The Last Tree - Softcover

Getson, Denise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194482104X ISBN 13: 9781944821043

Verlag: CBAY BOOKS, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

Kira has never felt a drop of rain, but she carries a sea within her. In Kira’s world, nothing is more precious than water, meaning nothing is more precious than Kira’s gift. While the few remaining humans struggle to survive on an inhospitable Earth, the world government, desperate to control an even more desperate people, rations the few remaining natural resources, especially water. When the government, in the form of a bureaucrat named Thorne, discovered that Kira could draw water to her, refilling dried lakes, streams, and riverbeds, he initially tried to keep her prisoner and to use her to fulfill his own agendas. Now, Kira and her friends are on the run, playing a dangerous cat and mouse game with Thorne and his forces. When Thorne captures one of her friends, Kira must make a choice. The repercussions of her decision will take her to the other side of the planet, to the cradle of human civilization, and an encounter with a tree that shouldn’t even exist. Will it be enough to save a dying planet?

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Denise Getson has a bachelor’s of arts degree from Duke University and a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University. Her previous publications include business and medical education articles, as well as fine arts reviews. She is the author of Dry Souls, the novel that introduces Kira’s extraordinary gift. She divides her time between Dallas, Texas and Lewisburg, West Virginia.

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The Last Tree

By Denise Getson

CBAY Books

Copyright © 2016 Denise Getson
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-944821-04-3

CHAPTER 1

Knowing my face is invisible behind a sand mask and goggles, I keep a close eye on the receding girl and the giant dust plumes heading her way. The howl of roaring winds drowns out every other sound. I'm grateful for the gloves, which give me a solid hold on the stone, helping me resist the strong gusts that threaten to lift me bodily into the air. Having Tuck with us has certainly improved the quality of our supplies.

I motion to J.D. through the orange haze. From his position across the lake, he nods, then drops down for a better view. Like me, he is covered head to toe in desert camouflage, quickly blending in with his surroundings.

Inching my way through high boulders, I squeeze through a crevice and into the sheltered cave where Tamara and Tuck are waiting.

I lift the mask off my face, spitting out dirt and shaking loose any dust or virus spores that might have penetrated the vents.

"That was close," I tell them, raising my voice to be audible above the storm. Tamara rises to help me, unfastening the back of the desert suit while I rub my headvigorously to dislodge sand in my hair. "The storm will be on top of us any minute, but we should be okay here."

"Are you sure no one saw you?" she asks.

"The basin was full by the time the girl arrived. I don't think she took her eyes off the water. Fortunately for us, with the storm coming, she had no choice but to return to the dome."

"I don't like it," says Tuck. His usually cheerful face scowls at the two of us. "We should be gone by now. I don't like hangin' around once Kira's started a fill. You know how people gonna come around, all curious like they are, and we're trapped here."

"We've discussed this, Tuck. It's precisely because we're always long gone by the time the water's discovered that we can risk changing our pattern of behavior. People will come and investigate like always. But this time, when they return to the biosphere, we'll go with them. Well," I send Tamara an apologetic glance, "three of us will."

J.D. drops through the opening and stamps his feet to shake off the sand. He rips his mask off. "Will what?"

"Did she make it back?"

"Just barely. The girl's crazy. She had no sand mask, no goggles. Her face is going to be cut to pieces. What was she doing?"

"My impression was some kind of soil testing. Maybe she was trying to gather samples before new sediment was deposited from the storm."

With J.D. back safely, I finish stripping out of my sand suit. Tamara helps, shaking off the sand, before tossing the garment into the corner.

"She might have been one of the AgTech students," Tamara says, wiping powdery dust off her hands. "When Eric was performing soil research, he'd pull samples from different areas in order to determine the best location for crop development. He had a code to identify each sector around the dome. Sometimes he'd take fifteen or twenty cores from one sector. He'd check for pesticides, nutrients, soil texture, drainage ... anything that might impact the ability to sustain plant life.

"If I remember correctly," she continues, "the ground around Bio-19 was particularly challenging. Even if we got a crop to sustain until harvest, the nutrients could be completely dissipated after one growing season. This area is rampant with dust storms. Everything depends on the quality of the soil being blown away or the soil being blown into a sector. In some years, the dietary impact could mean the difference between life and death."

Absently, I wipe at the dust and grit that penetrated the sand suit and now coats my skin. "Tamara, I didn't consider what the sandstorm might mean for the people who live here. Selfishly, I was simply glad it would keep residents away from the lake until the water had time to fill."

At that moment, the full force of the storm hits, bringing ground-shaking noise and a blast of heat that penetrates even to this protected place. Without another word, the four of us move as deeply into the cave as we can, away from the hot sand billowing through the narrow opening. We've experienced similar storms in the past year. The winds raging outside might last hours before blowing past. There is nothing to do but wait.

Staying close, we make ourselves comfortable along a back wall. I reach for J.D.'s hand and find his reaching for mine. The connection comforts me. As long as J.D. is at my side, I can endure anything, I think, not for the first time. Minutes stretch as we sit. The sound of the wind and sand battering the rocks outside absorbs our attention. When there's a lull in the racket, I speak up.

"Now that the water's been spotted, things should move quickly. We're agreed on the plan?"

"I'll restock our supplies," says Tuck.

"I'll sync our PDAs with the Nets and get updated cache data from the traveler's underground," J.D. adds.

"And you'll investigate if there have been any reports of...."

"... People with unusual abilities," he says, nodding. "Although you and I both know those mutation reports rarely make it onto the Net these days. Every hint of something out of the ordinary about a person disappears — along with the person — before we get a chance to check it out."

"It can't be helped. The Territory has more resources to monitor that information. But keep your eyes and ears peeled once you're inside the dome. Our best chance may be to catch someone off guard, revealing his or her mutation without realizing it and before the Territory's aware."

"I wish there was something I could do," Tamara says, a hint of a pout in her voice.

I reach over with my free hand and give her arm a reassuring squeeze. Older than me, smarter than me if I'm being honest, Tamara finds our situation challenging. I know that. Traveling together over the past year has made us closer in some ways but more impatient with each other in other ways. Frequently, we get on each other's nerves. And it's not like I'm the one who always calls the shots. That's not how our little group works. All of us agreed Tamara should be kept out of what comes next. We even took a vote. "Your knowledge got us here," I remind her softly. "But AgTech was your home. We can't risk you being recognized. It could endanger all of us."

She's quiet for a long time. "You're right, Kira," she says finally.

"Tell me again where you hid Eric's data drive?"

Her snort of laughter catches me by surprise. "You know exactly where it is. Now you're just humoring me."

"No. I'm being thorough. I want to make sure there's no detail you've forgotten to mention, nothing that could trip me up once I've entered the laboratory."

It's subtle, but because I've come to know Tamara well, I don't miss the micro expression of sadness that crosses her face as she gazes back into memories of her previous life. She had loved her husband, Eric. Together they had produced a precious daughter, Shay. Now both are dead — Eric to an unidentified illness possibly connected to his soil research and Shay due to damage caused by a Territory interrogation, an interrogation to uncover information about me. I will always carry the weight of that. I never knew Eric. He was before my time. But I loved Shay. Love her still. I cannot imagine the depths of Tamara's grief. I know she struggles with periods of depression that she tries to hide from the rest of us. Now, patiently, I wait for my friend to share her knowledge, hoping it will help her accept that she's an essential part of our success....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: CBAY BOOKS
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 194482104X
• ISBN 13: 9781944821043
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 264
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar