by Simon E Bond
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lorna
Lorna Book 1
by
Simon E Bond
Copyright © 2016 Simon E Bond
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to say a big heart warm thanks to my wife Katie, and my lovely five children for giving me confidence in each project.
CHAPTER ONE
Lorna sat quietly waiting inside the carriage beneath the surface of the Earth's waters, looking around she couldn't stop herself scanning the hands of strangers. She felt like there was no other choice, yet looking for that person was all she needed for taking the risk of being there. Her back ached a gentle rub did nothing to ease the pain, so she adjusted her position slightly. A simple stretch took some of the discomfort away as a wave of tiredness quickly washed over her, it was too late to turn back now and she knew it.
The other passengers inside the carriage looked equally unnerved in one way or another, and everyone wanted their destination to arrive. Plenty had heard the rumors of Old Earth, and what they may come to expect once they arrived. Most of the passengers were made up of immigrants or stowaways from other planetary systems, here either to find work or another route to survival.
Looking over her shoulder Lorna quickly noticed a woman passenger heavily pregnant sat just a couple of seats away, alone, and dressed in what looked like worn grubby clothing. The woman quickly caught Lorna’s attention, and the woman acknowledged her with a weak smile in return. Whilst she rested her hand gently on her stomach to comfort her unborn child.
Outside the carriage the view was that of clear water rushing past the windows.
The tunnel surrounding the carriage was covered by huge glass walls, the water seemed to pass by so quickly. It had been almost two hours since Lorna had arrived on Old Earth, the journey in space was a lot less uncomfortable then her present journey.
Wiping her brow, Lorna quickly reached for the inside of her pocket and pulled out a small container filled with water. Removing the cover she took a large gulp, the cool liquid was a relief from the humid body heat lingering all around her. The pregnant woman looked over sheepishly towards Lorna, as the woman bit down on her bottom lip whilst looking on at the container. But she had nothing to barter Lorna with, she thought it could end up being a lost cause.
“It’s okay you want some?” said Lorna reaching over with the bottle in hand. The woman quickly snatched the container from Lorna’s grasp, and started to drink the contents.
“Hey,…steady with that….” said Lorna. The woman pulled the container away from her lips,wiping her mouth.
“Sorry about that, thank you for the drink.”
“It’s okay, besides I think you need this more than me.” replied Lorna.
Some of the other passengers noticed the exchange between the two, whilst carrying on with their own business. Suddenly the carriage started to descend down a slope into deeper water, the lights inside the carriage became brighter as the darkness took over. The carriage lights had hardly managed to penetrated the view of the water outside, which had now faded from a clear blue to almost a murky grey colour.
Two other passengers next to Lorna lay both asleep in their seats, undisturbed and calm. Lorna could not afford such a luxury, she had to keep focused on her goal. Keeping alert for when she arrived at her destination was the best sensible option, traveling under a false identity was highly dangerous.
“What is your name?” whispered the pregnant woman as she leaned towards her.
“Lorna”
“I am Cassandra.”
Some of the other passengers started to look in their direction, Lorna lifted her head up and noticed two male youths, they must have been not much older then eighteen. One of the males pointed in her direction, both laid eyes on the water bottle. Lorna gave the parched woman beside her another share of her drink. Looking out of the window towards the water the view had started to become clear again, Lorna noticed various ruined structures and decaying buildings making their appearance. A huge graveyard city of a time long gone stood still, before the landscape changed once again.
"Hey, lady. I'm thirsty too!"
“We need some of what you two just had.”
One of the youth’s had walked up on her without her even noticing. Lorna couldn't afford to let that happen again, she couldn't afford to draw attention to herself.
“It’s just water nothing worth trading.” she replied.
The pregnant woman looked away sheepishly, rubbing her stomach again for comfort she did not want to get involved. The second youth grabbed hold of Lorna’s arm and she quickly shoved it away, Lorna was in no mood for playing games.
“Hey, don’t get any ideas!” she snapped.
“What the fuck!!, who the hell are you?”
“Please..we don’t want any trouble, it’s just water.” said Cassandra.
Lorna quickly interrupted “She is right, it’s just water and it’s ours.” .
Lorna looked up at both the youth’s and wondered were they after something more, money or her body it would be either of the two.
Crack!!
Lorna flinched, she looked confused as the youth fell head first onto the hard floor. A metal android stood tall over the fallen body, holding a metal baton in it’s hand the android showed no emotion. Passengers around the carriage watched on and gasped in horror as they had heard the sickening thud, this could soon turn ugly.
“OE security, happy to serve.” replied the android looking at both women.
Lorna did not respond, neither did Cassandra. The android did not reply, instead gave a nod of approval and made it’s way towards the exit doors to another carriage. The second youth did not even have chance to say anything, he was grabbed from behind by another android and quickly forced out of the carriage. The two android’s disappeared with them. A minute or so of silence followed as the carriage door shut, soon after mutterings could be heard amongst the other passengers. Families huddled together tightly, as a blanket of fear washed over them.
