Eden's Root (53 page)

“Larry, I hope you realize that I forgive you,” she said. For a moment his face crumpled, and then he composed himself. She nodded. Just like a good Leader should, she thought. Larry gestured for her to follow him.

“So what do you want to know about me?” he said as they continued across the fields.

“Well, to start with, how in the heck did you end up building Eden and becoming its Leader?” It was the obvious question, she thought. As she walked behind him, she could see him nod.

“Well, you know how I said Eve was donated?” he asked.

“You said your friends had been taking care of her,” she recalled. “Who are your friends?” They turned toward the laboratory pods so that they could bring their apple seeds to the researchers.

“The Heirloom community. In college, I started a blog called the Heirloom Underground. It was just a site for those interested in preserving heirloom and heritage foods, but it grew into so much more. Pretty soon we had over one million subscribers and many were members of the heirloom community,” he explained. He gestured for her to follow him as they turned from one dim tunnel to another. Once again she felt like she was in a maze as she swung her head around to get her bearings. It would help if Larry weren’t a speed walker, she thought as they pushed forward.

“Wow, so you were always interested in Heirlooms then?” she asked.

They arrived at the first of the laboratory pods and Larry walked her inside. Fi sucked in her breath in surprise. This was a real, complete lab with test tubes and centrifuges and chemical hoods. Scientists in coats and goggles stood over whirling, boiling liquids, intent on their work. One gave Larry a little wave and then saw Fi and froze, breaking into a wan smile. Larry chuckled at his discomfort. Fi and her Family were creating a definite stir in the small colony. They walked into another room, where they found Louis.

“Fi!” Louis smiled as they entered. Today he wore his lab coat and Fi smiled to see him looking so official.

“Louis,” she held out her hand and then saw that his hands were full and laughed. “So you really are a researcher after all Louis,” she teased and he blushed.

“As you see. What brings you to see me today Larry?” he asked. Larry grinned and dug in his pockets, indicating to Fi that she should as well.

“I gave Fi a special treat,” he said, depositing the seeds into the glass beaker offered by Louis.

“Breakfast with Eve?” he smiled at Fi and she nodded, dropping her seeds into the beaker. They clinked as they landed against the cool glass. “Lucky girl,” he murmured, peering at the seeds. “Thanks for these both of you, these seeds are like gold. Eve is a very unusual strain of apple.” Fi could hear the reverence in his voice.

“What do you do with them?” she asked.

“There is more than one answer to that question,” he said and started to open his mouth when Larry stopped him.

“Let me finish my time with her Louis, and then you can spend as much time telling Fi about your work here as you would like,” he urged and Louis shut his mouth. Fi smirked at Larry. Like he’s not the Leader. Larry turned to Fi.

“Where would you like to go next?”

Fi thought about it. “The Hot Springs?”

“Good choice,” Larry smiled. They said their goodbyes to Louis as they headed out.

“So you were into Heirlooms,” she repeated. “Were you a scientist then too?”

“Not me,” he shook his head. “I went to college for business like my father expected. What I wanted in life wasn’t important in my family.” Fi was surprised to hear bitterness in his voice.

“So how did you get involved with Eden then?” Larry smiled.

“Well, I started realizing that something crazy was going on with food crops pretty early because our community was watching the situation so closely. Then my friends at the big seed and livestock banks started reporting big purchases from unknown buyers. Whenever they tried to figure out who the buyer truly was, it would turn out that they were hidden behind a cover company. It was a red flag to all of us. Someone was buying up all the heirloom stocks, but they didn’t want anyone to know who they were. And then Miles,” Larry paused and looked over his shoulder at her, “Dr. Coburn. You met him yesterday.” Fi remembered. Miles was the older white-haired gentleman who had served at their Consideration. She nodded.

“He knew about Diaspora and he broke away and found me, as did Darryl. We found Louis figuring that when he left Diaspora, it was because he’d learned the truth. It was a total stroke of luck to end up having him and his wife on this project,” he murmured, almost to himself. Fi realized that from what her father had told her, this was definitely true. “Anyway, they came to me because they knew I had the interest, the connections, and most importantly, the money.” He stopped and turned to gauge Fi’s reaction. Her eyes widened and she blinked several times.

