The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Henry slowed down as he peered at those in the room. “Hi Joe. Dean.” Henry closed the door to the center. “Frank.” He slowed down his pace and stopped at Frank.

  Frank merely crossed his arms, and looked away from Henry. “Start this, Dad.”

  Henry lowered his head, moved over by Dean, and sat down then stared blankly at the floor.

  Joe stood up. “We have a situation, gentlemen. I brought each of you here to get your expert opinions on how to deal with it.” He swallowed harshly. “It’s eating at me, because my own flesh and blood is involved in this. He’s smack dab in the middle of a major problem.”

  Frank’s attention was grasped. “What happened with Robbie?”

  “As you know,” Joe said, “we received a communication signal right outside of Boise. Robbie and his men, on their way back from the latest series of runs stopped by to investigate the signal. They encountered an attack. Not a SUT attack but they were hit by savages. Not a problem, a little different than what they were dealing with, but they took them out. Unfortunately, that’s not our problem. Robbie found the basis for the communication signal. A busted radio and . . . eight dead SUTs all hanging from a tree, all half eaten. Typical savage pillaging.” Joe’s voice took a saddened effect. “Then they found more savages. Those ones were dead, not by the hands of the SUTs but by an illness Robbie could only describe as . . .” He took a deep breath. “Plague like symptoms.” Like a well-rehearsed move, Joe watched all three men close their eyes and lean back. “Problem. Robbie believes that some of his men may have been exposed, not only to the bodies but perhaps infected savages as well. That’s where you three come in. What do we do? They have to stay out there till it’s an all clear, I suppose. Dean, how long?”

  “Why?” Dean questioned, “do they have to stay out there? Let them come home. They’re our men.”

  “Yes, I agree,” Joe said, “and I’ll answer that. Two reasons. One, they could very well be the future you went into and two, we have to keep this under wraps from general population. It will cause a panic and you know it. If they make it through the plague stages, are they safe to come back?”

  “Yes,” Dean nodded, “but bring them in anyhow for research purposes to stop this thing . . .”

  “Aren’t you listening?” Joe walked closer to Dean. “Research to stop this? How in Christ name do you know that they aren’t what starts this? You don’t. You don’t know that in that future you went into, Robbie and our men weren't the one who brought it in. We can’t take that chance and you know it. Besides, can you safely quarantine sixteen men with a guarantee that what they may or may not have, will not spread?”

  Dean shook his head. “Not with a hundred percent certainty. We can try.”

  “Trying isn’t good enough. We have a community to worry about. Unless you can absolutely guarantee me that sixteen men can be quarantined, I don’t want to hear about it. Dean, I’d love to know my son will walk through those gates, but I have an entire community to concern myself with. How does it go? The needs of many outweigh the needs of one?” Joe took on a thinking look. “What Bible reference is that?”

  Henry raised his head some. “Uh Joe? I believe that was Star Trek, Mr. Spock.”

  “You’re shitting me?” Joe shrugged. “You would know, Henry. Anyhow, back to what I was saying. Dean, you know what I mean. You understand don’t you?”

  “I understand.” Dean dropped his head. “No, sixteen is way too many to handle. We don’t have the facilities at the mobile lab.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Joe continued. “How long should they stay away from Beginnings?”

  Dean thought about it. “There’s a four to five day incubation period. Day six, if they aren’t exhibiting signs of the plague, they’ll be safe. But Joe, they could be out there a while. The plague symptoms we have data on, if it’s the same one, run for two weeks. Others may avoid exposure for that long, but they still may get it. If only a few come down with it at a time, we can be looking at up to eight weeks.”

  “This I know,” Joe agreed, “but it’s a chance we have to take. Frank, you’ve been speaking to Robbie regularly on what he and his men have used as far as ammo goes. How do they stand right now protection wise? Did you bring that info?”

  “Yeah.” Frank checked out his clipboard. “Estimating what they probably used to take out the savages, I’ll say they have some, but are probably running low. Enough to take out one more attack, but if they encounter more than that out there, they may be screwed. If memory serves me right, there’s an Air Force base right outside of Boise. I think.”

  Dean snapped his finger. “There is. Mountain Home.”

