The White Book

by George Shadow

  “We need to seize that book as soon as possible,” she said, walking to and fro with her hands on her hips. “Her friends might be coming back for her right now.”

  “They’re not,” Ben Haddad said. “You don’t have TelepathyG7? It shows you what happens around this complex. Who goes in and who comes out.”

  “Really? We could also hasten up and leave this forsaken place.”

  “Patience,” the professor said. “We must carry the girl along at this point. We must not destroy our good fortune out of carelessness.”

  Mariah looked like she would explode. “We can forget the plan if we don’t act now,” she said.

  “Of course, we’ll act soon,” her superior said. “Rachel just needs convincing first, because without that book, the plan is as good as dead.”

  “And I hope we haven’t altered the plan?”

  “We will alter the plan if I say so!” the professor snapped, standing up. “Remember your place, woman.”

  “Forgive me, Master.”

  “Just shut up,” her livid senior said and sat down again. “For your information, I’m not going anywhere anymore. We’re living and dying here.”

  Mariah became alarmed. “But you said…”

  “Forget what I said,” Benjamin exploded. “I am one of the richest men in the world right now and I am not going to throw away all that wealth because of some ancient fable peddled by a forgotten tribe.”

  “But you know what the books can do, Master. Will you discard all that you now know about the white book?”

  “I am not throwing away my knowledge, far from that,” Benjamin said. “We will use what we know to achieve what we want to achieve, and that is to increase my wealth first. Initiating the ritual comes later.”

  Mariah could not believe her ears, but she had no choice. “Yes, Master.”

  The professor stood up and met his protégé halfway across the room. He placed his right hand on her right shoulder. “The white book must help us increase that wealth, Mariah,” he said. “That is my original plan, my dear. That is our soul objective for now.”

  “That’s a good plan, Master,” Mariah agreed. “I like it.”

  “I have done well for myself, Mariah,” Benjamin Haddad said. “With time you’ll know the full extent of my wealth, then you wouldn’t want to leave this time and place, not even for the good of a tribe that is no longer relevant in the present system.”

  “But the Sikama, Master.”

  “We’ll get the white book and do our thing, then we’ll see how we get the black book and initiate the ritual.”

  “For the Jews?”

  “For the Sikama, Mariah. The red bomb detonated over our ancestral land and wiped off more than half of our population from the face of the Earth.”

  “W-What are you saying?” Mariah’s hands shook as they involuntarily went to her mouth.

  “The Jews are no longer relevant, my dear,” Benjamin Haddad said. “We, the ones still alive, must now use the books for our wellbeing if we intend to survive and eventually determine our destiny.”

  The duo heard receding footsteps outside the study.

  “Did you hear that?” Mariah pressed.

  “Yes, I did,” the professor said. “Someone had been listening to our conversation.”

  “A child, judging from the sound of those steps.”

  * * *

  Rachel walked into her room determined to evade spy technology in her current state. She locked the door and switched on her TelepathyG7 wrist bracelet before she remembered that she could not use it in the research institute. Uncle Ben and Mariah would know whoever she calls as soon as she makes the call. Turning off the communicator, she went to one of the room’s windows and stopped to think of what next to do.

  She could go back in time with the book and start afresh, but then this action could erase memories that she’d acquired in the course of the present journey. Memories like how to destroy the Gray Ones and their human servants.

  The Gray Ones.

  The little girl cringed at the thought of undoing what had been achieved so far with the white scroll. Obviously, the Gray Ones would come back into existence if she went back in time at this critical juncture in her journey.

  Rachel couldn’t say what she’d do differently if she went back. Mariah’s lies meant that Kpakol and Mr. Hoyte could have been saying the truth after all. Even Uncle Ezra. This got her thinking again. To what extent was she prepared to go in changing the story she’d already lived? If it came down to handing over the white book to the Gray Ones, would she willingly do that? Of course, she would if she was convinced that she had no other choice. Wasn’t there any other choice? What would her father do in the current situation? He…would leave first before tackling the problem somewhere else?

  Exactly.

  Her mind made up, Rachel turned to the only bed in the room, on which she had earlier left the ancient artifact before leaving.

  Nothing lay on the bed.

  Someone had taken the ancient volume.

  She had left the room’s door unlocked when she left.

  The knock on the door jolted her, but she regained her composure before unlocking the door with her bracelet. Mariah’s smile did not help her mood in any way.

  “Hello, Rachel,” the Bookmaker said. “I hope you like this place?”

  “Well, yes,” Rachel quipped. “I was about going to sleep when you knocked. Anything the matter?”

  “We returned your book, Rachel.” Professor Goldenberg appeared behind his protégé. “Rewder said you left it on the bed when you went out. He thought it best to bring it to me. Of course, he meant no harm.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Ben,” the little girl said. “I-I went out to look around. Felt bored.”

  “Oh, no bother, dear,” Mariah said. “Next time, though, don’t leave it about, even though here is safe.”

  “Okay,” Rachel said, taking back the book from the professor. “What now, Mariah?”

  “That’s why we’re here, my dear,” Benjamin Haddad said with a wry smile. “Believe me; you’ll love what comes next.”

