Alluvium

by Nolan Oreno

  He straightened out the sheets and tucked them into the sides of the mattress, coming to terms with the coldness of the uninhabited blankets. In the midst of doing so, his fingers contacted something beneath the covers. It was cold and plastic and well hidden. He pulled it out of the sheets for inspection.

  What Asnee found was an ovular device, white in color, and on its front a small electronic dashboard. The digital screen was slightly cracked, making it difficult for Asnee to read the small text that etched across the screen.

  [POSITIVE]

  Part Twelve: Bloom

  Screams pulled the sleeping boy through worlds and back to the red one. He was cold and wet and naked and coughed for fresh air. The ground settled back into place and he was in his room again. Was he the one screaming? His door violently rattled across from across the space. Slowly becoming aware that the noise would not cease, Hollis leaped from his sunken bed, slipped into the skin of his colonial suit, and made his way to the breathing door.

  “Hold on," Hollis pushed through his coarse throat, fighting back an alcohol-induced headache.

  He motioned the door aside and Asnee met him on the other side with a serious gaze.

  “Come with me," Asnee enforced looking up, slowly. “Don’t ask any questions, just come."

  Hollis complied without objection. “Yeah, sure," he replied tiredly. “Just give me a minute to wake up."

  “No, it has to be now," Asnee said. “We need to go.”

  Confused and intrigued, Hollis followed Asnee out from his room and into the halls of the Hub at a brisk yet collected pace. Asnee kept his head hung low and showed unreactive to the things around him. He appeared to be listening more than anything else, and it was who or what Asnee was listening for that made Hollis wonder. At the innermost point of his cavity, Hollis felt something stirring, something that he had not felt for a long time. He felt danger, and not just for himself, but for everyone in the colony. Perhaps it was the way Asnee walked so quickly or spoke so intently, but either way he had never seen his friend show so much paranoia before, even during the days following Janya’s death. Hollis knew that something bad had found them and just when things started to look as if they were getting better. As his mother would always say, debajo del agua mansa está la peor corriente: the worst currents are hidden under gently flowing water. The surface was calm, but below there was something brewing, and Hollis could feel the current tugging at him as he followed Asnee to the Decompression Room hatch-door.

  In unison and in silence, the two attached the bulky exosuits from the nearby lockers around their colonial suits so that they could travel safely to the outside. They locked-in their helmets and stapled the oxygen packs to the plates on their backs. Matching steps in their heavy boots, they entered the Decompression Room, Asnee leading the way. The steel heels of their boots stomped over the dried blood that was caked into the cracks of the tile; it was the Commanders blood from the month prior. Asnee flipped the emergency latch with his fist, and after a few moments, the oxygen left the space around them and the exit was opened before them. They lead themselves up the steep ramp and out onto the vast desert that stretched endlessly to the sunrise.

  They took themselves away from the Hub and onto a familiar path. Together, they helped themselves up the hill that rested near the exit chamber and towards the burial site. At the hill’s peak, two pieces of wood protruded from the sand, half-hidden and half-exposed.

  “Face the graves, away from the Hub," Asnee said to Hollis. “So it looks like we’re praying."

  Hollis obeyed, growing even more concerned, and turned his back to the sprawling underground complex that was the Hub. “What’s this all about, Asnee? What’s with all this secrecy?"

  “I found something. Something big," Asnee responded through the crackle of his helmets intercom, unable to steady the wobble in his voice. “We couldn’t talk about this anywhere near the Hub. I think the surveillance systems have been active and someone’s watching us. I don’t think it’s safe there anymore."

  “The surveillance system- active?" Hollis squeezed through his dry throat. “You’re not making much sense right now, we’ve been locked out of the entire program since the Commander’s death. Only he had the clearance to use it. Maybe you need some sleep, it doesn’t look like you slept at all last night."

  Asnee tilted his head downwards. “I don’t think either of us got any sleep last night, Hollis, and it might be for the very same reason."

  Hollis decided it better to keep his mouth fastened. He motioned Asnee to speak.

  “During the party last night, after you left in your drunken rage, I went to Janya’s room. Being in there with all of her things eases the pain a little. I often go there to think. For a while, after her death, I went there to try to understand why she did what she did, filled with anger and hate and regret. Nothing seemed to make any sense, no matter how many possibilities I considered, so what could I do but give in and accepted her death as a random act? I shouldn’t have. I should have kept searching. I should have never given up on her. Accepting her death was the worst thing I could have done because I knew deep down all along there was a reason behind it. There is a reason behind everything, Hollis. Looking at it now, I think I was just too scared to find out the truth."

  “Okay, so what did you find?" Hollis asked.

  Asnee exhaled. “I found the answer," he said. “In her room, hidden away. The key."

  “What key?”

  “A pregnancy test."

  “A pregnancy test-" Hollis started. “You’re saying Janya was pregnant, with yours?"

