“Hello?” Was the last thing that Williams said before everything went dark.
Second Earth:
Part Three
L.D.P. Samways
Chapter One
"So it's done then," asked one of the men wearing a pristine black suit. He matched the others sitting around the table. They too were well dressed. Well dressed for death.
He seemed agitated. He couldn't stop fiddling with his hands. It was as if they had a mind of their own. No matter how hard he tried, his hands and fingers kept on moving. Tapping on the table like an impatient patron waiting for a drink at the bar. But this was no bar. This was the conference room. The conference room where The Company did their bidding. It was the room where the biggest decisions were made. Who shall live, and who shall die. Those two decisions were pondered on regularly. And today was no different. Today, The Company and its men were making those hard decisions. For only they could make those decisions. Only they possessed the power and the expertise to make those hard choices. They couldn't just leave it up to the people of Earth to decide.
The people of the world just couldn't grasp the enormity of such decisions. While they would see it one way, The Company would see it the other. The other much clearer away. It took those sorts of men to make those decisions. Because only those sorts of men could handle the responsibility. And it was that responsibility that all of the men sitting around the conference table took very seriously. And rightfully so, because they had just made one of those life and death decisions. And it was a difficult one. A difficult one that didn't sit right with the majority of the men around the table. But neither one of them were going to be the one to speak up. Speaking up was for traitors. Men of duty wilfully suppressed their feelings. It was the only way one could possibly hope to stay focused on the job. Feelings only served to distract. And distractions were not welcome at this table.
"Yes, it is done. The radio tower just got back to me. We have a confirmed detonation. The pod has been destroyed. We made sure to crank up the juice on the self-destruction switch, hopefully making the blast radius big enough to wipe out whoever and whatever saw the ship. So our business here is done. You gentlemen can all be on your way. Your planet thanks you for your service. Without men like you, the world could not exist. The president thanks you and I thank you," the leader said as he brushed some hair fibres off his immaculate black suit.
He stood at the head of the table surveying his subjects. The men sitting around the table staring back at him were powerful men. They were rich and had influence in high places. The leader was in good company. Even if he was the most powerful man on Earth, it was nice to have friends in high places - high places that were just below him - just how he liked it.
"What's the forecast on any repercussions?" A man at the far end of the table asked.
He too was fidgety. Not as fidgety as the first man, but fidgety nonetheless. It was obvious to the leader that most of the men in his company were nervous. If word got out on what they’d just done, it could spark the end of The Company. Losing the public's trust was not an option. The Company needed the public to work. They needed the public to exist. Without the public, there was no funding. There were no votes. And there was no tax money. Sure, they could rig the votes. They could print the money. But The Company was fully aware of the consequences of such actions. All they had to do was look back at history. And as the saying goes, history tends to repeat itself. But in the past, history certainly did just that. Generations went by, and governments went bust. Revolutions were incited. Men of power were assassinated. Governments torn from the fabric of the Constitution. A Constitution that was man-made. And man-destroyed. Things have changed. The Company can no longer accept such backlash. They can no longer accept a revolution, so they do what they have to do to survive. Because history is humanities worst enemy. It muddies the future. It corrodes the possibility of progression. For man is scared of the past and intimidated by the future. Those were the ways of the old. The Company solely focuses on the ways of the new.
"Repercussions? There will be none. We cannot allow there to be any. If we do, then we fail our mission. And let's not forget what our mission is, gentlemen. It is progression. It is prosperity. It is wealth. For all, not just for one, not for just a few, but for everyone. For the everyday man. For the everyday woman. And for the everyday child. This generation and the next. That is why we must keep the resource, the blackness, a secret. It can only become public knowledge when we have stabilized it. When we have learned to neutralize it. Only then will they be ready for it. And only then will we be prepared to come clean and own up to what we have done. And when we do just that, the people of Earth will see things differently. When the people, the common people, are rich and prosperous, their hearts will be softer. They will be much more forgiving of the circumstances in which we acquired the resource. But right now their hearts are hardened. And softening their hearts should be our goal," the leader said, standing up, signalling his men that the meeting was over.
But judging by the looks in some of their eyes, for some, there were still unanswered questions. But the leader didn't have time to humour those questions. He had a lot to do. The blackness was uncontained on the Orion Traveller. He had to get a team down there to extract the resource and bring it back to Earth. Answering redundant questions wasn't on his list of priorities. So he nodded at his men and picked his suitcase up. There were still many questions that the table wanted answering. But none of them were going to stop the most powerful man on Earth from leaving a conference room.
"We'll pick things up from here next week. Right now I have some work to do. I'm sending a team to the Orion Traveller. Once they are on board, we can assess the damage. But securing the resource is our number one priority. Let's not forget. I'll leave you gentlemen to your work. I am sure that there is plenty of work to be done," the leader in the suit said, nodding at his men again and walking around the table.
