by Eden Wolfe
“And what about all of you?” Daphna asked.
The women looked at each other but didn’t respond.
“You must have felt anxious knowing you would have to tell me about Leesa. That must have weighed on you in the night. I’m sorry for your sufferings.”
“You’re sorry for us?”
“You have a most unenviable job.”
“But it’s our job. We do it because someone has to.”
“That doesn’t make it easier when you have to deliver bad news to your leader.”
No one spoke. Finally the youngest woman, round with bright eyes, opened her lips, though it took her a while to finally speak.
“We talked about it for hours. We didn’t know how it might affect you. I was afraid you’d be heartbroken and unable to respond. But I was wrong.”
Daphna walked through the little group and put her hands on the woman’s shoulders. “You were not wrong. I am heartbroken. Leesa’s death touches me in a particular place that I cannot describe. But the truth is that since this nightmare started, every woman’s death has added a brick on my back. At some point, the load might become too heavy. I feel I should have found the root cause of the illness, identified the pattern and found a way to reverse it. That’s what I was trained for. It’s deep within my design. But when I was designed, no one imagined I’d be trying to undo the genetic disintegration caused by an unknown attacker in the West Strangelands.” Suddenly her head felt very heavy. She rubbed her temples. “I need to be alone for a while. Gather the council in one hour. We need to take a different approach. It’s time to be innovative. Or else each day’s news will become a noose around our necks.”
The women nodded and left.
Daphna went back into her hut, straight to her bed, and flung herself on the mattress where she screamed into the pillow until her lungs burned with the need for air.
Daphna rested her head on her arm as she mentally prepared herself for the council meeting. The Sisters would be tense. It would make discussions challenging. She would have to cut them off as soon as their tones became too emotional to make wise decisions.
“Please, Daphna, come quick,” a voice accompanied a small knock on her door.
Daphna stood and opened the door, where a young Sister had panic in her eyes.
“What’s happened?”
“It’s happening right now. Please come. It’s Kaline.”
“Kaline of the second line?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.” Daphna grabbed her overcoat. Kaline lived near the ocean and with the winds they had, she would need protection. The young woman who’d summoned her was already wearing furs.
They rushed across the village, along the southern edge of the forest to the water’s edge. Daphna heard the woman’s pained screams long before she arrived at the place.
Daphna wondered why they hadn’t transported the woman to the village for treatment or at least comfort, but once she set eyes on Kaline, she understood.
On seeing Daphna approaching, Kaline called with her arms outstretched. “Come! Help me!”
Kaline’s body thrashed, legs and arms kicking, slashing. She couldn’t stay still for a moment.
“It’s eating me from the inside. Please make it stop! Make it stop!”
Daphna ran and fell to her knees at the woman’s side, trying to take her head into her lap, but the woman flung about too violently to be contained.
Daphna looked up to the women who were standing around the woman, three of them, all struck with the horror of the sight.
“Please!” the woman cried out “The rest of you go! Please let me have time with Daphna. All of you, leave me alone! Let me die in dignity! Leave!”
The women backed away, slowly at first and then turning to jog towards the main residential area. Daphna could see a part of them was relieved to be dismissed, though they all looked back as they went until they were well out of sight.
“Daphna, Daphna,” the woman grabbed at Daphna’s shoulders. “Don’t let this continue. It’s horrible. Everything inside me twisting, bursting.”
“I am so sorry for your suffering. I am so sorry we haven’t found a cure.”
The woman made sounds of pain. Daphna waited, placing a hand on the woman’s forehead when she could, caressing her arm when it wasn’t thrashing left to right.
“Make it stop, Daphna,” the woman hissed, her eyes wide, the whites of them glowing in midday sun. “I beg you. I’m not recovering from this. I’m already dead except that my heart beats in spite of me. Please,” she grabbed at Daphna but couldn’t keep hold as her body twisted away. “Please! Kill me now.”
The woman’s eyes pleaded with her. For a moment Kaline’s body calmed and Daphna wondered if it might pass. She hadn’t yet found her voice to say anything to her. Kaline took Daphna’s hand, kissed it. The illness then grabbed hold of her again and thrust her from side to side.
“Please, please. Daphna, end this. I beg you. I beg.”
Daphna looked upon the whimpering woman, the flailing and failing body. She took the woman’s head in her hands, in the way she knew, and twisted with every ounce of strength she had.
The council was already gathered when she arrived, the meeting place just outside the main village area. Other women milled around, hoping to overhear something. Daphna moved quickly to the group of ten Sisters who awaited her.
“Daphna,” the first spoke. Carole of the second line was one of the oldest Sisters remaining. She’d left the Tower while still an intern. She’d seen the writing on the wall. The Tower had since refined her line to be less subversive and more dedicated to the goal. Daphna had worked on the line herself. “We have to double down on our understanding of the virus’ genetic sequence. It’s making itself more apparent. We have a chance to revise its direction. Perhaps even to use a cutting protein to end it before it attaches to the immune system.”
