Emily was stunned. She watched the two dogs grow acquainted over the next couple of minutes, still not believing what she was seeing.
"It looks like love," a voice said.
A woman, somewhere in her fifties stood in the doorway of the house where the white Shepherd lived, watching her with an amused look on her face.
"I...we thought Thor was the only dog left on the planet," Emily said. "This is unbelievable."
The woman looked confused. "Why would you think that?" She stepped down into her backyard, walked to the fence and stood next to her dog. She scratched her dog behind the ears, then did the same for Thor.
"It never crossed my mind that any dogs were left alive elsewhere. And to find one, I mean that's huge."
"One?" the woman said, suppressing her laughter. "Well if one makes you happy you will be ecstatic when you find out that there are several hundred here in town."
"What? Really?"
"Oh yes. And cats, too. I'm more of a dog person myself, but each to their own. There are even chickens, sheep, and pigs at the university still, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, and some goats." The woman held out her hand to Emily. "My name is Edith Vikra, and this young girl is Samantha."
"Thor," said Emily, walking to the fence and shaking Edith's hand. "The dog's name is Thor, not my name." She felt her face going red as the word salad spilled from her mouth. "I'm Emily."
"Ahh, yes, the alien," Edith delivered the last word with mock gravity. "You are the talk of the town."
Emily smiled and shook her head. "I can assure you, I'm as human as you are. There's nothing to be frightened of."
"Oh, we are not frightened. When you have lived out here for as long as most of us have now, fear becomes frozen just like everything else."
Emily pulled the glove from her right hand and allowed Samantha to sniff it, then ran her hand over the dog's silky white fur. "She's beautiful."
"She is my...what is the word? Darling? Yes, she is my darling girl." An involuntary smile lit up Edith's face. "Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"
"I would love to, but I can't. My husband and Major Petter are waiting for me to bring our wayward son back to them. Maybe another time?"
"Yes," said Edith, "maybe. And please bring back Thor, I think Samantha has become partial to him."
Emily smiled broadly. "I will, thank you." She turned her attention to Thor. "Okay, you," she said, taking his collar in hand and pulling him gently down from the fence. Say goodbye to your girlfriend. Get down off there."
Thor gave the Shepherd a last sniff before obediently returning to Emily's side. With a final wave to Edith, she and Thor walked back to where she had left Mac, Rhiannon, and Petter.
"We thought maybe you'd gotten lost," said Rhiannon as she heard Emily's boots crunching toward them.
"You didn't tell us there were dogs on the island," Emily said, addressing Petter.
"What!" Mac and Rhiannon echoed in almost perfect unison.
"I just met one of them, courtesy of Thor's nose, apparently. Her owner said that there are hundreds here on the island."
Petter looked honestly taken-aback. "I am sorry, it did not even occur to me until now that that would be important to you. Of course, we have many dogs here on the island. Some are pets, most are working dogs. I am sorry, I should have realized."
Emily touched his arm. "It's okay, it's good news for us, and for him in particular." She nodded at Thor. It was only then she noticed Rhiannon was crying. Emily reached out and wiped the tears away from the kid's face before they could freeze.
"Hey," said Mac. "What's the matter?" He stepped in and placed a protective arm around her.
Rhiannon gulped a few times as she collected herself. "I'm okay," she said, her voice strained by emotion, "but you realize what this means; if there are dogs then that means there are going to be puppies. The world still has puppies."
No one spoke for several seconds. Emily took Rhiannon in her arms and squeezed her gently. "Puppies," Emily whispered, looking at Mac, who returned a smile just as big as his wife's.
And suddenly, despite the freezing weather and snow-bound land surrounding them, the world seemed just a little bit warmer.
•••
The apartment was on the third floor. Emily and her family were the only residents, according to Petter.
"Most of the tenants were off island when the red rain came," said Petter. "Now we have more room than we know what to do with." He handed Mac a slip of paper with several numbers written down on it. "The phone system works. I’ve written my personal number on there, along with the council members' and the number for the hospital. Feel free to call if there's anything you need. I've had some food brought in for you."
"Thank you," Emily said, as Petter handed her the apartment key. "Really, you've gone above and beyond for us. It's so very much appreciated."
Petter dipped his head. "If what you say is true, and we are all that is left of the human race, we should treat each other accordingly, no?"
Emily smiled back at him. "If everyone had had that attitude to begin with, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Perhaps we will learn our lesson this time around. Now if there's nothing more you need from me?"
"No, we're good," said Mac. "Thank you again." He offered Petter his hand.
"Have a pleasant afternoon," the major said, shaking Mac's hand vigorously, then he turned and walked back to the stairs. They could hear him whistling some melody as he descended the stairs to the waiting SUV.
"Okay," said Mac, rubbing his gloved hands together. "Let's get inside before we freeze to death out here."
•••
"Not too shabby," said Mac as he walked from room to room. The apartment had three bedrooms, a living area and a kitchen.
"Hey, look at this," said Emily, "the place even has a balcony." A sliding glass door led out from the living room onto a snow-blanketed balcony. There was a small fire pit with a couple of chairs placed around it; a pile of sticks that, in a previous life, had been a wooden shipping pallet was set near the door.
