by G. S. Fields
We fished like that, in silence, for more than two hours. Out of the corner of my eye, I occasionally saw people watching us from the beach. Helen came out twice. The second time she brought a set of binoculars and tried to get our attention by waving her arms. When it appeared that she had finally given up, William asked, “So what’s going to happen now?” His voice broke a little.
“I don’t know. I guess you’ll be staying with me. Your mom asked me to take care of you.”
He set the pole on his lap and said, “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, but I can’t break a promise I made to your mom,” I said. “So what do you think we should do?”
William paused, “I don’t know.”
“Me neither.” The tip of my pole jerked towards the water. I pulled back and set my line. William looked over his shoulder and watched as I reeled in a pretty good-sized squirrelfish. He picked up the net and scooped it up. After I unhooked the fish, I tossed it in to the bottom of the hull with the rest. Then I cast out again and said, “I’ll tell you what...until we can figure it out, why don’t you bunk with me for a little while?”
“I told you that I don’t need you to take care of me.”
“I didn’t say I would take care of you. You take care of yourself and I’ll take care of myself. We’ll just do it under one roof, that’s all. We’ll be roommates.”
William sat still for a few seconds and then said, “Okay. But you can’t tell me what to do.”
“Agreed, but we got to have some house rules. I don’t want my hut ending up like my college dorm room.”
He tilted his head as he looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“You know…house rules. My college roommate and I had three simple rules. Keep the room reasonably clean. Keep the noise down after lights out. And stay away if the other guy has a girlfriend over. You know, your run-of-the-mill house rules.”
I thought I saw a brief smile, but it quickly disappeared. He reached back and held out his hand.
“Deal," he finally said.
We shook on it. “Deal," I said.
After a few minutes, he reeled in his line and said, “Aron?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go in. It’s getting dark and...I want to say goodbye.”
***
I sat up in bed and looked around. William was still asleep. We’d moved his bed over to my place the day after Sarah’s funeral. It was a tight fit, but what the hell. It had only been two days and I realized that I was enjoying having him around. But he’d be leaving for Mars soon. It was for the best for both of us. At least that's what I kept telling myself.
The curtains were closed, but I could tell by the way the sunlight was trying to find its way in that it was already late morning. I ran my hand through my hair and it came away wet…really wet. I was soaked in sweat and so were my sheets.
I lay there for a moment. My thoughts returned to that satellite image on Jin’s data mat, the one with the MDF boat docked alongside Jamal’s mother ship. Something was going on, but I tried to tell myself that it didn’t matter anymore.
A couple of times over the past few days I felt like looking through Jin’s data mat. But I didn't. I reminded myself that by Saturday I’d be back on Male. Shannon and I would vote for the list and that would be that. The Mars ship would come and William, along with the others on the list, would be whisked away, far away from the pirates. So who what did it matter if I figured out what was in those messages? That little voice in my head, that’s who. It wouldn’t shut up about it.
I tried thinking about something else. William snored and turned to look at him. I wondered what it’d be like for him up there.
Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I had first thought. I mean, at least there were no pirates up there. And if you pulled the pirate variable out of the equation, William’s chances of reaching manhood probably increased exponentially. And then there was the weather around here. What the hell was going on with the weather?
After the storm the weather had gotten gradually worse, but only gradually. Each year brought more storms, fewer sunny days, and cooler temperatures. Rick had actually kept a log for a while, but I had stopped paying attention to it several years ago. Based on his data, he figured that we’d all die from starvation long before we died from the weather. But something new was happening. The temperature swings over the last few days weren’t gradual shifts. Two days ago it snowed and now the hut felt like an oven.
I got up and walked over to the environmental control panel on the wall. I turned on the air conditioner, something I hadn’t done in years.
Yeah, something had changed alright and I had a pretty good idea what had happened. The continual loss of the atmosphere must have reached a tipping point. The planetary pressure system that regulated weather patterns must be out of whack. If that was happening then Rick was wrong about how we’d all die. It looks like we'll either freeze to death or roast to death. Personally, I preferred freezing to death. I had read somewhere that hypothermia was a pretty painless way to check out.
I looked at my watch. It was Friday, the last day before my final Council meeting. God that sounded good…final Council meeting.
“Why’s it so hot in here?” William asked as he rubbed his eyes.
“Because it’s hot outside,” I replied.
He stood up. Like me, he was covered in sweat. He stretched as he yawned. I chuckled as his boxer shorts almost slid off of him. He reached down with one hand and grabbed them before they fell. The shorts looked ten sizes too big for him. It was probably a pair of Rick’s shorts. William had them bunched together at the waist and tied up with a string.
“So, what are doing today?”
“Let’s go see if there is any breakfast left. Then we can head down to the pier. We need to clean out the kayak.”
“Clean! Doesn’t it get clean in the ocean?”
“Good try,” I said smiling. “But you’re not getting out of this that easily. You’ve been out in the boat. It reeks of dead fish.”
