Strangers at the Door

by Dan Eaton

I got out of there before anything else could be said and went into the back room to start cleaning things up. The whole encounter had left me feeling unsettled. There was a very small minority at the Habitat who were like Mr. Walker and didn’t like the Chinese. I wasn’t sure which group made me feel worse, the ones that thought I hated the Chinese and disapproved or the ones who thought I hated the Chinese and approved.

  I had too much time to think while I was cleaning so by the time I was done my mind was numb. I headed home and Mom and Dad were still up by the time I got home. I asked Mom how the meeting with the Zhangs went.

  “It went well. They seem to be nice people and want to smooth things out as much as we do.”

  “So, they’ll let Yang and Mei go to work for you?”

  Dad came down from the living room and said, “If only it was that simple. Ming and Wen think it’s a good idea. They will talk to their kids about it. The problem is that your mom is married to me and I represent Transcor’s interests here on the Moon which are aligned with US national interests. Ming works for the Chinese government and represents the Chinese interests here on the Moon. The concern is that your mom giving the Zhang’s children jobs might unfairly influence Ming’s decisions in favor of the US. Of course, then there are the Russians, the French, and the Brits. Your mom decided to try to get around the undue influence question by deciding to hire all of the kids. Ming is going to take the question to his government and the UN. We’ll probably have a decision in three years or so the way these things go. Meanwhile, your mother and I need to sit down with the Beaubiens, Cunliffes, and Konovalovs to see if their kids would be interested in working for your mom.”

  I had enough problems of my own, so I said goodnight to my parents and headed up to bed. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

  Miss Gayle had us doing independent study this afternoon and was over in the other classroom dealing with the other class. Nina had pulled her desk and Ananyu’s desk up to mine to form a little circle and we were working through our chemistry notes on chemical thermodynamics. The other kids in the class were clumping into groups together also. I noticed Yang pulled his chair up to Myra’s and they were quietly talking. Yang’s course work seemed more like a lot of flirting to me. Myra would softly laugh every so often and she was smiling all the time at his attention. I noticed they’d been eating lunch together for the past week. Yang noticed where my attention had wandered off to and made a show of saying something to Myra who immediately looked at me and laughed. That hurt because Myra had been my best friend for a while, yet between Nina keeping Myra at a distance and me having to keep my distance from Yang it looked like that friendship was doomed.

  I noticed from then on, Yang made a production of being around Myra anytime I was in sight. He did it at school, he did it in the cafeteria, he did it whenever he had the opportunity. I couldn’t talk to Myra about how she felt about it, although she did seem to be enjoying the attention. No one who saw Yang’s antics could possibly not get the message he was interested in Myra and soon there were rumors that he was her new boyfriend. I just ignored the rumors because while I could tell she enjoyed the attention, she didn’t seem to return the same level of attraction to him.

  He heaved upright in his bed, struggling in a panic to catch his breath. His sheets were soaked with sweat and wrapped him like a shroud as he collapsed back in bed. It was the dream again, so real, so terrifying, especially in those last moments when his body was burnt, ripped asunder, and then exposed to the harsh vacuum of space. Some nights, he didn’t dream, yet always the dream came back. With the arrival of the Chinese at the Habitat, it had grown worse. So much so that he had risked much to strike back. His plan had worked, worked well as far as keeping him safe, however, it had not achieved much more than generating some gossip. He had hoped for so much more.

  Laying there he thought of the latest insult. That Chinese kid was messing around with Bryce’s Myra. It used to be they were always together, talking and laughing. Now the Chinese boy was moving in on Myra and alienating her from Bryce. Something had to be done to put a stop to that. He lay there and thought of a plan. His mind raced with a thousand thoughts as he thought about what things needed to be done and when. He carefully plotted out each step while figuring out how to keep himself safe. When he was done, he knew how to strike another blow against the Chinese and protect the Habitat. He finally fell back into a troubled sleep with vague dreams of striving for safety and never reaching it.

