by Doug Felton
“I am a university student. It took me two years to save up enough money to start. This was my first semester.” Her smile faltered.
“I’m sorry about all of this. I was hoping to meet you under very different circumstances, all of you,” Raisa said, raising her voice slightly so that those close by could hear.
“I know,” Jolene said. “A lot of people here think you’re to blame, but I know you’re not. I appreciate you coming.”
A few of the people standing around scoffed and made comments such as, “What choice did she have?” and, “A lot of good it will do us.”
Raisa didn’t respond to them. “When this is all over, do you think you’ll be able to go back to school?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I have a big target on my back now. How am I going to have a normal life?” Jolene was working hard to keep her composure. “What do you think?”
Raisa answered the question as she thought Jolene intended, as an honest query. “I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t.”
A low grumble went through the crowd.
Raisa raised her voice. “I can tell you what you want to hear, or I can tell you the truth. The truth is, what lies ahead will be difficult.”
“For us, but not for you,” a man with his arms folded said.
“What do you mean?” Raisa asked.
“Are the police going to shoot you? Are your neighbors going to beat you up?” That drew a wave of agreement from the crowd.
“I know it will be hard, but we can work things out if we work together.”
From somewhere in the mass of people, a woman cried out, “How are we supposed to trust you when you lied to us?”
Raisa began to answer, but Zeke stepped forward. “Now hold on. Queen Raisa didn’t have to come here, but she did, and we should give her the benefit of the doubt.”
The man with the folded arms said, “I’ll start a pool. We can bet on how long she stays in this oversized sardine can.”
No, no, no, Raisa thought. How could she make them understand that she hadn’t done this to them? She loved them as if they were family, but they couldn’t see beyond their anger.
“This isn’t the time,” Zeke said more sternly.
Mr. Crossed Arms didn’t respond, but he turned and walked away. Several people followed him, giving Raisa the impression that he had influence at Raven Rock. No doubt in the four days they’d been there, dozens of debates had broken out about who was to blame and what should happen next.
“Not exactly one big happy family,” Penly said.
The crowd that had gathered to see Raisa began to dissipate. Jolene gave her a tentative hug before saying, “I’m glad you came,” and walking away.
“We need to talk,” Raisa said to Zeke.
He nodded. “Come with me.”
Raisa and her team followed him to Building D, the fourth of five buildings leading off of the giant lobby. It housed the command center, which included communications, and the presidential suite. The suite’s entrance was set back in an alcove with a security station out front. The presidential seal had been removed, and the American flag replaced with the New World flag, but, other than that, it appeared unchanged. The interior wasn’t large by presidential standards, but it had four bedrooms, an office, a full kitchen, and a dining room. It wasn’t opulent or even luxurious, but it had been designed for the leader of the free world, so it had an air of importance. Raisa wondered who would lead the world, now that America was dead. She thought about the Russian czar and her need to secure a relationship with Russia.
The team stowed their gear and made their way back to the living room.
Raisa started off with a question for Zeke. “Does Tom Cruise have anyone in here?”
Zeke shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know. Why?”
“Because I’m not staying. I came because I need him to think I have complied with his demand, but I can’t stay here. And since we don’t know if he’s got anyone among the Ten Thousand, I need for everyone to think I am still here after I leave.”
Zeke leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees. “How are you going to leave without him finding out?”
“Tunnels.”
“But the only open tunnels are the two entryways off the perimeter road. He’ll see you if you use them.”
Penly said. “Thirty years ago, they supposedly closed them off the other tunnels past the sealed blast doors. They said it was a security issue. But guess what? The government lied.” She threw her hands up in a can you imagine that gesture.
“Well, that opens up all kinds of options, doesn’t it?” Zeke said, surprised by the revelation.
Raisa explained her plan. “Tonight we’ll all eat in the dining commons. I want people to see us here. Tomorrow Penly and I will leave through the tunnel connected to Camp David. Ekua, Chi, Holloway, and Elliot will stay here and circulate; to give the appearance we’re still here. We figured Cruise might have compromised our comms, so Alexander suggested specially encrypted devices to communicate once I leave. Alexander and President Tate have corresponding units.” Raisa had worked out the plan with Alexander, President Tate, and Alora privately. She hadn’t briefed her team until they were on their way. She knew the subterfuge was necessary, but secrecy took its toll. Hiding in the dark, she discovered, took way more energy than living in the light. Raisa glanced at Elliot, wondering why she was keeping her relationship with Zeke a secret. No one there would judge her, even if Zeke had shared something with her that he’d kept from the rest of them.
Zeke took a few moments, processing what he’d heard before he spoke. “I must admit, Your Majesty, I didn’t think you would abandon us here.”
“Abandon you?” Zeke’s accusation surprised Raisa. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I’m glad you’ve worked it out to take care of yourself, but what about the Ten Thousand people here whose lives will never be the same? Even if we get out of here, what are they supposed to do? No one will ever accept them for who they are. Not anymore.”
