Ashes of the Red Heifer

by Shannon Baker

  Annie paced the shed, pushing on boards in her search for a way out. She stopped frequently and put her eye to cracks in the walls. Where was David? What was going on out there?

  The sound of a truck approaching made her struggle to see the compound. A dull green farm truck pulled to a stop in front of one of the tents. Three men jumped from the back of the truck and untied the tarp, pulling it back to reveal stacks of boxes and plastic 100-gallon water containers. It was a huge load of supplies. Much more than would be needed for a camp the size Annie had seen. Unless they planned on being here for months.

  Several men came out of the tent and soon they began carting the boxes and water around the back of the tent. Where were they taking everything? Annie couldn’t see but didn’t remember there were any other structures beyond the big tent.

  She’d been so focused on watching the unloading she didn’t see David and Adi until they were nearly to the shed. David held something wrapped in paper toweling. But Annie was more concerned with his swollen nose and new black eye.

  Adi unlocked the door and held it open for David. He shut it behind, snapped the padlock closed and strode off.

  Annie approached David, touching his nose tentatively. “Oh god, David. I’m so sorry.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t worry. This is only to scare you.”

  Tears clogged her throat. “It does.”

  He gave her two falafels. She took a tentative bite. The vegetables were limp and the meat flavorless, the pita stale.

  David leaned close to her and gently touched the new bruise on the side of her face. “Are you okay?”

  She forced another bite and nodded. “The face doesn’t feel too bad. My hip is a little sore.”

  His eyes softened with concern. “You’ve got to quit fighting them or they’re going to end up killing you.”

  “It’s you I’m worried about. They won’t kill me until I give them the vaccine.” Eating the falafel seemed like work. She wasn’t hungry and it wasn’t tempting. But she would need energy to survive this.

  He tightened his lips. “But they can hurt you. I don’t think I can stand to watch them beat you again.”

  At the sound of raw emotion in his voice Annie’s heart leapt up her throat. She remembered his arms around her last night and how good it felt to lay her head on his chest, to let him carry the worry for a little while. She looked away and took another bite. She couldn’t afford to go all weak and watery now.

  David got up and walked to her. He knelt in front of her. “I love you, Annie.”

  Those dratted tears again! She swallowed to keep them away and averted her eyes from David. She couldn’t look at him.

  “Did you forget I asked you to marry me?”

  She let out a puff of air and looked at him. “I told you no, remember?”

  He leaned closer to her. “Why?”

  She stood up, knocking his hands from her thighs, moving to the far end of the room. Dagnabbed lock on the door. She wanted to get away because she was scared and alone and afraid she’d agree. “You don’t want to marry me, David.”

  “You are the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry.”

  She turned to look at him, running a hand through her hair. “I let myself get caught in this crazy conspiracy that is holding the cure ransom to some religious tic tac toe. It’s my fault your’s and Hassan’s lives are in danger. I’ve got nothing but disaster to show for my life.”

  David took deliberate steps toward her. When he got to her he put both hands on her cheeks, careful to avoid the bruises. “You are the toughest woman I’ve ever known. You are brilliant, finding a cure for a disease that has eluded a hundred scientists with more experience. You keep driving in the face of all odds. And the depth of your love and caring is beyond bounds.”

  She huffed in disbelief and tried to look away but he held her face steady.

  “You risk your life to save Hassan. You found the cure not for fame and fortune but to help people.” He smiled then. “And cows.”

  “But you don’t know me inside.”

  “I know that you try to act like nothing scares you and no one hurts you. I know that you demand perfection from yourself. But Annie, no one is perfect. You are caring and soft and vulnerable, even as you are fearless and strong.”

  She laughed then, his over-the-top praises finally sounding comical. “Who is this woman you’re describing?”

  He stepped back. “It’s you, Annie. You are unique and precious.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, getting her feet on solid footing and dismissing his romantic notions. “Let’s look at the practical side. You are a Jew. I don’t believe in God. And even if I were all those things you said—which is a ridiculous notion—it would never work. You can’t love me, David. And I can’t love you. I won’t set us up for a train wreck like that.”

  David shrugged as if it made no difference. “Love can overcome many obstacles. And when two people are so right, as we are, religion is a small thing to work out.”

  Some rose colored glasses he wore! Religion was never a small thing. She leaned against the wall and let her gaze focus on the crack between two boards. Without looking at him she said, “Does it seem bizarre to discuss marriage when we’re prisoners, Hassan’s life hangs by a thread, and there is no guarantee we’ll even be alive in two hours?”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low and caring. “I won’t pressure you any more. Just know that I love you and I will protect you in any way I can.”

  His words trailed off in her head as her focus narrowed to the crack and what she saw through it. Moshe carried a package wrapped up in paper toweling, exactly like the one David brought her. He walked across the compound to the other shed.

  Why hadn’t she noticed the padlock on that door? Moshe unlocked it, pushed open the door and handed the package to someone inside.

  That someone had to be Hassan.

