The Dead Planet Series: Exodus (Book 1)

by Drew Avera

  Chapter 7

  Once Kara was settled into the condemned apartment that had belonged to our father I began conjuring up how I was going to approach Pontiff White. My first thought was to try and play it safe, but considering the fact that he already knew that I was involved then I didn't see much point in pulling punches. I sat on the stool next to Thom as he was looking at the latest report to see how things were going after the bomb dropped about how the magnetic field was beginning to fail. According to the report it seemed that the mob was beginning to disperse. It happened quicker than I imagined it would. I supposed that people forgot how to fight when they relied on the Syndicate to take care of them. It was probably better for them to forget.

  "I'm heading back to talk to White," I said to Thom as I rose up off the stool.

  "Alright, we will stay here until you get back. I'll be honest though, I don't feel that this is the safest place for fugitives," he said as he motioned at the windows that exposed us to the outside world with their lack of curtains. I shook my head in agreement.

  "I know, but it's all we have right now." He nodded back as I began to leave. It had been dark for about five hours. Most of the citizens were going to bed about this time, but I was certain that Pontiff White would still be awake and in his office. A certainty that fueled my resolve during the long walk to the palace.

  I stayed in the shadows once I approached the palace. I was surprised to see more people in the square than they had shown on Thom's media device. Either the people had returned or the image had been edited to make it seem that things were dying down. I was more than certain that White was still awake when I was able to see him peering out of his window down at the mob of people.

  I entered through the same entrance I had used earlier that day. I was no longer drawn in by the beautiful expensive furnishings that surrounded me. I ignored them all as I went to the elevator and was lifted to the floor where White's office was located. The elevator door opened and revealed the pale lit floor that would scan me with each step, transferring my information straight onto White's computer. I didn't care about that as each step I took brightened the hallway. I made large strides to cross the hallway as quickly as possible and stepped into White's office without knocking.

  The Pontiff was still standing at the window with his back to me when he spoke, "Serus, I've been waiting for you."

  "I'm sure you have," I responded. "There was another hit attempt on Kara tonight. Based on the fact that she was followed instead of immediately being executed upon discovery I figured you were behind the hit."

  "You figured correctly," he said as he turned around to face me. The look on his face was not the confident, maniacal look I had seen earlier. "I wasn't left with much choice in the matter. You can see what happened when the news report was released. Mass hysteria that is still going on outside this palace. I have seen reports from other cities that show the same reaction, citizens crying out to the magistrate buildings, looking for a hope that is not there, clinging to their false gods, the Syndicate! That same Syndicate, whose board members were in my office when you arrived earlier today stirring things up. As I said before, I was left with little choice in what I had to do."

  I was taken aback by his words. Just earlier today he had seemed so deep in their pocket and so very incorruptible that I felt he was indeed their crazy little puppet. This man I was speaking to now was different, almost pathetic in his attempt to woo me with his anti-government slurs.

  "You look puzzled, Serus," he said. "Is it really so odd for me to be speaking this way? I'm relatively alone in my office with this madness erupting outside. You and I are the same person. We are the feared pawns of the Syndicate. We are powerless on our own, but we are energized by the very thing that we hate. Victims, you and I are the victims, Serus! Look out there and see what your sister has done and ask me why I had to give the order. I had them follow her to lead them back to you. Had you stayed out of the situation entirely then it is possible your sister would be dead, but the entire world would be ignorant of what is to come. By saving your sister you have damned every single person standing out there. Ignorance is bliss and the sheep have been so full of bliss that it has become sickening!

  "I don't blame you for defending Kara. I really don't to be perfectly honest. I'm just not in a situation now to benefit from any direction that this fiasco will go. So I did what I was told to do and ordered the hit. I'll admit that I wasn't surprised that you came out on top, yet again. Trust me when I tell you that it's only a temporary victory."

  Anger and confusion erupted from me as I lunged toward him and slammed his head against the window. It was thick enough not to break from the force, but I could see that it had hurt the older man in more ways than just his pride.

  "Wait!" He choked out as my hand pressed against his throat. "Wait, I have something to tell you." I looked around before easing up off of him. "Please take a seat and listen to what it is that I have to say."

  We moved over to the couch and chairs next to his large desk and sat opposite of one another. He was still rubbing at his neck trying to calm down. "What is it?" I asked, irritated at the reprieve I had just given him. I felt nauseous as the programming battled with my emotions yet again.

