by Claire Buss
'I can confirm that a Corporation security officer escorted me from the premises. I do not know how long there has been a Corp presence in the city. It could have been a spare uniform dug out to inspire confidence. I believe Sean and the rest of them are too short-sighted to see how dangerous it is to invite Corporation back into the city without any kind of accord drawn up. I think we have to assume that Sean is a Corper, through and through.'
There was murmured ascent through the group watching.
'Have you seen the sweeps?'
Kira nodded and then realised that Martha might not be able to see her on the edge of the vid comm screen. 'We've seen the sweeps,' she said. 'Or some of them anyway. Martha - they're accusing you of stealing a child.'
'I know.'
'Well... did you?'
'Of course not.' She paused. 'Technically yes, but I had good reason.' Martha turned to focus directly on Jed. 'I found Pete and Ingrid's child.'
The colour drained from Jed's face and he would've dropped the vid comm if Ash hadn't reacted quickly and caught it. There was a scrambled moment of connection as the link dipped and then re-established itself. Kira tried to get Jed's attention to see if he was alright but he appeared unresponsive. Dina tugged her sleeve.
'Can you believe this?' she whispered.
Kira shook her head in bewilderment. This was huge. The baby survived. Somehow survived. And had been left in the growth lab all this time. Why didn't anybody know?
'How do you know?' Jed's voice sounded wooden, unemotional.
'We opened your NanNan and ran a DNA test. I accessed your personal records. I apologise but I needed to be sure.'
Jed cocked his head to one side, unable to process the information. After a moment he shook his head. 'I just need...' he began to speak but faltered and walked away. Kira took a half step after him but stopped, unsure if she should intrude.
'I'll go with him,' Max said and followed Jed who stumbled a little in his shock. Kira moved closer to the comms screen.
'Who else knows about this, Ma?' she asked.
'Ruth and your mother. I needed some help here.'
'Of course - three children...' but before Kira could finish Martha interrupted her.
'It's not just that. Kira... Ruth... she took an overdose.' Martha's voice broke as she spoke the words.
'She didn't?' whispered Dina.
'Is she... did she...?' Kira couldn't bring herself to ask.
'She's fine. Well, no, she's not fine. She's a mess but she is alive. I want to send her, your parents and the children out to Camp Eden. I need you to stay there, for your safety but also to keep you out of whatever is happening here in the city. It's not safe for us - again. I don't want to put anyone at risk.'
'What about you?' Dina realised Martha hadn't included herself in that plan. 'Are you intending to stay in the city? They're going to crucify you for everything that has gone wrong, is going wrong. That's not fair!'
'They're going to do that anyway, Dina. At least this way I can try and gather some loyal supporters and protect the rights of the citizens of City 42 as best I can.'
'But Martha...'
'It's okay. I'm counting on you to find us the help we need.'
'Me?'
'All of you. Kira, you still have plans for the nearest cities in the area don't you?' asked Martha.
'Yes. But why...?' Kira frowned then answered her own question. 'Oh, you want us to try and establish contact somewhere else.'
'Yes, I do. And this is where I think you should go,' said Martha as she outlined her plan.
Chapter 16
'Jed, are you alright?' Kira had gone to find her husband. She smiled gratefully at Max who dipped his head and went back to Dina and the last of the hot tea. 'Jed?' Kira called his name again.
He turned his face to look at her.
'Can you believe it? I mean, it's something I hoped for. I could never accept that the doctors would terminate a new life like that. It felt so wrong. Something that even Corporation couldn't do. And I was right. I was right, Kira. My nephew - he's alive!' Jed smiled crookedly at her. He was obviously still fighting the grief of losing his sister and best friend but now at least he had some family back. He clutched her arm. 'Do you think he can, I mean, would he... should he come and live with us? Do you think?'
Kira shook her head, unsure. 'I don't know, love. I don't know who the legal guardian would be. It might be your mother.'
