Darkness on a Pale Blue Stone (22 page)

Several people curiously approached the group, welcoming Gresson as they eyed the unknown visitors. Gresson attempted introductions, but there were far too many names for the group to process. Giving up, Gresson lead them to one of the buildings. Before they stepped inside, a woman called out to Gresson as she ran toward him. He turned in time to catch her embrace. They kissed passionately as the others watched them in surprise.

The woman who had her arms wrapped around the former president was the former first-lady herself. She stepped back from the long kiss and smiled. Gresson smiled in return. "I missed you," he said.

"You certainly took your time getting back here," she said. They embraced again, then Gresson turned to introduce her to the others.

"Everyone, this is..." he started.

"Jennifer Gresson," Sean finished.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to see you with someone," Lash said. "I mean, I knew you
were
married, but..."

"He has a... rough exterior," Jen replied.

"Yeah, you could say that," Lash said.

"I need to..." Gresson started.

"I know," Jen replied. She gave him another kiss. "Meet me after?"

"Of course," Gresson replied with a smile.

The group, along with Jordan and Marcus, entered the building they were all standing beside. "So, you're really married Gresson?" Jake asked. "No offense, but I thought that was all part of your... uh... 'organization's' plan."

Gresson sighed. "It was, yes. But it... became something more."

"Ah..." Jake responded, hardly interested in their love story.

Inside were several plush couches and exquisite decorations. The air smelled fresh even though the room was cramped and oil lamps kept the room well lit. Sitting at one of two desks was a man. He had white hair and was as tall as Gresson, but he appeared considerably older.

"Adron," Gresson said.

Adron looked up from the desk and said, "Ah, Alexander. Nice of you to finally get here. I'm sure the destruction of the world can wait for..." He suddenly noticed that he did not recognize most of the others in the room and stood up. "Who the hell are they?"

"Friends," Gresson replied.

"You must be kidding. You brought them
here
?"

"Adron, there is a lot we need to discuss. Things we
all
need to discuss."

Adron shook his head. "We don't need to discuss this. They need to leave. Now!"

"Adron, the time is long past for keeping to ourselves. We need to help each other."

"Help? They have nothing to offer and we've helped them plenty. What more do they want?"

Gresson seemed startled by Adron's response. "What do you know?"

Adron looked perplexed. "What?"

"What do you know about what's happened since the Arrival?"

Still confused, Adron answered, "I know they 'arrived' and everything went dark, just as planned. Since then, we've been waiting for you."

Gresson looked puzzled. "Why have you been waiting for me?"

Adron looked over at Jordan and Marcus for an explanation, but both simply shrugged. "What are you talking about? We've been waiting for you to bring our... 'insurance' as Marcus put it. You have 'Project Blackout'?"

"Insurance?" Gresson questioned furiously. "You think this is still just insurance?" He frantically looked back to Jordan and Marcus.

"Alex, what the hell are you going on about?" Marcus asked.

"
This
is the reason we can no longer keep to ourselves. It's unbelievable that none of you know. How can you not know?" Gresson asked, eyes wide and fists clenched.

"You better tell me what the hell is going on, or..." Adron said.

"We did not stop them. They are still here, alive and continuing with the Last Resort," Gresson growled.

"What are you talking about? Plenty of scouts have reported crashes..." Adron said, this time with worry in his voice.

"I saw that. But I also saw
them
. They are on the ground, burning everything they can see," Gresson said.

No one spoke for a few seconds. Adron then turned to Jordan and Marcus, "Jordan, take them somewhere. Marcus, get everyone into council." They nodded. Marcus ran outside and Jordan turned to the others.

"Alright, you all need to come with me," she said.

"No, we deserve to..." Michael said.

"Listen, you have no idea what is going on..." Jordan tried to argue.

"From what it sounds like, we know a lot more than you do," Lash said.

Jordan looked curiously at them, wondering what in fact they actually did know. She looked over at Adron.

"Go!" he demanded.

"Please. We can discuss this after..." she said to the group.

"No way. We..." Jake started.

"It will be alright. Just, give us some time to talk. Please," Gresson said. "Jordan, take them over to my place."

She nodded and the group begrudgingly followed her out. The last thing they heard was Gresson turn to Adron and say, "We might have even
bigger
problems to worry about..."

The group followed Jordan to one of the buildings and Gresson's wife answered the door. "What's going on?" Jen asked.

"They need a place to stay. Council's being called," Jordan explained. Behind her, people were streaming into the large central building as shouts echoed across New Salvador. The complex of military buildings now held an aura of panic.

Jen looked around for a moment, then said, "Okay... uh... of course. Come in." The eight of them stepped inside. Hurriedly, Jen pointed out where seating was, along with the bathroom and kitchen. "Help yourself to... whatever," she said while leaving, obviously anxious to see what the commotion was about. A second after she closed the door, the group found themselves standing in a small living room, alone.

"It's a pretty nice place," Sean observed.

"That's really the first thing on your mind?" Jake asked.

"Just saying. The outside looks like a military fortress, but in here..."

"Anyone know what the hell they were talking about?" Lash interrupted.

"It doesn't make sense. Do they... do they not know about the Exterminators?" Alice wondered.

"Gresson said they did. He said the point of this place was to stop them," Marie said.

"But they said Project Blackout was 'insurance.' I thought Gresson said that was the only thing that could stop them?" Michael asked.

"And what about this place? Anyone else expecting a few dudes with guns? Not a... community?" Jake asked, receiving nods.

"And it's hidden," Lucas pointed out. "Entire families are living here, apparently unaware of the outside world, and apparently unaware of the things destroying it. And according to Gresson, this has been going on for years. It's like these people are..."

"A cult," Jake finished. "We went across the whole damn continent to meet with some cult that has no idea what the hell is going on."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Michael said.