  He held up his hand and gestured for me to wait a moment. He walked over to a book shelf and grabbed a small box that was adorned in gold and silver and sat it on the table next to the couch. He pushed the box across the table towards me, willing me to open it. I grabbed the box and felt the weight in my hand before I opened it. It contained a single photograph of a young woman and was accompanied by a few documents regarding an assassination. I scanned over it quickly and stopped at the name ‘White‘.

  "That was my wife, Ambrees. She was pregnant when the Syndicate had her killed," White's face was worn with emotion as he said those words. "She was killed because my father was a wealthy board member of the Syndicate who decided to make some unwise financial decisions that didn't reflect well with the views of the Syndicate. He owed them a debt that he could not afford so he decided to jump from a building to his death. The Syndicate then passed that debt down to me. I'm sure that my father knew that our family would be ripped off financially, but that was only the first installment of what my father owed. The next installment would be my service.

  "I’m sure you know that the position as Pontiff is not an elected position. We are recruited much like the Agency recruited you. We have the same limited freedoms that you do. No family and no possessions. When they told me that they wanted me as Pontiff I explained that I was already married and my wife was expecting. I thought that all of the money that was taken from us would have appeased their lust for power. They instead informed me that it had been taken care of. I naively thought that they were going to allow me to have my family here in the palace. I was a fool; the hit had already been carried out. I was powerless then, much as I am now. Just a puppet commanded by the hands of others."

  White sat there with his head in his hands. I could tell that he was crying by the slight shake in his shoulders. "Who was the policeman that carried out the hit?" I asked.

  "Gentry," he replied.

  "I don't recognize the name," I said.

  "I'm surprised," he said. "He was the same policeman who executed your father."

  I was shocked. I could see the policeman's face all these years, but never knew his name. I didn’t know if it had been programmed out of my mind or if I never knew his name to begin with, but hearing it now made me feel sick. Not just because of my father, but for White's wife and unborn child.

  "What is it you want me to do with this information?" I asked.

  He looked at me with red, tear streaked eyes and said, "I want you to shut down the Syndicate."

  "It's impossible," I said. "They control everything. There is no way to get into a position to bring them down."

  "No?" He asked. "Do you know what their plan is for the dying magnetic field?"

 
"No."

  "I do. They plan on doing the same thing that brought humanity to Mars in the first place. Do you know how we came to be here?"

  "No."

  "Of course not, no one does when they are not in a position like mine or part of the Syndicate. Over two thousand years ago Earth was running out of the resources that allowed our ancestors to live the kind of lives that they wanted. One country feared the next country because of their nuclear power capabilities. The same power sources could also be used to create bombs that held the potential to destroy entire populations.

  "Wars broke out as the next country started a nuclear program. Each war was followed with another and yet another causing the oil deposits to dry up and the economies collapsed. The wealthiest men on Earth came together to make a plan to start over. They pulled their resources together and funded what became known as the Mars Exodus.

  "It took them half a century to build the technology to turn this once dead planet into something inhabitable. They used the same nuclear power to create our artificial electro-magnetic field so that they could harness an oxygen rich atmosphere. Vegetation was planted to allow renewable oxygen generation and that vegetation was followed by animals. Finally after many years and many dollars spent, Mars was ready to sustain human life. Those wealthy men set up a lottery system to bring a small percentage of humans to Mars to create a new civilization. The winners of the lottery received a new chance at life, but waived their ability to live life their own way with liberty and freedom that they had enjoyed on Earth. This started the culture that we know now, where the Syndicate controls the people through population control. The Syndicate has no remorse in killing for their personal gain. So here we are."

  "Wait a minute, so the Syndicate plans to return to Earth?" I asked.

  "Yes, it has been several centuries since anyone has returned to see how Earth has held up, but based on the previous report it is still inhabitable. They also want to use the lottery system to take some of us back with them."

  "How does the lottery work?" I asked.

  "It doesn't work. They pick and choose who goes and give them the ticket to board the transport. They will restart everything on Earth the way they did here, by using population control."

  "What can we do?" I asked.

  "That is the billion dollar question isn't it?" White said. "If we make people aware of what is going on then it will cause more trouble. I suggest we let the lottery go as planned, but assassinate the winners."

  "What?" I asked. "That's about as improbable as taking down the Syndicate!"

  "You do realize that common people such as yourself will be left on Mars to die if you do not do this don't you?" He asked. "At least this way you can give you and your sister an opportunity at a life that otherwise might not exist."

  He had a point. What else could I do? Sit back and watch the world end while the privileged continue to run people's lives? Something had to be done and it seemed that I was the only one in a position to make that something happen. Me and my unlikely new ally.

  "I'm in." I said, and shook Pontiff White's hand. The puppet has seemed to have cut his own strings, I thought to myself. We will see how this goes.