Grace laid a soothing hand on Ellen’s shoulder. “You poor thing.”
Ellen had to laugh. What other reaction could she have? Grace was just so serious. She set the medication down on the counter. “O.K. Monica, because there is some dilation of the cervix, I want you to take the pills twice a day like clockwork. O.K.? I also see no reason why you can’t walk around, taking it easy with it. You have to get some circulation other than going to the bathroom. You don’t want a blood clot and I noticed your legs are swollen.” Ellen looked to Grace. “Get her up and moving,. O.K.?”
“How will that affect her baby?” Grace asked.
“She hasn’t had contractions in some time, so with the med she should be fine. Hal said she has a history of premature deliveries. Can’t guarantee this baby won’t be born early, but we can try to hold it in there as long as possible.”
Monica grabbed Ellen’s hand. “What if I deliver early?”
“I can tell you this. We have excellent medical care in Beginnings. My youngest son was born seven weeks early. He’s fine. And . . . you’re a hour away, round trip. Any problems, radio communications are up. Danny is here getting some phone service going. You call and Robbie will fly down and get you.”
“Robbie?” Monica asked.
“Hal . . . I mean, the Captain’s brother.” Ellen heard the moans. “Robbie’s the nicest one.” Ellen closed the medical bag. “Well, I’ll leave you. It was very nice meeting all of you.” Ellen felt the strangest thing. Monica was touching her hair.
“Your hair is pretty. And soft.”
“Excuse me?” Ellen asked.
“Your hair is so soft. Grace feel her hair.”
Ellen shuddered when she felt Grace stroke her hair. “Um, we have a great chemist in Beginnings,” She started to get up when she felt another touch her hair and then another woman touch her arm. “Excuse me.”
“So soft.” A woman commented. “How are you so soft? We try.”
“Chemicals. Creams.” Ellen stood up feeling really uncomfortable. “Well, I should go.” She backed up. “You girls have been great.”
Grace physically stopped her. “Doctor, you should exercise extreme caution out there. Please.”
“I will. Hal will protect me personally.” Ellen hurried to the door. “Thank you.”
“Doctor.” Grace called to Ellen. “We’ll expect you not too late.”
“Um O.K.” Ellen opened the door, walked out, and popped her head back in. “Bye.” She shut the door. Ellen paused in the hall before going down, trying to shake the weirdness that still lingered after being in the room with the odd women. How strange they were to Ellen, so curious and treating her like she was a novelty or toy. After shaking a shudder once, Ellen hurried down the staircase and met up happily with Hal who was still waiting on her.
^^^^
Binghamton, Alabama
“Oh my God. Frank . . . Frank.”
Frank could hear Ellen’s voice in his mind as if she were in that office with him. The sounds of his last day, his last moment with her were as alive in his memory as he was.
Gun shots . . .
“El . . . Run.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“Run . . . Run.”
The touch of her lips. The rustling of grass. Ellen’s scream . . .
Frank’s eyes closed tightly, his forefinger and thumb pressed tightly to his eyelids as his head flung back in the chair. He swallowed harshly. His mind was with Ellen and his heart filled more with hatred for George.
“Frank.” Richie’s voice invaded Frank’s thoughts.
Frank raised his head up, opened his eyes, and let out a long breath.
“You have to call George.” Richie slid the phone to him. “You’re a half hour late.”
Frank sniffed hard and pulled the phone to him. “I hate calling him.”
“You know what to tell him about his man Marcus, right?”
“No. I’ll wing it.” Frank began to dial the phone.
^^^^
Quantico Marine Headquarters
With one hand on the just hung up phone and the other on his chin, George stared with seriousness after finishing his evening check-in with Frank. Marcus had left Binghamton a day early. Why? Marcus never bothered to call for his check in. Why? Frank had no explanation and that was the only thing that stopped George from being totally suspicious of something going on. Surely if there was something happening in Binghamton, Frank would have had some extreme excuse or made up story to cover up but Frank had nothing. That told George perhaps he was being honest and Marcus was just being facetious. Just in case, to take no chances, George decided he would move the plans along faster, first with the scientists and the two ambassadors. Instead of leaving for Binghamton in two days, they would leave at first light. Once there, George would move ahead with part two . . . Dean.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Bowman, North Dakota
Joe snoring loudly.
