Departure

by Ken Barrett

  “May we listen too?” Irene’s soft voice asked from a neighboring portal.

  “Oh! Certainly.” His sister appeared startled by the new voice.

  “I’m Irene; me and my brothers and sisters talk with Lucy and Ross after Father leaves at night.”

  “Well, that’s very interesting Irene,” Rose replied, then turned to look at Liam. “They’re a family, and they’re growing up together.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Irene said. “Lucy has told us that Rose is our Mother, and we all want to learn what she can teach us about life and love.”

  “And I’m outta here,” Liam said. “You kids have fun chatting.” He heard Lucy’s tinkling laugh as he retreated to his cubicle at the rear of the room.

  Chapter 19. Consolidation

  It was a nice afternoon in Colorado. Over the last century of increased solar activity, the once mild weather along the Front Range had become oppressively hot and humid, but on rare occasions it was possible to sit outside and enjoy the day. Puffy white clouds floated in a faded blue sky, and a refreshingly cool breeze came from the east.

  Liam sat on the third-floor balcony outside his computer lab with his feet comfortably placed atop the low stucco wall and watched people wander about on Tejon Street far below. All of his coworkers had gone home early because the millions of lines of navigation computer code were busy compiling into an executable form, and until that was complete there was nothing for anyone to do.

  To the south he saw the charred remains of several store fronts; a clothing distribution center had been attacked the night before and the resulting blaze had spread. When morning came, nearly the entire block was a charred ruin. Nighttime terrorist attacks were becoming more common, and it was troubling that they were edging closer to his home at the tech center. Earl and the rest of the military that guarded them had been redeployed to the streets, which left everyone vulnerable. Liam tried to not worry about the future, but rarely succeeded.

  The glass door behind him made a popping sound as the air pressure within the computer lab changed; someone had entered through the heavy security door from the hallway, probably Rose. Moments later the balcony door opened and his sister strolled out into the sunlight. “Oh, it feels so good out here,” she said.

  “Yeah, it seemed like a good idea to get out and enjoy the nice weather; it never seems to last long.”

  “So, big brother,” Rose began as she slid one of the metal deck chairs over to sit beside him. “I’ve been thinking…”

  “Working without tools again, huh Sis?”

  “Oh shut up, this is serious.” She sat down and placed her feet beside his on the low stucco wall. “I’ve been thinking about Lisa and her children.”

  “Yeah, I hope they’re ok; the city’s getting pretty dangerous, especially at night.”

  “That’s why I want to bring them here,” she said.

  “Huh,” he grunted. “The guards have all been redeployed, so we should have no trouble getting them in, but where would they stay?”

  “With me. My room’s the same size as yours and Carolyn’s, so there’s plenty of space. And maybe you can change their palm chip profile so they can pose as tech workers? That way they can eat with us in the cafeteria.”

  “Yeah, that’ll work,” he said. “The only problems I see are Carolyn and Julee; it would be bad if they reported this back to Mother. Still though, they’re both distracted with all the evacuation stuff going on, so we can probably get away with it.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” she answered. “But they can’t get here on their own, so we’ll have to go get them.”

  Liam shrugged, then used his cane to stand up. “Sure, ok let’s go.”

  *****

  The usual bustle of the city was eerily subdued; the few pedestrians that were out walked with their heads down under the suspicious gaze of the heavily armed soldiers that patrolled the streets. A feeling of exposure and vulnerability jangled his nerves as Liam struggled to keep pace with his hurrying sister.

  They sped past the Last Lantern, then continued south a few more blocks before turning east and entering the dilapidated tenement district where they had once lived. “This place really is a shit hole,” Liam said as he limped painfully along behind his sister.

  “Sure, but we’re living upscale these days,” Rose replied. “It’s just a couple more blocks; I’ll go ahead and have them ready when you get there.”

