“Maybe I’ll give it one try,” he said, climbing into the cockpit.
“Pick a seat,” Dr. Beck said. “Normally, the doors should be shut, but I’ll tell the program to leave them open for your first run-through. Now, remember, you are going to make mistakes. That’s the whole point of this machine. Try not to make the same one twice.”
“Got it,” Fatty said, taking hold of the controls.
There were precious few things in life where something simply clicks when there’s no doubt in one’s mind it was what they were meant to be doing. It was difficult to discover in the old world, exacerbated in the new. After the Fall, purpose wasn’t geared toward you discovering your one true calling, it was geared toward survival.
If it wasn’t for the Reaver attack, for the Bug, for Lucy remembering how to get into this place, Fatty would never have discovered his life’s purpose. It was to fly this thing and fly it without fear.
11.
DONALD WAS fine, just as Dr. Beck said he would be. He was still unconscious, fighting the good fight, the machines keeping count of the number of rounds.
“Give me a hand,” Donny said. “We need to wash his skin so he doesn’t get bedsores.”
Jamie had no idea they had to do such things.
“I’ll get the saline solution,” Donny said.
He left the room. He’d go search in the medicine storage room located in each ward.
“Pretty unreal, huh?” Lucy said. “About the stuff in the cinema.”
“Yeah,” Jamie said. “Pretty hard to believe.”
“Do you think it’s true?” Lucy said, lowering her voice.
“What do you mean?” Jamie said. “Why would he lie?”
“I don’t know,” Lucy said. “Maybe some of the things he tells us aren’t true. Just ideas.”
She was worried about something, Jamie thought. But what?
“I’m trying to figure out why he would tell us this stuff,” Lucy said.
“He wants to pass on the information,” Jamie said. “He’s old and won’t live forever.”
“Maybe,” Lucy said.
She clearly thought there was more to it than that.
“Go on then,” Jamie said. “What’s your theory about why he’d tell us this stuff?”
“No theory,” Lucy said. “I feel like. . . maybe he’s telling us for a reason. Like there’s something we could still do, some way we can change everything.”
For the first time since Jamie had gotten to the City, he felt a filament of hope. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance they could do something.
“You mean, beat the Rages?” Jamie said.
“Beat the Rages, beat the Reavers,” Lucy said with a nod. “Maybe beat everyone.”
“Even the Bugs?” Jamie said.
“Especially them,” Lucy said. “Everything else, we can learn to deal with. But the Bugs. . . They’re the real problem.”
It seemed so far-fetched, such a distant, remote possibility, that Jamie couldn’t quite get his head around it. The Bugs were super-advanced beings with a spaceship parked right outside their orbit, preparing for an invasion. What was the human race supposed to do about it in their current condition?
Donny returned with cloth and saline solution.
“I’ll roll him over,” he said. “You and Lucy clean his skin. He shouldn’t get bedsores for a week or more anyway, but if we do this every day, he’ll never get any.”
Jamie couldn’t stop glancing at Lucy as Donny lifted their father’s torso. If Lucy was right—and there was no reason to suspect she wasn’t—then their adventure had only just begun.
12.
“DR. BECK?” Jamie said. “You’re still here?”
After taking care of their father, Jamie began to grow worried about Fatty. He wasn’t the type who liked to be left alone or was really capable of taking care of himself. He needed someone to watch over him. He could have easily have gotten lost in the City, and they might never have found him again. Instead, he’d found him right where they had left him. With the simulator.
“Uh?” Dr. Beck said, struggling to stay awake. “Oh. Uh, yeah. Still here.”
He was too tired to talk further. He blinked away the sleep that pressed upon his eyes. The flight simulator was bucking and weaving, moving this way and that. Through the window, Fatty could be seen clutching the controls, bending and moving left to right in his seat. He was focused on something on the other side of the glass, something only he could see.
“Flight simulator,” Dr. Beck said, head bobbing with approaching sleep.
He rested his head on the top of his walking stick as sleep finally took him. The cockpit performed one last rise and fall, leaning to one side, before coming to a rest.
“Damn it!” Fatty shouted. “Hey, Doc. Let’s try level sixty-three one last time.”
Dr. Beck turned to Jamie with a pleading look in his eye.
“Help me,” he said. “Your friend was only supposed to try it out. He’s been in there all day.”
“Doc?” Fatty called. “I’m ready to go again.”
“Leave it to me,” Jamie said.
He knew how draining Fatty could be. There were times when he wanted to wring his neck, and would have, if it wasn’t so fat and protected by its own thick rubbery layer.
He opened the door to the simulator. Surprised to find Fatty sitting there with an excited, expectant look on his face. In front of him were dozens of buttons and levers. Jamie had never seen him so excited by something other than food before.
“Jamie!” Fatty said. “Perfect timing! Want to be my co-pilot?”
“What’s a co-pilot?” Jamie said.
“It’s a really important job,” Fatty said. “With your help, I’m sure I can get past level sixty-three.”
“Don’t you think you’ve played enough today?” Jamie said.
