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

by Jacqueline Druga

  She turned around and smiled. “Robbie.”

  “Hey El.”

  Ellen’s head twitched, subtly looking at a clean shaven, hair combed Robbie. “What’s up with this?” She held her hand out to him and motioned it in a point.

  “Oh.” He ran his hand over the top of his hair. “I didn’t get cleaned up this morning before I flew John and Jess off so I thought I’d take a shower now.”

  “I see.”

  “Busy?”

  “Yes. Sorry.”

  “I’ll come back.” Robbie pointed to the door.

  “No, we can talk while I work. I’m just looking for abnormalities. Stay if you can take it.”

  “O.K.” Robbie smiled and moved closer.

  “Excuse my back.” She turned to the counter. “What’s up with the cologne?”

  “You like it?”

  “Yes.” Ellen pulled the large magnifying glass over the specimen tray she viewed. “There’s a clipboard over on the other counter. Can you hand it to me?”

  “Sure.” Robbie looked and saw it. He picked it up, walked right behind Ellen and handed it over her shoulder.

  Ellen felt how close he was. “Robbie.”

  “So uh . . .” He stepped even closer, peering over her shoulder. “What are we looking at?”

  “Marv.” She giggled when she felt Robbie lightly touch against her.

  “Marv? Why are you laughing?”

  “Why do I get this sneaky suspicion you’re being a little frisky right now.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Do you still feeling a little awkward about you manhood?”

  “El,” Robbie whined her name.

  “Are you?”

  “What if I’m only attractive to men now?”

  Ellen turned around and faced him. “Robbie, I will tell you this one time today. After that you have to wait until tomorrow. O.K.?”

  “O.K.”

  “You are incredibly sexy.” Her hand ran up his chest. “You are the best looking guy in Beginnings and you have awesome green eyes, a cute little butt, and a great body. O.K.?”

  “All right.”

  “Good. Now I have to get back to this before I go to the clinic.” She turned back to the counter.

  “So you’re working on Marv. I thought we buried him.”

  “Not all of him.”

  “El?” Robbie looked in the specimen tray. “Those are little pieces.”

  “Yes.”

  “Of Marv?”

  “Yes.” Ellen nodded. Using tweezers, she lifted the pieces.

  “What exactly are you doing with those little pieces?”

  “Identifying them and documenting.”

  “What part of him was it?”

  “Oh. Look.” Ellen allowed Robbie to share the magnifying glass as she pointed. “This here is the . . . I wouldn’t expect you to know this off hand, but this is the duct of the epididymis. This here is a very small portion of the prepuce. And if you really look close you can see that this is indeed the external urethral orifice.”

  “Yeah. Sure. What?”

  “Let’s just say they are remains of Marv’s internal and external genitalia.”

  “Uh.” Robbie shuddered vocally. “Oh my God. That’s a mess.”

  “Yes.”

  “It doesn’t look anything like parts of the male anatomy.”

  “Sure it does, chewed up and spit out.”

  “Ouch.”

  Ellen giggled. “It wasn’t digested either. It never hit the stomach. Other parts . . .”

  “El.” Robbie shook his head. “That’s enough.” Just as he started to step back, he heard the clearing of a throat. He looked over his shoulder to see a snickering Henry. “What?”

  “Sorry.” Henry held up his hand as he took a step in the lab. “I was just wondering to myself if you are standing behind El to get a good look at what she’s looking at or maybe you just miss Jess.”

  “Huh?” The it hit Robbie. His eyes widened and horror splattered across his face as if someone threw it at him. “El.”

  Ellen laughed.

  Henry stepped in. Only when he walked in, he walked over to El with his hands behind his back and his backside always facing away from Robbie.

  “Henry,” Robbie scolded. “Why are you walking like that.”

  “Don’t want to excite you. I got those jeans on that El says make my butt look good.”

  Robbie bit his lip and whispered to Ellen. “I’m killing you.”

  Ellen kept giggling and working.

