The Fila Epiphany

by J. J. Green

  The creatures had been correct. For Ethan to live he had to escape, and to escape he needed… He plunged a hand into the pile of saturated blankets, clothes, and other items of equipment. Like a light in the darkness, he felt the touch of something hard, cold, and smooth. He grasped the butt and extracted it from the pile.

  The Guardian weapon that Cariad had pressured him to take at the last minute was about to prove very useful.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After gleaning little in the way of useful information from her first round of interviews of Natural Movement suspects, Cariad was ready to move onto the next stage. As she sat in her office in the Leader’s building at the settlement, Kes comm’d her, wanting to meet up, but she explained she was much too busy. She closed the comm, aware that she hadn’t told Kes the entire truth, but that would have to wait until she had time to see him face to face.

  She brought up the files she needed and input the cross reference search. At the same moment, Aubriot burst in. “So you are here! I thought your team were covering up for you again when they said you were planetside. Why have you been ignoring me? I must have comm’d you fifteen times.”

  Cariad said, “I don’t know about you, but I was brought up to knock, ring, or otherwise announce my presence when I wanted to see someone, and not to barge in like a cow in a barn.”

  Ignoring her rebuke, Aubriot sauntered over and took the seat opposite Cariad, casually hooking one of his knees over the arm. “I came to tell you what we need to do about those aliens in the lake that you found.”

  “Aliens? They aren’t aliens,” said Cariad.

  “Aren’t they?” Aubriot unhooked his knee and sat up. “You mean we brought them with us from Earth? Rubbish.”

  “No,” Cariad replied. “I don’t mean that at all. The creatures in the lake aren’t aliens because they’re indigenous. On Concordia, we’re the aliens.”

  “Pff.” Aubriot flapped a hand dismissively. “Don’t split hairs. You know what I mean. Anyway, I thought up the perfect solution.”

  “Really?” Cariad closed her interface screen and folded her arms. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.” She couldn’t imagine what someone like Aubriot might think was an acceptable solution to the problem of a lake full of sentient predators right in the middle of their farming district. Or maybe she could.

  “It’s simple,” Aubriot said, “I’m surprised no one’s done it already. The Mistral is armed. Why not just—”

  “Blow up the lake from orbit?” Cariad finished for him. “How did I know you were going to say that? Well, thanks for your helpful suggestion. Now if you don’t mind, I have a lot of work to do.”

  “So that’s already the plan, right?” Aubriot asked. “Someone thought of it before me. We’re gonna nuke the lake.”

  “No, we aren’t going to use the Mistral’s weapons to destroy the life in the lake or anywhere else on this planet. No one else suggested the idea, and I’m guessing that’s because no one else is quite so stupid.”

  “Huh? What?” Aubriot’s expression was contorted with confusion. Cariad wondered if it was the first time anyone had ever insulted him to his face and he was struggling to grasp the concept. The penny seemed to drop and his features darkened. “Now wait a minute! Where do you get off calling me stupid? My idea’s perfectly sensible. A single pulse from the Mistral would vaporize a lake in less than a second. Then farmers can carry on growing their crops without fear of gigantic squid breaking into their homes at night to eat them.”

  Cariad’s mouth dropped open. “Who told you that? I never heard anything so ridiculous.”

  “I don’t remember,” Aubriot replied. “Everyone’s saying it. So, like I said, we need to take these aliens out pronto before more people die.”

  “For the last time,” Cariad said between her teeth, “they aren’t… Oh, never mind. Look, maybe what no one’s told you is that these creatures are almost certainly highly intelligent. From what we can tell they’re controlling some kind of heat production process under water.”

  “If they’re intelligent, that’s all the more reason to strike first,” Aubriot said. “The best defense is—”

  “Offense. Yes, I’ve heard that saying. But I don’t think you’ve really considered the implications if we attack them.”

  “What’s to consider?” Aubriot asked. “We take them out. End of story. Problem solved.”

  “No. Problem not solved. Problem most likely increased by several orders of magnitude. If these creatures are intelligent and we destroy a whole lake full of them, what do you think’s going to happen next?”

  Aubriot looked blank.

  Cariad said, “Do you honestly think that the organisms in the lake are the only ones that exist on the entire planet? Is that really how you think nature works?”

  “All right,” Aubriot replied. “I get it. So you’re saying there might be more of them? Okay. I’m not an idiot. But so what? If we demonstrate a show of force now… Show them what we’re capable of… That’s going to stop them from attacking us. All the more reason to nuke the lake now.”

  “I wish you’d stop saying nuke the lake, like anyone would be so dumb as to fire an actual nuclear warhead right into the middle of our farming district. As far as I’m aware, the Mistral doesn’t even carry nuclear weapons.”

  “Picky, aren’t you? Nuke, blast, annihilate, what difference does it make? I still say we take the water bugs out of the equation now, and I’m not hearing any good reasons why we shouldn’t.” Aubriot sat back in his chair, looking smug.

  Cariad had a feeling that he wasn’t as intent on pushing through with his suggestion as he made out to be. Instead, he seemed to be quite enjoying their argument. She reflected that Aubriot probably didn’t have many—or any—friends or social contact.

