Beyond the Farthest Star: Chapter 35

The next day was uneventful – at least at first. Noel spent the day working with his team of engineers to draw up the plans for a permanent base in the ruins. He knew it was an ambitious goal, but if all went well the next time he and his team left New Tikal they would never return. He knew they might occasionally have to send someone back to get supplies, but as time went on even that would become increasingly rare. He wanted the ruin to become self-sufficient as soon as possible – and to start accepting citizens. There were a great many people who were eager for change, and he wanted to capitalize on that while interest was still high.

That evening he made his way through the city center and down to the mayor’s private residence, arriving just before seven o’clock. When he arrived there he saw that he was not alone. Someone else was already at the front door, waiting for him.

“Good evening, Amy,” Noel said. “You know, you don’t have to do this. I’m sure everything will be fine. Besides, inviting yourself along to someone else’s dinner party is bad manners.”

The girl shrugged. “Given the circumstances I think I can live with that. There are worse things in life than being rude. Besides, I’m not Amy.”

Noel rolled his eyes. “Of course not. You must be her identical twin. Anyway, let’s get this over with. The sooner we can have dinner, the sooner you can apologize for misjudging Mayor Thornton.”

Noel stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell. A moment later the butler opened it. The smartly-dressed man glanced at him with a look of cold disdain. “Noel Lawson, I presume?”

“Yes,” Noel said, hesitatingly. “And guest.”

“Very good,” the butler replied, in a tone that made it quite clear he was not happy to see either of them. “The mayor is expecting you. Right this way.”

The butler led them through the foyer, up a flight of marble stairs, down a golden hallway, and into the west wing of the sprawling mansion. Noel was astonished at the opulence that surrounded him. The house was huge – it was easily the biggest residence he had ever seen. All of the furniture was ornate and upscale, and priceless works of art hung on the wall. Gold was everywhere. Noel could not tell if the dining set he saw sitting on a table in one of the side-rooms was simply gold plated or was actually made of solid gold.

“Wait a minute,” Noel said aloud. “Was that the dining room?”

The butler stopped. “That was the Crawford Dining Room, sir, named after the late Martin Crawford. It is one of six dining rooms in this estate. Is there a problem, sir?”

“Well, why aren’t we going there? I mean, I was invited over here for dinner. I’m actually getting kind of hungry.”

“The mayor and his friends have already eaten. They had roast duck, I believe. I am afraid you have arrived too late to eat with them.”

“But–” Noel said, startled.

“Told you,” the girl replied.

The butler frowned. “If you please, sir, the mayor is in his study. That is where we are going. I would appreciate it if you did not interrupt me again.”

He then led them to the end of the hallway, where there was a large set of double doors. He opened one of the doors and stepped aside. Through the doorway Noel could see a large, beautiful room, filled with paintings, bookshelves, and elegant chairs. He also saw five people seated in antique wooden chairs – the first wooden chairs Noel had ever seen. They appeared to be deep in conversation, but stopped talking the moment the door opened.

“You may enter the room now,” the butler said. “The mayor is waiting for you. Do not test his patience.”

After the two of them had stepped through the doorway, the butler closed the door behind them. They could hear his footsteps as he walked off.

“Wow,” Noel exclaimed, as he looked around. “That is–”

“Yes, yes, you’re impressed,” the mayor said. “Look, Noel, we need to talk. Have a seat. Your friend will have to stand – we only have six chairs. I don’t remember telling you to invite your friends.”

“Sorry about that,” Noel mumbled. As he looked around he saw that all of the chairs in the room had been arranged in a circle. Five of the chairs were occupied. The sixth chair was empty. Noel noticed with some alarm that it was the one furthest from the door.

“I’ll just stand behind you,” the girl whispered. “Don’t worry about it.”

Noel nodded and sat down in the empty chair. “I’m afraid I don’t know everyone here,” Noel said apologetically. “I know the mayor, of course, and I know Mr. Glover. But if I might ask–”

“Oh, all right,” the mayor said, exasperated. “The man to my left is Kevin Cole, and beside him is Scott, who you met yesterday. The two people to my right are Robert Finch and Carl Perkins. They’re all members of my cabinet.”

“Thank you,” Noel replied. “And the person that I’ve brought with me is–”

“Your assistant, or something,” the mayor interrupted. “I saw her in the news when you were rebuilding that power plant of yours. It doesn’t matter. The point is that we need to talk. These expeditions of yours are getting out of hand. We don’t like what you’ve been doing.”

“You’ve been treading in some dangerous waters,” Robert agreed. “We were very supportive when we thought you had New Tikal’s best interests at heart. But now we hear that you’re planning on establishing a permanent residence in that ruin. That is a bad mistake.”

“It’s treason,” Scott said. “And we don’t take treason lightly.”

“I don’t understand,” Noel said, surprised. “I thought you invited me over here to have dinner.”

“We’ve already eaten, actually,” the mayor replied. “We had an amazing meal about two hours ago. But if I were you I wouldn’t be thinking about food. You need to be focusing on your future – and on whether or not you have one.”

“You’re stepping on a lot of toes,” Robert warned. “That’s not a very smart thing to do.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Noel said hurriedly. “I don’t understand what you’re so upset about. The ruin that we’ve discovered on the surface is amazing – absolutely amazing. The size of the city is unbelievable, and it will take years to fully explore it. Building a base camp there so we can operate more efficiently just makes sense.”

