After Impact: After Impact Trilogy, Book 1 (7 page)

The code spelled out the letters H E L P M E.

Avalon stood dead in her tracks. Help me. A cry for help.
What did Michelle need help from? Who was harming her? And why?

Avalon continued to think when the door opened and her head turned to see who entered the room. She recognized those blonde curls anywhere.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Skylar asked, quickly stepping in front of Avalon to greet Kael.

“I would like to speak with Avalon,” he said, glancing past Skylar and towards Avalon.

Skylar’s face turned several shades of crimson as she stepped aside. Kael’s hands were behind his back.

“Good morning,” Avalon said trying to ignore the excitement in her chest.

Kael smiled. “It’s actually towards lunch time. I just thought that you have been doing such a good job with the habitat, that you deserved a reward.”

Skylar’s mouth fell open as Kael revealed a purple package which he handed to Avalon.

“Thank you,” Avalon said as her heart beat a little harder. Carefully, she opened the cardboard box to reveal a bowl full of real fruits—apples, oranges, and even kiwi. She quickly closed the lid on the box, not wanting anyone else to see.
No Compatio has had food like this since entering the habitat. They don’t even serve these to the Accipios in the cafeteria. How did he get these?

“Try not to eat it all at once,” he said with a wink.

“Thank you so much,” Avalon said as he stepped towards the door.

Avalon could feel Skylar’s stares. “What did you get?” Skylar asked.

“Some fruit. Would you like some?” Avalon said. Perhaps, she could win her over by sharing.

“Fruit! How in the world did you get fruit?” Skylar asked.

“Is it real?” Xin asked. Avalon wasn’t even aware Xin paid attention to anything besides the monitors.

“Yes, it appears to be real and not replicated. You are welcome to all grab a fruit.”

Skylar greedily tore open the purple box and grabbed a Fuji apple. Voraciously, she bit into it and licked her lips without so much as a thank you.

Xin didn’t even look at the box. “It’s your gift. You enjoy it.”

Avalon smiled at Xin.

“It’s lunch time anyways,” he said glancing up at the clock. As the others ushered out of the room, Avalon stayed behind and quickly changed the access codes to her room. Breathing a sigh of relief once it was done, her thoughts floated to the gift Kael gave her.
Why did he do that? Does he like me? Or is this some sort of trap. Could he be the killer?

Avalon texted Ilium to meet her that night in the storage room.

“So, how was Skylar?” Ilium asked, twisting his lips into a smirk as he leaned against the wall of the storage room.

Avalon shrugged. “She was Skylar. Moody, kind of quiet.”

“Ehh…Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Avalon looked at his face anxiously, searching his eyes.
I wonder if I should mention Kael’s visit to him.
“Well, are we any closer to finding out who killed Michelle? Or put her in my room?”

“No,” Ilium said, shaking his head. “What makes you think she was killed?”

“Oh, I don’t know. The fact her body just randomly appeared in my bed one day, and then it disappeared,” Avalon said, with a roll of her eyes.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Ilium said.

Avalon was thrown off guard but managed to stammer, “Thanks.” The atmosphere in the small storage room changed. So Avalon decided to talk some more to break the awkwardness.

“I suspect the guards killed her. They could have done it to get rid of a perceived troublemaker. Or maybe the President.”

“But why?” Ilium asked, moving closer to her.

“I don’t know,” Avalon conceded. “But I figured out what those weird markings were. A code. It spelled H E L P M E.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Ilium said with a grim expression as he sat down on top of one of the metal boxes and rested his chin against his folded arm.

“All of this is too much of a coincidence. The lower class Compatios are made weak with hard work and fewer rations, so obviously they can’t rise up against the higher ups like the Accipios or the Council,” Avalon said, as she folded her arms over her chest.

“And the rest of us are kept ignorant of what is going on outside the HOPE habitat. The President tells us that all of the drones we were supposed to send out for expeditions were somehow wiped out due to the high altitude electromagnetic pulse. Even though they were supposed to be specially shielded against such.”

