“I’ll tell you where,” Donovan continued, “right back to twenty years ago when we were scribbling everything down by hand and worrying if someone in dispatch sent out the right docket. This way there’s no concern about any of that. So no, I can’t grant your request to take Lennox off tonight. Besides, he’s my boss’s nephew. We have to find something for him to do. Handiwork might be gone, but nepotism isn’t.”
“Sir, you don’t understand the implications putting Lennox on tonight will have,” Maxon pushed on. “He’s not fit for this wreck. You know as well as anyone of the reports against him and how he sabotages assignments. He has no consideration for his fellow crew members and will put everyone’s life at risk. This is too important a job with too many variables that can go wrong.”
Donovan spread his hands out in front of him with his palms out. “I can’t help you, Max. Lennox is on the job tonight. That’s all there is to it. You’re Lead. You know your protocol. Deal with it. These things are only a formality nowadays anyway. There’s hardly any real danger anymore.”
Maxon wanted to correct the director on that statement, but he knew better and held his tongue. “Well then, sir, if Lennox isn’t going to be taken off, I’m going to have to respectfully take my name off tonight’s docket.”
Donovan gaped at him. He looked shocked, something that wasn’t normal for him. “Do you realize what you just said?”
“I do.”
“Failure to report for a job will result in sanctions and appearance in front of the Council and once you’re in front of them, you’re at their mercy.”
“I realize that, sir, but-“
“You have a wife and child, don’t you?” Donovan asked.
“Yes.”
“And you would put their existence at risk?”
Maxon opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Donovan before he could. “You know what can happen to family units that aren’t complete. The Council doesn’t look favorably on them. You’re still young Max, you have many capable years ahead. Don’t go do something stupid that will put your family in danger, especially your young son.”
Maxon was silent as his eyes drifted to the floor.
“My advice to you is to do your duty as you were trained,” Donovan said. “And I don’t want you coming back in here with requests like that again, or you will be up in front of the Council.” Maxon nodded his head while still looking at the floor. “Now go on. Get out of here.”
Maxon got up and made his way to the door. As he walked out he could feel Donovan’s stare on the back of his head.
Out in the hall two workers walked past Maxon. They were Henrik and Meyers. They were on Maxon’s crew for that night. They passed Maxon and gave him a nod. He had them on his crew once before. They were in their first year with the department and had proven to be quick learners of the protocol. He would have given anything to have two more just like them with him tonight but, as Donovan made clear, the computer gives and the computer takes.
The idea behind random selection was simple, it allowed for no favoritism. Leads couldn’t use the same crew members over and over and, as a result, could not have a preference or influence over who was picked. It also didn’t allow for cohesion among crew members if one of them wasn’t up to standard, but what system was perfect, right? In the end, even though Maxon didn’t have a say who was in his crew, he was responsible for them and seeing through the wreck, and the burden of completion ultimately fell on his shoulders.
Sometimes he wondered if life outside would be better. They were told everyday it wasn’t. The picture painted was one of a desolate landscape where no one thrived, where hard labor was required and all the technological amenities we enjoyed were absent. Maxon had grown up with this image of the outside world but, despite that, a part of him still wanted to see it and leave behind Elysia. To see a world he’s never seen.
He knew if he mentioned that to Erica she would shoot the idea down before it ever had a chance to metastasize. “No one moves out of Elysia,” his wife would exclaim. They were the children of the Project, the first to be completely raised inside. This was their world. It was all they knew.
He lifted up the underside of his left forearm and tapped it. A small screen, about two by four inches appeared on his skin. This was the portable bio-link unit that everyone now carried on them. The unit was embedded in all new births after an edict was passed by the Council. It was meant as an all-purpose communication and media device. Some of the older citizens thought it was a way to track people and keep an eye on their movements, bio functions and even thoughts. The Council assured this wasn’t the case and that the device was just a way to more easily distribute information. It wasn’t mandatory for adults to have it embedded, but there were rumors that this would not be the case much longer. Maxon had his embedded a couple of years ago, at the behest of the Department Chief who required all crew members to have one.
He checked the time. It was five past ten. He had plenty of time until he needed to brief the crew. He swiped the screen and activated the voice control.
“Call Erica,” he said into his arm.
“Calling Erica,” a sweet sounding female voice replied back. A person with the device was able to hear the audio directly through his ears, almost like the sound was coming from inside his head. Three seconds later Erica’s face appeared on the screen. She had her own bio-link device as well. He could see that she was lying in bed with a treating cap on.
“Hey,” she said. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.”
“Doing fine, just about to go to bed.” A whirring sound was coming from her side of the call. Maxon recognized it as the sound of the manicure device.
“How’s Elliot?” he asked.
“He’s sleeping. Took forever to get him down in the grow bed,” she said. “I don’t think he likes it.”
“Well, the doctor said for the first couple of years he should be in it.”
“Are you coming home soon?” she asked.
