“Maybe.”
I rubbed my eyes, thinking. “Okay, then what about the hunger? The food needs? The excessive fertility?”
She let out a breath, as if she had been holding it. “That can be improved a lot easier, I think. Just time and money and research.”
I nodded, thinking. I sat back against the granite, watching the puffy clouds, feeling the breeze through my thin jacket, smelling the sweet pine. I opened up a bag of trail mix and M&Ms, what backpackers called ‘gorp’, and set it on the rock between our thighs. A handful went into my mouth with a practiced flick. I took a deep breath.
“Elise…” I froze.
“Yes. Go on, it’s okay.” Her voice was gentle, but this was a moment every man fears, before he commits and risks rejection.
“Elise, I care for you. I could call it something else but maybe it’s too soon. I think you care for me. But I think I’m in charge of this thing now and I need to think about bigger things than just the two of us. That means I need to…to put aside at least that much turmoil. Oh, I’m not saying this very well, I’m making it sound like it’s a coldblooded decision.” I turned to her, to look in her searching eyes. “I just mean –”
Her lips reached for mine, suddenly, and relief flooded through me. The kiss was magical, electric. I felt connected to her in a physical way, like there was a joining of our nervous systems. I knew in that moment that I could reach out my hands to her body right there on that breezy chilly mountainside, and it would be wonderful.
But something stopped me, the thing that had begun to get in the way between us. A desire to do it better, or more officially or something like that. To not screw this up the way I had screwed up my other relationships. I hadn’t given Elise and me, given the ‘us,’ nearly as much thought as I had about the world-shaking implications of the EP, and I felt embarrassed to have put her in second place. But dammit, wasn’t all of mankind more important than any two people?
I gently broke the embrace, still holding her head in my hands. “Elise, we need to –”
“Shut up, Dan, and take me here,” she whispered huskily. “Right here and now. I can’t think of a more glorious place.”
I groaned, my eyes squeezed together. “Elise, I want you too, so much. But I want to do it right.”
“Oh, we’re going to do it right all right.” She stared at me wide-eyed when I only chuckled, pained. “Okay. Do what?”
“You know. I mean…if we’re in love…if we love each other…”
“I do love you,” she said.
“I know. I mean, I mean, we should…make a commitment. Make it official.”
She sat back, stunned but smiling with confused joy. “You mean like, uh, married? Sure, I assumed we would, eventually. But a moment like this only comes along once in a while. Let’s take it while we can.”
“Elise, I…I…I made a deal with God. To be a better person. I keep my deals. And I mean, I’m not a religious guy or anything but I just think…I want to be married to you before we…you know.” My voice dropped to a miserable whisper. “Maybe I won’t screw it up this time.”
She reached up to take my hand in both of hers. It felt warm inside her flesh. “Oh, you dear sweet, virtue-ridden man.”
“It’s not just the Eden Plague! That would mean it’s not really me. But after my divorce…I promised God I’d do everything I could right with the next woman in my life.”
“Well, I have to admire and respect you for sticking to your beliefs and promises.” Her eyes crossed slightly, which meant she was thinking hard. “There won’t be any official marriage certificates or anything like that, right? We’re off the grid. So a marriage is just our commitment to each other.”
“It’s a commitment in front of witnesses.”
She sat back in defeat. “Damn you, I was going to construct a nice little argument for saying our vows right here and now and then doing it like bunnies.”
I laughed, a great belly laugh of relief that lasted a long time, leaving my eyes and nose running. “I love you too, you know.”
“I know. Okay, mister goody-two-shoes. Let’s go get married. Today.” She leapt to her feet, pulling me with her down the trail.
We tried. It turned out that the rest wouldn’t let us. After the girlish shrieking and the backslapping, and confused looks from Ricky, they made us wait until the next day. But we insisted we have the wedding outdoors in the sunlight, in the sight of God and everyone. It was a short, moving ceremony.
Then we walked up the mountainside to the ledge and did it like bunnies.
“Stick that in your image enhancers, satellite-watchers,” I muttered as I stared up at the twilight sky from inside the double sleeping bag. I turned to wrap myself up in my wife. If this was the EP’s doing, I’d given up on my doubts, and on fighting biology.
-20-
It was days later, after bouts of dreamy pleasure and sessions of hard work for the both of us, that I finally made time for the conversation I had been trying to have before. I dragged Elise back up to our ledge with a picnic lunch and the sleeping bags and a licentious look that she took with good cheer. But once we’d gotten there and set out the food, I said, “I need to talk to you about something.”
She looked worried for a moment, then sat back, picking up an apple and taking a crunchy bite. Her freckles danced as her strong jaw worked. I pushed aside the distraction of her simple natural beauty and plowed on.
“Remember what we were talking about here before? When we had the conversation?”
“About doing it like bunnies?”
We laughed.
“Okay, yes. About the EP and fixing it?”
“Yes. I’ve decided something. I’m sorry if it sounds like I left you out of the decision, I don’t mean to,” I put on my most determined expression, “but I really believe it’s the right thing to do.”
“Do what?” she asked.
