Chapter 55
Earlier that morning just before dawn, the dead were cremated with full honours. 79 warriors had given their lives to save 672 of their clansmen and 106 children. The clansmen that had been held in the cages, were brought out of the mountain for the ceremony and then they were taken to the camp that had been set up at the base of the mountain. The children were taken straight to the camp where several warriors looked after them and the Rock Line warriors were checking on their own clan children. Every clan had sent at least one healer and they were busy making sure that the former prisoners were looked after.
Each clan had people in the mountain and were grateful for them to be returned. Echo had disappeared, and when Prince Roan asked about her, no-one knew where she was. Echo was at that moment, working her way towards the site of the dropship. She needed to think. She knew that Queen Nia would want her to go back to Azgeda and take up her role of assassin again, but she now didn't want that. After remembering what had happened last time, she knew that her future was no longer with Azgeda. Octavia had told her that Bellamy didn't remember the last time, and after what she knew about what he had done, she knew it was the right decision. But that didn't stop her from missing him. She thought that he could be someone she could have a future with. She'd just have to get him to like her again.
The real problem though, was her promise to defend Azgeda to her last breath. She knew she had to talk with the Commander and she would have to change clans to have a chance of a new life, even if it meant that a death order would be put on her. Her life would be forfeit if any Azgeda got hold of her. She got to the dropship and climbed to the top. She could see the pall of smoke from the pyres and she bowed her head in respect for the dead. She looked around and kept an eye out for anyone approaching, but she was primarily looking over the land to see if there were any caves she could shelter in. She had a lot to think about.
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When it was time, the Commander sent Indra off with the first of the wounded and former prisoners back to Tondc. From there each clan would get their people and either go on the Polis or to go home to their own clans. Any of the children that had lost both parents to the mountain were taken in by either relatives or someone else in their village. No child was left unwanted.
The civilians were fed and watered by way of the negative pressure chamber leading to quarantine. They had been seen by the Commander and Adara and had been reassured that they would not be harmed. Adara made sure that no-one was pretending to be outraged at the truth. She was relieved to find all of them were genuine.
Jasper and Maya kept them informed of everything that was going on. Monty had even been able to switch on the monitors in quarantine to show the cremations and the civilians were touched at the spirituality of it. Most of them were moved by the way the outsiders had comported themselves as they went about their business. They were indeed saviours and not the savages their leaders said they were.
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Two days later, twenty of the hundred came to the mountain led by Drew. Adara was at the main door to greet them.
"Hey guys, glad you made it," said Adara with a smile.
"Well, with the mountain men defeated, you've made the ground a safe place to walk - if you don't include the wildlife," said Drew. We've come to relieve you of prisoner duty. The Commander would like to see you before you go to the bunker." Adara raised an eyebrow. The Commander could talk to her personally via the earwig and mic. She wondered why the Commander decided to send a messenger instead.
"Something going on, Drew?" Adara asked quietly. Drew hesitated and then flicked his head to the side to indicate a private conversation. Adara followed him. When he got a distance away he turned to Adara.
"We've been in contact with Kane. Pike was arrested and floated for treachery or something like that. Anyway, before he died, Pike named several people he had recruited. He named Bellamy as one of them." He held up his hand to forestall Adara's words. "We think he was lying about that. He knew about the Blake siblings and Kane thinks that he wanted to stir up trouble. Problem is that Bellamy is keeping tight-lipped about what he believes. Maybe you can talk to Octavia and see if she knows what he'd do."
"Anything else?"
"The Commander has gathered the leaders of the twelve clans together - well except for Azgeda. Prince Roan is standing in for their queen."
"And I'm to be presented to them?" guessed Adara.
"Yes."
"Okay. Let's go," she said leading the way back to her people and heading into the mountain.
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Adara had left Atom in charge of the prisoners. He'd wanted to stay and see that everything was finished. Several of the junior guards were still prisoners. The Commander didn't trust them as they were guards - even if they were kept in the dark about what really happened. Jasper was in charge of the civilians alongside Maya. They weren't allowed out of quarantine yet as they hadn't been able to make the mountain radiation proof again. They were okay with that. They knew they were being looked after. Octavia, Sterling and Miller went with Adara. Murphy was still in the infirmary as he wasn't allowed out of bed yet. He hated it, but he knew Clarke wouldn't lie to him about his condition. Clarke had gone back to Tondc and then Polis with the Commander.
