by Alice Sabo
“Could be anything. A fight, a fall...” Wisp had a sense that the injury came from another person. It might be a fight, but as he parsed the sensations, he thought it might be torture.
“Will he be all right?” Ted asked.
“I don’t know.”
Chapter 46
“Pressgangs came on the scene as the few remaining facilities lost workers in catastrophic numbers. It was loosely handled with a blind eye to the consequences.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
NICK STRAINED HIS EYES in the gloom to see who was coming. A faint light preceded the figure. As he got closer, Nick could make out a slender man with tousled blonde hair carrying a battery powered lantern. He looked innocuous, but Nick kept alert.
“I’ve come to see to your injuries,” the man said in a weary voice. He put down the lantern as if it weighed a ton, then dug through a big satchel that was slung over one shoulder, finally pulling out a set of keys. “There are guards at the end of the hallway. I won’t stop you, but they will.”
Nick thought that was an odd statement and made a closer inspection of the man. His tousled hair looked more unkempt. Nick couldn’t tell what color his eyes were because he kept them averted. With a grunt, he managed to get the door open. He took a step back, flinching, as if expecting a blow. Nick stayed put, leaning against the bars. “I won’t hurt you.”
The man lifted his head casting a sideways look at Nick before exposing his tattoo to the light. The biobot waited for a reaction. Nick was torn. He told Washburn he hated biobots and should react accordingly, but he didn’t want to hurt this one. “What’s your name?”
“I am called James.”
Nick noted the phrasing. It had been the same with Wisp. “I’m Nick.” He looked at the tattoo on James’s neck. The sequence of numbers seemed familiar. “Are you−“
James abruptly raised a hand to stop him. “I can’t tell anyone what I do not know.”
Another odd statement, but Nick understood what he was trying to say. Anything he said to James would go right to Washburn. Any question he asked would go to Washburn, too. He needed to be very careful about his interaction with James.
“I told Washburn that I hated biobots,” Nick said in a purposefully gentle voice.
“Understood.”
While the biobot unpacked his medical supplies, Nick memorized his designation. Maybe Wisp would know who he was.
Chapter 47
“If the refugees don’t find homes, they either die or join with a group of raiders.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
TILLY MADE HER ROUNDS feeling like she was running late on everything. Lily found her in the Wardrobe inspecting Claude’s prototype for a quilted jacket, to tell her that Bruno was waiting in her office. She returned to the kitchens and dashed down the back hallway.
“Sorry,” she said bursting into the office.
Bruno was sitting comfortably in her meeting circle with the request lists in his lap. “I didn’t mean to pull you from something more important.”
Tilly slumped into a chair. “Problems?”
“The neighborhood I went into today has been recently looted.”
“Looted?” The word conjured up visions of the riots in Zero Year, snatches of grim news reports replayed in her head. Cities had exploded, much needed goods had been destroyed as rioters fought over them. Food had been strewn through the streets, crushed underfoot, tossed aside when weapons came out.
“Doors ripped off, furniture smashed, glass broken,” Bruno said, echoing her memories. “I didn’t like the feel of it. The damage was recent. Muddy footprints on the carpets.”
“Raiders?” Tilly asked uneasily. “Maybe you shouldn’t go alone.”
Bruno shrugged his heavy shoulders. “I had Toad with me. We could have handled it.”
Tilly hid her surprise, glad that Bruno and Toad had each found a companion. Two wounded people, they might not speak a word all day. She gestured for Bruno to go on, thinking that the two of them made a formidable team.
“There were useful things in those houses that someone might have needed. Instead they were ruined. This is worse than raiders. This was done by people who just want to destroy.”
“People?” she asked.
“The footprints were different sizes.”
“Did you tell Martin?”
“You think he doesn’t know?”
Tilly rubbed her eyes aware of the ache behind them. “Creamery was attacked. There are raiders in the area, but I didn’t think they were that close.”
Bruno lurched to his feet. “I’ll find him now and let him know what I’ve seen.”
As Bruno left, Drew from the Greeting Committee leaned in from the hallway. “Tilly we’ve got more refugees.”
“Angus told me. Are they all still with Lottie?”
“No, these have just arrived, and they’re in bad shape.”
Tilly followed Drew down the hall to the cafeteria where a raggedy group of people huddled over soup bowls. She made a note on her ever-present notepad to have a larger pot of soup on the back burner. They were going through more than she’d expected.
Drew put a hand on her arm to stop her on the threshold. He spoke in a whisper. “Three men, four women. Malnourished. They’ve all got infected feet from walking, so they must’ve come a distance. Skinned knees and hands from falling. They won’t say were they came from.”
“Ages?” Tilly asked. She couldn’t tell much about the hunched figures at the table other than the fact that they were too thin and filthy dirty.
“Varies. Thirties and forties maybe.”
“Other than scrapes and blisters anything serious?”
“Not sure. They’re pretty spooked. I said a doctor would check them out, but they all said they didn’t need anything.”
“I wish we knew where they were coming in from. We could send some men out to collect them.”
