Red Eden: Homeworld Bound | Chapter 8: Children of Eden
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Chapter 8: Children of Eden
Jack felt sick in his stomach. Having wallowed in half-darkness for the past several hours, he sat up on his cramped bed and drew his knees to his chest. Though hunger gnawed at his tummy, he couldn’t bring himself to eat that grainy, brown turd wrapped in yellow plastic that he held in his hand. He chucked the no-name nutrient bar into the garbage can. Feeling thirsty, he grabbed a water bottle from his bag. Earlier, Erwin had filled up their bottles by passing seawater through an electric filter, so the water should be reasonably potable. Jack opened the cap and took a swig. Grimacing, he noted that it still tasted slightly salty.
He figured it was probably daylight by now. He dropped the bottle back in his bag, put on his helmet, grabbed his Solokov and lumbered up to the deck. He shielded his eyes from the intense sunlight. As his eyes adjusted, he sauntered towards the bow of the ship and leaned on the railing. He let his hand fall, and he marvelled at the rugged, green, snow-capped mountains on the horizon. The deep blue ocean filled the valley between the mountains. The tranquil scenery pleased his eyes and his soul, and the sick feeling in his gut subsided.
A heavy hand slapped him on the back. “Feeling better, Jack?”
“Mornin’, Erwin. Still a bit queasy. At least the waves have calmed down.”
“Take that helmet off. You need fresh air.”
Though Jack knew it was perfectly safe to remove his helmet, his Martian instinct resisted it. After some hesitation, he held his breath and took off his helmet. As the cool air blew against his skin, he consciously exhaled and drew in a long, deep breath. The air tasted crisp and salty. His nausea went away completely.
“See? Much better,” Erwin said.
Jack nodded. “This is what I came for. Fresh air. Open landscape. Beautiful blue sky.”
“Good place to start a new life away from the Martian metropolis and all its troubles.”
Derek joined them at the bow. “Morning, fellas. It’s a beautiful day today.”
“Don’t you have to pilot this boat?” Jack asked.
“I’ve set it on autopilot. I’ll take over once we’re about to dock in that fjord over yonder.”
Jack stared longingly at those snow-capped emerald-green mountains of the fjord. “I can’t wait to explore this island, and the whole wide world.”
Derek sighed. “I can’t wait to pick out a nice home with Amy. Preferably one with a two-car garage. We’ll renovate it, spruce up the yard, and then we’ll invite everybody over for a barbeque.”
Jack grinned. “Just imagine me, you, my dad and Ray out fishin’ in the open sea.”
“Where’s Amy in this scene?”
“Oh, she’ll be picking berries or whatever. The men will bring home the meat.”
Derek chuckled. “Can’t wait to go huntin’ with your old man. Just like old times.”
“What did you hunt?” Erwin asked. “Little green men?”
“Bionic cheetahs,” Derek replied, “designed by yours truly.”
Erwin grunted. “I can’t wait to shoot a bear… then eat it.”
“I’ll bet they taste good,” Derek said.
Jack and his companions chuckled at the prospect of eating a bear.
As they entered the fjord, a soft mist formed around them. Jack felt as though they had crossed an invisible boundary into a fairy tale world. They passed by a derelict industrial plant built next to the shore, which spoiled the magical ambiance somewhat. The plant was a kilometre in length, one storey tall, and painted all in white. The hydro towers that once fed power to the plant remained standing, though the lines had snapped.
They approached a derelict fishing hamlet. The houses here were small, no taller than one or two storeys, and painted in primary colours. Though the paint had faded over the centuries, the hamlet managed to retain its fairy-tale charm.
“Where are we?” Erwin asked.
“Someplace I can’t pronounce,” Derek replied.
Jack put on his helmet and opened the SolarNav app. The Icelandic name for this settlement contained characters he didn’t even know existed, though he recognized at least the first three letters. “Rey-dur-fjord-dur? Let’s just call it Reytown.”
“We’re supposed to drive inland to a city called,” Derek grimaced, “Egg-gill-stad-dur.”
“Eggtown,” Jack said.
“Right. We’re supposed to meet our contact there. He’ll take us the rest of the way.”
“Who was he again?”
“Some guy named Phil.”
“I wonder how Phil got away when the rest of his crew got caught.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” Derek returned to the captain’s cabin.
The trawler slowly turned until its starboard side faced Reytown’s fishing dock. The trawler then drifted sideways until it bumped against the concrete dock.
“Secure the boat to the dock,” Derek said over the radio.
Jack and Erwin grabbed the lines attached to the deck and hooked them to the metal poles on the dock. Erwin found a piece of metal plank and propped it against the railing. He mounted his ATV and made the jump over the plank. Jack followed suit, and then Derek.
