Chapter three
WRITTEN BY: KELLEY TOWNLEY
ILLUSTRATED BY: EDEN REEVE
Read with ambient sound:
CHAPTER three
Amaia was chewing her lip in full-on consternation.
Although the chaos of the breach still raged below, the fence was down and their route was open. She watched as Esther ducked through the exposed opening and entered Zone Six without so much as a backward glance.
Belek didn’t hesitate to follow either. Although, in his rush, he did forget about the massive pack on his back. “Urgk!” he gasped as the big bag lodged tight and brought him to a hole-blocking stop.
Esther cursed colourfully as he wriggled like an oversized rabbit caught in a trap.
“Pleking hell!” said Jahan, ramming Belek from behind. “Just cause a scene for everyone to look at, why don’t you!”
Uncomfortably, Amaia checked over her shoulder. Anyone could easily look over and see them illegally entering the contamination zone. Indeed, there were many eagle-eyed news drones circling only a few hundred metres away; be hard to argue against video evidence. But it seemed the greedy drones were pretty fixated on the breach right now, soaking up every dramatic drop of fear and anger as the refugees continued to flood into camp. Close-ups of the stricken faces of lost children, no doubt. Titillating shots of people being trampled to death. And the calamitous response of an ill-equipped and unprepared ASH. Normally, Amaia would tut over such behaviour, and it pained her to admit she was glad all eyes were being sated elsewhere.
“Push down, not forward!” Esther hissed.
Jahan jumped up and slammed his body down onto the bag so that Belek was finally released and could shuffle through the gap. After he was through, he looked up at Esther hopefully, only to be rewarded with a mere roll of the eyes.
Next, Jahan wobbled through in a sideways crouch, balancing his bulky equipment on his lap. Hardly the ideal baggage to go hiking with; he hoped Dr Sutton didn’t plan to go far.
Last was Amaia. She knew she’d chewed her lip almost to breaking at this point, but so far this trip hadn’t exactly been the cosy internship she’d hoped for. Clearly, this was a bad idea. Obviously, the chance of something going horribly wrong in there was insanely high. And yet…
With a final glance back at the chaos of camp, and an unquenchable feeling of trepidation, she slipped through the gap to join the others.
The group hadn’t waited and was already moving swiftly away. But even as they fled, the sounds of suffering followed them. Amaia was breathing hard, and not from exhaustion.
“Those poor people,” she muttered. “Those poor, poor people. Maybe we should go back? Maybe we could help? Those poor people. We should help. We should go back. Do you think we should go back? We should, shouldn’t we?”
Esther groaned and stopped suddenly to turn and face Amaia. “You want to go back? Then go! Go help a few people with a few broken bones. Or come with me and do some real work. Work that’ll save billions! Either way, shut the pleking hell up!”
“Billions?” Jahan mouthed at Belek.
Amaia concentrated very hard on not moving until, finally, Esther turned back around and carried on walking, leaving Amaia to let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Heck! She didn’t see why she should put up with this! Sure, she’d volunteered, but no one mentioned there was going to be anything illegal going on. No one said they’d have to watch people die! What if they died out here? This did not feel good. Not good at all.
“Come on,” Belek said gently. “Don’t think. Just walk.”
Amaia huffed but followed. With the breach happening behind them, what choice did she have?
There was no path in the mountains and the hike was tough going. Uneven ground and slippery, moss-covered rocks slowed them down. Esther was pushing them hard, but it made sense to get a good distance away from camp.
“At least you don’t have bulky equipment banging into your side at every step,” Jahan said to Amaia as they both straggled at the back.
Belek turned and shook his head. “You’re your own worst enemy, Jahan. Why didn’t you put that transceiver in a backpack like I suggested?”
“I told you, it wouldn’t fit! You think I want to carry this chunky-ass thing around like a needy toddler? I am going to have bruises! Big, fat, lovely bruises!”
