Iris (The Color of Water and Sky Book 1)

by Andrew Gates

  “Margery,” Ms. Vitneskja said as she walked out. Margery did not turn around. “Margery, remember what I said. You two need to stop.” Before she could say anything else, Margery was out of the room and back into the grey halls.

  Ms. Vitneskja sighed once again and looked at Jallah. She had an oddly comforting presence for an adult.

  “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” she asked.

  Jallah nodded.

  “We have to survive,” he answered. “You don’t want us to get in trouble.”

  “Good,” she responded. “Please make sure Margery understands. She’ll listen to you.”

  Jallah nodded again.

  “You’re probably late for next period. Let me send a note to your next teacher,” she said, pulling out her pod. She seemed so tired, like she could fall asleep any second. This conversation must have taken a lot out of her.

  “My next class is science,” he said.

  She started tapping on her pod.

  “Which science teacher?” she asked.

  “Georgopolis, the older one.”

  For some reason she smiled as he said his name but it quickly faded away as soon as it came.

  “And do you know what class Margery has?”

  Jallah shook his head. For the last two days he was able to recite her entire schedule, but right now he could not remember it.

  “That’s okay,” Ms. Vitneskja responded, “I’ll be able to find out. Thank you for understanding, Jallah. I appreciate your cooperation.”

  Jallah nodded, just glad he did not get in any trouble.

  “That’s okay,” he said. When the teacher did not respond, he stood up and started walking towards the door.

  “Be careful, okay?” she warned as he walked away. Jallah stopped and turned to face her. When she saw that he stopped, Ms. Vitneskja put down her pod and stared at him with serious eyes. “These are dangerous times. Don’t get into any trouble. Stay safe.”

  Jallah was not quite sure what she meant by that, but he nodded, turned back towards the door again and exited the room. He took a deep sigh of relief as he entered the empty halls. Margery was nowhere to be found, but he was safely out of trouble. Thank the Lord Beyond Both Seas, he thought.

  Jallah went to his next class with Mr. Georgopolis, but throughout the entire lesson he was distracted by what Ms. Vitneskja had said. He was lucky that she had been so understanding to them about their relationship. They had not been punished at all, but warned. These are dangerous times, he remembered her say. Don’t get into any trouble. Stay safe. Jallah was not sure what she meant by dangerous times, but he knew he wanted to stay safe. Trouble was the last thing he wanted to be a part of.

  After yet another class of zoning out, Jallah went looking for Margery. She was all that had been on his mind and he had not seen her since she stormed out of the history classroom. When he finally found her, she was brooding by her locker. Her face was red like she had just been in a fight, but Jallah knew it was just because she was angry. He did not like seeing her like this. Where is my happy Margery? My shining girl on a flying cow?

  “Margery,” he said to her as he approached. She looked up at him with a look of disgust. She’s mad at me too?

  “Go away, Jallah,” she said bluntly. This was not the reaction he expected. She started to walk away from him, holding her personal pod closely to her chest.

  “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, following her. She suddenly stopped and turned around to face him.

  “Jallah, look. You’re a really nice guy. That’s why I like spending time with you. You’re nice and you make me smile and you’re fun to be around. But you’re not very smart.” she explained.

  Jallah was taken aback. What is she saying?

  “I’m not smart?” he asked.

  Margery did not look him in the eye. Instead she kept her eyes on his chest, as if trying to ignore him without ignoring him.

  “No,” she responded, “you’ve never been very smart. You just sat there the whole time and took it! This rule isn’t right.”

  Jallah was confused. Why does that make me not smart?

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to get in trouble! Plus, you were the one who first told me to follow the rules. Remember when I asked you out the first time?” he said.

  “Shh! Don’t say that here,” she explained. Jallah forgot that they were in a crowded hallway and immediately regretted saying that. He hoped nobody overheard it. Looking around, people seemed to be minding their own business. Hopefully that was true.

  “Sorry,” he replied.

  Margery threw her hands up in the air, holding tightly to her pod with her right hand.

  “See, this is what I’m talking about,” she explained. “You’re not very smart, Jallah. Yes, maybe I was the one who explained the rule to you the first time, but I would’ve thought that you’d learned. With everything that’s happened over this past week, don’t you think differently about things now? Haven’t you grown at all?” Jallah did not answer. “Well I have. You’ve made me see things differently. This rule is wrong. I’m surprised you haven’t grown to see that too.”

  “So you still like me then?” he asked.

  Margery sighed.

  “I did,” she responded, “but now I’m not so sure. Look, let’s not have this conversation now. There are too many people around. Plus, I have to think about it.”

  Jallah stood motionless as Margery turned and continued to walk away. He wanted to follow her, to pick her up and see her smile one more time, but he knew that anything he did now would just make it worse. So he stood there, motionless and helpless as his beautiful Margery got lost in the crowd.

  Jallah was a long way from his own locker and most students had already gone to their next class. He turned around and walked through the halls as the school slowly became emptier and emptier. The walk felt long and lonely. The air felt colder and the walls greyer. Was the beauty of the world lost with her as well? He did not know if they would be together again, but he hoped beyond all hope that they would be. There was nobody else who could make him as happy as he had felt with her.

  By the time he finally reached his locker, the halls were abandoned. Late again, only this time no note.

  As he opened the locker, he suddenly heard voices from around the corner. Weird, he thought, everyone should be in class. Listening closer, he realized the voices belonged to adults, not students. He tried to be quiet as he collected his projector for art, wanting to hear what they were talking about without being heard.

  “I hope it’s okay,” a female voice said. She sounded nervous.

  “It’s okay, I get it,” a male voice replied. Both of these voices sounded familiar. Jallah had definitely heard them before. “I’m just surprised… and also not sure how it would work.”

  It’s Mr. Georgopolis, he suddenly realized. Of course the voice sounded so familiar, he had just come from his class. Jallah placed the projector in his bag quietly, still trying not to be heard.

  “It’s just, I had an interesting conversation with a student just now about this whole thing… this rule, this law,” the woman responded. Ms. Vitneskja, Jallah realized, recognizing the voice. Ms. Vitneskja is talking about Margery!

  “It’s a tough law to break,” Mr. Georgopolis added as Jallah slowly closed the door to his locker.

  “It is, but I think it’s worth trying. We can keep it secret, you know. Tell nobody,” she continued.

  Jallah’s mouth opened wide as he realized what they were talking about. Ms. Vitneskja is asking Mr. Georgopolis on a date! This was a juicy secret. He knew he should go off to class, get away from here, but he wanted to stay and listen.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mr. Georgopolis responded.

  “No,” she answered, “but I think I’d like to try. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  Jallah took a few steps towards the art classroom and away from the conversation. He kept his steps slow and short, trying to walk a
way while hearing as much as he could.

  “The worst that can happen is it all works out and we decide we like each other,” Mr. Georgopolis replied. “You and I in a committed relationship would be dangerous.”

  “Not if it’s a secret,” she responded.

  For a moment Mr. Georgopolis did not say anything. Jallah wondered if they had heard him and were being silent on purpose.

  “Damn Iris,” he began, “you sure aren’t that young girl I met on the first day. What has happened to you?”

  “I’ve changed.”

  By this point Jallah was so far down the hall it was hard to hear. He stopped at the end and stood still, just wanting to hear Mr. Georgopolis’s answer. The pause was long, much longer than last time. But like before, he eventually gave a response.

  “Well I like this version of you. Sure, let’s give it a shot,” he replied. His voice sounded happy and hopeful.

  Bless the Lord Beyond Both Seas, Jallah thought, Ms. Vitneskja and Mr. Georgopolis are going on a secret date! This news was exciting enough to distract him from his dreadful last encounter with Margery. He knew the next time he saw her he would tell her all about what he just heard, and she would be happy to hear it. This news was too exciting to ignore.

  Despite the danger Ms. Vitneskja had spoken of so seriously, apparently Margery managed to get through to her after all.

  If it works out with them, maybe it’ll work out with us too.

  “THIS IS NO WALL,” SHE said as she pressed her white hands against the shining surface. “It’s a window.”

  The glass shivered like a cold body. It’s trembling, she thought. The memory brought a smile to her face as the station’s filtered air flowed through her lungs.

  When Iris remembered the moment, it felt like everything else went away. The students did not matter, the trip did not matter, Dr. Parnel’s project, all the research, a potential attack on the station… none of it mattered. All that mattered was Iris and the thick glass before her. She felt one with the ocean, the dark, dangerous void that humanity now called home.

  This is it, the border between the real world and the one we’ve created. She knew what was out there. She knew of the underwater ecosystems, the vast network of plant life, volcanoes, currents, crevasses and mountains. That was the real world, not this station.

  “Hey Ms. Vitneskja, the group’s moved on through!” Jacella’s voice pulled her from the window.

  Iris wanted to stay, to catch a glimpse of something other than blackness, but she knew her priority was to stay with the school group.

  What if Captain Gessetti is out there right now? She wondered, imagining the glass before her.

  The thought of Captain Gessetti suddenly pulled her back to her work. The captain, yes, that’s what I’m working on, the captain, Iris reminded herself.

  Iris picked up the rest of her green probar from the plate and took the last few bites, pulling herself back from her memories. As the last piece of chewed probar slipped down her throat, Iris reopened the file she had been reading on her personal pod. It was an old surface era document, a study on the effects of deep sea pressure on the human body. The study was meant to train late surface era submarine crews on how to perform emergency ascents in the event of submarine malfunction. It was a dry subject for her and far too science heavy for her taste, but incredibly important for her work with Dr. Parnel.

  Iris was no scientist, but as far as she could tell, the human body had evolved to live in an environment with approximately 101 kilopascals of pressure pressing down at all times. At a depth of around 100 meters below sea level, that would equate to 10 atmospheres of pressure exerted on the human body, or 1,010 kilopascals. Based on her rough math, an emergency ascent from the depth of the Cassidy X20 was not impossible. In fact, though difficult, emergency ascents like this had been performed many times by experienced Navy crewmen before the Descent. That meant not only could the crew of the Cassidy X20 have made it to the surface alive, but also if the enemy orb was damaged, their attackers could have escaped as well.

  Iris questioned her own calculations at times. Math was not her strong suit by any means. Often during her research she thought about how much easier it would be if she could bring help along, but despite her wishes, she knew the rules. This was a secret project after all. Dr. Parnel had made that abundantly clear, and after the strings she pulled to get the trip moved, Iris did not want to go behind the contractor’s back. She brought me the cows, so I can bring her this.

  The teacher took notes on an open window next to the document, trying to find space on the white rectangle. Her notes were beginning to add up. Already she had used well over 100 free writing pages, most of which were completely full. Sorting through everything at the end would not be an easy task, but everything she took down was important to her research.

  All this extra work had taken quite a toll on Iris. Planning lessons, grading papers and tracking student progress already took up most of her time outside of the classroom. With the addition of Dr. Parnel’s project, the busy woman rarely had time for sleep. At times she found this lifestyle difficult, but she was a researcher at heart after all. Late nights were nothing new.

  Dan however, now that was something new.

  Once again her mind wandered from her work. The thought of him made Iris smile. She remembered how nervous she was when she asked him out and how happy she was when he finally said yes. Despite all the work she had done for Dr. Parnel and her life-changing experience at the agricultural sector, her upcoming date with Dan was the thought that dominated Iris’s mind the most tonight. No matter how much she would steer clear of the thought, he would always find a way to pop back in.

  Last she heard from him, they were to meet tomorrow afternoon in south entertainment district on Level 4, an area known to be more upscale than the conventional colored zones. The meeting place was his idea, not hers. From the description Dan provided, it sounded like they were meeting at some sort of half holographic art display, half bar. Iris was intrigued by the idea and impressed by his choice of location. At the same time, she was surprised how open he was to the idea of going out. His Greek and her Icelandic ancestry presented an obvious issue with the law. Though he was hesitant at first, Dan seemed willing to proceed. Perhaps he has done this before, she wondered.

  There was so much to him she did not know. After all this time, she wished she knew more about him besides his obvious character traits. One moment he’s cracking jokes, the next he’s as serious as can be, she thought. Where does that come from? Why is his brother not this way too? These were the questions that could only be answered by peeling away the surface of who he was. After all, Dan was not the easiest man to read. But she found herself strangely attracted to him and immensely eager to learn more about him.

  It had been over a decade since her relationship with Thorn Hilmarsson, and yet that had been the most serious relationship of her life. The shy woman had tried dating over the years. Unfortunately there were just too many men who fit Thorn’s description. For the longest time it seemed every potential partner was nothing more than a selfish, uncaring, sex obsessed creature. But Dan was different. His interest in Iris seemed to extend beyond the physical and she genuinely enjoyed being in his presence, despite how nervous she often became.

  There was a lot of risk in this illegal date, but Dan was worth it. Iris knew it now. The hesitant teacher just needed help seeing that. If it were not for the words of a bright young student the day before, Iris may have never gone through with it.

  Don’t you think that if two people love each other, they should be allowed to be together?

  The words were so simple, yet so new. Well, new to the station at least. Margery was smart enough to see through the institutionalized standard set by years of law. Smart enough to make me a believer, Iris thought. Funny how the teacher became the student.

  The touchscreen on Iris’s pod suddenly darkened, signaling that it had not been used in over a minute. Yet a
gain, she had forgotten about her work. There were just too many other thoughts flowing through her mind. Instead of touching the screen again, Iris checked the clock. It was 2:00 in the morning, far too late to be awake when she had such an important date the next day.

  Iris stood up and pushed her chair under the table. Tomorrow was a Saturday, so thankfully she would have time to sleep in.

  Enough work for one night, she thought. I can’t focus anyway. She powered off her pod, walked towards the bedroom, turned off the lights and closed the door behind her. It was time to get some sleep before a day of law-breaking.

  Iris stood alone in the colored zone holding her purse and watching the clock. Early. Why did I come so early?

  Today she decided to wear something formal, a red dress the same color as the blouse she had worn to her first day at Harrison. The same color I wore when we first met, she thought. She hoped that fact would not scare him off, but she also doubted he would notice that detail anyway. As beautiful as the dress was, the tightness around the waist meant every part of her belly was visible. She hoped she and Dan would spend most of the night sitting down so she would not have to worry about sucking in when he was around.

  Once again, I’m finally acting like a lady.

  “Iris!” she heard from her left.

  Her head shot up towards the voice. Before her was a deep crowd of nicely dressed men and women. Iris had not noticed until now that most of the people walked in pairs. Clearly Saturday night in this part of the station must have been a hotspot for dates.

  “Hello?” she asked, looking around. She could not see Dan anywhere, but the voice sounded like his.

  “Iris,” the same voice said again. The name came directly from her right. Iris quickly turned to find Dan standing next to her, much closer than she realized. She jumped when she saw him.

  “Oh, sorry,” he responded. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you. You were looking the other way.”

  The date hasn’t started yet and I’m already jumpy, Iris thought to herself. Hell of a way to start.