  Thanksgiving was just a day away when I arrived at the classroom. I’d been out loping with Nina this morning and after the workout I headed home to get cleaned up. I’d been making a habit of going by Selene’s Bistro and picking up some breakfast and then eating it in the classroom before anyone else showed up. Selene’s didn’t normally serve breakfast, however, the cooks were always in early and I had asked Chef Patel if I could buy my breakfast there if it wasn’t too much trouble. I told him I just wanted some extra time to study with no one around and he said yes with a knowing wink. What I was really doing was avoiding Nina. Somehow, before I started going with Nina, I had imagined this all to be a little less stressful. Nina wanted me to lope with her. Nina wanted me to eat breakfast and lunch with her, Nina wanted me to study every night and much of the weekend with her. I liked the girl, I really did, and I was really grateful that I finally had the chance to be her boyfriend. Just sometimes, it was too much and I needed a break. I was able to hold her off on eating breakfast together by telling her I needed the time for private meditation that I felt helped me do better throughout the day.

  I opened the bag the cooks had given me and found a three cheese omelet with a croissant. I knew there was no way there were really three cheeses in the omelet, yet Chef Patel had done his usual magic. After a leisurely breakfast, I sat there daydreaming until the rest of my classmates showed up. Ren, Irisa, and Ananyu walked in together chatting about something. They came over and had just said hi when Willie and Adam came in. Nina showed up and made her way over to me just as Myra walked in with Yang. Myra had been sitting on the far side of the classroom since school had begun and Yang had taken a seat near her, which was fine with me since it kept him as far from me as possible.

  They had just reached their seats when Yang exploded. His face contorted in an angry scowl and he yelled, “Zhè shì shénme?” at me.

  He balled up his fist and started coming across the room towards me yelling that he had had enough and I wasn’t going to get away with it. I stood up and was steeling myself for the beating I was about to take. I had thought about the possibility of Yang and me getting in a fight before this and decided that if things came to blows that I needed to protect my parents by not raising a fist against him. It had to be absolutely clear that Yang was the aggressor and I was the victim. I just couldn’t risk being deported and having my parents have to leave all their hard work behind.

  Before I or anyone else could do a thing, Nina calmly stepped in front of Yang with her left arm out in front of her like she was going to push him away. Yang grabbed her arm to pull her out of the way and in a quick, smooth motion, Nina trapped his hand, applied a wrist lock to him, and then used his forward momentum to pull him to the ground as she backed up. Once Yang hit the ground, she smoothly pulled his arm back over his shoulder and put her foot on his shoulder to brace herself. Yang was yelling and screaming in Chinese now and we all stood there looking amazed at Nina, who just said, “Would somebody please call Security and get Miss Gayle.?”

  Ananyu ran off to get Miss Gayle while Adam pulled out his E-Pad and called for security.

  Miss Gayle came busting into the room after thirty seconds. She took one look at Nina and Yang and said, “Nina, get off of Yang now.”

  Nina calmly said, “Miss Gayle, Security isn’t here yet and Yang is very agitated. If I let him go, he’s liable to do something that will get him injured. Right now, he’s only a little scuffed up. Are you sure you want me to let him go?”

  Miss Gayl
e said, “Yang, stop struggling and settle down. Nina, release Yang immediately.”

  Nina didn’t look happy about doing it, however, she dropped Yang’s arm and then stepped back to position herself between me and Yang again. We didn’t get to find out whether or not he was going to take a shot at Nina again because Sam hustled into the classroom at that point.

  Sam surprised me by looking at Nina and asking her what was going on before she even said anything to Miss Gayle.

  Nina said, “Sam, there were a group of us talking by where Bryce is sitting when Myra and Yang came in. When they got over by where they sit, Yang suddenly got very angry and came after Bryce. I stepped in and took him down to prevent anyone from being injured.”

  Sam glanced at an angry looking Yang and said, “What happened Yang?”

  Before he could answer, a very shocked looking Myra said, “This.”

