Warfare
on the Ark-Hive was suicide. We all knew it. There was a reason
Stingray never had projectile weapons, and why we worked very hard to
convince my father that Aquans didn’t exist anymore. We lived every
day with the ocean just inches away, and after a while we forgot just
how dangerous that could be. We even fought, to the death, to stay at
the bottom of the ocean forever.
I
should have seen that neither side wanted peace, but I didn’t,
because I considered the leaders of both sides to be a father to me.
And because I thought we all knew that one bad blast, one bad shot,
would doom us all. I thought they knew that making peace was the only
hope of survival for anything.
But
since when has that stopped anyone?
[Taken
From the Private Journal of Director Cora Bridger, Founder of New
Eden. (2351-2418)]
~~/*\~~
62
Days To Landfall
~~/*\~~
The
Ark-Hive was ready to implode.
Tensions
had been simmering for longer than Cora had been alive. Everyone
below Green Sector resented everyone above. The Stingray were feared
by everyone; and it was understood that a general uprising would
cause total extinction, though every few generations, there came a
time when nobody cared.
Three
months from Landfall, it felt like another uprising was coming.
Stingray were visible in every public place. The people that were
busy didn’t dare so much as look up from their work. People who
were off-duty were staying to their quarters. But with so many people
from the Colonies and Outposts still filling up every billet, the
Ark-Hive felt more crowded than ever, though nobody was speaking above a
whisper.
Cora
walked through the hallways, feeling eyes on her every minute. She
could tell. They all wanted to ask her. Because The Director’s
Daughter would surely know if the report was true; and they had all
been sentenced to a slow death without their knowledge. But nobody
dared approach her. Cora had always respected the ocean, but had
never been more aware of the sheer tonnage of what was above their
heads. The whole human race felt it about to crash down on them.
She
hadn’t seen Tai all morning. He was on Maintenance Duty. She kept
her cool for five hours. The hardest part had been when she’d come
back to her quarters in Gold Sector for lunch. She hadn’t dared
stay in the Pilot’s Mess. But even in her own home, she hadn’t
been able to escape entirely.
~~/*\~~
“Ano,
I can hear you thinking it so loud, you might as well ask.” Cora
said around a mouthful of soup.
“Is
it true?” Ano asked, and the fear was obvious in her voice. “Will
we die if we go to the surface?”
Cora
felt a pang. She had been juggling cover stories and alibis for as
long as she could remember, but Ano was family in a way that even her
father would never be, and now she had to hide what she knew. “I
haven’t spoken to my father since the hack went live.” She said
honestly. “I’ll speak to him about it… but the Pirate Hacks
have an annoying record of accuracy.”
Ano
bit her lip. “That means we… I mean, we won’t go, if it’s
true, right?”
Cora
twitched. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Ano.” She
promised seriously. “Not ever.”
Ano
softened and hugged the younger woman. “Thought I was supposed to
take care of you, kid.”
“Yeah,
well…” Cora hugged her back. “Some things you can’t save me
from.”
~~/*\~~
61
Days To Landfall
~~/*\~~
Cora
finally got her chance to talk to Tai the next morning. It was early,
even before morning chow, and Cora was glad for it. If she’d had to
wait another day she would have lost her mind.
Stingray
were still stationed at every intersection, every checkpoint. The
intersection between Gold and Green Sector had been fortified
overnight, which did little to calm the tensions, but did plenty to
calm the Board of Directors and their families. Everyone was
expecting a riot or an uprising, but Cora wondered if it would
happen. Weir Syndrome wasn’t something that could be conquered with
a fight.
Whether
or not that would spare anyone from the rage of a mob was another
matter.
One
of the sonar buoys needed light repairs. It was simple work, but it
would take them out of the Ark-Hive, so Cora volunteered. Regulations
meant that she couldn’t go alone, so Tai went with her. Ordinarily,
the two of them would be talking like the couple they were, or at
least the old friends they had always been. Today they were dead
silent, aside from the formal procedures for undocking and
navigation. Cora kept one eye on the indicator light that meant
someone was listening to conversation in the cabin of the Hydra
Hawk.
The
light flickered. Tai tapped the controls. “We’re out of range
of-”
“WHAT
WERE YOU THINKING?!” Cora roared. He nearly jumped out of his skin.
It was the first time anyone had raised their voice since the last
Hack. “You have any idea the bomb you set off?!”
“How
long were you willing to pretend the bomb wasn’t already ticking?!”
