The Gaia Project

by Claire Buss

  'I'm not sure it's my place...'

  'Peter, I think we should call him Peter,' Jean interrupted. 'I'll tell Gretchen. I see she swept about it - good of her. I'm surprised she hasn't decided she's coming with us but her lot are all tied into Corporation and if they're back in town then she'll do well out of it I expect.'

  'She knows we're going to Camp Eden?'

  'Not as such, but she's knows we're going to go meet Jed, introduce him to his nephew. I had to say something, love. She was hell bent on taking that child, Peter, with her when she left. If I hadn't had my Malcolm to back me up, I dread to think what would've happened.'

  Martha couldn't help smiling at that. Jean was a dynamo, a real force of nature, whereas Kira's dad was one of the gentlest, softly spoken men she'd ever come across.

  'Now look, you listen to me. I say you come with us. Think about the realities here, Martha. You're a young girl, a young mother for goodness sake. It won't do your Lucas any good to be away from you for an extended period of time. I mean, did you hear about that girl over on 7th? She left her one with the NanNan exclusively so she could carry on gadding about like a mad thing and in the end the child wanted nothing to do with her. They emancipated themself. Do you remember that? How that girl ever got a baby from the lottery I'll never know but I guess that was Corporation for you.'

  Martha hadn't heard that one but there were plenty of stories like it. People who were so ill-equipped for the role of parenthood that they relied too heavily on the available tech and their children were total corpers and tech heads.

  It all works in Corporations' favour she thought. She couldn't imagine Lucas growing up without her. Martha picked up a jumpsuit and began refolding it for the tenth time. Should she stay and be the voice for the people? She felt confused, the more she considered Jean's words, the more she realised that her son had to come first.

  'Besides, we need you to help Ruth out of this black hole she's got herself into. She'll listen to you,' remarked Jean.

  'I'm not sure about that,' replied Martha, guilt flickering in her stomach. 'I didn't even know she was struggling. And she hasn't been told about City 15 yet. How is she going to react to that?'

  'I don't know, love. But she needs to be told. She can't keep ignoring Sarah forever, especially now the little one will never meet her father. We've got to surround Ruth with love and help her through whatever it is she's struggling with, that's all there is to it.'

  Martha put down the clothes she had been folding and unfolding.

  'You're absolutely right, Jean. Lucas needs me and so does Ruth. There's nothing I can do here, apart from become the target practice for everything Corporation want to blame on me. It's clear they intend to take back the city and if all my family have left then I'm only staying to be a martyr.'

  'Your father wouldn't have wanted that for you, love. He sent you to Eden before, didn't he?'

  Martha nodded, thinking fondly of her father's gruffness. The door pinged, surprising both women.

  'Are you expecting anyone, dear?' asked Jean.

  'I don't think so... oh, it's probably Ben.' Martha hurried to key open the door. Sure enough, Jed's cousin Ben sauntered into the flat. He grinned widely when he saw Jean, she was his Aunty by marriage and much loved.

  'Lo, Auntie. I didn't know you'd be here. I brought these for Kira to pass on to you.' He reached round to the satchel slung across his body and took out a large bag of medical supplies.

  Jean held out a hand for the bag and looked inside. For once she was lost for words. She crushed the bag shut and pressed it to her chest, smiling at Ben, eyes shining brightly.

  'What is it?' asked Martha.

  'Auntie's medicine. Or at least as much as I could find. I figured once you lot get out to Eden the scientists out there might be able to replicate it or something.'

  'That's so good of you, Ben. Thank you.'

  'Well, I got to look after my family right? I hear you've been busy, Martha. Stealing babies, upsetting things.'

  Martha replied hotly. 'I did NOT steal a baby. I'll have you know that Peter belongs with us and I am only bringing him to his real family.' Then she flushed as she realised Ben was teasing her. 'Do you want to meet him? I think he must be a second cousin or something to you.'

  Ben nodded and followed Martha over to the play cube where the three little ones were happily playing together.

