by Gemma Fowler
Aggie was shaking now, but for the first time, it was from rage, not fear. The betrayal was so raw. How could he let her father take the blame all these years? How could he let Aggie become the spokesperson for his lies?
All the interviews, the photo shoots, all the perfectly rehearsed responses, they were all just . . . lies.
She’d believed him. She’d loved him. She felt such a fool.
Somewhere above them, a huge piece of the ceiling was dislodged and crashed to the floor. Aggie’s godfather didn’t even flinch. He’d taken his gaze away from Aggie.
For a moment, there was no sound except the rumble of the ground. Then –
‘Come with me,’ Faulkner whispered. ‘Come back with me. Together, we can make changes.’
Aggie frowned. ‘What?’
Her godfather’s attention was on Danny, ‘Father and son, together.’
Aggie gasped. Faulkner thought Aggie was lost to him now. She wasn’t useful. He was trying to make a deal. This wasn’t love, this was business.
‘Daniel,’ Faulkner continued, a smile spreading across his face, ‘I can show you a different life. It couldn’t have been easy, what your mother did to you. Dragging you with her, with those terrorists. I can show you the life you should have had. If it’s power you want, I can give it to you. Your name can open any door. You’re a Faulkner, the world is already yours.’
Aggie felt as if someone had ripped her heart out. Did her godfather care about her at all?
‘Don’t listen to him, man . . .’ Seb began, but Danny shrugged him away. There was something unreadable about the way he looked at Faulkner, something unpredictable. It caught Aggie’s breath. He wasn’t really considering . . . was he?
For a long time, Danny’s bright, grey eyes refused to move from her godfather’s.
‘Son,’ Faulkner began again. ‘There’s nothing we can’t do. My shuttle is just upstairs.’ Faulkner’s eyes were glassy now. Aggie had no idea if the emotion was real or not. Was anything real about the man who had brought her up as his own daughter?
‘He’s lying to you, man,’ Seb hissed from the shadows. ‘You know he’s lying.’
Danny pushed Seb away.
Aggie couldn’t speak, she couldn’t move. She stared at Danny, terrified of what the prisoner might do. She didn’t know him, really, but she felt she did. Danny wasn’t rotten inside, he was good, he did what he did for what he believed in – for the Earth. He wouldn’t just . . .
‘Start again?’ Danny growled. ‘Power?’ He spat. ‘You think you’ll still have your power when they find out why this happened?’
He lifted is arms and gestured around the room. The walls were shaking so much now that looking at them was like having double vision.
‘Just another quake. The Far Side was always geologically unsafe,’ Faulkner said, dismissing it with a shake of his hand. ‘It’s manageable.’
‘Manageable?’ Danny shouted. ‘This, manageable? What’s wrong with you? What you’ve done here is unthinkable. You’ve lied and lied to save yourself, to save your precious company.’
Danny was now so close that Aggie could feel the heat coming off his body. ‘Because Adrianne was just the warm-up act, wasn’t it, Dad? Ten thousand dead, right? Well, how many have you killed on the Far Side so far? How many men and women have died for you, so you can carry on lying?’
Danny started to step towards Faulkner again, ushering him into a corner – a predator moving in on his prey.
Faulkner stepped back against the wall. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘No?’ Danny stepped back, lifted a hand and released the clasp on his dirty old spacesuit and slid the pieces of the torso away. ‘I know everything.’ He lifted his sweat-soaked shirt, wincing with the effort. What he revealed underneath made every person in the room gasp.
Night-Cycle 01
Aggie had never seen anything like the wounds that ravaged Danny’s body.
Giant welts covered every inch of his torso, making his skin a mass of mottled red. Where once he’d seemed strong and muscular under his tight-fitting overall, Aggie saw now what exposure to the Far Side had really done to him.
‘An illegal mine on the Far Side of the Moon,’ Danny continued, glancing between Aggie and Faulkner. ‘Out of the way of the cameras. Men and women kept in conditions like animals, out on the open surface, with no protection from the radiation. The solar flares cooking them slowly inside their old suits.’