Tai fired back. “You’ve loved Don like a father ever since your
mom died, and the minute you found out he wasn’t perfect, you
suddenly started playing your own game. Except what you’re doing is
worse! You knew sending the people back to the surface was a death
sentence, and didn’t even want to warn them! Why wouldn’t you
warn anyone, Cora?!”
“Of
course I would have, but it had to be timed-”
“Drown
that, right now!” Tai interrupted. “If the Exodus worked like it
was meant to, all those people who would go back to the surface
wouldn’t know about it until we were out of reach. How were you
going to warn them then?!”
“We
had a plan!” Cora snapped.
His
face changed again. The same way it had whenever the subject of the
future came up.
“What?!”
Cora demanded, right in his face. “What do you want to say to me?
You’ve been swallowing it for two months! What is it?”
Tai
finally said it. “Has it dawned on you yet that you’re the only
winner here?” He growled, low and tightly controlled. “If your
father’s plans come true, you’re going to rule the human race in
some brave new world. If Don manages to pull off the Exodus, you get
everything you want, and won’t even have to confront your father
about it. If Morgan catches us all out, I’m a dead man. What will
he do to you? You may be the only one immune to failure. You talk
about ‘the plan’ and ‘the timing’, but you’re the only one
that doesn’t have to worry.”
“Well,
I do.” Cora snapped. “I worry about you all the time. I love you
to bits, and every time we meet, I wonder if this
is the time when being in my wake is finally going to get you killed.
Don’t act like I don’t have skin in the game.”
Tempers
cooled a little as they both
fought for words.
“Cora…”
Tai tried first. “Nobody below Gold Sector decides… anything.
Food is rationed, work is assigned, most people choose their partner
for survival, more than anything like love. If ‘the way things are’
doesn’t let people decide what they’re having for lunch, how long
will it take everyone to get to the end of the page when we tell them
this?”
Cora
hissed. “You aren’t thinking…”
“Are
they going to fight back? Are they going to join the Aquans? Are they
going to stage a sit-down in the Observation Dome? Are they going to
riot? We can’t let thousands of people get marched up to the
surface without ever having a chance. And it’s going to take them
longer than a few minutes to make a choice that will decide their
lives, and the life of the species, Cora. We can’t spring this on
everyone at the last minute. It may be convenient for us, but it’ll
be too late for them to do anything about it.”
Cora
hesitated. “You’re right.”
Tai
blinked. “Wait. What?”
She
nodded. “You’re right. I hadn’t considered that. Whatever the
reaction’s going to be, it’ll take a while to gather momentum.”
Tai
blinked. “Well… yeah.”
“Don’t
be pleased with yourself, it was still an outrageous move that’s
going to get us all caught or killed or both.” She held a hand up.
“But you woke the Ark-Hive up, that’s for sure. People are
thinking now.” She took a deep breath. “So there might be another
option on the table.”
“Your
father won’t compromise.”
“I
know.”
“And
I know you think Don can do no wrong, but he won’t either. He’s
as determined as your father.”
“Believe
it or not, Tai, I’m more worried about you right now. The one point
my father and Don will agree on is to strangle you to death, if
either of them knew who you were.” Cora mused. “Look, if we’re
going to keep you out of the Quay, we have to move fast, and we have
to find a way to spin this into a win for my father and Don at the
same time. We do that, and we point both of them at each other again,
instead of you.”
“How
do you plan to do that?”
~~/*\~~
“It’s
getting ugly out there.” Cora said quietly.
Her
father looked up, surprised. “Cora. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Cora
nodded. “It’s not often I find you in your study. You’re
usually at the Office. Don’t tell me the odds finally stacked too
high against you?”
“Too
many people know where my office is.” The Director admitted.
“Morgan tells me it’s a good idea to stay home, and while I don’t
agree, I see his point about the rest of my staff. Being too public
can put some of them in danger today. And for all I know, one or two
of them might be ready to murder me.” He sounded unconcerned about
it, and Cora was ready to slap him.
Keep
your cover! She
told herself. “Dad, I’ve been getting the question from everyone
I know, including Ano. I won’t lie to her. I mean, I get that
there’s an official line, but I won’t lie to Ano.” She took a
breath and tried to make it sound like she didn’t know the answer.
“That Pirate Hack. Is it true?”
Her
father looked at her. “Yes.”
And
despite herself, Cora felt a little elated that he didn’t lie to
her. “And the Board?”
