Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

On Winged Gossamer: New Earth Chronicles, #3
On Winged Gossamer: New Earth Chronicles, #3
On Winged Gossamer: New Earth Chronicles, #3
Ebook560 pages7 hours

On Winged Gossamer: New Earth Chronicles, #3

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Both Imperial Governor Scholtz and the Sovereignty Movement face a wildcard: a self-proclaimed queen, armed with an unstoppable A.I. and unbeatable warriors.

"This is a great story that is beautifully told... unforgettable characters, a well-imagined post-apocalyptic setting, and a monumental conflict." ~ Readers' Favorite Book Reviews, Ruffina Oserio (5 STARS)

Eena is discouraged because the Sovereignty Movement has reached an all-time low, and martial law increasingly cramps the workers' freedom. The students, pulled from the university to work at Onmatson Farm, labor under deplorable conditions. The cloned babies still face a dehumanized future. And Caellum, the leader who's presumed dead, slinks about in Transtopia's shadows until the oppressed farm hands revolt.

How will Biate, ensconced in Denver Airport and called "The Mad Queen," impact the power struggle between Imperial Governor Charles Scholtz and the Sovereignty Seekers. Her unbeatable military force, and her connection to a powerful A.I., worries Dora and Caellum. So does her determination to obtain a child—not just any child, but a child of royal lineage—because when Dora gives birth to Michael, he's the only such child around.

EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a compelling speculative/visionary tale, with post-apocalyptic elements, to bring the past full circle into the future, in this third book in the "New Earth Chronicles" series. [DRM-Free]

"The plot is twisty. The conflict is colossal. The characters are solidly developed... The story is fast-paced and episodic, balanced, and deftly written." ~ Readers' Favorite Book Reviews, Romuald Dzemo (5 STARS)

"...a hugely engrossing, intimate, and detailed work of sci-fi and fantasy fiction with plenty of intrigue on all sorts of different levels to offer its readers." ~ Readers' Favorite Book Reviews, K.C. Finn (5 STARS)

 

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 21, 2020
ISBN9781622533732
On Winged Gossamer: New Earth Chronicles, #3
Author

Victoria Lehrer

In seventh grade, Mrs. Trader inspired me both as a writer and a teacher. In her class, I learned I loved to write and that my classmates liked to hear my stories. Her spirited students engaged in dramatic performances, hands-on projects, and lively discussions—nothing like the poor subdued souls across the hall, managed by the teacher with long green eyes. So Mrs. Trader was my model when I started a school and set aside my writing—that is, until it dawned on me that tribes of children have loved learning by listening to stories for thousands of years. So I wrote about a million words that speak to head and heart, which I am still reading to my child listeners. But now I’m writing stories, my second million words, to speak to the heads and hearts of adult readers and listeners, and hoping my classmates will like them.

Related authors

Related to On Winged Gossamer

Titles in the series (5)

View More

Related ebooks

Science Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for On Winged Gossamer

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    On Winged Gossamer - Victoria Lehrer

    Chimed notes floated from the balcony, and sunlight streamed through an open window toward the tapered fingers that rested on Caellum’s chest, insinuating a promise that such beatitude would shower all his and Dora’s awakenings. That he was alive to clasp the hand that had waved him away from base camp three months back and to share the secret that their child gestated in her womb strengthened the promise of unremitting happiness. The breeze from the ceiling fan lifted strands of hair as he brushed away the dark and shining veil to admire her beauty in repose, and as his eyes caressed her, he synced his exhale with her soft breath and pulled her close. Beneath the whir of the fan, his heart drummed his devotion, while the impression lingered that every morning of their lives, chimed notes would float through the window and sunlight would stream just so—and for these blissful moments of their renewed embrace, he cherished the lie.

    Caellum waited over an hour—after another round of lovemaking and showers—to speak the truth. Ensconced in the breakfast nook; their plates scraped clean as they sipped their second cup of tea, he voiced what must be said. I can’t stay here at the Imperial Ritz one floor below Charles the SynAnn, I mean the imperial governor. No, Charles the Terrible.

    But no one other than Rolf or Shaun ever comes to my door.

    Am I to remain inside this apartment like a pet dog?

    With an irritating whine a gust of wind tossed the window curtains against the table.

    Of course not. There’s an elevator.

    And risk social engineering minions recognizing me?

    What about the stairs?

    It’s not that I wouldn’t climb the fifteen-story stairwell to be with you....