  Henry made his way to Robbie who still stood close to Ellen. “So Robbie, I heard you tried homosexuality last night.”

  “Henry!”

  “Kidding.” Henry laughed. “I’m sorry. So, what are you guys doing?”

  Ellen looked at Henry from the magnifying glass. “I was just showing Robbie the remains of Marv’s genitalia.”

  Henry snickered. “Man Robbie, you have to see it anyway you can, don’t you?”

  Robbie held up one finger and readied himself to snap at Henry. But as his mouth opened, Robbie’s name was called out over his radio. Robbie opened and closed his mouth as if the voice mysteriously came from him. He chuckled and grabbed the radio from his waist. “What’s up, Dan?”

  “None of us will do it, Robbie. You’re head of security. You have to go to sector thirty-two. Hank failed to come back from Neville rounds.”

  “Shit.” Hooking the radio onto his belt and, without even saying goodbye, Robbie ran from the cryo-lab.

  Henry took a look at Ellen then followed behind Robbie, never seeing Ellen plop her elbows on the counter and cover her face.

  ^^^^

  Binghamton, Alabama

  “So then I said to my brother . . .” Jess told a story as he and John tromped through the thick woods nearer to the base than they thought. “ . . . he was on. I bet I was the one who could get out of the service before my tour was up.”

  “And he won didn’t he?”

  Jess laughed. “Yeah. I never left the service. I loved it. He hated it.”

  “Hey, what’s that?” John trotted ahead of Jess.

  “Be careful.” Jess hurried to catch him.

  John bent down to the large mound of dirt, branches, and brush. “Someone’s been hiding and digging.”

  Jess had his hand over his nose. “And by the smell of it . . .”

  John lifted a large branch. “Oh man.” He stood up. “Bodies.” He sniffed outward and cleared his throat.

  “How many?” Jess looked into the hole when John removed a few more branches. “I’m counting ten.”

  “Eleven. Look.” John pointed.

  “Oh, he’s just missing a leg. I missed that. They’re not hidden very well.”

  “Not at all. I’d say this hole was dug with no intentions of hiding them.”

  “And whoever it was covered them quickly.”

  “Frank,” John said.

  “How do you know?” Jess asked.

  “All head shots . . .in the forehead. That’s a Frank trademark.” John replaced the branches and kicked his foot to cover the bodies again.

  “He’s taking them out.”

  “But hasn’t for a while. There are no fresh bodies.”

  “Do you ever wonder if Frank worries about burning in hell?” Jess asked John.

  “Frank. Nah.” John shook his head. “I think Frank has this idea that he’s already in hell and he might as well make the best of it.”

  Jess snickered. “We’d better get moving. By the map, that base isn’t too far ahead and we’re gonna have to get out of sight.”

  John agreed and moved onward with Jess only after taking one more look at the mass grave and shaking his head with a snicker.

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  Joe finally had his first opportunity. Distribution was closed for an hour and he was going to use the break to start his investigation. He deducted there were six typewriters in Beginnings. He decided to start with the
typewriter closest to distribution. History’s.

  He stepped inside the empty office of history and was immediately pelted with this sweet smell. He sniffed and sniffed again. It was warm and fruity. “What in Christ name . . .” He sniffed again.

  “Hi Joe!” Trish spoke upbeat, walking from the back room and pulling the door closed as she held a stack of papers.

  “Trish, what is that smell?”

  “Oh, blueberry scented candles. You like?” She sat down at her desk and laid the stack in front of her.

  “No. Where in the hell are you getting blueberry scented candles?”

  “Danny Hoi. It cost a small favor slip but it was worth it.” Trish loudly whiffed inwardly with a satisfying moan. “Doesn’t it smell bakery fresh in here?”

  “Whatever. Trish I need . . .” He saw her open her appointment book. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t ask me if I have an appointment.”

  Trish quickly shut the book. “Oh never, Joe. I was just checking. What can I do for you?”

  “Does your typewriter work?”