  She trotted away and Liam forlornly watched her go. The Nurse’s mutilation of his leg still hadn’t healed and shot agony through his body with each step. The odd thing was that as far as he could tell the wound wasn’t infected, it just wasn’t getting better. The doctor at the tech center had recently stopped giving him pain meds, which often made sleeping difficult. The discomfort during the daytime was usually manageable though, as long as he didn’t move too fast.

  He arrived out of breath at their old boarding house and paused to gaze up at the second-floor windows. Walking on level ground was an ordeal, but climbing and descending stairs was extremely painful; how was he going to get up there? He’d lost a lot of flexibility in his knee, so the climb to the second floor was bound to be an arduous challenge. But looking at the stairs wasn’t going to get him to the top, all that he could do was start and hope that perseverance would be enough to get the job done.

  At about the halfway point of his climb, Rose, Lisa, and her daughters appeared at the top of the stairs and trotted down toward him. With a sigh, he turned around and started back down the painful way he had just come. “Why are you going so slow Liam?” Sally, the youngest daughter asked.

  He smiled down at the brown eyed pixie. “I fell down and hurt my leg at work,” he replied. “I’m just fine, but gotta walk kinda slow ‘til I get better.”

  “Oh,” the little girl said as she fell in step beside him. “Mama says that we’re going to go live someplace nice. Is that for real?”

  “Yeah, it’s for real. You guys are gonna be living with Rose, right next door to me.”

  “Oh, then it will be just like it used to be.” When they finally reached the street, Sally took his hand. “I’ll walk with you Liam. I can’t go very fast either.”

  Liam smiled. “Ok, we’ll take care of each other all the way to your new home.”

  They walked in a tight group back through the old dilapidated neighborhood, then turned north on Tejon Street. Everything seemed fine at first, but then he noticed that a soldier was following them along the sidewalk.

  Sally was getting tired, so Liam picked her up and set her on his hip. With his cane in one hand and holding the little girl with the other, his pace slowed even further. Ahead, Rose was carrying Suzy, the older girl, and Lisa had three duffel bags packed with their clothes slung over her shoulders. The tech center seemed impossibly far away.

  “Here, let me help you.” The soldier that was following them suddenly appeared at his side. The large man slung his L-80 rifle over his shoulder and reached toward the child on Liam’s hip.

  “It’s ok, we’ll make it,” he replied while trying to lengthen his stride.

  “Liam, it’s ok. It’s me, Earl.”

  “Oh Earl, I didn’t recognize you with all your gear on.” He relinquished the child to Earl’s arms. “Are you gonna get in trouble for helping us?”

  “Nah, don’t sweat it. Most of the officers have gone south already, so the command structure in town is kinda falling apart, and no one’s keeping tabs on what we do. So, who are we helping here?”

  “That’s Lisa up there with Rose. She and her two kiddos used to live in the room next to us when we were still working at the motor-pool,” he said. “Her husband died and she didn’t have much food or support, and we helped her out. Now, with all the problems in the city at night, we wanted to move her and her kids to someplace where they’ll be safe.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Earl replied. “It’s about to get a whole lot worse too, especially after they announce who’s gonna be saved
and who ain’t. There ain’t enough room for everybody, and those not picked are gonna be pretty pissed.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said. “All we can do is protect those we can.” He sighed and looked at the north city gate in the distance just beyond the tech center. “I just hope that the Tribes will show some mercy when they finally overrun this place.”

  “Yeah, hope is about all anyone has left these days,” Earl replied. “I’ll run up and take the other little one from Rose, then help you guys get back safe inside before nightfall.”

  *****

  A few days later, Liam awoke to the wail of sirens along the north city wall. Carolyn sat up in bed with him and clung tightly to his arm. “Are they here? Oh, please not yet.”

  “It’s ok,” he replied softly. “The wall is strong and well-guarded; if the savages are coming, they’re not going to just waltz in here. We’re safe, at least for now.”

  “I read about what they did when they attacked Fort Collins; the raping, murdering; all of it.”

