The World Above Us

Chapter 3

Anthony

Anthony Hale stared out the window of his habitat, feeling the crushing loneliness. He watched as Allison Hernandez ran by. She and John were the closest things to friends he had here.

He ran a hand through his graying brown hair as anxiety gripped his chest. His wife and daughters had yet to arrive. As part of their sentence, the three of them were supposed to be sent here to help perform manual labor for the colony.

He, his wife Grace, and their twenty-year-old daughters Hope and Kristin were caught by the government issuing fake passports to people who were fleeing the climate crisis. They had thought they were safe until government agents broke down their doors and taken them away to prison.

But so far there had been no word of what had happened to his wife and kids.

He walked outside and breathed in the artificial air, missing the fresh breeze of his Minnesota home. He and his family had resided in the suburbs before they had been arrested. Hope and Kristin were attending college at a local university and Grace worked as a doctor. He had been a teacher at the nearby high school.

He felt tears in his eyes as he remembered how simple things used to be. He shook his head. There was no holding on to the past. it was done. Over. All Anthony could do was wait. Wait for his wife and kids. Wait for word of their fate. Wait for things on Earth to settle down.

Anthony was jolted out of his thoughts by a loud buzzing. He saw a message come through on his holo. He tapped it open and watched as it projected in front of him.

It was the CEO of Novae Terrae.

Fear filled his gut. What would the all-powerful CEO of Novae Terrae want with him? What would Maryanne Holland want with Anthony Hale? Nothing good. That was for certain. The CEO never took interest in any particular person unless they had seriously fucked up.

"Dr. Holland," Anthony stammered, trying to regain his composure. If he slipped. He might never see his wife and kids again because his body would be rotting out in the Martian desert along with those of the Original Ten.

"Good morning Mr. Hale," she said cooly. The CEO was never one for warmth. Most people wondered if she was even human half the time. She was a CEO after all.

"How can I help you?" he asked, trying to keep the anger and fear out of his voice. If the CEO noticed his nervousness, she didn't say anything.

"I need you at headquarters in twenty minutes. A company car will be coming to pick you up," she said. Anthony was paralyzed. Fear shot through his body like a torpedo. Was this the end of the line for him? Most people who got into company cars were never seen again. He thought of his wife, his kids, and his students.

"I shall see you shortly, Mr. Hale," the CEO said before the holo disappeared. He was left shaking. It wasn't phone call day, so he had no way to reach Grace, Kristen, and Hope.

He headed to the plastic mirror and began combing his hair. Nobody on the colony was in possession of real glass. It was too expensive to import and most likely wouldn't survive space travel. And the space-grade stuff they did import was used for construction. So colonists had to settle for some sort of plastic substance that somehow managed to be reflective. Novae Terrae could do wonders in their labs.

He tapped open a picture of his wife and kids on his holo. It was a picture from his fiftieth birthday. It was hard to imagine that had been only four years ago. He was sitting in front of a cake with the words 'happy birthday Dad' written across it in bright pink icing. Piping lined the edges. Candles shaped like the numbers 5 and 0 were placed on top. The zero was a little lopsided and the frosting was sliding off on one side but Anthony loved that cake anyway.

In the photo his wife rested her hand on his shoulder, her wedding ring glinting in the light. Hope and Kristen had been sixteen at the time the photo was taken. Hope stood to Anthony's left and Kristin to his right. Their identical brown hair and green eyes remained him so much of Grace. The twins really did take after their mother, Anthony thought as he opened the door and went to wait on the artificial lawn of his habitat. The door gave a mechanical hiss and opened. Streetlights lit the Dome. It was dimmer than usual out. He glanced up to see another sandstorm blowing over the Dome. Anthony watched in horror as the rust-colored dust swirled overhead.

Sure enough, a sleek black company car hovered in the street in front of him like a bad omen. He could see the magnetic force pulsating out of the four giant disks in the bottom, keeping it raised off of the ground.

The black metallic doors slid open with a hiss, inviting him inside. He reluctantly crawled in. A thick pane of space-grade glass separated him from the front, where all the controls were. The vehicle was autonomous, so there was no driver to prevent any foul play.

He squirmed uncomfortably in the plastic seat as the vehicle glided smoothly forward, making a beeline for the Novae Terrae headquarters in the center of the Dome. He clutched the harness as though his life depended upon it.

He recalled memories of his family and time as a teacher in an attempt to quell the anxiety that was making it hard for him to breathe. He had taught science. Biology. He used to be a favorite amongst the students at the high school where he taught. He missed them. He missed them all.

The car glided past all of the habitats and all of the permanent structures. There weren't many businesses in the colony. Yet anyway. Most of the people in the colony were scientists and people who worked for NASA. Others were like him, people sent here because they pissed off the wrong people.

Soon, the car came to a stop outside of the Novae Terrae headquarters. The artificial light glinted off the ominous-looking building. It wasn't tall by Earth standards, but it was tall enough to be intimidating.

The automatic doors opened swiftly, letting him in. Agents waited inside. Dread filled every corner of his body. The agents didn't smile as he approached. They just stared at him with stony expressions. Anthony took in the guns attached to their hips. One wrong move and he would end up laying on the ground face down where a laser bullet had left a smoking hole in his back.

"Right this way," One of the agents said as they lead him down a white hallway. The plastic walls were so clean, he could see his reflection. The floors squeaked as he walked down the hallway. All he could focus on was the feeling of impending doom that pooled in his stomach.