by Lee Bradford
“I was told to speak with Dennis Dresselhaus.”
The guard gave her a funny look. He was somewhere in his thirties, his face pockmarked, with a nose far too large for his face. “Who sent you?”
She hesitated, the blood draining from her face.
“I’m asking because Dr. Dresselhaus was just arrested.”
Susan’s heart nearly burst in her chest. “Arrested?”
“Yeah, the director’s personal bodyguard came in and took him away.”
Hand cupped over her mouth, Susan said: “I didn’t even know he had a bodyguard.”
“Secret Service men. But all this is above my pay grade.”
“Was that why the elevators took so long?”
He nodded. “They had me shut down all of ’em till they’d carted him away.”
“I can’t believe it.” Susan’s mind was spinning in a million different directions. “Do you know why?”
“They only said they wanted to ask him a few questions. But I won’t lie. Dr. Dresselhaus was about to pee his pants. A man who has nothing to hide shouldn’t be that nervous.”
“I guess not.” Susan turned to leave.
“Hey, if he ever comes back I’ll tell him you were looking for him. What’s your name?”
Susan stopped, hesitating. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll come back another time.”
She couldn’t get back into the elevator and up to the main lobby quick enough. The whole time the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Had her conversation with Wendy somehow been responsible? Or was this just some terrible coincidence?
The answer to her question arrived as she returned to the infirmary and saw the commotion. Autumn ran up to her, practically in tears. “The police just came and arrested one of the nurses,” she stammered. And Susan didn’t need to hear the woman’s name to know who Autumn was talking about. Wendy had been right when she’d said the Ark was operating under its own set of rules.
Susan removed Wendy’s keycard from around her neck and discreetly threw it into a trash bin. They were no longer in the America she knew. This was a new land, run by a man who called himself a director but was in truth something far worse.
Chapter 23
Paul returned to their apartment in Ark One, feeling like a man who’d just been soundly beaten by Bobby Fischer in a chess tournament. The similar look of defeat on Buck’s face had stayed with him until the two had parted ways by the Park. It was clear the old guy needed some time. Paul supposed he was sitting on a bench somewhere, soaking in the artificial sunlight, wondering how Van Buren had known so much about them.
It was a good question and one Paul had asked himself more than once. More surprising was that the two of them hadn’t been arrested. If there was such a thing as a guardian angel, then one was surely looking over their shoulder.
Paul closed the apartment door behind him and found Susan sitting at the table. The room was dark except for the warm glow from a hanging light above her. Judging by the pained expression on her face, she must have heard about their arrest.
She looked up, distant, making him suddenly wonder if he’d been wrong.
“I’m guessing you heard?” he probed.
Her sad eyes found him in the gloom. “Heard?”
“Our arrest. Buck punched a congressman’s assistant. Got us both hauled up before Van Buren.”
She shook her head. “Was he okay?”
“Who, Buck?”
“No, the assistant.”
Paul grinned. “Hope not. Buck laid him out cold. Couldn’t believe it.”
She didn’t seem all that interested.
“Hey, did you know your father was dishonorably discharged from the military?”
Almost in response, her fingers closed around a scrap of paper in her hand.
“What’s that?” For the first time he noticed Susan was fighting back tears. “Has someone been hurt?” he asked, feeling panic grip him. “Where’s Autumn?”
“Autumn’s fine, Paul. But I think I may have put us in danger and I’m feeling sick to my stomach.”
Paul came forward and curled an arm around her. “What happened?”
She told him about the vials, about her talk with Wendy and how the senior nurse and Dr. Dresselhaus had both been arrested.
“What for?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it must have something to do with our conversation. There’s nothing else it could be.”
“But no one came after you.”
Her head sank. “Not yet.” Susan held out the crumpled scrap of paper.
Paul took it.
“When I came in I found this. Someone must have slipped it under the door.”
Flattening the paper on the table, he scanned the handwritten note, pulse thumping in his neck.
“Your lives are in danger. DO AS YOU’RE TOLD!”
Those last words shouted off the page.
“Did you see anyone suspicious when you came home?” he asked, playing detective.
“No, everything was normal. A man passed me in the hallway, but he was a civilian. I’ve seen him here since day one and he barely looked in my direction.”
“You never know who’s capable of such a thing.”
“Becoming paranoid isn’t the solution,” she answered, wiping her eyes. “I’m scared, Paul. I’m frightened and feeling terrible inside, like I did something wrong and now innocent people are going to pay the price.”
“Honey, you didn’t do anything wrong. You asked a question. Has that become a chargeable offense in the last week?”
She glanced up at him as if to say, Maybe it has.
“Well, that’s not the kinda country I wanna live in and I can assure you it isn’t the sort Buck wants either. The real question is, how did they know what Wendy told you?”
Susan shrugged her shoulders. “She seemed really scared when the subject came up. To the point where I closed the door so no one would overhear us. I can’t imagine she would have gone and opened her mouth to the wrong person.”
“You mentioned bugs the other day,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe you were right.”