“We’ve reached the limit of science here,” said Rayne from the Lakes Region. “This is calling for an entirely different way of thinking. If the cause of the illness was indeed planted here, as we suspect, then the attacker will have considered the scientific implications. We need to be looking at whole new angles to counter-attack.”
Daphna nodded. She knew more of them would speak. They’d been asking for this council meeting for days, but Daphna had known their ideas needed more maturity before this event could have any impact. A council meeting was not to be taken lightly. It was a time for decisions, not tossing around ideas like a ball.
“I think we need to collaborate with the neighboring counties. They surely are seeing the same. And if they’re not - well, then we have our answer.”
“More tests. If we can compare this against the currently known diseases, then we can identify the route. The answer might be simpler than we all thought. Maybe this is just a regular virus that comes through and culls the population. That would be the easy answer.”
“There’s always an answer that is simple and easy and wrong.”
“Who’re you to say that, Morelan? You only know crop patterns, and that’s not really going to help us now, is it?”
“That’s enough.” Daphna stopped them. She looked at the group, standing in the middle of their test field, arguing like children. They weren’t ready. Daphna already knew what they had to do, but to tell them now would only add poison to the intravenous drip. “In the short term, you will continue with your regular responsibilities. Pay attention to the background, all that we might have taken for granted and that could be the disease’s entry point.”
“But Daphna, we have to do something drastic. It was two dead last night, three the night before, one the night before that. Who’s to say this won’t scale up and come for us all? We can’t just do things as we’ve always done.”
“I agree. But the right action at the wrong time will only walk us through the gates of failure. Our time will come to act. But the time isn’t now. It’s coming, but it isn’t now. This is my
final decision for this council meeting. We will reconvene in seven days.”
The women dispersed. Daphna saw their disappointment, but how could she just come out and tell them the only answer? As long as they sought a solution from within their own means, they would all object, call her crazy, fight the idea. No, she had to wait. The time would come when she would reveal their next steps, when they were just about pushed to the limits of desperation.
Then they would be receptive to her solution. More than receptive, they would call for it. And that’s when they would march on the capital city.
That’s when they would take on Central Tower.
4
Uma
Central Tower rose high into the morning sky, a glass column that defined so much of life on Lower Earth. Despite her exhaustion, frustration with the recent reports, and the latest report that was burning a hole in her satchel, Uma puffed with pride at the sight of the Tower. It was hers at last. Central Tower, its five hundred researchers, and the trajectory of society was all in her hands.
Uma marched through the swinging entry door, her bag heavy with the files she’d spent all night reviewing. She didn’t try to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She headed for the stairwell, the idea of sharing the elevator with anyone made her cringe.
“Good morning, Miss Uma!” the Gillard guard smiled with puppy dog eyes despite her tank-like body.
“Not now, Gillard.”
She took the stairs two at a time until the fourteenth floor when she slowed down. Age was catching up with her.
When she reached the nineteenth floor she headed straight for the office of the Great Geneticist, avoiding any of the eyes that might have seen her emerge from the stairway. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face. She wiggled the key in the lock and pushed with her shoulder until it gave. She dropped her satchel on a chair in the corner. She walked around behind the desk, surveying the newest reports that had been delivered.
A feeling in her stomach told her she shouldn’t be there. She shouldn’t be rifling through the pages, she shouldn’t be opening the drawer. She was trespassing. She’d be caught. She’d be chastised or worse for going through the confidential documents that were intended for the Great Geneticist’s eyes only. She’d be punished.
Except that she wouldn’t.
Despite the months that had passed, Uma still wasn’t used to the idea that this was her office.
At last, she was the Great Geneticist.
When Queen Ariane had appointed her to the role, Uma hadn’t felt excited nor elated, not like she had thought she would. No, it was more like destiny-fulfilled than a promotion. It had been a somber day. Uma knew all that sat on her shoulders.
She had just fallen into the rolling chair behind the desk when she stood back up and walked to the closet in the corner. She slid the door open, revealing her private set-up. She took down the bag of ground coffee and unsealed the top edge. The aroma filled the air and for a moment every muscle in Uma’s body relaxed. Not standard issue, she couldn’t stand that weak-tasting high caffeine concoction. Hers was double roasted by her neighbor, especially for her. It was against code, but Uma considered that the Great Geneticist was entitled to a small exception.
This was her only pleasure, her only luxury.
She closed the closet, the grinds carefully in place in her adapted mug. The water had to be ninety degrees, no more, or else the flavor was more burnt than rich. But she didn’t want to call any more attention to herself than necessary. A standard-issue cup with her personal luxury was good enough. She poured the water and swapped the cup from hand to hand before setting it on top of the pile of folders that waited for her review. They could wait, the coffee couldn’t.
“Uma?”
Her fingers slipped, tipping over the coffee across the desk, a brown steaming puddle on varnished teak.
“Damn it! Who’s there?”
“Carole of the fifth line, who else?”
“Knock before you come in. I told you to knock!”
