“Well, if I were one of the Eves, yes...”
“And that doesn’t seem a little self-interested to you?” Admiral said coldly to her.
“No Sir! In case there are concerns about my integrity... If you wish, I can remove myself from the suggested pool. I’m a scientist, this is about the preservation of the colony,” she protested.
“Clear the room, I wish to speak to Project Leader,” the Admiral demanded.
There was a second of silence, then the shuffling of people moving briskly out of the way.
Ben was left facing the Admiral.
The man stood up and paced up and down the length of the monitor, glancing at it. He had his hands behind his back, walking firm and with authority. He was the authority.
“If someone were to try and murder one of these... Eves. What would happen?” the Admiral finally asked.
Ben started. “That never crossed my mind. I guess, Luna would do her best and try to prevent it.”
“And what would you describe as ‘Luna’s best,’ PL Ben?”
“In the proposed scenario, she would expend any and all resources to prevent the murder.”
“Killing the attempted murderer, if no other option was available?”
“Possibly.”
“Killing ten attempted murderers?”
“I don’t know Sir...” Ben said quietly.
“Killing a thousand attempted murderers?”
“I don’t know,” Ben whined a bit too loud.
“Where does it stop? Where is the line?”
“Nowhere,” Ben admitted.
“Please tell me that you haven’t taken this public,” the Admiral spat out in his face.
“Of course it’s public Sir. All our research is open to anyone. There have been some concerns but people are generally acceptant of the idea...”
The old Admiral grabbed Ben by the shoulders and shook him violently. Ben was slightly younger, but they were both frail and thin. “Ben, you fool! Do you realize what you’ve done? You ignorant fool. You’ve killed us all!”
Chapter 22: Gen 7
“Ash?”
“Mmm... Yes?”
“Did I wake you up?”
“Yeah, but my sleep cycle is ruined anyway, don’t worry.”
“Oh, sorry, I’m gonna let you sleep.”
“No, it’s OK. Please don’t go.”
“It’s just that, I couldn’t sleep, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Promise me you won’t laugh.”
“I promise.”
“I’m serious!”
“I said I promise.”
“I wanted to ask you... Oh my Luna, please don’t laugh.”
“I won’t.”
“Okay, here it goes. What do you find attractive in a woman?”
“Uh... Her eyes?”
“What color?”
“Any color. What color are your eyes?”
“No, this is about what you find attractive. Tell me which color.”
“This is a trick question. I don’t mind the color, I just like girls’ eyes.”
“Was there any specific girl back on Gen 4 you liked?”
“Uh, sure, but I never even talked to her...”
“Name?”
“Cia, I think, yeah. But I was just a kid, as I said I didn’t even have the courage to tell her anything.”
Pause.
“Dot?”
“What?”
“Hey, what’s up with you all of a sudden?”
“She’s blonde.”
“Yeah... I think. Yeah she was. Did you just look up a dead girl’s profile?”
“So you like blondes. Natural ones, with blue eyes.”
“No, look, she was in class, me and Ben just watched her walk around... Yeah, she’s blonde. Was blonde. Big deal.”
“Any other specific features you like? Big ass, big boobs?”
“What? No. Every guy likes those but... No, I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Goodnight.”
“I was sleeping already.”
“Goodnight then.”
Mute.
Chapter 23: Gen 7
“Will you stop trying to impress me?” Dot said on the radio.
Ash clenched his teeth and swat all over. “I’m not trying to impress you. I’m trying not to die here.”
The scout banked under his command, flying over the rolling underside of Frostip 4. Ash felt a spike of relief at the sight, which quickly gave way to his anxiety. “Don’t call the hard-vac drones yet. I got this. If I don’t got it, I’ll tell you.”
He could do it, it was just like what the pods did every day. Sail from one Frostip and off to the other, saving as much energy as possible, just hopping with precision.
Of course, men weren’t piloting them.
Ash had ran the landing a thousand times on the simulator. It was a breeze if you got it right, but the rotation of the enormous hull didn’t provide a second chance. Falling the wrong way on the airlock would damage it, with unspeakable consequences for him and the Frostip itself.
He could do it. Juuust, slide this way, just do what feels natural.
Dot held her hand over the call button for the emergency drones. She was getting tired, but she didn’t dare keep it away from it, so she gripped it in place with her other hand. She bit her lips. She wasn’t gonna let Ash die. Seconds were crucial in situations like these. Oh she wished she could have the drones on stand-by, she really did. But that way, she would alert everyone that a Scout had returned.
Not any Scout. The last Scout.
And also a man.
A young man, very-very old by Dot’s standards thank-you-very-much, but a man nonetheless. The Eves would go apeshit if they found out. Wait for him in the airlock and string him up as soon as he set foot inside.
No. It was the right call. She was on stand-by, ready to hit that damn button and send out the hard-vacs, but she wouldn’t if everything went well. If Ash managed to land his scout ship safely. In manual mode. Dear Luna, in manual mode.
“You are slipping too fast,” Dot warned.
“I am not. Stop talking to me, I’m busy right now. Please. Just leave the channel open,” Ash said grunting.
