There was simply no way they could truly understand. It would be like modern civilization trying to understand how ancient cultures worked. Sure, we had artifacts and artworks that depicted how things were, and even some documented material, but we would never truly know. There was too much distance.
And this was the case now.
“No one really talks about it. How it happened, I mean. You talk of learning from mistakes, is there something we, right now, can learn from what happened when the aliens took over? What if they try it again? How can we be sure there aren’t more of them in the Earth’s crust waiting to come up for a second attempt? And if they do, can we stop them—maybe this is a start?” She pointed to the gun.
Mike nodded as he thought of his response. He didn’t believe there were any more still underground. With the way Charlie had brought down the two ships, he would have expected the aliens to have mounted a retaliatory attack by now.
“We don’t talk about it because there’s so few of us left, and not many people want to know. But to your other question, yes, these guns will help—to a degree. With the ability to overload the beads they all carry inside of them, we’ll be able to pop their heads like an overripe melon, but if they come at us in great numbers, we’ll need something else. These are really good for one-to-one. We need something bigger.”
Looking sheepish, Evangeline fidgeted from one foot to the other and avoided his gaze before eventually saying, “I… erm… was in your office earlier looking for some parts when I… found your designs. For the bomb. Do you really think it’s possible?”
At first, Mike wanted to explode at the intrusion of his privacy, but the hopeful look on her face reminded him of when he first met Mai during the ice age. Evangeline had that same infectious curiosity—something that proved rare among the post-apoc-born people.
Patting her hand, Mike said, “My sweet girl, if I didn’t think it possible, I wouldn’t still be here working today. But we’re not at that level yet. We need more parts, more tech, and to learn the alien science. It will come in time, and that’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? I need people like you to carry on with my ideas long after I’ve bitten the dust.”
The young engineer blushed fully as her shoulders eased with relief. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “In the meantime, will you tell me how it all happened—the attack, I mean. How they managed to overwhelm us in such a short amount of time.”
This is what Mike wanted to hear. Hardly any of her generation truly wanted to know, being so wrapped up in their time in the sun that they didn’t want to look back into the shadows of time. If he were to have a successor, then yes, Evangeline would need to know everything—but not today.
An unmistakable rumble from one of the gigantic harvesters made the walls vibrate and the tools rattle on their hooks. Mike moved to the window that overlooked the courtyard. “It’ll have to wait for now,” he said. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a new project.”
The harvester stopped, taking up almost the entire courtyard and blocking out the sun. A door a few levels up opened and the tiny figure of Mai, dressed in her usual gray overalls, stepped out onto the ladders. She descended slowly, step by step, as her three-person crew followed behind. When she touched down on the gravel, she turned to the facility and saw Mike standing at the window.
She had a wide grin on her face as she waved at him.
He knew she had found something interesting, he could see it in her very body language as she quickly scampered across the courtyard to the facility’s entrance. Mike turned and left the workshop, eager to find out what Mai had found. Evangeline followed closely behind.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Maria accepted a cup of tea from Khan and blew the steam away. The sweet scent of herbs and plants cleared her head and made her shiver. Gooseflesh rippled on her bare arms. She clutched the cup tighter, resting her elbows on her knees and leaning forward closer to the campfire.
Khan and Layla sat opposite. They checked through the contents of the gear, making sure their weapons were in place and all other supplies were appropriately stored away.
“I’m not sure we should leave just yet,” Maria said. “We should wait for Gregor to return before making any plans.”
“We’re not making plans,” Khan said, giving her a kind smile. “Just making sure we can move quickly if we need to. Everything will be all right.”
Maria sipped her hot tea. She tried to be optimistic these days, but since they’d found the pods and now these aliens, it felt like she was right back there at day one again when she and the others first left the harvester—or generation ship as they had thought of it. That sense of panic, fear and confusion remained in the past, but essences of it started to flutter about the edges of her consciousness like the hiding of a lie. Not having any programed tasks to carry out or a schedule that she had to stick to like before bred a horrible feeling of being lost.
Layla must have seen the concern on her face. She finished packing her backpack and came around the fire to sit next to her. Khan remained on the other side, but like Maria, he leaned into the fire. Warming his hands.
Despite the bright sunshine beyond the canopy, the trees insulated the woods, keeping it cool. Without trekking through the dense growth, it seemed everyone was starting to feel the cold.
“He’ll be fine,” Layla said. “You don’t have to worry so much.”
“Oh? I’m not worried about Gregor. He’ll do whatever he wants.”
Layla shook her head. “I meant Denver.”
A heat, not from the fire, warmed her face. She’d totally forgotten about Denver. How could she forget about him?
“Sorry,” Maria said. “I was just deep in thought and misunderstood. I’m just not handling this whole situation too well. I thought—before the revelation about the pods—that things were getting settled, that we were finding our way. But now…”
Layla put her arm across Maria’s shoulder and gave her a quick hug. “We’ll still find our way, Maria. You just need to have a little faith.”
“It’s the not knowing how things will turn out that worries me.”
“There’s just, I don’t know. I’m used to things being more… linear, to use one of Mike’s words. I had tasks, and I knew what I was doing back on the harvester.”
“But you had no freedom. No choice,” Khan said. “Out here, we’ve got it all to ourselves mostly.”
“I’m not like you, Khan. I can’t just live off the land like you and be on my own. I’m too used to being with a tight-knit group of people. It just feels like our group is fracturing.”
“Evolving,” Khan added. “That’s the worst thing about humans. They’re too adaptable, always changing and evolving from one generation to the next.”
Layla screwed up her face. “What? How do you arrive at that?” she said, with a hint of incredulity to her voice. “That we evolve and adapt is the reason why we’re still here. Otherwise we would have all perished in the ice age.”
“The croatoans don’t evolve,” Khan said. “They just wait, always staying the same, remaining focused on what they’re good at. Crocodiles and sharks too. Both of those have been around since the dinosaurs and have barely changed. When you have a good design, it makes sense to stick to it.”
“What about snakes?” Layla said. “They’ve evolved to adapt to almost every climate the world over. If they didn’t evolve, they’d likely not have survived for as long as they have.”
Khan took a sip of his tea and thought about her point. “For humans,” he said, steam billowing from his mouth, “they evolved to forget who and what they were. It’s how the croatoans managed to nearly wipe us all out. We were too focused internally and not paying enough attention to the signs out there.”