The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (books to read to get smarter .txt) 📗

WHEN WE ARRIVED BACK at the compound, the Herrold brothers’ staff ran out to greet us. They took our belongings and offered drinks and food. I took a few sips of water and a snack to go. It was pieces of their gourmet space food, but I was still grateful and enormously guilty. Once I finished, I felt drained. My bed was calling my name.

I slipped through the hallways down to the basement where my quarters were. Once I reached my door, I paused and closed my eyes, then tried to physically and mentally drop everything from the day in the hallway. The mindful moment was supposed to bring peace to my room and leave troubles outside. Once I felt a little more relaxed, I opened the door and stepped over the threshold.

Once collapsed on the white duvet of my bed, I made a conscious effort to keep my mind clear until I drifted off to a gentle sleep. My anxiety usually got the best of me at times like these, but not this time. I felt my body slowly relax and my mind ease until I heard the knock on my door.

My head lifted, and I listened to see if there was any clue about who was at my door. "It's me." Smith.

I begrudgingly pushed off the bed and went to the door. After cracking the door open, I glanced out to confirm what I'd heard. It was him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see if I could visit for a little."

I opened the door and let him in.

His stride was slow and contemplative. I watched as he made a small loop around the room as if assessing the space. I sat on my bed, and he took the cue to sit in the chair across the room, kitty-corner to me. "You doing okay?" I asked. The place was eerily quiet.

"Yeah. I've been thinking a lot lately. I can't get my mind to shut off. You know?" He looked at me for reassurance.

"What are you thinking about, specifically?"

He rolled his lip around with his teeth for a moment. "Guns."

Against my better judgment, I felt my face scrunch up a little. I'd never been very good at hiding what I thought, and he noticed. "What about them?" I asked hesitantly. I knew this was a touchy subject for some, and I wasn’t sure about Smith’s stance on the issue.

"Well, the government took them away, right? I don't think that was right. Do you think in a perfect world it would have made things better?" He shifted in his chair, then looked at me.

I thought for a moment. It was an interesting question. There was no doubt a tyrannical government removing any type of threat to their regime was wrong, but what about in a perfect world? Were guns asking for trouble? After a moment of contemplating, I spoke. "No. I don't."

"Why not?"

"We've seen it. There's no such thing as a perfect world, and there never will be."

He seemed incredulous. "How can you say that? We've been to Circadia."

I raised an eyebrow. "You think that turned out perfect? Then why are we here?"

His voice grew louder. "Everything was perfect before Leslie showed up with guns! They were the cause of everything wrong! If they hadn’t been on Circadia, we would have never had a problem." He eased back in his chair.

"You really believe that? You think the issue was guns and not Leslie himself?"

"Well, I think Leslie is an evil man, but he was given power by the firepower he possessed."

"You're ignorant." The words jumped right out of my mouth. I didn't entirely regret it though, so I backed it up. "It doesn't matter if they were allowed or not. He would have gotten his grubby fingers on them. Either way, he took away any kind of defense we had! He took away our shovels, for crying out loud! That's what the government here has done to people. When we watched the riot the other night, did you notice the government had guns?"

He sat quietly, his eyes averted. Finally, he said, "Yeah, they did. That was to control the crowd though."

"Who said the crowd was the ones who needed controlling? Look at things from a different perspective and tell me what it's like from that side, then we'll talk. If the government laid down their weapons as well, I could understand your side, but they're not."

He nodded silently. I think he understood, but he would never say it. "Aella?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

“How do you think this is all going to end?" He gave me a straight face. He was sincerely serious about his question.

I thought for a moment. "Honestly, I have no idea. I know how I want it to turn out, but—"

He cut me off. "How do you want it to turn out? If it was a perfect world, how would you like things to go?"

I pursed my lips. "Probably about how this conversation went. I wish I could talk to people and get them to see both sides and come to a compromise. Agree to disagree on some things. Mainly I want everyone to have some semblance of freedom, you know? Almost like it was on Circadia before Leslie. Everyone creates a community that works together. No government, no power, no money. Fair trade and labor among communities. I think that would solve everything and would make me extremely happy. Then I'd like to go back to Circadia and send provisions back here to help feed everyone. I want to help. I truly do. I don't want to be anyone's slave, though. In a perfect world, of course."

Smith thought about what I said. There may have even been tears in his eyes. He worked his jaw back and forth, then tensed. "You know that's not what's going to happen, right?"

The words stung more than I thought they would.