The passenger ship arrived at Exilon 5 in the late afternoon. A convoy of land vehicles waited outside the New London docking station. Bill followed a groggy Laura who was being helped to walk by two military men. Tanya and her bodyguard stayed close to Laura while the other board members with their security detail went on ahead to the transport.
Bill stayed with Laura in the back of the car while Tanya and her private goon rode up front. He looked out the tinted windows at the world he wished had a better future ahead of it. The vehicle bumped along New London’s exit road. Laura shook beneath the blanket he’d draped over her. He pulled out the last vial that Harvey had given him, drew the contents into a syringe and plunged it in her arm. She didn’t flinch.
The bumps lessened when the vehicle swapped the dusty road for one of the newly constructed roads. A half-built construction about twenty miles from New London’s city limits came into view. Bill had read about the new build that would become the seventh city on Exilon 5. A large digital billboard announced the name of the city: New Melbourne. A strong military presence and roving cameras surrounded the unfinished area without a labourer in sight. The place reminded Bill of the cities post World War II, from photos he’d seen in one of Isla’s history books.
The convoy of vehicles swapped the immaculate road for a bumpy dirt track that led to a large double gate, fifteen feet tall. An equally tall wall surrounded the remaining city.
One way in. One way out.
The convoy halted while the military opened the gate and waved them through. Bill glanced behind him to see the gates closing around the fortress-like city.
New Melbourne did not compare in size to New London. It appeared to be a purpose-built development with a main road framed by a single row of buildings on either side. Behind the main buildings was the undeveloped land of Exilon 5, trapped inside the same enclosure. Military men and women in riot gear lined the main road, their backs turned to the unfinished constructions. Bill wondered what resistance the board members expected from the Indigenes to demand such a heavy presence. Talking and negotiation: that’s what they’d promised him on the ship.
The red-bricked constructions without roofs extended just two storeys high. The heart of New Melbourne ended in a cul-de-sac at a completed large yellow-stone building a few hundred feet in width. Two smaller roads branched off either side of the building that the cars could not access.
The vehicles pulled up in front of the yellow house that had two open doors. Bill climbed out of the back and scooped Laura up in his arms. He had to get her inside out of the daylight. She may still be human, but her body was also half Indigene and sensitive to sunlight.
‘Take the room on the left,’ said Tanya.
Bill entered what looked like a supply room. Green boxes filled with food, blankets and medical supplies were stacked up against one wall. Three chairs sat on the cold stone floor alongside a table at the back wall. Bill set Laura down on one chair as a group of military men looked inside the room. He heard raised voices outside, then Tanya and her bodyguard, a foot taller than the room, pushed past the gawkers. The other board members and their bodyguards followed her until the room felt cramped.
Bill turned his worried attention back to Laura who refused to sit still in the chair. A mini war raged inside her. Her human side battled hard, but the Indigene side looked to be stronger.
‘The experienced ones will stay outside,’ Tanya said to her bodyguard and nodded at the military outside the door. ‘Everyone else, please go next door,’ she said to the others. The room emptied and Bill breathed a sigh of relief. New military formed a line outside the door that Bill feared would be difficult to break.
The bright day gave way to the dark evening. Under the watchful eye of the armed guards, Bill did everything he could to calm Laura down. He even attempted one of Jenny Waterson’s meditation rituals she’d used on their last journey to this planet, but while Laura had listened to Jenny then, now she could barely concentrate on his voice. The military murmured outside the door but it wasn’t until they raised their Buzz Guns to waist level that Bill took notice of them. He strode to the entrance but couldn’t see past the heads of military.
He pushed his way through the distracted military and the line gave way. Outside, he searched for what had caught everyone’s attention. Then he saw them: five hooded figures dressed in black entered through the open, unmanned gates. Bill couldn’t see the leader’s face. The military froze with fingers poised over the discharge buttons of their deadly Buzz Guns. Bill heard the occasional shit and fuck from the military men.
Tanya, Deighton, the two other board members and their bodyguards stood at the second door of the yellow-stone building. She issued no command to fire.
‘Not yet,’ said Tanya in response to one board member. ‘I want to hear what they have to say.’
‘I don’t recognise these ones at all,’ said Deighton.
Bill searched for a familiar face among the approaching figures but couldn’t find one. Where was Stephen who’d promised he’d come? Who were these Indigenes? Bill turned back to check on Laura when one of them spoke.
‘We’re here for the girl.’ It was a female.
