Aurora (The Exodus Trilogy) (3 page)

Maria shoved thoughts of winter to the back of her head, giggling at the sight of a fullerfly, colorful little creatures about the size of large butterflies, buzzing across the field going about their business as if they were all by themselves. Summer was perfect, she thought, and it wasn’t just the climate and the sense of discovering a new Eden with its wonders and marvels. It was the overall mood, the spirit. Hope and optimism permeated the community, and everyone was slowly settling in. Nothing could take that away.

Especially not today. She was on her way to see Jeremiah and a few other scientists, who were franticly planning for an expedition scheduled to go south within days. The expedition hadn’t been approved yet, but Jeremiah insisted there was no way they could say no to this. Maria wasn’t as certain about it, but if it was to happen, she wanted to be a part of it. So far, the Havelar administration had been very strict about sticking to the overall plan, not deviating in the slightest. Most proposals that weren’t part of the original plans were therefore denied, but it was worth a try. This time, the arguments to go might be strong enough to convince even Havelar himself.

The reason for all this was an image received from the Exodus six days ago. South of Fort Andrews, a vast expanse of grass stretched as far as the eye could see, with scattered lakes and probably some marshlands in between. None of the patrols that had been sent out to explore the area had ventured far enough south to see the end of it. But they knew there were large forests beyond the explored lands, stretching as far as the southern coastline. The earlier images produced by the Exodus hadn’t revealed what lay beneath the forest canopy, but the image received just six days ago had turned the entire scientific community upside down.

The image was one of many picturing the forest, but with one difference. It showed a thin plume of smoke rising through the canopy. Maria didn’t know what to think. Of course, it could be a forest fire, but Jeremiah had been adamant. There was nothing to support such a claim, and subsequent images showed nothing to indicate there had been a forest fire in the area. No, he claimed, whatever produced the plume was contained, controlled.

So, could it be human? A few eager beavers going off on their own? She didn’t think so. As far as Maria knew, no one had even ventured that far, and the rules set even before landing had been clear: No unauthorized expeditions that might endanger them all, because no one knew what they might find.

But if not human, what then? An intelligent species? That was the thing everyone spoke of, and to be truthful, that’s what had gotten her so excited about it as well. Of course it might be something entirely unexciting, such as a geyser or some sort of volcanic phenomenon, although Jeremiah, being a geologist, claimed it couldn’t be. Whatever it was, the thought of actually going out there into the unknown, to explore, gave her butterflies. It was simply too exciting not to be a part of it.

Chapter 2

KENNETH TAYLOR

After coming to Aurora, Kenneth Taylor had often contemplated the twists and turns that had divided his life into three distinct parts, and the differences and similarities between these parts. He saw them as three different lives, and he himself as three different people living these lives. In his first life, he’d been the cocky and sometimes over-confident young man on his way to the stars. The space cadet watching Scott and Reynolds putting down the flag on Martian soil, making him immensely proud, and quite a bit jealous as well. That young man still had his own goal well within range, since his goal had been to be among the first colonists to build an outpost on the red planet. Then he had made one critical mistake, one that was to shape his life for years to come, and lead to his downfall, and kill his dream of ever going to Mars. His mistake opened his eyes to the way fear and paranoia were destroying the ideals upon which his entire life was built. That same mistake had saved his life, too, because the Mars colony ended in disaster. But, by then, the young, enthusiastic man had been replaced by another, more careful and quiet Kenneth Taylor. His second life was one of personal solitude, academic success and growing estrangement from the society he would once have been willing to die for. While his success as an academic was undisputed, he chose to keep his political views to himself. From bitter experience, he knew that the wrong word in the wrong ear could end his career, and he even saw other skeptics fired, or even sent off to jail on account of minor offenses and hearsay. Then Devastator appeared, and his third life began. He still didn’t know how it would turn out, but so far, it had brought him from Harvard to Aurora.