  TWELVE

  Three days disappeared and Annie hadn’t come up with what she remembered of the vaccine. She tended to work intuitively tweaking her procedure as she worked. Of course she kept notes, hand-written on yellow legal pads sprinkled around her lab. But she didn’t always get them into the formal records on the computer until she had time. Hassan had often entered data for her. She carried his inhaler, he recorded their research. They were always there to take care of each other. But not now.

  David had asked to take a break nearly a half hour ago. Adi had taken him out, leaving her alone with Moshe.

  She injected detergent into the blood sample she worked with to begin filtering for rRNA. What exact level did they use with Esther? Had that been sufficient? The calf had been weak but it hadn’t been deformed. She needed more time, more cows, more opportunities to try and fail.

  Desperation rose in Annie’s gut like lava in a volcano. She only had one more day to get the vaccine right. A deviation of even a small amount could render the whole vaccine worthless. If she didn’t get it right, they’d kill Hassan. They’d kill her and probably David. How long would it take some other scientist to figure out the puzzle? How many people would die or lose everything because she couldn’t remember?

  Annie sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. If she could ask Hassan what she’d done that day she knew he’d remember.

  She snapped upright. and blurted out, “I need to ask Hassan about the research.”

  Always cheerful, Moshe was quick with a response. “And I need a week on the beach.”

  She tried to dislike Moshe but his youthfulness and charm were difficult to resist. She couldn’t believe he was a trained killer…until she saw the automatic weapon he always carried. “I’m serious. If you want me to get this right, I need to have answers.”

  Moshe laughed. “You are like my oldest sister. Always trying to get me in trouble.”

  “This isn’t a joke.”

  “Why is it so important? You will bring cows here to this place where there are no other cows. How can they get sick? They wi
ll have good babies. Red ones.”

  “Maybe. It certainly could happen that way. Normal brucellosis takes direct exposure to pass from critter to critter. But BA 23 has turned into a real killer. As the pathogen has accommodated new hosts it’s gotten more virulent. You can see that because we’re starting to hear of it passing to people, mostly very young and very old. But it’s killing them and soon it’ll be even stronger. Now it appears to be spreading through either droplets of water or the air.”

  Moshe’s eyebrows drew together in concentration. “So if you don’t give your cows this vaccine before they come to Israel, they will have dead calves? Even when they are so close to giving birth?”

  She nodded. “This is some nasty disease. It has the potential to wipe out cattle all over the world.”

  He looked at her admiringly. “It is good you will find the cure.”

  She plopped into her chair. “Not so good if I can’t get it out to others.”

  “Once God gives us the Red Heifer, you can give it to everyone and all will be cured.”

  She tried again. “But I have to get to Hassan before I can finish the vaccine.”

  He laughed again. “I would be punished if I let you see your friend.”

  She felt a twinge of excitement. Moshe had compassion; maybe she could tap into that. She’d start small. “When you take Hassan his meal you can ask him my question and have him write back the answer.”

  “What question?” Moshe asked.

  “The RNA sequencing showing the phylogenetic affinity to BA 23 on the basis of rRNA gave us the iron levels we used in the last vaccine. But it seems to me that when we actually put the vaccine together we tweaked that iron level. I never got around to recording that new level into the notes. I need to ask Hassan what iron concentration we used on Esther.”

  Moshe’s eyes twinkled. “I only speak Hebrew and English. This makes no sense.”

  “I’ll write it down.”

  Moshe shook his head. “This will get you killed and me, too. I will not risk it.”

  She pounded her fist. “But I need Hassan to help me.”

  Moshe tapped his temple. “You are smart. You will see. It will be okay.”

  The outside door banged open making Moshe and Annie flinch. Adi stood in the entry. “It is time to eat.”

  Annie scowled at Adi. When she strolled out the door she locked eyes with him, daring him to react. His face stayed deadpan but his eyes followed her.

  When they got to the mess tent, Adi growled orders to Moshe. Moshe passed Annie and went to fill a plate.

  Annie looked around and spotted David sitting at a rickety aluminum table, trying to balance on a flimsy folding chair. She hurried to him, wanting to be close. It was true, their beliefs would probably keep them from ever having the long-term relationship Annie longed for but right now he was a friend and someone she trusted. Whatever other fantasies she’d harbored before this whole nightmare started she’d leave in her past.

  He pulled out the empty chair next to him. “Looks like we’ve got rice and vegetables today.”

  She wrinkled her nose at the spicy smells so different from meals she’d grown up with. “Mmm. Something new.”

  He smiled at her. “And it’s kosher.”

  She shook her head. “Wouldn’t it be difficult to keep kosher out here?”

  It seemed as though he considered whether to continue the conversation and decided to plunge in. “Sometimes it’s good for things to be hard. It serves as a reminder to love God and it strengthens resolve.”

  “I don’t understand what eating has to do with religion and God,” she said.

  He leaned toward her. “Not all Jewish factions believe in or keep kosher. Orthodox Jews are strict about it. Conservatives, which I am, are supposed to keep it, but often don’t or keep it sometimes, and Reformed, well, they might as well be secular. Remember how the Corporation spoke of obedience without understanding? Kashrut exemplifies that. We keep kosher because God commanded it.”

  “The rules get so detailed, it seems arbitrary.”

