CHOSEN: A Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Dystopian Novel (9 page)

Antarctic
Research Center

In the ROC
room,
Zura and Johan both looked out the wall of windows towards the never ending
ocean. Zura felt lightheaded from everything that was happening much too
quickly and all Johan could do at that moment was hold her. This was their
life’s work. This whole program was possible because of them.

They
were supposed to be saving the world. All of their hard work and sacrifice was
for what surrounded them and for the nearly twenty billion people sharing the
planet with them. If they screwed up, they would be responsible for the fallout
and that wasn’t an option either wanted to consider.

The
pressure seemed to push into Zura’s shoulder blades and crept into her neck. She
was the lead, this was her project, and at the end of the day she was
responsible for what happened and for all the lives impacted by their work and
the information they had. She felt the weight of the world pressing into her
neck and back, even if she didn’t have to bear it.

She
took in a deep breath and as she let it out slowly she was reminded of the little
ball of light that had appeared when she’d been working just two and a half
months before the twins were born. She had never told Johan about it, but that
message, along with Mave’s insistence, had kept her pressing on with the
mission she sometimes couldn’t seem to grasp.

The
message she got that day kept her committed to making sure the twins knew their
worth. Their premature birth and that message were why she said yes to the
serum during her labor. It was why she had risked everything. The ARC and all
of the sacrifices she, Johan and everyone else had made along the way couldn’t
be for nothing.

Zura
whipped her head away sharply from her embrace with Johan. She’d felt as if
they were no longer alone, but as she looked around the room and behind her
confused husband there was no one there. She stood back from Johan and looked
around again, trying to shake off whatever was causing the hairs on her arms to
stand up. She could feel a shift of energy in the room but only she and Johan
were there.

“We
have to do something, Johan,” Zura finally spoke. “We have to send a report
with our suggestions to both the UniCorps and the World Consensus Science
Branches. They have to know what we’ve found so they can do something. I will
not let this kind of blood be on my hands or our hands.”

Upstairs
in the general science room Mave suddenly sat up erect in the chair beside
Stephen, a calm look coming over her face. She smiled and said, “I think you’ll
be happy with your parents.”

Mave
continued to work with a little more pep. A couple of minutes passed and Zura
and Johan stepped out of the decontamination chamber and were coming up the
steps to the science center workroom where Mave and Stephen waited expectantly.

“Hi,
Stephen, Mave,” Zura said as she slipped on her shoes. “Glad to see you seem
more yourself this time, Stephen. Mave, can you and Rupert begin putting
together easy to understand charts using the data we have? I don’t want anyone
saying that what we provided wasn’t clear. I am going to start drafting my
report. Johan, I need you to keep an eye on the subfloor activity. Get in touch
with your global associates to get regional data for all global activity over
the past eighteen months,” she instructed.

“That
may not be enough,” Johan responded.

“You’re
right. Make it two years. In fact go back until you can see where the data
begins to show a new trend and then go back further so they can see that
something wasn’t there and then it was. We need something that shows there was
a change. It could be two or three years, but I know it’s there.” That was all
she said before she sat down at her station and began to type. She was in her
own space again.

“Stephen,
you can keep working on what you were doing,” Mave said before walking out of
the lab in search of Rupert who was supposed to be taking the morning off.

He’d
been up later than Stephen analyzing data. Mave knew Rupert well enough to know
that without any rest, he wouldn’t be much good but there wasn’t time to sleep
now. She had only slept three hours herself, but she got by fine on a pot of
coffee a day and the occasional moments she took for rejuvenation. She knew the
coffee addiction wasn’t good for her, but it was one of her few guilty
pleasures since coming here. 

As
Mave left the lab she figured that Zura wouldn’t miss her for at least fifteen
or twenty minutes. She’d be so wrapped up in her work she wouldn’t even notice
that she and Rupert hadn’t returned.

Mave
wandered through the tunnels looking behind her to make sure no one was
following her. She desperately needed a moment to herself. She went into the
hall leading to the living unit she shared with Rupert. She passed the main
living areas to make it to her own bedroom. She opened the door and quickly
closed and locked it behind her, making sure it didn’t make a sound.

Before
she let herself retire to the comfort of her bed for a few stolen moments of
peace, she tested the door again to make sure it was secure. She could feel the
tension that was in the science center all through her legs, back, shoulders, arms,
neck, and head. She needed to recharge and clear all that tension out before
going back in there for another round. She unbuttoned her uniform top leaving
her undershirt and pulled off the cargo style pants, before she stretched out
on the bed. 

Mave
took a deep breath in, closed her eyes and exhaled. She could feel the life of
the breath fill her chest and throat before leaving again. She continued just
breathing, circular breaths, round and round. In a few moments she felt her
body warm up from within. Soon her body seemed to radiate, just a little at
first and then enough to give off a faint glow. The light that circled her body
got bigger and bigger until it filled the whole room.

Mave
was one of the Connecteds. Connecteds were all over the world, placed on every
continent to serve as a connection between the earth and its people with the Unseen
and those like the Council.

After
the World Consensus took over and the voting power of corporations exceeded
that of people, the Connecteds were forbidden to publicly share any information
they received that might affect the citizen’s positive perception of the World
Consensus or the corporations. They had even gone so far as to say that it was
punishable by loss of Citizenship. They could become part of the homeless
population. 

