Fierce September Read Online Free PDF

Willem, how do we know you speak the truth? We are not aware of any such crack.’
    ‘Leng will show you. The photographs are live. What you see is what is happening at this moment.’
    But all we could see were racing clouds. ‘Wait,’ Leng said. ‘You’ll catch glimpses.’ She traced a shape under the cloud with a slim beam of light. ‘That’s the dome. The eastern side, with the docking gates at the top.’
    We stared, mesmerised by the whipping clouds.
    ‘There!’ Danyat shouted.
    For a second or two we saw our home from Outside.
    ‘I’ll try the western side now,’ Leng said.
    This time it took longer for the cloud cover to break. When it did, Leng traced dark scars on the surface. ‘From lightning strike,’ she told us.
    She didn’t point to the crack in the dome, for we couldn’t miss it.
    We stared, silent.
    ‘Dear heaven, we’ve been lucky,’ Danyat whispered. He gave me a crooked smile. ‘When everyone is yelling at you, Juno, beloved granddaughter, remember this photograph. Remember how your actions helped save us.’
    The ship gave a violent shudder.
    ‘If we survive,’ said Grif, but she too smiled at me.
    Alvek called again, ‘But where are you taking us now? Where will we live? And how?’
    And so began our education about Outside.
    ‘We are headed for Wellington, Aotearoa,’ Willem said.
    ‘New Zealand?’ Leebar asked, her eyebrows raised.
    Willem nodded. ‘New Zealand indeed. But we have not called it that for a decade or two.’ He smiled at us. ‘Those of you who were familiar with New Zealand will find it different now.’
    He sketched in the differences, but to those of us born on Taris it didn’t mean much to be told that the main urban centres were now Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, Nelson, Dunedin and Invercargill.
    ‘What about Christchurch?’ asked Mallin, a woman older than my grandparents.
    ‘It’s too dry on that part of the east coast to support much life,’ Willem said. ‘We hope to recreate the city, but that won’t happen until the country as a whole has more money. Only a few people live there now.’
    Mallin shook her head. She seemed stunned.
    ‘What of Australia?’ Alvek asked.
    Leng flashed another image on the screen. ‘This is Melbourne. The footage was shot in February.’
    ‘It’s like Taris.’ The murmur spread through the room as we took in the domes spread over the landscape.
    ‘Yes,’ Leng said. ‘Taris was the model, but the difference is that people move freely between the domes in air-conditioned pods that run on rails.’ She flicked up another image and we watched as small oval contraptions suspended on a rail zapped along. ‘There are also cars. They hold up to ten people or can be converted to carry goods. Nobody owns private cars. It’s been a big change, but kids can now play in the little cul-de-sacs. Teens skate, cycle or low-fly along the avenues. It’s a very people-friendly city.’ She was smiling.
    Biddo called out, ‘What sort of motors do the cars have? What is their energy source?’
    I groaned, but caught enough of the explanation to understand that the cars were electrically driven by power generated from the road surface as they moved. The pods were coated with a film that converted sunlight into energy.
    Leng switched images. ‘This is Melbourne in winter. These pictures are live.’ The domes were gone. Rain swept across the tall towers and blanketed the houses beyond the city centre. ‘The winters are mild but the rainfall is quite high. The domes are only needed in the heat of the summer.’
    The ship gave a sudden lurch, tilting the floor sharply. Inch by inch we straightened, only to have the floor tilt again as the ship dived down into a swell. Nobody screamed, but several gasped, their faces grey and strained.
    Willem remained standing, one hand locked around a handgrip bolted to the wall. His face was calm as he said, ‘Perhaps we will continue the discussion when the sea is gentler.’ A