  We all looked at Myra and she was pointed down at the surface of his desk. I could now see something was written there, though I couldn’t tell what.

  Sam took a few steps towards the desk to see what was written there better. Suddenly, she stopped and turned around to look at me. Just like at Sandy’s party, she said, “Bryce, I need you to empty your pockets for me please.”

  I pulled out my E-Pad and other junk in my pockets while Sam closely watched me. Then, as my face burned with embarrassment, she patted me down like she didn’t believe I had pulled out everything. The rest of the class had migrated towards Zhang’s desk and I could hear the gasps of shock from some of them as they read the message there. Zhang just stood in place with icy hatred radiating off of him as he watched me. I still couldn’t see what was written on the desk, however, I had that same cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. Sam turned to Miss Gayle and said, “Miss Gayle, would you please escort Yang to your office and make sure he’s okay? I want the rest of you kids to go to the lecture room and wait. I’ll need to get statements from you. Bryce, you sit down.“

  With that, she pulled out her E-Pad and called Christine and asked her to come down to the school.

  When Christine showed up, Sam and her stepped out of the room where she could see me, although I couldn’t hear them for a couple of minutes. Part of me had a morbid sense of curiosity and wanted to get up and go see what was written on Yang’s desk. The other part of me didn’t want to know and just wanted this whole event to disappear. Sam came back in and interviewed me. I told her everything that had happened that morning. I answered all her questions until she ran out and then I said, “Sam, you have to believe me. I didn’t do this.”

  Sam looked at me and said, “I want to believe you, Bryce. I really do, but I have to go by the facts, and right now, you’re the prime suspect again. I need to conduct my investigation and we both better hope I can clear you.”

  Left unsaid was what would happen if she couldn’t clear me. Maybe there was no evidence clearly tying me to ether incident, though if Mr. Yang made a fuss, then the Habitat administration back on Earth might find it was easier to banish me from the Habitat.

  With that, Sam left the room and Christine stepped in. She walked over to Yang’s desk and looked at what was written there. She pursed her lips disapprovingly and walked back over to my desk. She stood there for a moment thinking and then said, “Let’s go for a walk, I need some fresh air.”

  She led me out of the classroom and out through the door onto the pathway that passed below the school. We started walking along the path heading west towards the waterfall park. I didn’t know what to say and Christine seemed lost in thought as we walked along. When we got to the park, Christine motioned for me to take a seat on a bench as she sat down beside me. She said, “Bryce, I heard rumors you came back from the LL1 adventure disliking the Chinese. I should have followed up with you, but cleaning up after the emergency seemed to eat up all my time and I just never got around to you. I’m sorry about that. Maybe it would have made a difference. Now, start with the day you and Sandy left and tell me everything.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Thanksgiving and other hardships

  Good morning fellow NLH residents. It’s Thursday November 25th, 2038.

  In Habitat News, please join us this evening in for a holiday meal celebrating Thanksgiving. All of the cafeterias will be featuring a traditional Thanksgiving meal on the menu tonight in addition to the standard fare.

  In financial news today, on the Lunar Stock Market shares of Mussconny Machine are trading at $31.30 a share, Mussconny Fabrication at $34.51 a share, Hotel Whipple shares are at $31.19. O’Reilly’s Shellfish Company is at $25.81 a share and CDB Farms is trading at $26.05 a share. MM Brewing is at $2.69 a share, and Daniels Designs is at $2.34 a share. Psuche Neural is at $12.65 a share.

  It was Thanksgiving Day and we were gathered in the cafeteria for a feast with our friends. Nina and her parents, Sandy, and mom’s mentor, Dr. Belvert, were eating with us. Traditionally, Thanksgiving has been a time to reflect on your blessings while stuffing yourself with too much food. This year, I was just thankful that I was still here at the Habitat. Sam had made no progress with either case to clear me or convict me. The rumor mill had me being a raging racist against the Chinese. What hurt was I had fewer and fewer people supporting me. Nina and Ananyu were the only kids left in my class that absolutely believed me. Even Willie seemed to have his doubts about me now. Myra really hurt me. She would have nothing to do with me. I can’t get the picture of her out of my head where she looked down on Yang’s desk with such a shocked look on her face.

