1 Ceres

by Takemoto, D. J.

  “Wait, I want to check this key out now, Eve. I have the key,” Dirk said. He stopped in front of the marked tile, and started to remove his key. “We have to get back home now, Dirk. It’s almost light time, and we have to go to work soon. And besides, someone might see us once it’s light,” Eve whispered. Reluctantly, Dirk put the key away and followed Eve back to the city. They remained silent after that because the way back to the paved path was filled with tiny rocks, making it difficult not to stumble. And because it was getting light they had to hide as much as possible.

  They carefully retraced their steps back across the mosaic tiles. Eve now knew that Ω meant omega, but not why the capital letter D had been added. As they continued toward home, neither saw Arlo Stevens, Miggly’s heinous assistant, spying on them from behind a pile of rocks as they exited the decay zone. Stevens left immediately to report his findings to Miggly. By the time Eve and Dirk found this out it was too late.

  Their route was faster going back, and once they hit the paved path, because the light time was already beginning. Eve could hear the town clock starting its first gong cycle of five gongs, five o’clock…and she had to rise at 7 o’clock, in two hours, to be at work at 8 o’clock sharp. She did not speak all the way back through Lightfighter Square, into the park, through the hole in the fence, and to her back door. Once they’d reached her door, Dirk placed a hand on Eve’s arm and whispered,

  “I wrote down as much as I could, but have not had time to decipher it all yet…what was in Robin Lightfighter’s capsule. It’s in cursive.” He looked over at her quizzically, seeming to wonder what could possibly be occupying her mind. “Let me take a look,” Eve replied, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She’d almost forgotten about the note in the capsule.

  Eve bent down to pull up one of her wool socks, and then they both sat down on her recycled trash brick back step by the door to her new room. It was cold outside, and neither had worn a good enough coat to keep out the chill. The time just before light was always the coldest. Eve shivered slightly, her hands balled up inside the sleeves of her leather jacket. Dirk put his arm around her shoulders to keep her warm, and then removed the greyish cloth from his pack, spreading it on his lap. Both Eve and he began to translate the cursive writing into the city form of writing, a non-cursive block letter style.

  “I think it starts out with something about shutting down the AIs,” Dirk started. “I wonder how Gerta got away. Do you think Commander Lightfighter inactivated the others, but kept Gerta for housekeeping duties? I wonder if she’s equipped with security weapons, like shock guns.” “Well if that were the case, we’d probably be in that brig now…I think it must be their term for a prison,” Eve replied. “It goes on to say something about inventories of supply bunkers, and says to keep the map and keys secure, and not to contact home base until notified by the next Lightfighters. So if Commander Robin is a Lightfighter, I wonder who the next ones are,” Dirk mumbled.

  “Either that part was kept secret, or the other two…or however many…are someplace else, or maybe even still asleep in one of the other stasis pods. Maybe each city had a commander with the same Lightfighter designation. Gerta mentioned two other places…6-Hebe and 2-Pallas. Maybe Lightfighter is a commander level for a city, and not a last name,” Eve added, again shivering. They moved closer together to share warmth. “Does it say anything about an evacuation or target date?”

  “It does mention waking up one hundred individuals to populate the city outside the vessel. But it doesn’t say anything about the other people in the stasis pods, or about an evacuation or target date,” Dirk finished. He ran a hand over his curly black hair to remove some dust and small pebbles he’d picked up along the way. Across the dome above them, they both noticed the reddish dawning light picture spreading across the dome’s surface. But neither of them could spot the black holes in the dome from such a distance. Eve reached into her pack and removed a device Dirk had never seen before. She held it to one eye, examining the sunrise picture on the dome top.

  “What are you doing? What is that thing?” Dirk asked. He looked at Eve like she was performing magic. “Binoculars…I took them from that bunker…they make things look bigger. Do you remember that word from your book? I’m looking for those holes in the dome. Here, you look,” Eve replied. She handed the binoculars to Dirk, who copied what she had done. At first, he commented that everything was blurry, so Eve showed him how to focus the thing.

