"Sorry," Jane offered.
The brothers nodded. "It's okay. We understand curiosity. Truly. We hoped to prepare you a little more before you were exposed to the callousness of our world now. Now you know. We're deeply sorry you had to experience that firsthand without warning." Their eyes were both tearful and their faces red. They looked at each other and nodded. "I guess now would be as good a time as ever to tell you the news we've received in our briefing." Ross ran his hand through his hair and sighed long and heavily.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Come with us. We have a little history to catch you up on. Then we’ll share some current events." The brothers walked down a long hall as we followed. The corridor opened into a large white room with matching white couches and tables in the center of the room. A large flatscreen TV was mounted on the wall. There were no windows in the room. "Make yourselves comfortable."
I sat on one of the white loveseats next to Smith, who leaned intently toward the brothers. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested against the arm. It felt odd to be a guest on your native planet. To not know the last few months of history in which there had been major changes. My brain jumped to all kinds of conclusions until they began talking.
"Earth has changed a lot since you left. As you know, the planet wasn't in great shape right before you launched for Circadia, anyway. Everyone prepared to die since they thought Circadia would crash into Earth. That included the government. Everyone was broke, and all the money was spent. Everyone demanded payment of their debts when no one had the money to pay them. It caused a lot of tension between countries.
“On top of that, every country persecuted people for the crimes committed while they thought the end was near. This created tension between the people and their governments. Then the nuclear war happened," Phillip said.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sure you know all the big cities were targets. I'm sure you tried to imagine what it was like, but no matter how hard you try, you wouldn't even come close. It was horrific."
Another long pause. "It changes the landscape. People migrated away from the heavily populated areas, the weather changed worldwide, and we entered a nuclear winter. It destroyed nearly all the food. Not only did it change geography, but it changed people. They became angry and animalistic. Who wouldn't under the circumstances? The big change though, was the rift between government and people. Such a huge shift happened because governments claimed whatever food was left and tried to control people. Scared people don't like that, and they don't like to starve. People created an uprising against their governments and would have been successful if the Divinity hadn't formed."
"What's the Divinity?" Smith asked.
"The Divinity combined all Earth's remaining governments into one. As the United States used to be the 'world police,' the Divinity became the world's governing body. It's not an easy feat to overthrow a single government, but it's nearly impossible to eradicate multiple governments working as one. People haven't stopped trying, though."
"So people are still trying to take the world back? What is the Divinity doing?" I pressed for answers. What had this world come to?
"They're still fighting back. They've gotten a lot more ingenious and made some allies that helped them join together as well. They had to unify to have any chance. It's brought people together in amazing ways, but it still isn’t quite enough. The Divinity keeps pulling in more of the remaining agricultural land and eliminating more people."
"Eliminating them?" Jane asked.
"That's the Divinity's whole platform. 'Be with us or against us.' If you choose to be against them, they make it a point to eliminate you. Fewer people means more food. Food has become the new currency."
"Why not join them? What's so bad about being fed?" I asked. "I don't get it. Why are we fighting them?"
"They have laws we aren't willing to abide by," Ross stated.
"Like what? What could be worth war and starvation?"
"They want to take away our guns so they can take away our rights."
"What's the big deal?" Jane asked. "Who do you need to protect yourself from if they're protecting you?"
"In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, they exterminated six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves. It may seem like a small price to pay to give up your guns for your life and food, but freedom is too high a price to pay. Do you agree?"
I sat for a moment in silence. What had seemed so simple, wasn't. The people had seen right through the idea and decided to revolt while they were still capable. I was both shocked by the concept, and amazed people had the brains to recognize what was happening. Honestly, I was embarrassed I hadn't.
The Herrolds viewed our silence as understanding. "We know that's not what you want. You all have already experienced what it's like when citizens are unarmed on Circadia, and it wasn't pretty." Phillip bowed his head. "I'm deeply sorry for the people you lost, but maybe you can save some here." His eyes pierced mine and demanded action.
"What can we do though?" Jane asked.
"We're here to spread the word. Right?" I directed my question to the brothers.
"Absolutely. The more people that surrender to the Divinity, the fewer armed citizens we have to fight for our cause. We have to make people see."
Smith shifted in his seat. "But they already see, right? Why else would they be fighting?"
The brothers exchanged a look, then Phillip answered. "It's difficult to hold your conviction when there's temptation." Ross grabbed the TV remote and turned on the flatscreen. "Check this out. It happened today right before we landed."
I focused on the screen mounted to the wall. The news cut to a scene with a crowd of people. They looked disheveled and starving. Hundreds raised their protest signs high against an organized line of well-fed uniforms. Their chants roared until one of the men in uniform stood on top of a truck with a microphone. "Stop now. Join us, and you can eat. Now," he yelled. He lifted a tarp from the back of the truck to reveal a pile of MREs and junk food. The chants quieted until they stopped altogether. Signs dropped to the ground, and people proceeded to grab the food. They left with the uniformed soldiers.
