by Ken Barrett
Alice found him as he sorted through the electronic equipment. “Liam, Tiger wants to show you something he found.”
He followed the girl through the hydroponic gardens to the other side of the floor. She really wasn’t a girl anymore, but a young woman instead; humans aged so quickly. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Tiger doesn’t know what they are,” she answered. “But Roxi says you might need to use them.”
Roxi turned as he entered the storage room. “It looks like they prepared for anything.” She had pried the top off an aluminum crate and was shaking her head as she looked inside. “I’ve no idea how they got these things; there are also several crates of railguns.”
Liam went to her, then stared down at a box full of Socialist Army L80 laser rifles. Their old-fashioned lithium batteries were stored alongside them. “It’s a good thing that no one upstairs knows these are here.”
He took a battery and examined it. “I could easily fit these weapons with diamond infinity batteries.”
“Why?” Rose had come into the room behind him. “Do you want to give these people guns they could kill us with?”
“These guns could kill you?” Alice asked.
“Yes. They’d disintegrate our bodies faster than they could rebuild,” Rose replied. “And we’d like to avoid that if we can.”
“Yeah,” Liam smiled. “But these wouldn’t be for them, they’d be for us.”
“What? Why?” Rose asked.
“We might need them if we’re forced outside. If we come across armed humans, they might attack us, and we’d need to defend ourselves.”
His sister sighed. “Well, I hope that’s not necessary.”
“Yeah, me too, but you know the old saying, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
Part 2: Oppression
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Isaac Asimov
Chapter 10: Adar
Liam sat hunched over his computer terminal, staring down through a viewport into a three-dimensional display. His fingers flicked keys on vertical keyboards which were mounted on either side of the portal, manipulating the complex structure of the diamond battery matrix. The pattern had taken him several days of intense processing to design, during which time he had laid silently on his cot in the level fifteen workshop, unable to move or even converse with anyone.
At 3:47 AM, the design was finally complete. He immediately began construction, but problems quickly arose due to the density of the matrix. He would need to create a new wire routing tool to finish the build.
“… long have you been sitting there?”
That was his sister’s voice. He sat back in his chair and stared blankly at the wall in front of him, still considering the production issue. The tools he was working with simply didn’t have enough resolution, something finer would be required.
“Are you even listening to me?” Rose asked again.
He turned to her and smiled vacantly. “Oh yeah, sorry. The design for our new batteries is finished, but I’m having granularity issues building them.”
“Well, ok, but you need to take a break,” she said. “I’ve been picking up your half of the workload for the last week, and it’s time you got your lazy ass out of bed and helped me.”
After shutting down most of his internal engineering tools, he smiled. “Yeah, ok Sis. I know it’s been rough for you, but I think we’ll need these new batteries sooner rather than later. The design took everything I had, and by the look of things, construction will still be a problem.”
“Do you really think they’ll throw us out?”
“Predictive analysis indicates a high probability,” he answered. “Although human behaviors are difficult to gauge, there is a 7% chance of banishment within the next two months, mostly because we will remain useful for that length of time. Beyond that, our utility drops and the prospect of expulsion rises to 82% for the following year. If we can make it through that timeslot though, people will start to accept us and our security rises accordingly.”
Rose shook her head and sighed. “You know, you really need to stop talking like an accursed computer if you want anyone to accept you.”
“My hardware simulation routines need to finish before I shut them down, otherwise I risk the loss of data.” He smiled. “All but one is complete, it’s the design for the tool to stitch the diamond matrix together.”
“How much longer will that take?”
“It just finished.” He blinked and stood up. “Let’s go to work.”
*****
At the top of the ramp, they were greeted by the constant rattle and whir of hydroponic trellises on level fourteen. They paused to listen before climbing to the lowest habitation floor. It was vital that their refuge remained undiscovered, if their workshop was found, all his work would be lost and they would be forced to live outside before they were ready. They crept upward and were relieved when nobody was there to see them. Again, they climbed another ramp and found the hallways were deserted.
Rose glanced about warily. “Ok, I’m glad no one is around, but the quiet is a little creepy.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Let’s load up a cart before we head up, that way it’ll look like we’re working.”
They filled a dolly with broken stones, then added a plaster bucket and trawl. Once sure of their disguise, they continued climbing the ramps, but at each level were greeted by silence and empty halls.
“Where is everybody?” Rose asked.
He shook his head, then stopped and listened. The faint echo of voices whispered in the distance and he heard the thump of footsteps from somewhere, perhaps two floors above them.
Rose nodded; she had heard it too. “Let’s go see what’s up.”
“It must be a meeting of some kind,” he replied.
At level eight they had to leave their cart behind and weave their way through a tightly packed crowd. What could be going on? Was it a community get together, an announcement by the commander, or perhaps a trial of some sort? He didn’t like either of the last two options because they could have dire consequences.
