The Gaia Project

by Claire Buss

  'Ash, do you...' Kira started to speak but Ash motioned her into silence with a curt shake of his head. He hoped she'd get the message. They needed to wait until they got back to the skimmers and could talk in privacy. And get the results of the tests.

  They mutely followed Greg through a different set of tunnels to the one they had arrived until he brought them out into a large entranceway. Kira felt relived to see not only their skimmers but the rest of their team, all together in one place.

  Tomas came over to meet them. He pointed to an old-fashioned phone on the wall of the cavern. 'If there's anything you need, just holler on this. One of us will come sort you out.'

  'Does this actually work?' Kira asked in wonder.

  'Not in the original sense but there'll be someone on the other end who will answer the call, should you need anything.' Tomas waited to see whether they would ask for anything now and when they didn't he half shrugged and said goodnight, taking Greg with him.

  Ash spent a few moments chatting with the operatives who had been sent to get the skimmers. They had nothing to report out of the ordinary. There had been a fair amount of interest in them and their vehicles but that was to be expected. No-one had tried to touch anything or take anything and there had been no sign of any threatening behaviour.

  As Jean and Ruth put the children down in their cubes, Ash checked the food and environmental tests he had been running. It was bad news. He went to find Kira.

  'Kira, we can't stay here. It isn't safe.'

  'What do you mean?' she asked.

  'Radiation levels are borderline dangerous. If we stay here any longer than the next twenty-four hours, we run the risk of developing radiation sickness.' He cast a glance in the direction of the children. 'Especially them. I think we ought to dose everyone straight away as a precaution and be on our way by morning.'

  'Is it that serious? Should we leave now?'

  'It is serious but I think leaving now, abruptly and in the dark, isn't the best idea. If everyone takes the shot we're good for twenty-four hours. If we leave in the morning, we can try and get back into signal range with the others and report in. We don't know if they've been successful or not, none of our messages seem to have gone through either. This is a bit of a dead zone.'

  Kira nodded. She was bitterly disappointed that Hope wasn't the refuge she had been so sure it would be. But there was no way she was going to risk Grace's health and well-being for the sake of a few fruits and vegetables they'd somehow managed to grow but that were apparently contaminated anyway. Her stomach clenched at the thought of the food they had eaten a short while ago.

  'Where are the anti-radiation meds?' she asked Ash. He pointed them out to her, she grabbed a handful and hurried over with them to her parents, Ruth and the kids.

  'I have some bad news, I'm afraid,' Kira said.

  'There's a surprise,' Ruth commented sourly.

  'There are dangerous levels of background radiation here. We can't stay so we'll be leaving in the morning.'

  Ruth paled, her eyes darting around the cavern and made to grab Sarah, acting as if she was going to make a run for it. Kira put a hand on her arm.

  'It's alright Ruth, we're leaving first thing in the morning. Here, take this shot, and give one to Sarah. It will protect you against the radiation.'

  'Thank you, love,' said Jean. 'We'll get all the kiddies dosed up and us of course but shouldn't we leave now? I mean we know now this isn't the place, I know you had your heart set on it all and everything but we don't want to put anyone at risk do we? And I was saying to your father something didn't feel quite right here. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but obviously it's those people. They are all sick and they want us to stay and get sick with them. It's just, it's not right, Kira dear. Not right at all.'

  'No, Mum, I know. And we are leaving but we're safe here in our pods with our meds. Ash will set up a night watch and we'll leave first thing in the morning. Okay?'

  Jean looked worried but nodded.

  'Don't eat or drink anything else from here either, stick to our ration packs.'

  'Yes, dear. Those are running low as well you know. As is my medicine. These things won't last for ever, love.'

  'I know, Mum, I know. We will find you some more medicine, I promise. Try not to worry.' Kira finished giving Grace her shot and smiled fondly at the little girl who was busy trying to eat her own foot. This was her world right here, her daughter and Jed. Thinking of him hurt her chest, she missed him so much. She hoped he was safe and that he was having better luck then they were.

  'Can you believe our luck?' Gloria was pacing in her rooms, Tomas and a couple of other elders were sitting in various chairs, nursing their drinks. 'This is what we need, a fresh infusion into our gene pool. This could be the answer to all our problems.'

  'I think you're simplifying it a bit there, Gloria,' Tomas commented drily.

  'What do you mean?'

  'You can't expect a group of total strangers to jump in and start having sex with us, just because they're new. They might not even want to stay. And there are a helluva lot more men then women in that group. You can count the old woman out for starters, she isn't going to bear any more children. Which leaves Kira and the sour-faced one. Two women aren't going to help us create lots more children that quickly.'

  'No but it's two new women. And all those men can mix their DNA with the viable women we have left. Our sickly children can mate with their strong ones and, and...'

  'Gloria, you're talking madness. They might not even want to stay. Staying would put their health at risk. Be realistic. You know that's not a sickly gene that we're fighting here. There's radiation in the air and in the water that is slowly poisoning us.'

