Tree: Live to give, give to live (Numbered Book 3)

by Magus Tor

  “I love you too,” she said before turning away quickly to grab her bag, not wanting him to see the tears that were threatening to fall.

  Both Nicholas and Elza wished them luck, and they wished them the same back. The next time they would meet would be in City 05, providing they all made it there safely.

  And then it was over. Their goodbyes said, Stefan, Lukas, and Aurelia set out into the night.

  The walk to the dock was an easy one, and one they made in silence. A boat was waiting for them, and Aurelia watched a small dot of light as Lukas shone a beam on a small panel at the front of the boat. He released the panel to reveal a control panel, keyed in some numbers, then replaced the cover.

  “It'll be a longer ride than you're used to,” he said. “We'll be skirting around the City to get to the other side. We should just make it before dawn. Complete silence in the boat, please. Voices and sounds carry over water, and we'll be close to both settlements and the City itself at some points. Okay?”

  Aurelia and her father both nodded, and then they climbed into the boat.

  It was dark enough that Aurelia had nothing to watch. She could only hear the soft lapping sounds of the water on the hull of the boat, and the swishing of the paddle as it moved. The night was cool, and she soon began to find that the movement of the boat and the soft, lulling sounds were sending her right back to sleep. She was startled by a touch on her shoulder but managed to keep from crying out. Her father handed her a blanket, and she wrapped it around her shoulders. For a little while, she struggled to keep her eyes open but then saw no point in fighting sleep. She curled up on the narrow bench of the boat and watched the flickering lights of City 02 as they passed, and then she fell asleep.

  Her neck was stiff when she awoke. The boat was still, and she sat up to see that they were on a small beach, surrounded by the dark green foliage that she was becoming used to.

  “Wakey, wakey,” said Lukas with a grin. “Boat time is over; you're on your own two feet for the next part.”

  She groaned as she stood up and clambered out of the boat to stand beside her father.

  Lukas again pulled the panel off the boat and keyed in numbers, presumably sending it back to the village, then straightened up and smiled at them.

  “Don't worry. It's not too far through the foliage. Around half an hour or so, I think, and we're ahead of schedule.” He looked around at the grey shadows; dawn was coming. “We might as well wait until it's a bit lighter. It'll make things easier. What about something to eat?”

  They camped on the beach, chewing on rations as they watched the boat fade away into the distance.

  “Isn't it about time to let us in on your secret now?” Aurelia asked Lukas, wishing desperately that she had a cup of coffee.

  “Oh, Lukas, stop teasing her—tell her,” Stefan said, pulling a metal tube out of his bag and offering it to Aurelia.

  She took the tube and felt that it was warm. He father gestured at her to unscrew the top, and when she did, she was assaulted by the familiar smell of fresh coffee. Ha. How could she have forgotten that her father shared her coffee addiction? She took a deep drink and handed the tube back to him.

  “Okay,” said Lukas, crumpling his ration pack and wiping off his hands. “Here's the deal. We're about a thirty-minute walk from a transport depot. Which,” he said, forestalling Aurelia's question, “is where all the public transport pods are kept as well as cargo pods for the transport of resources between Cities. Since 02 doesn't have a shuttle bay, there are a whole lot of cargo pods here.”

  “So?” asked Aurelia.

  “So, we're going to be hitching a ride with one of them,” Lukas said, smiling. “Since none of them are travelling to Lunar, these pods aren't too heavily guarded, and it's pretty easy to sneak on board and go wherever you want to. The only tricky part is making sure that the pod you get on is going to the City you want to get to. I've got that covered, though.”

  Aurelia had to admit that it was a pretty simple way of getting around. Cargo pods would be faster than personal transport pods, since the bigger the pod, the larger the charger and engine capacity. Lukas's plan was pretty admirable in its simplicity. She looked at the sky, a light grey now. It was definitely almost morning.

  “Let's get going, then,” her father said gruffly.