They followed the only route that led inland through a green valley. After twenty kilometres of driving, they entered a densely wooded area. They passed by a dozen houses, one of which had a tree growing out of it. As they drove further into the woods, they came upon a street overgrown with trees. Some of the trees had inserted themselves into the structure of adjacent buildings. It was here that Jack realized they were in the city. He parked his ATV in the middle of a grassy intersection.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Erwin muttered as he slowed to a stop.
“I like the rustic feel of this place,” Derek said.
“Guys,” Ellen said over the radio, “I’ve got bad news.”
“Phil’s dead,” Erwin said.
“Good guess, but no. Mission Control has pulled the plug on us. They’ve ordered us to abandon Earth and return to Mars.”
Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What about my father?”
“Mission Control has ordered me to abort the rescue mission.”
Jack wanted to yell out expletives, but he kept his cool. Barely. “I’m not leaving until I find my father.”
“I concur. I’ve awakened two hundred of our strongest men, all members of the Mars Boys Militia. Douglas Hugh Grant is the commander of their unit. I’m sending them down. We’re going to take back the island and kill Gabriella.”
Jack nodded his approval.
“What about Mission Control?” Derek asked.
“Don’t worry about them.”
“They’re not going to seize control of the Hiigara? Leave us stranded?”
“They are millions of miles away fighting to wrestle control away from me. They’ve failed. I am the Hiigara, her spirit come to exact vengeance upon the Mother of Lies.”
“So we’re good,” Derek said with a nod.
Jack grinned, his respect for Ellen swelling to new heights.
“This mean we fight alone?” Erwin asked. “No backup from Mars?”
“If we succeed here,” Ellen said, “all of Mars will rally behind us. If we fail, our people will lose courage and remain in isolation, forever consigned to live inside the belly of a dead planet… Find Phil. He will show you the way into Gabriella’s facility. Rescue our engineers. If possible, kill Gabriella. Failing that, escape back to the coast and wait for reinforcements. Grant and his men are on their way.”
“Any chance you can call Phil and ask him to come out?” Derek asked.
“I haven’t spoken with him since he contacted me. He said that he had to maintain radio silence or risk being discovered. Be careful down there. The woods are too dense for me to provide you with reliable aerial surveillance. Good luck and Godspeed.”
Jack scanned the urban woods around him. “Let’s spread out. Make some noise.”
“You sure about that?” Derek asked. “Enemy troops could be stationed here.”
“Alright. We’ll stick together then, and quietly search the city.”
“What happens if we can’t find him?” Erwin asked.
“Without Phil,” Derek replied, “we lose backdoor access to Gabriella’s facility. We’d have to wait for Grant to show up before storming the bunker.”
“Without Phil,” Jack said through gritted teeth, “she’ll kill my father long before we storm her bunker. Now follow me.” He drove deeper into the urban woods, his ATV silent as a fox save for its faint electric hum. Twigs and dead leaves crackled underneath his wheels. Up ahead, he saw a billboard depicting the silhouette of a man making love to a woman, missionary style, with the pyramids of Giza in the backdrop. A picture of a cruise ship took up the bottom left corner of the billboard.
Before he could comment on the risqué advert, he heard a crackle over the radio. He stopped and listened. A faint, heavily distorted voice spoke over the white noise. “H-hello? Can you guys hear me?”
“Phil?” Jack asked.
“Yeah. It’s Phil. I can see guys on the road. Pull up to the apartment complex just ahead. I’ll meet you guys by the pool.”
“Well, that was easier than expected,” Derek said.
“Pool party, anyone?” Jack said with a grin before taking off down the road. He turned onto the driveway leading to the apartment complex, one of the few buildings that stood above the treeline. He drove into an open square that had a pool of brackish water at its centre. A rusted barbeque grill had fallen into the shallow end.
His companions parked next to him.
“All this place needs is a bit of paint,” Derek said, looking around.
Erwin stuck his foot into the brackish pool water. “And a whole lot of chlorine.”
Jack looked up and scanned his gaze across the upper floors of the ten storey apartment complex. The moss-covered balconies gave this place a natural aesthetic quality that he really liked. “Phil,” he called, “where are you?”
A flock of puffins burst off the rooftop, squawking angrily.
A faint rumble came from within the apartment complex.
“Something fishy is going on here,” Erwin growled.
Jack drew his Solokov and held it at the ready. “Phil?”
The radio crackled. “Jack, I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
Scores of black-clad soldiers burst onto the balconies of every floor. The soldiers pointed their weapons at the Martians. There was a boom. Jack flinched and turned around. An armoured personnel carrier had crashed through a garage door, blocking the only way out. The APC’s turret swivelled towards Jack and his crew.
Jack swore under his breath. “Ellen, you didn’t see them move a whole army here?”
“I swear I didn’t see them move any troops out of their main base,” Ellen said. “They must have been lying in wait since before we arrived.”
