May We Meet Again

Chapter Two

"It's all gibberish to me," Mom said, shaking her head. "I can teach simple algebraic equations, but that is ..."

I pressed my fingers to my temples. "Let's back up. What are the symptoms of hypoxia? And what happens to a person who has to deal with this condition long term?" I pressed. "Obviously, Bella is concerned about this if she's adamant that something is wrong with the oxygen scrubbers and recyclers, causing hypoxia or whatever."

"Symptoms include headaches, shortness of breath, a bluish tint to the skin, cough, confusion, and a slowing heart rate. If it continues for some time, people can lose their sight, with decreased blood flow to their extremities, causing them to turn gangrenous and, if untreated, they will eventually die," Renee answered. Snapping her fingers, she looked back at her tablet. "Wait, let's look at the trending cases of hypoxia. Where are they all located?"

"D-Block and E-Block," Dad answered, reading from his tablet. "The inhabitants who are furthest away from promenade."

"And the quarters that are packed to the gills," I offered. "There are two to three families living in a room half this size."

"I think I get what she's trying to say," Renee said. She pulled up another file on her tablet. "Holy shit, the oxygen scrubbers and recyclers are not providing enough oxygen to those locations on the Ark. It was buried deep within the environmental systems files. Carlisle, you wouldn't have been able to see it. Hell, I wouldn't have been able to see it. I had to use Charlie's access codes."

"The Chancellor's office is covering this up," I frowned. "If anyone should be floated, it's him."

"Edward Anthony," Mom admonished. "I know you're not his biggest fan, but he's still our Chancellor."

I rolled my eyes, standing up and walking to the window, taking Renee's spot. I watched as the stars twinkled in the distance among the velvet background of space. It was such a stark view, but I found it to be calming. "So, the oxygen scrubbers are not working and it's resulting in people getting sick," I said to my reflection. "What can we do to alleviate the stress on the machinery? This equipment is nearly a century old."

"Lessen the number of people on the station," Dad whispered. "That's what can be done to alleviate the stress on the oxygen scrubbers ..."

"Are you saying that we ...?" Mom asked. "No one would agree to that! How many people would we have to kill?"

"No one," I answered, blinking back to my parents and Bella's mother. "What about everyone in the prison ward? We can send them to Earth. Things are coming back to life. There's a lot of green and the nuclear winter has abated."

"The nuclear winter may have abated, but the surface could still be toxic to humans," Renee argued.

"Is there a way to test it?" I asked. "Can we send a probe or something to see what the current radiation levels are on the surface?"

"To send a probe, we need the approval from Charlie," Renee sighed. "He won't approve it. He would hate to waste valuable resources."

"He might not be able to prevent us launching this probe if we present this evidence to the council," Dad said. "He'll have no choice but to allow the launch of a probe before this cover up is made public."

"We have a meeting with the council tomorrow. We can bring this up, but under the guise of a medical concern with the increased number of cases of hypoxia," Renee muttered. "This plan ... if the ground is habitable, could be viable. We could send those prisoners." Her voice cracked on the word, and she wiped a tear away. "I'd rather see my daughter on the ground than floating in the vacuum of space. At least, she has a chance to live."