by A. Bernette
“I’ll see you the next go round, Mave,” Rupert said.
“Goodbye, Rupert. Take care,” Mave said with a curious look on her face.
Mave walked back slowly towards Zura, Johan and the twins. She wished she’d said something back to Rupert, but she didn’t know what to say, and instead chose to say nothing.
“Are you okay, Mave?” Zura asked her.
“I really don’t know,” Mave answered, deep in her own thoughts as she found a spot to lean against the wall and wait in silence.
The announcements for Northern Allegiance were being made and the remaining people were lining up. Zura’s team moved slowly forward as they began making the last calls for Northern Allegiance. It was time for them to leave, but they all waited for everyone else to get in line. The only people who’d be staying behind were the annual crew who lived on the ARC year round to maintain it.
For the next year they’d experience the same thing, being on the ARC year round, and none of them looked forward to the forced change.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Home
New South City, Northern Allegiance
The humidity hung thick in the Spring air outside of the aircraft as it pulled into the old private air field. The suffocating heat was a sharp contrast to the cool dry air of Antarctica. It had already descended over the historic city and summer was still more than a full month away. The transporter slowly coasted into the private station in New South City in the southern part of Northern Allegiance.
Most of the passengers had managed to get a few hours of sleep and now, finally in New South City, they were the last ones leaving the transporter in Northern Allegiance.
The plane had barely come to a still hover when Zura stood up, feeling antsy after the trip. She’d stayed up and watched her people get off at the different stops, knowing many of them would have to leave their homes and families and return before even the Festival of Fireworks in July.
At least they’d get the World Memorial Holiday at home with the kids but the Festival of Fireworks was one of the biggest celebrations around the world. This year they would be on the ARC and aside from possibly holding a small party inside, there would be no celebrating this year.
Zura loved the holiday. The concept had originated in what was then the United States of America a few hundred years before. The story that had been officially sanctioned was that the people in that country had lit up the sky in celebration of having an overabundance of tea, which represented prosperity, and being able to share the outpouring of that gift with what was then Britain who helped found The United States.
Every year on the anniversary of the founding of the World Consensus on July fifteenth the world was lit up in honor of the abundance that would come from a united world where everyone worked together.
People would gather in large groups in all the regions and the party of the year would happen. They would miss the celebration this year. Zura looked over at her twins. Stella was starting to wake but Stephen was still snoring. He hadn’t even stirred since they’d stopped. How Stella had slept beside him, she had no idea.
“Hey, mom. Are we finally here?” Stella asked, gently opening the shade to look out. Zura nodded. She was clearly still deep in thought. Zura had been like this since the UniCorps and the World Consensus representatives left.
Outside the craft, blackness stole the sky. The hour was late and Stella couldn’t wait to get home and into her bed. She looked forward to seeing her Aunt Edela who would be arriving in two weeks. Stella wondered if her older cousins and Aunt Leif would make the trip too, at least for their birthday party. Stella turned her thoughts to the party and poked Stephen. She needed someone to talk to and everyone else was preoccupied with work.
Stephen moaned and turned his head. It was obvious he was tired. He hadn’t slept the night before at all, trying to get everything he could from the isolated ARC system. She nudged him again. He would have to wake up anyway since it was time to get off the aircraft. She could see the lights from hovehicles in the distance. Usually their family needed a large one but this year her parents had only brought back the bare minimum and a regular van would be enough.
“Stephen. Stephen. We’re here.” Stella said again, almost shoving him to get him awake.
He finally opened his eyes. He looked over at Stella, then around the craft. His eyes swam as he tried to focus. He’d slept hard through the long ride back. He looked over at his parents who were both up and trying to get ready to get off the craft. Neither of them could sit still for very long. They were always like this by the time they got to this point in the trip.
Stella was ready to talk but she could tell Stephen wasn’t quite ready to listen. She hadn’t been able to sleep much since their visit to the staircase. There was something about the clanging and scratches that would wake her up out of sleep, afraid. The clanging would begin and then the sound of metal scraping against metal would pierce her dreams, driving her awake. She hadn’t told anyone about it but hadn’t been able to get past it either. She was glad to be going home and away from the ARC, if only for six months.
Stephen rubbed his eyes and let out a big yawn with his arms stretching over Stella’s head.
“You know you snore like a race horse, don’t you?” Mave said, coming up from behind Stephen as he twisted in his seat to get out of his seat belt.
“I was wondering where you were. I was afraid I slept through your getting off,” Stephen said through a yawn while at the same time ignoring her comment.
“I wouldn’t do that to you two. Besides, don’t you remember, my surprise for your birthday? I’ll be in New South City with you all, at least for a while and I’ll be staying at your place tonight. My temporary residence won’t be ready until tomorrow. We get one more night together, in the same building,” Mave said with a bright smile. And the special surprise for both of you – I want to do that a few days before your party. It’ll be really special.”
Just the mention of the upcoming party turned back on her talkative side.
