My head snapped back and I stared at him with a defiant glance. “ButIdon’t!”
“Yet!” he said with a smug smile and got up. “I’ll be right back.”
CHAPTER 13
The Picnic
Christina
The day after our wedding I started working at the digging site. I wish we had precise maps of the area from before the war but all I knew was that this area was built on top of what used to be Vancouver, Canada.
Bombs and fires had destroyed the old city and the progressive mentality of the decades that followed the war had been inclined to bury the past and start again – I didn’t blame the survivors of that time, since the traumatic experience they went through explained in full why they chose to bury the ruins with the billions of people that lost their lives around the world.
But as an archeologist I wished we had a clearer picture of the world before the war. In many ways we’d been forced to start over and re-invent things that were lost to us. With so many people dead, important knowledge had been lost and priorities had shifted from pre-war space programs to restoring the world. In the Motherlands we had reinvented the Internet and had carefully selected what could be part of it. The Wise-Share, as we called it, was strictly governed by librarians who made sure no content of a violent nature could be uploaded. Just as in real life, improper communication wasn’t tolerated, and anyone who broke the rules of interaction would lose privileges like electricity, permission to travel with public transportation, food rations, or, worst case, end up in a place of reflection.
Here, the men had simply built on top of the old Internet, and it made for a confusing mix of outdated or false information that I found hard to navigate. We knew much of the original Internet had been deleted or falsified by hackers during the Toxic War, and no matter how much I searched I couldn’t find a detailed map of this area.
Khan had provided me with most of the items on the list I had given him. He’d even found seven men to help me excavate – two of whom I had a strong sense were anything but volunteering for the job.
Boulder stayed close enough to see me, but was busy working too. According to him he was a businessman and owned logging and mining companies among other things.
I didn’t ask him many questions about it since I was too focused on my own job.
We had our first challenge when he didn’t like me talking to my helpers.
“I have to teach them how to do the work properly or they could ruin something of value,” I argued.
“I don’t like them being too close to you.”
“That’s too bad because they’re my colleagues, and colleagues on digging sites have to work side by side.”
Grumpy and unsatisfied, Boulder resolved to having a serious conversation with each man, imparting all the gory ways he would kill them if they ever touched me.
I rolled my eyes, something I would have never done at home, but then at home no one would threaten another with ripping their heart out through their behind.
The men didn’t seem to think Boulder crazy. They just shook his hand and gave their word without hesitation.
At lunchtime Laura arrived with everything for a picnic, and it forced me to take a break although I really wanted to continue my work.
“I packed two lunches,” she said and took my arm, leading me away from the site and toward a group of trees. “One for Magni and Boulder and one for you and me.”
The men watched until we sat down on a blanket she had brought. Laura waved at them and received a nod in return.
“What about Erika? I thought you were going to bring her,” I asked.
“She wasn’t feeling well, and I told her she could meet you another time.” Laura was unpacking the lunch and placed a plate in front of me with a pie, some meatballs, and a salad.
“Are these normal meatballs?”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“So no animals died to produce them?” I asked to be certain.
“What do you mean?” She looked puzzled.
“We have replaced meat with plant-based products that taste the same, and for those who insist on real meat they get cultured meat.”
“Really?”
