“Are you trying out for any teams this year?”
Teams? There was no way. Iris hated sports. She could hardly believe Trace was even asking that question.
“No, probably not,” she replied.
“Why not?” Trace questioned. “You might be good at it!”
Iris shrugged.
“I… I don’t know. It’s just not my thing,” she explained.
“Well what is your thing? Reading books?”
“No, not reading books. I can’t do that forever.”
Trace took a few steps in front of her and turned around, walking backwards while keeping his eyes on her. He had a big grin on his face.
“If you could be anything when you grow up, what would you be?” he asked. He seemed amused by this question.
Iris did not respond right away. She took a few seconds to think. But she eventually pointed to the ceiling and answered.
“I want to invent a time machine and go back in time. I want to see the whole world before the Descent. I would see Egypt and Greece and China!”
“Wow, wow, wow, a time machine? That’s not a real job! You can’t do that!” Trace protested. He shook his head vigorously. “I mean something real!”
“Who says time machines can’t be real?” Iris wondered. “Maybe they will be real in the future.”
“Because if they were real, someone would have come back in time already and we would have met them,” Trace explained. “So time machines can’t be real!”
“What if they came back in secret?”
“Just pick something else.”
Iris paused again to think of another answer. After a few seconds, she was ready.
“Okay,” she said. “I guess if I’m being serious, I just want to help people. I want people’s lives to be better because of something I did, you know? I don’t want to die and have people forget about me. I want to be important to someone.”
Trace joined Iris by her side again and faced forward as they walked.
“Wow, Iris. That’s deep. But it’s still not a job,” he explained.
She turned to face him.
“Well, that’s the truth. I don’t know what else to say.”
“So you want people’s lives to be better because of you?” Trace clarified.
“Yeah.”
“Hmm…” the boy said. “I thought you would say ‘historian’ or something.”
Iris chuckled.
“Well that wouldn’t be so bad either,” Iris admitted. “How about you? Still want to join the Navy?”
Trace nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “I feel like I’m in good shape. I’d get good training and I’d be protecting people. I’d make people’s lives better too, just like you said.”
“It’s a good goal to have,” Iris replied.
“Yeah,” Trace agreed. “It is.”
“I bet in 20 years, you’ll be like a captain or something,” Iris said to him.
“And I bet in 20 years, you’ll still be boring!” Trace teased. Iris glared at him, unamused. “Seriously though, you’ll probably be a professor or something. That’s what I bet. Either that, or the first person to explore the surface.”
“The surface? That’ll be the day. I like history, but I’m no explorer.”
“I bet you’ll have a lot of kids,” Trace added. He seemed excited to predict Iris’s future.
“Oh,” Iris said. She was not sure what she thought about the idea of motherhood. She was too young to think about such things. “Thanks, I guess.”
“I can’t wait to grow up,” Trace continued. He did not seem like he wanted to stop talking anytime soon. “I bet I’ll live forever.”
“Nobody can live forever. That’s impossible.”
“Well I bet I’ll live a long time.”
“I bet I’ll live longer than you. Women have longer lives than men. I read that somewhere.”
&nb
sp; “Pssh,” Trace retorted. He threw his hands in the air. “Whatever. I’m healthy. I’ve always been healthy. I bet I’ll live a long time.”
“Do you think I’ll live a long time too?” Iris wondered.
“Yeah. I bet we both will! We’ll be the strongest there are!” Trace replied. He had so much confidence in his voice. “Nothing will stop us!”
Iris stopped.
The cramps came back again. She pressed her hand to her stomach and doubled over for a moment. She held her other hand against the cold wall of the cave, bracing herself. She hoped she would not vomit again this time.
“Iris? Are you okay?” Dan asked. He turned back and jogged over to her. The torch glowed in his hand.
She let go of the wall and held her free hand out, letting him know to stand aside. She was fine. Just another cramp.
After a few seconds, she let go of her stomach and stood straight. She nodded her head.