  “Yes. Oh! Do you need me to type something for you?”

  “As a matter of fact . . .” Joe smiled. “Can you?”

  “Sure Joe. Are you going to dictate it to me?”

  “Um, yeah. Just a line. I’m checking on something. Can you do it now.”

  “Most definitely. Let me get some paper.”

  Joe reached into his pocket for the note and watched Trish slowly open her bottom drawer. She fumbled then licked her finger and pulled out a sheet of paper. She swirled her chair to her typewriter and placed the paper inside. “Trish.”

  She ignored Joe as she hummed a tune, turned the knob, and pulled the paper up. “Whoops.” She took out the paper and reinserted it. “Not lined up.”

  “Trish!”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. Are you done?”

  “Let me see.” Trish looked at the paper. “I’m ready. It’s lined up. Dictate.”

  “O.K. ready . . .”

  “I type very fast, Joe, so don’t worry about leaving me behind.”

  “Good. Now type . . . This is a warning.” Joe saw Trish didn’t type. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why am I threatening someone?”

  “You’re not.”

  “But you just said type a warning to someone.”

  “Just type those words.”

  “Who am I threatening?” Trish asked.

  “No one.”

  “Who are you threatening?”

  “No one.”

  “Then why am I typing, ‘this is a warning’?”

  “Trish!” Joe yelled.

  “Yes.”

  “Just type the goddamn words.”

  “O.K.” Trish’s fingers clicked on the typewrite. In seconds she was done. “Anything else?”

  “No. Just let me see that.”

  “Here.” Trish started to hand Joe the paper. As soon as he grabbed it, she yanked it back.

  “Ow.” Joe brought his freshly paper cut finger to his mouth. “Give it back.”

  “Wait. No one sees this but you..”

  “Give it.” Joe snatched the paper from Trish’s hand.

  “Ow!” Trish shrieked and brought her finger to her mouth also.

  “Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Joe grabbed his glasses and put them on. He compared the notes and handed Trish hers back. “Here I don’t need this. Thank you anyhow.”

  “No problem.” Trish began to rip the paper up in tiny little pieces.

  “What are you doing that for?”

  Trish spoke as she kept herself engrossed in the ripping. “Because I don’t want anyone to see the note. They’ll know I typed it and they’ll think I’m typing threatening letters.”

  “How the hell is anyone gonna know you typed that?” Joe asked her with sarcasm and annoyance, cringing at every little rip she made.

  “Because I have the only typewriter in Beginnings that Henry’s ribbons actually work good on. Everyone else’s clashes in some way or another. So if they see perfect type, they know it’s my typewriter.”

  “How do you know this?” Joe asked.

  Trish tsked. “Joe.” She rolled her eyes. “Duh. I get all the history reports, Mr. Ex-leader. I know everybody’s typewriter faults and glitches.”

  Joe’s eyes lit up. “You do, don’t you. Trish.” Joe smiled. “How would you like to help me out?”

  “With what?”

  “Tell me about distinguishing characteristics faults of each typewriter.”

  Trish gasped. “My God, Joe, that could take a while. I’m a busy women.”

  Joe looked around. “Doing what?”

  “History is mentally consuming but . . . I’ll do it. However, it will cost you.”

  “Cost me what.”

  Trish tapped her hands in thought. She held up her finger, grabbed a pad, and scribbled something down. “Paying my small favor slip to Danny Hoi.” She handed Joe a piece of paper. “Sign this and I talk.”

  Joe knew Trish’s filling him in could save him a lot of time and lead him in the right direction. So figuring he’d deal with owing Danny at a later time, Joe signed the paper that stated he owed Danny instead of Trish. He grabbed his small note book from his back pocket and proceeded to take notes as Trish slowly filled him in on the every single boring and detailed glitch of every typewriter in Beginnings.

  ^^^^

  Bowman, North Dakota

  “Jenkins,” Hal stated to Sgt. Ryder as they moved down the street of Bowman. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a good choice. And it would be less hassle since he would whine the most for not getting picked.”