“The other night, while you were still out cold, Roxi stopped by and told me that the outside environment is improving,” Rose whispered, obviously thinking along the same lines. “She says it’s still raining, and the temperature has dropped so much that we might be able to live out there.”
“I wish I could have finished and installed our new batteries,” he responded. “Some enhanced L80’s would’ve been handy too.”
“Wouldn’t they at least keep us around until the major repairs are done?”
“Maybe.” He smiled. “You know, we’ve still not fixed the motors used to open the vestibule doors; without them, they can’t throw us out.”
“Huh, maybe we can hide down below,” she suggested.
“That might work for a while, especially if we made it look as if we’ve already left on our own.”
On level seven, just outside the Command Center, they stood in the shadows at the back of the gathering, hoping that if seen, they wouldn’t be recognized. Low murmurs drifted through the crowd, and beyond them, he heard highly pitched static with sketches of a voice in the background. “What’s going on?” he cautiously asked an older woman.
“Ain’t you heard?” she whispered. “They got the radio workin’ and have picked up a message from another shelter.”
“That’s good,” he answered. “We’re not the only ones left; someone else survived.”
“I suppose so,” the lady said. “It’s always a good idea to be wary of strangers though.”
“You’re right,” he replied, then followed Rose as she slipped through the congregation. Everyone they passed was listening intently, and no one took undue notice of them.
Rose suddenly stopped in a hallway just beyond the Command Center, and lightly touched his arm. “Look,” she whispered.
He followed her gaze and spotted Roxi on the opposite side of th
e wide-area between the east and west ramps. She stood beside the communication console, working to adjust the frequency such that the message would be clearer. “I see Roxi,” he said.
“No, there’s more.”
Looking again, he noticed that Tiger and Alice were standing behind their friend. The two young people were holding each other; he smiled, that was nice to see. Further back, behind some people he didn’t know, were Alice’s parents, Patrick and Kelly.
Then he finally saw what had startled his sister. Keith and Denise had their arms wrapped around each other. As Liam stared, Keith stroked Denise’s hair then leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. “Maybe we should go.” The pain within his chest was nearly unbearable; he couldn’t take it and wanted to leave.
“Can’t,” Rose replied tightly. “We need to hear what’s said.”
“Maybe they’re faking it.”
“No, they’re not.” Rose stared at the floor as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I was afraid that this would happen.”
Profound sadness felt like a weight on his chest; he was lost and horribly alone. “Yeah, you’re right I guess.”
“Are you receiving us?” a crackling voice said through the radio speakers, and the crowd cheered.
Commander Davis stepped from behind the console to address the assembly. “We have established communication with a shelter much like ours near the old town of Glenwood.” He smiled triumphantly. “We have neighbors!”
*****
“Hello?” A man’s voice cut through the static hiss. “Is anyone there?”
Their leader took the microphone and smiled as his gaze swept over the gathered crowd. “Yes. This is Commander Paul Davis at the Steamboat Shelter; can you hear me?”
“Ah! Praise to the one true God,” the man replied. “We’ve at last found others.”
“What is your status?” the commander asked.
“We are overcrowded, and our food supply is low, but we are alive, as our glorious God has willed it. His prophet lives among us.”
Liam exchanged a concerned frown with his sister, but they said nothing.
“We have ample supplies of food,” Commander Davis replied. “Is there a way we can help you?”
“Thank you for your kind offer brother, but for now God has given us whether that prevents travel. Our prophet tells us that will soon change though.” The radio went silent briefly. “Our missionaries will visit you once conditions improve.”
“Who am I speaking to?”
“My name is Ian Lessing, listed as Commander here, but I’ve ceded all authority to our prophet and savior, Adar of the Flames.”
Commander Davis frowned. “Why would you do that?”
“It was God’s will,” Commander Lessing answered humbly. “The chosen one will speak to you now, heed his words and obey.”
“Davis won’t like that,” Liam whispered, and Rose nodded.
“Hear me!” The radio voice was abruptly clear and loud. “Hear me, sinners, for I have seen the Burning Path.”
Commander Davis took a step backward, then looked at Roxi. “Turn it off. I’ll speak privately with this gentleman later.”
“No, you shall not!” The radio boomed unexpectedly.
“Was the mic on?” he asked.
Roxi shook her head. “It has to be a coincidence.”
“The Stickman sees you,” the radio answered. “All that was, is, and will be, is known to our God, and it is he who speaks through me.”
Their leader looked around nervously. “Are you positive it isn’t on?”
“Yes,” Roxi replied.
He returned to the radio and lifted the microphone. “Ok,” he said cautiously. “Who am I speaking to?”
“I am Adar of the Flames, Founder of the Burning Path.”
Commander Davis carefully placed the microphone back on the countertop, making sure that the ‘send’ button was not depressed. “Can you hear me now?”
The radio issued only static, and everyone in the Command Center breathed a sigh of relief. Adar was obviously a fanatic but didn’t have magic enough to overhear them without the radio.
