Keystones: Altered Destinies

by Alexander McKinney

  “I still think that we should apply a more scientific method. What if animal Keystones are very rare and your cat is as powerful as they’re going to be? You were in an emergency room. There, as one would expect, you heard the worst-case stories.”

  Deklan could hear the rationalization in Susan’s voice. The lies that people tell themselves, he thought, in order to avoid having to act. “So you think that, out of all of the animals in the world that have become Keystones, I’m living with one of them, got attacked by another, and then heard stories about all of the rest in a third location that I visited? Doesn’t that stretch the meaning of the word ‘coincidence’ just a little?”

  Susan flapped her hands in dismissal of his counter-argument. “The dogs were probably just attracted to the smell of blood.”

  “And that doesn’t worry you?” he rejoined.

  “Okay, fine. This needs to be looked into a little more. Let me dissect some rats.” Susan turned away from Deklan. “I’m sure I have traps around here somewhere.”

  “Or we could go to a pet store.”

  “You are distinctly annoying,” she replied.

  Leaving the sign on the office door, Susan and Deklan walked to the nearest pet store, a mere three blocks away. To Deklan’s mind, Susan paid far too little attention to their immediate surroundings. His eyes darting everywhere, Deklan perceived pigeons as an aerial menace. The noise of trash rustling on the sidewalk prompted him to make sure that it wasn’t caused by a rat or a dog. He felt the threat of danger looming everywhere.

  As they approached the pet store, Deklan could see that something was wrong. The door was open, not because a shopper had left it ajar but because it couldn’t close anymore, the frame’s being badly bent. “Still think I’m crazy?” he asked.

  “You’re jumping to conclusions.” Susan still sounded blasé. “This is probably damage from the riots. You know, when everything went dark for eight minutes.”

  Deklan kept mum about how he had spent that time. “Fine. Just stay back and let me look first.”

  Susan rolled her eyes. “No, we’re going to go inside, buy some rats, and you’re going to see that this is all one big overreaction on your part.”

  “Humor me, okay? It’s not going to cost you anything.”

  Near the damaged store’s front windows, Deklan peered from behind the concrete encasements so that only a small part of his face would be visible to someone or something inside. A scene from a science-fiction movie met his eyes. Cages were ripped apart. Bags of feed were spilled open, groups of animals eating from them like impromptu troughs. A dog was sleeping on a wall as though gravity didn’t exist. A tabby cat sat atop a goldfish tank with two tentacles extending from its jaws into the water as it plucked fish from their marine haunts. One small area of the store had an inexplicable white hemisphere that looked like nothing Deklan had ever seen.

  “Take a look,” said Deklan as he pulled back from what he had glimpsed. “Then tell me that I’m crazy and overreacting.”

  Susan mimicked his action and, faster than he had, pulled her head back. Looking at him with a wild light in her eyes, her breath coming in rapid bursts, she leaned against the wall and repeated, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.”

  Deklan shook her, gently at first but then with greater urgency. “Susan!” he shouted. Focus!”

  “That’s just one shop!” she replied. “How many animals are there in the city?”

  Deklan ignored the question. “We should go. Do you have family?”

  She shook her head, still in a daze. “No.”

  “I do.” Deklan looked around. “We need to go, and I need to call them.”

  Sitting in the waiting room at Susan’s veterinary practice, Deklan detached the earpiece from his Uplink and put it on before calling his parents. “Hey, Mom!”

  “Deklan. How nice! Did you kill someone?” Deklan flicked an icon on his Uplink. It never failed: he always forgot to lower the volume when he called home. How his mother managed to be so loud he’d never figured out.

  “No.”

  “You don’t sound very sure.”

  “Anyway I have some great news.”

  His mother recited her wish list for his life, her voice more hopeful with each item. “You and Cindy got back together? You’re engaged? I’m going to have grandchildren before I die?”

  “Um, no, no, and maybe.”

