Authors: Christopher Costanza
I slowed down and said “So things are looking pretty good… We have very little time and even fewer options. I know what he has to do is only going to make certain aspects of all this worse but he’s right… Hopefully 3 will only need a day per mining site after this. Then by the time we make our move we’ll have 4 sites for sure…”
Kayin nodded “Exactly, and I’ve looked into it. The 4 largest sites have almost as many men as the remaining ten combined. So if we seize the ship too, they’ll have no choice but to surrender. If not, we’ll regroup and do whatever it takes to free the rest of the natives.”
He coughed “Just be ready… If this works we’re going to be stuck on this planet mining for at least another five or six years… The natives made it so we’ve almost hit the halfway mark but if you go by our numbers before them… It’s bad.”
“What if every available person on the ship starts helping? There have to be over a thousand people
still scattered around.”
He stopped and looked at me “I already factored that in… Plus most of their jobs are far too important to be left unattended.”
I thought for a moment… “You know I just thought of something… What if we land the Sirius? That would free up hundreds of people, all we’d have to keep going is food and water production.”
Kayins face lit up “That’s perfect! And it would free up more than a few hundred: more like five or six hundred… It won’t make much a difference but it could shave off at least a year.”
“Anything helps right?..”
When we made it back, I could see that some of the soldiers had started a big fire.
One of them took a drink of what I thought was water, stood up and spit it into the fire. There was a burst of flames and the rest of them started laughing.
Kayin could tell I was surprised, he laughed and said “Apparently they were able to find everything they need to make corn liquor.”
“Isn’t that stuff outlawed on Aeris because it’s so horrible for you?”
“Yeah but people still make it anyway… It’s some strong stuff, burns like you wouldn’t believe, but as long as you don’t drink it all the time, it won’t hurt you… Wanna try some? It’s nice trust me, and It’ll help you sleep too.”
I laughed “Yeah I know, I’ve had ale before… Let’s do it, I could use a drink.”
“Oh me too… Just don’t let them give you more than one cup; it’s at least ten times stronger than ale… It’ll creep up on you and next thing you know walkin is a challenge man.”
We both laughed and then Kayin introduced me to everyone sitting around the fire.
I tried to just have fun, laugh, and enjoy the corn liquor but I all I could think about was the plan and what was happening to the natives… I kept thinking about being in that pit… I was afraid it would never leave my mind… That it would be my new recurring nightmare…
There were 13 other men around the fire and at least half of them have made negative comments about the natives in the last hour… Just as before, It made me wonder if Kayin really had as many people on his side as he believed. I could tell a few of the guys really hated them.
One even talked about how he wished he could stand at the top of the mine and do some target practice… So I guess the rumors were true… People really were doing that for fun. It made me want to kill him right then for even suggesting it…
It was hard to sit there and listen to everything and pretend like nothing was wrong. All I wanted to do was start trying to convince them to help us… Tell
them that they’re angry with the wrong people. That the natives don’t deserve any of this and it would be no different if a more advanced race showed up on Aeris and did the same to us.
So I decided to just leave before the corn liquor ruined my judgment and I said something…
I took one last big sip and said “Alright everyone I’m outta here… Kayin I’ll meet up with you in the morning.”
After about five steps, I realized Kayin was right… It was a lot stronger than Ale. I immediately found myself swaying from side to side and feeling a little sick… It wasn’t just walking that was a challenge, I was having trouble standing…
Luckily, there were hundreds of single man tents spread around so I found an empty one and got in… It was still kind of early, but I had a feeling I’d sleep through the night… I’d have some help… Maybe it would even keep the nightmares away...
Chapter 13
I
awoke to the sounds of people yelling and running by my tent. It scared me a little at first because it sounded like we were being attacked. For a moment I thought maybe the natives had revolted again… Then I remembered what happened last night…
I poked my head out and could see that the entire site was in a state of panic. Everyone was grabbing their guns and heading towards the mine. So I got out and started looking for Kayin.
As one of the soldiers went past me I heard him say “Monkeys are gonna pay!”
After a few minutes of searching, I decided to forget about Kayin for the moment and follow everyone. Maybe he’d done the same. He had no idea where I was sleeping so he wouldn’t be able to find me if he wanted to.
I stopped the next soldier I came upon and said “What’s going on?”
“One of our guys is missing! Names Cainen, you know him?”
“No, I just got down here yesterday.”
“Well, one of the natives must have killed him! It’s the only explanation. And we’re gonna find out which one, come on!”
He looked extremely angry, there was no doubt in mind that he was looking for blood…
Kayin was right… Somebody already noticed the soldier was missing. And by the way everyone was acting, I could see this wasn’t going to end well for the natives… I had a feeling our mistake would come with a great cost…
I followed the soldier to the mine, and as soon as we got close I could see Kayin so I ran over to him.
“Man, this isn’t good.”
He said “I know, just be careful about what you say… Everyone’s really angry and looking for a fight. If they hear you sympathizing with them…”
Suddenly, five shots rang out… Kayin and I looked at each other and took off running.
“Don’t do anything Atlas, you could give us away!”
By the time we made it to the edge of the crater at least ten more shots had been fired… I could see seven of the natives on the ground and a bunch of the soldiers were beating some of the others.
They were screaming “Where is he!? Which one of you killed him!?”
“Answer me monkey!”
Then they killed two more… The shots rang out more like explosions in the giant crater, and lasted for what seemed like five seconds… None of them even ran, they just got on their knees, put their faces to the ground and started chanting.
I got my gun and started to head down but Kayin grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“You can’t Atlas… Neither one of us can do anything, the plan is too important… Remember what we’re doing!.. Now stop causing a scene. This won’t last long.”
I angrily said “They don’t even understand what they’re saying… And what if they shot 3?”
