by wade coleman
“Because my father doesn’t know how to keep his big mouth shut. The men and women who served in the gulf Bio Wars are freakishly close. In some ways, Dad is closer to his war buddies than he is to Mom and me.”
I follow my nose to the mess hall, a mile away, which is next to Maggie’s house, a five-acre site set aside as a community area. On two acres are photovoltaic cells mounted on poles. The power runs nearby homes and the pumps fill the water tower that was built last year. The place is in full swing, and I think “mandatory fun.”
My neighbors are sitting on the north side of the water tower. On the south end are the solar cookers and barbeque pit. Sweaty mutants drink beer and throw horseshoes at a nearby pit.
The center table hosts a roasted pig. The carcass has already been picked clean, so just the bones and some charred flesh remain. The only thing left are lab grown hotdogs and bread. It looks like I slept too late. I dip a hotdog in mustard and wrap it in a corn tortilla. I bite into my dinner and wash it down with some local ale.
Kim is talking to Maggie. I went to school with Maggie up until the ninth grade. She has short black curly hair, brown eyes, and brown skin. They’re sitting on a bench away from everybody else, apparently wanting some privacy. Maggie says something to Kim, and my lesbian tiger-striped girl throws back her head and laughs, like a panther’s roar.
I smile. I never saw Kim laugh before. Kim hugs Maggie and then kisses her with affection.
Maggie is such a loving woman. And suddenly I feel happy and sad at the same time.
Kim sees me and holds up a plate. I walk over, throw the hotdog in the trash and sit across from them. Looking around for a fork and finding none, I eat with my fingers. The pork melts in my mouth. “Why can’t vat-grown meat taste this good?”
“Hermes, Maggie was just telling me how things work around here. Did you know each person can own up to forty acres of land?”
I nod, finishing my bite, and swallow.
“I have something for you,” Maggie removes a square Tupperware bowl from her pack. She opens it and inside is her double chocolate muffin with double chocolate frosting - my favorite. Maggie looks at me with her expressive eyes and she mouths “sorry,” when Kim’s not looking.
I smile and think back...It was only a week ago that I was talking to Maggie about a girl I met, and now they’re already dating. I have the worse luck with women.
I sit there and quietly eat my muffin. As usual, Maggie’s dessert is amazingly good. I get a dark beer to wash it down. Ah! Good combination.
“Hermes…did you hear anything I said?” Kim asks.
I look up from my muffin meditation, concentrating on the taste and not how I’m feeling. “What?”
“Pay attention, this meeting is important…”
Maggie nudges Kim’s shoulder, and they exchange glances.
“Oh yeah…” Kim very nicely says, “Don’t cry on me.”
The way Kim said it; like she was talking to a four-year-old, makes me laugh, and the two of them join in.
When the laughter dies down, Maggie takes my hand. “Are you okay?”
“I am so happy my dear sweet sister has someone to love. But, word of warning, Kim is a handful.”
Kim hits me with a roll of paper towels and then hands it to me.
While I wipe my hands, Kim says, “The meeting gonna start in a half hour. We’ve had to go over some things.”
“Like what?”
“Like what I want, my share of the eight million.”
I sit straight. “Okay, I’m listening.”
Kim takes Maggie’s hand. “We want to grow the new variety of wheat, the one that you never have to replant. It comes up like perennial grass, and you can irrigate with salt water if you want. We want forty acres of land and a house with all the equipment needed.”
“The new prefab houses are built from recycled plastic and hemp fiber,” Maggie explains. “They go together like Legos.”
“Done. Anything else?”
“Yes,” Maggie says. “Your blessing.”
I smile, “May you have many children.”
Maggie gets up and hugs me while Kim gives me a half snarl. Maggie always wanted kids, but the chemicals that her parents were exposed to damage their DNA, and now Maggie can’t have children of her own.
“Don’t get too cozy. I still have to get voted into the neighborhood.”
I finish cleaning up, carrying a wad of paper towels to the trash, and sit down. “That’s not going to be a problem.”
Maggie smiles at me. “You’ve have that look in your eye like you’re planning something.”
“What’s going on?” Kim asks.
“Hermes and I went to school together until junior high. He gets this look when he’s up to something. One time, two teachers were fucking in a closet, and he turned on their phones with a program he wrote on his tablet. Next things you know, there’s a live feed from the guy’s video glasses popping up on everyone’s phone. The kindergarten class got an early lesson in sex education that day. God, that was hilarious.”
I am proud of my prank. “Yeah…everything came together that day.”
The three of us laugh.
Dad appears, puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hello, Maggie. Kim. We’re having a meeting at the community building. You’re both welcome to attend.”
The sun is setting, families cleaning up and heading home. We walk to the community building, a cinder block wall with a pitched metal roof. Folding tables are pushed together in the center to make one large table. A dozen or so people find seats, others leaning against the wall.
Dad sits next to me, and Colonel James Baker sits across from us. The Colonel’s face and arms are covered with scar tissue from burns.
He commanded a battalion in the battle to control the Saudi Arabian oil fields during the Bio Wars. He convinced his men to buy land and form a community, and now here we are today. Our subdivision covers a little over twenty-five square miles.