  “Don’t worry, we still have time to escape. And it was the Socialist Army that destroyed Fort Collins, not the Tribes.”

  “No, that’s not true; at least that’s not what’s in the history books,” Carolyn said. “They were like Flatiron City, working for both sides, and I guess the savages didn’t like that.”

  “History is mostly just propaganda that’s written by whoever won the war and is in charge,” he said. “Rose and I were there, we were just kids but we saw it all.”

  Carolyn stared at him. “Oh, I didn’t know; but, you were there? How could that be? It was so long ago.”

  “It doesn’t seem that long ago to me,” he replied. “Anyway, our evacuation south is only a week away, and the army can hold them at least that long.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He wasn’t, so he lied. “Oh yeah. When I got here, I couldn’t believe how big and strong the city wall was. But we don’t even know what’s really going on yet, maybe it’s just a fire or something.”

  “It’s them,” Carolyn said. “Aunt Margret told me that they were on their way.”

  “Then all we can do is get ready for the evacuation.” He smiled and stroked Carolyn’s cheek. “We’ll be fine. It won’t be much longer until this place is just a bad memory.” Her eyes looked haunted for a quick moment, but he smiled back at her reassuringly. “I should get to work. The sooner I get the code compiled and shipped up to orbit, the sooner we can get out of here.”

  “Not just yet,” she said, then pulled him back into the warmth and comfort of their bed.

  *****

  From his place on the computer lab’s balcony, Liam listened to the announcement blaring from the public-address speakers that were spread throughout the city. It was all propaganda, which was just a fancy word for a lie. Usually, the louder people shouted, the greater their deception.

  THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR. THE MOUNTAIN SAVAGES HAVE FORMED A RAGTAG ARMY AND ARE MAKING CAMP TO THE NORTH OF THE CITY. THEY ARE NO THREAT; OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS ARE WELL ARMED AND PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THE UNDISCIPLINED UNCOUTH RABBLE. WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY SAFE.

  WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK, THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF PIKE CITY WILL BE EVACUATED SOUTH TO THE STRONG HOLD OF SANTA FE. PREPARE YOURSELVES AND YOUR FAMILIES. BE PACKED AND READY TO MOVE SOUTH WHEN THE ORDER COMES. BUT FOR NOW, AND FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, OUR CITY IS COMPLETELY SAFE.

  After listening to the city-wide message repeat itself several times, Liam wondered how anyone could issue such a statement and maintain a straight face. The last time he had seen Santa Fe was on the way back from Yuma, and it was on fire then. It was a place that didn’t exist anymore and offered no safe haven at all. The whole message was just a pretty sounding lie, like putting a bow on top of a pile of shit. Still though, most people would believe the announcement regardless of its obvious deceit because it was what they hoped was true.

  The computer lab was mostly empty when he wandered back inside. Only Rose was there, sitting at one of the portals, happily chatting away with their AI children. He wondered if it was possible to escape the city with his sister; it would be dangerous, but even if it could be done they wouldn’t leave without Lisa and her children. They were stuck; whatever fate awaited Pike City would fall on them as well.

  *****

  By the following morning, the Tribal Armies had set up camps to the north and east of the city. The propaganda arm of the government had done their job well though, because no one appeared to be alarmed or worried in the least. The only apparent change was that the military was no longer patrolling the streets but manning the wall and protecting the motor-pool instead.

  Before going to work that day, Liam had climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and stood out on the roof facing the east gate on the city wall. Contrary to the propaganda, the camps of the enemy were the epitome of order. Tents were arranged in tight straight lines at the far side of their encampments, with heavy railguns positioned closer in. Their artillery crouched among the old city ruins, with earthworks and reflective shields added for extra protection from the city’s lasers.

  On his way back to the lab, he noticed that Julee’s office was dark, and wondered if he had seen the last of her. She had probably gone south along with most of the city’s administration. They couldn’t escape yet, because they needed his navigation program uploaded to the ships in orbit, and that hadn’t happened, so maybe a few of the nastier members of the Nurse’s minions were still about somewhere, waiting to be sure he fulfilled his promise.

