When Night Falls (Regeneration Series Book 1)

by Airicka Phoenix

  The corridor leading from the transporters was remarkably short compared to most of the other corridors. It ended at a set of wide, double doors that opened straight onto the fields. Artificial sunlight poured through from the overhead lights, drenching the lush landscape of blossoming vegetation and herbs.

  It always amazed her just how enormous the three harvesting levels were, spanning the length of the entire ship. It had been one of the main attractions of the cruise while it was being built. It was the main plug the creators used to shamelessly sell tickets—freshly grown vegetables, grain and real animal meat. No bio-engineered tofu or artificial growth and fertilization. Natural. Of course they couldn’t have known just how much those crops would save their lives.

  Soft soil pressed beneath her work boots as she made her way around the side to the check in booth. She got in line behind a brunette. It must have been her first day because her long, dark hair was down around her thin shoulders and she was wearing makeup. Also, there wasn’t a scuff on her boots. Scarlett pondered whether or not to tell her she really needed a hair elastic when the girl spoke to the tiny blonde in front of her, who looked as spotless as she did.

  “This is so stupid. I can’t believe my dad is making me mingle with these low classes. It’s disgusting.”

  The blonde nodded, making her choppy locks flutter around her round face. “I know right? I don’t understand why I need a career to begin with. Isn’t it the man’s job to work and provide for me?”

  All thoughts of assisting them vanished from Scarlett’s mind. Class elitists annoyed the hell out of her. It took all her self-control not to scream at them that the world was over. Class no longer existed.

  It did in the sense that first and second classes claimed the more luxurious quarters and got first picked in positions for operator and marshals, but no one flaunted it anymore. Money and power and position held as much sway as a stock of corn. No one cared who your grandfather was back on earth or how much credit you had because there were no longer any banks, thus no credits. Everything on the ship was on trade only or supplied, like food and clothing. Everyone pitched in to make sure no one went without. The girls would learn. They always did.

  The line shuffled forward and the girls logged in, then moved to the right to wait for a mentor to show them the ropes. Scarlett walked to the booth and placed her hand on the data scanner. She waited as her arrival was logged and she was given her instructions. She almost groaned.

  Weeding—back subdivision, which basically meant she was isolated to the far corn fields, possibly alone.

  “Attention harvesters!” a woman’s voice, low and melodious rang through the com. “Please be advised, we are scheduled for rain at thirteen hundred. All harvesters are required to complete their tasks and vacate agriculture before that time. Thank you.”

  Rain. Fantastic.

  Scarlett checked her wrist unit. Six hours to de-weed an entire field. Well, at least they hadn’t asked for the impossible.

  Moving quickly, she hurried to the supply closet and retrieved a pair of gloves and a rod. She conveyed her task to the mentor in charge, watched her key it into the system before setting off at a brisk pace through the maze of vegetation.

  The way the creators had the fields setup was that all the things that grew high would be at the back with all the under the soil things like potatoes and carrots at the front. The corn field was second last to the fruit trees, which were isolated and quarantined behind a wall of glass. The temperature on the other side had to be kept at a certain degree that didn’t coincide with the one they set for the vegetation. A lot of the fruit needed special areas or soil and were closed off from the others. Scarlett had never worked the fruit fields. That was kept to the specialists who were trained for months on the proper treatment and harvesting. However every few months, a small handful of novices were asked to help gather the ripened fruit. Scarlett never volunteered and she was never asked. The last thing she wanted was to kill off an entire section by accident. The whole process seemed so delicate.

  As was her habit, she started at the back, going down on her knees and tearing out the little blades poking out of the dirt. She used her rod to obliterate them with a quick zap.

  They were told not to zap the weeds while still rooted in case they accidentally fried something important so the task was to pull out and kill. The process was a mindless one, if not tedious.

  Sweat collected between her spine and the stiff material of her jacket. It rolled down the sides of her face from her temples and plastered tendrils of escaped hair to her face. She swiped at them with the back of her gloved hand and sighed.