“It doesn’t make sense at all!” the mayor said angrily. “It’s dangerous and irresponsible. Do you know how many people want to leave and move to the surface? If you go and build that infernal base camp of yours, people are going to abandon New Tikal in droves. What you’re doing is nothing less than an attack on New Tikal. And I am not going to stand here while you try to take this away from us.”

“But I’m not trying to make anyone do anything,” Noel protested. “No one has to leave. It’s all strictly voluntary.”

Scott stood up and removed his revolver from its holster on his hip. “I told you it would be a waste of time to reason with him,” he told the mayor. “Let’s just kill him and get this over with. I’ve got other things I need to do this evening.”

“And don’t forget to kill the girl too,” Robert commented. “We don’t want there to be any witnesses.”

“What?” Noel shrieked. “You want to kill me? But why?”

“This conversation is over,” Scott said.

He aimed the gun at Noel, but the girl quickly got in front of the engineer.
“You are not going to kill him,” she growled.

Scott shrugged. “I don’t mind shooting you first. That works too. I’m easy to please.”

“But this is insane!” Noel said, his eyes fixed on the gun. “You’re supposed to uphold the law. How is this legal?”

“I’ve just made a new law,” the mayor said. “Building cities on the surface is now punishable by death. Looks like you’re guilty to me. Scott, you know what to do.”

The girl standing in front of Noel looked Scott in the eye. “Don’t even think about pulling the trigger. If you do you will not harm either of us – but all five of you will die. Do not cross that line.”

“Whatever,” Scott replied carelessly. “Have a good afterlife, kid.” He then aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out – but nothing happened. Scott then fired again, and again, and again, until the gun was empty. The girl still stood there, staring at him.

“What the–” he said. “Did someone put blanks in here or something? Is this a joke?”

“Oh no,” the girl replied. “Those bullets were real. But Scott, you can’t kill someone who is already dead. After all, ‘It is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment.’ I’ve already died, so I can’t die again. Sorry.”

“What?” Noel exclaimed. “When did you die?”

“Last November. Carroll Lane killed me just before he killed the rest of my family. Didn’t my sister Amy tell you?”

“I thought you were Amy,” Noel said. “If you’re not Amy then who are you?”

“I’m her twin sister Amanda,” the girl explained. “Amy is trapped on Xanthe right now and couldn’t be here, so I was sent to take her place.”

“A lunatic is what you are,” Scott growled. He turned around, walked over to the wall behind him, and grabbed a giant golden sword off the wall. “This ought to do the trick.”

He took a step toward the girl – and then the sword turned to dust in his hand. The dust slipped through his fingers and fell to the floor. At that same moment the lights in the room went out. The only visible light emanated from Amanda, who glowed red.

“Enough!” she said. “The five of you are corrupt criminals who have spent your lives stealing from your subjects so you can have extravagant wealth. Your riches cry out against you – but that is not why I am here. I did not come back from the dead in order to judge you for your ill-gotten wealth. No, I am here because you tried to take away the future of Mars. You would kill an innocent man and condemn generations of people to a miserable life below the surface simply so you can continue to steal from them. I am not going to let you kill Noel.”

“And who made you queen over us?” the mayor shouted angrily. “I don’t recall you getting elected to political office.”

Amanda looked at the mayor. Her eyes were piercing and cold. “Baxter Thornton, your administration has been weighted in the balances and found wanting. God has removed you from power. You will never again command authority over anyone. Moreover, at this very moment the souls of each of you are required. Your lives have all come to an end.”

The mayor shrieked. “But that’s impossible! I don’t feel dead.”

“But you are,” Amanda said grimly. “All of you are dead. Now you will all face judgment.”

At that moment Noel suddenly vanished. The engineer found himself alone in his apartment. The lights were on and he was sitting on his couch.

Noel blinked. “Wait – what? How did I get here?”

He got up and walked over to the door. He glanced outside but saw nothing unusual. What just happened? Was all of that real or did I just doze off on the couch?

Determined to get some answers, Noel left his home and walked over to the mayor’s residence. When he got there, however, he saw that there was a large crowd of people outside. The police had created a barrier in front of the home to keep the onlookers out, and a medical team was just leaving the mansion.

Noel turned to the person closest to him. “What’s going on?”

“You haven’t heard?” the man said. “There was a gas leak in the mayor’s private study. The mayor and the entire council were poisoned! It’s such a shame. The medics say that the pipes in his home were poorly maintained and prone to leaks, and that’s what did it. I guess something like this was inevitable.”

“Poisoned?” Noel asked. “Are they going to be all right?”

“I heard they died instantly,” the man confided. “My brother’s one of the medics, you know. But no, they’re not going to be all right. I’m afraid that they’re all gone. They won’t be coming back.”

* * * * *

Over the next week Noel tried to find more answers but he came up with nothing. There was no sign of Amy or Amanda. The corner’s report confirmed that the men had been poisoned by the gas leak, and the case was closed. Everyone agreed it had been a simple, unfortunate accident – but Noel never really believed it. There was more going on there that night, he thought to himself. That was judgment, not an accident. But he never told anyone his suspicions.

Since the mayor and the city council had died, the elections were held early. A new administration was elected – one that was in favor of creating a new city on the surface. The new mayor made it clear that the future of mankind was not underground, but on the surface. He fully backed Noel and made sure that he had all the resources he needed to create a permanent, self-sustaining base in the ruined city. By the end of the summer he had achieved that milestone. In fact, the city was even opening its doors to limited numbers of new citizens.

But Noel still wondered. Amanda said that her sister was trapped and could not be here. That sounds kind of ominous. What happened to Amy? How could she possibly be trapped in a star system that is light-years away?