He shot round to see the female walking towards him. The stranger’s eyes were a mesmerising shade of blue. He felt his legs move against his will and stand him off to the side. The female went around him and got as far as the military resistance.
He shook off the feeling of control and put himself between her and the room’s entrance. He would not hand Laura over to a bunch of strangers. He needed confirmation that Stephen had sent them.
Did Stephen send you? He attempted to speak telepathically to the Indigenes. Nobody responded. He knew they could hear him. They just couldn’t read his private thoughts.
‘Where are your leaders?’ said Tanya. The female turned round to face her. ‘We were promised they would come. You cannot take the girl, not until we talk to them.’
Bill growled at this suggestion of a trade. Laura wasn’t some bargaining chip. She would die if they waited for the rest to arrive.
Tell her your leaders are coming, even if they’re not. He concentrated on the female in charge.
‘They will be here soon,’ she replied to Tanya, ‘but first we want the girl.’
Bill listened helplessly while Tanya discussed Laura’s fate with the other board members. Their bodyguards created a physical buffer between them and the remaining Indigenes.
‘Okay,’ Tanya conceded, ‘you may take the girl.’
The military stepped aside and the female turned back to the room. Bill continued to block the entrance. ‘Let me pass, human.’
Bill studied the Indigene’s eyes that were an unusual shade of blue—neither human nor Indigene. He touched the part of his bag where he’d stored the communication stone. It was hot.
This had better be a fucking sign, Stephen.
Bill raced inside the room and stood in front of Laura. The female followed and reached out a hand for Laura. Without thinking, Bill grabbed her arm.
She glared at him. ‘Don’t touch me, human.’
‘You’re not taking her until you tell me who you are.’
‘I don’t need your permission.’ Her voice was void of emotion.
Laura’s breathing quickened in the presence of the female. She tried to stand up but Bill kept her seated with one hand. He felt something tug on his mind, trying to break down his resistance to let her go.
The female’s voice softened as she said, ‘Give her to me.’
An overwhelming urge to give in to the female’s demand hit him. He pushed against the feeling and battled to remain where he was in front of Laura. ‘Not until you tell me what district you’re from.’
The female looked at the military watching at the door and curled her finger at one. ‘You,’ she said. Her voice was gentle, attractive. ‘Come here.’
As if he had no choice, the soldier complied.
‘Now, make him give her to me.’
The military man raised his weapon and pointed it at Bill’s head.
She gripped the back of the man’s neck and leaned close to his ear. ‘Don’t fire yet—not until I say so.’
The soldier was sweating and his hand shook, as if he tried to resist.
Laura grunted like a wild animal behind him. Bill heard the crackle of energy build up inside the soldier’s Buzz Gun.
‘Move out of my way,’ the female commanded Bill.
Just then, another Indigene—a male—appeared at the door and came inside. The military didn’t seem to notice or react to him. They were too busy staring at her.
The pressure on his will was too great and with a huff Bill stepped aside. He wanted to shout at the female to stop but he’d lost the use of his voice. He gritted his teeth against the mind control. Then he saw it, the quick smile on the female’s face. Just for him.
The male Indigene swept Laura up in his arms. Bill contained his jealousy when she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. Before he could assure Laura everything would be okay, the Indigene pair had left the room. Bill ran to the door, pushing the dazed military men out of the way. He saw the Indigenes run towards the open gate before they disappeared into the night like ghosts.
Tanya came over to him. ‘I’m sorry, Bill. I did everything I could.’
Her lack of sincerity angered him. She had sacrificed Laura for an audience with the Indigenes. The right ones would come soon enough. He pressed his anger down because only one thing mattered: Laura would get the help she needed. He stared after the Indigene group that was long gone.
What had that female done to him—to them all? He couldn’t even hold on to the memory. He looked at the soldier who’d put the gun to his head. All the military appeared as if they’d just woken from a deep sleep.
Stephen had told him an influencer would come for Laura. He had no idea how strong her ability was, until now.
Night time settled in and dropped the temperatures inside the bare-walled supply room. Bill put his bag down and snatched up a blanket from the table in the supply room. He huddled under it in the same chair Laura had sat in.
Three hours had passed since the Indigenes had taken Laura and no others had arrived. Three military men lingered inside the room with Bill. He wondered if Tanya had placed him under arrest. He licked his dry lips and searched his bag for something to drink.
‘Can I have some water?’ he asked one of the military men.
The man disappeared and returned with a metal canister. He handed it to Bill.
