The video’s sudden ending forced everyone to relive the image of Earth exploding as they were launched into space. Seeing another human being alive and talking was incredible, but when the video ended, this reality was cut short. She was just a dead ghost, talking from the past.
It was Captain Kriss who finally spoke. “What did the woman say?”
“She said that nuclear warheads had been dispatched by all Earth’s nations and the world was doomed. Then she said that she loved her family and bid them farewell,” said Sophi.
“What was the last thing she said?” asked Connie.
“It was a Russian proverb,” replied Sophi. “‘There is no evil without good.’”
“I guess the good out of that evil was this ship and its cargo,” Kriss said reverently.
*
The next two weeks were busy ones. Once everything movable was moved, the new hatch designed by Merc was closed. The captain ordered the giant split seam in the hull to be repaired so that no more bees could enter the ship. With the ship sealed, it was now preserved. Who knew? They just might need it one day, thought Connie as she rode her hover chair back to the colony, bringing up the rear as everyone marched back, carting the last of the ship’s supplies. Everything was taken to Engineering, where it would be sorted and categorized. There were medical supplies, scientific research equipment, and most importantly, freeze-dried food and much-needed seeds.
Glancing at the roomful of cargo, Connie knew this bounty would be invaluable to the crew’s survival. But the most important thing they needed wasn’t there: there was no gene sequencer on the smaller supply ship. We are doomed, she thought.
Libby walked into the room, looking distracted.
“Libby, come here,” said Connie. “Where have you been?”
“I was out exploring, Mimi.”
“Why weren’t you helping haul supplies back from the ship?”
“I did help, but there was nothing left to remove, so I went looking for new plants.”
“Did you find any?” quizzed Connie.
“No, instead I had a nap under the suns.”
“Very well. Go get cleaned up and then meet me in Med Bay. I want to do a blood test and a body scan to make sure you haven’t contracted some alien parasite. You seem to be acting more tired than usual lately.”
“But Mimi!”
“No buts. Get going and do as I say,” scolded Connie.
Pushing the joystick forward on her hover chair, Connie drifted towards Med Bay, her mind highly active. Was she just being overly protective of Libby, or did the Russian woman’s video have more to it than Sophi had let on?
When Libby finally showed up, Connie removed a syringe full of her blood for analysis and began doing a bio scan.
“Okay, honey, everything looks good. Now go get in bed,” said Connie. “I’ll be along shortly.”
Placing the collected blood sample in an analyzer, Connie programmed the machine for routine parameters and clicked the Start button. As the machine cycled, Connie ran through the woman’s speech in her head. The woman had indicated another ship was to be launched.
That was it! That was what had been nagging her. Was it successfully launched prior to the nuclear holocaust, and if so, was it crewed? Would they have human visitors soon? Would they be friendly or hostile?
The analyzer printed out Libby’s lab results. Scanning them rapidly, Connie was focused on her thoughts. If she hadn’t been distracted, she would have realized that Libby’s bloodwork wasn’t normal: in one column, a capital letter P was highlighted in red.
Chapter Eighty-One
Once a wheelbarrow full of rock had been dumped into the crusher, a mashing of gear-driven teeth pulverized it into a wet slurry from the release of the trapped moisture inside. As each rock exploded, it looked like a ripped-open bag of Sakrete falling from a fast-moving truck. Instantly the powder turned dark. This slurry was then piped to an ionic separator that titrated out the much-needed water for the colony. This was a grueling job, and everyone at the colony took turns.
Today Libby was pushing the wheelbarrow from the excavation site in the clearing to the crusher. It wasn’t far, but it was heavy work. Her face was red and she was sweating profusely. She hadn’t stopped for over an hour, and without warning, she got nauseated and threw up. How strange, she thought. Doing this job had never made her feel sick before. Grasping the barrel’s handles again, she pushed it to the crusher and dumped the load. Libby forced herself to keep working, even though she felt like she was going to throw up again.
The garden had a sprinkler system that irrigated each row, and it was pumped from a buried underground holding tank that was used to collect the titrated water. A solar-powered pump had just enough pressure to water one row at a time, and when it was done, a manual valve was switched to redirect the water to the next row.
It was Libby’s turn to do this job, but she felt exhausted and sat down, watching the water arc over the plants. The suns’ rays caught the moistened air just right and formed two rainbows, one from each sun, and they joined in the middle. It really was beautiful, and even though Libby had seen it happen many times before, it still fascinated her.
She pulled one of the water nozzles down to her mouth and eagerly drank. Its clear spray misted her face and cooled her down. Releasing the nozzle, she started to walk down the row to see if the soil was saturated enough, but before she had walked halfway, she got violently sick again.
The time she had been seen by Connie, who had come out to enjoy the double-rainbow spectacle. It was peaceful watching the gardens at this time of day. The water schedule still followed Earth time, once in the morning and once in the evening. Even though Alpha-64 had no morning or evening, this constant protocol had a calming effect. Seeing the rainbows also was comforting because it was a familiar sight that made this planet seem more like home.
