Fall of Venus

by Daelynn Quinn

  It’s just as dark inside as it is in the tunnel, but with the emergency lights, I can manage. The first thing I do is twist the faucets to see if the water is running. Relief floods my veins when water comes gushing out. Leaning against the sink, I cup my hands and drink as much as my body will take, then splash some on my face and clean off the remaining crust of cover-up on my tattoo.

  In the faint gleam of the yellow-tinted light, I find the outline of my face reflecting from the mirror, specked with sparkling beads of moisture. As I stare into the darkness of my reflection I hear a voice echoing in my mind, “When you are ready to move on, we’ll find you.” How will they find us? Especially down here? It makes no sense. I shake it off, use the restroom, and hobble back to the tunnel where I left Evie and Marcus.

  Marcus stirs as I approach. “You shouldn’t be walking on that,” he says.

  “I needed to use the bathroom. Besides, you can’t carry Evie and me. I think I’ll be okay,” I lie. The pain is excruciating, radiating up my calf and halfway up my thigh with each lightweight step. But I won’t burden him with knowing that. We need to find a way out of the Web and out of danger’s path. Then I’ll worry about my ankle.

  Evie yawns and stretches her arms over her head, signaling her awakening. “Any ideas?” I ask.

  “Not yet,” says Marcus.

  “I’m hungry,” says Evie, standing up.

  “Me too,” I say. “But it’s going to be just a little bit longer. Do you want some water?” She nods. I turn to Marcus, “There’s a public restroom a few doors down with running water.”

  “I’ll take care of her,” says Marcus. “Sit down and wait here.” Marcus takes Evie’s hand and guides her as she skips down the dark tunnel. I lean against the wall and slide myself down, extending my injured ankle in front of me. I watch longingly as Marcus and Evie disappear into the darkness. Then, my eyes close and I allow myself to fully relax.

  I swear I hear a faint sound, like water dripping from a leaky faucet. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. I try to imagine what the pipelines look like beyond the walls of the tunnels, where the water leak could possibly be coming from. Or it could be leakage from a rainstorm above ground. It was so dry outside in the yard, we could certainly use some rain. Although there wasn’t a rain cloud in the sky earlier today while I was in the rotunda. Or was that yesterday? My sense of time is completely screwed up. The sound seems to be getting louder. How is that possible?

  “Because it is not dripping water,” a voice inside my head says. It is footsteps. And they are headed this way. I try to stand but anxiety has clasped on to my ankles like a set of manacles and they keep slipping out from under me. So I crawl and I slither my way to the bathroom across the cold, dusty floor, all the while hearing the footsteps draw nearer. Pulling myself up by the door handle I manage to regain my footing and push the door open. I look back to see a luminous white orb of light rounding the corner.

  “You there! Wait!” a deep, manly voice calls out in the distance. I push the door open and slam it shut behind me. My hand searches the side of the door for a lock, but there is nothing.

  “What is it?” Marcus asks, turning off the water at the sink.

  “Someone’s coming.” I whisper frantically. Marcus joins me by the door, placing his weight against it to keep it shut. Through the door I hear the footsteps approaching and light filters through the slit under the door.

  “Miss McRae?” The voice asks softly from beyond the door and my breathing quickens. He knows who I am. He’s probably here to take me back to Crimson, where I’ll be executed as an example to the others.

  Under the door, the light is blocked for a moment as something is slid into the bathroom—a slip of paper. Marcus lifts it and, since it is much too dark to read, holds it down to the emergency light on the edge of the floor.

  “What does it say?” I ask, falling to my knees.

  “It says, ‘Myra sent me,’” says Marcus. But I have to read it for myself, so I join Marcus on the floor by the light and read the note myself. As I shift the paper in the dim yellow light, something else catches my attention. On the background of the paper is a watermark in the shape of an infinity fly.

  Marcus lifts me up off the floor and takes Evie into his arms. I crack the door, but the lantern outside momentarily blinds me. The man holding it notices my discomfort and pulls it to the side, behind the wall. Now I can see his face. It’s the dark-skinned man who drove the van to my house. Sage, I think his name was.

  “You can trust me,” he says. “I’m here to take you to our headquarters.”

  At this point, what choice do we have? Go with him or keep running and possibly die of starvation. I limp out of the door, with Marcus and Evie following.

  “How did you find us?” I ask.

  As Marcus wraps his arm around my waist and helps support me, Sage leads us down several tunnels, explaining his presence.

