by Arthur C.
There were half a dozen people in the queue in front of Ellie and her almost-two-year-old daughter. Ellie shopped with the same people every Thursday afternoon. Most of them turned around when Ellie and Nicole entered the line.
"There's that darling little girl," a pleasant woman with gray hair said. "How are you today, Nicole?" she asked.
Nicole didn't answer. She just backed up a couple of steps and fastened herself tightly to one of her mother's legs. "Nicole's still in her shy stage," Ellie said. "She only talks to people she knows."
A Lincoln biot brought out two small boxes of food and handed them to the father and adolescent son at the head of the supermarket line. "We won't be using a cart today," the father said to the Lincoln. "Please make a note of that on our record. Two weeks ago, when we also hand-carried our groceries, nobody noted that we didn't take a cart and we were awakened in the middle of the night by a Garcia demanding that we return our cart to the store."
There must be no trivial mistakes, Ellie said to herself. No carts not returned, nothing that anyone could suspect before morning. As she waited in the line, Ellie reviewed again the details of the escape plan that she and Patrick had discussed with Max and Eponine the previous day. A Thursday had been chosen because that was the day that Robert made his regular visits to the RV-41 sufferers in Avalon. Max and Eponine had applied for, and received, a pass to visit Nai Watanabe for dinner. They would look after Kepler and Galileo while Nai went to the ward for Benjy. Everything was in order. There was only one major uncertainty left.
Ellie had rehearsed her speech to Robert a hundred times. His initial reaction will be negative, she thought. He will say it's too dangerous, that I am jeopardizing Nicole's security. And he 'll be angry because I didn't tell him earlier.
In her mind she had already answered all his objections and had carefully described the life they would have in New York in a positive light. But Ellie was still extremely nervous. She had not been able to convince herself that Robert would agree to come. And she had no idea what he would do if she declared that she and little Nicole were prepared to leave without him.
As her groceries were placed in the small shopping cart that she would return to the supermarket after unpacking everything at her home, Ellie squeezed her daughter's hand. I must have courage, she thought.
"How in the world do you expect me to react?" Robert Turner said. "I come home from an exceptionally busy day at the hospital, my mind on the hundred things that I must do tomorrow, and you tell me over dinner that you want us to leave New Eden forever? And to go tonight? Ellie, dear Ellie, this whole thing is absurd. Even if it could work, I would need time to sort out everything… I have projects—"
"I know it's sudden, Robert," Ellie said, growing fearful that she had underestimated the difficulty of her task, "but I couldn't have told you any earlier. It would have been too dangerous. What if you had slipped and said something to Ed Stafford or another member of your staff, and one of the biots had overheard?"
"But I can't just leave without saying anything to anybody." Robert shook his head vigorously. "Do you have any idea how many years of work would be wasted?"
"Couldn't you write down what needs to be done on each project?" Ellie suggested. ''And maybe summarize what's already been accomplished?"
"Not in one night," Robert replied emphatically. "No, Ellie, it's really out of the question. We can't go. The long-term health of the colony may depend on the results of my research. Besides, even if I accept that your parents are living comfortably in that bizarre place you described, wherever it is, it certainly does not sound like a good place to raise a child. And you haven't even mentioned the possible danger to all of us. Our leaving will be viewed as treason. We could both be executed if we were caught. What would happen to Nicole then?…"
Ellie listened to Robert's objections for another minute and then realized that the time had come for her declaration. Summoning all her courage, she walked around the table and took both her husband's hands. "I have been thinking about this for almost three weeks, Robert. You must understand how difficult this decision is for me… I love you with all my heart, but if we must, Nicole and I will go without you. I know that there is a lot of uncertainty in leaving, but life here in New Eden is definitely not healthy for any of us."
"No, no, no," Robert said immediately, freeing himself from Ellie and starting to pace wildly around the room. "I don't believe any of this. It's all a bad dream." He paused and looked across the room at Ellie. "You cannot take Nicole with you," he said with passion. "Do you hear me? I forbid you to take our daughter."
