Astra: Synchronicity (16 page)

I sure am going to miss this old
thing
, he thought when he put the old leather coat around her
shoulders. Her eyes lit up and she almost smiled at him when she
turned around. She slipped her arms inside and pulled it closed
around her tall, narrow frame. "Thank you," she said and clenched a
book to her chest.

Xander glared at him for a moment before
leading her away toward a transport. For her sake, Magnius hoped
the President would pardon the scientist of his crimes.

The sharp sound of grinding metal behind him
made him spin around. Lyneea, overburdened with suitcases, climbed
down the ramp dragging a trunk behind her. She'd owned the trunk
since she was a child. Its wheels had long since passed their
prime, having been reduced to nubs on their honeymoon. Despite his
persuasion, she fought to keep it. Ironic that the trunk outlasted
their marriage.

"Do you need a hand?" he called out to
her.

She glanced at him and scoffed. "Always the
gentleman…and no. I'm just heading over to the
Schenectady
.
I can make it by myself." She struggled with her bags when she
noticed the commotion outside the vessel. "What in Astra is going
on over there? As if I need any more trouble in my life."

"Lyneea, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Fuck you."

He clenched his jaw in response to her
seething words. It was what he expected but that didn't mean he had
to like it. "So, this is the end then. You're just going to walk
out of my life?"

"Now you know how it feels to live a lie."
Her caustic voice stung his ears. In that moment it became clear
there was nothing left of their marriage to save.

Lyneea stared at him defiantly one last time
before she turned toward the
Schenectady
and strode away, as
though she was confident she'd left everything bad about her life
behind. He took a deep breath and resisted the urge to find a bar
and drink all his troubles away.

He hopped on his hoverbike and made his way
over to the downtown district, hoping the cold air would help clear
his mind. It didn't. His life was a complete mess, with no end to
the drama anywhere in sight.

Businessmen and politicians clogged the
streets with their large, luxurious hovermobiles all trying to
squeeze in lunch at the same time. Many dressed in heather gray
suits since it was the color of the season for most high-profile
designers. Fedoras also seemed to be making a comeback.

As Magnius came to a stop in the congested
traffic, he overheard a familiar voice in the vehicle next to him.
From behind his tinted helmet, he shifted his attention toward it.
Their on-board computer was tuned to ANN. He recognized the news
anchor reporting on the scene and saw the outline of the
Schenectady
in the background.

"…according to the latest reports, Vice
President Taylor met with a Xuranian representative almost four
days ago, describing them as pleasant and highly-advanced. He has
urged all citizens of United Europe not to panic, saying a short
time ago that the alien race has no hostile intentions and means
the people of Astra no harm. Captain Ardri Lothian was the AC
officer who first came across the Xuranians when she followed up on
the presence of an unusual probe in the Gamma Pavonis system,
approximately ten light-years from Zion. We here at ANN will keep
you up to date on the latest developments in this case as they
happen, live from Northampton…"

There goes the planet.

The idea of first contact had always
perturbed him and not because he thought the aliens would be
hostile. It was their government, the AC Council, which he didn't
trust. Council members rarely focused on the issues anymore,
instead preferring to assail one another with ad hominim attacks.
Progressives and federalists disagreed with each other on the sole
basis of their party allegiance. Listening to them argue was like
watching a scripted farce, and the thought that those people would
be negotiating peace between the AC and the aliens terrified
him.

On second thought, maybe he did need a drink
after all.

The transport arrived much sooner than Amii
expected. They exited the vehicle and walked toward the towering
Capitol building while the security guard watched. The whitewashed
structure had thirty-one monolithic columns and eighteen marble
stairs: a pillar for each of the amendments in their constitution
and a step for each of the inalienable rights described therein.
Every feature symbolized a facet of the UE's rise to power, from
the materials it was made from to the patch of ground it had been
erected upon.

She vaulted up the steps and touched one of
the smooth columns, intrigued by the structure's significance. The
stone drew the heat from her hand, but her awe overshadowed the
chill. Over the years, controversial laws had been handed down at
this very location. The drug legalization acts. Abolishment of the
right to bear arms. The fight for Pisa. Equality for psions. The
Capitol was one of the few buildings untouched during the
reconstruction of Northampton and had been maintained so well one
would not guess it to be over a century old.

Across the street, she saw the Westwood
Estate—home of the President and Vice President. It too had
remained while the City of Dreams took shape around it. The
understated palace had a large front lawn with a six-foot-high
hyperdiamond fence, transparent yet impenetrable. A smattering of
snow still clung to the ashen grass, dormant from the extended
winter. The flag of United Europe, a blue canvas with a ring of ten
gold stars, fluttered in the strong gust of wind from its perch
atop a flagpole on the estate's façade.

With a terse wave Xander gestured for her to
follow him inside, where they were quickly stopped by internal
security.

"Dr. Adams and my assistant, here to see the
President."

A hefty guard sitting next to the door
squinted at the two of them. His balding head flashed in the light
as he glanced down at his comtab for a moment. "IDs please?" Both
of them offered up their wrists, which the guard scanned. Satisfied
the two were who they claimed to be, he turned toward a younger man
beside him. "These two have an appointment with the President.
Escort them to Conference Room Two."

"Follow me," he told them before taking a
left and heading down a long, narrow corridor.

As they fell into step behind him, Xander
took Amii's hand and clenched it with the strength of a giant. She
hoped his worry had no merit, yet years of failure had turned him
into a chronic pessimist. During their awkward conversations, she
could tell he'd never been a people-person and didn't function well
in groups. By nature he was a recluse, content to live his life
without a single friend. He'd been used and abused by people his
whole life, entrenching the isolation even further. Some days he
wondered if life was really worth all the pain, but his dream gave
him hope. One day soon, his name would no longer be synonymous with
ridicule.

