Chapter Forty-Seven: The Cross Finale
Ray leaned against a concrete wall and looked up at the dark morning sky. Every morning was dark these days, and almost every one of them was cloudy with smog.
After all this time and all the suffering, he couldn't believe that Boers would consider the Pandoraforming plan for even a second. He had a little daughter, for Christ sake. The base would be able to filter the air and they had some supplies to last them a few months, but how long would that go on?
He just hoped that the others would get to the generators in time.
"Mornin, Shelly," Donna greeted her as she and Boers entered the mess hall.
"So did you do it?" Boers said by way of greeting.
"Do what?"
"Take down the generators."
"They're on their way," Donna said.
"And what are we going to do if we manage to succeed?"
Donna tried to keep a calm composure. She smiled, though the effort of is was a strain on her face.
"We're going to do the best we can to save the planet for humanity."
"Daddy, what are the generators?"
Boers knelt down and took his daugher by the shoulders.
"Hon, I should have told you this already, but...some people want to turn this planet into another planet like Pandora."
"The child's too young for this," Donna cautioned.
Boers snapped his head around to look at her from over his shoulder.
"She's been born into this world. She needs to know."
"Does that mean all the air is going to turn bad?" Shelly asked. "I guess it's already bad, right?"
"Yes and no," Boers said. "You're right, pollution made our air bad to breathe. It took a lot of money and energy to clean it all the time, especially when the trees died. We went to Pandora to mine for the metal that helps make energy, but it didn't work, and then our air got dirtier and dirtier. It scared people. But now, the president thinks that turning the air into Pandoran air will allow plants to grow again, and the plants will clean the air. Then we can have animals again, too."
"But we can't breathe that air," Shelly said. "
"I know, hon, that's the problem."
"Incoming transmission from the San Fran team," said a nearby man at a console.
"What's going on?" asked Donna.
The man flipped a switch and a group of faces came into view. The link was lo-fi, but it was holding.
"Donna, is that you?" one the of the men in the crew asked.
"It is," Donna said. "What did y'all find? Were you able to sabotage the generators?"
"We made it to the generator," the man continued. "But there was a voice that was on the speakers, all around us. I think you ought to hear it."
The view changed as the man held the camera away from him. He was inside an old factory. In front of him, a machine that had been cobbled onto it's original workings - that of an air purifier. The machine crackled into life, just as a voice echoed through the room.
"You are about to witness the birth of something extraordinary. Do not fear. The earth lost its mother, but it can be found again. Gaia will find you. Those who still walk the earth will be taken into her embrace and live within her until they can be born anew."
"What is this?" Donna asked.
"Another faction?" Boers said. "I thought...I thought I was supposed to be stopping this."
"What do you mean?" Donna asked.
"To escape," Boers told her, "I had to pretend that I hadn't left the base. My colleagues who are still there told me that it was possible to disengage the safety protocol on the avatar link unit."
"You mean...you left your avatar behind?"
Boers nodded. "To try and do whatever I could to save the planet."
"Daddy...does that mean there's another daddy alive somewhere?" Shelly asked.
"Yes, hon."
"Will I get to see him?" She asked.
Boers shook his head. "I'm not sure. I think that depends on a lot of things right now."
"I'm going to try and disable the air exchanger," the man on the video chat said. Boers, Shelly and Donna watched the camera draw closer.
"Just let me - "
The lights grew bright. The camera dropped to the floor as the three of them heard the men screaming.
"Shelly, get out of here," Boers said. "You don't need to see this."
"Daddy, what happened to those people?" Shelly's voice was tremulous. A tear or two began to drip down her face silently. "Daddy, are we all going to die?"
Boers picked Shelly up and walked briskly out of the room. Donna sat blank-faced as she hear the group on the other side of the screen suffocating to death.
"Daddy, what are you doing?"
Boers put Shelly down on her bed. He knelt in front of her.
"Hon...I need you to lock the door and hide under the bed until I come back."
"Why?" Shelly asked.
Boers shook his head. "We need to get out of here. Once they realized the plan failed, they might hurt you and me. Don't open the door for anybody else, understand?"
"Okay," Shelly nodded.
Her father drew her into a prolonged hug.
"I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this, but it's going to be okay. I'm going to make it okay."
With that, Boers left the bedroom and locked the door behind him. He took a left, then a right, then went down a set of stairs that lead deeper into the base. Punching in a key code, a door slid open. He grabbed a dolly and began throwing in supplies...two oxygen masks, canned food and rations, a couple of rifles. He took the supplies up the elevator shaft to the main entrance.
Maybe you could stay here with her.
He opened the door. The air here was still fresh, for now. Boers had no idea how long it would take for the process to have a noticeable effect.
Ewya wants to transform the planet. She's managed to get control of our systems.
Boers unlocked the back of one of their mobile survey vehicles. It had an air purification system, as well as a set of cots, hot plate, even a septic tank.
Where are you going to take her? He didn't know yet, but he needed to get out here. As enticing as it was to stay in the base, these people would continue to fight back against Dawson. And he wasn't getting Shelly caught in the crossfire. Besides, if Dawson ever found him here...
There would be other places where people had built emergency shelters. Boers had an idea of where to look.
Pocketing one of his rifles, Boers took the elevator downstairs again.
"Hon."
Shelly opened the door.
"Why are you wearing a mask?"
"I need you to put this on." Boers pulled out a bulletproof vest and space oxygen mask from a duffle bag on his shoulder.
She put them on, not protesting, but instead beginning to tremble in fear again.
Boers took her up the elevator shaft and opened the car door. Shelly scrambled in and he closed it. Jogging over to the control panel, he punched in the correct key sequence, and the door slid open. As he made his way back to the car, he heard a voice cry out:
"Conrad - what are you doing?"
Without thinking, Boers pulled his gun out and leveled it at Ray.
"Hands up, keep them where I can see them!"
Ray obliged. Boers patted him down, found his rifle, and threw it to the side. It clattered far out of reach. Then, he backed up.
"My daughter and I are leaving."
"I don't understand," Ray was babbling. "We saved her! Why are you treating us like this?"
"We're not safe here," was all that Boers repeated. Did he not know what had just happened?
"Thank you for saving her. I mean it, I really do. If you were all smart, you would get out of here while you can."
"Why's that?" Ray asked, incredulous.
"The generators are running. Your people failed. Check the videofeed. That means the government is still intact. And they're going to come looking for the people who tried to sabotage the machines. And if they find me, a government official, was involved..."
"Alright, alright, I get that," Ray acquiesced. "But why didn't you just say that in the first place? Why the hold up?"
"Nothing personal," Boers said. "But you would have found out sooner or later. If I'm right, there's a chance that I was the reason the project failed. I was on the fence, but part of me knew...that there was no other hope. Anyway, I've said enough. Just let me and my daughter leave, and you won't have any trouble from us again."
Boers lowered his gun and holstered it.
"How long?"
"What?" Boers asked.
"How long until the planet is no longer livable?" asked Ray.
"I'm not sure," Boers replied.
"It's not going to be safe out there for a little girl," Ray said. "You don't know what's going to happen. Are you sure you don't want to take your chances here?"
Boers shook his head.
"Once they find out that I'm here, they'll come after me. I'm sorry. I know you all wanted to fight to protect the earth, but...anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Please let me out."
Ray hesitated for a moment. Then, turning his back, he made his way over to the front gate.
"Where are we going, daddy?" Shelly asked.
Boers gripped the steering wheel.
"Somewhere where we can survive for another day."
