Ark

37

People were called up in groups of eight or ten, and briefed by Gordo on the process. Holle watched Grace Gray going through. She touched her hand to a pad on the machine, which turned and produced a disc, like a coin, that Gordo handed to her with a smile. Grace took it incuriously, and moved on.

Holle and Kelly caught up with Mel, Venus, Wilson, Zane, in the slowly moving line. In among them was a boy in an ill-fitting military uniform, who Holle hadn’t seen before. He looked uncertain, out of place, avoiding eye contact. It seemed to Holle that the regular Candidates in their uniforms made up no more than half the number lining up, half of this crowd of people all of whom thought they were entitled to a berth on the Ark.

Mel came back for Holle. She grabbed his hand and squeezed hard.

He glanced at her. “You OK?”

She shook her head, compressing her lips.

Kelly murmured to Wilson, “Who the hell’s the kid in the army colors? I’ll swear he never wore that uniform before today.”

Wilson whispered, “Rumor has it he’s the son of General Morell. You know, the guy in charge of Zone perimeter security. He briefed us once-”

“Well, he’s no chance of making it onto our ship, whoever spawned him.” Kelly’s face was hard, her eyes alive, every fiber of her being focused on the selection process. She didn’t glance once after Don.

Zane paid no attention to any of this. His slight body clumsy in the bright Lycra uniform, he looked disconnected, as if barely conscious of what was going on around him-barely aware of the gravity of this moment, which could shape his entire life.

They neared the selection machine, and the line ahead cleared. They were all in the next group of ten to be called forward and lined up before Gordo Alonzo. Holle noticed an armed man behind Gordo, and another by the machine, watching silently. Behind them senior figures like Edward Kenzie and Liu Zheng stood waiting. Holle glanced over her shoulder. There was still no sign of her father.

Gordo faced them, uniform sharply creased, hands folded. “OK, you people, time for the game show. By standing here you’re stating your willingness to serve on the Ark. Yes? Now we’ll see if you’re selected.

“You’ll each step up, in turn. You’ll place your right hand on this pad.” He showed them how. “If the machine’s uncertain of your identity you’ll feel a prick of your thumb, a blood sample. OK? And if you’re on the list you’ll be given a token.” He held up a gold-colored coin. “Like this. Numbered one to eighty. Don’t lose it. Seems kind of crude I know, but once the tokens are issued you have your pass to the Ark come what may, even if we get hacked, even if the systems crash, whatever. Now, if you don’t get a token, you haven’t been selected, and we ask you to move on.” The armed soldier beside him stiffened, cradling his rifle. “Who’s first?”

Zane stepped forward. He placed his palm where they had been shown, the machine rotated, and coughed out a token. Gordo handed it to Zane, who closed his hand over it without looking at it, and moved on.

With no further trouble, Wilson and Venus both passed through. Venus was trembling; she looked hugely relieved to have made it and clutched her token to her chest.

Kelly went next, striding confidently. When Gordo handed over her token she held it aloft and whooped, as if she’d won an Olympic medal. Her father, Edward, clapped his liver-spotted hands. Holle couldn’t believe Kelly could behave this way.

The army boy, Morell, went forward next. He was shaking visibly. Gordo had to show him where to place his palm; the kid wiped his hand on his trouser leg and reached out nervously. But the machine produced a coin for him; he grabbed it and hurried on.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” said Mel. He patted Holle’s shoulder. “You next, hon. See you on the other side.”

Holle stepped forward, alone. Suddenly she was nervous, her heart hammering, a feeling of lightness in her head. She was aware of Gordo watching her, the guard at his side, Kelly and the other successful Candidates waiting for her, Mel behind her. It was as Kelly had said. All her life she had been preparing for this mission. She would never know how much she had sacrificed for it, what kind of a childhood she might have had otherwise. And it all came down to this one moment, to a decision made by some intangible expert system cooked up by Gordo and the social engineers.

There was no point hesitating. She slapped her palm on the pad. It was greasy with other people’s sweat. The machine turned. A token dropped into the slot with a rattle. She just looked at it for a long second, barely believing it. Then Gordo handed it to her, and she clutched it tightly as she marched over to join Kelly and the others. Nobody slapped her back, nobody hugged her-nobody grinned, save Kelly. It didn’t feel like that kind of moment. The Morell kid just stood there shaking, maybe more afraid that he’d made it than if he hadn’t.

Mel approached the machine. He placed his hand on the pad. The machine turned, but no token emerged. Mel frowned, staring at the machine. He went to put his hand down again, but the guard stepped forward.

Gordo put his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, son.”

Mel stood straight for a long second. Then he nodded, turned on his heel, and marched away, without glancing back at Holle.

Holle couldn’t believe it. “There’s been a mistake.”

Kelly said, “Somebody had to make room for daddy’s little soldier. Tough break.”

“No!” Holle lunged forward. Kelly grabbed her arms and held her back.