So I had a heart attack, Nicole thought. I didn’t just collapse because Richard… she could not complete the sentence at first. Because he is gone.
She drifted in the twilight zone between waking and sleeping until she heard a familiar voice calling her name. Is that you, Richard? Nicole said excitedly. Yes, Nicole, he answered. Where are you? I want to see you, she said, and his face appeared in a cloud in the middle of her dream screen. You look great, she said, are you all right? Yes, Richard answered, but I must talk to you.
What is it, darling? Nicole asked. You must go on without me, he said. You must set an example for the others. His face began to alter as the shapes of the clouds changed. Of course, Nicole said, but where are you going? She could not see him anymore. Good-bye, his voice said. Good-bye, Richard, Nicole answered.
When she woke up the next time, her mind was clear. Nicole sat up in bed and looked around her. It was dark, but she could tell she was in her own room in the house in the Emerald City.
Nicole could hear no sounds. She assumed it was night. She pushed off the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. So far, so good, she thought. Nicole eased herself off the bed and stood up very slowly. Her legs were wobbly.
There was a glass of juice on the end table beside the bed. Nicole took two cautious steps, holding on to the bed with her right hand, and picked up the glass. The juice was delicious. Pleased with herself, Nicole started toward the closet to find some clothes. She became woozy after a few steps, however, and headed back toward the bed.
“Mother,” she heard Patrick say, “is that you?” She could see his silhouette in the doorway.
“Yes, Patrick,” she answered.
“Here,” he said, “why don’t we have some light?” He knocked on the wall and a firefly flew into the middle of the room. “Goodness,” he said, “what are you doing up?”
“I can’t stay in bed forever,” Nicole answered.
“But you should take it easy at first,” Patrick said, coming over beside her and helping her the rest of the way to bed.
She grabbed his arm. “Listen to me, son,” Nicole said. “I have no intention of being an invalid, nor do I want to be treated like one. I expect to be my old self in a few days, a week at the most.”
“Yes, Mother,” Patrick said with a concerned smile.
Dr. Blue was delighted with her recovery. After four more days Nicole walked, albeit slowly, and, with a little help from Benjy, all the way to the transport stop and back to the house.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Dr. Blue told Nicole during an evening examination. “You’re doing great, but I worry.”
When the octospider was finished and was preparing to leave the room. Max entered and announced that two more octospiders were waiting at the front door. Dr. Blue hurried out, returning a few minutes later with the Chief Optimizer and one of the members of her staff.
The Chief Optimizer first apologized, both for coming unexpectedly and for not waiting until Nicole had completely recovered. “However,” the octospider leader then said, “we are now in an emergency situation and we felt that we needed to communicate with you immediately.”
Nicole felt her pulse rate rise and tried to calm herself. “What has happened?” she said.
“You have probably noticed that there have been no bombings for the last several days,” the Chief Optimizer said. “The humans temporarily stopped the helicopter attacks while they were evaluating our ultimatum. Five days ago we took the same written message to each of three troop encampments. The message said that we could no longer tolerate the bombings and that we would use our superior technology to launch a decisive attack if the hostilities were not ceased immediately. As an illustration of our technological capabilities, we included in the message a nillet-by-nillet chronology of everything both Nakamura and Macmillan had done during two workdays last week.
“The human leaders were frantic. They suspected that we had somehow bribed some high official of the government and now knew all of their war plans as well. Macmillan recommended accepting our cease-fire and withdrawing from our territory. Nakamura was furious. He banished Macmillan from his presence and reorganized his command structure. Privately, he admitted to his security chief that any retreat would ruin his position in the colony.
“The day before yesterday someone suggested to Nakamura that perhaps your daughter Ellie might have some knowledge of how we had obtained our information. She was taken to the palace and interrogated by Nakamura himself. At first slightly cooperative, Ellie acknowledged that in certain fields we were more advanced than the humans. She also said that she believed it was entirely within our capabilities to obtain information about events in New Eden without using any spies or other conventional means of gathering intelligence.
“Because she was so forthright, Nakamura became convinced that Ellie knew more than she was telling. He asked her questions for hours, about many subjects, including our military capabilities and the geography of our domain. Ellie astutely avoided giving away any critical information-she never mentioned the Emerald City, for example-and repeatedly answered that she had never seen any weapons or even any soldiers. Nakamura did not believe her. At length he had her thrown in prison and beaten. Since then Ellie has remained defiantly silent, despite additional rough treatment.”
The Chief Optimizer paused. Nicole had paled during his description of Ellie’s mistreatment. The octospider leader turned to Dr. Blue. “Should I continue?” she said.
Max and Patrick were standing in the doorway. They could not, of course, understand what the Chief Optimizer was saying, but they could see the pallor on Nicole’s face. Patrick walked into the room. “My mother has been quite ill…” he said.
“It’s all right,” Nicole said, waving him away. She took a deep breath. “Please go on,” she said to the Chief Optimizer.
“Nakamura,” the Chief Optimizer continued, “has now convinced himself and his main lieutenants that our threat is a bluff. He believes that even though our technology is very advanced in some areas, we possess no military capabilities. In his last staff meeting, only a few terts ago, he agreed to a plan to bomb us into submission, using all available firepower. The first of the massive raids will come in the morning.
