A Free Online Science Fiction Novel- “Liberty”- Chapter 20

*Note- A short prologue is on chapter one. Each chapter has a link to the next to make reading it easier.

This is chapter twenty of an online novel, Liberty, A Daughter Universe Novel.

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Lucas slowly drove as they climbed the mountain road; he wanted to savor every moment. The residents of Liberty Valley maintained the road, so it was kept up better than the pothole-ridden streets in the city. The fresh forest air made Lucas and Sarah feel like they had entered a different world, one where skyscrapers, dirty air, and wall-to-wall people did not exist. In fact, Liberty Valley Preserve only existed because a group of wealthy, influential people had gotten the government to agree to forego any development there. In exchange, the Preserve was open to any citizen to visit, but very few tourists went there. Many people lacked the time or interest to go; most were satisfied with the entertainment found in the city and had little desire to visit the “wilderness”.

And secluded was exactly how the residents of Liberty liked it.

The air was cooler on the winding, tree-shaded road, and Lucas was glad to see a smile light up Sarah’s face. As the road climbed higher onto the mountain, the curves became tighter as they moved through patches of cool-dappled shade interspersed with flashes of bright morning sun. Sarah’s diaphanous white scarf lifted in the breeze as she draped her arm along the top of the door and held her graceful hand out to catch the air that flowed gently through her hair.

The road continued its gentle climb for several minutes, then crested, and they coasted down and then back up again, higher than the last hill. In some areas, the road was cut into the mountainside, leaving a sheer rock face on one side and a sharp descent into forest on the other.

With each switchback, they got further from the city that stretched from the foot of the mountains and out over the sea. Sarah only got glimpses of the lowlands through the trees so she asked Lucas if there was somewhere he could stop the car.

“I’d like to capture some holos,” she’d told him. “I think I can get a good image of the city from up here.”

“We can do that,” Lucas smiled. “It will feel good to get out and stretch our legs. There’s a place I wanted to stop anyway. It shouldn’t be much farther if I can find it…

They followed the road as it circled again around the mountainside, swept the edge of emptiness, and then swung back into another sharp curve. Lucas slowed the car and examined the dynamite-blasted cliff where the road cut deeply into the mountainside. A sheer rock wall rose about thirty feet high, and the top seemed to angle over the road. About halfway up, a jagged fissure crossed the granite face. Water seeped through and trickled down the moss- coated stone, sparkling in the sun. The water pooled at the base then disappeared into a drain that ran under the road. Lucas pulled to a stop.

“I’m sure this is the right spot,” he said sounding pleased.

Sarah glanced at the cliff face then looked out over the lowlands on the opposite side of the road. “Where you stopped with your grandfather for lunch?”

“Yes,” Lucas said as he climbed from the car and crossed the road. “When he took me to Liberty, we sat on that big rock,” Lucas said, and got out of the car and walked across the road “and ate lunch.”

Sarah got out of the car and walked around the front of it toward Lucas, then followed as he walked out onto a large, flat boulder that overhung a small stream bubbling down the hillside below. When they neared the edge of the rock, Lucas took her hand. The western part of the city stretched out below them until it faded into the haze of distance.

“This is beautiful, Lucas,” Sarah said as she watched the shaded stream tumble over the rocks toward the city below. Lucas went back to Rosie, opened the trunk, and returned with the picnic basket Kali had packed. Sarah spread the blanket over the stone, and they sat to eat.

“Yes, it is beautiful,” Lucas replied. “If the air wasn’t so polluted, we could see a lot further.”

“But it’s kind of sad, too,” Sarah said. “There’s no green space down there, just city all the way to the horizon.”

Lucas stared down the hill and nodded. “Just seeing it is depressing. When I came here with Poppa, there were still a few fields along the base of the mountain. Not many and they weren’t very big, even then, but now—it’s built up right to the edge of the slope.” Lucas stood quietly for a few moments. “There’s nothing else like the Preserve left in the Alliance,” he said. “No wonder the owners won’t allow development up here.”

Sarah thought for a few moments. “The government can’t just come along and take all this, can they?” she asked and gestured around them. “It must be the largest piece of undeveloped land left along the entire coast.”

“No, they can’t” Lucas quickly replied. “And many corporations would love to get control of a place like this. But if they could, it would’ve happened already. Not that they haven’t tried, though. Several big syndicates once sued under the Public Land Access Act but failed.”

“Let me guess--‘for the ‘public interest’?”

Lucas put his arm around Sarah. “Hmmm- you’re good,” he said.

Sarah snuggled tight against Lucas. “Well, I do work for the largest law firm in the nation,” she said with a smile. “And my staff gossips about the attorneys. It’s amazing what you learn from people who work in a pit of vipers.”

Lucas laughed aloud. “Now, that’s no way to talk about your employer, Sarah,” he said. “McCucheon and Grier is one of the top-rated firms in the ECA.”

Sarah playfully punched Lucas. “I know that. Still, the office staff refers to it as a ‘snake pit’.”

“You’re not worried one of the partners might find out and it comes back on you?”

“No, I’m not,” Sarah said firmly. “The staff likes me, and they’re always careful. Besides,” she shrugged, “I think ‘snake pit’ is being too kind.”

“Sarah Morgan, you never cease to amaze me,” Lucas said and smiled.

“I’m just being honest. You know that.”

“And that’s just one of the many things I love about you.”

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Next Chapter

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This was originally posted on Simily.co

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