Eve sat close to me, nearly knee to knee and put her hands on my thighs.
“I know you already know this, but there is no happy ending to this part of the story Simon. Martin is dead, he died in Eden.” Eve gave away the ending to her story before she began it.
“It’s fine…” I tried to brush it off.
“No, it’s not fine. Martin Trevelyan was a hero, one of the best people ever to grace Eden or Earth.”
“Maybe, but he still abandoned me and…”
“No, that’s not what happened Simon. Mavin you really need to start at the beginning or he isn’t going to get this.” Ross chimed in to reset the conversation.
“Ok. Martin was my lab partner freshman year, it was 1973 and we had really just met. Delta was pretty open back then; it was just before the lab accident. Your dad helped me with my homework, and he and your mom were already dating. It wasn’t until my own father uh… died…” she paused slightly then continued, “…that I really got attached to him. It wasn’t like romantic, not really, especially not from his point of view. I really needed someone to latch onto and Martin was there and he never left. We got to be really good friends. I met Samantha a few times, your mom… but neither of them ever wavered as to their relationship so any designs I may have at the time were pure fantasy, I can admit that freely now.”
“He was a mechanical engineer, robotics and even basic computing were still in their infancy back then, but he really was brilliant.” Ross added.
“So the cycle after I went into Eden, he had been with Delta four years already, and when I came back I invited him in… it had been ten years for me, my feelings had matured and I saw him then as a friend and colleague.”
“We needed his help with aqueduct construction and city design, he had a knack for it in ways that would amaze you.” Ross chimed in.
“He told Samantha he had to go on a year long research expedition and that he wouldn’t be back for a year, but that he would be back. He couldn’t explain all of this to her, for obvious reasons. So he leaves, unaware that she is pregnant… with you. He comes to Eden and gets to work, spends seven Eden years building and designing an aqueduct and irrigation system, then is in the middle of designing a city building plan of action.”
“That is when the trouble started.” Ross nodded.
“Lasher had just come in; once he found out about the ageless benefits of Eden he was first in line. He used the restlessness and the chaos of the massacre to cement himself a sort of cult leader among the more militant natives and angry Earthers out for revenge.” Eve explained.
“He started making gunpowder.” Ross shook his head.
“Oh wow.” I replied.
“Some people are predisposed to charismatic dogmatic leadership, others embrace benevolence. It is a dichotomy that repeats itself throughout human civilization, and Eden is no exception.”
“Almost everything was made of wood back then, wood and mud brick. We didn’t have much stone or even clay at that point; the aqueducts were the first real large permanent construction. He designed them to last for generations with options for repair and reconstruction after the upheavals.”
“Lasher hated it, said we were polluting the natural order. He left out the fact that the natural order changed every decade to serve us.” Ross spoke up.
“So soon, he turns his dogmatic manipulations away from the aqueducts and toward the other Earthers, he figures if he can get rid of everyone but him he can have his own private empire or something. It is disgusting.” Eve continued.
“Ok, so typical megalomania type freak show… with a nice German twist for flavor. I get it.” I crossed my arms.
“So one night, we are all asleep. Mavin comes screaming down the hallway at the Earther compound, bloodied from the neck down. With her throat cut, thankfully in the struggle she rolled toward the assassin, and not away or the blade probably would have cut the artery in her neck.” Ross explained as Eve turned her head and showed a very faint scar across her neck that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Since I went to Eden I have always had a connection to the people there, they trust me and we love each other. I don’t sit above them; I sit with them and enjoy their company. They grow old and die, but we are constant among them. Lasher is obsessed with me, and despises my connection and loyalty among the people. He wanted to get rid of me, and still does… obviously.” Eve twisted in her seat.
“So the next morning, we find seven Earthers dead in their beds. Mavin was the only survivor, and Gavin goes fucking nuts. He goes out on a balcony and one by one throws the corpses of the seven into the street, and screams into the gathered crowd… ‘Is this how you want to live, is this the world we are building here? You want an empire of death and hate, instead of harmony and cooperation?!’ just total guttural and raw emotion, just total rage.” Ross shook his head.
