by Robert Boren
“He’s been in a home,” Monty said. “Where’s Cliff?”
“We broke up,” Shirl said, pushing her ratted blonde hair out of her eyes. “Don’t get any ideas. You’re a roller coaster I don’t plan getting back on.”
“Have it your way,” Monty said. “I know we wouldn’t be together again, but a little comfort might do both of us some good.”
Shirl cracked up. “Yeah, like you care about that cranky old uncle of yours.”
“I was talking more about you,” Monty said. “You just broke up with your man. That’s got to hurt.”
“What hurts is that I was too stupid to break it off quicker,” she said. “Reminds me of our relationship.”
“Hey, turn that up,” Dannon said, watching the TV above the bar.
“No problem,” the bartender said, picking up a remote and cranking up the sound.
“That’s Tracy McCain,” Monty said. “Wondered what happened to her. Everybody else is dead.”
“Not quite everybody,” Jan said, nodding at Dannon.
“Thanks,” Dannon said, watching the screen, trying to maintain his calm.
Tracy sat at a desk next to August Smith, the anchor of the show.
“Thanks so much for contacting us,” August said. “You’re in fear for your life, obviously.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” she asked. “I wanted to get the word out to citizens. I’m alive and well, and ready to take over the Governor’s office until elections can be held.”
“She’s not bad,” Monty said. “I’d do her.”
“Still a pig, I see,” Shirl said, shaking her head. “That poor woman looks scared to death.”
“Somebody wants her dead,” the bartender said. “Ain’t it obvious?”
Dannon nodded, putting on a forlorn expression. “I almost backed out of my hunting trip. Decided to go at the last minute.”
“Senator Walter was up there too, wasn’t he?” Kay asked.
“He was, but not with me,” Dannon said.
“She’s done already,” Jan said, nodding at the screen.
“Best not to stay in one place for very long,” Kay said. “You don’t look scared, Senator Dannon.”
“Dan,” he said, oozing the charm again. She returned his smile. You’ll be fun.
“Are you going back to Albany?” Shirl asked.
“I’ve got to make some contacts first,” Dannon said. “Can’t be too careful. They didn’t catch any of the shooters.”
“Probably the damn UN,” Monty said.
“Probably,” Dannon said, his eyes meeting with Kay’s. She looked away, embarrassed.
“Well I’m calling it a night,” Jan said. “Had enough for one evening. Coming, Kay?”
“No, I think I’ll stick around here,” she said, glancing at Dannon.
“She wants to bag a Senator,” Monty quipped.
“Will you shut up?” Kay asked.
“Class act, Monty,” Jan said as she left.
Dannon smiled. “There’s an empty table over there. Want to join me?”
Kay smiled. “For conversation only, right?”
“And drinks,” he said. “No pressure.”
“Sure, love it,” Kay said, getting off the barstool, walking to the booth, Dannon making eye contact with the bartender. “Couple more, please.”
He nodded as Dannon turned to follow Kay.
“Well, baby, what do you think?” Monty asked.
Shirl glanced at him. “I think you’re a jerk. I’m outta here.”
She got up, waving to Kay as she left.
***
Mayor Fine walked into the intel room, seeing Chief Harvey, Kate, and Julio watching the screen, as Albena, Penko, Vasil, and Tad worked on their PCs. “Something going on?”
Chief Harvey turned towards him. “Tracy McCain took your advice. She was just on NBS.”
“What’d she say?”
“She promised to get the government up and running again. Admitted she was scared.”
“From the look of her, terrified is a better description,” Kate said. “Your family make it across the border?”
“Yes, thank God,” Mayor Fine said, sitting in an empty seat at the table. “Hear from your wife, Chief?”
“Nope,” he said. “She’s probably okay, though. I told her to be careful with her cell phone after the City Hall attack. She’s good at following instructions. She’ll get my message as soon as she powers up her phone.”
“You guys aren’t gonna believe this,” Penko said.