"Robert," Ellie interrupted him with a shout. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks. "Look at me… I am your wife, the mother of your daughter. I love you. I beg you to listen to what I am saying."
Nicole had come running into the room and was now crying beside her mother. Ellie composed herself before continuing. "I don't believe that you are the only one in this family who is allowed to make decisions. I have that right as well. I can respect your desire not to go, but I am Nicole's mother. If you and I are to be separated, then I believe that it would be better for Nicole to come with me."
Ellie stopped. Robert's face was contorted in anger. He took a step toward her and, for the first time in her life, Ellie feared that Robert was going to hit her.
"What would be better for me," Robert shouted, with his right hand raised in a fist, "would be for you to forget this foolishness."
Ellie backed up slightly. Nicole continued to cry. Robert struggled to control himself. "I swore," he said, his voice quavering with emotion, "that nobody and nothing would ever cause me to hurt like that again."
Tears burst from his eyes. "Goddammit," he said, smashing his fist down on a nearby table. Without saying anything else, Robert sat down in the chair and buried his face in his hands.
Ellie consoled Nicole and said nothing for several seconds. "I know how painful it was for you to lose your first family," she said at length. "But Robert, this is an entirely different situation. Nobody is going to harm Nicole and me."
She walked over and put her arms around him. "I'm not saying this is an easy decision, Robert," Ellie said. "But I'm convinced it's the right thing for Nicole and me."
Robert returned Ellie's hug, but without much enthusiasm. "I will not keep you and Nicole from going," he said resignedly several seconds later. "But I don't know what I am going to do. I would like to think about all this over the next several hours, while we're out in Avalon."
"All right, dear," Ellie replied, "but please don't forget that Nicole and I need you even more than your patients do. You are our only husband and father."
9
Nicole could not contain her excitement. As she put the finishing touches on the decorations in the nursery, she imagined what the room would be like when the human children were sharing it with the two avians. Timmy, who was now almost as tall as Nicole, clambered over beside her to inspect her handiwork. He uttered a few jabbers of appreciation.
"Just think, Timmy," Nicole said, knowing that the avian could not understand her exact words but could interpret the timbre of her voice, "when Richard and I return, we will be bringing you three new roommates."
"Are you ready, Nicole?" she heard Richard yell at that moment. "It's almost time for us to leave."
"Yes, darling," she answered. "I'm here in the nursery. Why don't you come and take a look?"
Richard stuck his head in the door and gave the new decorations a perfunctory inspection. "Great, just great," he said. "Now we need to move. This operation requires precise timing."
As they walked together to the Port, Richard informed Nicole that there had been no more reports from the Northern Hemicylinder. The lack of news could indicate that Joan and Eleanor were too involved with the escape, he said, or too close to a possible enemy, or even that the implementation of the escape plan was in trouble. Nicole could not remember seeing Richard so nervous before. She tried to calm him.
"We still don't know if Robert is coming?" Nicole asked a few minutes later as they approached the submarine.
"No. Nor anything at all about how he reacted when Ellie told him the plan. They did show up together in Avalon, as scheduled, but they were busy with his patients. Joan and Eleanor did not have a chance to talk to Ellie after they helped Nai pick up Benjy at the ward."
Richard had checked out the submarine at least twice the day before. Nevertheless, he issued a sigh of relief when the operating system engaged and the craft slid into the water. When they were submerged in the waters of the Cylindrical Sea, both Richard and Nicole were quiet. Each of them was anticipating the emotional reunion that would take place in less than an hour.
Images of all six of her children filed slowly into Nicole's mind. She saw Genevieve, her first child, born on the Earth after her union with Prince Henry. Next in line was serene Simone, whom Nicole had left at the Node with a husband almost sixty years her senior. The two oldest girls were followed in the mental procession by the four children still living in Rama, her wayward daughter Katie, her precious Ellie, and her two sons by Michael O'Toole, Patrick and the mentally handicapped Benjy. They are all so different, Nicole thought. Each a miracle in his or her own way.
