by Andrew Gates
The rain could not have come at a better time. It had been days now since they’d left their fresh water source. At first, Iris and her group drank the extra water the Navy survivors had among their own supplies. But that water did not last long. Though the kids did not know it, the group had nothing to drink for the past several hours.
Iris pulled one of the empty canteens out of her food box and held it up to the sky. The water droplets made a clanking sound against the metal. It was going to take ages to fill this way, but they had a lot of time. She held it open to the sky, letting as much water in as she could. Meanwhile, she opened her mouth to the sky to let it all in.
The other adults seemed to be doing the same thing. Iris was glad to see it.
The near-deaf teacher stood with her mouth open for what felt like minutes. If I keep drinking water, I’ll drown, she thought jokingly. She knew she could not keep drinking forever, but it felt so good.
After a while, the other members of the group started moving again. Iris made sure her box of food was closed all the way and continued forward.
It was amazing how much easier it was to walk along the beach now that the sand was wet. Her feet did not seem to sink in as much as it had when dry. With each step, Iris felt herself move faster and farther. At this rate, we’ll get there in no time!
The excitement of rain seemed to wear off pretty quickly for most of the group members. Within just a few minutes, they were back to their old selves, walking south on their way to the third escape pod.
The youngest girls still seemed pretty excited about the weather. They smiled and danced beneath the sky. Misha ran ahead and jumped on a wet rock, sending water splashing everywhere. Kaitlyn spun around like a character from an old surface era film. Secretly, Iris was still pretty excited too.
“Misha! Enough of that!” Selena shouted.
The youngest girl ran back from the rock and joined her spinning sister.
Someone mumbled something next to Iris. She turned to her left to find one of the Navy survivors walking along right next to her. Caught off guard, Iris jumped a bit.
“Oh!” Iris said. “You startled me!”
The woman said something back. It was hard to make out.
“What?” Iris asked.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot! You’re the one who can’t hear so well!” she replied, loudly.
Iris tried to remember this woman’s name. It started with an R. That was all she could muster. The additional Navy members were still new to her. She had not quite figured them out yet.
“It’s harder with the rain,” Iris explained.
The woman nodded. Her dark hair was now soaked from the rain.
“I was wondering if you know how long rain lasts!” the woman shouted. “You’re the expert on surface history, right?”
“I am, but there’s no telling how long rain can last. Sometimes it would go on for days,” she answered.
The Navy woman seemed surprised and worried by this news.
“And people lived on the surface as it rained?” she asked.
Iris nodded. She thought that was a strange question.
“Will the rain damage our stuff?” the woman wondered. “Like… our equipment?”
“Hopefully not, but I don’t know,” Iris replied. “That’s a question for Dan. He knows more about our equipment.”
“Or Tobias! He’s a goddamn genius, that guy!”
“I’ve noticed that,” Iris replied, remembering the red-head. He was able to identify and explain the floating farm in just a few seconds. And that glowing ball of light was just there to water plants the whole time, Iris thought. So many people died because one submarine crew discovered a steamer.
“Tobias was the one who built most of the HPE!” the woman explained, pulling Iris’s thoughts back to the conversation.
“Your group seems like it has a lot of talent.”
The woman shrugged.
“Tobias is a genius and the lieutenant is a good leader. The rest of us aren’t so special.” The woman leaned close to Iris and spoke a bit quieter. “Between you and me, I’m not sure about Sixtine,” she said.
Rina, Iris suddenly realized. That’s this woman’s name.
“Why do you say that?” Iris asked.
Rina seemed hesitant to respond, but she already said too much to back out now.
“I mean… you’ve noticed, right?”
Iris shook her head. She had not spent much time with any of the Navy survivors. In fact, this may have been the longest conversation she’d had with any of them yet.
“Sixtine is having trouble accepting what’s going on,” she explained. “She doesn’t seem to believe the station has been destroyed.”
“But it was,” Iris said.
“I know. We all know. But she doesn’t seem to believe it.”
“Or she doesn’t want to believe,” Iris suggested.
“Perhaps,” Rina replied. “In any case, her mindset isn’t helpful to the group.”
“Your group seems well organized to me. You survived in the pod a lot longer than we did,” Iris said.
“And you survived on the surface longer than we did! That’s the real challenge, especially with the UBEs out there!” Her voice was louder now that she was done speaking about Sixtine.
Iris looked around, studying the cloudy world around her. There was no sign of a mantis anywhere.
“I’m starting to think they don’t live around here,” she said.
“I thought you said they live on the surface! Didn’t Dan say he found a city?” Rina wondered.
“Yes, but maybe they just live in the cities and spaceships. Most of the land seems otherwise untouched. I don’t think they use land the way we humans did.”
“How do you mean?”
Iris spent a few seconds to organize her thoughts.
“When humans lived on the surface, we used all the land we could,” she explained. “We lived in cities, yes, but we also sprawled out into suburbs. No matter where we went, humans tore down forests to build structures or farms. These creatures are different. It seems like the mantises only use what land they need for cities or roads. Otherwise, they don’t touch it.”
