Higher Ground

by Becky Black

  “I dropped him off outside town and he rode off on his bike. I haven’t seen him since.”

  “Okay, thank you. You’d better get your truck back to campus. I hear your professor is spitting nails about it.”

  “Will do.” Adam restarted the truck and set off.

  Chapter Eight

  Zach sat on the couch in the Franes’ living room, with a cup of coffee in his hands. The Franes were a young couple, Simon, a black man, and Visha, a pretty woman with light brown skin and long black hair. They were talking with their heads close together, Zach’s Link in their hands. Meanwhile, their four-year-old daughter, Amina, who had quickly got over any wariness of Zach, had brought out armfuls of her dolls and stuffed animals, lined them up on the couch, and started telling Zach all of their names. As she chattered on and her parents examined the data, Zach’s thoughts kept circling back round to the last words he’d said to Adam.

  Thank you.

  What kind of idiot said “thank you” for a kiss? But it had caught Zach off guard. His mind had been whirling with so many thoughts—about what he’d say to the Franes, what he’d say at the meeting later, what Korrie would make of his data—that the sudden intrusion of so much heat and desire had quite discombobulated him.

  He’d thought that, unlike people such as the Franes and their child, he had nobody special here he needed to protect. But that might be changing. The urge to get Adam to safety had become stronger than the more general one to save all the residents of the colony, leaving him a little ashamed of himself. But perhaps that was normal. Wouldn’t the Franes feel the same about each other and their daughter?

  Not if he didn’t persuade them of the truth of his prediction, they wouldn’t. He took a breath, clearing distracting thoughts about Adam’s tanned skin and thick hair out of his mind. Amina had finished telling him the names of her toys, and he smiled at her nervously. He had limited experience of small children. As an only child, he had no nieces and nephews, and few of his friends at home had families yet.

  “Which is your favorite?” he asked. At once, she grabbed a battered rag doll with long striped legs.

  “Leggy Peggy,” she said. “Grandma Frane made her. I haven’t met Grandma Frane, but I saw her on the screen saying hello.”

  Zach had to bite back a wince. The Franes were relatively recent arrivals at the colony, coming here only five years ago. Amina must have been born here, and if Zach couldn’t persuade her parents to help him, she’d never meet her grandparents. They had to help him.

  “Dr. Benesh,” Simon Frane said, “you seem very sure about this.”

  “I am sure.”

  “But why aren’t the other geologists at the Institute saying the same thing?” Visha asked.

  “I was the only one studying the magma chambers. And I’m afraid I…” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, which were gritty and aching. “I didn’t go about drawing this to their attention the right way. I think I’ve prejudiced them against me. My own fault. I panicked…” He trailed off. He had screwed it up, hadn’t he? Only his decision to take the data to Professor Korrie saved him from being a complete fool. That was when he’d started thinking clearly, not rushing around half-cocked.

  “Look,” Simon said, “Dr. Benesh—”

  “Zach, please.”

  “Zach, okay. The thing is, if we send out an unauthorized distress signal, and you turn out to be wrong, we’re in big trouble. We’d lose our jobs at the very least, and that means losing our home too. We might be prosecuted. What happens to us and Amina then?”

  “I don’t know. But I know what happens to all of you if I’m right.” He glanced at the girl and didn’t elaborate, not wanting to frighten her. She was happily playing with the toys on the couch, oblivious to the matters of life and death they were discussing.

  Zach took a breath, seeing the skepticism in both their faces. He had to break through it. They had no reason to take his word on this, but they couldn’t interpret the data for themselves to know for sure. He had to make them believe they could trust when he was sure of something, they should be too.

  “Both my parents are scientists. All my life I’ve been taught the scientific method. I’ve been taught to research thoroughly, triple-check results, run experiments multiple times to make sure the same results are repeated, and to check the instruments and systems used to make and interpret my tests. I came first in my class for science and math almost every year in school. I graduated summa cum laude and was valedictorian of my undergraduate class. I completed my master’s degree in a year. My PhD thesis was published and has been cited several times. My IQ is 185.”

