"Before the red rain came," said Major Djupvik, pointing to an architecturally impressive building that seemed to be all glass and angles, "the university was a major resource and education center for teaching arctic studies. Now we use it for other purposes."
"How many of you are there here?" Emily asked, nonchalantly.
The major smiled politely. "I'm sorry Miss Emily but that information is for the Kommunestyret, our community council, to disclose. Ah, here we are, the council halls." The snowcat came to a stop outside the entrance of a large, two-story gray and red building. "The Kommunestyret...our council...used to be fifteen people, but when reports of the red rain reached the island, a lot of them either left to head back to the mainland to be with their families or stepped down. Now we have just five members." The major got out, opened the passenger door, and ushered Emily and Mac out. "Follow me, please," he said. Four of his snow-camo-wearing soldiers took up positions on either side of the major's guests.
Major Djupvik led Emily and Mac to the building, and into a reception area. Once inside, the four-man escort removed the snow hoods they'd been wearing and, much to both Emily's and Mac's surprise, revealed that they weren't men at all. The four women, all in their mid-twenties Emily guessed, saluted the major then walked off together, talking quietly while casting glances back at Mac and Emily.
"I see you've met our Jegertroppen. Impressive, are they not." The new voice was female, and when Emily turned, she saw it belonged to a woman in her mid-forties walking across the reception area. She was dressed in a tight-fitting turtleneck sweater and blue jeans that showed off her athletic figure. "Hello," the woman said, in only slightly accented English. "My name is Magda Solheim. I'm the Governor of Longyearbyen, and, I suppose, this entire archipelago." She smiled warmly, and held out her hand to Emily, then Mac in turn. "Would you like something hot to drink? We have tea, coffee, or perhaps you'd like some hot chocolate? Something to eat, maybe?"
"Tea would be great," said Mac, enthusiastically. "No sugar. Thank you."
"Make that two," said Emily, smiling politely.
Magda turned to a young male assistant standing next to her and relayed the new arrivals' orders.
"If you would follow me," said Magda, gesturing toward a large wooden double door.
"I've heard of the Jegertroppen," said Mac, "An all-female Norwegian special forces group, right?"
"You are correct," said Magda. "Petter...Major Djupvik...is their commanding officer. We have forty members here under his command." She pushed through the door and ushered Emily and Mac into the expansive meeting room beyond. Four other people sat around the table, three women and a man with a thick gray beard. The major followed behind Mac and Emily, closing the door after them. He moved to a position at the back of the table, casually leaning against the wall. He was a good-looking man, Emily thought. In his thirties, with a head of blond hair and a full beard. Blue eyes watched both her and Mac unerringly, despite his apparently relaxed attitude.
"Please take a seat..." said Magda, as she took a chair alongside the four other council members.
Emily and Mac sat at the table, across from their hosts. In front of each council member was a brass desktop nameplate. The assistant brought their tea and set it down in front of them.
"Please," said Magda, "when you are ready, explain to us why you are here."
Emily took a couple sips of her tea, cleared her throat and said, "I don't know how much you know about what happened after the red rain came, but long-story-short, we were invaded by aliens."
At the end of the table, behind the nameplate Tolline Jørgensen, sat a ruddy-cheeked rotund woman in her late fifties. "We are aware of that," she said. "Several of our community have made exploratory trips back to the mainland and told us what happened out there. About the red vegetation and the creatures."
Emily nodded, and continued, "The aliens responsible for the red rain were called the Caretakers. We know this because I was captured by them when Mac and I were on a scouting mission to Las Vegas a few years ago. They let me go, but not before they warned us that our group needed to remain where we were in California. They promised dire consequences if we left."
It was obvious from the incredulous looks on some of the councilors' faces that Emily had lost them with that little nugget of information.
"It's the truth," Mac chimed in. "I was there. I saw it happen. I can vouch for my wife."
Perhaps, Emily thought, it was Mac's powers of persuasion or, more likely, it was the way he met each of the councilors' eyes with his own, daring them to call him a liar, that kept their mouths firmly closed.
"As I said," Tolline continued, "we are aware that there was some kind of a worldwide event, probably extraterrestrial in nature, but you're asking us to believe these, what did you call them, these Caretakers, for some reason singled you out? I'm sure you can understand our incredulity."
Emily smiled and leaned forward. "Let me make one thing clear here," she said, "I don't give a damn whether you believe me or not, this is quite simply the reality of how it is. You'll forgive me for being blunt, I hope, but the fact of the matter is that what I am telling you is the truth. Perhaps you should talk to Major Djupvik and ask him how I arrived at your island."
All eyes turned from her to the major. He nodded. "I can confirm that Miss Emily arrived via...unconventional means."
"Explain?" said Norfred, the lone man on the council. He had remained silent until that moment. What followed was a rapid exchange in Norwegian between the major and the council members, with several sideways glances at Emily. When the conversation was over, whatever it was Major Djupvik had said seemed to have made an impression because the council members turned back to Emily and Mac with a cautious respect that bordered on fear in their eyes.