He had taken to the habit of wandering off, out by the perimeter where military patrols kept a vigilant eye out for balders, terrible furry beasts taller than a human being, with sharp claws, fangs the size of a man's arm, and an aggressive demeanor. There had already been several balder attacks, and although no one had died yet, it was only a matter of time before someone was taken unaware by the frightening predators. There could be other dangers lurking in the forests outside human control as well, since the area was largely unexplored. So on a couple of occasions, when he’d walked too far out, armed men had caught up with him in their quad bikes, and brusquely told him to go back to safety. He’d complied, but it still irked him in a way he recognized. He had a problem with anyone telling him what to do, and he wanted to explore this new world for himself.

So one day, he decided to take matters into his own hands and venture out into the unknown by himself, whether the military goons liked it or not. He started watching the patrols, and noticing their habits and routines. It turned out they varied their schedule every four days, but by observing their routines for two days, he could easily anticipate where they would be at any given time for the next two days. After that, he was able to go wherever he wanted, as long as he planned it a couple of days beforehand.

One day, out beyond the perimeter, he encountered a creature he’d never seen before. Its short fur covered most of its body, which was a deep burgundy, with dark brown stripes, and a long wagging tail. Its head held two saucer-like eyes, a wide snout, and large rounded ears, and it didn’t appear to have a mouth at all until it screeched in a high-pitched voice; three short shrieks, as if telling him something urgent. Then it cocked its head, and it seemed to Kenneth that it was waiting for him to answer. He was too entranced to even think of trying to communicate with the creature, and after a few seconds passed in silence, the creature bounced off. Kenneth thought it looked funny. He didn’t think it was dangerous, and he was fascinated by its apparent curiosity and the way it seemed to try to communicate with him.

After a while, he had sat down to rest and have a snack. He didn’t have a lot to eat; the rations were enough to sustain them, but not a lot more, and it would take some time for the colony to be self-sufficient. For now, they were still reliant upon provisions brought down from the Exodus. He unwrapped a high-concentrate energy bar, and bit into it. It tasted of honey and butter, with a hint of chocolate. As he chewed on it, he thought back on when he had been a young man, and realized that he’d actually come quite far. If he’d known back then what lay ahead, he wouldn’t have believed it. But still, the young Kenneth Taylor would probably have been fascinated by all this. It was NASA astronaut, combat fighter pilot, and national hero John Scott who had first set foot upon Mars, but it was the man who had followed Scott, Oliver Reynolds, who had been Kenneth’s big hero. Dr. Reynolds, the geologist and second man to walk the surface of the red planet. And while Scott went on to tour the world, and eventually won himself a seat in the Senate, Reynolds had slowly disappeared from the spotlight as he went back to academia to pursue his greatest interests. Both heroes in their own ways, but somehow Kenneth had resonated more with the quiet academic than the brash jock. And then, after building a career of his own, with no prospects of ever fulfilling his true dream, he’d ended up here, more than forty light years into deep space. The dream of his youth, only a million times further. The bitter parts of it, such as leaving a doomed Earth were always there, and then there was the issue of government… But even so, he had reached so much farther than he’d ever dreamed.

Of course, after every man, woman, and child in the first permanent human settlement outside Earth had perished, and the history books were rewritten to fit the new order of things, Dr. Oliver Reynolds had been largely forgotten. The history of the first men on Mars still held a place in the collective memory of the nation, but only as a warning and an example of the naiveté that had eventually led to the disaster.

Every time Kenneth though about that, he shuddered. To think that the fatal disaster should be used as leverage to cripple the constitution and dismantle democracy was nauseating. And even worse, what if it hadn’t happened? What if the Mars settlement had been a success, and NASA and all the other agencies had been allowed to continue their work? Could the greatest disaster of all time have been averted? Could they have discovered the rogue planet earlier, possibly even saved Earth? Or at the least, saved more lives?