  “Myra placed a tracking device in your skin as you were getting out of the van and we set up a surveillance system surrounding your house. When you fled, we tried to get to you, but the Crimson Enforcers had already set up a perimeter. Unfortunately, the tracking device must have been removed when you were taken back into custody.” She placed a tracking device in my skin? I vaguely remember Myra grabbing my arm and a sting of pain from what I thought was her fingernail. That must have been the tracking device. Cunning little bitch.

  “So you knew we were at Crimson, but how did you know we were here?” asked Marcus, circling his head around to indicate the Web.

  “After you’d left your house we went in to check things out and place cameras. We took note of the unlocked door in the bunker. When our surveillance system caught a legion of men entering your house and setting up in your bunker, we knew you had to be in the Web somewhere, trying to escape. Myra sent me to come warn you and bring you back with us.”

  After a few more turns and agonizing steps, we reach a single train car in a high-speed terminal, Route 66. “It will be safer to travel underground,” he says.

  We step into the train car, which is nothing like any I’ve seen before. It’s got a futuristic feel to it, sleek lines, seats that conform to your shape when you sit in them, an ambient glow that does not feel electrical.

  When we’ve sat down in the seats along the sidewall, Sage approaches the front window of the train and dances his fingers across it. I can’t quite make out what he is doing. His fingers slide this way and that, and then he taps the window in different spots, almost rhythmically. The train lurches forward and as my upper body swings back I catch a glimpse of some lights and images on the window. It’s not a window at all. It’s a control monitor.

  Marcus must be taking notice as well. “I thought the electricity was shut down. What is powering this train?” he asks.

  “Geothermal energy,” Sage replies. “After we discovered the plot, we hijacked this train terminal and designed it to run on heat trapped within the planet’s surface.”

  “What plot?” Marcus asks.

  “You’ll be briefed on that information when we arrive,” says Sage.

  “Earlier, on route 92, we were driven out by a high-speed train. Was that one of yours?” asks Marcus.

  “No,” Sage replies. “We only hijacked highway 66, since it’s a cross-country route. I’m afraid any other HS vehicle in the Web would be controlled by them.”

  “Who?” I demanded. Sage turned toward me and said, “The Trinity.”

  There’s that name again. The Trinity. Glenn was right about all this. There really is a thirst for power by the wealthiest people alive, and they’ll do anything to gain it. At the cost of innocent souls. I turn to Marcus, who looks less puzzled than I expected. He always had a hunch that there was something sinister behind the virus, from the very beginning. I suppose this confirms his suspicions.

  Evie is kneeling on the seat between Marcus and me, peering out the window at the trails of yellow light whooshing by from the emergency lights. I find myself
dozing off only to be jerked awake every few minutes as we turn into a curve. Marcus simply stares off into space, deep in thought.

  After about an hour, the train begins to slow and come to a stop. The doors open and we are greeted by a familiar face, grinning ear to ear. Myra looks different from the first time we met at the side of the road. She seems more mature, more professional. She wears a white lab coat, gray slacks, her blond hair dangles over her shoulders and her red-rimmed glasses highlight her green eyes.

  “I’m so glad you all made it out okay,” says Myra.

  I’m taken aback by my surroundings and everything that is happening. We’ve stopped at a large Web depot. The electricity is working here and the domed ceiling emits such a bright light I have to squint and cover my eyes for a moment. I’m speechless.

  “Do you remember me?” she looks to me, then Marcus.

  “It’s good to see you too, Myra,” Marcus speaks up. She looks relieved when she hears this, then looks to me. “Pollen?”

  “Yes, I remember,” I say, still struggling to find my voice.

  “Good,” she says. “I was hoping the high charge from electromagnetic field wouldn’t extend down into the Web.” She squats down and looks at Evie, who is hiding behind my legs. “And what’s your name?”

  “Evie,” she murmurs shyly.

  “Well, it’s lovely to meet you Evie.” Myra stiffens back up and addresses all of us, “Follow me. I’ll show you to your new home.”

  Myra escorts us through a heavy steel door into a huge room as large as a football stadium that can only be described as a greenhouse. The air is hot and humid. My body immediately reacts with tiny beads of sweat appearing from beneath my skin. There are a variety of plants and growing devices everywhere, from small hydroponics stations, to large, unusual looking trees giving the room a jungle-like appearance. Men and women wearing white lab coats and safety goggles are walking amongst the plants, handling them delicately with strange instruments.

  “This is our tropical greenhouse,” says Myra. “We have a total of five greenhouses, just like this one here. Each has its own climate, depending on the plants’ temperate zones. The location we are at now used to be a botanical research center. When the virus was released and insects began dropping dead, we transplanted as many species as we could into our greenhouses.”

