He realized for the first time that while they had until very recently been mortal enemies, they were now together and all of them needed to evade the people who had attacked the Manuhome and Aahimsa. They were now outsiders, all of them. He didn’t have any idea why Mayor Blanchfleur was escaping from her own city. He did know she made him nervous. If her look wasn’t kindness, was she laughing at him about things she knew that he and Ueland didn’t?
And where were Nora and Mabon? Would they know what was happening to the city and to him if they were still alive? Or were they already dead? Was he on his own, surrounded by all of their mortal enemies?
The minutes sped by and soon Ueland had stopped. He shone his flashlight on a rusty metal door in the wall of the tunnel on which the words “DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE” were painted in cracked and bubbled red paint. The doctor fumbled in the pocket of his knee-length wool coat and pulled out a set of keys. He held the small plastic flashlight in his mouth and flicked through the keys until he found the one he wanted. Then he put the key into the brass lock. After wiggling the key back and forth a few times, it turned a quarter turn in the lock and the doctor yanked open the heavy door on its complaining hinges.
He flicked a light switch and nothing happened. “Adam,” he said. “Climb up the stairs and try the upper door. It usually isn’t locked. If it opens, it’s early enough that there should still be some light coming in from outside through the skylight and the small side windows.”
Adam walked past the others, who pulled back quickly as if he were infectious, and hurried up the short stairs. Ueland shone his light past him and he found a door handle and pushed down the thumb lever. He pulled on the handle at the same time and was temporarily blinded by the brightness of the light that entered the stairwell from the room outside the door after all this time in the darkened tunnel.
“Go into the room and we’ll come on up,” Ueland said.
Adam entered the room and, after a few moments of blinking, his eyes finally adjusted to the light. The room was hot and stuffy, although the air smelled much better that what they’d been breathing in the tunnel. The room was large enough to serve as a house for a large family. Along one wall, opposite the door, where there were no windows, sat a large metal console covered in an impressive and confusing array of switches and dials. On either side of the console there were doors — one on the right marked “STORES,” and the other, on the left of the console, marked “PRIVATE.” There were small piano-style windows in two side walls, and on the fourth wall hung two large charts, one showing the local section of the underground tunnel in detail and the other showing a larger portion of the tunnel system. The maps didn’t look new and the room itself looked as if it hadn’t been visited in a long while.
“What time is it?” asked Tish. “I’m hungry and thirsty.”
Ueland reached inside his topcoat, and then into the inside breast pocket of his suit coat, and pulled out a gold pocket watch on a long golden chain. He flipped open the metal cover. “It’s not quite noon,” he said.
“I can’t believe it’s only noon,” Alice said. “I’m sleepy and tired.” Her round face appeared as pretty as ever in spite of her fatigue. Her eyes looked tired, but they had lost none of their power.
“It’s been a difficult day,” said Ueland, aware of Alice’s loveliness, which never failed to warm his heart. “We all had a rude awakening early this morning. None of us went to bed expecting to be attacked.”
Adam found himself beside the console while the adults shuffled about and studied the wall charts. He drifted to the wall where a long couch sat tight against varnished wooden wainscoting. In front of the couch was a stack of fashion magazines on a rectangular wooden coffee table. The table was a dark brown colour and covered with thick, lumpy varnish. A dirty red toolbox sat next to the magazines and beside it, some sort of electrician’s testing device. He sat down on the edge of the middle cushion with his hands resting on his knees.
“I’m thirsty, too,” Adam said, “and hungry.” He looked toward the girl, who glared at him, then looked down at the red-and-white checkerboard of the tile floor.
“We don’t have much food,” Ueland said. “Just the emergency rations from the railcar. There could be a small quantity of preserved and dried food here in storage. We’ll go easy on what we have for now until we can find something more substantial. But I’m soon going to try and fire up the emergency generator and see if the water pump still functions properly. If you see any overhead lights come on in here anywhere at any time, switch them off at once. We don’t want to show any lights, day or night; they could be observed from the sky above or anyplace outside. If we can get some water, and maybe a candy bar each, we can get things set up for a decent night’s sleep.”
