Split Horizon is ahead of schedule, and what government project has ever been able to say that? They already hit FTL so tomorrow's change is a little more mass on the journey. I guess Lucas is sticking a little something in the capsule to see what it can carry. Honestly, even if it's just a dime, that's kind of insane.
So. Hal asked to come visit me in the off-season. Not sure what to think of that.
Inventory's almost done, and apparently NASA is sending down a sweep crew this year to handle all the winter season prep. We're so lucky now. Like royalty.
Hey guys, keep it down, would you?
I guess they're also expanding the “need to know” circle of people who've heard about our little venture.
Man, what's going on out there?
Ana! What's wrong? What's all the yelling?
Is that Lucas? What's wrong?
MILO, pause recording!
Chapter 41
Cheyenne bolted from the console room where she’d been recapping their final days in The Dome. “What’s wrong? Is everyone ok?”
“Yeah, sure, we’re all fine,” Trevor said, shrugging his shoulders in agitation. “Just some old men should keep their opinions to themselves.”
“Whoa, settle down, Trevor. What’s wrong?” Cheyenne repeated, looking to Lucas for a more level head, but instead seeing genuine rage in his eyes. Ana was whiter than the landscape and tear streaks were evident on her cheeks.
“If someone doesn’t tell me what’s happened, we’re really gonna have an issue. Talk. Someone,” Cheyenne demanded.
Lucas relaxed, but didn’t look settled. Instead he looked defeated.
“Everything's fine,” he said simply and turned to the engineer. “Trevor, if you speak to my wife again or go anywhere near my son for the remainder of our days here, I will personally see to it that your place on this project is filled by someone else and do my damndest to be sure your career is finished. You have no earthly clue what you just said or how lucky you are that I am a man of great self-control.”
Trevor made a face and opened his mouth to argue, but Lucas unexpectedly slammed his palms into Trevor’s chest, knocking the smaller man back against the base’s wall. “No! You get to say nothing more! You are a monster—a selfish monster! Now get out of here because I’m not really sure what international law applies in Antarctica, but we’re gonna find out if you don’t stop!”
Cheyenne entered a panic alarm when Lucas had started, bringing Adams and Hal running into the hallway. Trevor lifted his arm to throw a punch until Peter appeared from the other direction, looking confused and carrying a stool over his shoulder like a baseball bat.
“What the heck are you gonna do with that?” Adams asked, slightly amused. Trevor punched his hand into his fist and stormed out, swearing.
“I don’t know,” Peter replied. “Someone hit the panic code. What’s going on?”
“Lucas Whyse, if you don’t tell me what’s happening, I am going to lock down the base,” Cheyenne said. “That will cancel tomorrow’s test and put us in jeopardy for next year.”
Instead of responding, Lucas slumped over and slid down the wall, pounding his chest with his fist as he struggled for control.
“Ana? Something, please?” Cheyenne begged, confused by Lucas’s response.
“I'm going after Jane,” Ana replied and jogged off.
“Go check on Seb, please,” Lucas said to Hal in a scratchy voice. “Please.”
Hal looked to Cheyenne for confirmation, and she nodded as she entered the override ‘all-clear’ for the panic code. Hal spun on his heels to retrieve his favorite little buddy.
I don’t know what happened, but that little boy better be ok, he thought as he started to sweat nervously. Thundering down the hallway, he found Dám and Sebbie playing hide and seek in the school room.
“Are you guys ok?” he said, breathing heavily.
“Sure, as long as you don’t tell Sebbie where I am,” Dám whispered from behind the couch.
Sebbie was intently focused on his counting, but peeked through his fingers and waved at Hal.
“Where’s Candace?” Hal asked.
“Dunno, she left a little bit ago with Trevor,” Dám replied.
Hal pulled off his favorite navy beanie and scratched his head. He looked around for a clock, then started to pull out a chair.
Stomping in the hallway caught his attention. Bonnie, he thought, based on the direction. Leaping into the hallway, he intercepted her walk. Last thing Cheyenne needs down there is Bonnie.
