Evolution (2 page)

I was grateful when a knock came at the door. Hoping it was Anna, I went to answer. I pressed the exit button, causing the metal door to slide open. I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed when it was Samuel, standing in his characteristic muscle shirt and camo pants. His head, as usual, was shaved bald, and his facial features were sharp and toned. Even after all the R&R, he had been working out. That was Samuel’s way – everything he did was for the purpose of succeeding in our mission.

“We’re all meeting in Ashton’s office to go over the final phase of the mission at 1930 hours.”

“Alright. I need to eat still.”

“Make it quick. You have fifteen. Anna and Makara are already waiting.”

“What are we going over?”

“We’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked. “I thought we still had a couple weeks.”

“It’s go time, kid,” he said. “My arm’s healed, and if we stay up here any longer, we’ll go soft. Besides, the xenovirus isn’t taking any breaks.”

I guessed that much was true. “Alright. I’ll head over.”

Samuel walked away, and I felt a surge of energy rush through me. Tomorrow, we’d be back on the planet, doing something that mattered. I was already starting to feel more alive. Makara had been training to pilot the
Odin
. Ashton himself had been teaching her, in the mornings, and they had run some test atmosphere reentries, and even some landings. Basically, anything she’d have to do during the mission, Ashton had taught her. He had told me that she was a natural. That made sense, because she drove the Recon like a pro on our way to Bunker One. It didn’t surprise me that she also had an affinity for piloting the
Odin
.

I left my hab, entering the main corridor of the Mid Ring. It was time to head to the commons for a bite.

The Mid Ring’s main corridor is hard to get used to. You can see it curving, slightly upward, along its entire length. The whole thing makes a circle, and is always spinning to supply Skyhome with artificial gravity. The Mid Ring is divided into four Quadrants – Alpha, Beta, Charlie, and Delta. Charlie Quadrant contains the commons, the clinic, and an archive, where there are computers. In Charlie, there is also a rec room with a large screen that’s used for movies. The rest of the Quadrants are dedicated to habs, mostly. My hab, along with Anna’s, is in Delta Quadrant. Makara’s and Samuel’s are both in Alpha.

Then there are the two other Rings – the Outer Ring, and the Inner Ring. The Outer is where all food is grown hydroponically. The Outer Ring also contains recycling tanks and water reclamation units, or WRU’s. Most of the water is tied up in the Outer Ring to water crops, but every molecule of it is saved and recycled with near 100 percent efficiency. Any time there is a shortfall, which only happens once every few years,
Gilgamesh
can go to the surface, fill up, and make up the difference.

For power, solar collectors are attached on the Outer Ring’s surface. Altogether, they take in more energy than the station will ever need. There is also a backup fusion generator, the same kind that runs the spaceships, in Skyhome’s central nexus. In the event of a massive solar flare, the solar collectors could be blown out, rendering them useless until they could be replaced.

The crops of the Outer Ring provide oxygen, and Skyhome’s citizens provide carbon dioxide, while state of the art filtration and monitoring technology makes sure the air composition maintains a proper balance. In addition to the food grown in the Ring, chickens are also raised. They provide eggs and the occasional meat. Most Skyhome citizens have a full-time job growing crops and raising chickens. There are also specialized technicians and engineers who keep the orbiting city maintained, and who make repairs when needed. Dr. Ashton himself doubles as the station’s general practitioner, even if medicine is not his main field of expertise.

Of the three Rings, the Inner is the smallest. It contains administrative offices, including Ashton’s, and the inner workings of Skyhome, called the Central Nexus. The Nexus turns all three rings of the station, and consumes the most energy. It is also where the backup fusion generator is located, complete with supply of deuterium and tritium to create the Helium-4 necessary to power the station for two months, until solar panels can be replaced.

Connecting all of the Rings are the four tunnels (also named Alpha, Beta, Charlie, and Delta, depending on what Quadrant they are located in). The tunnels are arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Along Alpha Tunnel, between the Mid and Inner Rings, is the hangar, where both
Gilgamesh
and
Odin
are docked.

