Ghost Planet

by Sharon Lynn Fisher

  Now that we were sitting close, talking face-to-face, I had the same feeling. But it didn’t make sense. “Have you ever been to Seattle? Or the university there?”

  Murphy shook his head. “I haven’t. I was only in the states once, when I was a boy. How about you? Have you visited Ireland?”

  “Yes, I…” As I continued to study his face, it came to me.

  His eyebrows lifted. “Do you have it?”

  It seemed an impossible coincidence. “Did you go to Trinity College?”

  “I did.”

  “Did you do tours there? For visitors, I mean. Tourists.”

  “Yes!” Murphy’s eyes went bright with recognition. “That’s it! Wow. Small universe, eh?”

  “No kidding.” I had total recall now, though it was nearly ten years ago. I remembered finding him attractive, in a brainy, old-world sort of way. And I had been a sucker for his accent. But it hadn’t been an option at the time. Nor is it now, I reminded myself.

  “I remember you very well, actually.” His gaze lifted to the top of my head. “Especially your hair.”

  I laughed, blushing from my hairline to my toes. “That’s all anyone ever remembers of me.” My unruly mass of blond curls, which must be quite a spectacle now after the assault by wind and rain.

  “Not true. I remember you asked interesting questions.” He grinned. “Loads of them.”

  This did nothing to cool the heat of my embarrassment. At this point I also managed to swallow my tongue.

  “I’m fairly certain I invited you and that surly-looking fella you had with you to the pub after the tour. But you raced off to catch a bus.”

  My heart stirred in hibernation, giving a heavy thump of protest. I folded my hands in my lap and smiled thinly. “He wasn’t always surly. He didn’t travel well.”

  Was I ever going to stop making excuses for Peter? Old habits. I had to keep reminding myself he wasn’t my fiancé anymore.

  Mercifully, a pixie-like waitress with spiky, lavender hair appeared with menus. I studied mine without really seeing it, haunted by the metaphorical ghosts of my old life. I wasn’t likely to see any of them—my parents, my friends, Peter—for several years, maybe longer. Like all prospective immigrants to Ardagh 1, I’d been required to undergo both physical and psychological evaluations back on Earth. My counselor had expressed concern that I was running away—accepting a job far from home to make it impossible for me to take Peter back. I remembered the look on her face when I told her she was absolutely right, and that I didn’t see how it made any difference. As a Ph.D. candidate in psychology I’d had my fill of psychoanalysis. I’d wanted them to stamp my forehead and let me go.

  “What looks good, Elizabeth?”

  “Um…” I glanced from him to the waitress, who wore the long-suffering smile of forced tolerance that was a hallmark of her trade. “You said the salmon was good, right? I’ll have that.”

  “Two house specials, and”—he looked at me—“coffee?”

  I was only an occasional coffee drinker—though I consumed tea by the potful—but the heavy, nutty aroma of espresso was impossible to resist. “Cappuccino?”

  “Great idea—two cappuccinos. I think that’s it.”

  The waitress gave him a grateful smile and snatched up our menus. As she headed for the kitchen with our order, I saw a teenage boy seated against the wall near the doorway, arms folded around his sharp knees. Pale and almost skeletal, with dark depressions under his eyes, he tracked her with his gaze.

  It sent another shiver through me.

  “It’s okay to be afraid, Elizabeth.”

  My eyes snapped back to Murphy. Despite his lack of counseling background, he was having no trouble reading me.

  “It doesn’t matter how much they prepare you.” His expression was warm, and genuinely concerned. “It takes getting used to.”

  “I am anxious about it,” I admitted. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

  “Maybe I can help with that. Do you have an idea about the form it will take?”

  I shook my head. “I thought I would have it easy because no one close to me has died. But now I’m not so sure. The idea of a stranger following me around everywhere is pretty unsettling.”

  Murphy’s eyes hadn’t left my face. I fidgeted under the directness of his gaze. “It’s important to remember they’re all strangers. Aliens. In that sense, it doesn’t matter who it is. Any reaction, whether the face is familiar or not, is yours alone. It’s purely affective.”

