16

Penny wasn’t entirely sure of anything these days. The chaos that her life had become was starting to wear her out, and it was becoming more difficult to drag any sense out of the events of her life. Her father was heavily injured and resting back at their makeshift camp. Her mother was still missing. And Taggart was at the heart of it all, somehow responsible for shaking up her life and stranding her here.

So no, she wasn’t entirely sure of anything right now, except for one fact: Alan Angelou was looking for something.

Not the pods. More like something in the pods. It had occurred to her slowly, but now she was sure about it. He was just going through the motions. When the found a pod, he would rescue the person inside, call in the crew to escort the colonist back to base camp, have the pod’s equipment and provisions prepared for salvage, and then continue on. He would also attempt to get Penny to return to the camp with the rest, leaving him to explore alone.

But it was the systems check that was really unusual.

With every pod, Alan would immediately access the computer systems. He said he was checking the health stats and other information regarding each colonist. But Penny couldn’t see how that would make much difference. The health readings would be from the moments before stasis, largely. The only reading that was taken while the person slept was a life sign check. That was for spot-checking in a colony bay, but on the surface it would be enough to open the pod and let the person out. They had to salvage parts and materials from the pod anyway, regardless of whether the colonist had survived.

Penny had thought about asking Alan what he was looking for, but stopped herself. She really didn’t know Alan that well. If he was hiding something, it was his business, wasn’t it?

He seemed to like her and even took care of her if she needed help. And he seemed to be very caring toward the colonists. But he also seemed somehow … distant. Unlike Taggart, who put himself in the middle of any group of people and dominated them through his personality, Alan stayed at the fringes, led with quiet authority, and kept his agenda to himself. There was more to him than he let on, Penny was certain, but she wasn’t sure what it meant, that he had a secret.

“There’s one,” Alan said. The two of them were standing at the top of a small ridge, looking over a wooded area ahead. There were mostly small trees and brush within walking distance. Further on was what looked like a large, lush forest. Penny was used to hiking and being outdoors. She spotted the signs of a river, even though none was visible. But she saw no indication of a pod nearby.

“I don’t see it,” Penny admitted.

“There,” Alan said, leaning in close to her and pointing.

Penny felt a bit uncomfortable but was shocked to find that she also felt a little thrilled. Most of the guys she had dated, back on Earth or even out in the colonies, were showboats. They were extremely good-looking with faces and bodies crafted by the best services fame and money could buy. But they were vacant. Empty. She dated them because, as the rich party girl, it was expected of her. It was part of her “cover.” But she secretly felt disgusted by most of them.

Alan, though, was real. He was handsome, but not in that artificial way. He didn’t wear any product in his hair or dress in the latest fashions. He had a strong and lean body that came from real work, not a gym. He was also smart and deep and mysterious.

Penny caught herself glancing sideways at him and immediately forced herself to follow the line of his arm and finger, out onto the terrain ahead. She saw it then. There was the tiniest reflection as the sun glinting off of metal. “How did you see that?” she whispered, awed.

“I’m pretty good with details,” he said, then hesitated. “Most of the time.”

He stepped away from her then, and the two of them marched on toward the pod.

“What does that mean, ‘most of the time?’ Did you overlook something?” She was probing for information about what he was looking for. Maybe if he’d just trust her with it, she could help him find it.

“I recently overlooked something, and things went a little crazy. But I’m working on repairing the damage.”

“What was it?” Penny asked. Then, before he could answer, she stopped and waited. He also stopped, and then turned around. “What are you looking for in the pods?” Penny asked bluntly.

The effect was immediate. Alan’s eyes widened just slightly, then the calm and stoicism settled back into place. “What makes you think I’m looking for something in the pods?” he asked.

“It’s a program or something,” Penny said. “You have something hidden in one of the computers, is that it? A file maybe?”

Alan stood, silent.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” she asked.

Alan stood for a bit longer, then said, “Yes.”