“Report,” he says in his Colonel's voice.
I twitch at his tone, but I quickly recover and fill him in on Mr. Fukui. And my planned break-in to Vory headquarters during their summer solstice rave.
“I did some checking,” Baker says. “They already have a vaccine for the plague. It’s being given to those mutants they find useful.”
“Who made the virus?”
“Those in power who fear the growing majority of mutants and what that means to their empires. The face of our enemy is Baron Enterprises.”
The Colonel taps his finger on the table. “That little stunt you pulled last night put them on alert. You should have consulted me.”
“No offense, James, but I’m not one of your men.”
“No, you’re not. If you were, I’d bust you down to private right now.”
“I arranged for the Baron’s men who were looking for Mark Lukas to get in a gun battle with bounty hunters trying to collect on Kim. That ought to rattle a few cages, get the Jason Baron and his men angry. Angry people make mistakes.”
A few people around the table nod; the majority have their arms crossed. The people in the back leaning against the wall are sipping on beers. Maggie and Kim stand by the door.
The Colonel crosses his arms. “I understand you stole a sum of money.”
“Two million.”
Colonel James leans back in his chair. “More like eight million.”
“Okay, eight million. What’s a few million between friends?”
The air goes out of the room when everyone takes a breath. Murmurs sound and I can feel their eyes on me. My father kicks me under the table.
“So, it’s time to give back to the community? Is that what you’re saying?”
The Colonel nods. “We need to expand our land holdings and water rights.”
“How much?”
“Two million credits.”
“Okay, but I have one condition.”
At the door, Maggie is braiding Kim’s hair nervously.
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“Kim, could you come here?”
She walks into the room and stands next to me.
“This is Kim, and I make the motion for Kim to become a member of our community.”
Maggie seconds the motion.
“The motion is carried, and we have a quorum. Are there any objections?” The Colonel scans the room.
The room is silent.
“The motion carries without objection,” Baker says. “Meeting adjourned.”
Kim and Maggie hug me, and I catch the Colonel before he leaves.
“Colonel James, I would like to ask you a favor.”
His face sneers. He hates it when I call him James. I know I should be nice when I’m asking for a favor, but old habits are hard to break.
We find a spot under a tree outside as all the neighbors disperse.
“I understand the naval base has a state-of-the-art augmentation facility.”
“Yes,” his voice level.
“I plan to find the virus, but things are getting dicey. I need an edge.”
“What sort of edge?”
“Skin and face job so that I can change my appearance. And a new set of eyes.”
The Colonel runs his finger down his burn scar on his cheek. “Skin is easy. Eyes are hard if you want to pass a retinal scan.”
“I definitely need to pass a retinal scan.”
“I’ll make some calls.”
“Thanks, how much will this cost?”
“A lot, obviously, but you can afford it.”
He hands me his tablet, and I transfer three million credits.
“Two million for the neighborhood fund; a half million is to set up Kim and Maggie, and the other half is for Mom.”
Colonel Baker nods. “Fair enough.”
I head back, and Kim jumps out from behind a tree and punches me in the shoulder with her ring.
“Ow!”
“Pussy.”
We walk home, Kim holding my arm. We’re more like brother and sister now, which seems appropriate but it makes me sad. She stops at the door. “By the way, I’m spending the night at Maggie’s.”
“So this is real...you and Maggie?”
“Yeah, I think so, she’s my type…you know…moody bitches.” She hugs me and gets on her bike. “We’ll talk in the morning, okay?”
I nod and watch her drive off. I knew this was going to happen. I just didn’t think it would happen so fast.
Beverly stops me on the way to my room. Kim likes and respects you. She can’t stop talking about your bowling over a troll. But Kim will never look at you with starry eyes, Hermes.”
I nod and head to my room, feeling dejected. This must be how Bogart felt when Ingrid failed to meet him at the train station.
I lay on top of the bed while Natasha plays Vivaldi to soothe my mood. It doesn’t help. I keep thinking about Kim, lying back in the plush reclining seat of the Learjet, half drunk, her yellow stripes, silk underwear, smelling so good that I wanted to take a bite out of her.
“Play it again, Natasha.”
“Darling, what are you saying?”
“The same old story. A fight for love and glory…”
“Why do you watch Casablanca? You always cry when she gets on the plane.”
“I know what I want to watch. ’If you played it for her, you can play it for me.”
Natasha plays the movie. “I see what you’re doing, quoting Bogart. You’re acting.”
“Shhhh, the movie’s starting.”
* * *
Kim arrives at noon, and I decide to make her favorite breakfast: toast with fried eggs over easy on top. I deliver the meal with a glass of tea.
Kim looks at me. “Thanks, you’re not going to cry, are you?”
I shake my head, afraid if I say anything my voice will crack. “You come for your stuff?”
Kim takes a drink of water. “Yes, but we still have business between us, and I see it to the end.” She fingers her gold chain. “You’ve been good to me, Hermes. I never knew a man who was kind to me for no reason.”
“That night, after the shadow walk to the hotel. I was nervous you were going to freak out and never speak to me again. When we were in bed, you laid up against me before going to sleep. That meant a lot to me.”