  “You’re saying it’s all in my head,” I said wryly.

  He broke into a grin. “I suppose I am. Sorry.”

  “I do see what you’re saying, Dr. Murphy—Murphy. And I agree, to a point.” Fifteen minutes into getting to know my new supervisor and I was about to start arguing with him. “But they’re all different, with distinct personalities, right? Or at least with the same personality as the person they’re mimicking. An abusive, alcoholic husband is going to be much harder to deal with than an ancient, dotty grandmother.”

  “Absolutely. But keep in mind our new screening program weeds out anyone with a dead, abusive spouse, just like we weed out those who’ve lost young children. And no matter the ghost’s Myers-Briggs personality type, strict adherence to the protocol typically yields results in one to two weeks. At that point they’re all pretty much the same as what you see here.” He waved his hand at the room.

  We paused as the waitress delivered our lunch. I inhaled the steam coming off the plate and my stomach growled again. I took a bite of the egg/salmon/hollandaise mixture and experienced a moment of sensory ecstasy.

  “No wonder people stay here,” I murmured, watching a trickle of bright orange egg yolk.

  Murphy laughed. “I love being around new arrivals. Helps me remember not to take the good stuff for granted.”

  We exchanged few words as I wolfed down my lunch. The waitress brought our cappuccinos and cleared away the empty plates.

  “I wanted to ask you about Cliffside,” I began. “You said no one was hurt?”

  I watched the tiny spoon going around the rim of his cup as he replied, “Yes, we were lucky. Because of the instability here, all of our structures adhere to the strictest earthquake and severe weather standards. But the damage was pretty extensive.”

  I sipped my cappuccino and wiped foam from my mouth. “I understood the planet was geologically stable for several years before colonization began.”

  “That’s true. But we’ve seen some changes in the last year.”

  My hand shook a little as I set down my cup. I waited for him to go on.

  “I know they’re not talking about this at the academy,” he said gravely, “and my colleagues and I have made our views about that known. We don’t think people should come here without having all the facts. But here you are.”

  “I’m afraid you are frightening me now, Dr. Murphy.”

  His mouth relaxed into a smile. “Then I’ll preface the rest by saying I don’t believe we’re in any immediate danger. If something catastrophic were to happen, all colonies stand ready to evacuate. The changes I’m talking about have been, for the most part, gradual and subtle. Shifts in weather patterns, the occasional tremor. The more alarming aspects involve the ecology. We’ve seen accelerating rates of disease and decreasing fertility. Many of the specimens we’re sending back to Earth end up flushed into space, either dead or dying.” He sighed, rubbing at one side of his jaw. “It seems we no sooner got over our first major difficulty than we came right up against another.”

  I was beginning to view my reassignment to the larger colony in a new light. I had to admit I had romanticized the Cliffside residency, its remote location overlooking the sea. The facility there had been established for colonists who’d succumbed to depression, a sort of last attempt before sending them home. New Seattle gave me a sense of safety in numbers. And its proximity to a major transport hub didn’t hurt.

  “I’m guessing you’re thinking about transport s
chedules and return trips to Earth.”

  I glanced up, answering Murphy’s searching look with a smile. “Not yet.”

  “Well, if I can’t scare you away, no one can. Not even them.” Again his gesture indicated the ghosts, and I glanced at the window. I couldn’t see Murphy’s ghost anymore, but quite a crowd of them had gathered out there.

  “Do you mind me asking who she is?”

  Before he could answer, the waitress reappeared with our check. Murphy turned on his portable and aimed it at the payment scanner until it beeped acceptance.

  “Not at all. My Aunt Maeve. She died when I was a boy, and I honestly don’t remember her very well.” As he tucked his phone away he seemed to reconsider, and added, “I remember she smelled like roses.”

  A fond, very human detail. I couldn’t help asking, “Does she?”