  Frank nodded. “That’s the one. Robbie can probably surplus there. Hit the armory and such. Get some things. Maybe even dig up some M.R.E.’s if they’re running low on food.”

  “Good thinking.” Joe made a notation on his own clipboard. “Henry, gas, radio, phone, anything you can think of?”

  “The phone batteries aren’t going to last long, Joe. He’s probably on his last one and the radios could be out of range with all the mountains. I think you should keep them moving, have them stop at the Air Force base like Frank suggested, but have them head as close to home as you’d allow them. That way if they need supplies, we can drop it to them.”

  “Also,” Dean added, “if they’re close enough and they get the new plague, we’re close enough to them to bring me out there, in protective , to get samples and give them medical attention.”

  Joe pointed the pencil he held. “That’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there. As for now, Robbie’s waiting for the decision.” Setting down his clipboard, Joe picked up the center’s phone knowing that it wouldn’t beep annoyingly when he used it. He called Robbie and connected the call to the speaker system.

  “Yeah,” Robbie answered a half a ring into the call.

  “Robert,” Joe spoke up, “I have Frank, Dean and Henry here”

  Robbie laughed, “Frankie, Cranky, and Spanky. You have me on a speaker phone, Dad. I hate speaker phones.”

  “Deal with it.” Joe lit a cigarette. “Robbie, we've decided on what you and I discussed.” There was a long silent pause. “Robbie.”

  “I hear you. Are we staying put?”

  “No.” Joe told him. “Take the old main road toward home and stop off at Mountain Home Air Force Base. It’s close to you now.” Joe began to flip through the computer map. “It’s about twenty miles from Boise. Then I need you guys to halt up somewhere around Rock Springs. It’s close to home and we’ll be able to get to you if you need anything.”

  “Got that,” Robbie sounded even sadder. “Dean, it was bad.”

  Dean swallowed the news. “I can only imagine.”

  “Frank,” Robbie called out, “hey, I hear you’re a dad again. Good Job. Dad says the baby is cute.”

  “Yeah he is,” Frank responded. “I named him Nicholas Robert.”

  A short laugh came from Robbie. “Thanks, Frank. I bet Henry was bitching like a woman naming the kid after me.”

  “No,” Frank spoke harshly. “Henry doesn’t mind. Do you, Henry?”

  Slowly Henry lifted his head, his voice cracking as he talked, “No, I don’t mind.”

  A momentary gloating moment that was unseen came from Robbie. “Oh, Henry, how’s that microchip going?”

  “Not,” Henry answered. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  “Henry.” Robbie’s voice turned to a serious one. “I have something for you. I got it in Seattle. Check this name out...Cyborg-genic Lobel Programming. I have the program, Henry.”

  Henry’s eyes lit up. “You have it?”

  “I think,” Robbie said. “You’ll have to check it out when I . . .” Robbie became silent for a second. “Henry, if I don’t make it back, you have to get this. I think this is it.”

  Henry closed his eyes. “You’ll make it back, Robbie.”

  Joe blew the cigarette smoke loudly from his mouth and took over the convers
ation. “Robbie, you guys better get started before it gets dark. You call me tomorrow or earlier if you run into problems. You hear me?”

  “I hear. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Good luck, son. I’m proud of you.” He took an emotional breath and disconnected the call. He slowly faced the three men in the room. “I need an uplift. I think I’ll let my daughter annoy me for a bit while I visit her. Is it going to be an alone visit or are any of you three bozos going to intrude?” He didn’t get an answer. “Henry, wanna walk me over and show me the baby?”

  Henry stood up. “Oh sure, Joe I’ll . . .” He shifted his eyes to Frank. “You know what Joe, I have some work in Mechanics to do. I can’t.” He walked to the door. “I’ll walk to the clinic with you though.”

  “Sounds good.” Joe followed him. “Frank, Dean, thanks for your help.”

  Dean lifted his hand in acknowledgment as he watched Joe and Henry leave. Seeing Frank follow behind, he stood up. “Frank, wait up.”

  Frank stopped and flung his head back. “What, Dean?”

  “What’s going on? Earlier you were fine with Henry and now the guy seems petrified of you and you’re acting . . .”