“Oh, I am so excited. All of my friends are going to be there and of course yours too Stephen. Who did you invite?” she said more to herself than to him. She then turned to Mave. “Did mom already order the cake, it’s gotta be special. I don’t want a regular store bought cake this year, please. This year is super important and even though I know I have to share a cake with Stephen, I want to have half of it decorated just for me,” Stella said feeling suddenly giddy.
“Or even better, we can get two smaller cakes so that I can finally have my own and it can be super amazing and he can have his and it can be…well it can be whatever it is he wants. What do you think about that, Stephen? Finally having your own cake?” Stella paused just long enough to catch her breath.
He opened his mouth to answer but she’d already started talking again. “Oh, and we haven’t even talked about the decorations and the entertainment,” she said worried. She called out to her mom, “Mom, what are we doing for decorations and entertainment for our birthday? Please tell me we can have something good. We only turn sixteen once.”
She actually stopped talking so Zura could answer. She waited silently for a few seconds while Zura looked at her with a blank look on her face hoping she’d do what she typically did, and keep talking. Stella let the void of silence linger as she waited for Zura’s answer.
“Oh my goodness, Stella. I am so sorry. I haven’t booked anything yet. I will tomorrow. I promise,” Zura said looking tired and guilty.
The past few weeks had thoroughly worn her out mentally and physically and even coming home she wasn’t going to get any relief.
Stella sighed. “I’ll find what we want and then give you the information to schedule them. We only have a month and our birthday happens to be at the same time as graduations and unity ceremonies so we are already behind.”
The look of disappointment that Stella shot Zura and Johan wrenched Zura’s heart. Every year their birthday turned ou
t to be an afterthought. After they got back from Antarctica, usually with just a couple weeks to spare, they would frantically try to pull something off. It generally wound up being just barely okay but she didn’t want barely okay this year.
At least they’d been able to leave a little earlier than usual, even if it was only so that everyone could return before the weather got worse in Antarctica. Stella now hoped that those two weeks might make the difference this year.
Zura stood by her seat, trying to avoid looking at Stella and Stephen. She already felt guilty enough that they hadn’t done any planning ahead of time, again, but the twins didn’t know that she was going to miss their actual sixteenth birthday. The most important for any teen. They would be para-adults.
“We may need to move up the date a week,” she tried to say casually.
“But we won’t be sixteen a week earlier,” Stephen said with his no-nonsense voice. “Usually, you move it back so that you are actually sixteen at the time of the celebration, otherwise it would be anticlimactic,” Stephen added.
“Yeah, besides, everyone is always busy the two weeks around the World Memorial Holiday,” Stella said with an attitude of, ‘why would you even suggest such a thing?’.
Zura wasn’t going to tell them the bad news tonight. There was nothing she could do about it and she was too mentally fatigued to deal with Stella.
“Mom, what’s going on? You aren’t telling us something about that day, are you?” Stella asked, picking up on Zura’s thoughts.
Dangit, thought Zura. She needed to change her thoughts quickly to something else so that Stella wouldn’t pick up on any more of her thoughts about their birthday. She knew if she opened that can of worms now, there would be no rest for any of them.
“Stella, honey, I’m just really tired. Let’s talk about the birthday party tomorrow, okay?” Zura tried to say sweetly.
Stella looked at her mother, then at Mave and immediately knew something was wrong. No one was being honest with them. All the secrets were getting to her. Stella rose to her feet, and walked to the door. She didn’t want to talk to them about it tonight or tomorrow. If they weren’t going to be there, why bother talking about it at all?
“Liars,” she muttered under her breath as she stared out the window next to her.
Stephen got up to stand by Stella. “Stella, what’s going on?” he whispered.
She just looked at him then back at her parents and Mave. “They’re lying,” she said.
“Oh,” he said with a confused look. “You don’t think they are going to throw us a party?” he asked innocently.
“I’ll tell you later. I don’t feel like talking now,” she said turning back to look out the window of the exit door.
The pilot spoke to the remaining passengers. “We should be ready to exit the craft very soon. Since this is the final stop for the night, we will be parking over there in the hangar and then letting you out. It’s almost ready for us. It’s a shorter walk to the hovehicle lot but it means we’ll be moving again. I’ll need everyone to take their seats again so we can taxi in. Thank you,” she said turning off the speaker.
Feeling defeated, Stella stomped back to the seats where she and Stephen were. She squeezed past him to take the seat by the window so she’d have more space between her and everyone else. She couldn’t wait to get off the transporter, but then realized it would only be to get into the hovehicle which would be cramped with all of them inside, along with their luggage.
The aircraft began to slowly lift up and glide towards the hangar. The lights of the hovehicles in the lot got closer and closer and dim lights now felt like high beams as Stella looked out of her window. She didn’t want to be mad but she didn’t ask for much from any of them.
Her parents knew this was the one thing she’d wanted since she was about ten. By the time she’d turned thirteen she’d already started talking about what her sixteenth would be like. Now, a month out, nothing had been done. Nothing. She felt crushed and betrayed.