“I
told them it was a lie.” Director Bridger said without blinking.
“The Pirate Station has put out stories about half the Board
Members. Being able to call whoever it is a liar is what they want to
hear. The Board won’t be a problem.”
“Everyone
below Gold Sector believes it. At least, the ones that have come
rushing to me for details.” Cora put in. “Are you less worried
about that because nobody below Gold Sector can do anything about
it?”
“Cora,
I don’t have a choice either. Look at the Charter. By Law, I have
to get us up to the surface when it’s liveable. That’s the whole
point of the Ark-Hive.”
“Mm.
So, mind if I play this one out in my head for a minute?” She said
darkly. “Your unhinged rush to get everyone back on the surface?
It’s because you don’t want people to see the symptoms. If we
went up in stages, over the course of a year or three, then it would
be obvious. You don’t want them to know.” She had no trouble
working a few tears up. “And you wanted me to stay ignorant, so
that I would lead two thirds of the world to their deaths.”
“And
one third to the future.” The Director said firmly. “Cora, those
ten years will define the next thousand years of the human race. Long
enough to populate a whole new generation for yours to raise. Cora…
You’re young enough that you will live a long and healthy life.”
“Dad,
you want to put me in charge of these people, and you honestly don’t
think I care about everyone who’s a few years older than me?”
“Oh,
of course you do. That’s the problem, Cora. You care too much.
That’s why I didn’t tell you. You’d have never been able to
keep that to yourself.”
“Make
it a Forum.” Cora told him. “Give everyone a vote: To stay in the
ocean, or go to the surface.”
“We
have to go to the surface.” Her father said firmly. “Cora, I get
that the ocean has been your whole life. It’s been mine too, but
just remember that humans are not an aquatic species. We never have
been. The Ark-Hive is a lifepod for the whole human race, and we can
finally land. Even if it’s comfortable and familiar here, it’s
the Director’s job to keep the mandate of the Ark-Hive in mind. And
you need to know that, since you’re going to have the job soon.”
“That’s
not why.” Cora told him. “Tai said something to me when the news
broke… About how nobody below Green Sector chooses anything. And
he’s right. Resource Management has been the rule of Poseidon and
Davy Jones alike for longer than we’ve been alive. The Lottery is
bad enough.”
“I
know it’s cold. Even borderline evil. But it has to be done.” The
Director sighed. “Another reason why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Dad,
people have to at least be able to process this.” She insisted.
“You give them all the facts, and then, whichever way the vote
goes, they at least know that you know about it, they at least know
what’s coming.” She gave him a hard look. “You have Weir’s
Syndrome. Are you telling me you’d
have
rather not known about it?”
“What
if the vote goes the other way?” He warned her.
“Do
you care?” She challenged him.
“Actually,
I do. We still have to wrangle these people; and that’s harder to
do if they feel legitimately screwed over. It’s important that we
get back on schedule.”
“Schedule.
The Schedule is an execution order and you know it!” Cora was doing
a slow boil, and getting hotter. She had already known the truth, but
she finally had a chance to say all the things that had been boiling
away in her head since she found out. “All your talk about
presenting my ascension to your job as an accomplished fact, and now
I find out that the only reason why, is because I’m still under
twenty five, and if you took another year to get us all on the
surface it’d be too late for me!”
The
Director didn’t even blink. “And that doesn’t give you
incentive?”
“I
find out that you’ve sentenced two thirds of the human race to a
slow death just to save me and you think I’m okay with this?!”
“You’re
my daughter.”
“Not
good enough, dammit!” She declared. “I’d rather stay Below!”
The
words hung in the air. It felt so good to say them out loud where he
could hear them.
“Cora,
we’ve lived here for generations. Long enough that we’ve
forgotten there was any other way to be. The records all exist, but
they aren’t practical for us, so nobody views them.”
“Nobody
views them because they barely have credits enough to eat and free
time enough to sleep, let alone go looking through Archives for four
hundred year old pictures.”
He
kept going as though she hadn’t interrupted. “But the ultimate
flaw in the entire Aquan argument? Humans aren’t meant to live
underwater. We’re a surface species. Our ancestors screwed up the
land and the sky and even the ocean so badly, that they had to lock
their descendants into this world. If this life was so much better,
then don’t you think they would have been living it already?” He
paused to make sure she heard him, and Cora nodded with a sigh,
conceding that point. “The duty of the Ark-Hive is to put back what
was lost. It took hundreds of years to restore the oceans, but we did
it! The ocean was dead. The plants and animals were all dead, and we
brought them back. The surface was given oxygen by the plants our
ancestors planted. The land has a chance again. We have to go back,
or there’s no point to us even being here.”