  That was two days ago. Christine had taken me to the Waterfall Room after that and we had talked for hours. I had told her everything. The worries I had about everyone dying while I was still at LL1, my anger at the Chinese over the threat and how they treated my dad. I told her about how isolated I felt when I came back because no one seemed to care. I told her why I had walked out right before being introduced to the Zhangs and about my talk with Ananyu and how that had made me feel better. I told her how shocked I was by both incidents and how scared I was that my parents might pay a high price if I was deported. When I was all done, I looked at Christine and said, “I didn’t do it. I didn’t do either one and I don’t know who did. Please help me?”

  Christine looked at me like she was staring right into my soul. She considered me for several minutes and then said, “I believe you Bryce. I don’t know what is happening, but I believe you didn’t have anything to do with it. I will be honest with you, it may not matter what Sam or I think. Taken together, these incidents have serious international repercussions. If word of this gets to the press or if the Chinese press the issue, we’ll be forced to do something and that probably won’t end well for you or your parents. So this is what I want you to do.”

  Christine laid out a plan she and Sam had come up with. Later, she met with my parents and explained the plan to them. So far, it seemed to be working, however, it would take longer than two days to know and I still felt like I had the Sword of Damocles hanging above me.

  We were doing what we could do. The stuff we couldn’t control was what really worried me. Yang had been furious about what was written on his desk. I couldn’t imagine him not telling his dad about it. All it would take was one complaint from Mr. Zhang about the disruptions and we’d have an international incident. Politicians on both sides would get involved and in the rush to do something I’d be expelled from the Habitat. Mom looked over at me and must have guessed what I was thinking, because, she said, “Hey, don’t borrow troubles that haven’t happened yet. Live in the moment for now and appreciate what you have. This is a pretty good moment.”

  Mom’s smile made me feel better and she was right, at least for now, I was with friends and family and I could be thankful for that.

  Christine sat in her office, nursing her coffee waiting for Sam to show up. It had been five and a half weeks since the door vandalism and two weeks since the nasty incident in the classroom. Bryce was the prime suspect, the only suspect, in both
cases. She had talked with Bryce after the classroom incident and all of her instincts were telling her that Bryce was not the guilty party. That left her with the unpleasant possibility that someone was doing these things in such a way as to specifically throw the blame on to Bryce. There was a knock on her door and Sam entered the office.

  “Hi, Christine. Have you had any helpful insights into our little problem?”

  Christine watched as Sam took a seat and said, “No, my gut is telling me he didn’t do either one and my head is wondering if I’m wrong and he really did do it. You haven’t come up with anything new either I suppose?”

  “No, I keep going over it and it just doesn’t add up. Take the doorway vandalism. The cameras show Bryce had to be the only one in that section, yet the door itself didn’t register his chip. How could he have marked up the door and yet not register on the door? I show up in the log checking the door after the incident and the crew working on the apartment that day registered okay. The cameras say he probably did it, the door says he probably didn’t.

  The paint marker used isn’t common in the Habitat. They’re only used by Sandy’s crew to mark metal and some of the folks out in the Manufacturing Model. So Bryce could have easily picked one up, however, when I searched him at Sandy’s, he didn’t have one and there was no place for him to dispose of it between where the door was marked up and Sandy’s. The marker says it was probably Bryce, the lack of finding one says it probably wasn’t. “

  “So what about the school?”

  “Well, the corridor cameras and the school door agree on Bryce arriving early before anyone else. There are no cameras inside the school so he could have done it, yet when I searched him I didn’t find anything and I went over the school with a fine tooth comb trying to find the marker and it wasn’t there. So maybe he did it, but I can’t pin it on him.”