by Davies, WJ
Reaching the top, she pulled herself over the precipice and collapsed onto the spongy moss that covered the plateau. She blinked a few times, staring up at the bright suns. The Tower rose beside her, reaching toward the crystalline sky like an artificial limb, stark white against azure blue. Above the shining apex of the tower floated a hazy dome of purple and orange clouds that glowed against an everlasting Evening sky.
Skyia calmed her breathing, catching her breath from the hasty climb up. She filled her lungs with the dense air, cherishing its crisp sweetness. Scientists maintained that the extra oxygen in Taran air made people prone to feeling giddy and light headed. Skyia wasn’t sure about that, but even so, her head swam as she thought of all the possibilities this perfect day could grant her.
This was the fourth week of Evening, nearing its end. It was Skyia’s favorite time of the Long Day, when the light wasn’t too brash or hot, when the shadows played tricks on her eyes as they danced across the vast landscape. Another week or two and the Night would take over, rendering the people of this region deadlocked, pinned in their homes while herds of migratory predators scoured the landscape in their preferred habitat: utter darkness.
Skyia shuddered, thinking of the sheltered life they would all lead in the coming weeks. She wanted to take advantage of beautiful moments like these whenever she could. She climbed up here as often as possible while the suns provided warmth and protection against the Night creatures. Who knew how long these good times would last, especially when one considered the orbital disruptions that had become all too frequent?
Beta Kentaurus shone on the horizon, shimmering in the Western sky. Taran’s closest sun cast Skyia's world into a period of sunset which lasted weeks and weeks. Rigil Kent—the larger, but more distant star—glowed a soft golden translucence, and both suns dove toward the south-eastern horizon in slow motion. Not for the first time, she wondered what it must have been like for her ancestors on distant Earth. Their sunsets had only lasted a few minutes and the night only a few hours. She couldn't imagine it! How strange it must have been for those ancient humans…
The few clouds that had drifted across the sky were gone, burned up by the suns. It grew uncomfortably humid, so she unzipped her silver tunic. The top half fell to her waist and the light breeze cooled her naked skin, swirling her long blonde hair in shimmering sheets across her body.
Skyia sunk down onto her stomach and felt the moss—comfortable and cool—compress under her chest and arms. She sighed happily and stretched, and dreamed.
Today was her birthday, and a special birthday at that. This day marked her a quarter Binary-Year-old. Her mother had explained that according to Earth reckoning she would be twenty, but here on slow-rotating Taran it was her thirtieth full Day: her thirtieth Cycle.
She wished her mother was here to celebrate with her. Every cycle birthday Skyia could expect a surprise waiting for her, usually when she woke up. Her mother was delightfully thoughtful and creative, always coming up with unique ways to surprise her. Last cycle, Skyia had woken up to a fluffy, excited little creature licking her face with great enthusiasm. It was a mara-mir, a playful animal her mother had bought on her last trip to Ganji Province. She had named it Willy, after the Earth author who had written so many of her favorite stories.
But this birthday her mother was away in Ganji, probably somewhere in Shangjai City. Ever since her old colleagues had invited her there on a scientific excursion two cycles ago, she had made many trips back and forth. She wouldn't tell Skyia exactly what she was doing, but assured her it was something important for the colony. It probably had to do with the planetary disruption theory or whatever it was called, she thought. Her mom had told her a few tidbits, but Skyia had a hard time believing that her world was in trouble. Now, when she looked out across the horizon, everything seemed so... perfect.
This is where I was born, this is where I’ve grown up, and someday this is where my children will live in peace.
She pulled her thoughts away from those negative thoughts and chose a lighter path. Perhaps her mom had finally found a boyfriend and was secretly visiting him. Yes, she thought, that would explain a lot of things. Like that burly-voiced man who had been leaving those voice messages recently. Banner, he had said his name was...
Skyia wished more than anything that her mother would tell her what was going on. That would make a good birthday present.
After all, she wasn’t a little girl anymore.
She deserved to know.
Chapter 3
Jonathas lay on a steel table.
“Are you all right, Jonnie?” the nurse asked.
He couldn't remember how to speak. She set him down in a chair, checked his pulse, did a few other things; he couldn't comprehend it all.
The fitter stood beside the nurse, shaking. His voice trembled as he spoke. "They asked us to inject this kid with a full dose right away. What did they expect?” He punched a cabinet with his fist, denting the metal. “We could have fried his central nervous system, do you realize that? Turned him into a useless husk, good for nothing."
"When do the drugs wear off?" asked the nurse.
"Keep him here for an hour and for god's sake watch him.” He stomped toward the door. “I need to speak to management about this. What were they thinking? If his body shows any more signs of rejection, call me immediately.” He left the room, his booming voice still echoing down the halls “Could have fried his brain forever, lost a promising young individual for nothing—”
∞
After an hour, the nurse told Jonathas he could leave. He stumbled back down the hallway, feeling happy, realizing this might be the last time he would have to traverse these corridors. He was an Operator now, and would work in Control, up on ground level. The rest of the maintenance division would miss him, he was sure. Well, maybe not him directly but definitely the results that he consistently provided them. He was sure the Robotics Manager would have kept him down here another four cycles if he could. Or twenty. But luckily it wasn’t up to him. Jonathas got the sense that his promotion had come from higher up, somewhere deep within the organizational network of the Council.