“Why do we even need such a large transceiver?” said Amaia.
Jahan threw her a look. “You think Novalink services are bad back home? Wait until you try and get a signal out here.”
“So, what, you’re patching directly into the Polyatrium’s satellite with that big old thing?” said Amaia. “But I thought the professor didn’t approve of this trip? How’d you get access?”
“And why not just store the data and upload it when we get back?” said Belek.
Jahan gestured wildly. “Do you have any idea how big DNA is?”
“Some, yes,” Belek said dryly, folding his arms.
“Does it take up an awful lot of memory?” said Amaia. “I wouldn’t think it’d take that much.”
“Well, let’s see,” said Belek. “If a genome has about three billion base pairs in 2-bit code… that should be… what… somewhere around 750 puntabtyes each?”
“You’re only thinking haploid,” Jahan pointed out. “Diploid has twice as many.”
“Maybe you could only record the changes? Or compress the files?”
“Yes, but 2-bit representation isn’t anywhere near detailed enough for cloning,” said Jahan. “The ARK requires nearly two parvusbytes per genome.”
Belek stroked his beard. “I don’t see why. Plus, we’ll be taking samples back with us anyway. No real need for any of this palaver.”
“I DO NOT HAVE TO JUSTIFY MYSELF TO YOU!” Jahan snapped, holding the transceiver protectively.
The others stopped in surprise.
“No,” Esther said slowly. “But you do have to stop moaning about it.”
Jahan scowled. Then nodded in concession.
“Sorry,” Belek said to Jahan. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Guess we’re all a bit tired and hungry. Don’t worry. We’ll stop soon and have some of my famous protein and cabbage soup, yes?”
Jahan managed a smile. “Yeah. That sounds good. Thanks.”
But before that, the gradient increased, and it was hard work scrambling over the rugged terrain. At least the surroundings made up for it. The clean mountain air smelt of fresh pine resin and the scenery was breath-takingly stunning. It was almost hard to recall the horrific events at camp in the face of such tranquil beauty.
They reached a ledge and stopped to admire the open vista.
“Are you sure this is the best route?” Jahan puffed. “I’d hate to have to double back.”
Esther consulted the navicom. “Yes. We’re right on track.”
“On track to where?” Jahan mumbled. “This wasn’t supposed to be some major trekking expedition.”
Ahead, Belek leapt onto a boulder, unintentionally looking like an ancient warrior. Amaia smiled. He looked very at home there.
“Just be glad it’s not winter,” he called cheerfully.
Jahan readjusted his fur-lined beanie and gave Amaia a withering look. “Where I come from, even the worst winter isn’t half this cold.”
“When I was a child,” continued Belek, “we got snow so deep once, we lost my sister for a week. By the time we found her, she’d become one with the local wolf pack and didn’t want to return home.”
Amaia tittered but figured if Belek’s sibling was anything like him, maybe it was true.
“At least you had forests and wilderness,” said Jahan. “I was stuck in a city of forty-five million. Bodies of starving people lined the streets. You used to have step over them to go to school.”
“At least you went to school,” said Esther. “When I was young, my parents were so afraid for my safety that I wasn’t allowed to leave the house. I had to learn online. Didn’t see the sky for four years.”
“Grateful I wasn’t around for that,” said Amaia. “The Dark Days sound terrifying.”
“There are always dark days,” said Esther. “You think we’re in some picnic now? Come on. Less talking, more walking.”
“Not too much more,” said Belek. “We’ll need to stop and camp soon.”
Esther scowled but said nothing.
The group hiked in pretty much silence for the rest of the day until the sun began to sink and the distant purple haze turned peachy pink with the dying rays. The mountains grew in shadow and the trees began to fill with evening song against a twinkling, starry backdrop and a huge full moon.
Belek led the way and stopped in a clearing that had the most amazing view over a stunning valley: an immense emerald-green carpet flowing around a crystal lake, surrounded by towering grey peaks, still capped in pure white snow.
