“I’m going with you. I can’t stand the thought of keeping still, not knowing where you are or if you’re living or dead, successful or beaten. What would I do with my time?”
“Once I do connect, they could destroy us very quickly. I don’t want you to die,” he said. “Not after we’ve come this far.”
“What are our chances of success?” she said, grabbing at his right arm and slowing him down.
He stopped and set down his case, then sat on the wet surface of a large boulder just off the side of the trail they had been following. The day was becoming brighter and from where they were stopped, in the near distance the station building and the entrance to the Queenstown underground were emerging from the mist and the fog.
“Our chances depend on how vigilant the controllers are at the moment when we connect. I’ll have to power up the generator and connect my computer to check the signal strength. If we can do all that without detection, it only takes a moment or two to release the destruct command. A few minutes later, it could be all over. If it’s a clear night we may be able to watch the results as the satellites crash and die, as we make a run for it. And if we’re lucky, we may be able to re-join the others.” Ueland stood. “It’s up to you. You have to decide if you’re coming with me or staying behind.”
Ueland wanted someone along for company. His had been a lonely life and he preferred not to die a lonely death, but he felt it would be selfish and stupid to insist she come along with him.
“I’m going,” she said. “I want to be part of this. It’s the least I can do.”
A short time later they had descended into the underground tunnel and were surprised to discover the glow of some modest light source visible through the windshield of the engine that had carried them and their fellow travellers on the last part of their journey to Queenstown. Ueland signalled for Blanchfleur to remain silent. Her eyes told him all he needed to know about the questions forming in her mind, the same ones that occurred to him.
They were unarmed and had no intention of risking their mission in senseless bravado. But in spite of their best caution they both tripped over something that set a string of tin cans to rattling. The light inside the cabin of the train’s engine car went out and left all in complete darkness.
“Stay here,” whispered Blanchfleur and she stepped suddenly toward the car. “Don’t move.” There was silence in the dark tunnel for a long few minutes and then the sound of a feminine voice whimpering, then footsteps descending metal stairs. Ueland waited. A match was struck and its meagre light seemed startlingly brilliant at first. Blanchfleur’s face appeared, and then her body, followed by the trembling figure of Gloria, the traitor.
“What are you doing here?” asked Ueland, his voice sharp and angry. “Shouldn’t you be at the monastery with the sisters? Didn’t you decide to stay back with them?”
Blanchfleur said nothing; she waited for an answer from Gloria. She could feel the bile rising into her throat and souring her mouth. This was all they needed.
“I can’t stay here. I’d rather die,” she said, her voice childlike and petulant.
“You may get your wish,” Ueland said. “You would be much, much safer inside, if only for the time being.”
“What are you two doing here? Are you planning to go somewhere?” said Gloria. She had stopped the whimpering and now her voice sounded excited with new possibilities. Both Blanchfleur and Ueland found her behaviour annoying. How could they trust someone whose emotions were so shallow and manipulative?
“There is something we need to do. It is a very important and highly dangerous undertaking,” said Blanchfleur.
Gloria’s eyes glistened with tears and some sign of hope after Blanchfleur struck a second wooden match. “Can I go with you?”
Blanchfleur looked at her, saw that she was serious, and glanced at Ueland. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “This is risky enough without you hanging on to us.”
Ueland looked at Blanchfleur and shrugged. “Let’s get moving. There’s no time to waste arguing. Follow me…and no more matches.” He turned to Blanchfleur and said quietly, “It is probably better to have her with us where we can see her than to be worrying what she might be up to when we’re gone.”
The threesome left the tunnel and made their way downhill toward the wooded area that separated them from the river. They wanted to travel by daylight and as quickly as possible, and needed the protection of the treetops overhead to separate them from the eyes in space.
Late in their third afternoon, they arrived in the vicinity of a service building that appeared, from where they stood on the fringe of the wood, to be completely intact. Several hours before, they had passed the rubble of another structure that had been recently destroyed. Ueland and Blanchfleur agreed with Gloria that it had likely been bombed by the same robotic raiders who had almost killed her and had wiped out all of her companions.
The outside air under the trees was refreshing but damp and cool, and all were looking forward to the security and shelter of the building. Thus they arrived safely and were much relieved when Ueland used his keys and let them inside the aboveground structure. It was decided that they would not try to start the generators until it was dark and they had had some rest. Gloria was warned not to touch anything or do anything that could be detected from overhead, nor to risk going outside. She was assured that if all went well they and all the others they had left behind would be guaranteed a degree of safety from attack by the cities, at least for the time being. And perhaps even for years to come.
Once inside, Ueland explained to Gloria how he had been involved in the design, construction, and maintenance of the subway line and the service buildings. Blanchfleur opened the interior door into the sleeping quarters with its bunk beds. She stepped into the windowless room and, after her eyes adjusted to the near darkness, she inspected the beds, all of which were covered by sheets of clear plastic, made up neatly, and apart from a bit of dust that had settled on them, were ready to be slept in. Soon they were all sound asleep.