“Then he grabs me by the arm…” Eve started.
“Yea, so Mavin is standing behind him just totally in shock from his rage and the fact that he is throwing bodies into the street and screaming. He grabs her by the arm, she is still wearing a white nightgown or at least it used to be white. We had just gotten done stitching up her neck and he plunges her front and center above the crowd. Bloodied gown like the fucking martyr herself.”
“Gavin is more theatrical than he seems.” Eve nodded.
“So the crowd starts weeping, full on tears… crying ‘Mother!’ and ‘Matron!’ then things get quiet and there is a lot of movement. Lasher and a bunch of his cultists wheel through the crowd with a fucking cannon.” Ross held his arms out wide to show the size. “Some how this asshole forged a fucking cannon without anyone knowing.”
“That is when Martin jumped in. He saw the cannon from the crowd, he wasn’t up top with us. He picked up a rock and right as the cannon is lit, he shoves this… this… boulder into the barrel of the cannon wedging it in tight and the whole thing blows up like a bomb. Iron, stone, fire, gunpowder… shrapnel everywhere.” Eve tightened her fists.
“Leaves a foot deep crater in the street and kills twenty two people. Now this is seven years after the massacre at the start of the cycle. People are already fucking tense, they went from idyllic paradise to riotous terror in a single generation, two cycles. So the people just rise up in waves, screaming ‘For the Matron!’ and Lasher and what’s left of his circus parade have to flee into the mountains.” Ross said.
“They sent patrols into the mountains looking for him for two cycles after that, never could find him or any trace of his people.”
“About then is when we stopped letting new people come in permanently. We have eleven that come and go on the cycles, but nobody else is allowed through. Martin was our twelfth, and his slot has remained empty ever sense, mostly out of respect. The twelve act as a conduit between the Earth side of the rift and Eden, we facilitate most things and oversee all interactions.”
“Martin saved everyone on that balcony, including me and my entire family. He hasn’t been forgotten by any of us.” Eve held my hand. “He didn’t abandon you, not on purpose… he sacrificed himself to save his friends.”
“At the end of the cycle, things were in chaos. We only had a week to get things coordinated and Gavin and I were both busy with the DoE. Eve…” Ross looked at Mavin.
“I couldn’t face Samantha. I just couldn’t. We found out you were born and she was thinking of dropping out of college to care for you. So I worked out the patent paperwork and made sure she was cared for and she wouldn’t have to work if she didn’t want to, and we put pressure on her to finish the last year of school.” Eve shook her head, “It was the least we could do for him… her… you.”
“This is… a lot.” I stammered. “I need some air.” I squeezed Eve’s hand to reassure her, but I could feel myself recoiling away from the whole situation.
“We can give you a minute.” Ross said as he stood up.
“Uh, no. I just want to go home.” I stood up and let go of Eve’s han
d. “I need to go.”
I rushed out of there as quickly as I could and nobody stopped me, I could hear Eve crying and Ross trying to comfort her, but I couldn’t stop myself. I had gone from interested on a logical theoretical basis to full fight or flight mode in a matter of minutes. It had to have been seeing Eve talk about my father the way she did that sent me over the edge.
The night was cold, and it was late. I couldn’t see my watch in the dark and realized I had forgotten my phone back at Delta. I wasn’t going back for it. I retreated back to the safety of my dorm and my own space.
“Hey!” Sammy greeted me with a boisterous smile when I opened the door, fresh head to toe in Sigma monogrammed ridiculousness. One look at my face shut him up and he turned away and left me alone.
I went straight to bed and didn’t feel my head hit the pillow.
Chapter Nine: Saturday
I didn’t want to get out of bed. It was the type of morning where the dream was too good and the anvil of reality hung over me to the point that I just wanted to check out for just another hour to linger somewhere between the two.