I do not believe in universal truths, Nicole mused as the submarine drew closer to the tunnel under the wall of what was once the avian/sessile habitat, but there cannot be many humans who have lived through the singular experience of parenting without being irrevocably changed by the process. We all wonder, as our children grow into adults, what we have done, or not done, that has contributed to, or detracted from, the happiness of these special beings we have brought into existence.
The excitement inside Nicole was overwhelming. Richard checked his watch and began to maneuver the submarine into position for the rendezvous. When their ship broke through the surface of the water, they could see eight figures standing on the shore at the appointed location. When the water stopped running down the window, Nicole recognized Ellie, her husband Robert, Eponine, Nai holding Benjy's hand, and the three small children, including her granddaughter and namesake, whom Nicole had never seen before. Nicole's eyes brimmed with tears. She pounded on the window, knowing that it was senseless, and that none of the people on the shore could possibly hear or see her.
Richard and Nicole heard the gunshots as soon as they opened the door. A worried Robert Turner glanced behind him and then lifted little Nicole quickly off the ground. Ellie and Eponine each picked up one of the Watanabe twins. Galileo struggled against Eponine and received a reprimand from his mother Nai, who was trying to guide Benjy into the submarine.
Another round of gunfire, much closer, occurred just as the boarding party was crossing into the ship. There was no time for embraces. "Max said to leave as soon as we were all on board," Ellie said hurriedly to her parents. "He and Patrick are holding off the platoon that was sent to capture us."
Richard was preparing to close the door when two armed figures, one clutching at his side, burst from the nearby bushes. "Get ready to go," Patrick yelled, shouldering and firing his rifle twice. "They are right behind us."
Max stumbled, but Patrick half carried his wounded friend the final fifty meters to the submarine. Three of the colony soldiers fired upon the ship as it submerged in the moat. For a brief moment, none of the people on board the submarine said anything. Then the tiny compartment exploded in a cacophony of sound. Everyone was shouting and weeping. Both Nicole and Robert bent down over Max, who was sitting with his back against a wall.
"Are you seriously hurt?" Nicole asked.
"Hell, no," Max replied with passion. "There's just a solitary bullet in my gut somewhere. It takes much more firepower than that to kill a son of a bitch like me."
When Nicole stood up and turned around, Benjy was right behind her. "Mama," he said, his arms outstretched and his big body trembling with joy. Nicole and Benjy exchanged a long and powerful embrace in the center of the compartment. Benjy's sobs of happiness reflected the sentiment of every person on the ship.
While they were on board the submarine, the newcomers essentially suspended between two alien worlds, most of the conversation was personal. Nicole spent some private moments with each of her children and held her granddaughter for the first time. Little Nicole did not know what to make of this woman with the gray hair who wanted to hug and kiss her. "This is your grandmother," Ellie said, trying to persuade the child to return Nicole's affection. "She is my mother, Nikki, and she has the same name that you have."
Nicole knew enough about children to understand that it would take some time for the girl to accept her. At first there was some confusion about their common name, and every time someone said "Nicole," both the grandmother and the little girl would turn around. But after Ellie and Robert both started using "Nikki" for the child, the rest of the group quickly followed suit.
Before the submarine even reached New York, Benjy was showing his mother that his reading had significantly improved. Nai had been an excellent teacher. Benjy had brought two books in his backpack, one a collection of the tales of Hans Christian Andersen written three centuries earlier. Benjy's favorite story was "The Ugly Duckling," which he read in its entirety as both his delighted mother and his teacher sat beside him. There was a wonderful, ingenuous excitement in his voice when the spumed duckling turned into a beautiful swan.
"I am very proud of you, darling," Nicole said when Benjy was finished reading. "And I thank you, Nai," she said to her friend, "from the bottom of my heart."