How Skyhome operates is a very complicated thing that I cannot even begin to understand. Its construction in the 2020’s must have pushed experts and engineers to the limits. It’s no wonder they only constructed one when they had originally planned on building six. All the same, its inner workings were a fascinating subject to me, and it was quite amazing that the United States was able to pull off constructing it – and it was also amazing that Ashton and others had been able to utilize it following the fall of both Bunker One and Bunker Six.

When I reached the commons, I grabbed a bowl of vegetable stew from one of the kitchen staff, then sat down to eat. Once done, I headed over to Ashton’s office in the Inner Ring. I stood before the metal blast door before pressing the entrance button. The door hissed open, allowing me to walk in.

I had only been in Ashton’s office several times. Rather large, the office contained his built-in metal desk, lines of file cabinets along one wall, and a large work bench on the opposite wall. The work bench was filled with tools and objects of Ashton’s mechanical tinkering. The office was rectangular in shape, and at the end of it, three large windows looked out onto the surface of Earth, a vibrant green and violet and red.

Ashton now sat behind his desk, regarding me with sharp blue eyes as I walked forward. The others were already here. I went to stand between Anna and Makara, as Samuel stood to the right side of Ashton’s desk, arms folded. On Ashton’s desk rested a thin computer, and on a corner several binders were neatly stacked. From the Inner Ring’s rotation, I could see the surface of the planet spinning before me.

“Let’s get started,” Ashton said brusquely.

Ashton’s accent was hard to pin down. Being born before Ragnarok, his voice carried a hint of southeastern regionalism that was most likely all but gone from the world. My only way of determining his accent was from movies I had seen back in Bunker 108 – which, admittedly, wasn’t a perfect measure.

“The purpose of this meeting is to give you an update on the situation, and what we’re going to do about it. As it stands, you all will be heading down to Earth tomorrow to resume the next phase of your mission. You will be heading to the Nova Roma Empire to speak with Augustus – make him agree to lay down arms and join us in the fight against Ragnarok. Meanwhile, my job is to monitor your mission from afar while trying to pin down the exact location of the Voice.”

“Have you figured anything out on that front?” Anna asked.

“Some,” Ashton said. “Makara and I have taken
Odin
on a few flybys of Ragnarok Crater, in hopes of securing more accurate measurements. It has helped, and we have pinpointed the origin of the Voice within twenty miles. I need to get a more accurate measure, however. When our assault on the crater begins, you must be able to find the Voice quickly, and destroy it, before you are overwhelmed. I still need more information, and if I do two more flybys of the Crater, I will be able to triangulate the point of origin of the Voice. That’s what I’ll be doing while you are on the surface. I’m confident that with another few months, I’ll know the exact location of the Voice.”

“Alright,” I said. “What’s our job until then?”

“There are four major powers now in North America. There is the Nova Roman Empire, by far the strongest, and who should be approached first. There are also the Los Angeles gangs and Vegas gangs, both of which are quite sizeable. Last of all are Bunkers 76 and 88. Neither have responded to my radio calls, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. Both have weapons and supplies that would be invaluable to the attack.”

“Why Nova Roma first?” I asked.

“They are the most powerful. If the Emperor Augustus can be convinced to help us, it will make the other Wasteland leaders fall into line.” Ashton paused. “There is also the matter of the war between the Empire and Raider Bluff. That must be stopped before it can even begin. That involves speaking to Augustus, in person.”

“It just seems like a very difficult thing to do,” I said.

Ashton looked at me sternly. “Nonetheless, it must be done. Do you think I would send you in there if I didn’t think you were capable of it? If not you, then who else?”

I didn’t have an answer for that, so I didn’t say anything.

“It will be difficult,” Samuel said. “But it is absolutely necessary. The Wasteland cannot be caught up in a gigantic war at a time like this. We need to lay down the facts for Augustus before he does anything stupid.”

“So,” Anna said, “do we just walk into his house, or something? That sounds like a risky maneuver.”

“Yes, that is the plan,” Ashton said. “Soon, you will know everything. But before I get to the how, it’s useful to give you all a little bit of background.” Ashton looked at me. “The story I have to tell relates to your father, Alex.”

Now, I was
really
surprised. What could my father and Cornelius Ashton have in common?

“You knew my father?”

Ashton smiled. “I met him, long ago. He was still a boy. Eight, nine years old perhaps.”

I did that math in my head. My dad had been thirty eight when he died.

“You met him before Ragnarok, then?”