Penny blinked. She had been sure, but now it was confirmed. “So … what is it? Can I help you find it?”

For the first time, Alan actually smiled. “Well, I can’t really go into what it is. And no, I don’t think you can help me find it. I hid it very well.”

Penny regarded him for a moment. “What is it, Alan? What could you possibly have hidden in the pod computer systems? Aren’t those protected by all kinds of security?”

Alan nodded. “Yes. Lots of security. But a lot less than the ship’s systems. And it was the only way to hide them.”

“Them?” Penny asked. “More than one program?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “Penny, it’s hard to explain. But what I’m trying to do … I’m trying to save my parents, for one thing. And I’m trying to give someone a second chance. I can’t tell you what’s happening. I just need you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

She studied him for a while. “ok,” she said.

He blinked. “Just like that?”

She waved in the direction of the camp, some distance behind them. “You’ve saved all those people. You saved my dad. You saved me. And you’re helping me save my mom. I think there’s something a little … weird … about you. But whatever you’re looking for, it doesn’t keep you from helping people. I know something about trying to rescue your parents. So I’ll help you. Anyway I can, I guess.”

Alan watched her for a moment, and in an instant was back to his normal, stoic self. He turned and started toward the glint of metal in the distance.

Taggart was never unsure. All of his life, he had been certain of every decision, every choice. And when something went wrong, he was always confident that he could fix things, put things back on track. Right now, staring out at a crowd of Blue Collars, White Collars, and colonists, he felt secure enough in his plan. He knew what he was about to do, and he knew the potential risks. He was prepared to deal with those risks, even if it meant his own death.

His plan was simple: Bring them all to the brink of war. Make them want each other dead. Make them thirst for the blood of their enemy. And then shame them into uniting under his leadership.

It wasn’t without its risks, but Taggart had spent a lifetime taking calculated risks, the consequences of which could have ended him at any time. While pushing through all of the processes of Taggart Industries, there were numerous times when his decisions could have maimed or killed him, and possibly others. But his risks led to new innovations, new technologies, new discoveries, and, ultimately, new ambitions.

He watched as the Blue Collars began to cluster together in a tight group. They were forming their own tribe, right in the middle of the rest of humanity here. They were becoming a unique organism, with its own mind and its own agenda. They had no idea that the mind and agenda belonged to Taggart and not to the group itself.

The White Collars and colonists had no such unity. They were dispersed. Awkward. The colonists especially had no clue what was happening around them. Many of them continued to behave as if they were in control. They issued commands, leveled their gaze on the workers, and generally fouled the air of the camp with their self-importance. Taggart couldn’t stand most of them. They had always been a necessary part of his plan, but their value was starting to diminish. Here, isolated from the rest of the colonies, the power they had represented to him was no more. He would require something more substantial. Something more … basic. He needed the truly productive hands and minds of this world to follow him.

It would be tricky.

One of the colonists—a man named Carter whom Taggart had recruited into Earth First personally because of his contacts and clout in the colonies—was bullying a Blue Collar.

“How long do we have to live in a filthy tent? I can see the shelters are being built, but what’s the timeline? Who is the foreman of this operation?”

The Blue Collar, a young man with grease and dirt on his face and hands, tensed his shoulders. Taggart watched as he visibly controlled himself, apparently refusing to make what would be a devastating punch to this soft, useless colonist. “Right now, Billy Sans is directing the construction under the alien’s orders.”

There. It was happening. The emphasis on “alien,” the tightness of the Blue Collar’s voice, the tension in his shoulders and neck—Taggart was able to learn all he needed to know. He was able to see the soup boil. It was time to start adding the final ingredients.

“Son, do you know who I am? I am the CEO of Carter Colony Reserve. I know the timeframe of building a shelter. We have been on this planet for more than a week and not one structure has been completed!”