    We can move to a lower floor.

    And publicize my presence each time I cross the foyer of the Imperial Ritz?

    We can live on the third floor, below SEI residents. You can ride the elevator between there and the basement.

    Still....

    The wind and flaps of fabric paused, and Dora fanned the dampness from her neck.

    I know. Resignation subdued her tone. I’m grasping at straws. You can’t live anywhere near this building.

    The day after their stunning victory; the day after his life was saved; the day after their ecstatic night together, despondency settled between them.

    Or this city. A stricken look followed Dora’s declaration.

    In the oppressive heat, Caellum willed the air to stir between them.

    But we agreed that the sovereignty movement needs a push. Dora’s addendum echoed yesterday’s sentiment.

    Or an assassin. Though Caellum’s words floated like softly chimed notes, her look of abhorrence unsettled him.

    Defensiveness charged his rebuttal. Charles the SynAnn’s not a human being.

    But he’s sentient, alive.

    With plans to replace humankind with cyborgs.

    You can’t kill someone for intentions.

    He’s declared war on humanity—our humanity.

    Thanks to you, we fired the first volley against a nanite invasion—and won the battle.

    One shot from the gun that’s hidden under your mattress.... Caellum left and returned with a gun, A well-aimed shot from this would end this takeover that has grown exponentially more hostile since the arrival of Charles the Terrible.

    More likely, trigger martial law with SEI ministers in command. Abruptly, Dora left the room.

    Through the doorway one eye of Cal’s vacant stare challenged Caellum’s exasperation. Originally, he had placed his dummy look-alike in their bedroom.

    I treasure Cal as a lifesaver as you do, Dora had said, but during our lovemaking, even a dummy’s stare unnerves me.

    So Cal, who had hanged from the noose in Caellum’s stead, ended up on the living room sofa—a reminder of his human look-alike’s brush with execution and, thanks to the dummy, escape.

    Their argument hung in the stagnant air until Dora returned with a small fan, and the renewed breeze dispersed the tension between them.

    Above the gun Caellum’s open hand invited feminine fingers to slide across his palm. We were discussing my lodging.

    Her hand moved to clasp his. Give me three days.

    Caellum thrust his fingers between Dora’s and flipped their hands palm to palm to bring her fingertips to his lips and kiss them one by one. I’ll give you as many days as you need.

    On reflection, that they would always wake up together immersed in chimed notes and sunshine was a lie. Already restlessness, the urge to do more than skulk about in the dark, the urge to expand the perimeter of his knowledge of the post-Solar Flash world, the urge to vanquish the landlord stranglehold, wedged a tiny crack in this idyllic interlude. But as long as the love between them remained true, he could live with the forces that would separate them.

    Emory’s urge to expand his knowledge of the giant birds brought him to the summit of Quartz Mountain in the middle of the night and to this predicament. Seeking a large nest, he carried his gun along for protection, but didn’t expect to have to use it. Poised to leap, the snapping, growling wolf, its snout wrinkled to expose deadly fangs, faced the man. His hand shaking, Emory pulled the trigger and stepped back. When he tripped and fell, silence sliced through the gun report, and the wolf disappeared.

    His skin stippling in response to an envelope of cool moist air, Emory lay on his back. In the heavy atmosphere the effluvia of decaying vegetation afflicted his nostrils. Worse still, the flashlight beam, rather than shedding light on his confusion, illuminated a wall of stone that challenged his recall of falling through open space. Above the rock barricade that shouldn’t be there, the tree line touched a patch of stars as distant as the air was close, their twinkles enigmatic, indifferent to his growing panic. He had to get out of here, wherever ‘here’ was. What just happened?

    A new reason for alarm assailed him as he shined his flashlight on his surroundings, and his heart pounded in protest against the alien silence. The trees were all wrong. The moonlight and his flashlight illuminated trunks that had tripled in size. And the color—the tree bark was terracotta red.

    Maybe he had fallen and been knocked out, and this was a dream. He shook his head as though to shake away the nightmare. But the snap of a nearby twig alerted him to very real movement nearby and wrung from his terror a silent cry. Help! His flashlight beam zigzagged between an empty void and a tree trunk. At its base loomed a large dark triangle. As he moved closer, a thick pad of pine needles crunched underfoot, confounding his desire for stealth until the beam illumined a rotted out hole big enough for a body. Hope surged. Shelter.

