Eden's Root (51 page)

“Fi Kelly?” he said and she nodded. “Please stand.” Fi stood up and took a deep breath. “My understanding is that you will be doing the speaking for the group today?” This would be formal, Fi realized, just as she had expected. Fi nodded.

“Yes, sir. I will be our spokesperson, but our Family has a democratic approach. When issues are tough, we vote.” It was an important clarification to Fi.

“Duly noted,” Larry said. “To be fair to you all, we should be honest that we’ve never held any meeting of this exact type before.” Fi frowned in confusion. They’d never held a Consideration? Larry saw her face and nodded. “Of course we decided who got to come to Eden originally and who didn’t,” he said without emotion, ignoring the redness that came to Fi’s cheeks. Yes, she was very aware that they had made those decisions. Larry continued, “But since no Topsiders have ever discovered Eden, your Family will be the first for which we will have to make decisions while you’re present.”

Fi in sucked air as he said this. It was a show of weakness, she thought. He was showing his cards. Her heart sped up as she thought about what this meant. They had never actually done this while looking someone in the eye! They had never looked a sick little girl in the eye and said ‘Sorry, but you’ve been selected for death’. There may be a first time for everything, but Fi suddenly doubted their will. Why would Larry tell her this, she wondered?

Regardless, she knew she had the advantage. These people thought they’d made hard decisions. They had no idea what hard decisions were, she realized. They had actually just hidden here in their secret garden while the rest of the world burned. Taking a deep breath, she loosened the fists that had balled up at her sides. This Consideration was all hers.

“Larry, it seems appropriate that I make the next round of introductions,” she began. Larry nodded and the group at the table sat back to learn more about the Family. Fi introduced them all by name, being sure to give an initial tidbit about what made each one special and wonderful. That part was so easy, she thought. She loved them all so deeply, so individually, that restricting herself at this stage to only one wonderful thing about each was difficult. After making the introductions, she turned back.

“Now what?” she asked Larry. He turned and quietly discussed with the group at the table. Then he turned back to Fi.

“Well we’ve already determined that you’re not a danger to the colony, were you to stay,” he began. “Gary vouched for you on that point,” he said nodding toward Gary who gave a polite little bow in Fi’s direction. Smiling, Fi bowed her own head. That was one vote of ‘yes’ to all of us, she thought with gratitude. “But beyond not being a risk, our colonists were all selected because they brought something useful to the table, something to justify their use of the resources. We have three hundred souls in our care here as well as the genetic future of our food supply, which is ironically, the genetic past.” For a moment, he seemed almost to joke with them, and then his demeanor returned to being serious. “So tell me Fi, what does your Family bring to the table?” This was familiar territory. She’d played this out in her mind many times.

“Firstly,” she began, “I’m only going to talk about the adults. I assume I don’t have to have brought children with me who are useful, although they are,” she turned to smile at them with pride. Larry nodded to confirm.

“Ok. Sean Skillman,” she began. “I start with him because I’m not sure how you ran this colony without him so far,” she said dramatically and Sean blushed. “At thirteen years old he was so advanced in computer science that he went to a special school for it,” she explained. “I’ve seen that you all still have functioning tablets here. And I assume some sort of ‘internal internet’,” she added. Larry looked surprised and glanced over at Gary, who nodded.

“Yes, we do,” Larry said, stunned by her observations.

“Well Sean should be on your team, developing applications, helping you to extend, expand, and repair the Internet. He’s a genius,” Fi finished. Sean bit his lips, trying not to beam at her. The woman named Georgina gave a firm nod, seemingly very interested in this information.

“Asher Grey,” she continued and her heart stopped for a moment as she said his name. She wasn’t really worried that they would turn Asher away. She knew from Gary’s expression that he wanted Asher to stay. Still, the thought was there. And she wouldn’t go anywhere without him, she knew. Not now. “Asher is,” she began, when Gary interrupted her.

“Asher is a warrior, likely more well-trained than anyone in our security squad,” he informed Larry, “including me,” he admitted. Fi smiled at Asher, who appeared embarrassed, his face red. Gary turned to talk directly to him. “I don’t know if fighting and training is where you would like to end up here,” he said, “but you would always have a place with me on my team or on the Seeks.”

