by Jim Miesner
John led her to the tent and she saw how simple these people lived. Except for a few woven baskets and some bedding there was nothing inside, the sparseness reminded her of Dr. Tesla’s apartment. She stood in the entrance and swatted at flies as they buzzed around her face. Finally John shoved her in. Sam fell to her hands and knees and John grunted a small laugh as he whipped the tent flap closed.
"I think you got something on your face," a voice said.
Sam turned to see Jenny standing there with a smile and pointing at her nose. She bent down and helped Sam to her feet.
“Do I? It’s a little stuffy.” She shook her head as the fabric dangled out over her upper lip.
“Are you okay?” Jenny asked. The worry evident in her voice.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not throwing up?”
“Nope.”
She didn’t need to mention the headaches or what felt like a balloon expanding in her gut. If she didn’t mention it, it wasn’t a lie.
“You feel hot,” Jenny said as she touched Sam’s head.
“We’re in the desert.”
“Still."
Sam waved her off. “I’m sorry they took the medicine, Jenny. You shouldn’t have done that.”
Jenny smiled and lifted her shirt to reveal a satchel tied to her side. She unbuttoned it to show an assortment of injectors inside it along with the portable med-tech.
“You didn’t give them everything?”
“No. Hardly.”
Sam couldn’t help but pull Jenny in and squeeze her as her body stiffened in surprise.
“What are you doing?” Jenny asked.
Sam looked at the door of the tent as John stood at the entrance. “We have to go. They are taking us back,” she whispered.
“What? Why?”
Sam put her finger to her mouth. “They are afraid the Covenant will catch us with them. Afraid they will retaliate for helping us.”
“Can’t they just let us go? How will the Covenant ever know?”
“Those were my thoughts, too. Whatever, it doesn't matter. We have to get out of here.”
Sam looked around the tent again for something to cut a hole. Next to Jenny was a rusted canteen and a basket. She pulled open the basket and found brown, wrinkled fruit inside, but nothing sharp. She tossed the fruit toward Jenny.
“Grab the canteen and stuff your pockets with as many of these as you can carry.”
Then she rifled through Jenny’s satchel until she found two white tubes. They were the only ones in the pack, so she hoped it would be enough.
“What are you doing?” Jenny asked.
Sam looked to the front of the tent where John stood and then back to Jenny. “Getting us out of here.”
Jenny grabbed the rusted canteen and chugged half of it down without stopping to take a breath. Some of it dribbled over her cracked lips and red cheeks before she held it out for Sam.
Sam waved it off. “I’m fine.” Then tapped her stomach. “Water reclaimer. Cleans and recycles all that I need.”
“But we’re in the desert, you’re sweating.”
“I’m fine.”
“They brought two of them here?” she heard a woman yell outside.
Before she knew it, a figure rushed through the flap and had a hold of Sam’s wrist. Sam still held the injectors in her hand as the woman stared her in the eyes. She squeezed her wrist tighter before her head snapped toward Jenny and she pushed Sam to the ground. As she fell, Sam knocked over the basket, causing the dates to roll everywhere. The woman dropped to the ground and began scooping up the dates.
“Why are you here?” asked the woman.
“Marlena, Emmanuel is dealing with them,” John said as he pushed his huge head through the flap, but didn’t dare to step inside.
Either she didn’t hear him or pretended not to.
“I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to take your food. Jenny was hungry," Sam said.
Marlena’s eyes flicked to Jenny. “Don’t play games with me.”
“No. She's hungry. She isn’t… she hasn’t had the Sacrament yet. She still needs food.”
Marlena bent down and lifted Jenny’s shirt to see her navel. Then sighed, picked up four of the dried fruits, wiped them off and handed them to her.
“Thank you,” said Jenny.
“That’s all we can spare right now,” she said and picked up the rest of the fruit and put them into a satchel on her side.
“This is more than enough.”
Marlena nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“Thank you,” Sam said and smiled.
Marlena brushed past her in silence like she wasn’t even there and knocked Sam’s shoulder as she passed back out the flap of the tent, taking the satchel of fruit with her. She stopped toe to toe with the giant as she began to discuss something with him in a harsh whisper.
“I don’t think she likes you,” Jenny said.
Sam shrugged her shoulders. The feeling was mutual. She couldn’t wait to get out of here. Even with her nostrils wadded with the cloth, she could feel the dung and body odor permeating her soul. She was floating on the edge of a wave of nausea and she wondered how long until she was crippled. What use would she be to Jenny then? If she was going to be any help to her, they needed to get away from this hole as soon as possible.
“Are you from the other place?” a voice asked.
She looked down to see a boy of about six standing just inside the tent. Where had he come from? Tucked under his arm was a book with an image of a large anthropomorphic cat wearing a tall striped red and white hat on it.
“Yes. I am,” she said.
He looked at Sam with his mouth agape and he had the same wonder in his eyes that the boy had in the zoo. The one who had, in a way, started all of this.
“What’s it like?” he asked.
