Paul Collins - Earthborn The

Welkin found himself shaking Lee's hand and then several others as well.

"You can get to know the others as we go," Harry said. Without another word everybody moved out.

Harry stayed close and filled Welkin and Lucinda in on what had happened to him.

"The elders questioned me for several days and ran me through the decoder. I told them you had nothing to do with it, but they still didn't believe me. Or they did but they didn't care. Then they dumped me down here. I didn't even get a hearing!"

Luckily, he had fallen in with Lee's group, which accepted him when they learned he had some training in hydroponics.

"I can't see a thing," Lucida said. "Why are the lights so dim?"

"You get used to it," Harry told her. "We don't have a lot of power down here. As Lee said, resources are scarce."

They waded through puddles of stagnant water. The stench was worse than anything Welkin or

Lucida had ever experienced. Several recently burst pipes leaked continually. Their boots, not designed for water resistance, made squelching noises as they picked their way along the companionway. There was a constant gushing noise from running water.

At times, the metal plating beneath them was so warped they had to jump across rents in the flooring.

Huge sheets of plating had peeled back from the superstructure, revealing gaping pits of darkness.

"Careful, now," Lee called back as a kid called Wez squealed and slid a yard before being grabbed.

They reached some emergency stairs and climbed down. Once out of the companionway, they appeared more relaxed.

"It's no-man's-land back there. Anything goes," Harry explained, then looked concerned. "Things won't be easy at first. Most people need a period of adjustment, and some of them . . . well, some of them just don't make it. It's a kind of overload. They sit and stare at nothing for hours on end, then one day they're just gone."

"We'll be okay," Welkin said, confidently.

"Welkin lived on the surface for three days!" Lucida said.

Harry stared. "For real?" Welkin nodded. "Then we need to talk! There've been major ruptures in the ship's hull, and all the bottom decks are cut off. But I think there's a way out, only nobody will listen to me. They're scared. I keep trying to tell them that outside can't be any worse than in here, but it's got me beat. We've all been discarded, thrown out like refuse, yet most of the people down here still cling to the teachings and beliefs of the elders. Doesn't make any sense!"

"Maybe," said Welkin, "those things are more important when everything else has been taken away."

Harry eyed Welkin oddly. "I've never heard you talk like that before."

Welkin shrugged. "I've never been kidnapped by Earthborn, shot with an arrow, and condemned to the lower decks before. Guess there's a first time for everything."

Harry grinned. "Guess there is. And maybe I should just shut up till I get the whole story."

Welkin proceeded to tell Harry everything that had transpired from the moment Harry had been grabbed in the briefing session with Elder Tobias till he and Lucida had been shoved through the bulkhead door into the lower deck territory. At the end, Harry whistled. "Wow. And I thought I'd been through a recycled" "I'm hungry," Lucida said suddenly.

Welkin grinned. "That's my ever practical sister! So Harry, what's to eat? And don't tell me leftover softie."

Harry said, "We're all out of softie. Sorry." Lucida shot Harry a horrified look, then realized he was kidding. Or hoped he was. He continued, "We've set up a protein lab. Sort of. And a hydroponic area, which I've managed to expand. Had to steal some power, but that's how it's done. You won't starve down here, but you won't turn into a heavy, either."

"Were you trying to break out when they discarded us?" Lucida asked.

"Oh, that!" Harry laughed. "No, we weren't trying to break out. We just give them a hard time whenever we can. Don't want them thinking they can take a stroll through our territory any time they like.

Sometimes we even get a laserlite from them."

"Most of the bulkheads are locked from our side, too," Lee said. He had dropped back and was listening in on their conversation. "Tell us about outside," he said.

"Yeah, what's it like?" asked the ginger-haired Wez.

"The city is pretty desolate. A bit like this, I guess. It's divided up among warring gangs," he said.

"Outside the city, it's different. There's no ... end. It just keeps going, as far as the eye can see. Sarah told me that vegetation in the countryside has started coming back. Grass, trees. For a long time there wasn't enough sunlight for proper photosynthesis."

"Sunlight?" a woman in her twenties asked.

"Trust me, you have to see it to believe it!" He went on to describe what little he had seen of Earth, emphasizing the open spaces, the ruggedness of the inhabitants, and how cold it had been. Despite the list of negatives, there was also admiration, even longing, in his voice, which the others picked up on and puzzled over. A restless murmur snaked through the troop as they moved.

"The Earthborn have options," Lee observed. "We have walls."

"Walls can come down," Harry said pointedly. He turned back to Welkin. "This Sarah. Do you think she would help us, maybe even let us join her?"

Welkin shook his head slowly. "She can't do much without help from inside Colony. I was supposed to create a diversion in the main cruise cabin while some of Sarah's gang got on board to raid the food and equipment stores. She was going to take out some of the surveillance sensors. Then we'd all escape in the confusion."

The troop emerged from the stairwell, took up a new formation, and headed down a wide passage.

A stocky kid called Garth spoke up. "These other gangs," he said. "Sounds like this Bruick might be better suited to our purposes. More of them, for starters."

"They're worse than you can imagine," Welkin said. "You couldn't trust them."

"Maybe they wouldn't trust us" Garth said. "Anyway, why should we trust this woman? What's in it for her?"

A few of the others nodded, and all of a sudden everyone had something to say.

"Quiet!" Lee snapped. He didn't speak again until a hush had descended. "Right. Try listening, just for once. And keep your blasted eyes peeled! We're not back at home base yet."

Welkin tried to answer Garth's question. "Sarah has a ... vision. She believes the Earth can be rebuilt.

Rebuilt by people like us. And I trust her," he said simply.

Suddenly, a steel-tipped dart sliced the air and slammed Lee into a wall. His head smacked the metal hard and he slid to the floor.

"After him!" Wez screamed. His voice echoed in the narrow corridor.

Three of their party raced to the intersection. Warily they searched the darkness.

"Gone," Harry called back.

Lucida knelt beside Lee, probing the wound with her fingertips. She looked at the blood seeping from his shoulder as though it were something alien. "How do we fix this?" she asked anxiously.

"We don't call the medics, that's for sure," Harry said. He and Welkin lifted Lee between them. His head lolled from side to side.

"Gently," Lucida cried.

"Not to worry, he's tough." Harry grunted under Lee's weight.

They staggered off down the damp passage. The others formed a protective flank around them.

"Why did they do this?" Lucida asked, bewildered by the laws of the lower decks.

"They call it 'payback,' " Harry said. "We got two of their people when they raided our lab."

"But that's barbaric!" Lucida's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"You'll get no argument from me," Harry said with resignation.

They arrived at Bay View Dock. Lee was lowered to a chair and a girl called Kara tended his wound.