    With the butt of his rifle, he knocked away a tarantula the size of his hand, and then, scrunching and twisting, he squeezed inside. He hugged his knees and stared beyond his cramped fortress, until oblivion, merciful oblivion, shut away the ludicrousness, the displacement of Quartz Mountain.

    Though Quartz Mountain beckoned, Eena stood as though rooted in Cedarhenge and asked the crew to walk on ahead of her. Thanks to a mask and firecrackers, they had rescued Caellum. Mission accomplished, they could return home. But she needed a few minutes to linger with Adair and Chas in the nine-sided open-air structure where the impossible happened the day before. Sunlight glinted rainbow hues on the etched glass and reflected on the bronze swirls that formed the symbol holding her captive. Perched on a marble podium, the triskelion seemed so innocuous. She needed to make sense of yesterday’s surreal event.

    Under Adair’s guided meditation, light had streamed from the central symbol to form a shimmering torus, which encompassed the fugitives. Nor could they comprehend the illusion yesterday when the Douglas fir in the stained glass mural expanded to enclose them in its girth. Logic dictated the soldiers swarming through Cedarhenge should see Adair and the crew huddled in the center. At this moment, a day later, the disruptors of Freedom Festival should be jailed in Caellum’s stead.

    According to Adair they had entered a different dimension as they stood invisible to soldiers scrambling around, searching for them, determined to capture them. After the shouts receded in the distance, the mirage, or whatever it was, shimmered out of view, and Adair, Eena and the crew stood exposed in the real world.

    Eena’s need to comprehend the experience in that other world persisted. What happened? Why was my experience so different from that of the others? After the glowing strands of the torus receded, a collective sense of wonder lingered for all but Eena. Why was she not portaled to bliss? Why was she transported to the most dreadful place she had ever entered: The Gestation Chamber at Fort Carson? A parade of unsettling images invaded her sojourn in the lighted realm, leaving her shaken.

    Babies. Clones floating in glass tubes—petri dish specimens of the planned next generation. According to Dr. Olsen, genetic manipulations throughout childhood would suppress their humanness, rendering them puppets of the regime. Protocols designed to stunt their development; to thwart their independence and creativity would determine their destinies. By now the enslaved future work force of the landlords must include close to fifty children, the oldest, around two and a half years old.

    Shuddering from the persistent images, she turned her eyes toward the mural covering three walls of Cedarhenge. The jagged hole in Adair’s stained glass work of art, targeted by the soldier’s frustration, loomed as a reminder of the troops’ search. As though to shatter the very soul of the Douglas fir, the bullet passed through the center of the knothole.

    Adair herself was an enigma as she soothed Eena’s distress. The heart of the image is easily repaired, but the soldier’s—not so simple... poor guy.

    Eena snorted. Poor guy?

    Given a gun, he was primed to shoot it.

    "He was after us."

    We were presented as the enemy.

    Eena’s retort was vehement. His kind and the system they serve are the enemy.

    Delusion is the enemy.

    With those words that reverberated a familiar chord, Eena turned to Chas. Who does she sound like?

    He squeezed Eena’s shoulder and addressed Adair. A Lakota elder named Matoskah would likely agree with you.

    Adair’s chuckle disarmed Eena and prompted an admission. Even though Matoskah—Grandfather—has taught me a different way, my first reaction is usually to retaliate.

    But as she spoke, the question that continued to plague her surfaced. Without weapons, how can we hope to break the back of the oppressive system of landlords, their social engineering minions and armed forces?

    Though Eena kept to herself the trans-dimensional shake-up, her angst hovered, throttling her breath until the intent of the remote viewing penetrated her consciousness. She realized she would soon be returning to Transtopia and that firecrackers and a mask wouldn’t suffice for the next rescue. With a departing glance at the etched glass Triskelion, Eena shook away the still clinging pall. She gazed ahead toward the group crossing the meadow with light-hearted banter as though still buoyed by the otherworldly experience. When Adair said pointedly, We’ll meet again, they hugged goodbye. Eena nodded to Chas, and shouting Wait up! hurried to catch up with the crew.

    An hour later the group reached the red sandstone formation of massive standing stones known as the Garden of the Gods. The sight of the milling flock of teal-colored birds that dwarfed their human pilots buoyed her spirits and she hurried to single out her bond mate, Cesla.

    Tether in hand Leiani looked anxious. So how did it go?

    Our mission was a success. Caellum is alive and very likely with his beloved Dora as we speak.

