Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets (8 page)

“
I guess I
’
m used to it,” he said. “That
’
s the life of a rich kid.”

Aisha nodded. “You were one of the
first ones here, so I figured you must be.”

“
Not just rich,” said Patrice. “My
family is one of the richest in the world. They funded much of the
development of this place.”

She resisted the impulse to say
‘
wow
’
, and
instead defiantly burst out, “Am I supposed to be
impressed?”

“
I’
m glad
you aren
’
t,” he said. “Money is a fleeting
thing after all.”

“
So why are you telling me
this?”

He sat on a small bench, and she
joined him. There was a window in the floor in front of them, and
they watched as the Earth slowly moved into view. Through the
clouds, Aisha could make out the Indian subcontinent. In the
twilight, lights were on in the cities, except for the Punjab
region in the north. There, like in Korea, a nuclear exchange had
taken place, and several cities were piles of radioactive
rubble.

“
My family made their money by
understanding the needs of the many, and selling it to them, at a
huge profit. They
’
ve done this for
generations, and then they just
…
”

“
Just what?”

“
Liquidated it all, and funded
this
.”

“
Why?”

“
That, indeed, is the
question.”

“
Well, they
’
re
your
family.”

“
And if they
’
d tell anybody, they
’
d tell
me, is that it?”

“
Yes.”

He paused, breathed deeply. Aisha
must have hit a nerve. She regretted it, but before she could say
anything he spoke. “I wish it were that simple.”

Trying to be more gentle, but
still curious, she sat closer to him, and looked him in the eye.
“Did you ask?”

“
You don
’
t just barge in and ask your father why he blew
hundreds of billions of dollars and several generations’ worth of
family wealth on a Space program.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I
’
m not supposed to
know
. It
’
s supposed to be a secret. As far as all the
shareholders of his companies are concerned, they are still sitting
on a big pile of cash.”

“
So he took
their
money?”
She was surprised at her own snarky comment, but it just leapt out
of her mouth.

“
Technically, it
’
s not theirs. They bought stocks with it, and he used
the money from the various companies to do this. Most of which was
his own.”

“
Technically.”

“
I don
’
t
want to argue with you, Aisha,” he said, sighing. “I know that much
of this is distasteful to you. It
’
s
distasteful to
me
also. I
’
m not
like him. I
’
m not like the rest of
them.”

“
But you benefit from it,
don
’
t you?”

“
Yes, but the difference is that I
aim to share that benefit.”

“
That
’
s
why you
’
re talking to the first black girl
who came through open enrollment, is that it? Spread a little
charity, spread a little love to make yourself feel better. Well I
don
’
t--”

His voice broke in anger.
“Stop!”

He was usually so gentle-spoken
that the venom in his voice stopped her cold.

The look of shock and hurt in his
eyes made her heart flutter. “If you are such a poor judge of
character, then I was wrong about you. I was wrong to do this, and
I should just--”

She put her hand on his arm. His
eyes met hers again, and she thought he would cry.

“
Sorry,” she said. “I
didn
’
t mean to…”

He exhaled, and looked downwards
at the Earth as it curved below.

“
Don
’
t hate me because of who my family
are. Judge me for myself.
”

She put her hand on his back, and
stroked it lightly. “I will,” she said. “I will.”

She saw a tear drip onto the
glass, like it was raining on the Earth.

“
That hurt,” is all he could say.
“I didn
’
t think it would ever hurt that
bad, but it hurt.”

She sat a little closer to him,
and put her arm around his shoulder. He had lived such a life of
privilege. At first, she felt resentment that they were in this
situation, but then she was overcome by a wave of compassion. As
her hand rested on his shoulder, she could begin to understand. All
the good things he had in his life were a sham. It was nothing
about him, and everything about his wealth. Nobody saw
him
.
They saw who his family was, and what they were capable
of.

And here, he had begun to open up
to her, and she rejected him because of all that.

“
You don
’
t do that a lot, do you,” she finally
asked.

“
Do what?”

“
Open up like that.”

“
First time.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Why me? Why now?”

“
I don
’
t
know. I didn
’
t think I could feel like
this, but I feel so comfortable around you. So relaxed. I feel like
I can trust you.”

“
You can. Even though I
didn
’
t show it right now. But you
can.”

He looked at her, sideways. His
eyes were red, and his nose was running. Surprised at the intimacy
of the move, she put her sleeve over her hand and wiped his face.
She felt herself tearing up.

“
I’
m
really sorry,” she said. “I don
’
t know
what came over me.”

“
Generations of people like me
screwing over people like you came over you,” he said quietly. “I
think that can all end, and I want to be a part of it
.
”

“
How?”

“
This place,” he said. “I
don
’
t think anybody really knows
what
’
s going on here. Nobody here is
exactly who they seem.”