  'He looks like Pete, don't he?' Ben said softly. 'Except for them eyes, those are Ingrid's eyes.' He sniffed rather loudly then reached into his satchel again pulling out a couple of handhelds. 'These are for you. They're encrypted so they won't show up on Corp's radar but use them sparingly to get in touch with me. I'm being watched.' He jerked a head towards the pile of packed bags. 'You going too?'

  Martha nodded. 'Why don't you come with us?'

  'To the middle of the jungle with a load of rug-rats? Not my style, Martha. Besides you might need an inside man.'

  'You will be careful, won't you?'

  'Model citizen I am, they got nothing on me. Besides, working for Chief Minkov now, ain't I? So I got a bit of muscle behind me if anything goes wrong.'

  That was a surprise to Martha, she had always thought the chief had little or no time for Ben after he had been exposed as an active Anti-Corp member in the wake of the terrorist attack on Corp Tech. Clearly the two men had moved on. However, Force was now out of favour as well.

  'Watch out for Corporation, Ben. They're after Minkov too. We'll be in touch, let you know how we get on. You can always come and join us later, if you want to?'

  He nodded, looked like he was going to hug her then decided against it. Instead he planted a kiss on his Auntie's cheek and called out a goodbye to everyone.

  Martha watched him leave then gave herself a little shake. She needed to pack the rest of her things now, Jean was right. She couldn't do anything here, she'd tried her best. What she needed to do was find a safe place for herself, her child and her friends. She tried to ignore the growing fear that whatever had wiped out City 15 was coming for them next.

  Ruth sat motionless in her room. There was hustle and bustle around her as Kira's mum packed up her life for her. She watched dispassionately. There wasn't much here anyway. Mostly baby things and most of those had been Martha getting over excited and buying two of everything. Sarah was in the front room. Ruth knew she should feel a twinge of guilt over abandoning the children's care the other day but she didn't feel anything. Apart from empty. She couldn't see the point in travelling out to Camp Eden. If Corporation had returned to the city, it wouldn't take them long to travel out to Eden and bring everyone back under control. Living under their regime would be simpler. She could pass Sarah off to a NanNan and get some faceless job somewhere. Jacking in whenever she wanted any kind of distraction and keeping her friends virtual. Then she wouldn't have to hear people whispering or catch their looks of pity.

  Anger stirred in the pit of her stomach momentarily but her apathy took over. There wasn't any point. Ruth realised that Jean was stood in front of her, holding things in her hands.

  'Whatever you think is best, Jean. I don't care.' And with that Ruth lay down and rolled over, her back to the room and to the lady who was trying to help. Jean tutted and went to find Martha.

  'We need to do something about that girl, Martha. She's not coping well. I think we ought to keep Sarah safely away for now; although maybe that's the worst thing to do. I wonder if we should put the two of them together in a room and see what happens. I can't say I can abide a baby crying at all hours. There's no need for that. Not when we have so many hands available. It costs nothing for a hug and it does you the world of good.'

  Martha let Jean ramble on. She was worried about Ruth and felt intensely guilty that she hadn't noticed the signs prior to Ruth's suicide attempt. A change of scenery might do her some good. Perhaps Gaia would visit her out in Camp Eden. City 42 didn't feel like a very spiritual place at the moment. The sweeps were full of derogatory comments aimed at Ma
rtha and the people who had supported her in office, which included Ruth. A lot of those people had also stepped down. What kind of lives would they now live? Martha supposed the most politically agile would hang on to the coat tails of the next rising star, which seemed to be Sean.

  Gretchen had at least smoothed over the baby-snatching by sweeping that the child was her grandson and he would be going into care with Kira and Jed. There was surprisingly little commentary on the revelation that the baby belonged to Ingrid, that his apparent death had been the spark that began the revolution. Martha supposed that was because Corporation were extending their influence over the sweeps again. The whole business exhausted her. Now that she'd made the decision to leave, she just wanted to leave.

  The door pinged. It was a member of the City Guard, one of Jed's operatives he'd left behind and who would be travelling with them to Camp Eden. 'The skimmer is ready for you, Ma'am er, Ms Hamble.'