  “You look thirsty.”

  Having been alone for nearly two hours, Scarlett wasn’t expecting the shadow that draped over her. Her head shot up, her eyes squinted against the harsh lights haloing her companion, turning him into a dark silhouette. But no amount of obscurity could conceal the familiarity of those wide shoulders and limber legs.

  “Hi,” she said, straightening. She cupped one hand over her eyes. “What are you doing all the way back here?”

  Rolf shifted so his frame blocked the lights, allowing her to lower her hand and see him better. He extended one hand, offering her a clear, plastic tube filled with water.

  “You looked like you could use a drink.”

  Grateful, she stripped off her mud-crusted gloves and took the cylinder. She unscrewed the cap and guzzled all but a few mouthfuls in a single swallow. The cool liquid eased the burn eating her up from the inside. She moaned as the temperature in her body ventilated.

  “Thank you,” she panted, screwing the cap back on and handing him the bottle. “I always forget to bring water and I never want to waste time going to get some.”

  He took the water. “I know.”

  She swiped a hand over her mouth. “It’s not usually this hot though.”

  He glanced over his shoulder. Then back at her. “They raised the temp this morning. Apparently one of the mentors accidentally forgot to regulate the ventilation last night and the temp dropped. It didn’t harm anything, but they’re trying to readjust. I think they set it a bit too high.”

  Scarlett exhaled. “Yeah, no kidding.” She picked at the front of her jacket and shook it, generating a feeble gust of air to form between her skin and clothes. “At this rate, I won’t even get half finished.”

  “You should take your jacket off,” he supplied.

  She glanced at him, eyes narrowed. “You know that’s against regulations.”

  His lips twitched, but a smile never fully formed. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

  She grinned then. “Are you asking me to break the rules, marshal?”

  Amusement danced in his brown eyes as he observed her through the thick fringes of his lashes. “Like I said.” He reached up and unzipped his blazer. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

  All humor died as she watched him strip out of his jacket and toss it onto the ground. He stood before her in his sleeveless black top and fingerless gloves. Something about the sight he made had all the heat rising into her face. He looked ruthless and dangerous in his boots and trousers, his enforcer strapped to his hip. He bent on one knee in front of her. He removed the glove on his left hand and took the ratty, green gardening glove from her, but only the left one and slipped it on. She watched in amazement as he began tearing out weeds.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, unable to keep the astonishment from her voice.

  “Marshaling a crop is hardly as exciting as one would think. I figured I would make better use of my time if I helped.” He cast her a sidelong glance from the corner of his eye. “Are you going to take it off?”

  “What?” Why was her mouth suddenly so dry? Hadn’t she just drank half an entire bottle of water?

  “Your jacket.”

  Feeling abnormally dazed, she lowered her gaze to the zipper on her blazer. Her heart cracked into her breast with unhampered force. Her fingers trembled as she reac
hed for the tab and began drawing it down. She raised her eyes and felt another shot of heat wash through her to find him watching her, watching her hand and the growing gap the lower the zipper went. She gulped audibly as she shook off the blazer and sat kneeling in front of him in her white work shirt. The thin material was damp from her sweat and transparent, clinging to her like a second skin. It somehow felt more revealing than her dress had the day before. She flushed. Her fingers tightened in the material of her jacket.

  Rolf straightened, weeds forgotten. His darkened eyes roamed over her, touching her in places that made her skin tingle and her breathing quicken. She wasn’t prepared when his hand lifted and reached for her face. She wasn’t quick enough to stifle the gasp that escaped when he skimmed the pad of his thumb over the slope of her cheek.

  The soft, pathetic sound sharpened the intensity in his gaze. The thumb smoothing away the gritty flakes of dirt from her face dipped, slipping along her jaw to the corner of her parted mouth. His long fingers tucked beneath her chin and nudged her face up. Her breath caught in her chest.

