The Settlers (16 page)

Send a gurney down, please, he says.
Miss Gretchen has passed.

Yes, sir, Nurse Allen says.
Oh, and Doctor?
Nurse Lynne says that Miss Kyoh has arrived.

Tasneem, he says.
I'll be there shortly.

Emil bends over Gretchen.
You should have lived ten thousand years, he says.
 

With a heavy sigh, he gets to his feet and heads back into the corridors.

Tasneem is waiting for him.
She steps back to allow the orderlies to pass.
 

Be gentle with her, Emil says to the first orderly.
She's precious.

Yes, sir, the orderly answers.
 

The two men disappear down the corridor, pushing an empty gurney ahead of them.

Doctor Widla, Tasneem says.

Oh, call me Emil, he says.
It's good to see you.
 

And you, she says.
 

Walk with me, Tasneem.
 

They walk the length of the corridor together.
 

I saw your interview, he says, finally.

I think everybody did, Tasneem says.
I've been contacted by a number of your patients, actually.
They all want to know why I haven't died.
 

Why you haven't gone completely white, Emil says.
Yes, I am not surprised.
Do you have a theory?
Have you had tests?
 

No tests, Tasneem says.
But I do have a theory.
That's why I came so quickly.

What is it?
 

Is there somewhere private we can go?
she asks.

The lounge is, again, empty.
 

In here, Emil says.
 

He holds the door for Tasneem.

You can't tell anybody about this, she says.
 

I don't know if I can promise --
 

You must.
 

But if you have an idea about a cure --
 

I don't think I do, Tasneem says.
I insist.
 

Alright, Tasneem.
I promise.
 

Okay.
 

She removes something from her wrist, and he looks down to see a vintage wristband.

What's this?
he asks.
 

Put it on, she says.
 

He wrinkles his forehead, but does as she instructs.
The band does not fit him so well.
It is tight around his wrist.
 

Now what?
he asks.
 

Take a deep breath, Tasneem says.
Exhale slowly.
 

Tasneem --

Do it, please, she says.
You should be calm right now.

I'm calm, Tasneem.
 

Please, she says.
 

Emil inhales deeply, then breathes out in a patient rush.
 

Okay, he says.
Now what.
 

I don't want you to be startled.
Okay?
 

Tasneem, this is ridiculous.
What are you talking --

Doctor Widla, says a strange voice.
We haven't met.
I'm David Dewbury.
 

Emil throws the wristband to the floor.
What the
fuck
, he says.
Who the fuck?
 

Tasneem picks up the band and puts it back on.
I knew you'd be surprised, she says.
I'm sorry.

What was that?
Emil asks.
 

He is flustered, his eyes wide.
 

You remember David --

David fucking Dewbury, yes, yes, I remember.
God fucking damn it, how could I not?
Emil thrusts his fingers into his hair and begins to pace.
The media would never let me forget.
Why did you keep Soma from a genius?
they asked me.
As if I should have broken regulations for him!
As if --

Doctor, Tasneem says.
Please.
 

Emil stops speaking, but continues to pace.
He stares at her.
 

David is not completely dead, she says.
 

Bullshit, Emil spits.
Bullshit!
I saw the body, Tasneem.
I
saw
--

David's body is dead, Tasneem corrects.
But David is not.
 

Emil stops pacing.
 

What the fucking hell are you saying?
he says, finally.

I'm saying that the smartest man in the world is still with us, Tasneem says.
And he has an idea.

The elderly were left behind.
 

Children were taken from their parents.
 

Entire towns and regions were excluded from the great migration.

Earth drowned.
It burned.
Cities were rebuilt, and destroyed again.
 

The fires were visible from space.

They never went out.

Generations of children were born who had never stepped on soil.

Man began to change.

In 2132, Station Tycho, named for the great astronomer, went online.

Three years later, Station Atlantis followed.

In the ensuing decades, five more stations -- Eden, Yuri, Virgo, Copernicus and Gan -- were deployed.
Each housed more humans than the last.
Fewer and fewer people were rescued from Earth below.
The stations began to fill with new generations of space-born humans.

Earth's former leaders, presidents and kings and ministers, collaborated to govern mankind's fleet of lifeboats.
For the first time in human history, a sort of peace was established.
Men and women of all origins fell together, humans and survivors all, until mankind was no longer sortable.
All were one.
One were all.
 

In 2182, the great jewel of the fleet, Station Argus, was brought online.
 

Though few understood its implications, Argus and its social experiments represented great change.

The era of peace began to wane.
 

The uprisings would soon begin.