“What?” Mayor Fine asked.
“There’s a group of woke idiots protesting the withdrawal of the UN Peacekeepers.”
“Are you kidding?” Chief Harvey asked. “Morons.”
“They hate the NYPD,” Kate said. “The fact that the UN killed some officers won’t bother them. Not one bit.”
“Sick,” Albena said.
“Can you tell where the Peacekeepers are going?”
Albena shook her head. “Looks like the group that was east of Roosevelt Island are heading north still, but the MVS system thins out in the outskirts of the city. We’ll be able to track them longer than we can track the group leaving through the Lincoln Tunnel, and it’s the larger of the two groups.”
Jean came into the room. “Mayor Fine, you just got a document from the Governor’s Office.”
“Tracy is there already?”
“Well, her TV appearance was in Albany, you know,” Julio said. “What’s in the document?”
“It’s confidential for the Mayor,” Jean said. “I’m sending you a file now. It’s a big PDF.”
“Okay,” Mayor Fine said. Jean went back to her desk, his phone dinging a moment later. “Here it is.” He opened the document and read, his brow furrowed.
“Bad?” Kate asked.
“It’s not from Tracy,” Mayor Fine said. “It’s from Romano’s staff, who claim they’re still in control and running the government. Most of the document is about disaster relief efforts that are being kicked off.”
“That’s not what bothered you,” Chief Harvey said.
“They said that Martial Law will remain in effect, administered by local police via strict guidelines, and that the Social Scoring system will go into effect immediately, as will commuter grids.”
“I haven’t heard anything,” Chief Harvey said. “My chain of command is still in place, for the most part.”
“This isn’t the official release, this is a proposed release. The Mayors of the largest cities are being given a chance to respond with comments.”
Julio laughed. “I’m sure they care about your opinion, Mayor Fine.”
“I used to consider Romano pretty moderate,” Kate said.
“So did I, until he threatened to have me killed,” Mayor Fine said. “Well, let me back up. He and Cliff Bates were close.”
“Yeah, heard rumors that Cliff was being groomed by Romano to run against you,” Kinsey said. “Maybe your chances are better now that both of them are gone.”
“I’m not running again,” Mayor Fine said.
“You should reconsider that,” Chief Harvey said. “I’d vote for you.”
Mayor Fine chuckled. “I’ll get the moderate vote. That’s only about 20% of the population.”
“Don’t be so sure, the leftists have shown their fangs,” Penko said. “I’m not a Democrat, and I’d vote for you too.”
“You guys know me.”
Chief Harvey eyed him. “Listen, boss, you don’t have to decide yet, but don’t nix the idea. You’re a good Mayor. The city needs decent leadership, and your 20% is much larger than you think. You’ll probably get all the Republican votes. Nobody in this city likes that jerkweed Dan Dannon.”
“All right, I won’t decide yet,” Mayor Fine said, “and I appreciate the vote of confidence. Thank you.”
“This demonstration is getting nasty,” Albena said.
“The nutcases are getting out of control?” Chief Harvey asked, looking ove
r her shoulder now.
“It’s not just that. There are counter-protesters coming out in force, and getting in their face. At the rate they’re showing up, they’ll swamp the pro-UN folks pretty soon.”
“I’d better make some calls and get ahead of this,” Chief Harvey said, walking away with his phone out.
“How long until we get out of here?” Kate asked. “If the UN pulled back, we should be able to set up a temporary City Hall someplace, with proper security and communications infrastructure.”
“It won’t be temporary,” Penko said. “Unless years is temporary. We won’t be rebuilding lower Manhattan any time soon. Hell, it was bad enough cleaning up after 911. Remember how many first responders died?”
“We need to chat with Jared about this,” Kinsey said. “He owns this whole building. Perhaps your interim City Hall can be above us.”
Julio laughed. “Yeah, with an express elevator to get down here.”