Stella waited for her parents to get up and go to the door first. She didn’t want to be near them any sooner than she had to be. Stephen watched his sister, searching for the right words to make her feel better, but he was never very good at having the right words so decided that sitting beside her, even without speaking, was the best idea. Besides, he had other things on his mind as well.
Those other things had kept him up all night. He needed to figure out what he’d been looking at in in the Noah files and the specimen. He couldn’t figure out what they were specimen of and what it was related to. Stephen hoped his grandfather, who’d been a highly successful geneticist before retiring, might be able to help; if he could convince him. He wouldn’t have much time since they’d only be coming in town for two weeks.
His grandfather, Wilson, had been a key player in advancing some of the human genome work and had found great success at the Science Division of UniCorps, helping to found the department before taking a less demanding role the year Zura had the twins.
Wilson still dabbled in his work although he was now at a much smaller private company that was still under one of the UniCorps organizations. He’d been in the phase down years of his career for the past six years and soon he’d reach retirement at eighty-three.
He maintained a lab back in his homeland to continue work on a very small but specific project. No one knew, even his wife Priscilla, what it was about since he never talked about it. Wilson was sharp as a tack with a no nonsense attitude, but with a sense of adventure that rivaled men a third his age.
They would be in New South City, visiting from Hankura in Southern Liberty in less than two weeks. Then he’d have to try to sell his granddad on helping him do something his granddad would likely frown on. Stephen knew he would have to appeal to his sense of adventure.
The voice coming over the intercom felt like it surrounded Stephen as it sliced into his thoughts.
“Okay, everyone, the doors will be opening. Please exit the craft in a straight line. Watch the steps and use the handrail. We’ve made it this far, and don’t need any accidents,” the pilot said before switching off.
She and her co-pilot had been switching back and forth and it was now time for both of them to rest. The sooner they got the craft emptied out, the better. As the remaining ten people or so walked down the steps, Captain Patawa walked back to the rear of the aircraft. She informed the crew to use the rear door and unload as quickly as possible.
She then walked back to the departing passengers to catch up with Zura.
“Dr. Zura, can I speak with you for a moment before you leave?” Patawa asked.
Zura stepped back. “Yes, what’s going on?” Zura asked looking worried.
“Nothing is wrong. I just need to give you something from a pilot friend we have in common. He said it took a while, but he did his best and he’ll keep the other secure. I suppose you know what that means,” Patawa smiled at Zura.
“Yes, I do. Thanks Captain and thank you for getting us home safely. Will you be with us on the return trip?” Zura stopped to ask.
“I think so, we’ll know in a week or so. If not, good luck,” Patawa said, waving her off the craft.
Zura clasped the tiny package Captain Patawa had given her. She stepped quickly back onto the aircraft and walked past the two crew members before slipping into the small restroom. She needed to stash it somewhere safe before the SEP Agents checked them again. She unzipped her uniform slightly then placed the thin microdot concealed in a small piece of candy wrapper into her bra, along the center wire frame. Zura zipped up her uniform, checking that it wasn’t visible and headed back to the exit door.
“Have a good night,” Zura called out to Captain Patawa as she passed her on her way off the craft. She trotted to catch up with her family and Mave. She noticed Mave was walking behind Stella, but Johan and Stephen weren’t with them. She slowed down trying to give Stella her space and scanned the hangar looking for them.
Johan waite
d at the craft with Stephen and the attendants to collect the luggage. They used a rolling cart to push it towards the hovehicle where their driver helped load the luggage into the van. The five passengers, in various stages of exhaustion and frustration, claimed seats. Stella jumped into the front seat next to the driver, surprising her. She’d rather sit next to a stranger tonight.
They rode in uneasy silence back to their home in the city. Stella loved the building. It was a historic landmark, built almost two hundred years before but it still held its beauty. The glass exterior and its round shape were her favorite features.
The top overlooked the city and was still one of the most recognized parts of the busy skyline. It had stood up beautifully to the changing designs over time and when she walked into the lobby of their building, the pictures of the building at different times over the years seemed to tell the story, a quiet history of New South City.
She and Stephen had often speculated about what the people who lived there at the turn of the century were like. She imagined they were at least not stuck wearing the boring uniforms everyone now wore on a daily basis.
She’d read in the building’s history that it had once been a hotel. It was a strange idea to her to have a hotel that large in the middle of the city. All those empty rooms when people needed places to live. They still had hotels but most of the larger places were converted into permanent residences to house the burgeoning population. Smaller places that were once private homes or small apartment buildings were more often hotels.
Stella’s thoughts of home had only partially dampened the noise. She cradled her head in her hands and took a deep breath. She wanted everyone to just shut-up, but she couldn’t say that since no one was talking. At least not with their mouths. Despite the outward silence, everyone’s minds were so busy. She hadn’t meant to tune in but she had gotten emotional, and in trying to get answers, she’d turned it on. Now she couldn’t get it off or them out of her head.