  He looked to the window and back again, seeming startled. “You know, she does. I never thought of it until now. How strange.”

  Spooky, I would have said.

  Murphy picked up his sweater. “If you’re ready, I thought I’d take you to the counseling center so you can see where you’ll be working.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “We’ll also meet up with my colleague, Alexis Meng. It’s standard procedure for new arrivals to stay with someone until the ghost situation sorts out. It’s a buddy system we’ve worked out, and it does seem to help people adjust. No one expects you to work today, of course. Lex will take you to your flat and you can pick up some of your things.”

  As I was rising from the table, he came over to pull out my chair. I wondered how he’d come by such polite, antiquated manners.

  We made our way to the door, emerging from the sunny café into the drizzly gray reality of New Seattle.

  “It’s about five blocks,” he said. “Do you want to take the tram?”

  I cast a dubious glance at the nearest tram platform. “I’m fine walking if you are. To be honest, I’m easily motion sick.” Losing my lunch in my new supervisor’s lap was high on my list of the most horrifying things I could imagine happening at this point.

  “I prefer to walk, myself,” he agreed. “Not very gentlemanly to insist on it, though, is it?”

  We started together down the street. “Well, you are the boss.”

  Murphy groaned. “Let’s put a stop to that kind of thing right now. All of us at the center consider each other colleagues. We’re very informal here—you’ll see.”

  Though I appreciated the sentiment, I knew the reality. There was a pecking order in facilities like these, and as the new resident I was decidedly at the bottom.

  “One thing I’m curious about, Elizabeth. I read your profile. With your academic accomplishments you could have gone just about anywhere. What made you decide to come to Ardagh 1?”

  All of my family and friends had asked me this same question. Peter had asked me repeatedly—assuming, perhaps, that if he stuck with it I’d eventually give an answer he could understand.

  “Would you buy that I was trying to escape from my doctoral thesis?”

  Murphy laughed. “I would. Unfortunately for you I’m going to be hounding you about that.”

  “Terrific.” I cut my eyes at him. “Seriously, though—all of this is in my fitness evaluation. I assumed you would have read that too.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t consider that my business. Your relocation counselor will have access to that information, of course.”

  The knowledge that he wasn’t going to be counseling me came as a huge relief. He was too close to my own age. Too charming. Too good looking. And already reading me far too accurately as it was.

  “All right,” I said, with a sigh. “You know they send recruiters around to all the campuses.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, they give it the hard sell, and they play the ghost thing down as much as possible because they know people are freaked out by it. It’s like army recruiters focusing on exotic travel, or money for school, and glossing over the fact people may be shooting at you. I was really curious though, and I kept interrupting with questions.”

  “Oh?” Blushing at the mock surprise in his voice, I whacked his arm lightly with the back of my hand. Realizing he might interpret this as flirting, I blushed even deeper.

  “Anyway, I think the guy smelled blood in the water, and once he got me away from the others he was happy enough to talk to me. He shot a bunch of forms and brochures to my portable, and I applied to the academy that same day.”

  “You’re saying you came here because of the ghosts, not in spite of them.”

  I nodded. “They’re the first aliens we’ve ever encountered. I’m fascinated by the way they cling to us. The problems they’ve caused without even seeming to be aware of it. I want to understand why they do what they do.” I paused a moment, and when he didn’t reply right away, I added, “I know that’s not my purpose here—I have a job to do, and I assure you I’m committed to doing it. But I’m hoping to get approval to write my dissertation on your aliens.”

  As the creator of the Ghost Protocol, I knew I was taking a risk in telling him this. I worried he would view my curiosity as disrespectful to the hardships the colonists had suffered since the ghosts’ arrival.

  After chewing on my answer for a minute, he said, “I appreciate your candor, Elizabeth, and I admire your enthusiasm. If you do get approval for your thesis topic, I hope you’ll consider including me on your committee.”

  I beamed at him. Sometimes risks paid off. “I’d be thrilled to have you on my committee.”