  'Thank you. We'll be down shortly.' She smiled at the young woman and went to get the children. With Martha carrying Lucas and Sarah, Jean took Peter and Malcolm piled all the bags onto a hover transport to take them down to the skimmer. It just remained to get Ruth moving and out of the door.

  Jean had finished packing for Ruth and was busy directing her husband in the best way to stack the various bags. Martha shook Ruth's shoulder as she lay on the bed, facing away from the room.

  'It's time to go.'

  There was no response.

  'Ruth, come on. It's time to leave. You don't have to do anything, just come with us.' Still no response. Martha walked around to the other side of the bed and saw her friend staring off into nothing, breathing but otherwise showing no sign of life whatsoever. 'I know you can hear me. You better get your arse up and out of that bed. We are not leaving you behind no matter how pathetic you think you have become. One day soon you'll realise you're being a complete and utter idiot and then you can apologise, but for now, get up and get out of that door.' Martha ended up shouting which of course upset the two little ones in her arms but it also made Ruth's eyes widen in surprise as she got up and woodenly walked out of the door.

  'Alright, dear?' Jean asked.

  'Let's go,' Martha replied tightly, trying to soothe the children she was carrying whilst bristling in anger that Ruth was allowed to give up like that. Not on her watch.

  There were two skimmers waiting for them, down at pavement level. It took two trips to bring down all the luggage and equipment. They left the NanNan behind. Martha felt that Kira and Jed wouldn't look too favourably upon the robot being used in Camp Eden and she hoped that all the childcare wouldn't fall firmly on her shoulders. Just because she was no longer governor did not mean she had a burning desire to become governess to four children. Malcolm got in with the luggage while the women and children took the second skimmer. They were both armoured, both had tinted windows and both had armed guards. Clearly Jed's team were taking no risks. Not that Martha was expecting any trouble. No-one, apart from Ben and Chief Minkov, knew they were leaving the city and she was certain the chief was loyal to the citizens of 42 and had no connections or ties to Corporation whatsoever. He was a good man and reminded her of her late father. She wished she could have spent longer getting to know him or at least had the chance to say goodbye properly.

  The skimmers finally left the building and began their journey out of the city. They attracted little attention and without the force-field in place were able to leave freely and travel onwards to Camp Eden. No-one in the skimmers noticed the lone spy drone watching and recording them leaving.

  MSCHILD: Why is Hamble leaving the city? So what if GJENK said she could have the child. Are there no laws?

  ANON17: Let them go. We don't need them. 42 is better off without them.

  NEWCORP: Thank you for welcoming New Corporation. City 15 has ceased to operate. New Corporation looks forward to making City 42 great again.

  C42N: This sweep channel has been deactivated.

  ANON40: What happened to City 15?

  CORPSECURITY: We will now replace FORCE for all your safety & security needs. Same location, new team. We will protect & serve City 42.

  FORCE: This sweep channel has been deactivated.

  ANON40: Seriously - what happened to City 15?

  ANON40: This sweep channel has been deactivated.

  SMAC: The sweeps are experiencing a few technical difficulties. Nothing to worry about.

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM 7421 TO NEW CORP

  >>They've left the city. Hamble and Maddocks, the children and some ex-Force Operatives loyal to Jenkins. Do you want me to pursue?<<

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM NEW CORP TO 7421

  >>I AM AWARE OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE. WHY DID YOU NOT REACTIVATE THE FORCEFIELD?<<

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM 7421 TO NEW CORP

  >>It was the next item on the list - I'm sorry, I've been dealing with the sweep accounts. And anyway, where would they go? You can track them, can't you? Bring them back.<<

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM NEW CORP TO 7421

  >>WE ARE WATCHING EVERYTHING. I WILL DEAL WITH THE NON-CONFORMERS IN DUE COURSE. REMOVE MINKOV FROM OFFICE. BEGIN ROLLING OUT THE NEURAL IMPLANTS<<

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM 7421 TO NEW CORP

  >>Already? The infrastructure isn't in place for the implants. Corp Tech has still not been properly reformed - maybe we should wait a while, get the medical supply situation under control?<<

  ENCRYPTED MESSAGE FROM NEW CORP TO 7421

  >>YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS. EVERYTHING ELSE WILL BE DEALT WITH<<

  Chapter 18

  'Ma! You made it. Have you come to see us off?' Dina was delighted to see Martha at Camp Eden.