Huh! How dare he? Who did he think he was, biting her head off like that? Her, who had risked her own life to keep his coming a secret? Who had stayed up in this shitty control room, waiting for his signal?
She had a realization. Ash hadn’t seen her yet. Dot’s legs suddenly wavered and she sat back on her seat, leaning forward to hold her hand over the button. They had said they would send pictures and stuff when he was close enough to receive it, but they never did. They just, forgot. Hah! So ironic, they spent hours and hours talking to each other, but she never told him how she looked. She already knew how he looked. Sure, he’d be older, much older. Nineteen. Would he have white hair? No, Dot, they don’t get them that young. But he’d still have that wild tuft that drove her crazy. Or he’d be totally shaved, easier for the space travel. Was it easier for the space travel? Or did hair parts get stuck into everything in zero-g if you shaved them all the time?
Dot put her hand over her mouth. What if he didn’t like how she looked?
“Okay, I’m coming in. In ten... Nine... Eight...” Ash said.
Dot looked to the side, at the original file on scout 30. It still said “MIA,” and she hadn’t changed that. But there he was, so close, practically touching the hull...
“Three... Two...”
Dot was ready to call the fire brigade. There were so many explodey things on Frostip, it was ridiculous to be honest.
A heavy thud was heard.
“I’m back baby! Woo-hoo!” Ash cheered on the radio.
Dot saw the visual feed, and confirmed on the safe landing. The scout ship was damaged, weathered. What had those two lived-through together? How exciting! The last ma
n, so cool and handsome. Coming for her.
“Um, the ‘baby’ was not for you Dot. I would never call you baby. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything... Ugh...” Ash mumbled over the radio. “I’m gonna do a landing check now,” he said and clicked off.
Chapter 24: Gen 7
Ash tapped his foot furiously. The airlock cycle seemed like an eternity.
He was back. Finally back, back home.
Back to what?
Dot had only told him few things about the new situation aboard the generation fleet.
One. The men were all gone. Dead. Killed.
Two. They’d probably kill him too, so he’d have to hide.
Three. Unspoken, but still a valid point: He’d have to entrust his life to Dot. A girl he’d never seen before, but with which she had spoken with about everything and anything for months.
Air rushed in, temperature changed, some monitors flickered.
Tap, tap, tap.
The inner airlock seal opened and red light came in. “Oh, I had forgotten about that!” Ash mumbled and covered his eyes. Somehow the red spectrum made seeing a lot harder, he couldn’t focus, so he stared at the floor and covered his eyes till they adjusted.
He saw feet. Dot’s feet. Little white sneakers, grayed out by use. She wasn’t stepping forward, just standing there, waiting. “About what,” she asked.
“The light! It’s red. How could I have forgotten that?” he said mostly to himself, still adjusting to it.
“Gliese 832 is a red dwarf, didn’t you know that?” she asked with a tiny voice. He looked a little higher, she had her hands clasped in front of her in a defensive pose.
“Yeah, of course I knew. I just didn’t realize all my life that the light... Oh, normal g.” Ash said and steadied himself on the wall. “Normal g, shouldn’t have taken that big meal.”
She hesitated for a moment, then rushed to his side and supported him. He felt her touch before he ever saw her face. He was stunned, breathless. She was a head shorter than him, with black cropped hair. Her eyes glistened brown, they might have had a touch of green but the red light made it vanish. She had the cutest tiny nose, and her lips...
Her lips were thin, ripe, always half-opened, inviting.
Her eyes darted from his face, to the floor, then back to meet his. She looked like she was expecting something, the answer to a question?
But those lips, he wanted to...
“Bite’em,” Ash mumbled and then lost consciousness as his blood left the brain.
Chapter 25: Gen 7
“Don’t freak out,” Dot mumbled to herself. “It’s just a boy in your room, so what? So fucking what? Happens all the time in the movies. Big deal. Puh.”
Ash opened his eyes and propped himself up. He was groggy. “Where am I?”
“In my room. My mom Ivy goes to play cards, she’ll be gone all night. So, here we are,” Dot said and crossed her arms.
“Right. I’m better, I just need a minute,” Ash said and took the glass of water Dot offered. He looked around. “You sure do have a lot of stuff.”
“What do you mean?”
“We didn’t have much, it was all rationed. Our rooms were almost empty, this one looks like a warehouse?”
Dot lowered her head. “You don’t like my room?”
“No, I mean... Aw come on! I meant it’s nice, packed with things. I’m just not used to that. What did Ben used to call our quarters? Spartan.”
“Okay. I guess we are fewer, that’s why we have more stuff.”
He sat up. “So.”
“So.”
“I’m Ash.”
She giggled. “I’m Dot.”
“Nice to meet you, Dot.”
“Nice to meet you too, Scout Ash.”
Ash slapped his forehead. “Right! Look, item one: I have to get the probe data to Luna. Item two: I have to get Scout Luna repaired. Somehow.”
“And item three: You have to somehow not be seen doing that,” Dot added.
“Oh my God, indeed!”
Dot giggled again.
“What can I do?”