When Kenneth was first summoned to join the Selection for the Exodus, he had found a purpose. He had decided early on that he would do whatever he could to prevent the star farers from making the same mistakes that had changed his country into something unrecognizable, something ugly. But here he was, with the Havelar administration tightening its reins and gaining more control with every day that passed, and still he had no idea what to do. He didn’t know of any sort of opposition, even though there had to be others like him. Some habits were hard to kill, and caution seemed second nature to him. It had served him well so far, but he knew that at some point he’d have to let go of some of that caution, and open up to someone. If everyone kept silent and played careful, Havelar would transform Aurora into the image of Andrews’ America unopposed. But who could he talk to, who could he trust?

Kenneth looked at his watch and decided it was time to walk back, lest he be out here in the woods as darkness crept upon him. He had about an hour to cross the perimeter if he wanted to avoid the tighter security of the night shift. He got up and brushed a few crumbs from his lap. Then he stretched his back and picked up his small backpack before he turned east.

It took him about fifty minutes to reach the perimeter. He approached carefully, watching for anything out of the ordinary. The patrols shouldn’t be here for another half hour, but you could never be too careful. When he decided it was safe, he leapt forward, crossing an open field as quickly as possible. His movement would alert the motion detectors, but by the time the guards got here, he’d be long gone. From observation, he knew that the guards were alerted by movement several times a week, and it would just as likely be contributed to a balder or a pack of rat monkeys moving a little too close to the perimeter. He chuckled to himself as he ducked down behind a pile of rocks and waited again. He loved it when he outsmarted the guards. When nothing happened, he decided his assumptions of the guards’ schedule still held. They would be on their way, but he knew the time it took them to reach this area, so he continued. Now he walked through an area where small streams wove between the low trees and brushes. He waded across the narrow river that people considered the border of human territory, but the water was low, and his high boots kept his feet dry. After a few minutes, he reached the trail used by the patrols. From here on in, it wouldn’t be too difficult to explain himself if anyone noticed him, as a lot of people would occasionally venture this far. Here, there were fewer restrictions on movement, and he would quickly blend in.

Just as he reached the first buildings, tents actually, he noticed a familiar figure pass into a group of trees nearby. It was Thomas Dunn, the enigmatic figure he’d talked to from time to time. He wondered what he was doing out here, and why he seemed to be carrying a heavy pack on his back. But the younger man either hadn’t noticed him, or perhaps didn’t want to be noticed. Either way, Kenneth thought it odd that he was moving west at this time of day. He knew there was more to Thomas than he let on, but had no idea where he stood. He thought back on his musings earlier and decided that maybe it was time to have a little chat with Thomas Dunn. Not this day, of course, but soon. Carefully though. Always carefully.

THOMAS DUNN

The ground was wet from the hard rains of the previous week, but it would dry up soon enough. For now, it kept the balders off his track, since they used mainly smell, and their eyesight was poor. He’d rather stay away from them, as they had proven damned hard to kill. Not even his powerful 12.7 caliber rifle, a military issue SMG-A2, could guarantee survival if he encountered one of those beasts, let alone a family or a pack. No, Thomas was content to feel the ground sucking at his boots as he walked through the forest, alert for anything out of the ordinary.

He remembered how he used to go hunting in the woods with his dad, back when he was a teenager. He’d been innocent back then, nothing to hide, no lies or schemes. Just the thrill of the game and the awareness of his father watching how he’d grown to be a decent hunter for his age. The game had been squirrels, grouse, and sometimes deer. He hadn’t been hunting since his father died, and hadn’t thought much about it, but now it all came back to him. He was a different man now, of course, and those memories were treasured secrets from another world. Another life.

Aurora was different. He was different. The last few years back on Earth had changed him, transformed him into a character he’d never dreamt of becoming. But here he was. On a new world, playing his most important role ever, and dead set on changing the course of history. Not just for himself, but for what was left of mankind. One thing was for sure; no balders or anything else would get in his way. The mission was far too important.