Chapter 22
Maddy blinked and shook herself a little, suddenly realising she'd been staring at the exact same picture on the wall for the past five minutes. She glanced over at Lucas, who was currently hunched over something at his desk.
"So that was .. weird. You think they'll be okay?"
"Who?"
When Maddy didn't answer, he looked up to see her eyeing him tolerantly. He replayed the last few sentences of the conversation in his head before suddenly nodding his comprehension and turning back to his project.
"I think even an avalanche'd be stupid to stand between your dad and a mystery."
Maddy snorted.
"You make him sound like Nancy Drew."
Lucas frowned faintly and repeated his original question.
"Who?"
"A detective back in the .. nevermind. And it's not an avalanche if there's no snow. It's a landslide."
"Mhm." Lucas didn't appear to be listening. Maddy frowned and crept closer, peering over his shoulder.
"What are you working on?"
She'd barely opened her mouth before Lucas slammed his arms down flat on the desk and glared at her.
"How does that soldier boy put up with you?! Yak yak yak all the time." He stared at the wall in front of him. "What I wouldn't give for two minutes of peace. Just leave me alone, alright?"
Maddy stared at him as though he'd suddenly taken leave of his senses, but nodded slowly.
"Fine."
She swallowed the startled tears that threatened to humiliate her and hurriedly returned to her desk. Lucas cast a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure he was safe before returning to his previous activity. He lifted his arms to uncover the small object he'd had to rapidly conceal a moment earlier, picking the silvery device up and sliding it around in his fingers. It was lighter than he remembered. Funny how such a small object could perform such an important role in the history of the world - both the new one and the old one.
He shook his head to clear away his pointless musings and slid his fingers gently along the slightly curved sides of the device, searching for the hidden buttons he knew were there. It didn't take him long to find them. Whether due to muscle memory or simply luck, his fingers quickly slotted into the indents on either side of it and he squeezed lightly, watching the thin casing flex and expecting the transparent key to pop out of the end like it usually did.
It did not.
Lucas frowned and pulled a tiny flathead screwdriver out of his shirt pocket, prying the two sides of the device apart carefully. As the internal contents were revealed, he placed the pieces down on the desk with an air of annoyance. It was as he had suspected. All of the important parts were missing. Without them, the little communications device was as good as dead.
He leaned forward in frustration and ran a hand over his chin. What now? The sudden gentle patter of quiet footsteps behind him dispelled his thoughts for the moment. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, sweeping the dismantled pieces of the device into one of his open desk drawers as he did so. Instead of releasing the tongue-lashing he had been preparing to rain down upon his younger colleague, he found himself staring irritatedly into Deborah's unblinking face. She smiled a little.
"Are you busy?"
"Uh .. no." Lucas forced a smile and shook his head, glancing quickly around the Lab as he did so. Maddy was nowhere to be seen. He looked back up at Deborah. "What is it?"
Deborah studied him for a moment.
"I can come back if you're busy."
"No!" Lucas waved his hand carelessly and laughed a little, reaching over behind her and pulling across another chair. "Just in .. science land, that's all. Please."
He gestured to the newly-placed chair across from him.
"Sit."
"Thank you." Deborah sat down gratefully and clasped her hands together in her lap. Lucas immediately took note of the nervous gesture and frowned.
"Everything alright, Deb?"
Deborah bit her lip for a moment and took a deep breath, shaking her head at herself with a little laugh before meeting his concerned face.
"I promised I'd keep you in the loop and I'm keeping that promise." She looked out the window distractedly and then swallowed, forcing herself to look calmly back at him.
"Elisabeth spoke to me this morning before everyone was up. She has the results back. It's not good news, I'm afraid."
Lucas leaned on his knees and unconsciously clasped his own hands together.
"What do you mean?"
Now that she'd begun the explanation, Deborah seemed to relax a little.
"It's an autoimmune disease brought on by the syncillic fever, as Elisabeth suspected. They aren't sure which one or what the treatment is yet, but they have several things they're going to test." She gave a wry smile. "I suppose in a way I'm their guinea-pig."
Lucas blinked blankly, attempting to comprehend the information she'd just given him.
"But .. they could be wrong .. right? Nothing's for certain."
"They're very sure in this case." Deborah sighed and looked out the window again. "I have to take it easy and eat properly .. all the usual things, I suppose. In time, it may get worse, or it may not."
She turned back to him and shrugged a little.
"We'll just have to wait and see."