  They were staring at him, and he couldn’t blame them. It sounded like the most incredible bout of egotistical showing off any man could spew, short of adding something about having an especially enormous penis. But he said it all for good reason.

  “I’m only twenty-six. I’m not well established yet, so I can understand anyone not taking me seriously. But I have triple-checked this data, and in my opinion as an expert, the data is correct.”

  “It certainly sounds like you’re in a position to know what you’re talking about,” Visha said.

  “If you’re still worried, you could tell people I forced my way in here and took your daughter hostage to make you do as I asked.”

  They gaped at him, and he realized that had sounded a little strange.

  “Ami, come over here, sweetheart,” Visha said. Amina ran over, carrying the doll she’d called Leggy Peggy. Visha scooped the girl onto her lap.

  “I’m sorry,” Zach said, seeing Simon tense up, ready for trouble. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. I’ve no intention of doing that.” The idea of threatening to harm a child, even for something as important as this, horrified him. “I meant it’s something you could say to people to avoid being prosecuted, if I turn out to be wrong. I’d even confess to it.”

  “You’re that sure?” Simon said.

  “Yes.”

  “Who are we to argue with a genius? Vish, you’re the sneaky one. What’s the best way to hide the origin of a signal?”

  They were going to do it. Zach flopped back in his seat with a sigh of relief. Their conversation descended into technical discussion about the best way they could start the signal going and then leave it so it couldn’t be easily stopped by someone else.

  But a distress signal was only the first step. Since Ethris was the only sizeable population center on the planet, they had no ships and boats for trading and carrying supplies—those would have come in a future the island no longer had. There were two research outposts on the other side of the planet, with a couple of hundred people stationed at them. A supply shuttle took goods and people to them from Arius, but it wasn’t here on Zahara now. It would have to be summoned from the outposts to start to take people off the island. But it would take several trips to ferry away twelve hundred people. They needed help from off-planet as soon as possible, and even the fastest ship would take at least ten days to get here from Saira Station after it got the distress call.

  So they couldn’t wait here and hope the basin didn’t flood before rescue arrived. They needed to buy time. They needed to get to higher ground. That was what he’d say at the meeting tonight; he’d tell everyone they had to leave the town and climb the mountains ringing the island.

  He jumped slightly as Simon and Visha stood up, Visha putting Amina down.

  “Okay, we’re going to get this done,” Simon said.

  “How can I help?” Zach said, sitting up.

  “We can manage,” Visha said. “Why don’t you rest here for a while? You look wiped out.”

  Zach shook his head. “I need to work on a presentation of my data.” He had to put it into a form everyone, scientist or not, could understand. “I don’t suppose I could trouble you for some more coffee?”

  * * * *

  Adam ran up the steps to Professor Korrie’s door and raised a hand to knock as it opened. She already had her coat on and buttoned
up.

  “What are you standing around here for, young man? Let’s go.”

  He grinned. “And my straight friends tell me women are never ready when a man calls.”

  She snorted as she pulled the door closed behind her. He offered her his arm to take the steps. “Only young women can get away with that. The men are willing to wait for them.”

  “So,” he said as they drove off. “Are you going to make me wait until we get there?”

  “No. I’m afraid I concur with Dr. Benesh’s findings.” She sighed. “He’s a nice young fellow, but I have to say I wish I’d proven him wrong.”

  Adam nodded. A sick churning started in his guts. Even Korrie agreeing didn’t mean for sure it would happen, but he began to feel a lot more urgency to get the hell off this island. He increased his speed.

  “Do you agree we have to evacuate right away too?”

  “Yes. The fault is already giving way. It’s going to collapse very soon. Within days. And once it does, it’s impossible to predict the speed at which events will unfold. We have to get off the island. I just hope we can persuade people to act quickly.”

