Paul Hardy - The Last Man on Earth Club

“I know. But you ate others who came back.”

“Yeh. I had to. I had to! I couldn’t round them up from the hills like we used to, not by myself. I had to use anything I could. But I didn’t eat them! ”

“I know that, Olivia. They were still in the pens when we found you.”

“I should have killed myself when they came back. Just… join everyone else, be done with it. But I thought there was someone else out there! And I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“I’d told them, I’d told them for years, there was someone out there. Just because the radio didn’t reach ’em, didn’t mean they weren’t there, and we had to sit tight, we had to . I wasn’t going to give up, even if everyone else did. So I kept trying. Twice a week I charged up the battery and tried the radio. Nothing. No one. Nobody in range. You lot were gone, everyone was gone, it was just me. ”

“What did happen to your children?”

She sprung up, infuriated. “You think I’m some kind of monster? Is that it? I kept them in the pen with the others but I left them alone! What, do you want to make me out like some kind of cannibal of her own children? Is that what you want?”

“I know what happened to your children.”

“Then why are you asking me?”

“Because I want to hear you tell me.”

“Waste of time! It’s a godsdamn waste of time!”

“It’s in the report from the people who found you.” She slumped back down, shivering again under the blanket. “You were on your own, except for the two revenants in the pen. And after the crew had explained what was going on, you took a gun and shot both of them in the head. And then you tried to kill yourself.”

Suddenly Olivia was in tears, bursting out despite every effort of self-control. “I didn’t eat them. I didn’t…”

“I know.”

“I didn’t…”

“Those two revenants in the pen were your children.”

“I didn’t eat them…”

She left it hanging there. A minute or more might have passed before she spoke again, squeezing the words out through tears.

“I was going to.”

She gasped as more tears came. I went to her and put an arm around her. For once, she did not refuse the comfort.

“I was so hungry… there was nothing else left… I had the hatchet in my hand…”

“What stopped you? The ship?”

“Yes. I just…” More tears interrupted her. “I didn’t want to die… I thought there had to be someone out there, I didn’t know I was the only one, I didn’t know!”

I held her as the crying went on.

Liss sat in the remote meeting room, listening to the bad news from the ICT. “It’s a matter of resources,” said her assigned ICT contact, projected into a meeting room chair.

“Resources. You’re kidding, right?”

“I wish we were. But we need the support of member species and a number of them aren’t providing the personnel they promised.”

“How many people does it take to ask a few questions?”

“It’s not just a few questions. There’s a huge amount of legwork involved, across a number of worlds. It’s a massive operation and we have to prioritise. But your case is close to the top of the list…”

“I’m not asking you to turn over every stone! There’s all the archives from the PRG! You don’t even need to go to another universe to start going through it!”

“And it’ll take a long time just to get through the archives. And frankly… with your world being the way it is, we’d have to be very thorough ruling out the possibility the guilty parties were home-grown.”

“You think we did it…?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m saying we have to rule it out or it might be a problem in court. It’s the first defence anyone would use.”

Liss folded her arms. “So who gets to go first? Iokan?”

“We’re looking into his case, yes. I can’t discuss the details.”

“Of course not. And how long before you get to me?”

“It’s impossible to say. But we’ll get there as fast as we can.”

She came to me, of course, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I asked if she wanted to try investigating on her own, as she seemed quite angry; but the anger turned into frustration, and she said there wasn’t any point. She left looking miserable.

Meanwhile, Olivia could not be left alone. She thought this to be a capital nuisance, but her protests were mere mutterings compared to her usual conduct. Liss found her in the common room with a nurse while a newsfeed played on the wall. Olivia wasn’t even watching. The nurse had only put the news on in an attempt to distract her from harmful self-contemplation.

Liss didn’t pay much attention to the first couple of minor items: Ardëe had made the news with its solar flares, or rather the panic among its people as they tried to flee the world despite government assurances; a minor species called Pwller were being welcomed to Hub on their first visit to the IU to negotiate membership, a sign that business-as-usual was returning after the attack; and then the screen went onto its main story, the ongoing reaction to the activation of the ICT, following the issuing of the first subpoenas demanding certain persons appear for questioning.

Liss found herself watching, and hearing opinions from four different universes. One world seemed uniformly hostile, and imitation IU transit pods were burnt in effigy. Another, older world showed no outward display of anger but presented a measured, reasoned argument against the ICT and the potential stirring up of unnecessary trouble. Then came a recently contacted world accusing every species in the multiverse of visiting their planet and conducting sexual experiments on their cattle. And finally another measured and reasoned argument from a well-known IU species who had suffered violations early in their history, saying that Something Must Be Done or else It Would Only Happen Again.

Liss shook her head as the newsreaders claimed the reports reflected the balance of opinion on all surveyed universes. “This is bullshit,” she said.

Olivia realised she was there. “What…?”

“The news. Bullshit.”

Olivia seemed to notice the feed for the first time. “Wasn’t watching.”

“That’s not a balance of views. That’s just the ones who are yelling the loudest.”

“What’s up with you?” asked Olivia, not so much to make the inquiry as to point out that Liss was annoying her.

Liss sighed. “I don’t know what to do…”

“Do whatever it is you usually do. I don’t know.”

Liss was quiet for a moment. Olivia began to think she’d taken the hint. She hadn’t.

“Can I ask your advice?”

“What…?”

“It’s just, I’ve had some news, and…”

“Well I’m sure I don’t know.”

“Look, you’re… I mean, you know what you’re doing. You’re good at making decisions, right? That’s why they put you in charge of that research place?”

Olivia was caught off guard and at a loss for words. Liss took her silence as permission to continue.

“You see I think I know who might have done it. I mean the genocide, on my world. And the ICT won’t investigate, and…”

Olivia cut in, suddenly dagger-serious. “You want to ask me my advice?”

“Er. Yeah. Is that okay?”

Olivia chuckled sourly. “You want to ask me for advice…” Her mirth turned a corner into sobs. The nurse sat next to her as Olivia hid her face and her tears.

“Not a good time,” said the nurse.

Liss watched, open mouthed, as Olivia allowed the nurse to put an arm around her. “Oh. Uh. Okay.” The nurse smiled an apology. “I’ll, um, I’ll… is there anything I can do?” The nurse shook her head, and Liss retreated.