The screen powered off, but I continued to stare at it. How do you fight that? How do you convince people to stand their ground when it's so much easier not to?
"Aella." Phillip sat after turning off the television and held my gaze. "I know you're probably wondering how you could help that situation, am I right?"
I nodded.
"You were willing to lay down your life for your people on Circadia. We need you to inspire others to do the same. It's in you. You only have to share it."
Smith spoke up. "What's in it for you guys?"
They exchanged glances the way they always did and smiled. "We have power here. We have worked for years to gain our type of freedom. We have things the government cannot touch that give us power, and we're not ready to give that up."
"What keeps you from doing the same bad as the Divinity?" Jane asked.
"Nothing, but we're not asking anything of anyone. We only want to keep what's ours." Ross shifted in his seat. "It's outrageous to work your life away to hand your life's work over to someone because they asked. Taxes are bad enough." He rolled his eyes and sat back.
"All right then." I stood and extended my hand to the two brothers. "Where do we start?"
CHAPTER FOUR
"We thought we should start with the news outlets. Show people what you've done for freedom. Play the clip and let your actions speak for themselves, then relate it to their problem." Phillip grabbed his phone. "I've placed calls to some organizations, and there are a couple who have called back. I figured we would start there."
I glanced at Smith and Jane, who looked worried. I was a bit nervous too. I'd never been on TV except for Grow. The idea of a formal interview was intimidating. What if I couldn’t think of an answer to their questions? What if I looked ridiculous?
What if I wasn’t the one people wanted to see?
"We thought about getting you an interview coach, but we want you to be real and honest on air. It's something they won't expect," Ross explained. "If you're agreeable, I can have an interview set up for tomorrow evening."
Tomorrow evening was awfully soon. "Okay, on one condition," I said.
The brothers stared back at me with confusion. They obviously hadn't anticipated a negotiation. "What's that?" they asked in unison.
"I want you to take me outside the walls."
"Aella, it's dangerous."
"I know. I don't care. I need to see it. If I'm going to speak to the people and inspire them, I need to understand what they're facing. Right? I’m not going to be like every other blind politician. I want to know what they’re going through. I want to feel what they’re dealing with. I need to know. Fully."
They nodded. "Guess you're right. Let's rest now. We can go out tomorrow morning," Ross said.
"I want to go now."
"Aella..." Smith grabbed my arm. "Why are you so difficult?"
I jerked my arm away and shot him a dirty look. "I don't want anything to be censored. I'd appreciate it if you didn't censor me, as well. Thank you."
"I'm sorry." He held his arms up in defense.
"It's more dangerous in the evening," Phillip advised. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"All right then. I guess, put your things in your rooms, and we’ll go. We’ll get a crew ready to go with us. Sound fair?" Ross winked at me.
"Yes. Thank you." I'd gotten pretty good at standing my ground but wondered if I should have. I was a little scared to go out into the city.
ONCE WE’D PUT OUR THINGS away, we all met back where we had talked before. When I walked into the room, I immediately noticed four extremely large men with black automatic rifles at their side. The Herrolds stood among them.
"What's this?" I motioned to the men with artillery.
"Your protection, and ours too, of course. We told you it's dangerous."
Just then, Jane walked out from the hallway into the room and yelped. "Yikes! What the hell, guys?"
"Jane!" I chided. "They're our protection. Calm down." I couldn't help wanting to laugh so I turned away. She was always one to say what was on her mind. No filter.
Smith entered the room soon after and acted like he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Typical Smith.
"Everyone's here. Are you all ready?" Phillip asked.
I answered with conviction. "Yes." But to be honest, there was no confidence there at all. I figured earlier that they didn't want me to see all the horrors, but it was clear now I was putting us in danger. Maybe it was for the best. I needed to understand fully, and I had a feeling we were about to get a proper grasp of what people were dealing with in the world right then.
"Let's go," one of the large, armed men said. He walked off, and we followed. The other three men surrounded our group to create a perimeter.
They escorted us through the facility and the grounds toward the entrance to the main gate. The closer we drew, the louder the crowd on the other side became. We stopped abruptly at the main gate. My hands shook and my breath caught in my throat. I looked at Smith and Jane, who seemed to have the same nerves. I shot a glance at the brothers, who stared at the gates for a moment before raising a hand to give the order to open them. Two of the armed men pushed to the front, opened the doors slowly, and waved for us to follow them out. As the gates swung wider, the screams and cries grew more desperate.
I stepped through the opening to see an encampment larger than I had ever imagined.
Makeshift tents made of old cloth and blankets stood cramped on the chilly ground. Smoke and smog filled the entire area and threatened to suffocate any life left. The stench was horrid. It smelled of unwashed bodies and rot. Buildings behind the encampment were collapsing and broken. It looked like a war zone that no one bothered to clean up afterward. As far as the eye could see, it looked like a scene straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie from before.