“Sleep?” said Blanchfleur as she ran a brush through her hair. She finished quickly and continued, smirking. “Do you think we could ever sleep out here?”
“No. But if things are as I remember, we might not be all that badly off. Leave it to me.”
Blanchfleur stuffed her brush in her oversized purse and pointed at the map. “Where to from here?” she asked.
“Let’s leave that until the morning. We have a few more hours until it gets dusky. I’d like to get things working here and get set up for the night before it becomes too dark. We can plan things tomorrow.”
Ueland went to the console and inserted another of his keys. He pushed a button and they heard a motor somewhere under them turning over very slowly.
“The battery is low,” he said. “I’ll try again.”
This time it growled and turned even more slowly. “One more chance,” he said, “and then we’re out of luck for the moment.”
The starter groaned and whined as its power faded. Adam looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath and slowly giving up hope on the generator ever starting, when suddenly it roared to life and the huge console in front of Ueland came on. Indicator lights lit up across the console, as did bulbs overhead as Adam sprang from the couch and turned off the switches on the wall beside the door marked “STORES.”
“Good work, Adam,” Ueland said over his shoulder. “Glad you were paying attention.”
Ueland turned off most of the switches on the panel ahead of him as quickly as he could as the roar of the generator settled and quieted considerably. He walked to the door marked “PRIVATE” and stepped inside.
“Come in here,” he said. “Hurry!” Adam entered first, followed by Blanchfleur. “Once we’re inside I’ll put on the lights. There are no windows,” Ueland continued. “Come!”
Blanchfleur turned to her daughter and grandchild. “Come on,” she said. “It’s perfectly safe.”
This room, too, was comfortably large. There were two bunk beds bolted to opposing walls. The beds were made up neatly and covered with heavy, clear plastic. Along the back wall ran a kitchen counter and a set of cupboards next to a closed door on the right. Blanchfleur opened a cupboard door and found stacks of white porcelain dishes and cups. She pulled a drawer and lifted out a handful of clean steel cutlery. Alice went to a tall white enamel refrigerator that now hummed loudly with electricity. She looked shattered when she realized its shelves, drawers, and compartments were completely empty. Tish tried another of the upper cupboards, standing on her tiptoes to reach the handle. Inside was an unappetizing variety of canned goods and boxed cereals and mixes. Adam held up an unopened bag of powdered skim milk.
“Yuck,” said Tish.
“At least we won’t starve,” said Adam with a grin.
Blanchfleur laughed in spite of herself. Tish gave Adam a resentful look and closed the cupboard a bit harder than she had intended. Blanchfleur’s glaring look toward Tish made it clear that she was disappointed in her granddaughter’s rude reaction.
Ueland made his way to the sink in the middle of the cupboard and turned on the cold tap. The water that ca
me sputtering out was rust-coloured but plentiful, and as it continued to pour it rapidly lost its off-putting colour and became clearer and clearer.
“Anyone ready to try some?” asked Ueland, taking five tall glasses from the cupboard on the opposite side of the sink to where Blanchfleur had discovered the porcelain dishes.
Adam gathered his courage and quietly said, “I’ll try it.”
The water was cool and tasted quite good, so he happily drank the glass clean and handed it back to Ueland, who refilled it for him.
Alice picked up a glass then and passed it to Ueland. He filled it and Alice handed it over to her mother.
“Thanks,” said the mayor and carried it over to Tish. Tish drank it quietly. Ueland filled glasses for Alice and Blanchfleur and then for himself before turning off the tap.