“What is a Seek?” Fi asked him with genuine curiosity. Gary turned to Larry for approval and then spoke when Larry nodded.

“We do runs Topside which are partially to hunt game and partially to attempt reconnection with Others,” he said. “That is all I will explain for now, but it should be obvious that those who can hunt, navigate, or fight will be useful on seeks.”

Fi narrowed her eyes, it sounded like Gary emphasized the words ‘hunt, navigate, and fight’, like he was trying to tell her exactly what skills she should highlight. He knew, because of the time he’d spent with them and the weapons he’d taken, that they had many members who could do those things.

“Lucy Skillman,” Fi moved on. Lucy started to say, “I don’t” when Fi cut her off, giving her a firm stare. “Lucy thinks that she lacks skill, because in the old world she was a marketing executive. Not much call for that here,” she kidded and everyone at the table laughed. Fi could hear Lucy suck in, but she knew she’d set it up right. “But Lucy is actually an accomplished writer and makes an excellent English teacher. I assume you have school here?” The question was rhetorical. Louis already said that they had, and she’d seen quite a lot of children in the colony.

“Aliyah Cooper,” she said next. “Aliyah was a trial attorney. It was her guidance that helped us to craft our own Family Rules, Food Laws, and Consideration process.” Fi could see interest on the face of both the white-haired man and Larry as she described the structure that ruled Fi’s Family. “Though your colony is small and new, people are people, and I assume that you have conflict at times?”

“Of course,” Larry acknowledged.

“Well, you will need people who understand how to create structure, how to create justice, and how to help foster a peaceful democracy. Aliyah is your woman,” Fi said.

“Thank you Fi,” Aliyah murmured in her warm voice. Aldy looked up at his mother with pride shining in his eyes.

“Dr. Ronald Cooper, or ‘Doc Ron’ as he’s become to us,” Fi chuckled. She turned to the group at the table. “He’s a doctor, a very successful former oncologist,” she stressed the last word. “Need I say more?” She knew that an oncologist would be very valuable. There had to be people in the colony who’ve faced Sickness, she thought. It was everywhere.

“Lydia Fisher, our wonderful teacher of little ones,” she smiled. Lydia was one hundred percent schoolteacher. It was in her blood, in her nature to be patient and loving and creative. She’d really stretched herself to meet the needs of the older children, but little ones were attracted to her like the Pied Piper. “Lydia is a wonderful mother, as you can see,” Fi turned their attention to the cooing angel in Lydia’s arms. “And she is an excellent Elementary School teacher. It was what she did in the old world.”

“Jose Gutierrez,” she continued and turned to smile at Jose when she heard a noise behind her. She turned and Larry had a strange look on his face.

“I thought you were going to list the skills of the adults,” he said, his face confused.

“Hey!” Jose called in protest and Fi shushed him with a laugh. She turned back to Larry and cocked her head.

“I am Larry. The age of adulthood in my Family is fourteen.” She put her hands on her hips as his face registered in shock. It was time to seize the opportunity, she knew. They weren’t ready for it, but she was building her attack. “You all do realize that the outside world made adults of them all, right?” she gestured to the people seated behind her. She shook her head. “You really don’t get it yet,” she said softly and then stared into the eyes of the judges and picked her target.

Her gaze settled on the woman, Georgina. “Ask the little one, Zoe, about the Others, the ones you call Topsiders,” Fi said, her voice growing harsh. Georgina’s eyebrows knitted together. Fi persisted, “Zoe is
five
. Ask her what she thinks of Houses. Or ask her the definition of starvation,” Fi continued, the anger creeping into her voice. “Ask her or any of my Family anything you want, but I guarantee you,” she paused, “they’re all adults.” Nodding to finish her point, she continued before any of the panel could respond. Think about that for a while, she thought as her anger continued to grow.

“Jose,” she began again. “Jose is a world class hunter, and like his sister Mayra, he is a well-trained survivalist and orienteering expert. He is unbelievably useful,” she emphasized. “And luckily for you, he is also an awesome person,” she added with a chuckle at his embarrassment. She turned her gaze down the row to Sarge.

“Sarge,” Fi said and her voice softened. He was one of her worries as well, due to his age. “Sarge,” she repeated and then he interrupted her.