“Don’t talk to her,” Marlena said as she stormed back into the tent and pushed herself in front of him.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because I said so. That’s why.”
“She’s okay,” Jenny said. “Miss. Samantha helped me escape. She’s taking me home.” She looked at Sam. “She promised.”
“I don’t care if she knows where the Garden of Eden is. She shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t belong. You know what they’ll do if they find her here?”
“Emmanuel is dealing with it,” John said again.
Marlena spun around. “Keep your mouth shut, John. It’s your fault they’re here.”
She looked at Sam and then back at John before she stuck a finger in his face.
“If you or any of your friends bring one of them here again, you can take your chances out in the desert on your own. Understand?”
He nodded his head. For a moment Sam almost felt bad for him before Marlena grabbed the boy by the hand and pulled him out of the tent.
“Where are we going?” the boy asked.
“To take care of this mess,” she said and pointed at Sam, then looked up at John. “Where’s Emmanuel?”
“He’s in the big tent.”
She disappeared with the boy and Jenny bit into the dried fruit and then took another swig of water from the canteen. “Yep, definitely doesn't like you,” she said in between bites.
“Shhhh,” Sam said and put her finger to her mouth. She looked back to the opening of the tent to see John hadn’t moved. “Call him in.”
“What?”
“Call him in. Pretend you’re sick.”
Jenny shrugged her shoulders and then put her hands on her stomach as she squeezed her eyes shut. “Ow. My stomach. It hurts, it hurts so much. Ow, ow, ow, ow.”
Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. “Really?”
John stuck his head through the flap. “Stay here,” he said. “Keep hidden. I’ll be right back.” Then he was gone.
They both stared at the open tent before looking at each other and then back to the open flap as it fluttered in the breeze.
“That was ea
sy,” Jenny said.
Sam's jaw hung open in amazement before they realized the roar from the crowd was gone, the only sound was the animals. They pushed the flap aside to see people frozen in place with their faces all turned in the same direction. Not far away a large triangular ship was making its way toward them. Somehow, they had found them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two men were the first to jog down the ramp and take a position at each side of it. They wore bio-suits unlike anything Sam had ever seen before. What looked like black armor covered them from head to toe, mirrored helmets hid their faces and they each held a wand. The wands were exactly like the ones she had seen the guards with back home except these were red. Jenny grabbed Sam's shirt at the sight of them. A single bald man in a simple brown and white uniform followed behind. It was so quiet now she could hear his footsteps as they clinked down the metal ramp. Sam almost didn’t recognize him without his long white councilman’s robe. He stopped about three quarters of the way down the ramp and looked around at the crowd.
“I’m looking for a young woman and a girl,” he shouted.
The only sound that answered him back was the baaing from sheep and the clucking of chickens.
“Who’s in charge here?” he asked again.
The throngs looked around at each other and murmured but no one came forward.
“I am council member Card of the New Covenant. We are searching for a pair of criminals that recently escaped. They may also need medical attention.”
The clip clop of hooves on the ramp directed his attention to a small black goat. It twisted its head up at him and baaed. He looked down his nose at the creature. It reached out for his hand and he jerked it away just before a small boy ran up and pulled the goat by a rope back into the crowd. Card wrinkled his nose as he looked back out on the crowd.
“It is very important we find these two, both for their safety and for yours.”
Somewhere a child cried, and he cocked his head toward the sound.
“We haven’t seen any Coven,” said a voice in the crowd. It was Emmanuel. He pushed his way through as the throng parted.
“Can you speak for everyone?” Card asked.
“We should go now,” Jenny whispered.
“They’ll see us if we do,” Sam said.
Card touched something on his arm, then held out his palm as a large holographic projection of Sam and Jenny’s faces appeared in the air a few inches above his hand. He waved it right to left, making sure everyone had a good look at it.
“There is a reward for anyone that gives us information,” he shouted. “Full citizenship for you and your family into the Covenant.”
He looked around at the crowd. Sam was sure enough of them had seen her. All it took was one finger pointed in their direction, one person out of the hundred or so to raise their voice, but it was dead silent. Emmanuel looked back at the crowd too before he walked closer to the hologram.
“Are they that blue?” Emmanuel asked. Some in the crowd laughed as he got closer to the hologram and turned his head while he inspected it. “No. Like I said, we haven’t seen them.”
Card brought his arm down to his side and the projection disappeared. He walked closer to Emmanuel, just inches from his face. “It is very important we find them, both for their safety and yours.”
Emmanuel nodded. “I heard you the first time. Why are you looking for them? What did they do?”
“That’s not your concern.”
Emmanuel shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just trying to figure out where they might be headed. It could make a difference if you shared more info.”
Card sneered and looked past Emmanuel into the crowd of dirty and ragged faces. For a moment Sam was sure he stared past them all, right into the two-inch gap her and Jenny peeked out of. His eyes seemed to fix there, Sam unconsciously pulled it closed tighter before he looked back to Emmanuel.
“You understand the conditions of the truce, the consequences of lying to a council member and the punishment that entails?”
