by Rinelle Grey
Marlee’s hand on the knife paused before it hit the carrot she was cutting. She hadn’t heard this before.
“A couple of days before the ship left, people started disappearing,” Beren said, his voice eerie in the sudden silence in the room. “Scientists, researchers. Someone even came for Nerris, but he was already in hiding.”
A shiver went up Marlee’s spine.
“Why was Nerris hiding? Why wasn’t he waiting with his bags packed?” Tyris asked.
“Because he didn’t want to leave his family behind. They came in at night, and took the person they were after at gunpoint. Their families were left behind.”
“They had orders to save the research, and not enough room to fit everyone.” Horror touched Tyris’s voice, echoing the feeling in Marlee’s heart.
To be pulled away from those you loved, knowing they would die in the meteor impact…how awful.
The silence in the room was strained now.
Marlee took a deep breath and began to cut the carrots again. “So Jaimma, have you and Beren come up with any names for the baby yet?” She forced her voice to be cheerful, and Jaimma took her cue from her and began listing the names they were considering.
What would this mean for Tyris? He finally had the answer he’d been looking for—the reason why the council didn’t want to leave the planet. What would he do with it?
*****
AFTER JAIMMA AND BEREN WENT home, Marlee snuggled up to Tyris, feeling unsettled. She’d been looking forward to this moment for months, and now it was spoilt by the horror of Beren’s revelations.
Tyris lay on his back, staring at the roof, then turned his head towards her and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Marlee. I’m not very good company tonight.”
Marlee hugged him. “Are you thinking about what Beren said earlier?”
He returned her hug absently. “Yeah. Nerris and the council’s reluctance to leave the planet makes far more sense now. They feel like the governor and Colonies betrayed them. I can see why they’re angry.”
Beren’s revelations had been a surprise to her too. Even her earliest memories were long after people had settled in and accepted life here on Zerris. Though she’d always been fascinated by what had happened before they arrived, no one had ever been willing to discuss it with her. “I can’t believe the governor did that to them!”
Tyris stared quietly at the ceiling again. “It couldn’t have been an easy decision. He had a colony of people and research to save. His decision would have been based not only on his own personal beliefs but also on the orders he received from the Colonies when he took office. I guess he made the best decision he could at the time even if everyone didn’t agree with him.”
Marlee sat up in bed. “You think he did the right thing? Taking people away from their families? Leaving some to die and saving others?” How could Tyris think that? It didn’t seem like him at all.
He put a hand on her arm, and she shook it off. “No, I don’t agree with it,” Tyris said, “Of course leaving people there to die was wrong. But what else could he have done? No matter what he did, people were going to die. We don’t know why he made the decision he did, but he may have had a very good reason for it.”
Marlee didn’t want to admit that what he said made sense. The subject was too emotional for her. “He shouldn’t have split up families.” She’d lived without a father. She knew it wasn’t good.
“And yet, the council does it here, every eighteen months,” Tyris said gently. “That’s no more right, yet you accept it because it is the way it is done. This is the way things are done on Urslat. The government decides on things, and people follow the rules. They don’t feel any more able to question the Colonies than you feel you can question the council. Even the governor probably didn’t feel he could question orders from his superiors.”
Marlee opened her mouth to deny it then shut it again. Tyris was right. The council might not be leaving people to die, and they might let those who had children stay together, but that only made it a little better. And Tyris’s acceptance of the way things were done on his planet was no different to her acceptance of the way things were done here.
“What’re you going to do?” She lay down and snuggled up against Tyris again. It was too cold to be out from under the blankets for long.
“Talk to Nerris again, I guess. But in private this time, not at the hall.”
“Do you think it will make any difference?” Much as she wanted to get off Zerris and away from the council’s rules, it was beginning to seem like a distant dream, the kind where no matter how far you ran, you never caught up to what you were chasing.
Would things be any better on Urslat anyway? There were rules there too, one of which was that Tyris couldn’t have children. Could she accept that?
“I don’t know, but I have to try. I can’t just give up.” He rose on one elbow and looked down at her. This time, all his attention was on her, not a million light years away. “I want to show you Urslat, Marlee. I want to take you to libraries, to the museums, to the ocean. There’s so much I want to share with you.” His voice was etched with longing, but not just a longing to see his home. He wanted to share it. With her. She reached out her hands to pull him down, but he wasn’t finished yet.
“Urslat may not be perfect, but there’s no risk of starving there, no snowfall so heavy you’re stuck in your home for days on end. Things are so much easier. If you’re hungry, you go to the shop and buy food. Hell, you can buy it already cooked if you want to. Same with clothes, or, well, anything. You don’t have to walk if you need to get somewhere, you get into a car. And when you’re tired at the end of a long day, you just turn on the taps and have a shower.”
It sounded almost too good to be true. “But what do you do all day, if everything is done for you?”
Tyris laughed. “Whatever you want. Go out to dinner with your friends, watch a movie, or stay home with a video or some music.” He bent, and his lips brushed hers. “Or stay in bed all day…”
“I like the sound of that.” Her voice was breathless.
