The Refugee Sentinel by Hayes Harrison

Author:Hayes, Harrison [Hayes, Harrison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koalanda, LLC
Published: 2015-04-22T07:00:00+00:00

ten days till defiance day (34

Eaton lay on the floor, slaying holographic aliens on his PlayStation portable. On the couch, Natt was relaxing with a fresh glass of scotch. Funny how progress had a way of crushing even the most ambitious. No matter how strong Natt felt, someone stronger, younger and hungrier was bound to come along. His stepson was the future and Natt was thrilled as a parent, but as a man, he was jealous. Eaton, at eight years old, was already smarter than his stepfather and the realization bothered Natt like a stone in the shoe. Of course, he would never admit to it, at a confessional or on his deathbed. He shuddered at the unstoppable force of the kid’s future. What heights would Eaton achieve at twenty? How about thirty? And Natt… He’d drool, head bobbing up and down, in front of a retirement home TV, with his dentures soaking in a mouthwash by his bedside.

Eaton looked up at his stepdad and smiled with his whole face. The sheer presence of this smile assured Natt that everything would end well: Seattle would survive the floods and Defiance Day wouldn’t be as bad as everyone thought. Natt had a hunch other fathers loved their sons with similar intensity, but also knew Eaton was different. Eaton’s math and programming skills were untouched. Last month, he was invited to the ULE Presidential Palace in Mexico City to consult on how humankind could colonize other planets in the Milky Way. Eaton had made it through several rounds for the privilege and crushed at each stage to the point of demoralizing his opponents. Eaton’s method of pulse combustion was both brilliant and simple. While the rest of the field fell over each other researching solar and renewables, he looked to the past, reverse-engineering the twenty-first century NASA shuttles. He replaced their primitive fuel-thrust sequences with nanotech algorithms and their steel engines with quantum alloys. The stunning aircraft, called “The Razgrad,” could, in theory, cover light-years worth of distance at acceptable velocity and unparalleled fuel efficiency. President Sanchez had made time to meet Eaton and commissioned a North Dakota ULE lab of four thousand engineers to translate the boy’s approach into a working prototype.

On the floor next to Natt’s couch, Eaton gave out a high-pitched, “Yes,” his thumbs mashing the controller, tongue sticking out of his mouth. As easy as it was to forget, he was still just eight. Natt put the glass down and scooted on the floor, next to his stepson.

“What have you got here?” On the holographic screen, a busty brunette mauled through space aliens with a plasma machete.

“Oh, Dad… you wouldn’t like Lara Croft,” Eaton shook his head. “I have another two levels until I beat the game. Depending on how bad I suck.” Natt moved closer, until his knee touched Eaton’s, and hugged the boy’s tense body. Why did life have to be this rotten? How could he keep his family alive through Defiance Day? None of them had been earmarked yet, but what if they were? What if Eaton was? Natt hung his head.

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