Magda watched Emily for a few moments, then her gaze drifted to Mac, before returning to Emily again. "Major Djupvik has confirmed your story. Now, please tell us what it is you want from us."
"Your help in reclaiming this world," said Emily. For now, she had decided to keep the events that had taken place after Mac left Point Loma to herself. She would need to fill her husband in on everything that had happened (not something she was looking forward to in the least), and, of course, the changes to their son, Adam, after his abduction. Those events were personal and painful; it was going to take time to explain everything in detail to her husband. Right now, it would just confuse the issue for everyone concerned. Emily continued, "We came here because of the seed bank. If what we have heard is correct, it has enough product stored in its vaults to help us kick-start a farm or two. The food supplies we have left are going to run out sooner rather than later, so if we're to survive—if humanity is to have a chance to continue—we must become self-sufficient. Will you do that? Will you help us?"
"I think you are leaving something out, Emily," said Magda. "Major Djupvik told us about the craft you arrived here in. He told us that he believes that machine is alien. How did you come by it?"
Emily caught Mac turning to face her. She glanced at him. He was wearing an expression that said Yes, I think I'd like to know that part, too.
After a few moments, she spoke. "The Caretakers are all dead."
"What?" Mac exclaimed. He stood up. "What? How?"
Emily closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. "It’s another long story."
Mac looked at the council then back at Emily, his eyes wide. "I'm pretty sure we all have the time." There was a note of confusion, maybe even betrayal to his tone that she did not like.
"I was going to tell you," Emily said, addressing Mac, "but I wanted to explain everything later, when we were alone."
"Why? What the hell has happened?"
The woman named Yulia interrupted, "I was under the impression the two of you knew what was happening?"
Emily shook her head. "My husband left Point Loma on a submarine to come here to recover seed from the seed bank. I stayed at Point Loma. But there were...complications."
"Valentine," Emily replied quietly. "Valentine happened. She tried to have me killed, among other things."
Mac's face flushed a bright crimson, and his eyes narrowed. "What? She what? Jeez-us. What else?"
Emily paused, searching for a way to hold off telling Mac about Adam in front of the council, but she couldn't see a way to do it. It was all too late now, anyway. If she tried to BS her way out of this she would seem disingenuous at best, as though she were purposely concealing information from the council, when she needed them to trust her. Best if I just come clean, she decided. "The Caretakers kidnapped Adam," she said, quietly.
"What?" Mac sat back down again. "Bloody hell! Jesus!" He exhaled several expletives over the course of the next fifteen seconds. "Is he—"
Emily preempted Mac, placing a reassuring hand on his knee. "Adam's alive." She saw her chance to at least conceal what had happened to their son until later when she had Mac to herself; there was no need for these strangers to hear more than they needed to, not right now. "He's just fine." God, she hated lying to him, but she didn't want to confuse things for Mac by telling him what had actually happened to Adam, how he had been changed, become the meta-human-biological-machine that called itself Tellus. That she, Emily, had created Tellus, indirectly, by giving birth to Adam and was therefore its mother, too. It was all so damn confusing. But she did not want to tip her hand to the Norwegians. She didn't know whether she could trust them, not yet anyway. "Yes," she continued, smiling as best as she could at Mac. "Adam's fine."
Mac's head sank slowly into his big hands. "Thank God for that. Where is he? What the hell happened?"
Emily took a moment to gather her thoughts, then began to explain how, after Mac and the crew of the Vengeance had shipped out for Svalbard Island, Valentine had begun her attempt to assume complete control of Point Loma. "He's safe," she assured her husband, not wanting to elaborate. "After the Caretakers kidnapped Adam, Valentine had me arrested on charges of murder. Rhiannon busted me out and we stole a helicopter and went looking for him."
Again, Emily saw no reason to inform Mac about the guard who had tried to kill her, or how Rhiannon had been forced to kill him in self-defense, or of their close encounter with the swarm that had led to Rhiannon's current blindness. Not just yet. That would come later. When they had time together.
"We tracked Adam down to a Caretaker ship somewhere in New Mexico. When I got into the ship, all the Caretakers were already dead, except for one. It told me why they had kidnapped Adam—they were fascinated by him because he was the first human child born on the planet since they'd landed—but during their experiments on him he somehow managed to take control of their computer systems and he found..." Emily paused as she searched to find the right words "...He found old memories, hidden so deeply within their system that the Caretakers could never have found them. Those memories showed that whatever entity originally created the Caretakers had intended them to help proliferate life, not destroy it."
Mac looked confused. "If they were originally made to help then what made them destroy our world?"
"Another race of aliens captured the Caretakers at some point and reprogrammed them to do what they did to earth. Ours wasn't the first planet the Caretakers did this to and we wouldn't have been the last."
The Norwegians looked politely confused, exchanging glances across the table. "So...who are these other 'aliens?'" Magda asked.
