Celeste couldn’t help herself. “How long do you plan to stay hidden underground?”
Councilor Albert raised his voice. “As long as we need to. If you are insinuating that we are a bunch of cowards, you are sadly mistaken.”
The warmth that had radiated from him earlier had all, but disappeared. He appeared to be taking the whole issue too personally.
“I wasn’t insinuating anything, sir,” Celeste said.
He lowered his voice. “We just don’t have enough able-bodied men and women who can fight the Rekvok. In time to come, when some of our younger boys grow up, we might have the makings of a small fighting force.”
Celeste didn’t want to state the obvious. She couldn’t decide if the Councilor was naive or lazy. Neither of those two choices was that appealing to her. If the humans here decided to wait it out, the Rekvok on the surface would continue to expand their dominion. In time to come, there would be no need for any human fighting force of any kind. The Rekvok would have taken control of the entire planet and humanity would have been reduced to scavenging for scraps.
“How many Rekvok are there on the surface?” Phog asked.
Councilor Albert looked confused. “We never thought of counting their numbers. Once they appeared on the surface, we just disappeared down here. Why do we need to care how many of them are up there? As long as we stay here we are safe.”
Celeste couldn’t decide who was worse: this man or General Palt of the Hitongu. Both were equally clueless to their surroundings.
The Councilor stood up, switching off his device. “I think I got enough preliminary information from all of you. I will call Rina to take you to some rooms, where you can get some rest. We will have plenty of time to talk again. I look forward to hearing about your travels in the galaxy. I am sure you have many fascinating adventures to share with us.”
A while later, Celeste and Tara were seated in their room. Phog and Sephim were in another room across from them. Rina had escorted them from Councilor Albert’s office down a few more tunnels before they had emerged into a long chamber with many doors on either side. Rina had explained that these rooms were new and not in use. Looking around the room, Celeste realized that Rina’s definition of new was completely different from that of hers. Not only was it not new, but it didn’t seem as inviting. The room was worn out with two bare metal beds on either side and a few chairs and a table in the center. The entire space was quite crammed with all the furniture. There was a door on the left side that led to a smaller room where they could wash up.
Tara touched her holoskin. “You were right about one thing.”
Celeste turned to her. “What’s that?”
“I have gotten so used to my holoskin that I don’t even remember I have it on anymore.”
She couldn’t tell if Tara was being sincere or sarcastic.
“Are you okay though?” Tara asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because we didn’t find the humans your father had planned for us to find. We found this group of human survivors.”
Now, Celeste knew Tara was being condescending. She guessed Tara also hadn’t liked the conversation they had just finished with Councilor Albert.
“I am not giving up,” Celeste said.
She sounded so sure of herself. But the fact of the matter was that she had begun to lose hope in finding her father’s legacy.
Tara glanced around and frowned. “Is this how humans live?”
“This is an underground shelter,” Celeste stated. “It isn’t your typical human home. It isn’t even made for humans to live in for a long period of time. It is supposed to be a temporary shelter.”
She had no way to defend this room's cluttered impression. There was no way to salvage anything from this room.
“If these are the new rooms, I wonder where Rina sleeps,” Tara remarked.
“Maybe, we are too spoiled and used to the spacious compartments on starships.”
“You could be right,” Tara grinned.
As she sat down on one of the metal beds, it released a creaky noise. “What was that?”
“Your bed was welcoming you,” Celeste laughed.
“I just need it to help me get some rest,” Tara scowled.
Despite her joke, Celeste couldn’t understand why humanity, on its own planet, had relegated itself to live underground in such conditions. She knew it was wrong to judge the humans without getting a better understanding of the situation. Although Councilor Albert was one of the leaders of the revived Western Continental Alliance, they needed to talk to others. She didn’t agree with his reasoning on staying underground. She walked over, sat down on her bed and before she knew it, she was asleep.
A clanging noise woke Celeste up. At first, she thought it was a dream. However, the clanging noise persisted. It sounded as if someone was banging outside their door.
“What is that noise?” Tara mumbled half-awake.
The noise continued to intensify and then they heard a voice. It was Rina’s voice. “It is time everyone!”