by Lynda Engler
“You are either a very brave boy, or incredibly stupid. Either way, I promise not to torture you with anything too strange. You’re not the first isolated shelter kid I’ve met. I have a favorite place. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but I think you’ll like it.” Teagan’s smile enthralled Luke. He would follow her to the ends of the earth itself. Level ten at the bottom of Mt. Weather was the end of the Earth, in a way.
A ding! sounded their arrival at the concourse level and the double doors opened to a now-familiar view. Luke liked the audacity of the architect who designed the bank of elevators to mimic an old-fashioned Victorian train station. However, Teagan did not head for the beach. Instead, she turned left from White Shore Station and walked swiftly down the concourse-ringing sidewalk until they were as far from the beach as they could go. They passed one restaurant with a sign announcing pizza, and another called Hot Dog Heaven.
“You eat dogs?” he gasped. Luke did not imagine that dogs were their main offering, if only because they were extremely rare. He had seen only one dog at Picatinny, and none at Telemark or anywhere else in his travels Outside.
“No silly. Hot dogs are made of the worst part of the cow and the pig, ground up, and then mixed with tofu. They stuff it into a sausage casing and serve it on a long bun. Admittedly, they are an acquired taste. Not my favorite. But I’ve got something way better for you to try.” She pointed to a colorful sign.
El Dorado had a single, unappealing brown door facing the sidewalk, but when Teagan swept inside, a parti-colored room greeted them. Red, green, and white streamers hung from the ceiling among crepe-paper animals and outlandishly decorated cowboy boots. A stuffed iguana glared at Luke from a shelf on the wall beside the door. At least Luke assumed it was stuffed.
“Over here!” shouted someone from a large corner table. Luke followed Teagan toward the crowded table awash with unusual food aromas. Spices filled the restaurant, some that Luke recognized and some completely alien.
Luke recognized some of the kids from Indigo, but not the boy who had called them over. Although he looked familiar, Luke could not place where he could have seen him before.
“Hey guys,” answered Teagan, waving a hand in Luke’s direction. “You remember Luke from last night?”
The drummer from Social Dissonance got up and hauled another table over to theirs, making room for the new arrivals. “Yeah, though I didn’t get your name. I’m Vaughn, and you remember our lead vocalist, Maddox.”
Vaughn pointed out the slightly chubby, blond haired guy who had held Indigo captive with his astounding vocals the previous night.
Maddox said hello as he pulled over two chairs to their newly expanded table.
“These two gorgeous ladies are our guitar and bass players, Noeni and Nuala. But I have to admit, until they pick up their instruments, I never really know which is which!” Vaughn laughed as he retook his chair.
Luke and Teagan sat down and Luke stammered, “Um, pleased to meet you… all.” He realized he was staring at the twins. He had never seen identical twins before. They were attractive, but unusual. He could not figure out their genetic heritage but they were unlike anyone he had ever seen. They had dark hair, a slight epicanthic fold to their eyes, and a creamy skin tone even in the underground city where sunlight never tanned the residents. These girls were stunning.
The familiar looking boy moved to their end of the table. “Hi. I wasn’t at Indigo last night. My parents grounded me for a week, and today is my first day out on parole. I’m Mathias, and I don’t play anything but MP3’s. Hope you don’t hold that against me.” The kid looked young for this crowd, more like his own age than the older teens in the group.
“Hi. Great to meet you. What’s ‘grounded’?” asked Luke, confused and bewildered by the unfamiliar terminology continually assaulting him in the city.
“Serious? You’ve never been grounded?” asked Mathias.
Luke shook his head and raised his eyebrows. He still had no idea what the boy was talking about.
Mathias filled in the blanks. “Forced to stay at home and kept away from your friends and, well basically, your entire life. Really? You lucky dawg!” Mathias smiled and suddenly Luke knew why this kid looked familiar.
“Ah, no, not really. You’ll have to tell me more about it. Do you have an older brother?” asked Luke, pulling his chair closer to the table and slightly closer to Teagan’s chair at the same time.