“Now,” he said. “Let’s think about the sleeping arrangements and decide who goes where. First, though, I want you to know I’ll be happy to take the couch outside.” He paused for a minute. Then he seemed to have a new idea. “On second thought, I have decided how we’ll do it.” There was more silence as the others waited to hear his plan. “I’m going to sleep on the couch.” He picked up a down duvet and a pillow from a stack of linen and blankets in the lower cupboard at the right end. “You folks can work it out…four people, four bunks. Sounds simple enough. And by the way, the door on the left of the cupboards is a small but adequate washroom. The door on the right is for equipment and parts storage. Once you’ve decided where to sleep you can come out and talk or go straight to bed. It is pretty early, but it’s been a difficult day.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.
Adam had no idea what to do or say, so he was glad when Tish spoke first.
“I want to sleep over here with my mother,” she said, standing on Alice’s right, in front of the bunks along the left wall. She stood with feet apart and arms crossed and Adam understood her clear message that it was decided in her mind. He didn’t care. He smiled at her and shrugged as if to say it was fine.
Blanchfleur also shrugged. She turned to Adam. “I guess that leaves us as bunkies. Unless one of us wants to sleep on the floor. Do you want top or bottom? Although I might mention that I’m not much for climbing up those little ladders, or down them for that matter.” She walked to the bunk beds attached to the right wall.
“I don’t mind the top. But I’m not ready to go up yet. I may visit the doctor until it gets dark,” said Adam.
“I may try out the coffee machine here,” said Blanchfleur, a little awkwardly. She was very aware how the boy must feel about her. It must feel strange to the child to be bunking with one of his mortal enemies. “I noticed a sealed bag of ground coffee in the cupboard. Take your time. If I’m asleep, don’t worry about bothering me when you climb up top. I’ll take the plastic covers off both our beds. Goodnight, young fellow.”
Adam was growing more and more confused. This day was so weird. Everything had become weird now. He had a terrible headache. He didn’t know what to think or what he was supposed to do anymore. “Goodnight,” he said, then gave an awkward wave and hurried out the door to visit Doctor Ueland.
Chapter 8:
Toward the Abandoned East
Nora and Mabon didn’t sleep long. After they descended from atop one of the mountains of debris surrounding the immense crater that had been the Manuhome, they managed to doze enough to restore some of their energy. Nora woke him up, and, already dressed in his dirty clothes from the previous day, he set out with Nora and Lucky at a fairly brisk pace. The night was clear, and overhead a thin sliver of moon gave enough light for them to move safely over the irregular ground and mixed vegetation that grew wild here down close to the lakeside.
They took turns glancing skyward, seeking any sign of aircraft or drones or the quick light path of a passing satellite. The satellite was not overly dangerous unless it passed almost directly overhead. Even if that happened, it took a long time for the controllers to send out a response to whatever had been sighted. Drones or aircraft were a very different matter as the former came armed with deadly weapons and the other with both weapons and kill bots, those nasty, armed, and programmed robots, or police. And where human ground forces were concerned, they had to be quite close by, even if equipped with infrared goggles.
Mabon had explained how the Rangers rarely wore the goggles on patrol for the insiders, as they felt more vulnerable when they wore them. The goggles were useful when approaching a stationary target or when the target was close enough for sniper fire. But when wearing them there was always the uncomfortable feeling that someone was behind you or above you where you could not see them. Better vision made you blind sometimes. He realized after having mentioned the Rangers that the insiders’ nasty forest police were no longer a threat — they were either dead or running for their lives.
Nora and Mabon walked until they were nearly exhausted and then began to look for safe shelter. The day was beginning to brighten and they both knew it was time. Off in the far distance they could see a small building with a satellite dish on its roof. It could be a military or police station; best to avoid it.
Lucky seemed interested in the building and wanted to explore. Mabon had to call him several times to get him to follow them off to the right into a small clump of willows where they could rig a tarp and get some sleep through the daylight hours. They set up camp, ate sparingly of their meagre supplies, and, still depressed but exhausted, fell asleep.
They were awakened in the dark several hours later by the intermittent roar of waves of aircraft passing almost directly overhead in the direction of the Manuhome. They held one another tight, their eyes on the blinking red, green, and white navigation lights of the snarling transport aircraft until they finally disappeared to the southwest. The two lovers had feared at first that they might have somehow been the target and prey of these invaders, though there was little logic in this notion. For one thing, there were far too many planes. They had no sooner begun to feel relief when they heard distant sounds of another series of explosions in an area well to the south of where the Manuhome had been.
