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Chapter twenty-three

Simon

S imon knew the moment they pulled up that this was what he had been looking for. The bulletin board from Mars was lit up, and he could tell from just a brief glance it was connected to something more than just local networks. This felt similar to the drone, but was a connection he believed he could access.

“Can you explain more about this?” He tilted his head, processing the images rapidly.

The board’s bright lighting reflected off Nora’s eyes and face. She waved her hand over the cracked hover’s front glass. “The Mars information board. It’s big, right? They put stuff on here about what they’re dropping off. See? It’s a moving picture. Pretty neat. I wonder if it really looks that pretty over there.” At his confused look, she elaborated, “On Mars. That’s what they say it looks like.”

Simon watched the video feed for a moment as it switched to a depiction of grass and nature. The pictures were familiar to him, flooding him with a sense of nostalgia. “It looks like how Earth used to.”

Leaning on the steering wheel, Nora chuckled. “Well that’s something, then. Glad I can see a bit of what it was. Kinda feels like they’re teasing us though, with how often they show these nature clips. Sometimes some animals too, funny looking ones.”

Simon kept his eyes on the board as Nora palmed the controls of the hover. “Here, I’ll get us closer. There’s no shipment we can get today, but I wasn’t kidding when I talked with Anna. We’ll come back next week and maybe there will be one then. Sometimes they’re announced, other times there’s an extra.”

All of this didn’t make sense. Simon drummed his fingers on the cracked dash. “How do you know?”

Tilly climbed forward, toward the front seats. “Radio tells us!”

The radio? Simon's jaw clenched. It was hard for him to comprehend that this was truly the only communication available.

Nora parked, still a good distance away from the board, resting her hands on the steering wheel. “They are planning the atmosphere sweep though, so it might be a bit before they send something.”

Simon didn’t say anything more, instead reaching out with his sensors to scan the area. It is a live connection . Hope lit up inside of him. Where could he plug in? Could he connect remotely? His eyes roved over the board, hungry for information. “Is this panel broadcasting from here?”

Nora’s brow puckered. “I don’t know?”

He squinted his eyes, looking over the entire feed. “I need to get closer.”

“They don’t let us drive up to it. But we can walk.”

There are guards here though. Simon pointed in the direction of them. “Will they stop us?”

Nora shook her head. “No. A lot of people come up. Here, I’ll pretend like I’m checking the drop. Stay right here, Tilly.”

Simon followed as they got out of the hover, attempting hard to connect wirelessly as they walked up. His processors grew hot trying. The connection is encrypted. Frustration coated his senses. I can’t get in . Simon scattered his gaze all around. The courtyard-like area was heavily guarded and a stone path was underfoot, unlike the dirt that was everywhere else.

The bulletin board soon loomed in front of them, showing an idyllic meadow scene that flooded him with longing. My world . A bitter feeling followed. I’ll take being free over that, though.

He set about downloading the encrypted code, determined to look for any patterns in it that might help in getting him access. This he could puzzle out on his own later. Why have a code like this at all if there’s no technology left on Earth? He needed more data. Or any data, really.

“Simon.” A sharp tug on his arm made him turn away from the monitor. Nora’s eyes darted around. “We can’t really stay here; they don’t let people linger at the drop.”

Reluctantly, Simon followed her pull and began walking back to the hover. “Who’s they?”

Nora motioned to the side with her head. “Hired guards. The rich area has actual armed guards.”

Those guards were eyeing them now as they got ready to leave. They appeared more equipped and dangerous than the men they’d passed on the outskirts of town. And more imposing with rifles across their chests.

Nora walked back and Simon followed, climbing into the hover behind her. I have the feel of the connection, and the encryption . That alone filled him with hope.

They exited the same way they went in, through the small, scattered slums. Nora drove slowly, reminding Simon of his time when there were speed limits and laws. For Nora though, it wasn’t any rules that made her cautious, but more a desire to not draw attention to herself by doing anything out of place.

That same drone that hovered high above the city while they were inside came down closer, as if it was following them as they exited. Simon watched it for a minute and attempted again to connect. It has the same encryption that the bulletin board does.

The desert was large and indifferent on both sides of the hover. Nora turned in a different direction from what Simon was expecting. Where is she going? He kept the drone in his sight as he turned to Nora. “Where are we going? This is a different direction.”

Nora gave a sly smile. “We got a bit of extra gas. I want to show you something real fast before we go home.”

“The schoolhouse?” Tilly asked hopefully from the backseat.