  “Better?”

  Mesmerized by the spell he wove so skillfully around her, Scarlett nodded. “Yes.”

  A ghost of a grin darkened his eyes, but never touched his lips as he studied hers, tracing the shape. She felt them prickle under the attention.

  “Red? Come in, Red!”

  Both jumped at the ethereal voice lashing through the crackling tension cocooning them. Rolf snapped his head away, concealing his features from Scarlett as she fumbled with her wrist unit.

  “Hunter?”

  “Hey! I’m on my break. Wanted to see how things were with you.”

  Frustration sharpened her tone. “Well, I’m not on break and you’re disturbing me.” She instantly regretted it. Guilt gnawed at her as she raised the com to her mouth again. “I’m sorry. They screwed up the temperature in here. It’s boiling and it’s making me cranky.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, but they’ve scheduled rain for one so I need to finish.”

  “Say no more. I’ll let you go. We’ll talk later. Be safe.”

  “You too.”

  She disconnected and sat there in the humid silence the interruption had created. Her gaze flicked over to her companion. She traced his posture and blank features as he tore out weeds from the earth. His motions were rapid and angry and she wondered why that was. If anyone should be angry, it was Kiera. Scarlett clearly couldn’t be trusted around her boyfriend.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  He gave another hard jerk of a weed and pitched it aside, never once glancing at her. “For what?”

  She had no idea.

  “We can’t … we shouldn’t…” she trailed off, capturing her bottom lip between her teeth.

  Rolf ceased his yanking and turned his head to her. “Can’t and shouldn’t what?”

  Maybe he hadn’t felt it. Maybe she was the only one who roasted alive every time he looked at her. It was so hard to tell when he was watching her with such emptiness.

  “What about Kiera?” she finally blurted urgently.

  He sat back, folding one knee up to rest an arm on it. “What about her?”

  “She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

  His jaw muscles tightened. Anger lit up his eyes before he snapped them away from her and focused on the stocks.

  “I told you that was complicated.”

  “That isn’t good enough,” Scarlett retorted sharply. “I don’t know what you think of me, but I’m not the kind of girl that just hooks up with men that belong to other women. And I never pegged you for the sort of guy that would do that to someone they claim to care about.”

  There was a hot fury in his eyes when they shot back to her. “I am not that sort of guy! But you don’t understand.”

  Scarlett shot to her feet. “You’re right. I don’t understand, but I’m figuring it out pretty quickly that you’re not the kind of guy I can trust myself around.”

  She snatched up her jacket and stormed through the stocks towards the front. She made it about four rows before her elbow was caught and she was dragged to a halt. Rolf glowered down at her, dwarfing her with his massive size. His eyes glowed like lit embers.

  “What about you?” he hissed.

  Scarlett frowned. “What?”

  He dropped her arm and balled both fists at his sides. He no longer wore the gardening glove, she noted. One hand was bare while the other was still clad in his fingerless glove.

  “Hunter.”

  Her frown deepened at the barking accusation. “What about Hunter?”

  “Well, does he know about us? Does he know that you sneak out every May tenth to stay with me all night?” His eyes narrowed. “Does he know how you really feel about me?”

  Scarlett swallowed hard. Her heart drummed erratically in the cavity of her chest, sounding unnaturally loud in her ears. She stared up into Rolf’s face, feeling beaten by the challenge in his questions.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  His lips curled back over his teeth. “Don’t I?” He closed the nearly non-existent bit of space between them, forcing her neck further back. “Why haven’t you told him, Scarlett?” The heat of his words burned over the skin of her cheeks and lips. “You question my morality, yet you’re the same.”

  She shook her head rapidly. “No, that isn’t—”

  “It is!” he growled. “Don’t you think I know what you’re thinking when you look at me? I’ve never once seen you look at him that way, only me. You want me.”

