Project Columbus: Omnibus

by J. C. Rainier

  I swear I saw light in the office window, he recalled.

  He stepped through the door and made his way past the podium, carefully avoiding haphazardly arranged chairs along the way. Every other stair creaked under the weight of his boots as he climbed to the second floor. His legs were tired from the return trip, and with each step his feet felt heavier. He kept his feet moving even as he let out a great yawn, intent on reaching the room at the end of the hall. A soft glow highlighted the top and bottom edges of the door. Frank smiled weakly; he hadn’t imagined that the governor’s office was lit after all.

  Frank rapped softly on the door. He waited a minute, but there was no answer, and no sound from beyond. Slowly he turned the knob and pushed the door, which complained a little more quietly than its counterpart downstairs. Deputy Governor Dayton was slumped over the desk, his head resting on folded arms. Every few seconds, Dayton let out a snore that sounded more like a trapped bee. Frank froze for a moment, unsure if his intrusion would be welcome.

  Don’t be stupid. He needs to know.

  Frank knocked on the door a little louder. Dayton startled awake with a loud snort. He rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn before scrutinizing the source of his rude awakening.

  “Captain, you’re back.” Dayton motioned to a chair. “Please, sit. Tell me what you found.”

  Frank wasted no time in accepting the offer. It didn’t matter that the seat wasn’t well padded; he welcomed any chance to get off of his feet after hours of marching. His soles throbbed and pulsed even after being relieved of their burden.

  “It was as you suspected, Governor,” he started. “A single pod with a small reactor and an automated guidance computer. Sleeper layout almost identical to ours.”

  “Then Young was right,” Dayton sighed, leaning back into his chair. “Doctor Benedict really did design another ship. And Young released the plans, just as he promised.”

  “As ordered, we secured the craft and searched for weapons. Nothing to speak of. Two rifles and a half dozen pistols.”

  “Nothing you couldn’t handle, I trust?”

  Frank cleared his throat, squirming slightly in his seat. “It wasn’t necessary. They surrendered on sight. Sir, they’re Chinese. Not military, either. Just civilians. They’re pretty beat up and weak. Forty nine total. They double-bunked some of their younger children.”

  “Chinese?” Dayton repeated incredulously. “How the hell did they get the designs?”

  Frank could hear heavy footfalls coming up the stairs, as if someone was taking them in giant leaps. He glanced over his shoulder once, but the far end of the hall was still dark.

  “I haven’t a clue. I tried to get it from their leader, but I couldn’t quite follow. He was talking a mile a minute, and begging us for mercy. That’s about all I could get from him. He didn’t speak much English.”

  The footsteps had reached the top of the stairs. Frank looked back again to see Sergeant Brandt walking down the hall clutching a lantern, panting hard. He came straight in and dropped into the seat opposite from Frank, exhausted.

  “Sergeant, you’re back sooner than I expected,” Dayton remarked.

  “Thought you needed to know,” the sergeant gasped. He held up one finger as he doubled over to catch his breath.

  “Back?” Frank asked curiously.

  “There was another ship, Captain. I sent him with the remainder of the CVM to investigate.”

  Another ship. Two in as many days. Have the floodgates opened?

  “It was a small ship,” Brandt continued, having found a second wind. “I counted forty berths. A lot of young children doubled up. Fifty three survivors, two casualties.” Brandt shook his head sullenly. “Both kids. Their berth failed at some point during the spaceflight.”

  “A shame,” Dayton nodded. “Were they armed?”

  “Pretty heavily, but they gave up their weapons without argument. They were just relieved to have found us. We’re a long way from Detroit.”

  “Detroit?”

  “Yeah,” Brandt affirmed. “And that gets us to the part you’ll really want to know. There are more ships coming. The group’s leader told us about the ones he knew about. They’re part of a larger group of survivors who started gathering in the Detroit shortly after plans for these little ships started popping up all over the place. They took over an old auto manufacturing plant. Converted its floor to build sleeper ships. There were at least six more on the line when this one was launched.”

  “So we’re looking at a steady stream of refugee ships, just from this one location. And who knows how many more from other areas.”

  “Yes, Governor.”

  Dayton craned his neck slightly and scratched at the full beard that adorned his chin. It didn’t take long for him to finish absorbing the sergeant’s report.

  “Very well, gentlemen. I want a full manifest of both ships, including occupation and skills of all of the adults. I will make sure that the support section of Gabriel is sealed before any of them arrive. Assign them temporary quarters in pods one through four until we can give them work assignments.”

  “And if they refuse to come?” Frank asked.

  “They have no choice. Any sleeper ship that lands on Demeter is the property of Concordia as far as I’m concerned. That includes any assets contained within. Go get some rest. We start in the morning.”

  They come or they starve. Frank suppressed a disdainful sneer as he dragged his exhausted body from the room. Welcome to Concordia.

  Gabrielle Serrano

  25 September, 6 yal, 14:03

  Benedict Square

  The statue was easily three feet taller than Will. Standing on the tips of his toes, his hand could only barely touch the bridge of one of the sleeper ships it immortalized. Seeing that he was able to perform the feat, he immediately returned to a more dignified stance. His hand slid down the bronze body, his fingers tracing the spine of the ship’s upper deck.