  “These are incredible. I can see the dome just like when we climbed up twelve levels,” he replied. Then he looked all over, at the swing set in the park, past the streets, and even into the decay zone. But unfortunately the individual who’d been spying on them, Miggly’s assistant, Arlo Stevens had already left to inform his boss of what he had seen…Dirk and Eve entering the door of the Boardroom Building, and then exiting five hours later. They had no idea they had been observed. They sat, unaware of the impending catastrophe, still examining Dirk’s copy of the note.

  Dirk started to hand the binoculars back to Eve. “You keep them, Dirk. If you plan to go back to the decay zone and use your key, you may need them.” Dirk deposited the magical magnifying binoculars into his pack, and then asked, “What is home base, anyway? Do you have any idea where it is? The Committee says we are the only humans left…that there is no place to go home to. I guess they lied about that too, because Miggly and Blakeley talked about going home inside those stasis pods. Do you suppose the stasis pods can travel far away? And why do you think Gerta is still alive…or I mean…functional?” Dirk jiggled his legs up and down to warm himself.

  “Maybe Gerta got away from the Commander. Or maybe the Commander wanted her awake to watch over things or keep the bunker key in her pouch as a safety precaution. I think she has no idea what else she’s supposed to do, so she just follows the Commander’s last set of orders,” Eve replied, staring off into the dome top. “I hope she doesn’t get in trouble for giving me the key,” Dirk responded. “I don’t think anyone or thing is still awake to give her trouble.” Eve added.

  “I plan to scoot through the pipe today and check out her directions. If we’re lucky, I’ll be coming in the back way, and will meet you at the entrance out in the decay zone…if that’s the way the tunnels connect,” Eve continued. Her mind rambled through a field of options as she spoke. They remained silent for several seconds, examining the cursive message, wondering how Robin Lightfighter had selected the one hundred humans to wake up, and which of Eve’s distant relatives the commander had selected as her own mate…was it a great-great-too-many-greats-to-count grandfather? Robin Lightfighter could even be a distant ancestor! Or maybe she was not so distant. Dirk did not seem to mind the silence; he kept rambling, like he was planning aloud.

  “I have to check out that marked mosaic tile right away…maybe now. I’m going back right after I change into my work uniform. I can pass by there and still make it to work on time. Then, if I do get inside, I’ll send a message runner to inform you. I’ll say, the stone broke. It will be the code, okay? Are you listening to me, Eve? What’s bothering you? You are not even listening to me.” Dirk looked over at Eve, who was still closely examining the cursive note. She suddenly got up to leave like she’d remembered something.

  “I have to go now, Dirk,” Eve mumbled. She could tell Dirk wondered if she was angry at him or something. “Or maybe we should just ask Gerta about that stone on our next visit tonight…now…anytime soon…are you mad at me or something?” Dirk looked worried. Eve stood on the top step; she reached into her pack and handed Dirk the second shock gun. He looked at her, surprised she even had such a weapon.

  “It’s just in case, Dirk. I have a bad feeling. Please be careful. It’s set on stun only. Don’t set it to kill level. If anything happens, we’ll meet up inside the vessel. Remember we’ll meet inside the vessel.” Eve whispered, then turned to look at him, smiled, and suddenly kissed Dirk on the lips for a long time. Then she hurried inside and shut the door
.

  ●

  Dirk stood for several seconds, smiling and brainless from her kiss, and then he touched his lips and turned to leave. He would go directly back to the decay zone and find the solar light bulb bunker…right after he’d changed into his work uniform. If he was late for work, they would understand once the bulbs were safely in the hands of the greenhouse superintendent. He was halfway across the now-light, town park before he had an odd thought. “Eve has no key and I have the strand of hair. How will she get inside the vessel without those? Dirk shrugged, and continued his way home, taking a shortcut through the trees near the park’s edge. As he walked, he remembered they would be married tomorrow at the City Hall. Dirk smiled, and thought back to when he had first found they were officially matched…when he turned twelve.