“Libby, come here,” yelled Connie.
Libby was standing between two rows of corn, and all you could see were her feet between the stalks. Walking to the end of the row, Libby appeared.
“What is it, Mimi?”
“Are you sick, dear?”
“I feel terrible,” replied Libby.
“Why don’t you rotate out with someone and go back to our quarters and rest?”
“Okay,” Libby said weakly.
Connie watched the young woman walk away. It was strange to see her adopted daughter act this way. Libby normally was fearless and full of energy. But now she was dragging her feet.
Easing the joystick forward, Connie made her way to Med Bay and reread the blood analyzer report. She scanned each line. Everything appeared normal and in the ideal range of a healthy profile. Halfway down the report, her eyes caught the red letter P.
“That’s impossible,” she said out loud. “Libby can’t be pregnant.”
Grabbing the bio scanner, she plugged it into a monitor and downloaded Libby’s scan. This time she set it to a pregnancy check. It showed the whole scan performed by Connie, and when it got to the lower abdomen, it began to pulsate. It showed another heartbeat, one that was much faster than Libby’s.
“My god,” gasped Connie. “Libby is pregnant.”
In disbelief, Connie raced her hover chair to their quarters. How had she missed this? How could she have misread the blood analyzer printout? She was so intent on her questions that she almost rammed the stainless steel doors of their quarters.
Rushing into the room, she opened her mouth to speak, but Libby was fast asleep. She was lying on her side spooning Dozer. His eyes were open and he had an almost humanlike look that said, Don’t wake her up. It was hard for Connie not to yell out her questions, but Libby looked so peaceful, so she let her sleep.
She tried to figure out on her own how this could even be possible, but it was hopeless. No scenario she could think of could explain
the pregnancy. After an hour of waiting, Connie couldn’t stand it anymore and shook Libby by the shoulder until she opened her eyes.
“What is it, Mimi?”
“Get out of bed and let’s go for a little walk.”
The duo walked down the path that connected both clearings. Connie didn’t stop until they were on the crest of one of the mounds pushed up by the ice quake.
“Sit down, Libby.”
Libby sat down and stared up at Connie. “What’s wrong, Mimi?”
“I know why you are sick,” responded Connie. “What I don’t understand is how you got this way. You are pregnant, Libby.”
“I’m pregnant?”
“Both the blood test and the bio scan confirmed it. I had misread them both and didn’t realize my mistake until I saw you get sick today in the garden,” said Connie. “How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Get pregnant,” said Connie intently.
“I don’t know, Mimi,” Libby said defensively.
“Well, think about it. What have you been doing that you don’t normally do?”
Libby got a scared look on her face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m not mad at you. I just need to know. The life of our entire colony depends on us getting male DNA so we don’t become extinct. I am the chief science officer and I can’t come up with a solution, and here you, the youngest member of our colony, have found a way. It’s a miracle, and I am desperate to find out how you did it.”
Reluctantly Libby told Connie about her periods and her hormonal changes, and with a bit of prodding, she shyly described the hunger that she had experienced and how she had begun to experiment with herself. Even though it was embarrassing for Libby, the chief science officer made her recollect each time and describe it in detail.
Nothing Libby described doing explained the cause of the pregnancy, and Connie began to get irritated.
“Libby, please tell me everything. Have you ever used anything to pleasure yourself besides your own finger?”
A look of utter horror crossed Libby’s face and she stared at the ground.
Connie pulled up on Libby’s chin so she could look directly into Libby’s eyes. They had fear in them, but Connie’s were filled with love.
“Oh, Mimi, it was a dark plant, and I was curious, and I rubbed it on my belly, and . . .”
Slowly, the story came out. Bending down, Connie kissed Libby on her forehead. Libby put her arms around Connie and they stayed holding each other for a long time, tears flowing down their faces.
“Okay, baby, let’s get back to the colony. I think we have an important announcement to make.”
*
Within twenty minutes, the Great Hall was filled with the crew. Connie was seated behind the mic at the front of the room.
“Everyone, I have something important to say. The gene sequencer was destroyed in the ice quake, and I have hidden this from you up until now,” said Connie. “Without it, I can’t map Felix’s genetic code and clone him, which means humankind is doomed to die.”
Gasps of dismay emanated from around the room. Speaking loudly into the mic, Connie drowned out the crew’s voices.
“Captain, you commanded me to think outside the box and solve this problem. Well, I have. Libby is pregnant.”
This startling revelation visibly shook everyone. Connie tried to explain, but the truth seemed so farfetched that eventually the crowd started to mock her. One woman even yelled out that Connie must have a secret supply of frozen semen and had chosen Libby to be the lucky one since Libby was her adopted daughter.
In dismay, Connie bowed her head and slumped forward in her chair. She gave up trying to defend herself.
It was Libby who finally came to her rescue. Running up to the mic, her high-pitched scream echoed throughout the room’s speakers, and everyone froze.