“I’m fine. Thanks,” she replied.
Dan nodded his head.
“Let me know if you need a break. I can handle this on my own if it’s easier,” he explained.
“We’re practically there. No sense stopping now,” Iris admitted.
After only a few more steps, Iris could see the light at the end of the rocky cavity. She had to shield her eyes. Even compared to the artificial lights in the Pentagon, this was bright. She had not seen light from the sun in hours.
“Since you’re not feeling well, we’ll make this quick,” Dan explained as they stepped more and more into the light. His voice echoed throughout the cavern. “We’ll find the ship, take the measurements and get back down.”
“What about food? I thought you were going to hunt while we’re up here,” Iris wondered.
The group had put off getting food for too long. Iris thought once the power came online, Dan would put a group together to gather something to eat. Instead, his first priority was to talk to the FCP and share the information about the attack, the Pentagon and the missiles. Ever since connecting to the FCP, Dan had thought of nothing else. It was late afternoon now. Soon it would be nighttime. They’d gone practically an entire day without eating.
“If we want to get down fast, we won’t have enough time to catch anything. We might just search for plants and head back down,” he explained.
“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful, but we need to make sure everyone is fed.”
“If I recall, there were some bushes by the cave entrance. I think they had some berries on them,” Dan said.
Iris did not remember seeing any bushes like that, but she was not paying much attention at the time.
Sweat started to drip down her forehead. The closer they got to the forest, the warmer it became. She brushed her hands through her mostly-blonde hair. Iris had grown used to this new color. At times it amazed her to think it was once black.
The fire from the torch was useless now. It was bright enough to see without it. Dan placed the burning torch down on the cave floor and continued along. It glowed behind him.
As they approached the mouth of the cave, they slowed their pace. The mantises could have been lurking right around the corner, this time hungry to avenge their fallen. The two of them had to be cautious.
Dan reached the mouth and stuck his head out. He slowly peered around both sides. Once he was confident that the coast was clear, he stepped out onto the grass. Iris followed.
Sure enough, there was a row of bushes just outside. Dark purple berries dotted it.
“Let’s make this quick,” Dan said. He walked around and faced up to the sky, searching for a good view of the triangular ship. It took him a while to find a clear sightline through the trees, but once he did, he stopped in place. Iris followed behind.
“So what does the FCP want us to do?” Iris asked, clarifying their mission.
“We have to measure the height and cardinal direction of the ship relative to us,” he said. “The FCP wants to find its exact coordinates. They know the coordinates of the Pentagonal Megastructure, so they’ll be able to piece it together from there.”
“I told you, it’s just called the Pentagon,” Iris explained.
“Sorry, yes, the Pentagon.”
Dan pulled out the sextant and compass from his jumpsuit pockets. One perk of holding out in the Pentagon was access to an abundance of retro technology such as these. Iris managed to find both tools in one of the old office rooms.
Iris watched as Dan held the sextant up in the air, preparing to measure the height of the ship compared to the horizon.
“I’ll start collecting berries then,” Iris said.
Dan turned and nodded to her. Iris let him be and walked off to the bushes. She crouched down before them and began plucking the dark round balls from in between the leaves. She tossed one into her mouth and chewed. It had been so long since she had eaten. Just tasting anything at all was a miraculous feeling.
She continued plucking more and stored them inside of her jumpsuit pockets. It did not take long before her pockets were full and the bushes sparse.
After a few moments, Iris heard Dan’s footsteps and looked up. He stood over her and nodded his head.
“I have the FCP’s data. We’re ready,” he explained.
That didn’t take long at all.
“My pockets are full. Do you have any room for more?” Iris wondered, motioning to the bushes. Though they were sparse, a few berries still remained.
“I can fit a few,” Dan replied.
The two of them collected berries for another minute or so before the entire bush had was plucked completely dry.
“Hopefully this will be enough.”
