The Tomorrow Gene - 01 - The Tomorrow Gene by Sean Platt

Author:Sean Platt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Thriller
Published: 2017-07-22T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 38

A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR EVERYONE

Gus and Pierra dropped Sophie, Altruance, and Ephraim off at the tram station, then parked at the end of the gravel path as if all three of the Tomorrow Gene guests had every right in the world to be there. Ephraim hadn’t tried to hang back. There was no point. If he hung, the others would, too. He couldn’t sneak off to the communication zone to try and call Fiona without admitting his intentions, and right now — for reasons that were hard to articulate — he couldn’t do that. Not now. Not yet.

Signs reading Authorized Guests Only were everywhere even at the Retreat end of its tracks. There wasn’t a gate, though, nor guards or escorts. The tram waited in the station, its doors sliding open when Sophie approached.

There was nobody else on board. Ephraim looked through the window, heart pounding, and saw Gus and Pierra looking on like family watching a plane full of loved ones about to take off.

With a whoosh, the tram began to move. Retreat dwindled as the tram accelerated across the bay. Watching it, Ephraim had the strangest feeling that he would never see its shores again.

“Excited?” Sophie said from behind him.

Ephraim nodded. He wasn’t, but this procedure was a half-million credit gift she’d given him.

Mounted concrete pylons dipped below the water’s surface to hold the tram’s single track, presumably anchored to Eden’s ocean plateau like stanchions on a pier. The tram traveled higher than Ephraim thought necessary — a good fifty feet above the surface rather than the water-skimming ten or even five that would’ve made the ride feel more elegant and picturesque.

It was probably high for safety reasons. They weren’t crossing an inland lake; they were crossing artificial islands in what was otherwise open ocean. There could be hurricanes. Typhoons. Thunderstorms, wind, and tidal waves. And the water out here, when it rose high and angry, wouldn’t be a tram’s best friend.

Ephraim tried to settle, feeling the war inside his gut. The track arced up from the water at the Retreat end, stayed high for miles, then arced down again once over land on the Pearl side. The view was spectacular. The water was almost glass-smooth within the Eden archipelago and textured with waves beyond the outer edges.

Eden’s internal water was crystal blue and the ocean beyond a dark navy. The sun was high, casting the many distant waves with flashing peaks. To each side were the other islands, all immaculately shaped and maintained, beaches white and greenery lush. The homes dotting their shores were all massive and gorgeous. Larger than life.

The tram descended in a slow arc. When it arrived at Pearl station, the doors opened. This time, a party stood ready to greet them. Ten or twelve people dressed in white and smiling. Some of the white tops were smocks like Reef aestheticians, but two or three were jackets worn over white shirts. The single man in formalwear had a bright white tie. The two women wore their jackets buttoned, their manner polite and professional.

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