by Kelly Curtis
“Oh, I remember last year very well,” Alma admitted. Scott had taken her to a secluded cabin to celebrate Midsummer quietly and they had been very intimate in a woodburning sauna and then in a nearby lake.
“But?” Scott asked noticing Alma’s hesitation.
“We aren’t at a secluded cabin this year. We’re going to a large extravagant party with lots of happy and judgmental people,” Alma frowned.
Scott shook his head and got straight to the point, “You must smile and do for the twelve as you would do for yourself. Anyone who doesn’t follow our societal rules doesn’t deserve our help. Humanity almost disappeared because of people like the ones you saved. And all for what? Technology? You lost a good man because of people who choose to live outside the twelve. I know what I would have done without hesitation.”
“I’m sure you know exactly what you would have done,” she said mockingly. “The difference between us is that I actually know how the solar system works and unlike all of you here on Earth, I actually think that all of human life is valuable.”
“You sound like you are supporting Terra Nova now. What do they say, ‘humanity could support all walks of life if we only let technology back in,’?”
“You know I’m not a part of Terra Nova, far from it. But, I don’t think it’s right that the government should decide so callously who should live and who should die. My crew knows what they’re signing up for and none of them questioned me so why should you? We are all ready to die every day that we are out there for your peace here.”
Scott threw his hands up and shook his head, but before he could reply Alma continued.
“Those people, especially the children, outside the twelve, what did they sign up for? No one chooses where or who they are born to, so why should I be the one to punish them for their parents’ mistakes?”
Scott slapped his hand against the wall in frustration, “Alma, we’re all sacrificing things. Why can’t you see that they need to be part of that sacrifice too? We don’t have the resources to save everyone. I’m so tired of you talking about humanity as if we’re all one. There is only us. The twelve,” he waved an angry finger between them, “And there is them. We don’t have the resources or the want to protect those who choose to live outside our rules or else there’ll be no more JC and no more beautiful Earth.” He took a deep breath and then said more calmly, “I think you’re spending too much time with technology. You’re the perfect example of why technology was abandoned. You’re beginning to question our core beliefs.”
“Are you going to report me for tech flu?” she asked sardonically.
“No, unless you want me to?”
Alma shook her head and spoke calmly, “No, despite what you think, I’m not being affected by technology, I’m being affected by death. Deaths on my hands.” She took a deep breath and then said more to herself than to Scott, “When you’ve looked into aliens’ strange eyes and seen their unnatural movements, you too would feel this need to protect all that is yours, all that is human.”
Scott ignored her last sentence. Like many JC citizens, he had never seen an alien let alone had contact with anyone who was not human. His only concerns circled what happened on Earth, “And that, Alma, is why your social standing is so low. I think all that technology is affecting your judgment.”
“No, I think this place is affecting my judgment. How can you be so blasé about innocent people being killed by me? Do you even understand what I’m asking you? You’ve never even killed an animal,” humans had been vegetarians for centuries now. There were lots of dishes that tasted like meat, but it was all plant-based. She knew, Scott would baulk at the idea of killing an animal, let alone another human if actually put to the task.
Scott ignored her question. The truth was that there was a large part of him that found it very sexy that she was so strong and dangerous, “You’re always like this when you return, you know that?”
“The peace is in the water,” Alma suddenly said.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Now tell me you aren’t a member of Terra Nova? Isn’t that a conspiracy theory they are always throwing around?”
“I’m not,” she defended herself adamantly, “just something Christopher said once.” But she knew in that moment that her government was poisoning the water on Earth with something to keep everyone docile and complacent. It rang instantly true for her. It all made sense, and the people who were immune to whatever was in the water, who were prone to more violent or outspoken behaviors, were all siphoned into the Military Guilds and often denied procreation rights. Her water supply onboard the Indy was always being tested to make sure it was clean, however, on Earth, no one tested the water, Why would they? Almost everyone was content.
Scott wanted to change the subject. He hated these kinds of discussions. It was Midsummer, one of his favorite holidays. More than anything, he wanted to have a good day with Alma and pretend everything was perfect, “I’ve something that might make you happy. And I hope, will reassure your beliefs again about the sacrifices we, the twelve, have chosen to make for our own paradise.”
Alma looked at him blankly wondering what he was talking about. She was hoping he bought her a puppy or something to keep him company while she was away in the solar system not being drugged into complacency.
Scott went to the top drawer of his bureau and took out a small piece of paper, half the size of an A4 sheet. He walked back over and showed it to her.
Alma looked at the paper and went pale, “You applied to move to Atlanta without me?”
“After what happened near Titan, I thought I might have a better chance of getting a better place to live for both of us, if our names weren’t connected yet.”
Alma took a deep breath, “I’m not sure I want this.” Her brown eyes bore into his to show her sincerity, “If you only want to be my boyfriend when it’s convenient for you, I don’t want this relationship. Will you make me hide when it’s not convenient for me to be a mother as well?”
