Red-Line: The Shift (Volume One) (14 page)

“I’ll get to that. But for right now, she divulged to me that the Council is in disarray. They’ve only just recently been made aware of Sarah’s existence, and the few who kept it under wraps have some explaining to do. Since their Connection meeting with Morgana a few days ago, they have been in disagreement as to how to handle this situation. Morgana asserted her influence at the beginning and got you assigned even without the Council’s full agreement or knowledge of the complete truth. When she says her butt’s on the line, she’s telling the truth.”

“So what’s your point, Leroy?” asked Ramsey.

“My point is that the Council has more to do with this than we realize.”

“How? Only a few of them even knew about Sarah.”

“They may not have all known about her specifically until now, but they know about how she came to be. How do you think Sarah even exists? You think she came out of thin air?” Leroy asked as he sat back in his chair. He let that question sink in.

“How does she exist? How is it possible?” asked Hannah. “The Red-Lines died years ago.”

Leroy leaned back in, carrying the weight of the information he held. “You all know the history of the Red-Lines? How they disappeared?’

Declan answered that. “Near as I can remember being told, about sixty, maybe seventy years ago, they all began to die off with no explanation. Some believed the accident had something to do with it. It happened only a few months before, I think.”

“The accident?” asked Hannah.

“Yes,” said Leroy. “Not long after the Roswell incident, we had a craft go down as well. Luckily, it was undetected except by us. Our people reached the ship, but found only the captain, a woman by the name of Varalika, on board. She was dead. The manifest showed she carried cargo, but there was nothing on board. They found only her mirror.”

“Is this the Eudoran Mirror we’ve heard about?” asked Ramsey.

“Apparently.”

“So it does exist?” asked Declan, surprised.

“Yes, it does. And they’ve been trying to read it ever since, but no one has been able to.”

“Wait a minute. Please explain this to me. A mirror?” asked Hannah.

Declan jumped in again. “Red-Lines, because of their advanced abilities, frequently used mirrors as communication devices. They were able to encode information on them that was unreadable to anyone other than another Red-Line. They could designate certain people to unlock the message. Back when we traveled to and from our planet, it was an easy way to carry information without having to worry about discovery. If it got lost or got into the wrong hands, then it couldn’t be read by another. It would appear as just an ordinary mirror to a human.”

Leroy looked impressed. “Someone’s up on his Eudoran history.”

Declan smiled. “Dad’s a big history buff. He taught me a lot.”

“Lucky for you,” said Ramsey to Declan, but then he returned his attention to Leroy. “So what does this have to do with Sarah?”

“Let me finish,” said Leroy. “After that ship crashed, we never received communication from Eudora again. For obvious reasons, we never initiated communication with our host planet, because the risk of detection was too great. We always waited for them to contact us. But after the crash, that was it. We never heard from them, nor has a ship ever returned.”

“And how does that matter now?” asked Ramsey.

“Because there was something on that ship that was vital to our survival. Something we were waiting for and never received. It’s the reason the Red-Lines died off not long after.”

“And what was that?” asked Hannah.

Leroy looked pensive. “A serum,” he said.

“A what?” asked Ramsey.

“Serum,” repeated Leroy. “The way Morgana explained it, in order to survive, Red-Lines born and raised on Earth received a serum after birth. As they got older and it was time for their Shift, they would return to Eudora, where they could receive the necessary assistance and care they required. Afterwards, they could choose to return to Earth if they wished. If they did, they were required to take the serum again. If Red-Lines born on Eudora chose to move to Earth after their Shift, then they too required the serum. Red-Lines’ sensitivities made them all very susceptible to Earth’s harsh atmosphere and lower frequencies. The serum helped their bodies to adapt. Without it, they would survive for only a short period of time.”

“So they died because they didn’t have the serum?” asked Declan.

“Yes and no,” said Leroy.

“What do you mean?” asked Ramsey.

“It’s wasn’t them waiting on the serum. It was us.”

“What? Us?” asked Declan. “You mean Gray-Lines?”

“Exactly.”

“But we don’t take a serum,” said Ramsey.

“You have. We all have,” said Leroy.

“Since when?” asked Ramsey.

