Paul Hardy - The Last Man on Earth Club

He opened his eyes again, and there were tears welling up in them. But he wiped them away and spoke. “Was it all… artificial?”

“What you felt about the Antecessors was real. But the way they started it was artificial, yes.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m… I…”

“It might take some time for you to come to terms with it. I think you still have some therapy to do.”

He put his head in his hands and sighed.

“But there’s something for you to think about.”

He looked up from his palms.

“The Antecessors, the new ones, are in discussions with the IU to see if we can help them rebuild your world. It’ll take time, with everything that’s happening at the moment. But we think we can give them back their bodies.”

There were tears in his eyes.

“And not just the adults. It’ll be harder, but we think we can bring back the children as well. Even the very youngest.”

And then he couldn’t control himself at all. His chin trembled and sobs came out.

“You’re not alone.”

After seeing Iokan, I decided I ought to look in on Elsbet again. I found her in her room, having lunch, with copious dessert: a sweet pudding smothered in syrup.

“This is incredible! ” she said with her mouth full. “D’you want some?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said.

“Can’t anyway. It’s all mine.” She crammed in another mouthful. “Why does it taste so good? ”

“Brand new tastebuds. Whatever you did to them in your old life, that’s gone now.”

“Balls. We didn’t have anything like this in general population, or the army. Only sugar we got was pills to keep us going…”

“You should be careful, you know. You don’t want to get overweight.”

“Who cares?” She licked her spoon to get every last trace from it.

“What kind of food did they have in the asteroids?”

Her look soured. “Fucking algae. Grew it in tanks, then they put flavour on it. Nothing like this.”

“You didn’t like living there, did you?”

“Nobody likes living there. Fucking machines.”

“What do you think will happen now they’re gone?”

She shrugged. “We were supposed to go back to Earth, so that’s not happening. I don’t know. Maybe they’ll build some proper space stations.”

“Was it so bad because you had to hide from the machines?”

“Course it was.”

“And you think it’ll get better now they’re gone?”

“Bound to.”

I nodded. “There might be a problem.” She put her spoon down and looked at me. “Katie told us a lot about how things went from the machines’ point of view…”

“She was lying. They always lie to us.”

“I don’t think so. You see, one of the things she said was that they sent expeditions to other star systems. It took decades for them to get there. But sooner or later they’re going to find out what happened. And when they do, they’re going to head back. There’s going to be another war. A Fourth Machine War.”

She didn’t answer.

“The Diplomatic Service wanted Katie to help prevent that war.”

Still no answer.

“Elsbet?”

She set her jaw. “I’m not going back.”

“You don’t have to, I’m not saying that—”

“I am not going back! ”

“That’s fine—”

She flung her dessert aside and burst out of bed.

“You can’t send me back. I’ve done my mission!”

“I understand—”

She grabbed me by the jacket. Not threatening but pleading.

“Do you know what they’ll do to me? They will kill me. As a traitor. Because of what she did!”

“Elsbet—”

“ I’m not going back! To that — hole!” The tears were coming now. “You can’t send me back. I won’t go.”

I pulled her close and held her. She let go of my jacket and sobbed into my shoulder.

“I’m not going back there… I don’t want to live like that…”

“It’s okay,” I said. “You can stay here. We won’t make you do anything.”

I held onto her, smelling the sweet sugar of the syrup as she clung to me.

Liss’s request to have a meeting with a Quillian consular official had been considered by the Diplomatic Service, and approved with minor restrictions. The duty of care and anonymity limited the choice of venues, and the availability of the consular official in question reduced them still further. So it took place in the Diplomatic Service General Negotiation Complex, where the most stringent precautions could be observed on ground that was absolutely guaranteed to be neutral.

Quite why it needed to look like an ancient temple garden was another question entirely, but the structure of marble pillars, lintels, arches and fountains did produce a calming effect. The individual ‘meeting rooms’ were the spaces around fountains in the temple complex, apparently open to the elements but only because the ceilings showed pictures of the sky on a sunny day with friendly clouds and never a hint of rain to trouble the negotiations. The rooms could have tables and chairs if the parties wished, but most people were encouraged to sit by a fountain, usually with a refreshment tray by their side.

Liss waited in one of these rooms, looking around. She ran a finger across the marble to feel the texture (very accurate), put a hand in the fountain to see if the water was real (definitely), and examined the flowering vines (not real at all, though it was hard to tell).

She was distracted by a chime from the entrance to the ‘room’, and the air rippled as a Mediator emerged from the corridor beyond. The illusion of being alone in an empty garden was nothing more than that: an illusion.

“I’m sorry about the wait,” said the Mediator, a man with a charming smile and an apology for every occasion. “The other party says he was delayed and conveys his apologies. I understand the present situation on Ardëe is the cause.”

Liss smiled her understanding. “I suppose he’s a busy man, huh?”

The Mediator nodded. “He should be here in just a few minutes. Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No. I’m fine.”

The Mediator withdrew through the rippling air. Liss checked the control pad for the room. She found a setting to change the time of day, thought about it for a moment, and slid it over to ‘night’. The sun faded and dimpled until it turned into the moon. The sky darkened to indigo. Stars revealed themselves and even the wash of the Milky Way became visible. Oil lamps flickered into life on the columns around the fountain.

The entrance rippled again, and the Mediator returned. He blinked a little as his eyes adjusted to the darker setting, then said: “The other party has arrived. Are you ready for the meeting, Ms. Li’Oul?”

She stood up from the side of the fountain and nodded.

“You may wish to anonymise yourself.”

“Okay. Got it.” She fiddled with a pad and a blur mask jumped up in front of her face, contouring a couple of centimetres around her features.

“I shall refer to you as Ms. Doe, to further preserve your anonymity.”

“Uh, okay.”

The Mediator nodded, satisfied. “Very well. I’ll call him in.” Whatever signal he sent, Liss did not see it. A few seconds later, the Quillian consular official entered: a short man whose manner was older than he looked. His smile as he saw her was polite, warm, but well practiced. Something worn professionally.

“Mr. Vawlin, may I present Ms. Doe, who is under the care of the Refugee Service.” Vawlin bowed. “Madame, this is Mr. Telliniad Vawlin of the Quillian Embassy to the Interversal Union.” Liss did her best to copy Vawlin’s bow, looking a little embarrassed.