“Really?” She seemed to be having a hard time buying the idea. “It’s just hardly a likely place to plant a listening device. Hardly anyone goes in there except to store vaccines.”
A horrible thought bloomed in Paul’s mind just then and the implications chilled his blood. He pointed an index finger to his ear and then to the ceiling.
She flinched.
Taking her by the arm, he ushered her out and into the hallway, leading her to a fire escape at the end of the corridor. Once in the stairwell, Paul felt like he could breathe again.
“Whoever wrote this note wants to keep us quiet,” Paul said.
“Quiet? You know what I want? I wanna pack up and leave right away.” Susan’s eyes were searching around the concrete surroundings, checking to see if it was safe to talk.
“You know we can’t do that.”
“The radiation levels are down today. We might be able to make it.” There was a note of desperation in her voice.
“Not low enough, we’d never make it, even wearing suits.”
She cupped her head. “Then what other choice do we have but to do what the note says?”
He hated hearing her cave in to threats. Paul wasn’t a scrapper. In many ways, getting along in peaceful coexistence was his goal in life. Battling the powers that be, that was Buck’s game, and right now the old war bear was in the Park licking his wounds.
“I have this strange feeling someone is watching out for us,” Paul told her. “We’ve run into more than enough trouble to get us kicked out of the Ark several times over and yet here we are.”
“You’re not talking about divine intervention.”
He laughed. “No. I’m talking about a flesh-and-blood person. Someone who knows that what’s going on in here is wrong.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying we ne
ed to find them before things get out of hand.”
Chapter 24
A short time later, Paul and Susan found Buck in the park, seated on a bench next to the pond. He was tossing pieces of bread to a paddling of ducks, looking like he didn’t want to be bothered.
“You know they’re genetically engineered to like humans,” Paul offered as they drew near.
Buck glanced up and grunted. “Why else would they be spending time with a lout like me?”
“I’ve never known you to feel sorry for yourself, Dad,” Susan said, startled.
He threw a handful in and the ducks scurried after it. “I’ll bet there’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
“We’re here if you wanna talk about it,” she offered, sitting next to him.
“Talking does nothing besides waste oxygen. ’Sides, the two of you look like you’re up to something and I’m not sure I want any part of it.”
Susan cleared her throat and couldn’t get the words out before Paul jumped in.
“Something, uh, strange is going on in the bunker.”
Buck let out an ironic burst of laughter. “You’re only seeing that now? Heck, that ain’t no newsflash.”
Susan told him about the vials and how both medical personnel had been arrested.
“Any particular reason they’re so keen to shoot salt water into people’s bodies?” the old man asked.
“None that we’ve been able to figure out,” Paul told him.
“I can’t stand the idea of doctors coming at me with needles. And I like the idea of vaccinations even less.”
Paul crossed his arms. “Yes, we know.”
“Then you should know I’m done taking ’em.” Buck turned to Susan. “And you can tell that handsome doctor of yours to his face.”
Paul gave her a look.
“What?” she said, stepping back. “He’s a good-looking man. I’m married, not dead.”
Now it was his turn to wonder. “I fear the woman doth protest too much.” His gaze returned to Buck. “As for announcing your decision to stop taking inoculations, I’m sure the powers that be are already aware of that.”
Buck’s forehead scrunched up. “How so?”
“We think there’s a listening device in our room,” Susan told him. “Maybe one in every room.”
Her father shot a glance over his shoulder, scrutinizing a bush and a majestic oak behind them.
“Yes,” Paul said, half joking. “The trees and shrubs may be wired as well.”
“Don’t doubt it. The more I hear the two of you talk, the more I’m convinced this place is being run by the Illuminati.”
“Oh, no,” Paul spat. “Not more conspiracy nonsense. Buck, this is serious.”
“And so am I, Rock Star. Just think about who’s in charge of this place. He ain’t in the service. But he is part of what Eisenhower warned about—the military-industrial complex.”
Paul’s greatest concern bringing Buck into the fold was that the conversation would devolve into the stuff you found on bad websites. Crazy theories with nothing but scraps of misinformation to prop them up.
“I wasn’t the one who thought of it first,” Buck was saying. “Earl Mullins brought a few facts to my attention I hadn’t even considered. Take, for example, the layout of this place.”
Paul and Susan surveyed the Park, both looking confused.
“The Illuminati’s main symbol is a pyramid with an all-seeing eye in the middle.”
“Okay…” Paul said, dragging out the word, hoping Buck would get to the point.
“Just take a look at Arks One, Two and Three.” He pulled out a hand-drawn map from his back pocket and spread it over his lap. “They’re configured in the shape of a pyramid with the Park smack dab in the middle representing the eye.”
Susan was nodding.
“Oh, come on,” Paul said. “That isn’t proof of anything, Buck, apart from an architectural coincidence.”
“Call it a coincidence if you want, but I’ve been feeling like this place wasn’t right from the start. They tell us we’re free to go, but walking out into certain death ain’t really freedom.”