“Not yet, I have a midnight wreck to do,” he said. “I probably won’t be home till after one.”
“Can’t they find someone else to do it?” she asked.
“You know it’s done by assignment. I have no control over it,” he answered.
“Yeah I know, but why do you even have to be there anymore. It’s not like you’re doing any of the actual work.”
“It’s more about quality control and safety concerns,” he said. “We still need to be onsite.”
“Right, until they program the machines to handle that too. Then where will you be?” she asked with a wry smile.
“Running the department, of course”.
Erica’s expression changed when he said that. The smile was gone.
“I know you’re trying to be funny,” she said. “But I do think you should make that a priority of yours. You’re approaching mid-age and you have to think about sustainability.”
They had talked about this several times, more so since Elliot was born. Maxon didn’t expect her to bring it up at this time, in this way. It made him uneasy to think about, the idea that he could be deemed non-essential by a computer one day. It was a very real possibility though and he would have to prove his worth one way or the other. It scared him to think about, which is why he didn’t.
“Erica, we talked about this,” he said. “Decisions on who is appointed Director are made by the Council. You know how much maneuvering needs to take place? I doubt I’m even being considered. Besides, Donovan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Didn’t you say there were grumblings about him?”
“That’s not something we should talk about here.” A wrecker turned the corner and came down the hall. He gave Maxon a brief glance and continued walking. “There’s too many ears around,” he said in a hushed voice. “Why are you bringing this up anyway?”
“I just don’t want you to miss an opportunity,�
�� she said. “We have to be prepared for the future.”
Maxon sensed that something was up. Erica’s voice had a tone to it that he recognized as her being worried about something. “Is everything alright? You sound like something is bothering you.”
Erica didn’t respond right away. “Yes, everything’s fine.” Her eyes looked down when she said it. Maxon caught the lie.
“No, something’s wrong. What is it?”
She sighed, “I was feeling sick the past couple of mornings and I decided to take a test. Max, I’m pregnant.”
The words stunned him. He wasn’t ready for that. He started to stammer when he replied. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, positive.”
“Maybe there was an error,” he said hopefully. “Why don’t you test again?”
“The test has a 99.999 percent accuracy rate, and I tested twice,” she said. “We have to face reality here. We’re having another child.”
Normally this wouldn’t be an issue. Yes, most people weren’t lucky enough to have more than one child and the pre-natal exams will still need to determine if this child is up to standard, but it wasn’t out of the ordinary. The problem was they got pregnant outside of their window.
Each couple is given a certain amount of windows to attempt to conceive. The criteria is based on many different factors such as age and the overall health of the couple, but normally the window is one month every five years. It was a population control method put in effect in the early days of the Project.
All conceptions outside of the window are illegal and the punishments are determined on a case by case basis. Punishments can be anything from a sanction, to incarceration, to even cancellation of the birth. Maxon hoped that since this was a first offense and given his standing within the department, the Council would take it easy on him and only give him a small sanction.
“What should we do?” asked Erica.
“We don’t do anything just yet. It’s still early.”
“But if we wait too long, that will only put us in a worse position. They’d think we were trying to hide it from them or something.”
Maxon knew this, but he didn’t want to worry her. “You only just found out this morning, right? We won’t have to do anything for at least three to four weeks. We can say we just found out then if anything. Besides, anything can happen between now and then. We shouldn’t jump the gun needlessly on this.”
Erica’s eyes squinted at him. “What do you mean anything can happen?”
He could tell she knew what he was implying, but he didn’t want to come right out and say it. “I mean there are many reasons why this could just turn out to be a scare”.
“A scare?”
“Erica, you know many births are miscarried in the first month or two. It’s just the way it is. It’s nobody’s fault.”
It was true. There was an abnormally high miscarriage rate among first trimester babies. No one quite knew why. One theory had to do with the radiation that was emitted from the AutoHomes electronics. Another had to do with the geothermal core digging contaminating the water processing plant. Whatever it was, no doctors or scientists knew what caused it or they weren’t saying what caused it.
“You’re hoping for that to happen?” Erica asked, stunned.
“No, of course not. It’s just…it’s a lot to process right now and I have to worry about this wreck tonight. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“Fine, do whatever you want,” she said. “Don’t wake me when you get home.” The signal went out before Maxon had a chance to respond, or even apologize.
He stood in the hall, still looking at his watch which now showed the time. It was 10:25. He had to brief the crew in twenty-five minutes and in that moment he didn’t know what to say to them. It was as if his mind just went off and drifted somewhere else. The last place he wanted to be was where he was. Maxon’s evening just got a whole lot more complicated.
Chapter 7
An explosion erupted from the living room as tea was served in the kitchen. The vibration shook the cups on the table, causing some tea to spill on the stainless steel veneer.
“Does it sound like that all the time?” Sara asked her sister as she took a sip of tea. Another bomb rocked the living room and was followed by high pitched laughter.