“Sorry, boss, the kids triggered the panic alarm,” he lied. “I know you were trying to get your lab work done. We dealt with it, so you should be able to head on back. Cheyenne came and took care of the all-clear.”
“Guys, you need to be more careful!” Bonnie admonished the children. “That alerts the leadership in the states and makes us look irresponsible.”
Sebbie hung his head as he always did when corrected, but Dám stared in confusion at Hal. His eyes pled with her silently not to expose him, and after a moment, she just nodded slightly and ducked back behind the couch.
Bonnie took this as enough confirmation and headed back the direction she’d come from.
After waiting to be sure she was out of earshot, Hal addressed the wall. “MILO, locate personnel in Semotus Base. Where is Candace Hartwell?”
“Candace Hartwell is in her quarters, locked with DND.” Do not disturb, Hal thought, furrowing his brow. He knew she'd never leave the kids for something simple.
“Where is Jane Whyse?” he asked.
“Jane Whyse is not inside Semotus Base,” the wall replied.
“What? Where is she?”
“Searching...”
“Mommy’s missing?” Sebbie piped up, eyes wide.
“What? Oh, no, sorry, buddy, she just had to go out for a walk, I forgot,” Hal lied again. “It's fine!”
Once Sebbie was back to his activity, Hal moved back and asked quietly, “MILO, how long ago did Jane depart?”
“Eight minutes.”
“Do you have a location?” he asked.
“Dr. Whyse is approximately 400 meters south of Semotus Base and moving west. Conditions are moderately favorable outside.”
Hal paged Ana.
“I’m hurrying, I'm getting dressed,” Ana said. “I wasn't expecting a spacewalk today.”
“She’s 400 meters south and traveling west,” Hal replied. “Is she all right?”
“Thanks, yes,” Ana’s voice said. “It’s a clear day. I’ll radio if I need help locating her.”
“Ana, what happened?”
“Hal, are you with the kids?”
“Yes.”
“Then this isn’t the time. Please, I’ll call if I need more than a half hour.”
“All right.” Hal turned around to smile half-heartedly as the children played.
Chapter 42
Lucas tried to control his breathing as the small group stared at him. He wasn’t sure if he was going to weep or punch a hole in the wall.
The wall chirped and Ana said, “Lucas, I’m going out to get her. MILO says she’s close, so it’ll only be a half hour.”
He nodded but said nothing.
“Thanks, Ana,” Cheyenne responded. “Stay in touch.”
“I have to go,” Lucas said simply as he stood up. “I should be the one going after my wife.”
After he walked out, Cheyenne jerked her head to Adams. “Just follow him and make sure he goes to the locker room and not after Trevor.”
“Done,” Adams replied, turning to follow.
“Adams, try to make it look like you’re doing it because you care rather than as a mission,” Cheyenne added.
“Are you kidding?” he responded, adding a colorful curse. “What even happened? Is he really going to kill him?”
“Lucas Whyse is not killing anyone. But I’m going to go watch the video since no one will tell me. You can come back after we’re sure they’re separated.”
“Fine.”
“Hal?” she said into the intercom.
“We’re here,” he replied.
“Are the kids ok?”
“Yeah, Candace wasn’t here. MILO says she’s in her room on DND.”
That’s odd, Cheyenne thought.
“You ok to stay there for a bit?” she asked.
“Yeah, we’re fine; just keep me in the loop.”
“Will do.”
“Cheyenne?” Hal asked.
“Yeah?”
“I intercepted, uh, a package, the big package stomping your way, but it wasn’t… I wasn’t entirely truthful so we may need to fix that later.”
Cheyenne paused, then smiled. “Thanks, Hal. She may not have improved the situation.”
“What did that mean?” Peter asked as he sat down on the stool he’d carried in.
“Hal figured that Bonnie wouldn’t be the best addition to our party,” Cheyenne replied as she sat down beside him at the main console.
“Oh geez, yeah. What was going on? I’ve never seen Lucas like that.”
