Skin Trials Read online

  Skin Trials

  S.Y. Humphrey

  Contents

  1. Tainted

  2. One More Mission

  3. American Advancement Day

  4. Perfect Society

  5. Anthistemi

  6. I Know You

  7. To Right the Wrongs

  8. Loyalty

  9. The Skin Trials

  10. Food for Nautilus

  11. The Forgotten

  12. The Barracoons

  13. The Truth

  14. Low Country

  15. Suns, Rise

  16. Midnight Strikes

  17. Digging Up the Light

  18. Angola

  19. Stroke of Midnight

  Thank you!

  1

  Tainted

  Wyoming, 2042

  “Are we sure?” Seren asked her personal assistant, Maura.

  “It’s perfect, Seren. Calm down. All the preparations are final, crews are in place and test stations set up just the way you want them. Now all you need is to get out there and shine.”

  Seren directed her gaze out of the bullet-proof, panoramic windows of her college loft. Across the moonlit mountains of Wyoming Tier One University, rested Seren’s space ship, Advance Liberty. The moment had finally arrived for its big unveiling. In a few short weeks, it would transport her and her Tier One teammates to build the world’s first space nation.

  Her hand swiped through three-dimensional projections, having just wrapped up the closing lines of her speech.

  “I just want to leave no stone unturned. Maybe we should go over the schedules one more time,” Seren worried aloud.

  “You won’t have a chance to,” Maura said, waving through Seren’s three-dimensional schedule. “Not if you still want to run and clear your head before you go to the Dome. And you won’t have time to run this evening. You’re flying home to Denver tonight, for…”

  “… oh yeah, that’s right. Security briefing. My favorite,” Seren said sarcastically, before the two of them laughed. She’d been so busy getting ready for her own big day that she’d almost forgotten about her parents’. Tomorrow, they would sign a new American Constitution.

  A blinding light flared across her eyes just then. Snatching her head away, she grimaced at the Guardian patrolling the grounds. Its light swept across her window before it captured her facial features and recognized her.

  “Seren Jernigan. I apologize for the unintended disturbance,” the armed police robot stated from the sky. It then continued onward across the grounds. It must have been one of her father’s new models. Soon enough, Americans wouldn’t need guns, Guardians or Classified Access Grades, after the digital installations were finalized over the next few weeks. Every American could enjoy peace. And Seren could finally leave to build the New America in space, without worry of another attack against her parents here at home.

  But first they had to get through the torment of media blitzes, political jockeying, and investor schmoozing. Sometimes, it all felt like a circus show, rather than one of the biggest technological and scientific advancements in history.

  “Now, don’t forget,” Maura said, closing in on Seren, “nothing about who will live on the ship, how much they invested to get on it, or how they got accepted for travel. Don’t get into the travelers’ Classified Access Grades, or what part of the country they came from. Also, don’t discuss the coasts, no talk of healthcare, or the Tier levels. Focus the conversation solely on the space ship, its features and the positives of living in space. Just like you practiced with the lawyers.”

  “Okay, Maura, I know,” Seren chuckled, heading to her room to change before sunrise. She turned sarcastic again. “And don’t ask their real eye color, Perfect Society identification number, or whether they dye their hair. No controversy. You’re starting to sound like Mom.”

  “Good,” Maura replied, her lips stretching wide, clearly taking that as a compliment. “That’s why she pays me.”

  Seren’s computerized closet produced workout attire that she struggled to pull them over her chaotic blonde curls that sprang out everywhere. So busy working late nights the last few weeks between the ship and her classes, she had not worried with looking in the mirror.

  “VScan, when is my next G Shot? This frizz gets worse by the day,” Seren complained. “It looks like weightless suspension is already happening on my head.” She detested the frenzied kinks with which she’d been born. Fortunately, she took care of that with her Genetic Enhancements, informally called “G Shots” among Seren and her friends. She received the treatments every four months to reduce the physical effects on the body of traveling to space. The wondrous side benefit to genetic treatments was how they perfected other traits on the body — reducing freckles, acne, and even smoothing her hair some. She could always tell when the shots were wearing off because her hair took on a new personality, refusing to stay put. The rat’s nest on her head was the one characteristic she hated about herself.

  “Two weeks,” the VScan digital smart assistant replied.

  “Can I get one any sooner?”

  “I’ll call Dr. Placer today,” the VScan said.

  “You’re a lifesaver,” Seren breathed gratefully, approaching the VScan digital reader in her wall that verified her identity. The door slid open to let in a crisp blast of Wyoming mountain air. A floating SkyPad arrived at her door, three stories above the lush grounds, and she stepped onto the circular, steel plate.

  “Ground,” she voice-commanded.

  Since it was just five a.m., deadly metal security spikes still shined among the blades of grass now, as they did every night after nine o’clock. But as Seren passed through hidden VScan sensors, the spikes receded into the ground. They lined the path to the exclusive area of campus reserved for children of government officials, or more specifically, the citizens of Classified Access Grade Tier One.

  With a wave of the chip inside her wrist, the wooden security gate unlatched, and she ran toward the shimmering blue-green ponds and lush foliage that lay at the base of Medicine Bow’s mountains.