Dot went to her closet. “I’ve thought about it for months. So I found these for you, they should let you go unnoticed.” She brought out a weathered cape, work pants and boots in his size, and a biohazard mask that had definitely seen action.
Ash stood up and sized them up over his body. “Good fit. They’ll do just fine. How did you know my size?”
“It’s in your file.”
“Oh, of course.”
“I should let you get changed. That scout suit looks good on you but I bet you want to wear something else after so many years,” she smiled and got out of the room.
She locked herself in the bathroom. Why was she so nervous? Ash was just getting dressed in there. Oh Luna...
Thud. Beep.
Dot tensed. She heard the sounds of the main door lock, someone coming in. She fumbled with the bathroom door and got outside, to find her mom Ivy opening the door to her room.
“Mom! Don’t go in there!”
“PENIS!” Ivy yelped and covered her mouth. “Oh Luna. Did I say that out loud?” she asked, eyes wide.
Dot was furious, she pulled Ivy back towards the kitchen. “No, it’s OK, let me just watch a little more... Don’t drag me like that!”
Dot slammed her room’s door shut and stood over Ivy. “Mom. Stop it now.”
“Okay.”
“Why are you back home so soon?”
“Well, Fay had food poisoning so we just...” Ivy said and gazed at the closed door.
“Arghh! Fine. Listen to me carefully,” Dot said and pulled her mom’s face back to her. “This is very serious. You mustn’t tell anyone that Ash is here.”
“Okay, fine.”
“Mom. Promise me. This is very important.”
“I promise. I’m not that stupid you know!” Sue protested. “I won’t tell anyone. Now tell me, where have you been hiding such a handsome young fella?”
“Mom,” Dot whispered. “He can hear you.”
“It’s alright, I bet he knows what a stud he is, plowing through women like...”
“Mom! Enough with the plowing.”
“Okay.”
They just waited in silence till Ash got dressed.
“Hello Ma’am, I’m Ash. Nice to meet you.” Ash presented a handshake, fully clothed now and a little blushed.
“Oh! Handsome and polite. Careful, somebody might wanna bite that...”
“Mom! Cut it out.”
“Okay, nobody said anything about your cute, young boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He’s not? Then can I have him?”
“Mom!”
Ash just stood there like a piece of meat. Dot turned her back towards her mom, a clear sign of ‘shut up.’
“Okay, now we need to find somewhere so you can lay low. There are many places that are unused, but someone might stumble on you by accident. I have been looking for a place for weeks, I have some in mind. But the traps I placed have all had been tripped at some point or another, which means that people do wander around.”
Ash and Ivy both said, “Traps?”
“Yeah,” Dot shrugged. “You know, traps. Not the killing and maiming kind, the kind that silently lets you know if someone had been snooping about in your room,” she said, eyeing Ivy.
She looked at her feet.
“So there is no place that’s safe?” Ash asked.
Dot tsked. “There are, but at one point or another some person or a drone will walk by. We could rig up an early warning system of some sort, to give you time to hide...”
Ivy mumbled, “It’s such a shame that we have an entire ship empty but no one can stay there.”
Dot was about to ignore her, but then something registered and turned to her. “What are you talking about?”
“Frostip 5. We were just talking about it with the ladies, about what pretty stuff might still be left there. It’s al
l dirty with radiation of course, but I guess they are still pretty? Who knows.”
Dot’s eyes widened. “That’s it! We’ll take you to Frostip 5!” She dashed and kissed her mom in the cheek. “Oh, you are so clever mommy!”
“I am? Well yes, I believe I am,” Ivy said proudly.
“Why is it empty?” Ash asked.
“There was a radiation accident, it had to be evacuated years ago. But I think it’s safe now. And people won’t find you there, that’s certain.”
“But it’s irradiated?”
Dot waved around. “Frostips are huge, in case you haven’t noticed! We’ll go at the front, away from the radiation.”
Ash sighed and looked at the ship’s general direction, “Well, I guess that’s my only choice.”
Ivy stood up. “Dot! You can’t go in there! There’s radiation still.”
“I don’t believe that stupid drone.”
“Dot!” Ivy said through her teeth meaningfully. “Ptosis,” she nodded silently, shielding her mouth from Ash. “Look it up. She mimicked held-up bosoms with her hands.
Dot sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.
Chapter 26 : Gen 7
“Stoop lower, you are standing too tall,” Dot whispered and shoved Ash forward.
“I’m trying. I can’t even see with this hood,” Ash whispered back in a fight to speak feminine.
“Stop talking, someone might hear you,” Dot said and took them to a place where they could see the stage somewhat. The women didn’t like to stand there, so they could actually whisper to each other.
Ash pushed past the women, stooped as low as he could without falling over and stood next to Dot.
The stage was occupied by Una’s lieutenants. In the middle, naked and shaking, was an Asian woman in her forties. Her hands were bound with plastic straps that were digging into her skin. She was crying and looking terrified.
“What are they doing to her?” Ash asked in anger.
“She’ll be fine. They won’t actually hurt her much, this is just for show because she’s not a follower of Una,” Dot waved away.
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