Chapter 04 | Aestas ¤ The Yellow Balloon

Durojaiye wiped his eyes with his sleeves to stop the tears that were starting to form there, put on a sad smile, and noted for all, “See, you always think you have to look out for me, that I cannot do anything on my own.”

Ahmad returned a similar expression and retorted, “And once again, I have been proven right.”

“Very well,” Durojaiye accepted. “Thank you, my friend. One more time, I am in your debt.”

“And I, yours,” Ahmad agreed.

With the deal between them apparently settled, Ahmad and Durojaiye looked away from each other and back towards Lilit. Each sat there doing nothing but patiently gaping at her with expectant visages. Completely torn, Lilit had no idea what she should do anymore. All the surety from her professional experience evaporated as she began to feel like a green rookie again. Nothing even remotely like this had ever happened to her during all her years on the job, nor had she heard about similar situations. Coordinators had a lot of autonomy, but with that came a significant amount of power. She knew that she held the future of these two men in her hands. Should she elect to do so, she could turn them into indentured deckhands on the first shuttle back to Earth.

Utterly paralyzed by indecision, Lilit could not take it anymore and spun her chair around so that they would stop staring at her with their puppy-dog eyes. She pretended to busy herself by looking through their records yet another time on her virtual monitors, but she was not learning anything new. Ahmad was a top tier candidate, even though he apparently didn’t realize it. The only mark against him was his age, but that was not enough reason to turn him away. Lilit realized that she already desperately wanted to make sure Ahmad would succeed, that she felt responsible for him.

However, she began to fear that if she sent Durojaiye away that Ahmad would follow. He had made some moral decision for inexplicable reasons and decided that he was obligated to ensure Durojaiye succeed here. Lilit could not imagine what had happened on that shuttle to engender this type of attachment, but it was definitely there and she was not going to be able to break him of it anytime soon.

As Lilit pondered more deeply about the situation, she began to realize that having Durojaiye around might actually be an overall beneficial thing. While on paper he certainly lacked any conventional talents, there was something intangible about him. Most importantly, as far as she was concerned, he appeared to inspire bravery and determination in Ahmad, something he clearly lacked alone. It was like the sum of the two was far more than just the parts. Together, they made a better and far more capable being than either could ever be individually.

Lilit also hated to admit it to herself, but she found Durojaiye interesting and charming, too. His frankness, honesty, and vulnerability were all on full display, characteristics Lilit found quite refreshing. Soft skills like these were often overlooked, but Lilit recognized that they were just as important as being able to culture bacteria. Whatever it was he was really doing on Aestas, it did not seem like he was going to be a danger to anyone but himself.

Suddenly, tears of her own began to flow and they made her virtual displays appear blurry. She was glad that Ahmad and Durojaiye couldn’t see her as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe away the evidence. Once finally composed, she twirled herself around and examined the duo for the last time, resolving herself to make a final determination. While she hoped that they had not noticed anything that had just transpired, she later learned that the red puffiness around her eyes had easily given her away.

“Durojaiye,” Lilit prodded, “you’ve heard what Ahmad is willing to sacrifice for you. I’m going to ask you the same question, then. If I decided to reject Ahmad’s application, what would you do?”

Not skipping a beat, Durojaiye declared, “Without Ahmad, I have no hope of prevailing on Aestas. Over our weeks together on the transport vessel between worlds, it became clear to me that my only path to the results I seek is through and with Ahmad. Deprived of him, I fear I will not be able to accomplish anything I have set out to do and be. As such, if Ahmad were to be asked to leave, it would be necessary for me to go with him and return to Earth as a total failure, despite the consequences I and my family would face.”

“It would be that bad for you?” Ahmad concernedly inquired.

In response, Durojaiye just smiled and nodded. He held out his hand and, after a moment, Ahmad took it in his own.

“Coordinator Lilit,” Ahmad announced as he and Durojaiye continued to hold tightly to each other, “it has been decided. You are either going to accept both of us, or neither of us.”

“If that is how it is going to be...” Lilit attempted.

“It is,” Ahmad affirmed.

Lilit thought for a moment more before she pronounced with as much formality as she could muster, “Okay then, it appears I have no choice. Ahmad Al Zaheri, Durojaiye Yakubu... against my better judgment, you have both passed provisional screening and have been granted the privilege to enter Aestas.”

A palpable relief spread through the plexiglass as Lilit continued, “I will assign each of you your temporary quarters in the Quarantine District and will take you over there later today after I finish interviewing the other candidates. We have strict protocols related to pathogen transmission, so when you next see me, I will be in a full hazmat suit.

“Over the course of the next several months, I will be visiting you daily under the same conditions in order to make sure that anything you are carrying inside of you is completely wiped away and to monitor your internal exposure to the uniquely Venusian biosphere. Basically, in the end, your entire microbiome will be replaced with a new one. It is only after that point that you will be allowed to enter Aestas proper.

“Both during your quarantine and after you arrive in the city, I will be working with you on your physical and emotional therapy. It is only when I deem you clear that you will be allowed freedom of movement and occupation. Before then, you will be extremely restricted in your activities, both in place and time. At any moment, I can revoke your privileges and return you back to whence you came. You also have the right to leave at any time should you so choose, but the government of Aestas will not pay for your exit under any circumstances.

“Do you understand everything I have told you and agree to these terms?”

“I do,” both concurred in unison.

“Great,” Lilit said, “please look down at the screen embedded in the desk in front of you. There you will see what I have described in greater detail. Read it over carefully and, one at a time, sign it in the open field at the bottom. This will be your official immigration contract.”

Neither spent much time reading the contract and quickly scrolled to the bottom and signed with the stylus chained to the desk. Once done, Lilit verified their signatures on her end and heralded, “Congratulations gentlemen, though I may come to regret this, today you have taken your first step towards becoming official members of our society!”

The above piece is an excerpt from the speculative hard science fiction novel Aestas ¤ The Yellow Balloon by J.P. Prag, available at booksellers worldwide. Learn more about the author at www.jpprag.com.

As humanity begins to tame the stars above, at what point do a group of colonists turn into a unique, indigenous people who will band together to protect their homeland... no matter what?

Lilit Sarkisian was an average young woman who made a living welcoming new immigrants to the floating city of Aestas, soaring high above the clouds on Venus. Then, one day, she met her new clients Ahmad Al Zaheri and Durojaiye Yakubu. From that moment onward, her life irreparably changed and forever altered the course of the place she had always known as home. Somehow, these two became her best friends in the whole universe, and her most loyal coconspirators.

Aestas appeared to be a successful colony, much more so than places like Mars where terraforming had ultimately failed. Yet the powers-that-be, both on Venus and Earth, refused to do anything to alleviate the pressures caused by its exploding population. To fully resolve these issues, Lilit found herself evolving from an unknown civil servant to the leader of a revolution to a dangerous interplanetary symbol. Her story did not end there, though, nor did the machinations of those who had other plans for her birthplace.

With the help of her most trustworthy companions Ahmad and Durojaiye, was Lilit able to save the irreplaceable Venusian society from forces far more powerful than her?

Aestas ¤ The Yellow Balloon is a work of mixed fiction and nonfiction elements. With the fiction elements, any names, characters, places, events, and incidents that bear any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. For the nonfiction elements, no names have been changed, no characters invented, no events fabricated except for hypothetical situations.