  Picking up their bags and getting the now obligatory warnings from Lukas not to touch the plants and to stay quiet, they started walking.

  The foliage here wasn't too thick, and Aurelia wondered if they could be seen from the water. Occasionally she caught glimpses of the swamp between plant stems. They walked at a fast pace, halfway between walking and jogging, and covered the ground quickly. It wasn't too long before the plants began to thin out even more. Lukas slowed down, and it seemed as if he was looking for something.

  “Ha!” he whispered as his eye caught sight of what he needed.

  He bent down, and Aurelia saw a metal grate.

  “What's that?” she asked.

  He shook his head and put his fingers to his lips to signal silence. Then he pulled up on the grate, which, although it looked old, moved smoothly and quietly. A deep, dark hole opened up. Aurelia could see a metal ladder clinging to one side. Lukas gestured for her father to go first, then Aurelia joined him in climbing down, and Lukas followed last, clanging the grate shut behind them. Once they reached solid ground, there was a flash. Lukas was holding a light source.

  “This, in answer to your question,” he said, “is the remains of the Old Earth city that was here. That City was one of few that were deliberately planned and constructed, rather than growing naturally over centuries, meaning that the infrastructure was solid and logical. This is part of their sewerage system, though it's no longer used, of course,” he added, noticing Aurelia's nose wrinkle in disgust. “And the best part is that it will take us right into the transport depot.”

  He began walking down the long, echoing tube; and in his flickering light, Aurelia could see that there were cracks in the concrete structure, though it seemed solid enough. A little swamp water ran down the very centre, but it wasn't even enough to cover her shoes as they walked. They passed two more metal ladders before stopping at a third.

  “Alright, now we're going to climb up here,” Lukas said, quietly this time. “And we'll be inside the transport depot. There's no telling where sec Workers will be, though they usually don't bother checking around too much. The cargo pod we want should be close to the grate. Follow me, keep quiet, do what I do, and we'll be fine.”

  He started up the ladder, and Aurelia glanced at her father, who smiled at her.

  “Trust him. He's a good man,” her father whispered.

  She wondered a little about Lukas's history; he did seem extraordinarily dedicated. Then she shrugged and started climbing the ladder behind him. She heard him lift a cover off the top and waited while he exited, then followed.

  They found themselves in a large open area, which reminded Aurelia of the shuttle bay in City 01. All around them were pods, small and large. The sewer had let them out in a corner of the space, and a tall wall cast a shadow, hiding them from casual sight. Lukas was looking around for something. He spotted it and pointed. A large cargo pod was standing a few metres away, its back door open to form a ramp for loading. Lukas held up a hand for them to wait.

  As they watched, a large crate was loaded onto the pod. Lukas looked at his time reader and waited again. The next crate came a little over two minutes later, and Lukas nodded in satisfaction. He now knew how long they had to get into the craft without being discovered. He looked at Aurelia and Stefan to make sure they understood what he had done, and seeing that they did, he beckoned them down into a crouch. Again they waited, and as the next crate was loaded, Aurelia felt the muscles in her legs tighten. She was ready to run. The loader turned and began to drive away.

  “Now,” hissed Lukas.

  The three ran, lightly but swiftly, across the concrete and straight up the pod ramp. Quickly
and confidently, Lukas made his way to the back of the loading area and knocked on a crate. It sounded hollow, and he grinned. Prying the front of the crate off, he indicated that Aurelia and her father should climb in. They did, he followed, and then he pulled a short length of rope that had been attached to the front panel, closing it tight behind them.

  “Told you it was simple,” he whispered.

  “You had help,” Aurelia pointed out.

  “We've got people in most of the transport depots and all the shuttle bays,” Lukas told her. “That makes things easier. For the transport depots, you just need to arrange for an empty crate to be loaded on and you're set. You'll be able to use this way to travel between the Cities if you need to. Just com me, and I'll set it up and let you know the pod number. You'll need to get yourselves into the depots, though.”