  “No, that’s just it. Me and Janya hadn’t been close like that since we left Earth. Our relationship here had been going through a lot of problems, understandably. The stress of the job got to our heads, and we didn’t as much touch each other for the longest time. It was a rough patch, I understood that, but I knew we could get through it once the colony was built and our families came to join us. We could try to live normal lives. We still loved each other so much, that much I know, but after we lost contact with Earth, she grew further away from me. I was reassuring to her at first and gave her space, but when the bruises and cuts started to appear I couldn’t stand by any longer. I thought she was doing it to herself. I thought it was a phase or something that she could get over with some time. I mean, we were all were dealing with our own shit. I didn’t ever think-"

  Asnee stopped to touch the older and more battered of the two wooden spikes. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it before. I’m so sorry."

  “What didn’t you see? What are you trying to tell me?" Hollis urged, frustrated and frightened.

  “It’s all so clear. The child wasn’t from me, and the bruises weren’t from her. All of her problems started right after contact was lost with Earth, right? Nobody here took the event well, as nobody in their right mind would, and we all had our moments of insanity, but that’s not to say some regressed further into the insanity than others. I think someone in the colony couldn’t handle what happened and acted out beyond anything any of us could imagine. This monster was forcing Janya to do things. Horrible things. Abusing her and hurting her. He may have been doing it to other girls in the colony as well, I don’t know, but this explains why Janya began to act the way she did and where the bruises came from, but most of all, why the pregnancy test was in her room in the first place, and why-" Asnee froze.

  Hollis maintained the conversation. “We can’t know for sure that the pregnancy test was Janya’s and not Autumn’s. There’s no way to prove even the most basic information of your theory. But let's say the test was from Janya. I can’t comprehend anyone doing something like that. I know the darkness has shone in all of us lately, but there are no monsters here. I know everyone here like a brother and a sister, just as you do, and I can safely say there’s no one here that is so evil to go so far. Even when facing extinction, we still kept our sanity. We were all trained extensively to be emotionally stable and flexible in the possibil
ity of Earth's destruction."

  Asnee shook his head. “That’s just it. I believe it wasn’t just the act of a single madman. It was provoked."

  “Provoked?" Hollis asked, becoming even more confused.

  “The more I thought about it the more it makes sense," Asnee said. “This place is like a disease. It infects our minds and bodies so that we fulfill what it ultimately wants from us."

  “Asnee you’re speaking nonsense-"

  “No, I’m not. Think of how our society here was designed for us. There are eleven women, all young and attractive and in good health. There are also eleven men of nearly the same age and physicality to compliment them. Admittedly there’s nothing seemingly bizarre about a fifty-fifty blend of men and women in the colony, and, in fact, it’s only fair not be favorable to one gender when representing all of humanity. But there’s something more to it that we overlooked."

  “And what is that?"

  “This place is not what it appears to be. I’ve been realizing it for a long time now and couldn’t bring myself to embrace it. In our eyes, this colony was a future and a hope for a new society without the sins of our old one. But to them-" Asnee spit into his glass visor, looking up at the blur of blue above him that was once his home. “To them this is nothing more than a gene pool. A carefully selected population to carry out the true intentions of the founders of our colony. Only the strongest of human genes exist here, from all parts of the world, so that they may replicate and replicate until humanity shows a new face. A face that will transcend its old genetic history into something more capable of survival and more inclined to evolve beyond our wildest dreams. It’s selective breeding."

  Hollis looked at the massive sand-covered spiral complex behind them. “So what you’re trying to tell me is that we were all chosen for our genes, to form a new genetic line, rather than our for the skill-sets that make us better to colonize? That sounds ridiculous, of course they’ll pick the best of us because only the best of us can build this," he said, waving his hand to the colony.

  “Both can be one in the same. Your skills, your aspirations and success, and your spark, like you said, is all that is defined by your genes. Everything that is you is defined by biology. They didn’t pick you just for your ability to create a habitable ecosystem but also for the brain that has the capacity to do so. Because we are the best at building we are the best at breeding."

  “Okay, I’ll bite. So how does this relate to Janya? To the pregnancy test?"

  “The sexual abuse that was brought down on Janya was caused by this world that was designed for us. The co-ed housing, the close hugging suits, the monotony of the architectural design, the blank walls and lack of entertainment, the needless alcohol and pregnancy tests which appear unnecessary for us to have in the first place, the genetic appeal of every colonist, the ignorance of our fertility when sending us up here- it was all crafted so that we unconsciously begin to breed. So that our genes pass on."

  “That’s ridiculous. You think everyone was in on this cosmic whorehouse hypothesis but us? What about the Commander?"

  “Well, the Commander probably had his orders from the ones who organized all this. Do you think he had his surveillance system conveniently deactivated at the time of Janya’s death because of coincidence? The Commander was probably here in the first place to facilitate sex and reproduction, but maybe the reality of it was far more than he could handle and he went over the deep end. And let's think about the role of the Computer as well. What’s its real job? To make us feel better or to push us closer together? Everything here has its function and its purpose and were all just trapped in the cogs of the machine."

  “But, why? Why entice us with sex if our families were to arrive just after completion in a handful of years? Why all the effort in choosing twenty-two to breed when ships full of new inhabitants would be joining us every few months?"