Anyone
who was suspected of being a Connected was to be reported if there was evidence
of suspicious behavior, such as having knowledge or abilities that couldn’t be
scientifically or physically explained. This law had the desired effect of
convincing most Connecteds to not speak or act openly about what they knew in
certain areas of government, politics, and power.

Mave
successfully avoided being targeted or reported as a Connected, despite being
from a place called India in the Eastern Way, where many Connecteds came from. Her
science background and quick wit helped her find answers and communicate what
she knew in a way that wasn’t too out of the ordinary or suspicious.

Of
course, there were times when she simply had to remain silent because her
mission here was too great to be compromised by ego or anything less than being
a part of the movement.

Mave
lay there peacefully, basking in the glow. It felt like a warm hug that washed away
all the stress, until there was a knock on the door. 

“Mave?
Are you in there?” It was Rupert. Mave muttered something as she came out of
her blissful state.

“What?”
he asked through the door.

“Give
me just a minute. I was just catching a little bit of shut eye,” Mave said with
a huff of slight irritation. She then forced herself to sit up. It was time to
get back to work and at least it was Rupert at the door and not Zura.

Her
moment of relaxation was over. She pulled her uniform back on, trying to focus
through the feeling that she was still floating. She stepped into her boots,
pulling the laces snug and then went to the door. She turned back towards the
bed and smiled. She could still see the lingering light begin to fade and
disappear.

Mave
opened the door and greeted Rupert with a kiss on the lips. “Oh? I think you
need to get cat naps more often,” Rupert laughed. She didn’t know what had come
over her, but it was done.

This
woman is amazing in every way,
Rupert
thought. He looked at her like he often found himself doing. He would have
followed her to the ends of the earth. As he thought about it, he realized he
had, and she still wouldn’t let him be her official unity partner.

“So,
we have some work to do Rupert. Zura has decided to do the right thing like we
suspected she would. I am pretty sure we got some extra help on that one. Of
course that means you and I have to help get everything she needs to really
make the case. She’s working on the formal report and we’ve got to pull
together the charts and graphs that support what we’ve found,” Mave said in one
breath.

Rupert
smiled. “Great. Are you ready? It’s going to be another long night.” Rupert was
glad he was able to get in a few hours of sleep before starting the cycle over
again.

They
headed back to the science center where Zura was still hunched over her desk.
Rupert glanced over at Mave who simply shook her head. It was best not to
interrupt her when she was like that. They had enough of their own work to do
and they all realized the urgency that surrounded getting this to the right
people.

Rupert
and Mave decided it was best to work in the ROC room so they could discuss what
they were doing and not disturb the lioness that would be Zura if they made
more than a whisper. As they were preparing to go through the door leading to
the chamber and ROC room Rupert dropped a shoe on the floor, making a loud plop
sound.

Zura
spun her chair around and gave him a look. “Can we get some quiet in here,
please? We’ve got a lot of work to do.” She turned her chair back around and
glanced one more time at Rupert and Mave as they walked through the door, shoes
securely in hand. 

Once
in, Rupert rolled his eyes. “I’m glad we don’t have to work in there right
now.” 

“Yeah,
well, we will have to be back with her soon and it better be with a plan of
what we are able to show. You are my data man, so let’s pull this together,”
Mave said. 

She
sat down beside Rupert as they pulled up the data using the same projector Zura
had used earlier. Together they began paging through it month by month, noting
the anomalies. 

“This
might take a while,” Rupert said before stopping and looking at Mave from the
side. “Mave, what do you think is going to happen once UniCorps sees this
report?” Rupert asked, wanting her honest opinion. 

“What
I think doesn’t really matter at this point. But, since you asked - I would
love for them to read it thoroughly, get their scientists right on it to
investigate the impact of pumping on the fault lines and tectonic plates, and
then unanimously decide to enact the changes that are most likely to solve this
issue without lives being lost. You know, stop the blasted pumping program. Then,
for us to have averted a global catastrophe and to have fulfilled our mission. I
would love for them to finally consider and start working on Johan’s solution
for pollution control as well,” Mave smiled knowingly at Rupert.

“BUT…I
doubt it’ll work out quite like that. There is a lot riding on the ARC project,
the emissions project, the corporate interests, and people’s desire to feel
everything is alright, even if it’s a lie. So, does that tell you enough of
what I think?” she finished with smug smile crossing her full lips.

Rupert
just looked at her for a moment. “Smartass.”

“Yes,
I am. Thanks for noticing,” Mave smiled at Rupert teasingly. If she hadn’t
fully committed to this life and mission she would’ve taken things further with
Rupert. But she didn’t have the luxury of that kind of life. She’d made the
choice and not sticking with it could cost too much.

“Mave,
we are going to have to go back about two and a half years to get to the start
of this. Do you remember when the representatives and other Region officials
voted to expand the drilling of emission pump holes?” Rupert asked turning to
Mave. 

“I
think it was about ten years ago right? They were concerned that they were
overusing the existing ones and convinced the Citizens Review group that more
holes spread out would solve the problem and not cause issues of too many emissions
being dumped in one place,” Mave answered as she tried to remember the details
from a decade before.

“That’s
right,” Rupert added. “It went into effect almost immediately, they started
drilling, and within a year the first holes in the second phase were
operational. They’ve been bragging about how well it has worked and all the
while it has just been like a festering boil just below the surface.”

“Maybe
they got excited too soon,” Mave said.