I licked my lips. “To start the plague going. As soon as we can.”
She sat back, still chewing apple, crossing her eyes slightly. She ate the whole thing, including the core, except that little stem they always leave on to ensure you know it’s really from a tree, I guess. No digestive upsets with EP, and we always felt like we needed every calorie.
I sat and let her think.
“You know, if we had a few months, we could probably make it airborne. Graft in some highly infectious influenza. That would be pretty simple, I think. The work is all out there, in the public domain, although most of it is about reducing rather than enhancing transmissibility. One good thing is, it appears the virus is designed to survive in all sorts of media – blood, saliva, salt water, even chlorinated water doesn’t faze it. And once it’s ingested, it’s very infectious. Kind of like Ebola.”
“That’s good news. You know, they’re going to be watching for people pulling research off the web.”
“I’ll work with Vinny and Cass to make sure we don’t get traced.”
“So…you agree with my plan?”
“Sounds more like a goal than a plan, but yes…I always did.”
“Even if it causes chaos.” My tone of voice made it a statement, not a question.
She sighed. “Yes. Horrible as it might be, it will make a better world.”
I felt a twisting in my gut. Where had I heard that phrase, ‘A Better World,’ before? “I bet Oppenheimer said the same thing.”
“Wasn’t he right? After Japan, has there been another use of atomic weapons?”
“No. But a couple weeks ago you were arguing that assassinating enemy scientists was wrong.” I said.
“I didn’t say I had it all figured out. I don’t think there are real parallels anyway. This isn’t a weapon. It’s just goodness that this evil world won’t be able to cope with.”
“Like the Second Coming…”
“What?”
“Never mind, just something I thought of. But it won’t be just those who accept it that get…well, saved. If you make it contag
ious, it will be indiscriminate.”
“Good. The faster the better.”
“I think so too. But let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. Aren’t we making all that decision for people? Shouldn’t they decide for themselves? And what if five years down the line we all turn into aliens or zombies something? That it does something completely unexpected and wipes out the human race?”
“Come on, DJ,” she said with exasperation. “I thought you were the risk-taker and adventurer.”
“I’m also the one who took the Hippocratic Oath. First, do no harm. I’m not sure I’m not violating it.”
She shook her head. “If you do surgery, you have to cut. You have to harm to save. But…whatever you decide, I’m with you. I’m your life partner.”
“You’re my wife.”
“Okay mister old-fashioned, yes I’m your wife and you’re my husband. But if I disagree I’m going to let you know. So now you have my views. Let’s practice making the next generation of Markises. Less talk, more do.”
She reached for me, and we did more, talked less.
***
I called a council of war. I termed it ‘war’ not because we were going to make war on anyone, but because our actions would start one.
Against us.
I prepared to explain it all the best I could in our conference room, with computer-projected slides and everything. Military briefing habits die hard.
Larry was back, with a whole passel of his family members. I’m not sure what he had told them but there were about twenty of them, and they were not invited to the council. They were too new and I wasn’t going to risk some kind of schism or budding political dispute in our little community.
I’d made sure that Spooky and Skull got invited back as well. Nguyen came, but Denham didn’t. I couldn’t worry about that.
Spooky had brought several family members with him, the old, and the sick, a few of them kids. They were immediately injected with the Eden virus, and started getting better right away.
I was glad they weren’t among those southeast-Asians who didn’t believe in medical intervention. I remembered a big lawsuit in California some years back, with the doctors suing to force a Hmong family to allow their son, crippled from birth, to be operated on. The family won, and the boy stayed crippled. There were eerie parallels with the present situation.
So it was a small group that sat down to decide the fate of mankind: the three scientists, Larry, the Nguyens, Cassie and me.
“Good something-time, everyone. What, it’s afternoon? Hard to remember in here.” That got a courteous laugh. “I called you here to tell you about some plans I have.”
Everyone sat up a bit straighter, eyes fixed on me.
“I’ve sounded everyone here out so I think we’re all in agreement, but I want to be sure. We’ve got a couple of dozen new people and we need to keep friction to a minimum. That means we need to have a formal structure, for now.
“Spooky said a while back that I should be the new Colonel. But I don’t feel right about that. I propose this to start: we’re now the Sosthenes Bunker Council. One year from now – and you can tell people this – we can have elections to choose new Councilmen and Councilwomen. I will be the Chairman until then, unless anyone objects or wants to be it?” I looked everyone in the eye one after another. I wanted them all to be on board for this critical first period, because I had to be autocratic to get anything done.
“Okay then. If anyone asks, that’s my title. Chairman. Like a town council, not like Mao.” I laughed, then put on my most earnest expression. “But here’s a serious subject. Very serious. We’ve just been drifting from crisis to crisis, doing what has to be done, but ignoring the main issues. So here’s the first one, and the biggest.”
I swept the room with my eyes. “I think we need to spread the Plague. Come what may.”
A babble broke out, then calmed down after a minute. I held up my hand for quiet.
“Most of what I just heard was, ‘why now?’ I’ll tell you why. First, Jenkins isn’t going to forget I killed his son. He will hunt us down.”