  'And what am I supposed to do about that? Force everyone to leave their lives behind? Up-sticks and risk their safety out there? We don't know what's out there! Coalition or whatever they're calling themselves these days could be ready to pounce on us as soon as we reveal our position. Another reason why we can't let them leave.'

  'I don't think you have the right to force them to stay.'

  'Are you going to stand against me on this, Tomas?'

  'I am. These people are looking for a fresh start. We would be offering them sickness and death.'

  At that Gloria seemed to crumble from within and she half fell into a chair. 'But it's so unfair, they all look so healthy and the children...' She began to cry.

  Tomas got up and put his arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. 'I know, but we have to do what's right. We cannot keep them here against their will. It makes us no better than Coalition.'

  After she'd finished weeping, Gloria pulled herself together and smiled gratefully at Tomas for his support.

  'Do you think they will leave in the night? Without saying goodbye?'

  'I think they have more sense than that. But we may have to catch them early in the morning, to wish them well on their journey.'

  Gloria nodded and lapsed into silence, disappointed that her hopes of saving their community lay in tatters once more. She didn't want to believe that everyone who lived in Hope was so badly riddled with radiation that there was literally nothing she could do to save any of them. They would all die, gradually peter out as their immune systems gave up trying to fight the radiation sickness. Another group of humanity would be lost.

  Chapter 23

  'What will happen to all these people here in Hope, Ash?' Kira asked quietly. It looked like everyone in their group was sleeping or at least resting. The children were completely oblivious to any danger they might be in. They had adapted remarkably well to life on the road. It helped that they were still young enough to be easily entertained and not all that mobile. Kira dreaded to think what the journey would've been like with toddlers who wanted to walk and run all the time. It would have been impossible. She was lucky Grace wasn't walking yet but it wouldn't long.

  'I'm so sorry, Kira. They're not going to make it. It could be days, weeks, even months but ev
entually their bodies will succumb to the background radiation levels present and they will die.' Ash hated having to tell Kira this but he didn't want her thinking there was any way they could stay here.

  'And there's nothing we can do?'

  'Even if we had stockpiles of our anti-radiation medicine it wouldn't do them any good. Once they stopped taking the meds they'd be right back where they started. They are slowly poisoning themselves with the air they breathe, the water they're drinking and the food they're eating.'

  Kira felt so useless. She was now grateful they hadn't taken the tour, met the rest of the community and the children. She didn't think her heart could take meeting children that she knew would be dead before the year was out.

  'And we haven't put everyone at risk, have we?' she asked.

  'We're lucky. We have the right meds with us, everyone is dosed up. We only ingested a small amount of food and drink and our bodies are actually pretty well equipped to deal with this stuff initially. It's the constant bombardment that becomes lethal. As long as we leave in the morning, take another dose and monitor everyone's vitals, we should be fine.'

  'What if we were to take their children with us? Could we save them?'

  Ash's heart broke a little as he looked at the hope in Kira's face. He shook his head. He couldn't find the words. He felt like he was letting her down but he couldn't think about all the lives that would be lost here. This was much, much worse than the casual genocide of City 15. It explained why there had been no attempts by New Corp to investigate this settlement and extend Corp rule. The people who lived here would be dead soon enough. Why waste the resources?

  The two of them sat in their misery long into the early hours of the morning, not speaking. There was nothing more either of them could think of to say. They took comfort in each other's presence and tried to focus on the next stage of their journey.

  It was still dark when the operatives started to stir. No-one was going to sleep in today. The children were wide awake and full of beans, clamouring for breakfast. Surprisingly, Ruth was taking charge today, it seemed that the brush with danger had invigorated her. She was still rather acerbic with anyone who wasn't a small child but she had prepared breakfast for all four children and although she looked tired, today she had made an effort and brushed her hair. Kira didn't say anything directly but shared a delighted grin with her mum. They had both been worried about Ruth's general apathy and lack of desire to get involved with looking after her own baby.

  There was a commotion in the entrance to the cavern as Gloria, Tomas and few other residents of Hope appeared. They looked resolute and Kira feared they would try to stop them leave.

  'Good morning,' she said. 'As you can see, we are getting ready to leave. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality...'

  Gloria cut her off. 'There's no need. We can see you are more technologically advanced than we are. You have probably discovered our health issues and I cannot blame you for not wanting to put yourself and your children at risk. I only wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances.'

  Kira held her hands out to the woman, who took them hesitantly. 'So you know, you know what will happen here?'

  Gloria couldn't speak but she nodded once, swiftly, eyes bright, smile brittle. Kira squeezed her hands and closed her eyes in sympathy. This was so much harder than she'd thought it would be. A loud bang of a skimmer door shutting made them both jump and Kira looked to see that everyone was ready to leave. She didn't know what else to say so instead she hugged Gloria briefly and held a hand out to Tomas who shook it warmly. Ash, too, came over to formally say goodbye to the leaders of Hope but everyone else stayed in the skimmers.

  Kira felt like her skin was crawling but she knew it was only in her imagination. She'd taken the medicine, she would take the next dose and she would closely monitor her health. Everything would be fine, for them. Turning away, trying not to cry, Kira hurried to her skimmer, followed by Ash. Gloria and Tomas lifted their arms in farewell and watched in sadness as the vehicles drove out of the cavern, able to escape the doom that awaited the people left behind.

  No-one spoke for a long time as the group journeyed back the way they had come. Meds were taken and they had short breaks to eat and drink from their dwindling supplies. Even the children seemed to realise that now was not the time to be fractious and they sat quietly or dozed as the countryside swept past them. Eventually the small convoy stopped for the evening and as the operatives began to set up camp, Ash began sweeping for comms messages from the other team. They had made good progress and should be back in range of some sort of comms array. Finally he found a small, weak signal. It took a while but the message that they had been trying to send to Jed's team eventually went through and a short message from them arrived.

  MESSAGE FROM TEAM 9 TO TEAM 36:

  We have arrived safely and secured neural implants. We will re-con tomorrow and report back.

  MESSAGE FROM TEAM 36 to TEAM 9:

  Unfortunately City 36 is non-viable, there are high levels of radiation. All of team 36 have been dosed with anti-radiation meds. We will begin the journey back down to City 9 unless we hear differently. Hopefully your re-con will be more successful. Looking forward to getting the team back together.

  Chapter 24

  'Have you seen the message from the others?' Dina called out.

  Everyone gathered by the comm and read the details.

  'Oh, that's terrible,' said Max. 'I was hoping 36 might be a serious option for us. I thought it would be off Corporation's radar, a safe place for us.'

  'No, it's completely radioactive instead. Those poor, poor people. Jed? Will the children be alright?' Martha asked urgently.

  'Yes, they should be fine. As long as they took their meds and there's no way Kira would forget to do something like that.' Jed looked up at Martha and took a double take. She'd done her best to disguise her features by chopping all her hair off to a close crop and putting colour filters in her eyes to change them. 'Looks good, Ma.'

  Martha flushed and smoothed her clothing apprehensively. She was fairly certain she didn't look like the ex-governor of City 42 anymore. Through the internal room replicator, they'd been able to order the same jumpsuits they'd seen everyone else in the city wearing. Together with their fake neural implants, they were feeling confident that they looked the same as everyone else. It was time to test the theory.

  'Everyone clear on their objective?' asked Jed.

  'Checking the ocean and nosing around the docks,' replied Max.

  'Getting a feel for how the city works, looking for fresh food and keeping out of the way of New Corp security patrols,' replied Dina, moving to stand next to Martha who nodded in agreement.

  'Right, and I'll try and get a circuit of the city completed. See if there are any other entries or exits, any places to avoid, anything that points to the people behind City 15.'

  'I think all of New Corp are responsible for that,' Dina muttered sourly as they prepared their packs.

  'Did you check in with the operatives?' Jed asked her before they left.

  'Yes, they are maintaining their position, outside the reach of the scanners, and have hidden their own signals so as not to raise any suspicion. If a drone flies directly over them, we won't be able to do much about it but they've tried to use their surroundings to camouflage themselves as much as possible. They are maintaining comm silence until we report in this evening.' Dina felt a sense of pride in being able to sound so professional. Who knew she would have gone from student, to field scientist to rebel comms officer in less than a year?

  They headed out of their room, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The two men went one way and soon split again while the women strolled off in the opposite direction.

  'I suppose we should look for some breakfast or something,' suggested Martha.

  'Yeah, shall we try one of these?' Dina pointed to a replicator on the corner. It was advertising nutrient enhanced synth-caf, designed to set you up
for a busy day ahead. It was popular, a swift moving queue had formed in front so they joined the line. Martha felt in her pocket for tokens. When they reached the machine both women stared in dismay, it required a retinal scan to issue the drinks.

  'Here, allow me.' A man pushed between them and lowered his eye to the scanner, it bleeped and pulsed green. He pressed for three and juggled them away from the dispenser. The two women followed cautiously.

  'You're new in town aren't you?' he asked as he passed the drinks over.

  'What makes you say that?' Martha asked casually, trying not to sound alarmed.

  'You've clearly never paid for anything here before, otherwise the retinal scan wouldn't have thrown you. And although you've done a good job, those neural implants are fake, they're not connected to the mainframe.' He took a sip of his synth-caf, watching them over the rim of his cup then grimaced at the flavour. 'Look this stuff is awful. You want some real coffee? No strings.' He held his arms out as if to show he was no threat.

  Martha looked at Dina who shrugged her shoulders minutely. Both women were armed, knew how to use the stun guns, and they both had internal trackers so Jed would be able to find them if they ran into any kind of trouble. Besides there was something about this man they felt they could trust.

  'Okay, lead on,' Martha replied.

  'Great. I'll take those.' And he swiped the untouched synth-cafs from their hands, depositing them in the nearest refuse receptacle. With a jerk of his head he motioned for them to follow him down a nearby side street and set off a steady pace which had them scrambling to keep up. They followed the side streets for some time as the man seemed to want to keep a low profile, which was fine with them. Finally they arrived at his destination. The building was an old red brick with an imposing black door. However, when he pushed the door open, the rich aroma of real coffee wafted out into the street. He grinned and ushered them inside.