'Oh, no.' Jed shook his head. 'Oh no, no, no. She can't raise him. She doesn't raise children well.'
'She didn't do such a bad job with you.'
Jed barked a laugh and then went for his handheld. 'I have to talk to her.'
Kira stopped him. 'You can't, love. Not yet. We need you to come back to the conversation, Martha has some ideas. You need to listen.'
Jed looked at her, not understanding at first and then remembering everything that had happened. It was difficult to focus, he still felt giddy at the good news. 'Right. Yes. What happens next. Of course. Come on, then.' He took his wife's hand and together they walked back to the others.
'Jed.' Martha sounded relieved when she saw him. 'Are you alright?'
He nodded. 'Can we see him? My nephew?'
Martha shook her head.
'He's asleep I'm afraid and you probably ought to speak to your mother. She's not happy about the current situation,' Martha said. 'I'm trying to find out the legal standpoint but nothing like this has ever happened before and I only have access to limited resources.'
'I want him with us. With Kira and me and Grace. I'll deal with my mother.' Jed was emphatic.
'Okay. Good. Now, listen. This is what I think we should do. I will send the children, Kira's parents and Ruth out to you guys at Camp Eden. Max, is the camp secure? I mean, do you have the resources to keep the children safe?' Martha asked.
Max ran his hands through his hair. 'Well, we have enough space and we can feed them no problem. But this isn't a military camp, Martha. We don't have weapons or anything like that.'
'No, I didn't think you would have. Jed, I've been in touch with Chief Minkov. He is sending out the rest of your militia team, fully equipped with all their gear and vehicles.'
Kira interrupted. 'Won't that leave the city exposed?'
'Corporation are already here, Kira. Besides the chief feels the rest of the Force operatives he has are still loyal to the shield and will do their best to protect citizen rights. They have their own riot gear and supplies. We will keep the citizens safe.'
'So you're definitely not coming?' asked Jed.
'I need to stay here. If nothing else I need to keep attention away from you and try to prevent Corporation dismantling everything we've worked so hard to achieve. I still have friends. I won't be alone.' She leaned into the vidcom. 'Look after Lucas, won't you?'
'Ma! Of course we will and we'll all see each other soon.' Kira replied, eyes shining.
'What's our next move?' Jed asked. 'I assume you are not sending the rest of my team out here to sit on our hands?'
'No. I want you to try and make contact with another city.'
'Which one?' Jed was intrigued.
'As I told the others, I've been thinking about that,' said Martha. 'We should probably split our focus and send one team to City 9 by the coast. I know it's a Corporation stronghold but they may have access to additional transportation and information about what's beyond our country. If we've started to heal, there's a chance the rest of the world has too. We can then send a second team into the mountains to find City 36. Corporation might not be that far north.'
'What about what happened in City 15?' asked Jed.
'We can't let that stop us from finding out more information. We need to know if Corporation rules everywhere in our country and whether they have a presence abroad. We need to know for sure who was behind City 15. We can't let the death of all those people be in vain. The rest of the cities - if they still exist - have to know that this kind of corruption cannot be allow
ed to rule our lives, and our children's lives. We have to try.' Martha waited to see what her friends would say.
Jed nodded in agreement. 'I'll wait until the rest of my team gets here and then we'll decide who goes where. Are your comms secure?'
'They are for now. Ash and I set up an enclosed comms ring a while back. It should be untraceable.'
'Who do you have to help you, Martha?' Kira asked in concern.
'Ben is dropping by.'
'Ben? I don't think that's a good idea,' said Jed.
'You may be right, Jed, but at the very least he knows how to stay under the radar and that is something we all need to do. Look, I have to go, the children...' Martha looked away from the console for a moment. 'They'll be with you tomorrow morning. Take good care of them.' And she signed off, not letting anyone respond to her final words.
The group drifted away to chat amongst themselves and digest the news leaving Kira and Jed alone.