“Yes, sir,” the Blue Collar clenched. “But we don’t have the resources that a typical colony has right now. We’re doing the best we can.”

“It’s a sight too little,” Carter sniffed. “I’ll speak with the Captain. If you people can’t get your act together …”

Taggart stepped into the conversation at this point. “Carter, I’ll thank you to shut your mouth,” he said in a kindly tone.

Carter stopped in mid-sentence, his jaw hanging slack and his eyes wide. “Wha- what did you just say to me?”

“What did I say? Carter, you know I do not like to repeat myself. I suggest you go back to your filthy tent and prepare to stay there for quite a while. I will have a work assignment drawn up for you and your family soon.”

“Work … what are you talking about, Taggart? I am the CEO …”

“Now.” Taggart said. He locked eyes with the man and held an expression that said in no uncertain terms that this was the last Taggart was willing to say or hear on the subject.

Carter, no fool and very familiar with Taggart’s ability to be brutal when necessary, closed his mouth, turned with a huff, and fairly sprinted to one of the “filthy tents” that stood along the tree line.

Taggart turned back to the Blue Collar, keeping the stern expression on his face just long enough for a message to register, even if subconsciously, with his new “friend.” It would be heard, he knew. The message would spread among the Blue Collars. “Taggart is our friend. He can’t stand the colonists. He’s one of us.”

“I’m sorry you were treated so poorly, son,” Taggart said. He smiled now and clasped the young man’s shoulder. “The system … well, it’s quite broken, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes, sir,” the boy answered.

“But us … those of us who put our hands to things, who know how to build … we know how to fix a broken system, don’t we?” Without waiting for the boy to answer, he supplied the reply himself. “When a system is broken bad enough, you tear it down and build a new one. That’s how you create a new order, isn’t it? That’s how you put things back to rights?”

Taggart saw the light come on in the boy’s eyes. He knew it by heart. It was the same light he had seen when he had approached each of the colonists about this trip with the details (some, at least) of his plan. It was the light of understanding, but more. It was the light of love and loyalty.

Taggart had just won this young man’s heart.

“Yes, sir,” the boy said, now much more sure of himself.

“You and I, we’re the same, you know. Did you know that I have worked in every level of Taggart Industries? I had to. My father, a good and honest man, insisted that I learn the business from the ground up. He insisted that I could not have the comforts of wealth unless I earned them, unless I’d had the grease of every machine under my nails at some point. If I had failed to be successful, even at the lowest level of Taggart Industries, I would not rise. I could, even now, still be working as a tank scrubber, if I had not managed to learn everything there was to know about the job. Have you ever been a tank scrubber, son?”

“No, sir,” the boy answered.

“Filthiest, lowest job in the universe. I once was solely responsible for cleaning the sewage tanks of three Taggart Industries starships. This is work that can’t be done by automation, son. It has to be done by hand. You have to crawl into this confined space, the only light coming from your hand-cranked helmet lamp, and scrub every centimeter of the tank with brushes and rags and your own, barely gloved hands. And before you’re done, you are covered from head to toe in human excrement and waste. You are indistinguishable from the filth that humanity produces. Not pleasant.”

Taggart could see the hint of revulsion in the young man’s eyes. It was working. He was showing the boy that he was one of them. That he had started from the very lowest position and had worked his way up to power. And if Taggart could do it, any Blue Collar could. That was the message that Taggart knew would eventually reach the ears of every Blue Collar. That was the last cog that Taggart needed to start the wheels turning on his new, slightly adjusted plan.

“Son, I’ve been to the bottom, but I’ve also been to the top. And I know a secret. Any man can do it. You can do it. All it takes is dedication, perseverance, and strength of heart. It takes knowing who your friends are and trusting in the right leader. I came to this colony hoping to help these soft, entitled, upper-crust rich colonists to experience life in a new way. But now I see … I was wasting my time with them. They won’t do what needs to be done. They won’t learn the lessons that need to be learned. But then, there’s you and your friends. The Blue Collars. You are good people. ‘Salt of the Earth,’ as they used to say. You are people I respect. If only I could have led you, instead. What wonders could we build, do you think?”

