All Light Will Fall (11 page)

A ray of light beamed as the shuttle opened. And as the
brightness dimmed, I could see it. There it was in all its splendor... Niaysia.
I was empty of thought, staring down at that fantastic world of energy. It was
a kaleidoscope of color, a fiery vortex of reds and blues and all the colors in
between. Whips of light hissed and sizzled from below us, like a storm of
lightning. And from around it, was the shine of its many moons and suns. Their
light went in and out and each time it returned, its color faded to gold, then
violet, then blue. Cerniphilus, Niaysia’s dwarf planet, was a blinding red. It
was beautiful, like a jewel nestled in the silk of space.

“You are now ready for departure. Your section will
green-light to signal flight readiness,” the voice said.

There was a sudden ringing inside my helmet. “You are
receiving a group call. Accept or decline?” the computer asked.

“Accept,” I said.

A muffle of voices came through the intercom. “Celeste, can
you hear me?” Kitty asked.

I nearly missed what she said. Out of nowhere, a robotic
recording intercepted our signal. “You have chosen a heroic path,” it said. “We
are moving into the future. You are the future.”

“I can hear you,” I told her.

“Mankind must survive. Mankind must thrive.” Kitty glanced
back at me. She looked startled.

“Fear does not exist, because fear is not in my mind,” I
said. She nodded and faced the front again.

“This is it, 2102,” Raine said. He was holding the rail
across from me, looking out into space. “Let’s have a wager. First to land
takes charge.” The shuttle shook.

I ignored him, listening to the last of the recording. “This
is a mission for life. And life is a shared road in which those who share it
shall live and die together, side-by-side.”

The front platform turned green. “Section one, you are a go.
Depart now.”

The lead recruits didn’t hesitate. With a running start,
they leapt from the shuttle and took off into space. I watched the others go
after them. One by one, they took the jump and disappeared into the light.

The recording hadn’t lied. This
was
a mission for
life, but it was not us who had chosen this path of damnation. Damnation had
chosen us, and so here we stood—together—side-by-side.

The floor turned green. “Section seven, you are a go. Depart
now.”

I moved. I was running. My breaths were heavy. I couldn’t
think. There was no time for it. I took a breath, and then I jumped.

I was flying, moving at a radical speed towards the planet.
The asteroids were coming dangerously fast. I came close to collision on my way
in. Everything was moving. Everything was alive, spinning and crashing into
each other. Spears of crystal broke from the asteroids, shooting in my
direction.

I steered to the left, trying to avoid collision. They
whizzed past me, one of the spears clipping the back of my suit. Air rushed
into my helmet, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. The universe was shifting. Its
light was blinding. I couldn’t see. I was falling. The asteroids kept coming,
one after the other in a blur of light.

I was off course. My vision returned, and when it did, I
felt my heart drop low in my chest. The asteroid was headed straight for me. I couldn’t
avoid it. It was too late.

I saw darkness.

“Corrine.”

I felt pain.

“Tomorrow night, let’s go find the truth.”

My screams echoed in the silence. That’s all there was—pain
and silence.

“She’s no longer one of us, I’m afraid.”

I heard voices. Deep in the dark, there were voices.

“
Don’t lie to me. I hope to God you wouldn’t lie to me,
Corrine
.”

I tried to breathe.

“
We know all your truths... Corrine
.”

I tried to remember.

“
If you pass the test, it will be a very good sign
.”

The pain returned.

“
Do you want to spend the rest of your life seduced by a
lie
,
or do you want to know the truth
?”

Time stilled. I took a breath. My eyes opened to the light.
I remembered. I remembered it all. I was alive. There wasn’t a memory forgotten.
Everything I lost had returned. I had a family. I had a home. I had a name.

“There will be no mercy if you defy the law again.”

I remembered Helio Tellus.

“Corrine, have you ever been buried alive?

I remembered the grave.

“You need to stop this, Corrine. If they take you away,
what will I do?”

I remembered the lie.

I could hear Mother’s voice so clearly now, begging me to
let go. I should have, but in my desperate search of the truth, I found it
desperately searching for me as well. Even if the world stood still and the
earth faded to dust, it still would have found me. Mother didn’t understand.
That’s why she believed in Helio Tellus. She believed in it because sometimes
even when we want the truth, we would rather hear the lie. I regretted it now. I
was more than ashamed of it, I was afraid of it.

The lie went too far. It was too deep, too dark. It stole me
from home. It killed my name. It robbed my innocence. It transformed me. The
night on Marx Avenue, I became someone else. When ARTIKA took me, they knew
what I was. It was in my eyes; that flame of forbidden knowledge. And seeing it
freighted them. They knew what needed to be done. I had to be tamed. I had to
be controlled.

I remembered the chamber. My screams. That piercing light.
My body split open. The blood. I remembered my hands gripping flesh, the taste
of blood on my teeth. ARTIKA did that to me. They took everything.

Corrine—I didn’t know her. She was innocent. I was not. How
could I be her? Corrine cherished life. Celeste took it away. Corrine had a
family. Celeste stood alone. Corrine knew her past, and Celeste was too far
gone to know that Elric and Ellis were one and the same.