  “Hold it.” Frank halted him. “I acted this afternoon. What you saw here is not acting. If Henry is petrified of me, let him. He should be and he’s lucky he’s walking right now.”

  “Frank. You divorced Ellen. You can’t be upset about them being married.”

  Frank laughed. “Married? Something is up with that shit. Personally, that’s the least of my worries. Their marriage means shit to me. Shit. As far as how that baby came to be … I’m not buying it. One or both are lying. Henry fathered that kid. Fake understanding or not, he broke the rules. Unforgivable.”

  Dean lowered his head and nodded. “You’re right.”

  “I am.”

  Dean was going to say more, but before he could, he heard the door close. Frank was gone. “Hey!” He jumped to the door. “Hey!” He called out echoing down the hall. “Shit.” He threw his hands in the air and went back in. Alone, he looked around and searched out a radio. “Left me alone in here.” Dean found one, turned it on, and listened for the hiss. “They just better not say anything if something happens and I miss it. It is not my fault.” Switching around the channels, Dean sought out Joe or someone from security to fill in. While he sat down to wait, he pulled his folders closer to review them. Through the tops of his eyes he noticed a volume adjustment and turned it all the way down. He figured Beginnings was already screwed if something should happen while he was on watch. He didn’t want to hear it coming.

  <><><><>

  Frank grumbled in his walk back to his office. He grumbled and whistled some old song he barely remembered the melody and tried to keep his mind from worrying about Robbie. He did that until Joe yelled through his radio that Frank had his headset on and not only was he annoying Joe, but the community as well. Frank’s mood could have been better. He knew it would start to get there as soon as he finished off some things in his office so he could take advantage of the couple of days off Joe always gave the fathers when they had a baby born.

  He passed the nursery, ignoring the call of Hap. Figuring it was a nursery and what kind of security problem could they have, Frank moved faster. He never thought that a man pushing eighty could run so fast. Spinning around in hurried annoyance, Frank controlled himself while looking at the wrinkled man with the abundance of white hair. Control. Patience. “What!” Frank barked.

  “No, no.” Hap shook his old finger. “Let’s try this again.”

  “I don’t have time.”

  “Everyone has time for politeness.”

  “What do you want?” Frank asked harshly.

  “I said we’ll try this again.”

  Grunting and realizing that Hap had just been hanging out with Trish too much, Frank turned back around.

  “Excuse me, Frank.” Hap tapped him on the shoulder.

  “What!” Frank spun around. “Spit it out or I’m out of here.”

  “I give up on you. Here.” Hap handed him a piece of paper. “Could you drop this requisition off at Mechanics for me, please? The air conditioning isn’t kicking on in the infant room.”

  “Are you fuckin kidding me?” Frank snatched up the paper. “Your old ass chases me all the way to the edge of town and you couldn’t run this up yourself?”

  “No.” Hap gave a swift pat to Frank’s arm. “Thanks.” He smiled once more, turned around, and headed back to the nursery.

  “Now I’m a fuckin messenger boy.” Gripping the paper tightly, Frank marched back toward the utility buildings. Yes, he had to pass Mechanics and Hap probably knew that, but what Hap didn’t know was Frank didn’t want to go into Mechanics and see Henry. With one hard Frank-knock on the door, he opened it up. Peeking his head in, he saw Scott sitting at the bench working on something that looked like a radio. “Scott.” Frank walked in. “Hap wanted me to drop off this req. Where’s the box?” Frank looked around for the familiar bin that always sat right inside Mechanics.

  “Henry has it,” Scott answered, his eyes glued to what he worked on.

  “Can you give this to him?”

  “You. I’m busy. He’s in his office.”

  “What’s the big deal if you to give it to him?”

  Scott merely shifted his eyes. “Letting go of this wire I’ve been trying to get back into place. It’ll take you three steps.”

  “Man.” Frank tossed his head. “I get no respect.” He took three hard steps towards Henry’s office but stopped when Henry walked out with his tool bag.

  “Hey, Frank. How come you’re here?” Henry asked in a usual Henry manner.