"It's been a lot of fun working with Benjy," the Thai woman replied. "I had forgotten what a thrill it was to teach an interested and appreciative pupil."
Robert Turner cleaned Max Puckett's wound and removed the bullet. His procedure was closely monitored by the five-year-old Watanabe twins, both of whom were fascinated by the inside of Max's body. The aggressive Galileo was always pushing for the better view; Nai had to adjudicate two brotherly disputes in favor of Kepler.
Dr. Turner confirmed Max's statement that the wound was not serious and prescribed a short period of convalescence.
"I guess I'll just have to take it easy," Max said, winking at Eponine. "Which is what I was planning to do anyway. I don't think there will be too many pigs or chickens in this alien city of skyscrapers. And I don't know a goddamn thing about bi-ots."
Nicole had a brief conversation with Eponine, just before the submarine arrived at the Port, in which she thanked Ellie's erstwhile teacher profusely for everything she and Max had done for the family. Eponine accepted the thanks graciously and told Nicole that Patrick had been "absolutely fantastic" in helping them with all aspects of the escape. "He has grown into a superb young man," Eponine said.
"How is your health, then?" Nicole asked Eponine delicately a few moments later.
The Frenchwoman shrugged. "The good doctor says the RV-41 virus is still there, poised and waiting for an opportunity to overwhelm my immune system. Whenever that happens, I should have between six months and a year more to live."
Patrick informed Richard that Joan and Eleanor had tried to decoy the Nakamura platoon by making a lot of noise, as they had been programmed to do, and had almost certainly been captured and destroyed.
"I'm sorry about Joan and Eleanor," Nicole said to Richard during a rare private moment on board the submarine. "I know how much your little robots mean to you."
"They served their purpose," Richard replied. He forced a smile. "After all, wasn't it you who told me once they're not the same as people?"
Nicole reached up and kissed her husband.
None of the new escapees had ever been in New York as an adult. Nicole's three children had all been born on the island and had lived there in their early childhood, but a child has a much different sense of place than an adult. Even Ellie, Patrick, and Benjy were awestruck when they first stepped on the shore and saw the tall, thin silhouettes reaching toward the Rama sky in the near darkness.
Max Puckett was uncharacteristically speechless. He stood beside Eponine, holding her hand, and gawked at the thin, towering spires rising over two hundred meters above the island. "This is too damn much for an Arkansas farm boy," he said at length, shaking his head. Max and Eponine walked at the end of the procession that was winding its way toward the lair which Richard and Nicole had converted into a multifamily apartment for all of them to share.
"Who built all this?" Robert Turner asked Richard as the troupe paused briefly in front of a giant polyhedron. Robert was growing increasingly apprehensive. He had been reluctant to come with Ellie and Nikki in the first place, and he was now rapidly becoming convinced that he had indeed made a big mistake.
"Probably the engineers at the Node," Richard answered. "Although we can't know for certain. We humans have added new construction in our habitat. It's possible that whoever, or whatever, lived here long ago might have built a few or even all of these amazing buildings."
"Where are they now?" Robert asked next, more than a little frightened at the prospect of encountering beings with the technological expertise necessary to create such impressive edifices.
"We have no way of knowing. According to the Eagle, this Rama spacecraft has been making voyages to discover spacefaring species for thousands of years. Somewhere in our part of the galaxy is another spacefarer who would have been comfortable in an environment like this. What that creature was, or is, and why it wanted to live in and among these incredible skyscrapers is a riddle we will probably never answer."
"What about the avians and the octospiders, Uncle Richard?" Patrick asked. "Are they still living here in New York?"
"I have not seen any avians on the island since I arrived, except of course for the hatchlings that we are raising. But there are still octospiders around. Your mother and I encountered some of them when we were exploring behind the black screen."
At that moment a centipede biot approached the procession from a side alley. Richard shone his flashlight in its direction. Robert Turner momentarily froze with fear, but he followed Richard's instructions and moved out of the way as the biot trundled by.