“Play?” Fatty said, hurt. “This isn’t playing. This is developing an important skill.”
“Flying a plane with no wings?” Jamie said.
“Yeah, well, there are some transferable skills,” Fatty said. “Give me a hand with this level. You won’t regret it.”
“We need to go eat,” Jamie said, playing his trump card. It never failed to get Fatty’s attention.
“One more level,” Fatty said, handing the co-pilot helmet to Jamie. “You’re going to love it.”
Food had failed. The simulator must have been out of this world to distract Fatty to that extent. Jamie licked his lips and eyed the proffered helmet.
“Doc!” Fatty shouted out the window. “Level sixty-three! Double time!”
Dr. Beck groaned audibly.
13.
“THE KID’S a natural,” Dr. Beck said, massaging his neck.
One more turn had turned out to be ten more turns. Jamie had to admit, it was great fun. He didn’t have the natural talent Fatty—of all people!—had but he was good enough as Fatty’s second.
Fatty’s reflexes were so fast, fingers dancing over the buttons like a pianist. He was gentle but firm with the controls. It was like watching an artist at work.
“He rarely makes the same mistake twice and got to level ten without one crash,” Dr. Beck said. “Incredible, considering he’s never so much as seen an airplane before.”
Fatty strutted like a newly feathered peacock.
“Sounds like hungry work,” Jamie said.
“Not really,” Fatty said. “I’m not hungry.”
Jamie blinked. He frowned and looked this boy up and down. For a fraction of a second, he thought perhaps a Bug had infiltrated his body.
“Are you all right?” Jamie said. “I’ve never known you not to be hungry before.”
“Maybe I was always hungry for something else other than food this whole time,” Fatty said. “I just never knew it.”
“Hungry for what?” Jamie said.
Fatty shared a look with Dr. Beck.
“Purpose,” he said. “I feel better than ever. I love this th
ing.”
He tapped the side of the simulator. Pulled his hand away.
“Ow,” he said. “She’s hot.”
“She should be after the run you gave her,” Dr. Beck said. “Like people, machines need to be rested from time to time.”
“I thought they could keep going forever?” Fatty said.
“Nothing can keep going forever,” Dr. Beck said. “Not even the cosmos.”
Fatty gave the simulator a thoughtful look as if realizing something for the first time. He turned to Jamie.
“What have you been up to?” he said.
“Nothing as exciting as you,” Jamie said.
Dr. Beck sidled up close to Jamie and lowered his voice.
“Do me a favour,” he said. “Never let me be alone with him ever again on the simulator.”
Jamie laughed. Fatty turned to look at them both.
“What’s so funny?” he said.
“Nothing,” Jamie said. “Nothing at all.”
Beep beep. Beep beep.
Jamie’s heart leapt into his throat. Dr. Beck’s beeper would make a noise when his father was having problems. He should have taken off at a run, but was in shock. Dr. Beck checked his beeper.
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Beck said. “It’s not your father. It’s something far more pressing.”
More pressing than the death of his own father? Jamie was already bricking it.
14.
RAGES. MILLING around outside one section of the mountain. They were watching them on a bank of monitors.
“What’s the problem?” Jamie said. “They can’t get in here.”
“They’re Rages, and believe me, they can get in everywhere,” Dr. Beck said. “There’s nowhere they can’t get inside.”
“But we’re inside a mountain,” Jamie said. “How can they dig through all that rock?”
“They don’t need to dig,” Lucy said, pointing at another monitor. “Look.”
Another camera faced the area of the mountain where the Rages were gathered. Scrap metal stuck out, protruding like a wound in the City.
“There’s a hole?” Jamie said.
“It was created when we were testing out new weapon technology,” Dr. Beck said. “We covered the hole as best we could. The entrance on that side of the mountain is extremely remote. We thought the Rages wouldn’t get in. We were wrong.”
“That’s how they got in before?” Donny said.
“Yes,” Dr. Beck said. “And they slaughtered everyone here because of our negligence.”
They watched the monitors closely. The Rages didn’t appear to be heading in any particular direction. Merely meandering.
“Something must have tipped them off,” Dr. Beck said.
“What?” Fatty said.
“It could be anything,” Dr. Beck said. “Or nothing. It might be the Bugs directing them for all we know.”
“Bugs. . .” Fatty said, turning pale.
“I didn’t have time to create a better defense,” Dr. Beck said. “I thought the Rages would leave the area, would find somewhere else to terrorize. But they’re still lingering around there.”
“What does it mean?” Jamie said.
“It means the Bugs might notice there’s something of interest here,” Dr. Beck said. “We’re in trouble if we don’t get them to leave. Real trouble.”
“You said they attacked before and got in,” Donny said. “How did you get them to leave?”
“Misdirection,” Dr. Beck said. “I came out of one of the other exits and set some charges about half a mile away. I set a timer so I could get back inside before they started heading toward it.”
“That drove them out?” Donny said.
“Most of them,” Dr. Beck said. “The more stubborn ones required a more. . . primitive method.”
“What do you want to do with them?” Donny said.