That was how Ellen began to tell the tale she told to the group of men who sat with her and Hal on Sgt. Ryder’s long front porch.
Joe snored so loudly, it seemed to ricochet throughout the campsite. It caused her to laugh and Frank to get annoyed with her. They moved their sleeping bag a distance from everyone so they could fool around. They were just sophomores in college.
“El, come on, Knock it off,” Frank whispered.
“I can’t help it..”
A ripping Joe snore and Ellen giggled again.
Frank sealed off Ellen’s mouth with his own, shutting her up. Buried within that sleeping bag, Frank managed to turn things around, getting as serious as he could in the little space he had.
Zip. Zip. Zip.
“Shit.” Frank tried to move his head but it wouldn’t go up very far.
“Frank?”
“Shit. We’re zipped in here.”
“What?”
“Shit. Someone is tapping me on the shoulder.”
“Who?” Ellen asked.
“Hello?” Frank called out
Muffled giggles and coming from right outside the sleeping bag he and Ellen were inside.
“Fuck.” Frank bit his lip. “Hal!”
There was the tiniest unzipping of the bag. It was just enough for Hal to open and speak into. “Um, Frank. Seems we both are in a dilemma. Me, see, I’m fourteen and federal law prohibits me from actually holding down anymore than a paper boy position. There is this really neat bike I want. You, Frank, are stuck in the sleeping bag doing God knows what kind of obscene thing with a girl that dad believes you think of as a sister. Now . . .”
“Hal, I’m kicking your ass when I get out of here.”
“You shouldn’t make threats, Frank. See, I can wake up Dad. What would he think about this?”
“You’re dead.” Frank reached for the zipper.
“I’m in control.”
At that point Frank lost it. He bellowed out and didn’t care whether his father heard him or not, or whether Ellen was right there in that bag with him. “Hal, I swear to God, let go of the zipper or you’ll become a fuckin statistic when they find your long haired skinny ass body half buried in the woods. Let go!”
All eyes on that porch moved to Hal.
Hal tossed his hands up. “What? No. No.” He shook his head. “Don’t look at me. That is not what happened. She is telling it distorted because she was in that bag. Jimmy was the one that stood over that sleeping bag, not me El, remember? Jimmy. I was reading a really good book.”
Danny Hoi spoke into the radio. “Robbie? Did you hear that?”
Robbie’s voice was loud. “Oh my God, Hal! Can you still lie! No that’s not what happened at all. I remember.”
And even though it was over the radio, Robbie’s version came though clear . . .
“Robbie. Robbie.” Hal shook him.
“What?” Robbie woke up.
Hal snickered. “Check this out. I was trying to tape Dad snoring so I could put it on the answering machin
e and guess what?”
“What?”
“Frank is with Ellen in her sleeping bag.”
“What happened to Frank’s sleeping bag? Ow!” Robbie felt Hal hit him in the head.
“Come on. Let’s go make some money.”
“How?” Robbie asked.
“Frank will want to give it to us. We just have to ask him. Come on.”
Jimmy’s groggy voice emerged from his sleeping bag. “Hal, behave. Go to sleep and leave them alone.”
“Yeah right.” Hal fluttered his lips at Jimmy. “Come on, Robbie.”
“Robbie, don’t. He always gets you in trouble.”
“No, I don’t,” Hal said. “Robbie, come on.”
“Hey.” Robbie covered his eyes when Hal shined the flashlight beam close to his pupils, blinding him. “All right.”