The three of them stopped outside a mahogany
door with an oval frosted window in it. The guard pressed the door
chime. "Mr. President, Dr. Xander Adams is here to see you."

A gruff voice returned through the panel on
the wall. "Please, send him in."

The guard opened the door and ushered the two
of them inside. Amii glanced to the left, where President Thomas
Scheidecker sat at the head of the conference table with his VP,
Bryan Taylor, at his side.

The President's obesity preceded him. His
light brown hair receded, and his round face bore Germanic
features. He was from a small town on Sachgemäß, Noàgal, and he'd
spent most of his life as a very successful officer in the Allied
Fleet. Admiral Scheidecker gained popularity when he became a
special advisor under President Norman eight years ago. Scheidecker
disagreed with his Vice President on almost everything, that being
the reason he'd chosen him for the position. The President didn't
want a host of yes-men working for him; he wanted honest people who
weren't afraid to speak their minds.

President Scheidecker smiled at the two
newcomers and stood to greet them. "Welcome…Dr. Adams, we meet at
last."

Amii sat down in the back of the room as
Xander approached the men who held his fate in their hands. "The
honor is mine, Mr. President." He bowed his head to them. "Mr. Vice
President."

Scheidecker raised his eyebrow and smirked.
"So, where's this damn android that the all of Astra's been waiting
decades for with baited breath?"

Xander sighed and ran his fingers through his
hair. "I'm still working on it. But I'm very close. I'll get it
right. That's really all I can say."

Taylor glared at him. "Your deal with the PAU
has put us in a very awkward position. How are we supposed to enter
peace talks in good faith when one of our citizens has committed
blatant treason?"

The scientist stared down at the floor and
chewed on his lip. "It's not that simple, really. I did what I
thought was best for my research."

"By stealing one of the most controlled
substances in Astra? You're a criminal, Dr. Adams…not a
scientist."

The President raised his hand toward his VP
to relax. "We've been asked to extradite you to Kashtivone to be
put on trial. As you can tell, the Vice President thinks that
option would be in the best interest of peace. And I'm fairly
inclined to agree with him. But I also know the PAU doesn't believe
in justice. They want you for the same reason we've always wanted
you…your mind, your work. The applications of android technology
would be limitless. Our spy network would be more convincing and
less risky; we could have fearless soldiers, lethal and deadly.
Androids could replace humans in all dangerous jobs. The
possibilities are endless."

Xander bit his tongue. "Yes, Mr. President."
She knew how he felt about the AC using his creations as throwaways
and how he'd rather die than let such a travesty unfold.

"So you see my dilemma," Scheidecker said. He
stood and shuffled over to the window. "I can't hand you over to
them and risk letting this technology fall into their hands. But I
can't let you go on your merry way either. So, Dr. Adams, the
choice is yours. You can go to one of our top-secret facilities to
continue your research, where you'll operate in relative peace and
have all your needs met. Or you can be imprisoned in Caldos Minor
Penitentiary, where you'll never again see the light of day."

Caldos Minor…the mere name evoked fear in the
decent. The labor camp was located on Zugzwang, the closest world
to Noàgal. The sun never set there, nor did the tireless suffering
of those sentenced to die on the half-molten rock.

All the hardened criminals of United Europe
spent their last days on Caldos Minor. Those who labored hard at
the mine were treated leniently. Those who did not were denied food
and water until they complied or died. Life sentences were carried
out to the very letter of the law. Not all served life terms, and
those who came back often had post-traumatic stress disorder.
Surviving was as much a badge of courage as it was a stigma.

So she doubted the decision required much
thought on his part.

Xander tapped his fingers against his leg.
"Continuing my research is very important to me. If I could be
allowed to finish my work, I would gladly do so."

The President nodded. "I hoped you would." He
slid a comtab down the conference table toward the scientist. "I
don't know exactly what your needs are, but hopefully one of these
installations will be able to accommodate you."

"When do I have to make a decision?"

"I'm sending you to Icelandia for now. I'd
like you to bring some of our scientists up to speed on your
research so that we can ensure you have whatever you need. Your
work has always been cutting edge and I think you'll find we're
very eager to support it."

Icelandia—the southern polar continent. The
UE had a fortified military facility located there. A choice
between two different prisons was no choice at all.

Xander took the tablet computer and forced a
smile. "Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you."

"There will be a transport outside waiting to
escort you there. I hope the next time we speak, you'll have good
news for me."

With that, he turned and strode back toward
Amii, and they exited the room together. After the door closed
behind him, he took her hand and strode down the corridor.

"Things really are as bad as I imagined them
to be," he whispered, keeping his head down.

When he glanced at Amii, her expression
turned somber. "I'm sorry, Xander."

"Don't be. Don't ever be." Stopping in his
tracks, he took her by her shoulders and responded with conviction.
"We'll get through this. Together."

***

Whenever Nadine roamed the halls of the
Academy, she drew plenty of stares. As the most recognizable woman
in the UE, attention gravitated toward her whether she wanted it or
not. She had nothing to hide, striving for transparency in
everything she did. Even her detractors commended her for that.
Being the second lady meant living in a fishbowl for all of Chara
to see.

Dr. Kyra Reboitz followed closely behind the
second lady. She'd been one of the original scientists studying
Nadine, and in many ways she was the closest female friend the
psion had on New England. Nadine had gone from being little more
than a lab animal to one of the main people directing the
scientists in their research. As expected, the progression resulted
in unspoken tension between them.

People could say otherwise, but the majority
feared her—especially Dr. Reboitz, who knew what the powerful psion
was capable of.