“Oh, wow,” said Amaia.
Even Esther was distracted. “If you’d told me as a child that this even existed, I wouldn’t have believed you. Now I’ve been to the top of the highest mountains and the depths of the ocean, and yet the beauty of Earth still amazes me.”
“It’s a wonder we ever left,” said Belek.
“But that’s just it,” said Jahan, gratefully putting his heavy equipment down for a minute. “Humans are curious. Never content unless we’re up to something. Like we are now.”
Esther suddenly looked nervous, but Amaia said, “You mean the view is even more magnificent because we’re not supposed to be here?”
“Exactly,” said Jahan, as Esther relaxed. “It’s our salvation and our curse. This is special. Making us special to be here. Humans desire special.”
“Well, this human desires soup,” declared Belek. “Time to stop for the night. This clearing is good and flat, and it probably only gets steeper from here.”
“Steeper?” wailed Jahan.
Esther put her hands on her hips. “OK. But we leave first light tomorrow.”
“Or we could start collecting samples?” said Amaia.
“Not yet,” said Esther.
“But I saw some interesting scat back there. Carnivorous. A predator for sure. Possibly a big cat. Maybe a lynx. Maybe even a tiger! All we need are a few hairs—”
“We leave at first light,” Esther repeated. “Jahan, get a fire going. Belek, you and I will set up the tents.”
Amaia stood around awkwardly as the others got busy. “What about me?”
Esther threw something that caught her in the stomach. Oof!
“You can go fetch water.”
Amaia looked down at the empty water bags. “But…” She looked back up at the dark, ominous trees. “I don’t remember seeing a river.”
“Use your navicom,” said Esther, as she and Belek started unpacking the camping gear.
Amaia felt a flush of anger. Just because she was the intern, it shouldn’t mean she got the worst jobs!
“Why didn’t we collect water on the way?” she said.
“Because this isn’t a holiday!” Esther snapped. “We haven’t planned a lovely, jolly route. We’re here illegally, by the skin of our teeth. So go and get some pleking water or none of us will be eating anything tonight!”
Amaia looked at Belek for support but he purposefully didn’t meet her gaze, keeping busy with the camping gear. Jahan just shrugged at her as he started scooping out a fire pit. Fine. Amaia stormed off in a random direction, cursing under her breath, remembering all her fellow students congratulating her on her amazing luck. ‘Oh my gosh! Dr Sutton never takes interns’, ‘You’re so lucky!’, ‘I would literally DIE for that gig.’
Little did they know.
It was another fifty metres before Amaia remembered to be scared. It was colder now. The sort of cold that feels wet as it seeps into your bones. Strong moonlight created long shadows of eerie blue. The beautiful daytime trees had morphed into sweeping spires of doom, and the comforting noises of daily life had become the haunting sounds of imminent death. All closing in on her…
Amaia rubbed her face and took a deep breath. It had been a long day. She was a person of logic; there was no more reason to be scared now than there was during the day. Just the remnants of primitive psychology kicking in. Instincts. Born out of natural selection. Yeah, because night-time really was more dangerous.
Plek.
Amaia calmed her racing heart and finally remembered to open her navicom to actually look for a nearby water source. Luckily, the map was already downloaded, and there was a stream about twenty metres downhill. Not too far.
Stumbling through the trees, she heard it before she saw it: the reassuring trickle of moving water. Talking of primitive instincts, finding water still filled Amaia with joy.
Sure, she’d rather it was an ice cold can of Mr Doop,
but after a treacherous day of hiking and illegal trespassing, a glug of freshly filtered H2O sounded amazing.
She hurried over and knelt at the edge, opened up the first water bag and held it in the fast-flowing stream to fill up. The water tinkled and chimed like magic. So clear. And the moss under her hand was so soft. She filled and stoppered the first bag and put the second one in. Maybe it wasn’t so bad here. The night was actually kind of peaceful. Serene even.