Emmanuel nodded. “Yes. I do. I would never lie to a council member.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I had a look around?”
Card walked up to the front of the crowd and then stopped short in front of a large old woman who blocked his way. He shifted to the side of her but was blocked by an elderly shirtless man with twig arms. Flies buzzed around his head and Card’s face flushed with disgust before he turned back to Emmanuel.
“Command them to move,” Card squeaked.
“They aren’t mine to command. This is a weekly farmers market, not a regime.”
Card grumbled something under his breath and shook his head.
“I thought I would give you the respect of doing this in a civil fashion,” he said.
He snapped his fingers in the air and several drones about the size of a fist flew out the opening of the ship and hovered over the crowd. There had to have been at least a dozen. They scattered over the crowd, emitting red lasers, flying like angry bees and buzzing heads as people ducked out of the way.
“What are you doing?” Emmanuel asked.
“Facial recognition.”
“Why? I told you they’re not here.”
Card smiled. “Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”
A drone buzzed the crowd and a thin man swatted it away with his arm. The drone jerked backward before shooting two white darts into his neck and he collapsed to the ground. Some began to scatter as the drones began to shoot any that ran with white darts as well. Some took three or four hits before their bodies tumbled to the ground.
“Stop it,” Emmanuel yelled.
Then Sam heard the buzz before she saw the silhouette of the drone hovering outside the tent. Without warning, she pushed Jenny to the ground and then put a finger to her lips and pointed up. They both watched its beam flicker on the canvas wall as it jutted back and forth. It was like it was stuck in a pattern, unable to find the opening.
“Stop this!”
“Tell us where they are.”
“I know,” Marlena shouted.
Sam could hear the drones’ frantic flight slow and the panicked crowd’s screams abate as Marlena spoke. "You’re right, some of our people came across them this morning."
The red beam from the drone continued to jut back and forth, back and forth and then it stopped and turned. Its beam focused on the thin slit that was the opening. Sam grabbed some wool bedding and threw it over herself and Jenny.
“Lay flat,” she whispered.
Jenny complied as they heard the buzz from the drone enter the tent.
“Smart woman,” Card said. “Where is she?”
“I heard a small group who passed through here a little over an hour ago talk about seeing the two you describe. They found them near a ship close to your city. I heard them say they were injured but refused to go back. They took them toward the lake so they would survive. They shouldn’t be hard to track down.”
“Where are these people that saw them?”
Jenny and Sam held their breath as they heard the drone buzz around the tent. Then they saw the red beam flicker through the thin bedding that covered them.
“They left. Not too long ago. There were five of them on buggies. They were heading back to the lake. They shouldn’t be hard to find.”
The beam continued to flick back and forth as they held their breath and laid perfectly still. It had to have noticed something was different but couldn’t get a read, otherwise it would have moved on by now.
“I hope for your sake this isn’t a lie. If it is, you know the consequences.”
Card snapped his fingers, the beam disappeared, and they heard the buzz recede from the tent. They laid there for several seconds before they took another breath and pulled the blankets off them. Sam peeked back through the flap of the tent as several drones disappeared back inside the ship.
Card looked from Marlena to Emmanuel and then back at the tent Sam and Jenny peered f
rom. His gaze hovered there again as he swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His posture was still at attention, he kept up the show but Sam knew what he must have been thinking. He found this place just as horrible and filthy as she did and he didn’t want to be here a second longer. He welcomed the excuse to leave. He paced as he looked into the faces of each person standing at the front.
“If anyone else has any other information about the whereabouts of the fugitives, now is the time to speak. If they are not found, we will return with more men and weapons. If it is discovered that you have lied…” He walked until he came to Marlena again. “The consequences will be severe.”
He squinted as he stared at the crowd before he spun on his feet and marched back to the ship. He hit a button on his arm and a translucent bio-suit appeared all around his body, identical to Sam’s.
The guards followed him as they walked backward into the ship with their hands still on their weapons. A moment later the hatch to the ship closed back up, and it lifted off. A strong gust tumbled the hair of the crowd and shook the tents as it raised into the air. Sam lost grip on the flap and for a few seconds both her and Jenny were completely exposed. All they had to do was look down to see them, but the ship didn’t stop. It moved farther and farther away as it headed south-east. People murmured again until Emmanuel whistled and everyone looked at him.
“Please conduct whatever business you have to do within the next five minutes, after that time the market will close early. It is in your best interest for all of you to leave as soon as possible.”
Men and women rushed along back to their different booths and stands as voices rose again. Some rushed through the market and piled baskets full of carrots, potatoes, and legumes onto carts. Some took down tents, while others simply got onto horses and into dune buggies, leaving empty handed.
Sam watched them until the flap was ripped from her hands and Marlena pushed her way back past her. She gathered up things and stuffed them into an empty basket.
“Thank you,” Sam said. “For not telling them where we were.”
Marlena scowled at her. “You’re not that important.”
“What?”
“If it was up to me, I would have let them have you in a second, but I will not let them take another child.”