    As Leiani cheered, Cesla lowered his head to press his crown against Eena’s chest. It was a familiar form of augur greeting, but in this case prolonged, perhaps because she had helped raise him from a chick, and they had been bond mates for three years, and she had been away for two weeks. She chuckled, and after a vigorous scratch below the augur’s bony jaw, her fingers moved to the elongated feathers standing erect at his crown and stroked the powerful neck. Full measure, she returned Cesla’s gladness to be reunited.

    Leiani handed Eena a mango so she could complete their greeting ritual with a hand-feeding. As Cesla grabbed stringy bits of pulp in his beak and raised his head to gulp them down, Eena sighed because the thought of harm coming to this avis gigantus presaged such grief. Since the soldiers occupied Three Mountains Valley, each flight through the portal between Quartz Mountain and Mu endangered Cesla’s life.

    In response to Gavin’s So are you two lovebirds ready yet? she shook off the sense of foreboding. Seeing that the others were mounted and ready for flight, she tossed the seed, wiped the sticky juice on her pants leg, and straddled Cesla’s tail to scoot to the mounted position. Her fingers ensconced in Cesla’s downy breast, the liftoff yielded the heady sensation of escaping the bounds of earth.

    The Transtopia skyline receded into the distance, yet a sense of urgency to return loomed. The project at Fort Carson provided the trunk line of the social engineering branches. For humanity, the success or preemption of that project represented destiny’s fork in the road. Humankind faced two radically different time lines—one, the achievement of collective and individual sovereignty; the other, workers doomed by the machinations of an oppressive regime.

    Eena and the crew approached Quartz Mountain from the north face, hidden from the view of the soldiers in Three Mountains Valley. As they flew over the summit to land in the clearing beside the portal, she scanned for troops crawling the mountain in search of giant birds or them.

    Matoskah. The one person Eena didn’t expect to see was Grandfather. Why was he standing near the portal, a bandaged wolf nearby? Valek?

    As the pilots and augurs circled to land, Eena recalled the dream three years ago in which, guided by an eagle, she flew to Blue Lake Mountain. Wearing the man-in-the-maze pendant that matched her own, Matoskah stood beside the lake near the summit as though expecting her. Although she had no memory of ever meeting this Lakota elder, she recognized him. The connection between them transcended time and space.

    Today, Matoskah, most often referred to as Grandfather, waited in the clearing beside the portal. He stood as straight as ever, but he looked smaller somehow, the lines in his face more deeply etched, and his smile—his sweet smile—more ethereal, as though of another world. When did Matoskah, her compass for navigating this world, who could outclimb and outthink the best of them, become so frail? When Cesla’s claws grabbed the earth, a cloud of dust swirled around Eena and overshadowed her spirit.

    Raymond gazed proudly at the thriving community now named Gaia’s Gardens. If only the intrusive nudge of anxiety would allow him these few minutes to revel in all that had been accomplished in three years. If only this little paradise and the portions of I-25 severed by earthquakes could forever keep the control system at bay.

    Gaia’s Gardens had responded to the capture and recycling of water and soil nutrients by coiling grape vines up wooden arbors and gracing homes with magenta prairie roses. Tall sage bushes, prickly pear and desert willows with yellow flowers lined the lanes of cob houses, comprised of an ancient recipe of clay-rich soil, water and straw. The ten acres of hemp were already producing fiber for both rope and clothing, and offering CBD oil for healing tinctures and soothing creams. Healthy complexions evidenced fresh and abundant produce from the gardens, which surrounded the households and yielded sufficient food for winter storage.

    But the memory of the helicopter that circled the town a couple of weeks ago wormed its way into Raymond’s gut. Whose helicopter? Why? What were they seeking?

    Raymond knew that sooner rather than later, he would have to defend Gaia’s Gardens from inevitable invasion by Transtopia to the south and/or Denver to the north. To monitor the recovery of those two cities and surrounding areas became an urgent priority. He began carrying camping gear in a backpack and skirting Gaia’s Gardens in ever-widening arcs that encompassed tiny collections of outlying vacated buildings. His third exploratory arc led him five miles north to a small farmhouse. In a fenced-in yard of clucking chickens where an old man harvested tomatoes in tilled rows of vegetables, a dog barked at his approach.

    The gardener, balancing a load of ripe tomatoes against his chest, nodded toward Raymond. Well, hello, there. You a rover?

    No, sir, just a person looking for fellow survivors. I’m from a little community about a day’s hike from here.