Adara and her group went to Tondc first and then went to the bunker to change their clothing as the ones they had been wearing were the only ones they had in the mountain. After that, they headed for Polis with Monty and Harper. Jones volunteered to stay behind and monitor things.
They got to Polis three days later. At the entrance they disarmed themselves even before they were told to. After they had been checked, they were led to the Commander's tower. Several townspeople stood and watched them. Most of them were looking at Adara's facial tattoo. A leader was seen each time one of the clan leaders came to Polis, but a shaman? That was very rare. Even the old ones could only remember one other shaman and that was over 40 summers ago.
They were stopped at the entrance to the tower.
"Who are these goufas?" said a guard, sneering at them. Their guide slammed his fist into the guards face. The guard fell backwards, he got up and started towards them wiping the blood off his face.
"These people are members of the Skaikru. This is their leader and shaman. Show respect when you see a leader!"
"Skaikru?" he sneered. "I don't see anything but children playing at being adults. They should be sent to the playgroups with the other babies!"
Adara stepped up and kneed him in his family jewels. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Even children know where to hit to put you down," Adara said, crossing her arms and looking at him with boredom. She turned to their guide. "Can we go up now?"
"Yes, come, the Commander is waiting for you."
At the top, the guide led them to the throne room. When bade to enter, the guide entered and announced the Skaikru. He was shaking his head and chuckling to himself when he started to leave.
"What is funny, Saben?" asked the Commander.
"Well, Commander, the guard downstairs didn't believe me when I told him they were Skaikru. He called them children and said they should be in the nursery with the other babies. Heda Adara, kneed him in the crotch and he dropped like a stone, Heda Adara then said that even children know where to hit to put him down. I just found that funny, Commander."
"And you hate, Erik," finished the Commander.
"Sha, Heda."
"You may go." Saben left and the Commander looked at Adara. Adara just looked back at her and shrugged.
"He pissed me off." The Commander was unable to suppress a smirk but luckily, her back was to the other Hedas in the room.
The Commander turned to face the room.
"Hedas. This is Heda Adara, leader of the Skaikru and three of her advisors."
"They're children!" one of the leaders said.
"Why do people alway look at our ages and not our deeds?" said Adara, rhetorically.
"They are the ones who found a way into the mountain and turned off the acid fog, opened the doors and let our people out of the cages they were in. They may be young, but they have proven themselves. They are the reason we celebrate the return of some of our people. They have done what we could not. I will not hear a word against them!"
"Your lover is one of them!" yelled the same man.
"Yes, she is."
"You got a problem with that?" asked Adara.
"You have no business here."
"I have every right to answer a summons by the Commander. This is her land and we are here at her request. We are not stupid, Heda of the Broadleaf clan, we were smart enough to take the mountain. We have a community and a place to live. The Commander decreed it. You have a problem with that, then you take it up with the Commander. It's your life." Adara said with a shrug. "Personally, I think you need your head read if you want to fight her." Adara moved off to the side.
The Commander looked to the leader of the Broadleaf clan.
"Do you wish to challenge me?" she asked, ominously.
"No, Commander," the leader said and sat back down.
"Each of you have been to the mountain and saw the cages with their new prisoners."
"What about those still in the mountain? Those maunon that still live protected by the Skaikru?"
"They were innocent of any wrongdoing. They knew nothing of what really happened to our people. Three of them have died because they needed new blood and refused to accept our blood when it was freely offered. They will be allowed to live. Adara and I have been looking for an island far out into the sea to put them on. They will not have any boats so they cannot get away from the island. They live or die there. Their lives have been spared but we will not have them on our lands."
"Who's looking for this island?"
"Luna kom Floukru. That is why the Floukru ambassador is here instead of her."
"I approve. They live away from us and the mountain is no longer a threat." said the leader of the Delfikru.
The leaders talked among themselves for a few minutes.
"We all agree, Commander," the Podakru leader said. The Commander nodded.
"Is the Skaikru joining the coalition?"
"Not yet," replied Adara. We must make sure that the mountain civilians are settled on the island first." The leaders nodded. That was wise.
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After the meeting, the Skaikru stayed behind. The Commander wanted to know what they intended to do next.
"What of the mountain?" she asked.