I could hear arguing in the hallway, nobody I knew. Next door one of the girls occupied the shower, and then didn’t. In my dreaming, Eve and I were happily walking down a beach but I made this mistake of looking behind us, and in the psychedelic dream that holds its own reality our footsteps were somehow drifting further and further apart even though we still held hands.
Awake, I reached for my phone and remembered with dismay that I had left it at Delta the night before.
“Damn.” I cursed myself.
After a shower and a change of clothes I still wasn’t feeling any better. Eve had been correct in that the puzzle of her alleged life served only to drive a wedge between us. I wasn’t sure I believed any of it, but they put on a good show.
The knock at my door didn’t surprise me; I knew Eve would come back again. I just wasn’t sure how hard she was going to press.
When I opened the door I had to take a minute, Tammy stood there with Mackayla, the pair of them in loose long sundresses and wide floppy hats.
“Hey Simon. Were going to have a picnic on the green. Wanna come?” Tammy asked.
“We got a basket and everything… can we borrow a blanket though? Mackayla said as she held up a little basket that smelled of peanut butter.
The sight of them made me smile unwillingly, “That sounds fantastic, let’s go.”
I closed the door behind me and locked it with my key since Sammy wasn’t around. The elevator was out of order for the morning so we took the stairs. The girls dished and gossiped in front of me and I followed with an amused countenance. It was nice to finally catch a breath and to get a taste something else, even if just for a moment.
We spread the blanket and sat in a triangle with the basket in the middle, while Tammy unpacked the spread.
“Peanut butter and orange marmalade on wheat, sweet potato chips, and three apple juices… hope you are hungry! “ Tammy proclaimed, tossing me a sandwich in a baggie.
“Wait till you get a load of dessert!” Mackayla whispered and parted her legs just a bit so I could see beyond her raised knees to her panties.
I tried to ignore her advance, and Tammy just laughed.
“Dessert is just cookies, behave Mackayla!” Tammy shook her head. “She is just messing with you Simon.”
The three of us sat in the grass for a while eating and talking about nothing in particular.
“Where did you find orange marmalade?” I asked, “It’s really good.”
“Thanks! My mom makes it, takes her like a day but she makes enough for herself, me, the neighbors, friends at church and anyone else she happens to pass on the street. There is always extra.” Tammy chuckled.
“I hope everything is going ok Simon? I figured we owed you lunch after breakfast yesterday. I am so sorry.” Mackayla was still hung up on outing me.
“It’s fine, really. They seem like the type to find you no matter if they have help or not, it’s fine.” I shook my head.
“Have you pledged Gamma yet? Those guys won’t leave me alone about you.” Tammy asked.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed with all that right now. I might just go solo for a year, I don’t feel like I can conform to someone else’s rules right now.”
“I saw your roommate on the street corner north of school yesterday, waving a Sigma flag and cheering every time someone honked. It’s probably some hazing thing.” Mackayla laughed.
“Not hazing, we don’t haze at UPT.” Tammy stated sarcastically.
“Sorry, aggressive school spirit and character building activities…” Mackayla rolled her eyes.
“Sounds wonderful,” I shook my head, “Exactly the sort of thing I think I would prefer to avoid.”
“Well, Gamma will be disappointed. You have been their hero of the week.” Tammy shrugged. “But still, I think you can do better.”
“Tammy said she saw you walk into Delta yesterday, they actually let you in?” Mackayla mused.
“I… I don’t want to talk about Delta. I don’t know what to think anymore.” I shook my head.
“You look utterly defeated.” Tammy stated.
“That’s not nice, he doesn’t look that bad!” Mackayla defended.
“I still have to stop by and pick up my phone, I left it there last night.” I sighed.
I am sure my dejected manner was off putting for both Tammy and Mackayla, however it was difficult to concentrate. My head was still swimming from the ocean of details and borderline mythology I had been fed the night previous. As the rational part my brain began to push out the possibility of any of it and the whole thing being some joke or prank, Mackayla was rattling on about some art history class she had taken the year previous.
It was about then that I had talked myself out of the whole Delta experience, like it had all been some odd dream that turned and turned faster than I could keep up.