    Raymond hesitated outside the fence until tail wagging accompanied, and then replaced, the dog’s barking.

    The old man glanced at his dog. Scamp’s harmless. Come in and close the gate behind you.

    The dog and Raymond greeted one another before the host spoke again. How about a sit with me and a cool glass of water. Name’s Cliff. Cliff lowered a bucket into a nearby well, filled a metal pitcher and retrieved two glasses.

    After Raymond set down his pack, sleeping bag and tent, and the two were settled at a shaded table, both wanted to know the other’s survival stories. Raymond swigged water, then told Cliff about his stay underground during the Earth changes, his family’s escape and the subsequent influx of survivors to just north of the Zone of Destruction. Gaia’s Gardens.

    I’m living the best time of my life—far from the control structure and close to nature—at least for now. So, Cliff, what’s your story?

    The old man looked past Raymond as though transported to a former time and viewing scenes only he could see.

    "My wife, Sara, and I live on the top floor of a retirement high-rise located at the edge of downtown Denver. There’s been no forecast of a storm when we stand at our glass patio door watching the lightning flashes. I’ve always been fascinated by lightning. As a child I loved watching the flashes and counting down to the booms.

    "But that evening—the night of Solar Flash—remains etched in my memory as the most spectacular event of my life, and since I’ve just passed my 80th birthday, that’s a lot of decades. Mind you, I’m not talking about a single bolt of lightning at a time. Those strikes are continuous—I mean, nonstop. I step out on my balcony. Foolish, I know, but it allows me to see a panoramic view: 270 degrees of currents arcing toward Earth. There are none of the loud booms connected with thunder. Only zaps and snaps of electrical discharges—sometimes a bang when a bolt hits a transformer.

    "To the northeast I see a sight I never thought I’d see around here. Across the horizon ripples a sheet of shimmering green waves. It resembles the Aurora Borealis we saw when we toured Iceland. Overhead and from horizon to horizon, the cloudless sky hosts a pulsing bright light as if invisible hands are flicking switches on and off.

    The light show continues for an hour until act two gets even better. But before I tell you about that, I need to backtrack. You with me?

    Intrigued, Raymond nodded. He’d always wondered what happened topside while he and his family were in Cavern City.

    "About a month before that night, I’m at the convention center listening to some teen rock star with my 13-year-old granddaughter and a couple of thousand screaming kids. Suddenly, between songs, in the midst of applause, whistling and cheers, two gorgeous, very tall people materialize on stage. The lead singer backs away as the pair step toward his microphone. They tower over the singer. I’d say the male was around seven feet tall, the female about six inches shorter.

    "Almost instantly, that auditorium becomes so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

    "I wrestle the binoculars from my granddaughter to view the arrivals. They are both astonishing representatives of ideal beauty. Long straight hair parted in the middle—hers golden, his silvery. Oval faces with large, blue-violet eyes. Her brows are perfectly winged, his slightly thicker, slanting down.

    "The male begins to speak. He has this real pleasant voice, and a calm settles over the audience.

    "‘Your sun is about to undergo a momentous change,’ he begins. ‘It has been very quiet for several years with no sunspots. But you may have noticed its white-hot intensity. Since the turn of the century, it has been packing energy, building an explosive charge. Soon, it will eject a massive solar flare that will wreak havoc on Earth’s surface.’

    "When cries of alarm erupt among the spectators, the female extends her hands, fingers up, palms facing out, and the cries die down. She speaks. ‘There’s no cause for alarm. Some of you have aligned with Earth and have chosen to participate in a final showdown with the dark forces that grip your planet. Some of you have been asking to leave. And, indeed, an Earthlike planet awaits your arrival.’

    "‘We, your genetic sisters and brothers, hearken from the Pleiades Constellation. We have known this time to be coming and have prepared a planet for you: Gaia—2.’

    "An astonished uproar rips through the audience and interrupts the speaker. With poised presence, she pauses for the return of silent attention. ‘We have ships, each of which can carry thousands. Ships with access to star gates through which you can speedily reach the home that awaits you.’

    "Amid disgruntled murmurs, trickles of people move toward the isles and head for the exit. The space woman continues. ‘We will take no one against his or her will. You must volunteer to join us. Watch for us. We will appear on your holographic screens, in news broadcasts and at large gatherings. Spread the word. A crisis approaches planet Earth, but so does help.’

