“And it’ll be about twelve hundred guests by the time we set you all down,” Anna added.
“Where are they staying—Zina’s group?” I asked anxiously, praying she would be among them. “Where’s your ‘outreach’ center?”
“You can’t see it from this angle. It’s right around the back of Founders’ Isle and the mountains are blocking our view. We’ll reach there soon enough, though, don’t you worry.” She chuckled again and then stepped back, resuming her seat in one of the chairs, while I remained peering out.
Eight thousand settlers, I mused as I continued to scan the area.
That was quite a lot of people to house, but I still couldn’t imagine that all of these islands were filled to capacity. Even leaving aside the eight smaller islands, the main island itself was huge. Of course, they would also need to have sufficient food and resources for all these people.
Whatever the case, if they were so technologically savvy, maybe they could help us find some way to return to the jungle. If the gas cleared, and we could somehow salvage the trees, maybe Anna’s people could assist us in moving back—help fortify our commune against attacks in the future, equip uswith better means to defend ourselves. I wasn’t ready to start considering that we might be forced to settle here forever, on this foreign land. It might be pleasant and well organized, but it wasn’t our home. We would all feel out of place, like aliens here.
But most of all, I didn’t like the idea of living at the cost or mercy of others. It wasn’t in our DNA. We were scavengers, designed to live independent lives deep in the wild and have everything on our own terms.
Hadn’t that just been what I’d thanked our Founders for the day before yesterday, for giving us the gift of freedom?
“You too could become settlers here, you know, if you wanted,” Anna mused behind me, as if she’d somehow picked up on my train of thought.
I turned to look at her, lowering the binoculars to my side. “So, you do have space for more people?” Now that she’d broached the topic, I couldn’t help but bring up what appeared to be a discrepancy.
“For moresettlers, yes, there is space. We just don’t have a lot of room forguests.”
I frowned, wondering what the practical difference was.
Noting my expression, she went on, “Obviously, we can’t just bring anyone and everyone into our fold. We have a designated area for guests, with a set amount of resources allotted to it, because as I said, resources don’t just rain from the sky. We are a philanthropic and generous people, but we also must make sure our activities are sustainable, and guests can only stay with us for a certain amount of time. If you were to become asettler, on the other hand, it would be another matter, because you would become a contributing member of our society—adding value in exchange for what you took. Everything is about sharing here; ensuring everyone gets a fair deal. Everyone who lives here on a permanent basis must be apositive influence on Fairwell as a whole. It’s how we’ve survived and thrived for so long.”
“That’s fair enough,” I murmured. I mean, even back in our commune, everyone was expected to help in whatever way they could. Nobody ever liked a freeloader.
Anna smiled. “It is, isn’t it? All that said, not everybody is right for our society, just as our society is not right for everybody. We have rules that everyone—founders included—must follow. Naturally, not everyone likes rules imposed by others, especially those from small communities who are accustomed to almost complete autonomy. With a society as large as ours, I’m sure you understand the need for regulation.”
“What kind of rules do you have here?” I asked. This was the first true civilization I’d come across in my life, outside of our jungle colonies, and I was genuinely curious as to how they organized everything on such a large scale. They had not only their own citizens to look after, but also their various “outreach” endeavors to manage.
“Ohhh, nothing too unreasonable, I would say,” Anna replied, leaning back in her chair and stretching out her large feet in front of her. “Most are common sense: do no harm, do not steal, and so on. However, there are a few things that some deem a little… different.”
I frowned. “Different in what way?”
Before she could respond, one of the pilots looked up from his seat. “Um, Anna. We’ve got about ten minutes to go.”
“Ah.” Anna held up her right hand and looked down at the ring on her thumb. She touched the flattish side, and it suddenly illuminated, numbers flashing up on the small screen that had appeared. Before I could make them out properly, she sprang to her feet, an apologetic look plastered to her face. “I’m sorry. I have some things I need to do before our arrival. Pleasemake your way back through the ship and get seated. We’ll be descending very soon.”
I lingered for a second longer, looking between her and the two men—who I now noticed also wore semi-circle rings (silver, rather than gold)—and then nodded, handing over the binoculars. “Of course. Thanks for your time.” I cast one last glance out at the looming sprawl of islands and then headed for the exit.
“Don’t mention it,” Anna said, as I opened the door and stepped through. Gripping the handle on the other side, she winked, before pushing the door, closing it with a sharp click.
As I turned and began making my way through the ship, a sense of uneasiness crawled back over me. The conversation with Anna had gone well, from what I could tell—she had been pleasant enough and answered my questions generously. And yet, something was… bugging me. A dull poke, deep in my gut. It was just hard to put a finger on what it was exactly, at that moment, when literally everything about our situation was all so new and unsettling. Plus, my brain was still recovering from the trauma of yesterday.
I decided to shelve the feeling for now, as much as I possibly could, to try to unpack later. Bea was probably awake, wondering where I was, and we had to prepare for landing. I sped up to a jog, wanting to cover the rooms and aisles faster.
Whatever it was that was poking at me, I just hoped it wasn’t my intuition.
Because, as my grandmother used to say,thatwas rarely wrong.
SEVEN
When I passed my parents’beds on my way back to my bunk, I was pleased to find their curtains open. They leaned up in bed, munching on the same kind of sandwiches I had eaten and sipping from bottles of water.
“Hey,” I said softly, reaching out to touch their hands.
Their faces lit up. “Tani!”