“I think they’re coming from all over, Tilly. And a van full of armed men would send them into cover.”
“Yes, of course.”
“You can’t organize the arrival of refugees,” Drew said with a pat on her shoulder. “Are we going to put this lot in the gym with the rest?”
“Is there enough room?”
“If we move Ted’s kids into a small classroom by themselves, that should give us plenty.”
“Do it,” Tilly said. She hated the fact that they needed to watch the newcomers, especially people who had been through so much. But anyone of them could snap without warning, grab a weapon. That could not be allowed.
Drew left her in the hallway as he went to round up the refugees to take them to the showers. Tilly thought of fleas and lice, and the fact that they didn’t have any pesticides. People living rough could bring all sorts of nasty things into her nice clean settlement. She pulled out her notepad to make yet another list.
The clatter of running feet drew her attention. Willboy came speeding down the hall toward her. She braced herself. “What’s wrong?”
“Angus says come quick. Glen woke up.” He spun to race back to the infirmary, but slowed his stride to match Tilly’s.
She walked as fast as she could manage. They’d been waiting and hoping for this since Nick and Wisp had brought the man back from Barberry Cove. Ruth said his chances were low because of the rudimentary medicines available, and his injury had gone so long without care. A gunshot wound to the stomach was chancy even with the best of care. Part of her was pleased to see Ruth proved wrong.
“Who is he?” Willboy asked. “Does he have trouble waking up?”
Tilly chuckled at the youngster’s misunderstanding. “He wasn’t sleeping. Glen was hurt. He’s been unconscious.” All of Ted’s kids had turned out to be reliable workers. Willboy liked running errands. Sooty helped in the infirmary. Missy had settled in to sewing with Claude. Tilly had mixed feelings about putting children to work, but she couldn’t deny that they needed willing hands.
“Oh. That’s bad, right?”
“Yes, it’s bad. We’ve been hoping he would wake up so he could tell us what happened.”
“So that’s why it’s important.” Willboy bobbed his head as if finally getting the point.
She saw Martin and Angus talking with Ruth. Tilly joined them, more than a little out of breath. “What news?”
Martin gave her a sour look. Angus wagged his head in a negative. “Not much, my dear. Men with guns arrived. A few of them argued. Glen got shot which ended the argument. That’s all he remembers.”
“Is he awake?” she asked.
“Ruth went to get his children. He won’t say more until he’s seen them.”
“Of course.” Tilly could understand that. “So it looks like Nick was right.”
Angus gave her a sharp look of irritation. “Not necessarily. He might have more to give us after he’s woken up a bit.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You just don’t like to be proven wrong.”
Martin cleared his throat noisily. “I’ll stay with him. See what else he can give us.” He winked at Tilly before leaving.
She noticed Willboy watching them. “Stay with Martin in case he needs you,” she said shooing him along.
“They are very helpful,” Angus said, looking after the youngster. “I had my doubts, but I’ve had very good reports on all of them.”
Tilly gave Angus a look to let him know she knew he was changing the subject. “Yes, I have too. But these kids didn’t grow up in our world. They don’t know that they should be playing with toys and going to birthday parties.”
Angus’s blue eyes dimmed with sadness. “I’m sorry to say that we are lucky they didn’t. We need them to be responsible and reliable as soon as possible.”
“It’s unfair,” Tilly said, knowing she couldn’t change the situation.
“We won’t survive without their help.”
Chapter 48
“We cannot survive in isolation. Keeping our small community safe relies on having adequate food, medicine and weapons. Regardless of the size or diversity of a settlement, we cannot produce all that we need by ourselves.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
TED LINGERED IN THE kitchen pantry stunned by the possibilities. Trey’s farm not only had a lot of food, it had stuff Ted hadn’t seen in years. He forced himself to get back to preparing the evening meal. “Nixie!” He tugged on her arm. She ogled the endless variety of food in jars and tins and boxes.
“How come they have so much?” she groused.
“Because they worked hard and grew it themselves.”
Nixie trailed after him to the big table in the center of the enormous kitchen. She added a few items to what Ted had pulled out for dinner. “I don’t want to grow food,” she grumbled.
“Then you need to figure out what the growers need and barter for it.” Ted could feel that they were approaching the right space for him to broach a delicate subject. The rest of the crew were out helping Trey with whatever he needed to catch up with. Hopefully, they would be alone for awhile yet.
“What about you? Do you want to grow food?” she asked, hands on hips, scowling at the laden table.
“No. I want to look for the children.”
“How does that get you food like this,” she asked with a wave toward the pantry.
“I don’t know. Maybe parents would donate. Or maybe Angus and Tilly would consider that adequate work for compensation.”
“You want to keep walking and eating Stew-goo.” Her tone was condemning.
“I’ll take Stew-goo if that’s all there is,” Ted admitted. A pregnant silence fell on them. He knew the question that needed to be asked, but still hesitated. Nixie worked beside him with intermittent sighs. Worried that they wouldn’t have much more time on their own, he spoke. “Why don’t you want to go back to your parents?”
