Their Solitary Way (18 page)

His brother flinched, blinking, as though he’d heard something, and he looked to his left, and back at Seth. In a flash, Cain began to run, moving to the second pod, but in that moment Seth lost his view of the Eden, and soon he faced the planet below.

“Destabilization in fifteen seconds,” announced the computer. “Ten seconds.”

Seth held onto the glass, pressing his face against it, trying to see the ship.

“Four. Three. Two.” The ship was nearly out of sight. He could almost—

“One.”

The Eden burst into a wave of red and yellow flame, like an ocean of fire in the sky. “No!” screamed Seth, grasping at the glass as the exploding ship left his view.

The pod aimed itself toward the planet, and the warning light overhead appeared. The pod shook and jolted, pummeling him from side-to-side until he finally managed to grab hold of a handle and pull himself down into the seat. He connected the chest straps and held on with all his strength as the pod entered the planet’s atmosphere.

As the vessel continued to shake, Seth watched through the glass as a trail of plasma formed against the glass, a slew of colors dancing between the darkness of the void and the vivid blue of the oceans beneath him. Spastic and violent, the colors swirled and exploded—first in shades of orange and red, then a litany of purple, bending and colliding, as though the whole thing were alive. Finally, the light transformed into the brightest shade of yellow, resembling the nearby sun.

As the pod fell towards the ground, the details of the planet magnified and grew. Dots of blue became lakes, ridges evolved into mountains, and flakes of green grew into endless forests and valleys.

Somewhere far above the ground, Seth’s pod released its landing gear, and soon his descent slowed.

He waited and watched, wondering who else had made it…who among the crew had survived. Maybe he was the only one. Maybe they were all gone.
What if Lilith wasn’t lying?
he asked himself.
Azura, please be alive.

The pod’s hatch cracked open in a lake, facing the sky. Shades of cerulean blue shined through the glass, and Seth found himself staring, half-dazed. It had been seven long years since he’d last seen a color this clear that wasn’t projected on a screen.

He gripped the release handle and pulled. The hatch immediately snapped open, detaching itself from the pod and falling into the water. He started to climb out, but remembered the emergency pack under the seat. He’d need it to contact the other survivors.

With the pack tied to his wrist, Seth dived into the water, cold as it was, without hesitation. He swam to the nearby shore, gripping clumps of sand in his hands, dirtying his clothes. He didn’t care. All that mattered was finding the others. Finding Azura and the rest of his family.

He opened the emergency pack and took the mobile radio from among the remaining supplies. With shaking hands, he flipped the transmitter on, and waited.

Static.

He held the transmit button. “This is security officer Seth Kadmon, please respond.”

More static.

“I say again: this is officer Seth Kadmon of the Eden. Is anyone there?”

Garbled gibberish resembling words erupted from the speaker, interwoven with bursts of static.

“Please say again,” said Seth. “I hear you, but you’re breaking up.”

“…th…tune…quency…0202...”

“One more time, please. I nearly had you.”

“…tune to…102023…better frequency…”

Good
enough
, he thought. Seth did as the voice requested. “Hello? Can you hear me now?”

“Yes, you’re coming in,” said the voice. “Who’s speaking?”

“Seth Kadmon, chief security officer.”

“Oh my God. Sir, it’s your son!” said the stranger.

“Where are you? I need coordinates,” said Seth.

“Seth! It’s your father. Are you alright?” asked Adam, taking over for the other man. “Are you safe?”

A bit of relief. At least his father was alive. “I’m good. What’s your location?”

A short pause. “We’re near a mountain. Give me a minute and I’ll send you the coordinates. It’s so good to hear your voice, son.”

He watched the numbers come in on the device’s screen. When it finally finished, he got to his feet and started walking. According to the readout, the others were less than an hour away. He’d move as quickly as the land would allow. With any luck, he’d find the rest of his family there, too.

Seth made his way through a small forest and climbed along a ridge to get to the other survivors. When he arrived, he found a crowd of them. There were over a hundred, at least.

Seeing him emerge from the tree line, someone called to Adam. “We’ve got another crewmate!”

Adam stood in the center of the group, issuing orders. He pushed one of them aside and looked with widened eyes. “Seth!” he shouted before dashing towards his son.

Seth ran to him, despite how tired his legs were, and hugged his father tight. Adam squeezed him, kissing his hair. “My boy! My boy!” he cried, letting loose a stream of tears. “My dearest boy is alive!”

“Seth!” called a woman from behind. It was his mother, running through the grass towards them. “Oh, my goodness. You’re here! You’re here!” Together, the
three of them embraced.

“I’m glad you’re both safe,” he said, kissing his mother’s cheek. “But where are the others? Where are Uriel and Azura?”

“We’re all here, together. All but you and Cain,” said Eve, frowning. “Please tell me you saw your brother get away.”

Seth hesitated. “I didn’t see what happened to him,” he said, partially lying. He couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. He was certain he never would. His brother had died aboard the ship, killed by his own stubbornness. His own madness. But telling his parents the truth would do nothing for them.

“We’ll keep looking,” said Adam to his wife. “Don’t worry.”