“So do I.” His hands slid down her body.
Her body tingled everywhere he touched it. She should stop and talk, not succumb to the desire coursing through her. Every month they waited to try for a baby meant one less month they had. But she could tell Tyris wasn’t ready yet. He still had hopes and dreams of leaving Zerris and returning home to Urslat.
Would he ever be ready? Or would he always be looking for another way? Another idea that might get him home?
*****
“YOU MAKE A SMALL HOLE at the base of the stake.” Marlee poked a stick in the ground and wriggled it around a little to enlarge the hole. “Then you scoop out the plant and put it in, then cover it with dirt a little bit up the stem. When they grow taller, we’ll tie them to the stake.”
Tyris tried to pay attention to what she was saying. He’d never planted anything before, and he had no idea how to do it. But his attention wandered, and he couldn’t help glancing up the rows to where Nerris knelt, chatting to Jaimma in the next row.
He needed to find a chance to talk to him alone. Would there be one during the planting this morning? Probably not. Half the village was out in the field planting. There wasn’t much privacy. Either way, he needed to know how to plant the seedlings. He bit back a sigh and turned his attention back to Marlee.
“Now you try,” she said.
Tyris copied her to make a hole. That was easy. Then he scooped out a tomato plant, holding his breath. The tiny plant seemed so fragile, he was sure he was going to break them. But he managed to get it successfully into the hole and planted to Marlee’s satisfaction.
He let out the breath he’d been holding, and Marlee laughed. “See, that wasn’t so hard,” she teased.
“I’m sure it’s not. Until I break one.”
Marlee put a hand on his arm. “And you probably will. It happens to all of us. You just go on and plant the next one.”
>
Tyris nodded. Logically, it made sense. Wooden trays of the tiny plants were stacked in the greenhouse, waiting to be eased into their new homes. It was only logical that some wouldn’t make it. He still felt awkward and clumsy beside people who’d been doing this since they were children.
Marlee settled down beside him, focused on getting the plants in her tray into the soil. She had a rhythm, following each step as though it were ingrained. Tyris sat on the opposite side of the row and copied her. Before long, she moved ahead of him, then she went to get a new tray, and he was left alone.
The rows stretched long, and the planted area seemed much smaller than the rest of the field. Tyris tried to lose himself in the process, but he couldn’t help glancing down the rows to where Nerris knelt.
There were too many people around. Tyris sighed. How was he ever going to manage to talk to Nerris privately?
Then, he had a lucky break. As he patted the dirt around the last tomato plant in his tray and stood up to walk back to the greenhouse to get another one, Nerris rose and stretched, then headed in the same direction.
Tyris swung his tray absently as he walked towards the point where his path would intersect with Nerris’s. Now he had some idea of what was going on, the feeling that he might have the upper hand made him almost cheerful.
He waved the tray at Nerris as he neared, and the man nodded acknowledgment. When they were close enough to talk in a normal voice, he said, “I’m sorry for pushing you about borrowing the parts from the Tenacity, Nerris.”
Nerris’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “That’s okay. I can understand you’re itching to get off this planet.”
“Still, I acted childishly at your response, and I’m sorry. It’s a big weight on your shoulders, being responsible for the wellbeing of so many people.”
“It is at that,” Nerris nodded. The stiff set of his shoulders relaxed. His guard was down. This was Tyris’s moment.
“I’m sure the governor felt it was a big responsibility to make the right decision too, when he found out about the meteor heading for Semala.”
Nerris’s head snapped around. His eyes flashed. Still, his voice was calm when he said, “I’m sure it was. They made their decisions, and I must make mine.”
“Of course,” Tyris agreed. “I imagine that you hold quite a grudge, given what they did.”
They’d arrived back at the greenhouse, and Nerris put his tray on the pile of empty ones and picked up a new one. “And what would that be?” he asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Beren told me that they were taking only some people with them, leaving their families behind,” he said softly. “That they tried to take you. I can only imagine how hard that must have been and what a big decision it must have been for you to stay behind to rescue your family and the other people here. It’s understandable that you would blame the governor and the Colonies for what happened.”
Nerris stared at him, his brow furrowed, his eyes hard. “And you think I’m holding a grudge, and that’s why I won’t let you have the parts?”
Wasn’t it? Suddenly, things weren’t quite going according to plan. What had gone wrong? “What else can I think? Since the day I arrived, you have been blocking the repairs to the Hylista. Repairs that might get everyone off the planet. You obviously don’t want to leave. What other reason could you have other than blaming the Colonies for leaving you here?”
Nerris leaned in close. “You can assume what you want, but you have no idea what is happening here, or what happened then. What I said stands. If you can find a way to fix the Hylista that doesn’t destroy the Tenacity, then I will help, but otherwise, leave things alone!” He didn’t shout, didn’t even raise his voice, but Tyris had a hard time not backing away from the force of his anger.
Nerris put his tray back on the shelf and stalked out of the room. Tyris took a few moments to regain his composure before he followed.
