Exodus

By Steve Catto

“You can’t live on a dream, but you can die without one.”- Alakzander Balagoun
The Balagoun brothers’ ten-year plan for taking the citizens of New London to a new life on Mars following the apocalypse is about to become a reality with the approaching launch of the first test flight, but equipment, supplies and energy are going missing, conspiracy theories are rife, and it seems as if not everyone wants to leave the Earth anyway.
To take their places as leaders of the new civilisation, their granddaughters Freya and Reihna must put aside their divided loyalties to the family and keep a restless city supporting a questionable dream.If the information that the local news reporter Hanna Finnegan discovers proves to be true, that dream might just turn out to be a nightmare…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Catto Books
• Release date: Feb 12, 2024
• ISBN: 9780995729865

Book preview

EXODUS

THE UNDEREARTH SERIES

Book 1

STEVE CATTO

Developed from an idea and characters by

LISA FREDERICKSON

Artwork by More Visual

ISBN 9780995729865 e-book

ISBN 9780995729872 Paperback

Steve Catto Books

© 2023 Steve Catto

This novel’s story and characters are fictitious. Certain long-standing institutions, cities, agencies, and public offices are mentioned, but the characters involved are wholly imaginary.

Contents

1 - The Grand Plan

2 – The Map

3 - Europe

4 – The Launch Celebration

5 - Abducted

6 – The Torture Chamber

7 – The Truth Revealed

8 – The Chosen Ones

9 – Alien Influences

10 - Plan Of Attack

11 – New London

12 – Reaching Out

13 – Plans And Secrets

14 – Treachery And Murder

15 – The New Plan

16 – Reihna’s Mission

17 - The Slave Army Attacks

18 – The Battle Of New London

19 – The End Of The Dream

20 – The Light At World’s End

21 - A New Hope

1 – The Grand Plan

Freya Morgan gathered her tuggy red hair into a bunch and walked slowly across to the patio doors. In the dim light of the room, the lamps on top of the ornate stone gateposts at the end of the driveway were faintly visible through the reflection of her pale, freckly face in the glass as she looked out across the grounds of the Balagoun mansion into the evening rain.

The noise she'd heard was probably just Polly, the little grey cat, getting up to mischief. She opened one of the doors and stepped outside into the warm New London darkness.

Whenever Freya went out at night her reflex action was to look up to the sky. On clear evenings she could often see a tiny silver streak amongst the stars. That was the old space station, the last remaining fragment of a project to build a structure in space that encircled the Earth.

Her cousin Reihna Balagoun and her grandfather Nikolaus lived up there.

One day soon they would all be embarking on a new journey. If the human race was to survive, they had no choice. The last World War had left most of the planet desolate and radioactive. It was uninhabitable and couldn’t be reclaimed. If they were going to survive, they had to leave Earth. It was all their grandfathers' vision, the Grand Plan for Exodus devised by the survivors. The city of New London was just a temporary measure, the means to an end. Once they had finished building the technology to escape on their journey to Mars, they would leave it behind.

She’d never liked that idea, but there wasn’t any other way.

In the early days of the plan, they had all worked as a family team: Reihna and her grandfather Nikolaus, who looked after the engineering and technology, and Freya who helped her grandfather Alakzander to build the dream and inspire the people. The remains of the old space station had been repurposed as a city in space, now called the Exodus Gate, or E-Gate, and Nikolaus spent all his time up there with Reihna.

Now that the family were split between the earth and sky, life was hard. Well, it was for her anyway because she really only had Alakzander for company, and it was a difficult existence following in the footsteps of the leader of a dream.

Reihna had said she would call tonight, for a chat, but it was getting late now. Perhaps the rain was causing problems with the microwave links from earth to space. It did that sometimes, and the ever-changing atmospheric disturbances didn’t help. From its position on the side of a gentle rise, Freya could look out from the patio across the dimly lit city, nestled in its blanket of drizzle. It limped along, and that was all it needed to do when it had no future. Provided they got the job done its twenty thousand inhabitants didn’t care. They were living for a dream. The dream of a new future on a new world.

Her grandfather, Alakzander, had been instrumental in selling them that vision from day one. Descended from Afro-American roots, with a big wide smile, crumpled brown face, curly grey hair and a voice that could make the phrase Good Morning sound like a declaration of war, he was the archetypal statesman. When he spoke, everybody listened, and few could bring themselves to disagree with his words.

Whatever the noise had been there was no sign of Polly, and she was not venturing far into the garden in the wet, at least not without boots on. The cat would have to sort out its own problems.