She stands up, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re pretty fucking spooky.” Kim grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Help me pack.”
After getting her stuff that from the basement, I hook a trailer to the back of my bike. Kim loads it with clothes and weapons. We drive over to Maggie’s house, and I unload and put the clothes on top of the couch. Kim lays her collection of weapons on the table.
I raise my eyebrow. One M14, an AR-15, two Mac-10’s, a Beretta and a plastic pistol.
Kim shrugs. “I traded Bob the grenades plus your old goggles.”
“Mom’s right, you do fit well in the neighborhood.”
Maggie invites me to sit down, pouring hot tea into cups with no handles, and we wait for the tea to cool.
“Hermes, are you okay with this?” Maggie looks genuinely concerned.
“I’ll be alright, but for now, I’m a little rattled. Just because I understand it doesn’t mean I like it.”
“We got word this morning about the account you set up. Thank you, Hermes. That was very sweet.” I feel Maggie’s sincerity, and it makes everything a little easier.
We finish our tea, and I decide to head home after some awkward goodbyes. Back at home, Dad’s sitting on the front porch and I join him.
“Mom said you set up an account?”
“Half a million credits. It was an anonymous donation to the community fund. On paper, you received a land grant. That means the money has to be spent on land, buildings and farm equipment.”
He holds out his fist, and I bump it.
“Thanks, I was getting tired of laundering money as a mechanic and fixing motorcycles that don’t exist. Keeping up the books behind your mother’s back is exhausting.”
“I have Natasha for that. She tracks all the accounts, no paper trail.”
Daniel shakes his head. “Always the lucky bastard.” He leans back in his rocking chair. “You have a seven AM appointment with a doctor. A car is coming to get you at five.”
“A car?”
“I can’t remember the last time you were up that early. I wanted to make sure you’d make the appointment.” He rocks back and forth. “That was stupid, lying to the old man.”
I stand up. “I am not one of the Colonel’s men. I have my ways of handling the situation, and I don’t like the way he micro-manages.”
“He’s not micro-managing. He needs to be kept in the loop.”
“Is that why you told him I stole the eight million?”
Daniel stands up and puts his arm across the exit, blocking my way. “You have to step back and look at the big picture. What you’re doing affects all of us. Son, you need to slow down a bit. A lot of eyes are looking for you.”
“I’m handling this my way, Daniel,”
“What way is that? Trying to impress a cheap whore that you’re some badass?”
“I wouldn’t call Kim names if I were you. She might come over and kick your ass.”
“You need to listen to me and slow down, or something bad is gonna happen. I feel it in my gut.”
He puts his arm down, and I walk to my room, not in the mood for long conservation. After taking a shower, I dry off and lie in bed.
What I need, I realize, is my own place.
* * *
Mom shakes me.
“I’m awake.” I’m not really sure I mean it.
I stumble into a back of a car and go back to sleep. I awake when the gate guard at the navy base asks for my ID. He waves us through and the driver takes the next right and heads a six-story concrete building the size of a football field. It built like a fortress.
The car stops and I let myself out and walk up a concrete ramp to the main entrance. The door opens automatically,
and I walk inside. The green tile floor leads to a cluster of elevators. To my right is a reception desk, a cafeteria to the left.
A woman comes up wearing scrubs, with red hair piled in a beehive. “Hi, I’m Pam.”
I extend my hand, “Hermes.”
After giving it a short shake, she lets my hand go. She leads me to a bathroom with lockers and hands me a robe. “When you’re changed, open the door.”
I go inside, change, open the door and sit on a bench.
A man walks in with a tablet computer. He’s dressed in hospital whites with the rank of captain. He doesn’t take his eyes off his tablet and sits in a chair next to me. Reading his tablet, he flips through several pages.
“Today we’re enhancing your skin and face, but you also want eyes?”
“Yes, I have a Mark 5 Implant. I need a Portuguese language module and anything else you can do for Natasha.”
“I can tie your skin and facial alterations into your implant and upgrade her memory. That model is too twitchy for anything major.”
“Can you do that today?”
“We can upgrade the memory, but I need to order the language module.”
He looks up from his tablet. “Let’s talk about your eyes.” He gets out an instrument, shines a light in my eyes and checks a readout. “You’re getting eyes that can pass a retinal and iris scan. They’re reasonably better than normal eyes for vision but nothing like the combat models. Now that I have your measurements, I’ll order them. They’ll be here in a week.” He puts away the light and hands me the tablet. “That will be two million credits, payable in advance.”
I take the tablet and make the transfer. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.” I hand back his computer.
“Dr. Kelly, I run the augmentation clinic. Sorry, you coming on such short notice and on a Sunday is screwing with my schedule. Mind telling me what’s going on?”
“It’s a plague virus that kills mutants.”
He frowns, “Only mutants?
I nod.
He taps on his tablet. “Let’s get started, then.”
He shows me to a room with a hot tub and a bench for clothes, then leaves. I undress. A young man, tall and well-built, enters with a military haircut and hospital scrubs. He gives me a shot in my right arm.