“You okay?” asked Lorna.
Cassandra was shaking, her nerves started leaving her with each passing moment. Reaching below her seat Lorna pulled out a her bag and unzipped the cover, inside she grabbed a blanket. Lorna had to come prepared for this planet, she was not guaranteed shelter and could end up sleeping rough. Lorna knew all too well sacrifices would have to be made to get to the people she wanted. Leaving her seat she walked towards Cassandra wrapping the blanket around her tightly, but that was as close as she wanted to get.
“Relax, you look cold and shaky.” said Lorna sitting back down in her seat.
“I will be fine, thanks for this.” replied Cassandra.
The holographic map displayed on the ceiling above quickly caught Lorna’s attention, the shuttle was now ten minutes away from arriving at it’s destination. This became evident as it made it’s way to the surface and started to approach dry land. Within a few minutes they where back on the surface again and had exited the underwater tunnel, smog covered the sky above.
“Well looks like we will be arriving pretty soon at docking stations.” said Lorna.
“So soon?” replied Cassandra.
Lorna nodded, grabbing her travel bag, she was eager to get on with things as soon as she arrived.
The shuttle started to slow down as it approached docking bay n
inety one, Lorna glanced out of the window and looked at the city around her. She noticed it looked dirty and old, skyscrapers stood tall most where in a bad state of decay. She did not have time for sightseeing, and waited impatiently for the shuttle to come to a halt.
“Please collect your belongings and have your identification ready to hand, we are now arriving at our destination Old Earth.” Emitted a voice from one of the speakers inside the carriage.
“Old Earth, this place looks a shit hole.” thought Lorna.
She never grew up on Old Earth, Lorna was born in one of the living domes on alpha moon base, where she lived with her family. She never wanted to venture back there as so many bad memories had haunted her from a wreaked childhood, a moment in time that had destroyed her life. The shuttle finally came to a halt as it arrived at docking bay ninety one, outside two huge bay doors covered the shuttle as it entered the opening. Lorna stood up throwing her travel bag over her shoulder, looking around she noticed the rest of the passengers starting to make their way towards the exits.
“Can I tag along with you?, I won’t be any trouble I promise.” asked Cassandra, quickly taking hold of Lorna’s arm.
“I have to go, it is not that easy I…” Lorna paused and removed Cassandra’s gentle grip.
The lights above the exit door to their left lit up green and the unlocking mechanism activated itself, Lorna stepped outside. The crowd of passengers was huge and pretty soon she was stuck in a large crowd, each person reaching for their identification pass ready for processing. Lorna turned to her right and noticed Cassandra trying to keep up the pace, but was overcome by the growing crowd.
This was the last time Lorna would see Cassandra, as she noticed her desperate smile slowly fade away. Lorna felt frustrated with herself, having almost let her guard down and letting someone become a new acquaintance in her life. It was too risky, besides Lorna worked best alone or at least is what she thought. In a moment of reassurance she grabbed the locket around her neck and began to rub it gently. The guilt of leaving a scared pregnant woman stayed with her, quickly having to compose herself she walked on slowly within the crowd.
“Identification please,” said one of the guards.
“Here.” replied Lorna handing her pass over.
The guard was almost twice the size of her, he then glanced and the equipment and placed the card inside the processor. The screen in front of him lit up and he shifted slowly through the two documents being displayed. After a few brief moments which seemed like an age, the guard gave a nod of approval and handed the documents back to her. He then proceeded to grab a retinal scanner nearby.
“Look into this please.” said the guard.
“Why do you need that?, the documents should be enough.”
Holding the scanner the guard paused for a brief moment and gestured for another guard to assist, the guard approached from beside him.
“What is the problem?”
“Looks like we have a problem with her, documents check out fine but it is the attitude.”
“Listen I don’t want any trouble,” Lorna replied.
“But you want to know why we need the scan?, well let’s just say it is a requirement no argument's”
Lorna nodded her head in agreement, one of the guards lurched forward and grabbed his glove around her chin and positioned the scanner in line with her pupil. A white flash hit Lorna almost blinding her, a brief painful sting pierced the inside of her skull, followed by blurred vision.
“It’s over miss, you can move through.”
A small gate opened up she walked through it quickly, rubbing her eyes at the same time trying to remove the blurred vision. After a minute or so everything was fine, an escalator lay ahead and she made her way towards it. Other passengers did the same all huddled together like cattle being processed, as they made their way toward’s the escalator’s. After a while the escalator leveled off and Lorna reached the end stepping onto a subway platform, around her the air felt moist and cold. Wrapping her arms around her jacket she tried to capture what warmth she had left. She noticed the neon lit signs that led to the nearby subway station which would take her into the inner city zones.
