The Tellurian Threat: A Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller (The Tellurian Archives Book 1)

by Debashish Das

  “What? No. I wanted to talk to you because I know you’ll see things I’ve missed, things that are not obvious. What is that phrase you use, ‘reading between the lines’?”

  Becca sighed, lingering over her drink. “I don’t know. This… this doesn’t make sense.”

  “The offer?”

  “Yes, the offer,” she said scrunching up her face in confusion. “I mean, why would Patrick want you, an analyst, to go and work in R&D? And how is the project you were working on related to this? There has to be a reason behind all of this.”

  Patrick’s reason behind picking him was so strange that he still couldn’t make sense of it. But maybe Becca could. “He actually did give me a reason for why he picked me.”

  “He did?”

  Kyle nodded. “He said it’s because I’m not from Waylain. He knew about my past, how I got here, and he liked that. He said I have a proven track record, unlike most people. I don’t even know what that means.”

  Becca had a distant look in her eyes. “But he didn’t say anything about why that’s relevant to this new position he offered you?”

  “No, he said he won’t give me any details unless I accept the offer. He only said that the work would be more important than what I’m doing now, that I could have a bigger role to play in the future of Waylain.”

  “And?”

  “And what? That’s about all he said.”

  “You think he means it, despite the fact that you don’t like the guy?”

  Kyle shrugged. “I’m thinking about it.”

  “Andrew is right, you know,” she said looking him in the eye.

  “About what?”

  “You’ve already decided to accept the offer, but you can’t justify it to yourself. That’s why you wanted to talk, isn’t it?”

  “That’s bullshit. You think I don’t want to go back to Andrew’s team?” Kyle asked incredulously.

  “I think you don’t know what you want. You can’t seem to make up your mind.”

  The waiter arrived with their food and forced them to break off the conversation. Not that he had anything to say. He knew Becca was right and that troubled him even more. Was he really considering walking away from everything that made him happy? He settled for picking at the food in front of him. They ate in silence for the next few minutes, while the music continued to play in the background.

  “That’s it?” he asked, unable to hold it in any longer. “I should just say yes?”

  Becca shook her head. “You can if you want to?”

  “But you just said…”

  “I know, I know. But what if you are shunted into some hi-tech cubicle in R&D, cut off from other people? You’re going to be just as miserable as you’ve been in the last few weeks. I don’t think that’s a trade-off you’d be willing to make.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen. I made it quite clear to Patrick that I hated working alone, and he assured me I’ll be working with other people in R&D.”

  “You do make new friends easily, so that shouldn’t be a problem. But there are other things to think about, too.”

  “Like what?”

  “I know you like being the center of attention,” she said.

  He grinned, and raised his glass. “Amen to that. Since when has that been a problem?”

  “In the R&D you might stand out for a different reason. You’re an analyst, not an engineer or scientist. Their working style may be the exact opposite of what you’ve seen since you started working at Exel.”

  “I don’t think that’s a problem. A couple of weeks, a few drinks together, and we’re going to be best buds, whoever it is.”

  “It’s you, so I don’t doubt that for a minute. But if that is what you’re going to do why not just stay in Andrew’s team? Why do you want to move to R&D and go drinking with new people?”

  Kyle frowned and put his fork down. “Wait, I’m confused. Do you want me to say yes or no?”

  Becca gave him an exasperated look. “I can’t make that decision for you Kyle. All I’m trying to do is help you figure out your reasons. You can make whatever decision you want, but I want you to know exactly why you’re making that decision.

  “The two-week project is a different story. This decision will have a serious and long-lasting impact on your life. This is almost as important as when you decided to move to Waylain. Can you imagine what life would have been like if you had not?”

  Kyle leaned back in his chair and picked up his whiskey. He hated thinking about the past. It had been eleven years, but the memories had not faded. He hardly thought about it anymore, but it was all there. The depressing gloom that clung to him no matter where he went, feeling like a prisoner in the house he’d grown up in, and then there were the riots. That had been the breaking point. He knew if he didn’t escape he would be sucked into his environment. He would come to hate the place, yet its hold would be so strong that he would never be able to get out. So he had made his preparations in secret, and when the opportunity came, he slipped away quietly. No one knew where he had gone, nor had anyone come looking for him. He was grateful for that, but not proud of having run away. There had been no other choice, though. He wouldn’t be who he was if he had not come to Waylain.

  The song playing in the background ended with a high tempo. He saw Becca putting her hands on his wrist and looking at him with concern.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  Kyle nodded and noticed his glass was empty.

  “Sorry for bringing that up.”

  “It’s alright. Not your fault. But I have lost track of where we were.”

  She smiled encouragingly and signaled to the waiter for a refill. “The way I see it, coming back to Andrew’s team is a safe option. You get your life back, everything goes back to normal.”

  “But?”

  “But… you’d be letting go of an opportunity to do things that would have a greater impact. I don’t know if Patrick meant what he said, but the fact is, they want you in R&D. You won’t be just another cog in the wheel there.

