The girl grinned and ran off.
“Most folks are still in shock from the trip to get here from Earth, but that will wear off. I’m afraid if you don’t do something soon to show them they will be properly cared for, you’ll have a riot on your hands.”
Colin nodded. “I can see that. Thank you for intervening back there.”
“Nothing will get fixed if we start fighting one another.” She stopped next to a gate in a wall made of wooden poles and broken sheets of plas. “Here we are. This is where we treat the sick, to the best of our abilities.” She opened the gate and led them inside.
The wide space held maybe twenty makeshift beds—piles of blankets and clothing to keep the sick off the bare ground. They were all occupied.
Some were coughing, while others just stared up at the tent roof with faces slack with despair. On one side, there were three patients with arms or legs wrapped in blood-soaked cloth.
“One of the tent poles collapsed and injured five of our Plastown residents. Two were treated and released. These three broke bones. We’ve done our best to try and set them properly, but without x-rays and clean bandages and antibiotics—”
“Plastown?” Colin looked around, his face grim. “I get it. You need help. How many refugees are there?”
“Near as I can count, a bit over two thousand so far.”
Andy whistled. The entire legitimate population of Forever was just over five thousand. They weren’t ready for this kind of influx.
“What do you need most urgently?” Colin asked Mestra.
“Food. Blankets. Medicine. Potable water.”
“Water is easy. The streams here are pure… at least upstream from here. We can get you containers to collect and store it in. Medicine… we can raid the clinic at Micavery and have Transfer send more down. I’ll contact the director and make it happen.”
“We can get food from the farmers’ market in Darlith. Have them load it on the train.”
“They’re not gonna like that.” Colin grinned.
“We’re all in this together, right?” Andy looked around at the misery of the camp. It felt good to do something, anything to help these folks.
“Good attitude.” He squeezed Mestra’s shoulder. “Give me a few minutes to confer with Director Hammond.”
Mestra nodded. “Please do whatever you can. People need reason to hope.”
“I will.” Colin tapped his temporary loop. “Lex, please patch me into Hammond’s line up on Transfer.” He stepped away to talk out the details.
“I think I can help with the bathroom facilities.” Andy looked around at the sick people in the enclosure. It was the least she could do for them.
“How’s that?” Mestra patted her on the head. “Do you know someone?”
Andy grinned. “You could say that.”
DAVIAN WIPED the sweat and grime from his face and tightened the last bolt.
God, how he missed civilization. Sure, this was nothing compared to his wartime duty, but since he’d been home, he’d gotten used to things like showers and beds and food that came packaged in plastic. None of this reconstituted shit.
At least he’d finally gotten the ventilation system cleaned out and reinstalled. It wasn’t perfect. The little tin can would be hot, and the thought was already giving him nightmares, but it should be survivable. For one of them.
He pulled himself out. “Okay, that about does it. How close are we?”
“Almost there. Just about ready to have you help me install the x-drive. Then the seats go back in, assuming—”
“We haven’t blown ourselves to bits?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Eddy grinned. “Hey, what time is it?”
Davian pasted on a smile. “About 11:00 a.m.” He stood and stretched and took a look outside at the mountains beyond the fuzz field. It looked so normal. No hint that an entire city, not two hours north of them, had just been wiped off the face of the Earth. No clue that his own parents were gone with it.
Not a sign that the end of the world was at hand.
“Okay, I think I’m ready to put the drive in.” Eddy came up behind him to stare outside too. “Surreal, isn’t it?”
Davian nodded. You have no idea. “Let’s get this done.”
Together they unpacked the x-drive from its wooden crate. The device worked by negating gravity within a sphere around the drive—the more powerful the device, the bigger the sphere. Davian had worked on them in the field and had managed not to get his hands blown off, or worse.
The Moonjumper’s original drive had long ago been removed and dismantled. The technology, while supremely useful, was also temperamental, and an aging drive could explode and cause significant damage if it wasn’t maintained properly.
Davian wasn’t sure where Eddy had gotten his hands on this one. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Not that it mattered anymore.
He pulled on his safety gloves. Then he removed the packing material and carefully lifted the drive out of its protective webbing.
It was about the size of his outstretched hand, a silver sphere with no visible external hardware. “Pretty little thing.”
Eddy laughed. “Buy her a drink first, at least.”
Davian snorted. “The chamber’s ready?”
“Yes, just need to carry it inside. Carefully.” Once it was installed, the danger of an explosion dropped considerably, but in the meantime he tried hard not to shake it up.
Eddy pulled on his own gloves and climbed onto the bed of the truck. “Hand it to me.”
Davian passed it up slowly. Then he climbed up onto the truck too.
“Okay, I’m gonna ease it in, then you fire up the magnetic field. Ready?” Eddy climbed slowly into the jumper, kneeling over the open container that was set to receive the drive.
The drive had to be kept from touching the edges of its compartment.
Davian followed him inside. The little ship was crowded with two people, even without their seats. This was going to be a fun trip. Yay for me.