“Just shut up, there’s nothing we can do. The wrong person is going to notice you and hear what you’re saying!”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath…
It was especially hard not to react this time. It wasn’t like being in the lab with Horus, or watching them collapse while working. This was different; it was directly our fault… I couldn’t stand the thought of our carelessness adding so many more natives to that pit today…
All of them were still on their knees with their faces to the ground. The soldiers were walking around yelling at them and kicking them for not responding… Even though they didn’t know how to, or understand any of what they were saying… And all those men down there knew that.
They were just being blatantly cruel and ignorant, like they’d been waiting for an excuse to do something like this. Some of the other soldiers standing around watching were even urging them to shoot more…
And I kept looking for 3 but I couldn’t see him.
Hopefully he was hiding…
After a while they gave up searching the mine for the missing soldier, shot four more natives and started climbing out.
One of the men standing near us said to another “Those things probably ate him… We should just kill all of them before we leave!”
Then he ran over to the edge and fired a few more shots down into the mine as I watched in disbelief… Lucky for him I could see he didn’t hit any of them...
The other responded “Yeah I know, we’re lucky they haven’t killed us in our sleep. They’re nothing but savage monkeys, not even human… I bet you’re right and they did eat him!”
Kayin grabbed my arm again, even tighter than before and said “Atlas…”
I took another deep breath and allowed myself to relax, I turned to Kayin… “I’m going to my post. I don’t want to see or hear anything else...”
“Yeah me too… I’ll find you at the end of the day… Just contain your emotions, please Atlas. We’re so close to the end...”
I had no idea people could be like this… There were strict laws against violence on Aeris. Besides the wars, the Capital only knows peace. I truly thought men like Horus, Neros, and those in control of the ACI only made up a small majority… Almost every day, I’m seeing things that suggest I’m very wrong…
Maybe that kind of evil is in all of us… When I almost tortured Horus I could feel it coming over me but I held it back. I guess some people just can’t... Or choose not to…
Groups of soldiers searched the area for the rest of the day. Luckily no one thought to start digging around in the pit of bodies. I’d like to think it’s because they don’t have the stomach to get up close and face what they’ve done…
As the hours passed, I felt nothing but anger. Cassian continued to annoy me to no end and I almost snapped at him several times… I really didn’t mean to, but his mouth never stopped moving. And on more than a few occasions some of the other soldiers almost overhead things they shouldn’t have.
Eventually I had to say something.
“Cassian please stop talking about it so much… Those guys that just walked by could have heard you. It’s obvious a lot of them hate the natives. Don’t you understand what could happen if the wrong person overhears you?”
As I expected… He looked insulted…
“Fine man I just won’t talk at all…”
In reality that’s exactly what I wanted…
But I felt bad, so instead I said “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just getting nervous because we’re so close… One wrong move and it could all be over. And what happened earlier really has me on edge.”
He sighed “I know me too… And you’re right, I’ll be more careful. I’m just excited about ending all of this… When something bad happens it’s nice to talk about the plan because it reminds me that it’s only a matter of time before I’ll get the chance to do something about it… You know?..”
“Yeah, you’re right… I understand.”
He really was a good guy… I felt bad that he annoyed me so much, I just couldn’t help it.
All I could think about was getting 3 to the next site and carrying out the plan. Even the thought of waiting another day was torment. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand by and watch something like that again without acting…
What I did know, is that Kayin and I had to make sure to be a lot more careful… Just one stupid mistake and we got at least 10 more natives killed…
Just as the day before, when the sun started to set Gaius sounded the alarm to signal everyone to stop working.
I said “Well, I think Kayin has to head to another site to oversee some maintenance, I’ll probably tag along. I wanna get around and see as much of the planet as I can anyway… It was good to meet you guys.”
We all shook hands and Cassian said “Good to meet you too Atlas. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
“Yeah we’ll probably end up back at this site in a few weeks or something like that. You know he has to
move around a lot… Well, I’ll see you guys later.”
I walked back as fast as I could without looking suspicious. I just wanted to find Kayin, get 3 and leave. He could still be in danger. The soldiers might decide to question them again. I could tell that a lot of them weren’t satisfied with what already happened… They were still looking for more revenge…
When I found Kayin he was waiting in line for food.
“Hey you ready to go?”
“Atlas, relax, eat something.”
I wanted to say “No let’s just go” but he was right… So I said “Ok” and got in line behind him.
“Hey, plus I’d rather let it get just a little bit darker out.”
He coughed… Then he started to get this funny look on his face, accompanied by a weird smile…
“So what’s going on with you and Sara?”
I didn’t expect that… “Uh, what do you mean?”
He laughed and punched me in the arm. He was a lot bigger and definitely stronger than I was, it actually pushed me back a little.
“You know what I mean; I see how you two act around each other. What’s the deal?”
I didn’t really feel like telling him all about it, but he was my friend and he asked so…
“You see her a lot more than I do. She never mentioned anything about the side effects of the stasis?”
I could tell by the blank look on his face that he had no idea what I was talking about. Guess I’d have to explain it now…
“We met shortly before we were put into stasis. So basically we were fresh in each other’s thoughts and it caused our subconscious minds to think about each other while we slept… Now we have some kind of emotional attachment…”
He looked totally confused “… What?.. That’s pretty crazy Atlas…”
“I know it sounds strange but that’s what happened… When we woke up it was like we’d been apart for years. We actually missed each other. I still have all these emotions that don’t belong. It’s like I’ve known her my whole life.”
He laughed “Yeah well it sounds like it happened because you liked each other from the moment you met… Ever think of that?”
“We considered it… We’ve talked about things. We just both agreed it’s better to stay strangers for now. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other later.”
“Yeah I guess that’s the best idea. Wouldn’t want to put her in danger.”