  “I think that deep down you’ve recognized this opportunity for what it is. The Kyle I first met would not have balked at making this decision.”

  He chuckled. “Everyone changes, Becca. I am not the same person I was when I stepped into Waylain.”

  “You’re right, you’ve changed. You’re not even the same person you were a few weeks ago,” she said with a meaningful look.

  The waiter arrived with the drinks while he thought about what Becca had said. She was right. Had he been offered this choice a couple of years back, he would have said yes without a second thought. Had he really grown so complacent that he was afraid of moving on? He loved being around people he liked and spending time with his friends, but was he using them as a crutch?

  “If I accept the offer, you’d probably never see me again. No lunches at Po’s or chatting over coffee in the office. I’m not sure if I’d even be able to talk to you on the phone.”

  She sighed. “Look, I’m not going to say everything will be to your liking. But it’s not exactly going to be a prison either. I am pretty sure you’ll find time to go out for drinks with your friends.”

  “You know, Andrew has already started acting like I’ve moved on.”

  “I think he has your best interests at heart.”

  “Yeah, he’s a good guy. It will be hard to find my replacement, but I think he’ll manage. It’s you I’m worried about, though.”

  “Me? Oh, please. I’m the one who’s had to babysit you all these years and listen to you whine.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I’m pretty sure your life would be quite boring without me,” he said grinning widely. “I mean, you’d still be at work if I hadn’t forced you to come here.”

  Becca laughed and shook her head. “You really can’t be kept down for long, can you?”

  “You know me,” he said shrugging. “Seriously, though, thank you for coming out here.”

  “That was
easier than I thought,” she said sounding impressed.

  “I think it was the whiskey. And maybe, the company.”

  She smiled and raised her glass in a toast. “I think you’ll do fine in your new… whatever the hell it is.”

  Their glasses clinked as he joined the toast.

  Chapter 7

  The orange glow of the street lamps stretched as far as Damian’s eyes could see. They lit up the neatly laid out streets where people would be milling about at this time of the day. The grand buildings of Waylain rose up out of the glow of the street lamps, their features lost in the darkness that seemed to swallow everything.

  Damian looked up at the absolute, solid darkness overhead. Even the central dome that penetrated the crust was completely dark now. Logically, he knew that he was hundreds of meters under the ground, but his senses refused to believe it. If you couldn’t see it, smell it, feel it, was it really there? He remembered his father telling him about how one could always feel the weight of the millions of pounds of earth they were buried under.

  But Waylain had changed all that. Here, that oppressive presence had been hidden away and replaced by an illusion. The space between the real surface and the street he was standing on was so immense that his mind refused to believe anything solid could exist overhead. The street lights served as a counterpoint to the dark, empty space all around.

  It was this sense of space that set Waylain apart. Seen from the slopes surrounding the city one could see a resemblance to one of the mega-cities of the 21st century. Manhattan, if he remembered his history lessons correctly, except for the fact that it was buried deep underground.

  More than 20 years to build this modern marvel, yet it was the vision of one man that had brought it to life. A man he had met a few years ago and couldn’t help but respect. He may have been rich and influential, but he was also a visionary. He still was.

  Maybe that’s what led to the rift between them. They had started working together to create a new future for humanity, but their visions had diverged along the way. Now, he had taken it upon himself to create that future on his own. It was frustrating going at it alone, but Patrick Silva had seen to it that he wouldn’t be able to get any help. But this went beyond just the two of them. The future was inevitable and one way or another, he would see it through.

  Luckily, things had started leaning in his favor over the last few days. It had been months since he had last walked these streets and over a year since he had wanted to. They called it the ground level. He looked up to the real ground overhead and shook his head at the absurdity of the name. Then he got up and started making his way to where he was expected.

  Damian recognized Kyle as soon as he saw him. Even if he hadn’t, it would have been hard not to notice him. He stood out. The blond hair, the sharp dress, the confident gait, it all seemed to set him apart. Damian envied him a little for that. He waited for a few minutes before following Kyle into the restaurant.

  He pretended to look around until Kyle raised his hand and smiled. He slowly made his way to the table and asked, “kyle301?”

  Kyle laughed and stood up, extending an arm in greeting. “Yes, kyle301. Name’s Kyle, though. Nice to meet you!”

  He shook his hand. “Hi, dk712.”

  Kyle laughed again. “Yes, I imagine you are. But you can’t expect me to call you dk712.”

  It took a few moments for him to realize what he was asking. “Oh, of course. You can call me Dan.”

  “Nice to meet you, Dan,” Kyle said sitting back down and indicating for Damian to do the same. “I really appreciate you agreeing to help me and coming all the way here. I hope this doesn’t disrupt whatever you were doing.”

  Damian shrugged but didn’t say anything.

  A look of uncertainty flashed across Kyle’s face. “Is everything okay?”

  “What? No, no, everything is okay,” he replied awkwardly. “It’s just that I don’t come to the ground level very often. It’s… different.”

  Kyle relaxed visibly. “It sure is, isn’t it? People can’t seem to get enough of it, and to be honest, neither can I. You don’t even pass by this level sometimes?”