“There’s
us.” Cora said softly. “We’re here now.”
“Right.
Finally able to do what we were meant to do. The vote is a waste of
time. It might prevent an uprising for a week, but…” He shook his
head. “I need a better reason than that.”
“Well,
frankly…” Cora paused, then admitted it. “I want to know.”
“Excuse
me?”
“I
want to know what the rest of the Ark-Hive thinks. You’re setting
the whole thing up so that I’ll be in charge when we get to the
surface… I want to know how many people even want to go. You’re
worried about the Board of Directors. I’m worried about everyone
else.”
He
nodded, like she had just proved his point. “Like I said, you care
too much about things you can’t change. It makes you a good person,
but it means you’re too easily led by others. If you’re going to
be Director, you need to have the killer instinct. At least, enough
to stay ahead of the sharks.”
“Well,
maybe in ten years when I’m in my office on the surface, digging a
mass grave for two thirds of the human race, I’ll finally get my
thick skin.” She said with biting scorn.
Dark
silence.
“I
wanted to tell you.” He admitted heavily. “Wanted to find some
other way. I had my best people working on a cure for over two years.
They promised me they’d have it cracked in three months, but it’s
two years later, and they’ve got nothing. There’s no cure for
Weir Syndrome. If there was, I wouldn’t be in such a rush.”
“Two
years.” Cora said quietly, stricken. “You’ve been sitting on
this for years. The whole time, since before the Landfall
announcement. Before telling me about your health… You knew, this
whole time. How long have you even known the surface was habitable?
How long have you known you were dying? How long were you planning to
make me Director?” She almost slapped her forehead, but restrained
herself, the pieces all falling into place. That’s
why he launched the surface probes early. The whole thing is academic
if the surface isn’t liveable.
Long
silence.
“You’re
the one insisting I take the job I didn’t want.” Cora pressed the
point. “If you’re not on my side, how the hell am I supposed to
do it with your help, let alone without you?”
Long,
long silence.
“A
referendum.” The Director said finally. “Everyone in the Ark-Hive
gets a vote. Stay, or go. But you better remember one thing: The
Ark-Hive isn’t a democracy. If the Forum comes down a different
way, all it does is weaken you.”
Weaken
me? Cora
thought, but didn’t dare say. Or
you?
~~/*\~~
The
minute she was able to leave her father’s side, she went to the
plexiglass wall of her quarters. After a few moments, Delphi swam up
to meet her gaze. She smiled back at him. He always knew when she was
at her bedroom window.
But
this time he had company. Nix was there, one hand on Delphi’s
harness. Nix had learned the coded hand signals that divers used with
their Dolphin-Synth partners, but was still working on the ones
Aquans used with each other, safe from the omnipresent microphones.
‘Find
the Chief.’
Cora signed to Nix through the window.
~~/*\~~
59
Days To Landfall
~~/*\~~
Spreading
the word among Aquans was a difficult process. Stingray listened and
watched at every corner, every room. Holding a large meeting was
impossible. Usually, Cora was the one to deliver messages to Cell
Leaders, but the closer they got to Landfall, the closer her ties to
her father, and it was getting harder to smuggle her out to the
Colonies for extended periods.
Don
had called a meeting with two or three members of the Aquans, who
would be able to pass the word without getting caught. Cora had used
her position in Resource Management to explain the meeting away as
dismantling one of Don’s smaller laboratories in preparation for
packing it up. A job that took three or four technicians.
“And
of course, it has to be one of my Aquarian based labs.” Don sighed.
“Your father has me running my Synth-Tanks day and night creating
land-based species for recolonization. We only have a few probe
reports about what’s up there, and I’m supposed to conjure the
embryos that have been frozen for centuries into an
ecosystem.”
“I
was talking about this with him last night, and he made one point
that I couldn’t argue with.” Cora mentioned. “Humans aren’t
an aquatic species.”
“And
Dolphins and Whales didn’t have gills, but times changed.” Don
countered. “We made them change, to improve our chances.”
“I
guess that’s true.” Cora admitted with a sigh. “All this, over
a shared desire for wide open spaces around us, and a different plan
for where. Do we even know what everyone really wants?”