As he passed his cohorts, he felt a burning heat rise up the back of his neck. He felt uncomfortable. The looks that he was receiving were alien to him. He'd hardly ever seen disappointment on those particular gentlemen's faces before. But right then, that's all he could see. It was as clear as day. He felt as if he'd let them down. They would come around to his way of thinking once they saw the capability of the resource. It would change everything. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. And sometimes people die. But when the good far outweighs the bad, the means justify the end. At least, in his mind they do.
The leader leaves the room briefcase in hand. He had a lot of work to do. Time was definitely of the essence. The longer the resource remained uncontained, the more unstable the future of Earth became. The leader felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. The pressure was immense. But men in high places have to deal with insurmountable odds every day. And for this particular man, it was just another day at the office.
***
Randy Gustoff was struggling to breathe. There was so much dust and dirt in the air, some of it was finding its way into his lungs. It felt like chunks of rock and debris rattling in the inside of his chest. Every time he breathed, he could hear his lungs rasping. It was pitch dark. The darkness was suffocating him. Gustoff didn’t like not being able to see. He enjoyed his sight, but unfortunately that sense was temporally disabled. He could hear the sounds of people moaning around him, but they were merely ghosts in the dark. Some were crying while others were coughing. Everything had unfolded so fast. Moments ago he’d been on the surface. Now he found himself underground. Underground along with some of the people of the colony. Not all of them had made it. Some of them had fallen off the cliff.
He remembered hearing people screaming as they fell and splashed into the water. The cliff was so high that he imagined none of the fallen were alive by the time they hit the sea. At such a huge height, bones would’ve broken on impact. It was hard for Randy to think. Hard for him to remember. The screams still echoed in his head. It wasn’t s
omething the man was going to be forgetting anytime soon. He thought of himself as strong, but the situation he was in was definitely testing his character. He felt like a piece of chalk. He’d been worn down to the nub. It felt like there were only centimetres left of him. Any more friction and he'd disintegrate. He'd evaporate. But he had to be strong. People were depending on him.
"Randy, are you there?" Somebody said.
The voice belonged to a man. It was deep and confident. He recognized it. There was no mistaking that voice. After all, it was the voice that told him and the people of the colony to run for their lives. It was the voice that told them to scale the cliff. That voice was responsible for the safety that Gustoff and the people in the cave now found themselves in. But that voice was also responsible for the lives of the few that were lost over the cliff's edge. Some of those lives ended when they’d hit the water. Others had ended when they’d hit the rocks. But Randy was safe. And so was Timson. So all in all, not all was lost.
"Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?" Gustoff asked, physically searching for Timson with his hands. Randy was swatting at the darkness, and finally touched something. It was a chest. A firm chest. Muscular and defined. It must've belonged to Timson.
"Is that you?" Timson asked, the sound of rustling loud in Randy's ear. It sounded as if Timson was searching for something. Like he was patting himself down. Randy wondered what Timson was doing. But then it became apparent. A bright green light flashed in Randy's face. Randy found himself squinting, trying to block the brightness a little. But it was no use, the light was so bright. It’d been so dark that the light was causing everybody to moan and grown in the cave. Suddenly Randy's eyes adjusted and he was able to see Timson standing in front of them holding a glow stick. The stick was bright, slivers of green light illuminating the dark cave they were in. Randy quickly scanned his immediate area. He was searching for April. He was yet to see her and feared for her life. When they were all running he’d lost track of her. He wasn’t sure if she’d made it or not and his frantic expression must have put Timson on alert.
“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” Timson asked, following Gustoff’s gaze. But then it seemed to all fall in place for Timson. He immediately realized what Gustoff was doing. His expression relaxed and a smile found its way onto his face. It was a warm smile, and the sight of it made Gustoff feel uneasy. In Randy’s mind, this wasn’t the time or the place to be smiling. This was, after all, a crisis. A life and death situation.
“She’s over there, catching her breath,” Timson said, pointing behind Gustoff.
Randy turned around abruptly, his heart racing in his chest. He was eager to see if she was okay. He hadn’t realized until now, but he cared deeply for her. She was special. Probably the most special person in his life. It was funny really, but Gustoff never had many special people in his life. In fact, he was a known loaner. And before all of this, he was more than happy to remain so. But something had changed. Something deep inside of him. He could feel the change pulsating inside. It was much like that beam, the beam that had driven them to the cliff. It was bright and intense. But this beam was different. This beam was comforting to him. He didn’t know whether he was going mad or if the feeling he was experiencing was hope. It had been a very long time since he’d felt that feeling. Maybe decades. But there he was experiencing it. Something had definitely changed within him. Something drastic. And just like the surface of his home, the colony, he didn’t know whether it or he would ever be the same again.