  She sighed. “If more thread organisms are living in other parts of the planet, which I don’t doubt at all, and we blow up hundreds or perhaps thousands of their relatives in the lake, they aren’t going to react well. We might suddenly find ourselves at war, and apart from the fact that’s the diametrically opposite reason for us being here, we can’t afford to have any more colonists dying young. I’ve done the calculations. Assuming restocking the gene pool goes to plan, we’ll only narrowly escape inbreeding further down the generations. We’re at our limit. Even if we wanted to go to war, which we don’t, we just can’t risk it.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a bit unrealistic?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “But these predators live in water,” Aubriot said, “and, in case you haven’t noticed, we breathe air. How are they even going to try and fight back? Besides, they started it. They’ve attacked three people and killed two. If these squid things are intelligent, that’s all the more reason to show them their actions won’t be tolerated. Why should we let those deaths go unpunished? Think about that poor kid and its dad. Don’t you care? Don’t you think they deserve justice?”

  “Oh, please.” The irony of Aubriot spouting off about sympathy and justice was laughable. “Of course I care. Probably a lot more than you. It’s hard to just accept those deaths and do nothing. But I still don’t think that blowing up the lake is the answer, especially when it might spark a reign of terror. Anyway, the people who were attacked strayed near the lake, which the creatures probably view as their territory. It could be that they were only acting instinctively.”

  “Which kind of goes against your argument that they’re intelligent,” Aubriot said, his eyes hooded.

  Cariad suddenly felt like she’d been playing a game of chess and now she was in check. “If the thread creatures aren’t intelligent, that’s even more reason to not blow them up. You can’t blame an animal for doing what comes naturally to it. Have you forgotten the Mandate? We aren’t here to ride roughshod over the place. The Nova Fortuna Project isn’t supposed to be a reiteration of colonizations on Earth. Razing the landscape and destroying the local wildlife aren’t on the agenda, no matter how intelli
gent a species might be. Now, I have a lot of work to do. So, drop it, okay?”

  “Already have, as a matter of fact,” Aubriot said, looking even smugger.

  “What? Then why are you even here?”

  “I’ve just been in to see Osias. He’s got the veto on whatever happens in the colony and he was quick to shoot me down. I have to say, you had better arguments, though.”

  Cariad let out a huff of frustration. “If you’re only here to waste my time, please leave. I have much more important things to do.”

  “Yeah,” Aubriot said as if an idea had just occurred to him. “So what is it you’re doing anyway?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  Aubriot rolled his eyes. “You really are shit at this, aren’t you? Let me guess. You’re investigating the Natural Movement terrorists.”

  “No, I’m… ” Realizing there was little point in denying it, Cariad sighed and asked, “How did you know?”

  “I heard you were supposedly interviewing people about their “experiences” in the colony, and I thought, how likely is it that the woman who’s responsible for one of the most vital aspects of the colonization is going to waste her time on that bullshit? By the way, I think everyone else has probably figured that out too. So, you think that nutter who blew up the caves wasn’t the last of them?”

  “I can’t talk to you about it. Now, please. I need to work.”

  “What if I said I could help?”

  How characteristically Aubriot, Cariad thought. The man would never demean himself enough to actually ask anything of anyone. If he couldn’t demand, he would suggest. Then if the answer was no, he hadn’t lost face from receiving an outright refusal. “I would say thanks but no thanks.”

  “And why might that be?”

  Cariad was surprised. The question gave an opening for potential criticism. This was a side of Aubriot she’d never seen. What was going on under that self-assured, arrogant surface? Perhaps the man’s experience of living on Concordia was falling below his expectations. After all, he wasn’t like the rest of the Woken, who were all scientists with defined roles. And he wasn’t a Gen, working to build a functioning community. He was a floater with no vocation or purpose. And the gulf between Aubriot’s luxurious, wheeling and dealing existence on Earth and his current life was vast. Cariad felt the tiniest shred of pity for him.

  “The investigation is confidential,” said Cariad. “That’s why. Only I and one or two others know the details and that’s how it has to be. Any leak of information could tip off a saboteur and prevent me from catching them.”

  “You think I can’t keep a secret?” Aubriot exploded with laughter. “Sweetheart, you’ve never been in business, have you? Do you really think I could have amassed my trillions if I let slip about sensitive information?”

  He had a point. “Still,” Cariad said, “until I’ve ruled you out, you’re technically under suspicion too. I can’t let potential suspects in on the investigation.”

  “I’m a suspect? I wasn’t even revived for most of the attacks. And of all the colonists on this planet I’m the least likely to be a Natural Movement follower. I mean, think about it. You think I’d finance the project so I could destroy it?”

  Cariad felt like she was in check again, only this time it was beginning to feel like check mate. “Well… ” She was out of objections.

  Her sense of defeat must have shown because Aubriot said, “Sweet! Tell me what you’ve got so far.” He brought his chair around to Cariad’s side of the desk and opened her interface screen.

