Free The Eden Project: Humanity's Last Chance by D. P. Fitzsimons

original eight after all. It’s in the protocol, Gen.” Cassie grabbed the handles of her bag becoming impatient.
    “Tuna has a secret.” Gen said, thinking out loud. Cassie listened to her intently. “Whatever’s happened, he’s much stronger now. We’ll never get it out of him. And Adam? Forget it. He’s like some warrior of virtue now.” Gen hung her head. “He barely notices me.”
    Cassie looked down to her bag and fiddled with the handles. “I’m sure it’s with great effort.”
    Gen turned to Cassie as if surfacing from a dream. “What do you mean? What great effort?”
    Cassie picked up her bag, set it on her lap. “Adam. It’s with great effort that he does not notice you.”
    Among all her many grave concerns, Adam’s affections should be on the bottom of Gen’s list, but the opposite was true. Cassie’s words were like a lifeboat appearing the moment before drowning. Adam could not possibly avoid looking or speaking with her unless it was with great effort. He noticed and talked with everyone else, but Gen alone was singled out and avoided. He made no effort for anyone but her.
    Cassie watched Gen connecting with thoughts that gave her comfort. Regret overtook Cassie fearing her words had undone what Adam had tried so hard to do. He was obviously trying to break his unhealthy bond with Gen which could only end badly for all.
    “As for Tuna and his secrets,” Cassie stated loudly trying to recapture Gen’s attention, “he has always had them. He’s kept a diary since he was eight years old.” Their eyes finally met. Cassie had succeeded in getting Gen’s mind off Adam.
    “He keeps a diary?” Gen asked, trying to remain calm, but something about Tuna’s diary excited her.
    Cassie stood and finally put her bag over her shoulder. “Yeah, I’ve come across him in his quarters when he was journaling. I knock and he doesn’t hear me.” Cassie smiled to Gen in a way that let Gen know it was time to leave. “I think it’s cute, don’t you?”
    Gen nodded unconvincingly while they walked out of the gardens and into the corridor. Cassie smacked her lips together and searched for a way to put her friend’s mind at ease. “Whatever happened, Gen, has made those two boys clear of purpose. And that’s a good thing.”
    Cassie’s well-intentioned words gave Gen direction, but not the direction Cassie had hoped. Gen needed to find out the truth now more than ever, because the only thing she knew for sure was that her own purpose was no longer clear.
    Gen cloaked her eagerness with a friendly smile. “You’re right as usual, Cass.” She could see her words’ positive effects on Cassie. “And I can tell you don’t mind.”
    “Don’t mind what?” Cassie said, regaining her good mood.
    “That your man’s getting serious and taking charge.”
    “You noticed, huh?” The red returned to Cassie’s cheeks. “And speaking of pillars, perhaps you should appreciate Zeke a little more. He’s always been a pillar of the Project.”
    Maybe she should, Gen thought, but not now. There were much more pressing matters on her mind. When she wandered into the gardens of ES2 she had done so thinking her quest had come to a dead end, but leaving the ship only moments later she realized her visit to ES2 had not put an end to her quest but given it new life.

-12-
    She was lucky to be alive. The staff protocol allowed for the elimination of any personnel knowingly jeopardizing the security of the project. Instead Doctor Quarna decided to restrict her access to the absolute minimum that would allow her to continue her general consultations with the children regarding their physical and emotional well being.
    For the past four months Doctor Becker was only able to move from her quarters to her lab. Staff meetings were held without her. The other doctors ate together in the staff commissary while she ate alone. She submitted weekly reports via her scrollpad on any behavioral issues occurring among the