**** Elysium 1986 ****

Kennak-Laar’s forehead was dripping with sweat, and he was glad that they could now do without the impractical protective suits. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and the other five Aon-I followed his example, their knees shaking. They were all exhausted from the hard work, but they had finally done it, closing the entrance to the underground city at the great staircase with a mighty gate they had forged from metal plates they had collected. At last it was done, and the way to the hole, the former repository of the POWERS nuclear power plant, would no longer allow access to anyone his people did not want on their own territory. Though there were other smaller openings to the vast cave system that had fortunately remained hidden from humans, these entrances would also be sealed off one by one. Even though the workers and mercenaries of the power company had removed all the radioactive waste, cleaned the contaminated areas of Gwyneran meticulously with high-pressure jets, and pumped out the water, there was still a residual danger from the attacks of scattered crawler groups on the returning Aon-I. Thousands of his people had fallen ill. Thousands of his people had fallen sick. Thousands of his people had been sickened by the effects of the repository and had undergone the terrible metamorphosis that had turned them into unfeeling monsters. Their numbers had dwindled in recent months, thanks to the efforts of the police and the mercenaries of POWERS. But no one knew how many were still out there in the underground. They lurked hungrily in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to prey on the unwary and defenseless.

Kennak leaned his sweaty back against the new, cold gate and looked down on the city from the hill. Along with his people, the lights were returning to the area. Every day more survivors arrived and the cleanup was in full swing. Each new light gave him a glimmer of hope for a better future, but none of it could hide the great losses they had suffered at the hands of humanity. How many families had been torn apart or completely wiped out? How much suffering and pain had they endured? How many brothers and sisters had they lost? It would probably take four or five generations to rebuild the population. Besides, the areas around the city had become almost life-threatening because of the crawlers. They would have to train more warriors than before to protect themselves. These were people who would be missing in the fields and in the rebuilding. Kennak, a warrior himself, wondered how much he hated the humans for what they had done to them. The hatred and distrust was now great among the Aon-I, who had wanted nothing more than to live in peace. Again and again, voices were raised calling for some form of revenge. But the returned Seer and the small remnant of the Council of Elders had so far been able to keep these dangerous tendencies at bay. Kennak thought back to the encounter with the TRAP agents that had finally turned the tide of chaos and saved his civilization. Not all humans were the same, not all were evil. He trusted this small group, who had earned great respect for their efforts down here, even if they didn’t realize it. But he didn’t trust the other humans. As long as they all knew only their one god of profit, any direct contact with them was to be avoided at all costs.
“Have a sip too,” he heard Ehl’s voice next to him, handing him a bottle of water and he took it gratefully. He was just about to start drinking when he spotted Eiri at the bottom of the stairs. She was running up the stairs towards them and seemed very upset. He got up and went to meet her, she had quickly reached the top of the gate.
“What’s wrong, why are you running like that?” he asked her worriedly when she finally caught her breath.
“The Seer’s daughter has disappeared,” she finally explained. Kennak’s heart hurt. This was a catastrophe, especially now, after all the misfortunes. Becoming a Seer and leading the Aon-I people before the Senate was a birthright passed down from generation to generation. It was also the law that the gender had to change. Each father was followed by a daughter, each mother by a son. The daughter who has now disappeared was the only child of the Seer. This endangered a line of inheritance that had lasted for thousands of years.
“How did it happen? Did the crawlers kill her? Did she have an accident?” he asked tensely, and the Aon-I standing around now also took notice.
“No, she’s not dead. Not as far as we know. She just ran away, she even left a farewell letter for her parents,” Eiri continued.
“What? That can’t be true,” Kennak hissed. “Why would she do such a thing? Has she gone crazy?” Eiri just shook her head and scowled.
“No. I haven’t read the letter myself, but apparently it was a mixture of fear for the future and self-doubt. Her father is not the youngest anymore and she doesn’t want to take over the inheritance and the responsibility after the great catastrophe. By leaving, she is forcing him to produce more offspring, another daughter who will one day become the new Seer in her place,” she explained. Kennak looked at Eiri as if he did not understand the meaning of her words. He knew the daughter from numerous official occasions and had always perceived her as a well-protected and shy girl. It had never occurred to him that she would ever voluntarily leave her family and home.
“And… Do you know where she went?” he asked tensely. Eiri just shook her head and pointed upwards.
“She only wrote in the letter that she would make her way through the sewers to Elysium. She knows very well that we won’t be able to find her up there in the city under the sky without running the risk of getting caught ourselves. A single Aon-I may not attract much attention, but whole search parties of us combing the city will. Besides, we can’t spare people down here, there’s far too much to do.” Kennak-Laar looked up at the cave vault. Eiri was undoubtedly right. Up there among millions of people, there was little chance of finding her. It was another heavy blow for his people.