  Dirk walked down the central road leading to the Town Hall. It was fifteen minutes before the start of the draw, when they drew cloths from the bag and read off the names of the matched pairs of twelve-year-olds. He lagged far behind his parents and enfant sister Sara, while trying to decide if he should follow them, or just go ahead and find a mining tunnel leading out into the void. “Hurry up, Dirk. You’ll be late and miss the announcements,” his father sternly warned him. Dirk continued to drag his feet.

  It had been two year since he and Eve had become secret friends, and neither thought they stood a chance of being paired. After a year of sneaking into the archives together, the night before one of the Atonement Festivals, Eve told him her mother had requested her to be paired with Harold. “Don’t be angry with her, Dirk. Our family needs the money.” “What does your father say about it?” “He says he will respect whatever the committee decides, but I know he wants me to marry someone else. What about your parents? What do they want?” “Dad and Mom told me to settle on Alicia…that you are out of our consideration. It’s something about a gene match, I’d guess.” “I wish we could sneak into the data office and steal the gene data. Maybe we could change the matches.”

  Dirk had laughed a little at that suggestion. It was not that the notion was outrageous; it was that Eve had suggested it, and was serious. It was what sealed the deal of his heart; what made him fall in love with her…her outrageousness. And now as he dawdled behind his parents, he decided he would wait until the draw was over. He and Eve had plans to meet out in the decay zone. They’d found an old mine tunnel entrance into the tunnels. They knew once they got inside, they could follow the freezing air into the void. Both had made a blood pact to die together rather than live without each other.

  Dirk had even written a letter to his parents, explaining why he’d done it. He had the letter in his jacket pocket…would drop it into the box in front of his house on the way into the decay zone with Eve…his Eve. That’s what he called her, and she called him her Dirk. “Why are you dawdling, Dirk? Are you still fixated on Eve Overhearder? Toss that girl from your mind, son. Alicia will make you a fine companion. Be happy you have such a fine selection,” his father sternly admonished him. Dirk did not bother to answer. He was silently preparing for his death…with his Eve.

  He and his family were almost the last to enter, with only his neighbors Rene and Lily and their families following in line behind them. They’d each placed a finger on a pad, gotten that finger prick, and been DNA validated once again to be sure all the correct potential matched twelve-year-olds were accounted for that year. Once all were validated and marked as present, the doors slid shut on hydraulics and sealed. Dirk supposed it was so no one would bolt. He was the oldest child so had never been to an official match; neither had Eve, who he saw was on the opposite side of the room, leaning against a wall, glaring at her mother in outrage. She’d found the request her mother had sent.

  “Look, there’s Alicia. Isn’t she pretty?” his mother said…or something inane like that. Dirk refused to look; he only watched Eve. And when he finally caught her eye, she glared, then softened, then nodded to acknowledge their upcoming suicide pact. For the remainder of the draw, Dirk and Eve only stared into each other’s eyes. Neither even noticed when their names were read. It was only when his mother gasped and father clapped him on the back, and when Alicia let out a small wail, and Harold huffed off to face the locked door, that Dirk and Eve broke eye contact…and only because they both thought someone had been hurt.

  “Eve and Dirk!” someone yelled from in back of him. He looked to see Lily smiling with her fist raised up to signify a victory. He then looked back at Eve, who looked in shock, then so happy she looked as if she would burst into a million glowing orbs. The rest went by in a daze. He didn’t even hear who else was called…that rich Harold was paired with rich Alicia, that some pairing involved people formerly unknown to each other, or that the event was finished and he could leave. He was supposed to go politely over to Eve’s family and shake everyone’s hand.

  Instead, he’d grabbed Eve’s hand and they had run off laughing to sneak into the archive again, this time to celebrate that they had not had to kill themselves.

  Chapter Nine

  The Box

  It was already morning by the time she got home. Eve was relieved she had her private downstairs room with its neat back door leading out to the park. It would have been difficult to explain her all-night absence to her mother before she was officially married to Dirk. Thankfully, after tomorrow it would not be an issue. The official marriage ceremonies would be held at the town square tomorrow evening, two hours after work.