He took a breath; his eyes were on fire. ‘Two full cycles. That’s how long a Far Side prisoner is expected to survive. And that’s if you’re lucky – if the flares aren’t too strong or the work too hard.’
Faulkner shook his head. ‘You don’t understand,’ he whispered.
‘Oh, I understand,’ Danny snarled. ‘This is murder. Mass murder on a scale the Earth has never seen. Cruelty that I thought even you weren’t capable of. All so you can keep up your lumite lie.’
Danny glanced at Aggie as if he was apologizing for what he’d let her see. As if the feelings that simmered between them would suddenly die because of what he’d revealed beneath his suit. Aggie couldn’t communicate how she felt in a glance. She was filled with a strange mixture of pride and sorrow. Nothing had changed. If anything, her feelings for the prisoner boy had grown stronger.
‘After Adrianne we had to do something,’ Faulkner said. His voice was small against the rumble of the ground. ‘Lumite was almost ruined. I’d planned to take a few years, start development on the mine while we tweaked the cells, made them smaller, more efficient. The explosion meant I had to hurry; I had to ride the wave I’d created. I needed to rebuild the world’s confidence, show it that lumite was good. The people needed to trust me – David would have agreed with that. We had to rush the cells into production or we’d lose decades of progress. Lumite had to succeed, no matter what the cost.’
He looked at Danny again. ‘When your grandfather made the discovery, it was as if there was a light at the end of the black hole that our world had become. We were mesmerized by it, infatuated by it. Lumite’s pure power, so unexpected and so . . . abundant. Or so we thought. No one really expected lumite to cure the world’s needs; it was a bandage to wrap around us until we developed a sustainable solution. It would take years, but we didn’t have to rush when we had lumite. Only the five of us in the lab knew exactly how little there was.’
‘So you always knew the lumite wouldn’t last?’ Danny asked calmly.
‘Of course we knew. But Adrianne changed everything. There was talk of closing down the whole operation, of closing Lunar Inc. The base, the Academy – everything my father had built. The United Government were about to pull the plug. We were desperate, so we took a risk.’
Faulkner glanced back at Aggie.
‘You think I’m the worst thing to happen to this planet? You should take a good long look at yourselves. We’re all the same. Humans are predisposed to greed. We were a world of starving people suddenly presented with a feast. We allowed ourselves to gorge and gorge with no thought for anything else. In the blink of an eye, sustainability was forgotten. We had the lumite cells. Lumite solved everything, and we had a whole Moon’s worth to use!
‘I’m just the supplier. If there were no demand there’d be no Far Side. Lumite isn’t just power, it’s peace. To save the many, we decided to sacrifice the few. Isn’t the Earth worth that?’
Without warning, a violent tremor shook the foundations of the room.
Adam Faulkner laughed. ‘Ah, but we didn’t see this. When we opened the Far Side we detonated a time bomb. We faced a choice: come clean or mine the Moon until –’ another rumble threatened the tiny room – ‘Well, until this.’
Something clicked in Aggie’s head.
‘Rix didn’t force you off the board, did he? It was all part of your plan.’
‘Someone has to take the blame. Someone to head the company whilst it dealt with the quakes and the falling quotas. To be the new face
of Lunar Inc. It couldn’t be me. Rix was a puppet, just like the United Leader, just like you. I pulled your strings and you would dance for me, and oh, what a performance it was.’
Tears started to roll down Aggie’s cheeks. ‘I thought you loved me.’
Faulkner laughed. ‘Then you’re a bigger fool than your father.’
‘The only fool here is you,’ Danny snarled, stepping back to reveal the bank of cameras pointed directly at Faulkner.
‘THAT CONCLUDES THIS SPECIAL EDITION OF THE LUNAR FORECAST,’ Celeste’s automated voice boomed out at full volume across the room.
Adam Faulkner stared at the cameras. Struck dumb.
As the camera whirred softly, Aggie pictured the faces of the people on Earth watching their screens. She imagined the panic in the United Government, the desperate attempts to explain it all away. She knew that they wouldn’t succeed now. Celeste was right, they had had to make them see.