“Hades,
the vote was your idea, wasn’t it?!” Don was stunned, and not
happy to hear it. “There’s a reason why I didn’t tell anyone,
Cora!”
“I’d
love to hear it.” Cora said. She’d meant it to be calm, but it
almost came out a snarl.
“Cora,
we go back to the surface, and we have a limited life span. You think
resources are tight now? What happens when we all have less than a
decade to do what we want to do with our lives?” Don countered. “If
we try to pull off the Exodus now? You think there’s any chance we
can slip away quietly?”
“We
were never going to. Maybe before Landfall, we could have. But the
schedule’s so tight that Stingray gets itchy if we’re five
minutes slow checking in. You promised me that rule number one was
that there’d be no violence, and I don’t see any way to do this
without making a move that cripples their ability to chase us or stop
us. And given how Stingray has been deployed the last three months, I
don’t think that’s even possible anymore.” She glared. “And
that’s not why you kept it a secret.”
“No,
it isn’t.” Don fired back. “I kept the secret, because our
people had already made their choice. The surface is of no interest
to us. Only now, they’ll have to say so publically. What on earth
made you think this was a good idea? Our people vote to stay, and
your father will know who they all are.”
“Don,
who are you talking to? He’s my father. If anyone knows the tricks
to staying under his sonar, it’s me.” Cora scorned. “Our people
must not, under any circumstances, vote to stay. And they don’t
have to. We already know who they are. But if there’s anyone out
there who wants to stay in the ocean with us… Don, Weir Syndrome is
the biggest membership incentive the Aquans have ever had.”
“That
was your plan? To see if the truth had changed anyone’s mind?”
Don thought it through. “That’s actually a good plan.”
Long
silence.
“We
still have to be ready.” Don said firmly. “Even if The Director
allows a straight up vote, there’s very little chance that he’ll
respect the wishes of the majority if he doesn’t get an answer he
likes.”
There
was a discreet knock, and Don let four people in. One of them was
Nix, playing the part of tour guide for their guests. Cora recognized
Adamson, the new head of Cameron Outpost. The other two she didn’t
know at all, and they looked quietly stunned to see The Director’s
Daughter was one of the Aquans.
“Some
of you have heard this already, most of you haven’t.” Don
addressed his people. “There will be an announcement made in a few
days. A forum. The Board of Directors voted against it, but since it
requires no resources or effort on their part beyond counting, The
Director didn’t actually need their blessing. Everyone over the age
of fifteen gets a vote: To stay on the Ark-Hive, or to make
Landfall.”
The
announcement stunned the people in the room. “Are you serious?”
Adamson was stunned. “After months of breakneck hurry, months of
stripping our Outposts bare, even letting our people die to keep up
the damn pace, he suddenly wants to know what everyone else thinks?”
“The
Pirate Hack is genuine.” Cora put in. “The Forum is my father’s
way of keeping a lid on the explosion in the making; and it’s good
for us because we get to find out who wants to stay, other than the
Aquans. But in the event Morgan uses the vote to identify
sympathizers, we need cover. The Aquans can’t vote to stay.”
There
was a rumble of agreement. Don took over the meeting, giving
instructions and making sure everyone knew what to do when the vote
finally came. The Cell Leaders would relay instructions to their
members, who would relay it to other cells. Cora was about to add to
it, when Nix tugged on her sleeve. Cora took the hint and followed.
Nix
waited until they were alone and spoke quietly. “My dad… he
wanted to know if it was true, what the Pirate Station was saying. I
told him it was.”
Cora
nodded.
“He
still wants to go to the Surface.”
“Really?”
“Even
with the five to ten year limit… Cora, that’s more than a lot of
people have
down at Grey Sector. It’s not just his eyes going bad. He’s been
crammed into that box his entire adult life, barely getting any
light, only getting to move about when it’s his rotation once a
week at the gym. Every day we have to deal with schedule conflicts
and how many breathers or subs there are to go around. My father is
never on rotation. Green Sector at least gets to work in different
places. Blue Sector at least gets to be in well lit corridors. Gold
Sector and pilots have the run of the ocean… Cora, my dad’s bones
are worn out, so are his lungs, so’s his heart. If we gave him
permission to leave the Ark-Hive and explore the whole ocean, he
wouldn’t be able to swim more than a few minutes before he wore
out. The surface… clean air, plenty of it, and miles of open space…
Your dad has a point when he says we weren't designed to live
underwater.”