“So you don’t think they live outside the cities or spaceships?” Rina asked.
Iris nodded.
“I think so.”
“That would explain why we haven’t run into them yet!”
“It’s just a theory,” Iris clarified.
“Well it’s a good theory! Even Tobias would be impressed!” Rina said, approvingly.
“I’m glad you think so.”
The world suddenly lit up a little bit more. Light shone from the south. Iris could see a gap in the clouds. Maybe we won’t be in this rain for long, she thought.
Rina smiled at the sight. It was as if she could not wait for the rain to part. She pointed toward the light and said something that Iris could not hear. Before the near-deaf teacher even had a chance to ask what she said, the Navy woman walked away. She moved over to Dan and started talking to him instead, probably to ask him when he thought the rain would end.
Iris was not upset that the woman left so suddenly. In truth, she wanted more time to enjoy the rain alone. Not to mention, holding a conversation in this weather was difficult with her hearing the way it was.
The rain continued for another 20 minutes or so. By the time it finally passed, the sky was as clear as she’d ever seen it. The moon, the spaceship and the sun all came back into view. Iris missed the precipitation. The water felt refreshing on her body. But she supposed it was best to remain dry and warm.
“Mommy, I miss the water!” said Kaitlyn shortly after the rain went away.
“I know,” Selena responded. She patted her daughter on the back.
Iris smiled as she looked around at the group, her group, not the members of the Navy who had recently joined them. This was her family, this loving ensemble of nine that had endured so much. They may have had their issues: Dan and
Selena continued to bicker about directions, Jallah seemed afraid for his life and Ophelia remained distant since learning about her father’s fate. But despite their problems, they were still a family and she knew they would stick together through better or worse.
Iris was glad to know her relationship with Dan was still strong. The intimate moment they shared in the forest revealed much. She put a lot of trust in him as he did in her. There was no doubt about it: their love remained as strong as ever. The thought was comforting.
I wonder how well these new group members are going to fit in with the rest of us.
“There it is!” Misha shouted. She jumped up and down in excitement, pulling Iris’s thoughts back to the here and now.
Suddenly the third escape pod came into sight. It rested on the wet sand, just like the others. This time, there was no HPE attached to it. As far as she could tell, this pod was unopened.
The group sped up, eager to reach the final vessel. Iris joined them, carrying her heavy food box as she picked up the pace.
Something seemed wrong about this pod. The other two had flashing lights and emitted a faint humming sound from whatever powered it. This one was dark and quiet. It was as if it had never left the station to begin with.
Iris tried looking into the window as she neared it. The interior was dark. She could see nothing in the glass but the reflection of the sky.
She went up against it and pressed her hand to the window. Cold. Freezing cold.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s on!” Iris shouted to the group.
Most of the others were already standing on the other side of the pod by the door. Greyson was in front. He frantically pressed buttons on the keypad. Iris walked around and joined them.
“It’s no use! I can’t remember the code!” Greyson said.
“Wasn’t it… 001545…” Rina started.
“No! It was 011440…” shouted another.
“Guys, guys!” Tobias interrupted. “Whether we remember the code or not, it won’t matter. If the power is down, the code is useless.”
“He’s right,” Ryan agreed. “It looks like Zhang used up all the energy.”
“I doubt he used it all up. More likely, he shut it down,” Tobias corrected.
Who is Zhang? Iris wondered.
Someone else said something, but it was too faint for her to hear. Then another person started talking, then another. Before she knew it, everyone was speaking at once. Iris could not distinguish anything. Once again, she stood to the side and let the others argue.
There might be people in the pod, Iris thought. They’re freezing in there with no power and we’re out here arguing.
Not wasting more time, Iris abandoned the group without saying a word. She walked toward the trees and searched around for something hard. After a bit of rummaging, she found a thick brown rock the size and shape of a scooter helmet. She picked it up and carried it back to the pod. Just as she expected, the others were still arguing by the door, wondering how to get it open.
Iris ignored them and walked to the front window. She smashed the rock as hard as she could into the glass. It made no indent at all, but it seemed to get the others’ attention. Dan, Greyson, Ryan and Tobias all ran over to join her as she smashed the rock into the glass again.
One of the men said something to her as she continued striking the window, but she could neither make out the words nor the speaker. She just continued hitting away.
“Iris, it won’t break!” Dan shouted. She could finally hear something.
The woman stopped beating the window and turned to face them. She realized she was panting.
“That window is made of super-cooled resonance plastic. It’s designed for high pressure submersion. It’s several centimeters thick,” Tobias explained. “You could shoot a bullet at that window and it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Is there another way in?” Ryan asked.
Tobias turned to face him, confused.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, can we breach the hull?” Ryan clarified.
“Negative. The hull is even thicker than the window.”
Iris remembered seeing the image of the Cassidy submarine on the ocean floor. Its window had been torn apart by blasts from the mantis plasma cannon.
Plasma. Superheated plasma.