“Nuh uh. Maybe after next visit.” Nora grinned at Simon, then said to Tilly in the backseat, “Besides, we got Simon now to help you learn some!”

Nora put her hand over his, patting a few times before putting it back on the steering wheel. “Imma take him to see the overlook, Tilly.”

“Ohh!” An excited sound came from Tilly. “Yeah! He’ll like that.”

The overlook? “What?” Simon started to ask.

But Nora just shook her head and didn’t answer any other questions as she drove. It took an extra thirty minutes of travel, but it was fast travel, and the drone overhead still followed at the same distance.

Nora glanced at it nervously as she said, under her breath, “Wish that wasn’t following. Don’t know what to do other than act normal though. Been following us more lately it seems like.”

Simon frowned up at it as well. “It is from Mars. The connection is the same as on the board. It was following me in the town as well.”

“Oh really? Is that what you were doing back there at the board?”

“Yes, I was trying to gather more data.”

“Well, Mars don’t need to get so interested in me,” Nora mumbled.

Simon detected her temperature cooling a bit. Nervous. He knew the telltale signs from before, programmed as he was to be able to read humans, but they took on a different meaning as he assessed Nora now. And that heat earlier? Hmm? Thankfully, the drone did end up leaving a few moments later, and Simon saw Nora let out a shaky sigh of relief.

The hover moved quickly, the ground smooth enough to not make it jolt like it did on the way to the mall. Soon they came to a place where valleys opened in the ground and mountains rose overhead.

“Okay, we’re here,” Nora said as she turned off the hover, now back to her normal temperature readings at his side.

Simon stood up to see over the cracked hover’s windshield better. Here? The overlook was a wash with pretty canyon walls that rose high. Again, it was not on his sensors as to where they were. In his time this would have just been another canyon, not worth noticing. In fact, it was almost unremarkable. But to Nora . . . Simon turned to her as he saw her expression light up, looking at the sights. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her. At her face , excited in the afternoon sun.

She looked over at him with bright eyes, then tugged on his shirt sleeve. “Give it a few. The light. It hits just right at sunset. I traveled this way first when we left the town. Almost settled here. I sat here and saw the sunset and actually camped here before moving on. It felt so good to see something beautiful. Something real. Helped to let me know that out here in the desert wasn’t all bad.”

Simon looked away from Nora reluctantly to see the sun slowly setting, revealing a scene prettier than anything he had seen since he awakened as the sun’s rays reflected off the canyon’s walls. “It is pretty. Why didn’t you settle here then?”

Nora kept her eyes on the rocks, on the shadows playing over the surfaces. Her face was softened by the setting sun’s light, the dimple on her cheek more evident from the shadows. “Not any good houses. Where I am now has a lot of stuff already built. But . . . the sunset is nice, isn’t it? Looks like what you remember? Like that plant picture on the board?”

Simon nodded, his eyes lingering on Nora’s wistful expression. He liked the sight of watching Nora look at the canyon walls more though. I like seeing her happy like this. It was breathtaking. The beauty of her face in the afternoon sun struck a chord deep within him. One he never knew existed. It flared in him now, filling his sensors with a sense of well-being.

He recognized this. That feeling of attraction, now in the forefront of his mind once again. An overwhelming sense of longing. Only that feeling was not as unwelcome as before. His posture softened and his hand twitched, wishing he could reach for hers but not wanting to overstep. How would she even respond to that?

Nora turned back while Simon kept his eyes trained on her rather than the sunset. “C’mon up here, Tilly. Anna gave you something sweet to eat. Let’s sit and enjoy it for a moment.”

Nora leaned over Simon as she scavenged around in the bag by his knees. Soon she pulled out three cookies and handed one to Tilly, who crept up until she sat between the two of them on a bucket much like Simon’s.

Nora bit into the other cookie, grin on her face. She shook a third one in front of him, crumbs falling on his lap. “Oops, sorry. But, here. You said you can eat? What’s better for a first meal than a cookie?”

Simon took it from her and broke off a corner, tasting sugary sweetness for the first time in forever. The taste lingered on his processors while he watched Tilly finish her cookie and then eye what he hadn’t eaten.

“Here, Tilly.” He chuckled and gave the rest to the little girl, who hugged him in response. The hug, the genuineness of it, caught him off guard. Tilly let go before he could hug her back, shoving the entire cookie in her mouth at once.

Nora laughed. “Savor that a bit, Tilly.”

Simon smiled back, feeling Nora’s joy as he again resisted the urge to reach for her hand.