“We have therefore reluctantly concluded that we must now fight back. Failure to act could put the survival of our colony in jeopardy. Before coming to see you, I authorized the implementation of War Plan Number Forty-one, one of our intermediate-strength responses. This plan does not result in the total annihilation of all the colonists in New Eden, but should be devastating enough to bring the war to a quick end. Our analysts estimate that between twenty and thirty percent of the humans will die.”
The Chief Optimizer stopped when she saw the pained expression on Nicole’s face. Nicole asked for something to drink. “Are we allowed to know any more details about your attack?” Nicole said slowly after she finished drinking the glass of water.
“We have chosen a microbiological agent, chemically much like an enzyme, that interferes with cell reproduction in your species. Young, healthy humans below the age of forty or so have sufficiently strong natural defenses that they will withstand the onslaught of the agent. Older or unhealthy humans will succumb quickly. Their cells will not be able to reproduce properly and their bodies will simply stop functioning. We have used blood, skin, and other cells taken from all of you here in the Emerald City to verify our theoretical predictions. We are quite certain that the young will be unharmed.”
“Our species regards biological warfare as immoral,” Nicole said after a brief pause.
“We are aware,” the Chief Optimizer said, “that within your system of values, some kinds of warfare are more acceptable than others. To us, ail war is unacceptable. We fight only if we absolutely must. We can’t imagine it makes any difference to the dead being if it has been killed by a gun, a bomb, a nuclear weapon, or a biological agent. Besides, we must fight back with whatever weapon
s we possess.”
There was a long silence. Nicole sighed and shook her head. “I guess,” she said at length, “I should be thankful that you have told us what is happening in this stupid war, even though the specter of so many deaths is very frightening. I wish there could have been some other outcome.”
The three octospiders prepared to leave the room. Max and Patrick were asking Nicole questions before the visitors had even departed from the house. “Hold it,” Nicole said wearily. “Call the others in here first. I only want to explain what the octospiders told me a single time.”
Nicole could not sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stop thinking about the people who were going to die in New Eden. Faces-older faces, mostly, faces of people that Nicole had known and worked with during her active days in the colony-swam in and out of her mind.
And what about Katie and Ellie? Nicole thought. What if the octospiders have made a mistake? She pictured Ellie as she had last seen her, in her house with her husband and her daughter. Nicole recalled the arguments that she had witnessed between Ellie and Robert. His tired, worn visage remained fixed in her mental image. And Robert, she thought. Oh, my God. He’s older, and doesn’t take care of himself at all.
Nicole squirmed in her bed, frustrated by her inability to do anything. Finally she decided to sit up in the darkness. I wonder if it’s too late, Nicole asked herself. Again she thought of Robert. I don’t agree with him. I’m not even certain he’s a good husband for Ellie. But he is still Nikki’s father.
A plan had begun to develop in her mind. Nicole gingerly slid out of bed and walked across to the closet. She put on some clothes and tiptoed into the hall. She did not want to wake Patrick or Nai, who had been sleeping in Ellie’s room since her heart attack. They would just make me go back to bed.
Outside, in the Emerald City, it was almost as dark as it had been inside the house. Nicole stood at the doorway, hoping that her eyes would adjust enough that she could find the house next door. Eventually she could make out some shadows. She stepped off the porch, heading to the right.
Her progress was slow. She would take half a dozen steps and then stop to look around. It took her several minutes to reach the atrium of Dr. Blue’s house.
When she entered the octospider’s sleeping quarters, Nicole tapped lightly on the wall. A firefly dimly illuminated a pair of octospiders in a single heap. Dr. Blue and Jamie were sleeping with their bodies pressed together and their tentacles tangled in a confusing pattern. Nicole walked over and touched Dr. Blue on the top of the head. There was no response. She tapped a little harder the second time and Dr. Blue’s lens material began to move around.
“What are you doing here?” Dr. Blue said in color a few seconds later.
“I need your help,” Nicole answered. “It’s important.”
The octospider moved very slowly, trying to untangle her tentacles without disturbing Jamie. She was unsuccessful; the young octospider awakened anyway. Dr. Blue told Jamie to go back to sleep and shuffled into the atrium with Nicole.
“You should be in bed,” Dr. Blue said.
“I know,” Nicole replied. “But this is an emergency. I need to talk to the Chief Optimizer, and I would like for you to go with me.”
“At this time of night?”
“I don’t know how much time we have,” Nicole said. “I must see the Chief Optimizer before those biological agents start killing people in New Eden. I’m worried about Katie, and all of Ellie’s family as well.”
“Nikki and Ellie will not be harmed. Katie should be young enough too, if I understood—”
“But Katie’s system is screwed up by all the drugs,” Nicole interrupted the colors. “Her body probably acts as if it’s old… and Robert is all worn-out from working all the time.”
“I’m not certain I understand what you are telling me,” said Dr. Blue. “Why is it that you want to see the Chief Optimizer?”
