Fallen Earth (First Colony Book 15), page 12
She stared at him for a few moments, doing some kind of quick assessment. “Are you okay?”
A flicker of annoyance must’ve shown on his face.
“Come on, Ethan, you know what I mean.”
“Honestly, I’m a little annoyed to be back here. There’s nothing wrong with me, Lauren. I don’t understand why they have to do yet another evaluation.”
“Yes you do. They’ll make you do as many as it takes for them to be convinced you’re not a danger to yourself and others.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “I’m a soldier. By definition, I’ve been trained to be dangerous.”
She gave him an exasperated look and then laughed. After a few moments, he began to chuckle himself.
“Thank God for that,” Lauren said. “If you hadn’t loosened up, I’d have had to start reminding you of all the embarrassing things you’ve done.”
He regarded her for a second. “Well, there’s plenty of that to go around.”
They shared a moment and then Lauren said. “What if there was a way to reverse it?”
He frowned. “Reverse what?”
“You being a hybrid.”
He stared at her. She was serious. More than serious—she was excited.
“I didn’t think it was possible.”
“I said we haven’t figured it out.”
“And have you?”
“I’m getting there. I’ve come across some things that might make it a real possibility.”
Ethan leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful frown.
“What’s the matter? I thought you’d leap at the opportunity.”
He pursed his lips for a second, feeling conflicted. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just surprised.”
Lauren nodded. “Understandable, but what do you think? Would you do it if you could?”
Ethan swallowed hard and considered it. What had been so clear before seemed to have blurred in the last few minutes. “Hypothetically, I’m not sure. I’m still trying to learn to live with it.”
“Why the hesitation? Is this because of Cynergy?”
His gaze flicked toward the door. He’d long since become accustomed to the connection he shared with Cynergy.
Lauren cleared her throat and he looked at her. “She’s part of this. She’s part of me.”
Lauren blinked a few times. “She can be cured, too.”
Ethan scowled and shook his head. “Don’t put it like that.”
Lauren looked away for a second, abashed. “I’m sorry. I know it sounds derogatory, and that’s not how I mean it, but the Vemus were a pathogen. It’s a disease. Just because an adaptation inside of us allowed for some kind of hybridization to occur doesn’t change the fact that this stems from a disease, and we need to think of it as such.”
Ethan could make a pretty good guess as to how Cynergy, Clip, and other hybrids he knew would react to that. So much of their identity was wrapped up in what they were.
“This could be a way to reverse what was done to you and finally put things back to normal. Isn’t that what you want? To be back with the 7th flying missions and doing what you do best, little brother?”
Ethan was quiet for a few moments. “Yes,” he said and shook his head. “No. Heck, I don’t know. I want that, but at the same time—I just didn’t think this was an option.”
“It’s going to be an option. It’s your best option.”
“But you haven’t done it yet. This is all theory, right?”
“I’m getting close. I’ve learned some things recently that are promising,” she said, eyes gleaming, and she smiled.
She was really fighting for this, doing what she thought was best for him.
“Just for the record, so I’m clear. If a cure was really an option, would you take it?”
Ethan sighed. His answer was on the tip of his tongue, but his mouth wouldn’t form the words.
A loud slam came from his door, and he spun his chair around.
“What was that noise?” Lauren asked.
Ethan stood and peered out the window. He saw Cynergy storming away, lengthening her stride.
He looked back at the comlink. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll speak to you soon,” he said.
He hastened to the door and was through it before Lauren could respond.
Ethan ran down the corridor, shouting for Cynergy to wait.
13
Ethan knew Cynergy had heard him, even though she was more than fifty meters away from him and the area was a buzz of activity. Highly acute hearing was one of her specialties, and with their connection, it was all but a given that she’d heard him.
As he ran after her, he wondered how much of his conversation she’d overheard. He watched as she scowled at a soldier who approached her. Her skin had darkened, but her long blonde hair trailed behind her.
Ethan closed the distance. “I’ve got this, Private,” he said.
She was still a short distance ahead, and he knew that if she really wanted to run, she could go much faster than this.
Cynergy stopped and spun toward him, regarding him coldly. She’d told him she couldn’t read his thoughts, but she must’ve sensed something. All he was getting from her was cold fury and a sense of betrayal.
More than a few people stopped to look at them, sensing that something was about to happen.
“Let’s just talk,” Ethan said quietly.
Cynergy narrowed her gaze. “What’s that? I can’t hear you. I think you’re mumbling.”
Her skin color went back to pale and she glared at him. “Is this what you prefer?” she asked, striding toward him.
Ethan’s mouth hung open a little and he was momentarily at a loss for words.
Cynergy paused and her skin changed again. As she embraced her hybrid nature, she became dark with a purplish sheen, and her voice deepened. She turned toward the people staring at her and hissed. “Isn’t this what you’re waiting for? This is what I am. I shouldn’t have to hide it from anyone,” she said and looked at Ethan. A pair of blazing, emerald-colored eyes stabbed him right in the chest. “This isn’t something to be ashamed of or that needs to be cured.”