Cora
had no answer to that.
“I
still wanna stay.” Nix promised her. “I love the ocean. I love
the whales. I want… I want no more walls around me. Not ever again,
but the ocean is a death sentence for so many people. It’s not as
simple as go and die, or stay and live. Most of us aren’t living
down here.” She pulled Cora close and spoke right in her ear. “If
everyone voted legit, the Aquans might just lose. And what will you
do then? Will you
respect
the wishes of the majority?”
The
question floored Cora for a moment. She had never expected the
‘wishes of the majority’ to matter. The Plan had always been to
prepare and execute an Exodus. To take everyone who wanted to leave
and escape without anyone knowing they were planning to go.
Cora
suddenly realized why Don looked sick to his stomach.
~~/*\~~
58
Days To Landfall
~~/*\~~
Morgan
was at his desk, tapping away. Hardcopy was difficult to make in the
Ark-Hive, and resources were tight enough that he relied on his
secure TABB instead of taking notes. Randall was nearby, just
waiting. Randall’s job was not a pleasant one, and he wasn’t
usually burdened with writing reports and doing paperwork.
But
his job meant he was skilled at keeping his mouth shut, and that made
him indispensable to Morgan. The Stingray Commander was thinking out
loud. “Cui
Bono.”
He declared to Randall. “Who benefits?”
“Sir?”
“There
have been four things that shook the Ark-Hive in quick succession.
First, the Landfall announcement. The School-Sub. The Food Shortages.
Now this Pirate Hack.”
“And
you think they’re connected?”
“Some
of them, yes. But connected how? Cui
Bono.
A very old way of asking a question that every lawman needs to have
tattooed on the inside of their eyelids: Who benefits?”
Randall
had nothing.
“The
Cousteau
goes down, and forty kids are in danger. There’s no profit in that
for anybody, and it’s clearly incompetence, more than malice. So
the driver is removed, and life goes on. But there’s one detail
that doesn’t make sense. Do you remember? I mentioned it at the
time.”
“The
apprentice.” Randall reported promptly. “Nix, I think her name
was. She got off the Submarine first. You thought that was strange.”
“Yes,
because her suit and Breather were still on the Hydra
Hawk.
It was her training craft, so it’s an easy oversight to make,
especially as the Hydra’s
a private Yacht, owned by Cora Bridger. The Director’s Daughter
runs resource management. You think she’d just ‘misplace’ a
suit?”
“If
she signed her equipment back in, there’d be a manifest.” Randall
offered.
Morgan
was already calling up the records. “Yes, and… there it is. Four
suits, signed back into the Drydock, adult and Apprentice sizes. So
how did the suit get back on board the Hydra
Hawk?”
“Do
we bring in Bridger and ask her?”
“You
want to haul in The Director’s Daughter for questioning?” Morgan
dared him. “Especially given likely... succession probabilities?”
“Nosir.”
“Anyway,
the Cousteau
was ruled an accident. I can’t make an arrest without changing
that. But then the Pirate Hack happens, and suddenly there’s a
profit. The Director’s position is weakened.”
“Bridger
Junior’s a sub driver. Works with dolphin partners and Whale Synths
all the time. You think she was looking for a ‘win’?” Randall
theorized. “Something that could make her a hero to the Ark-Hive,
for when she takes over?”
“Good
thought, but that would mean Cora’s connected to the Pirate
Station, and we’ve been able to eliminate Cora Bridger from the
lists of suspects where that is concerned. Half the broadcasts she
has an alibi for, and I can’t believe anyone smart enough to evade
our firewalls would leave that sort of thing on a timer for too long.
If you had equipment that could flash a message to every screen in
the ocean, you wouldn’t let it out of your sight.”
Randall
nodded. His opinion wasn’t being sought. The boss just wanted to
talk with someone smart enough to keep it confidential forever.
“But
then this latest Broadcast. It reveals information listed as Board
Level Only. Something that most of the Board of Director’s doesn’t
even know, at least not until then…” Morgan was silent for a long
moment. “So, who do we know that wants a win for Cora Bridger, and
can get to information that tightly controlled?”
“Only
the Director.”
Morgan
looked at Randall, jaw dropping. “You better laugh when you say
that. No, this is something else… Whoever found out about the Weir
Syndrome isn’t working an agenda, because starting a riot helps
nobody. This is personal… someone who wasn’t in on the secret,
and was angry when they found out… So, how did they find out?”