“Martians,” bellowed a speaker-amplified voice, “there is no escape. Surrender your arms and you will not be harmed.”
“Jack,” Erwin growled, “I say we fight our way out.”
“That turret’s gonna rip us apart,” Jack said. “Not even your precious carbon crystal plates will save you.”
“Grant and his men are on their way,” Derek said. “I say we surrender. Before long, Gabriella will sue for peace.”
“With the three of us to use as bargaining chips,” Erwin said.
“Martians, I will give you only ten seconds to comply. Nine. Eight. Seven…”
“Fuck it.” Jack cast down his Solokov and held up his hands. I’m sorry, Dad. I’ve let you down.
Derek followed suit.
Erwin glowered. “I ain’t giving up Big Bertha. No chance in hell.”
“It’s just a big stupid gun,” Derek said. “Drop it before you get us killed.”
Erwin slowly turned towards Derek, a menacing scowl on the Huoxing man’s face. “Never disrespect Big Bertha. She’s killed more men than you can count on your toes.”
“Just drop it,” Derek whispered.
Erwin glared at the enemy forces all around them. He held Big Bertha up high and hollered, “From my cold, dead hands!” He took off on his ATV and crashed through the complex’s patio window.
Bullets started flying.
Jack grabbed Derek, and together, they plunged into the deep end of the pool. Jack grabbed the bottom rail of a metal ladder and held on to keep himself underwater. Derek did the same. Jack looked up. Dozens of bullets penetrated the surface of the pool but quickly lost momentum before reaching him. A few managed to bounce off his helmet with a light tap. The rest simply fell to the bottom of the pool at a gentle pace.
A minute passed, and bullets gently rained down around them, clinking each time one of them touched Jack’s helmet. The surface of the pool wasn’t nearly as tranquil. There, the water bubbled, churned, tossed and turned under the relentless hail of bullets. Jack thought to himself that being underwater was a bit like having a forcefield, except unlike most forcefields depicted in science fiction, the protection that water provided would not deplete under intense gunfire. The physics was actually quite simple, yet highly effective.
At the two minute mark, Jack was still quite comfortable to remain underwater. His helmet was vacuum sealed after all, and the genetically enhanced cyanobacteria locked inside his helmet’s biofilm rapidly converted his carbon dioxide back into oxygen, a process which required only a bit of light, which could be sourced externally or using his suit’s internal light-emitting diodes. Still, he could not deny the danger he and Derek were in. They were pinned underwater with no avenue of escape. Their only hope was if the enemy assumed they were dead and moved on.
“Martians,” a gruff voice called over the radio, “we know you’re down there. Rise to the surface and surrender.”
Jack’s hope had been dashed rather quickly. He considered playing dead, perhaps even going as far as to float to the surface like a drowned corpse. He wondered if the enemy would be stupid enough to fall for that.
“Come now,” the soldier said, “don’t try and play dead.”
Jack sighed. He was at his wit’s end. It was only a matter of time before Gabriella’s soldiers fished them out, which would be quite embarrassing. “You promise not to shoot?” He asked, though he wasn’t sure if he could believe the answer.
“As long as you comply, unlike that other friend of yours.”
Did Erwin manage to escape? Would he come riding back to the rescue? By golly, if anyone could do it, it would be Erwin, that fantastic madman. “Alright,” Jack said. “We’re coming up.” He let go of the railing and kicked himself up to the surface. As soon as he broke out of the water, soldiers grabbed him and hauled him away. “Hey, leggo!” He rose to his feet and struggled with his handlers.
Somebody pressed a big gun to his head. “Stop. Struggling.”
Jack froze. He stared down the barrel of a ridiculously huge gun. The soldier wielding the gun had smooth, lily-white skin that made him look rather young, perhaps not much older than Jack's little brother, Ray. The soldier had dark brown eyes and a tuft of black hair sticking out from under his black twenty first century combat helmet. He wore a black Kevlar vest over a black uniform. Jack eyed the red badge stitched to the soldier’s upper left arm. The badge bore the image of a red tree whose tangled roots and branches formed a circle around the trunk.
Jack took in the other soldiers around him. They all looked exactly identical to one another, and that freaked Jack out. “What the? Y’all clones?”
The soldier wielding the big gun glowered. “We are Her children. Now come with us. She desires to speak with you.” The clone soldiers shoved Jack towards an idling APC. The soldier with the big gun threw open the vehicle’s rear hatch, revealing, to Jack’s surprise, a captured and bound Erwin.
“Erwin,” Jack said with a gasp, “I thought you got away.”
The Huoxing man shook his head. “I didn’t get very far.”
“Jesus.” Erwin’s fantastic display of defiance nearly had Jack convinced that the crazy Huoxing man might actually come riding to the rescue somehow. Now there truly was no hope.
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