The room fell silent as both Avalon and Ilium contemplated what Ilium just uttered. The words reverberated in her skull, and concentrated in her bones.

Avalon hesitated a moment.
How much can I trust Ilium?
They had been through a lot together. He really was the only one she had associated with much after hours. “My father left me a necklace that plays holographic messages. But he only left one message which erased after playing.”

Ilium listened.

“The message said not to trust anyone.”

“Sounds like he suspected something even back then,” Ilium said.

“Do you know why he would say that?” Avalon asked.

“No,” Ilium said genuinely. “But we can find out.”

“You mean you are willing to help me?” Avalon said, eyes wide.

“Of course,” Ilium answered.

A smile formed on Avalon’s face.

“Ok. First, I will see what I can do with my access to some of the computer systems,” Avalon said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ilium answered.

Ilium leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. Avalon’s back stiffened , unsure of how to react to this gesture. However, after everything they had gone through together, Avalon nuzzled her head into his shoulder and returned his hug. Avalon’s pulse quickened and her body warmed up as she inhaled the scent of his hair and of his skin, which were so fresh, in contrast to their stale air surroundings. He mussed her long hair between his fingers. When they released each other, they both had a rosy glow.

“Ok, let me see what I can do,” she smiled as she left the storage room.

The next morning, loud protestations from Avalon’s stomach woke her up before the wallscreen did. She quickly swung her legs out of her bed pod and began to get ready for the day ahead. However, as she got dressed, she paused in front of the mirror for a minute. Her cheeks were more hollow, her features sharper and more defined.

After getting dressed, she ran to the cafeteria and passed Ilium in the hallway. As he waved, her stomach fluttered.

That’s odd. No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Not here. I don’t have time for anything more than friendship in this place. I have already lost so much.

Avalon grabbed a protein bar for herself and some cups of coffee for the team.

“Thanks!” everyone said, except Skylar who politely declined as she did not drink coffee.

While in the process of working, Avalon’s mind continued to think about Ilium. How he was the first face she saw when she woke up. How soothing his voice was, and how he smelled like lemons.

But at times, when he thought no one was looking, she could see a sadness behind his blue eyes.

Once the shift ended, Avalon stayed behind, carefully grabbing Xin’s cup after he dropped it into the recycling bin.

Avalon waited till the curfew for being in the dorm room had come and passed. At around 2300 hours, Avalon kicked the covers off of her and jumped to the floor. She leaned her ear up against the door. Silence. She unlocked her door via wrist swipe. Pausing, she turned her head left and right before crossing over into the corridor. As Avalon shimmied down the corridor, she checked over her shoulder every so often to ensure no one followed her. She also checked the halls for security cameras and tried to avoid being detected by them. The main rectangular shaped fluorescent lights were turned off to conserve energy, and only a few bare emergency bulbs lit the path. Under cover of darkness, Avalon reached the computer room. Sweat materialized on her armpits and her heart beat sped up. Avalon quickly swiped her wrist across the door sensor of the computer room and silently slipped inside.

Avalon stepped onto her circle, and the blue light illuminated her face in the darkness.

Carefully, she placed Xin’s coffee cup on his login pad and stood on it, providing the necessary pressure for activation.

“Welcome Xin,” the AI said.

Yes!

Trying to emulate Xin’s voice, Avalon said, “Blow up Research files.”

The Research files folder blew up. Going through several folder headers, she came across one named Code BK Max.

Hmm. That sounds interesting.

“Show details,” she said.

“Access denied.”

“Darn!” she said.
What could the Accipios be hiding? And who does have access?

Several folders displayed, including one labeled Contingency plan. But she was short on time. So instead she asked the computer a question related to her waking up.

“Computer, please play the video from when I awoke.”

“Yes,” the computer answered as it instantly brought up footage. Avalon enjoyed being nostalgic. However, as it played she noticed something.

Avalon tilted her head to the right and asked, “Computer, please rewind the video ten minutes prior to me waking.”

The computer rewound the tape. The video did not include sound, but Ilium could be seen walking around the infirmary attending to his patients. He moved slowly, like he was tired, but he was very attentive to his patients, constantly checking their stats. About eight minutes into the video, Ilium exited the room.

Two minutes later, someone entered the room. This person pressed a ton of buttons on Avalon’s chamber and shortly thereafter, the room was bathed in red lights.

Did someone cause my cryochamber to open prematurely? I could have died!

“Computer, zoom in on frame 10, 8:21 seconds please.”

The computer attempted to zoom, but uncharacteristically, the image froze mid-zoom.

This was highly unusual.

Avalon scrunched her forehead and asked, “Computer, are you feeling OK?”

“Yes. I think I may need a quick reboot. I apologize for the freezing. Please wait fifteen seconds for me to reboot.”

Avalon’s stomach knotted as she waited for the computer to reboot.
Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Her heart sank as the doors to the computer lab opened. She thought she had been listening, but obviously she didn’t listen hard enough.

Guess this is it.

Then the shadowy figure which entered the room stepped into the path of light.

“Ilium!” Breathing a sigh of relief, she whispered, “You scared me half to death. You aren’t supposed to be here!”

“Neither are you,” he said with a smirk. “But, I wanted to talk to you and I figured you would be here after our last conversation.”

Ilium walked over to her and asked, “Well, did you find anything?”

“Yeah. Something about genetic modification and Code BK Max. Does any of that ring a bell?”

Ilium shook his head. “Nope. Can’t say it does.”

“I also discovered that my cryochamber opening prematurely was no accident.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It was deliberate. I watched video footage of a shadowy figure entering the room shortly after you exited. The figure pressed a series of buttons outside of my chamber after which my pod opened.”

“Do you think someone intended to kill you?”

Avalon’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know. But it sure seems like it. If you had not been there to rescue me, I would have died.”

Ilium nodded his head. “Or, perhaps, someone wanted you awake ahead of time.”

Fragmented images haunted Avalon that night. Her nightmare did not start off that way. At first, she dreamt of the world outside. She held someone’s hand as the wind washed over her face. But then her friends began choking.
Why were they choking?
What were they choking on?

Avalon startled awake. Her hair was matted on her face as she had sweated profusely. As her heart rate returned to normal, Avalon kicked off the sheets to her bed and hurriedly got dressed for the day.

Avalon returned to her work station and her team mates. While there, she reflected on how she came to enter the habitat in the first place.

The government pretended to hold a lottery for a slot in the habitat to keep the peace in streets. The trick to the lottery was that anything could disqualify you— from traffic violations to littering. If you made the lottery cuts, the next step was to participate in a series of tests. What the public was not privy to was that the 5,000 people were largely pre-chosen from birth. This reselection was mainly based upon genetics. Those pre-chosen went through the motions of taking tests, but as long as they passed the psychological and physical tests, they were pretty much assured entry.

Interestingly, the world population stopped growing and began to reverse in the decade before the asteroid hit. Some conspiracy theories said it must be chemicals the government placed in the water. Others said the government created climate change through seeding the clouds and causing some areas to experience drought while other parts of the country were expecting too much rainfall which led to flooding. In some states, it was a crime to collect rainwater, a natural resource from God. These rules were actually enforced by “water police” who could issue citations and even place you in jail for a few days. The water issue got so bad, that some people burst open fire hydrants for fresh water.

Of course, as far as America was concerned, people had long stopped believing in something the Boomer and Millennial generations described as the “American dream.” It was basic enough—a house, two or three kids, two cars, and a TV and laptop per person. While most people had the technology part, very few owned homes. Homes were only for the rich. And the middle class continued to erode while only the lower and upper classes blossomed. The wealth of the upper class grew exponentially, and the traditional ways of entering via meritocracy, i.e. entrepreneurship or university attendance, all but dissipated.

