[scifan] plantation 04 - beyond the river of time Read online

  “I left it with Lainey,” he says. “It all happened out of the blue. You were in a meeting and I

  didn’t want to interrupt. I basically had to leave within minutes once I decided to go.”

  I nod. It all makes sense now. “Lainey and Ella are up to their usual tricks,” I say.

  “Come on, Freya. What does this have to do with Ella?” he says. “I don’t like it when you make

  insinuations.”

  “Finn, I don’t have any issues with Ella. She has plenty of issues with me but that’s a different

  story.” I lower my voice when I pronounce those last words. She’s dangerously close to us and I

  don’t want her to know of my suspicions. “Can we take a walk?” I say.

  He leads me to the small sleeping chamber assigned to him while he’s in town. There’s a bed, a

  desk and two straw chairs and that’s about it.

  “Now tell me what crazy ideas you have forming in that head of yours,” he says as we settle

  down on the straw chairs.

  “They’re not crazy. Where should I start? Let’s see. One: Lainey never gave me your note nor

  did she mention it when I asked her point blank why she chose to send you of all people down here.

  Two: she told Eldritch that Ella and I are having a girl fight over you.”

  Finn chuckles.

  “Don’t laugh, you idiot. It was not fun.”

  “Okay, sorry, it was just the look on your face.”

  “Never mind that,” I say. “We have a bigger concern. Theo has detected several attempts to

  disrupt the energy field that keeps the security shield in place around Spring Town.”

  Finn goes pale. “You’re not serious?”

  “Very serious and all of them happened since you arrived here with Ella.”

  Finn shakes his head. “You have Ella and me under suspicion?”

  I rub the back of my neck, unsure how to respond. “Not you, Finn.”

  “I know what you’re thinking. No way. This is about you having cabin fever up on Exodus.

  You’re paranoid because of what happened with Tobi.”

  I don’t say anything. Part of me knows what he’s saying is possible, but the other part of me

  wants to slap him for mentioning Tobi’s abduction.

  “I guess I can keep an eye open,” he says. “But Ella is not your traitor. She’s as dedicated to the

  cause as we are. Don’t bring her up again.”

  “I’m not saying it’s Ella, Finn. Maybe it’s Lainey. Maybe it’s someone else pulling their strings

  without them realizing it. Whatever it is, there’s definitely something fishy going on. It’s almost as if Lainey went out of her way to send you here without informing me.”

  “Even if she did,” he begins, “what would sending me here accomplish as far as compromising

  the shield? If anything, having me here would be a possible obstacle.”

  “Not as much as you being on Exodus. You are in charge of monitoring and collecting

  information on our terrestrial communities and villages.”

  “You’ve thought this through,” he says after a short pause.

  “It’s not that hard, Finn. You can see it too. Look, all I’m saying is, let’s be careful. Let’s do a

  little investigation and see what we come up with.”

  “I just… I don’t want to do things behind Ella’s back. Behind anyone’s back for that matter,” he

  says tapping the side of his chair with his fingers.

  “Finn, we’re fighting a war. Too much is at stake as it is. Our personal feelings have to take

  second seat.”

  “Like your feelings for Damian?”

  I give him a scolding look. “If that’s what you need to hear, then yes.”

  I realize that for the first time I don’t have the urge to hide my feelings from Finn. I’m tired of

  trying to be who everybody wants me to be, even if that somebody is Finn. I am flawed. At times I

  make choices that don’t make logical sense to anyone. There’s no way around the fact. He should

  know that already.

  Finn stands. There’s no need for more words, I guess. We know who we are and what we have

  to do now.

  I follow him back to the Administration Offices where Ella waits alone. Her beautiful,

  penetrating eyes search both Finn and me from head to toe for signs of complicity.

  “What’s up, guys?” Ella says smiling to Finn. She’s as strange to me now as the first time I saw

  her. I know she has her admirable side, she’s bright and organized. She can be generous, too. I have

  seen that with my own eyes. On the other hand, I don’t think she ever quite says what she means when

  it comes to personal matters.

  Finn struggles to find the words.

  “I don’t bite,” Ella says growing worried and eying me suspiciously.

  I find her fear of me amusing as much as anything else. I can’t tell if she’s really in love with

  Finn or if she needs to prove a point. To me? To herself? What if this whole time she’s been

  following orders?

  “Why does Freya make you uncomfortable?” he asks as her impatience becomes awkward.

  “Was me coming down here your idea or Lainey’s?”

  Ella has a hard time looking him in the eye. She turns to me. “What did you tell him?” she says.

  Finn cuts in. “Freya is here to report a technical issue,” he says. “It was by accident that she

  brought up an interesting conversation she had with Lainey. I will not be manipulated, Ella.”

  “Ahem, I need to go. I have to talk to Torik and Malzod,” I say. “Do either one of you know

  where they are?”

  “Torik’s here in Spring Town today,” Ella says without looking at me. “You can find him near

  the corn field. I don’t know about Malzod.”