***

Far above the clouds on the E-Gate, her cousin was somewhat distracted.

Babu, why do you keep using that piece of techno-trash to call down to the surface? jeered Reihna playfully, twirling the end of one of her long black pigtails. She turned around in the chair near his glass-topped desk and rested her feet on a pile of papers. Use the holojector like normal people!

Still keeping the telephone receiver pressed to his ear Nikolaus lifted her feet off his desk and dropped them to the floor with a thud. Reihna got up and moved to the sofa.

Yes, I know you don’t like it - you don’t have to like it, he said into the telephone. Maybe you can take their place. We’re always losing good workers out there anyway. 

The voice on the other end muttered something unintelligible.

"Then sort it out now, or I’ll send someone to sort you out. Is that clear!" he shouted, before slamming down the receiver.

He smashed his fists into the chair, sending it rolling towards Reihna, who deflected it carefully with her foot.

Gee’s Babu, chill out, she muttered quietly.

Nikolaus didn’t lose his composure very often, especially in front of Reihna, however she was probably the only one who could ever get away with talking to Nikolaus Balagoun that way because she was his favourite granddaughter.

He looked across at Reihna, who was sipping her coffee.

They don’t understand how important timing is in all of this, he said, slamming the edge of the leather chair again. They don’t understand the costs. Humanity just keeps living as if everything will solve itself.

"I think people probably do understand the importance of everything you do, that’s why they respect you, Babu. She shifted into a more comfortable position to face him. Maybe if you were kinder like your brother Alak, and didn’t shout at people to get your way, they would be inspired to do things better."

If I spoke to them like Alak does, we’d still be on Earth, throwing confetti when the meteor storm hits us. Getting things done requires a harder approach.

When he adopted his assertive stance, he was a formidable figure. As a young girl she remembered him rattling around the family house in his casual clothes with an unruly mop of curly black hair, playing hide and seek and jumping out on her when she least expected it. In the years since the Grand Plan had been hatched, the old clothes had gradually given way to a smart blue suit, with white shirt and matching blue tie bearing the family emblem, and over time his brown head had turned shiny and bald. Despite this he still had the big smile, on the occasions he was particularly happy, which was not often these days.

Reihna dropped her empty cup onto the glass saucer with a rattle and stood up.

Your brother brought everyone together so we could build all this.

Yes Rey, he did indeed. My brother declared we could still have a future despite the nuclear holocaust and the impending meteor strike. He waved his little inspiring charisma wand, and just like magic, everyone is saved! His fists tightened and his nails dug deeper into his palms as he tried to restrain his frustrations. You have no idea what it takes to make all this happen.

Reihna walked over, put her arms around him, and gave him a hug. Melted, as usual, he hugged her back.

I’ve decided I’m going down to the surface, she said, looking up to his eyes to see if that met with his approval. It did, so she continued, I know you need to hang around up here until next week to finalise the arrangements for the test launch, but I’m missing the family.

I miss them too.

I know, and it’s beautiful here on the E-Gate, but two months away from home and I’m going stir crazy. Besides, I want to convince Freya to come up and see space.

Nikolaus sat down in his chair and stared aimlessly out of the window at the starry black sky. She’s never been up? I thought she came once when her family visited.

Nope.

Not even when you brought your other cousins up here? he queried.

Nope.

Well then. Best of luck, he replied. "Not too many people are left on Earth who have ever persuaded that redhead to do anything she doesn’t want to. Honestly, I don’t think she even cares about what's going on."

She cares... but in a different way. She just doesn’t like the idea of leaving Earth, added Reihna. I think she’d rather stick it out.

Nikolaus rolled his eyes. Stick it out? he said. "It seems she's inherited the family trait of putting their heads in the sand. She probably doesn’t even believe there is a meteor storm on the way."

Reihna was used to Nikolaus’ linear way of seeing things. I’m sure we all do care, she said with a sigh, except the conspiracy theorists, and they’re a bunch of nuts anyway. We all appreciate what you do Babu. We just don’t tell you often. Nikolaus muttered a quiet thanks. Freya just doesn’t agree with the idea of leaving Earth behind to become a drifting scrapyard. 

There isn’t any hope to fix our mess though, Rey.

I know that, and you know that, but Freya doesn’t believe it.

We all wish it was different honey. We all wish we could have made different choices. He stared out at the Earth for a moment and turned back to Reihna, Alright, I’ll authorise a shuttle for you. Nikolaus took a form out from his desk drawer and scribbled on it. Here, take care sweetheart and say hi to Freya for me.