He saw that the light had now bloomed into a flame, and he knew that his message was being received. He knew that this boy would be the spark and that he would set the rest of the Blue Collars ablaze as well. Taggart knew that it only took one, and that youth was often the catalyst for change in any group.

“Go back to your good friends. Tell them that I respect and admire them,” Taggart said with genuine feeling. Just because he was working from a plan didn’t mean he was devoid of emotion for these people. After all, he really did work with them and among them. He had risen to power under his own initiative, just as he’d described. He was not lying. He was merely controlling which truths the boy heard. This young Blue Collar need never hear that Taggart left his tank scrubbing job each day and returned to his private estate. He need never know that Taggart’s leisure time was filled with high society banquets, the grandest adventures money could buy, and expensive wines and gourmet foods. Life away from the drudgery was much different for Taggart than what the Blue Collars had to endure. But those were details best left unsaid. It only mattered that Taggart was, in at least some small way, one of them. He had worked hard, just as they did. And he understood their plight.

It only mattered that Taggart was their leader.

Thomas was having a very hard time with it.

Alan, the quiet but friendly young man who had been part of the group that had rescued Thomas and Lissa after the crash, was somehow responsible for all of this? Alan Angelou … the smart, quirky kid who seemed to be just as clueless about the world around them as Thomas was. If it weren’t for the boy’s amazing engineering abilities, Thomas would have thought Alan was as out of place in this time as Thomas himself. He’d been a Blue Collar all his life though. He had been born and raised among these people, in this culture. So why had he betrayed them?

Thomas was once again going over the footage from the sabotage when he paused. The frame onscreen showed a figure reaching into one of the panels that housed relays and ports for accessing the ship’s navigational systems. Thomas was new here, but he knew enough about the lightrail system to realize how dangerous this move was. Any miscalculation might have thrown the ship out of light speed and into the surface of a planet or the heart of a star. And yet Alan had risked it. Why?

He thought back on their conversations. Alan had said that his parents had died when a colony ship was destroyed. Thomas had made a brief study of the history of the colonies since First Colony had blown up on launch. He had obsessed, for a bit, over every major problem with a colony launch. In all of the confusion and chaos of the past week or so, it had never occurred to him to question Alan’s story closely.

In his research, he had certainly uncovered several colony ships that had been destroyed. A few had burned the way First Colony had. Terrible explosions. But those had been in the early days of the colonization effort. In the past fifty years, only a few colony ships had been destroyed, and all of them had been due to problems such as collisions or other more “mundane” causes. The war with the Esool had destroyed many ships, but none were colony vessels, and all of that had ended over fifty years ago.

Thomas had felt the truth of Alan’s story, when the young man had explained how his parents had died. He’d seen the care with which Alan had dressed his burned hands. He’d sensed the reverence in the actions. Alan wasn’t lying about how his parents died.

He was lying about when.

Thomas left the terminal he’d been using and went to the tent that was now being referred to as Command Central. Somar and Billy Sans were alone in the tent. Sans was showing something onscreen, the progress of the shelters, which had been given to him as a responsibility by the Captain. Billy was clearly honored by the task and took it very seriously, organizing the workers and allocating the materials as they became available. It was something of a losing battle for now, at least until Mitch and Reilly returned with a load of pod materials and colonists.

“Captain Somar,” Thomas said as he turned to close the flap of the tent behind him. It would be useless as a sound barrier, really, but it felt more secure. “I think there’s more going on here than we realized.”

Somar, for the first time since Thomas had known him, had an expression of rueful surprise. “It is almost certain that there is, Mr. Thomas. If I’ve learned anything in our brief time here, it’s that there is much more below the surface than we can determine with the facts at hand.”