  'No. I'm here to join you,' replied Martha as she watched Kira run to hug her parents.

  'Join us? That's amazing! Which city do you want to go to?'

  Martha shrugged. She'd been so focused on getting to Camp Eden, she hadn't thought about the new mission to reach out to other cities. After Ben had warned her about using the comms links she hadn't checked in with Jed but they could work out the detailed plan of action now everyone was here. She looked down at the little boy in her arms and knew she needed to go and find Jed before she did anything else. Smiling at Dina she wandered further into the camp.

  Jed stood with Ash, looking at some maps on the camp's vid screen. The two men were completely absorbed in what they were doing and didn't hear Martha approach. She coughed quietly.

  Ash turned and grinned at Martha, made his excuses and left them to it. Jed tutted at Ash breaking his concentration then realised who else was there.

  'Is that... Is that him?' His voice sounded hoarse.

  'Jed, meet Peter, your nephew.' Martha held out the little boy to his uncle. The child responded by stretching out his little arms and gurgling happily.

  Tears pricked Jed's eyes as he took the boy and began talking to him softly. Martha watched for a few moments then quietly left them alone. They needed time to bond and get to know each other.

  Dina grabbed her elbow and spun her round.

  'Come on, we're all in the communal tent. Moham's making tea.' Dina chattered happily as she led Martha over to where the others had gathered. Jean and Malcolm had bought Lucas and Sarah to the tent and were making a huge fuss over Grace who they hadn't seen for at least three days. Ruth was sitting listlessly to one side. Kira was nowhere to be seen. Dina saw Martha looking around.

  'Kira's gone to meet Peter. That's such a great name by the way. Is he a good baby?' Dina asked.

  'He's been an angel, so far at least. Considering how much change has happened to him,' replied Martha.

  Moham pressed hot tea into Ruth's hands and she looked up at him curiously. Then she seemed to remember who he was and where she was. She took a sip of tea and began to look around, taking in her surroundings. Dina made to go and speak to her but Martha held her back.

  'Not yet, let her have her tea. Come and see the kids with me.'

  Dina didn't need much encouragemen
t to go and play. Soon excited gurgles were echoing across the camp.

  Kira joined them with young Peter in her arms. 'Isn't he adorable? Don't you think he looks like Pete? With Ingrid's eyes though.'

  Martha nodded. 'Where's Jed?'

  'He's gone to sort out the operatives. The camp is pretty full now, we don't want to overrun the experiments or destroy any of the natural habitats so Moham is helping him get everything worked out.' Kira watched the children playing together for a moment before continuing. 'He thinks we should talk about next steps when the kids have all gone to bed, what do you think?'

  'I think that would be the best idea. Too distracting otherwise,' replied Martha.

  The women spent the next few hours happily playing with the children, getting dinner organised and then putting their precious families into bed. They had just sat down to talk about what they were going to do next when one of Jed's operatives came running up.

  'Sir? We've got a drone at the edge of camp.'

  Jed leapt up. 'A drone? Show me.'

  The others followed to see what the commotion was. There hovering on the edge of camp was a spy drone.

  'How long has it been there?' asked Jed.

  'Hard to tell, Sir. We noticed it about five minutes ago and I came straight to find you and report it.'

  Jed frowned. It didn't look like one of theirs, it was more compact and if anything, looked more expensive. Martha pushed through the others and came to stand next to Jed.

  'What do you think?' she asked.

  But before he had chance to answer a tinny voice issued from the drone.

  'Ms Hamble. So good to see you. I had hoped to make your acquaintance in City 42 but alas by the time I arrived, you had already left. I see you have surrounded yourself with an illegal militia, some women and several children. A rather odd selection, don't you think?'