“So how is Mavin?” Tammy asked and I snapped out of my own thoughts.
“Oh, uh… Mavin?” I fumbled.
“Yea, the damsel in distress! She better yet?” Mackayla pushed.
“She is doing much better, still mostly in a wheelchair but she is a lot better.”
“Speaking of which, I am supposed to remind you that guests are not welcome overnight in your dorm room and visitors standing in the hall are not acceptable.” Mackayla talked in a monotone voice as if reading from a script.
“Dude the spooky guy in your hallway the past two days has been freaking people out.” Tammy elaborated.
“Oh, right. That was uh… Mavin’s guard.” I tried to explain.
“She has a guard?” Mackayla asked with a bit of an attitude.
“Well three guys did just try and kill her in an alley less than a week ago. Seems fair.” Tammy pushed back.
“Well, its all anybody can talk about in our RA meetings. It’s obnoxious.”
“Seriously though Simon, you can’t have sleepovers with girls even on a coed floor.” Tammy added.
“You actually had a formal complaint, until someone mentioned to the dean of students that it was Mavin that was in your dorm. Then it got all hushed up and everyone was told to leave you alone.” Mackayla said, “All very cloak and dagger.”
“Deltas have a lot of pull in the school administration, even the rules get bent sometimes. Never seen them be cool with obvious and overt sex in the dorms before though.” Tammy looked me in the eyes but didn’t elaborate.
“It wasn’t like that, we didn’t…” I started.
“Uh huh.” Mackayla made fake sexual sounds.
“No, really. She slept over, but it wasn’t like that. She could barely move anyway, she got messed up really bad, both physically and in her head. She just wanted to feel safe I think.” I forced my way through an explanation.
“Saving the girls, one night at a time!” Tammy swooned sarcastically and Mackayla teased in unison.
“Shut up…” I la
ughed at their sarcasm.
“You are a good guy Simon.” Tammy smiled.
“Oh, ack!” I held my hand to my chest and feigned injury, “You got me, friend-zoned once again!” I fell back onto the blanket and played dead.
We all laughed and teased each other for a while, till the conversation quieted and the silences got awkward.
“I should really go hunt down my phone.” I said out loud.
“That’s cool, we will see you around.” Tammy said as I stood up.
“See you Simon.” Mackayla called out.
“Thank you for lunch!” I smiled and waved back as they turned back to girlish gossip.
The walk back to Delta felt like an incredibly long walk of shame. I didn’t know what to say, what to think, or what to believe. I found myself pushing away from Eve, but at the same time fighting to justify her obvious lies and manipulations.
“Yes?” the voice crackled again after I hit the button.
“Simon Cauven. Just here for my jacket and phone.” I stated and the door unlocked.
The door closed and locked behind me and the lights came on as before. The sleek metal table in the entryway had my little flip phone placed squarely and carefully in the middle and my denim jacket lovingly folded in such a way that I imagined that Eve probably had a hand in the effort. It was everything I had left behind.
I sighed and looked up into the camera, knowing Eve was watching. I took a deep breath and bowed my head, slid my phone into my back pocket and put my jacket on. Then I turned to exit the door, when I pushed the door I heard a click but the door didn’t move.
“Simon wait!” Eve shouted through the open door behind me.
I turned to face her, I wasn’t a coward. “I’m sorry Eve, I just… I don’t believe any of this crap. Not really, I don’t know if this is some frat prank or…”
“Hey, shut up and come here.” She said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me deeper into the building.
We went down the first hall, turned and down another. The halls were littered with generic offices and assorted conference rooms, each one with a window that faced outward. Every once in a while we would pass a guard on patrol walking a hallway or standing in a blind corner. Then we walked down a stairwell and into a lower level. This floor was lined with long windows, miniature laboratories that looked like classrooms, on the walls lighted panels with geological survey maps, element models and a myriad of charts and graphs. In each room stood an ironic patchwork of people with retro hairstyles, standing next to those with a more modern flair.
Deltas: Delta Horizon Book One Page 9