by A. Bernette
Stella’s parents signed her up for the extra science camp to help her make-up credits so she wouldn’t have to retake her science class. That meant she was supposed to be studying and preparing for the end of camp presentations. Despite posing the best argument she could craft as to why she shouldn’t have to go, she’d lost.
Unlike Stella, Alexis was getting extra college credit with the one week camp but neither could focus after the long day. Alexis had been the most normal person she’d come across there and on top of that she seemed to have it all. She was smart, drop dead gorgeous with raven hair and her eyes reminded Stella of the Antarctic Ocean when they first arrived each year.
Alexis had the boys on the campus drooling after her. She was confident on top of that. Stella didn’t think she had an insecure cell in her body and wished she had just a little of the confidence that seemed as natural as breathing to Alexis. She was from Australia, another region that didn’t get a new name and was now mostly dedicated to science and research.
Alexis had gotten into University a year early and was studying human sciences and technology, but that might as well have been a new language to Stella. It was the one area they realized they had very little common ground.
Even with that difference, Alexis was fun to hang with and could get them just about anything they wanted around campus. She had a way about her that people couldn’t resist. Most people at least. Dr. Lima seemed immune to Alexis’s charms but anyone else they’d come across so far was fair game.
Before her guilt stopped her, Stella had even thought of having Alexis try to get her something special from the campus gift shop that she’d seen the first day they’d gotten there. She would ask her mom for some extra money when she talked to Stephen. She’d been saving for something special and was rationing her lubles.
She and Stephen were on a short Spring break that was kept at the same time as most of the world during the first week of Spring, near the end of March. It was usually a couple of months before the Antarctic region became too cold and they left for home. That is, unless you never planned on leaving the artificial warmth of the ARC. Rather than doing a fun camp for art or music she was stuck in science camp, also known as school. She tried to comfort herself by reasoning that being there didn’t mean she couldn’t still have fun.
When camp was over Alexis would go back home to Australia where they weren’t frozen in ice and she’d see real people who weren’t buried in work, and even go to real school some days. She managed to make her time in Southern Allegiance fill two needs. Her father lived there with his new wife and he’d already come for her a couple nights and brought her back later in the evening. When camp ended and Stella went to Antarctica, Alexis would spend the weekend with her dad.
Stella could only imagine what it would be like to go to school all the time with other people. For her she only got the few weeks between leaving the ARC and the end of June and the months of August to November. Those were the months when school was in session and Antarctica was still in the dead of winter. The rest of the time would be spent on the ARC, learning virtually and through online classes or self-study.
She’d be heading home in less than two months and that alone made her smile. At least she would get to see other people for that last month or so at school and for her birthday party. It was better than spending it alone with Stephen.
As Stella jumped and tried to do kicks in the air, she noticed a growing crowd gathering outside in the square. She bounced slower trying to figure out what was happening. From where their room was, she couldn’t see what was going on or hear anything.
She jumped off her bed. “Come on Alexis. Something’s going on down there. Let’s check it out.”
Alexis stood up, looked out the window, and smiled. “Maybe it’s a party. Let’s go.”
As they came out the door of the dormitory building they could hear the voice of Camp Director Dr. Lima. She was lecturing the group about something but they didn’t know what. Confused, the girls slowly joined the crowd trying to get a better look and to hear what Dr. Lima was upset about this time.
Alexis, stood on her toes, and then came back down. “Nothing to see here really. Just some boys fighting. But that…now that is interesting.”
Alexis pointed at a small group of men and women standing to the side, near a building, looking oddly stiff and out of place. They were staying in the shadows but backed away and out of sight as soon as they noticed Alexis looking at them.
“I wonder what that was about,” Alexis said trying to see them better.
“Who knows? Probably nothing. Just seeing who the trouble makers are and adding to their files,” said Stella.
“There isn’t anything left to see here. You all need to go back to whatever it is you should be doing,” Dr. Lima said, dismissing the crowd. As the crowd parted, Alexis began walking towards the building where the three had entered and disappeared.
Dr. Lima came up behind her. “Alexis. Alexis Murray-Cruz, right?” Alexis stopped and turned around with a smile. “Yes, and you are Camp Director Dr. Lima, right? Nice to meet you in person.”
Dr. Lima was unimpressed. “Do you know why I stopped you?” she asked sternly.
“No, we were just heading to the pump,” Alexis said convincingly.
“Yes, I’m sure. I certainly hope you, and that is, the two of you, have been studying and working on your projects. On Friday, you have your final presentation Alexis. And you have your demonstration of knowledge Stella. I will be there. I expect a great deal from you, Stella, being the daughter of renowned scientists.” They stood waiting for her to say something else. “Good luck ladies. That’s all.” She walked off towards a group of kids who were standing by the doors where the woman and two men had vanished.
She shooed them away and waited by the door until they were gone before walking along the side of the building and out of sight.