  “You backing him up is going to make a huge difference in getting people to listen. You’re a founder. People will take notice of you.” He hoped so. He’d heard tales of her being something of a maverick in her younger days, and he hoped that wouldn’t work against them.

  She chuckled. “I never can quite get used to that. I can still remember being a freshly minted junior geologist who nobody took any notice of. I fear Zach has the same problem.”

  “He is a genius, though.”

  “Indeed. I wasn’t.”

  Adam blushed. “I didn’t mean to imply… Ah, you must have been very young when you came here.”

  “Twenty-four. I finished my PhD right here.”

  “That’s what I’m doing. Well, was doing.” He sighed. “I guess that’s all over.”

  “Everything is over. And our lives will be too, if I can’t help Zach convince people. He’s going to need to stand firm in the face of a lot of opposition. Is he up to it?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know him well.”

  “Oh? Aren’t you two…ah, sorry, none of my beeswax.”

  “Involved, you mean? We’d sort of started to be. I hope we’ll have a chance to take it further.” He grimaced. “I couldn’t predict the end of the world would get in the way.”

  “Love never comes at a convenient time.”

  “I…I don’t think I’d call it ‘love’ yet. I mean he’s…” Could he fall in love with Zach? “I think it’s a little early to tell.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just a daft old rock witch. Don’t take any notice of me if I’m not talking about geology.”

  She seemed embarrassed, but Adam smiled at her. Perhaps, if they survived this, who knew what might happen? Zach had said it himself—they were compatible. Same age, both scientists, similar education. And there was a mutual physical attraction, even if Adam wasn’t getting an instant boner every time he thought of Zach.

  But there had to be more than that for a relationship, never mind for love, and Zach had something else about him that drew Adam. An intensity. A charisma. Could the intensity be tiring, though? Would Zach be high maintenance? Adam liked a man he could relax with and had broken up with guys in the past who wanted too much attention and who could make a drama out of everything. Who could be bothered?

  He put those thoughts out of his mind as they arrived in town. At least Zach’s intensity and charisma would be useful when he addressed the meeting tonight. His data was so specialized most of the people there would be relying on the opinions of the experts—and the experts didn’t all agree, so it could come down to who came across the most convincingly.

  “It looks as if we’re going to have a good attendance anyway,” Korrie said. There were a lot of people on the street, all walking toward the B dome, and more vehicles around than normal at this time of the evening.

  “Let’s park here and walk the rest of the way,” Adam said, turning up a side street. He’d hate for their vehicle to be trapped in by a crowd later. Also, if Professor Wilson was there and saw it, he’d find Adam and demand the keys. Adam didn’t want to give them back. He suspected he’d need the vehicle for a little while yet. At this point, he thought, giving Korrie his arm as she stepped out, he should probably admit to having stolen the damn thing. With Korrie still holding his arm to keep them from losing each other, the two of them joined the crowd and let it sweep them toward the dome.

  Damn. Cops.

  The sheriff and both deputies stood at the entrance into the dome. They weren’t trying to stop anyone entering, simply observing and looking unhappy. But the colony’s rules allowed for any resident to call a public meeting and express their views, so they had no grounds to stop Zach—yet. Adam kept his head down as he and Korrie slipped past and inside.

  The big open floor was filled with people, most of whom stood around chatting; nobody seemed especially worried yet. They had probably come out for the entertainment value of seeing this crazy guy Benesh. Closer to the platform, the crowd thickened, and Adam had to shove to make a path through, holding Korrie by the hand to keep her right behind him. Near the stage, he could hear arguments going on already, and a moment later, he broke through to find Zach surrounded by senior academics and council members, all arguing with him. On the stage, the Franes were setting up video equipment.