Now Raisa was mad. “I have spent the last two years worrying about the Ten Thousand, poring over their profiles, trying to get a sense of who they are, planning how we would tell them about their condition and how we would tell the public. And Cruise shot it all to hell when he decided he’d do it for me. So, I’m sorry if this isn’t going the way you’d like. Guess what, this isn’t the way I wanted it either, but we’re past that now, aren’t we? The only way to put an end to this is finding out who Tom Cruise is, and stopping him. And to do that, I need to get out of here. We can deal with everything else later.” Raisa held Zeke’s gaze without wavering.
“Everything else?” Zeke said quietly, shaking his head. “Maybe Tom Cruise has done us a favor, getting us all together. This was never going to have a storybook ending where everybody lives happily ever after; that’s a fantasy. We’re going to have to fight for what we get, and we can. The Ten Thousand will be an unstoppable force. Do you want to throw that away? We don’t have to accept what’s handed to us; we can make our own destiny. And thanks to Mr. Cruise, we’ve found each other.”
“I’m sorry,” Penly said, “what do you mean, an unstoppable force?”
Zeke looked at Elliot before continuing. “What was the biggest single accomplishment of the Pittsburgh Virus? Killing 58 million people? Destroying the American republic? Maybe. Or maybe it was creating a new race of people. People who can change the world.”
“We are not a new race,” Raisa said.
“Not yet, and not if we try to blend in, stay out of the way, and do what we’re told. But we can be. If we work together, we can dominate this continent in two hundred years. And the great thing is, we’ll all still be alive to see it.”
“How does living for a long time make us world changers?” Chi asked.
“It doesn’t,” Raisa said, eyeing Zeke. “But living for a long time with superhuman abilities might. You c
an change the Ten Thousand, can’t you? Make them stronger?”
Penly’s eyes went wide. “Wait. Are you saying we can all be like him? How’s that possible?”
Raisa ignored her. “What are you suggesting, Zeke?”
“I’m suggesting that an immortal queen is in the perfect position to make sure the Ten Thousand become something more than a weird footnote in history.”
“No. Absolutely not. These people don’t need to be more isolated. They need normal lives. As normal as possible.”
“They’re going to stand out. The only question is whether they will be freaks or gods. This isn’t a time to be timid. We need to make hard choices, and that won’t happen treating everyone—” Zeke stopped short, reconsidering his words.
Raisa shook her head at a loss for words. How long had Zeke thought this way? She was about to ask when he held his hands out in conciliation.
“I’m sorry. I guess we’re all stressed. It’s just that I’ve spent the last four days with these people, and I don’t want to see them hurt. More than that, I don’t want them to settle for less than their potential because we treated them as a problem when they’re the solution.”
Raisa took Zeke’s words as an opportunity to table the conversation. She didn’t know what to say. He had a very different vision for the future. It made Raisa wonder how realistic her own ideas were. A fantasy, he had called it. Was it a fantasy? Was it too much to ask that people who were different learn to live together? No, she decided, superheroes running the world was the fantasy. “I think you’re right,” Raisa said. “We’re all stressed. It might be good for us to take a break and pick it up later.” She had no intention of picking it up later. She didn’t need Zeke to further complicate an already complicated situation with his delusional ideas. Raisa needed to concentrate on the plan they had in place. That meant getting ready to leave in the morning.
Chapter Fourteen
November 2078 – Fourteen Months Earlier
Whoever said money couldn’t buy happiness might have been right, but it could most definitely buy power, and power was what Zeke wanted. Performing in front of thousands of adoring fans wasn’t enough anymore. Deep down, he knew it never had been, but it wasn’t until he discovered who he was months earlier that he’d understood why. Fame and fortune could only take him so far, but it couldn’t fill the hole in his life. Zeke could see it now; being a superstar was never his final destination, but it had made the next step possible. When he combined the fortune he made as an entertainer with the fortune left to him in his mother’s will, Zeke had enough to launch himself into something life-changing.
But first, he had to figure out what these damn headaches were about. Doctors hadn’t done house calls for more than a century, but if you had money, as did Zeke, you could afford special treatment. Consequently, a doctor waited for him in his office.
“So, give it to me straight, doc,” Zeke said as he entered the office. “Don’t hold back.” A week earlier, he’d had a scan; today, he’d get the results.
The doctor stood as Zeke entered and then sat again. “I’m afraid I have mixed news.” He had a tablet in his hand that he handed to Zeke. On it was an image from his brain scan. “This is a picture of your brain from the top. Do you see that white line near the front?”
“Yeah.” Zeke leaned back in his chair, examining the picture. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” the doctor said. “It’s not a tumor or anything organic as far as I can tell. If it were a tumor, it would be round, but it’s a long thin, straight line.”
Zeke studied the scan. The object was on the left side of his head and protruded into the center of his brain. Zeke reached up and touched the spot where he had injured his head in the accident months earlier.
“Did you have any brain scans after your fall?” the doctor asked.
“No,” Zeke said. “It turned out not to be that serious.” Few people knew the truth about Zeke’s accident and his miraculous recovery. Everyone else, like the doctor, got the standard lie.
“Well, something has penetrated your skull and lodged itself in your brain. It’s rare, but not unheard of that that can happen without the patient knowing. Were you ever injured as a child?”