So who was I? Was I someone in between, or was I no one at
all? I wasn’t sure. I only knew that I would return. I had sworn ARTIKA my
allegiance, but I would give them nothing. My body, my name, and my future was
no longer theirs to keep. Everything they stole from me, I would reclaim.

Ellis would be the first. I couldn’t leave without him. I
would find him and make him remember. Even if I had to take him all the way
into the grave, he would remember.

A sharp ringing brought me back. The halos-suit was
malfunctioning. The metal burned against my skin. I was entering the atmosphere
too fast. If I continued at this speed, the halos-suit would catch fire. I spun
through the air. The wind was ruthless, jerking me back and forth. A blazing
heat filled my lungs.

I was out of nitrogen. I unlocked my helmet and let it fly.
I could breathe now.

The clouds thickened as I fell. I could see nothing. There
was only the air and the shimmers of sunlight breaking through the mist. And it
was beautiful, a wild and weightless beauty.

The wind quickened suddenly, and before I could brace
myself, something dark rose from the fog. I felt it coming, but I couldn’t
react. I crashed, ripping and rolling through a twine of trees. A branch
slashed across my face, another snapping against my side.

I latched onto one of the trees to break the fall. The
branch was limber, bending inch by inch. It stopped several feet from the
ground, and I let it go, landing on the tree below. I spun for a bit on my feet
and shook myself of the dizziness.

All was still. I looked around. There were only trees, long
shawls of leaves and exotic shrubs. I could hear the wild. It sounded strange,
like a song in another language. The air was warm and damp. It was the clouds.
They were full of moisture, and sweet smelling. One of them floated my way. It
looked like a pillow of dust, shining blue in the light. I raised a hand,
watching it drift through my fingers. When it passed, my skin was full of
sparkles. I was amazed. This could not be real. It was as if I had died in
space, and all of this magic was but a dream.

My halo-com flashed. “New Eden has sent a notification
update,” it said.

I ignored the message for now. “Where am I?” I asked.

“Forty two miles above sea level.”

Just as I thought. I had landed in the mesosphere. Making my
way down would be dangerous. Once I did, I would regroup with the Alamo team. I
didn’t want to, but if I were to find Ellis, I would need help. Kitty wasn’t
the ideal ally, but if I couldn’t convince her of the truth, how could I
convince Ellis?

Level by level, I worked my way through the mesosphere. The
tree I climbed was a never ending stalk. At one point, I wondered if the bottom
existed. The climb was even more difficult in the halos-suit. It was heavy and
difficult to grip the trees. I kept it on for safety. There was a parachute in
the back hatch. If I lost my grip, I was sure to survive the fall.

On the way down, there were things I saw that could never be
believed. It was mainly the wildlife. They were of all species and shapes, of
all colors and natures. They were bizarre. They were undreamed of.

My climb to the ground had reached a standstill. By some
oddity, the tree trunk had ended, hovering high in the mist. It seemed I had no
alternative but to take a plunge with nature. The climb was far too slow, and
if I weren’t able to reach the Alamo team before their departure of the rendezvous
point, finding Ellis would be a dangerous one-man mission.

I moved carefully to the edge of the tree branch. Then with
a quick secure of the parachute, I jumped, falling into the air again.

I broke through the fog, and on the other side of that mass
of gray, I saw Niaysia. The world below was a multicolored terrain of forests
and valleys. There were lagoons to the east and mountains in the far west. I
saw the beaches of Vatiera and the island just off the mainland. I was flying
right towards it.

When the time came, I drew the release on the halos-suit.
The parachute sprung open. I drifted into the canopy, pushing the trees aside
on my way through. I was a few feet from the ground, and just as I went to
land, the chute tangled in the canopy.

The halos-suit vibrated as I twisted through the trees. It
was powering up again. I unhooked my life pack and mr2, letting them fall to
the ground. They landed safely in the underbrush. I spun again and hit the
eject button of the suit, falling short to the ground.

When I landed, my feet lifted from the earth. I was
weightless almost, my steps light as air. I slid the mr2 onto my back then
tossed the life pack over my shoulders.

I scanned the forest. The trees stood tall. They were grand,
with leaves in all shapes and hues. Some were ragged and scared. Others were
elegant and smooth. They twisted about each other in wild acrobatic formations.
Each was its own color, covered in bright ivy and blankets of colored moss.

At the base of these wonders, thousands and thousands of
flowers bloomed up into the forest. They came in shades of white, with blue
whiskers probing from the centers. Others were golden, their tear-shaped heads
hanging from bright pink stems. Some were so bright they glistened in the
starlight. I moved delicately around them. They seemed at peace, and I didn’t
want to disturb them. Mother always said to be gentle with nature was to be
gentle with life.

The air was thick, heavy with the romantic scent of
honeysuckle. I made my way to a nearby clearing and looked to the sky. It was
the color of lavender, bright clouds rolling through the air. Niaysia’s planets
and moons were high in the sky. Cerniphilus was closest. I could see it
rotating. It was glowing, emitting a burst of energy every half a second.

My halo-com flashed again. “All members of the Alamo team
have landed,” it said. “Proceed seven miles to the marked rendezvous point.” A
map lit up in front of me. I could see all five of their signatures moving
south. They were headed for the beach. This was it. I would find Ellis. If he
had landed. If he was alive, I would find him. I would make him remember. I
would bring him home.