Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3) (3 page)

As the window returned to a solid black, Catherine observed, “If I recall, the scout report stated that Haven is tidelocked in a weird sort of way. Instead of having the same face toward the planet, it has the same face toward the star. The scout that discovered the moon a couple of years ago calculated that it would only experience about twenty-four hours of darkness every month.”

“One day of night a month? I must have missed that on the report.”

“That was one of the things that stuck out in my mind. That, and the near uniform climate around the globe. It should make for some pleasant weather.”

“Yeah,” Jason said.

“I’d hate to put out a lot of sweat while working the fields tomorrow.”

“That reminds me. I’m one of the lucky few that gets to explore on the other side of the lake tomorrow,” Jason said excitedly.

“The other side of the lake?”

He nodded.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Jason. Who knows what creatures are over there?”

“Actually, not many at all from what I understand,” he reassured her. “Ms. Armstrong said that the colony ship scanned the surface and found very few animals in the area. Besides, I’m going to have a skycycle and some sort of firearm with me. If I can’t kill it, I can run away.”

“Just be careful out there. Okay?”

Jason smiled confidently as he leaned toward her. “No worries. I’ll be fine.”

Catherine smiled back and asked, “Are you tired?”

He shook his head. “No. Not really.”

Whipping the sheet off of him, she straddled his hips and leaned down toward him before he had a chance to react.

“Good morning, Jason. Good morning, Catherine.”

Jason’s eyes snapped open. Although he had tried to sleep through the night, the anticipation he held for the next day had permitted him light sleep at best. The only thing helping him relax enough to rest had been feeling Catherine’s warm body snuggled up next to his.

Scooting toward the edge of the bed, he stretched his arms and legs, while she continued to sleep under the white sheet covering their bed.

“Good morning, Catherine.”

Peeling the sheet back, he climbed out of bed and stepped toward the opaque window on his side of the bed.

“Good morning, Catherine.”

The sharp breath Jason heard from her confirmed she was finally awake. He watched over his shoulder for a few seconds as she stirred and stretched.

“Morning, Catherine,” he greeted softly.

Turning her head, she regarded him for a second before smiling sleepily and scratching her head.

“Good morning,” she returned. “Get enough sleep?”

“No, but I’ll manage. You?”

She laughed as she forced herself out of bed. “About the same.”

Walking to where he stood, Catherine sidled next to him and lovingly wrapped her arms about his chest. Jason placed his arms over hers and welcomed the morning hug. Before he knew it, she slid her hand down his abdomen and gently tickled and stroked his penis.

“Ready to wake up?”

He closed his eyes and relished the sensations she created for him for several seconds. He reluctantly pulled her hand away. “We should take a shower and get ready.”

Turning around, he lifted her chin and gently kissed her lips.

With a conniving smile, he asked, “Care to join me?”

“Is there enough room for the two of us?”

“Let’s find out.”

After the pair finished their forty-five minute shower together, they dressed and walked out of their metallic home to see most of their neighbors moving toward the center of town. They joined the migration. When they arrived there, Ms. Armstrong was waiting on the steps of the town hall. It appeared they were to get one last speech from her.

“Good morning, everyone,” the administrator began through the portable audio system. “I trust you all had plenty of sleep last night.”

Judging from the nervous laughs from most of the crowd, Jason assumed he was not the only one lacking rest.

“You all learned of your initial duties during the trip here, so I should not have to go over them again. At this point, we are going to separate according to our assignments. Builders will meet with Kevin at the southeast corner of the square. Hunters and foragers, go see William at the southwest corner. Farmers are to split into two groups: the men will go to the northwest corner to speak with Thomas, and the women will meet with me here. We all have a long day ahead of us, so let’s make the best of it. Any questions?”

After a few seconds of virtual silence, she concluded, “All right, then. I’ll see you all at lunch.”

“Have fun!” Catherine kissed Jason before jogging off to where her leader waited.

“See you at lunch!” He waved before reporting to his corner of the square.