  Asnee turned with a blank stare. “That’s just it. I think it’s because they never intended to send any others. I think Adrian Minor and the other founders knew the Earth's atmosphere would not last long enough to carry out their promise. I don’t think they had enough resources to send more colonists before Earth was lost to space. I think they knew the very day the planet would suffocate. All along they knew what would happen. It was always meant to be this way, Hollis, and it was always going to be us. Only us."

  Hollis could not wrap his mind around the idea that Asnee put forth. All that surrounded him, the technological grandeur, and human ingenuity, was it merely a platform for promiscuity? A trillion dollar brothel? It frightened Hollis to believe that it was not the evil in his soul that took him to Autumn’s apartment that fateful day in Paris, but rather it was the plan of faceless men in black suits long since gone. Perhaps they knew all along that he would betray his late wife Elena and his daughter Rosa. Perhaps they knew he would never see them again and laughed as he promised his daughter he would. His fate was sealed neatly within the blank envelope that rested perfectly on his laboratories desk, many years ago, beside the picture of Rosa at her first day of school, written for him to read and follow and act out as it was intended. It disturbed him to believe that his sins were not by his own choice but designed for him, for if that were true, absolution would be impossible and this Hell would be eternal.

  “Me and Autumn-" Hollis began.

  “Yes, you and Autumn. Autumn and Saul. Me and Janya. Jackie and Marcus. Alexander and Laura. Many of us have developed a relationship with another here, and more importantly, they are physical relationships. We’ve paired up just as they wanted. We thought all along that our activities were in secret and that the founders did not know. But they knew. They expected it, even when they restricted us against it."

  Hollis turned to leave and think. He could not understand the string of theories produced before him and it may be he did not want to understand them in the first place. He stopped himself for one last piece of information. “You said something else. You said you think we were being watched. That the Hub’s surveillance is reactivated."

  Asnee wiped sand from his visor. “I do. I can’t explain why but I have a feeling. A sixth sense. I’ve been having it for a few weeks now."

  “A feeling."

  “Listen, we haven’t been able to enter the Command Center since the Commanders passing but the cameras appear to be running. If you look closely, they’re changing directions. The door remains locked and no one enters or exits, but somehow someone is getting in there. I’m sure of it. I just need to find out how and who."

  “Do you think it’s the same person? The one who did this to Janya?”

  “Maybe."

  “Who could it be? Who would be doing all of this, if anyone actually is?"

  “This isn’t a big place, but I have my suspicions. Either way, there are only ten to choose from: Novak, Alexander, Saul, Julius, Maven, Marcus, Oscar, Franco-" Asnee took a breath. “-and you, if I’m being impartial."

  Hollis reluctantly nodded. “But you can’t go starting a witch hunt based on your feelings without proof. That’s not what we need right now, to stir up everyone's fears of a traitor to humanity, especially since Novak disappeared so conveniently around this time. You need to keep this to yourself. Janya’s pregnancy, the colony’s purpose, the cameras- all of this."

  “That’s why I brought you here. I trust you. I don’t want to bring attention to either you or me. There are very few places to hide in a desert from a killer. But I need you to believe what I’m telling you here. I need someone to believe me so I don’t feel so fucking crazy."

  “I need time, to think," said Hollis, seeing the disappointment in Asnee’s eyes.

  For the remainder of that day, Hollis saw the face of every colonist in a new light. No longer were they saints but sinners, each and every one of them. He knew that some had families on Earth, just as he did, and they betrayed them just in the same way, just as they were meant to. He was in a house of smoke and mirrors and everything was a reflection of
himself.

  As each colonist began their work towards reconstructing the colony, Hollis began deconstructing it. He studied everything and noticed things he did not notice before the revelation. He saw everyone latched to the tracks that were designed for them many decades ago by the faceless men in black suits. Each glance and every conversation between a pair of colonists held a deeper meaning and a calculated outcome, and soon Hollis felt sorry for them for not seeing it sooner themselves. He lost hope just as they were gaining it back and retreated into the comfortable arms of anger and resentment and suspect. His eyes would not touch another without a bubbling hatred because he knew that any one of them could be the devil that Asnee, and the Computer, warned of. Hollis found himself on a meticulously crafted chessboard, each player with a different position but the same destiny. He struggled with whether he should sit and play the game or flip the board and scatter the pieces all together.

  While Hollis pondered where to place his pawn, Asnee knew where his would go. He would move towards the king to win the game. He would find the man responsible for Janya’s death and take his vengeance so that he could finally leave Mars for his palace, somewhere amongst the stars.

  Part Thirteen: Harrowing the Hills

  [PROGRAM INITIATED...]

  [SESSION 17]

  [JAN-3-2080]

  It is a pleasure to see you, Hollis. Due to recent developments in the station, we must reexamine our approach in protecting the child.

  “You already know, don’t you."

  I do. It is unfortunate that Autumn decided to reveal her pregnancy to the colony in such a way. I had advised for a more gentle reveal, however, we can look at this as a blessing that she did not tell Saul the truth.

  “The child is mine, not his."

  Yes, but in this situation the truth would do more harm than good. We must make sure the child is not trapped between a conflict. Although it will be difficult, you must let Saul claim the title of father.