I knew the routine was working because every morning I woke up ready to take on the tasks of the day. I spoke with Pawter’s mother and was given permission to take her around the colony. We started with plants, given my area of expertise. The girl was amazed when I cut open a leaf to show her the tiny cellular structures inside. As for the animals, I recruited the help of Gerald, one of the guys who had shown an unusual adeptness for trapping. He had aspirations of transitioning into the role of a scientist and had taken it upon himself to sketch detailed depictions of creatures both alive and dead. I was pretty fascinated myself; Gerald had seen more animals than I did. He even had detailed pictures of the small fish that raced up the nearby river. Pawter was over the moon. She peppered him with endless questions and Gerald showed endless patience. That’s the kind of parenting I always aspired towards. Never discourage a child from asking questions, especially if they were about topics that could enrich their lives.
The fragile peace around the colony was always in danger of unraveling. At least once a day a fight broke out over some insignificant slight or other that frequently ended with one person or another nursing a black eye. The thieving was still present, but the lost items were so insignificant that the ‘security’ team barely took notice. As the weather got warmer, people’s attitudes turned sour. Their motivation to work in the scorching sun was nonexistent. It took the threat of pulling their food rations for the next meal to keep things moving in an orderly fashion. After a couple weeks I had amassed a running club all my own. My nightly routines hadn’t gone unnoticed and people were desperate for some kind of relief from the struggles of the day. It was a little unpleasant having my one hour of peace horned in on by a dozen others, but if I kept my head down and tuned out, it was good enough. Alexander Fang approached me and asked if we could organize a kind of school system. The colony’s children still needed their education and adults who were unskilled in manual labor could always use to expand their skills. So it went. Those who had been teachers in the virtual world returned to their teaching duties, and those of us with expertise in a particular field gave a portion of our day to cross-training other colonists. Things settled down. At the end of the day, we humans are simple creatures. All people needed was a way to occupy themselves.
Little did I know that tranquility wouldn’t last very long. After adjusting to the new training schedules, people got bored again and the same problems began to pop up. This wasn’t working. Something needed to be done.
Chapter Three
Calls for leadership intensified as time went on, fueled by discomfort and the slow progress in settling down. Despite this, each time a proposal to establish a formal leader or group of leaders was put forth, it failed to manifest itself. I think that when it came down to it, people were just plain tired. The new peacekeeping force was proving to be extremely unpopular. The voting system that installed them in the first place eased tensions somewhat, but they were ratcheted back up every time the small group had to take action. Those who had put their names forward, even the people who weren’t appointed to the position, were viewed with suspicion and outright disgust.
In addition to Marcus, two others put their names forward for leadership. One of whom, to my shock, was Eliza. I can’t say I reacted well. I think they might have heard the shouting at the very edges of camp. Eliza and I hadn’t fought so much since I had been suffering from severe depression. The truth is that I was afraid. Afraid that she would be taking on too much. She had already spent too many years taking care of me, taking care of Marcus, only to be thrown into a frantic bid to save my life as I battled the disease that burned through the shelter. Now she wanted to be responsible for a thousand other souls and the multitude of problems that came with them? I had to wonder about her sanity. Still, she was a better choice than Azan. The grandson of fabulously wealthy family, he was born and raised to believe that his superiority was contained within his very blood. He split the age difference between Marcus and Eliza, coming in at the tender age of thirty-three. Old enough to know better and still young enough to not care. The thought of putting him in charge made my blood boil.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” I had entreated Eliza to join me in the fields, far away from most of the tents so we could have it out. “What happens when someone decides that they don’t like a woman being in charge? Or a lesbian? I can’t-“
“You don’t think I can handle it?” Her outburst shocked me into silence.
“Honey, I-“
“Fiona, I don’t know where you’ve been for the last twenty years but I’ve endured a hell of a lot. I’ve raised our son, I’ve helped your father clean up the absolute mess he made when he yanked us out of our lives..I’ve even taken care of-“ Eliza shut her mouth abruptly. She didn’t need to finish her sentence. I felt my face redden in anger. Eliza had never remotely suggested that my depression had been a burden to her. In my darkest times I had tried to convince her to leave me, certain that she deserved better. All she had done in response was to gather me in her arms and hold me while I sobbed. Now at the cusp of us starting as new chapter in life together, maybe my worst fears had actually come