“You…” she started and then trailed off.

“Built Eden. Yep,” Larry nodded, with a tinge of pride, she noticed. “All those years working summers for my father’s company really helped me. I mostly worked with those who oversaw refinery construction, oil rigs, that sort of thing. So Eden was a challenge, but not totally unfamiliar.” He stopped when he saw Fi’s face. She had never really thought about the cost of building Eden. It had to be a lot.

“Not to be rude, but how much money was it exactly?” she asked and Larry laughed.

“I’m not offended. Money is meaningless now anyway, so it was money very well spent.” His gaze turned to the tunnel around them as he walked, reaching out to touch the concrete walls. “It cost the better part of my eight hundred and fifty million dollar fortune,” he said and Fi gasped. Holy crap, Larry was really, really rich! Like really, really rich. Well, he used to be, she thought. Fi had never met anyone that rich before. She suddenly felt rough and out of place. Larry laughed at her obvious consternation.

“Stop Fi,” he urged. “Don’t feel uncomfortable. That was the old world,” he reassured her. They reached a dim room that served as a changing room for the hot spring cavern that awaited them. Heat and steam floated into the room from the opposite doorway. Larry grabbed a flashlight with a wicked smile.

“It’s dark in there,” he explained. “And the light also warns anyone who might be appreciating the spring for more than therapeutic reasons, that we are coming,” Fi choked as Larry flipped on the light and they made their way over the slippery floor. Fi was thankful to find that the room was empty. Catching colonists in the act with Larry along was the last thing she wanted to experience. She took a deep breath. The steam was hot, but it felt wonderful filling her lungs. Larry swung the flashlight to show her the colorful steaming pools and the ladder leading down to them. There were mats placed around the edges to prevent slipping.

“This is wonderful Larry,” Fi breathed and he nodded in agreement.

“Yes, if you need more heat than a five minute shower can provide, you come here. We were understandably very happy when we discovered this feature during our build.” He smiled at her and they turned to leave before they got too hot.

Larry walked Fi back toward her pod. “You know Fi,” his voice was reflective. The reality is that you’re the closest thing to my equal that there is here in Eden. In fact, you’ve done more.” Fi blushed and shook her head in embarrassment.

“No Larry, look at what you’ve accomplished here,” she waved her arms as they passed the orchard pod on their way. “What I did was save a handful of people. What you did may save all the others that are left,” she added, her voice firm with conviction. Larry bowed his head.

“Thank you,” he murmured. “That is high praise.” They were quiet for a moment as they walked. Suddenly Fi realized that she had another question.

“So you never met my father then?” Larry shook his head.

“No, I’m very sorry that I never had the honor. Louis made it very clear that the loss of your father was a loss for us all,” Fi dropped her head, saddened. Everywhere she went in Eden, she felt like she saw a piece of her father. She had hoped that someone besides Louis could share stories. Wait. Louis, she thought. What about the other scientists?

“What about the other scientists? Were any of them from Diaspora?” Larry nodded.

“Very perceptive deduction. Yes, some of our researchers were Diaspora contributors.” Fi frowned, remembering what she knew of Diaspora.

“But how come they didn’t go to the Diaspora colonies?” Larry’s jaw tightened and she her stomach tightened in realization. “They didn’t make the cut did they?” she asked. “The ones who are here were never going to be allowed into a Diaspora colony.” Larry’s silence was answer enough. Fi shook her head and sighed. There was no way to get away from the horror of the choices. Who gets the last space on the lifeboat? And what would you do to get that spot? Larry finally spoke.

“You know it was Louis who figured that out. He found evidence of the Diaspora colonies, but the other thing he found that he wasn’t supposed to see was the lists.” Fi frowned in confusion.

“There were lists of names. Most were Diaspora contributors that he knew. And most were clearly allocated to the Diaspora colonies except for some that had a different a mark next to their name.” He paused. “An equal sign with line through it,” he added, his voice tight.

“No way,” Fi shook her head at the cruelty of it. “No way, ‘not equal’? Really?” Larry nodded. “Was my father one of the ‘unequal’?” Her voice was bitter.