  Aurelia nodded. It seemed the easiest way to travel between Cities, and she was grateful for Lukas's help.

  “How long to City 04?” her father asked.

  Lukas let out a puff of air. “It should take around five hours in a pod this size,” he said. “And there's nothing to do but sit and wait until we get there.”

  He pulled his personal screen out of his pocket and switched it on. Aurelia had memories of Jonathon doing the same when they were smuggled inside the shuttle.

  “You're just going to sit there and read?” she asked.

  Lukas shrugged and smiled. “You'd be surprised how much of Resistance work is sitting around for hours and waiting for a few seconds of excitement,” he told her.

  “Too true,” said her father, who had also brought out his screen. “You'd do well to do the same. There's research information on all the Cities on your screen; I added it myself.”

  Aurelia shook her head, but she pulled out her screen anyway. By the time the pod door slammed shut and the craft made the familiar humming sound as it hovered off the ground, she was engrossed in a distilled guide to City 04.

  Aurelia's legs were cramped from sitting on the floor of the crate, and her knees burned when she tried to straighten them. The sound of the pod engine was deepening, meaning that they were slowing down. They must be almost there.

  “What do we do when we land?” she asked Lukas.

  “I'll give you three guesses,” he said, not lifting his eyes from his screen.

  “Wait,” she groaned.

  “Yep.”

  The pod shuddered a little as it touched the ground, then the engines faded, and it came to a halt. Almost immediately there was a loud crash as the ramp door was opened, and Aurelia could feel movement as the first of the crates was unloaded. Her father and Lukas rolled up their screens.

  “Alright,” said Lukas. “We're going to be unloaded, so make sure you're lying on the floor—there's less chance of you falling or hurting yourself. Don't make any noise. We'll be out before you know it.”

  The three of them lay flat on the floor next to each other, and Aurelia had to bite her cheek to stop herself laughing. They must look idiotic. Around them, the sounds of crates moving got closer, until finally it was their turn. The crate they were in tipped slightly as the loader inserted itself underneath, and then there was the stomach-dropping feeling of being lifted and rolled down the ramp. They were driven somewhere—a minute or so away, no more—then another stomach drop as they were lowered, and the crate tipped back onto solid ground.

  “Wait,” hissed Lukas.

  Aurelia silently cursed him. She'd quite happily never hear the word “wait” again if she could help it. Given that their crate was one of the first on, they could reasonably assume that it was going to be one of the last off. A few moments later, there was the sound of another crate being put down, then silence. Lukas waited five minutes longer to make sure that there were no other sounds before nodding and extinguishing his light source.

  He pushed the crate panel open, and a biting cold chill pushed in, making Aurelia shiver. Slowly Lukas slid out of the crate, taking the time to look around. Then, seeing no one, he signalled for them to exit themselves.

  Aurelia climbed out and found that they were outside, crates stacked all around them. She shivered again and realised that her feet were unexpectedly cold. Looking down, she saw that the ground was covered in white.

  “It's snow,” Lukas whispered, helpfully.

  She knew what it was; she'd just never seen it before.

  “Come on,” Lukas said.

  He moved past a crate to part of the wall that surrounded the yard, and Aurelia saw a small gate. He pushed it open, and they left the depot easily.

  When the gate swung shut behind them, Aurelia looked around. They were standing in the middle of a wide street, towering buildings all around them, everything covered with the soft white snow.

  Chapter Ten

  Trudging through the cold snow, Aurelia shivered. She was absolutely freezing and regretted not changing into a winter uniform when she'd had the chance.

  “Not far,” huffed Lukas, his breath making clouds in the night air as he spoke.

  The streets here were wider than Aurelia was used to; and already, though it was early in the season, there were banks of snow on either side of her.

  “Those snow banks get as high as the second or third floor in the depths of winter,” her father told her. “City 04 is the only one that still gets snow, and it gets enough for all the rest of Earth put together.”

  Aurelia, who could no longer feel her feet, could only grunt in reply.