  A tiny object whizzes by my ear, and I instinctively swat at it, turning Myra’s attention to me. I look at it hovering in the air and I’m dumbfounded. It sounded like a bee, but it looks like a paperclip with wings.

  “That would be one of our robotic pollinators. Don’t worry, they don’t sting. They were developed years ago by an intern. Turns out, they will most likely save lives. The harvest will yield enough to feed our entire colony for years to come.”

  The greenhouse is so large we ride in a small electrical cart for the remainder of the journey, finally passing through a set of glass doors into a corridor with an elevator. As we are waiting for the elevator, I peer through the glass door opposite to the room we just exited. My jaw drops in wonder at the sight I behold.

  “Cow!” Evie shouts, her nose pressed up against the glass.

  A grassy field extends across the seemingly endless room with cattle grazing. Along the sides are egg-laying hens and roosters, pecking at the ground. The distant wall displays a holographic sunrise, so realistic it fools me into believing we are in the outside world.

  “This is where we grow our meat,” says Myra behind us. “When we first brought the cattle down, they were very stressed and would not eat. We created the holographic walls to coincide with the sun’s cycle and make them feel more comfortable. This room holds beef and poultry. We also have an aquarium for seafood.”

  Marcus has to practically drag me away from the doors when the elevator door opens. The elevator is round like a cylinder, and when we ascend out of the bunker I spin around to find the walls are also made of glass. We pass through several floors, the first being a large recreational level, complete with a bowling alley and mini golf. The second looks like a shopping mall or commissary, with a cafeteria, food court, and other shops. The third floor is a very plain looking lobby. Myra described this as the medical complex.

  When the elevator finally slows to a stop we are in a huge domed room, like the rotunda at Crimson, but at least three times larger. Three stories extend up the rotunda, with four large corridors leading out on each floor. There is an opening in the center of the floor, revealing another level, filled with all sorts of electrical and mechanical equipment that I am unfamiliar with. In the center of the lower floor, extending up past the second floor above us, is a holographic structure of something I can only describe as a space shuttle.

  “Pollen!” shouts a familiar female voice from across the rotunda. I almost didn’t recognize her in the white lab coat that all the scientists wear here. But as she draws nearer I recall the tall lanky woman with glasses and blond hair as my old roommate, Lynx. I limp towards her and we embrace as old friends would.

  “When I heard you two were recaptured, I feared the worst. I’m so glad you made it out again. And this time with Evie!” she says enthusiastically.

  Marcus approaches Lynx sympathetically, “I’m not sure if you heard about Clover--”

  “Clover?” she asks, bewildered.

  Myra pulls me aside while Lynx hugs Marcus and Evie and whispers, “She hasn’t regained her full memory yet. She probably remembers you three from our descriptions and surveillance of you.”

  “Will her other memories return?” I ask.

  “Possibly, in due time,” Myra replies. Then she turns to Lynx, “Lynx, would you be kind enough to show Marcus, Pollen, and Evie to their new apartment?”

  “Absolutely,” says Lynx.

  “What is all this?” I ask as Lynx guides us through the rotunda.

  “With the rising heat our planet will soon be uninhabitable. We are planning to emigrate and start a colony on A1D3. The scientists here have determined that despite its severely frigid temperatures, it is inhabitable near its equator. I’m sure Myra will brief you on the details after you get settled,” says Lynx. “Come this way. I’ll show you to your rooms.”

  A1D3. I remember the icy planet from my high school science class. The planets are classified by galaxy, solar system, star, and order from the sun. A represents our galaxy, 1 our own solar system. D represents our sun, named Demeter, and 2 indicates second planet from the sun. Our planet is A1D2, which we usually just call Demeter-2. I guess we’ll soon be calling Demeter-3 our new home.

  Lynx leads us up a stairway to the second level. We start to enter a corridor with a sign that reads “Level Two Dormitories.” As we pass by the holographic shuttle on our way to get settled in, my eyes catch a glimpse of a word on the side of it.

  “Lynx,” I point to the word on the side of the shuttle, “what does that mean?” She pauses to view what I am referring to.

  “That’s what they are calling the shuttle. They chose to name it after the scientist who discovered the planet A1D3. His name was Desmond Earth.”

  End of Part 1

  Fall of Venus series

  Part 1: Fall of Venus

  Part 2: Crimson Return

  September 2013

  Part 3: The Trinity

  Autumn 2013