A weight lifted from her shoulders. The world knew now. It was over. They knew what Lunar Inc. had done.
‘Stay bright, United Earth . . .’ Celeste said, an edge of sadness in her voice.
Night-Cycle 01
Adam Faulkner leant against the wall, staring at the blinking lights of the cameras until they faded.
Aggie could sense something creeping into him, something desperate and unpredictable.
The ground bounced up, sending one of the great sails crashing down from the ceiling.
Faulkner turned and ran out of the room.
‘No!’
Aggie sprinted after him, as fast as she could in her old suit.
‘He’s got a shuttle on the roof!’ she shouted, as Danny and Seb joined her. ‘He’s trying to get away!’
She sprinted after her godfather as he wove through the tumbling ruins of the Tranquillity building. Danny and Seb joined her, skidding and dodging falling masonry. The whole place shook on the brink of collapse; they didn’t have much time.
As they chased Faulkner into the great Tranquillity foyer, he skidded to a stop at the edge of the broken floor and looked up at the giant orb of the Moon above him.
‘It’s over, dude!’ Seb panted. ‘It’s over.’
Adam Faulkner turned, tears running down his cheeks. ‘What have you done, little one? What have you done?’
Aggie padded towards him. The look on his face was almost something she recognized. She felt a hole in her chest, a hole that felt so raw that she doubted it would ever close. Adam Faulkner had ruined her life. Right from Adrianne, every pain she’d ever endured was because of him.
‘The people don’t want the truth,’ he said now. ‘They want their cars and comms pads to keep working. They want their streets lit and their hospitals running. You’ve given FALL their precious war.’
‘They’ll listen to me,’ she replied shakily.
‘Have you even thought about what you’re going to do? Cover the globe in pathetic little windmills? Go back to Mars and see what you can squeeze out of those useless brown rocks? There’s no happy ending, Aggie. The people will rebel. They’ll just start killing each other all over again.’
A creak sounded high above them, echoing across the distant ceiling.
Faulkner stepped towards her. Anger had turned his eyes into burning black holes. ‘And they’ll start with the Angel. Our perfect creation. Our beautiful, innocent Angel of hope, suddenly turned into the Angel of death—’
A great shuddering creak echoed around the rumbling foyer. The giant Moon smashed into the floor where Aggie’s godfather stood.
‘Adam!’ Aggie cried and sprinted forwards.
The glittering projection of the base, glowing in all its industrial beauty, flickered and died.
Aggie skidded to a halt and fell to her knees. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the smashed globe, lying across the broken floor of the foyer like a burst watermelon.
Her godfather was buried beneath it in his shame.
After a few minutes her heart began to settle.
It was better this way.
She was surprised at how empty she felt. Part of her wanted hysteria. Part of her wanted to scream and shout and pound at the ground; she willed those feelings to take hold, but they refused to come.
Seb pulled her towards him. ‘We need to go,’ he said quietly. Aggie nodded and turned back to the airlocks.
‘Seb, look!’ she cried and ripped herself out of his arms.
Danny was slumped on the floor, his face as pale as the suit he was wearing.
Aggie helped Seb administer the last of the blue vials in Danny’s medi-kit.
Seb glanced at Aggie. Unspoken concern passed between them. It was the last dose in the box.
As soon as the blue liquid disappeared inside him, Danny’s eyes opened. He looked at her sadly.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said as Aggie transferred her hand to his forehead. Whatever they’d thought of Adam Faulkner, they’d both lost a father today.
‘Are you going to be OK?’ she said thickly.
Danny smiled and embraced her. Aggie wasn’t expecting it and it took the breath out of her.
‘I’m OK,’ Danny said into her hair. His breath was warm on her neck. He pulled back and looked at her. ‘I promise.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ Aggie said, blinking at her tears.
She glanced away, feeling her cheeks flushing. ‘It makes sense, now. I always wondered how you knew.’
Danny grinned. ‘I didn’t see the Angel. I saw Aggie.’