"Well, I want to start giving them bone marrow. Only one donation per person though. Most of them will have to wait until the Ark comes down. Hopefully there will be enough Arkers left alive to donate. I can't force people to donate, especially my people who it was forcibly taken from, like Harper. I won't do that to them, but we may need to have more than one donation each. I really hope the Arkers step up and help them. If not, they either stay in quarantine for the rest of their lives or we have to find a way to make the mountain radiation free again and they live there."
"Is that wise?"
"I don't know, but they were conned by their leaders, much like the hundred were. I know that if I were in their position, I wouldn't want to live my life in quarantine - even though that life wouldn't be long without your blood keeping them alive." The Commander was thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes, that is an issue. They deserve to live the life they should have had without the need for our blood, but the clans may see this as proof that you - we - deceived them and intend to take over the mountain for yourselves." Adara shook her head.
"No, Commander. I think only Jasper would stay on. He now remembers and he can now have the life with Maya he wanted. He doesn't have to watch her die and then become bitter and twisted. He will be my ambassador there. Once we have them immune to the radiation, they can either go to Bermuda, or, like us, find a place to live in peace with you on the ground."
"Will Berda or Bermuda as you call it, be big enough for the Mountain people and the Arkers who do not want to follow your rule?"
"I don't know, Commander. I don't know how much life has returned to Bermuda. If the island isn't big enough, there were plenty of other islands that made up the Caribbean islands. Bermuda was just the most northern one."
"Not quite," said the Commander. "Another island was created when a fire mountain came out of the ocean just after the bombs fell. Corda grew to about 50 miles wide when it erupted. The fire mountain blew fire for almost eight moons and the land kept growing. Once the fire mountain had stopped, it never breathed fire again. My people have been going there to watch the land and see how it is forming. For the first few moons, it was barren, but then seeds blown in on the wind took hold and started to grow, birds appeared and plants grew from their droppings. Now, the island has plants all over it. Trees, grass, bushes including ones we can get food from. I think that island would be good to put people on as well - if it is found livable."
"Would we need to import prey animals? I know they can fish and use the sea for food, but they would need red meat too. What kinds of plants are there? Would we need to supply seeds or stocks of plantable foodstuffs to start them off?" asked Adara.
"I don't know," replied the Commander. "It will need to be looked at." Adara nodded. I think we need to find out, Commander. Maybe between them they may have the foodstuffs needed and can swap stuff as needed before we put people on them. I still don't want to give them boats, though."
"We will look at this another time," the Commander said. "I want to know if you have done anything about the weapons the mountain has like the missiles." Adara looked at her blankly. Clarke spoke up.
"That's my fault. Last time, I skipped over that part when telling her of the fall of the mountain." Clarke turned to Adara. "When the mountain fell, Monty made sure to destroy or at least disable the missiles. There were some remotely controlled that Monty also disabled. He was going to go to each site and physically destroy their wiring so that they could never be launched or used, but ALIE and Jaha got in the way." Adara thought for a moment.
"When Jaha came down, he came down in a missile, didn't he?" Clarke nodded her head.
"Yes, and ALIE was able to use that missile to destroy one of the nuclear reactors which set off a chain reaction for all the rest around the world. She knew they were going to blow anyway, but she just hastened the end."
"If we either bring him with us or kill him before they come down, that won't be a problem." Adara thought for some more. "I need to contact Monty. Won't be a moment," she said and got up and walked to the far side of the room for a private chat. She turned on her throat mic and put in her earwig.
"Monty? You there?"
"Hey, Adara, what's up?"
"Have you been in contact with the Ark lately?"
"Yeah, spoke to Kane this morning. Why?"
"Did he say when he's coming down because I told him two weeks ago, to come down now, after the mountain fell. I didn't tell him we were taking down the mountain before they came down because they would have tried to talk us out of it and admonished us like naughty kids for doing it."
"No, he never mentioned it."
"Talk to him now and get a firm date and time for them to come down. I need to know what's happening up there."
"Got it," said Monty. "Talk to you soon." Adara went back to the meeting and sat down. They all looked at her.
"Well, two weeks ago I told Kane to bring our people down today. Monty hasn't heard anything from Kane about it happening and he only talked to him this morning. Monty's trying to contact him now and find out what's going on." Clarke and Octavia's eyes grew wide.
"God, I hope everything's okay." said Clarke. Octavia nodded vigorously in agreement. They waited a few minutes for Monty to contact them.