“No,” Zeke said, thinking about his accident. When he fell, something must have pierced the side of his head. He had healed quickly, so the doctor never investigated the wound. But why was it still there? Why couldn’t his body deal with it? “Can you remove it?” he asked.
“Not without risks, but, yes, I think so.” The doctor waited a moment before continuing. “You said these headaches started recently, so my guess is that something happened when you had your accident in July, even though it didn’t appear to be serious at the time. Have you noticed anything else since then, such as behavioral changes?”
Zeke had noticed changes, like his experience in the alley in Richmond and other less dramatic events, but he wasn’t about to tell the doctor. “What do you have in mind?”
The doctor reached across the desk and pointed to the part of the brain with the object in it. “The frontal lobe, in particular the orbital and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, control moral behavior. According to these scans, that’s the part of your brain the object damaged. So it’s not unreasonable to think you may have noticed some . . . different moral impulses.”
“Well, that’s not good,” Zeke said with a smile. “Hypothetically, if that were the case, what could we do about it?”
“If we remove the object, then perhaps we can use nanotherapy to treat the injured part of your brain, but there’s no guarantee. Frankly, I am not sure how you have managed so well, given your condition.”
“But clearly I have,” Zeke said. Standing, he added, “I appreciate your time.”
“But we haven’t determined a treatment plan.”
“Maybe on a follow-up visit,” Zeke said. There would be no follow-up visit. He had thought through his options and made a decision. Zeke didn’t want to return to his former life. If he could sum up his new condition in one word, it would be freedom. Without the constraint of moral boundaries, nothing stood between Zeke and his dream. “Doctor, I would like it if my scans were in my sole possession. In my position, I really can’t take the chance that someone might leak these. You understand.”
“Yes, I suppose so. It is not standard practice, but I can send the scans to you and delete the copies I have.”
Zeke flashed his signature smile. “That would be wonderful. Can you do that now?”
The doctor looked confused, and Zeke didn’t blame him. Zeke had no plans for a follow-up visit, and he needed any evidence of his brain injury erased.
“I can use my tablet to do it now if it’s that important to you.”
“It is,” Zeke said. “Thank you.” He waited for the doctor to finish the transfer. When he had, there was only one loose end left. Zeke motioned toward the door, and when the doctor turned to go, Zeke grabbed his head and twisted in one sharp move. The doctor fell to the floor.
Zeke sighed. “You’re too impetuous,” he told himself, looking down at the lifeless body. If he had given it a minute’s thought, he would have devised a less problematic way of disposing of the doctor. He was normally meticulous in his planning. Maybe a world full of new possibilities had distracted him. He had recently realized that there must be more people like him and Queen Raisa in the New World, maybe a lot more. If that were true, a leader with vision could guide them to reach their potential. Zeke would be that leader, but not if some doctor was telling everyone that Zeke had brain damage. The only way to shut him up was to kill him, but now he had a body in his study.
Zeke ran his hand through his spiky blond hair and decided that he couldn’t take care of this by himself; he would have to tell someone on his staff what had happened. That was a good thing, he decided. It was time for him to form an inner circle, people who knew the truth and could help him make his dream a reality. With any luck, eventually, he’d f
ind other immortals to join his crusade.
Chapter Fifteen
Present Day, March 2080
After meeting with Zeke, Raisa made her way to the dining commons, where her presence caused a stir. Even at normal capacity, residents of Raven Rock had to eat in shifts. The current overcrowding made this more necessary. The staff that kept the facility functioning adjusted to the needs of the new residents and provide essential services, including three meals a day. The barbershop and racquetball courts weren’t staffed. The drug store was, although sickness wasn’t an issue among the Ten Thousand, and hair growth was. Walking into the large room filled with people eating off of plastic trays, Raisa almost felt as if she were back at basic training.
The noisy room grew quiet as she and her entourage of five ladies entered for dinner. They went through the serving line, watched by hundreds of pairs of eyes. Raisa spotted Jolene at a table and headed in her direction. As she sat, the low rumble of chatter slowly picked up again.
“Nothing like making an entrance, Your Majesty,” Jolene said with a wide grin.
“Do me a favor, while I’m here call me Raisa.”
Jolene looked almost giddy at the thought.
“So, what’s it like in here?” Raisa asked.
“Crowded, obviously,” Jolene said. “People are scared, and a lot of them are angry. Zeke’s been trying to help us make sense of it and plan for the future.” She pointed to a video monitor on the wall used for closed-circuit broadcast. They were hung throughout the facility. “He uses that if he wants to talk to us.”
“What’s he saying?” Raisa asked.
“We need to stick together, mostly. He’s afraid if we don’t, we’ll be more vulnerable. He even talked about creating a colony for the Ten Thousand, so we can live together. Sounds like something he’s thought a lot about.”
“What do people here want?”
“Some people are talking about organizing, but like I told you, I want to go home, go back to school. I don’t know if I can now. People out there are scared of us, and some of them hate us. I wouldn’t feel safe. I mean, our immortality is conditional, right?” She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m even saying this.”