Thomas nodded. “Well, I don’t know what good this information will do, but I think I just uncovered another fact about Alan Angelou. I think he’s from my time.”

Somar had no visible reaction, but Billy Sans quickly looked around to make sure no one was in the tent with them. It was good to see the boy being discrete. It made Thomas feel better about his secret being in the young man’s hands. He was starting to like the kid a lot.

“What do you mean, from your time?” Billy asked. “Aren’t you like a hundred years old or something?”

“Thanks, Billy. I think I’m ready for my walker and hip replacement now.”

Billy shook his head. “Sorry. I mean, you had to have gone into stasis a hundred years ago or something, right?”

“And I think Alan did the same. I don’t know how or why. But I think …” Thomas stopped in mid-sentence, a sudden connection burning in his brain. All of a sudden, it seemed so obvious. Why hadn’t he noticed it before? But that wasn’t quite fair, was it? So much had changed. So many things were different. There was so much weirdness in the world now. Aliens and lightrails and throwback technology and a million, million other things that Thomas had been forced to adjust to. Why wouldn’t he have missed it?

“You’ve thought of something?” Somar asked.

“I just put it together. I’m an idiot.”

“Far from that,” Somar replied. “You have obviously solved something that has eluded us all until now.”

“Yeah, but I should have seen it before. Maybe. Damn it.”

Billy was practically vibrating as he spoke up. “What? What is it? What do you know?”

Thomas looked from one to the other. “His name. Alan Angelou. He’s been telling me who he is all this time, and I completely missed it.

“When I was an engineer on First Colony, I had a husband and wife team working with me. They were brilliant, wonderful people. My best friends, actually. And they had a son. We were so close, such good friends, that they named him after me. I was honored.”

“Wait … I thought your real name was John?”

“John Thomas Paris. But the boy’s name was John Thomas Alan. Son of Angela and Louis Alan. We all called him Johnny.”

It was Somar who put it together. “Alan Angelou. He chose a name that honored his parents.”

Billy Sans whistled. “Wow. This whole thing … it’s like one of those mystery vids.”

Somar moved to the end of the table, staring outward into the fluttering tent wall. The greenish tint of his skin was slightly amplified by the diffused light issuing from the undulating white cloth. He had his hands clasped behind him and was obviously deep in thought. “His parents died in the destruction of First Colony?” he finally asked.

“Yeah. It was one of the things that hurt me most. I lost my two best friends that day. Losing my freedom … losing my name and my past since then … that’s been hard to deal with. But when I saw them die, that was what really destroyed me. We were … we were family.” He choked out these last words, struggling to control a flood of emotion that he’d managed to suppress for years. Despite himself, Thomas felt the tightness in his throat, the burning in his eyes. He felt the warmth of tears welling, and fell into a bitter silence.

“You were close to Alan … to Johnny … as well?”

Thomas could only nod.

“I believe,” Somar said, “that we have some of Mr. Angelou’s motive. What was his age, at the time of the colony’s destruction?”

Thomas swallowed and breathed, calming himself. He thought for a moment. “He was young. Maybe twelve or thirteen. I don’t remember exactly. For the next couple of years, I was locked in a cell. Until they offered me the stasis deal.”

Somar seemed alert. “You’ve never told me of how you entered into stasis. You received some sort of offer? On the part of your government?”

“Yeah. Earth First was going to try to break me out and kill me as a martyr to their cause. The government couldn’t afford that. It could potentially rally people to Earth First and slow down colonization even further. Earth’s resources were getting stretched pretty thin at that point, and any more delays could have been lethal. And frankly, the government couldn’t afford the embarrassment of Earth First getting one over on them in full view of the public.”

Somar nodded. “It is unfortunate, then, that they did.”

Thomas blinked. “Wait, what?”

Somar turned to face him. “Mr. Thomas, I’m sure you were relieved at your good fortune. Your release from imprisonment. Your new beginning, even at the expense of your old life. But did it not occur to you that despite your government’s attempts to hide you from Earth First, your identity was known by its leader?”