It was then that Amaia noticed something in the corner of her eye: movement on the other side of the bank. She froze. The water bag overfilled. Her hands became icy cold in the running stream. Slowly, she looked over to see two eyes staring back at her, large and glossy, even in the dark. And forward-facing. Predator style. Carnivorous. Like the scat she’d seen earlier. The scat she’d hoped was a tiger. She certainly hoped it wasn’t a tiger now.
What should she do? Stay still and hope she wasn’t spotted? Idiot. Clearly, whatever it was had noticed her long before she’d noticed them. This was their home, after all. And Amaia had just blundered through it, with all the humble grace of her human boldness. Boldness that had failed to spot a danger that lesser animals must live with on a daily basis. How ignorant of her. How arrogant.
Amaia realised she’d shrunk back slightly in reflex. But she was not prey, so she slowly squared out her shoulders, making herself look as big as she could. She wasn’t for eating. She was a predator herself. It was true. She had meat at least twice a month.
They both stayed like this for a while, quietly sizing each other up. Until slowly, whatever it was came forward. Leaves barely rustling as out of the shadowy undergrowth, and into a sliver of moonlight, came a giant furry paw. White and gold. Not a tiger then. Smaller. But not exactly a safe size. The creature stopped. Its coat was golden brown with black spots that had rendered it practically invisible from just a few metres away. A leopard. A very rare and very special Jiang leopard. Amaia’s fear almost melted from being in close proximity to such a majestic beast. Belek could keep his plants. Jahan could have his microbes. And who knew what Dr Sutton’s real passion was. But for Amaia, nothing could beat the pure perfection of Earth’s mightiest predators.
But what was it doing here? And so close to people? Ah, of course: the Braid. It wasn’t only people trying to escape the danger. Sometimes, working in the city made you forget the planet was home to such wildlife. Wild life. Life in the wild. Humans were no longer wild. They were tamed. Good little intern.
The leopard loosely regarded Amaia from the other side of the stream. Then looked away as if acting casual. Its beautiful golden coat shone like treasure in the moonlight. A glint of pearly white as it opened its mouth, panting slightly, assessing the situation. The curvature of solid muscle beneath its fur rippled with explosive potential. It could kill Amaia in a heartbeat. And yet it chose not violence, but caution and diplomacy.
Amaia decided to very slowly cup her hand in the stream and pretend to drink. She was not threatened by the leopard, so the leopard should not be threatened by her. The leopard licked its lips. It must be very thirsty to even risk this encounter. What horrors had it seen? What losses had it suffered?
It took a while, but eventually, satisfied that Amaia wasn’t a threat, it lowered its beautiful head and lapped at the water. Amaia took care to look away. No threat here. You carry on, my friend. But she did look back at the big cat out of the corner of her eye. It was beyond thrilling – and if these were to be her final moments, so be it. Never in a million years did she ever expect to get this close to such a wild animal.
She wondered where it would go next. North, west, and east were all lost, and yet it couldn’t go south either, not towards the people. It was stuck. Trapped. Of course, that was why Amaia and the team were here. To rescue it. Well, its descendants anyway. All Amaia needed was a hair or two. If only she could reach over and grab some. Imagine that; she almost laughed. Reaching out and plucking a hair from such a deadly animal. She’d be mauled in seconds. Maybe not an uninteresting way to go. Maybe better than unthreading – whatever that was like. Would this beautiful creature end up a victim of unthreading? If only she could explain things to it, get it to come with her, to trust her. She imagined walking through the forests with a leopard at her side. So powerful. So graceful. So fantastical. She nearly laughed again. Maybe she was getting a bit hysterical. A small squeak must have escaped her dry lips because the leopard stopped drinking suddenly and decided it had risked enough, disappearing once again into darkness.
You’re right to fear me, Amaia thought sadly. I’ve killed you. My kind’s recklessness has killed you all.