  “Malzod was in the Dark Legion camp yesterday,” Finn says. “He’s probably still there.”

  “Thanks, I’ll look for him then,” I say. “Oh, Finn, Rabbit’s here. Could you keep him out of

  trouble?” I hurry away as the two of them stare intensely at each other and wait for me to disappear.

  *

  I DON’T KNOW MUCH about Torik. I’ve only spoken to him on two brief occasions over

  practical matters. Most of my information pertaining to the new Dark legion leader comes from Kroll.

  It is rather scary when I think that I have left the safety of Spring Town in his hands. I have to trust that Kroll has chosen wisely.

  The corn field has yielded our first crop in the new district thanks to a dynamic super-corn

  variety that can sprout seeds into fully grown plants within two weeks. We have also planted leafy

  greens, tomatoes and quinoa in the fields around Spring Town. Berry patches are next in order.

  I spot Torik’s tall, bulky figure from several yards away. He stands in the separating path

  between two rows of corn stalks. He’s talking to someone quite small and slender. A child. I stop and stare at the odd companions for a moment when the girl sees me.

  “So nice to see you again, Freya,” she says as she comes running to me. “I’m happy to report I’m

  done with my task. Everyone in Spring Town has a new name.”

  Her name is Ava now. The girl who thought she was like me. “Well, that’s wonderful news. A

  job well done,” I say as I open my arms to hug her.

  Torik bows and places his right arm across his chest as a sign of his allegiance. I’m not quite

  sure what Ava is doing out here with him. She guesses my question and answers before I ask it.

  “It’s so nice to be out in the fields, isn’t it?” she says. “I come here all the time to feel the

  regeneration of life as it ha
ppens. We’re taking the Earth back, Freya.”

  “Are we now?” I say amused at her excitement. “There’s a lot more work to be done.”

  “A lot more battles as well,” Torik says as he squeezes and squishes a cob of corn with his

  fingers.

  “That wasn’t very bright,” I tell him. I find one of Tobi’s small hand towels in my pocket and

  hand it to Torik to wipe off his fingers.

  Ava goes pale. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I get very excited. Of course there is a long way to go

  before the world is free.”

  “We are already free,” I say. “But now we must make sure everyone else is free, too.”

  “She is very intelligent,” Torik says when Ava leaves us to talk.

  “Yes, she is,” I say. “Thank you for taking the time to make her feel welcome here. I know it

  must be quite a handful to have all those young humans asking for attention and validation. Kroll has assured me you’re up to the task.”

  “It is what I do now,” he says scanning the fields with his gaze. “Protecting this place and all

  who live here.”

  I get the impression that Torik’s nature is solitary, more so than most Sliman, and in some ways

  he reminds me of Wudak. He’s not as fierce as Kroll and more likely to contemplate before acting.

  “You’re taking your new responsibilities very seriously,” I say. “Good. We need to believe in

  what we do or it will all come crumbling down.”

  “It is an honor,” Torik says still gazing out toward the open spaces. He hasn’t looked me straight

  in the eye once. The curse of feeling bound to me and at the same time profoundly uncomfortable in

  my presence is something that these Sliman warriors have to deal with all the time. Even after they

  have seemingly accepted the reality of having succumbed to my command.

  “Is there anything that you need, Torik?”

  “Everything is sufficient.”

  I nod as he peeks to me and then back to the field. “Have you noticed anything unusual?”

  This gets his attention. He turns to face me at last. “Unusual?” he says. “That is always a matter

  of perspective.”

  “I’m interested in your perspective,” I tell him.

  “To me when all is calm and peaceful, it is unusual.”

  “Maybe it is the calm before a storm,” I suggest.

  “Let’s hope that is not the case,” he says.

  I can see why Kroll likes him. “What I’m about to say is confidential. Do not repeat it unless I

  tell you so. Do you understand?” I say.

  “I understand,” he says touching his chest. “I’m at your service now and forever.”

  “It has come to my attention that there have been a few momentary breaches of the shield around

  Spring Town. I need you to stay alert. Assign extra patrols and install new cameras and scanners.

  Make sure the radar is always working.”

  “The patrols will be assigned immediately,” he says.

  “I will make sure you get the cameras and scanners.”

  “Are the aliens not responsible for these breaches?” he questions.

  “They could be, but it’s not certain. That’s what we have to figure out. And I need your help for

  that.”

  A smile forms on his face.

  “What is it?” I say.

  “I refer to them as aliens,” he says. “Sliman, too, must be aliens in your minds.”

  “Torik, this is not how we feel,” I say. “Not those born on the plantations. We were born in a

  cage like you. The Saviors, the freed children, even the people of Exodus. A free Earth is an

  unchartered planet to everyone. We are aliens here, too, in our own way.” I reach up to touch his

  shoulder. “How nice would it be to one day have a place we could all call home?”

  *

  RABBIT CATCHES UP WITH ME on my way to inspect the dorms.

  “See? I didn’t get lost and I didn’t forget to come back,” he says as he performs some sort of

  weird dance around me. “What do you have to say now?”