“That could be arranged,” Kinsey said. “Want me to queue up the discussion?”
“Won’t that be easy for the enemy to figure out?” Mayor Fine asked. “Jared owns the building. It’s probably public record, and the enemy will surveil us. They might find out about the moles and other things.”
“It will be very difficult to tie this facility to Jared,” Kinsey said. “Trust me on that.”
Mayor Fine thought for a moment. “Okay, queue it up, but at his convenience. This isn’t critical for us right now.”
“Got it,” Kinsey said.
{ 14 }
Hybrids
D annon woke to Kay’s snoring, looking at her kinky red hair spilled across the pillow. He picked up his phone. Text message waiting from Tracy McCain. He opened it.
Dan, hope you made it back okay. We’ve set up a temporary state headquarters. The address is below. Don’t worry, it’s got good security. Please come over and help me put things back together again. Sorry to stand you up in Utica. Couldn’t be helped.
Dan sat up, shaking off the sleep, Kay stirring. “Oh, you’re up. Sleep well?”
“I did. You?”
“Perfect,” she said. “Do you have to leave yet?”
“Soon,” he said. “Duty calls. I got a text from Tracy McCain.”
“How soon?” she asked, pulling down the sheets, revealing herself.
“Not that soon.” He rolled back towards her. They made love at a leisurely pace, both drifting off afterwards, Dan waking to a ringing phone. He answered it.
“Dan? It’s Tracy. Are you okay? You didn’t answer my text.”
“Sorry Tracy, I slept a little late, but I got it. I’m still in Utica.”
“Will you be coming to Albany soon?”
“I’ll leave this morning,” Dan said, Kay sitting up now.
“Perfect. Luckily most of the staff survived, so we can hit the ground running.”
“Excellent. Anxious to work with you.” He ended the call.
“That was Tracy McCain,” Kay said. “Cool!”
Dannon snickered. “I don’t know how cool it is. Have you ever met her?”
“No. I don’t get out of Utica very often.”
“Want to?” Dannon said, standing.
“Want to what?”
“Get out of Utica. I enjoyed you. I’m not ready for it to end yet.”
Kay thought about it for a moment, her kinky red mane shaking as she got up. “I’m supposed to go to that funeral today.”
“Do you want to?”
She smiled. “No, not really. I’ll go with you, but we need to swing by Monty’s place so I can pick up my bag.”
“Not a problem,” Dannon said. “I need a shower. Care to join me?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
***
Sunshine woke up next to Jacob, watching him sleep, petting his hair, the warmth of their new love washing over her.
“Hey,” he said, stretching. “What time is it?”
“We slept through. It’s almost nine.”
“No, really?”
“Really. What do you think?”
“About what?”
She elbowed him. “Us, dummy.”
“Oh. Not too bad.”
“Stop.”
Jacob chuckled. “Two can tease, you know. Remember how flustered you got me last night?”
“I’ll always remember that,” she said. “I’m in love with you.”
Jacob’s face turned serious. “Really? You’re sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“Good. Me too.”
“You’re in love with you?” Her grin was sly.
“Oh, starting that up again, huh? I worship the ground you walk on. Is that better?”
“It’ll do for now. Let’s go see what’s been happening.”
They dressed and left the sleeping area, heading into the intel room. Jaak was there, talking to Quint, Ashley, and Tyra.
“Finally,” Ashley said as they walked up. “Well?”
“Don’t even,” Jacob said. “Anything happen?”
“The UN has pulled out of the mid-Atlantic states and New England,” Jaak said.
“You mean it’s over already?” Sunshine asked.
“No, we’re back to home-grown tyranny,” Quint said. “Every state seems to have adopted the social scoring and martial law.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Jacob said. “They’ll go just slow enough to keep the moderates on their side. Maybe some conservatives and libertarians too.”
“There were leftists protesting the removal of the UN from Manhattan,” Ashley said. “Things are like before the attacks, only further along.”
