A Strange Valley

by Darrell Bain

  “Aren't you ashamed of yourself, attacking a sick man?” Tyrone said to her.

  “Well, the doctor did say bed rest, didn't he?”

  “I think ‘rest’ was the operative word.”

  “Oh, he's been resting. We've been doing all the work. Go on, before Dan turns any redder than he already is. We'll be there in a minute.”

  “Lisa is the one that's red,” Daniel said.

  “Yes, but I'm a natural. I'm supposed to be,” Lisa retorted. “Come on, guys. Let's get dressed. I want to see this.”

  * * * *

  Shirley and Crafton were being “interviewed” by Nancy Primmerton. The interim NSA Director had reluctantly given permission after the tide of public opinion had swung so dramatically against the agency. Daniel suspected that permission had been given in a hurried fashion, as if ordered by a higher authority, because it rather obviously had been staged without professional props. In fact, he saw the preparations being made on camera, while a talking head gave a background description of events that lead up to the encounter of Crafton, Phillips and the briefcase full of money. Even before the program began, it quickly became apparent that Shirley and Crafton had been interviewed separately and that they would be seeing clips of each, not a live cast.

  Daniel sat between Lisa and Marybeth, as comfortable as a puppy on a warm sheepskin rug except for his calf muscle, which still ached sometimes. Tyrone sat cattycorner from them, with Gina on his lap and Tim beside him. That was something he hadn't seen before. The man did seem to get around. And he had a mysterious smile on his face, as if he knew something the rest of them didn't.

  Perhaps he did, Daniel thought. Just as the interview was about to get underway, the anchor came on with breaking news. The Surgeon General had come out with a second statement, which declared that upon further investigation, the prions that were carried by the majority of Masterville citizens were not contagious. Therefore, there was no longer a reason to quarantine the valley.

  The President's press secretary issued a statement a few minutes later saying that the President would withdraw the army to a safe distance from the fallout pattern of the dirty bomb and allow residents of Masterville to come and go as they pleased so long as they were neither contaminated by radioactive material themselves, nor carried any contaminated material with them away from the valley. However, the President thought it “prudent” to keep the army brigade nearby in case of possible violence between “atheists” and “normal Christian folk.”

  Daniel cursed softly until Lisa shushed him with a finger across his lips.

  “Bobby Lee and the Surgeon General sure do have identical viewpoints, don't they?” Marybeth said. “Why, if I didn't know better I would think they arranged that little charade in advance.”

  “Charade is right,” Tyrone said, “but it could have been worse. Now let's see what else Shirley managed to squeeze out of them.”

  * * * *

  The interview began with Shirley answering questions about what she found the people of Masterville to be like personally when she had been assigned to investigate them. Crafton was as masterful as any newly promoted Washington bureaucrat Daniel had ever seen. He claimed to have been suspicious of the motives of both Phillips and the President all along and that was why he had kept an eye on his boss. Furthermore, he claimed to have seen nothing in the nature of Masterville to have warranted an investigation in the first place, and even promised an investigation into the source of some of the original data, saying that it might have been obtained illegally. It was a classic cover up and a superb spin, Daniel admitted to himself.

  Shirley, knowing better, still didn't contradict Crafton when her turn came. She complimented Crafton on his promotion to Assistant Director and wished him well. Nancy then led her through the steps she had taken, and the risks it had involved, in order to prove that the nation had been plagued with a rouge NSA Director; one who ran a cabal of similar rogues as his own little fief. The President's place in the scheme was not mentioned.

  “What the hell?” Daniel burst out when it was over. “Is Bobby Lee going to get away clean? That weasely little ex-preacher should be hanged!”

  “Easy, Dan,” Tyrone said from around Gina's shoulder, which had somehow become bare since the last time he had looked in that direction.

  “Easy, hell. Isn't anything at all going to be done about him?”

  “It's already been taken care of.”

  “What! How?”

  “The powers that be in the party have already decided that he won't be running again. He's finished in politics, and if he's not careful he's going to wind up destitute from civil action suits.”

  “How do you know all that?”

  “I didn't. Jeremiah does, and he told me. None of you heard it, though.”

  “We didn't?”

  “No. Besides, there's something more important to talk about. Gina, honey, could you bear to unloose yourself from my lap long enough to go mix a pitcher of this and that and bring it back in here?”

  Gina nuzzled his neck and slid off his lap. She paused to adjust her blouse then grabbed Tim's hand and led him away.

  “I can start without them, since they know it, anyway,” Tyrone said. “I have to tell you about something I did, entirely on my own...”

  * * * *

  “...so you see,” Tyrone concluded, sipping at his second tall glass of ‘this and that', which was monstrously alcoholic, though well-flavored, “I had no way to stop it after the bomb went off. And once started, I saw no good reason to stop. I can be hung for a sheep as well as a goat if I'm ever found out.”

  Daniel found that the alcohol was welcome. He and Lisa sat together holding hands, fingers twining and untwining as they absorbed the new revelation. He finished his second glass of the rum punch and stood up. He used his cane to walk around Tyrone's office, taking small steps. He returned to his seat and let Lisa pat his thigh. “What you're saying then, is that you're just telling selected people, and then only to make certain that someone knows the story in case you ... uh...”