  “Finn found you, didn’t he?” I say as I push him out of my way.

  “Yes,” Rabbit says. Then he looks at me suspiciously. “How did you know?”

  I lean in and whisper, “There’s nothing you do that I don’t know about.”

  “Really, Freya?” he says pulling away from me. “I’m not a child. You don’t have to send Finn

  after me.”

  I can’t help but smile as I mess up his hair. “I didn’t send Finn after you,” I say. “I just asked him to keep an eye out for you. I know you’re not a child. You’re worse because you are extremely skilled and you think nothing can touch you.”

  When we reach the dorms we find Ella and Ava interacting with a group of seven-and-eight—

  year-olds.

  “Freya, this is where we set up our first school,” Ava says pointing at a small building across

  from the dorms. “I was just telling Ella about it.” Ava opens the door and leads me inside a simply

  furnished and tidy room.

  The children follow us in and take their places at the desks that are placed in a circle. One of the

  desks is bigger than the rest with several books and other school supplies on it.

  “That’s the teacher’s desk,” Ava says with a wide smile on her sweet face.

  Something wells up deep inside me. This small classroom represents everything we are fighting

  for with such an unexpected gravity. Schools and teachers and students. This will be the first step

  toward a new world that reflects all that was good about the old world. We need to walk back slowly

  and start again. The clock that was stopped the day our civilization died all those years ago can be

  wound and tick once more.

  A memory rises into my head and my heart expands. I remember Theo, years ago, long before I

  discovered my powers, long before the Saviors had their first battles against the aliens, back when he had time to go through random science books and tell us what he had learned.

  “A wound clock weighs more than a unwound clock,” he said one day and then went on to

  explain how winding up the clock adds electromagnetic potential energy and therefore mass.

  I believe I can feel that extra weight, the magical weight of a ticking clock in my chest. I decide

  we need to wind up every clock in the world. We could produce a mass so big it might fill up all that was lost, all the unwound moments of the missing century.

  Ella stands by the door. She hasn’t had an easy life; nobody has these last hundred years. I can’t

  begrudge her the fact that she has fallen for Finn and that she wants him all to herself. In my opinion, Finn is the best man on Earth or Exodus. The best a man could be. If he shares her feelings, there’s

  nothing more for me to say or do. I could claim him for myself but it might be too late even for that. I have decided not to, in any case, so what he does is his own business. But Finn will always be my

  best friend and I need to know if Ella can be trusted.

  Through the open windows, I spot Damian sitting on what looks to be a small mound of reeds

  and sticks. He watches the school eating pumpkin seeds.

  I step outside to meet him.

  “Did you do what you came here to do?” he says.

  “Not even close,” I say and sit beside him. “I have to go to the Dark Legion camp. That’s where

  I’ll find Malzod.”

  “That Zolkon thing,” Damian says. “What did you expect? That he’d stick around out of gratitude

  to you? Nobody changes that fast. We’re not all on Freya time.”

  “I didn’t expect anything, Damian. To be hones
t, I’d forgotten all about him. But now that he’s

  gone, I’d like to know how it happened.”

  “Never leaving anything to chance.”

  “Isn’t that the way you live as well?”

  “If you think I understand myself, you’d be mistaken,” he says as he springs up onto his feet.

  I do the same and start dusting my pants with both hands.

  “Let’s go,” he says. “I’ll take you to the camp.”

  “Thank you,” I say as we step onto one of the parked electric carts courtesy of Exodus.

  “Not a big deal,” he says. “I have to get back anyway. It’s my new home after all.”

  I consider his feigned enthusiasm for the camp and choose to ignore it. “Did you wait around for

  me?”

  “Maybe,” he says.

  “Does that mean we have a normal friendship again? That you won’t run for the hills every time

  you see me?”

  “Which hills are we talking about?” he says. “Because if Biscuit is there cooking pies, I can’t

  make any promises.”

  “Well, I guess that’s a start,” I say and stare up at the top of the buildings that mark the end of

  Spring Town. I take a deep breath and don’t even attempt to mask my concern.

  “Freya?” Damian says. “What’s wrong?”

  “This won’t last,” I say. “This peace and tranquility. The Shadow Empire is always closer than

  we think. Most of the blood we are sworn to protect belongs to children.”

  “We won’t let that happen. We will protect them.”

  “It’s tempting to believe you,” I say drinking in the sincerity of his eyes. “There’s nothing I want

  more than for that to be true.”

  “Then you must let me be your truth.”

  The Dark Legion camp comes into sight as we go around a corner through the woods. My heart

  beats harder now, faster. The dark warriors sweat and clang metal and prepare for battles ahead. I

  don’t want the children to die. I don’t want these steadfast warriors to die. I don’t want any more

  death. I just want what they all want. Freedom.

  4

  The first thing I do when I get back on Exodus is to go over Finn’s report on all that happened

  since he landed in Spring Town. I can’t find anything strange or suspicious there which is a relief and a disappointment at the same time. I’m back where I started.