  * * *

  The three individuals faced the red dust and grueling cold when the camouflaged lift brought them to the surface. It got worse as they stepped out of the last cave facing the slope leading down to the valley, the blistering weather contrasting sharply with the peacefully warm atmosphere they’d experienced within the underground city.

  “The temperature is…30° Qahrenheit?” Aiden peered at his helmet’s screen in order to make sure of this. “It is 30° Qahrenheit,” he repeated.

  “Good that we have warm hazard suits,” Jeremy said.

  “Radiation levels are also through the roof,” Kimberley said, watching a RadiaMeter.

  “We need to get down to the surface shelters beyond the valley,” Jeremy began, pointing this out with his right index finger.

  “You warned us not to run to those surface shelters when we met you,” Kimberley noted. “What changed?”

  “That is the right place to spring a trap if you want to kidnap a Kannibal,” Jeremy said. “I still don’t know why I’m helping you guys on this.”

  Kimberley rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we know that this is madness. Thanks for the help.”

  “You’re welcome.” Jeremy looked down the valley. “Let’s go now. My time as a Volunteer Watch runs till Z9.65 HM.”

  “And what does that even mean?” Kimberley demanded. “Is that even a time format?” Jeremy stared at her. “Never mind, let’s go.”

  “Aiden can wait for us in the Corridor of Caves,” Jeremy said. “He’ll be safe there.”

  Aiden nodded and drew back while the adults started down the arid slope that swept into the valley below.

  The freezing temperature mocked the ineffectual heat radiating from the solar shape visible now and then through the intense red haze clinging to the atmosphere with ferocious tenacity.

  “We save around two to three escapees from the
Slum every week,” Jeremy said as he climbed down the slope. “We could be lucky and run into a rogue party today.”

  “What’s a rogue party?”

  Jeremy got to the valley first. “The Kannibals sent out to look for runaways from the human farm,” he replied, surveying the rough road meandering through the valley. Kimberley joined him. “We’ll hide somewhere down there,” he pointed out with his right index finger.

  “Those surface shelters look old and creepy,” Kimberley said, but Jeremy ignored her, walking across the dearth road. “Okay.”

  “Back then, the surface shelters were the first set of solid structures the government claimed would save lives if nuclear war ever broke out,” Jeremy narrated. “Their problem stemmed from the fact that they were surface facilities that took the brunt of the red bomb’s explosion during the war. This rendered them useless after eliminating the many lives that had innocently sought refuge in these ‘death’ shelters, as they came to be called after the war.”

  The duo got to the crumbling structures lined up in rows on a very large land expanse. They sneaked in between two of these buildings and Jeremy turned to Kimberley.

  “We wait here,” he said. “Hopefully, we won’t wait for long.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Kimberley said, squatting beside him. She heard screaming. “That was fast,” she noted.

  “That’s a woman’s voice,” Jeremy said. “It came from the road.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “We’ll cause a distraction when we see her pursuers.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then we hide…and surprise whoever comes after us with this stunner.” He brandished a pair of unique guns and gave the Portwood sergeant one. “Don’t kill them, just stun them.”

  Kimberley wasn’t convinced. “And what if they kill their fleeing prisoner before we see them?”

  Jeremy said nothing.

  Kimberley hissed and stepped out of hiding. “Over here!” she called out to the running woman, showing herself by waving her arms about. The female escapee turned towards her and scurried over to the ramshackle spread out all around her. “Hurry!”

  “Did they follow you?” Jeremy asked the petrified female.

  “Yes,” the middle-aged woman cried, squatting behind the duo. “Here they come!”

  Kimberley had little time to take in the woman’s sunken cheeks, gaunt face and bony arms before turning back to the road to see a familiar vehicle emerge from the red haze drastically restricting all-round visibility. She clutched her weapon with both hands and showed herself.

  “What are you doing?” Jeremy snapped.

  “Speeding things up,” she said, waving at the Kannibals. “Hey, over here!”

  The unit swerved towards her and Jeremy pulled her into the jungle of derelict structures behind the female escapee.

  “Now they know we’re here!” he cried. “You’ve blown this! Are you insane?”

  “They still don’t know our number.”

  “Are you nuts? They have TelepathyG7 just like us.”

  “Do I look dumb to you?” Kimberley demanded. “TelepathyG7 only picks out people if your environment is red-dust-free. The red dust prevents the system’s zaplites from doing a better job.”

  “Okay, sorry I forgot you claim to have alternate memory or whatever,” Jeremy sounded furious. “Even if this is true, what is your plan, Sergeant Reyna?”

  Kimberley halted her run. “We draw them in here and pick them off one by one until we can kidnap the last one.”

  “You’re crazy, right?” Jeremy could not believe his ears as he stopped with the rescued prisoner. “They are seasoned soldiers. They’ll simply kill us.”

  “Let’s do this,” Kimberley sounded exasperated. “Trust me. I have been a soldier more than once in this crazy journey.”

  “So, what do we do?” Jeremy asked her.

  Kimberley turned to the woman they hoped to save at the end of the day. “We’ll spread out and hide.”

  “If you say so, sergeant,” Jeremy said, giving a mock salute before turning serious again. “Okay, here they come!”

