Eden's Root (59 page)

“Decision?” Fi said, confusion in her voice. Asher kept his gaze steady on her face, his eyes locked on hers. Oh my God, she thought. Her eyes widened as she came to understand.

“Yes, Fi,” he said. “It shouldn’t be that big of a shock. I’ve already told you that I would always love you and I meant it.”

“Yes, but, but…” Fi couldn’t think of words. “I mean, are you sure?” she asked him incredulously. Opening their hands, he took the ring and slid it onto her finger.

“My mother is also a small woman,” he smiled. “I thought you might be around the same ring size.” Fi gaped at the ring and then back at Asher. His eyes were concerned as he searched her face. “I’m very sure Fi. I can’t think of anything I want more.”

Fi slid closer to him and kissed him, sliding her hands around his back. As he responded to her kiss, she pressed herself into him. His kiss deepened and set her on fire from head to toe. Her hands wound through his hair and she gasped when he suddenly pushed her away, breaking their embrace.

“Whew,” he said. Fi looked annoyed and he laughed. “Yes Fi, I want that as much as you do,” he said. “Do I seem like I don’t?” he asked and she shook her head. No, she knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him. He just wanted to wait, he always said.

“Fi you’re so young, you’re just turning sixteen, and we have time now, in this place,” he gestured around them. “Life took so much from you,” he caressed her face. “I just want you to have the time to enjoy your youth, and I don’t want to take anything else away from you.” He saw her expression as she opened her mouth, and he kissed her to stop her protest. She relaxed in his arms and sighed.

“This ring is a promise Fi,” he explained. “I wanted to give you a promise so you would know that I wasn’t going anywhere.” Fi looked at the ring on her finger again and inhaled sharply. It was so amazing. It was so
real
, she thought, moving it gently so she could see it sparkle. Asher continued.

“My promise is to marry you when you are eighteen,” he said. “Then we can move in and start our lives together in every way.” He nodded toward the ring. “But I’m asking, not telling. The question for you now is, are you sure?” His voice wobbled a little. Could he still be nervous? Fi wondered, amused. She nodded her head, smiling and fighting off the tears.

“I’m sure,” she said, a tear making its way down her cheek. She sniffed and wiped it away with a laugh. “Good thing we don’t have makeup here,” she joked. Asher started to lean in to kiss her and she stopped him with her palm. “There is just one thing though,” she said. “I would like to negotiate.” He cocked an eyebrow, but she rushed forward. “Firstly, I think it should be clear that if we marry, Kiara comes to live with us. She is like my daughter now, and with a real family, I feel she should be with me.”

Asher nodded with enthusiasm. “You know I adore Kiara,” he said. “I would be honored to be her father.” Fi sighed in relief. Ok, now the big concession, she thought.

“And,” she took a deep breath. “I would like to make the promise for next year, when I’ve turned seventeen.”

At this, Asher frowned. “I just want to wait until you’re the real age for marriage,” he insisted, his face stubborn.

Fi folded her arms. “In what world? There was a time when girls my age had already married and that was normal.” Asher continued to frown. “Listen,” Fi said softly, shaking her head, “I appreciate your concern for my youth, but you can’t erase all that time that I spent being the Leader.” He looked confused. “When I made all the big decisions,” she explained, “for everyone.” There was no way he could argue with her there, she thought. Even he had followed her orders as the Leader, for a time anyway.

Fi dropped her gaze. “I say that I can wait one more year to be your wife and no more.” Though she tried to sound firm, her voice wavered with apprehension at the ultimatum. Asher stared at her for a moment and then gave her an indulgent smile and stroked her hair.

“It’s a deal my Leader,” he murmured, leaning in to give her the softest of kisses to seal their agreement. He pulled away from her, his voice thick.

“Now let’s get you to your birthday party.” He stood and offered his hand. As she took his hand and stood, he smiled. “It’s time to show you off in all your glory.”

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

Loud static punctuated with pops and crackles pervaded the tiny radio room, fading in and out as Tom shifted the dials to move through his progressions. Fi had been coming to visit with Tom and Daniel for so long now that she barely heard the noise, particularly while she was concentrating on the cards in her hand.

“Ha!” A laugh burst from her lips and she covered her mouth. Raising her eyes to Tom with a feigned expression of sorrow, she lay down her cards with a flourish. Tom made a strangling sound from his seat on the other side of the tiny folding table. “Sorry,” Fi laughed, only half meaning the apology.