William addressed the group, initially reiterating what Ms. Armstrong had said after dinner the previous day. Then, he outlined the requisition of vehicles for everyone to use during the day. Most of the group would separate into four large trucks and fan out from the village to cover their chosen territories, but Jason and Lesley would take skycycles for their expedition across the lake.

The idea of driving a skycycle thrilled Jason. Throughout his adolescent years, he had fantasized about riding around town on such a vehicle, emulating the roles portrayed in various movie and television programs, such as a gang member or bad boy who made the girls swoon. His parents had always forbidden him from indulging in such folly, but he was now finally getting his chance.

William handed each of the hunters and foragers a certificate to redeem at the supply depot for the equipment they would need
before heading out. Jason did not see what the hunters were getting, but his voucher indicated a communicator, a forager’s backpack, a hand scanner, a pulse laser rifle, and the skycycle. Jason smiled broadly as he perused the list and rushed to the depot as soon as the group was dismissed.

Standing in line, Jason overheard a couple of the hunters behind him complaining that their homes had lost power while they slept. As he listened, he found that both of them lived near the edge of the lake where the first home had lost power the previous day.

A few minutes later, Jason walked into the main storage area of the depot and received the backpack, rifle, communicator, and scanner. He placed the scanner in a side pouch on the backpack and fitted the bag over his shoulders before strapping the wrist communicator to his arm. Once done, he hefted the weapon and looked it over a couple of times, familiarizing himself with the settings. After satisfying his childish curiosity, he hung the rifle over his shoulder and moved to the motor pool. He mounted the skycycle after giving it a brief inspection, and departed for the far side of the lake.

Several minutes later, Jason stood on the far bank of the lake, surveying the area. The grassy shore basking in the sun was warm and inviting. He resisted the urge to lie down and relax, choosing instead to do his work and investigate the plants along the edge of the water for possible sources of food. Over the next few hours, his efforts yielded a grove of fruit-bearing trees and an edible root that grew in abundance near where the lake fed into the river.

After eating lunch with Catherine in their home, Jason returned back to work for the afternoon. He decided to forage down the banks of the river. About a kilometer downstream, he stopped on a wide, flat expanse of the bank and dismounted his skycycle to look around the area. Finding nothing more than moss and lichens, he elected to venture away from the bank a short distance, hoping to find some sweet berries or another fruit that would make the trip worthwhile.

Several minutes passed as he hiked through the woods that dominated the area and found nothing worthwhile. Just as he was about to turn back, he emerged through the trees into a clearing and stopped dead in his tracks. He stared in front of him, confused. “How did that get here?” he muttered to himself.

Coming to his senses a few seconds later, he fumbled his hand across his wrist while keeping his eyes fixed on the sight, until he finally activated the communicator.

“Haven, this is Jason Fuller.”

“Jason Fuller, Haven Control. Go ahead.” The person on the other end, an older male voice, sounded less than enthusiastic.

He paused for a few seconds. “Are you sure this moon is not inhabited?”

Sounding bored, the voice replied, “Yes, we are the first people to land on this moon.”

“You…you’re not going to believe what I found.” Jason found it increasingly difficult to find the words to say.

“What did you find?” the voice asked indifferently.

After a few seconds more, Jason replied, “A pyramid.”

The person on the other end also paused for a while. He finally responded with more interest. “What?”

“I found a pyramid right here in the middle of the woods.”

Another male voice broke into the conversation. “Did you say a pyramid, Jason?”

“Yes, I did. It’s a pyramid.”

Dozens of voices burst through the channel, all asking questions and speculating on the news.

“Are you kidding?”

“You’re joking!”

“What are you drinking, and can I have some?”

“It’s got to be some natural formation.”

“No, no!” Jason chimed in, hoping to break through the clamor of voices. “It’s a pyramid all right, kind of Aztec-looking with stairs going up the front to a doorway at the top and sitting in the middle of this paved clearing. There’s a bunch of smaller stone buildings circling it, too.”

“Jason,” He recognized Ms. Armstrong’s voice. “Do not approach the structure. Wait for the guards to get there and secure the area. We don’t know what’s there.”

He smiled. “Isn’t that why you sent me over here?”

“I sent you to look for food, not to go gallivanting into some building that holds who-knows-what. Stay where you are, and do not approach it!”

Jason sighed. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll stay put.”

“Thank you. Everyone else, go back to your tasks. We’ll tell all of you what we found later.”

The radio fell silent, and Jason found a shady spot under a tree that gave him a clear view across the clearing. He sat in the sparse grass and leaned his back against the large trunk, glad to have some time off his feet while he waited for the soldiers to arrive.

About ten minutes later, Jason heard the approach of the troops’ vehicles by the river. He waited for the engines to die down before calling to them. “Over here!”

A dozen soldiers wearing black flak vests over their camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles held at the ready appeared in the woods and charged toward him. On reaching his position, they surrounded him and pointed their weapons into the clearing as if waiting for something to happen. A few seconds later, one of them pointed to three others and directed them toward the right side, gave a similar instruction to three more to go to the left, and two others to join him down the middle.

A few seconds later, the squad leader gave the signal, and the three groups moved out of the trees and across the pavement toward the pyramid, while the last three troopers remained by the trees. Jason watched them hustle to the buildings surrounding the main structure, pause there while they searched the area again for activity, and then approach to the base of the pyramid. The leader ran up the steps with his two men, while the others remained on the ground. It took them a full minute to rush up the staircase, but they reached the top and quickly moved inside without hesitating.

The three military men remained inside for only a few seconds before coming back out. They were all tapping their ear communicators but not saying anything.

“Sarge.” One of the soldiers standing next to Jason called through his communicator. “Sarge, do you read?”

Several seconds after the attempt, he added over his shoulder, “I’ve got nothing.”

He tapped his ear and tried again, “Sarge, Butler, Watkins, do you read me?”

Jason regarded him with curiosity, wondering why he continued to call them over the communicators when they were only about a hundred meters away and in line of sight. Looking back at the group in the middle of the square, he noticed they had regrouped at the bottom of the stairs and appeared to be discussing something. Several seconds after that, the leader moved a few steps back toward the woods and tapped his earpiece again.

The soldier next to Jason tried the call again. “Sarge, do you…I read you now, sir…yes, sir…yes, sir.”

He turned toward the other three men standing by him. “All right, you heard him. Get back to the vehicles! Let’s move!”

Before Jason could protest, they had jogged through the woods toward the river, leaving him alone. A second later, his communicator came alive again.

“Jason, please report back to town for debriefing.”

As he lifted his arm to respond, he glanced back at the pyramid and the soldiers setting up a perimeter around the structure before answering, “On my way.”

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Jason found himself sitting alone at a table in an empty office in the town hall. Kept waiting for over half an hour, he grew bored of staying in the room with nothing to do and felt on the verge of banging his head against the wall.

The door opened, and Ms. Armstrong glided into the room. An older, high-ranking, uniformed man with white crew-cut hair walked right behind her. Ms. Armstrong grabbed one of the chairs opposite him at the table and sat down, while the military man stood behind her, a grim expression on his face.

“Well, Jason,” she began. “You’ve had quite a day. Venture off to forage for food and find an ancient pyramid instead?”

Jason shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “Well, you know. It’s not like I planned it that way.”

“That may be true.” She flashed a smile for a second. “But, it seems kind of odd that we haven’t even been planet-side for twenty-four hours, and you just happen to stumble across this…astounding find. Why is that?”

His smile dropped away. “I don’t know. I was only looking for food and happened to find it…the pyramid, that is. I don’t know why.”

The debriefing continued for what Jason believed to be at least half an hour, consisting of questions ranging from simple fact regurgitation, such as the amount of vegetation growing around the pyramid, to the totally absurd – suggesting that he had been led there by some form of intelligence. He answered truthfully to the best of his ability, even though his answers sometimes seemed to frustrate the woman sitting across from him. Through it all, the military man standing behind her remained silent.

Ms. Armstrong finally nodded with a tight-lipped smile. “Considering that all of our reconnaissance reports indicate no other signs of civilization on this moon, I’m truly intrigued by this pyramid. Have you discussed this with anybody else other than the two of us?”