“One day I want to fix that hole so they can never get back in again,” Dr. Beck said. “The trouble is, it will create an awful lot of noise. I need to get them to move far enough away so I can place the charges.”
“What charges?” Donny said. “You mean, explosives?”
“That’s right,” Dr. Beck said. “If I can cause a rock slide, I might be able to get the mountain to slide down over the hole and cover it up. At the moment, it’s the City’s one Achilles’ heel.”
“When the time comes, I’ll do it,” Donny said. “I can plant them faster and outrun the Rages if they chase me.”
“Are you sure?” Dr. Beck said. “It’ll be very risky.”
“Yes,” Donny said. “Until then, we wait and pray they head away naturally by themselves.”
Please chances.
15.
THE NEXT day, the gang were back in the cinema. Jamie was filled both with excited expectation and fear. Lucy had planted a seed in him and it was beginning to take root. He wasn’t sure which emotion best suited the situation, but he had to come here, had to learn and listen to what Dr. Beck had to say.
The lights went out and the screen turned on.
“This City was not built with advanced warning of the meteorites,” Dr. Beck said. “The meteorites came suddenly, out of a beautiful day. Governments utilized the bomb shelters they’d built during the Second World War and Cold War eras. They built secret military facilities like this one all over the continental United States. Every advanced country did the same.
“The theory used to be that if aggressive nations waged war, they needed to protect their leaders. Someone always needs to lead. There were rumours of their existence, of course, but never any real evidence. It’s near impossible to hide the truth. All you can do is confuse the media outlets and sway opinion with counter theories.
“Some of the bases were even built right in the public eye. Sometimes the best places to hide were where no one expected you to build. The City we stand in now is one of the largest and greatest of all Cities. It was built to cater to thousands of scientists, to live underground in isolation for decades, entirely self-sustaining. Perfect for the work we had to do. We had one single goal. Every effort was made for the creation of a single part of a giant whole.”
“Wait,” Fatty said. “Back up. I missed a bit. What single part? What did you make?”
“For that, we take a little tour,” Dr. Beck said.
16.
JAMIE WAS a little sad to leave the cinema. He couldn’t wait to one day watch his very first movie. His father often told him the stories—as best he could remember, in any case. At times, Jamie was left scratching his head, confused by an isolated plot point that made no logical sense.
Still, he enjoyed watching his father’s performance, altering his voice and acting out the parts. He was not exactly the best actor. Occasionally, travelling entertainers came to their commune, performing the same movies, but to a much higher standard.
The older inhabitants always laughed a lot harder at the plays than the ones born in the commune. The commune always paid them a tribute with a good meal and beer. More than they could afford, really. But it was worth it to see the smiles on the commune members’ faces, for them to forget about their hostile environment for a while.
Lucy was very quiet as Dr. Beck led them through the maze-like corridors. They all were. They were still processing the information from the day before. The history lesson of where they came from, what their species had achieved in a breathtakingly short period of time.
Jamie got the feeling they had really only scratched the surface. They could have spent their entire lives studying the history of their species and still wouldn’t be any closer to understanding what it really meant to be human.
But maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the past didn’t even really matter. Maybe it was the future that was important. That was why Dr. Beck was giving them this information, wasn’t it? Hope for the future? If they were going to be wiped out anyway, why bother educating young minds?
Dr. Beck flashed his pass over a scanner. A pair of d
oors slid open. Electricity. It would take Jamie a while to get used to that.
“This is our lab,” Dr. Beck said, holding one arm out wide.
Jamie got the impression he would have held both arms out if he didn’t need to hold onto his walking stick.
“This is where the magic happens,” he said.
“I thought it was science, not magic?” Donny said.
“A figure of speech,” Dr. Beck said. “This is where we do things that no one else on Earth can.”
It didn’t look like much. Similar to the rest of the City. Infused with the same ultra-modern aesthetic. Shiny glass tables and windows looking out on a vista that. . .
Except they weren’t windows. They couldn’t be. Not when they resided inside the heart of a mountain. They showed a peaceful setting with blue skies, fluffy white clouds and birds fluttering by. Jamie tapped the screen where a few of the pixels weren’t working.
“It’s fake,” Dr. Beck said. “People felt a lot less claustrophobic after we installed these screens. Productivity and a general sense of wellbeing improved dramatically. Real windows would have been better but it might have looked a little conspicuous, windows right there in a mountainside.
“You see, we needed to hide, to keep away from what was happening outside. The Fall had taken its toll on us all. We were sad because we’d lost loved ones. The attempted eradication of your species is never likely to give you the best shot of happiness in the world. We needed to focus on the task in hand. But even that proved difficult.
“We had to put drugs in the workers’ drinks to stimulate them into a more carefree attitude, into not worrying too much about the outside world. To focus on the job. It was not a fun experience. But it needed to be done.
“Just as the Rage ranks were swelling, and the Earth was succumbing to their vice-like grip, but before the Bugs had commandeered our satellites, we held a conference between the leaders of the most developed nations in the world. We came up with a plan.
After The Fall (Book 2): The City Page 4