Thomas felt his face flush and go warm. “No,” he admitted. “It hadn’t occurred to me until now. Taggart knew about me all along.”

“Maybe he found out about you at some point,” Billy said.

“No,” Somar responded. “Taggart has made it clear that his great-grandfather had plans for Mr. Thomas. That would imply that the secret has been known for some time. Certainly from the beginning. It implies that Earth First was responsible for placing Mr. Thomas in stasis.”

Thomas was shaking his head. “That can’t be. The agent who put me under … he said that Earth First had an agent on the inside, but they knew who it was. He said that the order to put me under was from somewhere high in the chain of command. A security clearance so high that he had to …” Thomas paused. Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

“Had to what?” Billy Sans asked.

“He had to destroy his computer. The computer he had read the message on.”

“So?” Billy blinked. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Thomas replied, “that there was no evidence. There was nothing that could have indicated who sent the message or that the message even existed. If it came from a high enough security level, it would be completely untraceable. And these agents, they were trained not to ask questions. They wouldn’t have bothered following up on this. They would have followed orders and put me under without a second thought.”

“So, what does that mean?” Billy asked.

It was Somar who answered. “It means that there was a vulnerability in the chain of command. There was a gap in which someone could insert their own agenda, without the fear of it being traced.”

“Earth First did it!” Billy exclaimed. “Wow. They could do that? They could fake a security clearance like that?”

“No,” Thomas said.

The two men both looked at him, uncertain.

“No, it wasn’t Earth First. They may have wanted to get their hands on me, and they may have nabbed me from stasis. But they didn’t have the clout or the power to pull this off, not at that time. But Johnny … Alan … did.”

“I … don’t follow,” Billy said.

“He was smart. Very smart. His parents were both child prodigies, and he was following in their footsteps. He was already at MIT when First Colony exploded.”

“MIT?” Billy asked.

“A school. A university for technology. People who got in were very, very smart. Kids who got in were beyond brilliant. And some ended up working on government projects. John Thomas … Alan … was about to graduate when I was sent to prison.”

“He infiltrated your government’s computer systems?” Somar asked.

“Yeah. I think he did. And he arranged for me to be put in stasis and cared for by Earth First. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe he thought it would give me a fair chance to start over. Maybe he felt he owed it to his parents. I just don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. I know now that it was him. It had to be. I’m certain.”

“As am I,” Somar replied.

“But why?” Billy asked. “I know you said it doesn’t matter, but I think it does. He put you in stasis, and then he went under himself. Why would he do it? He had to know something, right? He wouldn’t just go under for no good reason. Maybe he was trying to give you another chance, but why did he go with you?”

Thomas had no answer for that. It was true … there was no reason for Alan to go into stasis. Had he been caught tinkering with the government computers? Was he in trouble? Or did he just want to leave behind the world in which his parents had died?

There would be no way of knowing until they confronted him. And until Mitch arrived with the shuttle, there was no way to reach Alan. Which meant there was no way to learn of or stop whatever he was planning.

“Mitch is picking up supplies from Alan’s camp before coming back here, right?”

“Yes,” Somar said. “We felt it best to keep the schedule as planned. We did not want to alert Alan to what we know. He may be aware already, however. He knew that Mr. Garrison and Ms. Reilly were going to the orbital platform. He would certainly assume that they would discover something.”

“It’s like he doesn’t care,” Thomas said. “And maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’s so sure of his plan that he doesn’t think we can stop him.”

“That could very well be.”

“Which means that finding the pods is part of his plan,” Thomas said. “He’s after something in the pods.”

They all stared at each other for a moment. “And there ain’t a damned thing we can do about it,” Billy Sans said.

Thomas suddenly felt every minute of the hundred years he’d been in stasis. He suddenly wished he could take a long nap.