“So, our first decision is what to do with the bomb,” Jake said. “One option is that we destroy it now.”
“Maybe the bomb is to counteract some other threat,” Kane said. “Maybe it was sent back to destroy whatever caused the cataclysm.”
Jake frowned. “Maybe. The truth is we have no clue if the bomb was originally meant to destroy the planet or save it.”
“Does it matter?” Kane asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if the original mission was to set off a bomb to destroy the Earth, then obviously we’re not going to set it off. Even if it was to destroy a different target, but causes the destruction of the planet, then we’re not going to set it off. The only scenario where it could be used is if it was sent back to destroy a bigger threat—to stop whatever caused the cataclysm.”
Kaitlin thought over what he’d said. He was admitting that he would not blindly carry out the mission. It had been his everything, his whole purpose in life for so long, and he wasletting it go. She rested her hand on his leg and squeezed. He laced his fingers with hers.
Jake was pacing the front of the room, running his hands through his overlong hair—a sure sign he wasn’t happy with his thoughts. Finally, he turned back to face them all. “And now, we’re back to the beginning. We don’t fucking know.”
“But it does mean we can’t destroy the bomb,” Kaitlin said. “I mean...just in case.”
“I think you’re right. All the same, I hate having that thing sitting there. Anyone got any other thoughts? Any ideas?”
Someone asked a question and Kaitlin zoned out—it was stuff she already knew, and they weren’t getting anywhere.
What should they do?
What would Sam have done?
Kane was silent at her side, deep in his own thoughts. Saying goodbye to his mission. It must be so nice to have blind faith, to be so sure of something that you never had to question your actions. She questioned hers all the time, was never entirely sure she was doing the right thing.
“That’s what it is to be human,” Kane said in her head. “I always thought I was beyond that. That what was right and wrong didn’t matter. I had the mission.”
“How does it feel to be human?”
“Some of it, total crap. Some of it makes the rest worthwhile.”
She smiled.
“You know what we have to do,”Kane continued. “What Sam would want you to do. Just go tell them straight.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell them?”
“They’ll take it better from you.”
“They will?”
He smiled.“They love you. But they also respect you. You’re the heart of this group. You make us bigger than what we are alone.”
She blinked back a tear at that, then took a deep breath and rose to her feet and cleared her throat. Nobody took the slightest bit of notice. She closed her eyes and shouted in her head.“QUIET!”
Chapter 31
Everyone shut up.
Jake sent her a relieved grin. “Go to it, brat.”
Kaitlin took another deep breath.“Look, I know we said at the start of this meeting that we were here to make a decision. But now you’ve heard all the information we have, and really, the only decision to make is on an individual basis. Do you stay here and try to stop whatever is happening? Or do you go to Australia and hopefully live to fight another day? Neither answer is wrong. You must decide for yourselves.”
She gave them a few seconds for that to sink in, then continued, “But here’s what I’m going to do, because really, Ihave no choice. When I was younger, I used to think I was special. That I was going to save the world and make it a better place. Then Sam died, and a load of shit happened, and I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t special at all, and that maybe the world wasn’t worth saving. But that’s not true. There’s so much good in the world. So many good people. And there’s no way I can hide and let them all die if there’s something I can do to stop it. I don’t know the answers. I don’t know if the bomb was meant for good or evil. But I do have a date, and a chance to find the location—and I intend to be there.”
She searched their faces. They were all listening, and she caught a hint of their feelings. Sadness, regret, hope. They all had so much to lose. Most of them had spent the majority of their lives as virtual prisoners. They’d put up with it because they had all believed they had a role to play. Just like her. Now they’d found freedom, and many of them had found love.