Ashton nodded. “I did. There was a summit for all the highest ranking officials of Bunker One, about two weeks before we were put underground. That was where I met your grandfather, Lorin.”

“Bunker One?” I frowned. “He entered Bunker 108, though.”

“Yes, that is so,” Ashton said. “But he almost didn’t enter any Bunker at all. His wife, your grandmother, was stuck in Europe at the time, with your father. At the summit, he refused his berth until both your grandmother and father, then a child, could be brought safely home. President Garland refused that request. He and your grandfather were old rivals. Regardless, that was how your grandfather lost his spot in Bunker One. He did, by the way, find a way to get to Europe and rescue your grandmother and father in all that madness. He was able to bring them both back home. Only by that time, the doors of Bunker One had closed. The spots for Lorin and his family had been filled. He was refused entry.”

I was shocked at this story. Never, in all my life, had my father told it to me. It made me feel a little betrayed, in a way. Why had he wanted to keep it from me?

“It was likely a very traumatic time in your father’s life,” Ashton said. “He probably witnesses horrors in those last days of the Old World that he never wanted to speak of again. You shouldn’t hold that against him.”

Of course, that had to be the reason why. Part of me wondered, though...had my dad ever planned on telling me?

“What happened after my grandfather got back to America?” I asked.

“With Ragnarok’s impact just days away, Lorin was directed to Bunker 108, in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was the only one that had enough room for three people. He survived a harrowing journey cross country that was likely as dangerous as yours. Those days were awful, and some might say the world ended long before Ragnarok fell. He did end up making it to Bunker 108, somehow, because we received a transmission from him a week following Ragnarok’s impact.”

“Do you know anything else?”

“After that, I’m afraid not much. I buried myself in my work. I had my own wife, and two children. All three perished in 2048 with the fall of Bunker One.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“It was long ago,” Ashton said.

The room was quiet for a bit. It occurred to me that Anna, Makara, Samuel, and I all had one thing in common: we had all lost our parents. Such was the case for many people – perhaps most people, in the world. It was all because of Ragnarok, and what it carried.

“I tried everything I could to rescue my wife and kids, but the dorms were the first hit by the crawlers. I couldn’t have made it even if I had tried.” Ashton paused, as if pained to speak. “They swarmed everything. Everyone was rushing to the runway, to get out however they could. I headed to the motor bay instead. I could only hope my wife and children made it. To this day, I don’t know if they ever got out. They would have touched down in L.A. with the others.”

“I don’t know, either,” Makara said. “Samuel and I were in two separate birds that took off. If they were among the refugees, they didn’t say. It was so long ago.”

“I don’t remember anything, either,” Samuel said. “I think three copters got out. One crashed – the one Makara was on. She was the only survivor. The other two formed a community on the east side. If they were among them, I’m afraid the news isn’t good. They were acquired by the Black Reapers years ago.”

Ashton nodded. “I have lived as if they were gone for the past twelve years. I wasn’t expecting any miracles. No scientist should.”

Something chilled me about those words. Cornelius Ashton was a cold and distant man, but it seems like he wasn’t always so. After losing everything, all that remained was his life’s work of studying the virus that had destroyed his family.

I gave Anna a sidelong glance. Her hazel eyes met mine. I looked back at Ashton.

“I found myself escaping with two others. One was a mechanic named Dustin Cornell, and a pilot named Preston Yates. Cornell has since passed, but we all made it to Bunker Six, not too far north of Bunker One. The Bunker had been evacuated in the face of the coming storm, and was still largely untouched – the crawlers had completely ignored it. We acquired
Gilgamesh
, not really sure where we were going. But, Yates noticed a destination already programmed into the ship, called Skyhome. I knew the U.S. had created a large space station in the 2020’s as yet another failsafe –a place the President could retreat to if conditions on Earth became absolutely intolerable. But, until I finally saw it when we left the atmosphere, I did not know Skyhome’s true scope. It was massive – so much so that it is a wonder the U.S. could ever hide it. Nothing about it was published during the Dark Decade as far as I know, but during the time of the Dictatorship, the press could only report what the government allowed it to. We all assumed that anything sent to space had something to do with stopping Ragnarok, and that was all we were ever let known. The majority of those missions had to have been for building Skyhome.”