  “Well, your news can’t be that great then. Wait, did you meet someone else?”

  “No, but‭. . . .‬”

  “Not that great then.”

  “I won tickets for a vacation on the Terra Rings.”

  When she spoke again, his mother’s voice had slowed down and sounded cautious. “Okay, and how does that affect your father and me?”

  “Well, it’s a vacation for four, and I want you and Dad to come with me.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, honey. That’s a lot right now. What with the upset of that light thing and your car going missing. I don’t know whether your father and I are up for that. We never wanted to see the Rings anyways.”

  “Come on, Mom. You’re always complaining that you never see enough of me since I moved to New York. It’s a week-long, all-expense-paid vacation to Ring Two.”

  “Isn’t that the cheap one?”

  Confronted with the possibility of an all-expense-paid exotic vacation, his mother still found something to criticize. It was familiar, reassuring, and annoying all at once. “What? No. What kind of question is that? Why would any of the Rings be ‘cheap?’”

  “I’ve been on an airplane before, and your father gets acid reflux something terrible. I don’t think that would mix well with weightlessness.”

  “I’ll help you sneak a giant redwood seed into one of the parklands up there.”

  “Why would I want to do that?” asked his mother, her voice going an octave higher, the way it did when she was confused.

  “Because you love to garden, and that would make you the first person to plant a giant redwood in space.”

  There was a hush as his mother mustered her arguments. “Tempting, but still not a good enough reason to go.”

  “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “I’ll talk to your father, but I don’t think he’ll want to go. Why don’t you come visit us instead?”

  “Come to Afton instead of visiting one of the Terra Rings?”

  “Yes. It’ll be wonderful. We’ll make all of your favorites. Macaroni, chocolate-chunk cookies, steak. Tanya Loftland is single. We could invite her over for dinner.”

  Deklan’s mind snapped back to his last visit to his parents’ home. “Is Tanya the girl with the hairy mole on the side of her neck?”

  “She’s so nice you don’t notice it after a while.”

  Deklan was pretty sure he’d still notice it. “Um, maybe another time. I don’t think that I’d treat Tanya right. Besides, maybe I’ll meet someone on the Rings. Then you could meet her at the same time as me.”

  His mother was having none of it. “No. It’s like that old saying, ‘You’re born where you’re born, but you die where your wife was born.’ You’d end up living on one of those Rings, and then we’d never see you!”

  Deklan was certain that she just made some things up on the spur of the moment. “I’ve never heard that saying.”

  “You should visit more often. There’re lots of wise old sayings that you don’t know.”

  “I’m coming to get you and Dad. Then we’re getting on a plane to Boa Vista, Brazil, and I’m taking the two of you on vacation with me if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”

  “That’s sweet, honey, but I don’t think so.”

  Deklan ended the connection and sighed. More often than not conversations with his mother left him wondering whether she were repaying him for having been a difficult child.

  “So that went well.” Listening in on one side of Deklan’s lopsided conversation had restored Susan to a remarkable level
of calm after her previous bout of panic.

  “They’re coming,” said Deklan. “I don’t care how much kicking and screaming happens. They’re coming. Afton is a tiny town, so they can’t stay there. We’re much safer here in larger cities.”

  “How do you figure?” A shadow passed over Susan’s face. “We both saw the same shop, right?”

  Deklan gave free rein to his imagination. “Yes, but that’s an isolated concentration of animals in this city. The wild animals here have a learned fear of humans. The domesticated animals have a semi-learned obedience, depending on the competence of their owners.” He thought about Mittens. “In Afton the wild animals are more dangerous to begin with before you throw Keystones into the mix. You think that what we saw in that shop was bad? Imagine a raccoon, deer, black bear, coyote, or bobcat that’s become a Keystone. Just one could go on a rampage that might annihilate a small town.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell them the truth?” Susan asked.