“Shit!” Tom cursed and threw down his cards. “Are you serious?”

“There’s no stopping her at cards Tom.” Asher was smug. “I believe that I warned you about this vehemently before you took her bets.” He turned and gave a loving smile to Fi, who beamed in return. “My fiancé isn’t called a card shark for nothing,” he added and winked at her.

“As long as you two aren’t playing in cahoots,” Tom said, pretending to be suspicious as he turned another knob on the panel behind him. Manning the radio room was a truly tedious job, Fi thought as she watched him. Over the months she had come to know it well. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, someone had to run through a repeating pattern of signals, checking each one for signs of life. In her first days at Eden she came to visit the radio room by herself to get away from the colonists. Well, that and the radio guys always appreciated a little company, she thought. Of course since she and Asher had become engaged, she felt he should accompany her on her visits.

Engaged, she thought, smiling to herself and twisting her ring to watch it sparkle. Though she could still hardly believe it at times, she was kind of settling into the idea of being engaged, of becoming a wife. It was amazing the way that some things were different and some were not. When she first began wearing the ring she was tempted to take it off and hang it on a cord around her neck. It felt so strange and heavy on her finger. Plus it was so fancy. She had never worn or even owned something so fancy in her life. It felt strange, as if it were something that didn’t belong to her.

And of course, there was the effect that it had on other people. At first, when she had showed up to her birthday party everyone had been focused on her beautiful dress and hair. Showered with compliments and attention, Fi had laughed and smiled, forgetting for one moment the most important change. Until she heard Lucy gasp.

“Fi! What is that?” All eyes in the room flew to her hand and in an instant Fi felt like she was standing alone in the glare of a giant spotlight. Her heart pounded as her Family and friends murmured.

“Fi, really?” Sara asked from her seat at the long cafeteria table.

“Asher is that what we think it is?” This was from Sean, of course.

“Congratulations Fi, Asher,” John nodded his acknowledgements, a wide grin on his face. Lucy turned in shock and swatted at him.

“You knew?” she squeaked as John ducked his head in guilt. Smiling, he turned to Asher.

“He asked me for permission Lu, what do you want from me?” he explained and Fi gasped, looking up at Asher in surprise. Simultaneously, a strange sound erupted from the table as Louis tried to cover a laugh. All heads turned to him in confusion.

“He asked me for permission too,” he revealed and everyone laughed as Asher blushed. He shrugged in embarrassment.

“Well, they’re both kinda like your father,” he mumbled to her as the back of his neck grew a deeper shade of red. Fi slipped her right hand into his and gazed into his eyes.

“Thank you Ash,” she said with gratitude. “For being so conscious of my Family, my whole Family,” she said as she scanned the gathered crowd seated at the long row of tables. There was her true family, which included Kiara, and now Asher, she realized as happy bubbles popped and fizzed in her chest. And the Skillmans, they were true family as well, of course. And now there was her extended Family, she thought glancing at Sara and Lily, Louis and Lizzie, and even Larry, who had made it a special point to come.

How was it possible for someone who was actually an orphan to end up with such an extraordinary Family, she wondered? Tears pricked at her eyes as she took her seat at the table. Everyone waited for her to speak. Their faces were expectant.

“Yes, we are engaged. We marry next year after my seventeenth birthday,” she said, suddenly nervous that the others would disapprove of the timeline. The table erupted into what could only be described as ‘a joyful noise’ as the group began to cheer, clap, cry, and offer congratulations.

It had been the best night of her life, but it had also signified an important change. In that moment, she realized that she would soon no longer be Fi Kelly. A chapter of her life in which she was just herself would be over, and she would become something new. The girl would pass away and Fi Grey would emerge. She would be one of two, one half of a whole, a partner. It was this realization that made her see the ring differently, feeling its tiny weight on her slender finger.

Of course, it only took a few days for her sense to change from one in which having the ring on her finger felt strange, to one in which
not
having it on her finger felt strange. When she took it off to wash her hands or spar, her finger felt oddly naked. At times she’d forget that she had taken it off and panic when she felt it missing from her finger.