  “Not by choice.” Raising his hand that held the requisition, Frank laid it less-than-gently into Henry’s chest. “Hap asked me to drop that off. Have your fuckin req box where it should be for now on so people don’t have to go looking for your skinny ass.” Frank spun and headed back to the door.

  “Frank, do you have a minute?” Henry followed him. “Can we talk?”

  “No.” Frank threw open the door.

  “Frank.” Henry walked outside, pulling the door closed.

  “Henry.” Frank faced him. “I have nothing more to say to you. Nothing.” He spit forth his angry words. “You’re picking the wrong fuckin day to even try to talk to me.” Frank bit his bottom lip. “Back off.” He held up his hand. “Just back off.” He turned back around and headed to his office. He just wanted to finish off his day, go to the clinic, spend some time with his kids, and then head back to the clinic for the night. Keeping his mind on those thoughts, he thought nothing else could go wrong. Frank was surprised, not pleasantly, when he opened up his office door. “John? What the hell are you doing?”

  John Matoose stood before Frank’s office’s open closet. His hands laid flat on a box that was tilted out some. “Hi Frank,” John grunted, shoving the box back on the shelf. “I thought I was filling in for you already. Aren’t you taking the rest of the day off?”

  “Yeah.” Frank shut his office door. “Why are you going through my stuff?” He took off his shoulder harness, tossing it on his desk.

  “Oh.” John shut the cupboard. “I was looking for those loose maps you have. Mechanics is making a techno run in about a month and I wanted to put it together. You know, zoom in on areas we haven’t touched.”

  “All the maps we hardly use are on the bottom. You know that.” Frank plopped in his desk chair.

  “Yeah I do. But you’re missing a ton of county maps for the surrounding states. You have so much shit in that closet that I don’t know where to look.”

  Frank leaned in toward his desk. “County maps are next to the military installation maps.”

  “Yep, they are, but you’re missing some I know you had.”

  “Fuck.” Frank stood up. “You need these now?”

  “No.” John shook his head. “It was something I wanted to work on tonight. Jenny and the women are
meeting so . . . not important.” John headed to the door. “Give me a call on the radio when you’re done for the day. I have to get out of the house and I’m gonna work on those rounds schedules and communication center schedules I see you didn’t finish.” John pointed as he opened up the door.

  “Sounds good.” Frank looked at the two clipboards that still sat on his desk. Training schedules were done and everything else was almost there. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “Thanks.”

  Picking up his pencil when he heard the door shut, Frank pulled the rounds schedule closer. “Let’s see, Mark, you haven’t done perimeter . . . hmm.” Frank laid down his pencil and turned his head to his closet. “I know those maps are in there. Nah.” He shook his head and reached for the pencil. “No.” He stood up. “This will bother me the rest of the day. Fuckin John Matoose probably was looking right at them. He just doesn’t know what he’s looking at.” He reached for his closet door, and opened it. “Holy shit! Where did all these boxes come from? Shit.” Frank winced and remembered not only did he have his office stuff in there, but things that he had to take from his closet because Ellen needed the room. “Aw.” He bent down to the boxes on the floor. “I might as well dig up that map of the region Robbie’s in while I’m in here.” He pulled out a box. “Fuckin John Matoose. Why am I in here?” He opened the first box and rummaged through it. He knew exactly what that box was. It was his ‘hide me’ box. There was an old shoulder harness and a broken radio he forgot to take to Mechanics--Frank took that out. He’d hide it in Mechanics and bitch about it not being fixed. There were reports he never turned into Joe because they were too wrinkled or dirty. A tube of lipstick? Frank held it up and smiled. He remembered it well. Ellen had taken so many tubes when they were beyond the wall and she insisted on liking and wearing the most hideous one so Frank hid it. Frank stuck that tube immediately in his back pocket. He’d surprise her later with it and tell her he found it. Tossing that box aside, Frank walked into the closet. Going on the old theory that it’s always the last place you look, Frank reached for the box furthest in the back. Frank knew the second he lifted the small box that it wasn’t his maps, but he knew for certain what it was. In an essence it was his own memorabilia box. Not full of stupid shit like Ellen had, but dresser drawer shit he unloaded and brought to Beginnings. It was stuff he brought from base and left home in Ashtonville.