  “You say so now. Wait until I start nagging you.” He winked at me, and my heart flopped over. A man that good looking, who also happened to be my supervisor, had no business doing such a thing.

  “Can I ask how you ended up here?”

  Murphy exchanged a nod and hello with a man who passed us, and I realized my attention had been so absorbed by our conversation I’d noticed little else around me.

  “Same as most people,” he replied. “I came here because I wanted something from the planet. The scientists see resources we need back on Earth. The contractors see money to be made. I thought that as a young postdoc I’d have an easier time making a name for myself where there was less competition.”

  His explanation was like me saying I came here to avoid writing my thesis. “Interesting. Now tell me the real reason.”

  He laughed. “I suppose I’m not as mercenary as that—yet. I met John Ardagh when he visited Trinity College. I found him incredibly bright and persuasive. He believes completely in Ecosystem Recovery, and he made me believe in it. I thought what a terrible waste it would be for the project to fail because of the psychological suffering caused by the ghosts, and John felt it was an area where I could make a contribution.”

  I stared at him. “You’re telling me John Ardagh personally recruited you.”

  Murphy stopped suddenly, and I drew up short too. He turned to glance behind him. I remembered that my ghost would be materializing any moment, and my gut tightened.

  “What is it?” I asked, scanning the people who passed us.

  Then I realized—no Aunt Maeve. Murphy’s ghost was nowhere in sight. I wondered about the fact he’d seemed to know she was missing before he turned to look.

  We both stood dumbly, continuing to scan the others around us.

  “Does this happen often?”

  Murphy shook his head. “Let’s go on. We’re almost to the counseling center.” We started walking again, but I couldn’t help peeking a couple more times over my shoulder.

  The New Seattle Counseling Center was several times the size of the modular, nearly identical structures lining the streets. These uniform buildings were what had earned the Ardagh 1 colonies the nickname “cities in a box”—the materials arrived on huge container transports, ready for assembly, and they went up almost overnight. The counseling center was the first building I’d seen constructed of what looked like local materials: massive wo
od beams still fragrant from cutting, and rounded river stones in every imaginable shade of gray and brown.

  We trotted up half a dozen steps and were passing through the glass doors when Murphy said, “We’ll be scanned by security just inside. I hate them being here, raising people’s anxiety level in a place where we want them to feel safe. But all new arrivals pass through here, and someone decided it was a good idea.”

  Thinking about the illicit-substance and weapons scans in all the airports and public buildings back home, I raised my eyebrows. “What’s it for?”

  “To get a sort of fingerprint on everyone,” he explained, walking through the doorframe-shaped scanner. “Just to make sure we know who’s who. They can’t do it at the transport terminal because no one has ghosts when they first arrive.”

  I followed him through the scanner, and a long beep sounded somewhere off to my left as I joined him inside. Murphy’s head jerked toward the sound. His eyes moved to the glass doors we’d just come through, and slowly back to me. He glanced at the security desk on our right.

  “Where is it?” Murphy called to the guard, whose fingers were flying over his keyboard. The guard’s ghost leaned against the wall behind him, little more than a shadow.

  The man stopped typing and looked up. “I’m sorry, Dr. Murphy?”

  “I heard the alert go off, but I don’t see her. My ghost, Simon,” Murphy added, growing impatient. “Do you see her?”

  The guard blinked at him a couple times. Then he cleared his throat. “She’s standing right next to you, Dr. Murphy.”

  A Dangerous Error

  Murphy looked at me, startled. He shook his head and walked over to the security desk.

  I turned halfway around, searching for the missing Aunt Maeve.

  Though the colonists were far from any real understanding of the aliens, Ardagh 1’s scientists had established that they were nearly identical to us physiologically. Only a specialized medical scan could reveal the differences in their insular cortex and limbic structures.

  So the security scan was identifying ghosts—creating a record to help keep track of who was and wasn’t human. I joined Murphy at the security desk, and the guard swung the display around so Murphy could see it.