“So why not just turn yourself in?” asked Roger.
I smiled at his brazen lack of couth, and waved back the glares directed his way. “It’s a fair question. The main answer is, that won’t stop them. Yes, he blames me personally, but he also can’t lose control of the power of the Eden Plague, so he will be do everything he can to find us, short of turning it over to his superiors and being cut out. So that’s the second thing. They will be researching. Jenkins will figure a way to pour resources into labs and scientists and within a year or two will probably be ahead of us. If he figures out how to inoculate against it, or how to get rid of the virtue effect, we lose all our leverage.”
“But then we won’t be a threat to him!”
“We’ll always be a threat. We’re an uncontrolled power bloc with the potential to destabilize the world. And that leads to the third thing. They will find this place eventually. Despite all we can do, unless we seal up completely and never leave, something will happen. They will locate us, and they will come and take us all away to Guantanamo or someplace worse. We have to move soon. We have to blow it open so wide it can’t be suppressed.”
“So why not just put it out to the media?”
“Without proof, that won’t mean a thing. It will just alert Jenkins to our plans. We will go to the media, but only after we have acted.”
“You are starting to sound like a terrorist, DJ.” This from Vinny, with a smile, but I could tell he was uneasy.
“Terrorists bring death and destruction as a way to get what they want. I am proposing we bring life to millions – billions – of people, with some unfortunate side effects. Call it insurgency, or a freedom fight. I don’t think there’s ever been anything quite like this before, but the closest I can think of is a war for independence. Spreading freedom and liberty, even though it upsets the established order.”
“So now we’re revolutionaries?”
I nodded, undeterred. “We have to be. I have thought long and hard about this and I am willing to accept that responsibility. I can’t let the fear I am making a horrible mistake deter me from doing what I think is right. ‘That Others May Live’ has been my code my whole adult life. I know there will be unintended consequences. This will save a lot more lives than it loses.”
Silence prevailed for a time as they ruminated.
“So how are we going to do it?”
I held up a hand. “First, we have to agree to do it at all. To impose a solution on the world. To spread the Eden Plague against their will. Sure, a lot of sick people will welcome it. But a lot of people will get it without a choice – from us spreading it deliberately. From birth, even, as soon as pregnant carriers start having babies.” I looked over at Elise and smiled. “So I’m going to leave this room right now. I’ll be at the nearest hatch, enjoying the breeze. I’ll come back in at sundown or when someone calls for me. But you all have to talk it out and reach a consensus, without me to impose it. Because it might be the most important decision ever made.”
I turned on my heel and left the conference room, hearing the voices rising as soon as the door shut. I walked with a measured, fatalistic tread toward the nearest tunnel to an opening on the mountainside.
I knew I should have just pushed it through. That’s what a military leader would have done. But this wasn’t a quasi-military operation anymore. I was leading a bunch of civilians, mostly and they had to make their own decisions. Besides, I think there were enough in there that agreed with me to sway the rest. If not…I’d figure something out.
I jogged up flights of steps, just to burn off energy, and once I got there I opened the hatchway and sat down on a nearby log, within easy hearing distance of the landline in the box just inside. I stared out over the low hazy West Virginia mountains, smelling the pine in the air, hearing the rustle of leaves in the breeze, wondering about the future.
It was less t
han a half hour before the phone rang. I took that as a good sign.
The conference room was silent as I reentered. I sat down in the empty chair at the head of the table, and deliberately did not look at Elise. I didn’t want people thinking I was politicking with my wife.
Spooky cleared his throat. “Mister Chairman,” he said softly, “I believe we are of accord together. We are willing to bear responsibility with you. We will spread the Plague.”
I released the breath I’d been holding and smiled. Spontaneous applause broke out, a relaxation of their nervous tension I think. I took the breath back in, deeply. Now for the first test of their resolve and unity. “All right, that’s talking the talk. Can we all walk the walk?”
“Meaning what?” That was Vinny.
“Meaning…we have to infect everyone here to start.” I reached over to a side table where a small bag rested, unnoticed until now. I pulled out a cloth and unrolled it to reveal five small syringes.
I don’t think they expected me to throw it in their faces like that – to take concrete action after an abstract decision. But as it slowly sank in, I could see the acceptance form on every face, most especially those who were not yet infected: Spooky, Vinny, Cassie, Roger and Arthur.
Cassie spoke first. “I’m in. I’m fine with it. I’ve seen what it can do. Shoot me up, doc.” She rolled up her sleeve.
I took the first needle and walked over to her. I looked in her eyes for a moment, and seeing no uncertainty, I plunged it in. She smiled, a little strained, but determined.
The rest rolled up their sleeves as well, and I got it done as quickly as I could, before anyone got cold feet. Until I got to Vinny.
“Ah, no offense, boss, but I’m gonna pass for now. I’m young and healthy, we’re safe here, and I can always take it in an emergency. But who knows what it will do to my fine motor skills –” he wiggled all his fingers – “and you might want one guy here that can pull a trigger or something.”
The Eden Plague Page 15