“Lester? Lester Schmidt? How do know that rotcy geek?” Embarrassment replaced the boy’s toothy grin.
“I met him at West Point.”
Suddenly all eyes were on Luke and he decided to tell them the whole, long story of his origin in a ten-person family shelter; how his cousin-sister left to go with a mutant tribe because she fell in love with their leader; how he left home to follow and warn her that the government was rounding up mutants; and his eventual “capture” by the military. It was not until he finished blathering on, that he realized that perhaps he should not have told everyone. He had wanted to remain under the radar, not be the center of attention, but he missed having a group to share stories with.
Somewhere during the story, Teagan ordered food for herself and Luke and as his tale came to an end, a plate of steaming fare appeared in front of him. The aroma forced his attention to shift to his stomach and taste buds. He recognized the rice, though it was not white, and the black beans, but could not identify the stuff rolled in the thin pancake-like substance.
Teagan smiled mischievously. “Do you trust me?”
“Uh, I guess,” stammered Luke, almost drooling over the plate. Strange odors wafted into his nostrils and the steam made his eyes water. Suddenly, he was absolutely starving.
“Okay then. Dig in. Those are tamales, enchiladas, chilies rellenyos, plus Mexican rice with beans. The chilies are a bit spicy.” She took a large forkful of her own meal and chewed enthusiastically before swallowing with an audible gulp.
The rice and beans rewarded his taste buds with a previously unimaginable explosion of flavor. Luke picked up a large mouthful of the chilies rellenyos and stuffed his mouth, expecting another wonderful flavor. Instead, his tongue tried to escape the captivity of his mouth and his eyes burned as he choked on the flaming spices. His nose ran and he sniffled violently to keep it from dripping on his plate before grabbing a napkin and blowing hard. Mathias passed him a glass of water before he fell out of his own chair, laughing so hard that he snorted like a pig.
Chapter Seven
Malcolm
Malcolm paced the floor, his hands clamped tightly behind his back, his determination to escape the new cell even greater than before. What could he do? How could he get his family and friends out?
He pounded on the steel bars, slamming his fists into the walls until they were bloody. Armed guards patrolled the hall outside the cell, watching the prisoners every moment, but did nothing to stop him. After what felt like eons, he slumped to the floor, hurting, exhausted, and drained. All he had done was blow off some of his anger; it would not get them out of captivity or reunite him with his wife and daughters.
Clay sat beside him and put his hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. There were no words to console him, and Malcolm was sure Clay knew it.
Heavy footfalls echoed down the prison block corridor, away from his cell. As they became almost inaudible, Malcolm and Clay heard a faint metallic clatter.
“They are opening a cell door,” said one of their cellmates, a boy with pale blond hair about Clay’s age.
“Poor soul,” answered Malcolm. “Some poor mutants are off to the cleanup crews now.” Malcolm sighed. The doors had opened and closed all day long, and each time, Clay and Malcolm heard the grumbles, groans, and sometimes the cry of the prisoners as soldiers led mutants away to a certain death by radiation poisoning. Each time, Malcolm wondered when it would be their turn.
“Maybe it’s a relief. At least they aren’t in a cell anymore,” Clay said, but Malcolm was not convinced the boy even half-he
artedly believed what he had just said.
However, this time was different. It was not a mutant’s struggle he heard, but his own wife’s from four or five cells away.
“Malcolm! They are taking me. Malcolm!”
Isabella’s shriek echoed the length of the corridor, growing ever quieter as someone dragged her away, but never losing its plaintive appeal.
There was nothing he could do, but he tried to reassure her anyway. He stood at the bars and shouted a useless reply.
“I’ll help you Belle! I’ll get you back – I promise! Be strong! I’ll get you back!” He knew it was a lie. What could he do for her now? He clenched the bars in a near-death grip with his bloody hands. He didn’t even know if she had heard him.
He slumped back to the floor, softly muttering, “I’ll get you back. I promise. I promise…”
* * *
Luke
Nearly three hours of lunch and conversation with Teagan and her friends left Luke exhausted. They had an insatiable desire to hear everything about his travels Outside, and Luke was happy to oblige. He always loved being the center of attention, and having a new audience was a breath of fresh air, but even Luke could not talk forever.
