The Ring Chapter 7
She peered at the sleeping child and it brought a smile to her face. It had been over two years and Madi was learning so fast. She still had difficulty with certain words, but she was a smart kid. Clarke couldn't be more proud. "Sleep a bit longer sweetie," she whispered
She dragged out antenna and transmitter trying to keep extra quiet. She sat in on the ridge, stood and keyed the mic.
"Bellamy, if you're out there; if you can hear me, it's been 910 days since primfaya. You've made it to the halfway point until it's safe to come back down. We've tried digging out the bunker, but the rubble is too deep, hopefully when you come down we can work on it together. Madi's too small to help. I've told her about all of you. She can't wait to meet you. I got the rover running, tell Raven she would be proud of me; it only took about 900 days. Food is still scarce, but we're doing alright. I'm sure were a lot better off than all of you. I keep hoping to hear something from up there. I hope you're all alive. I'm not giving up so you better fight and get back safe. I miss you all so much," Clarke's voice cracked. She had to take a minute and regain her composure. "Please come home," she had to pause again. "I guess that's all for now… over."
Clarke sat and listened to the static. There was no reply, like usual. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked up to the blue sky and wondered if they were alive. "I'm not giving up on you Bellamy," she said to herself. She finally stood and made her way to the back of the rover and softly rousted up Madi. "Hey sweetie," she said "Time to get up, we have English lessons today,"
The 9 year old rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up. "gonasleng? Can't osir do something else today?" (English? Can't we do something else today?) she whined.
"No. You have to work on your English today," Clarke said "But if you work hard, maybe I'll let you drive the rover a little bit," Clarke said
Madi smiled and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Driving lessons were her favorite.
Clarke's daily radio transmission never went unnoticed. Although the intended recipients were unable to hear her broadcasts, someone did. It had been 908 days since a radar signal alerted them and woke them with the knowledge that Earth was a possibility.
Gagarin Mining Colony had been in exile for over 100 years. They were in the dark. The only thing they knew was that the Earth had suffered a devastating apocalypse. They; being a penal colony were never permitted to join the Ark. The Arkadians; 100 years ago turned their back on Gagarin because they harbored criminals. Criminals they would have floated the moment they came on board. Gagarin had been left on their own.
The Gagarin's resigned their selves to rebuild the human race on Saturn's Titus moon. The colony had retrieved their ships decades ago and only two would be ready for the journey home. Systems were old and the constant barrage of debris played havoc on the outer hulls. Most of the dangerous prisoners were sent into space to save resources, years ago; never knowing their fate, they were in hyper sleep at the time. But over the years, some of the less violent prisoners were awaken from their slumber and given one chance for redemption. Most of them became model citizens, building lives and a few families grew into a few hundred. There were others that could not face a life without Earth. They couldn't conform to the colony and were in turn floated like the worst of the worst.
As Clarke reached out to her friends on the ring; her messages played out like an old TV serial; the colonists; believing Earth was not a possibility, anxiously awaited each day to hear of news from their home planet, Earth. Clarke became a celebrity to the colonists; a mystery, and the voice of hope. Hope that one day they would be able to return home and live outside, breath real air and not live like outcasts in a bubble the Ark had long ago condemned them to.
"Where getting another radio message," Officer James shouted. Everyone listened to the girl's voice as she talked to someone named Bellamy, the Bellamy that never answered back. They had heard the messages for well over 2 years now. Everyone wondered who and where Bellamy was. Was he alive? Clarke wondered too… The voice became a mystery. The people in the transport ship fantasized over what the mystery woman looked like and who she was.
"I'm picturing a tall sexy brunette with legs that on and on," Bradley said in a lazy southern drawl. The others laughed "No I bet she's a redhead, all saucy and spittin' fire," said Shooter.
"I want to know who Bellamy is," Jaz said as she kicked her feet onto the tabletop.
"Aww come on Jaz, he's probably dead, he aint said a word in over 2 years, besides, what kind of fucked up name in Bellamy? He's probably a nerd with a bald head," Laughed a short curly headed man named Spence.
"No the way I have it figured, Bellamy must be someone special for her to talk to him every single day for over 2 years. That must be someone special for sure," she said in a dreamy tone.
It would take them years to reach Earth. Sending the first wave of humans happened almost immediately. They were followed by a second transport months later. Neither would reach the Earth's surface for at least 6 years.
The unknown beacon coming from the Ring was a map. An old chart embedded in the computer system by the original forerunners of their people leading them right to the Ring and the 7 strangers. Gagarin Mining Colony had long been wiped from the records, much like the 13th space station. It was a black mark the people on the Ark wanted to forget. Records were erased, and over time they were forgotten.
The Ark had thrown them out much like they did when the 13th Space station was destroyed. The Gagarin Mining Company was affiliated with Becca. After ALIE infiltrated the Rings computer system, she immediately sent a distress beacon to them. She was bringing her people home to the Ring so they could take their rightful place in the Ark.
"What's this," Raven pointed to the red blip on the radio output signal.
"It looks like a signal beacon," Monty said "I don't…" He stopped and rolled his chair to the radio console. "You didn't set this up?" he asked
"No," Raven said a crease forming above her brow "make sure it's not an alarm signal. Have you checked all the outside hatches and hanger docks?" she asked
"That's coming from the radio system though, I thought you checked and there were no outside antennas," Monty said 'It's an emergency beacon, but I don't know how it just started by itself," he said with a concerned glance to Raven
"It could be on auto since we restarted the electric. Maybe we were supposed to turn if off once power was restored, either way we should get everyone paired up and do a complete sweep of the entire ring just to be sure," she said "Any breach in the hull could wipe our oxygen over time,"
"I can't find a kill switch anywhere either," Monty said.
"Well it's silent, and I guess it's not hurting anything," said Raven "Maybe the bunker can pick it up. At least they may see that we're alive with it transmitting," she said "It sucks that we don't have communication, but the entire system is fried."
"The beacon is the least of our concern," Monty slowly said, he had dreaded bringing this up. "We need to set up a meeting. The Biofuel is taking a lot longer than we had hoped. We're looking at at least seven years before we have enough to get all seven of us back. If it were two of us, we would have enough by now, but with the way the Algae growth is going, it's much slower than predicted," said Monty
Raven had a sick look on her face. 'Seven years?' she whispered "Maybe if you didn't waste the Algae production on your moonshine," Raven snapped
"That much wouldn't have made a difference, and I didn't see any of you complaining when you all got plastered either," he defended "We have to relax some times, and you know that," he said
"Yea, well a heads up would have been nice," Raven said. "Seven years," she said again. "Bellamy's not going to like it, it wouldn't be as bad if he could at least hear from his sister…" she said
The pair met with the others and gave the bad news. "Can we double our efforts; maybe work on a second crop?" Bellamy asked
"Were stretched to the max already," Monty said "We don't have the resources,"
Everyone was disappointed; they wanted to get back to Earth but realized nothing could be done about their situation. Finally they split into teams and made a sweep of the Ark, but found no problems.
Raven decided a weekly sweep was probably a good idea. It was added to everyone's work list, giving them something new to keep them busy.
