by S. M. Wilson
The school building was bland and uninteresting. As space was at such a premium, it wasn’t just used for school. The back end of the building housed some of the government laboratories. There were heavy doors with thick bolts between the labs and the school. But the students could still see the people in white overalls rushing around inside. The lab staff used the school dining room too. They ate lunch after the students. Storm couldn’t believe how many people spilled out through the lab doors each day. How on earth did they all fit in there?
Part of the students’ education revolved around whatever experiments were being carried out in the labs at the time. They were often given instructions to water various plants at certain times, or to monitor growth in certain crops. Storm didn’t mind. Anything that got her outside was a bonus.
They walked down the corridor. Each room was packed with students. There were barely enough seats – and not enough desks to go around. It was just as well that, at fifteen, attendance was only compulsory one day a week.
There was too much food to grow, too much energy to produce for time to be wasted at school.
Storm gave a nod to the instructor, who checked a black mark against both of their names as they entered. “Kitchen duty,” he muttered as they wound their way through the class to find a seat. He cared as little about their schooling as they did. As long as students could read, write and count, he’d done his job.
“There will be an important announcement later. Make sure you attend city hall when you hear the alarm.”
“Another one?” moaned Dell. “Why can’t they just do them all together?”
Storm rolled her eyes as the instructor handed out competency sheets. “For those not already allocated jobs, know that all your competency sheets will be used to assign you a role best suited to your abilities. For those already in a job” – he glanced towards Storm and Dell – “know that you can be reassessed at any point.”
She shot him a sarcastic smile. He knew she’d deliberately flunked all of the competency sheets. She hated being indoors. And most of the jobs on Earthasia were indoors, in energy plants – like where Dell worked – manufacturers, food production and transport maintenance. None of these things interested her in the slightest. A select few – who scored really highly – got jobs in the parliament building. Although no one knew exactly what they did. She’d recognized one guy, who was a few years older, following one of the Stipulators around and whispering in his ear. Job satisfaction guaranteed.
She gave the instructor a fake smile. “Any messages to be delivered?” Any excuse to get back outside.
He shot her a curious stare. “Maybe later,” he mumbled.
She turned over the sheet and frowned. Most of these tests were simple. Language, reading and sums. But this one was a bit different. A whole lot more interesting.
Dell gave her a nudge. “Well, whaddaya know? Something to do with the announcement last night?”
It was too much of a coincidence. The sheet started with numbers of people, then land mass, then multiplications.
Storm shook her head. “They must be trying to reinforce what they said last night. Too many people, not enough space.”
The sums were complicated. But with a little time and thought she could do them in her head. There was a personal satisfaction in knowing that she was able to complete them. But that didn’t stop her picking up her marker and writing random numbers on the sheet.
“He’ll bust you,” Dell murmured without lifting his eyes from his sheet. “He knows you can do all this.”
She put down her marker and folded her arms. “Well, he better not tell. If I get reassigned somewhere indoors I’ll go nuts.”
Dell finished his final calculation and put down his marker too. “Shelter not getting any better?”
He knew her. Sometimes he knew her better than she knew herself. They’d been friends for ever. Ever since he’d climbed a tree in the long-gone woods at the edge of the loch and got stuck. Storm had climbed up to help him, but they’d ended up sitting there, moving branches and pretending it was their own parliament building.
And now he wasn’t her friend. He was family. The only family she’d got.
When her mother had died, it was Dell and his father who’d helped her move into the Shelter. There was no other option. Storm’s mother had said her father had died before she was born. And all orphaned kids had to stay in the Shelters.
She could only take a few things. Her pale grey, soulless room was barely big enough for the slim bed. Her twisted red blanket, corn doll and black shiny stone were the only real remnants of her mother she had left. She still had some memories though – the most vivid of her mother spinning around in the forest and throwing her knives with precision at a target. A skill that had been passed down through generations of their family but come to an abrupt halt when Storm’s mother died. What on earth had happened to those knives…
“I hate the place. As soon as I close the door behind me I feel as if the walls are pressing in. And the noise…” She turned and looked outside. “It’s constant. There’s always someone shouting, someone fighting, someone crying. I think I’ll go mad in there.” She gave him a smile. “Or maybe I’m mad already.”
There was a loud hacking cough behind them. Dell turned round, then immediately pulled back a little. Cala, one of their schoolmates, was pale and grey. She looked even thinner than usual, if that were possible. “It’s nothing,” she rasped. But they could see blistered skin not quite hidden by her sleeve.
It wasn’t nothing – they both knew that. Cala’s brother had died last year. Her father too, a few months later. There was no help available. Years ago, Storm’s mother had known a woman who could make pastes and remedies from some of the surrounding plants. But the woman had died and so had the plants. There were no cures. No remedies left. No one knew how the blistering plague was spread – lots of people had ideas, but nothing had been proved.
“We need to get out of here,” Dell whispered. “I don’t want to catch it.”
Storm frowned. “No one knows how you catch it.”
