Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

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For a few seconds, both Null and Lars were left speechless. They had seen the hypocrisy of the elites with their own eyes, but that they would destroy an entire civilian colony seemed low, even for them.

But it wouldn't be the first time, Lars realized, Just think of what happened on New Caledonia.

The colony of New Caledonia had been blown up by Vespers a couple of years back. According to the media, the Vespers had nipped a large-scale revolution in the bud. There had been riots in the streets, and the New Caledonians had even begun to amass weapons and form a small scale army. Or so they had been told. Now Lars wasn't so willing anymore to believe what Neo-Tokyo claimed to be true. Even if there had been a rebellion, New Caledonia had still been home to civilians, too.

As for Europa, Lars had never even known that there was a colony on the Jovian moon. From what they had seen so far, it was insignificant. A small settlement, probably even smaller than the one on the Terran moon Luna. It seemed highly unlikely that the settlers here had planned a revolution.

"So Neo-Tokyo attacked Europa? But why?" Null asked Calliope.

"You probably do not remember it, because you were just a child at the time. But back in the day, there was a lot of political tension between the Houses of Neo-Tokyo and the old government on Earth. The Houses had played a crucial role in the colonization of space, and used their power and influence to lobby for the relocation of the seat of the government to Neo-Tokyan Prime. The government - on Earth at the time - did not agree to that. They knew that it was only the first step in a plan to take over full control. The Houses already had considerable power over all of known space, thanks to their money. The only thing they had no power over yet, were the democratic elections of the ruling body of humanity..."

Buying a whole galaxy with their gold... and where that doesn't work, with iron and blood, Null thought, full of disdain. Those bastards.

"It started as a peaceful negotiation, but at some point, Neo-Tokyo lost their patience, and attacked. It was a coup, executed by a branch of the military that was loyal to Neo-Tokyo. They attacked Europa first, because our colony was small. The government on Earth gave in, to protect the other colonies that Neo-Tokyo threatened to destroy. In hindsight, they probably would not have dared to start a full-on war with the Sol system... but they achieved their goal. It was enough to show that they could, if they wanted to, wage war also on Mars or Earth and the other moons. But Europa was small enough to successfully hide the evidence of what they had done."

"So that's why the Gatekeeper was at the outer reaches of the system, and not just around Terra," Null realized. "But, wait a moment, Calliope. All of this... the government was relocated about fifty years ago. How..."

Her voice trailed off as Calliope's words slowly sank in.

"You have been asleep for a very long time, Evelyn," the AI said softly.

Thirty years, she calculated in her head, I have been in cryo for more than thirty fucking years.

She clasped a hand over her mouth and stared off into the distance, shocked speechless for a few seconds.

It cannot be. There must be a mistake. Something... missing.

She jumped to their feet, and began to pace around the room aimlessly, sifting through the clutter and debris on the floor as if she was looking for something. But there was nothing left. Everything had been turned upside down, destroyed or dismantled, from the furniture to the shelves on the walls to the electric appliances.

She found a book and picked it up. It's bound back was ragged and dirty, and the title was illegible. The moment she opened it, its brittle pages turned to dust under her touch. Slipping through her fingers like fine sand, just like the time she had irrevocably lost. She clenched her hand into a tight fist, but it wouldn't stop trembling.