'I'd better sort out the operatives. Are you alright with Grace?' Jed asked.
'Yes, I can manage. Come and find me when you're done.' Kira gave him a quick kiss and took Grace back to the cohabitation tent. She had just put Grace down for the night when the others came back and made themselves comfortable on the other side of the sleeping area. Jed's team had decided to make camp on the other side of the clearing and use their pods, so it wasn't too crowded in the tent.
'Kira? You all done?' Jed asked quietly.
She nodded and came with him to sit with the rest of them, casting a quick glance back at Grace's cube. The baby was already fast asleep.
'We need to know about these two cities Martha wants us to try and communicate with. Did you happen to download the details before you left 42?' Jed asked his wife.
'Of course I did. I can forward the full files over to your handhelds but I can give you you a brief outline now if you like.'
'Yes please.'
'City 9 is based on the southern coastline of the country. It's where a lot of trade and travel used to occur, before The Event I mean, so the infrastructure for water transport should still be available.'
'Will there be boats?' Dina's eyes sparkled in excitement.
'I don't know, maybe. But the real problem will be finding someone who knows how to operate them. It's one of the lost skills unfortunately. Anyway, City 9 have, or had, different technology to us, they were originally working on cleaning the seawater - I don't know how badly the HER weapons affected the ocean. Or to what extent marine life was afflicted. The rising sea temperatures have of course changed the entire ecosystem. It's mainly jellyfish in that region, or at least it was.'
'Jellyfish eh, bet they make you feel wobbly,' joked Max.
Dina poked him in the arm as the others rolled their eyes. 'I think they are edible,' she said. 'If prepared correctly. It's something else to try, I guess.' However breezy she sounded, Dina didn't look convinced.
'What do we know about the Corporation presence in City 9?' Jed asked.
'It's a Corp controlled city so I expect they will be everywhere. From the reports Archive had, City 9 has more tech than we do but otherwise standard Corporation stuff. I'd be surprised if Corporation didn't have all the coastal regions under their control to be honest. One thing we can hope is that they haven't treated their water supply the way they did in 42. We might see natural reproduction in action.'
There was a brief silence as the group digested the information Kira shared.
'What about 36 then, up in the mountains?' asked Max.
'That is in completely the other direction. If you consider the entire map of our island, the two cities couldn't be further apart. It will take us at least a day and a half to travel up there. Not knowing what the travel routes are like, of course.'
'It seems like it's in the middle of nowhere,' Dina commented as she looked at the map on her handheld. 'Why would they establish a city up there?'
'It sort of is but that could work well in our favour,' replied Kira. 'The citizens of 36 are more likely to be self-reliant and I think there's a greater chance for them to be out from under the rule of Corporation. It would have been difficult to resupply up there initially so their technology is either state of the art or incredibly basic. They might have rediscovered some of the old trades and industries. It's definitely where I'd go if I was looking for a safe place away from Corporation. I think 9 puts us close to potential trade routes which, let's face it, Corporation will be all over.'
'Oh, I wanted to see the jellyfish,' Dina said wistfully.
'Kira, make sure you send everyone the full reports for both cities, please.' Jed looked around at the group. 'I want everyone to have read them by tomorrow morning. I think the best thing to do is to split into teams and cover both our bases but I want to make sure we have all the facts before we make any kind of decisions.'
Kira nodded and began tapping out instructions on her handheld. It wouldn't take long to transfer the info parcels to the others.
Later that evening, when everyone was absorbed in reading about cities 9 and 36, Kira discussed Jed's idea with him.
'Do you really think we should split up? After what we saw in 15? Surely safety in numbers is the way to go.'
'I think we need answers and fast,' replied Jed. 'If the chief is sending the rest of my team out here then we will have ample numbers of operatives to run two missions plus extra skimmers and supplies. We ought to try and get as much intel as possible. And splitting up our expertise base makes sense as well.' He smiled at his wife. 'It seems pointless to send an experienced anthropologist such as yourself to a sea port to eat jellyfish and two biologists up to the mountains to carry out research on what may be a tribe of people adapted to a completely different way of life.'