“I would like to speak for myself if you don’t mind.” Fi frowned and then nodded. Sarge stood.

“I’m sure that taking in a senior of my advanced age,” his gaze slid to the white-haired gentleman at the table, “isn’t in keeping with your efficient use of resources here. And I wanted to let you know that I would not allow anything to keep my Lydia and Charlie, or any other Family Member, out of Eden. Not on my account anyway.” Fi started to protest, but he held up his hand and she acquiesced. She was the Leader, but it was Sarge’s life, after all.

“So here’s the deal,” he said. “I do consider myself to be useful. I kept myself and Lydia and Charlie alive through the whole horrible first six months after the Famine began.” He gestured toward Lydia. “After Lydia’s husband died with the Sickness,” he added and the group at the table all sucked in their breath. None of them had seen anything real Fi realized, and her determination grew. There was no way she would let them send her Family back out there without a fight.

“Sarge,” she interrupted. “Let me, please,” she urged and he sat down. Fi turned back to their judges. “Sarge is extremely useful in every way possible, but he’s called Sarge because he is a career soldier who has seen and endured war over and over again. If there is someone who knows something about the ways of human beings, it’s Sarge. You can’t explore Topside and risk meeting gangs of Others without his input, in my opinion,” she finished.

“John Skillman,” she said with love as she turned to John. He gave her a weary smile and she winced. The wear was visible on him, she thought, it seemed inevitable that he was Sick. “John was a veterinarian, so I know that you will be interested in having him join the colony,” she began with enthusiasm. “I see that you have livestock and a few domestic animals here,” she continued, when Larry coughed. The discomfort on his face was excruciating.

“Fi, it should be obvious to you that one of our rules is that we can’t take in anyone who is Sick,” he said in a tight voice.

Members of the Family held their breath behind her. Fi could feel the tension flowing off of them, but it was nothing compared with the torrent of rage that Larry’s statement had released within her.

“Of course I know that Larry,” Fi narrowed her eyes. “I know better than anyone in the whole goddamned universe, remember?” Larry winced. “You know that my mother Maggie died out there, right?” She tilted her head. “I’m sure Louis told you,” she insisted and Larry closed his eyes and nodded. Fi’s heart burned as she thought of her mother. This man had no right, no right at all. She drew a deep breath through her nose and exhaled.

“Ok Larry,” Fi’s voice was tight. “Let me paint a picture for you. My beautiful, vibrant, loving, gentle, fabulous mother,” she began and then choked. She hadn’t intended to stop but images of Maggie flooded her brain. She heard Lucy cough behind her and the burning from her heart crawled into her throat. She gasped and pushed through, “My mother, having just lost the love of her life, my father, faces complete hell living in exile with our growing Family, her comforts disappearing as quickly as her life. We had to watch her suffer, watch her push her body, trying to get here, to get Kiara here,” she said, waving behind her. Everyone seated at the table looked like they were going to be sick. The tears in her eyes welled over and she swiped her face with her sleeve angrily.

“And we couldn’t do anything to help her, Larry,” she cried. “That was truly the best part of all. The only blessing was that I was able to steal narcotics that we saved up for the end because her pain…it was...she…” Her body was on fire and her hands shook. She clamped them together and took another deep breath. Each word felt like acid as she said it.

“Finally…she died, with Kiara and I by her side, in a cold rain, under a fucking tarp.” Her cheeks were soaked with tears and her nose was running, but she didn’t care. Behind her, she could hear several Family Members crying, including Kiara. And she could see that Louis was crying as well. Good, she thought, screw him. Screw them all! Her thoughts were wild with fury. Larry started to speak and Fi interrupted.

“I’m. Not. Done. Yet.” Her shaking right hand hovered over the ghost of her gun and she realized how glad she was that it wasn’t there. She was capable of anything right now. She grew quiet and her voice became distant. “We had no way to give her a decent burial so we left her body, decorated in flowers, in a hole in a rock. I tried to tell myself it was like a fairytale, like my mother was a fairy princess who had to be left in the forest,” she sighed. She felt her heart harden as she remembered that day. Her eyes narrowed as she struggled to speak. “But I knew…that what had actually happened…is that we left my mother’s body in the middle of nowhere, to be taken by nature, because that was what was necessary,” she hissed.