    "Sara and I don’t connect with the aliens. So we decide to stay put. A couple of weeks later the government offices close. Reports fly that the city leaders and a segment of the population have disappeared—to where, no one knows.

    "So back to where I started my account—watching the spectacular light show. It’s a month after the concert and two weeks after the government shutdown. I’m on my balcony when out of nowhere a huge cigar-shaped craft materializes. Must be a mile long at least. Then another and another until a flotilla of similar crafts cover the Denver sky. I hear shouts and screams at street level. Transfixed by what I’m seeing, I call for Sara.

    "Then a beam shoots out from the underbelly of a craft. The cone of light widens as it reaches the pavement. A small group of people steps into the beam and rises straight up as though riding an invisible elevator. There’s no sign of alarm, no flailing of arms. They’ve obviously volunteered.

    "One cone of light after another protrudes among the apartment buildings and into neighborhoods. In rapid succession, groups who must have decided to take their chances with the aliens and depart for the new world, rise toward the craft. Amid surrounding flashes and electrical buzzes, the close-up silence is eerie.

    "The next morning we’re alone in our apartment building. The city’s dead. As far as I can tell within a half-mile radius there’s not a single living soul. It’s creepy. After a week Sara and I, too terrified to step outside, decide to move to the basement. We’re hunkered down below street level with candles and food before the electricity goes out and relentless booms shake the building. We hold each other close, sure that our days are numbered.

    "Three days later the rains and the wind begin, and we’re about out of food, with only a small dry goods storage remaining. Sara and I realize our only hope for survival is to leave the city and come here—to my family homestead, where we have a water source, can live on rice and beans for a while and cultivate a garden. We decide to brave the storms and head out. Fierce gales force us to duck into buildings. We’re not sure we can make it.

    "Along the way, we pillage grocery stores until taking advantage of breaks in the wind and rain, we finally leave the outskirts of Denver to head into the desert. About two miles from here, our neighbor, Tim Sutters, shelters us until the storms ease. He sends us on our way with a rooster, two hens, garden seeds and a pup, Scamp, here.

    "Four months later, on the brink of starvation, still alive thanks to the well water, we celebrate our first harvest.

    "Within a year we locate another neighbor about a mile down that dirt road out there and trade corn, bags of seed and an extra plow for a milk cow. She’s kinda skinny on account of the scarcity of grass around here.

    Miraculously, the worst of the tornados and horrific winds we’ve heard about skirt us, so we survive the Earth changes that apparently take a lot of lives.

    The tired eyes shifted to Raymond. How about a sandwich with cheese, lettuce and fresh tomatoes?

    Raymond nodded gratefully.

    Cliff stood up. Sara died last year, so here I am all by my lonesome... and ready to join her.

    The screen door creaked as Raymond followed the old man into the kitchen.

    So, you have neighbors?

    A few. We get together occasionally.

    You took me for a rover.

    Thought you might be one, though we’ve only seen a couple.

    Were they aggressive?

    Naw. Just hungry. Passing through. Looking for some town to settle in.

    Any news about Denver?

    Word is it’s a dangerous place ruled by gangs. Best to stay away.

    Cliff placed two plates of sandwiches on the table. The place to watch is the New Denver Airport.

    Why’s that?

    Creepy new world order type place. Robots everywhere.

    Raymond had a sense that it was important to know what was going on at New Denver Airport and made a mental note to widen his trek.

    The urge to head north to Gaia’s Gardens and onward to Denver provoked the restlessness that was growing exponentially in Caellum. Dora had told him of the burgeoning town beyond Rubble Wall. So far, the community had evaded imperial clutches. Denver loomed just beyond. Much larger than Colorado Springs, which was renamed Transtopia by the Scholtzes, very likely Denver was another landlord stronghold. Were Raymond Muñoz’s town and the Sovereignty Movement in Transtopia potential allies in the fight for freedom? By the third morning, Caellum fidgeted and paced, and bemoaned his caged status to Cal.

    Dora was sympathetic. I know I said three days and this is the fifth. I’ve searched the city. Today I’ll approach Unit One. Irene and the other residents there have taken a lead role in the Sovereignty Movement.

    I did say ‘take as long as you need.’

    Caellum straightened Cal and stuffed an errant strand of straw into his shirt. I hope Dora hurries up, ’cause I’ve got to get out of here before boredom turns me into a raving lunatic.

    When a knock on the door came, he froze, then moved closer, but dared not open it until a muffled voice came through. Caellum, open up. It’s Shaun.