When Teagan returned Luke to his ninth level apartment, it was empty. “I wonder where Doc went?” said Luke as he looked around for a note or something that might give him a clue to Dr. Rosario’s whereabouts.
“Try the computer,” suggested Teagan. When Luke gave her a blank stare, she went into the kitchen and pointed to a screen on the wall next to the refrigerator. “Look, he left you a message.”
A yellow envelope icon with Luke’s name superimposed on it flashed on the screen. Teagan poked it with her finger and a text message appeared.
------------------------
To: Lucas Bellardini
From: Alfred Rosario
Date: Aug. 15, 2101
Subj: Meeting
Luke,
I have a 2:00 meeting with the team they have assigned me to work on the inoculation. If I am not back by dinner, fend for yourself.
“Doc”
------------------------
“Looks like we have the place to ourselves,” said Teagan and plopped her butt down on the overstuffed couch. It was not a very lady-like maneuver, but that was part of what enchanted Luke about her. She was just one of the guys, yet the sexiest thing Luke had ever seen – in the real world or in his imagination.
“Uh, yeah…” Luke stuttered, nervous once again. Damn, I thought I had gotten over that, thought Luke. He started toward her on the couch, not sure if he intended to sit beside her when he arrived, or if he would chicken out and sit in a chair across the room. I’ll find out when I get there.
The door chimed, saving him from an uncomfortable moment.
“I wonder who could be here?” said Luke, and he answered it quickly, hiding his relief at the interruption.
Mathias Schmidt and Roan, the band manager, stood in the corridor. “Hey guys! Nice to see you again so soon.” Luke grinned as his new friends entered his apartment. He wanted desperately to be alone with Teagan, while simultaneously being terrified of actually being alone with her.
Teagan did not look quite as happy to see them as Luke was. “What’s up?” she almost snarled.
Mathias threw himself down on the couch next to Teagan and said, “Luke, I got a message from my brother Lester – um, I guess you would call it an electronic message. Email? Anyway, he told me you were on your way and that I should say hi. You beat his note! Oh, and he also said he has your cat.”
Luke smiled and threw his head back laughing. “Great, but it’s not my cat. He belongs to my sister’s adopted daughter, but Dr. Rosario was experimenting on it, and it followed us to West Point. Still, I’m glad the animal is safe.” Luke actually missed the fuzzy ball of fur that had curled up next to him every night in the lab, and then again on the sailboat journey up the Hudson.
Roan and Mathias both stared at him, silently asking him to elaborate, but Luke sat mum, not sure where to begin.
“Experiment?” Roan’s eyebrows rose of their own accord.
“I know I haven’t told you about Dr. Rosario’s work, and maybe I should…”
Mathias cut him off with a wave. “Teag, is this domicile clear?”
“Clear?” asked Luke, not comprehending the question. Once again, he seemed to have a language barrier with the rest of humanity.
“He means ‘is it bugged?’” Teagan elucidated in a whisper, before continuing just as quietly. “It’s probably not clear.”
Luke did not understand what “bugged” or “not clear” meant in this context. He had a lot to learn about how things worked in this city, and he preferred not looking like an idiot every time he opened his mouth. Sometimes he was better off keeping his big mouth shut.
Teagan took a small black box out of her pocket, set it on the table, and flipped a switch. Heavy static and low-level recorded conversation came out of the miniature speaker and filled the room.
“Flash!” exclaimed Roan. Then in a quieter voice, “I didn’t know you had a scrambler. Way swank.” He leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands behind his head, relaxing into the cushioned chair. “They have nice furnishings in visitor’s domis.”
Luke understood now that the scrambler would assure that anyone listening through a “bug” would hear only muffled words. He had read conspiracy novels that used the term; he just had not put two and two together until now. Someone was listening to conversations in Mt. Weather.
Mathias said, “Okay, Luke. Continue, but quietly.”