“Let’s find out,” Cheyenne said. “MILO, show me the security camera videos from outside the doorway here.”
“Two angles,” Peter noted.
“MILO, playback both cameras simultaneously, starting five minutes ago.”
The cameras showed Ana in tears and caught part of a sentence from Trevor, “—and she certainly doesn’t need you guys and your –”
“Not far enough,” Cheyenne said. “MILO, jump back five minutes earlier.”
The cameras showed an empty hallway. Cheyenne furrowed her brow. “MILO, show me Trevor Fox at this time.”
The cameras switched to Trevor sitting in his lab, scrolling around on his tablet. Suddenly, he stood up, grabbing his tablet.
“Where’s he going?” Peter asked with a level of surprise that irritated Cheyenne.
“I don’t know, let’s watch and find out together, shall we?” she replied. “MILO, continue following Trevor’s actions.”
MILO expertly switched security camera angles as Trevor stomped down the hallway and burst into the school room. Cheyenne and Peter watched the action unfold.
“Candace,” he said, “Have you seen this?”
“Good morning, Trevor,” Candace said, looking a little annoyed at the interruption. “Dám, keep reading. Have I seen what?”
“News headlines,” he replied. “Sorry, maybe you should wait.”
Candace looked concerned. She hung her head, darkly laughing. “Never thought it would be so soon.” She put her hand out, and Trevor placed the tablet in it.
“Can you read it?” Peter said to Cheyenne. She paused the video and zoomed in but the text still wasn’t clear.
Restarting the video, they watched as Candace continued, “Dám, keep an eye on Sebbie, would you? I need to take a quick walk.”
“How can I keep an eye on him if I’m reading?” Dám replied.
“Maybe you can read to him.”
“Read physics to Sebbie?”
“Read whatever he wants,” Candace said, clearly distracted. Sebbie ran to the bookshelf and pulled out more books than he could possibly carry and began making a stack as Candace and Trevor left the room.
The camera view switched to the hallway. Candace read silently, her expression growing bleak. She continued walking, dragging her fingers through her hair. Her pace changed with her attitude until she and Trevor, tailing her like a shadow, arrived outside the console room.
She let out a small, pained sigh before sinking back into the wall and letting the tablet slide to the floor.
“I’m really sorry, Candace,” Trevor said. “It’s nobody’s business. How dare these people act like—”
“Just stop, please,” Candace said with her face in her hands.
“I bet your dad—”
“Stop it!” she said, waving him away. “Please, you just don’t understand.”
Trevor sat down beside her, putting his arms around her shoulders, despite her mild resistance. “Candace, here let me help.”
“Kid thinks he’s in a movie,” Peter mumbled as he watched them on the screen.
“Trevor, you have no idea!” Candace’s image continued, shoving him away. “Being down here, it was like a safe little bubble, and now it’s all over and I can’t possibly go back. What am I going to tell my dad? What will Isaac say?” She was alternating between angry and panicked while Trevor tried in vain to keep his arm around her when Ana, Jane, and Lucas rounded the corner.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Jane said, looking both surprised and awkward at having walked in on such a scene. She was already dressed in her bulky suit for going outside, her hat and goggles dangling around her neck and down her back.
Candace squirmed and stood up, away from Trevor’s unwanted reaching.
“I have to go, Jane, I can’t talk to you about this,” Candace said. Trevor appeared surprised at her comment, looking back and forth between the two women like he was trying to solve a puzzle.
“Dude, what’s going on?” Lucas said, positioning himself between Candace and Trevor, breaking the engineer’s line of sight.
Trevor suddenly nodded. “Oh, I get it,” he said. “She’s scared of you. You and Jane.”
“Shut up!” Candace snapped at him. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Lucas remained between them, looking serious but level-headed.
Jane turned to her friend, putting up her hands. “Why are you crying, Candace?” she asked. “What happened?”
Candace said nothing, just shook her head, looking away.
“Trevor?” Ana asked. “What happened?”