Almost directly above the cave vault, above the Aon-I, once again facing an uncertain future, stood the main building of the POWERS power plant. Dr. Kelly Malcom believed in Elysium, no matter how dire the situation. She loved her hometown with all its strengths and weaknesses. From the large picture window of her office, she could see the bustling streets of the industrial district below. It had been another long day. Endless meetings, phone calls, making decisions, solving problems. The nuclear waste issue had made everything much more complicated for her than it already was. She couldn’t shake the awful feeling that the creation of the crawlers was partly her fault. Of course, she hadn’t known about the forbidden dump, but maybe she could have guessed something, should have noticed it somehow? Had she missed clear signs in her deputy, had she been too naive? Had her blind trust led to one of the biggest disasters? She massaged her temples with her middle fingers to banish the growing headache that had plagued her for over an hour and swallowed the lump in her throat. Whenever she thought of how many of the gentle Aon-I had lost their lives because of her company, she could have cried. The moments when she felt weak and helpless became more frequent, and sometimes she wished she could just stay in bed and pull the covers over her head. But she wasn’t helping anyone by burying herself in self-pity or sadness, and it was her inherited sense of duty and discipline that got her through each new day.

At least a lot had happened in the last few weeks. Her people had worked hard to remove the barrels of radioactive material from the underground and move them to a safe storage site outside the city. The caves and Aon-I houses had been meticulously cleaned, and many loads of medicine and bandages had been brought down. All of this cost many times more than it would have cost to properly dispose of the waste in the first place. If her deputy hadn’t already died, she would have strangled him with her own hands without remorse. But that job had already been done by the Japanese TRAP agent. In retrospect, it had also been necessary to replace some other managers in her company who had known about her deputy’s machinations and put them behind bars. By now, however, she was certain that she had only people around her that she could truly trust.

The television, which Kelly turned on from time to time, was broadcasting the latest news. It was reported that a newly formed ninja group was spreading further and further into Elysium, and no one knew exactly where they came from. As if this city didn’t have enough problems already. At least the radioactive contamination had been contained enough to prevent new crawlers from forming, freeing up some police forces that had been tied up in dog squads due to the threat of the crawlers. However, she was skeptical that it would ever be possible to completely drive these Japanese killers out of the city. The news had mentioned several hundred members of this group, which made her think. As a little girl, she had traveled a lot with her parents, as both her father and mother had businesses in Utopia and much further away in Neo Tokyo. While Utopia was far north of the mainland and had a much cooler climate than Elysium, Neo Tokyo required either a ship or a long-range plane to cross the ocean. Of the three capitals, Neo Tokyo was by far the largest and most modern. Many things were different there than here or in the Russian-influenced north. Would she ever see that endless sea of skyscrapers, that incredible skyline again? After all, she hadn’t been able to travel for many years, as her professional responsibilities kept her tied to this office almost constantly. And traveling alone was no fun. She had no one to share her new impressions and discoveries with. Kelly sighed and picked up her cell phone from the desk. Then she pulled the worn TRAP agency business card from the breast pocket of her blouse and turned it between her fingers, as she had done countless times over the past few weeks.

“I’m a damn coward! Why don’t I just call her? But what will I say?” she said to herself despondently. Just the thought of talking to this interesting young woman on the phone, whom she had only met for a short time and then in the whirlwind of all the terrible events, sent a shiver of strange sensations down her spine. What could she have said? Mrs. Abigail Lindsay, would you like to go on vacation with me? No, never! Besides, she couldn’t call the lady by her first and last name… How about: would you like to have dinner with me? Why would Abigail want to have dinner with her? As an agent, she probably had another exciting and dangerous assignment and was on a secret mission somewhere. Maybe she was wearing a skin-tight suit that really showed off her shapely backside? Kelly sighed and made a face. Whenever she got into these thoughts, she started chewing on the antenna of her cell phone. Definitely a bad habit to get rid of. The last few months had probably just been too much for her, which was why these strange images kept coming back to her. She stared at the number pad and then back at the TRAP agency business card. “Damn! Want to get coffee with me? It’s not that hard!” she finally called out loud. The cleaning lady, who had entered the room behind her, stared at her in surprise.
“Oh, Miss Malcolm, I’m still on duty…” she said, confused. Kelly Malcom’s head turned as red as a tomato.
“Uh, I didn’t mean… I…” The failed attempt at an explanation was followed by an awkward silence.
“Shall I come back later?” the cleaning lady asked, pointing at Dr. Malcom’s hand, assuming that the boss wanted to have another conversation because of the cell phone she was holding. Kelly sighed deeply again. No, she wouldn’t make another phone call today because she was a damn coward when she really liked someone. And the fact that this someone was a woman made her even more insecure. How well did she know herself? Then she shook her head, called the sushi restaurant around the corner and ordered dinner. When she was done, she had a sour look on her face. She was 35 and eating alone in the office tonight. Again…

Categorized as: Novel 6 (EN) | Novel Chapter (EN)

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