"We need to do something! Who knows what these people will do to us. They've already made it clear they aren't fans of outsiders," Jake said.

"I don't know about you, but I think we need to check out this 'council' of theirs," Lash said.

"Absolutely," Jake said.

"I'm in," Adam said.

"I suppose I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise?" Alice asked her son.

"Not at all," he answered.

"I'll go too," Marie said.

"Now wait..." Michael said.

"Oh, Adam can and I can't?" Marie complained. "Besides, chances are they'll just get pissed and kick us out, which they are probably going to do anyway."

"We don't know that," Sean said.

"The fewer that go, the better chance we have of not being discovered," Adam told his sister.

"You're right," Jake said, heading for the door. "Me and Lash will be back."

"No way!" Adam said, shaking his head and taking a step forward.

"No one can go anywhere just yet," Lucas said, holding up a hand. He was looking out the window. "There are still a lot of people outside."

Lash sighed. "I guess we wait."

Chapter 32

International Space Station - August 26, 2072

The pod was cramped, but Andre and Vadim were able to take their seats inside. Vadim had calculated for the trip and they would have enough fuel to reach the moon, at least theoretically. The fastest trip the pod could take, while still being fuel efficient, was three days. It was a long time to be cramped in the small vessel, but both Andre and Vadim were well aware that the crew's starvation was inevitable if they did not go.

Jackie approached the opening that still connected the pod to the station. "Are you both ready?" she asked.

Vadim and Andre looked at each other. "Ready as we will ever be," Andre answered with a shrug.

"Okay. Good luck." Jackie moved over to the wall next to the opening that led to the pod. She pushed a button and the opening sealed itself shut.

Vadim took a deep breath, then began to interact with the control panel in front of him, beginning the launch sequence.

"I know this is a bad time to bring this up, but what happens after we get the food and come back?" Andre wondered.

"Assuming we get back? Well, then we have food and... you know, don't die," Vadim answered.

"Right. But even with food we still are stuck living in a floating box in space. What do we do then? And what happens when
that
food runs out?" Andre asked.

"Too many questions! Why worry about the future? We are living
now
, and right now we need more food," Vadim said. In the back of his mind, the same worries plagued him, but he had no desire to ponder them.

"Fair enough," Andre said, content to let this trip, complex and dangerous as it was, distract him from the terrifying future.

There was a loud clank as the pod moved into a new position, now only connected to the station by its two metal arms. Vadim carefully watched the numbers that appeared on his screen. The long trip would require a solid blast in the perfect direction, otherwise they would have to use fuel for repositioning and come dangerously close to not having enough for deceleration above the moon's surface.

Andre double checked all the life support systems now that they had to rely solely on the pod's atmosphere to breathe. Everything appeared to be in safe ranges.

"How's everything look?" Jackie asked over the radio.

"Vitals are good," Andre said.

"Position is as good as it is going to get," Vadim said.

"Vadim..." Jackie said, worry in her voice.

"Jackie, there is only so much I can do here. We will have to hope that..." Vadim tried to explain.

"There is too much riding on this for hope, Vadim," Jackie said.

"We'll make it, Jackie. Don't worry," Andre said.

She sighed. "Alright. You are clear for separation."

Vadim input the commands necessary for the pod to detach from the station. There was no sound as the metal arms let go. The action left them slowly moving away, now on their own in the void of space. Vadim touched the console in front of him and the pod shivered as its engines prepared for the first blast. Two seconds later, the controlled explosion in the back of the pod sent it soaring toward a destination slightly ahead of the moon's current location, anticipating the giant rock's future movement.

"Look's good, you two," Jackie said over the radio.

"That was not the hard part," Vadim replied. He was right. It was simple math for them to make an accurate launch, but once they would have to decelerate, even the tiniest mistake could leave them without fuel, doomed to either miss completely and drift into space or to have no means of stopping a deadly collision with the rocky surface.

"So, now we wait," Andre said, already feeling uncomfortable in his seat. Three days was a long time to sit in a space designed to hold someone for no more than an hour.

Vadim nodded. "Now we wait."

Chapter 33

New Salvador - August 26, 2072

Inside the Gressons' home in New Salvador, the group continued to wait. Lash paced across the wood floor, frequently peering out the window. Each time she looked, however, locals were outside walking in one direction or another. While Gresson and the others they had met seemed to consider "council" a serious matter, many of the those in New Salvador apparently did not, at least not today. A few had been chatting in the courtyard for nearly the past hour.

"We should just walk over. Maybe they won't bother stopping us," Jake suggested.

"No. I don't want them knowing that we know anything," Lash said.

"We
won't
know anything if we just keep sitting here," Jake argued. He stepped toward the door.

"Wait, Jake," Lash said, grabbing his shoulder. He shoved her off.

"I came way too far just to sit around and wait for what happens next," he said. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. He paused before taking a step outside. "Damn it. We're too late anyways."

A stream of people were now exiting the large building where the meeting had been held. Emotions ranged from solemnness to anger. A few shouts were heard among the crowd.

Jake shut the door. "Great," he muttered.

"Must not have been good news," Michael said, looking out the window and observing the upset locals.

Gresson and Adron were walking quickly toward the home. Michael managed to hear the tail end of their conversation.

"We don't have time to waste," Adron said.

"There is no rush for this. Give him a day, at least," Gresson pleaded.

"One day. Oh, and while they're here, they're your responsibility," Adron growled. He left Gresson and headed back to another building.

As Gresson stepped into his home, the group surrounded him with hands crossed and looks that demanded answers.

"There is not much I can tell you..." he started.

"Bullshit!" Jake protested.

"Look! These 'Exterminators' as you call them..." Gresson said.