The Collapse Trilogy (Book 2): Escape and Evade

by Rod Carstens

  “GRP?”

  “Global Resource Program.”

  “That’s right, I forgot. But I have good news for you.”

  “Yes?”

  “Pack your bags. I know how I can get you guys into the City safely.”

  Morgan walked into Rule’s quarters, yawning. She was getting prettier by the day, and there was a maturity about her beyond her teenage years. She had taken to dying three strands of her hair pink, leaving the rest natural dishwater blonde.

  “You’re up early,” Rule said.

  “I sure am, since I was up past midnight working on the computer.” She looked at Vin and said, “Was that tilt-rotor alert anything?”

  “Yes, it was. It's how I’m going to get you three into the City safely.”

  “Okay, you got our attention. Spill it,” Rule said.

  “As I said, the walk for the three of you is too dangerous. And if, as you say, time is of the essence, then that's out. They put three Resource teams in place around here. One is in the high school, one is at the car dealership, and one is in the cemetery.”

  “That means they're trying to find us, and they’re getting close,” Morgan said, sounding alarmed.

  “Yes, it does. So we are going to give them what they want.”

  “What?”

  “They don’t want to hurt Doctor Rule. They want him safe and sound so he can help them. So me, Matos, and Blondie are going to escort you three to the closest observation point: the high school. You three will walk into the middle of what was a baseball field and start yelling, ‘I’m the guy you’ve been looking for! Come and get me!’”

  “Why in the middle of the baseball field?” Rule asked.

  “One, because we're not going to be able to sneak up on them. They are too prepared for that. And two, because the three of us will be keeping an eye on you. We’ll take the sniper rifles and cover you from out in the dark. If they try anything, we can protect you.”

  Rule exchanged a glance with Morgan. “You’re the expert on these things. When do we go?”

  “Tonight. So start gathering your stuff. I’ll tell Cat. Okay, one last thing. How do I know when you want us to come and get you out of the City?”

  “We have the MAC address of this Resource computer. We'll send you a message on it. ‘Come get us’ or something like that. Nothing fancy, but I’ve been thinking. If it is as bad as I suspect and we need to get the settlement ready to move, we'll add 911 to the message. That means something is wrong that will affect us and you need to start the settlement packing up while you come get us.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “By the way, how do you expect to enter the City so you can use your new identities?”

  “Well, there are tunnels under the waste area around the City. They’re old sewer and water conduits that are not needed anymore. They were left open so if a Resource team got in trouble and had to make a run for it, they could use them for escape and evasion. We're going to use them to get into the City. Once inside we’ll need a stash of clothes and ID. Morgan, can you buy those clothes for us and let Cat stash them?”

  “No problem.”

  “Where do you want them?” Cat asked.

  “I still have my old Survival Escape and Evasion map. Let’s pick a spot, and while they do their magic you can slip away and stash them for us.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Doc, where's the computer you use for the program?”

  “It’s in the Resource headquarters building.”

  “Perfect. Several of the old escape tunnels lead to that building. All Cat has to do is get the clothes down to the basement, and we’re set.”

  “Why can’t we use those tunnels?” Rule asked.

  “They haven’t been used in years, and I have no idea what we might run into in them. A pickup by a Resource team that's tasked with finding you will get you in more quickly and efficiently with fewer risks.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Rule replied.

  “No, Vin’s right. The guys on the team are pros and will do their job. The underground could be filled with surprises, since we haven’t used it for so long. Besides, you get a ride in a tilt-rotor,” Cat said.

  “Great,” Rule said, his voice filled with sarcasm.

  “Doc, this was your idea. I just figured out how to do it.”

  “Okay, smart guy. How do you get us out if the tunnels are too dangerous. How do you get us out of the City?”

  “We will clear the escape tunnel when we insert to bring you home. Matos and Blondie will keep it clear until I can get you out of there.”

  Rule gave him a look of disbelief.

  “It will work. Trust me.”

  ***

  Vin, with Matos and Blondie by his side, was waiting for Rules team in the sewer. Matos and Vin had the sniper rifles, and Blondie had the old M16 she had scrounged. Rule, Cat, and Morgan exited the hole in the wall and joined them. They each had a small bag of clothes and other things they might need.

  “Okay, you guys ready for this?”

  Rule looked at the other two and said, “As ready as we’ll ever be.”

  Blondie took point, with Vin behind her and Matos walking tail-end Charlie behind the other three. It was almost a mile in the dark sewers with only head lamps and flashlights for light. They reached a hole in the wall of the sewer that led into the basement of a storefront. It was the closest exit they’d built to the high school. They entered the basement, and Blondie led them slowly up the stairs into the storefront. They halted while she and Vin moved forward to check out the area. While Vin had the security teams do regular sweeps of the high school area, you could never be too careful.

  He and Blondie squatted in the doorway, watching and listening. Vin clicked his tongue, and Blondie looked over at him. He whispered, “Anything?”

