I looked up to the stars. Goddammit! This didn’t make any sense. I got William on the list. The kid was going to Mars just like Rick and Sarah had wanted. So why the hell did I feel like something was wrong?
I sat down, opened my data mat, and read through the new list again.
See! There was nothing to be worried about. Shannon was right. Ahmed had dropped more of his candidates, one hundred and thirty-eight to be exact. Still, there was something wrong. I could feel it in my gut.
I reviewed the replacements on the list, checking their profiles against the selection criteria. They all met the criteria… all of them. I don’t think I’d ever seen a list without at least one person who didn’t meet at least one of the criteria. Maybe our constant bitching had gotten through to Ahmed. Maybe he and the others had decided to finally follow the rules. As much as I wanted to believe that, I didn’t.
I sorted the list by name, age, religion… nothing. See, I was just imagining things. But when I sorted it by island, the little voice in my head returned and said, “I told you something was up!”
It wasn’t a smoking gun, but this wasn’t a normal distribution. Ninety-two of the one hundred and thirty-eight candidates came from the same island, Hanikada. I knew that island.
There had once been a tiny resort there before the storm, but the island was eventually abandoned. Something about an insufficient water supply, or water quality issue. I don’t remember. But I remembered the island. Goose bumps popped up on my arms as I recalled how eerie that place was… really creepy.
Everything had been abandoned. I even found a table in the dining hut that hadn’t been cleared after a meal. The whole time we were there erecting the communications tower, I felt like I was in an Old West ghost town. So unless the names on the list were ghosts—.
The door latch clicked and interrupted my thoughts. I turned and saw William peering through the door crack and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I thought some fresh air might help,” I said. “What are you doing up?”
Shrugging, he said, “I dunno.”
I motioned to one of the plastic beach chairs and we sat down. After a minute of silence, I asked, “Are you still thinking about the conversation at dinner?”
“No,” he said. “Not really.”
I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked away.
“I can tell something’s bothering you. Why don’t you tell me what it is. I used to tell my girls that the only way to get the bad feelings out of your head is to talk them out.”
He kept quiet, so I tried a different approach, “A lot of people are scared about going up in space and living on Mars. Heck, I don’t even like the idea of—”
Scowling at me, he shouted, “I’m not scared!”
“Whoa. I didn’t say that you were scared. I said that a lot of other people were scared.” I chuckled.
His hands clenched and his eyes narrowed. “Why are you laughing at me?”
“I’m not. I was just remembering that time your dad and I came back to the job site and found you all the way up in a communications tower with Jin’s kid. You probably don’t remember. You were only four years old at the time, but you…” I laughed again. “You had followed Bohai all the way up the ladder and sat on the edge of the platform, swinging your legs over the side and smiling from ear to ear.”
His face softened and his hands relaxed. “Really? I don’t remember that.”
I nodded. “Yup. Your dad just about shit himself.”
William smiled.
“That’s how I know you’re not scared, William. You’ve always been a tough kid.”
We sat there silently for another few seconds before I said, “So out of curiosity, if you’re not afraid of going to Mars, then why don’t you want to go?”
He got up and looked out towards the sound of the waves. “Because this is my home.”
“I know. Leaving home is hard, but you understand that things are getting worse around here, not better. Don’t you?”
“Yeah… I guess,” he said. “But some people say that it might get better.”
I got up and walked over next to him. “I wish they were right… I really do. But the people who say that are scared and can’t face reality. I don’t blame them. The reality of what’s going to happen to this place is hard to face. Do you know what I mean?”
He looked down at his feet. “Sort of. I guess… I guess it just feels like Helen and everyone wants to get rid of me.”
I put my hands on his shoulders and turned him towards me. When he finally looked up into my eyes I said, “That’s the last thing they want. Everyone here loves you. You were one of the first kids born on the island after the storm, so that makes you special.”
“Special?”
“Yeah. When you were born, people began to have hope again. They just want you to go to Mars because they need to know that life will go on.” He looked away, but I held his shoulders firmly. “They want you to go because everyone knows how smart you are, William. You’d make a difference up there.” He looked at me unconvinced, so I said, “Your mom and dad believed it. That’s why your dad volunteered to be on the Council. He wanted to make sure that you had a fair shot at a new life. More importantly, he knew that you’d give the colony a fighting chance to grow and thrive.”
Tears formed in his eyes and he buried his head in my chest. I hugged him tightly so he wouldn’t see the tears falling down my face.
After a while, he stepped back and said, “I’m tired. I’m going back to bed.”
“Okay. I’ll be in soon.”
He went inside and closed the door. I looked up at the stars again. I thought about the new list. What were they up to?
My chest tightened as a fear took ahold of my heart. If Ahmed sent unqualified people up to the colony, it could threaten the survival of the colony. The fear clamped down harder as a worse thought worked its way into my head. What if he had made a deal with the pirates? I thought back to that night on North Point when I saw the faces of the MDF officer and Jamal on the data mat screen. What if Ahmed had agreed to send pirates up to the colony!
I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen!
For the first time since the storm, I had a clear understanding of what I had to do. I had to delay the vote until I could decrypt those messages. I just hoped that Shannon would understand.
Chapter 11
I flew to Male in a helojumper, but once again it wasn’t by choice. Kamish had gotten a message from a friend on another island. There were new sightings of pirates in and around the channels. I didn’t want to take the chance of bumping into Jamal and his buddies.
When I called the MDF operations center to request the flight, the officer on duty refused my request. He said that he required twenty-four hours’ advance notice. But I reminded him of my rights as a Council member, and after dropping my share of F-bombs, he reluctantly agreed to schedule the flight.
I don’t know what that guy thought I was trying to do… go for a goddammed joy ride? Clearly he didn’t understand my feelings for that machine. The only reason I opted for the helojumper was that my fear of grappling hooks had recently outweighed my fear of being chopped into tiny, bite-sized pieces by the turbo blades.
By the time I had arrived at the Male airport, it was already eleven o’clock and it was cold again… winter wonderland cold. There weren’t any storm clouds in the sky, so at least I didn’t have to worry about snow this time. However, my ears felt like they would snap off if someone flicked them.