In those last days, the people who were rich enough began hiding in their shelters. Of course, if they lacked a cryochamber or other mechanisms besides canned foods to survive, they wouldn’t last very long. The affluent who were also intelligent maintained a low profile and drove luxury armored vehicles. Others weren’t so lucky. When the panic began, several people were left dead as others broke into their shelters. Sometimes in their haste, the trespassers permanently damaged the very shelter they took by force.

Someone waved a hand in front of Avalon’s face, bringing her back to reality.

“Earth to Avalon,” Skylar said.

“Hey,” Avalon said.

Skylar rolled her eyes. “Viggo is here to see you.”

“Viggo?” Avalon asked.

“Yes. Viggo,” Skylar pointed to Viggo who stood near the door.

Avalon cautiously walked up to Viggo. She hadn’t seen him in person since she woke up. Sure, her father worked with him and he had been over to the house, and he appeared to be a nice guy then.
But why now? Why care about me so much now?

Viggo wore his trademark black rimmed glasses which barely covered the dark circles underneath his eyes. He was a bit lankier than Avalon remembered, and his hair showed a few signs of gray around the temples, though the majority was still a dark shade of brown.

“Hey,” Avalon said, like it was a question.

“Hey,” Viggo responded, concern in his eyes. “I am so sorry I haven’t had a chance to see how you were doing. I have just been so busy with everything.”

Avalon remained silent.

“Your father charged me with helping to watch over you. I here you are very successful which doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t expect anything less from Avalon Adams,” he added with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Avalon nodded. While it was like her father to assign a guardian over her, she wasn’t sure Viggo would have been her first choice. He was always kind of absentminded, no matter how brilliant he was at science. “Thank you,” Avalon muttered.

Viggo peered over her head and into the computer lab and then back at her. “Listen, can we step outside for a moment? I want to chat with you for a few minutes.”

Avalon glanced over her shoulder at Xin who nodded and said, “Five minutes.”

Viggo walked along the corridor with Avalon. “Now how are you
really
doing?” he asked.

“I am okay,” she said.

“I am not trying to be nosey,” he said readjusting his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. “It’s just that there have been some strange occurrences happening.”

Yes! He sees it too.

“Like what? I haven’t noticed anything strange.”
Play it cool. Let him reveal information to you.

“Now, Avalon. You are too intelligent for that. There is no need to fib to me. You are telling me you haven’t noticed several of the Compatios becoming sick?”

Avalon nodded.

“I am worried about you,” Viggo said as he placed one hand on top of her shoulder.

“But I am not a Compatio. So why would you be worried about me?”

“I always worry about you. Remember? I have been entrusted with your safety.”

Avalon looked at Viggo.

“If you’ve noticed the Compatios turning sick, why haven’t you alerted the Council or the President?” Avalon asked.

“Oh, I have,” Viggo said. “They know all about it. But they don’t want to create alarm throughout the habitat, so we are trying to keep everything quiet.”

Avalon studied his face. Viggo had said her father asked him to watch over her. But her father said in the necklace to trust no one.

“I really should go back. I think it has been five minutes,” Avalon stated.

“Okay,” Viggo said, obviously a bit crestfallen. “But if you ever need me, you know you can call anytime.”

It would be good to have an adult on our side during this investigation thing. Maybe I can trust Viggo. But still…

Avalon smiled faintly and waved before returning to the computer lab.

At lunch time, Avalon sat by Ilium at the end of a long table. Skylar and the rest of the team waved at them from the opposite end of the table.

“Do you think Skylar or anyone is suspicious of us sitting here alone?” Avalon asked.

Ilium shrugged and said, “Who cares.”

A flush formed across her face. Avalon bit off a piece of fruit and asked, “So what else have you discovered?”

Looking around from side to side and lowering his voice, Ilium answered, “Well. I discovered that the universal shot we received has two different effects. If you are an Accipio or a Fulcio, there are no ill effects. However, if you are a Compatio, there is a high probability that you will become sick, although not immediately.”

“So that could be what happened to Michelle. She was a Compatio.”

Ilium nodded his head in agreement.