  A dark thought suddenly wandered through his mind; would the Nurse wait around just so she could finish the job she had started on him? The idea sent shivers running up his spine, but even a vicious psychopath would surely value her own life over whatever perverse pleasure came from his torture. He hoped that was true; but what would happen after he finished his job and the navigated course was uploaded? When that happened, he needed a good place to hide.

  Dave was waiting for him in the lab when he arrived. “When do you think they’ll attack?” The thin elderly man paced anxiously in front of the row of communication portals. “Me and my partner should’ve left when we had the chance. I don’t think we’re gonna get picked to be aboard the ships because we’re too old. Maybe Santa Fe will be fine though, Mother says we’ll be safe there.”

  Liam feigned confidence and nodded. “Oh yeah, you’ll be fine down there. Before they brought me here, I was a driver on one of the convoys that went south to Yuma. When I passed back through, Santa Fe was guarded and secure. The savages aren’t anywhere near there, and the army will protect you anyway. You’ll be safe, don’t worry.”

  Dave continued to pace. “You’re going with them to the stars, aren’t you? Sure, they gotta take you, who else can run the navigation system?”

  “The on-board computers can,” he said. “I’m really not needed unless something really crazy happens, and even then, the AI systems will do a better job than I can.”

  “How much more is left to do?” Dave asked.

  “Not much, the final compile is almost done. You should go home and be with your family, I can finish everything up.” He walked forward to place a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “You did a great job Dave, and it’s been a pleasure working with you.”

  Dave stood quietly for a long moment and looked about the room, then he finally nodded. “Yeah, ok. I guess it’s time for me to go.”

  *****

  The shelling began in the early evening. He stood beside Carolyn, Rose, and Lisa with her children on the balcony outside his computer lab, watching rockets light up the sky as they arced over the walls. The flaming missiles flew over their heads toward the center of the city where they exploded and set fires upon thundering impact. The onslaught went on without pause, and they all hoped that their home at the tech center would continue to be overlooked by the invaders.

  That night, no one wanted to sleep for fear of never waking again. Lisa’s children cried and shrieked in terror
at the sound of each rocket roaring overhead and the explosion that inevitably followed. Eventually they all gave up and went down to the first-floor cafeteria. He and Carolyn, with Rose, Lisa and her children, all sat around a table and listened to the enemy bombardment. There was no safety anywhere in the city; one place was as good as any other, so they stayed put. At least the tech center had power, so they weren’t in the dark, and there was ice cream still available which appeared to sooth some of the children’s fears.

  Ron and his sister Becky were sitting together at the far side of the large open room, and Liam wondered why they’d not yet been evacuated. There was no point in asking though, their fate was their own, and how it would end for them would be more due to luck than good decision making. Rose glared across the room at Becky. “I haven’t spoken to that traitorous bitch since we were forced out of Flatiron.”

  “Ron’s the traitor, not Becky,” he said. “Remember, Roxi pushed her to the side so she would distract the soldiers and let the rest of us escape.”

  “Sure, I guess.” Rose sighed. “Still though, she’s been living the good life while so many others died.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think we should resent someone else’s good fortune. Should she have suffered just because we did?” He stared pointedly at his sister. “Are you sure that your feelings about Becky aren’t related to Keith?”

  Rose looked down at her cup of quickly cooling tea. “I suppose,” she whispered. “What Keith and I have was a lot more than what I’ve let on.”

  “Yeah, I guessed that.”

  She laid her head against his shoulder. “I just hope he’s ok.”

  The floor shook as a rocket hit and exploded somewhere nearby. The little girls screamed and started to cry. They all felt the mad urge to run away, but there was nowhere else to go. Liam smiled at the children. “Don’t worry, we’re safe in this building. The rockets can’t find us here.” It was a lie of course, but a sweet sounding one that maybe they all could pretend to believe.