    Shaun. He grabbed the knob and jerked open the door. This was the first time he’d seen him since Cal’s hanging. With a flood of gratitude for Shaun’s role in saving his life, Caellum hugged his visitor and led him to the kitchen table. We have powdered lemonade, chicory coffee from the Cavern City storage and sage tea.

    I’ll take the lemonade.

    When the drinks were poured, Caellum explained that Dora was looking for a room for him. So how about the Sovereignty group?

    Number’s grown to twenty again. Everyone’s pretty creeped out by the SynAnn governor.

    Any successful infiltrations?

    A couple. The head of the Transtopia Motor Pool Repair Center and the manager of Metro Electrical repairs. I guess middle management is the best we can hope for. The social engineering tier remains impenetrable.

    Nathan still spying?

    Not so much at the university. I think he’s moved onto general surveillance of the working population. The number of runners has increased since Freedom Festival.

    Feeling the summer heat, Caellum turned on the fan. Personally, I think the only way we’re going to get rid of this governor is assassination. Caellum’s assertion dropped lightly, like a falling feather.

    Shaun’s glass hit the table hard. Whoa!

    I know he’s still your grandfather, sort of.

    Besides that, I thought the whole intent of the movement was a peaceful takeover.

    The friends quietly swigged their drinks before Shaun spoke again, avoiding the discussion minefield between them. You know there were two reasons our forty student attendees dropped to a handful prior Freedom Festival.

    Caellum nodded for Shaun to continue.

    One was that students were scared of being caught by Nathan’s spy ring. The other was that half of them were shipped off to plant and harvest corn at Onmatson Farm.

    I’m ashamed to say, I hadn’t given them much thought. Caellum grimaced his embarrassment.

    I pulled royal privilege to visit them. Their lives are miserable. Deplorable living conditions. I would like to help them. Problem is the Sovereignty Gardens’ first crop didn’t produce enough food for the entire Transtopia population. Without the GMO corn to supplement the food supply, the whole population would be starving by spring.

    What about the cattle herd? Chickens?

    Not even close to enough meat for a hundred thousand people. And most goes to SEI employees. As you know, the workers get the innards.

    Expletives exploded from Caellum’s disgust. I think we’re agreed we want to rescue those students. But first it looks like Dora needs to head up an expansion of Sovereignty Gardens so that if the Onmatson Farm folds, the entire population will still have enough to eat. Meanwhile, at meetings let’s plan the enslaved students’ escape.

    But to where?

    That’s the big question.

    Shaun smiled. Nudge Dora to hurry up and get you out of here."

    Besides, Caellum added, We’re going to need her and the gardening co-coordinators’ full participation for our next moves.

    By the way, according to my mom, that town, Gaia’s Gardens, established by Raymond Muñoz already produces enough food to feed its people.

    Sounds like we could learn a thing or two from him.

    Agreed. I gotta run. But I’ll be back. Need anything?

    Freedom. Vipers surround me in this hotel.

    I hear you. Dora’s on it, I’m sure.

    Shaun’s visit nudged Caellum to contact another person residing in the Ritz. Rolf had played a vital role in saving his life. After seeing Shaun out, Caellum’s musings turned to the Imperial Governor’s son. Well, neighbor, you’re the wild card in this bizarre scenario. I’ve resented you for being Dora’s husband, despised you for being second in line for the imperial governorship, and now I owe my life to you, someone I’ve never met. Guess this is visiting day.

    As Caellum grabbed Dora’s apartment key, he reflected that she and Shaun were in agreement that sovereignty in food production merited a phase two expansion. However, neither accepted the hard reality to be faced—the essential extermination of the SynAnn head of Sector 10. Meanwhile, the issue of increased food production, coupled with the need for an ally, merited a forthcoming visiting day at Raymond’s town.

    An extensive search for a safe apartment for Caellum left Dora discouraged. They were filled except for basement storerooms. Anyway, she didn’t know the residents. What if snitches lived among them? In desperation she sought the help of Irene, whom she had come to know at gardening meetings. What do the people of Unit One think of Caellum?

    They regard him as a hero.

    Everyone?

    Everyone in this unit.

    Think he’d be safe here? He needs a place to live.

    Sure, but unfortunately, the apartments are filled with families.

    The basement?

    As far as I know, there too. But let’s take a look. Irene grabbed a set of keys from a wall peg labeled basement.

