“Yeah, thanks,” I said, panting as I drew to a stop in front of her. I wet my lips and paused, trying to find the right words. “Listen, Anna… I wanted to talk to you about a potential scenario, in which we decided it’s not feasible for us to live out there, isolated and alone for any longer.”
“I see,” Anna said slowly, frowning down at me. “Are you trying to say you’ve decided you want to become settlers here?”
“Well, I—we haven’t had time to hold a meeting or anything, and I certainly can’t speak for everyone, but I sense that’s going to be the consensus, once we’ve had time to talk. I just...” I exhaled in frustration. “I can’t see returning as an option.”
“Well, I think it’s sensible myself,” Anna said, thoughtfully. “It’s the decision that I would certainly make, if I were in your shoes.”
“So,” I continued slowly, “I… we would need to understand how our lives would change. We would need to know more about this place, and how we would fit in, what roles we would all play and how we would maintain ourselves. Is there someone we can?—”
“Yes, naturally,” Anna cut in. “If you’re seriously considering staying then, of course, we will need to give you all a formal introduction. In fact,”—she rubbed her chin thoughtfully—“how about we arrange a little introductory session this evening? I’ll come along with a couple of my colleagues, and we’ll set up a presentation out here in the fresh air. There’s no rain due tonight, based on the latest weather report. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good,” I replied, not sure what else to say. “We’d all appreciate it, because, one way or another, we obviously can’t stay on this small island forever.” I gestured toward the old building.
“Of course,” she said, glancing at it fleetingly, before switching her eyes back to the ship. “So, how does 6:30 this evening, sound? It’ll give your people time to get treated and generally recoup from the journey.”
“I’ll tell everyone 6:30,” I responded.
Then my eyes fell again to the golden ring on her thumb. “Also, do you mind telling me what those rings are for?” The question had been seriously bugging me.
She chuckled. “That’s best saved for the presentation this evening, hon.” She reached out and patted my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze, then returned to the steps.
As she climbed, she reached for her communication device again. “Hayden, are you finished in there? I’m about to leave.”
She had barely stepped inside the aircraft when the main doors to the building creaked open behind us. The man I’d collided with earlier appeared, descending the stairs at a jog. His teal gaze caught mine for the briefest moment as he passed—steady, unreadable—before he vaulted up the ramp and disappeared through the hatch.
I drew a steady breath, then stepped back as the hover ship rumbled to life. Its frame gave a shudder beforelifting off the platform, rising into the air with a low whine as it veered out over the water—heading back toward Founders’ Isle.
As I made my way back toward the building, the nerves still lingered, but at least we were finally going to get some answers.
And after that… well, I wasn’t ready to go there yet.
One step at a time.
NINE
After Anna leftin the hover ship, I spent the rest of the afternoon inside the building. The first thing I did was return to my parents, to inform them of my conversation with Anna. My uncle and aunt sat with them, so were updated at the same time. As many people as possible ought to attend the presentation in the evening, which meant we had organizing to do, so I recruited my aunt, uncle, Jessie and Robert to help.
Rounding everyone up was tiring work, but although there were some stubborn objections, from people who were as wishful about returning to our home as I’d initially been, everyone ultimately came to the same, heavy conclusion: there was no other way, unless we had a death wish.
By the time we had organized our people and had a late lunch of more sandwiches and water, distributed by the nurses, it was nearing 6 p.m. Having had enough of the confines of the building, many had already spilled outside onto the platform to watch the sunset. It didn’t require much work to make sure everybody who could attend the presentation was on time.
At 6:15, an aircraft arrived on the platform. It was a muchsmaller, silver vessel, with a clear glass dome encasing six seats. Anna got out along with two other male blue-uniformed Fairlanders I hadn’t met before. They set up some kind of tall screen against the dimming sun, and when one of them pressed a button at the side of it, the whole thing illuminated with white light.
Zina, Nico and I made our way toward the front, where Robert and Jessie already stood.
My gaze drifted to Founders’ Isle as it gradually transformed into a hulking shadow. The air had quieted, the birds settling into their nests for the night, and the heat of the day had faded, replaced by a cool breeze.
The distant echoing of bells drew my attention back to the screen. Their chiming drifted down from the mountain every half an hour. 6:30.
“Right, I hope everyone’s here,” Anna announced through a loudspeaker. She glanced around at the large crowd that had assembled and smiled contentedly. “My name is Anna Springs, for those who haven’t met me yet, and it is my understanding that you are gathered here because you wish to learn more about our nation, with the intention of possibly settling here, correct?”
She raised her eyebrows as she took in the slowly nodding heads. Her eyes fell briefly on me, and she smiled a little more widely, before pulling out a small black device from her pocket the size of a matchbox and pointing it at the screen.
What had previously been a blank, glowing white canvas turned into a giant photograph, rich with color. It was an aerial shot of Fairwell and the ocean around it. But although most of the structures that existed today were there on the mainland, the artificial islands surrounding it were missing.
She clicked the black box again and text appeared over the photograph:2160.
“In the year two thousand one hundred and sixty, this is what Fairwell—then Fairwell Island—looked like. As you can see, the eight islands surrounding us are missing, and that is because they weren’t built yet.”