Lucas shook his head firmly.
"No. No, it can't be. They must've-"
"Shh." Deborah leaned forward and put her hands on his. Lucas looked down at them dimly. They were cold.
"There's no mistake. They checked three times."
Lucas shook his head again in confusion.
"But .."
"It's alright, son."
Lucas stared back at her, his heart sinking into his stomach. She'd only called him that once before .. when things were really bad. He found his self-control starting to waver.
"Skye-"
"Can't know." Deborah finished, fixing him with a warning look. "Not yet. It may still all amount to nothing."
Lucas ran his hand through his hair, suddenly feeling exasperated with the whole situation.
"Deborah, she's going to notice if you get any worse. She already knows you're struggling." At Deborah's immediate frown, he added, "Before you ask, no, I haven't said a word, but come on. She's smart and she knows you better than anyone. She's going to notice! It's inevitable .."
He stared up at the far wall expressionlessly and muttered to himself.
".. and then she's going to be mad at me for not telling her."
"I know. And I'm sorry for putting you in this position." Deborah looked genuinely apologetic for a moment before the resolution returned to her features. "If things get worse, I will tell her. But I refuse to worry her for nothing."
Lucas shrugged and shook his head in defeat.
"Your call."
Deborah smiled a little and stood, patting his knee gently.
"Thank you. Now, I better get back. I told her I was going to find something decent to eat. She'll be wondering where I am."
Lucas rolled his head back and stared at her reprovingly.
"Deborah .."
The older woman laughed.
"I know, I know." She patted his shoulder. "Good luck with .. science land."
Lucas watched her go with a heavy heart, calling out to her as she reached the door.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave!"
She paused to throw a laughing look at him before she plunged back out into the light drizzle.
"Be careful where you step, it's pretty-"
Malcolm suddenly cut his own warning short as he made a mad grab for Mark's arm. As if on cue, the young soldier behind him had gone down. Mark's boot had slid out from under him like lighting, and it was now only Malcolm's desperate grip on his collar that was halting his further descent down the mountain. As it was, if the head researcher hadn't been hanging onto a sad-looking tree for dear life with his other hand, they would've both plummeted. Malcolm shook his head disapprovingly as he watched the panicked soldier scrabble for a foothold.
".. mossy."
"Thanks." Mark panted as he finally regained his footing and shifted his rifle to his other shoulder. Malcolm released his handful of wrinkled uniform and smoothed it back down a little.
"No problem."
"Everything okay?" Jim's voice came from further up ahead. Malcolm raised a hand in reply.
"We're fine."
He turned back to Mark as Jim nodded and kept moving.
"Let's not try that again."
Mark laughed a little and nodded breathlessly.
"Right."
They were travelling well uphill from the floodwaters, but the lack of solid ground available dramatically increased the odds of running into some unhappy natives .. not to mention trying to walk diagonally along the side of a very slippery hill was turning out to be a lot harder than it had first sounded .. and it had sounded pretty hard.
Mark had drifted back into his own thoughts - thoughts he had been so rudely shocked out of when his leg flew out from under him. His distraction was probably half the reason he had lost his footing in the first place. He made a mental note to concentrate on where he was walking .. though, he thought wryly to himself, the idea of dropping swiftly down the side of the mountain was distinctly more appealing than the situation he was currently thinking over.
The wedding. It was in less than three months. In less than three months, he would be married. In less than three months, he would have Maddy Reynolds as his wife.
The silly smile on his face faded as he returned to the point that was really troubling him.
In less than three months, Jim would become his father-in-law.
Jim, who had never thought he was good enough for Maddy. Jim, who had taken pleasure in riddling his life with anxiety from the first day they met. Jim, who was now in charge of the entire colony and had an enormous arsenal of weapons at his disposal! Jim, who would be legally related to him by the time November struck .. whatever "legally" meant anymore. Mark shook his head as he stepped carefully over another rotten tree root.
Somehow he could never picture himself calling the Commander "Dad".
He and Malcolm had almost caught up with the two in front now. Jim and Mira had slowed down to survey the river below, and judging by the looks of things, weren't too happy about what they had discovered. If Mark had been paying attention, he would have seen Jim shake his head and turn towards them with a dissatisfied frown on his face. As it was, the young soldier had fallen back into his own thoughts. Less than three months .. how could he get Jim to like him in less than three months?!
"Mark?"
"Yes, Dad?"