  Deklan shook his head and pursed his lips. “Haven’t we already covered that angle? The truth won’t work until it’s too late, and then I won’t be able to get them to an Elevator. I need to be proactive. They need to go now.”

  “Why not fight the animals?”

  “How?” Deklan’s tone was sharp, but he wasn’t being dismissive. He just didn’t see an effective way to mount a worldwide offensive against giant rats.

  “Well,” answered Susan, “you’re a Keystone so you‭. . . .‬”

  Deklan cut her off. “I’m a Keystone who has healed fast twice. That’s it. I have no guarantees that the third time won’t leave me with a normal, gaping wound.”

  “Poor you. You’ve survived at least one injury that would have killed any other person. Then you healed quickly from it. That must be tough. I’ll bet you wish you had my ability. Then we could give you a neat nickname like ‘Flashlight.’”

  Deklan ignored her sarcasm. “I’m going to Afton,” he declared.

  “What? You’re just going to abandon me here?” Susan’s sarcasm vanished and was replaced by genuine worry.

  “What?” Deklan gave her a surprised look. “I thought you didn’t think there was any real danger here.”

  Susan looked everywhere but at him. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind.”

  “So you want to come to Afton with me?”

  Susan’s head turned back in the direction of the pet shop. “Sure, why not? If your car’s headlights break, I can make sure that you can drive at night.”

  Deklan recalled the wreckage of which he was now the owner. “About that, can we use your car?”

  She shook here head. “I don’t have one.”

  That was not a surprise, since most people didn’t have cars, but there weren’t any convenient trains or buses to Afton. “Is there somewhere nearby where I can rent one?” he asked.

  Deklan and Susan walked together into Prestige Car Rental. A short man with narrow shoulders stood behind the desk. He wore a red uniform, and his nametag identified him as Allen. The man looked up from the computer screen at Deklan, looked at the screen again, and then back once more, a quizzical expression on his face. When Deklan drew closer, he plastered a customer-service smile on his face. “Mr. Tobin!” he said. “We have your Spiro ready. Is black okay?”

  “Sorry, what?” The question caught Deklan off guard.

  Allen sounded apologetic. “It’s just that we have only one 2090 Spiro Q Class, and it’s black. Is the black Spiro okay?”

  Was it okay? It was Deklan’s dream car. He’d seen it at auto shows, but he didn’t even want to think about what it would cost to rent one. He replied in a regret-tinged voice, “I think that we might have a misunderstanding here. Who do you think I am?”

  “Deklan Tobin,” said the clerk, checking the screen in front of him. “Your reservation was made two days ago.”

  “A reservation was made for me two days ago?”

  “Perhaps your personal assistant forgot to forward a confirmation to you, sir.” The clerk’s smile didn’t waver.

  “Ah, yes, that must be it.” Deklan thought about the note that had been left on his toe.

  “Well, sir, you are prepaid for a two-day rental and can return the car to any of our locations. We have six in downtown New York and another three at JFK, Newark, and LaGuardia.”

  Deklan’s didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, he hadn’t paid for that car and didn’t know who had; on the other hand, it was a 2090 Spiro Q Class. How could he say no to that? “Black should be fine,” he finally managed to stammer. “When can we get the car?” He felt Susan’s eyes boring into the side of his head. Unspoken questions radiated from her like heat.

  “Give me one minute. Ah, yes.” The clerk held out a piece of paper and some keys. “I just need you to sign here. Then you can be on your way.”

  The car gleamed in the sunlight, so shiny and sleek that you almost thought you could drown in its ebony finish. Its aerodynamic lines called out to Deklan’s soul, and he had to run his fingers over the paint. You were never allowed to touch a Spiro when you saw one at a show. By all rights the car should have been in a museum.

  He pulled the door open, still not believing that he was able to leave with the car. Deklan lowered himself into the seat. Unlike so many other nice cars that he’d sat in, the seats were extraordinarily comfortable. Right or wrong, he was keeping the car.