Blanchfleur woke first and found herself in total blackness. After she paused long enough to recall where she was, her eyes adjusted and she could make out the faint outline of the open door of the room. She got out of her bed and moved quietly so as to not disturb Ueland, who was in the top bunk above her, or Gloria, in the lower bunk across the room beyond the kitchen counter between the beds.
Blanchfleur went out the door and entered the large exterior room. The moon and stars outside provided a surprising amount of light through the high windows above a long couch close to the door where they had entered the building. She was tempted to try and activate the generator but figured there was good reason to wait for Ueland. He had built all of this system while carrying out the upgrade to the old tourist subway. It had been her request, her idea. Yet he had been in complete charge of the details.
That was how they always worked, and he had never let her down. In that way he had been a faithful father, the best he could be under the circumstances. The backup batteries would probably be weak by now, or dead. There was a way to charge them — she remembered that, but again, not the details. She would wait until the others woke up. She moved to the sofa and lay down. She fell asleep.
She was wakened by the interior door opening with the faint sound of dry metal scraping together. The hinges needed an oiling. She could hear a small engine running somewhere outside the door. As expected, Doctor Ueland stepped inside, closing the door slowly. Blanchfleur smiled, knowing he was trying not to make noise, but the slow movement only managed to prolong the squealing of the hinges.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling at Ueland.
“I am charging the starter batteries with the small gas-powered generator. We can start the large generator in about an hour,” Ueland said.
“I thought so. Did you get any sleep?” she said.
“Suff
icient. I’m feeling just fine. How about yourself? You chose to sleep on the couch?”
“Yes, the old sofa was quite comfortable.”
The bedroom door opened wide and Gloria stepped out into the room. She turned toward the exterior door.
“You’re not going outside, are you?” asked Blanchfleur.
“Yes, I am. I have to go and the toilet has no water.”
“There’ll be plenty of water in less than an hour after I fire up the generators,” said Ueland, his voice impatient.
“I can’t wait,” said Gloria. It annoyed her that this outsider thought he was in charge of her. She started toward the exterior door.
“Use the toilet,” said Blanchfleur quite firmly.
“I’d rather not,” said Gloria, her voice whiney and defiant.
“Then you have to hold on,” said Blanchfleur. “There’s just no choice. You wanted to come with us and now you have to follow our rules for your own and for our safety. You of all people should know how dangerous these attackers can be.”
“I’ll just be a few minutes,” the younger woman insisted. “Besides, there are no attackers here now. It won’t hurt to go out for a couple of minutes.”
Ueland moved to block the door. “No one goes outside. The day is coming on and we can’t risk being spotted until we power up. Please use the toilet just off the bedroom. Go in the door, straight ahead; the door to the left of the sink.”
Gloria moved toward Ueland, as if to defy him. Blanchfleur rushed to Ueland’s side. Gloria hesitated, then turned and entered the bedroom. “I know where the toilet is. I just don’t want to use it without water.” The once powerful mayor and her elderly father looked at one another, shrugged, and sighed.
“Can you stay here and watch the door? I’m going down to check the battery charge level. I’ll be up in a while to start the big generator. My laptop should be pretty much charged by now. With a bit of luck we can do this from here. Don’t let that determined little brat outside. She could ruin everything.”
“I’ll watch her, Doctor,” said Blanchfleur with a yawn. She was still tired out. It had been more walking than she was accustomed to doing.
“You have to admire her persistence,” said Ueland as diplomatically as possible.
“Yes, or her complete insanity. She has almost gotten herself murdered, and she got her cohort slaughtered. She could kill herself yet. Not to mention all of the rest of us.”
“There is that,” said Ueland with a chuckle as he shrugged and exited to the tunnel below.
Chapter 30:
The Deserted Village by the Lake
It was dark now in their secluded village, and the travellers were settled in their sleeping rolls and blankets, most of which had been supplied by the sisters back at the monastery. The people who had led them to the village had left for the night after showing them around the various sleeping shelters, a combination of teepees and other structures with debarked poles fastened together at the top and covered with layers of birch bark and old and hardened animal furs, and bits and pieces of metal and wood and plastic.
Inside of each shelter there lingered a strong odour of old campfires that had left the interior walls blackened with soot, especially where the tops of the poles were tied together. But the travellers were tired and comfortably out of the chilly, damp wind. Most of the children were now deeply asleep and the sound of their breathing, rather than an annoyance, had become a comfort.
Adam and Tish lay wrapped in their wool blankets and animal furs on opposite sides of the tall tent. Neither was yet asleep. Adam had been gazing up at the vent overhead, probably designed to let out smoke from the fires. The visible sky was studded with stars and, despite the uncertain future, he felt surprisingly happy. He and the mayor’s granddaughter had been placed in charge of the youngsters from the monastery and he felt very grown-up. He hoped nothing happened where he would have to protect them all, because he had no idea how he would manage that. Tish’s voice interrupted his drowsy thoughts.
“Are you asleep?” she asked in her small sweet voice.