  Her wrist buzzed continuously with incoming calls and messages from well-wishers and friends. Seren refused to answer. She needed this quiet. It would likely be the last bit of solitude for the next several days. Once she flew home to Denver that night, she expected her parents staffers’ would jam more briefing material into her head. Then, there was the signing of the new American Constitution, her dad’s big announcement for president, and then, of course, the American Advancement Ball.

  All of her parents’ years of hard work had come full circle, and tomorrow night, the three of them would finally see it pay off. Seren had never journeyed outside of Tier One, into the other regions of the nation known as the Fottom, primarily the East and West coasts. So she had not personally seen the now ruined states of New York or California, after the hurricanes, fires, droughts, and finally, the rebellions and street wars. But she hoped they were grateful for the long struggle her parents had endured to stabilize them again, and restore peace for the first time in decades.

  Running toward the back entrance of the Aerospace Dome, she saw the lines of incoming school buses, filled with excited children in grades four through eight. They had flown in from across the mid-West, now the wealthiest area of the United States, most of which formed Tier One. Media crews and low-level diplomats bustled alongside them.

  She entered the long steel and silvery corridors, passing her father’s painted portrait on the wall. On the other side of the corridors, the spaceship’s main holding chamber spanned the size of two football fields. Once she showered, and threw on work coveralls, she joined her Tier Two subordinate teammates, called Twos. Like Seren, they were also college students attending Wyoming Tier One University,
but they had moved from Tier Two states in hopes of becoming a One. That was determined by their performance in the Perfect Society Space program and loyalty to the regime of Perfect Society.

  “No aberrations?” Seren asked her Twos one more time. Holding her 3Pad, her eyes poured over illuminated task lists, drills, flight plans, and station control systems.

  “Of course not,” Trane, her favorite Two answered, pointing to some parts of the ship. “No problem areas. Warning lights off for the past three weeks now. Animals are happy. You can enjoy a nice, farm-raised meal. Your Tier One colleagues are ready with their Twos. Liberty is good to go.”

  “Excellent,” Seren breathed, turning to him, offering her hand. Her eyes searched her entire crew of Twos. “I appreciate you very much, all of you, for coming here to Wyoming and helping with this effort. I will make sure you are well compensated.”

  They clapped and hugged. She thought she could even see some of them sigh, as if a load had fallen off their shoulders. Since there was no discussing personal or family matters in official spaces, Seren could only guess. It almost seemed that some of her subordinates felt relief. They had just earned more Tier Two VScan credits for food and healthcare. Briefly, she wondered what they would do with the credits, since they were not unhealthy and the school fed them as part of the program. To attend school in Tier One, citizens had to pass strict health and genetics tests. Thus, Seren’s crew were all perfectly healthy and the relief on their faces, as if they were grateful for medical treatment or food, struck her as odd.

  “Thank you so much, Seren, we appreciate you letting us come here and giving us this opportunity!” Kat, another Two, called. She had arrived two years ago, from the West Virginia part of the Fottom, formerly known as the East Coast.

  Kat’s eyes glistened as she spoke, as did many of their eyes.

  “Well, there you are. Hiding from the spotlight, are we?” a familiar female voice called out behind them. Seren turned to see her longtime friend Agnethe, who had flown in from Denver to support her. “Hm, I wonder who designed these lovely coveralls you’re wearing? Oh, yes, that’s right. Me.”

  Seren grinned, grateful to see someone who’d known her before spaceships and politics. “Does everyone remember my bestie, Agnethe?”

  “Of course, they remember me. I’m the more interesting half of our dynamic duo,” Agnethe smiled back before they embraced. Stunning Seren, she approached and snatched the 3Pad from Seren’s arm. “Give me this. You’re prepared enough. You don’t need it anymore.”

  Seren rolled her eyes with a smile, before turning to Trane and her other Twos. “Alright, you guys, let’s do this. Why are we here?”

  “To perfect our strength is to advance our liberty!” Everyone said in unison, reciting the new American motto.

  “You guys are dismissed. I’ll see you out there,” Seren said, before linking arms to walk out with Agnethe. After so many years, Seren still questioned how they could be so different, yet so close. Theirs was the unlikeliest friendship. The daughter of a famous architect, and the other of a military contractor turned politician, they’d seen one another through what they called the Orphan years. Their parents had been so busy building Tier One, they were raised mostly by their nannies. “I’m glad you care about the biggest presentation of my life.”

  Seren had always been the tomboyish thinker who took Judo, and Agnethe a beautiful prima donna who loved fashion. In a serendipitous way, it worked. On the playground in kindergarten, Seren confronted kids who made fun of Agnethe not wanting to touch a dirty ball. Or at summer camp, when none of the boys wanted to dance with Seren because of her wild hair, Agnethe had fixed it for her. They looked out for each other and kept one another grounded, remaining close even after Seren left Denver to start college at age thirteen.

  “Let’s celebrate after all this is over. We’ll take your new aero car out tonight and party!” Agnethe whispered just then.

  “Can’t. My mom wants me home tonight. Besides, I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept in weeks. And you know tomorrow night there’ll be more partying.”