“What is going on?” asked Mabon. “I don’t understand.” He continued to stare in the direction of the explosions. The sky overhead was clear and the firmament was awash with brilliant stars. A thin sliver of moon gradually gave him a view of Nora’s much beloved face. Those eyes, their specks of gold reflecting the moonlight and the stars, and the lips he could taste just by looking at them. He was startled that she seemed to be smiling. What was there to smile about?
“I wonder,” she said. “I wonder what this means. Could it be possible that somehow Ueland managed to get some of his workers out of the Manuhome? If so, and I can’t imagine what else these bombers are doing, it means that Ueland and Adam could still be out there somewhere. Oh, Mabon, there is still hope, isn’t there?”
Mabon didn’t know exactly how to answer. Yes, it could mean they were alive. If so, they were perhaps being killed at this moment. But maybe they were somewhere else, safe…maybe.
“Yes,” he said. “There is always hope.” He smiled back at her and, leaning toward her, really tasted her soft, warm lips.
They embraced for a long, delicious moment, somehow feeling much better, even with this meagre serving of possibilities. Nora held Mabon as his eyes scanned the southern horizon, which now had taken on a red hue as the explosions continued.
“Oh no!” he said, looking rapidly around.
“What?” said Nora, her voice full of fresh-born alarm.
“Have you seen Lucky?” he asked, stepping in and around the tarp-covered lean-to where they had been sleeping. There was no sign of the dog. Where had he gone?
Chapter 9:
A Lucky Night
Ueland was sitting upright on the edge of the couch under the piano windows when Adam came through the door. Light from moon and stars crept in from the s
ky outside.
The boy let out a sigh, as if relieved to be out of the room with the insiders. Ueland could understand something of what he was feeling. He watched the boy as he crossed the room to where the charts hung on the wall. Ueland realized the charts that far from the windows would be difficult, if not impossible, to see properly.
“Don’t switch on any lights,” the doctor reminded the boy.
Adam nodded, his finger on the large chart, his eyes close up to it. “Where are we?” he asked.
Ueland smiled and stood, stretching and shaking off his stiffness and fatigue. They were all of them operating under unimaginable stress, their worlds suddenly ripped apart at the seams. And now all that was gone, too. It was no wonder he wanted to know where they were.
The chart before which Adam stood showed the eastern third of what was called Isabella’s Land, and Adam had his finger planted on Aahimsa, the most northerly city of Northern Isabella Land.
“You are pointing almost at where we are. We’re not far from what was Aahimsa. Come look at this other chart; it covers a much smaller area in greater detail,” said Ueland as they stepped to the second chart. “Here’s the line of the tunnel. Here’s the service building where we are right now. We’re very close to the city where you were born, as you can see.”
Adam looked over the detailed area of the map that represented the City of Aahimsa. He had never seen a map of the city where Nora had lived at the time of his birth. The city where he had been born of his mother Minn outside of the determination. Where he was destined to be terminated, and from which Nora had fled, carrying him in her young arms.
He was amazed at how big the city was, with its vast maze of streets and its many parks. It looked so beautiful and luxurious. He wondered what it looked like now, after the explosions they had heard as they had fled.
“Where are we going?” Adam asked now.
Ueland wasn’t sure what to tell him. “We don’t have many options at the moment,” he said. “We’re north of Aahimsa and the lake is to the east of us. The best climate is to the south, but that is where the largest cities of the World Federation of Cities lie. Much of the territory outside the cities isn’t safe or fit to live in and it is closely watched by the Federation. I’m thinking we will follow this rail tunnel to the north and then swing east. There is good land there, but it is a very wild and cold place, especially in winter. I’m not in charge here; the others will have a major say in our final decision,” he said. “So this is just speculation.”
And All the Stars Shall Fall Page 5