“
Except you?”

He laughed ironically. “Especially
me.”

She put her
hands on her knees and looked at her feet.
“
Why am I here?
”

“
I don
’
t
know,” he said finally. “I thought I had figured out some of their
plans. The consortium of people who pushed the world to build this
place, including my father. I thought that open enrollment would
give us a clue.”

“
How?”

“
By looking at who they choose and
why they choose them, it might give an idea about their
intent.”

“
What did you find?”

“
That most of the kids they
brought up were brilliant. Major assets that wouldn
’
t make it in the
‘
real
world
’
because they couldn
’
t afford the Harvards or Stanfords of the
world.”

“
Most of them?”

“
Yes. There were two
mysteries.”

“
Two?”

“
Yes, two. Soo-Kyung was the
first. She has a very interesting history. Seamus is an amazing
hacker, and he was able to dig into everyone. Her background blew
his mind.”

There was a sinking feeling in her
stomach. “And the other?”

“
You, of course.”

“
Me?”

“
Yes.”

“
Why? What made me a
mystery?”

“
When we tried to investigate you,
your records were sealed so tight, Seamus couldn
’
t break into them. According to him, even
God
couldn
’
t decrypt them.”

The flash didn’t kill me right
away. But the radiation from it zipped through my body at close to
the speed of light. I didn’t feel it, of course, and most of it
went through me like tiny fish through a large net. But not all of
it. A little here, and a little there hit targets. It caused cells
to unravel, and new things to grow. Cancers. And just as if it had
incinerated me on the spot, I was a dead man. But God had given me
the gift of time. Time to do something with what was left of my
life. Time to get things ready for you to have the life I could
never have. And time to write this letter to you, my dear
daughter…

They had a few
minutes
before class, and Aisha wanted to make the most of it. Patrice had
asked her if she would join him. He had said he had something very
special to share with her.

Soo-Kyung had teased her all
night, speculating about all the things Patrice might do. “Maybe
he
’
ll even ask you to marry him,” she
laughed, before Aisha took her down with a well-aimed
pillow.

But she was curious. It
wasn
’
t like Patrice to be so secretive.
After breakfast, he led her away, and down the corridors. She
couldn
’
t help but notice
Seamus
’
raised eyebrows and
Soo-Kyung
’
s hand covering her
mouth.

“
Look, I don
’
t normally do stuff like this, so don
’
t judge me,” said Patrice, as he led her through a
maintenance hatch.

“
What
are
you
doing?”

“
Not here,” he said. She stopped
in her tracks.

He grabbed her hand and her heart
skipped a beat. He pulled gently, and she took a couple of steps
before stopping again.

“
What? What is it?
”
His eyes searched hers. She felt
her cheeks flush.

His eyes widened. “Oh no!” He
laughed and blushed a little. “It
’
s not
that!”

Somewhere, deep down, she felt a
little disappointed at how vigorously he said it, almost as if it
was something he despised.

“
Not like I wouldn
’
t like to,” he said, winking. “But I respect you way
too much to ask you for
that
.”

“
Then what?”

“
We
’
re
almost there.”

She followed him as he walked on.
He hadn
’
t let go of her hand. A glow moved
up her arm into her heart and burst out as a smile.

“
Here we are!”

“
A closet?”

“
Not just any closet, check this
out.”

He palmed the lock, and it opened.
Inside was a monitor. Beside it a communications pad.

“
Is that what I think it
is?”

“
Yep,
”
he said.
“
Seamus and I cobbled it together,
and hacked together a downlink. It allows me to call someone very
special to me.
”

“
Who?”

The face of a young girl appeared
on the screen. “Sophie, this is Aisha. The one I told you
about.”

He turned to Aisha. “Aisha, this
is Sophie, the most precious person in the world to me. My
sister.”

Sophie smiled. She had the same
angelic looks as her brother.

“
She
’
s
pretty,” said Sophie. “I can see why you like her.”

“
She
’
s
more than just pretty.”

“
I know.”

“
You do?”

“
Otherwise
you
wouldn
’
t like her. Hello Aisha,” she said,
smiling. “I think we are going to be best friends.”

***

For the rest of the day, Aisha
felt like she was glowing. Sophie was clearly very important to
Patrice -- to the extent that he risked getting kicked out of
school so he could stay in touch with her. And he had shared this
with Aisha. She could see why he loved Sophie so much. She had his
wit, his looks, and from the brief time she spent chatting, it was
clear that Sophie
’
s brain was off the
charts.

“
She
’
s no
spoiled rich kid, that
’
s for sure,” said
Patrice. “I just hope that she can be who she is capable of being.
That the world we will build will be the one that she can
enjoy.”

And just like that Aisha embraced
him. Held him close.

“
We will,” she said.
“We
’
ll do it together.”