Luke cleared his throat and told his story in one run-on sentence. “Dr. Rosario made an inoculation against the poisons Outside from the blood of that cat and he injected me with his serum, and since I haven’t died or gotten sick, he’s pretty sure it works and that he can mass produce it here, so the military gave him a staff of researchers to do so.” Even if the room was bugged, and people were listening in, Luke was not sure what difference it would make if he told his new friends. None of this was a secret to the government, and no one had explicitly sworn him to secrecy.
“Flash!” chorused Roan and Mathias in stereo, Roan jumping up from his seat as he said it. Luke was now certain the expression meant “wow.” Teagan said nothing, just stared at him.
When no one said anything, Luke finished. “I’m not a research assistant. I’m a lab rat.”
Quietly, so the scrambler could mask his words, Roan asked as he took his seat again, “You mean your scientist friend can fix it so we can all go Outside? Leave the shelters forever?”
“That’s the plan.” Luke indicated the scrambler with his eyes and asked, “I’m guessing that noise box covers up our conversation, but is there any reason we can’t talk about this? Is someone going to hear us? Besides, everyone in authority already knows what Dr. Rosario is doing.”
Mathias answered curtly, “Depends what you tell us.”
“And you volunteered to be his test subject?” asked Teagan, turning the conversation back on track. Luke thought he might have just gained a step up the ladder in her estimation.
“Yes and no. By the time I hooked up with Dr. Rosario, I really had no choice. I had already been out in the poison for far too long. If I had any hope of staying… normal… I had to let him inject me.” Luke gave a half shrug. He had never regretted any of his actions since he left his family’s shelter, except for leaving his toothbrush behind. He had always been impulsive but his actions of late surprised even himself. He could have been killed so many times and in so many ways. All things considered, the shot from the scientist seemed like one of the least risky things he had done since he started his mission to save Izzy.
The three kids stared at each other, seemingly coming to a silent consensus. Mathias spoke, slowly and quietly. “Luke, chasing after your sister who is running around Outside with a bunch of mutants is probably the most unselfish act I could think of. The fact that you foun
d out about what the military is using the mutants for alone is admirable. Most shelter folk have no idea that their government is doing that, but to actually do something about it – well, that’s swank.”
Mathias lowered his voice, finally giving the scrambler something to hide. “We’ve been trying to do something from the inside for years, but you’ve actually been out there doing it!”
“So?”
“So, that makes you one of us,” said Roan with a wicked smile.
“One of who?”
“Social Dissonance – like you suspected, is more than a band,” said Teagan. She shifted on the couch, positioning her head nearer to the table where the scrambler sat. “It’s an organization; a movement. We are doing what we can to save the mutants. Admittedly, we can’t do much – we aren’t even old enough to vote, except a few like my brother, who is 23 – so we have to do better.”
“Save the mutants. That’s quite a project. If the folks here are anything like Colonel Ericcsen at Picatinny Arsenal, you will have a tough battle.” He thought back to the man with the bald pate and sour expression. Luke tried to keep his voice low. “Ericcsen went to school with my grandfather and considered him a friend, but when I asked him to send out a team to find Isabella, he refused. He thought of all humans as breeding stock, and since Isabella had been exposed to the Outside for too long, he had written her off. I practically had to threaten him with bodily injury before he would find her and bring her in to test her for TB! I was one step short of screaming hysterically at the old fool when he finally agreed to send out a rescue mission. I couldn’t believe he was just going to let her die out there. And the stupid thing is, they manufacture enough of that INH2 drug for TB to give it to every mutant Outside and still have tons left over, but Colonel Ericcsen won’t even consider it. He thinks they are sub-human and not worth it.”
Roan’s smile vanished as he listened to Luke’s story. “Ericcsen reports to President Harrison. All the military commanders do. And Harrison hates mutants. I’m sure he would kill every one of them, personally, if he could. He can’t. Even the military can’t do that, because there are a lot of them Outside, and they are spread out across the world. I mean, not a lot of people compared to pre-war days, but still, percentagewise, a lot. So instead, he spreads lies about them, ensuring that the people believe the mutants are horrific beasts. That ensures he can continue his policies, which amount to slow extermination.”