  Damian shook his head. “No, work keeps me busy.”

  “In that case, I apologize for dragging you away from your work. But I can make up for it by treating you to some of the best burgers you’ve ever had.” Kyle waved the waiter over and placed a double order for burgers and juice. “You’re a programmer, right?” he asked when the waiter left.

  “I am.”

  “And if you weren’t here, you’d be working even on a Saturday? That’s not very common.”

  “I do contract jobs.”

  “Oh really! I assumed you were an engineer at Exel. That’s what most programmers do, right?”

  “I guess so.”

  “And you’ve never wanted to work there?”

  Damian shrugged. “Used to. Not anymore.”

  “Wow! So you were an engineer at Exel. From what I hear it’s a great place to work. What made you leave?”

  Damian’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  Kyle seemed to realize that his question was rude, so he hastily added, “Sorry, none of my business. I usually just say what comes to my mind. You really don’t have to answer that.”

  “It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I wanted to do something on my own, so I left.”

  Their conversation broke off as the waiter arrived with their orders. Damian couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten at a real restaurant. The extravagance of it all grated on him, but then again, he was here on a mission.

  “I work as a data analyst at Exel. That’s why I was curious, about what it’s like to work in R&D.”

  Damian picked up the burger and tried to feign surprise. “You’re a data analyst at Exel? Impressive!”

  “No, it’s nothing.” Kyle waved away the compliment. “Next to what goes on in R&D, I imagine it’s pretty boring work.”

  Damian took a bite and had to appreciate the taste, despite himself. He had forgotten what good food tasted like. “This is a good burger. Haven’t had one like this in ages.”

  Kyle grinned. “I know, right? You should come up here more often,” he said digging into his own burger.

  “The work at R&D can be pretty boring too, but I didn’t know a single engineer who had a car that costs ten million.”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, it’s not like other people can’t buy it. It’s all about priorities. I wanted to buy the car, so I did. Other people don’t see the point in that, so they buy other things.”

  “So you didn’t just buy it to flaunt?”

  Kyle chuckled. “No, but not for the lack of trying. I tell people I have a B-M1 and they don’t even understand. When I explain it’s a car, they get even more confused. They usually don’t know how to react.”

  “Interesting. So you actually use it?”

  “Of course. Have you ever been up top? On the actual surface?”

  Damian shook his head.

  “It’s beautiful. Harsh and deadly if you get out of the car, but from the inside, you can see the sun reflecting off the dome. You look up, and it’s all blue. I can’t describe what a huge difference that makes. Maybe I’ll take you for a ride before we’re done with this.”

  Maybe I’ve judged Kyle too harshly, Damian thought to himself. He was different from the rest, from the way he held himself down to his interests and outlook. He saw beauty where others saw desolation and death. The surface was no place any sane man would go, let alone regularly. But he hadn’t come looking for sanity when he came here. It seemed his luck was finally turning.

  “Is that why you want to turn your car driverless? So you can enjoy the view on the surface?”

  “I know it sounds weird, but that’s just part of the reason. Like I said, I paid ten million for it. I shouldn’t have to wait for months to get an upgrade, especially when it’s already available on the market. I want to prove a point to Volte, too. Wouldn’t you i
f it were you?”

  Oh, yes, Damian thought to himself, I think we’ll get along quite well. He nodded and said, “In that case, let’s get to it, shall we?”

  “Okay, but what the hell is that?”

  Kyle was pointing at his portable computer. “Oh, it’s just a computer that I made for myself. I didn’t think the tech that was available in the market was good enough. So I created it from scratch. I know it looks bulky and hideous, but there’s not a single computer in Waylain that is half as capable.”

  Kyle looked impressed. “Nice. Now I’m sure that you are the right guy to help me with my car.”

  Damian nodded. “Let’s take a look at that controller app and figure out what we can do. It might take a couple of hours to go through the entire back-end, though.”

  Kyle unlocked his phone, opened the car’s controller app, and handed it over. “Hey, I’ve got all the time in the world. You do whatever it takes. Meanwhile, I’ll order something to drink.”

  “No alcohol for me, please.”

  “Oh, of course. I was just going to order some more juice.”

  Damian barely heard him. He was already engrossed in what he’d come here to do. He couldn’t have said how much time had passed when Kyle interrupted him.

  “Hey man, you’ve been at it for quite a while now. Is it going to take much longer?”

  He looked up and said, “Sorry, completely lost track of time. The software is fascinating. No wonder the company said it will take a long time to roll out the updates.”

  “Are you telling me that I’ll have to wait for the official updates after all?”

  “No, not exactly. But I’m not familiar with the mechanical aspects of the car, so some of this code is confusing.” He turned his screen around so it faced Kyle. “You see this part here; the module linking the throttle input to the 3-axis stabilization, it doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Dude, I have absolutely no clue what you just said. And I don’t understand any of this code either.”

  Damian cocked his head. “I don’t know. I thought I could figure it all out by looking at the software, but it seems like I’ll have to see the car itself. Maybe it will make sense then.”