    Though the basement hallway smelled musty, the floor had been swept and mopped, and the walls were freshly painted. They passed a line of doors with plastic numerals attached.

    These were originally just storage rooms, but we helped childless latecomers turn them into apartments.

    Dora recalled the dismal state of Leon and Rita’s basement home in the Ritz before their move to the third floor. When she and Irene reached the last room at the end of the hall, the door opened to a small room with a push broom, large mop and bucket beside a double utility sink. The cement floor and cinder block walls were unpainted, and dirty windows near the ceiling allowed limited light through streaked glass. The impression of cramped dinginess withered her last tendrils of hope.

    Irene looked apologetic. I guess this is it. The only available square footage in the building.

    Oh, Irene, Unit One is the one place in the city I wouldn’t worry about his safety. Dejection slumped her shoulders she stood in the dismal space. There’s no heat source. Spoken as the death knell to the slim possibility of the room becoming a livable space.

    We all have wood stoves.

    They were provided for you?

    No, we made them.

    A tiny shift lifted Dora’s shoulders. Where can I find one?

    We’ve made stoves from empty propane tanks, old metal barrels and such. Tool chests are also options. Soldered metal plates provide cook tops.

    Where’d you get the parts?

    They’re not hard to find. My husband Eric can make you a stove. Irene scanned the room. We can direct the vent pipe through that window.

    Okay, Irene, I’ll take this room. Dora approached cans of paint stacked in one corner. Paint. I’ll need paint. Furniture, I can get from the Ritz.

    Irene looked apologetic. "I’d help you spiffy up the room if I didn’t have to get back to work.

    Dora smiled her thanks and grabbed the broom. You’ve helped enough. I’ve got this.

    I’m fairly certain Eric can build the stove and install it by the end of the week. Irene handed her the key and left.

    After a trip to the Ritz to ask Rita for cleaning supplies and paintbrushes, Dora returned to her task without informing Caellum. Struggling to fight down despair at the dismal choice, she couldn’t bear to show him his new quarters in this state. Scouring the walls and floor, washing the windows and painting would require several days of secrecy before the room could look remotely inviting.

    Slipping the apartment key inside his pocket, Caellum looked up and down the hallway before he hurried to knock on Rolf’s door—down the hall and around the corner.

    A blond male, a head taller than he with unmistakably German features, opened the door.

    Caellum.

    Rolf... I haven’t thanked you for your part in saving my life.

    Please come in. Can I fix you a drink?

    No, thanks. We hadn’t met....

    Have a seat.

    After Caellum sat on the sofa, Rolf dropped into the overstuffed chair across from him and confessed, I actually had a great time confounding my synthetic old man. But I wouldn’t have done it without my... without Dora pushing on me.

    She can be persistent.

    You better watch your step, though. My new dad’s a hardcore psychopath.

    Caellum remained mute, not sure what to say.

    Does it surprise you that I think of my born-again father this way?

    It’s hard to imagine being in your shoes.

    Rolf slouched in the chair, and Caellum looked across the room toward a Matisse print of a yellow cat with a paw in a fishbowl. My original father never liked me, nor I, him. To be honest, I really don’t care much about anything, including your movement. The extent of my involvement with the world includes affection for two people: my friend, my lover, Alexi, and my wife, your lover, Dora.

    At first Rolf’s droll delivery evoked a blank stare. But when Rolf’s pressed lips and hooded eyes failed to suppress the suggestion of a smile, Caellum’s laughter broke the tension.

    After silent reflection settled between them, Caellum became serious. It’s hard for me to leave Dora, even to live across town from her—especially at this time, while she’s expecting. I don’t trust Charles the SynAnn.

    Good one. I hadn’t thought of that name for my bionic dad.

    I guess I want to ask if you will please look after Dora for me.

    Rolf’s chin jutted and a haughty expression matched his dismissive tone. I don’t need to be asked to do what is second nature to me.

    Caellum drew back as if he’d been slapped. A minute of processing his confusion finally freed his tongue. Of course, and I’m glad to know it.

    With those words the conversation dried up, and Caellum rose from the sofa, glad to have performed his obligatory appreciation visit to the prickly second son of the governor. But Rolf motioned him down with, There something you should know, so Caellum sat, sensing information important to his and Dora’s future was forthcoming.

    My dad has plans for your baby.

    I anticipated this.

    "Dear old Dad’s present incarnation, which is likely to live indefinitely, at least for another century in his synthetic body, has not a single ounce of affection

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1