After a short while she finally reached the station, the steps felt like they where never ending, she was well below sea level now. Lorna had never experienced an Earth environment before, the closest she ever got was watching images from a data base as a child back on the moon. She learned a lot as she sifted through images of years gone by, in the end coming to the conclusion that the Earth was dying slowly.
“Spare any credits?,” spoke a voice out of the shadows, then a figure of a man slowly approached her from the darkness.
Lorna turned around interrupted from deep thought, the lights that covered her surroundings where pretty dim. She stood with other passengers on the platform awaiting for the subway train to arrive.
“Hey I am talking to you!” said the man forcefully this time.
Dressed in scruffy clothing he looked desperate and frail in appearance, a good meal was what he needed. Lorna only had enough credits for the subway fare, after that she would be left with nothing once she reached the city zones.
“I am sorry, but I have nothing to offer you.” she replied.
“Migrant’s, you never have anything to give me come on, some credit’s is all I need.”
“I just said, I have nothing!” replied Lorna raising her voice.
A rumble could be heard along the tracks,the approaching transporter lit up the walls along the dark tunnel. Slowly but surely the vehicle came to a grinding halt, and a carriage door opened.
“Slut, you won’t be safe in this place they will soon eat you up and spit you out!” shouted the man pointing his finger straight towards her.
Quickly walking through the door of the carriage Lorna sat down, she paused took a couple of deep breaths, and closed her eyes. The doors gave out a hissing sound as they sealed themselves shut, closing her eyes even tighter she pushed away the image of the man and fell back in her seat…
****
Walking around the slums of the city was tough, already the journey had started to make Lorna’s feet ache. She had lost track of time a hunger grew in the pit of her stomach, Lorna had not eaten in a while. Above her the early evening sky was covered with dark clouds,the street lights flickered to life as a blanket of darkness started to creep in from all around, the sun fell to rest. Drops of rain came down slowly at first, then faster hitting the ground below with force. Lorna ran towards a building and down a side alley, she took cover under some guttering it kept her dry for now.
As the cold rain fell down onto the ground Lorna reached for her neck, she pulled out the locket that was tucked safely underneath her clothing. Having a quick look around to make sure no one else was coming, she opened up the locket her fingers started to tremble. A holographic image appeared in front of her, she looked closer, a tall slim figure that of a attractive woman stood hovering in front of her. Next to the woman appeared a man of similar age, the woman lent into him as he held her tightly. Below the man and woman stood a boy no older than four years of age, the boy was holding a soft teddy bear in his arms. He looked up towards his parents and gave out a beaming smile.
A lump started to build within Lorna’s throat, her eyes glistened wet, as tears made themselves known.
“We all love you so much.” said the woman.
Lorna’s head sank into her hands she wept. She reached with her hand towards the image, nothing could bring her family back now, nothing. Suddenly the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching down the alleyway. Lorna quickly composed herself and reached for the locket she closed it, the image of her family disappeared….she felt alone once more.
The rain above started to fall harder, crouching down Lorna wiped the rain away from her brow. The footsteps grew closer and she did not feel safe, there was no other option but to hide. Nearby Lorna noticed two garbage containers that would provide cover, the darkness i
n the sky approached quickly she was safer in the shadows. With no time left she hid hoping not to be seen. Lorna peered through a narrow gap, but her vision was obstructed partially with the constant downpour.
Suddenly something crossed her mind and she decided to take a chance, she ached for food and had no credit’s to her name. Looking through the gap once more the figure of a tall man could be seen approaching, he was dressed in a long rain coat, with a dark hood which partially covered his eyes. Lorna hid, the footsteps grew closer she could hear her heart pounding. What was she thinking?, the move was far too risky and may not even pay off.
A silence washed over her, in her mind all she could hear now was the pouring rain. The man had passed her and the footsteps slowly started to fade, Lorna took her chance it was now or never. Moving slowly around the back of the containers Lorna stood up and crept towards him. With her hands becoming numb she removed them quickly from her damp pockets, the cold air bit down hard on her fingers. But before she could make any attempt to form an attack the man spun around, his eyes locked onto her’s. Lorna quickly lurched forward wrapping both of her hand’s around his upper body, her grip was weak it was a desperate situation.
“Give me your Credit’s!”
The words disappeared, and so did Lorna’s grip, suddenly she landed in a heap on the floor.
“Don’t do this, what are you thinking of?” replied the man, his tone was calm.
Lorna regained her bearings and slowly rose to her feet, then suddenly a fierce rage took hold of her. From inside her jacket she produced a small blade, the moonlight reflected onto the weapon.
“Listen mister, don’t fuck with me!” she shouted.
“Please, you are not thinking straight.”
Lorna made a swipe with the blade towards him, he quickly moved out of the way. Her feet slipped on the wet ground below, and the blade fell out of her hands. The weapon clattered onto the ground below, within seconds her body spun around.