‘Thanks.’ Bill took a large gulp. He stood up and put the canister in the pocket of his coat. He picked up his bag and slung it across his body. Nobody stopped him when he walked outside, but one of the military men—a man in his twenties—shadowed him.
‘I’m just going for a piss,’ he said to the man. ‘I’d rather you didn’t watch.’
‘Don’t take a leak outside,’ said the soldier. ‘Use the toilets in the building over there.’ He pointed to a red-brick building with the words ‘Site for Restaurant’ emblazoned across the top. ‘We don’t want the biodome animals to track us by our scents.’
Bill entered the unfinished building, and the soldier followed him. He stepped over stacked bricks and bags of bonding materials. The soldier pointed to a door at the back where Bill found six toilet stalls on the other side of the door. He locked himself inside one, while his military escort waited outside the stall.
Bill sat down on the seat and removed the stone from his bag. The concentric circles glowed bright blue. He held it up to his ear. Nothing. With someone so close, he couldn’t risk talking into it.
From the strength of colour the stone emitted, Bill guessed that New Melbourne was right above District Three. Bill knew the Indigenes exited from their tunnels at various points across the land, but with more city walls being built, the less safe it became for them to surface without the risk of capture inside a fortress like New Melbourne. It was as though this construction was designed to force them to surface at specific points.
Bill waited for the stone to activate, do something. But nothing happened.
‘Are you okay in there?’ said the soldier.
The silence in the room worked against Bill. He removed the bottle of water from his pocket and poured some of it down the hole. The bowl sanitised itself and he opened the stall.
‘So what’s this city called?’ Bill washed his hands in the sink.
The soldier frowned. ‘New Melbourne. You saw the giant sign on the way in, didn’t you? It’s hard to miss.’
‘It’s a big turnout for such a small meeting, don’t you think? How long will you be stationed here?’
‘As long as it takes.’ The soldier shrugged.
Bill turned and dried his hands on the front of his black combats. ‘There’s an odd feel to this city, don’t you think?’
His military escort frowned. ‘Huh?’
‘One way in and out. Two small tracks branch off behind the yellow building. It almost feels like you’re in a trap.’
‘Excuse me?’
Bill turned to face the mirror, studied his reflection, then laughed. ‘I mean, it feels claustrophobic, that’s all.’
‘Er, I hadn’t really thought too much about it.’
Bill smiled as genuinely as he could. ‘No, I guess not. You move around a lot, see plenty of open spaces. It’s probably been a few years since you’ve been back on Earth.’ The young soldier nodded. ‘The closed-in feeling on Earth gets under your skin. The last thing you want in a new city is small, confined spaces.’
Bill didn’t wait for an answer. He left the bathroom and the soldier followed him. Was it really a new city or had it been deliberately built with the Indigenes in mind? When he emerged outside, he saw one of the board members’ bodyguards walking towards him.
‘Come with me.’ The bodyguard had an abnormally deep voice. ‘The Chair wants to see you.’
Bill followed him through the right hand door of the yellow building. They walked through the unfinished front section to arrive at a large completed room at the back. Bill looked around at the sky blue walls and newly laid stone floor—a room he was sure had been equipped with additional security measures. Tanya Li sat at a large desk near the back wall. She had surrounded herself with what looked like maps, or schematics, and a large monitor. She looked up at Bill when he neared.
‘Leave us,’ she said to her bodyguard.
She waited for the man to close the door before she spoke. ‘Where are they, Bill? The Indigenes should have been here by now.’
‘I’d like to know the same thing too,’ said Bill.
‘They’ve taken Laura, but for what purpose I dread to think.’
Tanya watched him, too closely. She was testing him to see if he’d told the Indigenes not to come. The thought had crossed his mind, but in the end they would do what they wanted.
When he passed her test, Tanya stood up and leaned on the table. ‘Their actions today do not bode well for them. They’ve forced us to hand over one of our own, our weakest and most vulnerable party member. Perhaps you were wrong about them. Perhaps they used you to gain this advantage over us. Now we’re on the back foot. Charles Deighton thinks we should dispose of the Indigene race entirely and run with plans to alter humans into a new generation of super humans that are more agreeable and easier to control. What should we do?’
‘My only priority is to get Laura back safely.’
Tanya pursed her lips. ‘I would still like to hear your opinion.’
Bill smiled. ‘It doesn’t matter what I think. You’ll do whatever you want. But I will tell you this—I’d think long and hard before consulting Deighton on anything. He’s a dangerous fucker with a personal agenda.’
Tanya smirked. ‘That’s funny. Daphne Gilchrist said something similar the day before she died.’