  It was another few minutes until Lukas rounded a corner and knocked a certain pattern on a certain door. The door was opened, and they stepped into the warmth inside. A woman who had the same Asiatic features as Aurelia's mother welcomed them inside, though she said no more than hello before pulling on a cape and leaving them.

  “04s don't speak much,” Lukas said, making his way over to a heating machine and rubbing his hands in front of it.

  The room was the same as any other living pod Aurelia had been in on Earth, with the exception of the large heating machine that she now gratefully stood in front of. The heat made her skin burn, and her fingers turned red.

  “There'll be food ready somewhere,” her father said, looking around until he found a metal pot in the kitchen pod.

  “Good,” Lukas said, rubbing his hands one more time and then going to the coffee table where Stefan had placed the pot. “I suggest we eat first, then get to work. Don't have much time for sleeping.”

  “What do you suggest we do first?” Aurelia asked, as the food container was opened to release a burst of steam and a warm, spicy scent.

  Her father appeared from the kitchen pod carrying dishes. “I'm going to start talking to some of the Resistance members,” he told her. “And you're going to start looking for your mother.”

  Lukas was already doling out portions of what looked to be a stew made with synth meat. “I'll make a couple of com calls and find out all I can,” he promised her. “You've got a map of 04 on your screen, so you should be able to navigate around alright. You'd better change before you go out again, though. There's a uniform in your bag, though I'm not sure what you can do about the shoes.” He looked down at her feet; the black fabric of her shoes was darker now that the snow had melted, and they were soaking wet.

  Aurelia followed his glance and kicked off her shoes, putting them in front of the heater before helping herself to a bowl of stew.

  “Mmm,” said Lukas, his mouth half full. “Your mother was staying here; you might want to look in the sleeping pod for her things. There could be info there, though I doubt it—I think the others will have already looked.”

  She resisted the urge to go right away. She desperately wanted not only to find her mother but also to smell her scent, to touch the things that she had touched. But she also knew that there was no point in hurrying things. The hot food was important now, particularly if she was about to go back out into the cold.

  As delicately as she could, she gulped down the stew. Both her father an
d Lukas were already eating a second bowl when she finished.

  “I'm just going to check Mum's things,” she announced, getting up.

  The two men, deeply involved in a conversation about whom exactly Stefan needed to be talking to, nodded absently as Aurelia left the room.

  There were two sleeping pods, and Aurelia found her mother's bag in the second of the two. She hesitated for a moment before touching anything. Growing up in a community with so little space meant that personal items were extremely precious, and children learnt early on not to touch the property of others. But she was here to find her mum, she reminded herself, and anything in that bag might help her.

  Taking a breath, she emptied the pack out onto the bed, finding more or less the same as what was in her own bag. Standard issue for Resistance coming to 04, apparently. Sorting through the clothes, she found a spare pair of winter shoes. For a second she wondered if her mum would mind her borrowing them, then thought that of course she wouldn't. Thank the Gods that I inherited my mother's small feet, rather than my father's huge boats, she thought with a grin.

  There was little else to speak of, only a small book. As she was carefully putting the clothes back into the bag, Aurelia's eye caught the book. She was about to put it on top of the neatly folded garments when she thought she might as well look inside it. As she casually flicked through the pages, something fell out. She bent to the floor to pick it up and saw an old-looking photograph. Unlike a holo-pic, these didn't move; they captured no gestures, just a freeze frame of one single moment and emotion, making the photograph seem oddly personal to Aurelia. The picture showed a man, a woman, and a child, all Asiatic looking, standing primly in front of a building, a snow bank towering above them.

  For a second, Aurelia couldn't place the people, though there was a vague familiarity. But, of course, the child must be her mother. Looking closely, she saw a little dimple high on the right cheek of the child. Yes, definitely her mum. Which meant the others must be her mother's parents. Interesting. They looked young, happy, healthy. And the photograph looked well loved, its edges frayed and creased.