  “Why are there only two?” Gabi asked.

  The silence that answered her spoke volumes. Will ignored her entirely. Kris looked away, losing herself in the distant horizon. Karina simply shook her head.

  “There were three ships that left Earth, right? Ours, and the two that are here.”

  “Gabi,” Karina said softly, pointing at a thick metal plate affixed to the statue’s heavy stone base.

  She knelt next to it, trying to make out the words. Reading only came to her with great difficulty; it was something that Will had tried to get her to learn after his arrival in Concordia a month earlier. Her teacher in school was insistent that Gabi was very far behind in her reading skills, and that she work on it twice as hard as the other children. But Gabi found it, as well as school in general, tedious and maddening.

  “Deh… dead. Dead catted.”

  “Dedicated,” Will corrected.

  “Damn it, Will, just tell me what it says,” she snapped.

  He sighed, kneeling next to her. “Dedicated to the founders of Concordia, Earth’s first extrasolar colony. With their homeworld dying, these intrepid men and women crossed the treacherous void of space in order to survive, with no knowledge of what their future held. In this place they shed much blood and many tears. Their labor and sacrifice has built the cornerstone of a new world, and a place for humanity to flourish in Unity and Honor.” He cleared his throat. “The fine print below is the important part. It says that this monument marks the site where the refugee ship Michael landed, and that Gabriel landed on the other side of the river.”

  “So this hunk of rock and metal is only for them,” Gabi seethed.

  “Kind of short-sighted, looking back.” Cal’s voice made Gabi and Will flinch in surprise.

  She sprang to her feet, regaining her composure. He stood behind their small group. Andrea was secured in a cloth sling draped across his chest, one of her hands jutting out from her perch and clinging to her father’s crimson shirt.

  “We didn’t forget Raphael, though. Ever.” Cal pointed at
a large stone that stood upright just outside the paved ring that circled the statue.

  Gabi and her companions slowly made their way to the marker, which had two plaques on it. She checked to her right for a moment, making sure that Diego and Daphne were still in sight. The young children seemed to be occupied hunting for bugs in the grass.

  “I take it none of you have been here since the monuments were repaired and put back?”

  “No,” Will responded. “When was that?”

  “Last week.”

  Will nodded as he placed a palm on the large, domed rock. “I just got back to town two days ago. I head out again tomorrow. This was the only day we could all get together.”

  “What does this one say?” Gabi butted in.

  Cal replied before Will could open his mouth. The way the words rolled off his tongue, he must have had the verse memorized. “Dedicated to the lives lost aboard the refugee ship Raphael. A catastrophic accident aboard their ship claimed the lives of over two thousand men, women, and children seeking a new life on a world far from their homes. Grief from their loss is shared by everyone in the community. Our hearts and homes will be ever open to them, and their pioneering spirit will be eternally joined with ours in Unity and Honor.”

  I guess they really didn’t forget us. They just didn’t know.

  “There’s more,” Will noted. “There’s a second plaque here.”

  Cal nodded as the others crowded around close, trying to get a better view. “That was just added, as part of the repairs.”

  “Six years after landing, a small group of six refugees from Raphael arrived in Rust Creek. Having survived the destruction of their ship, the crash landing of their emergency pods, and the subsequent years in isolation, they sought to find and join the Concordia colony. Against all odds, their journey was successful.” Will’s jaw slacked after the last word, and he was suddenly speechless.

  Gabi felt a lump rise in her throat, and her eyes began to water.

  Karina continued the next part, her voice shaky. “In addition to these six survivors, two young children, born on Demeter, accompanied their guardians across land and sea. Their story of determination serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”

  “Th-they’ve put our names here,” Kris gasped. She began to read their names from the bronze plate, but choked up halfway through. Will took over when his sister could not continue.

  Gabi turned away, trying to force down the knot in her throat that threatened to strangle her. Try as she could to hold them back, a pair of tears rolled down her cheeks. She took a few steps away from her companions, hoping that she could keep her emotions in check enough for them not to notice.

  “Caleb’s name should be up there,” Karina croaked.

  “So should Gina’s,” Will added, his voice distant. “So should Nick’s. And Dan’s. And Mom and Dad’s, and about a thousand others, too.”

  No more Sorrow, Will. It’s over. For good this time.

  Gabi wiped the tears from her eyes just as Cal appeared at her side. “You okay, Gabi?”

  “Yeah,” she lied.

  “I know adjusting to life here hasn’t been easy for you. I’ve heard about the problems you’ve had in school, and how you sometimes butt heads with your foster parents.”

  “They treat me like a child,” she protested.

  “You never really got to be a child,” he retorted. “You’ve got all the time in the world to grow up and be an adult. You can go back to being a hunter if you want; no one is going to stop you. And if that’s what you want right now in your life, I don’t think anyone can stop you. But you don’t have to take care of anyone right now. Please at least think about slowing down and letting life happen. Be a kid once in a while.”

  “Being a kid is stupid.”

  “I don’t think they think so,” Cal nodded toward Diego and Daphne, who were busy chasing each other and giggling.