The instructor appeared before them, snatching their sheets. He glanced over Dell’s before adding it to the pile in his hands, and shook his head over Storm’s. “Are these your final answers?”
“Absolutely.”
He frowned at her and pushed something under her nose. “Deliver this to the parliament building –” he glanced at Dell – “the two of you.”
They were on their feet in an instant. Any excuse to get out of school.
Dell picked up the lumpy package. “What is it?”
The instructor waved his hand. “I don’t know. Just take it to the Stipulator named on the label. It’s from the lab.”
Dell glanced at the package, raised his eyebrows and tucked it under his arm, nodding to Storm as they both headed for the door. “It’s for the main man. What do you think’s inside?”
“Who cares? At least we’re getting out of here.”
They pushed open the door and walked out into the brisk breeze.
The parliament building was set up across some of the few trees that still survived on Earthasia. Some ancient rule had been in place, so instead of pulling them down to give more land space, they’d just built on them. Thousand-year-old trees with bases twice the size of Storm’s room at the Shelter.
It was the most impressive building around. In a world where everything seemed grey, somewhere, somehow, they’d found red stone the same shade as the tree bark so the building looked like it had actually grown out of the trees. A few branches and creeping vines had wound their way around the outside of the building. Years ago, Storm’s mother had told her that children used to build playhouses in the trees. This was like the grandest tree house ever built.
The parliament building creaked as they walked up the steep sloping entrance. They waited patiently to go through the security checks before the main doors opened for them. The weirdest thing about the place was the no
ise. As soon as the doors opened, all they could hear was shouting. There was a rabble of black cloaks in front of them – the uniform of a Stipulator. Parliament consisted of all the Chief Stipulators from around the continent. They made all the decisions for the people on Earthasia – always, with no consultation. The people only heard about these decisions when there was an “announcement”. Storm wrinkled her nose. They were always led to believe that the Chief Stipulators agreed on every decision that was made – but it didn’t look like that today. They all seemed to be shouting at once. The passage in front of them was completely blocked.
Storm took a step back. “What do you think they’re fighting about?”
Dell looked wary. “Either something to do with last night’s announcement – or whatever the next one is supposed to be.”
A small wizened figure pushed his way through the cloaks. Deep lines covered the sagging, transparent skin on his face. He had to be the oldest man Storm had ever seen. Without health care people tended to die before they reached fifty. He looked as if he’d leapfrogged that by another twenty years.
“What do you want?” His thin, reedy voice cut through the rabble.
Dell held out the package with a slightly shaking hand. “Something from the school.”
The old man grabbed the package and spun round. “Wait there,” he said over his shoulder. “Reban Don!”
The whole parliament building seemed to shake. Storm let out an involuntary laugh. “Where on earth did that come from?” It seemed impossible that a man so tiny could shout so loud.
But it had the desired effect. The black cloaks quietened, most of them turning towards the old man. A large figure shouldered his way through the crowd.
Almost instinctively both Dell and Storm stepped backwards. They hadn’t expected him to collect his own package.
Reban Don. The Chief Stipulator for their zone, who’d made the announcement last night.
His face was grim. He took the package and tore it open, pulling out the contents and examining them on the spot.
Inside was something electrical – odd looking. But Reban Don’s attention was captured by the paper label attached to it.
“This is it. The confirmation we needed. The announcement will go ahead as planned.”
Reban spun away, his black cloak swirling behind him. Then he stopped dead.
It was the strangest thing. He turned back slowly, his eyes narrowing as he looked carefully at Storm. He stepped forward. “You, girl, what’s your name?”
She froze. Her tongue seemed to have attached itself to the roof of her mouth. Why on earth would he want to know?
“Storm,” she muttered.
“What? Speak up. And speak clearly, stupid girl.”
That annoyed her. She wasn’t stupid. She’d never been stupid. He didn’t know anything about her.
She drew herself up and looked him straight in the eye. Fear left her. “My name,” she said clearly, “is Stormchaser Knux.”
Dell winced.
Reban Don bent forward and she flinched. His nose was only a few millisectars from hers. No one wanted to get this close to a Stipulator. It usually meant you were in trouble and about to be carted off to the mines. He was staring right into her eyes. “Who is your mother?”
She didn’t like to admit it – but her mother’s face had started to fade from her mind, and in the last five years she seemed to remember it less and less. To cover her pain, she said bluntly, “My mother is dead.”
Now he blinked. He straightened up immediately. “Where do you stay?”
What a strange question. It should be obvious where she stayed. “I stay in one of the Shelters.”
He flinched. He actually flinched. But there was only the briefest of pauses before his normal frown returned. He turned back to the small man and started talking, moving away.
That was it. They were dismissed.
Dell grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the door. “What was that? Why did he want to know your name?”
“I have no idea.” Her mind was racing. “Maybe he knew my mother – people say I look like her, maybe that’s why he was asking about her.” Her footsteps quickened. Storm wanted to get away too. “But then why did he ask where I stay? Isn’t that obvious if my mother is dead?”