"I'm starving," said Rhiannon.
"Well let’s have a look at what goodies Petter left us. Here, take my arm." Emily led Rhiannon through to the living room and sat her down on the sofa.
"Emily, you're going to want to come and see this" Mac called from the kitchen.
Emily joined him at the open fridge door. "Wow!" she exhaled, then added another "Wow!" The fridge was stocked with fresh produce; potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, broccoli, tomatoes. She opened a couple of cupboards, found spices and some condiments, a couple cans of soup, and some canned beans.
"Oh. My. God. Is that bread?" Emily said. Her eyes had wandered to a loaf of brown bread wrapped in cellophane sitting on the kitchen counter. "They have a bakery...? Are you sure we didn't all die and this is heaven?"
Mac grabbed a large knife from a metallic strip over the stove, tore off the cellophane and cut three thick slices of bread. He sniffed the slices deeply, like he was inhaling the bouquet of the finest wine. "Wow! Just wow," he said. He handed a slice to Emily, grabbed the two other pieces, and together they walked to the sofa. They sat down on either side of Rhiannon and placed a slice of bread in her hands. For the next several minutes the only sounds any of them made were mmmm or ahhhhh as they savored the bread.
"I never thought I would ever taste something so awesome again," said Rhiannon, voicing what the two adults were thinking.
"How about I make us one of my world-famous stews?" said Mac.
"Really? World famous, eh?" Emily said.
Mac laughed, "Give me a couple of hours and prepare to have your minds blown."
•••
Emily swallowed the last of her stew and let out a long sigh of contentment. "Husband of mine, you were not kidding. That was out of this world."
Mac gave a little bow. "My pleasure. How about you, Rhia? What do you think?"
"Can't talk. Eating," the kid said as
she shoveled spoonful after spoonful of Mac's stew into her mouth.
"What about you, big dog? Was that good?" Mac said, smiling at Thor who lay on the floor next to a now empty bowl. The dog’s tail swished back and forth, and he gazed at Mac in eager anticipation of more food.
"I’d say that was a yes," Emily said, chuckling gently.
"The secret's in the soy sauce," Mac explained from behind a broad grin. "Always a good replacement if you don't have any chicken stock."
"Well I guess we know who'll be doing the cooking from now on," Emily said.
Mac smiled proudly. "More?" he asked.
Both women nodded, yes. Ten minutes later, the bowls were again empty and their bellies were full.
"I'm going to explode," Rhiannon said. She made a show of undoing the top button of her jeans, which made both adults laugh. "Can you show me to my bedroom?" she added.
"Sure thing," said Emily. She helped Rhiannon to her feet.
"Good night, sweetheart," Mac said, planting a loud kiss on the top of the girl's head.
Rhiannon hugged him hard, then allowed Emily to escort her to her new bedroom.
When Emily came back out, Mac was on the balcony, a fire taking shape in the fire pit. He'd pulled the two chairs together so they could sit next to each other. Emily sat while Mac stoked the fire with a large metal poker, then tossed another handful of sticks onto it. He slumped down into the second chair with a contented "Ahhhhh!" as the fire took hold. The snow on the balcony and around the foot of the fire pit was already beginning to melt from the growing flames.
"A girl could get used to this," said Emily, curling her legs up under her, she leaned against her man's shoulder. She was happy, she realized, a genuine, honest-to-God sense of contentment having wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket on a cold morning.
"I can't remember the last time everything felt so normal," she said. "I didn't think we'd ever get to experience something like this ever again."
Mac nodded. "Would you look at that view."
To the west, the sun was setting, driving orange shards across the ocean, turning the snow a fiery orange. It was stunning.
They sat together for the next hour, talking quietly about nothing at all, holding hands, smiling until the sun had finally sunk beyond the horizon.
"Brrrr," said Emily, turning her face toward Mac's, "it's gotten a bit cold? I think we should head inside and warm up."
"You want me to put another log on the...ohhhh!" Mac's eyes met Emily's and he saw the unspoken invitation in them. "Yes, yes indeed it is a bit on the nippy side. Best we get you in before you catch your death." They stood as one. He placed his hands on her hips, kissed her gently on the mouth, then turned her around and ushered her back into the living room. Entwined in each other, they stumbled their way to the bedroom, pieces of clothing describing a trail behind them.
•••
The next morning, they were awakened by the sound of the bedside telephone ringing.
Emily rolled over on her side and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she answered, her voice slurred from sleep.
"Good morning, this is Petter. The council would like to see you in one hour. I will pick you up, okay?"
"Okay," said Emily, suddenly awake. "We'll be ready. Thank you." She hung up, shook Mac awake, threw on her blouse then headed to Rhiannon's room and woke her too.
"Will you be okay here with Thor for an hour or two?" Emily asked her.
"Is there more bread?"
Emily laughed, "Yeah, we saved you some."
"Then we'll be fine."
Mac and Emily showered, grabbed a bowl of leftover soup, then, after saying their goodbyes to Rhia, headed out the door.
CHAPTER 5
The questions started as soon as Emily and Mac sat down at the conference table.
