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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:
Mya arrives early the next morning to make sure she doesn’t miss Vesta’s arrival. She stops at the closed security gate and shows her identification. When the gate opens, she drives through and parks next to three cars and an unmarked travel bus. She turns off the engine and climbs out, then enters through the front door and realizes two people in uniform now guard the reception area. One of them stands from a chair and approaches her.
“How can I help you, Ms. Austin?” The woman asks.
“I’m here to see Zane Simon.”
“Mister Simon is busy, but I’ll let him know you’re here.” She hands Mya a clip-on security pass and indicates a set of padded chairs along the opposite wall. “Please sit down and I’ll let him know you’re here.”
Mya thanks her and sits down. She studies the pass and attaches it to her shirt.
***
Zane stands next to Vesta in his office while she assembles the remaining pieces of equipment on the table. Once complete, it looks like the stand for getting your eyes examined by placing your forehead against the strange Y shaped object. “What’s this for?”
“We need retinal scans of those being considered for joining the colony. That’s the fastest way to verify their identity before we take them up to the main ship. My people will be operating it, but I wanted to explain it to you in person.”
Zane thinks about the strange new gene he has found in Mya’s DNA. “Is the GC117 gene the only one you’re looking for?”
Vesta stares at him. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve found a previously unknown gene in Mya’s sample. It appears to be dormant, and I don’t have a clue as to its original purpose.”
“Is she one of the volunteers?”
“Not yet, but she’s thinking about it.”
“Tell her you need a fresh sample and I’ll take it back to my ship for analysis.”
“I don’t know if she’ll agree.”
“If she has an unidentified gene, then others might have it.”
“I don’t think so. She’s only the second sample with that gene out of over sixty thousand tests.”
“If there are two, then undoubtedly there are more. We can’t take the chance of having an unknown gene introduced into the colony without knowing more about its original purpose.”
“All right.” He thinks about Alex’s strange eye color gene. He hasn’t been able to determine its purpose, either. “I have another sample with a different unusual gene I can’t figure out. Would you take that one with you and let me know what you learn about it?”
“Are they one of the volunteers?”
“No, but I would like to know what it does. It’s a tag attached to the HERC2/OCA2 eye color gene.” He notices her concerned expression. “Is everything all right?”
Vesta thinks about the strange sensation she felt when she looked into Alex’s eyes. She forces a smile. “Yes. I’ll take it with me and let you know what I find out. Who does it belong to?”
Zane decides to keep it a secret. “One of my assistants brought it to me so I’m not sure. Alex Cave would like you to show him your spaceship.”
“Tell him no.” She turns and walks out of the office. She stops when she sees Mya waiting in the reception area. “Hello again, Mya. I understand you’re thinking about volunteering.”
Mya stands up from the chair. “That’s right.”
“Zane has told me about your special gene. We would like to learn more about it. Would you mind giving me a fresh sample?”
Mya thinks about it for a moment. She isn’t sure if she wants to know what it means, but Vesta seems overly interested and it might be a way for her to gain access to Vesta’s ship. “Alex Cave would like to see your ship, and so would I. Let us see if what you say is true and I’ll give you a fresh sample.”
Vesta knows the time will come when she will need to show someone her spacecraft. “All right, but not Alex.”
“What about me?” Zane blurts.
“Yes, you both can see that what I’m offering is real and let the rest of the world know. I’ll come back tomorrow to pick you up here at this facility.”
Mya follows Zane and Vesta out through a back entrance from the building and stands with them in the grassy field. Mya flinches when the cube suddenly appears a few feet away, then Paul and a woman she doesn’t recognize step out of the ship. “Why can’t we go with you right now?”
“Paul has a time sensitive mission to accomplish that will need Zane’s help, and Sharon needs to get started right away. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”
When Zane escorts Paul and Sharon into the building, Mya remains behind and watches Vesta step into her ship. The opening closes, and it vanishes. Her phone rings, but she doesn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Hey, sweetie. It’s me, Vickie. Stop by. There’s something I need to show you.”
“All right.”
Mya hurries back into the building. When she enters the testing room, she sees Vickie waving her over to the workstation. “What’s going on?”
“After you left yesterday, I ran my own correlation program to search for violent activity shared on social media and news broadcasts. The news stations are so desperate to compete for everyone’s attention that they mostly run stories about violent behavior and are actually creating more of the same kind of violence. It showed that the average time the news stations run the same disturbing story is thirteen days, and all the copycat violence occurs during that same thirteen day period.”
Mya thinks about it for a moment. “Have you told anyone about your findings?”
“I posted it on social media sites this morning before I came to work.”
“Let’s hope someone takes notice and does something about it.”
“Like what? You and I both know that they won’t stop blasting the violence. All they want are the ratings.”
“I’m tempted to go to the new world just to get away from all the hatred on this planet.”
Vickie chuckles. “Not me. I like my creature comforts. Starting a new colony is going to be tough, and it will probably take years before you can get fast food to go.”
Mya grins. “That’s true. What do you want me to do today?”
“The first group of volunteers arrived this morning and more are scheduled to arrive throughout the day. We won’t be involved with that aspect of the selection process. The people who pass the second part of the test can be taken up to the ship right away if they’re ready to go. I guess Vesta doesn’t want to wait until the last minute to get five-hundred people up to her spaceship. The same thing is happening all over the world. There really isn’t anything for you to do right now.”
“All right. I still have a lot of packing to do, so I guess I’ll head home. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”