Shrugging, he said, “It doesn’t bother me.”
“That’s because you smell as bad as the boat. When was the last time you took a shower?”
He shrugged again.
“Well you’re taking one today.”
“Awe…I don’t need a shower.”
“Oh yes you do…trust me. If I bring you smelling like that over to Helen’s for dinner tonight, she’ll fillet me instead of the fish.”
He frowned, grabbed his towel, and headed to the bathroom.
Yeah. The sooner he left the better.
***
“Now don’t you worry about a thing while you’re gone, Aron,” Helen said for the sixth time. She patted William on the shoulder and said, “William and I are going to be just fine. Aren’t we William?”
Dinner with Helen always reminded me of the dinners we had at Kelly’s grandmother’s house. Like Helen, Kelly’s grandmother had a loving way of embarrassing the kids.
William leaned out of her reach and said, “I still don’t see why I can’t go to Male with you?” He looked at me for help. “I’ll stay in the hotel room and won’t bother anyone. I promise.”
“Not this time, William. But don’t worry, this is going to be a short trip. I’ll be back in a day or two.”
Mohamed looked up from his nearly empty plate and said, “So are you that close to finalizing the list?”
I nodded. “Shannon and I talked and we feel that the list is probably as good as it’s going to get. We plan to vote for the list when—”
My data mat beeped and I took it out to see who the message was from. “I’m sorry,” I said. Helen glared at me. She had a strict ‘no data mats at the table’ rule. “I really need to read this.”
I stood up and walked out onto the front porch. The message was from Michio. I opened it and it read:
Aron,
I am deeply sorry, but my resig
nation was necessary to ensure the protection of my family and friends.
Michio
Fuck! They had threatened him, and from the sound of it, they threatened his whole family. No wonder he resigned. I couldn’t blame him, but I made a mental note to kick Viyaja's ass as soon as I got back to Male.
“What is it, Aron?” Helen asked from inside.
I read the message a second time and said, “Nothing.”
Then I put the data mat back in my pocket and went back inside. I took my seat and looked around the table. From their inquisitive stares, I knew that they didn’t believe me. “Really, it’s nothing. Just some Council stuff.”
“Did something change?” Mohamed looked worried. “Are you still going to vote for the list?”
“Nothing’s changed. We’re still planning to vote for the list.”
“Oh, that is good news indeed!” Helen said. “Mrs. Johansen’s boy, Erik, delivered some supplies two days ago and said there was a rumor that the captain of the Mars ship would decide who goes and who stays.” Before I could say anything, she said, “I know, I know...I shouldn’t spread rumors, but it got me all riled up, that’s all.”
“I did not hear this rumor.” Mohamed looked at me and asked, “Is this true?”
“You know I’m not supposed to talk about what goes on in the Council.” I ate a spoonful of fish-head soup and hoped they would drop it. I took a sip and peered around the table. I could tell that they weren’t going to let it go. “Okay, but this stays between us.”
They nodded.
“Seriously, you guys can’t tell anyone.” I looked at Helen and said, “Not even Erik Johansen...got it?”
They both nodded again.
“It’s not exactly true,” I said. “If the Council can’t come up with a list before the ship arrives, then the captain will have to do it. But don’t worry. Like I said, we’re closing the deal tomorrow.”
“I am very glad to hear that,” Mohamed said. “Outsiders should not decide our fate. We need to make sure that nice young men, like William here, will go to Mars and help rebuild mankind’s future.”
William looked up in surprise. “I’m not going to Mars. I’m staying here...with Aron.”
“William! Your mother, God rest her soul, wanted you to go,” Helen said. “I know that Lohifushi is your home, but…” She turned to me with a look of desperation in her eyes. “Tell him why he has to go.”
“You won’t make me go, will you Aron? You said we were roommates. You said we would be fishing partners,” William pleaded.
Goddammit! I had hoped to avoid this discussion until after the Mars shipped arrived.
“Look, let’s worry about this after the list is finalized. Okay? There’s no use getting all worked up over nothing.”
I saw the fear reflected in both of their eyes. The taste of fish-head soup filled my mouth as it worked its way up the back of my throat.
I tossed and turned most of the night. It was no use. I couldn’t get to sleep.
I sighed and slipped out of bed. Grabbing my data mat, I went outside. I stood on the front deck and tried the bullshit breathing exercises that I had learned in that couples yoga class Kelly had dragged me to a year before the storm. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. I tried to clear my mind by listening to the chorus of insects who sang along to the rhythm of the waves. Nope, it was no use. The thoughts that had kept me awake were still bouncing around in my head. That hippie yoga crap didn’t work back then. I don’t know what made me think that it would work now.
I looked up to the stars. Goddammit! This didn’t make any sense. I got William on the list. The kid was going to Mars just like Rick and Sarah had wanted. So why the hell did I feel like something was wrong?
I sat down, opened my data mat, and read through the new list again.