“Seth?” called someone from the crowd.

He looked over his mother’s shoulder, trying to see who it was. Two young women appeared. Uriel and Azura. They both smiled and ran to join the family.

Azura fell into his arms, hugging him tighter than she ever had. The wind blew her hair into his face, and she kissed his neck a dozen times. “I knew you were safe,” she told him, happily. “Somehow I knew.”

Seth took her by the waist and looked into her eyes. The same eyes he’d seen on Fiore when Adam had brought her to the farm. The only eyes he ever wanted to see.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, staring into her.

She touched his cheek. “You came back to me,” she whispered.

Suddenly, he was crying, tears flowing out of him like water from a spring. “I love you forever,” he finally said. “I always will. I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you. I’m sorry I—”

And that was when she kissed him, hard and openly, as though for the very first time, for all the world to see.

Cain opened his eyes.

His skull ached with blinding pain. He glanced around the pod, trying to focus, but found it difficult to see through the haze. He was dizzy and sick, his entire body aching.

The last thing he remembered was shutting the hatch and pressing the ignition switch. Everything else was a blank.

He must have blacked out from the explosion on the ship or possibly when he entered the atmosphere. Not everyone could handle re-entry. The process did a number on the human body, depending on the passenger. Cain had only ever taken shuttles, which were slow and easy. Not like a pod, which was fast and brutal, or so he had read. Since he’d slept for most of the ride, he’d probably never know.

He drifted back to sleep here and there, still strapped to the chair, fading in and out of consciousness. The light came and went, and soon the night arrived, and he slept through most of it.

When the new day came, his headache had nearly gone. He stretched his arms, cracking his back, ignoring the pain of his singed skin as best he could. He’d treat his wounds later using the medical supplies in the pod’s kit, but not yet. Right now, he had to move.

When he had the hatch open, Cain emerged into a destroyed landscape. He had apparently landed in the woods, tearing a line through the trees, smashing them apart and scattering the wood. Many of the stumps had been charred and blackened by his arrival. The earth beneath poured smoke into the air, and the grass and leaves were little more than ash. He wondered how long the fire had raged here before finally calming. Had he slept through all of it?

Cain opened the supplies kit and found a portable radio transmitter. He considered using it to call for help, but who would have him now? His father would kill him if he found him, probably with a smile.
No
, he thought, letting go of the device, watching as it fell into the ash beneath his feet.
I’m on my own now.

He walked, leaving the pod behind, heading deeper into the wild forest. Whatever happened next would be on his own terms. He would hurt no one but himself.

He would never stop moving, no place to rest, no home to call his own. The world was all before him, and he would bury himself in it, content at whatever fate remained.

His life was over now, the shackles broken and torn.

Here, at last, across the sea of space, the eldest son of Adam was finally free.

Chapter 1

Documents of Historical, Scientific, and Cultural Significance

Play Audio Transmission File 021

Recorded April 19, 2157

CARTWRIGHT
: This is Lieutenant Colonel Felix Cartwright. It’s been a week since my last transmission and two months since the day we found the city…the day the world fell apart. If anyone can hear this, please respond.

If you’re out there, no doubt you know about the gas. You might think you’re all that’s left. But if you’re receiving this, let me assure you, you are not alone. There are people here. Hundreds, in fact, and for now, we’re safe. If you can make it here, you will be, too.

The city’s a few miles underground, not far from El Rico Air Force Base. That’s where my people came from. As always, the coordinates are attached. If anyone gets this, please respond. Let us know you’re there…that you’re still alive.

End Audio File

April 14, 2339

Maternity District

Miles below the surface of the Earth, deep within the walls of the last human city, a little boy named Terry played quietly with his sister in a small two-bedroom apartment.

Today was his very first birthday. He was turning seven.

“What’s a birthday?” his sister Janice asked, tugging at his shirt. She was only four years old and had recently taken to following her big brother everywhere he went. “What does it mean?”

Terry smiled, eager to explain. “Mom says when you turn seven, you get a birthday. It means you grow up and get to start school. It’s a pretty big deal.”

“When will I get a birthday?”

“You’re only four, so you have to wait.”

“I wish I was seven,” she said softly, her thin black hair hanging over her eyes. “I want to go with you.”

He got to his feet and began putting the toy blocks away. They had built a castle together on the floor, but Mother would yell if they left a mess. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. I promise, okay?”

“Okay!” she said cheerily and proceeded to help.

Right at that moment, the speaker next to the door let out a soft chime, followed by their mother’s voice. “Downstairs, children,” she said. “Hurry up now.”

Terry took his sister’s hand. “Come on, Jan,” he said.

She frowned, squeezing his fingers. “Okay.”

They arrived downstairs, their mother nowhere to be found.

“She’s in the kitchen,” Janice said, pointing at the farthest wall. “See the light-box?”

Terry looked at the locator board, although his sister’s name for it worked just as well. It was a map of the entire apartment, with small lights going on and off in different colors depending on which person was in which room.
There’s us
, he thought,
green for me and blue for Janice, and there’s Mother in red
. Terry never understood why they needed something like that because of how small the apartment was, but every family got one, or so Mother had said.