The Fila Epiphany by J J Green

Author:J J Green [Green, J J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InfiniteBook
Published: 2018-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

After leaving the problem of the intelligent thread creatures in the lake with Vasquez and Kes—promising to meet up with Kes the following day—Cariad grabbed a take-away dinner from the refectory and went to her cabin, tired and sleepy. She’d been finding it hard to sleep in the strange room at the Leader’s residence, partly because she was planetside. She’d gotten used to sleeping aboard ship. The faint vibration of the ship’s engines was soothing.

Cariad comm’d Osias to update him on what Vasquez had said, then she ate her food. The next thing she did was check the position of Ethan’s flitter signal. Checking the satellite report had become like an itch she had to scratch. Each time she looked it up, she hoped to see that the flitter had moved. Each time she’d been disappointed.

That night, however, she saw something worse than no movement. She saw something she hadn’t imagined could happen. The signal was gone.

It wasn’t possible. The devices that emitted the signals were virtually indestructible. They were intended to be used to locate the vehicles in case of an accident and were built to withstand extreme impacts, fire, immersion in deep water, and other extreme stresses. What could have happened to cause the signal to disappear? Cariad checked the report and checked it again. She requested a second report, this time encompassing all of Concordia. Ethan’s flitter signal had entirely disappeared from the planet.

No matter how hard she searched or stared at the screen, the result was the same. She no longer knew where Ethan was or even if he was still alive. She felt like she should tell someone, but who could she tell? Concordia had no rescue services. The colony wasn’t far from being in need of rescue itself. Ethan’s expedition had been a personal choice, taken in full knowledge of the incredible risks involved.

Also, he hadn’t asked permission to leave. At the time there hadn’t been anyone for him to ask. Anahi had stepped down as Leader and a replacement hadn’t been elected. And Ethan had taken a flitter for his own long-term use, which was technically illegal. The flitters belonged to the colony. They weren’t for anyone to use as they wanted.

The settlement had been in such a state of upheaval after the flood at the caves, with the Guardians withdrawing and relations between the Gens and Woken in flux, Ethan had simply made his decision to check for survivors and then embark on a longer expedition, and slipped away.

If Cariad raised a hue and cry about the missing flitter signal, what would happen? Traveling into the wilds of Concordia, even as a group, was risky, and the colony numbers were already dangerously low. They couldn’t afford to lose more people. She had a strong suspicion that Osias would forbid anyone to leave and try to find Ethan.

She was torn. She wanted to head out to the site of the last signal from the flitter, but should she? She was needed at the colony.

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