Page 8 of A Light in the Dark
Nobody from emergency services inquired about what had happened to my rescued guest. I could only assume that Amanda had gotten carried away in the relentless flow of people needing assistance during the storm and had forgotten about the wayward refugee.
Six days after the waters receded, the Hunters’ phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked the device to discover several text messages with my test results. I had robust non-specified shifter genes, sufficient to qualify me for Hunters membership if I wanted it along with a free ride to Moonriver. I was confirmed to be lacking the appropriate vaccinations from the pandemic. After confirmation of my medical records, they’d identified that I’d been given an experimentalvaccine, one designed to counter many illnesses found during space travel.
In good news for me, I’d been properly inoculated against numerous illnesses. In bad news, the vaccine wasn’t available for the public, and the Hunters wanted me to go in for screening to see if I’d suffered from any complications. To add additional complication to my situation, they had confirmed I had natural antibodies to most Earth diseases, supporting Al’s belief I’d suffered from asymptomatic illnesses.
With the worry of a conspiracy costing refugees their lives and my status as someone who had not grown up directly in the city of Stonecreek, the Hunters of Moonriver wanted to make an official visit, invite me to their city-state for a while, and monitor who took an interest in me.
They worried that the same people who had wanted Gabriella dead might seek out some petty vengeance due to my interference.
The final message depressed me.
There had been bodies in the water, bodies that had been DNA tested and confirmed to have originated from Earth. I wasn’t told how many, but one was too many, and I mourned for those who hadn’t been as lucky as Gabriella.
I suspected Al had told more than a few truths, and Gabriella’s shifter genetics had spared her from death.
Between rounds with my pressure washer, which I used to clean every crack of the sidewalk on my side of the street, I sent a few texts, first confirming my willingness to undergo testing to determine if I needed medical care from the experimental vaccination. My second text inquired on the luna moth.
To my relief, he’d been treated for some minor issues before returning to his home, wherever that was.
Finally, I inquired about Gabriella.
The Hunter promised the woman was in good hands with them and that she’d have a welcoming home among people who would value her.
With the important things settled, I inquired when and how the testing would be done.
While it took an hour, the Hunter replied with a promise to reach out when they could safely get a delegation into Stonecreek, one that wouldn’t put me at unnecessary risk. They would need to find a way to spin Gabriella’s rescue and make certain no one in my city-state had reason to believe I was anything other than a good soul who’d rescued someone from turbulent waters.
The request to be careful worried me.
The reasons why I needed to take care piled up, forming a mountain I feared climbing. However, I couldn’t just leave people to be killed, especially not refugees who’d done nothing more than survive the death of their planet. The idea that my city-state, that the city I’d chosen to call home, would delve into such dark depths horrified me.
The need for the truth gnawed at me, beginning with the smallest of nibbles. The minutes stretched and dragged, eventually turning into hours, and I wondered over the why someone—or numerous someones—would want to make Earth’s refugees disappear. Was money all there was to it? Or was there something more to the betrayal that had led Gabriella to falling into the churning waters?
Gabriella had gotten lucky, and I mourned for those who hadn’t been so fortunate.
But what could I do?
The truth waited for me at the top of the hill, and as long as I didn’t mention my suspicions of a guide leading refugees to their deaths, I might learn something. Just like Moonriver ran advertisements in case a refugee needed support, Stonecreek put out feelers for volunteers to help settle the newcomers to the city.
I already judged my home, for even one death was one death too many, but if I didn’t try to find out what was behind Gabriella’s brush with death, who would?
That I couldn’t think of another soul in the city who would, chilled me far worse than any waters could.
FOUR
I am Valerie, our street’s good doer.
One day soon,I needed to call out everyone on my street for being shitty neighbors. With the exception of Joel, who handled his cleanup on his own, often in the late afternoon or evening when I wasn’t doing my share, everyone else relied on me to get things done. While the librarians did coordinate the payment and arrival of the stones for the replacement steps, the work fell to me to install them.
Nobody had even asked me if I was all right with doing the work. They just assumed I would.
After my experience with Gabriella, I suspected there was one reason why: they had been born in the city while I had been born outside of the city. Maybe I was a citizen of the city-state, but I remained inferior.
My patience with the situation eroded, much like the stairs I worked to replace had done when exposed to the torrential currents. Sure, baked goods and some thanks would work their way down the chain, but while theyremained nestled in their homes, enjoying their time off work, I cleaned, I rebuilt, and I resented the situation I’d put myself into.
I put some serious thought into accepting the Hunters’ offer of relocation to Moonriver. Before I could even think about leaving, I would need to figure out if I could do anything to help the refugees—or if I could help them flee to the general safety of the neighboring city-state.
If I left, would others die? I recognized I would inconvenience most on the block if I packed my bags and left. Someone would have to pick up my work. The work had been of my own choosing, as I’d wanted to fit in and no longer be a stranger. Since I’d been born within the city-state, I’d gotten off lightly compared to other transients.