“The
Pirate Station hacks our Comms. Maybe they can hack more than that?”
“Ordinarily,
I might think about that, but not this time. The report about the
Surface Syndrome was hardcopy only; for exactly this reason. There’s
no digital file to hack. There are less than five copies of the
information in the world…”
“So…
who? Who could have seen it without being briefed personally?”
“First
question: Who benefits? First Rule?”
“There
are no coincidences.” Randall said promptly.
“Four
major events in four months. The Landfall announcement was made by
the Director. Nobody but him knew it was coming. The School Sub? Cora
Bridger’s crew were the heroes there, but she couldn’t have known
it was coming, since it was pilot error. The Food Shortages? Also the
result of an accident. Equipment failure, and all the backups removed
for Landfall. But Cora’s the hero there too. Now the Pirate Hack?
The Director’s Daughter could have known the information, if she
went through her father’s desk.”
“You
think all of this has been a series of deliberate sabotages?”
“Why
sabotage the food supply? No benefit to anyone. If Cora’s a
subversive, she wouldn’t give us food, she’d keep the supply a
secret for her own people. Same with the Cousteau.”
Morgan shook his head. “Cora’s duties are varied, but not that
much. She can’t be behind these disasters; they’re simply
happening at too many levels.”
“Could
be easier than that.” Randall offered. “Maybe the Director is
getting his daughter to present the solutions when he could do it
himself.”
“Earn
her a little goodwill for when she takes over?” Morgan considered
that carefully. “But that’s the thing. The Director might want to
elevate Cora, but not by lowering himself. Who else would want to see
Cora as a hero, and have the access needed for something like this?”
Randall
was about to answer, when there was a sharp, heavy shudder that
rolled through the deck beneath their feet.
~~/*\~~
The
rumble woke Cora. For a moment, she was back in Varuna Outpost,
feeling the foundations shift. There was a shimmer outside her
bedroom window, and she went to the Plexi-glass to look. There was no
great bursts of flame or air bubbles that she could see… So
the hull hasn’t been breached, at least not on this side of the
Ark-Hive…
There
was another shudder, barely audible, but enough that she could feel
the vibration in her bare feet, if not hear it. Somewhere below her
deck, something was being destroyed.
“It’s
started.” Cora said grimly, and grabbed her uniform.
~~/*\~~
The
fire spread by the time she reached it. Someone had attacked the
Intersection between Gold and Green Sector. The Checkpoint that the
Stingray had set up less than a day before was now in flames.
The
Stingray were there, as well as the light blue uniforms of Station
Maintenance.
Cora
searched for a breather and felt a hand go around her waist, shoving
her back into the elevator. “Miss Bridger, get out of here!”
Randall yelled at her. “This place isn’t secure.”
“I
can help!” Cora shouted back over the roaring crackle of fire.
“You
can, but you won’t. My orders are to get everyone from Gold Sector
clear!”
Cora
looked at him finally. “You think this is an attack? On me, I
mean?”
“I
think it’s an attack on anyone in Gold Sector! Now get outta here!”
Randall shouted, just as the fire suddenly spread. The lights
overhead suddenly crackled, and sheets of sparks and flame came
falling from the ceiling. Cora grabbed Randal instinctively and
hauled him back into the tube she had just left. The doors closed
behind them both, and the elevator shook, dropping several feet
before going dark.
Cora
tapped the buttons instinctively. Sparks jumped off the panel, and
she reared back.
“Fire
got in the electrics.” Randall groaned. “The fuses would have
blown to prevent a shutdown across the whole Sector. Seems I owe you
my life.”
We
all have off days.
Cora thought it immediately, but didn’t say it out loud. “What
happened up there?” She asked.
“It
was a kamikaze run.” Randall grunted, tending so some of his own
injuries. “Someone came wandering up to the Checkpoint at the
Intersection. The guards told him to stop and be recognized, and he
charged. They hit him with the shock-shots, and suddenly the guy went
up like a flare. He had a detonator of some kind under his shirt.
Took out three of my guards and half the Checkpoint. Fire alarm went
off, but there was nobody left on hand to fight the fire with the
entire intersection locked down.” He shook his head, frustrated.
“There’ll be an official report, of course. We’ll have to bring
in the assailant’s family, and any friends worth questioning…”
“Then
you identified the guy?”
“We
haven’t decided yet.”
Cora
paused. “You mean, you haven’t ‘verified’ yet, right?”
“Right.”
Randall smirked. “I wouldn’t lose sleep over it, Cora. There’s
been this kind of unfocused, panic pushback ever since the Pirate
Hack outed the Weir Syndrome Problem. There were two sealable
compartments and plenty of doors he couldn’t get through without a
passcard before he got anywhere near the Board, you, or your father.”
“Either
that, or Stingray was the target.” Cora pointed out. “How many
people have been beat down hard
by
your guys this week? To quell the violence?”
Randall
looked over in the dark red light. “I know you don’t like me,
Cora. And I know your boyfriend is Green Sector. People there really
don’t like Stingrays. But when it looks like there’s an Uprising
coming, it’s people like me that put the fires out before they
reach people like you. Or at least, it should be.”
“Can’t
argue with that. But it’s got nothing to do with your uniform.
People in Green Sector don’t like being Bagged.” Cora ground out.
“And it’s no secret that you’re Morgan’s top shark.” She
looked over. “What’s your score up to now? Eighty nine Brown
Bags? Twenty three Black Bags?”
Randall
shrugged, like it was something to be proud off. “I hold the
record.” He looked up at the emergency lights. “What’s your
best guess?”
“Half
an hour to get the fire out and the electrics sorted.” Cora
reasoned. “Another ten minutes to reset the fuses, maybe a little
faster if they take a roll call and find out we’re missing.”
“Not
that long.” Randall shook his head. “Stingray are already in Gold
Sector. Top Four levels, in particular.”
Cora
froze. “Why?”
Randall
wouldn’t look at her. “Look, I owe you my life now, and I don’t
like owing people.” Randall said carefully. “But be glad you’re
here in a sealed box for the next forty minutes.”
Cora
felt her heart give a hard double thump. “What’s going on?”
Randall
sighed. “You didn’t get this from me.” He warned. “The Pirate
Hack has spooked the Commander something fierce. There are only three
or four people in the world that knew the Big Secret. And somehow it
got splashed to every screen in the Ocean. Morgan’s on a Crusade.
His people are searching every TABB, every desk, every notepad in
Gold Sector.”
“‘Or
at least, it should be’.” Cora repeated Randall’s words from a
moment ago. “What did you mean by that? When you said it should be
you guys putting the fires out when something goes wrong?”
“It
hasn’t gone unnoticed that you’ve managed to save the day a few
times in the last few months.” Randall told her quietly. “The
Cousteau,
the Food Riots… Morgan’s wondering who’s ‘running’ you, if
anyone.”
“Oh,
for the love of-”
Randall
held his hands up. “I know, I don’t buy it either. But Equipment
failure isn’t something Stingray can fight. So The Commander is
looking for something he can kill and declare victory.” Randall
shook his head. “There. We’re even now. I can’t say more.”
Long
silence.
“Three
or four people knew The Big Secret.” Cora leaned back against the
side of the elevator, trying to be casual. “Were you one of them?”
He
shook his head slowly.
“Just
between us? What do you want to do?” She asked curiously.
He
hesitated so long she wondered what he was afraid to say. “I go
where my Commander sends me.” He settled on finally. “My life has
never exactly been decided by my own whims. When you can do something
that needs doing, you do it. That’s a fact of the Ark-Hive.” He
gestured at her. “But look who I’m telling.”
“Yes.”
Cora agreed. Sell
it, Cora! “But
you realize, we get back to the Surface, and all that changes.
Assignments, Ration cards, Lights Out, Marriage Contracts and
reproduction waivers… We get back to the surface and have miles of
open air, they won’t be able to hold us to that ever again.” Or
if we pull off the Exodus, and have miles of ocean.
Randall
actually smiled. “It sounds nice.” He said wistfully.
Cora
hesitated. “It does, doesn’t it?” She admitted. And then the
elevator shook, the lights came on, and they started to rise again,
as the elevator panel sparked one more time. “Well, they got that
working a lot faster than I thought.”
“I
would have been fine giving them a little longer.” Randall had
already pulled his TABB out. “I have to figure out what to tell The
Commander.”
“I
have to figure out what to tell my dad.” Cora agreed. “Which
question do you suppose he’ll want answered first?”
Note From The Author: I hope you're all enjoying The Ark-Hive, in its serialised format. if you'd rather not wait until the next chapter is published, you can head over to Amazon, and buy the whole book; in a complete ebook format.
Available now on Amazon: The Ark-Hive
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Available now on Amazon: The Ark-Hive