“No,” he said. He thought of asking her the same question but caught himself in time. They had become friends, but he still wasn’t used to talking to a young kid like himself and especially to an insider kid — a girl.
Mabon and Nora lay side by side under another pile of heavy blankets and furs in a second, smaller structure several steps from the children’s tent. This shelter was also circular at the base and was constructed of spruce saplings tied and woven together, but unlike the children’s teepee, or the third where the adults from the monastery were to sleep for now, it was not conical, but rather rounded at the top, the opening above the fire pit a neat circle. They were alone in their wigwam tonight and feeling happy to have arrived here safely. It began as a warm night, but there was now just a hint of the cooling that would bring the autumn and eventually the freezing cold of winter. Nora, after looking upward and commenting on the stars overhead, had lapsed into silence.
Mabon watched her beloved face in the beam of light that entered the teepee through the overhead opening as projected by the moon, which was not visible in the small portion of sky available to him up above.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered.
“About Ueland and Blanchfleur,” she said, yawning. “Will we ever see them again?”
“I hope so,” he said, turning to her. He raised himself up on one elbow. He could smell the spruce boughs that helped to soften the hardened ground under them.
“They are putting themselves into great danger for all of us, aren’t they?” She reached over, took hold of his arm, and squeezed it lightly. She felt comforted by his nearness and the inherent strength of his relaxed sinews and muscles.
“Yes,” he said, enjoying the softness and warmth of her grip. He remembered how lonely his life had been long ago, without her. He looked at her silhouette and felt a wave of pleasure and joy fill his giant frame.
“And even if they do manage to do what they have set out to do, they might be found and killed. Who would have dreamed it possible for Blanchfleur to be our ally and protector?”
“I hope they are not killed,” said Mabon. “Yes, it is so hard to judge the actions of others when we don’t know their lives. I don’t even understand us. The world changes and we change with it, don’t we?”
“And they might not be able to find us if they do survive,” said Nora. “It’s all so crazy.”
Mabon shuffled his large frame across the soft furs and took her in his arms. She moved easily against him, both feeling their familiar combined warmth flood them with their now accustomed magic. Neither spoke at first, but sighed and released their tensed breaths. Mabon spoke then.
“They will find us,” he said, his lips against her ear, his voice soft and reassuring. “They will come home to us no matter what happens.”
“Are you sure?” she said, her confidence growing with his every word, his every breath.
“I would bet my life on it,” he said just before she silenced him with kisses.
Chapter 31:
Gloria Leaves the Service Building
Blanchfleur woke and felt something was amiss. She could hear nothing and see nothing in the complete darkness of the room other than the hum of the large generator below them and the soft patter of heavy rain falling outside. Ueland must have gone down below after starting the generator. She rose from the sofa and stood up on the firm cushion and gazed out into the blackness. She thought she picked up some indefinable movement in the gloomy distance but couldn’t be sure.
She stepped down to the floor and walked to the door that led to the rumbling generator below. She tried the knob but the door was locked. She crossed the room carefully, looking for the door to the sleeping quarters and found it after a brief and gentle collision with the left end of the control console.
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She opened the door, felt around for the light switch for the overhead light in the windowless room, and, although she hated the thought of waking her, she had to know if Gloria was, indeed, gone. She closed the door, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then flicked the switch. She opened them and looked around.
Gloria’s bed was empty. Ueland had awoken and was drowsily looking at her. She had been wrong about him. He hadn’t been below. He had been sleeping soundly in one of the bunks. The washroom — perhaps she was in the washroom. She crossed the room and tapped gently, and then opened the door. The small room was empty. No one had used the toilet. She checked the corridor to the back door. No one. Gloria had to be outside.
“Are you awake, Ueland?” she called loudly from the door of the bathroom.
He jumped up instantly, startled by the panic in her voice. “What is it, Blanchfleur?” he asked. “Is something the matter?”
“Gloria is outside,” she said. “I fell asleep. Sorry.”
“Are you sure she’s outside?” he asked. “Of course you are.” He looked around at the empty bunks, the open bathroom door.
“Sorry,” said Blanchfleur.
“Can you go look for her? I’ll go below and try to contact one of the satellites. Find her and bring her back if you can.”
“It’s so dark and pouring rain, but I’ll try.”
“Give me a few minutes and if she’s gone, get back here as fast as you can.”
“Okay,” said Blanchfleur. She felt disappointment; she wanted to watch as Ueland tried to contact the satellite and shut down all the operating systems. But she found a jacket and hurried outside into the darkness and the pounding rain.
Ueland opened the titanium case and removed the computer. He would get up close to the highest of the windows and begin. He set the machine on the windowsill as Blanchfleur disappeared into the darkness. That was when she heard the roar of a large engine overhead and soon she heard Gloria’s scream as the lights flashing down beside the trees below her indicated that a huge battle copter had landed. She tried to control her panic as she tore through the downpour headed for the terrified Gloria.
And All the Stars Shall Fall Page 15