Ethan held her gaze and stepped toward her. He didn’t need to rely on the connection they shared to know she was hurt. She was hurt because she’d overheard his conversation with Lauren and now believed that he wanted to be changed back.
He inhaled a deep breath. “You only heard half a conversation.”
“I heard enough,” she snarled.
Cynergy had had a tough time among the spacers where the very real possibility of dying was part of her everyday life.
He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Please,” he said gently.
Her bottom lip trembled, and her cold facade began to crumble. Then she clamped her jaw shut.
He came closer to her. “Let’s go somewhere so we can talk. Privately,” Ethan said with a slight tilt of his head.
Cynergy blinked and glanced over at the people.
Ethan had had just about enough of the audience they’d gathered. He turned toward them. “Show’s over. Go on.”
The small crowd began to move, slowly at first, but then at a normal pace.
He came to stand in front of Cynergy. “Come on. Let’s get out of the street here.”
They walked to where a group of rovers were parked, then moved past them and were soon away from the base.
Prism had been built over an older city that Ethan didn’t know the name of, but there were still some partially intact buildings among the shrubs and trees.
Sighing, he decided to speak first. “There are a lot of places like this on New Earth.”
Cynergy frowned toward him with honey-brown eyes.
He gestured ahead of them to a partial wall that was covered with thick green vines. The wall was angled, as if it had been falling and the only thing keeping it up was the vines. They grew past the wall and clung to the nearby trees.
“Ovarrow ruins. I spent a lot of time exploring them when I was younger.”
Cynergy crossed her arms over her stomach. “It looks depressing.” He blinked and stared at her, waiting for her to continue. “I’ve lived on old ships and stations my whole life. Earth was always a mystery to us, something we learned about. We finally get back here and it’s like the entire planet is one giant cemetery.”
“That’s pretty bleak, Cyn, even for you.”
She looked at him and there was something in her gaze that just made him feel exposed, as if she really could read his mind. “Do you want to go back to your home?”
He shrugged. “Maybe one day. I’d love to show it to you.”
Her gaze hardened a little. “Would I be allowed to go?”
“Of course you would be. Why would even say something like that?”
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“They’re never going to trust you again. You’re exiled, Ethan.”
“That’s absurd.” But his words sounded hollow even to him.
She gave him a sympathetic look, and he had flashbacks to how Hayman and the rest of the platoon had regarded him post mission.
“The CDF is being understandably cautious,” he said.
“Ethan,” she said evenly, “I’ve lived with this my whole life. Sometimes people do accept it, but they also want to keep you at arm’s length, so we’re never truly accepted.”
“I understand that, but that doesn’t match how Elias regarded you when we first got here. Colonel Cooper and the rest of his soldiers welcomed you. The people here are more tolerant than the spacers were.”
She nodded slowly. “And how long before those prejudices spread to the people here? Can you tell me it won’t happen? You can’t because it’s already happening.”
“Let’s just say you’re right. Ideas spread. I understand that, but there has got to be a middle ground for coexistence. We found it with the Ovarrow. Why can’t we find it with hybrids?”
She tilted her head to the side, her long, dark-blonde hair shifting a little. “I want you to be right about this, but I’ve got a lifetime of experiences that say otherwise.”
“Time will tell then,” Ethan said and paused for a moment, considering. “About what you heard…What did you hear?”
“That Lauren is working on a cure to rid the world of hybrids. That you would take it if it was available to you.”
Cynergy had risked her life to save him. They’d been crashing to the Earth and he was already dying. By changing him to a hybrid, she’d nearly killed herself.
“Cyn,” he said, reaching out to grasp one of her hands. She let him take it. “Lauren is trying to help. There are hybrids who have been a lot less fortunate than us, who have a really hard time surviving, let alone actually living. It’s those people she wants to help.”
Cynergy gazed into his eyes for a long moment. “And she wants you back to the way you were.”
“She’s trying to protect me. That’s all she’s doing. It’s not because she hates you or any other hybrid out there.”
“She might not, but there are other people who will use this to push a cure on us. We’ll all be exiled. It’ll be like Magnus Station all over again.”
Ethan shook his head. “It won’t.”
She narrowed her gaze and pulled her hand away from his. “How do you know?”
He inhaled a breath and sighed. “Well, number one, Earth is open to you. There’s plenty of room here for people to live. Two, the envoy won’t condone those actions.”
“But would they give us their support if it came down to it?”
Ethan frowned and considered it for a few moments. “You know I can’t answer that. They’d work to prevent it from coming down to an us-or-them decision matrix.”
She looked slightly amused. “Decision matrix?”
He smiled. “Would you prefer a common framework from which to base a decision?”
“Now you’re just showing off.”
