The State Series Box Set

by M. J. Kaestli

  The only saving grace was knowing that Chastity would write the address for her. If she had to think something up, there would be no broadcast at all. She just had to stay in control of her emotions long enough to say a few simple words.

  Her shower went on forever, until Chastity came and pounded on the door, yelling at her to hurry up. So there were no water rations in the State house after all, just Chastity to keep everyone on the straight and narrow. Freya finished with her washing, and shut the water off only out of the fear of Chastity breaking down the door to come in after her. Chastity may be getting a little up there in age, but her determination would surely give her the strength needed for such a task.

  Freya took the longest time she had ever taken to dress and comb her hair. She couldn’t even comprehend herself that someone could take up that much time. Part of her was curious whether Chastity was still standing just outside the door waiting impatiently for her. Finally, Freya accepted she could stall no longer, and she opened the door.

  Chastity had changed the bed back into a sofa and was calmly working on her tablet. Changing the bed was something that Freya never did. People who spent time in their apartment may have use for a sofa, but she herself had absolutely no use for it. The apartment was for sleeping and showering; she would do that in her office if she had the means.

  Once she was dressed, Chastity sat her down and pulled out a strange-looking device, which directed hot air at her head. Freya had never seen anything like it before, but almost instantly understood its function of increasing the speed her hair was drying.

  “This seems like a big waste of electricity. Where did you get it?” Freya asked.

  “There would be no need to waste power if you had not taken so long wasting water,” Chastity replied.

  It just wasn’t possible to beat Chastity; the woman was a machine. Judging by the looks of it, it must have been a relic from the pre-State era as it did look like an awful waste of resources. Even as the head of State—someone who had to look presentable at all times—she felt as if it would have been best to just let it dry naturally.

  Once her hair was dried and combed again, Chastity grabbed her arm and pulled her into the office. There was no time spent talking or planning; Chastity gave her the speech she was about to give, and Freya read it over a few times.

  “It’s much shorter than I thought,” Freya said. “And I don’t really say anything important.”

  “No, you just need to make an appearance. The scientists will lead us through the majority of the information.”

  Freya let out a sigh of relief. Chastity sent a message that they were ready to begin, and then she turned the monitor on. In Freya’s speaker notes, it was never made clear to her whether she was to speak first, in the middle, or last. She hoped that having to look for her cue would not throw her off.

  Her nerves were ten times what they had been before her first address. She tried to calm down by reminding herself that soon this would no longer be her responsibility. This might even be her last address. As soon as she thought it, she knew it was a lie. It would take some time to convince the State to elect a new leader, and if a new leader wasn’t elected, everything she had done could be undone.

  The broadcast started with a scientist explaining the progress of the colonists. There were videos of computer simulations of what happened with the ship, and what they theorized conditions were like on the new world. The broadcast went on for so long, she began to wonder whether they would still have time for her to say anything at all. Surely everything had been said already.

  Her segment was obviously a metaphoric waving of the flag, yet she still didn’t want to do it. Then, to her horror, the scientist played the recording of Colin’s voice for everyone to hear. Just when she thought it couldn’t be any worse, he said the head of State was now going to share a few words.

  The light flashed on the monitor, which indicated it had switched into streaming mode. Freya tried to hide her trembling hands below her desk and read the short speech Chastity had prepared.

  “Citizens, today is a day for celebration.” Her voice cracked slightly. She had to pause to steady her voice and her breathing. Moisture threatened to collect in her eyes.

  “The day we all have been dreaming of is almost here.” She had to pause again. The moisture pooled in her eyes, becoming dangerously close to tears.

  “All of our hard work and sacrifices have come into fruition. I thank each and every one of you for your contributions that made this possible. Without each of you, we could not have this victory to celebrate.” Freya paused again. A tear escaped from her right eye. “It is because of your labors, and your continued diligence that for the first time in history, we can now call a planet other than Earth our home.”

  Chastity switched off the recording, and the broadcast switched back to the emblem closing off the broadcast. Freya wiped the tears from her face.

  “Don’t worry yourself too much about the tears, dear. Everyone will just think you are happy about the colonization.” Chastity came over to the side of Freya’s desk and put her hand on her shoulder.

  “Why did I have to make an appearance? Anyone could have read that.” Freya knew it was her responsibility to give the address, and it was also a moot point as it was all over, yet the hurt of having to hear Colin’s voice again made her feel the need to argue the actions plotted out for her.

  “The people needed to see their leader.” Chastity then gave her a rather smug look, kissed her on top of her head, and took her leave.