Paul didn’t think this conversation was heading in the right direction. “Listen, I believe that someone on the inside may be looking out for us,” he said, trying to change the subject. “They may be keeping us from being kicked out.”
“Well, quite frankly, I wish they’d stop,” Buck said. “I’m starting to think maybe we should leave and take our chances out there.”
“You may be willing to throw your own life away,” Paul replied. “But what about Autumn? Is her future that disposable?” His voice was starting to rise and Susan placed a gentle hand on his back.
Buck seemed to be pondering Paul’s last words. “I got no beef finding the person on the inside. Maybe they can help fill in a few blanks and help us figure out what’s going on in here. But no matter how we go about it, that corporate stooge Van Buren and his personal assistant, Ava Monroe, can’t find out what we’re up to.”
The faint sound of a commotion echoed from the far end of the park. It was coming from the airlock near Ark Three, the administrative and governmental wing. They rose quickly and headed in that direction. If there was some kind of emergency, they didn’t want to be the last ones to find out about it. As they drew closer, a few dozen people were pushing to get into the airlock.
“What’s going on?” Buck demanded.
A young girl with pigtails spun around, her face filled with amazement.
“The president’s arrived.”
Chapter 25
The three struggled into the airlock, Paul moving slowly as he excused himself, Buck ahead of him using elbows and his weight to plow his way through. The lights went from red to green and the hatch at the other end opened up and suddenly they were fighting the crowd all over again. It wasn’t even clear why everyone was in such a hurry. Did they really believe a savior had arrived to make their lives better?
At last, they made it into the atrium of Ark Three in time to see the president arrive, surrounded by a veritable army of Secret Service agents and what were likely White House personnel. Paul was struck immediately by the new president’s height. He couldn’t have been more than five foot two with a full head of silver hair trimmed into a businessman’s cut, short on the sides, the top just long enough to part. He smiled and waved and the civilians dressed in their earth-toned tunics shouted and cheered. For a brief moment the country wasn’t falling to pieces, nuclear devices hadn’t vaporized hundreds of thousands of citizens and deadly radiation wasn’t poisoning all it came in contact with. The saviour had arrived and by his very presence he would set everything right again. Even Paul found himself clapping and whistling. Only Buck was booing and hissing, a response that even the president’s Secret Service agents seemed to notice, some of them pointing in their direction.
“What are you, dumb?” Paul shouted over the jubilation.
“He’s a usurper,” Buck yelled back.
“Maybe, but now’s not the time to draw attention.”
Van Buren and Ava were there to greet him. It was as though Air Force One had just touched down and the dignitaries were there to say hello. Without a doubt, the new president’s entrance had been choreographed, the way every little bit of politics was nowadays. This is your new leader, was the message, and a man like Van Buren was surely eager to get the point across.
Buck’s fists were still clenched as President Perkins passed, shaking hands as he did so. Buck’s elbowing technique had gotten them right to the front of the crowd and now here they were in a kind of presidential receiving line. Shadowed by his agents, Perkins moved along shaking hand after hand, even offering the occasional fist bump so the kids knew he was a cool customer and not some crusty old guy.
Perkins arrived before Paul, who held out his hand. The president took it with his left and pumped it twice, reaching past him with his right to a woman standing behind them.
“I lo
ve you!” she shouted, leaving Paul to wonder if he was in some kind of bizarro world.
Buck was next and he stood there, arms at his sides, hands curled into fists. The president reached out, his hand seeming to hang in the air for an eternity. Time slowed as the Secret Service agents zoomed in to what was happening, or rather what wasn’t happening.
Don’t be an idiot, Buck, Paul kept thinking over and over, hoping his thoughts might somehow penetrate the old man’s impossibly thick skull. This wasn’t the time to make a stand and draw the wrath of the powers that be.
Paul’s heart was pounding against his ribcage as the president’s expression changed. His agents stepped forward, and that was when Buck at last took his hand and shook it.
“Glad you arrived safely,” Buck said, his voice low and raspy.
President Perkins smiled, not entirely sure what had just happened. “Trust me, you don’t want to go outside. The weather’s a real killer.”
He moved on after that, pushing down the line until he cut back and went to Van Buren, who’d stood there waiting patiently. They exchanged pleasantries. Some members of the president’s entourage were taking pictures. Shots which would surely grace an exhibit in a museum decades from now.
Then the presidential mob moved away, disappearing into the bowels of Ark Three, leaving Paul to wonder what these men would talk about next, when the cameras and the average citizens weren’t there to hear them.
Over in the mess hall of Ark One, Autumn and Brett were locked in a passionate embrace. She pulled away, unable to wipe the smile off her face.
“You know if my grandfather caught us, he’d kill you.”
Brett looked visibly concerned. “He’s a scary man.”
“Sort of. But deep down he’s really a big ol’ teddy bear.”
“The bear part I believe, I’m not so sure about the teddy part though.”
They laughed and he went to kiss her again before stopping short. A smattering of civilians were nearby, seated at tables and chatting. Dinner wasn’t for another hour and many of them had probably recently finished a shift in whatever line of work they’d been conscripted to perform.