“Since always. We all need it. Not just the Red-Lines. When that ship went down, it was our serum, for us, which was lost. Not the Reds’.”

Ramsey tried to follow Leroy’s explanation, with little success. “What does that mean?”

“In a nutshell, both Red and Gray-Lines require a serum in order to survive on this planet. But it’s not the same serum. We require a less potent variety and a smaller dosage. Reds required stronger stuff. When our supply was lost and it was apparent no more was coming, and because Grays didn’t know there was a serum to lose, the Reds relinquished their remaining supply to us. By adapting that serum to our needs and by combining it with our remaining supplies and rationing, we’ve been able to survive as long as we have.”

Ramsey’s confusion began to clear. “We’re still taking this serum?”

“When?” asked Declan. “How?”

“During your check-ins,” Hannah answered, finally speaking up.

The conversation stopped at her reply. “And what do you know about it?” asked Leroy.

Ramsey and Declan wondered the same.

Hannah’s face paled, as if questioning how much to reveal. “I learned a few things when I attended the conference a few years ago regarding community health issues. It’s where I met Morgana.”

“Something tells me you didn’t talk about bad eating habits or lack of sleep,” said Ramsey.

“No, we did not. We learned about the impending health crisis facing each of us.”

“And what crisis is that?” asked Declan.

“The one where we all die due to lack of serum.”

Nobody knew what to say as they tried to understand Hannah’s revelation. “Slow down a bit,” said Ramsey, holding up his hand. “You mind enlightening us? I’m still dealing with the fact that we’ve been taking a serum without our knowledge.”

“Me too,” said Declan. “You gave it to us during our check-ins?”

Eudorans checked in every year with a local Community Culture officer. It was a required visit, to ensure that their existence on Earth continued to exist smoothly and peacefully. It was a common practice initiated for every Community that existed on a host planet. It allowed the Community member the chance to discuss any concerns or ask any questions they needed addressed. If any Eudoran needed to meet outside of the annual visit, they could request it. The meetings assisted mostly with adaptation issues for newer arrivals or, for those who’d lived on Earth longer, issues regarding raising children or marrying into the human species. They were a helpful way to reconnect to their culture without fear of discovery. This had become the main reason for the meetings in recent years. Although all Eudorans knew that living on a host planet meant that they might never return home, they had learned that in order to survive away from their planet for long periods, it was necessary to reconnect at regular intervals with the sole purpose of reestablishing their roots. Even though they had never visited their place of origin, it was a way to still feel connected to it.

“Yes,” said Hannah, “it was distributed to each Gray-Line. During my early training, I worked in that area, distributing the serum. At the time, I didn’t realize that’s what I was administering.” She crossed her arms. “It was easy enough to do. If you remember, it was called a skin test, similar to a human tuberculosis test, where we lightly scraped you with a dull blade. We told you it was a routine check, just measuring your body’s acclimation to Earth by retrieving some skin cells and testing them. After you were scraped, we rubbed a topical ointment on the area. You were actually absorbing a serum.”

Declan’s jaw dropped. “How did they get away with this? Why not tell us?”

Hannah said nothing because she didn’t know what to say.

“And this is why the Reds died? They sacrificed themselves?” asked Ramsey.

“Yes,” said Leroy.

“How noble of them.”

“I should say so.”

“Wait a minute,” Ramsey asked. “Go back a second. How can there be two Red-Lines on the Council? How did they survive?”

“They’re the only two that did. Somehow, they were able to adapt.”

“Who are they?” asked Hannah.

“One of them was Arnuff, who died last week. He was eighty-five, but in good health. They found him unconscious at his home. He died soon after. They have no apparent cause of death.”

“And Emerson?” asked Ramsey.

“They found him collapsed and unconscious, but he’s still alive. He turned eighty-two this year.”

“So,” Declan said, “the two last living Red-Lines succumb to illness or death just as a new one is about to emerge. Coincidence?”

“Unlikely,” declared Ramsey, “but let’s get back to this ‘we’re dying’ thing.” He looked at Hannah. “You mind explaining that one? I don’t know about you, but I feel perfectly healthy.”

“Me too,” Declan interjected. “Why do we need a serum?”