“To plead for special treatment for Katie and Robert, assuming of course that Ellie and Nikki are all right. There must be some way, witty your biological magic, that they can be singled out and spared. That’s why I want you to come with me-to support my case.”
The octospider didn’t say anything for several seconds. “All right, Nicole,” she said finally, “I will go with you. Even though I think you should be resting in bed… And I doubt if there’s anything that can be done.”
“Thank you very much,” Nicole said, forgetting herself for a moment and hugging Dr. Blue.
“You must promise me one thing,” Dr. Blue said as they walked together out the front door. “You must not push yourself too hard tonight. Tell me if you are feeling weak.”
“I’ll even lean on you as we walk,” Nicole said with a smile.
They moved slowly into the street, the unlikely pair. Two of Dr. Blue’s tentacles were supporting Nicole at all times. Nevertheless, the day’s activities and emotions had taken a toll on Nicole’s meager energy supply. She was feeling fatigue before they reached the transport stop.
She stopped to rest. The distant sounds she had been hearing, but not noticing, became more prominent. “Bombs,” Nicole said to Dr. Blue. “A lot of them.”
“We were told to expect helicopter raids,” the octospider said. “But I wonder why there were no flares.”
Suddenly part of the domed canopy over their heads exploded in a great fireball. Moments later Nicole heard a deafening sound. She held tightly to Dr. Blue and stared at the inferno above her. In the flames she thought she could see the remnants of a helicopter. Burning pieces of the dome were falling from the sky, some landing no more than a kilometer away.
Nicole could not catch her breath. Dr. Blue could see the strain on her face. “I’ll never make it,” Nicole said. She clutched the octospider with all the strength she had remaining. “You must go see the Chief Optimizer without me,” she said. “As my friend. Ask her-no, beg her to do something for Katie and Robert. Tell her it’s a personal favor… For me.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Dr. Blue replied. “But first we must take you back.”
“Mother, “ Nicole heard Patrick yell behind her. He was running down the street toward them. When he reached them, Dr. Blue boarded the transport. Nicole looked up at the dome just as a helicopter blade, wrapped in burning foliage, fell out of the sky and crashed in the distance.
9
Katie dropped the syringe in the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. “There,” she said out loud, “that’s much better. I’m not trembling anymore.” She was wearing the same dress she had worn to her father’s hearing. Katie had made that decision also the week before, when she had told Franz what she was planning to do.
She turned around, watching her reflection critically. What is that swelling on my forearm? she wondered. Katie had not noticed it before. On her right arm, halfway between her elbow and her wrist, there was a lump the size of a golf ball. She rubbed it. The swelling felt tender when she pressed it, but it neither hurt nor itched unless she touched it directly.
Katie shrugged and walked into her living room. The papers she had prepared were lying on the coffee table. She smoked a cigarette while she organized the document. Then she placed the papers in a large envelope.
The phone call from Nakamura’s office had come that morning. The sweet female voice had told Katie that Nakamura could see her at five o’clock in the afternoon. When she had put down the phone, Katie had hardly been able to contain herself. She had almost given up hope that she would be able to see him at all. Three days earlier, when she had called to make an appointment “to talk about their mutual business,” Nakamura’s receptionist had told her that he was extremely busy with the war effort and was not scheduling unrelated meetings.
Katie checked her watch again. It was fifteen minutes until five. To walk from her apartment to the palace would take ten minutes. She picked up the envelope and opened the door to her apartment.
The wait was destroying her self-confidence. It
was already six o’clock and Katie had not even been admitted yet to the inner sanctum, the Japanese part of the palace where Nakamura worked and lived. Twice she had gone to the rest room, both times inquiring on her way back to her seat if the wait would be much longer. The girl at the desk next to the door had twice responded with a vague, unknowing gesture.
Katie was struggling with herself. The kokomo was starting to wear off, and she was having doubts. While smoking a cigarette in the rest room, she had tried to forget her anxieties by thinking about Franz. She remembered the last time that they had made love. His eyes had been heavy with sadness when he had departed. He does love me, Katie thought, in his own way.
The Japanese girl was standing at the door. “You may go in now,” she said. Katie crossed back through the waiting room and entered the main part of the palace. She took off her shoes, placed them on a shelf, and walked on the tatami in her stocking feet. An escort, a policewoman named
Marge, greeted her and instructed Katie to follow her.
Clutching her envelope of papers in her hand, Katie walked behind the policewoman for ten or fifteen meters until a screen opened on their right. “Please go in,” Marge said. Another policewoman, Oriental but not Japanese, was waiting in the room. She was wearing a gun in a holster on her hip. “Security around Nakamura-san is especially tight right now,” Marge explained. “Please take off all your clothes and jewelry.”
“All my clothes?” Katie asked. “Even my panties?”
“Everything,” the other woman said.
Her clothes were all folded neatly and placed in a basket marked with her name. The jewelry went into a special box. While Katie was naked, Marge checked her everywhere, including her private parts. She even inspected the inside of Katie’s mouth, holding her tongue depressed for almost thirty seconds. Katie was then handed a blue and white yukata and a pair of Japanese slippers. “You may now go with Bangorn to the last waiting room,” Marge said.
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