"Adara?" Monty's voice came through her earwig. She held up her hand to indicate silence.
"Go ahead, Monty."
"They have a problem up there. There was an attempted mutiny by those Pike recruited. Bellamy and Jake Griffin were injured and Kane was locked up. Sinclair and Jackson stopped the mutiny - I don't know how - but they did. Kane is now back in charge."
"What about…" Adara stopped and looked at the Skaikru. "...the injured?"
"They will be fine. Laws prohibited Abby from working on Jake, so Dr Jackson fixed him. He had been cut on the arm with a knife. Clean cut. Sewn up and bandaged. He'll be fine in a few days. Bellamy's injuries were more severe. They beat the crap out of him and he was in surgery for internal bleeding and a ruptured spleen. Abby took his spleen out and fixed the rest. He'll be fine too after a few weeks. He's not allowed to move too much, though because of the abdominal stitching?" Monty wasn't sure about that.
"Anyway, Kane said it would be another week at least before they come down. They had to float the mutineers and are moving farm and factory stations into Alpha and Mecha. The stations that survived are being utilised and the ones that didn't are being emptied." Monty finished his report.
"Thanks, Monty. Keep us up to date, please."
"Will do." Adara turned off her throat mic.
"So, first things first. Jake and Bellamy were injured but they are okay." Adara held up her hand again. "Let me tell you what happened, then you can ask questions, okay?" They nodded and Adara told them what Monty told her.
"Dad's really okay?" asked Clarke.
"Bell too?" asked Octavia.
"Yes, your mom will look after them both, Clarke." Clarke and Octavia nodded. They both knew that Abby Griffin was one of the best medics the Ark had known. She would look after her patients no matter what. They also knew that it was something for Abby to focus on instead of getting in Kane's way when he needed to do something Abby didn't agree with. Adara told them the rest of what Monty had said.
"That's good," said the Commander.
"Yes, it is," said Adara. "It's very good."
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Several days had passed and three of the civilian doctors in the mountain were - under supervision - extracting bone marrow from the Skaikru. Every single one of the Skaikru had volunteered their bone marrow. Charlie, being the youngest had the least amount taken and it would be used to save two of the babies. Adara and Jasper were the first two to have their bone marrow taken, Jasper's went to Maya and Adara's went to a new first-time mother. The mother's daughter got part of Charlie's donation. The rest of the Skaikru were taking turns in both donating and guarding the prisoners. Only 102 people were able to be given the treatment until the Ark came down. Those 102 people were free to move about the mountain, but were restricted from leaving it just yet. They were just pleased to be out of quarantine. 14 children had been found to have clan blood and the Commander and Adara were trying to figure out what to do with them.
Adara was back in the bunker and moving slowly as the extraction was painful and she was still healing up. She had in her spare time, been reading up on medical texts to see if she could heal the wounds it caused. It wasn't a simple thing like healing a cut. It was more that the bones and bone marrow were involved and Adara didn't want to accidentally cause more damage. Eventually she read enough to try it on herself. It worked! No more pain and the wound was fully healed. She went out and healed everyone who had theirs taken. She would heal all those who had it done.
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Murphy was up and about, but only just. He was sick and tired of lying in bed all day, so like Tomika, he was allowed to get up as long as he used a wheelchair. Tomika still had a week in a cast so she was helping in the library with Lisa. Murphy on the other hand, was wheeling himself all over the bunker thanks to the fixed elevators. Though Raven did have to stop him from trying to climb out of the bunker to check on the sentries. Raven and Murphy had a blazing row about how he was still injured and he was to take it easy. Murphy responded that the security of the base and its people were his responsibility. Eventually, Harper came up and yelled at them both. All in all, though, it cleared the air and Murphy got his point across about his responsibility, Raven got hers across that he was still injured, and Harper said that Miller was doing a good job of standing in for him which is what a twic should do.
Things in the bunker settled down. Lincoln was now living in the bunker with permission from the Commander. He and Octavia had taken one of the empty rooms on the fourth floor as their room. Everything was finally coming together. David, Pascal and Eva were due back in a few days and then they would know if Bermuda was liveable. The Ark would also be coming down in a few days and then Adara would have to go back to being a leader of people who didn't know her and were wondering why they had to follow a kid. She was not looking forward to that.