“Now THAT was weird,” Stella said, her eyebrows furrowing. Director Lima had intentionally stalled them so they wouldn’t find the three who’d been standing by the doorway. Stella knew those three people were somehow important.
“Alexis, I’m curious. What do you think about a little snack? I don’t have much but it should be enough for something small,” Stella asked Alexis with a smile that pulled up just one side of her lips.
Alexis smiled back at the idea of investigating the strange three. “Yeah, the café is this way, right? I mean I still get confused on this big campus.”
Stella and Alexis looked around to make sure Director Lima wasn’t coming back from wherever she’d set off to. Then, they began walking towards the building where the three had escaped their view and snuck around to the corner of the building where the door the three had disappeared into beckoned them.
They tried to look inside the glass. The lights were off and it was too dark to see in with the sun already setting. Alexis tried the door and it opened. She turned to look at Stella, as if to say, “it must be okay, the door was open.” Neither was sure where they were but both girls knew they couldn’t stop now. Their curiosity pulled them in.
As they began walking along the wall, the light switched on. They could hear footsteps and several voices, including Dr. Lima’s. Stunned, they hurried back out the door and across the campus courtyard to the pump; an old water pump that had been used during the water crisis of the late twenty-first century. It was a historic feature of the campus and a favorite hangout for the students.
The pump was connected to a system of caverns used to move water from underground sources. Once pumped it required being heated to boiling before drinking or cooking, but it served its purpose for nearly fifty years after what seemed like a double hit on the water. The first hit was a deadly bacteria that contaminated the water supply.
Before people realized the danger and could kill the bacteria, it had affected more than ten percent of the population at that time. Most who died already suffered from a weakened immune system. How the water becam
e contaminated was never clear but it took scientists months to find a way to fight it and even longer to find a cure. By that time over a billion people had died. Every inhabited place was impacted. Anyone on the water system knew someone who’d become ill or died.
The low rainfall during that period meant the reservoir levels fell dangerously low and had to eventually be supplemented by the pump system. They had to dig deep to bring up the water that was left and at the same time planted over two million trees there and other forests were replanted as well. Even with that great effort, the area still couldn’t compare to what they’d seen in photos from before the crisis. The pump was a reminder of the lesson society had learned, but it hadn’t stopped society from figuring out other ways to destroy the planet.
Stella shook her head as she passed and thought about the work that kept her parents, Mave, Rupert, and now her brother so busy trying to, again, fix an issue destroying the planet. She wondered whether the old pumps still worked. Stella dropped back and walked slower, letting Alexis go ahead.
She stopped and picked up a pebble and dropped it in, listening to it rattle its way through the pipes until it stopped. She then took off after Alexis who stood talking with some other classmates at the end of the courtyard.
“Did you all see the woman and the two men standing near the building that, for some odd reason, is off limits to us?” Alexis said in a hushed voice as Stella walked up. “They were there when Director Lima was giving her little speech.”
No one had noticed anything, having managed to tune out while Director Lima had been talking. Alexis rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help but think that maybe that was why they were all there. They’d tuned out one too many times.
“You know what I think would be fun?” Alexis said with a sly smile to the group. “I think it would be fun to find out who those people are. I think it would be more than fun. I think it would be something important for us to do,” she added. Alexis made sure to pause and look at each of the three she wanted to join her, in the eyes before moving to the next person.
“I think that it’s for our own good to know what’s going on.” She then added, “I want to go into that building over there.” Alexis pointed at the building with the lights still on at the other side of the courtyard. “I want to see what’s in that building, because it would be good for me to know.” Her eyes watched the group of four she was speaking to now. “It would be good for all of us to know.”
She then simply said, “Come on. Let’s go,” and started walking towards the other side of the courtyard. Alexis gambled that she’d get at least two of them to join her. Any more than that would be a bonus.
Stella followed quickly and caught up to Alexis as she walked deliberately towards the building. Stella looked back at the others following them and whispered to Alexis, “What was that about? Why do you want to go back in there now?”
Alexis kept walking, not wanting to give the others a chance to clear their head and rethink their decision to go along. The truth was, she hadn’t really thought about it, she just had to go back and do it at that moment.
Alexis opened the door to the building they’d just come out of a few minutes before. The lights were now off and it was quiet.
“Come on,” Alexis whispered.
Soon she was tiptoeing along the side of the wall, trying to feel her way in the dark. Behind her someone bumped into a chair sending it screeching along the tile floor. They all stopped for a moment, anticipating Dr. Lima walking in and catching them, or someone else. Instead, nothing happened. They continued to the other side of the room undisturbed.
Once on the other side of the large room, they could see through the glass doors that led down a hall. The hall was dark except for the emergency lighting. Then Stella noticed a glow coming underneath one of the doors on the left. Alexis slowly pushed open the glass paned double doors leading to the hall and walked through as the others followed her silent steps.