  “My thoughts exactly” Hal said. “So we pack up and we leave for Beginnings tomorrow.”

  Sgt. Ryder let out a slow breath. “I didn’t think I would be included in this plan.”

  “Actually it was Ellen’s suggestion.”

  “The woman’s?”

  Hal cringed. “You have to stop doing that. All of us have to stop doing that. Yes, Ellen, the woman When we stated I would bring someone up to help Robbie protect her and the kids while the plan goes down, she asked specifically for you.”

  Sgt. Ryder grinned. “I’m honored.”

  “And you know what, Elliott? I’m glad she did. I feel better with you there.”

  “And I get to go to Beginnings.”

  “It’s not all that.”

  “Excuse me.”

  “Sure the technology is there, but small town charm?” Hal shook his head. “No. Our new town will definitely, kick ass in the charm department over Beginnings.”

  Sgt. Ryder chuckled and strolled with Hal. They discussed Beginnings further and the plan that was going down much sooner than anyone anticipated.

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  Joe covered Hank’s body probably faster than he uncovered it in the morgue. “Christ.” He looked up at Robbie. “Bad, but not as bad as Marv.”

  “He was still as easy to carry. Did you call Ellen?” Robbie asked.

  “Yeah. She’s on her way.”

  “Then maybe we should go meet her.” Robbie indicated to the morgue door.

  “Yeah, let’s. Even though Henry’s out in the hall, I think this may be one of those times where I’m gonna have to intercept her and be the one to talk to her. We need answers.” Joe moved to the door and looked at Hank’s covered body again. “And we need answers now.”

  As soon as Ellen walked into the clinic she saw Henry standing in the hall, facing the other way. “Henry.”

  Henry turned around. “Hey El.”

  “I’ve been summoned. How bad?”

  “There was only the one bag this time.”

  Ellen let out a slow breath. “That is a relief. There is nothing worse than rummaging through a bin of very small body parts trying to distinguish . . .”

  “El.” Henry shook his head and held
up his hand. “Please. Just the thought makes me sick.”

  “Sorry.” Ellen stepped closer to him. “So why am I not recognizing the name Hank? Who is Hank?”

  “Oh, a defector.”

  “Huh.”

  “One of the Society’s defectors that came in right at the time of the new plague. One of Jess’s men.” Henry spoke seriously then saw the snicker on Ellen face.

  “One of Jess’s men?” She raised an eyebrow.

  Henry started to snicker as well then saw Joe and Robbie walking down the hall. “Here comes another one of Jess’s men.”

  “Shh,” Ellen whispered. “This is a serious moment. Let’s be solemn.” She placed her hands behind her back and stood up straight and with less of a smile. “Hi Joe.”

  “Hank is in the back. I want answers from you,” Joe told her.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Ellen began to walk away.

  “No,” Joe called out. “If you can’t tell me what killed him then you’d better damn well have some answers about what is happening to my men and what we can do to prevent it. Got that.”

  “Joe, I said I’ll see what I can do.” Ellen swayed her head.

  “Do it,” Joe ordered. “You’ve been working on Marv for days. Do it.” He faced Henry after Ellen walked down the hall. “What I need from you, Henry, is for you and Danny to sit down and figure out how much fence you need and how many men you’ll need to erect a perimeter as fast as possible. Cliff or no cliff, do not want to take a chance, no matter how small, of whatever got two of our men coming into this community.”

  “But Joe . . .” Henry said. “That’s a lot of area and the kids play out there.”

  “Then you minimize the area by going around the base of the cliff as close as possible then you double the fence. The one on the inside of the community is the protection from the one that’s hot. We are just gonna have to teach these kids to stay the hell away from the fence. I don’t mean to step on your toes Henry . . .”

  “No, Joe. That’s O.K.” Henry nodded. “I’ll get a hold of Danny right now.” Henry noticed the look on Joe’s face. “That bad, Joe?”