Before Hannah could answer, Leroy rescued her from explaining. “To answer that, you have to go back to the beginning,” he said. “Eudorans wanted to study this planet, but before they could start, they had to send a test group to ensure our compatibility. They lasted three months before they all returned, horribly ill. It was apparent that Earth was a bit too toxic for us, so they designed a serum. It worked perfectly, except for one problem. Taking the serum affected the next test group. Their awareness of Earth’s effect on their senses caused them to overcompensate. They became too sensitive, trying to ward off any toxins or negative energy, and they returned as well, unable to handle the assault on their senses. So they tried a third test group. They gave them the serum, but didn’t tell them. It worked beautifully. And here we are.”

“What about the Reds?” said Declan. “They knew about the serum, didn’t they? They were given a choice.”

“Their advanced abilities allowed them to control their sensitivity to a greater degree. Knowledge of the serum did not affect them. And like all Eudorans, they were good at keeping a secret.”

“Here we are? Here we are?” Ramsey said as he repeated Leroy’s words. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” interjected Declan, “that we’ve been lied to. All of us.” He looked at Hannah. “So, if I’m hearing you correctly, our supply has run out.”

“Yes, it has.”

“And what exactly did you discuss at this ‘Health Conference’ of yours, besides our impending death?” asked Ramsey.

She drew herself up in her chair. "Specifically, how much longer we could survive without it.”

“And how long was that?” Leroy asked.

Hannah debated her answer, but decided to be up front with them. “Optimistically, without more supplies, many of us won’t make it through the year. If you’re young and healthy, twenty-four to thirty-six months, tops.”

Silence greeted her as all three men heard the words but didn’t know what to say. Finally, Leroy spoke, his disbelief echoing Ramsey’s and Declan’s. “I didn’t realize it was that serious.”

Hannah said nothing as she watched for responses from Ramsey and Declan.

Surprisingly, Ramsey laughed. “That’s just great,” he said.

Declan shared his brother’s attitude. “Terrific,” he said. “Why are we risking our lives if we’re all going to die anyway?”

As Ramsey thought about it, none of it made sense. “Why are we even still alive if the serum has run out? The Red-Lines didn’t last long without it.”

“Thankfully, we were able to stretch our reserves,” said Leroy. “Plus rationing, too. Is that right?” He directed his question to Hannah.

“Yes, for years,” she said. “Normally, we’d receive a dose every year. They stretched that timeline out after we realized our supply line was compromised. We’ve adapted well enough now that we can go a few years without it.” She paused. “I doubt any of you have received a dose within the last five years.”

“And what does that mean?” asked Declan. “How are we affected?”

“It’s been taking its toll,” Hannah answered. “Normally, we’re a healthy group. We live long and are rarely ill. However, you may have noticed more physical weakness, maybe you’ve even been ill, caught a cold, for instance. If you’ve been injured, it takes longer to recover. It’s why Morgana needed my assistance when she injured herself a few years ago. The signs are there if you’re paying attention. Many are succumbing already, especially the older ones. They are the most susceptible. The longer you go without the serum, though, the more pronounced the symptoms. The biggest issue is injury. If you’re seriously hurt, it will be much harder for you to recover, if you recover at all.” She could see the questions behind their eyes. “Each of us is young and strong. Our group will be the last to feel the symptoms, but when it happens and you begin to decline, it happens quickly.”

The four of them sat unmoving, each wondering how much time they had left. The energy felt heavy in the room, as if a wet woolen cloak covered each of them.

“Dad’s been sick.” Declan spoke into the quiet. “Are you saying…?” He tried to finish the sentence, but couldn’t. Hannah lowered her eyes.

“Is there anything that can be done for him?” he asked.

“No,” said Hannah, looking sad. “Not without more serum.” She watched him deflate. “I’m sorry.”

Declan’s normal air of confidence deserted him. “Damn it.”

Ramsey sensed Declan’s pain and identified with it. “Hey,” he said, trying to get Declan’s attention. “Hey,” he repeated until Declan heard him. “He’s not dead yet. None of us are. So, until then, there has to be something we can do.” He watched Declan until Declan returned his gaze and slowly nodded his affirmation at Ramsey.