He put his hand on the power button. “Ready.”
“Three, two, one….” Eddy spun the two hemispheres in opposite directions, and the sphere lit up with a golden glow. He held the drive inside the container. “Now!”
Davian activated the magnetic field, and the drive settled down inside, floating in the middle of the round container.
Eddy closed the lid, and the glow dimmed to a glimmer.
“Nice job!” Eddy held up his hand.
Davian slapped it. “Woo-hoo! We’re going to Forever!” He felt good about it, for just a minute. It beat the hell out of his present environs.
Eddy grinned. “Let’s get the seats in and run through the system checks. I want to get us out of here as fast as we can.”
Davian nodded. He couldn’t get off this shithole of a planet fast enough.
Chapter Five: Jump
COLIN WAITED for Director Hammond to connect from Transfer Station.
He looked around the camp. The conditions these people were living in were primitive, and they were taking a toll on the local ecosystem too. Forever was a relatively small biosphere, and they were still working to find the balance—a balance that would be necessary to sustain the world for several centuries.
She didn’t have the resources to absorb a whole lot of excess pollution, especially at this early stage in her development.
It also spoke ill for their future if this was the best they could do for their unexpected guests.
“Hammond here. What’s going on down there?” Aaron sounded agitated.
“Hi, Aaron.” Colin closed his eyes and could see his old friend in his mind’s eye. “You sent me into quite the mess here.”
“Sorry about that.” Colin could hear the weariness in Aaron’s voice too. The man had a lot on his plate. “The ships have been coming in fast and furious. I’ve had my hands full up here trying to keep on top of them and not lose more immigrants than we have to.”
<
br /> “It’s that bad?”
“Yeah. Anything that can fly is being sent up here. Last week, we had an old space station module dragged out here by the coyotes and left for dead. And I mean dead. It sprang a leak, and all thirty-five people inside were frozen to death. Kids too.”
“Oh God.” Colin hadn’t realized how bad things were. Children, for God’s sake. If he could get his hands on some of those coyotes….
“It’s slowing down now… not sure what else is still space-worthy that hasn’t been thrown at us. Even the regular supply runs seem to be breaking down—the Hammond was due here two days go, and we can’t reach her. Frontier Station’s being cagey about it.”
Colin shook his head. Things were going south fast. “Damn. We’re on our own, then?”
“Seems like it, for now. So what can I do for you?”
Colin shook his head. “It’s a tough job, Aaron. But better you than me. You’re still young.” He glanced back at Mestra and Andy. “Okay, I need to requisition your fancy new train and some foodstuffs from Darlith. I want to clean out their farmers’ market.”
“The colonists aren’t going to be too keen on that.”
“I know. But it’s that or start seeing widespread malnutrition and starvation down here in the refugee camp.”
“Gotcha. Done.”
“Next, I need containers. Anything that can hold and store water. And soap if you have some.”
“In fact, we do. There’s a soapmaker in Micavery now… I mean McAvery Port—”
Colin laughed. “Micavery is fine. Will of the people and all that.”
“Yeah.” Aaron laughed, a refreshing sound after his earlier bitterness. “You’ll be remembered by history, all right. As long as you don’t care that they screwed up your name. I’ll see what we can scare up, container wise. What else?”
Colin hesitated. “You’re not gonna like this one.”
Aaron snorted. “That’s the phrase I wake up to every morning, these days. Hit me.”
“I need whatever medications you can spare. Painkillers, antiseptics, antibiotics, the works. There are a few bugs going around camp that we need to knock down, and fast.”
“Ah.”
“Told you that you weren’t gonna like it.” He glanced around the camp. He was getting resentful looks. They didn’t have much in the way of technology, or anything else, for that matter. “Tell you what. I’ll send Andy up for them. I’m not keen on her being down here. Things could get rough—these folks aren’t happy. Maybe we can get some from Micavery in the meantime.”
“That’s fine. The factory’s manufacturing the basics now—antibiotics, vaccines, the like. I have a feeling the good doctor has her hand in that—she asked for a copy of the biogenome library last month too. But we can send down some more specialized drugs and equipment.”
Colin nodded. Only a select few knew about Ana and Jackson’s part in the world-mind. “If you can scare up some blankets, those would be appreciated.”
“Listen, Colin—”
“I know what you’re going to say. Don’t mention it. I’m glad to help.”
“Thank you, anyhow. You have no idea how much having you there gives me peace of mind. I’ll get the meds and food requisition out to Darlith right away.”
“Thanks, Aaron.” He tapped off the loop and put it back into his pocket.
“Any luck?” Andy asked as he returned.
“Yes. In fact, I’m sending you up to Transfer to retrieve some medicine for the camp. Director Hammond is also sending some antibiotics from Micavery.”
Mestra smiled. “That’s good news. And food?”
“On its way shortly. Though I may have made a few enemies in Darlith.”
“Thank you, Director McAvery.” The nurse surprised him with a spontaneous hug. “People here have given up hope. It will mean so much to them to have something to cheer about, once again.”