  Zach, his back against the stage, looking harried as he argued with several people at once, saw Adam, and relief lit his face like a sunrise. He smiled at Adam, and the smile shut the others up, making them turn to see what had induced it. Perhaps they misinterpreted it as being at the sight of Professor Korrie, since none of them took any notice of Adam. Morrison was here and Colleen Johnson. No wonder poor Zach looked like a stag at bay, with the head of the Institute and the head of the council berating him.

  “Ann?” someone said, and Adam realized with some surprise it was old Dr. Johnson. If he came out and argued against Zach’s findings, they would be—quite literally—dead in the water.

  “Hello, Davey,” Korrie said. “Up past your bedtime, aren’t you?”

  A few people looked shocked at her teasing, but he smiled. “I never miss a good show.”

  “I think you’ll get one tonight.” She nodded at Zach. “I’m ready if you are, Dr. Benesh.”

  He looked at her with a worried expression, but Adam touched his arm, stepped close to speak in his ear. “She agrees with you. She’ll back you up.”

  Zach sighed with relief and turned to go for the steps to the stage. Before he could, Morrison grabbed his arm.

  “Benesh, if you do this, you’ll never work for the Terraforming Authority again. You’ll throw your career away. Think of your parents, man, all they’ve done for you. Are you going to destroy everything they and you have worked for?”

  “If I have to, yes.” Zach pulled his arm out of Morrison’s grip and walked away. Adam and Korrie followed. Morrison seemed to recognize Adam and frowned but didn’t bother asking him not to throw his career away. Well, he barely had one yet. However this turned out, he had less to lose than Zach. He caught up with Zach at the back of the platform. Zach looked better than he had earlier, had managed to snatch a shower and a shave somewhere, though his clothes were still rumpled and limp.

  “You’re all set up,” Simon Frane said.

  “What about the video transmission?” Zach asked.

  “Already started,” Visha said. “I’ve broken into the dome’s camera system. The whole colony could be watching right now.”

  “We’d better go lie low for a while, before someone reports the distress signal and the sheriff comes looking for us,” Simon said. He shook Zach’s hand. “Good luck, see you tomorrow.” He and Visha took off, melting into the crowd.

  “I have a chair up on the platform for you, Professor,” Zach said to Korrie. “Thank you for supporting me. Adam, are you coming up
?”

  “I think I’ll stay by the stairs,” Adam said. “Run interference if anyone tries to come up. And keep an eye on those.” He nodded at the power feeds for the video equipment. Someone getting at them could sabotage Zach’s evidence presentation.

  “Good idea, thank you.”

  Thank you brought their earlier kiss to mind, and he wanted to repeat it, for luck again, but there were so many people here, and all of them paying attention to Zach, even Adam felt inhibited. Instead he made a thumbs-up gesture and said, “Knock ’em dead.”

  Zach nodded and climbed the steps to the stage. Korrie had already gone up there and sat in the folding chair, appearing entirely oblivious to the hundreds of people watching. The crowd stirred when Zach came onto the stage. Most couldn’t know him, Adam thought, but those who did would have pointed him out, and the knowledge rippled through the crowd. Adam climbed a couple of the steps so he could see the knot of hostile councilors and academics at the front, the large crowd behind them, the uniformed cops by the doorway over at the back… Wait, he saw only two of them. Someone was on the move.

  Voices still chattered away in the bar over to the side of the big open space. Plenty of people were crowding in there, some standing outside of it, drinks in hand, watching the stage. Glancing around, Adam made a note of the nearest exit. If he had to get Zach and Korrie out of here, he wanted to be ready.

  Zach, carrying a microphone, stepped to the front of the stage.

  “Good evening and thank you all for coming. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Dr. Zach Benesh. I sent the message today asking you all to be here. I apologize for any alarm I’ve caused. But this situation is so serious I had no choice but to use the strongest language.” He paused as voices stirred, but nobody shouted him down yet. Somewhere near the back, a baby wailed, the sound fading as it was taken outside. “I’m a geophysicist working in the Physical Sciences department of the Terraforming Institute.”