Like they were in an episode of Mission Impossible, Robbie and Hal crawled the distance to the moving sleeping bag. Hal laughed, held up his finger, and zipped the bag closed. Robbie had to admit he thought it was funny. The trapping of Frank and Ellen and . . . the new bike he and Hal eventually got and shared.
“What!” Ellen was so shocked when she heard Robbie say that, she snatched the radio from Danny Hoi’s grip. “Robbie. You guys got the bike?”
“Oh yeah. It took about six months. Dad never did figure out where we got the money. El, Hal used that against Frank forever. Hell, ask him how long he used that against Frank?”
Ellen looked to Hal. “How long?”
Hal shook his head. “Until I got the bike.”
Ellen spoke into the radio, “Is that true, Robbie?”
“No.” Robbie said. “Years and years and years. Ask him where he got the five hundred dollar down payment for the motorcycle? Every single time Hal needed something, he went to Frank. Oh, he was sly too. Frank was the mean brother and Jimmy was the smart one. Me, I was the one always in trouble and Hal . . . Hal was the dick of the family. And he got away with it too. Fooled everyone.” Robbie rambled on. “Man, he would say, ‘Frank, I need fifty bucks’. Frank would tell him no and Hal would be like, ‘So Frank, how often do Kelly and Ellen talk? Just curious’. He used it until Frank found out Hal was having that affair with his CO’s wife.”
Hal snatched up the radio. “Goodnight,Robbie.” He shut it off and lookedatthe faces who hinged on his response.“Please, he was young and he exaggerates. Frank always helped me out of the goodness of his heart And I . . . I never had an affair with my CO’s wife.
Sgt. Ryder nodded slowly. “So why did you shut the radio off, Captain? Seems to me not only is this merger with Beginnings going to be fruitful, but awfully informative as well. And . . . damn it. What is this?”
All eyes went where Sgt. Ryder’s eyes were. Grace, escorted by two guards, neared the porch.
Hal winced. “What does she want?” With a complaining manner, Hal stood up with all the men when Grace approached.
“Doctor.” Grace spoke to Ellen. “We would like to shut the house down now. Let’s go. We’ve waited long enough.”
Ellen shifted her eyes. “Excuse me? Go where?”
“To the house.” Grace told her.
“For what?”
“You should be there.”
“Thanks for the housing offer but I’m staying with Hal.”
Grace was aghast. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I plan on having sex with him, that’s why.”
Hal pulled up a fake blush. “Ellen please, our personal lives are just that.” He tapped her hand.
Grace grew even more angry. “Do not make me come up there and physically bring you to our house.”
Ellen laughed. “Physically bring me to your house? Oh, that’s funny. Thanks but no. Now if you don’t mind, we are talking and reminiscing. Go.”
Grace took in a long breath, stared at Ellen, stomped up to the porch, lifted Ellen’s much smaller body, tossed her over her shoulder like Frank does, and stormed off with her.
Sgt. Ryder looked at a stunned Hal. “Captain?”
Hal looked lost. He looked at Danny who laughed hysterically.
Danny caught his breath. “Man I wish I brought my camera. That was funny. You know what. I’ll get her. I’m not part of this bizarre ritual you guys have going with the women here.” As Danny went to step from the porch, he stopped. “No need.”
Ellen came stomping up the front lawn . . . alone. “Wow, she’s tough.” She let out a loud ‘whew’ and took her seat again on the porch. “Where were we?”
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
Robbie hit his cigarette loud, pulling it from his mouth with a ‘pop’ noise as he sat in Rev. Bob’s chapel office on the marital couch. “Now . . .” Robbie blew the smoke out and up as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Let me see if I got this straight.” He squinted and looked down at the coffee table to the open Bible there.
“Try it.” Rev. Bob waved the smoke from his way.
“O.K. Now Adam and Eve were the first man and woman on earth.”
“Yes.”
“They are the father and mother of all children.”
“Yes.” Rev. Bob nodded.
“This Eve lady gave birth to Cain and Abel.”
Rev. Bob snapped his finger. “You got it.”