"We don't know who or what they are. All the Caretaker told me before it died was that the creatures reprogrammed his race to change the worlds they came to in a very particular way. Once the transformation is complete they place a ring around the planet that signifies it's ready." Emily pointed the index finger of her left hand skyward. "Then these other aliens come along and harvest the planet for their own use. They move from planet to planet, following behind the Caretakers."
"Like locusts?" asked Norfred.
"Yes, I suppose so. Just like locusts," said Emily.
"So how long before these...Locusts arrive here on Earth?" Mac asked his wife.
Emily shook her head. "The Caretaker didn't know. It just said that they are on their way."
"And how are we supposed to stop them?" Tolline asked.
Emily thought about the question for a few seconds. "There are around a thousand survivors at Point Loma. If we are going to beat these aliens...these Locusts, then we are going to have to do it together. That means we need your help. I don't know how many people you have here but if we're going to stand a chance of winning against what's coming, we are going to have to pool our resources and stand together."
The Norwegians conversed in their native language for almost a minute, openly looking and gesturing at Emily and Mac.
"Got any idea what they are saying?" Emily asked her husband quietly.
"Oh, I'd guess they're either discussing how crazy we are and they're trying to decide which snow bank to bury us in, or they're trying to figure out if we're telling the truth."
"Let’s hope it’s the latter."
The discussion went on for a few more minutes, then culminated with a lot of head nodding. Magda turned to Emily.
"We will need to discuss this further," said Magda. "If you would like to stay as our guests we will make arrangements to house you for your duration here."
Emily and Mac stood. "Thank you," said Mac, "that sounds perfect."
Magda turned to her assistant, spoke two long sentences, then, as the assistant left the room, turned back to the newcomers. "While we arrange everything, would you like a tour of our facilities?"
It's not like we have a world to save or anything, Emily thought, but said, politely, "That would be great. Thank you."
"I’ll need to let my men know to meet me back at the Vengeance," said Mac, pulling his radio from his parka.
"Of course. Major Djupvik, if you would escort our two guests, please."
The major nodded and walked around the table to join Mac and Emily. "Follow me," he said.
"Thank you, major," said Emily.
Holding the door open, the soldier said, "Please, call me Petter."
•••
"We have just over three-thousand people here," Petter explained to Mac and Emily as they walked out of the administration building and headed toward a group of large warehouses farther along the street, their feet crunching in the snow. A bitter wind blew through the streets, cutting at their exposed skin like a razor, but the major seemed totally oblivious to it. "Most of those people are researchers and scientists, but I have almost a hundred professional soldiers under my command who were ordered here by my government just after the red rain came. Forty of those are Jegertroppen; our female special forces."
They were approaching one of the large warehouse-like buildings. Petter pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked a padlock securing the door. He held the door open and ushered Emily and Mac inside. A wave of warm air washed over them. He unzipped and removed his jacket then gestured to Mac and Emily to do the same, hanging the coats on hooks.
"This way," Petter said. He led them though a second door.
"Wow!" said Mac as they stepped into a massive space that must have been at least six acres in size, if not more. Powerful heat lamps hung from the ceiling, and water gurgled through clear plastic tubing, all to feed row upon row of plants, each row placed with just enough room for a human to move between them. Four people walked between the rows of crops and vegetables, tending and trimming, checking drip lines and lights.
"Are those...? No way...No way! Is that...those are tomatoes," Emily said. She couldn't stop herself from grinning as she reached out a hand toward a plump red tomato hanging from a vine. "Can I?" she asked, looking back at Petter.
Smiling, the major nodded.
Emily plucked the tomato from the vine and bit into it. "Oh my God. Oh my good God." She felt tears slip down her cheeks as flavor—so much delicious flavor—filled her mouth. She passed t
he rest of the fruit to Mac who placed it reverently in his mouth and began to chew with an almost dreamlike look of bliss on his face. Emily looked around the rest of the building. From where she stood she could see rows of tomato plants but also what might be corn, and carrots. There were lettuces, and the deep purple stems of beetroot pushing up from large planters stacked on ziggurat-like wooden benches.
"We grow enough in this one warehouse to feed most of us. We have another four like this around the town growing more herbs, vegetables, and fruit. Follow me." Petter began walking between the rows of tomatoes, past cucumbers and carrots. The smell was like a flash from her childhood, growing up on her parents’ farm in Iowa. The musty, pungent scent of earth and plants and water...it was sublime. Intoxicating. It was life.
They did a full circle of the facility, walking down one side then back up the other as Petter explained that some of the scientists and researchers who had worked on the island before the red rain had been researching how to produce food in low temperature climates. They had quickly begun converting the warehouses into greenhouses, using seed recovered from the vault. It had proved far more successful than they had hoped.
"It was what saved us," Petter said as they approached the entrance they had arrived through. "Now, if you will come with me, I will return you to your men."
Mac caught Emily's eye. He smiled a wide grin that showed all his teeth, flecked with pieces of red tomato skin. He didn't need to say anything, his expression said it all: There's hope. Hope for all of us.
•••
Extinction Point: Kings (Extinction Point Series (5 book series)) Page 2