Kira gave him a huge hug. 'Then we are going to 36?'
'More than likely, love. More than likely.' Jed paused. 'Look, if your parents are coming here, will you leave Grace with them so she can stay here, at Camp Eden?'
Kira frowned and glanced at the nearby cube. 'I don't know. We could be gone a week or longer. My gut says she'll be safer if she's with us. And Jed, don't forget, Mum's not well. She can't have much medication left.' Her voice changed, becoming urgent and low. 'We should take her with us, use her condition as a bargaining chip for medication.'
'Yes, but, if it's Corporation medication we're after, she may be better off travelling to 9 with Dina and Max.'
Kira was silent.
'Hey, don't worry, everything will work out - you'll see. We'll find some meds for your mum, and a safe place for the children, and us, to live.' He checked his wristplant. 'It's getting late, we'd better get some rest. Everyone will be here in the morning and I need to report to Martha first thing with our plan.'
Kira nodded, hugged her husband and went to curl up on the camp bed, next to Grace's cube. She didn't think she would be able to sleep a wink but within minutes she had drifted away, imagining what the people of 36 would be like and whether they'd share their way of life with the rest of them.
Jed was pleased. It seemed to him that a workable plan was beginning to come together. It was a shame to have to split everyone up but it made sense to send the expertise where it could be used effectively. Max and Dina would be alright. If 9 was all Corper, they'd be able to blend in, more or less, and their scientific skills might even gain them access to whatever research or plans Corporation was working on. The more he thought about it, the more Jed realised that they had no idea whether Corporation was a worldwide entity or whether it just held sway on their island. Travelling to a coastal city would more than likely provide that information. Or at least a few clues to what lay beyond the ocean.
Corporation had taught them that there had been fifty cities established around the globe after The Event. Cities where the remains of the human population had been sent to survive and re-establish themselves but after everything that had happened recently, Jed had a hard time believing that to be the whole truth. What if there were competing organisatio
ns? What if there were more people, more cities? More soberly, what if there were less? Jed couldn't believe that 42 was it, now that 15 was gone. Half of him hoped that they never came up against the power behind that mass execution whilst the other half was desperate to fight back in retaliation. No-one should have that kind of power or think they had the justification to wipe out a city on a whim. No-one.
Chapter 17
C42N: What will Hamble do now? Join the conversation in social hub beta.
FORCE: We are merging with Corp Security. The safety of City 42 citizens is paramount.
ANON17: Why isn't the team back from City 15 yet? What are they trying to hide?
GJENK: Hamble did not 'snatch' the baby-lab child. It is my grandson. My son will become legal guardian.
MSCHILD: How do we know GJENK is telling the truth? That baby died in Corp Tech tragedy.
CORPTECH2: We are thrilled to hear of another survivor.
SMAC: The Governor Office can confirm the child in the baby-lab did belong to Ingrid Jenkins and Pete Barnes. We extend our sympathies for the mix-up in placement.
Martha was trying to pack. She knew that Lucas was going to be in safe hands but her heart hurt at the thought of sending him away.
'Am I doing the right thing?' She asked Jean as she tried to fold clothes and not bawl her eyes out.
'Martha, my lovely, come on. Don't get yourself into such a state. You don't have to do this you know, love. You could just leave them all to it. There's no reason for you to stay here.' Jean rubbed Martha gently on the back.
'I have to. I promised my Father I would look after the citizens of City 42.' Martha turned to look at Jean. 'I haven't done a very good job so far, have I?'
'You did an excellent job. You uncovered the water treatment and you found us a safe, clean alternative. You sorted out all that mess after Corp Tech was destroyed. You even found the little boy - who we need a name for by the way. We can't keep calling him the boy. Have you had any thoughts?'