He arrived back to maintenance level with fifteen minutes left on his shift. He was still a little wobbly on his feet and his pulse drummed against his temples.
"Are you alright, Jonathas?" asked Michael. His normally gruff voice contained a hint of sympathy.
Jonathas shrugged, his arms and neck tingling.
"Were you sick?"
He shook his head. “Not really.”
"Well you look like hell, man. Grab a seat." Michael pulled up a steel chair for him.
Jonathas stared at it, blankly. There was something else he should be doing, wasn’t there? He peered around the room, gazing at the stone floors and rock walls.
"Kid you're scaring me. Come on take a breather." Michael frowned and guided Jonathas into the chair.
Jonathas sat down, his eyes drifting down to the dark, spidery lines which now criss-crossed his arms and hands—a product of the nano-DNA infused in his blood.
He closed his eyes and half-slept, trying to shake the sensation that there were drones all around him, lurking in the shadows, threatening to burst through a rock wall and into the room.
It wasn’t until Linsya entered that he relaxed. Jonathas lifted his head and smiled as she walked nimbly across the room to him. She made a habit of meeting him here after every shift. She was right on time, as usual.
Her eyes went wide. “Jonathas your arms! Oh, you've been promoted, congratulations!" Linsya beamed at him, brown hair falling across porcelain skin.
She ran a hand over his newly tattooed skin, rubbing the raised patterns left by the nano-bots coursing through his system, like black veins.
"Don't worry about those,” Linsya told him. “My uncle's an Operator and you can barely see his lines. He says they very nearly disappear after a while.”
Jonathas managed a smile. “That’s good to know. Thank
s for coming to meet me. I’m not even sure I can walk straight.”
He was always grateful for Linsya’s company, still amazed that she would willingly come all the way down here to meet him after every shift.
“Hey, come on, you don’t need to thank me. I love spending time with you.” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, her lips bringing warmth to his otherwise frigid body.
Hand in hand, they began a long walk through dim corridors, heading up to the surface station. They hadn’t always been this physically close, but recently that aspect of their relationship had started to develop.
As they walked along, Linsya talked about her work in the Department of Distributions. Her job, along with a team of mathematicians and environmental officers, was to decide how to distribute the energy created at the station to the other sectors, based on the needs of each community.
Jonathas couldn’t help but let his thoughts run away as she told him about her day. Images of the robotic drones still danced through his mind. He swore he could almost see a three dimensional network of tunnels and pipes displayed across his vision, seemingly burned into his retinas. Linsya would suspect that he wasn’t paying attention, but she never called him out on it. He was always able to respond when she said something important, even when she thought he wasn’t listening.
Along the ceiling of the rocky corridor, the lights brightened significantly as they walked under them, triggered by the sound of their crunching footsteps, giving the impression that the hallway was less gloomy than it really was. After they passed, the lights returned to their original dim glow, pitching the path behind them into relative darkness. Jonathas had come up with the idea a few cycles ago in an effort to save energy. To her credit Linsya had taken his idea to the DoD and it was now being implemented in various sectors throughout the colony.
Jonathas had lots of ideas, but usually didn’t have enough time or resources to carry through with them. He worked hard just to keep up with the demanding schedules put upon the robotics maintenance staff, barely meeting deadlines as it was. The hefty workload was the council’s idea. They maintained that a busy colonist was a happy colonist. How else would people forget about the dangerous conditions of Taran? The constant threat of the Spindroth or gravitational disruptions? Life was a constant trial.
Something Linsya said snapped Jonathas out of his thoughts.
“Wait, you’re going to tell your dad about us?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. He had been hoping Linsya would tell her parents about their budding relationship for months now, but so far she’d been reluctant. “Why now?” he probed.
Linsya blushed, “Don’t get me wrong, Jonnie, my parents love you. But they always hoped I’d end up with someone… of higher status than a repair technician.”
The words stung, but Jonathas knew she was right. A girl like her deserved a man who could give her a better life, not get her stuck deep in the thermal mines.
“What kind of person do they want you to be with?” Jonathas asked.
She squeezed his hand tighter as they walked. “Well, someone like an Operator! My dad always said I should try to get to know Eddie Samson. ‘He’s the best Operator there is’, my dad always tells me, ‘and handsome, too.’”
They both laughed at that. Samson wasn’t exactly what anyone would call traditionally handsome.
“But honestly,” Linsya continued,” he’s too arrogant and shallow, I could never be with someone like that.”
Jonathas caught her smile in the dim glow of the overhead lights.
“So now that you’ve been promoted, my dad can stop bugging me about this. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Jonathas pulled her closer to him in the dark and they stopped walking. He pressed her against a rock wall and as their lips met, passion flooded his senses, replacing any lingering doubts he had had about their relationship. She moved a hand up his back as they kissed, hugging him tightly against her lithe body.
That was when the alarm sounded.