  Susan got in without saying a word. He grinned at her and looked at the dash. After they left he would have to play with all of the buttons and gizmos. He enabled auto-drive, set a course for Afton, and reveled in the engine’s silence. Time for some music, he thought. It was his dream car, and he wanted to celebrate.

  Susan caught his hand before he could turn on the speakers. “A personal assistant? Two days ago? Who made that reservation? Who are you?” She sounded freaked out.

  Deklan wasn’t sure how to begin his reply. “Well,” he said, “it’s a short but weird story.”

  “I’m listening.” Susan looked at him expectantly, eyes wide and unblinking.

  Deklan searched for words before stating, “I didn’t experience The Sweep.”

  “We all experienced The Sweep.”

  “Okay, yes, but what I mean is that I never saw the purple I’ve read about in articles or watched on the news. I never saw the dark sky.”

  “You were inside somewhere?” Susan’s tone of voice made clear that she didn’t understand the relevance of his response.

  He drew another breath and tried again. “I’d been in a car accident. I woke up in a morgue drawer. The type where they put you on a table that’s more like a tray and then slide you in.”

  Susan’s head tilted to the side, and her mouth opened and closed several times before she spoke. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Which part?”

  “Well, the car accident for one,” replied Susan. “Something that unusual would have been on the news. I don’t believe the bit about the morgue either.”

  Deklan rubbed his thigh. “But you did see what happened to my leg, right?”

  “So you were dead?” she asked skeptically.

  Deklan slammed his hands against the Spiro’s steering wheel, then checked to make sure he hadn’t damaged it. “I don’t know,” he nearly shouted in frustration. “No one’s given me any answers.”

  Susan waved her hands at him in a placating way. “So what does this have to do with the car rental?”

  He brought himself back under control. “When I woke up, there was a note tied to my toe. It said, ‘This was the easy part. It will get harder. Try to do the right thing. Good luck.’ I’m wondering whether whoever left me that note somehow arranged this car rental.”

  “You expect me to believe that you woke up in a morgue with a note on your toe?”

  Deklan shook his head and sighed. “No, but that’s what happened.”

  “It’s ridiculous.”

  “Agreed,” said Deklan, “but so is my cat’s mauling a Great Dane.
”

  Susan crossed her arms and lowered her chin. “How do I know that you didn’t set that up so that you could meet me?”

  Deklan looked at her in disbelief. “How could anyone set that up? I didn’t even know which vet we were going to see until we pulled up to your office.”

  “I still find it hard to believe that you were resurrected.”

  “I never said that I was resurrected. I said that I woke up in a morgue.” Even as he said them, the words sent chills down Deklan’s spine.

  Susan rocked her head back and forth before answering. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  Deklan’s hand hovered above the button to turn on the car’s music system. “Look, I’ve told you my story. I know it’s crazy, but I’m not going to change it. Are you changing your mind about coming to Afton?”

  Afton

  Deklan grew more uncomfortable over the course of the drive. There were subtle, and not so subtle, signs that their belief about the new dangers posed by animals was accurate. He had hoped that only animals in cities were a threat. As they drove through rural areas, however, there were clear indications of recent damage. Fences were broken, blackened, or warped. Here and there trees along the road had been burned like tinder.

  Deklan woke Susan as they pulled into his parents’ driveway, which was lined with a rhododendron hedge and twisted and turned before revealing a modest house. It was the type of country home that wouldn’t have looked out of place if it had been transported back to the previous century.

  “This is where you grew up?” Susan murmured, her voice still heavy with sleep.

  “No,” he answered. “They used to live in the city but moved here when they retired. Dad was born here.”

  “Why did your mother go along with the move?” Susan asked, yawning.

  “She thought he’d be more active here.” Deklan’s tone conveyed just how misguided that belief had been.

  Coming to a stop, Deklan killed the engine and stepped out of the car, stretching as he did so. His vertebrae made satisfying popping noises while he scanned his surroundings.