Jim froze as Mark stared at him in shock, all thoughts of the river temporarily forgotten. Malcolm snorted in amusement as a bright shade of red began to creep across the humiliated soldier's face. Mark opened his mouth and attempted to speak - he wanted to apologise, he had to say something .. but try as he might, he just couldn't seem to formulate a single sentence. It was as if the connection between his mouth and his brain had been severed. All he could do was stand there and stare as the agonising silence stretched out for all eternity. He began to wish fervently that another landslide would suddenly come and cover him up.
Jim managed to recover from his own shock a little quicker and raised an eyebrow, his sharp voice covering up his embarrassment and cutting through the silence like a dagger.
"Reynolds, you're miles away. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that out here, letting your guard down can be fatal. Something you want to share with the group?"
Mark's heart was still pounding out of his chest, but to his acute relief, he managed to find his tongue.
"N-No .. Sir."
"Good."
As Mira rolled her eyes at the unnecessary theatrics, Jim turned his attention back to the reason they were all out there in the first place. For once, he was glad of the distraction the flood problem presented.
"Malcolm, can I talk to you?"
The head researcher nodded amiably.
"Yep."
They had almost reached the edge of the landslide. Mira fell back to wander along in silence beside Mark as Jim and Malcolm continued on, every so often catching a glimpse of the raging torrent below them through the trees. They picked their way through the hazardous wilderness for a good 30 metres with neither saying a word, Malcolm waiting patiently as the seconds turned into minutes. Finally, Jim shook his head.
"It's worse than I thought."
"It is pretty bad." His companion agreed helpfully.
"I mean, look how high it is, Malcolm. If we have another landslide on this side of the mountain, it'll rip the colony to shreds."
"True." Malcolm nodded sadly. As Jim stared gravely out at the water, the chief science officer took pity on him and continued. "Look, sooner or later - probably sooner, these banks are going to burst, and I mean really burst. We need to decide on a course of action now. If you'll allow me, I have a suggestion."
Jim turned to him hopefully.
"You do?"
Malcolm raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
"Look, no one could have predicted this - not even me, but it is happening now and we have to work with it."
"So what do we do?"
Malcolm hesitated. This was a crucial moment. If his plan had any chance of getting off the ground, Jim was the person he had to convince. He folded his arms and met his impatient listener's gaze calmly.
"We hide out." He said, as though it was the most reasonable suggestion in the world. "Everyone stays in their houses until the water goes down. We boost the shields to maximum capacity. They can't hold it long and we'll burn through our power sources, but it's enough to get us through and we're out of options here. We've run all the tests we could think of and they all checked out. Every single member of my team agrees, your daughter included. This is our best chance."
Jim was staring at him as though he'd lost his mind.
"You're suggesting we stay in our houses and let the water flow over us?"
Malcolm nodded sagely.
"That's the idea."
"Malcolm, that's insane!"
The researcher raised a hand.
"Uh-uh, not insane. Science. Those houses are made of carbon tubing. They're stronger than you think."
Jim rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.
"And you're sure it'll work?"
"As sure as anyone can be. In the words of your eldest daughter, 'Of course it'll work - it's math.'"
Jim smiled a little.
"That does sound like Maddy." His brow furrowed. "And you're sure the water can't get in to mess with the electronics?"
Malcolm stared at him doubtfully.
"Are you asking me if the flood defences are waterproof? What do I look like, some kind of idiot?!"
"No, of course not."
"They're fully sealed, if that's what you mean." Malcolm commented dryly. "You have nothing to worry about on that account."
"And you're sure the pressure of the water won't .."
"The houses are structurally sound. They'll hold. Trust me."
"And if it fails?"
"As a last resort, the shields will alert everyone if they begin to fail. There'll be time to get out of the houses and up onto the roofs, though what to do from there is anyone's guess. At any rate, we'll hardly be worse off than if we desert the colony now. At least we gave it the best chance to survive."
Jim was silent for a few long moments. Malcolm tried not to look anxious as he waited for the verdict. Finally, Jim nodded decisively.
"Alright. Let's do it."
Malcolm beamed.
"Excellent. Oh .. one more thing."
Jim stared at him dubiously.
".. what?"
"You'll have to convince the council."
The commander relaxed a little and dismissed the problem with a wave of his hand.
"Don't worry about that. Leave the council to me. You just make sure everything's ready to go. We don't have much time left."
Malcolm clapped his hands together resolutely.
"Good, I'll get my team-what, what is that?!"