See! There was nothing to be worried about. Shannon was right. Ahmed had dropped more of his candidates, one hundred and thirty-eight to be exact. Still, there was something wrong. I could feel it in my gut.
I reviewed the replacements on the list, checking their profiles against the selection criteria. They all met the criteria… all of them. I don’t think I’d ever seen a list without at least one person who didn’t meet at least one of the criteria. Maybe our constant bitching had gotten through to Ahmed. Maybe he and the others had decided to finally follow the rules. As much as I wanted to believe that, I didn’t.
I sorted the list by name, age, religion…nothing. See, I was just imagining things. But when I sorted it by island, the little voice in my head returned and said, “I told you something was up!”
It wasn’t a smoking gun, but this wasn’t a normal distribution. Ninety-two of the one hundred and thirty-eight candidates came from the same island, Hanikada. I knew that island.
There had once been a tiny resort there before the storm, but the island was eventually abandoned. Something about an insufficient water supply, or water quality issue. I don’t remember. But I remembered the island. Goose bumps popped up on my arms as I recalled how eerie that place was…really creepy.
Everything had been abandoned. I even found a table in the dining hut that hadn’t been cleared after a meal. The whole time we were there erecting the communications tower, I felt like I was in an Old West ghost town. So unless the names on the list were ghosts—.
The door latch clicked and interrupted my thoughts. I turned and saw William peering through the door crack and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I thought some fresh air might help,” I said. “What are you doing up?”
Shrugging, he said, “I dunno.”
I motioned to one of the plastic beach chairs and we sat down. After a minute of silence, I asked, “Are you still thinking about the conversation at dinner?”
“No,” he said. “Not really.”
I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked away.
“I can tell something’s bothering you. Why don't you tell me what it is. I used to tell my girls that the only way to get the bad feelings out of your head is to talk them out.”
He kept quiet, so I tried a different approach, “A lot of people are scared about going up in space and living on Mars. Heck, I don’t even like the idea of—”
Scowling at me, he shouted, “I’m not scared!”
“Whoa. I didn’t say that you were scared. I said that a lot of other people were scared.” I chuckled.
His hands clenched and his eyes narrowed. “Why are you laughing at me?”
“I’m not. I was just remembering that time your dad and I came back to the job site and found you all the way up in a communications tower with Jin’s kid. You probably don’t remember. You were only four years old at the time, but you…” I laughed again. “You had followed Bohai all the way up the ladder and sat on the edge of the platform, swinging your legs over the side and smiling from ear to ear.”
His face softened and his hands relaxed. “Really? I don’t remember that.”
I nodded. “Yup. Your dad just about shit himself.”
William smiled.
“That’s how I know you’re not scared, William. You’ve always been a tough kid.”
We sat there silently for another few seconds before I said, “So out of curiosity, if you’re not afraid of going to Mars, then why don’t you want to go?”
He got up and looked out towards the sound of the waves. “Because this is my home.”
“I know. Leaving home is hard, but you understand that things are getting worse around here, not better. Don’t you?”
“Yeah...I guess,” he said. “But some people say that it might get better.”
I got up and walked over next to him. “I wish they were right…I really do. But the people who say that are scared and can't face reality. I don't blame them. The reality of what’s going to happen to this place is hard to face. Do you know what I mean?”
He looked down at his feet. “Sor
t of. I guess…I guess it just feels like Helen and everyone wants to get rid of me.”
I put my hands on his shoulders and turned him towards me. When he finally looked up into my eyes I said, “That’s the last thing they want. Everyone here loves you. You were one of the first kids born on the island after the storm, so that makes you special.”
“Special?”
“Yeah. When you were born, people began to have hope again. They just want you to go to Mars because they need to know that life will go on.” He looked away, but I held his shoulders firmly. “They want you to go because everyone knows how smart you are, William. You’d make a difference up there.” He looked at me unconvinced, so I said, “Your mom and dad believed it. That’s why your dad volunteered to be on the Council. He wanted to make sure that you had a fair shot at a new life. More importantly, he knew that you’d give the colony a fighting chance to grow and thrive.”
Tears formed in his eyes and he buried his head in my chest. I hugged him tightly so he wouldn’t see the tears falling down my face.
After a while, he stepped back and said, “I’m tired. I’m going back to bed.”
“Okay. I’ll be in soon.”
He went inside and closed the door. I looked up at the stars again. I thought about the new list. What were they up to?
My chest tightened as a fear took ahold of my heart. If Ahmed sent unqualified people up to the colony, it could threaten the survival of the colony. The fear clamped down harder as a worse thought worked its way into my head. What if he had made a deal with the pirates? I thought back to that night on North Point when I saw the faces of the MDF officer and Jamal on the data mat screen. What if Ahmed had agreed to send pirates up to the colony!
I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen!
For the first time since the storm, I had a clear understanding of what I had to do. I had to delay the vote until I could decrypt those messages. I just hoped that Shannon would understand.