Reihna snatched the order and danced out of her grandfather’s office. Thanks Babu, I’ll call you on the holojector when I get down to the surface.

***

Reihna ran her fingers along the cold metal handrail as she strode down the corridor that led to the docking area. She paused by the counter next to the doors at the end and handed the requisition form to the little grey-faced man, who scratched his chin thoughtfully and disappeared into the recesses at the back of his lair.

While she was waiting, Reihna looked out of the observation windows at the Earth below. The idea had once been to build a structure that would encircle Earth completely, like a ring in space. Quite a lot of it had been constructed before the war erupted, and this twenty-mile section of it was all that remained. When viewed from the ground it appeared as a tiny sliver of light in the night sky, but it was big enough to provide a home for several thousand people. Many of the few hundred souls who lived there at the moment considered themselves sky dwellers. Their existence and their entire way of life was up in space, and some of them never went to Earth at all. For some of them it was the only existence they'd ever known. Reihna had never been able to deal with that. Down there somewhere was a city full of lights and people, nice coffee, and the space bridge!

If the E-Gate was a notable feature in the sky from Earth, the space bridge was certainly the most visible feature on Earth from space, if you managed to catch it at the right angle. Its origins began long before the war when people were looking for a more practical and affordable way to launch craft into space than blasting them off vertically on an enormous firework. The idea was straightforward enough, build a sloping track. The trouble was you couldn’t get a simple sloping track to stay up. It had to be a bridge which touched the ground at both ends like a self-supporting archway. But it also had to be enormous, like really enormous, because you needed to get to about six thousand miles an hour to stay in orbit, and there was a limit to how quickly you could accelerate if you didn’t want to kill people. After many early failures, the idea had worked. And there it was below her! Fifty miles high and a thousand miles long. Starting from the Spaceport at New London, out across the remains of Europe, and then over the Mediterranean, with the other end touching down in Sicily. A tiny blue rainbow not much wider than a two-lane highway and powered by ten fusion reactors, five at each end, with various maintenance and control stations dotted along its length. That was how they got shuttles back up into space. Drive them up the rails like a magnetic levitation train, and then you had a thousand miles of track to get to six thousand miles an hour, which took about twenty minutes and was uncomfortable, but it worked. Usually, or else you could pull the shuttle off the rails and glide back down to New London for another attempt.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of the little grey man.

"You - can have this one," he said regarding her with what she thought was a suspicious expression, before handing her a crisp two-part form.

Why? What's the matter with it? said Reihna brightly.

The little man looked puzzled.

Shuttle seventy-six. Docking bay five, he replied.

In her experience grey-faced men never possessed a sense of humour, but it didn't stop her from trying. She signed and handed back the top copy, which meant she was now responsible for the little craft, and kept the pink one.

Are you landing at the goods terminal by any chance? he asked as she turned to leave.

Wasn't planning to, she replied casually. Why?

Just that there's a few boxes of parts that they want urgently.

Reihna thought about it. She wasn't in any particular hurry.

Can if you like.

That seemed to take him by surprise. Okay! I'll get them put on board, he replied enthusiastically.

Reihna set off through the doors and along the corridor to find her shuttle. Odd numbered docking bays were on the south side of the E-Gate, and even ones were on the north side. When she arrived at bay five the door was open, and the boxes had already been loaded.

Reihna had a quick look at the labels on them and smiled. The trip suddenly looked more interesting!

She went through to the cockpit and closed the door behind her. Within a couple of minutes she would be on her way. The trip down was always smoother than the trip up because the shuttle flew back to earth only needing its manoeuvring thrusters to slow its speed and glide down, a completely different experience to powering up a track when you wanted to leave the earth again.

She punched in the departure sequence. Once the doors to the shuttle area had closed and locked there was a hiss, as the bay depressurised, and the view outside slowly changed from electric blue to inky black as the shuttle rose off the floor and Reihna turned it gently out into the coldness of space.

The little thrusters rumbled beneath the floor as she braked into a lower orbit, and set a course to take her to the Spaceport at the north end of the space bridge, where she could land on the small runway at the goods terminal. From there it was only a short trip across the Spaceport to New London to see the family, and get a long-awaited coffee at the diner.

***

Reihna watched the sun rise above the gently curved horizon of the planet for the third time as the shuttle lost speed and altitude, spiralling down into successively lower orbits that would eventually bring it on course to land at the Spaceport.