Nixie went to the long sink to wash her hands. Ted watched her back trying to judge if he’d overstepped his bounds somehow. She shut the tap with a slap.
“I’m not who I was,” she hissed.
“Nor are they, I’d imagine,” Ted responded to her anger with calm. Her look of surprise told him she expected something else.
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“This is what I think happened.” Ted pulled out one of the ladder-back chairs and sat down. He gestured for Nixie to do the same. “Your family was attacked on the road by raiders. You were taken. I heard a few people were killed.”
Nixie turned her head away as if unable to listen.
“Rosa and Istvan were left there mourning the dead and the missing. She said they stayed there. Buried their dead. Maybe they had to make some repairs. They’d lost all their food and supplies, so they’d have to forage for replacements. They canceled the rest of their trip and stayed there to look for you. So I guess that means they couldn’t barter much. I don’t know if that meant a hard winter for them.” Ted waited a moment to let those points soak in. “And they never stopped looking for you.”
The heavy silence returned. Ted wanted her to say something. She jumped up from the chair. He worried that she would walk away and almost reached out to stop her. But she turned, and to his astonishment pulled up her shirt to expose her navel. Which was when he realized she didn’t have one. Instead she had a number tattooed across her abdomen. “I’m a biobot,” she said in a shaky voice.
Ted pointed to his own tattoo. “Me, too.”
“I was made for them. To look like a daughter they’d lost. They were important people before Zero Year.” Nixie covered her damaged face with trembling hands. “I don’t look like her anymore.”
“You think that makes them not love you?”
“Why would they?”
The scene in the cafeteria at High Meadow replayed in Ted’s head. The grief in Rosa’s face, the obdurate persistence in Istvan’s, told him that Nixie was loved as a daughter. But he couldn’t prove that and nothing her parents said would convince her. They needed a disinterested party. In an instant he realized the solution. “Ask Wisp.”
“What?”
“Ask him what Istvan thinks of you. He wouldn’t lie.”
Fear mingled with relief in her eyes. “Do you think he would tell me?”
“Istvan says that he loves you. You don’t believe him. Wisp knows the truth. And he doesn’t benefit either way.”
“Maybe.” Nixie grabbed a mixing bowl off the drain board. “But right now we’d better get dinner going.
Ted felt the lighter atmosphere. He’d made a positive change to her mood and that cheered him considerably.
Chapter 49
“Strength of arms is the only protection for the weak. We must recreate the ancient city-state in which to keep our citizenry safe. To do so required more food, manpower and forethought than anyone had.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
NICK KNEW THAT THIS was the best time to make an attempt but worried that James would be punished. He thought through a number of scenarios while the biobot repaired the cut over his eye and split lip.
“No windows down here,” Nick said casually. “I can’t tell if it’s day or night.”
“Dusk,” James replied. “It is that time of day when the light fades and the shifts change.”
Nick avoided eye contact. He understood what the biobot was telling him and didn’t want to panic him. “You must have it easy here since the soldiers have such a cushy posting.”
“I go wherever my services are required. The cells if someone is hurt, the old laundry which is down the hall to the right three doors, or out in the yard behind the laundry. Accidents can happen anywhere.” James continued his work patiently as if he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary.
“Yes. That’s very true,” Nick mumbled. He needed a little more information. Was the yard behind the laundry inside or outside of the perimeter wall? “This place seems pretty old. Was it some kind of castle?”
“An old mansion, I was told. The family that lived here tried to fortify it in Zero Year. It had been abandoned when Washburn moved in. He’s made many improvements over the years.”
“It looks formidable.”
“Yes. It presents a solid front. This basement extends under the original building which is much older and has a number of out buildings down the backside of the hill toward the river.” James dug into his satchel again, pulling out a few more supplies. He gave Nick a careful look. “I will be required to report back on my actions. Therefore it is imperative that you comprehend what I am about to do.”
Nick nodded his understanding.
After laying a towel on the dirt floor, James placed each item with an explanation. “This is a jar of antibiotic salve. These are bandages to keep the wound protected. This is a syringe of painkiller that will render you unconscious.” He laid them out one by one followed by his ring of keys.
Nick grabbed the syringe and injected James. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “And thanks. I’ll tell your brothers where you are.”
A flicker of surprise lit James’s eyes before his face went slack. Nick took the keys and dashed over to release Nadine. He put a finger to his lips warning her to silence. “This could be a trap,” he whispered.
She gestured for him to lead on.
Nick felt invisible in the dim light but kept alert for any sounds. He relocked Nadine’s cell and then his with James inside. He crept down the passageway with Nadine a step behind him. Listening with every cell of his body, he went to the heavy wooden door to press his ear against it. He didn’t hear anything. He wrapped sweaty fingers around the latch and lifted. It clanked once, but the door swung easily on well maintained hinges. Holding it open just a crack, he peeked into the hallway. It was bright and dazzled his eyes at first. Voices put a couple of guards to the left. Sliding the door open a few more inches, he stuck his head out.