“Only when he’s blowing up the globe,” Dana said. She looked much like her younger sister, but she was taller with long dark hair that came down to her lower back while Sara wore her blonde hair short. “Lucas, lower that, will you!” she yelled into the living room.
“What?” Lucas yelled back. His voice was barely audible over the war going on.
“I said lower that game, we can’t hear ourselves talk in here.”
“Okay.” The blasting died down. Lucas and Jasper both stood in the middle of the living room with Real View glasses on and remote rifles in their hands. They were hunched over as if they were moving through enemy territory trying not to be noticed.
“A little too realistic, isn’t it?” Sara asked. She was still in awe of all the things the AutoHome could do. Dana’s home was once again upgraded recently and it came with the new Real View gaming system. The system could simulate any environment in any situation from sports to battlefield combat and even space exploration.
“Lucas just loves it. He’s on it most of the day,” Dana said as she sat down at the table. “It would be great for Jasper. He could be anywhere in the world with it. Of course that means you would have to upgrade yourselves.” She said this as she peered over the top of her cup at Sara. The look said everything it needed to. “It does appear a bit odd that you haven’t yet.”
Sara bit her lower lip. “Harley’s still resisting it. He says he won’t give up the home his grandfather built.”
Dana sniffed at that. “I think that husband of yours is backwoods. I don’t know how you could have married him when you could have chosen Edward Stantz. You would have been the wife of a Council representative by now and be in the lap of luxury.”
“Harley’s very resourceful”, Sara said, “he can fix almost anything by himself and can even cook his own food.”
“See that’s what I mean,” Dana replied, “no one needs to do any of that. Everything fits in perfectly with everything else. If something doesn’t work, you just get a replacement part and fit it in. The house we’re sitting in right now can be pulled apart and put back together in under forty minutes. Can Harley do that?”
Sara had a sudden urge to dump her tea over her sister’s head. She hated when Dana talked down about Harley in that condescending tone of hers, but at the same time Sara felt she was right. Why couldn’t she have what her sister had? Why did she have to still wash clothes and prepare meals when these things had already been conquered?
“He was always a strange one,” Dana continued. “Always shifting around and distrustful of everyone. You know I hear people talk about him. They think he’s off”. She waved her hand back and forth while saying it.
“He’s not crazy. You don’t know anything about him,” Sara said.
“And isn’t that weird?” Dana asked. “You’ve been married, what, nearly ten years and I hardly ever talk to him, let alone see him. He never invites us over or accepts any of our invites. He acts like he’s hiding something.”
Sara shook her head. “He just prefers privacy. He doesn’t like to be around too many people.”
Dana narrowed her eyes at Sara. “Why? What does he have to be so private about?”
“Nothing and stop trying to imply things.”
“I’m not implying anything,” Dana said innocently, “you’re the one who said it. Of course, there was that incident a couple of years back.” She took a sip of tea and dabbed her mouth delicately with a napkin.
“That was a misunderstanding. You know that,” Sara said. Her anger was starting to rise. She regretted coming here tonight and wondered why Harley even suggested it in the first place.
“I know the Council ruled that it
was a non-offense, but that was only because of Richard’s doing,” Dana said. The smugness in her tone was biting. “And if I remember, Richard didn’t even get a thank you from him.”
Richard was Dana’s husband and he worked as an advisor to the Council. He was away tonight at the City Centre, also known as The Nucleus, on official business. According to Dana he was being courted as one of the next members of the Council once the new cycle approached.
The incident that Dana referred to happened a couple years ago. The Council sent two engineers to survey the land Harley’s house stood on. The sector they lived in was on the edge of the limits and was next in line to be fully upgraded. They were essentially the final stage before full implementation or completion of Phase One as the Council called it. When the surveyors came to the house Harley ran at them with a knife screaming, scaring them away.
The next day the Council Guard brought Harley in under sanction and placed him in the Cube, the judicial center and criminal housing building. Ninety-five percent of the Cube was built underground with the most violent criminals in the lowest parts of the facility. No one knew how far it really went down. Some reports mentioned a thousand feet, others more than a mile. However deep it was everyone was in agreement that you didn’t want to end up in the lower levels.
Stories of pitch black cells and psychological torture pervaded the general view of the Cube. Harley’s offense didn’t quite warrant the lower levels, but he was charged with aggravated action against a fellow citizen, or in this case citizens, which would double the charge. Harley was potentially facing up to four years in the Cube where he wouldn’t even get to see Sara or Jasper.
Harley had refused any kind of defense or help, saying he would rather spend time in jail than prostrate himself before the Council. Sara couldn’t understand why he was acting the way he was. She pleaded with him to reconsider and present his case to the Council. She felt because it was a first time offense and he never was sanctioned before they might reduce the charges. Harley would not give in. To Sara it was almost like he wanted to go in the Cube.
The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1) Page 4