  She shook her head no. Vin turned and clicked his tongue twice, and Matos, who was at the top of the stairs, looked at him. He motioned for him to bring the others up. Blondie and Vin moved slowly across the street, each looking in different directions, with Rule, Morgan, and Cat followed by Matos between them. Blondie took the route Vin had planned, leading them down an alley and through a series of overgrown backyards. They crossed another street and went into the yard of a two-story duplex. This was the yard that backed up to the ball field. The ball field was almost waist high in weeds and grass, but it was still open enough for their purposes.

  Vin crouched down and waved for the Rule and the others to come up to him.

  “Okay, this is it. Remember what I told you to do. Walk out to the middle of the field, turn on the flashlight, and begin to yell. We will cover you from here. If things go bad and they start shooting, drop to the ground and crawl back toward us.”

  He looked at Cat. “Cat, you know the drill. If things go bad here or in the City, you are in the lead. Any questions?”

  There were none.

  “Okay, good luck.”

  Cat stood first, then Rule and Morgan. Cat turned on the flashlight and waved it in the air as they walked toward the center of the field. Rule began to yell.

  “I am Doctor Brandon Rule! You have been looking for me! I know you are out there, and I’m giving myself up to you! We are not armed!”

  Nothing. Vin didn’t expect anything right away. The team would check with their command post before moving. Vin was on top of a wall, lying flat with his rifle’s scope to his eye. Even without night vision the magnification of the scope was better than just his eyes. He had told Rule that it might take some time for the team to get orders, but even he was beginning to worry by the time he spotted three figures approaching Rule and the group. He eased himself farther behind a piece of broken masonry to keep his heat signature as low as possible. With their night vision, if they looked hard enough, they might find him, and he didn’t want to give them a chance.

  Tanner wished he could hear what they were saying, but they were too far out in the field. Cat did giv
e the signal that things were going well by putting her hair up in a ponytail. The three waited with the Resource team and Vin heard the sound of a tilt-rotor. It came in low over the high school. All six of them loaded up and it lifted off and moved in the direction of the City. Blondie and Matos came over to him.

  “Well?” Matos asked.

  “It looked like it went well. Now all we can do is wait.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Brandon Rule was surprised by how much noise and vibration was associated with riding in a tilt-rotor. He, Morgan, and Cat sat against one bulkhead while the Resource team sat across from them against the other. They hadn’t spoken to them since they entered the aircraft and sat still, facing forward with their helmets, enhanced-reality face shields, tactical vests, and weapons. In the red light of the compartment they almost looked like robots. A gunner stood on the rear ramp, which was open; Brandon could see the City pass below him. He hadn’t seen the City from the air since he walked away.

  The aircraft slowed, and the engines rotated so it could land. When he glanced out the side window, he saw they were landing on a pad at Resource Control Headquarters. He had spent a lot of years in there working on the program, and while he had no remorse about walking away, he had to admit he was excited about getting to work with his program again. The rear ramp lowered, and the Resource team motioned for them to exit the aircraft.

  Rule led the two women off the plane and onto the landing pad. Waiting for them was a tall, lean man in a Resource Control uniform with bird-colonel insignia on his collars. Two guards stood on either side of him. The Resource team that had brought them in walked silently past them and disappeared into the building without saying a word.

  The colonel walked up to Rule and said, “You’ve been a hard man to find, Doctor Rule. I’m Colonel Steiger. If you will follow me, I will escort you and the others to your quarters.”

  “Thank you, Colonel.”

  Rule, Cat, and Morgan followed Steiger through a door that led to a corridor into the building. They passed offices and what appeared to be various operational-command centers. The thing that struck Rule was he had forgotten how clean and polished everything was compared to the settlement. The lighting was perfectly muted, and the walls and floors were highly polished and with perfectly muted shades of blue like the uniforms of the Resource Control troops.

  Steiger led them to an elevator and they all crowded into it with the two guards. Rule glanced over at Morgan, who had never been in a building like this in her life. She had grown up in the zones, and this must look like some fairy-tale world to her. Cat had a rather bored look on her face. She had spent years up here as a companion for hire and had chosen the Resource teams over this life. It said much about how tough she was to have survived being a companion and then the years in the zones.

  The elevator stopped, and Steiger pushed the horizontal button, then a code. The elevator now moved horizontally across the building, and its glass walls gave Rule a view of the City-State of New York. It was the pinnacle of technology and wealth for the world, it was the richest and most powerful of all the city-states, and it looked like it. The lights of the City stretched out as far as you could see and as high as you could see. The world outside glittered like it was jewel encrusted. Rule had forgotten just how breathtaking the City was from this high up at night. Private tilt-rotors moved through massive buildings, delivering their occupants to landing platforms around the City. The world of the one percenters was truly a beautiful one.

  “Doctor Rule, this is…amazing,” Morgan whispered.

  “Yes, Morgan, it is.”

  The elevator stopped, and when the doors opened Steiger led them down a hallway to a set of double doors. He opened them and Steiger led them into a luxurious apartment. Three steps led down to a sunken living room with couches and a coffee table to the right, a wet bar that appeared to be stocked with everything he could want, and a work area with a dozen displays floating over it. To his left was a glass wall with other screens floating over a panoramic view of the City.