“The personal information from Candace’s file was leaked this morning,” he replied, “and it’s… it’s real big news back home.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Candace,” Lucas said.
“You may as well know, too,” Trevor replied, talking over the protests of Ana and Jane. “When they hacked the system, they got a video of her talking about—”
“Trevor!” Candace interrupted. “Like my privacy hasn’t been violated enough! I’m right here!”
Trevor’s embarrassment disappeared into indignation. “I’m the only one trying to help you, Candace! The Whyses and their online church and their praying in the cafeteria and their ‘we’re going to listen to the Bible in the helicopter’ are the ones self-righteously parading their religion around the base to make you feel bad about yourself. Why are you pissed at me?”
“It’s none of your business, or theirs, or anyone’s!” she hissed. “The last thing I want is for you all to sit around talking about my life!”
“She had an abortion, ok?” Trevor shouted over her.
The hallway fell silent, and he continued in irritation, “The media’s all excited because it goes against her dad’s platform, so they’re making sure it looks really shady. And people like you two who shove god down everyone’s throats and bring religion into politics are the problem.”
Candace hung her head, and Jane reached out even though her face had gone completely white. “I’m sorry, Candace, this is—”
“You should apologize, Jane,” Trevor interrupted.
Looking grieved into her friend's face and starting to shake her head, Candace instead turned and ran down the hallway toward her room.
Trevor dropped his hands in exasperation and continued, “This shouldn’t be a big deal; it was all completely legal. She was in college, and she certainly doesn’t need you guys and your backward, anti-feminist religion telling her she’s some kind of evil person.”
“Not a big deal,” Jane repeated, monotone, her jointed gloves repeatedly clenching and unclenching at her sides. ”I was apologizing for your behavior, not our reaction. How dare you announce this to us like it's your story to tell? Right in front of her? You’re worse than the tabloids!”
“She doesn’t owe anyone an explanation,” Trevor said.
&nb
sp; “Did I ask for one?” Jane yelled.
“It’s completely her choice and her right!” Trevor replied, adding a foul name he spat right into Jane’s face. “If anyone owes an apology, it’s you, Jane. Why do you think she didn’t want to talk to you specifically about all this? Because you’ve been wandering around here like a zombie all season, moping and crying like an idiot over your stupid—”
In a flash, Lucas had him pinned to the wall, a fistful of collar in his hand and forearm pressing against Trevor’s chest. “Crying over what, Trevor? Go ahead, say it! Crying over what?”
Ana grabbed his arm, yelling for him to ‘calm down’ as Jane slipped unnoticed down the hallway toward the exterior door.
“You can’t have it both ways, Trevor,” Lucas spat out, hardly struggling against the much shorter man. “You’re a scientist. Why does ‘planned’ or ‘unplanned’ decide if a child is officially alive? How does ‘wanted’ or ‘unwanted’ determine humanity?” A tear lined Lucas’ face, but he kept it inches from Trevor’s. “Who are you to tell my wife she can’t mourn our daughter's death?”
“Stop preaching, Lucas,” Trevor squirmed. “How dare you judge Candace’s personal decisions!”
“How dare you use Candace’s pain as an opportunity to advance your frat-boy plan to bang the nanny!” Lucas hollered. “Did you look at her face for a second Trevor? You can read a woman’s emotions there better than down her shirt. She’s hurting, and you made it worse, you selfish bastard.”
Cheyenne watched as her own head appeared on the screen. “What’s wrong? Is everyone ok?” she’d yelled.
“Yeah, sure, we’re all fine,” Trevor said, shaking out his shirt from Lucas’s grip. Cheyenne stopped the playback before he went any further.
“Whoa,” Peter said softly.
Cheyenne dropped her head forward into her hands and sucked in a breath deeply as her tears dripped into her lap.
Chapter 43
In the locker room, Lucas felt like he was taking two years to dress.
They say you’re more likely to stub your toe when you’re angry, he thought. Try doing a dozen small zippers, snaps, and buttons like on this stupid snowsuit.
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