“No Fi, your family was allocated to go to Diaspora III,” he responded and Fi sucked in her breath in surprise. “If your father hadn’t fallen ill, that is. I’m sure that they took your family off their list as well when they learned of it.” He looked up and saw the flush in her cheeks. “I’m sorry Fi,” he quickly apologized. “You’re so composed that I forget sometimes that you’re suffering…and that I’m partially to blame.” Fi shook her head.

“It’s ok, Larry,” she said. “I think I feel better somehow, knowing that they valued him enough to put him on a list to be saved. I know from my father’s explanations that deciding who was ‘essential’ was one of the hardest things about creating plans for Diaspora.” Larry nodded.

“Yes, it was, and we had to do the same for Eden. I think we did pretty well, but there were some areas that we overlooked.” He smiled at the Fi’s confused expression. “We underestimated the need for warriors,” he explained. “We thought that all these people would get along and we’d be sealed from the outside, so we could avoid violence. But of course, we were wildly incorrect. There was an incident about six months before we sealed up when a near riot broke out in the lab pods and it made us realize that we needed internal security.” Larry shook his head.

“That was when we brought Gary on, but he is one of our only true warriors. He brought a few other ex-military friends to the table and otherwise they have been training existing colonists with an interest in security. Now that we are Seeking more and more frequently, we need several of your Family members more than ever.” They arrived at the door to her community pod. Larry bowed his head.

“I just wanted to say that we are honored to have you, and that we welcome the warrior spirit that makes you so fearless. Our mission here is going to require it.” Fi smiled at him. It was strange, she realized, that even Larry had a sort of innocence that she did not. Not anymore.

“It’s not fearlessness Larry,” she corrected him.

“Courage, then, bravery, strength…” he added and she shook her head as she slid the door open. A few of her community pod mates sat inside on the couches, relaxing. Their mouths dropped open when they saw both Fi and Larry at the door. Fi sighed. Celebrity status was very annoying. Turning her attention back to Larry, she stared him straight in the eye.

“What drives the warrior in me isn’t courage Larry,” she said with a shrug. “It’s rage.” With a small bow, she slid the door closed.

----------- Fi -----------

Those first few weeks inside Eden were a whirlwind for the entire Family. The children returned to school, including Jose, despite his other work helping with Seeks. Fi still had not committed to going back to school, but when she did it would be comforting to know that Jose would be there. Like Fi, Sean was not attending school, but he had different reasons. Just like when he left her to attend charter school, Sean’s skills were being put to use with the technology and engineering teams in Eden.

Well, maybe ‘left her’ wasn’t a fair statement. Still, when you’ve spent every waking moment with your best friend for years and then he’s mostly too busy to see you, it can be tough. It wasn’t only his fault, she knew. She was always gallivanting around with Louis and hanging out in the Biology pod. Anything to avoid everyday life. It was too big a transition for her. At least they went out on Seeks together. Now, those seemed to be the only time that she saw Sean.

The entire Family was introduced to the colonists, who mostly took a friendly viewpoint. It was difficult that many of them wanted to hear stories. None of the Family wanted to share their stories. Asher was usually kind enough to jump in and assure everyone that the stories would be documented in his book.

The Family got used to all the ‘ways’ of Eden. Gary wasn’t kidding when he said that they didn’t waste things. Everything that was used by the colony was shared and ‘personal items’ were minimal. They already knew that showers were limited, but there were other limits as well. Food was very limited. They were given portions that were nutritious and which would sustain them, but no one in Eden was gorging themselves on cheese fries and soda. This was a whole new world of food. To be fair, Fi thought, the food was delicious, if not entirely exciting all the time.

“Mmmmm, God,” Fi said with her mouth full, “Why is this tomato so freaking good?” she covered her mouth while she chewed the rest of her piece. Kiara looked up and nodded at her.

“Yummy!” she smiled. Fi was pleased. Kiara had not been a vegetable lover before. Of course two years with negligible bites of canned veggies will hardly cultivate an appetite for them, Fi thought. Kiara hadn’t had a freshly grown tomato in so long she might not really remember them. Besides, Fi thought, the modified tomatoes were not even close to these in taste. Louis spoke up, his mouth full as well.