“Also sounds like there could be two different universal shots,” Avalon whispered.

Ilium nodded and took a sip of water.

Avalon split open her potato and patted it with butter. She poured salt into it and mashed it all together before taking a bite. “We still don’t know who planted her body in my room, or why. It is someone in this habitat though. It scares me that we don’t know who.”

Ilium wrapped an arm around her. “Don’t worry I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Avalon flushed at the thought of Ilium being protective of her. “Thank you,” she said and took a sip of water. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Tell me, is it fatal for everyone?”

Ilium’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know yet. But from the questionnaire I found out some interesting things. But I will have to wait to tell you later on.”

Avalon chewed on her boiled egg. “I ran into Viggo today.”

“The scientist?” Ilium asked as he took a bite of his salad.

“In the flesh. You know he and my dad worked together back in the day.”

Ilium nodded. “What did he want?”

“I don’t know. He acted kind of peculiar. Said a bunch of stuff about Compatios getting sick and him being worried about me.”

“But you aren’t a Compatio.”

“Exactly,” Avalon said. Then she took a sip of water.

“Do you think he knows more than he is letting on?”

Before Avalon could answer that question, Kael walked towards them.

“Hey! What are you up to?” Kael asked Avalon.

“I am fine. How about you?” Avalon said.

“Good, I guess. Do you want to visit the rec room today?”

“No, not today. Maybe later this week?” she replied. Heat radiated from Ilium as he stared daggers at Kael. The gaze wasn’t lost on Kael who analyzed the situation, noting Ilium’s arm around Avalon’s waist.

“Ok,” Kael answered as his lips formed a tight line. He turned and walked away.

“What was that all about?” Ilium asked, irritation obvious in his voice.

“Nothing.” Avalon smiled. “Jealous much?”

“Not jealous. Just wondering if there is anything between you too.”

“No,” Avalon answered, taking another bite of her potato.

“Then why is that blonde girl Elena staring at you?” Ilium asked.

Avalon checked out the faces sitting around the Accipio table. Surely enough, Elena’s ice blue eyes were boring into Avalon like a laser through steel.

“I don’t know…” Avalon said.
Kael didn’t say he had a girlfriend. Although I am sure plenty of girls are naturally interested in him. He is the most eligible bachelor around after all.

“But for some reason, I don’t think he would mind if something was between us,” Avalon said.

Ilium took another bite into his lettuce and tomato salad, chewing it a bit longer than he usually did.

“Besides, by hanging out with an Accipio I may get some more clues,” Avalon added.

Ilium had to admit she was right, although he kept the thought to himself. He scowled at the back of Kael’s head for the rest of the meal.

“Just promise me you will be careful. I don’t trust him,” Ilium said.

“I don’t think you trust any guy that much,” Avalon said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ilium said.

“Nothing,” Avalon said.

“You can do what you want. Date who you want. I am just saying he is his father’s son. Make of that what you wish,” Ilium retorted.

Avalon did not care for the cavalier attitude Ilium displayed as he said date who you want. She didn’t know why, but she far preferred when he was jealous.

“Just meet me tonight in the storage room so we can discuss this some more,” Avalon said before leaving. Despite his efforts not to, Ilium watched the graceful sway of Avalon’s hips as she walked away from him.

At around 2000 hours that night Ilium met Avalon in the cluttered storage room. Avalon shivered in the corner, her lips turning a shade of purplish blue.

“You’re cold,” he said.

“I will be ok,” she answered, teeth chattering.

Ilium took his shirt off and handed it to her.

Avalon took in the sight. Despite lacking six pack abdominals, he wasn’t exactly flabby. His defined muscles were on a slim body. Avalon quickly slid the shirt over her head.

“Thanks,” she said with a smile.

Ilium returned the smile.

“So, the questionnaire and interviewing people yielded some interesting results. Turns out, word amongst the Compatios is that there is someone who will dole out extra rations and points as long as you follow him. No one knows who this person is who doles out extra rations and points, and no one sees people after they choose to follow him or her.”