Shuttle seventy-six – New London, crackled the radio, breaking through the static as the ship began to touch the upper edge of the atmosphere. Reihna was sure she knew that voice.

Seventy-six, she replied.

Are you headed for the short runway? asked the voice. She paused for a moment.

Guess! she replied enigmatically.

Well, let me see. That probably means yes. Are you alright with a goods dock?

Yeah, whatever. I have a couple of boxes for Jim, she replied, but no passengers.

There's nothing else in the air right now so the sky is yours, came the reply.

The controller had said to do as she liked, so she set a track towards the New London Spaceport that brought her in over the remains of Europe. When the ship had plummeted further into the atmosphere it would fly a zig-zag track using the thrusters and the friction of the air to slow down, before gliding in.

She didn’t have much to do while the systems guided it down. A track over Europe wasn't the typical way to approach. Control liked to keep returning shuttles over the east of England, especially given the recent unpredictable weather in Europe, but it would be nice to look out across the continent again, even if most of it was desolate. The sun had just set below the horizon on the final orbit, and the Earth below looked dark. She peered down, hoping to catch a glimpse of the automated mining facilities and hydroponic farms which provided materials and food for the city. Once or twice, she did see the glimmer of lights through broken clouds, and the faint orange glow of fires - the furnaces and smelters that refined ore - but the blanket of toxic vapours made it difficult to pick out anything of substance. It had always been a difficult concept for anyone in New London to comprehend that such machines and factories could really exist, but there they were. She watched the tiny flickers disappear and the ground become completely dark and featureless, and then ahead of her was the channel of water that separated Europe from England, and a few moments later the distant lights of New London appeared in front of her.

In the absence of other air traffic, the autopilot flew two wide circuits around the city to lose excess altitude, before finishing up on track for runway zero-nine. Slipping gently onto the tarmac with a squeak of tyres, it handed back control with the usual clunk as the switch near her right hand dropped out from Autopilot to Manual.

After the shuttle had slowed to a crawl and Reihna had nosed it into the assigned dock, she shut it down, and went to find the recipient of her cargo.

***

She didn’t have to go far to find Jim. He was waiting at the goods dock when she opened the shuttle door.

Heyyyy Jiiim! she shouted, dancing up to him and giving him a big squeeze, before stepping back and looking him up and down. Jim stood motionless for a moment and peered at her over the rim of his glasses.

To an onlooker it couldn't have been a stranger sight. Reihna Balagoun, granddaughter of the leader of Space Operations. Tall, thin, late twenties, long dark hair in pigtails, black off-the-shoulder top, tattoos on her neck, blue jeans with rips in them. Jim the sprightly little maintenance man. Wrong side of fifty, grey hair, brown work boots, topped off by overalls and a tatty fawn trench coat with bulging pockets.

Miss Balagoun! he said cheekily. I'd heard you were coming.

Reihna was bubbling. She'd been excited at the thought of seeing Jim again, but hadn't expected him to be waiting for her.

Voila! she said, flinging her arm out towards the crates with a satisfied expression on her face. Your replacement holojector screens, Sir.

It sounded strange, Jim calling her Miss Balagoun and she calling him Sir. People probably thought it sounded cheeky, and it was, but it also indicated an ongoing mark of respect they both had for each other. Jim had spent several years living and working on the space bridge when Reihna was going through a phase of disliking the people and the atmosphere on the E-Gate. She'd spent much of her time hopping between Earth and Nikolaus, and had found one of the maintenance stations on the bridge to be a quiet, peaceful place where nobody bothered her. Living quarters on the bridge were small, but comfortable. Jim had been responsible for that area, he'd looked after her and they'd developed a friendship. They'd also spent countless evenings playing poker. She hadn’t seen him for over a year.

I'll get someone to ship them up the bridge on the next shuttle, he said.

Oh, said Reihna, I thought you'd be taking them back up with you.

Ah well, replied Jim, touching the side of his nose. This end of the bridge is closed to shuttles for maintenance at the moment, so I borrowed the X1 prototype!

He waited for the reaction from Reihna.

There wasn't one.

I thought you might be fed up with Grandad again and looking forward to seeing the family, but, he added, they'll all be busy and running around as well, so it wouldn’t be a rest for you, he continued.

Reihna was still wondering what the point of all this was.

So, you see, I wondered whether you might fancy a few days together on the bridge.

Reihna thought about that. It was probably true.

Texas Hold 'em then? Nothing wild?

Sounds good to me, he replied with a smile. "And you've never seen the X1 have you? You're in for a treat. I put it