Uma grabbed some napkins that were left over from her delivered lunch the day before, watching her morning hit of caffeine soaking away. She’d have to wait an hour now, the machine had to cool. On top of everything else, the day was not going as it was supposed to.
“Sorry, the door was open ajar.”
“It’s always open ajar.”
Carole rubbed her neck. “Truth is when I see you in here I don’t think of it as being off-limits. I haven’t fully adjusted to the idea yet.”
“What do you want?” Uma was even less in the mood for conversation now than before.
“New report of Elgin.”
“Where?”
“Central Mass.”
“But it thrives in moist environments.”
“That’s what we thought.”
“I was just looking at it last night,” Uma gestured to her satchel. “There’s no evidence of it being able to take hold below twenty-six percent humidity.”
“You said to give you the reports immediately, so here I am.”
“It’s not verified yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Fine. Get to it. And don’t come back for at least an hour.”
Carole’s face gave a grimace but she didn’t ask Uma anything more. She turned and left, closing the door behind her.
The door popped open again. It still didn’t shut properly, just like when it was Roman’s office.
Just like when it was Lucius’ office.
Uma didn’t see why it should be any different now that it was her office. She wasn’t about to ask Properties to repair it.
She lifted the folders from her desk, now most of them coffee-stained.
Lucius never would have drunk coffee in the office. When it had been his, it had been impeccable. He never drank coffee or alcohol. Never took the pills to keep awake and focused like she did. He never questioned his qualifications for the role.
Uma missed Lucius.
She tried not to think of him too much, or else the visions of him at the end, degrading and undignified, the horror of his death - they stayed with her for days once wrangled back into her mind.
Uma was not Lucius. In a way she resented it, and in another way she was glad for it. She never would challenge the Queen the way he did.
Lucius was too smart for his own good. He never saw the limitations of his power. He thought he was above it all.
Uma knew better than that.
Lucius was a genius, but Uma was savvy. She knew that part of her design well. Lucius’ design was a mystery, undocumented, and undeterminable. But she was a known quantity. She knew she was capable of leading Central Tower. She would just have to work harder than any Great Geneticist before her. She could do that.
She took the Elgin virus file out of her common-issue satchel. The feeling of common-issue fabric was reassuring. She didn’t want the airs that Roman had demanded. The title was enough pomp and circumstance as it was.
She set down at her desk, wiping away the few drops of coffee that remained, and opened the folder.
Elgin was getting worse. The virus was in multiple water supplies now. They had the technology to filter it out, but it came at a cost. Substantial quantities of water had to be discarded for the relatively small quantity that remained. It wasn’t sustainable. Despite her efforts to solve the structure of Elgin, it evolved before she could even put her finger on the molecule to conquer it. The outer counties had access to natural supplies; they were in the best position.
It was Geb that would suffer.
The capital city was the beating heart of Lower Earth. Without Geb, they were little more than savages, barely surviving since the Final War. This year they would celebrate 408 years since the settlers arrived, and Geb was the crown jewel. Queen Ariane knew it as well as every Queen before her. She was even more preferential to Geb than Maeva had been. The Queen had her moments, but Uma had absolute confidence in her. The scouts, the incubation problem, the betrayal
committed by Uma’s own staff - only a Queen could have spotted it. Former Queen Maeva had unearthed Sara’s betrayal, and then Queen Ariane had put an end to it.
Lucius, the image of his battered and bloody body sprung back into her head. She pushed it away again.
Lucius had it coming.
She heard resentment in her words, even though she hadn’t spoken them aloud.
Lucius. Her hero. He still was her hero. If only he could have used his skill to better Lower Earth instead of trying to undo the Queen’s plans. Uma sighed.
May his soul rest.
Lucius could have solved Elgin. Maybe not right away, maybe he would have had to work at it, but he would have got there.
Uma wasn’t sure she could.
Even with two floors reassigned to Elgin, they weren’t moving faster than a snail’s pace. Elgin, however, was in a perpetual sprint. She knew that viruses didn’t have a particular will; Elgin wasn’t ‘out’ to get them. But for her, it was becoming personal. She slept with the file, hoping overnight something grand would arrive through new neural pathways. She would need to have the file right there when that moment came. But it hadn’t come yet.
I may not have Lucius’ skill, but even he would have had to follow a process. She put her head on her desk and tried to clear her mind, remembering her first days in the Tower when Lucius was at the height of his career and his physical self. How tall he’d been. Such wide shoulders. His square jaw, his muscular torso. He had the face and body of a man aged forty years, though he must have been around seventy by then. Uma had admired him from the time she was a girl when he’d made an unusual appearance on the screens to announce a series of successful boy births. Lucius had never been one for the screens, but she had been eight years old and in love. She was in love with the idea that one day she could be just like Lucius. From that moment on she’d dedicated all her studies to biology, geology, and chemistry. Her sacred triad, she called it. And always she’d hoped that one day she could work alongside Lucius. How she’d wished it upon the lava rock, how she’d begged the settlers to make it so. How she’d longed to stand before Lucius, the man who was Lower Earth’s greatest soldier against their bacterial and viral enemies.