Now that she’d had time to adjust to the idea, she realized that it should not have surprised her that she would slide so easily into her new role. It wasn’t so different from her current life. She was already a wife to Asher in so many important ways. Of course, she thought, there were still some ways that she was not. The thought brought a flush to her cheeks. Asher caught it and flashed her a questioning look and she shook her head.

He winked at her and whispered, “Dirty mind.” She kicked him under the table and he grunted and then winked again. Sighing, she smiled and winked back. Tom turned back to them.

“Alright guys, you know I love the company, but not if you’re going to play footsie the whole time,” he chided them. He scooted his chair back to the table. Fi shuffled the cards again effortlessly, cascading them into beautiful waterfalls from hand to hand just like Maggie had taught her. Shuffling showed off her fast hands, just like her .22. ‘And just as deadly,’ she thought, amusing herself.

“So what will it be then boys?” she asked her tablemates. “More poker, or should we switch to something tamer like Hearts,” she teased, aiming her words at Tom. With a smile, Tom took the bait.

“Poker,” he insisted. “Double or nothing.” Fi nodded and Asher just shook his head.

“Alrighty, but you’re going to owe me some serious rec credits,” she said, referring to the credits colonists used to share time in the recreational pods. “Unless you’d like to give up time at the Hot Springs,” she offered and Asher choked. Smirking, Fi saw it was his turn to flush. Tom rolled his eyes and slid his chair back to the panel to change the listening frequency.

“Just deal me in,” he said, annoyed. It was funny that he kept playing with her, Fi thought to herself, seeing as he hated losing so much. Tom turned the knobs, looking at his tablet for the next assigned frequency. They had decided to alter the seeking pattern again, so he’d had to rememorize the order. The volume increased as he adjusted another knob and then slid his seat back to the table again to pick up his cards.

“Ha!” he said when he looked at his cards, making a face over them at Fi. “Now you’re in trouble!” he crowed. Fi stuck out her tongue. Tom’s tells were too easy, she thought. It was really time for her to force him to stop betting real things when they played.

Their first round of betting had begun when Tom suddenly froze. Fi and Asher grew quiet and listened. There was still mostly static, but beneath it there was another sound, a repetitive sound.

“Holy Jesus!” Tom cried. His chair flipped over as he leapt to his feet. They all threw down their cards as Tom turned to the panel and starting messing with knobs and dials. The sound shifted, growing first more static laden, and then clearer. Fi felt her heart pounding as she exchanged a glance with Asher. Even though she had been there regularly for months she had never been present when they had connected with anyone. Maybe it was just another Topsider group, she thought, trying to calm her heart. Asher reached out and held her hand and squeezed it. He was excited too.

“Got it!” Tom cried and the sounds resolved out of the static. There were a series of tones that Fi recognized as Morse Code.

“CW,” Tom breathed, listening. Suddenly, the code stopped. There was a pause and they all stared at each other and then jumped as a voice came through loud and clear.

“
KD2B here. Is anyone listening to this frequency? If anyone is listening we are broadcasting from a surviving colony
.”

Fi gasped. It was a colony! The voice continued in a monotonous drone. Fi was sure this person had transmitted this message thousands of times, over and over, just like they had been doing in Eden. He wasn’t expecting an actual response.

“
We are located within the United States. We are seeking other surviving colonists of I-A, Diaspora I - Codename: Atlas. Our designation is II-B, we are Diaspora – II – Codename: Babylon
.”

The second in the Eden’s Root Trilogy, Seeds of War is due out in the Summer of 2012. Visit my website at
www.rachelefisher.com
for updates on its release.

Synopsis

Reconnection has begun.  The mission of Eden must be fulfilled and Eden’s best Seekers are needed.  Forming a new group they dub the Seeders, Fi, Asher, and Sean are joined by a new addition as they set out to bring hope and support to the Topsiders in the form of radios and heirloom seeds.  Their experiences Topside prepare them for the threat from marauding gangs they call Lobos, but it is a different, less obvious sort of threat that takes them by surprise.  As radio broadcasts begin to reconnect Eden and the Topsiders, the Seeders stumble upon mysterious broadcasts from unknown stations.   Initially unconcerned, their uneasiness grows with each new, unexplained station.  When two of their own new radio stations go silent within days of each other, Fi and her companions realize that something is terribly wrong.  The attacks grow more personal and dangerous and an organized pattern emerges.  Eden finds itself pitted against a growing and unknown force as their very mission, the heirloom seeds, light the flames of discontent.