“Alma, you are taking this all wrong. I did this,” he shook the paper in his hand, “so that we could have a better place to live with our children. Not to be disrespectful to you. I’m just trying to get the most out of the system.”
“Is that what you want to call it?” Alma looked at him in disbelief and repeated her sentiment, “I’m not sure I want to do this.” She pointed to the paper, “You can’t have me and be ashamed of me at the same time, Scott.”
He took her into his embrace and she only resisted for a second, “My darling, I’m anything but ashamed of you, but you know, people who don’t know you, only know your reputation, would like to see you put down. I know you don’t deserve that.” He kissed her, continued to hold her and spoke softly, “You’re my brave and wonderful girlfriend, protecting all of us. And we need to bring a new life into our lives and then, I’ve no doubt, a lot more things will make sense to you. Life and death will become clear again. You won’t hesitate to know what is right when we have a family.”
Alma listened to his words but wasn’t pleased that he thought she needed to be reeducated again about who should live and who should die, “I didn’t hesitate. I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“And do you think you would make the same decision if we had children? If it was someone from Ethereal or our children, chosen to be a part of the twelve?”
“Hypothetical situations won’t change my mind. You think it’s so easy when you’ve never had to do it. Or that it would have been any easier if it was an order. Scott it’s not like being an actor in a play, these things,” she touched her heart, “Stay with me. Do you honestly think I’ve never mourned for people I’ve killed before? Wondered if I was right? Having children will only make me love those children, as I love you. It won’t change how I perceive my responsibility towards humanity.”
Scott didn’t believe her. He honestly felt she was just confused because she didn’t have a strong anchor, like her own children. “I understand, but you�
��ll feel differently when we’ve three wonderful children. You just wait, you’ll say, ‘I don’t know how I could have been so confused before,’ when you think back to these events.”
“No, I won’t,” she whispered. Alma was tired of defending herself to people she was protecting.
Scott shook his head and refused to listen to her. He looked at the piece of paper and returned it to the top drawer of the bureau, “I thought that would have made you happy, that we are moving forward with this. It’s the next step.”
“Maybe, I’m not fit to pass on my genes to further humanity and be part of the twelve?” she questioned.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he brushed off her question. “You are and we’ll be approved. And when we have our own children, you’ll not hesitate to do what’s right for our chosen way of life.” Scott reiterated, saying this now to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince her having a family was a good idea.
Alma wanted desperately to believe him. She had felt this way so many times in her life, on the cusp of feeling what it was really like to be a part of the mainstream, to have it wash over her effortlessly, happily living the JC ideal. She fell into his embrace and let him comfort her because she didn’t trust herself to speak. Alma knew her mouth wouldn’t allow him to believe in this dream, but she wanted it, even if it was just for this moment, she wanted to be like everyone else. After a few minutes, she let go and began getting ready for the party again.
Scott came to stand behind her again, it was like déjà vu. He looked at her reflection in the floor length mirror and ran a hand seductively down her face and down to the curve of her hip. He could feel her body come alive under his touch, “Don’t you love me? Don’t you want to join our lives and our love together in children that will represent the best of both of us?” Then he said what he knew she wanted to hear, “Alma, there is so much good in you.”
The last sentence was what she always longed to hear and she could not deny her physical attraction to Scott, in this moment, was intense. She berated herself, Why am I being so difficult? He wants to be with me and have a family. Many people would be content with this. Just close my eyes and be content. Drink more water. Alma put her hands on the sides of Scott’s face from behind her and brought him around slowly for a sensual kiss.
Scott’s hands roamed her body and then he lifted her dress easily and removed her underwear. It wasn’t long before his own trousers were down and he was holding her with her legs wrapped around his hips in passionate lovemaking. “Tell me this is what you want, Alma,” he commanded her.
“This is what I want,” she lied, wanting to believe it herself. She spoke a little breathlessly while he held her tightly under her arms. In her heart, she knew that something was not right about this. But her body shooed that thought away, her primal physical need wanted to be satisfied and her physical body didn’t care about whether or not she really had a long term future with Scott. Her body only cared about the present and she gave into it, whole heartedly. She let her body meet his with every thrust. Reveled in the sweat they were creating together, the touch of another so intimately. She closed her eyes and dove into instinct alone.
June 21st, Mexico City, Mexico, North America
Cameron Macondo was a famous actor. Alma had even seen him once in a romantic play a few years ago. He was good looking and very popular in the JC. As he was single now he was even more popular and was throwing parties and going out to eat all the time. That is how Scott met him, he was a regular at Basil in Chicago.
This Midsummer party was everything Alma expected it to be. It was in a huge traditional Mexican square, decorated with flowers, candles and a lot of local flair. There was a band, costumed dancers and a large crowd of smiling people mingling happily. As soon as they arrived, Cameron made some small conversation with them both and then Scott was whisked away to be introduced to someone else all with smiles to Alma.
Alma smiled back as she was left alone in the crowd. She found the bar and made herself a gin and tonic, not waiting for the bartender to return. Then she surveyed the party. There were at least two hundred people there. She looked for anyone she knew, not someone she knew through Scott, his friends made her cringe. After looking around, she decided that she would rather just stand alone with her drink than make small talk with acquaintances or strangers.
“Captain Alma Johnson?” A cheerful man’s voice said from behind her.
She turned and saw an older man with a greying beard and brown eyes smiling at her. She didn’t smile back, “Yes?”
“I’m Roscoe Bloom.”
“Oh,” Alma said like an idiot and extended her hand to shake his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what you looked like.” As photographs and videos were seen as inauthentic forms of communication in the JC most people only knew people by name if they had not actually met in person.
He smiled at her warmly, “It’s fine, few people do. I don’t get out to the public as much as I should.”
“I should know what you look like at least. You’re the Vice President and a member of my guild in Atlanta for years.”
“You’re away a lot and I work a lot in my office.” He took a sip of his cocktail something with a little colorful umbrella in it, “Are you enjoying the party?”
“Midsummer is a nice holiday.”
“I don’t care much for it myself. I prefer Samhain.”
“I can’t imagine you enjoying all the costumes. I thought that was more for children?”
“No, not that part. Not since I was a boy anyway, no I like Samhain because it’s the time to give respect to the dead.”
Alma looked at him rather than out at the party before them and asked seriously, “Do you have a lot of dead you need to give respect to?”
He looked down into her young eyes, “Yes, don’t we all?”
“Some more than others, I guess. I prefer that holiday too.”
“And do you light candles for all your dead, Alma?” he asked very seriously.
Alma knew, he was referring to more than just her ancestors, “I do.” She answered honestly and then asked, “I’m sorry, what is this about?”
“I thought we were just having a pleasant conversation about holidays, Captain. Or would you rather talk about your boyfriend? Or the weather?”
Alma let her guard down a little and looked out onto the crowd again. She looked for Scott among the other party guests. She wanted him to look up and see that she was being social. That she had been singled out by the Vice President of the JC. But Scott wasn’t looking at her. He was laughing with some of his friends. So, she turned her attention back to Roscoe.
“Mr. Vice President, I …”
“Roscoe is fine, Alma. You and I, we’ve a lot to discuss and I’d like to drop all pretenses now.”
“What would you like to discuss with me?” Her mind was racing. Was it about my dead crewman? Was he a nephew of the Vice President’s? Did he explicitly want all the pirates killed too?
“I want to discuss your behavior last week.”
“Everything is in my report which you would have heard from your secretary, he was there for the briefing.”
“I heard it.”
“And?”
“I think you were right,” he said it quietly.
Her heart pounding and Alma had to concentrate on his words. If he thought she was right he was probably a supporter of Terra Nova and now assumed she was too. He was going to ask her to do something. “Thank you. I’m an adamant citizen of the JC, but I couldn’t kill innocent people or children, whether they were a part of the twelve or not.”
“I understand. I think a lot of people are confused by what you did, especially since those of us in the Military and the Government Guilds know that you disobeyed orders on top of allowing pirates that were working for Terra Nova to get away with only a slap on the wrist.”
“I wouldn’t say having your ship taken away and being send to a MAC was a slap on the wrist, but I’m
glad you understand,” she said.
“To want to save humans, regardless of whether or not they are part of the twelve? I understand. I also have sympathy for those on the outside, even those in the Ethereal.”
“But the government does nothing to help them.”
“We do nothing publically to help them, no.”
“What do you mean?”
He gave her a knowing smile, “You know what I mean. We don’t kill them or hold them when we find them. We tag them, trade with them and they do us favors in return. You are well aware of the JC’s blind spots.”
“I know of the blind spots, but I don’t think they do us any favors, do they?”
“Yes, their favors come in the form of just existing as examples. Those outside the twelve in the solar system are living with the current technology of the galaxy and on the whole they are fine. And those living without any kind of technology at all, as humans did for centuries before, in the Ethereal are also examples. It’s fascinating when you look at it really, three different human civilizations living so differently right next to one another, choosing to maintain their own societies based on their own beliefs about technology.”
“And those are exactly the kind of favors that threaten the JC,” Alma wanted no part of this conversation. But she knew her words rang false for him, as even she had offered favors to those outside the twelve by not destroying the Dante.
“Alma,” he said in a warm voice, “you work with technology every day, do you truly feel that it has influenced you in any way to be less social, able to make less moral decisions? In fact, I’d say the opposite. Last week, you made a more moral judgment than most people on this planet would have made. You saved those people when you didn’t have to, indeed, disobeyed orders because morally you thought it was wrong.”
“My boyfriend and family would disagree with you. They’d tell you that my constant use of technology has made me distracted and unfocused. My SCs would also show the same. I’m the kind of neighbor that walks by the communal phone when it’s ringing or pretends not to be home when my neighbor comes over for a chat.”