Wilders

by Brenda Cooper

  “Okay.” Jake held up a hand to stop her. “On that note, let’s stop for another one minute update. I hear the current mayor has something to say.” He wasn’t sitting exactly where Julianna had been, and he had to reach across to his right to push the button.

  The screen came back to life, showing the mayor of Seacouver, a tall brown-skinned man with slightly Asian features and light hair. His name flowed across the bottom of the screen: Mayor Justin Arroya.

  Rachel leaned in. “You’ve got four millions views. All because of the shooting.”

  The door to the studio banged open as loudly as it had banged closed just after the strangers stunned Julianna.

  Coryn froze.

  Bartholomew walked through the door, staring right at her and Lou. He wore a white shirt and black pants, with expensive AR gear lining his shoulders and tiny glasses up on his head. He looked less like a creature of the city here than he had Outside.

  Behind him, Milan came though, a fresh scar on one cheek and the other cheek marred by a deep purple bruise.

  Two other men she recognized from the camp followed him in. One was the man who had guarded her tent and kicked her in the lip, and the other she’d merely seen there, once near the food table and once near the ecobots. They took formal positions off-camera, with their backs to the short wall, weapons visible in their right hands. She couldn’t tell if they were stunners or something worse.

  Bartholomew sat in the chair Julianna had used. He stank of sweat and smoke, and she scooted a little away from him. Milan tugged on her arm, forcing her up, back-marching her until she stood against the wall opposite the two men, where they could see her but the cameras could not. The monitors showed only Bartholomew, Lou, and, after he sat back down, Milan.

  Coryn’s breath threatened to strangle her, and her fists clenched. How had he found them? Or was this just the best place to broadcast from? But that was silly. It was a hub, but there had to be more, and anyone could stream to the whole city if they could just get attention. So had he known where to find them?

  He began talking. He wasn’t addressing them directly, but the city. “We have turned off your transportation grid and your water. We will turn off your power next. We control all of it. All of it.”

  He sounded so powerful, and so sure of himself.

  Jake’s thumb smashed against the red button over and over.

  Bartholomew paused long enough to pick up Jake’s hand and set it on the table a few inches from the controls. He said nothing, probably because of the cameras, but the threat on his face caused Coryn to paste herself further against the wall.

  He turned back toward the cameras, stared a little, and said, “We have a series of demands that we have sent to your leadership. While they are contemplating their response, I will share those demands with you.

  “You must open the gates to people who live Outside. You must provide a basic income to those of us on the outside of the dome, and you must allow our cities to grow. Those of us who don’t want to come into such crowded and horrid deathtraps must be allowed to rebuild on a saner level. There is plenty of land.”

  “No!” Lou interrupted, her voice loud. “There isn’t.”

  Bartholomew slammed his hand onto the table, palm flat.

  Lou stared at his hand as if she were contemplating smashing it with a rock.

  Coryn’s brain had started to work. What about Blessing and Day and LeeAnne? Had they failed? Pablo?

  Was Aspen okay?

  Bartholomew turned in his seat to stare at Lou. “You are my ally. Remember that.”

  “Not in this!” Lou protested. She didn’t look at all frightened. She ought to.

  What would Julianna do?

  Not only did Lou look entirely calm, but she stood up so she was a little taller than Bartholomew. “You helped us get into Portland for a peaceful protest. That’s all. We never . . . never would stand for what you are doing now.”

  Coryn swallowed. She couldn’t let Lou take it all. She stepped forward.

  Jake waved her back.

  She ignored him. She came up beside Lou, on the far side of Bartholomew, so the two of them and Jake took one side of the table and the two hackers had the other side. For some reason, she wasn’t afraid. She felt good. Her words came out sounding calm, in spite of Bartholomew right next to her and people in the city watching. “Lou would never harm the city. She only wants to save wild things. We all need that.” Events started to click into place in her head. Bartholomew only did things he was paid for. “Someone else is paying you. Someone from Outside. They just paid you more than the NGOs.”