“It should last us through tonight,” Iris said, “but it’s not a lot. We’ll still be hungry. Are you sure we shouldn’t get more food while we’re up here?”
Dan sighed. Iris could tell part of him really wanted to stay and hunt, but another part of him knew that Iris was not up for it. I should have never agreed to come, Iris thought. It should have been someone else, someone more capable.
“No,” Dan eventually said. “We’ll come back later. I don’t want you overexerting yourself.”
Iris smiled. Dan may be blinded by his goals sometimes, but deep down, he still cares about others.
“Alright,” Iris conceded. “Let’s get back down there then.”
The walk back down felt easier than the walk up. Iris could not explain why. Perhaps she was just eager to return to the Pentagon, where she knew it was safe.
The light from Dan’s torch lit the path as the two of them made their way down the rocky surface.
Eventually they reached the shattered glass at the bottom. Dan crawled through first, trying not to scratch himself on any of the exposed shards. He held the torch in one hand and maneuvered himself with the other. Once inside, he turned and held his free hand out for Iris to grab. She accepted it and pulled herself through the hole, trying not to squish any of the berries in her pocket.
“There you go,” Dan said, reassuringly.
Iris’s feet touched the hard floor. She stood up straight and let go of Dan’s hand.
“Thanks,” she said.
Now that the lights were on, it was much easier to move around the building. Iris followed Dan through the office and into the long hall. Greyson and the others were waiting there.
“They’re back!” Kaitlyn shouted as Iris and Dan emerged from the room.
The girl ran up to them, practically bouncing.
“We have food,” Dan said, “but not meat. Berries.”
“Berries will do,” Greyson replied with a smile. He sat on the floor near his wife. She seemed to be asleep.
“No meat?” Jallah asked. He seemed disappointed.
“I didn’t want to spend too much time up there. Iris needs rest,” Dan explained.
Iris filled her hands with berries from her pocket and held them out. Kaitlyn immediately pulled some from her hands and popped them in her mouth one by one.
“Now, now, slow down! Everyone needs to get some!” Greyson shouted to his daughter.
Kaitlyn stopped and turned to face him. Her mouth was completely full.
“That’s enough for now,” Greyson said. “Let’s see how much is left when everyone gets a share.”
Kaitlyn moaned through her full mouth.
Greyson stood up from the floor and walked over. Soon enough, the others gathered around and took the berries from her hands. Only Selena, still asleep, did not join in. Instead, Greyson took a few extras, presumably for his wife.
The group was quiet as they devoured the berries. Everyone appeared to be pretty hungry. There were only a few left in her hands.
“How many do you have left?” she asked, turning to Dan.
He pulled the berries out of his pockets, revealing about the same number.
“Not much. Have you eaten any yet?”
Iris shook her head.
“Eat what’s in your hand,” Dan said.
“Are you sure?”
Dan nodded.
Without wasting a moment, Iris devoured the remaining berries. The taste was exceptional.
“I have a few more left!” Dan said, addressing the group. “Let’s divide up these remaining berries. We can each have a bite or two.”
Everyone took a few more berries from Dan’s hands. It was not long before all of the food was gone.
“Well, that’s it. That’s all the food then,” Dan said as Margery took the final berry from him.
“Will we get more later?” Jallah wondered.
“Maybe.”
Iris did not like the sound of that. Dan seemed so unsure. This was not Dan typical behavior.
“Let me get these numbers back to the FCP while they’re fresh in my head,” Dan explained. “I’ll see if they want me to do anything else after that.”
“Go,” Iris said. “Finish your work for the FCP. We can wait.”
As much as she wanted more food, she knew Dan would not feel comfortable until his work was done. He smiled back to her.
“Thank you, Iris.”
He turned and jogged down the hall. It seemed he did not want to waste any time.
“Iris, why did you do that? You should have told him to get us more food!” Jallah protested once Dan was out of range.
“You just got food. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough for now,” she replied. “Let’s let Dan work. He’s doing important things.”