  Freya stayed at her desk, but she wasn’t doing anything in particular. In her mind, she was trying to read the messages in her inbox, but blankly staring was a better description. After finally realizing that nothing productive would come of her day, she decided to exercise.

  One thing she could always depend on when she was feeling down was the rise of endorphins produced in a hard run. She pushed harder than she had dared to in the last decade. Sweat trickled down her entire body. As her body chemistry changed, one thing became clear to her. It was time to act like an adult, not a schoolgirl, and unfortunately, contact with Colin was unavoidable.

  All she could hope for was that he would behave as aloof to her as she planned to act toward him. It was her only choice; all she could do was to act as though she hardly remembered him. It wasn’t that far of a stretch; after all, he had been in her life for such a short period of time, and that time had long passed.

  The sad reality was, sometimes the duration of a relationship did not measure the impact they made. She had also known Ursa for but a short time, yet their time together transformed her life’s purpose.

  Colin’s mark was there, or perhaps the scar was a better description, but she could not make that obvious. For goodness’ sake, I am the head of State. How could one single male possibly throw me off my path?

  He was a part of her past, not her future. Whether he chose to leave or not, he would be happy with Ida—the two of them would have been a much better match.

  That was another part of Victor’s words that she questioned. Was there really even a matching system? Her and Colin’s pairing made so much more sense mathematically than it did on any other level. They had both been ready to move past their education, and female State house workers were always paired with a Security officer.

  A memory then flooded back to her, a memory of them speculating how they were matched. How they must have been a mathematical error; the State couldn’t find someone for them, so they were placed together. It was mathematical, but not an error—just the reality of how coupling works. They were so close to the truth in something they both thought was a joke.

  Freya was meant for independent living. Both of the men who had come into her life were nothing more than an inconvenience imposed on her by the State. Perhaps before she pushed for the election of a democratic government, she should demand the coupling system to have a complete overhaul. Perhaps people could be given a choice between coupling or choo
sing one’s own partner. That, of course, would only work if the coupling system was in fact viable.

  She was hoping to find a moderate ground, but looking at her and Colin, she felt the matching system should be thrown out altogether. Let people choose their own partners, when they want to be coupled, or if they want to be coupled. What purpose would coupling have in the new world anyhow?

  Feeling more empowered, Freya went through her series of stretches and went back to the office. It felt odd to work in exercise clothing, yet it made no practical sense to put on a fresh uniform as it was well past mid-day. She worked well into the night with a determination to reset her mind.

  Colin may have stolen her heart so many years ago, but he was not going to have her present or future too. She had moved on—there was Lewis, after all. The shock of hearing his voice, it was as though a ghost had spoken from beyond the grave.

  Perhaps she would have the same reaction if she heard Ursa’s voice, or perhaps her parents’. She had accepted long ago that they were gone forever. The transmission just painfully reminded her that Colin, unlike the others, wasn’t actually dead. He was just lost to her; it was not that he ceased to exist.

  She had to pull herself together, not just for her sake, but her people needed their leader. This wasn’t a choice she was making. If she were not the head of State, she would have the luxury of dwelling in misery and self-pity about Colin. She had a responsibility to uphold; her feelings always needed to come after her people. What kind of a leader would I be if I am distracted with my own personal issues?

  Freya had always thought the head of State didn’t have a partner or family because of the hours that were necessary for her to perform her tasks. It was now clear to her that there was a whole other level to this equation. She couldn’t have a partner or family because her heart belonged to the nation. No single person deserved to come before that. It wouldn’t make for a good leader.

  Chapter 17

  Time started to pass more rapidly. The messages in her inbox were less about the functions around them, but instead focused on the colony world. The colonists had built their transport device on the other side quite easily. All the parts had been sent on the ship, along with detailed instructions.

  The transport device had sped up communications between the two worlds. No attempt at an exchange had been made yet. The scientists wanted to send smaller items through as a test while they made sure the calibration between machines was complete.

  The colonists seemed, from their reports, to be a well-oiled machine. Everyone had been properly prepped for what was expected of them once they reached the colony world.

  Land had been plowed; seeds had been planted. The collective labors were now focused on building irrigation. Once their farms were functioning, their next task laid in building homes. Currently there were shelters set up from items that were on the ship.

  Some people preferred to stay on the ship, which was the central point of their village, everything was being built around the ship to keep it as a monument of their homeland. It was a simple and crude settlement, but an amazing accomplishment for such a short period of time. There were still plenty of food rations on the ship, but the colonists wanted to save the food for times of scarcity.