  The two guards had stepped closer. Coryn glanced at the monitor. They were still invisible to the audience. It would be good if they came closer.

  Jake was trying to sneak a hand back toward the controls.

  She heard a soft click. At first she thought it was a gun, but then she realized she had heard Rachel slide the control room door shut.

  Bartholomew glanced at the control room, then the cameras, then at Lou and Coryn. He had nothing like Julianna’s calm presence in the room. His gaze stopped and he looked at Lou and smiled broadly. “You paid me.” He glanced at Coryn. “That’s why I followed you here. So people would know that.”

  Lou had the presence of mind to look at a camera. “I did pay you. To get us in peacefully.”

  “You paid me to hack the ecobots. And then to hack the rest.” He sounded proud. “The water system, the utilities, transportation. Even the dome.”

  They had talked about the hacks in the little cabin. Lou and Bartholo­­mew. But only about security. Lou would never have planned any danger to the city! She stepped even closer to Lou, touching her, staring at a camera that had come quite close to them. “Lou came here now, with Julianna and Jake, to talk about the NGOs. The heads of the NGOs.”

  Bartholomew crossed his arms over his chest. “Who paid me.”

  “Who locked me up,” Lou said. “They locked up all of us who came in peacefully. They did it so you could come in behind us and cause problems.”

  Milan stood up and circled around them. He stank, too. Coryn looked right at the cameras. “This man is a liar and a hacker. He may have killed people shutting down systems.”

  One of the men on the wall raised a gun and pointed it at her.

  Milan put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to sit down.

  Lou kicked at Milan.

  He caught her foot.

  She slid it free and turned into him, inside his reach, and stomped on the top of his foot.

  Coryn fisted her hand and powered it toward his face.

  He grabbed it.

  The door slammed open again, catching one of Bartholomew’s men in the arm. Day came through, his hands full of small, round things. He did something with them, a movement so fast she wasn’t sure she caught it at all. Both guards fell to the ground.

  Behind Day, Blessing, LeeAnne, Pablo, and two others crowded into the room. Blessing immediately slid behind Milan, ripping him away from Coryn and throwing him onto the floor. He made a gesture similar to the one Day had, and Milan crumpled to the floor.

  Lou and Coryn still stood, as did Bartholomew. They were surrounded. Bartholomew was looking hate at Lou, who smiled up at him. “You are never in charge when you let others run you,” she said.

  Jake still sat, the only person in the room with anything like Zen on his face. He turned toward the cameras, a reminder to Coryn that they were probably still live. She felt Blessing come up behind her. He slid an arm around her waist, but she slid free, although she stayed close to him. It didn’t feel good to be claimed on-screen. She did whisper, “Thank you.”

  Bartholomew sat heavily, a fierce look on his face. Day stood right behind him, an equally fierce look on his face. Bartholomew was bigger and scruffier, but Day looked like he could take him easily.

  The control room door opened, and Rachel stuck her head out. Her face had gone completely white.

  Jake smiled a
t her and raised an eyebrow. “Are we on?”

  “Yes.”

  Jake turned back to Coryn and Lou. “I take it you know our saviors? Are they from the city?”

  “They’re not.” Coryn was still smiling. “They’re—I don’t know. They’re from here, though. From Julianna. That’s why Julianna was attacked. They’re heroes.”

  Jake looked right at the camera. “We apologize for that unscheduled interruption. The forces of good seem to have prevailed. We will have more news for you soon on that front. In the meantime, we’re going to resume the interview with Lou and Coryn Williams, which was so rudely interrupted. You in the audience won’t know this, but the people you just saw win a fight on screen are reportedly friends of these two young ladies.” He turned to Coryn. “Can you verify that you know these people?”

  “Yes.” But that wasn’t enough. People would remember Bartholomew’s words about Lou. “We rescued Lou and the other original protesters. They were being held by these people.” She was sure of that now. They’d seen Milan down there. Sure, he was tied up, but that was probably how he got into the city.

  Blessing stepped forward, drawing the attention of one of the cameras. “I can verify Coryn’s story. With video.” He glanced toward the control room. “Can you stream something?”

