Dome Nine

by John Purcell

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  As Moto and I approached the Island, Lewis was helping Luma to her feet. “You a brave young lady. You gonna be fine.”

  When she saw me, Luma came running and grabbed me in a bear hug. “Oh, Teo, you’re still here! I was afraid she’d taken you!”

  “She went home empty handed, thanks to Bim.”

  Luma released me and stepped back. Lewis was approaching, his expression troubled.

  He met my gaze. “I suppose you think I’m a coward, the way I turned tail and ran.”

  “Not at all.”

  “Well, I’m gonna set you straight anyway. It’s like this. When I seen Queen Scarlett drop from the sky, I only had two choices: make myself scarce or kill her with my bare hands. Now, number one, if I come at her, she gonna kill Luma. Can’t let that happen. Number two, I can’t kill her anyhow. Under no circumstances can I kill anybody. Don’t matter how richly they deserve it, how much better life be without ‘em. Can’t kill nobody, simple as that. So I cut out instead. You understand?”

  “You live by a code.”

  “You could put it that way, yeah. We all do.”

  “Everyone aboard the ship?”

  “Everyone Outside, man! That’s what I’m trying to tell you! We ain’t got no laws! We don’t want no laws! Long as everybody live in peace and do no harm, we don’t need no laws! You understand what I’m saying?”

  I would have liked to discuss this with Lewis at length. Luma, however, had been waiting patiently for him to finish. When he did, she grabbed my arm.

  “Come on, Teo, you have got to see this! Dogan, you too!”

  She led us across the flight deck to the spot she’d been standing when Queen Scarlett attacked. Looking over the railing, away from all the torchlight, I finally understood why she was so excited.

  The ocean was shimmering with green light, as far as the eye could see. To the east, a full moon was climbing out of the water, dusky red and three times its normal size.

  Bim appeared at my side. “I’ve always wanted to see this.”

  “The algae are producing this light?”

  “Yes. It’s unclear what purpose it serves.”

  “Why is the moon so large? It can’t be this close to the earth.”

  “It’s an illusion. The orbiting smog cloud magnifies it.”

  Luma looked peevish. “What are you two muttering about?”

  Dogan said, “Yeah, no secrets.”

  I told them what Bim had said.

  Luma turned to him. “Do the algae do this every night?”

  “No, it’s related to the phases of the moon. But it always happens when the moon is full.”

  I repeated Bim’s words.

  Luma gazed down at the water, watching the patterns shift and swirl. “It looks like they’re swimming. It must be some kind of mating dance, like fireflies.”

  Dogan said, “No way! Plants can’t move!”

  Luma gave him a withering glance. “Didn’t you notice the trees? They were practically doing a jig!”

  Lewis came up behind us. “Hey, kids! People be arriving any second. Come have a bite before it gets busy.”

  Luma jumped at the offer. “Okay, I’m starved!”

  Dogan said, “Me too!”

  I addressed them. “Why don’t you two take Moto and go with Lewis. Bim and I will catch up with you in a minute.”

  When they were out of earshot, I said, “I guess Queen Scarlett isn’t as scared of water as they say.”

  “Not necessarily. I think she made an exception in your case. She wants your TEOs very badly.”

  “She’s lost interest in Moto’s entirely.”

  “So it seems.”

  “What are the chances she’ll come back tonight?”

  “Slim. You defeated her because we're on the water. She won’t make that mistake twice.”

  “You defeated her, Bim. Where did you learn to whistle like that?”

  “I was at the library when she came by to visit her pythons. As she was leaving, she whistled that way to her gryphon. It responds to a number of commands.”

  “What can we expect from her tomorrow?”

  “She doesn’t want to sink our boat anymore and she won’t venture into Washington, DC. I don’t think we have much to worry about on our way there, aside from LobeBots. But we’ll have to be careful once we leave.”

  “Here’s a question for you: who is she?”

  “That’s a story for the boat. It’s getting late and you need to find someplace to shut down for the night.”

  “True. Let’s go talk to Lewis.”

  The time was 8:47 PM. At some point, I would have to find a way to change my shutdown time.

  We arrived back at the Island to find Luma and Dogan seated on blankets, wolfing down bowls of stew. Moto was curled up at their feet, keeping an eye on the sky. Lewis had a bowl waiting for Bim, but didn’t offer one to me.

  I followed Lewis up to the storage room again and helped him load up the crate with folding tables and blankets, on top of which we added stacks and stacks of bowls and large containers filled with spoons.

  As we were about to lower away, Lewis looked down and said, “Here they come.”

  I didn’t see a soul, but there was now a large rectangular hole in the flight deck, approximately 10 feet by 20 feet.

  Lewis followed my gaze. “Used to be a weapons elevator.”

  The elevator was making its return. I watched the passengers slowly appear, heads emerging first, then torsos, then legs, until they were level with the flight deck. Most people were dressed in robes and everybody seemed to be carrying something—baskets, books, toys—as though they planned to stay awhile.

  When I looked in the opposite direction, I saw two more weapons elevators arriving, as well, fully loaded with people. Most seemed to be grouped together as families, and rather large families, at that.

  I turned to Lewis. “Why are there so many children?”

  “They’s who we got coming out of the Domes, man. Who wouldn’t get their little ones outta there?”

  “You find new families for them here?”

  “We do our best.”

  “Is everyone on this ship Negro?”

  He gave me a look. “Negro? Negro? They still using that word in the Domes?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “’Cause it went outta style 200 years ago!”

  “What do you call yourselves now?”

  “All men are brothers, Teo. You don’t understand that, you ain’t been Outside long enough. Now let’s get that crate down.”

  By the time we’d set up the tables and laid out the bowls and spoons, it was 9:10 PM. I couldn’t afford to delay any longer. I turned to Lewis. “I have to be in bed by 9:30. Should I grab a blanket and sleep on the flight deck?”

  He grimaced. “You serious? I let you do that, what kinda host would I be? Go get your friends and follow me and I’ll show you how the sailors used to sleep!”

  Lewis took us below decks and showed us to a room no bigger than a closet. It was long and narrow, with four bunk beds on each side of its center aisle. There was only enough space on the rear wall to accommodate a single locker.

  Luma turned to Lewis. “You’re telling me eight sailors used to squeeze in here?”

  “Used to be six thousand people on this boat, filled up every nook and cranny.”

  “Do you live in a room like this?”

  “No, no, no, nothing like it. They done a lotta work down below. But sometimes we let the kids stay up here. Kinda fun, if you small enough and it ain’t every night.”

  After Lewis said goodnight, we stowed our backpacks in the locker and chose bunks. Moto decided to share one with me, curling up at my feet. The bunks were stacked so tightly that you couldn’t sit up without banging your head.
Luma said she felt like she was sleeping in a dresser drawer. But the sheets were cool and the pillows were soft. As soon as the Three crawled into bed, they discovered they were exhausted.

  Judging by their breathing, they’re all asleep now, ending the day alive and well. They could have been killed ten times over, but that doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. There’s no point in dwelling on it. We’re all Outside now, and there’s no turning back.

  Entry complete.

  Part Three: Washington, DC