  She knew she’d been bamboozled but she didn’t know a way out of it. In other words, Aubriot was back on form. With some reluctance, Cariad told him about the Natural Movement tattoo that the Guardians had found on Twyla’s body and Montfort’s examination of all the colonists for similar tattoos, or evidence that indicated a tattoo might have been removed. She also explained that she’d interviewed the people on a list of possibilities that Montfort had drawn up.

  When she’d finished, Aubriot said, “Got it. What are you doing now?”

  “I was just cross-matching the names of people I interviewed with Twyla’s class lists over her career as a kindy teacher. The saboteur of the First Night Attack was a kindy teacher too, so I’m also looking at her former students.”

  “Right. Did you find any matches between the people taught by the saboteurs and Montfort’s list?”

  “I’d only just input the search when you came in.”

  “So what does it say?” Aubriot leaned into her as he reached over to scan the screen. Cariad tried to push back but he was far stronger. “Hmm… Just one. What do we know about her?”

  “Well if you’d let me see who it is… ”

  Aubriot shifted away to allow Cariad access to the screen. When she saw the name, her heart sank. She didn’t like the woman, but she still didn’t think she could be a Natural Movement follower. Yet Aubriot was correct. The search had brought up only one match: Cherry.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The Guardian weapon had been thoroughly soaked in river water for days. If it no longer worked, Ethan didn’t know what he would do, but he finally had a chance to escape and he was going to take it. He grabbed the weapon from the pile of his belongings. His foot was so painful he couldn’t put even the slightest weight on it, so he hopped to a corner of his chamber. He would use the weapon to cut a hole wide enough for him to get out.

  He hadn’t forgotten the small fact that he couldn’t swim, but he would just have to try his best to get to the river bank somehow. If he drowned in the attempt it would be a better death than the one he currently faced.

  Leaning on one wall for balance, Ethan rested the butt of the weapon in the crook of his shoulder. If he succeeded in burning a hole in the tough material of the wall, the water that poured through it would be a torrent. He would have to force his way out against the pressure of the water and if that was impossible he would have to wait until it filled the chamber.

  He pressed the trigger. An arc of light flew from the weapon, hitting the wall and sinking through it. A jet of water spurted out. The weapon still worked despite its long soaking. The Guardian technology had come through for him. He cut a slit in the wall, turning the water jet into an arc. Ethan was immediately soaked head to toe.

  To fire a constant beam, he kept his finger on the trigger. Water was pouring from the line he was cutting, fizzing and steaming in the heat. Water was already rising in the cell. Ethan didn’t waste time glancing over at Quinn to see the creature’s reaction.

  Ethan only had to create a hole that he could fit through, and he was nearly half done. The fountain of water erupting from the gap made it hard for him to hold the beam steady, and he struggled to remain upright. He was already unbalanced from standing on one leg. The water in the chamber continued to rise.

  Would a tentacle poke through the hole and try to stop him? Were thread creatures waiting for him on the other side? The beam from the Guardian’s weapon was heating the water it touched, and the tide in his cell that had risen to Ethan’s thighs was uncomfortably hot. He hoped that might be sufficient deterrent to keep the threads away.

  He was three-quarters of the way through cutting the hole and the water emerging from it was a deluge. It was hard for him to see where to direct the beam to cut the remaining quarter-circle. The water immediately next to the cut surface boiled and steamed.

  If both of Ethan’s feet had been unhurt, he could have tried to kick out the hole before he completed the circle, but his injured foot made that impossible. He was also waist-deep in water and nearly floating. Still, he decided, he could try to pull the flap inward. The water pressure was already bending it toward him. He released the trigger of his weapon and slung it across his back on its strap. He poked his fingers through the gap he’d burned, then grabbed and pulled at the hot material.

  That was all it took.

  The flap broke free and water flooded in, sweeping Ethan up and carrying him a
cross the chamber on a wave. As he felt himself sink beneath the surface he took a gulp of air. He had to get to the hole. Ethan kicked his legs like he’d seen swimmers do on vids, hoping to propel himself forward, but the force of water entering the hole made his attempts futile.

  The water was also murky. Opening his eyes was painful and when he managed it he could see little except brown silt. His lungs were also becoming painful, and his injured foot felt like it was being stabbed with hundreds of knives. Ethan soon lost his sense of direction.

  If he could only find the hole. If he could only get through, the river current would bear him away from his prison. He might not make it to the surface, but at least he would die free.

  Ethan reached ahead blindly. He guessed that the rising water would have lifted him above the level of the hole, so he angled his body down and kicked again. The agony from his bad foot almost made him cry out, but he knew the first lungful of water he breathed in would be the end of him. He refused to die in a cage. With an enormous effort he kicked again.

  His fingertips brushed something rough. By some miracle he’d found the edge of the hole. He kicked for a third time and wildly grabbed. He had it. The ragged edge he’d burned was under his hand. The chamber had to be nearly full of water because he felt hardly any pressure from water entering through the hole. His lungs were screaming for air. He found the other side of the hole, grasped the edges in each hand, and pulled himself through.

  Immediately, he was swept into the cool rush of the river water. He’d done it. He’d escaped the thread creatures’ prison. He was free.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven