Iris (The Color of Water and Sky Book 1)

by Andrew Gates

  Despite his lack of faith in this plan, Grey felt himself smile.

  “Great job, Margery. Come on, let’s go!” he said, pulling the group together. They started to push through the crowd, but they did not get far. Grey saw two armed guards quickly hurry by with machine guns facing forward as they walked.

  “Coming through!” they demanded as the crowd parted for them. Grey stopped walking and watched with curiosity as the two white-suited men escorted several well-dressed people through the crowd. It’s got to be government officials, he thought as he watched them pass by.

  A dark-skinned woman wearing a damp blazer led the group in front. Her head was bleeding and she was hobbling, though that did not seem to stop her confident strut. Directly next to her was a strange looking bald man using a long pipe for a crutch. For some reason, he seemed oddly reluctant to follow his escorts, but he hurried along nonetheless. Two more men followed behind them. One was a younger man whose suit seemed to swallow him. The other wore a tight white shirt, perhaps a few sizes too small. He was the biggest man Grey had ever seen.

  People in the crowd around them started to throw things. They threw crackers, splashed water, some even spat at the escorted party.

  “They can’t save you!” someone shouted to them.

  “You couldn’t save us, how can you save yourself?” someone else shouted.

  Grey decided to stop and wait for them to pass by. Despite being in a hurry, he did not want to cause any trouble.

  “Who do you think these people are?” Grey asked, though he assumed they were just officials. Grey turned to face his company and realized that none of them were paying attention. Instead, they were already pushing through the line, ignoring the armed escort altogether.

  I guess that’s the right idea, he figured.

  Only a few seconds later, they reached the end of the room and passed into the hall. The crowd of people thinned out as they got further and further from the center of the large space. The hall itself was not very long. Within a minute, they reached the end, which opened up to another large space. Only this time, it seemed to go on forever.

  Turning to the left and right, Grey saw what seemed like an unending hall with heavy circular metallic doors lining against the far side. Each door had what seemed like a keypad next to it.

  The escape pods, Grey realized. We’ve made it.

  “Iris!” someone shouted from Grey’s right side.

  He turned and looked over, not sure who was shouting to them.

  That was when he saw them, waiting by one of the circular doors.

  Dan, Selena, Kaitlyn, Misha.

  They seemed distressed, tired, cold and worried. But at least they were safe, for now. Grey felt a smile form on his face. His eyes were instantly full of tears. He ran forward with excitement and open arms. His family smiled when they saw him too. Misha excitedly hurried to him, accidently stumbled, but picked herself back up again and continued as if nothing had happened. Grey picked up his youngest daughter, spun her around and held her in his arms.

  “Daddy!” she cheered.

  He kissed her on the forehead and placed her back on the cold floor. Kaitlyn ran up and gave him a hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” said Selena, hugging him as if they had been apart for years. She pulled away from him and stared into his eyes. “I was so worried. The creatures have been taking out the station level by level, starting from the top,” she explained.

  “What?”

  “Tracey has been listening to the Navy’s movement. He has an earpiece. Apparently there were small UBE strike teams dispersed throughout, but the real army has been moving in a line, wiping out one level at a time.”

  Grey remembered the rumbling before they jumped down into the pit. A line, they were moving in a line. Walls could not stop them. It’s like an eraser in a drawing program. He shivered at the thought.

  “Power systems are fully online here too. They’ve pulled everything to the lower public level and a few of the industrial levels further down,” Dan added, slowly approaching him. “The government’s been retreating down here too, though I’m not sure what good that’ll do.”

  “Good to see you, Dan.”

  “Good to see you, Grey.”

  They embraced.

  “So nobody can use the escape pods?” Grey asked, pulling from the embrace.

  “Nobody’s tried. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “The Navy doesn’t even know the codes?”

  Dan shook his head.

  “The Navy knew the old codes. Apparently they’ve been changed.”

  Oh, this is just great, Grey thought.

  “So why haven’t you tried it?”

  “We’ve been waiting for you!” Dan answered.

  “But there are so many people here. Surely you could have tried it on another pod. You could’ve gotten someone else out!” Grey argued.

  Dan shook his head.

  “I don’t think you realize,” he said, turning towards the wall of doors. “The UBEs blasted most of the pods from the outside. It’s one of the first things they did. Only three are still in working order. We didn’t want the last usable pods to be taken.”

  Grey took a step away from his family and looked at the long hall of pods. He had not noticed before, but many of the doors were cracked or had dark singe marks around them. In a few cases, some of the doors were leaking.

  So many pods, he thought, and only three are usable.

  “Is this everybody?” a strange man asked. Grey turned to face him. The man was bald with a scruffy beard and a long coat. His shirt underneath was ripped in multiple places and covered in so much blood it looked as if it were meant to be red. His left arm seemed to be broken at the elbow and he limped as if his left leg were broken too. This must be Trace, he thought.

  Iris was standing by his side now. Next to them both stood a frightened Ophelia, a student Grey knew from Harrison.

  Grey nodded his head towards this dangerous stranger.

  “All here. And we’re taking these two with us,” he said as he motioned towards Jallah and Margery.

  “It’ll be a tight space, but I think we can do it. These pods are built to carry six people.” He stopped to count. “There’s 10 of us, so it’ll be close. You guys took long enough. I was about to leave without you. Anyway, I suggest we get the fuck out of here right now.”

  Good point.

  They all crowded around the nearest escape pod door. He saw no cracks or singe marks on this one and the keypad next to it seemed to be working perfectly. It looked like whatever blast had destroyed the other pods did very little damage to this one.

  Trace hobbled to the pad and turned to face his nine new companions.

  “Here we go,” he said.

  This is it, Grey realized, the moment where we learn if we will live or die. He felt his heart race. He held onto his nearest daughter, Misha.

  The injured man turned to the pad and began entering in a numeric sequence. For a moment, the bright screen showed nothing but symbols in place of numbers. But after a few seconds, the screen turned completely green and the metal doors began to open.

  Grey could feel himself cry with joy as the group eagerly packed into the escape pod. Others around them took notice and started running towards the open door. Grey held his arms out, making sure his family got in safely, while a crowd of strangers started to form around him. He felt people push and hit, but he held his ground. Grey watched as his family and friends all mushed in, sitting on top of one another in the tight space. When everyone was safely inside, Grey finally went in, followed by Trace.

  There was a row of seats along each side of the narrow tube-shaped pod. The seats were cushioned, though the cushion material was dense and not very comfortable. In the center of the pod was a large black metal crate, separating the two rows of seats. Grey guessed it was filled with emergency supplies. Both of his daughters were sitting on top of the box, trying to fit wherever they could. Whateve
r it was, it did not allow for much legroom, but Grey was more than willing to overlook that inconvenience in light of the circumstances. With all the people crammed in, Grey could not see the front of the pod, but he knew enough about government designs to know it was probably just another black wall.

  “Let’s close this door!” Dan shouted as the crowd of people outside reached in, trying to get any space they could.

  Grey felt sympathetic to the people outside, but looking around, he had to agree with Dan. There was just no space. In fact, Trace’s body did not even fit completely. His head was in, along with most of his right side, but his injured left side and his butt both stuck out of the door.

  “Trace, get in!” Iris shouted.

  The injured man tried to push himself in, but there was just no room.

  “I can’t!” he yelled.

  People outside started pulling on him. Grey grabbed onto Trace’s right side and pulled him in as the crowd pulled the other way. No matter how hard he pulled, the crowd seemed to be doing a better job.

  Trace looked at Grey and shook his head. Then he turned and faced his daughter, seated at the complete opposite side of the pod.

  “Ophelia,” he said solemnly.

  “Dad!” she replied, crying out. She tried to crawl across the seats to get to him, but Dan held her back.

  “I’ve already died once,” Trace said as he gazed upon Ophelia’s crying face. “I’m so glad I got this time with you again. Just having this time with you… it was worth coming back for. I’m so sorry it couldn’t be longer.”

  “Dad!” she cried again. She flailed her arms at Dan, who held her still.

  “I can’t join you, Ophelia. That fall on the way here broke half the bones in my body. I won’t last long on the surface like this anyway.”

  Grey had only just met this man, but in this moment he felt nothing but admiration for someone he never knew. Trace’s face showed signs of suffering, but also of love and happiness.

  The man turned to face Iris now.

  “Iris, you take care of her. I trust you. Can you do that for me?”

  Grey knew that Iris could not hear the words, but she nodded her head anyway. She must’ve understood. How could anybody not understand?

  “I know you’ll make it on the surface. I know you will,” Trace continued, addressing Ophelia again. A single tear poured from his right eye. “You’re a smart girl.”

  Ophelia managed to get on top of Dan now. She reached for him just far enough that their fingers touched.

  “I love you, dad!” she shouted.

  “I love you, Ophelia.”

  And with those words, the crowd pulled him right out of the pod. Grey leaned forward, pulled out the machine gun from the back of his shirt and aimed it at the crowd.

  “Step back!” he screamed as people suddenly halted at the door.

  “Who’s got the controls?” Dan asked.

  “Oh, I think I do!” Selena replied, turning to a control panel behind her head that Grey had not noticed until now. She hit a button on the panel and the doors shut. Suddenly it became very quiet except for the sound of Ophelia’s tears.

  “Did you just pull out a gun?” Dan asked angrily.

  “What else would you have me do? It’s probably not working anyway. This thing is drenched!” Grey argued.

  “Guys, calm down!” Selena jumped in. She turned and looked at Ophelia, who was crying uncontrollably.

  Out of respect, everyone quieted down. Grey could only imagine what was happening out in the escape pod bay right now. He hoped everything would be alright, but feared the worst. He’s injured and outnumbered. He won’t last a second if they decide to attack him.

  After a few seconds of quiet, Dan took a deep breath and leaned forward.

  “So… how do we get this thing moving?” he asked.

  Everyone looked at everyone else.

  “Try the controls behind your head!” Jallah suggested to Selena.

  Grey’s wife turned and examined the controls. There was a number pad, just like the panel outside.

  “I think we need the code again to launch it. Does anyone remember the code?” she asked.

  “He said it, but I forgot,” Dan replied.

  People looked around again at one another. Once more, nobody had a clue.

  Shit. We’re stuck here.

  For a moment, nobody said or did anything. It was as if they had all strangely come to accept their own demise. But then Grey could hear the sound of hydraulics moving from the door side of the escape pod. He felt the tube rumble and shake. The man held onto his seat tightly as it jolted and the momentum pushed him against the wall.

  “We’re moving!” shouted Margery with a smile. She was seated right next to Grey and started bouncing like a giddy child five years younger.

  “Look!” Iris said, pointing to the front of the escape pod.

  Grey tried to see but there were too many heads in his way.

  “I can’t see.”

  His daughters leaned down in front of him, allowing him to see. Just as he expected, there was a black wall at the front of the escape pod, however it was not exactly the type of wall he had in mind. The material was slick. It lit up with balls of light that moved around.

  “What is it?” Jallah asked loudly so that Iris could hear.

  “It’s a window!” she replied.

  Suddenly Grey realized what he was looking at. The sleek black wall was not generating light at all. These were lights coming from outside the escape pod. He was looking right at the sea.

  The lights moved around like dancers. As he got a better view, he noticed the lights were coming from submarine vessels. Most of the vessels were flat, sleek and pointed, much like an arrow. But there were a few others out there, smaller vessels with tubular hulls. As the escape pod slowly neared closer to the submarines, Grey realized that the pointed vessels were firing glowing beams at tubular ones, destroying them one by one. It’s a battle, he realized. The pointy ones are used by the UBEs and the tubular ones are for the Federation. Unfortunately, the Federation seemed to be losing badly.

  Grey swallowed as he felt the change of pressure in his ears. The escape pod neared one of the hostile subs. As it got closer, the vessel turned toward the escape pod and accelerated. Grey could feel the room heating up inside. But just as he thought it would fire its weapons, the submarine passed right over them and began firing at the station itself.

  “They don’t see us as a threat,” Dan said. He had been the first person to speak in a while. “Our movements are not sporadic like the submarines. They probably think we’re just another damaged pod, nothing but debris.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way,” Selena added.

  “Look!” Iris said again, pointing toward the side of the window. Grey leaned toward it, trying to get a closer look. He could not see whatever Iris was pointing out.

  “What is it?” Grey asked.

  “It’s more escape pods!” Jallah replied. “Two more!”

  “Let’s hope they can make it through with us,” Dan added.

  Ophelia sniffled and looked up at the window for the first time. She reached out and touched the glass with her hand and kept it there. Grey watched her, wondering how she must have been feeling at this time.

  “It’s my dad,” she eventually said.

  Everyone was quiet. For a moment, everyone just took it in.

  “What do you mean?” Selena eventually asked, breaking the silence.

  “He made the pod go. There were buttons on the wall outside, remember? He must’ve activated the escape pod from the outside. I bet he did the same thing for those people too,” she explained, pointing out the window.

  Grey smiled. There was no way to know whether or not that’s what happened, but it was a good way to remember her father.

  “You’re probably right,” he said.

  The escape pod passed through the battle unscathed as more beams blasted against the station’s outer hull. Grey c
ould see points where the hull had completely broken altogether. They’re taking out each level one by one on the inside and hitting it with these cannons on the outside. He guessed the entire city had five minutes left before it would break apart entirely. The thought made him shiver.

  “Three ships,” Iris muttered.

  “What was that?” Dan asked.

  Iris turned around and faced the inside of the cabin.

  “Three ships,” she repeated with wide eyes. Everyone simply stared back with a blank expression. “Don’t you see? Three escape pods, three ships! We’re leaving the old world for North America, an unclaimed land, to settle in the New World!”

  Grey finally understood. He remembered this old story from his surface era history lessons, though he did not remember much of it.

  “What are you talking about, Iris?” Selena asked.

  “What?”

  “What are you talking about!” Selena repeated, louder.

  Iris put her hand in the air.

  “We are the pioneers of history now! We are not only witnessing, but… but actively creating the first steps of a new civilization! Don’t you see?”

  “You finally get to live your own history book!” Dan added.

  “The New World,” she repeated as she turned towards the window again.

  Grey looked around the craft at the pioneers who would write the history of this New World. Most of them were still kids. There was Jallah Sane, still young and confused about the ways of the world, but full of ambition and potential; Margery Ljung, the smartest 11-year-old Grey had ever known; Kaitlyn and Misha Georgopolis, his own daughters, still too young to be left alone and unable to understand the significance of any of this; and Ophelia Saljov, daughter to one of the bravest people Grey had ever known. All of them would have to grow up fast in order to make it in this New World.

  There was an adventure ahead of them, one he could not even begin to fathom. Their journey had only just begun and already there were still so many unanswered questions. Who are the UBEs? Where did they come from? What will happen to the other escape pods? He wondered if he would ever find the answers to those questions.

  Despite all the adventure, Grey was tired. The excitement had taken a toll on his body. He finally had a chance to rest, a chance to recover. He leaned back in the uncomfortable seat. He felt heavy. He felt his eyes droop down. And then there was nothing.