What had he missed? He’d been so sure he knew what caused the council’s reluctance, but somehow he’d missed the mark. There was something else going on, and he had no idea what. He was back to square one.
But when he searched the group planting outside, Nerris and the rest of the council were absent.
So he’d touched a nerve. Just not the right one.
“WHERE DO WE FIND THE ANYSOGEN?” Tyris asked early the next morning as Marlee kneaded dough for bread.
Her hands faltered in their rhythm. “I thought the council wouldn’t let you have the parts?”
“They won’t, but I’m not going to let that stop me.” Trying to work out the council’s problem had achieved nothing. He was over it. He needed to move on.
“You’re not… not going to steal the parts are you?” Marlee’s voice wavered.
Tyris sighed. “No.”
Not that he hadn’t considered it. But no matter how stupid he thought their reasons were, it wasn’t his ship. He had no right to take parts.
Besides, he hadn’t been able to figure out how he could remove a large rocket booster and get it across the fields to the Hylista without someone noticing.
“There are other things I can try though, if I have the anysogen.” No one had told him he couldn’t have the gas, and he’d specifically avoided asking. “They don’t have as high a probability of success, but it’s worth a try.”
Marlee’s hands resumed their rhythmic motion on the dough. “It’s in the rocky valley beyond the village, to the right of the woods where your ship is. It’s in a cave I think. I’ve never been there myself.”
“How long will it take to get there?” Tyris asked. “And then how long to the Hylista?”
“Oh, a few hours there, and another few to the Hylista probably.”
So it would take up most of a day. That would make it hard to keep his plans quiet. “Is there any way I can get there and not be missed?”
Marlee frowned. “You won’t be able to find it on your own.”
He hesitated. He’d given this a lot of thought. “The council isn’t going to be impressed, Marlee. They don’t want to leave this planet, and I don’t know how far they’d be prepared to go to stop me repairing my ship. I don’t want you caught up in this.”
Her chin stuck out, and her eyebrows pulled down. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
He tried not to be swayed by how adorable she looked. “I can’t guarantee that anything I try will work, Marlee. The chance that I’ll actually make it into orbit isn’t large, and if I fail, I may not be able to land the Hylista safely. It’s too dangerous.”
She put floury hands on her hips. “If it’s too dangerous, why are you doing it? Or is it only too dangerous for me? Forget it, I’m coming with you. You promised.”
How had he known she was going to bring that up? “I did,” he agreed. “But that was before I knew how dangerous it would be. And… before I realised how much I cared for you. I don’t want to risk anything happening to you, Marlee.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and he wanted to kiss her worries away. But while a kiss might distract her from them, it couldn’t remove them.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you either! We go together or not at all.” She nodded her head firmly.
Oh how he wanted to take her with him. “We may not be going anywhere anyway,” he admitted. “And if I do manage to get into orbit, I can’t risk landing again. I’ll be going straight for Urslat. There won’t be a chance to say goodbye to anyone,” he warned.
She tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes sparkled. “There is no one here I want to say goodbye to.”
Once she set her mind to something, there was no dissuading her. “So how are we going to manage it without interference?” If he couldn’t convince her to stay behind, he might as well take advantage of her help.
Marlee thought for a minute, lips pursed. “There will be a rest day in two days. Everyone takes the day off, and while lots of people will hang out at the hall, no one will be too surprised if we don’t turn up, especially
if we drop a few hints about how we’re looking forward to a day to ourselves. By the time they realise that we haven’t turned up to work the next day, we’ll be gone.”
Two days. How was he ever going to wait that long?
*****
THEY SET OFF JUST BEFORE sunup, hoping to be far enough from the village before it was light enough for them to be noticed. When they arrived at the canyon, it was still bathed in the early morning light.
Each carried a bag slung over their shoulders. Marlee had packed for their trip, and she had been so happy to be able to do something useful that Tyris hadn’t had the heart to tell her he had more than enough blankets and food on board the Hylista. Having something familiar to eat and her own quilt to sleep under would comfort her on the long journey to Urslat.
If they made it that far.
Tyris stared down at the fissure in the ground. It wasn’t deep or particularly narrow. It wasn’t even dark and gloomy. But his hair stood on end as he gazed at it.
This was where they had mined for anysogen. There was probably more of it in the air here than anywhere else on Zerris.
Karla said it would take time to affect him. And it was already too late for Marlee. And anyway, it only affected fertility, there was no other danger. Even so, he felt like he struggled to breathe.
Marlee continued down the overgrown path into the valley without pause. When she realised he wasn’t behind her, she turned. “Are you coming?”
He pushed back his fears and followed her.
The rough cliffs towered above them. The air was cooler down here. The rising sun didn’t reach them. Tyris shivered. He couldn’t wait to get the anysogen and get out of this place.
Many caves were worn into the sides of the walls. Tyris shone his torch in briefly, but most were shallow and contained nothing. Finally they came to a larger cave, its passage into the cliffs obviously shaped by human tools not natural forces. Tyris’s torchlight shone on rusty old machinery. Marlee gasped softly beside him.
They stepped inside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.