“What about heat?” Iris asked. She turned to face the whole group. “Would that do the trick?”
“It might!” Dan said with a smile.
“Is that true?” Ryan wondered.
Tobias nodded in agreement.
“Yes! Why didn’t I think of it before? The resonance plastic thrives in cold temperatures. That’s why it’s perfect for long-term deep-sea submersion. The chemical composition of-”
“I don’t need to know how it works. Just tell me if it works,” Ryan interrupted.
Tobias seemed upset that he couldn’t finish explaining everything.
“We just need to get it hot and then we can hit it again,” he answered in simple words. “Then the window should shatter.”
“What if we start a fire on it?” Iris asked. “Would that work?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I don’t know about starting a fire. The smoke would be easy to identify. What if the UBEs see us?”
“It might be our best option,” Dan protested. “Plus, the mantises don’t seem to be around.”
The men all thought about it for a few moments. Eventually Ryan sighed and threw his arms in the air, as if submitting to the idea.
“I guess so,” was all he said. “But at first sign of trouble, that fire goes out.”
Dan, Greyson and Tobias all nodded their heads and turned toward the forest. They pointed toward the trees and said something that Iris could not hear. Iris assumed that they were planning where to look for wood.
While the three of them were distracted by their conversation, Ryan smiled and put his hand on Iris’s shoulder. He looked her in the eyes.
“Good thinking, Iris. Going after the window was a smart idea,” he said.
Iris nodded back to him. She felt a bit uncomfortable by the way he put his hand on her. This was the first time he’d addressed her directly since they’d met. She hoped he was not always this touchy.
“We’re going to need a lot of wood for this to work!” Greyson shouted to anybody that was listening.
“Let’s split up and look for logs!” Dan suggested to the group. Everyone else was still standing by the pod door.
Ryan nodded.
“Agreed!”
Iris had to admit, she was impressed by the way the lieutenant shared his power with Dan. He could have been the one making all the decisions. Instead, it seemed like he almost took joy in having someone else call the shots every now and then.
The group split up and searched for something they could use. Iris paired up with Margery. She did not say much as they searched through the forest, though Iris did not mind the silence.
Iris found a few good pieces of wood to burn. Margery found a few others. After only a minute or so of searching, Iris’s arms were completely full. They both returned to the escape pod.
Everyone assembled their wood on top of the window. Iris added hers to the pile. So did Margery. Once everyone was done, they all took a step back.
“What are they doing?” Kaitlyn asked. She and her sister had stayed behind with their mother while the others were out. Someone had to watch them after all, not to mention the boxes of food.
“They’re starting a fire,” Selena answered.
“Is it scary?” Misha added.
“No, don’t worry. This is a controlled fire, like when we cooked the rabbit, remember? Now quiet down and let the adults work.”
Ryan approached the wood pile and rubbed a few rocks together. Iris and the others all stood and watched intently as nothing happened. There were no sparks, no flames and no smoke.
The lieutenant rubbed harder. Still nothing. Seconds turned to minutes. After
a while, it seemed like nothing was going to happen at all.
“Let me try,” said the younger Navy man. After standing around for so long, he must have been eager to give it a shot.
“All yours, Garren.” Ryan handed the stones off to him and took a step back.
Now Garren tried. His efforts did not prove any better. Nothing. But after a few seconds, a spark appeared.
The spark landed on some dried grass and wood shavings. It was just small stuff, but according to Dan and Tobias, that was the perfect material for getting the fire started.
Garren seemed so astonished by his spark that he stopped what he was doing, took a step back and smiled. Not wanting to lose the spark, Ryan quickly rushed in and blew on the small kindling. It glowed orange.
“Sorry, I just got excited,” Garren said to the lieutenant.
Ryan said something in response that Iris could not hear, though she doubted it was important.
Now that the kindling was burning bright, Ryan moved it to some smaller sticks in the pile. They soon caught fire too. Ryan then transferred those smaller sticks to some slightly larger sticks and continued this process until a large fire roared upon a bed of thick logs. The whole process took a few minutes.
“Cool!” Jallah said once it reached its full size.
“Impressive!” Dan said. “Ours wasn’t nearly as big a few days ago.”
“I suppose I got excited,” Ryan joked. This may have been the first time Iris heard him say something funny.
“How long are we going to let it burn like that?” Margery asked.
“Let’s give it a few minutes,” Dan answered. “We want that glass to be really hot.”
“Well, it’s not technically glass,” Tobias started. Iris could tell the man was about to say more, but after looking around at the other faces in the group, he stopped himself and remained quiet.
Iris turned and looked over to Ophelia as the survivors stood around the fire. She liked regularly checking up on the girl. In fact, she wished she’d done it more. It was easy to get caught up in all the commotion. Iris found herself distracted far too often.
Since learning the news about her father, Ophelia seemed quieter. It was not the reaction Iris had expected. After all, none of these people would have been alive were it not for Trace’s actions. She thought Ophelia would be happy. Instead, she seemed strangely melancholy.