Dell stopped walking. “Not if he doesn’t know you don’t have a father.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She glanced over her shoulder and stumbled.
Reban Don’s eyes were fixed squarely on her.
Storm tugged at Dell’s arm to start him walking again. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t turn round again.
But she could feel Reban Don’s eyes searing into her back.
Someone’s chin was pressed up hard against Storm’s back. She tried to shift but it was useless. Dell shot her a look of sympathy. A few stark figures stood along the thin platform of the auditorium. She was too far away to make out who they were, but huge cameras were beaming their faces onto the walls. Lorcan Field, one of the head scientists in the zone, and Reban Don. It was unnerving seeing him again. This was the second announcement he’d been part of in the last two days. Things must be bad. Maybe the rations were about to be cut again?
The lights dimmed, the announcement was about to start. Stormchaser tried to rack her brains – when had she last seen him before yesterday? Was it after the discovery of the new food source, cornup – the horrible grey tasteless substance they now found themselves eating on a daily basis? Or was it when the new energy restrictions were imposed on every person on the continent?
Something glistened on the screen. Something spinning. A twisted ladder.
She’d never seen anything like it. All eyes fixed on the screen in wonder.
Lorcan Field started speaking quickly, tripping over his words, making them almost impossible to interpret. The excitement was practically bubbling out of him. The picture on the screen continued to rotate. It was almost pretty. Colourful, with symbols along parts of it.
Monumental discovery…the backbone of human life…our most fundamental elements.
The words danced around her head. They meant little to Stormchaser. The science they’d been taught at school had never interested her.
Reban Don was moving forward now. He cleared his throat loudly. “Citizens, this latest discovery is what we’ve been waiting for. Now we’ve found the fundamentals of human life. We know how humans exist down to the genetic level. We can begin to understand our most basic elements. And, more importantly, we can also use this knowledge in our fight against the dinosaurs.”
The display projected the familiar sight of two large continents, separated by an ocean. Reban pointed to their continent. “We all know how over-populated we are on Earthasia. We don’t have enough space, food or energy to maintain our existence. Piloria is a continent we need – and have tried – to explore. As you all know, over the last nine years, through a series of Trials, we’ve selected one hundred of our most physically able citizens each year – Finalists – to send to Piloria. The aim of our initial expeditions was to eliminate the dinosaurs. We failed. Due to the needs of the population, our last few expeditions have had to prioritize the search for new, quick-growing food sources on Piloria.” He paused for a second. “We have had some limited success.”
It was clear he was building up to something.
Reban continued. “It is time to return to our ultimate goal – to eliminate the evil threat of the dinosaurs and establish human settlements on Piloria. Our new discovery could be the key to our success. We need to get to the roots of dinosaur DNA.”
Stormchaser wrinkled her nose. She had no idea what he was talking about. Several of the older adults were whispering to each other.
Reban’s voice grew stronger. “We need land. We need space. We need the continent that the dinosaurs inhabit. At present there is no way for humans to live safely on Piloria. The dinosaurs are savage, physically superior beasts with no intelligen
t behaviour – they are a blight on our world and they stand in the way of our survival. We cannot coexist. The dinosaurs target our Finalists and few of them make it back from Piloria alive. Our weapons have proved useless. We can’t use chemicals. We can’t do anything that would damage the land. Now, we have new knowledge. Our DNA shows every part of our make-up. Our hair colour, our eye colour – the diseases we already have and those we could develop. We have to assume the dinosaurs have a genetic code too. One which can help us find a way to eliminate these vicious, mindless creatures.”
The heat in the stuffy space was rising, but Stormchaser’s body was chilled. Every tiny hair on her body stood on end. They wanted to kill the dinosaurs. They wanted to wipe them off the face of the planet.
Creatures like Milo.
Reban was trying to garner enthusiasm from the crowd. A few people started shouting questions.
Lorcan Field attempted to answer them, but his voice was almost lost amongst the swell. “We can design a virus which is targeted to specific dinosaur DNA sequences. We can design a plague to wipe out certain dinosaurs without harming humans.”
The noise from the crowd grew louder as he continued. “…The best cellular material is from the young.”
The babies? They wanted Milo’s babies? Storm felt herself start to panic. Bodies seemed to be closing in around her. But no one else shared her reaction. No, the rest of the crowd was excited, as if this solution made sense.
The pictures on the screen changed to show Piloria. Pictures of the dinosaurs on land and pterosaurs in the air. The scientists had decided that they needed samples from both types of creature. To Storm’s relief, they didn’t mention the ocean-dwelling reptiles – no one wanted to get too close to them. After all, the fishing boats had stopped going out altogether once some of the sea monsters had started treating them like breakfast, lunch and dinner.
But more importantly, they didn’t take up valuable space on land.
And now Reban was talking about opportunities…
Storm had heard it all before. Here it came. For the good of the people. For the good of the planet. For the good of mankind. The anthem was picked up around her as those too stupid to understand what he was proposing joined in.
