“Hey, Bella. Yeah. You’re not wrong.”
Ellie watched as her new friend climbed onto the bed with practiced confidence. She was a big woman who, though she was fairly light skinned, looked to have some African-American in her ancestry. Ellie had known, from the first moment she’d introduced herself, that she was a kind soul.
“Looked to me as though you got to say a few words to your friend.”
“A few words.”
Bella rolled over and tapped Ellie on the hand. “Don’t you worry none. She’ll come around. You two got to stick together. You ain’t got no one else, after all.”
Ellie nodded.
“Hey, why don’t you tell me one of your stories? I don’t know if I exactly believe you about Brad Pitt, but I sure like to pretend like it’s real. I mean, what gives with Angelina? She some kind of fool, or what?”
So, Ellie told Bella the story of how Brad Pitt got stung by a jellyfish. And, just as when she’d told it the first time, she felt an overwhelming sadness for her former life. Only months ago, she’d thought of her yacht Kujira as an anchor around her soul, and yet now she wished with all her heart she was back on her, sailing the open seas. Thinking of the boat made her think of those she’d sailed with. Jodi, of course, and Patrick. What would he think of how she’d behaved? Would he follow them and come to her rescue? It was unlikely given that the last time she’d seen him, he’d been barely conscious. And she wasn’t sure she could stand the idea of him bailing her out. He’d be insufferable.
But she’d take him that way right now. For all his faults, he was, at heart, a good man. And right now, good men were hard to find—or so the song said.
The next day, Ellie watched through the window as the others exercised. She saw Jodi marching along, shadowed by the prison guard who’d stopped them talking. She wished she could have just ten minutes with Jodi, but she wondered whether there was much point in trying to straighten their story. The truth was they were spies. But Jodi had come here to find her father. If Ellie could do anything to persuade the tribunal that Jodi was innocent, then perhaps she could rescue her conscience just a little. She didn’t think of herself as the sort to martyr herself, but it seemed to her that perhaps Jodi was worth the attempt.
The hours dragged by until, finally, she was called into the corridor outside the dormitory. Six guards, all female, waited and one of them held on to Jodi, who gave a tiny shrug and a wave.
“So, made yerself look pretty, have you?” one of the guards said. “It’s gonna take more than combing your hair and plumping up yer buns to get you out of this, missy.”
Ellie flushed. She had tidied herself up ahead of the tribunal hearing, but she hadn’t done it to make herself look more sexually appealing. At least, not consciously.
They entered the tribunal room to find a long table with two empty chairs in front. Three people—two men and one woman—sat on the other side, all in military uniforms, and they waited until Ellie and Jodi were seated.
“Please remove their handcuffs,” one of the male officers said.
Once they’d taken the oath to tell the truth, the man who’d first spoken introduced himself. “My name is Major Fuller and I am presiding over this tribunal. This is Lieutenant Booth and Lieutenant Hussain,” he said, gesturing to the female officer to one side and the male to the other.
He gathered his papers together, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. “The purpose of this tribunal is to establish your security status. It is rare for such a process to be necessary, which ought to indicate the severity of the circumstances. I strongly recommend that you respond to our questions honestly and clearly. We have complete authority to decide in this case and to make any and all determinations as to degree of punishment, including capital. Do you understand?”
They both nodded and muttered acknowledgments. Ellie stole a look at Jodi sitting next to her. The young woman looked terrified.
Fuller turned to the first page of his file. “You traveled here from Denver. Is this correct?”
Ellie decided that she would do as much of the talking as she could. “Yes.”
“And yet you instructed Ms. Baxter here not to mention this. Why?”
“I don’t know. I just knew that the governor in Denver isn’t exactly liked here. I just thought it would be better if we didn’t mention it.”
Fuller shook his head. “And do you still think it was good to encourage your friend to lie?”
Ellie looked down and shook her head. She’d never found pretending to be contrite easy, but now it came naturally. “It was stupid. But it was completely my idea, nothing to do with Jodi.”
“I’m well aware of that, Ms. Fischer.”
The woman next to Fuller looked down at her papers. “You claim that you seek a permit to allow you to find family in the LA area. Is this correct, or is it also a lie?”
“It’s correct. I grew up in LA, and Jodi lived there until just before the flood.”
“And yet, you waited until more than six months after the initial event to look for them? It would have been far easier to cross the country before the cold arrived, would it not?”
Ellie nodded. “Sure, but we were focusing on survival. When the wave hit, we were at sea and spent a long time making our way to land. There’s not much left of the east, you know?”
“What were you doing in Denver?” Fuller asked.
“Surviving.”
Fuller pointed at Jodi. “I’d like to hear what Ms. Baxter has to say.”
“Like Ellie says. We survived. It wasn’t easy once the snow started.”
“And yet you managed it and managed to get transport to Ragtown and were then sent here.”
Ellie put her hand up. “We weren’t sent here. We came to find our family. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“Because I know a lie when I hear it, Ms. Fischer, and I’ve heard plenty since you sat down. Now, you have a choice. You can start telling the truth or you can face military justice. Both of you.”