  Even if she could think of something to say, he was too close. His lips were too close. They were a breath away from touching hers and she was too afraid that if she spoke they might brush, or worse, he might pull away. But that’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? She needed him to step back, to give her room to breathe, to think.

  The gong sounded, signaling their ten minute break. Scarlett scooted away from him, nearly tripping over a mound of dirt in her haste. She kept her eye on him as she straightened.

  “It doesn’t matter what I want, Rolf,” she said, oddly breathless despite the fact that she hadn’t done anything to warrant it. “The fact remains the same. You’re taken.”

  Without waiting for him to catch her again, she bolted, running headlong through the rows.

  Chapter Five

  Time was a suspended shroud of excitement as the occupants of Dawn Light marked days off on their data links. Each new day was one day closer to what was surely to be their salvation. The heavy fog of anticipation was like an addictive drug that affected everyone it came in contact with.

  Scarlett was not immune. She woke up every morning torn between wanting to do cartwheels and breaking down into tears. The guilt seemed somehow more powerful with every day that passed. It felt wrong being happy when her parents were dead, when so many people she cared about were gone. It felt disrespectful to allow herself the small luxury of happiness, like their deaths meant nothing if she wasn’t suffering for them.

  “There’s a new update,” Hunter told her four days before they arrived at the new planet. “There’s another conference being held this afternoon. Deck eighteen.”

  Isabella stood at the helm, cutting a beautiful figure in the body molding gown of velvet black. Her hair was twisted into an elaborate knot at the back of her head and her face was a mask of calm amusement. She watched with quiet deliberation as people filed in and took their places around the theater. Eira, Dr. Ora, and Cindy sat in their places behind her, a silent panel of witnesses.

  Scarlett sat with her grandmother and Hunter in their usual place. Grams was in deep discussion with her once competitor and later best friend, Maggie Swiss, the sweets maker that had owned the candy store across from the bakery on the vendor level. Scarlett would never admit it to Grams, but Maggie’s caramel toffee drizzle had always been her favorite.

  “I hope it’s not bad news,
” Grams was saying.

  Maggie nodded her graying head. “Yes, could you imagine? I fear it will be just like it had been in the beginning. We were lucky to have survived.”

  “And Marcus isn’t here this time.”

  Maggie clicked her tongue. “Tragic how he died.”

  Grams shook her head. “I still don’t understand how he took that horrible tumble down that transporter shaft.”

  “Computers,” Maggie hissed like it were a dirty secret. “You can’t ever trust them. I was talking to Sonja just after it happened and we both agree that the computer should never have opened the transporter doors when the platform wasn’t even there. I think someone did it deliberately to get Marcus out of the way.”

  “Hmm,” Grams said decisively. “He was getting on the wrong side of many people towards the end.”

  Scarlett tuned out their conversation. She turned her attention to the figure on her right.

  “What do you think is happening?” she asked Hunter, who shrugged.

  “It can’t be good.” He picked at his thumb nail with his teeth. “Otherwise they’d post it to our data links like they did about the scouts they sent down.”

  That had been her thought. They only ever delivered bad news in person. Maybe it was to contain any riots if one broke out, but they always waited until everyone was present before revealing life altering news.

  “Not true,” she said after a moment. “They told us about the planet in person.”

  Hunter just shrugged, green eyes fixed without blinking on the stage and the solitary figure standing there.

  It seemed to take ages for everyone to finally be seated. The room was choked in a heavy curtain of tension and fear as everyone waited quietly for Isabella to speak. Their captain seemed to relish in this and took as long as possible before doing so.

  “Thank you all for coming,” she began with that sickly sweet smile of hers. “I’m pleased to announce that our scouts have returned from their voyage to the new planet and have confirmed that it is indeed exactly what we’re looking for. It’s perfect. But!” she shouted when the auditorium broke out in cheers and relieved sighs. “Although it contains everything we essentially require of a planet to survive, there are certain elements that have presented themselves during our search that we must take into account.”