  “Our parents will be there. That’s not a party. It’s a sparkly funeral, with ugly dresses, and polite chitchat, and… and pearls. Who cares.”

  Seren laughed. “It’s only the biggest day in America since, like, 1776.”

  “Ugh, whatever,” Agnethe muttered. “Who needs a new America? All you smart people just want more ways to boss the rest of us around.”

  “But we’re so good at it though,” Seren cracked.

  Agnethe’s eyes darted behind Seren, who turned to see Trane lingering, waiting for her. The way his lips pressed together, and his shoulders squared up, the normally reserved technician seemed bothered just then.

  “Trane, everything okay?” Seren asked.

  He licked his lips, as if preparing himself for whatever he needed to say. “Can we talk alone?”

  He looked to Agnethe, hinting that he felt uncomfortable talking around anyone else.

  Seren started, “Agnethe, can you—”

  The backdoor to the space ship’s holding room burst open, and Maura waved her over.

  “There you are! It’s time,” Maura said.

  Seren turned back to Trane. She’d never seen him look perplexed.

  “I’ll find you later,”he said.

  Seren focused on keeping her composure as Agnethe and Maura walked with her toward the back of the ship’s massive holding room.

  There, Seren’s mentor, the professor and famous former astronaut Jenna Michels, awaited her. The older woman’s eyes burned holes into her watch.

  Professor Michels glared, waving her hand across the door sensor for it to slide open. “Glad you could join us, Princess.”

  “Morning, Professor. My apologies,” Seren said. The younger astronaut paused, holding the gaze of the older astronaut. “Thank you for coming here and helping build this.” In a hurried moment, Seren squeezed the near mother-figure who had helped her grow over the last four years.

  The professor’s expression appeared different today, not as engaging as usual, but stiff. “You still haven’t left Earth, Dear. Don’t thank me yet.”

  Seren’s wrist buzzed again for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Her feet stepped onto a SkyPad, and the steel plate separated from the floor, levitating in the air. “Mom, it’s finally happening. I’m floating out there now.”

  Out in the front holding arena, Seren could hear her fellow Tier One colleague, also her long time friend Dax, as his boisterous voice hyped up the crowd. “Wwwwelcome to Wyoming Tier One University! Who’s ready to Advance… Libertyyyy?”

  Maddening applause blast around the stadium, and the noise alone could have propelled the ship from the ground.

  Seren’s mother started speed-talking. “Okay, I’m proud of you. Don’t fidget. Stand still. Chest out. No geek speak or big words. And don’t explain your ambitions, or apologize. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “We did it,” Seren whispered as the SkyPad began floating toward the podium of the Aerospace Dome. She almost felt her mother’s jitters through the wireless airwaves. Seren adored her and Dad, but they had all agreed Seren needed to do this on her own, and establish her own identity separate from her parents’ influence and politics. Even if that had gotten her here, she wanted her own talents to take her forward. She sucked in a big breath for her first ever press conference alone, without her famous parents.

  “You did it. Go show them your Perfect Society.”

  The audience of energetic school kids had come into view. “Call you later.”

  Seren clicked off her watch. Below her, excited students whipped their heads around, their eyes dancing from one high-tech contraption to another. As Seren’s SkyPad floated into their view, their faces lit up where they stood along the walls of the Dome. The ecstatic screaming and jumping began. News reporters had already begun dictating and tapping away tomorrow’s news stories and reports. To control her nerves, she fi
ngered the mechanical metal ball in her pocket. Her hand lifted in the air to wave for a brief and humble two seconds, just as her mother taught her. She put her hand down, and spoke into the floating speakerphones.

  “Hi,” Seren started simply. The wild applause forced her to wait a few more moments.

  “We love you, Seren!” little girls and boys screamed.

  Seren scanned all of their faces once again, taking in this exhilarating moment. “We love you right back. That’s why we work so hard for you.” She took a final deep breath while their school teachers calmed them down. “So… you all don’t know me very well.”

  The entire stadium laughed.

  “Yes, we do! We’ve read everything about you!” one of the kids yelled out.

  Seren chuckled, retorting, “Only what my parents’ handlers approved.” To that, the audience laughed more. “My crew and I, we haven’t been in the spotlight much. We’ve been kind of busy these last seven years.” More applause and hooting. “We’ve been working hard to perfect our strength, to secure your future, and to give you the perfect society you deserve.”

  They began screaming once more, that broke into chants of, “To perfect our strength is to advance our liberty!”

  Seren nodded with approval, before continuing, “This endeavor, this next phase of America’s greatness, has taken up our lives. Now we’d like to present it to you. It once took two hundred to three hundred days to reach Mars from Earth. Now, the average space engines take approximately three months. Our ship can get you there in two weeks. Meet Advance Liberty. Join us, as we take the New and Advanced America to its next frontier.”

  Seren’s feet turned to unveil her life’s work. The mechanical shields shifted around the Dome, and the floors opened to reveal the top of a space ship the size of two basketball gymnasiums. The ship levitated from its subterranean position in the ground. Seven years of labor, the futuristic society she had always wanted— that would cement her parents’ legacies— now floated before the world.