“The Stickman sent the fires of heaven to wash the earth of its wickedness,” Adar abruptly spoke again.
Their leader picked up the microphone, and asked, “Who or what is the Stickman?”
“The Stickman is God’s chosen image,” Adar said. “He came to me in a vision as I lay dying under a burning sky. He lifted me, eased my pain and said, I am your path, follow me. Through his divine grace, we survived the fire of heaven, and now we must prove ourselves worthy.”
After a long pause, the radio crackled to life again. “Brothers and sisters, open your mind and hearts to me. I know that what I say is beyond your understanding, but permit me the latitude to tell you my story. You will then understand and follow the Burning Path with me.”
Roxi leaned toward the radio and frowned. “His voice is familiar.”
“Once, long ago, I fled an evil city rife with lust and immorality, tasked with the obligation to lead a band of unworthy survivors. Those memories are hazy, they are from a time nearly forgotten, before I was ready to hear and heed the voice of God.
“I led the others into the mountains away from the city of heathens, and we stood on the precipice and looked back as the hand of God descended to cleanse that vile place with fire. It was a sign, but as yet I was not ready to understand and heed it. We mourned instead, thinking only of ourselves and those we left behind. But our sorrow was the demon’s deceptive whisper, for the true God can do no evil, and his fires only purify the world and the hearts of mankind.
“We then followed an ancient path through a valley to a place called the Lowland, but it had been raised high. There we sought only safety, food to eat, and clean water to drink. But the Stickman had interceded and saved us, for he had seen that place and knew that it was wicked, and for the sake of his chosen people, he had burned it to the ground.”
Rose touched his arm. “Could he be talking about Nederland?”
Liam frowned. Nederland was a small-town west of Flatiron City, and the area the zealot described might well be Boulder Canyon. Could Adar be someone that escaped the Socialist Army’s razing of Flatiron? Was he someone they already knew?
“And so, we wandered,” Adar continued. “Lost in the wilderness, and without direction, we despaired. The unworthy among us starved or met with misfortune and died. But the Stickman, he saw us and led us onward. All this was God’s will, a test of our belief and strength. And when death’s shadow chilled us, we consumed the flesh of our fallen with his blessing. He provides, the Stickman always provides for his people.
“Many among you may ask,” the preacher whispered. “How could this be? How could his chosen people fall so low? And it was then that the Stickman first revealed himself to me in a dream.
As I huddled in the cold high mountains, shivering with hunger as the last hopes of salvation fell from my mind, I SAW HIM! The Stickman; you have all heard his name and have conceived of his visage, a man-made entirely of tree branches, born pure in form and mind, the true descendant of the unknowable. And he named me Adar, the first among all his followers that will come. For he is the one true God, and we are to banish and burn all non-believers.
“Then, still in the dream, the Stickman whispered in a sweet kind voice. You are my chosen people, and soon there will be none other on earth than you. For I have seen mankind and lamented. You worship only yourselves and what you create. But your science and technology are false prophets, they make you lazy and dull, and disguise the truth of their innate treachery. Heed only me, and I will save you. For I am sending a great FIRE that will burn all of your folly to the ground. Prepare and be ready.
“And yet, even with this divine vision, I still did not truly believe, and so, we wandered still. It was at this time that I met my one true love, my mate Todecca. For the Stickman had spoken to her as well, and set her to wander alone as we had. Her task was to find
and guide me to the truth. She was a soldier and a harlot in her past life but was saved by her dreams. She also brought weapons that we may use to defeat those who oppose God’s will. Struggles lie ahead for us, she said, but no trouble will be set before us that we cannot surmount once we have faith in the divine.
“We were directed to travel toward the setting sun. And there, after four days, we found a humble cave, and the Stickman said: Go in and take the woman I have sent you and make her your own. Stay there forty days, for I am sending a great fire to destroy the wicked and cleanse the earth of man’s folly.
“And we did as God bade,” Adar’s voice whispered from the radio speakers. “We stayed hidden and watched the wrath of heaven descend from the sky to consume the unworthy and elevate the faithful. We were burned, yes, marked by the hand of God. We suffered mightily for the sins of our fathers but were also made pure.
“And the Stickman saw his work was done, and that it was good. It was then that I and Todecca took up the Burning Path, leaving our place of providence and refuge, continuing west to follow a great river until we came upon this place at Glenwood, where we were welcomed.”
“Sam? Is that you?” Roxi spoke into the microphone.
A weighted silence followed. “Once there was a sinner named such,” Adar replied at last. “But he was taken and purified. The name you utter has no meaning now. That transgressor, adulterer, murderer, and thief, he is gone and burned to ashes.”
“But Sam, it’s me… your wife Roxanne. I didn’t know what happened to you, and I was so afraid.”
“The one you name is not here anymore,” Adar responded. “All that he was, is gone, and I stand in that sinner’s place and praise the glory of the Stickman. The universe was created by fire, it is all that we are, and what we will someday become if we are worthy.”