  He sat back, taking her comment under consideration. “The table is seen in Jewish eyes as the Temple altar. The whole idea of kashrut is that it elevates the most mundane human routine to a religious experience. If I have to think about what I’m allowed to eat to honor God, then it reminds me to serve him at all times.”

  She looked around at the faces in the tent. There had been no incoming truck yesterday or today and yet there were people she’d never seen before. At least twenty people sat at tables, stood around in conversation or filled their paper plates. At every meal there was always way more food than the people present could eat. The changeable faces, number of people and the volume of food baffled Annie. There were only the two sheds, the mess tent and a couple of smaller tents. Where did these people come from? Where did they sleep? More importantly, what were they doing here?

  The food stuck in her throat with each swallow. She shoveled it in, though, wanting to get out of the mess tent and back to her lab.

  David didn’t say much. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.

  She scooped the last bite into her mouth and looked up at Moshe, who sat across from her. His head was raised and his eyes sparkled. A sweet grin curved his mouth. Annie followed his gaze to a striking dark-haired woman who had just entered the tent. She glanced at Moshe and flashed him a quick frown, then lowered her eyes.

  Light faded from Moshe’s face. He lowered his head and caught Annie looking at him. An instant look of fear pass across his eyes. He recovered quickly. “She is a beauty, no?”

  Annie looked back at the young woman who studiously ignored them. “Very pretty.”

  He shrugged. “Won’t give me the time of day.” Moshe’s eyes shifted to David.

  David laughed. “Looks like a heartbreaker to me, man. I’d leave her alone.”

  Moshe nodded too enthusiastically. “You’re right.”

  “Gotta take a leak,” David said, standing up.

  Moshe jumped to his feet. “I’ll take you.”

  David waved him to sit. “Finish eating. I’ll get Adi to go.”

  Moshe dropped back down.

  Concern surged through Annie. “Are you okay? I mean, you just went before we ate. Are you getting a bladder infection or is your stomach upset?” Who knew what kinds of infections or dysentery they might come down with in these conditions?

  He put a hand on the back of her neck. “Quit worrying. I drank too much coffee this morning, that’s all.”

  He walked away, stopped to talk to Adi and the both of them left the tent heading toward the latrine. If he were sick he wouldn’t tell her. She had to get them out of here.

  An engine sounded outside and the tent suddenly grew quiet. It didn’t sound like the supply truck. Through the tent flap she saw a beat-up, dusty car. Probably the same one that had brought her and David here. Who was the newest prisoner?

  The driver jumped out and opened the back door but no one got out.

  Annie glanced at Moshe and saw his eyes focused on the pretty woman. The woman’s face paled and she swung her head away from Moshe. When Annie looked back at Moshe he was staring outside the tent.

  The driver held the door open while two other men escorted a young woman carrying something in her arms. When she turned and leaned over to sit in the car Annie saw the bundle was a baby. The driver slammed the door, spoke rapidly to the two men, jumped into the front seat and peeled away.

  The tent was silent and still. As if on cue people resumed conversations and movement, acting like nothing happened.

  Annie turned to Moshe but his head was slumped low over his plate and he shoveled food into his mouth.

  “What was that? Who was that? Where did they come from?”

  Moshe didn’t look at her.

  THIRTEEN

  Adi hadn’t escorted David back to the mess by the time Annie was ready to return to the lab. Was he seated in the latrine bent over with cramps from some digesti
ve bacteria? Moshe wouldn’t allow her to check on him so she was forced back to the lab.

  Maybe Moshe wouldn’t take a note to Hassan but the fact that he’d considered it meant Hassan was still alive. She had some time, but not much. The Corporation planned to send her, David and Moshe to Nebraska tomorrow. If she didn’t get Hassan out of the compound tonight she might not have another chance.

  Moshe took up his position in the chair by the door and Annie worked in the lab.

  Adi brought David back to the lab toward evening. He looked healthy. He wasn’t pale and there were no new bruises.

  Annie felt relieved to have him near. “Where were you? What happened?”

  He looked irritated. “I was sitting in Alanberg’s tent with Adi. Seems they are worried that we spend too much time together and might be hatching an escape plan.”

  Annie scowled at Adi. “My escape plans aren’t very effective.”

  David looked at the mess she’d spread out on the counter. “What is all this?”

  She wished she could feel a sense of triumph over what she’d done but all she felt was a dull ache for Hassan. “I’ve just about finished the vaccine. A couple more hours and I’ll have it whipped.”

  “What can I do to help?” he asked.

  She shook her head. Hassan would have been working beside her, neither of them having to tell the other what to do. But David was a project director, not a scientist. It would take more time to instruct him than he’d save her. “I can finish this myself.”

  Adi broke in. “You do not need him? I will take him to your room.”

  Annie held her hand up. She wanted David with her. He made her feel a little more secure. “Wait. He can double check the data for me.”

  Adi waved his gun at David, indicating for him to leave. “He can go.”

  David stood up. “I guess if I’m locked in safe and sound and we’re not together, Adi can take a little time off, right dude?”

  Adi grunted and pointed his gun toward the door.