  The ship held all the databases that were in the computer system on Earth, and a large animal had been hunted as a result. The people had figured out how to make bows and arrows, and then how to butcher the animal and preserve it.

  The scientists were feeling more confident in the transport device, and they began their tests. At first, they sent clothing over to the colony world, which was reciprocated with dried meats. The meats were analyzed; it appeared to be sound and edible after reforming. Next, the scientists sent over a live chicken. There was no item sent back, just a video message of Colin holding the chicken while it fought to get away from him.

  The time for human transport to be tested was upon them. Naturally, tests had been done before the colony ship left, but the test was to send a person one hundred meters, not twenty-two light-years away. The Council recommended that one colonist come over, as to not risk more lives if something went wrong. If that person was able to not just come over, but to also go back, then it would be allowed for others to pass through the transport device.

  It was no great surprise that Colin was the first to volunteer; he had always been so arrogant. Right after she thought this, she supposed it was not a correct way to see him. For him, time would have only seemed like a few months. He would most definitely be the same person he was when he left.

  The preparations had been made and everything was in place. Chastity had even written what Freya should say in front of the cameras. Freya’s hands were sweating, which was not a normal response for her body to have toward stress.

  It was imperative that she be completely professional to Colin. A greeting welcoming him back to Earth, a handshake, and an address to the people: then she could be free of him. He would have performed his token gesture, and she would play her part also. He could head back to his new life, and she could continue with her own. All she could hope for was that he would stay on the other side moving forward.

  She stood in front of the transport device, with crowds of civilians watching in the atrium. She had to look as petrified as she felt; luckily, people seemed to interpret it as having other causes. Did anyone other than Chastity remember that I was coupled with Colin, or that I had even been coupled to begin with? Part of her found comfort in the thought. If no one knew their history, then it would be that much easier to treat him as a stranger.

  The technician turned on the transport device, and curiosity took over her fears, as she had never seen it function up close before. She had expected it to make sounds of some sort, yet it just displayed a series of lights. Chastity then appeared at Freya’s side and clipped a microphone onto her shirt. Freya squared her shoulders to the onlooking people.

  “Welcome, citizens.” She paused. “Today is a day that will change our lives forever. Today we bear witness to the superior technology the State has provided for us. Today we will not only show that colonization is possible, but that it is also viable.” She paused again for dramatic emphasis.

  While in her pause, her mind went blank. She had not brought her speech with her. Chastity insisted she memorize it to look more commanding. As she couldn’t remember any more, and the longer she remained silent, the more troublesome it would be, she decided to simply speak from the heart.

  “This transport device will increase our resources on our world, and allow us to travel to the other world as our population increases. Once this transport device has been cleared as completely safe, I hereby declare the migration to the colony world open to any civilian who desires to live there. It is time for us to spread our wings and soar higher than the confines of this dome.”

  Freya would have said more, but the atrium burst into a collective roar. Everyone was cheering, clapping; most were crying. Freya looked around, dumbfounded. She never knew that so many people wanted to live on the colony world. Like a current of electricity bouncing around the room, everyone felt the effects of the power of her words.

  The lead scientists reached out for her hand, and led her to the device. She activated the transport device, and the atrium reignited their cries of victory. A bright light filled the atrium, coming down in a pointed beam on the ground a few feet in front of the transport device. The light disappeared, and in its place stood Colin.

  He looked around, disoriented, and then he realized all these people were cheering for him. He raised a hand and waved as he looked around the space, which only made the people cheer even more. He waved slowly, gradually turning in a circle until he looked behind him. His eyes locked on Freya and his hand fell limply to his side. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, his eyes never leaving her.

  “Our brave traveler has arrived,” Freya proclaimed into the microphone. The crowd erupted again. Freya moved closer to Colin. She ext
ended her hand to him, which he just stared at without responding.

  “Earth welcomes you back, and thanks you for your courageousness.”

  Colin finally reached out and shook her hand, and then Freya raised her hands up, still holding his. The crowd ate it up. She then let his hand drop, as a crew of military guards and doctors shepherded him away. Freya saw Chastity, who immediately grabbed her arm, and they began to follow them to a clinic.

  As soon as they were behind the closed doors, Chastity and Freya took the underground military access back to the State house. Chastity did not say a single word to Freya until they reached the privacy of her office.

  “And you said you didn’t want to be the head of State anymore.” She grinned.

  Freya doubled over and crouched into a ball near the floor, breathing heavily.