“I should call Henry,” Tyra said. “I’m worried sick about him.”
“What happened at your bar?” Jacob asked.
“It was ransacked,” Jaak said. “Kelsey told me. He went by there this morning and locked the doors back up. Glass is being replaced again too.”
“You ought to buy stock in a glass company,” Quint said. “We just replaced the windows by the door, remember?”
“That night,” Sunshine said. “I’ll never forget that. So many people lost. Even the ones who pushed for this.”
“Reality has a way of doing that,” Jaak said. “We need to get you trained on the vehicles, and then get you back into Boston.”
“Vehicles? Those hybrids that almost blew me away?”
Jaak chuckled. “Those aren’t hybrids.”
“What are they, exactly?” Jacob asked.
“Let’s call the others together. I don’t want to describe them twenty times.”
Jacob pulled his phone and sent a broadcast text to the rest of the team. They arrived after a few minutes.
“We’re getting a training session, huh?” Trinity asked, Adrian by her side.
“About time,” Dave quipped. “Off-roaders?”
“Hope so, but I doubt it,” Justin said. “They’re gonna give us the hybrids.”
Jacob was about to say something, but Jaak shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want the off-roaders for what we’re doing. They’re shipping out today for California.”
“Why don’t they just build them there?” Todd asked.
“They are now,” Jaak said.
“Jared has been on this for a while, hasn’t he?” Tyra asked.
“Ever since they tried to recruit him,” Jaak said. “Let’s go out to the parking structure.”
They rode the freight elevator up, Jaak leading them to the vehicles.
“These look like your normal hybrids,” Jaak said.
“Except for the guns,” Sunshine quipped.
“The guns are the least of it,” Art said, walking towards the group. “These are single seat. Each of you will get one.”
“Single seat? I see two.”
Jaak chuckled. “Okay, let’s get through the initial demo, and then we can field questions. Wait till the end or this will take hours.”
“Observe,” Art said. He got into the f
irst vehicle.
“He’s in love with these things,” Sunshine whispered.
“He designed them,” Jaak said. “With a little help from me.”
“And a little help from Jared,” Art said. “Couldn’t have done this without the nano-fabric.”
“Nano fabric?” Adrian asked.
“No questions, remember?” Jaak said.
“When’s he going to start it?” Jacob asked. “Oh, sorry.”
Jaak snickered. “This is like herding cats.”
Art backed the vehicle out of the parking space.
“Electric?” Justin asked. “Dammit.”
“You Asians and your engines,” Todd quipped.
“Hey, that’s racist.”
Art grinned from behind his side window, mouthing watch this.
The car moved forward, but it changed, the sides coming in, the tires fastening together and growing in diameter to nearly the size of motorcycle tires. The change locked into place with a click, the width no more than a motorcycle. Then it took off like a rocket down the road, making an impossibly tight turn and roaring back at them as gun barrels came out, firing at the back wall, chunks of concrete falling onto the ground.
“What the hell?” Sunshine asked.
“I take it back,” Justin said with a big grin. “These things are frigging awesome.”
“Seriously,” Todd added.
“Look at the wheels,” Adrian said. “They both turn.”
Trinity nodded. “That’s why it can turn so quick.”
Art skidded to a stop in front of them, the vehicle balancing itself, the wheels splitting, shrinking diameter as the body widened. Art got out. “As you can see, this is a unique vehicle.”
“What was that thing firing?” Dave asked. “It wasn’t loud enough to be a firearm.”
“Rail guns,” Art said.
“Go ahead, Justin, ask him about the engine,” Todd quipped, Tyra cracking up.
Justin glanced at him, then looked at Art. “Yeah, what about that? It must be very slim.”
“I’ll bet it’s electrical,” Jacob said.
Art looked at Jaak, who got closer to the others. “I can’t say much about the power plant. It’s a new kind of fuel cell.”
“Do we put gas in them?” Justin asked.