  Gabi shook her head vigorously. “That’s not me. I’m going out with Will when he leaves tomorrow.”

  “Does he know that?”

  “He won’t care. We’ve hunted together hundreds of times.”

  Cal smiled nervously. “Of course. But if things are different in the morning, I’d love for you and Diego to come with me to the harvest festival tomorrow. Tons of food, music and games.”

  Music, she thought, remembering better times that had long since passed. It could… no, what are you thinking? Just go with Will.

  “Well, I have to get going,” Cal added. “It was good seeing you again. Just think about what I said, okay?”

  She nodded tersely as they shook hands. Gabi watched as he walked the path down the hill toward the arbor promenade, a part of Benedict Square that Gabi found particularly beautiful. As Cal disappeared into the tree line, Will made an appearance at her side.

  “Promise me that you’ll work on your reading, Gabs.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned to face him. “What’s the point, Will? It doesn’t do me any good out there.”

  A hard scowl formed on his face. “Out there isn’t for you anymore. You need to read to have a shot in school.”

  Gabi opened her mouth to protest, but she knew from his expression that this was set in stone. She hung her head, realizing that a part of her life was over. That it was unacceptable for a twelve year old girl to be roaming the forests alone, hunting. And if Will would not go with her, no one would.

  “Hey,” he said softly, lifting her chin with his finger. “I know it feels like your world is being turned upside down again. This time it’s for the best. Trust me.”

  She smiled weakly. “I always have.”

  “It’s getting late. You and Diego should go home.”

  “Yeah, we should,” she muttered under her breath.

  Gabi took a long glance backward as she collected her brother. The four companions, chatting and hugging next to the memorial stone, had mostly scattered to the wind since arriving in Concordia. But in that brief moment, they looked as they had just before leaving their cursed island. Bathed in the orange glow of Demeter, this time they reminisced about friends and loved ones, rather than planning their futures. Somehow, Gabi knew that this reunion would not be repeated for a very long time.

  The image was not complete, and there were absences that could not be filled. Notably absent from the image were troublesome Marya and her brother Aidan, whose company she could only now admit was sorely missing. Their new lives had been established miles away in Rust Creek. There were other holes in her heart that could not be filled. Holes created by the deaths of their other companions, Gina and Caleb. Holes created years earlier by her father’s murder and her mother’s suicide. The tears flowed again, and she could not stop them this time.

  Gabi sprinted down the hill to Diego, skidding to a stop in front of him, falling to her knees, and throwing her arms around him as tightly as she could.

  “Gabi? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” His tiny, innocent voice soothed as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I love you, Diego,” she whispered through her tears. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a better sister to you.”

  “It’s okay. I love you too. It’ll be alright.”

  Can it ever be?

  Calvin McLaughlin

  25 September, 6 yal, 14:37

  Benedict Square

  It’s quiet, he thought, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath. Andrea cooed softly in her sling, reacting to the rise and fall of his chest.

  A moment’s calm was something he needed, and there was no better place to accomplish that in the city than the arbor promenade. Pine rangers flittered from treetop to treetop without a care as to the plant’s origins. To them, a Demeter pine or blue elm was just as fine of a perch as a wild Earth cherry, as long as there were insects to catch. In a few minutes the sun would dip below the horizon, and the small birds would retire for the night. Glow hawks would take to the sky, assuming the duty of sky patrol.

 
Cal’s nerves settled somewhat, though his stomach was still in knots. There was a goodbye to be said. It was not to be a bittersweet affair full of hope for future reunification. There would be plenty of emotion, however, anger and disappointment being the primary drivers. It wasn’t Cal’s first choice in how to deal with the situation, but he needed closure, and his hand had been forced to a degree.

  He wandered slowly along the promenade, paralleling the length of Michael’s hull. A slight breeze rose as he neared the cargo ramp, bringing with it the faint smells of fertilizer and dried waste. Not exactly the most pleasant smells, but certainly familiar. Except during the winter, Concordia always smelled at least faintly of these, and it was a reminder that he was home. The home he never wanted to leave again.

  Governor Dayton had looked truly shocked when Cal declined an offer to join the Colonial Volunteer Militia. Shorthanded after the Battle of Mercy, the CVM had been on a recruiting spree. In another lifetime Cal would have signed up without hesitation. Dayton was a man he held in high esteem. But Lexi’s death and his abduction had changed everything. At long last he had learned to say ‘no’ to Dayton, something that Lexi worried that he could never do. Even Jerk, the mental schism silenced by medication, had expressed the same concern. They were ultimately right. And saying no, despite disappointing Dayton, felt oddly liberating.

  Cal’s pace quickened as he climbed up the ramp into Michael’s belly then ascended the rear stairwell to the empty upper gallery. It had been years since he last walked the corridors of the ship that carried him to Demeter. Other than faded paint chipping off of the walls, little had changed. He paused and took a deep breath at the top of the stairs, shaking his hands at his sides in a final effort to calm his nerves.

  It’s time.

  His feet carried him swiftly to the entrance to pod twelve. Having his old pod reassigned as a prison was surreal, and it made him shiver slightly as Hunter ushered him through the airlock.