Ellie felt her insides turn to ice. “Look, Jodi’s got nothing to do with anything. If she hasn’t told the complete truth, it’s because she’s protecting me.”
“No way! Don’t talk such sh—”
“Ms. Baxter!” Major Fuller banged his fist on the desk. When the echoes had faded, he looked at each of them in turn. “I will tolerate no further lies. I will now adjourn this tribunal to give you both time to consider your responses.”
As the prison guards moved forward, Fuller addressed the nearest. “Take them into the exercise area and allow them to talk privately. I expect them to return with a more constructive attitude that will avoid the need for us to take more robust measures to obtain the truth.”
Ellie followed Jodi and the prison guards out of the tribunal room to the sound of chairs being pushed back.
As they emerged into the light of a cold day, Ellie felt a grip on her arm. It was the same guard who’d split her and Jodi up the previous day. “Now you listen to me. There ain’t no hope for you to get out of here free, so you just up and tell the major the truth. But keep your little friend out of it, you hear?”
“I can’t do both at the same time,” Ellie said, but the woman just scowled, pushed her away and joined her colleagues leaning against the wall watching the two prisoners.
Ellie caught up with Jodi as she stood with her fingers gripping the chain-link fence, looking across the base as little flurries of snow seemed to play like children, occasionally obscuring the uniformed figures running back and forth.
“You’ve got to let me take the heat, Jodi,” Ellie said, leaning on the fence and looking at the young woman.
Jodi turned toward her. “Well, for one,” she held up a single finger, “I won’t let you do it. And two,” she lifted another, “they won’t believe us. They know I’m involved, and I reckon they’ve got a pretty good hunch that we’ve come to spy. So, they want us to fess up, tell them everything we know and then, bang!, they finish us. Spies g
et shot, you know?”
Ellie closed her mouth as a snowflake landed on her tongue. To begin with, she couldn’t find anything to say. She’d been blown away by the young woman’s maturity. “Yeah, you’re right. But I still think they might show mercy to you if I play along. It’s the only chance we’ve got.”
“It’s no chance, Ellie. If we tell them, then we get shot, and they know more about what’s going on in Denver.”
“I don’t care, Jodi,” Ellie said, laying her hand over Jodi’s cold fingers. “If there’s any chance of saving you, I will take it.”
Tears formed in the corners of Jodi’s eyes. “And I thought you didn’t like me. At first, anyway.”
“Yeah. I’ve seen enough movie star brats, but I guess I’ve come to realize it’s a two-edged sword.”
Jodi wiped at her eyes. “I was such a victim, but I didn’t have a clue back then.”
“Ironic that we’re here to look for your dad, isn’t it?”
Jodi nodded. “Wish I’d never found out. Patrick wouldn’t be in the hospital and we wouldn’t be here.”
“You don’t know what would have happened. We could have gotten ourselves into just as much trouble in Denver as here.”
“No, I don’t reckon we could.” She smiled and stepped into Ellie’s embrace.
“So, what do we do?”
“We don’t have any choice. We have to tell them the truth. If we don’t, they’ll probably torture us.”
Ellie separated from her and wiped Jodi’s wet face and then her own. “Okay. But with one small lie.”
“What?”
“Blame it on Schultz. Don’t mention Buchanan.”
Jodi nodded.
“I’m sorry, Jodi. I wanted to protect you, but look where we’ve ended up.”
“Do you think they will shoot us?”
Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. But if they don’t, I reckon we’ll find ourselves in the worst kind of military prison, and that would effectively be a death sentence.”
They embraced again but split apart at the sound of heavy boots on the asphalt.
“Come on then, lovebirds. The major’s called the tribunal back, so I sure hope you got your story straight.”
Ellie ignored her, merely following as the prison guards led them both back into the tribunal room where the three officers had resumed their places.
“This tribunal is now back in session, and I would like to remind you both of the oaths you swore, in the presence of God, to tell only the truth.”
“I would like to speak,” Ellie said, surprising everyone including herself with a decision she’d made in a split second.
The major raised his eyebrows, but nodded. “Proceed.”
“I would like to offer my complete cooperation, on condition that Ms. Baxter is freed.”
“You’re in no position to bargain, Ms. Fischer.”
Ellie sighed theatrically. “Look, we all know you could beat the information out of us in time, but we also know that torture leads to bad intelligence.” Now she knew what Patrick felt like when he inhabited another persona. Ironically, he’d been the one to tell her about the ineffectiveness of obtaining information through torture—he’d learned it during research for a part.
“No one has threatened torture,” the major said, practically spitting feathers. “This is a professional military operation.”
“Like Guantánamo?” She knew she was playing with fire, but also that she had nothing to lose.
Fuller banged his fist on the table as the other two officers talked over each other, outraged. “How dare you? Let the record state that no such threats have been made. I suggest, Ms. Fischer, you take extreme care with what you choose to say next.”
Ellie took in several deep breaths to calm her racing heart. “I repeat my offer to cooperate on condition that Ms. Baxter is freed.”
“Denied.”
“Then we will say nothing.” She glanced across at Jodi, who nodded.