Cursing, Jonathas looked up as the corridor lights began flashing a dull orange. They had nearly come to the end of the tunnel.
“Come on!” He grabbed Linsya’s hand and they ran toward the large titanium doorway, which loomed fifty meters ahead.
The ground underfoot began to shake and a strange, deep vibration crescendoed against the rocky walls. They stumbled awkwardly toward the door, but just as they reached it, a violent shudder sent them tumbling to the ground. A buzz emanated from the control panel and the heavy door slammed shut with a thunderous clank, locking them in.
“Someone must have activated the security shutters,” Linsya said as she got to her feet. “Jonathas, are you okay?”
Jonathas closed his eyes, blocking out the orange glow and trying to steady himself against the wall as his head spun. The alarm blared in his ears and images of metallic drones swam across his vision. The robots, chased by molten hot magma, coursed through fiery tunnels. Jonathas was there with them as the lava churned through the rock, trying to drown them all in liquid fire.
He fell to his knees and heard a scream mixed with the blaring klaxons.
Linsya...
Jonathas called out to her and felt himself losing consciousness. His mind was succumbing to the shaking planet, and the network of machines which invaded his thoughts.
“Jonathas!” Linsya's voice sounded distant as he crumpled to the floor with a dull thud.
She knelt beside him, pleading with his writhing form, shaking him by the shoulders.
“Come on, wake up! Jonnie, I need you. Please, I don’t wanna be down here alone.”
...Please Jonnie.
Wake up.
• Disruption •
Chapter 4
With thoughts of her errant mother running through her head, Skyia was too agitated to lie still any longer. She rose to her knees and pulled her tunic back up around her shoulders, brushing off little flecks of dirt and moss that had clung to her body.
She skipped to the edge of the mesa and gazed out over her world. Standing at the top of the cliff, Skyia had an impressive view. To the East and North lay a vast mountain range—the high concentration of sodalite in the rocks gave them a gorgeous bluish-gray color. Even at this distance, the giant redwoods were visible in the rolling foothills. Thriving in the lower gravity of Taran, the trees were enormous, some of them growing a hundred meters in the air. Taran was slightly smaller than Earth, about eighty percent of the size, so there was less gravity. This encouraged most living things things to grow taller. Skyia’s mom said even people were now much taller than the original settlers.
They had planted the first grove of redwoods not long after their initial landing, and the trees had spread quite rapidly from there. Skyia liked to imagine that those brave men and women had planted the trees to remind themselves of Earth, their lost home. She felt sad thinking about the original colonists and how much it would hurt if she ever had to leave Taran, never to see it again. If only they could see the forest now, the trees so strong and tall, thriving just like the people living here, their descendants. She hoped they would be proud of all that mankind had accomplished since arriving.
To the south lay Alexendia, a sweeping city of sparkling white spires. This had been the landing site, and first human settlement on the planet. Two hundred years ago, the Resurrection Ark had descended from the sky into what was once a deep bowl of grassland. Beyond the city, the land rose up into mountains which protected the region against the harsh winds which blasted through the valley every Dawn, as the air warmed back up after the Long Night. She knew this protection was the reason the first settlers had chosen this particular region.
Alexendia was magnificent, but Skyia rarely went down into the valley. It was so much nicer up here. The air was so clear that she could see for a hundred kilometers in any direction. From her vantage point, Skyia could even make out the high wall that encircled the city. Inside the matte silver ramparts, the city-dwellers were safe. During the Long Night
, the wall became electrified, protecting them against the blood thirsty creatures that stalked the valley. The wall surrounding the base of the Signal Tower Mesa would be equally electrified once Night fell. Nothing would bother her high up on this precipice, and when the time came, she could retreat into the rocky cliff itself, where she lived.
She hoped she wouldn’t have to be alone this Night. How she wished her mother would return in time to be with her. As much as she enjoyed the company of MiLO, the assistance robot who resided in the Tower, he was no replacement for actual human interaction, and certainly not for her mother.
Skyia stretched, reaching her arms toward the rolling hills, the mountains, the trees, rivers and grasslands. The glowing rays of two suns tinted the entire panorama in multicoloured hues. Her skin prickled. Up here on the mossy top, she was completely exposed to solar particles which bombarded her at maximum intensity. She supposed she should head back inside the tower soon, but was relishing the freedom and the warm breeze too much.
As if in response to her thoughts, the communication band on her wrist sent out a trill of beeps. She rolled her eyes, tapping the smooth surface of the band, answering the call.
“Yes, MiLO, however may I help you?” She half-grinned, wondering whether he would register her sarcasm. She loved teasing the little robot.
His normally warm voice sounded tinny and metallic through the communication band’s micro-speakers. “I have something to show you. Would you return to the house, please?”
She suspected that MiLO had arranged some kind of small birthday celebration for her in her mother’s absence, but she wanted to be sure.
“But it’s so wonderful up here. Is it important?” she asked playfully.
“Yes. Ah... I thought maybe I’d help you finish writing your report. You’ll need to send it soon, as I’ve detected some unusual solar flare activity which will undoubtedly make it impossible to send any signals over the next few days. And I’d like you to help me recalibrate the Tower’s sensors.”