Seb started loudly opening the lockers that lined one of the walls of the foyer. ‘So that kind of makes you brother and sister, right?’
Aggie shot him a look.
‘Seriously, though, the way this day is going, I’m gonna find out that I’m actually Celeste’s great-aunt or something.’ He pulled two sky-blue Tranquillity overalls out onto the seats. ‘Better put these on – we’re going to need exos to get out of here.’
As if in reply, the room around them started to rock more violently.
Aggie caught Danny’s eye as she snapped her own collar down.
‘I was right.’ He smiled. ‘You do look good in blue.’
Aggie blushed again, remembering the conversation they’d had a lifetime ago.
Seb rolled his eyes and stomped past them towards the airlock.
When Seb was out of earshot, Danny paused. ‘You OK?’
Aggie shook her head. ‘No.’
‘We’ll be OK.’ Danny put an arm over Aggie’s shoulders. ‘You’re stronger than you look.’
‘Like graphene,’ she muttered sadly.
The instant Tranquillity’s huge airlock opened, Aggie felt her new overall pressurize around her – the familiar floating sensation was coupled with the tug of the exo stirring inside the fabric. She’d spent so long in the older spacesuit that the sensation sent her off-balance.
The three of them stood on the edge of Tranquillity, looking out at the broken remains of everything Lunar Incorporated had built in the name of lumite.
The larger structures on the base lay in pieces on the ground; fragments of pencil-thin Plexi littered the atmosphere like shards from a broken mirror, reflecting the warning lights from below.
Explosions went off around them sporadically, sending dust pluming into the sky; violet flames bursting and fading to a smoulder in an instant. Shuttles reflected the light of the distant sun as they flew the evacuated personnel back to Earth. The minuscule bodies of those that didn’t make it floated in the sky beside them like stars, their lamps winking faintly as they drifted higher into the void.
Aggie thought of Astrid and hoped with what was left of her heart that the girl hadn’t stayed.
‘I think we need another plan.’ Danny was staring at where the great shuttle bays should have been.
There was nothing left. A giant viewing tower had fallen across the enormous rippled roof, crushing everything in its path. Every craft visible lay wrecked and smouldering, the tiny coloured dots of desperate
evacuees crawled over the remains of the shuttles, trying to get them back online before it was too late. From where they were, maybe it looked like it was worth it, but to the three people standing on the edge of Tranquillity it looked hopeless.
A fizzing sensation made her jump.
‘Hey Aggie, I’ve calculated the safest route off the base,’ Celeste buzzed in their ears.
‘Nice of you to join us,’ Danny mumbled.
Aggie frowned. He was right, Celeste hadn’t been with them just now. Aggie could feel when the computer was present, like static in the air. Had Celeste abandoned them before? The feeling made Aggie nervous. Despite everything she’d once believed, the computer was starting to become more than just a presence or a guide to Aggie. Celeste had saved their lives more than once. She was here to protect her.
‘And what would that be?’ Seb said, bringing Aggie’s attention back to the conversation.
‘What else leaves the base on a regular basis, like the shuttles?’ Celeste replied.
‘Oh awesome. Quiz time. Perfect for the situation.’
‘Lumite,’ Danny interrupted. ‘She means the lumite.’
‘Oh, yeah. Let’s just fling ourselves off the base like a tonne of lumite.’
‘Exactly,’ Celeste said. ‘Please head to the Cargo Bays.’
‘You can’t be serious.’
Seb put his head in his hands. Aggie chewed her lip, remembering the thunderous noises echoing around the cargo tunnels when she’d used them to escape the party. She looked around them, the idea of the cargo bays was frightening, yeah, but was it any more frightening than this?
‘We just need to get off the base. Quickly. I don’t care how.’ Aggie set off down the slope towards the centre of the base, with Danny close behind.
Seb hesitated, then started after them.
‘Those things aren’t designed for humans! We’ll get chewed up! Hey, Aggie, wait!’
As they skimmed along, Celeste brought up a blueprint on their visor screens. ‘The lumite cargo runs into the underground tunnel network as it leaves the faces. We’ll access them at a central point—’