  In a moment, Rachel stuck her head out. “Send me the address.”

  Blessing poked at his wristlet. Coryn filled the empty airtime. “Outside is far more dangerous than the city tells us. But you saw today that it’s dangerous enough to hurt the city. That’s startling. Frightening. And you should remember it.”

  The red button blinked.

  Jake nodded at her.

  She smiled at him, and he pressed the button.

  Video footage started playing on the monitor. A fast-forwarded clip of them coming in, the small group of protestors that had included her and Lou and Aspen looking insignificant next to huge robots. She drew in a breath when she saw Paula with her, watching over her closely. Aspen looked like a small, fast-moving white dot with legs.

  The scenes had clearly been patched together from multiple news-bots. They jumped in time and resolution, with no transitions between them.

  She saw herself, Blessing, Day, Paula, and Aspen carried off in one direction. She saw what she hadn’t seen; the other ecobot was swarmed with men and women in uniform who ripped Lou and her friends from the top. Shuska fought so hard it took three people to overwhelm her. Day spoke above that scene. “Those are not police. They don’t work for the city.” The camera zoomed in on faces and on an insignia on the uniforms that she had never seen, a globe with the words “FREE ME” on the top. One of the zoomed-in shots showed Victor’s face. Lou gasped.

  The video stopped as Lou and the others were marched into the loft and guards placed around and on top of it. Day narrated again. “Three days passed. Then we rescued them.” The monitor showed scenes from the approach they’d made, her and Day and Blessing and LeeAnne, and from the top of the roof right after the rescue.

  Lou squeezed Coryn’s hand.

  Day spoke again. “So you see, Lou and her friends were trying to help, to come in and tell you what we are all collectively telling you now. And behind them—” He pointed at Bartholomew, who sat between two guards now. “—behind them, these people came in to do actual damage and to make demands that have nothing in common with the Wilder’s goals.”

  The video stream came to an end.

  The control room door banged open, and Rachel proclaimed, “The water’s back on. The whole utility is restarting. They’re letting it start slow and beginning with the outer neighborhoods. The next news update is being filmed now. It’s the mayor. Three minutes.”

  Five uniformed police came in, and Bartholomew and the three people he’d brought with him were escorted out of the room.

  Coryn leaned into Blessing and whispered, “Is Aspen okay?”

  “He’s with Pablo.”

  A knot in her middle let go. “Thank you.”

  Even after it was empty of bad guys, it felt full with Day, Blessing, and LeeAnne in it as well Lou, Coryn, and Jake. Jake turned to the cameras. “I don’t know if you could hear Rachel without a microphone, but the water is reportedly back on everywhere. The transportation grid is becoming responsive but it will take a little more patience.” He smiled broadly, his voice relaxing into a cadence he seemed to know instinctively. “As you know, transportation is a little bit more complex than water. But the city will restore those systems. While I can’t verify it for sure, I would say that the city is out of immediate danger. I’ll shortly be turning this broadcast over to the people in current charge of the city, as they will have the most up-to-date news for you. In the meantime, Coryn, Lou, do you have any final words?”

  Coryn swallowed. She stared at the camera, her heart racing. “I’ve now been Inside and Outside. I’ve seen the view from the Bridge of Stars, and I’ve seen the first restored herd of buffalo. We need both, and we need to pay attention.” Her hands still shook. She closed her fingers into fists to steady them, pressing them against the table. “Attention. Resources. The city is a vibrant, happy place for many. But not for everyone. I talked earlier about my parents’ suicide.” She reached for Lou’s hand, and Lou gave it. “That almost destroyed my family. But we could have been paying attention to each other. We can help each other Inside. And even more important, we can send resources Outside. In here, I was in danger from myself. That’s what killed my parents. Lack of self. But out there?” She stood, leaning toward the camera, which zoomed in on her. “I almost died three ways. We live inside a weather dome, and we don’t know what the wind howling through a barn and ripping the roof off sounds like. We don’t know what starving, angry people do to each other. We don’t allow starvation or anger. Not Inside. But we allow it Outside.”