“Hey, you okay?” Gustoff asked.
He slowly made his way toward April. She was bent over, attempting to catch her breath. Her lungs were just as raspy as his. The dust in the cave was unreal. It seemed to hang in the air like smog. But it was thicker. The consistency of it was causing him some breathing issues. But he’d have to get over it. They would all have to. One thing was certain to Gustoff; he knew that they couldn’t just stay where they were. The beam on the surface had caused a massive dust cloud to form, and the cloud was finding its way inside the cave. They would have to get a move on soon. The deeper they went into the cave; the further they’d be from the thick fallout of the beam.
“Hey, April, you okay?” Gustoff asked once again.
Now he was right beside her. At first she hadn’t heard him. But then she looked up and saw him standing beside her. She smiled at him. It was forced but he understood where it was coming from. Most likely from the same place his new-found feelings were originating.
“Hey Randy. I’m fine. Just tired. I’ve never ran so much and so fast in my life. I think I’m a little unfit if I’m honest!” She said, still smiling at him. He gently touched her back and smoothed his fingers on the fabric of her top. It felt soft and warm. She was radiating some serious heat. For a moment or two, Randy worried about her needing a drink. But then he remembered that in all likelihood, the lot of them were in need of some water.
“You and me both. I’m not good at running, but I’ll make an exception for situations like this,” he said, his hand still on her back.
She stood up straight, budging his hand off her. He wasn’t sure whether she had been aware of his hand on her back or not, but he was definitely aware of it not being there anymore.
“I’ll be fine. But we should check on the others. Do a headcount. Check on any injuries. Can’t neglect the injured now can we?” She said.
He agreed. But before he could voice it to Timson, the sound of his voice could be heard behind Gustoff. He turned around and diverted his attention to the mysterious Earth man. He watched as he directed people to form a line, the glow stick in his hand bouncing as he then went on to check each person in the cave. The guy seemed to know what he was doing. And then Gustoff saw a woman approach him. It was the same woman he’d seen when waking up after being shot. The same woman that had patched him up and made it look as if the incident had never taken place. She was obviously a doctor of some sorts, and she possessed some amazing other-worldly talents when it came to healing serious wounds. But she seemed distraught. Randy moved in closer to listen to what she was saying.
“The bag is back at the colony. It had all my stuff in it. I can’t tend to these people without it. It just won’t do. I’m gimped without the damn thing,” she said.
Gustoff could see a tear forming in the crook of her right eye. It was obvious to him that she cared deeply about her job. And he thought that it was fortunate that somebody like her was at hand in the cave.
“Can you not bandage them up using whatever is lying around?” Timson asked.
He seemed agitated with her. As if she was being melodramatic. The man didn’t seem to have time for that sort of thing. He was direct and forthright. There was no softly does it with him. He was the sort of man that got to the point and got to it fast. The doctor on the other hand was nothing like that. But she listened to Timson and didn’t protest. Randy guessed that he was her commanding officer, so the fact that she wasn’t talking back to the man spoke volumes to him.
“I don’t know. God knows what’s lying around in here. But if I was to just pick something up off the ground and use it to suture a wound, then I would risk infection on whoever I’m bandaging up, so forgive me sir, but I don’t think that’s the best cause of action here,’ she said, keeping her cool. Timson nodded in understanding.
“Okay. Copy. I guess all we can do is move forward. We need to get away from the dust cloud. It won’t be doing anybody’s lungs any good. And as far as I’m concerned, a few superficial cuts and bruises is far better than a respiratory infection. I’m no medic, and wouldn’t dream of telling you how to do your job, but maybe it’s best we get a move on and find some solace in a deeper part of the cave. Once we’re there, we can deal with the sick and injured,” Timson said.
She nodded and turned around. She then began to gather up the weaker members of the colony and quickly checked them over before they began to move. Her instinct to assist was clear, and Randy found some respect for her at that
moment. But the moment didn’t last long because before he knew it, Timson was directing everybody to follow him. He went to the front of the group and started walking down a narrow passageway. It was then that Randy and April began to move with the colony members. The further they walked, the clearer the air became. But it wasn't the air that Randy was worried about. He had other things on his mind. Like how he was going to get the colony members to safety. He wasn't stupid, he knew that staying underground wasn't going to help matters. In fact, he knew how dangerous the cave system could be. These things tended to wind on for miles. One false move and somebody could get seriously hurt.
"Don't think too hard Randy, you might hurt yourself," April said, sidling up beside him. She must have noticed the serious look on his face. A look he sported often. He could feel the heat and perspiration radiating off her.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Randy said, continuing to walk down the narrow path, following the others as they trundled deeper into the cave.
Second Earth: The Complete First Novel (Second Earth Chronicles Book 1) Page 10