  “You go left and I’ll take right,” Kimberley whispered and sneaked off.

  Jeremy wandered off in the opposite direction with the escapee. He pushed back the broken seal door of a surface shelter and stepped into the creepy structure with his new friend. Now he stopped to peer at the approaching mobile system through a splintered glass window, his weapon at the ready. All around him, the red haze moved like fog in and around the old shelters, poor visibility a result of this atmospheric catastrophe.

  The B6 unit emerged from this man-made phenomenon and stopped before the surface shelters. Three armed men wearing black hazard suits stepped out of it and fanned out.

  Jeremy knew that a rogue party usually had four members; hence the system’s driver must have remained inside the unit, obviously with a drawn weapon. He turned to the woman and placed a finger on his lips before pushing open the shelter’s door and slipping out into the haze outside.

  Both men stared at each other as soon as they came face to face.

  Jeremy stunned the Kannibal before the fellow let off a shot that missed him by inches. Holding his fallen opponent by a leg, he pulled the guy’s body into an open shelter, took the man’s lazer gun and stepped out once again, his vigilance now heightened by the abrupt event. The stun usually lasted a day, so they would be long gone before the poor dude regained consciousness.

  Farther in-between the decommissioned shelters he went, looking for the next black hazard suit. Jeremy hated the fact that, despite his visibility enhancer, he could not see single objects until he was close enough. This technological failure could be blamed on the use of obsolete equipment after the Red War. The lack of innovative ideas and system manufacturers post-belligerency immensely contributed to the absence of new technology in the present era. He just hoped this monumental mistake caused by Mankind wasn’t about to cause him his life.

  The stun shot sounded ahead of him and he moved faster. He wasn’t surprised to see Kimberley dragging a Kannibal by a leg into one of the shelters. “Remember to get his gun,” he said, moving forward. “Remains one person.”

  The sudden shot went through Jeremy’s right arm and he dropped his weapon in pain. Expecting the next shot to end his life, he turned to see the remaining Kannibal fall before Kimberley, her lazer gun whining as it reset to ‘stun.’

  “That was close,” Kimberley said, putting away her gun and grabbing the fallen Kannibal by the legs.

  “I thought they fanned out,” Jeremy said, clutching his wound. “Damn this hurts!”

  “I need to get you to safety.”

  “No, I can manage,” Jeremy snapped. “Let’s finish this.”

  * * *

  Akron heard the shots and got out of the B6. He pointed his lazer gun into the red haze masking everything and looked around despite the poor visibility.

  How did Mrs. Tully escape? Whoever helped her do so was in big trouble, because Grubb would never accept that kind of behavior from an employee.

  He went round the B6, but saw nothing out of place. Those shots he heard were not VG lazer guns. Who shot his colleagues? He didn’t want to venture out to investigate since the commander had ordered him to stay put. If only he could…

  The noise made him swing his head and weapon towards the rear end of his vehicle. “Who is there?” he bellowed. “Show yourself!”

  The head blow knocked him out.

  * * *

  The Kannibal came round, holding his head. He realized many individuals surrounded him and tried to reach for his nonexistent weapon with shackled hands.

  “About time,” Kimberley said, glaring at the fellow.

  “W-Where am I?” the man demanded.

  “No need to know, Akron,” Jeremy replied, his shoulder freshly treated and bandaged. “Don’t worry. You’ll be knocked out and sent back out there again after this interrogation.”


  “How did you know my name?” Akron demanded.

  “It’s written on your shirt.”

  The man feigned a smile and looked around. “I’m in one of your underground cities. A prisoner, obviously. I wonder whatever happened to our truce.”

  “Your people have been violating the peace accord, my friend,” an elderly man said, stepping out of a dark corner of the room. “Good evening, Akron. My name is Kevin Smith, chairman of the Resilience City Board.”

  “We don’t violate the peace accord, man,” Akron said. “We only try to round up prisoners who escaped.”

  “That violates the accord if any prisoner runs to the caves for cover,” Jeremy noted. “The underground cities agreed with the Kannibals about that.”

  “They did?” Kimberley began. Who agrees with flesh eaters on anything?

  “Some do get here and regain their freedom,” the kidnapped Kannibal said.

  “That’s not true,” Kimberley countered. “Cases of your colleagues recapturing escapees in the caves abound. I know because I was a prisoner.”

  Akron looked her over. “I remember you. Grubb would love to see you again.”

  “And who is Grubb?” Jeremy demanded.

  “One of our leaders. Please, get me out of here as soon as possible. He won’t be happy with me if he hears I was caught.”

  “Not happening,” Kimberley said.

  “We want you to take back a message for us to your leaders, including this Grubb, Akron,” Kevin Smith, the Resilience City chairman, said. “Tell them the underground cities can defend themselves against any attack the Kannibals launch at us.”

  “Remember they have to find the door first,” someone joked and the gathered laughed heartily.

  “Throw him out with a hazard suit,” Mr. Smith told the city’s Chief Volunteer Watch and left with his fellow administrators.

  “Okay, Jeremy,” the superior officer said as he left. “You heard the man.”