“That is your right, but we must make a determination, and if you refuse to provide the information we require, then this judgment will be made based on what we do know—that you attempted to enter the base and then to conceal your point of origin from our investigators. We will be forced to conclude that you intended to work against us as agents of our enemies. Now, will you change your mind and provide us with the information we seek?”
Ellie glanced again at Jodi, before shaking her head. “Not without a guarantee that Jodi will be released.”
“So be it. You will be taken to a secure location and held there while we deliberate. Tomorrow at ten hundred hours you will return here to receive our verdict. Sadly, you leave us little choice other than to impose the most severe penalties. And you will get at least part of your wish, Ms. Fisher, since you will be treated most severely. It is obvious that you are the responsible party here.”
As Ellie was watching the major speak, a door opened and a young man in uniform marched quickly in before leaning over the table and whispering to the three officers.
Ellie heard Fuller hiss, “He’s here? Now? Without warning?”
Then he got up from his chair. “Escort them away,” he said to the prison guards. “It’s a pity, Ms. Fischer,” he added as he moved toward the door. “You have squandered every opportunity to make your case. I’m afraid that tomorrow will be a very black day for you both.”
As she was led away, the guard whispered in her ear, “You’s gonna fry, baby!”
Chapter 6
Knox
Bobby glanced down at the bandage on his arm and gave it an experimental prod. Specialist Ferguson had done a great job, but a little blood still seeped through and the anesthetic had worn off long ago.
“So, this is American brothel,” Yuri said, gazing around with a look of wonderment that hadn’t changed since they’d arrived. He leaned back, the red satin pillow whistling as he moved, and ran his fingers over the velvet fabric of the sofa. Then he thought better of it and rubbed his hands on his pants.
“Apparently.”
“You have never been in one before?”
“Of course not! They’re not legal in most states.”
Yuri chuckled, pausing between mouths of MRE curry to nod at the group of soldiers relaxing on a collection of ornate pink and red chairs and couches. “What do you think of them?”
“Sullivan’s a professional, that’s obvious. And Ferguson is medical trained, for sure. There’s just not a lot of them, is there?”
“Six. Good soldiers. Enough to rescue us.”
Bobby nodded. It had turned out that Carl had only four others with him, and they’d been taken by surprise by Sullivan’s people, only having time to take a single shot before surrendering. They were now tied up in the brothel’s basement. Carl was with them, beaten and bruised following his fight with Bobby and Specialist Tanaka.
Sullivan’s head emerged from the group of soldiers and he made his way across to where Bobby and Yuri sat before pulling up a mock-antique French chair and sitting down. “Are you both recovering?”
“Thank you, yes.”
Yuri’s head bobbed up and down. “You Americans have excellent rations. MRE is better than Russian food on ISS.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Colonel. Now, I guess you have questions.”
“The main one is what do you intend to do with us?” Bobby asked.
Sullivan looked a little surprised. “Nothing, other than to escort you on your way. I’m tempted to go with you to Denver, but my standing orders are to remain in Wendover.”
“Orders from who?” Yuri asked.
For a moment, Sullivan regarded Yuri as if deciding how much he should say. Then he gave a curt nod. “We are part of an evolving command structure. I’m not at liberty to say much more, partly for security reasons and partly because I don’t know everything. We have been organized into cells, and I only have contact with my neighboring groups. I’ve let them know that we’ve succeeded in rescuing you, but
it may be some time before we receive direct orders, and I don’t believe you can afford to wait.”
“So, what can you tell us about the situation?”
Sullivan looked over at his soldiers, who were chattering over the sound of aluminum forks sliding on metal trays. “Not much of a military unit, is it? They’re good soldiers, but if Governor Schultz knew we were here, we’d have to evacuate. He has the loyalty of most of the military hierarchy in this part of the country. I can’t say I blame them too much; they think they’re being pragmatic. They think that supporting Schultz means a better chance of the folks who live in these states surviving.”
“And you don’t?”
Sullivan shrugged. “Maybe they’re right. But I pledged allegiance to the United States and its legitimately elected president. As a soldier, it’s not my place to judge whether someone else is a better choice to bring the country together. The president has my oath, and that’s an end to it.”
“But you’re part of a wider network?”
“Yes, though as I said, I know little of the specifics.”
Bobby leaned forward, rubbing his arm as the pain returned. “But there’s a command structure?”
“We have a leader. His codename is Knox, though, to be truthful, I don’t know if it’s one or more people, man or woman. I do know that there are also civilian cells, including some police.”
“How can you follow an anonymous leader? Where does he, she or they get authority?”
Sullivan shook his head as if dismissing the question. “Knox’s watchword is ‘constitution.’ I discovered there was a price on my head after resigning my commission, but one of Knox’s agents found me before the military police. Through her, I built my team and we’ve been coordinating with neighboring units ever since. If Knox has a larger plan, then I don’t know the details, but when he, or she, calls, we’ll be ready.”
“Who is agent? Tanaka?”
He gestured over his shoulder at the soldiers, who’d split up, some rolling out sleeping bags, others sharing beer. “Ferguson tracked me down.”
“Ferguson?” Yuri said, mouth wide open. “Medic?”
Lost: Deluge Book 5: (A Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Story) Page 5