Citadel: First Colony (39 page)

T
he
colony was quiet as Thomas finished up his rounds.
The funeral services were scheduled to begin in an hour, and he didn’t want to be late. He moved through the near-silent streets toward what would be the William Sans Memorial Cemetery. In the past 24 hours, since they had arrived back at Citadel and told the story of what had happened (minus only a few key details that Thomas was certain would spread soon enough), they had picked a spot, decided on a name, and planned a ceremony.

The Blue Collars, mostly ashamed of what they had almost done, were pleased that one of their own was being honored. It went a long way toward smoothing relations. Of course, it helped that the colonists, the biggest targets for Blue Collar ire, had been in some way “killed.” No one in the colony could remain angry after so much loss. It seemed, at least to Thomas and Somar, that the colony was finally starting to bond. Only time would tell.

Thomas had been studying the scans and data that Dr. Michaels had put together, and he now compared it with what traces he could find of the computer program Alan had used. It was an unbelievable accomplishment. Alan had discovered a way to re-program the human mind just as he would a computer. The question was, could it be undone?

After seeing what had happened to Penny, Thomas was hopeful.

And so, apparently, was Alan, who had shown a sudden change of heart. He was confined to a cell and given only restricted access to data on printouts—no technology allowed. But Thomas felt the boy’s repentance was sincere. He was diligently trying to unravel the knot he had tied. He was trying to find a way to restore the colonists while somehow saving the First Colony crew, if such a thing were possible.

Somar was waiting for Thomas as he stepped into the command center.

“Anything?” Somar asked.

Thomas shook his head. “I’m hopeful. But so far, I have no idea what to do.”

Somar nodded. “Alan wiped all knowledge of the process from your memory. I was hopeful that you would somehow be able to retrieve it. Perhaps with time.”

Thomas nodded. “So, the funeral is coming up. How are you?”

Somar nodded deeply. “I honor my fallen brother by placing him in this new soil, so that he may grow as part of this world.”

“Nice,” Thomas said. “Is that a saying on your world?”

Somar smiled. “Yes. One that was heard frequently once we began colonizing other worlds. I find it fitting. For all of the differences between humans and the Esool, we do share this one common trait. Curious, is it not?”

“Burying the dead? Yeah. We have our own saying, or at least we used to. ‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.’ It means that we commit our fallen back to the soil. Sort of like giving him back to the universe, as part of the whole of creation.”

“Very touching,” Somar said.

Thomas leaned forward, propping himself on one of the tables. He was looking at the data streaming in from the orbital platform above. “It’s going to come crashing down, isn’t it?” he asked. Though he wasn’t sure if he meant the orbital platform or the colony itself.

“Perhaps. Or perhaps not. We will do all we can. The pods that have been rescued so far have been brought back, along with the colonists. There are still a few out there, and some are difficult to locate. The good news is that for those still in stasis when Alan activated on his program, they should have been protected from the collision wave. They should still be themselves.”

“That’s good news,” Thomas agreed.

“Yet you appear worried,” Somar said.

“Well, let’s see ... our only link to civilization may come crashing to the planet before we are able to repair it or even retrieve some of what we need from it. The colonists we brought with us have been re-programmed to believe they are someone else. And I think it’s only a matter of time before the two guards who know my secret tell the whole colony who I am and I get to have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being torn to shreds.”

“They have been ordered not to,” Somar said.

“Yeah,” Thomas smiled. “Well, we’ll see.”

“You should not worry, Thomas. The people here know what you have done for this colony. They may be shocked by what they hear, but they will come to trust you. They will understand who you truly are.”

Thomas said nothing for a while. Then, “You know, I talked to Alan about the sabotage. He says he altered the navigation systems, but had nothing to do with sabotaging the module releases.”

Somar considered this. “Do you believe him.”

Thomas thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I just don’t know. I think I might, but I can’t say why. It scares me if it wasn’t him.”

“It would mean there is a second saboteur.”

“Right,” Thomas said.

“I fear this as well.”

Thomas considered, wondering what it could mean for the colony if another among them turned out to have betrayed them all. How many blows could this colony take? How much more trust was there to be lost.
Maybe we’ll get
lucky, Thomas thought.
Maybe the saboteur is back on Earth.

“I was supposed to be in the colony module, but I was woken up instead. Some kind of mix-up. My pod was placed with the landing module crew. Alan says that when he saw me, it really surprised him. He knew something was wrong. He had made careful arrangements for me to be on that colony module, and he wanted me to survive. That makes it seem a little less likely that he was the one who welded those links.”

Somar nodded, considering. “What of the explosive device? The one that injured Captain Alonzo as he attempted to access the platform’s controls?”

Thomas shook his head, “Alan said he had nothing to do with that.”

Somar absorbed this. “Then ... who placed it there?”

“I have no idea. It’s a hell of a coincidence, though. We had two saboteurs?”

“Was it, perhaps, Mr. Taggart?” Somar asked.