“Now we best get you on your way, Andy—”
“Not quite yet. Bathrooms, remember?”
ANDY LED them out into the camp, glancing around nervously at the people who stared back at her sullenly. Her life in Forever and up at Transfer Station had always been neat and clean, well-organized and without much rancor, but these poor people had been through hell and back to get here.
Andy could hardly imagine the things they had been through. Many of them had been taken advantage of by coyotes, paying an exorbitant amount of money just to get a place in a shipping container bound for what they hoped would be a better life. Many of them had seen horrible things. Sickness, death, and decay in their improvised transports—only to arrive here and have to live like this, with no sanitation, little food, and no good place to sleep.
“Hello.”
The voice startled her out of her musings. A little boy stood in her path, staring up at her with big brown eyes.
She knelt and put a hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t be more than four years old, his chestnut hair smeared with dirt. “Hello there.”
“I’m Tyson.”
“Hi, Tyson, I’m Andy. Nice to meet you.” She held her hand out to shake his, but he just stared at her. “Hey, I have something for you.”
“What is it?”
She pulled off her carry sack and took out the dried fruits and nuts she had left over. “Here you go. These are really good. Take them back to your mommy, okay?”
“Okay.” He took the little bag and turned to run away. Then he hesitated. “Mommy says to always say thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She tousled his hair and sent him on his way.
“That was kind.” Mestra nodded. “Your parents raised you well.”
Andy blushed. “Thanks.” She turned away, embarrassed. “Let’s get this over with.” She led them past the edge of the camp and to an open space that had been cleared of alifir trees. “I’m going to talk with the world-mind. You might want to stand back.”
Mestra looked quizzically at Colin, who shrugged. “Better do what the girl says.”
They stepped back toward the shelter, and Andy knelt in the dust of the disturbed earth. She put her right hand down into the soil and dipped into Forever.
The scene dissolved around her, and the workings of the world were revealed beneath her feet.
She delved down deep, following the roots of the alifir trees that stood at the edge of the recently cleared earth. They sank down, seeking the luthiel that ran through the crust of Forever like blood.
There.
Below her was one of the waste disposal tubes that carried discarded and dead material back to be digested and repurposed. Somewhere down there, wrapped around the tube, would be some of the roots of the world.
For this, she didn’t think she’d even need to talk to the world-mind itself. She could handle this one on her own.
She found one of the world roots and reached, connecting to the impulses that ran along it carrying information to and from the world-mind. Then she pulled.
The root responded, sending a new branch up through the soil, creating a faint rumbling as it extended itself upward.
The noise grew louder.
“Everything okay over there, kiddo?” Colin asked.
“Yes. All good,” she said without opening her eyes. She’d never done anything quite like this before, but she had played with the world-mind’s subroutines before to do things like open a hole in a cavern wall or create a treehouse.
The root burst forth in a shower of dirt to tower over her.
“Andy!” Colin shouted and ran toward her.
“It’s okay.” She waved him off. “This is me doing this.”
She proceeded to weave an enclosure with the hard, wooden root stem, telling it what she wanted through the link that connected them. Leaves burst out of the wood, creating light in the darkening enclosure and blocking the holes in the woven branches of wood.
At the same time, she coaxed a second root to grow up and up, bursting into the middle of her newly created chamber t
o create an evacuation hole that led down to the waste tunnel.
For her final act, she coaxed the end of the first root into a warm wooden seat just above the hole.
She opened her eyes and stared at her handiwork. Voila. It was crude, but it would have to do.
She stood and wiped the dust off her eyes. She was filthy. A good bath in the river would take care of that. She wasn’t picky.
She stepped out into the open air. A group of refugees had gathered behind Mestra and Colin.
“What is it?” Mestra asked, touching the new wood.
“It’s a bathroom. You’ll need a bucket of water for the flush, but it should work.”
“That was….” Colin seemed at a loss for words.
“Astonishing.” Mestra smiled at her. “Can you… would you make a few more?”
Andy nodded. “I think so. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“May I take a look?”
Andy nodded.
Mestra stepped inside. “We’ll need a door too.”
“Oh yeah. Sorry. It’s not—”
“It’s perfect.” Mestra turned to hug her. “You are a gift from God, my girl.”
Colin nodded, but he looked worried too. “You sure it won’t take too much out of you?”
“It’s okay. I can manage a few more.” Though interfacing with the world-mind on such a direct level did often make her tired, it was worth it.
“That’s not all I’m worried about.” He glanced at the crowd. Most of them were smiling, but Andy was getting a few dark looks too. “The world is not as nice a place as you might believe. Not everyone will accept your… power.”
She shrugged. These people needed her help, and she was in a position to give it.
How could that be wrong?
EDDY STOOD back to take a look at the jumper. He’d just finished reinstalling the auxiliary nav tanks—the propellant that would lift them high enough off the ground to fire the x-drive and let them maneuver once they were past Earth’s gravitational well. “I think we’re ready.”
The Stark Divide Page 24