"I'm sorry, would you mind explaining who this Valentine person is again?" Magda Solheim asked.
"She was one of the survivors from the McMurdo science outpost in the Antarctic. To put it bluntly, Valentine's a power-hungry bitch who thinks that every other human survivor is taking up space in her world, and that that entitles her to do exactly as she pleases with those lives, including having anyone who stands in her way murdered," said Emily. She looked at her husband. "Does that sound about right?"
Mac nodded. "Sounds spot on to me, love."
"But all we have is your word that that is so," Magda said. "You want us to send our people to help you, but for all we know, this Valentine could be an elected and beloved leader and we would be helping you with a coup."
Mac answered. "We understand your position. All we want from your people is backup. The survivors at Point Loma outnumber us, so if we go in and start making demands then we need to be able to back those demands up with some muscle."
"Could you not just use the craft Emily arrived in? Surely that would be enough to make them surrender." This came from Jørgensen
"Would you have surrendered if Emily had waltzed in here in that thing?" Mac asked.
"No," said Petter, "we would not have."
Mac nodded. "Exactly! And neither will Valentine. She'll happily sacrifice all of the other survivors until only she's left."
"And besides," Emily chimed in, "I don't believe the majority of the Point Loma group supports Valentine's actions. I think they are just scared of her and her goons."
Mac finished Emily's point for her. "Chances are that if the camp sees Valentine outnumbered or arrested they'll feel confident enough to switch sides. We don't want any bloodshed, if it can be avoided. What we hope to be able to do, with your permission, is to take a sample of the vegetables and fruit you're raising here as proof that we can return the world to a semblance of what it once was. Valentine is a consummate politician; she uses fear to control the people. Fear of her. Fear of your neighbor. Fear of the 'other'. It's textbook authoritarian stuff. I'm confident that if we can give the survivors hope of a normal life, they'll come over to our side willingly and without a shot having been fired."
"And, if your plan doesn't work?" Jørgensen asked.
"Most of the survivors at the camp are either civilians or military who haven't ever had to fire a shot in anger. I don't anticipate much in the way of resistance. It'll work," Mac said, no doubt in his voice.
Petter stepped forward. "And how would we get to Point Loma?"
"You'd travel with us in the Vengeance. It'd take several weeks to get back to Cali, but that would provide us with the best opportunity to sneak in unannounced."
Norfred spoke next. "And what would be in it for us? This deal seems one sided to me." His response drew glares from several of the female councilors.
Mac responded. "Fair question. When we've taken care of the Valentine problem, there will be an open invitation to any of you and your people to join us at our Point Loma community. You'll have the protection of our military, access to all of our knowledge about this world, homes with an ocean view, great weather, and the chance to start over again."
Emily spoke up, "As far as we know, we are it...your group and ours. The last of humanity. Sure, there could be others, but I don't know how they could have survived this long. So that just leaves us. We are humanity's last, best hope for a future. Will you help us?"
Still, Norfred seemed unconvinced, but said nothing more.
"Any other questions?" Magda asked, looking from councilor to councilor. She was met with shakes of the head from everyone. "Very well. Mac, Emily; if you will excuse us while we discuss this further." The governor turned back to her colleagues and began to speak in her native tongue.
For the next ten minutes, Mac and Emily sat silently watching the council animatedly discuss their request between themselves and Major Djupvik. Apart from an occasional word in English, neither of them had any idea what was being said or whether the discussion was going in their favor or not.
"Remind me never to play poker with these guys," Mac whispered to Emily.
Emily smiled in return. This
was a long shot, she understood that. These people did not know her, had only basic information and experience of the red world to go on. But their help would tip the balance in taking back Point Loma with as little bloodshed as possible.
Finally, a show of hands, split four to two, signaled that the discussion was over.
Magda stood, smiled politely, and spoke, "We are willing to allow twenty of our military, volunteers, to accompany you back to California. Major Djupvik has already volunteered to go, but it will be with the understanding that he retains complete command over our people. Is that acceptable?"
Mac stood, nodded, said, "Thank you, that will work just fine."
Truth was, Emily thought, they had hoped for more, but had expected less. With this additional force they should have no real problem taking back the camp.
Best laid plans of aliens and men, Emily reminded herself, then stood and thanked the council too.
CHAPTER 6
"How would you like to proceed?" Petter asked, as he, Emily, and Mac exited the council building and began walking back to the couple's apartment. The weather was warmer, maybe even above zero, Emily decided, the knife-wielding wind having faded away to virtually nothing.
"Do you have your volunteers yet?" Mac asked.
"Not yet," said Petter, "but I will be addressing my people as soon as our conversation is over."
"My suggestion is that once you have them, we'll get together and we'll formulate a plan. Your people all speak English, I presume?"
Petter nodded. "Most speak at least three languages. English is one of them."
"Well now I feel inadequate," said Emily. "Most I ever learned was a little Spanish, back in high school."
Mac checked his watch. "Why don’t we get together in three hours back in the council office. Will that work for you?"
Petter nodded. "We will see you there." He saluted, and headed off.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Mac said once Petter was out of earshot.
Extinction Point: Kings (Extinction Point Series (5 book series)) Page 5