Dirty and unkempt people roamed through the maze of camps. Their skin stuck to their bones, revealing malnourishment and dehydration. Mothers cried while attempting to comfort their starving children. One child ran in front of us while eating cardboard to satisfy his hunger. My chest ached. I wasn’t sure if it was guilt or pain. Men and women formed a tunnel as we walked through and begged for food.
"Keep walking. Don't make eye contact and don’t speak to them," Phillip ordered.
"Why?" I asked.
"It antagonizes them and provokes them to push harder."
"We don't have anything with us, though." A tear quietly rolled down my cheek.
"They know we have access to food that they don't, Aella. These people would do anything to eat tonight, and I don't blame them, but we can't help."
I stopped talking or listening and gazed out over the vast amount of people. Sad eyes looked back to me. There were so many of them, and they seemed so full of hopelessness. I was overwhelmed.
"What's the rest of the city like?" Smith asked over the noise.
"This. Maybe not quite as concentrated, but it’s the same situation everywhere. They congregate around our facility because we’re the only place with food for quite a distance."
"How do you have so much food there?" Jane asked.
Ross Herrold threw her a sideways glance with a crooked smirk.
"What?" she asked.
"You're gonna laugh, but we were one of the leaders in 'space foods.’" He laughed as a woman reached up from the ground to grab his arm.
"Please, sir! I'll take anything!" she pleaded.
The gunman next to him quickly grabbed her hand and removed it. "Please stay back, ma'am. Thank you."
She melted back into the dust and rubble surrounding her. Broken.
I wrenched my neck to watch her as we walked and Jane and Ross's conversation continued. "You've got to be kidding me. I don't even know what that means." Jane laughed.
"I'm sure you've heard of astronaut food. We make that, but make it awesome! Think gourmet astronaut food."
"But why?" Smith asked.
"Simple. Mentality. The biggest task of a space team is the astronauts’ mental status while in space. We found food helps tremendously, so of course, that's what we sent with them. We improved the basics and sent them delicious foods. Other crews heard about it and requested our help. The stability and ease of eating isn’t an easy feat. They’re quite expensive meals, so we decided to make it lucrative. Of course, the nuclear winter hit before we ever got our first shipment out." Ross rubbed his head. "Worked out okay, I guess. We ended up with food."
"Talk about the ultimate test of your product," Smith said. "Sorry, guys."
"Nah. It's okay. It gave us the ability to influence change in our world, which is what we've always wanted," Phillip replied.
"The astronaut food wasn't your only project though." I didn't like to think about the weapon of mass destruction they’d created, but it was there.
The brothers’ heads hung low. "No," Phillip agreed. "It wasn't. That ended up working out okay too. We didn't specialize only in weaponry and food, by the way. We still have projects underway."
The torrent of people next to us seemed to grow in numbers and urgency. "Please!" they begged. We stopped all conversation since it was too loud to continue. "Please!"
I watched tears silently stream down Jane's face. Smith's face looked tortured and twisted like he'd be sick. As I watched the two go through their emotions, a bright light caught my eye in the sea of people, then more. They were all holding smartphones with the screen glowing in the night. "Hey!" I yelled at Ross. "Why does everyone have phones? How can they afford service right now?"
His eyes went wide with a realization. "I totally forgot that part!" he exclaimed. "While you were gone, another private space tech operation launched what they call WorldNet. It's basically all these probes in space that cover the globe and provid
e everyone with free internet. That happened before the nuclear war of course. The debris knocked some out, but for the most part, they still function. Made a lot of internet providers mad, but worked great for communication nowadays!"
My jaw dropped. A huge technological advance had taken place in our absence, and now we were back and learning about it for the first time. It felt like we saw the future. "So, everyone can access the internet now if they have a phone?"
"Yes, Aella. Everyone," Phillip confirmed. "Keeps everyone connected in some way at least."
I glanced out at the crowd in the darkness. Hundreds of lights showed in the dark. It gave me some comfort. "I think we've seen enough, right?" I looked at Smith and Jane. They both nodded.
"All right, let's head back then." Phillip waved his hand to signal the armed men, who switched positions and led us back through the throng of people.
CHAPTER FIVE
I laid in my bed that night with my eyes wide open. My first interview on international news was scheduled for the morning, and I wasn't ready. I stared up at the smooth, white ceiling illuminated by the ambient blue light from the alarm clock next to me. The deafening quiet in the room was enough to strangle me. After what felt like hours, I glanced to my right side on the nightstand to see it had only been a few minutes. When I thought the night would never end, I heard a knock on the door.
I jumped out of bed in the white pajamas Nira gave me and rushed to the door. "Who is it?" I asked quietly.
"It's Smith."
I still stood behind the door. I put my head against it and thought for a moment, then opened it.
Smith stood there in pajamas identical to mine. His hands clenched tightly together. Beads of perspiration dripped down the side of his face, and he nervously laughed before he spoke. "Hey, did I wake you?"
I swept my hair behind my ear out of my face. "No, of course not. What's going on?"
"I couldn't sleep. Figured you were in the same boat. Can I come in?"
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