  She wondered if Dirk would be able to sneak back into his own home without being noticed by his father or mother, though they usually gave him lots of space because he was so sensible and self-motivated. Except not this time…he was heading back into the decay zone to try out Gerta’s key and passcodes, and so, would probably be late for his own job, and on his second day of work.

  “I hope Dirk finds those supply bunkers,” Eve thought as she splashed ice-cold water on her face, rubbed some ointment on her bruises, shook the dust and pebbles out of her clothing, and ate a day-old piece of cornbread from her pack. She unbraided her hair, glancing absentmindedly at the dust and tiny rocks falling from each braid.

  “I wonder if I’m related to Robin Lightfighter. That would be exciting. Well, I suppose we may all be. I’ll ask Mother if she knows,” Eve thought, as she held her hair over the wash basin. She bent over the metal basin, running cold water through her long auburn hair. The rinse water in the basin contained greyish dirt from all the dust she’d picked up in the decay zone. Eve kept her head over the basin and reached over to grab a piece of oil soap. She usually only washed her hair once a week, but it had gotten grubby dirty, she now noted, from stumbling all over those piles of rocks.

  “I hope I didn’t leave a mess for Gerta to clean up,” she thought. She was startled from her thoughts when she heard a loud clanging upstairs, like the metal cups and dishes were getting themselves busy for breakfast. Hurriedly, Eve rinsed the soap from her hair, combed, and re-braided it while it was still wet, and changed into her bright red, and now grimy work overalls and shirt, tucking her necklace inside. She could hear her mother and brother upstairs.

  It was time for her second day of work, and today she was exhausted from being up all night. She glanced at her image in her tiny piece of mirror, and rubbed some pink chalk on her facial bruises. She then stepped into her rubber boots, added her worker badge, and tromped upstairs to join her mother and James for their morning meal.

  “Your bruises look much better today. You look almost normal…for a girl,” James said, giggling when his sister entered the common room. Eve thought her mother had told him to say something nice so she’d be less embarrassed about her rather awful looking face. Eve’s mother glanced at her, frowning, her dark eyes reprimanding, and then she turned back to the stove where she was busy stirring the corn mush mixed with rice. Eve noted her mother had added just enough rice to keep James from asking questions. She looked at her mother and nodded in understanding. Her mother nodded back, but her look ind
icated she had something on her mind. Eve could tell she was not happy, and she guessed why.

  “Thank you for the lovely compliment, little rabbit,” Eve replied, laughing and rumpling her brother’s always messy, dark brown hair. “No really, your face only looks a little bit yellow and purple today. Yesterday it was all purple and red…really it looks great…lots of colors,” James said, his green eyes glowing with pride at his ability to come up with a compliment. He smiled, showing a mouth full of corn meal. Eve’s mother spoke next, obviously trying to move James along to school. She wiped her hands on her apron, handing Eve her bowl of mush.

  “You’ll be late, James. Here’s your school bag and lunch bucket…now run along to school and have a good day,” her mother said. Eve glanced at the wind-up clock on the common room wall, noting it was still rather early for school. Obviously her mother wanted to talk to her without James being present…and she thought it was probably about her staying out all night with Dirk.

  James, oblivious as always, grabbed his school supplies, lunch bucket, and his new and prized jumping rope, and he ran outside to join a group of his friends, only stopping at the door to shout his goodbyes. Eve knew she had to speak first or she might not get the chance to ask her questions. They both spoke at once.

  “Eve, about last night…”

  “Mother, I have a serious question about where this necklace came from…and about our ancestors.” Her mother stopped talking, creased her eyebrows together, sighed, and asked, “What could you possibly want to know about a necklace, Eve? It came from your great grandmother…that’s all I know. It came from your father’s side of the family…a very long time ago. I don’t really know anything about it other than that. Why is this so important now? Does someone want to buy it from you? And why do you care about your ancestors? They’re long gone to recycle.” Eve thought her mother sounded defensive.