“Could be,” Thomas shrugged. “But who can really say? We don’t have enough evidence. And if that platform comes down ...”

“We will just have to make sure that doesn’t happen. Tomorrow morning, you, Mr. Garrison, Ms. Reilly, and a crew of engineers and security personnel are going to the platform to repair it. And regardless of Captain Alonzo’s protests, I want him brought to the surface for medical care.”

“Agreed,” Thomas said. “But in the meantime ...”

“Yes,” Somar said. “In the meantime, we mourn our dead.” He stood then beside Thomas and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Mr. Thomas, I wanted to say that it has truly been an honor to serve with you. Our journey is far from over, but I am relieved to be taking it with a man of honor.”

Thomas felt emotion well up within and choked it back. His eyes burned as he replied, “The feeling is mutual, Captain.”

––––––––

T
hey
had decided on one funeral service
for all of their fallen. The name of each of the fallen was read from a list, and one person was allowed to speak for a few minutes about the person named. Somar spoke for Billy, and his speech was a celebration of the young man’s bravery.

When Jack’s name was read, Mitch volunteered to speak on the man’s behalf. “He was one of us, and we can learn a lot from him. He made a poor choice and paid for it with his life. But he was a good friend and well respected. And his mistakes do not define him. No man’s mistakes define him.”

As Mitch walked away from the platform to join Reilly at the outer fringe of the crowd, there was not a word spoken. Mitch and Somar had discussed what he would say ahead of time, calculating it to reach the Blue Collars. Your mistakes, he was saying, are forgiven. And they do not define who you are in this colony.

“Nice,” Reilly said, with tears ringing her eyes. “He would have liked that.”

Mitch nodded. He wasn’t so sure he cared whether Jack would have liked his memorial. He had been the leader of a mutiny, which was one of the highest crimes a Blue Collar could commit. But Mitch agreed with Somar’s position. If the colony was going to survive, forgiveness would have to be the first step.

He looked around the crowd, and there, huddled together on one side, were all of the colonists. They were quiet and somber, saying nothing but listening intently. They had never known any of these men or women, but they respected them.

“What a strange situation,” Reilly said, shuddering.

“Yeah,” Mitch replied. “To be you, but not you. I can’t even imagine it.”

“What about the people they ... replaced? What would you even call that?”

“Replaced is a good enough word. And I don’t know. Thomas says that they may still be in there. Penny seems to be. We’re hopeful.”

“So we bring them back some day. What then? What about the First Colony people? They die all over again? No one cares about them?”

Mitch had nothing to say to that. He had thought of it himself but couldn’t quite get his head around the implications of it. He thought of himself as
himself
. And to imagine that he could be copied, like software, and put in a new body ... it was a nightmare. It was frightening.

He and Reilly walked together after the ceremony. “Tomorrow we go up to the platform and bring down Captain Alonzo. And hopefully, we can get the platform repaired. Maybe we can reach the colonies.”

Reilly nodded, then laughed.

“What is it?” Mitch asked.

“Well, it’s just ... for the whole time I’ve been here, I’ve thought of the platform as home and this place as ... away. I couldn’t wait to get back. But just now, you said we had to bring the Captain back here, and I thought, ‘Yeah, we need to bring him home.’ Weird, huh?”

Mitch smiled. “Yeah, that’s a little weird.”

She laughed and then punched him in the shoulder. And just then, not quite knowing why he was doing it, Mitch grabbed her, pulled her in close, and kissed her. It was a long kiss, and he felt the warmth of her against him. He had never let himself feel as he was feeling now, but after everything they’d been through, he didn’t want to chance losing the opportunity.

The kiss ended, but the embrace continued. Reilly leaned her head against his chest. “We’re going to be ok,” she said.

“Yeah,” he told her. “It’s not over yet, but I think we’re going to be just fine.”

And with that, Mitch watched as the last rays of the sun dipped below the tree line. A few sparkling glints reflected from the surface of Citadel until those, too, faded. And finally, as Mitch and Reilly watched the fading light, a peaceful night washed over the small colony.

T
he
communications efforts had failed
. The girl, Reilly, had not known them. She was unable. Even cloaking themselves in the memories of her father, they had been unable to truly reach her.

The sleeping ones, though, were easier. They were without thought. They only dreamed. The other humans, they thought that the dreaming was impossible. It was not. It was merely hidden. Very finely hidden, deep within, but there.

The Current. That’s what they would call themselves. It fit. With all that they had learned of the humans, they knew that their new name would be important. Humans need names. They need to name things. Better to choose your own name.

The Current watched as the visitors settled into their homes and lives. It was invisible to them. It could be seen and heard when it chose, but right now it remained silent. The sleeping ones had taught it a great deal about these people and about their lives. It would use what it had learned and ... well, it hadn’t decided yet. But one thing was clear: The Current now had a new way of looking at the world, thanks to these humans. It had never understood things the way it did now. It liked its new knowledge and the new source of energy that the humans had brought with them. And it now knew that it could have everything it wanted.

All it had to do was take it.

––––––––

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