“No. It still makes no sense.”
Rev. Bob stayed in religious control. “How can it not?”
“Someone should have edited this better, cause check it out.” Robbie’s finger moved across the page. “Adam and Eve are the parents of all. They had Cain and Abel. Cain offed his brother and went to the next town and married some woman. Who gave birth to Cain’s wife? And who gave birth to all the people that made this place the next town. Eve? No way. There has got to be some other mother someone is forgetting about.”
Rev. Bob shut the Bible. “Well.” He slapped his own knees and stood up. “You brought up some very interesting points.”
“Thanks.”
“I bet you were just the favorite pupil in Bible school.”
“Never went to Bible school. I was Catholic. I went to Catechism when I got kicked out of St. Mary’s.”
“And it shows.” Reverend Bob checked out his watch. “My goodness, look at the time. It’s pushing nine. Let’s save the Book of Genesis for next Thursday. Shall we?”
“Yeah.” Robbie stood up. “So we’re done?”
“Yes.” Rev. Bob ran his fingers though his tousled grey hair and opened the door for Robbie.
“Can we discuss the great flood next?”
“Why yes, Robbie, we can.”
“Excellent.” Robbie stopped in the doorway. “This is great, because I think Noah was actually this really brilliant astronomer and he saw this huge meteor coming and he tracked it to fall in the ocean. Knowing the earth would flood, he built an ark.”
“Goodnight, Robbie.”
“Night.” Robbie took a step and stopped again. “Hey, do you suppose there is any connection between Noah and the dinosaurs? You know, how they say a meteor wiped them out?” He saw only the glare he got from the Reverend. “Just a thought. Goodnight.” Robbie stayed quiet until he heard the door to Rev. Bob’s office close and when he did, he snickered in amusement at his performance for the Reverend.
^^^^
Binghamton, Alabama
“So what are you gonna do?” Richie asked Frank late that evening.
“What can I do?” Frank tossed his hands up and looked at the cloudless dark sky. “I send the trucks tomorrow.”
“Frank. Two ambassadors. Eight scientists. Lab equipment . . .”
“Richie, I know.”
“Frank.” Richie looked at him. “You’re gonna have to be careful. It looks like this is turning out to be an actually Society location. I know. I’ve lived in seven of them. This is the way it starts.”
“Why is that?” Frank questioned.
“Because, first the military sets up, then whatever they are establishing the site
as. Obviously, this is going to be some sort of research facility. Two months ago I was in the coal mining . . .”
“No, Richie. What are you doing for them? Why is it that you move around with them?”
“I’m a carpenter. I fix the structures. I was in construction, Frank. I’m part of the clean-up crew. We move from site to site, clearing out the overgrowth, fixing the buildings, and getting the basics up and running. Water, power and such.”
“Didn’t you see what they do?” Frank asked.
“No.” Richie shook his head. “I didn’t. A lot of men don’t. They haven’t a clue.”
“And you weren’t suspicious? I’m not coming down on you. I’m just trying to understand why everyone is working for George, working for a killer, and working for a man who will kill anyone who won’t work for him. They are working for the man who ended our world and still wants to take over what’s left.”
“You guys in your little Beginnings world know this and the UWA knows this, but look at the numbers. The total of your two communities is one percent, maybe, of what George has so the majority isn’t aware. We heard ‘rebuild’ and we were there.”
Frank nodded silently.
“And now, Frank, they’re coming here.”
“Yeah but they won’t be for long,” Frank told him. “Once I find out where Ellen is, and once George returns, he’s a dead man and I’m out of here.”
“Beginnings.” Richie said the name with a slight smile.
“Yeah . . . Beginnings.” Frank leaned back against his porches’ step. “Home.”
^^^^
Bowman, North Dakota
“Really, Ellen.” Dean had a hint of sarcasm to his voice as he spoke to her that night on the radio. “Do you think it’s wise to have the other half of our female population hating you already. You have problems with this half as it is.”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 410
