Memorize (Book One)

Stranded

And now, what are we going to do?

A long silence settled in, interspersed with irregular breathing and suffocating sounds. Starling was in an incredible state of weakness, although his ghastly wound had been healed by the Medics. Epos seemed to be in great pain, his collarbone shattered and his neck bruised. Ananda was holding tight to Starling, profoundly enjoying the mere fact that they were still alive. Jay and Arende were staring blankly at the dark screendow, slowly recuperating from the tremendous fight they had had to lead against the seism, the storm, and the unexpected turn of events.

Finally, Jay spoke in a quiet, determined voice:

"I think we have to go as far as possible from the Red City."

"You mean, until the catastrophe is over?" said Arende.

"That remains to be determined..."

"Meaning?"

"There have been a number of suspicious events," said Ananda, "and we need to know what went on back there, when Star had this horrible accident."

"It was a set up," added Starling, very feebly. "Shouldn't have been slashed with my diving equipment."

"This will all be sorted out as soon as we get back," assured Arende.

"No," broke Jay, raising his voice and knitting his brows, "Star and I were to be terminated tonight. We can't just get back."

"What... ?"

"I heard it from the man who's the closest thing to God here on B234..." Saying this, Jay turned around slowly and set his eyes on Epos. Everybody looked in the same direction...

"'Excuse me," intervened a quiet, timid voice, "but shouldn't we first make sure we end up alive in a safe place?"

As diverse and shattered as the little crowd was, everybody swiftly turned to where the unfamiliar voice came from. In the remotest corner of the pod, half hidden in the shadows, stood the small figure of an amazingly pretty young woman.

"I'm sorry, but...isn't landing the next concern? And I heard that most of B24 is highly dangerous anyway..." added the stranger, looking embarrassed. Her cheeks reddened as she seemed to step further back in the surrounding darkness.

"Who...who are you?" said Arende.

"My name's Kizuna. I'm from the Apprentice Medicators' Squad. I took refuge in the pod when the storm broke out."

"You really freaked me out!" said Ananda.

"Well, the more, the merrier! You're right Kizuna, we need to save our skins first. I suppose this pod 's our safest shelter for the moment?"

"It has a 24-hour autonomy. Beyond this span of time, we'll have to land somewhere...assuming nothing stops us before. And I insist that it has to be real far from the Red City. By the way, my name's Jay Dryhten. And you are?"

"My name's Arende Might."

"How did you know I'm a second-born by the way?"

"I... I work for the High Intelligence Bureau. We do keep tabs on every newcomer on B24 you see. Turns out the Head of the High Intelligence Bureau is here too... By the way, what happened to you exactly , Epos? Looks like you were lucky you came across Mr Fleogan... err, Dryhten!"

"I think Mr Meane will have problems answering that. I'm only an apprentice, but it looks like I could be of some help here," said Kizuna, finally stepping out of the obscurity. She walked towards Epos who was reclining against the wall, speechless, and started examining his neck. "Shame I don't have the necessary equipment. His collarbone's broken into pieces. He must have been smashed under huge debris...Nothing that can't be mended, but without the usual resources, it's going to take time."

"Can you please help us with Star? He's been taken care of by the Medics just before the seism, but he doesn't seem to recover..." pleaded Ananda.

"I can't believe Starling Kite landed in my refuge pod," said Kizuna, walking across the command zone, "he's such a stunning diver!"

As she said this, she kneeled down and assessed Starling's state with the embedded system interlocked in her sleeve. Passing it over Starling's face and chest, the extremity of her suit shone with dark red hues. "Severe loss of blood. Yes, I saw it on the screens. Mr Kite, we all thought you were dead. Actually...that's what the speaker said!"

"Well...I think I was supposed to die tonight," answered Starling.

"You shouldn't speak Mr Kite. There is worse than blood loss: you suffered massive lack of oxygen. Again, without the appropriate medic equipment, it's going to take a while to get you back on your feet. It's a miracle your life wasn't ended tonight."

"But he's out of danger, right?" inquired Ananda.

"His vitals have peaked again, and his wound's healed. So he's okay. This type of pod doesn't carry much equipment, which means he'll need to rest a lot before he's back to normal. Minimum effort, right Mr Kite?"

"Sounds boring! " answered the diver.

"The seismic event hasn't stopped yet. And the storm's blasting through all the northern hemisphere. Not sure GloCo had foreseen the full strength of this event... It has caused some casualties, yet it has saved our lives tonight," said Jay, looking at Starling, then at Epos. "I guess now you have time to fill us in on what happened, Epos," he added in a threatening tone.

"Oh oh, as I said, Mr Meane needs to rest. His fracture's pretty nasty," intervened Kizuna.

"He can rest later," answered Jay.

"I'm sorry, but what good will it do once this man dies or doesn't heal properly? I assure you that the wisest thing to do is to rest, all of us, and use the few supplements we have here to regain some strength. Surely your questions can wait, can't they?"

Jay looked at the girl who spoke so wisely. The pod was whizzing softly, and muffled sounds from the storm could be heard from outside. Kizuna shook a few long strands of hair escaped from her ponytail, looking frail yet determined.

"According to the man you're protecting, I'm a freak, and I deserve to die. Same goes for Starling. Epos wanted both of us dead."

Kizuna and Ananda gasped. Silence fell in the ship. Epos closed his eyes, bracing for what would come next. Jay clenched his fists.

"Mr Fleogan, you showed clear signs that adaptation was impossible. More importantly, there was no way your memory could be reconditioned as it is usually done. Your case is extremely rare, and threatens the law and order of our colony. And Starling, you clearly broke your oath and covered the man you were supposed to monitor," said Arende in one breath. "GloCo's regulations are clear, and Epos just followed them."

"Then we'll never go back to the Red City..." mumured Ananda.

"You were part of all this!" Jay looked reproachingly at Arende.

"But I didn't approve of it. Termination is ruthless." As he declared this, Arende sat down and shut his eyes for a few seconds. "It's been a long night. Kizuna's right. We should all call it a day."

"Yes... who knows if we'll still be alive in a couple of hours? We're heading towards the most inhospitable part of B24, we have no medical equipment, two of us are sick, two of you were sentenced to death, and we have feeding supplements for less than 24 hours. Our survival chances are very little," concluded Kizuna.

"Yes... For better or for worse, we're in this together. Let's head as far south as possible and see what happens. But be sure you will have to speak, Epos!" said Jay.

Upon those words, everyone sighed and reclined or lied down, lulled by the deadened sounds of the storm and the dull light of the empty screendows. Punctuated by the little shocks of the distant tremor, a spontaneous moment of awed, concerned and exhausted quiet ensued.