The doors in the hall were all closed and none stood out more than any other. The small group continued to walk down the hall until they neared a door with voices talking from behind it. One of the voices was unmistakably Dr. Lima’s. They also heard another woman and at least one male voice. The frosted window of the door made it impossible to see in as they stood against the wall trying to listen. Alexis put her finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet as she moved closer to the door. She lowered herself to her knees so her shadow wouldn’t pass by the window.
“Yes, that is true. We have not been able to secure the eighth yet,” Dr. Lima said sounding more timid than the others.’
“The eighth is the final piece and essential to the success of our mission,” the voice of San said with concern.
“You told us you would be able to handle it. We are running out of time,” Yin chided.
“I understand,” Dr. Lima replied to the implied question. “But we have seven. We know who they are and where. The mission can still begin while we continue to work on the eighth. It is still possible for it to move forward to the end, if we don’t have him.”
“Yes, it can begin” Cho spoke, “but without the eighth we have to formulate an entirely new strategy with new people who haven’t ever been prepped, who haven’t been guided by their Keepers, who may not hold on to the Awakening should we even be able to facilitate it. Or, we have to take the other route and the Earth Council prefers not to go through that route.”
“Yes, the eighth is mission critical” San chimed in, agreeing. “We risk generations of work and effort if we cannot bring the eighth in for the Awakening.”
“I believe there is a bit of drama here. We all know that the Awakening would certainly help, but the eighth not being a part of it is not mission critical. Besides, there is always more than one solution. I know we will find a way and you won’t have to take the other route. I for one…”Dr. Lima stopped speaking and she looked around for a moment. “Wait please,” she whispered softly.
Dr. Lima walked towards the door, trying to keep her heels from clacking against the floor. She pulled the door open to an empty hallway. As she looked down the hallway, she saw one of the glass paned doors leading to the larger room close shut. She had an idea who it might have been. She closed the door to the room where the others looked at her curiously, and sat back down.
“What was it?” Yin asked. Dr. Lima hesitated telling her guests. She didn’t want them to have any more concerns about the mission than they already had.
“I thought I heard something, but it was nothing.” Dr. Lima looked at the three representatives, Yin, San, and Cho who’d come to see her. They were aware that she wasn’t being fully truthful and suddenly Dr. Lima felt defensive. “There was nothing to see. Whoever it was had already gone,” Dr. Lima added to her comment.
“It’s not safe to talk here anymore. At least not now,” Cho said nervously.
“The campus will be back to normal in just a couple of days. Let’s talk again then. Same place, same time,” Dr. Lima suggested.
Dr. Lima closed the door and turned off the lights. Her guests could see their way out. She walked back through the hall the way the students had gone and back through the same glass paned doors to the large room. Dr. Lima paused for a moment seeming to feel the room with her mind.
Someone had been in there. She’d felt their chi residue in the hall as well. It felt like the same energy she’d felt when talking with Alexis and Stella not long before. She didn’t know how much they’d heard and was suddenly glad for the policy of no names and no specifics when meeting on this side. There couldn’t be any more interruptions like that or any more delays in general.
She walked through the door leading back out to the campus courtyard and looked around before locking the building behind her. Alexis and Stella stood in the window of their darkened room looking out through the sheers at Dr. Lima as she hurried across the courtyard to her campus apartment.
Chapter Eight
The ARC
Antarctic Research Center
The small band on Stephen’s wrist was beginning to wear at his patience with its silence, mocking him. He wondered if it was working properly and considered taking it off and checking its functions.
Unclasping it, he turned it over in his hand to inspect it. The technology he and nearly everyone else wore on their wrist told the time, made and received calls, messages, and other tele-transmissions, could connect to the international web of information and social networking for news, other televised programming, and was programmed to monitor the wearer’s vital signs and link to the registration.
The device was commonly called a watch because it had been effectively designed to allow the World Consensus to watch over all registered citizens while providing the citizens with access to everything they needed to be active, productive, socially, and economically involved.
There was nothing wrong with it. “Where is she?” he pondered. Stephen paced nervously in his bedroom, stopping every so often in front of the double paned storm window. The interior steel shutters were magnetically held against the wall. He tapped it lightly, as he often did. It was secure.
He glanced out the window, as if suddenly she’d be there knocking at the pane telling him to hurry outside to see some intricate ice crystal formation or the colors painted on a passing cloud. The only thing he saw was snow and ice, packed down in most places. Patches of grey rocky ground peaked through where the ice and snow had long ago receded and hadn’t come back yet.
Back within the confines of his orderly room he kept a consistent stride between his desk and the window. What he was really looking for eluded him, as he had yet to find it. It was his first Spring break without Stella. Now, after a few days he found himself missing her nonstop talking which could sometimes irritate him.