  Jake stood as well, putting an arm around her. He whispered in her ear, “Enough now.” Then he spoke out loud, “Lou?”

  Lou stood also, so they all stood together. She held her head up. “Outside is dangerous beyond belief. Friends have died. I have almost died. I have hurt others in order to live. My sister almost died. Coryn is right; you cannot ignore the Outside. If the buffalo herds die again, if the grasses die, if the wolves stop howling, then we all die.”

  Jake simply said, “Thank you,” and pushed the red button to take them off the air.

  The three of them hugged, a spontaneous and warm hug that filled Coryn with relief.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Coryn leaned over the rail on the Bridge of Stars, looking out toward the Olympic Mountains, green and gray this morning and completely bare of the snow. Mount Rainier was also visible, mostly a gray rounded rock, with the barest slivers of glaciers slashing the top. The last of the permanent ice in Washington State was expected to melt in the next few summers.

  Her mother’s earrings dangled in her ears. Lou stood beside her, her face brightened by the wonder of the view. “I’m so glad you talked me into coming up here.”

  “Well, you showed me buffalo.”

  Lou grinned, looking lighter and less worried than Coryn could remember seeing her since before their parents died. “You still haven’t answered me,” she said. “Are you coming with me? You’re still on my books as a wrangler.”

  Coryn threw her head back and laughed. “I think I’m better on a bicycle than a horse. But I’ll be going back and forth. I’m to be part of Julianna’s and Jake’s Outside-N Foundation.”

  “Do we really need a new foundation?”

  “The Lucken Foundation filed for bankruptcy.”

  “I kind of figured I’d go somewhere else.”

  “You can go whoever you want. But now I know that I’d better come see you from time to time. I’ll be basic plus three, so I’ll have enough money to do it.”

  “Will you be a little more careful about how you get out to wherever I am?”

  Coryn smiled. “I suspect I’ll have more company.”

  “
Blessing?”

  Coryn shrugged. “I have no idea what will happen between him and me. He’s keeping his job as a—competence man, I guess—for Julianna. You might be more likely to see him than I am. I didn’t want that work. So I don’t even know if I’ll see him.”

  Lou’s smile held a bit of mischief. “I bet you will.”

  “We’ll see. I’m not at all sure I want a boyfriend. Ever.” Better to just get Lou off the topic entirely. “What about Matchiko? What is that for you?”

  Lou grinned. “Like you and Blessing. I don’t know.”

  “I’ll race you down the hill.”

  Lou stopped her with an outstretched hand. “Not yet. Let’s stay up here for a while. I might not get back for a few years. Or ever.”

  Coryn was content with that. A perfect blue sky arched above them. Sailboats plied the Sound, ferries ran on two distinct routes, and maybe if they watched long enough they’d see a pod of orcas.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The first people to thank are family. A writer’s family has to put up with a spaced-out person who is often lost in another world entirely, who barely notices anything around them. Thanks to Toni and Katie, and even to the dogs (Nixie, Cricket, and Gryffin), all of whom lose some of me so that I can do this.

  Thanks to my editor, Rene Sears, for acquiring and believing in this book. Thanks to my agent, Eleanor Wood. Special thanks to Sheila Stewart for a hard copyedit. This book is better because of Rene and Sheila, and any remaining awkward sentences or wrong words are mine.

  Thanks also to all of my first readers. That includes my father, my friend Darragh Metzger, my friend John Pitts, and one of my oldest friends, Gisele Peterson.

  Thanks also to people whose ideas contributed in small ways to the story and world I built here. I don’t think the end result came out anything like their original ideas, but thanks to Karl Schroeder and Kim Stanley Robinson for making me think of wilding, and to futurist Gray Scott for the idea of the ecobots (I’m sure his ecobots are much sleeker). Thanks also to a number of authors whose nonfiction informed this book. The most influential of these was E. O. Wilson’s Half-Earth, which I read shortly after I started this book, and which gave me a good framework in which to place ideas.