  Standing in the middle of the room in a perfectly tailored suit was Ashton Rand, his old assistant’s assistant. He smiled that perfect fake smile of his and said, .

  “It’s nice to see you again, Doctor.”

  “It’s Ashton, isn’t it? My guess is you’ve had a couple of promotions if you are in charge of me. How is Geoff?”

  “Very well, thank you. I’m so glad you decided to finally return to us. Colonel Steiger here had quite a time finding you. That will be all, Steiger.”

  Steiger turned and left the room without saying a word.

  “I was getting tired of being chased, so I thought I would come see why you needed me so badly.”

  Ignoring Rule, Aston looked at the two women and said, “Please introduce me to your companions.”

  Rule turned and brought Morgan beside him. “This is Morgan. She is my protégé. Just the most talented programmer I’ve ever worked with in all my years. She's a phenom. I was her teacher, and she quickly caught up with me and surpassed me rather rapidly.”

  Rule watched as Ashton held his reaction to a pleasant one, ignoring the slight. He had always thought of himself as one of the best programmers around.

  “So nice to meet you, and you’re so young.”

  Rule watched as Cat’s eyes flashed at Ashton. She knew the double meaning to those words. Young, poor, innocent girls like Morgan were prized commodities up here by men and women. It was one of the reasons he had decided to bring Cat; she was not a novice to all this and could be violent should it be needed to protect Morgan or himself.

  “And this is?”

  “This is my daughter, Julia.”

  “So nice to meet you.”

  Ashton reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a security screen. He took pictures of Morgan and Cat and ran them through the system. He smiled when Cat’s profile came up as Julia and Morgan was not in the system. He held the screen up to Cat and read her retinal scan. It glowed green.

  “One can’t be too careful, Doctor. After all, you have been gone for some time. We must be careful who will be near you given the sensitive nature of the work we need.”

  “Now, Ashton. Why have you been chasing me these last months?” Rule asked.

  “Doctor, as you know, you wrote the GRP some ten years ago. The program hasn’t been producing consistent predictions for some time now. On the first run, it will produce one set of predictions, and then if you perform a confirmation run, the predictions will come up entirely different using the same data.”

  “Really. Let me see your latest runs.”

  “At this hour? Wouldn’t you rather wait until you’ve rested?”

  “No. I’m a night owl, and Morgan is too.”

  “Well, at least let me find additional quarters for your daughter and Morgan before we begin to look at the problems.”

  “That won’t be necessary. These are much larger and more luxurious than we are used to. The three of us can make do here quite nicely, thank you.”

  Ashton looked from one to another of them and shrugged. Rule guessed that for all three of them to stay here would make security much easier.

  “All right, Doctor.”

  Ashton walked over to the desk and touched one of the nearest displays, and it suddenly glowed with the GRP interface. He touched his thumb for security, and the screen changed to a display with a series of numbers and graphs actively shifting as new input was absorbed.

  He changed the screen to one that allowed him administrative access and said, “Doctor, I need to authorize your access.”

  Rule walked over, and the program scanned his thumbprint and retina. Ashton was about to leave the access screen so Rule said, “Morgan too. She will be doing as much work as I will.”

  “Doctor?”

  “Do you want this problem solved? If you do, Morgan needs the same access as I do. She is a fresh set of eyes to put on the code.”

  Ashton hesitated,
then gave Morgan access.

  “Now, what is the problem?”

  “Using our BAU trajectory based on current trends will not give us a consistent outcome.”

  “BAU?” Morgan asked.

  “Business As Usual,” Ashton said, looking perturbed at the girl’s question.

  “What are the primary systems you’re monitoring?” Morgan asked.

  Again the peeved look from Ashton.

  “Answer her questions,” Rule said.

  “All right, Doctor. We typically model and track the food system, industrial output, population, nonrenewable resources, weather patterns, and pollution. We have recalibrated the model several times trying different emphases on different inputs and outflows with no success in solving the problem.”

  “So you’re thinking of all the data as continuous quantities, interconnected with loops of information feedback with a circular causality,” Morgan said.

  Ashton's jaw dropped.

  “When I decided to come back, I taught Morgan a little about the system,” Rule said with a chuckle.

  “May I?” Morgan said, and she sat down at the desk, unwilling to wait for more explanations. When she touched the projected keyboard on the desktop, she gasped and drew her hand back. “You can actually feel them, as if they were real and not projections. Cool.”

  Morgan scrolled quickly through screens as she began to explore the program.

  Ashton looked at Rule as Morgan started to work.

  “You remember those days, don’t you, Ashton? The all-nighters when you were her age. She is still at that stage.”

  “Well, I suppose so. The system dynamics need to be recalibrated. The data is not correct. Somehow some information is missing some independent variable or the feedback loop because the behavior predictions are off. They have not matched the market or human behaviors for months. At first, there was a small deviation, but it has gotten progressively larger over time.”