  “In case I'm not around any longer, yes. You know how easily it can happen. If you don't, you should, after these last few weeks.”

  “So right now, all over the world, babies on formula are getting our prions, and they'll grow up with them. What about the next crop of babies after these quit being bottle fed? Will you just let them be, or infect them, too?”

  “That wouldn't be right, either. I did it the first time when I thought there was an excellent chance we would all be taken to a concentration camp and sterilized, at a minimum, or wiped out completely in the worst case scenario. But now that it's started...” Tyrone filled his glass for the third time. Daniel had never seen the man drink so much. For that matter, everyone in the room was putting away more ethanol than usual. With good reason, he thought, when Tyrone continued. He gazed into space for a moment, as if searching for words, then misquoted, "Getting on and riding a tiger is the easy part. Getting off is when you run into difficulties."

  “So you're going to continue the program?”

  “Yes. And I want you to help me. You and Lisa, if she will. And selected others.”

  “For how long?” Lisa asked, frowning.

  “Oh, I should think thirty years would about do it, if we could make it that long. It's almost certain that someone will catch on before then, though. All we can reasonably hope for is a good start and to get our prions spread widely enough so that babies born over the next few years will be able to grow up sane.”

  “Sane. You think this program is sane? You're proposing to change the psychic makeup of everyone on earth. Without yet knowing the consequences!” Daniel was on his feet again, this time with Lisa by his side.

  “Masterville shows you what the consequences will be. A world where people can think without crazy and illogical beliefs getting in the way. Where you can love and live and have children in peace, without having to worry about the barbarians roaring over the hill, destroy
ing and killing. Where education and politics are practiced by those with the interests of everyone in mind, not just themselves. Where...”

  David waved a hand at him to stop. “Never mind the propaganda. I've heard it all already. Listen Tyrone, I agree that this is a fine place to live, but you have to remember that I didn't grow up here like the rest of you. All I really want is to stay with Lisa and to have a family. I'm tired of wandering around.”

  “Dan.” He felt Lisa's arms steal around him and cross over his chest. Her breasts flattened softly against his back. “I want a family, too. But I agree with Tyrone. The world needs our prions. Why don't we work for him for a few years, then come back here to live?”

  Daniel felt his resistance slipping. It was surreal, outrageous, to think of a few individuals like he and Lisa slipping into and out of places where prions could be injected into the food supply meant for babies. Sooner or later they would probably get caught. And the President hadn't withdrawn the army yet. Hell, they might not even get out of the valley. He was still classed as a fugitive by the NSA. The details of Tyrone's plan might get out and send the army down into the valley, this time for real. On the other hand, Tyrone could probably get something done about his status with the agency. If he could, then...”

  “Well, hell. I've been a field agent for ten years. I guess I can go a while longer.”

  Tyrone grinned. “Good. Now I have someone I want you to meet. Gina, why don't you go bring her in?”

  Gina left the room while Daniel and Lisa stared curiously at him. Her? Who could she be?

  A few minutes later Gina returned, leading Shirley by the hand.

  Daniel's curious frown broke into a huge grin. “Shirley!” He ran to hug her.

  Once they had all settled down again, with fresh drinks from a new pitcher, Daniel asked, with a definite slur to his words, “What's-what are you up to now, Tyrone? You've already got half the world upset with us. Have you taken over the NSA now, too?”

  Tyrone laughed. “Not at all. Mister Crafton has just appointed Ms. Rostervik as official liaison to Masterville Valley. Actually, she's been sent here by order of the congressional oversight committee, but they didn't specify a particular person. Shirley volunteered and Crafton approved. I think it made for a happy ending for both of them since their personalities are, shall we say, the types which tend to clash. And now we have an insider again.”

  Daniel bolted upright, spilling half his drink. “Shirley? Are you one of us?”

  She smiled ruefully. “I wish. No, it just turns out that I mostly think like you do, so I've been made an honorary member of the inner circle. And I'm also one of the first of Tyrone's adult volunteers. I got my first dose of prions today. Believe it or not, some parents of very young babies are asking for them, even against the Surgeon General's advice. Adults are shopping for them, too. I suspect that it won't be too long before a supply will find its way onto the net.”

  “This is going too fast for me,” Lisa said. “Daniel, you're getting sloppy drunk. Come on to bed and we can take up where we left off tomorrow. Marybeth, are you coming?”

  Marybeth eyed Shirley's beautiful face and figure. “No, I think I'll stay up a while longer and see what else develops.”

  As he and Lisa wobbled off to their room to reflect, Daniel couldn't help but wonder how that would work out.

  THE END

  * * * *

  Author's note: This novel was such fun to write that I believe I may do another or two and continue the story. If so, they will be listed as books in the STRANGE VALLEY series. Also, if I do continue, the next book will probably be titled A STRANGE VALLEY: DISPERSAL.

  * * *

  Visit www.double-dragon-ebooks.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.