She told them about the plant, and how she would show it to them; then they would have to believe her story.
Libby stomped out of the room and everyone followed, like a line of human ants. When they finally got to the spot Libby had described, she looked frantically for the plant, but it had vanished.
With increased urgency she searched, but the plant was gone. With a cry of defeat, Libby began to sob. The crew was standing in a circle around the young woman. No one believed the story, but no one deep down thought she was lying, either.
Clearing her throat, Kriss broke the silence. “Well, ladies, I asked the chief science officer to come up with a solution, and whether you like it or not, she did. Instead of this being a witch hunt, I think we should be rejoicing. We have a baby on the way. The human race finally has a chance at life again. Instead of grumbling, I command you all to be goddamn happy. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” everyone yelled back.
“Good,” barked Kriss. “Now let’s pick a name for our baby. Any suggestions?”
Before anyone could answer, Libby stood up. “The baby’s name will be Hope.”
Chapter Eighty-Two
Waking up suddenly, Leea sat upright. She had been dreaming again. Unfortunately, her dream had been interrupted, and with it, her happiness. The reality of being on this planet one more day in exile was like waking up in a cell. Sure, it wasn’t six feet square like an actual cell, but it still felt the same.
Ever since they had escaped from the colony nine and a half months ago, the trio had been alone, with nothing to do but exist, and nothing to see but the green foliage of the jungled canopy. There weren’t any cheerful birds to wake up to, and no soothing crickets to fall asleep to. Only the occasional tremor or vibration, which always caused the group to feel fear.
At first they carried the two stolen bolt guns with them everywhere. After a while, they left them at camp. They never saw anything threatening.
The first two days after they had escaped, the drone had followed them. The signal from their implanted RFID chips meant that they could be found anywhere at any time. It was at Jade’s suggestion that they attempted to remove them from their hands. No one wanted to go first, so they drew names. Whoever drew a name had the job of cutting the chip out of the named one’s hand. Using the machete stolen from Engineering, they sharpened a fibrous plant into a needle. Puncturing the skin over the swelling of the embedded chip, the improvised needle was pushed in until the tip contacted the rice-sized device. Pulling the needle out, the tissue was squeezed around the wound, trying to force the chip out. If it didn’t come out, the needle was reinserted to make the opening larger.
No one had any medical experience, so it took awhile. They all bled and cried out in pain, but eventually they succeeded and removed all three chips. Now all that was left was a small white scar on the back of their hands.
It took them several weeks to find the place they now called home. Located three miles from the colony, they had stumbled upon it by accident while exploring. A giant, treelike plant had a split on one side. The opening was large enough that you could stick your head in. When Brooke did, she was amazed. The interior of the plant was hollow. It wasn’t black inside as she had expected. Instead, the outer skin was transparent, allowing the suns’ light to pass through. Hacking the opening larger with the machete, Brooke finally was able to make her way in. Not to be outdone, the other women climbed in as well.
Looking around in amazement, Leea said, “Welcome to our new house, ladies.”
It took them awhile, but they eventually made it into a three-story tree house. The first level was at the surface and used for storage and cooking fires. The second level was where they slept. The third level was for observation only. They had woven a rope ladder out of vines, and it hung from the third level to the floor. Four holes had been hacked in the plant’s trunk, which allowed viewing in all four directions. They had attached floors on each level with vines fastened to the trunk like
a spider’s web.
At night, even though it wasn’t dark, they would climb up on their suspended floor and look at the clearing of the colony in the distance through one of the observation holes. This was the only time they could see out of the canopied jungle. Sometimes they would see a light or flash of glass reflecting from the suns.
Looking down from the second level, Leea saw that their fire was almost out. Its red smoke was gently spiraling up over her head towards the third level; the plant was their home and chimney all in one. The first time they had started a fire, the bright red smoke had startled the women. It was so unusual. The smoke didn’t make your eyes water like it would on Earth, and it didn’t make you cough when you breathed it in.
At first they had nothing to light a fire with. But, when they’d observed the colony moving supplies from the Russian-Chinese Alliance’s ship, everything changed. While the crew slept, the trio stole everything they could from the newly discovered ship: seeds, freeze-dried food, medical supplies, tools, clothing, and matches.
They had to continually dig up the jungle around their tree to unearth rocks that they cracked open with the stolen Engineering hammer. As this small clearing grew in size, they became efficient at drying the dug-up plants for their fire, extracting the water from the buried rocks, and planting a garden with the seeds in the freshly cultivated soil.
During the day it was a constant chore just to survive. As their garden grew in size, so did its watering needs, which meant more work harvesting rocks. Soon the women’s hands and feet were stained red from the claylike soil. They didn’t have enough water to bathe with, so they went without.
As the months slowly passed, so did their happiness. Being free had been exhilarating at first, but then this freedom turned into torture. They imagined eating one of Spuds’s meals and having water to bathe in and a bed with sheets. One night, while the Chinese stew bubbled in its pot over the fire, the tension broke.
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