“One likes to rise to a challenge.”
She rolled her eyes, but then her expression became serious. “You never answered me.”
He looked away from her for a moment. “I’m not sure. Don’t get insulted. This isn’t even a real decision. Wouldn’t you consider it? I mean, really consider it?”
“It’s part of who I am. It’s part of who you are, too, whether you want to accept it or not,” Cynergy said and paused for a moment. “My initial reaction might have been too abrupt. I do believe that your sister’s intentions are good. I just worry about how others will take advantage of it.”
A question came to his mind that he was afraid to ask, but now that it was there, he knew that if he didn’t, it would gnaw away at him.
“Things would change between us if you were cured,” Cynergy said.
He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw for a moment. “Why? Why does it have to change anything?”
She shrugged. “It’s just a feeling,” she said and patted her heart.
She was saying that if a cure became available, and he used it, they might lose each other.
He leaned toward her. “We’re more than that, Cyn. We have to be.”
She blinked and looked away from him. He couldn’t tell whether she believed him or not.
“What happened to you on Mars?” she asked.
He told her and she listened.
“So this research base and communications were from someone on Earth before the planet was quarantined?”
Ethan nodded. “And they were coming to Mars. It was the best clue with a real link to the Vemus origins.”
“What are you going to do? They destroyed the site. The data is lost.”
“I’m going to look for it here,” Ethan replied.
She frowned. “How?”
“There has to be a way.”
She arched an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”
He grimaced, then widened his eyes and smiled. “Find a way to trace it. And before you ask how I’m going to do it, I’ll just tell you.” Her full lips lifted at the edges. “Remember all the satellites we saw when we went to the orbital platforms? Many of them were for communications, so it stands to reason that whoever sent that transmission to Mars was on Earth and had to use one of those. I need to figure out how to narrow it down, though.”
“We could ask Clip. He wants to see you, anyway.”
“About what?”
“He doesn’t think you should just be waiting around, doing nothing.”
“I’m not.”
She stared at him.
“Not anymore. Let’s go find Clip.”
14
Cynergy took Ethan to a camp about fifty kilometers outside the city.
Ethan watched the landscape from the rover’s windows. “What’s he doing way out here?”
“He likes the space out here.”
He frowned. “Really?”
She nodded. “And it’s private.”
Clip was a hybrid leader who rescued people who’d been exiled from Magnus Station.
“Doesn’t like the city, I guess.”
She considered it for a few moments and then said, “You spend your life aboard old ships and small outposts where space is extremely limited, and you finally get here.” She gestured out the window. The rover’s windows were down, and they were traveling along an ancient road through the foothills of nearby mountains east of them. She glanced at him and then arched an eyebrow. “What?”
Ethan shrugged. “It’s just interesting seeing how spacers react once they get here. You finally get to visit a place you’ve only read about or seen from far away. Some of you take to the cities where it’s convenient and there are lots of people, while others prefer to be away. I don’t know if it’s solitude, or they just don’t trust each other.”
“It’s both,” she replied, and patted her palm on the steering wheel. “We can’t just erase decades of skirmishes and conflict.”
He nodded. “I get it.”
“But you want us to move past it.”
“Yes.”
“Easier said than done.”
He agreed. “Doesn’t explain why he’s this far out.”
“You can ask him yourself. We’ll reach camp in a few minutes.”
The camp was home to about fifty people. They looked to be mostly ex-spacers, but Ethan recognized the tan uniforms of Prisms Field Ops people. Clip must be coordinating with Colonel Elias Cooper. Ethan wondered if Cooper was at the camp. It had been a couple of months since he’d last seen him.
Cynergy parked the rover and checked in with Clip through comms. “Yes, I have him with me. I’ll bring him.” Something Clip said made her laugh and she glanced at him. “I’ll tell him.”
They climbed out of the rover and Cynergy led him through the camp.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me something?”
She frowned for a second. “Oh, that’s nothing. He wanted me to make sure you weren’t moody.”
He rolled his eyes. “That was one time.”
His adjustment to becoming a hybrid had its challenges, which had initially presented by making his emotions seem like a ship with its maneuvering thrusters all misfiring. That part had been temporary, but Clip had been around for some of it.
“He still has the scars to prove it,” she said.
“That’s because he refuses to get rid of them.”
What had begun as a friendly wrestling match between hybrids had escalated, and there were a few broken windows in an old warehouse. Clip had been showing him a few new tricks that were unique to hybrids. Not only did he finally learn some of his physical capabilities that day, but he’d learned to manage his emotions. Lauren had informed him that his biochip reported his hormones were chaotic for a time and then returned to the familiar pattern that had been recorded in his records. It was as if he’d been reborn, and it affected his entire body.
They found Clip standing at a workbench, reassembling a rifle. He was tall and broad shouldered, with dark hair and a grizzled brown beard. He looked up from his work and smiled, dark-brown eyes gleaming.
