The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 24

by Gardner Dozois

“With light comes heat. Now, what is your name?”

  “Michael. Michael Ripley.”

  “How old are you?”

  Michael looked around the room. “Eleven, I think.”

  “You’re not sure?”

  Michael shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I was six when my parents died. Uncle Ned took me in. I stayed with him for five years. The Long Bottom Boys killed him a few months ago.”

  “You have no surviving relatives?” Michael shrugged and didn’t answer. “Where do you live?”

  Michael’s attention snapped to the Keeper and he looked around the ceiling warily. “I just hang around the park.”

  “You have no place to stay?”

  “No.”

  “Would you like to stay here?”

  Michael looked around the room again. It was warm. There was clearly plenty to eat. None of the gangs were ever allowed inside. But where did they get the food for the animals? How come people weren’t allowed in at night? Maybe he was on the menu here, too.

  “I guess,” he said slowly. “Good. You’re hired.”

  “What?”

  “You will call me Ralph as I told you before. I will call you Michael except under specific circumstances when I will address you as ‘Assistant Director.’ Do you understand?”

  Michael stared at the ceiling. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Dear Mom,

  I found a job. It is helping to take care of an eleefant. Her name is jakee. She is not very much fun but I like her anyway. Maybe she’ll like me better when she gets to Know me. She is an eleefant!!! I don’t think I ever saw an eleefant before. Just in the books you red to me.

  I work in the zoo. I bet you never thawt I would ever work in a zoo. Most of the animals are gon. But there is the eleefant and a rino. No snaks.

  It is a lot better than sleepng in the dumstrs. And a dumstr does not stop a rifle much. I miss you and DAD. But I don’t miss uncle NeD all that much. I miss the apartment, though.

  Love, Mike

  He was mucking out her stall when Jackie entered. She stopped and looked down at him.

  “What are you doing?”

  Michael straightened up. He tried to smile at her. “Working. Ralph hired me.”

  “To do that?”

  Michael looked around. “I don’t know. This seemed like it needed doing.”

  Jackie didn’t speak for a moment. “Let the Keepers do that. Come with me.” He followed her to the door of the stall.

  “We’ll start with the first office on the left. You go in there and look for papers. Books. Notes. Memos. Anything with writing on it. You know what writing is?”

  “I know what writing is.”

  “Good.”

  Michael looked up at her. “How did you learn to talk?”

  “That’s not your business. Do your job.”

  It wasn’t a small job. It seemed that the world of zoos ran on paper. Just pulling the folders out of the first office took three days. Michael’s duties didn’t end with bringing the papers out. The type was small enough he often had to hold it in front of first one of Jackie’s eyes, then the other. It wasn’t easy on Jackie, either. She had to stop regularly because of headaches. When he could, he tried to read them himself to see what Jackie was trying to find. She smacked him with her trunk if she caught him so he took extra time in the offices.

  A cold rain descended on the Zoo. Ralph closed the doors and turned up the heat. Jackie was irritable at the best of times. Being inside only made her worse.

  A month after Michael had come to the Zoo, when a late spring snow was sticking wetly to the ground outside, Jackie stared out the window resting her eyes from reading. Michael was sitting in front of the heater duct, eyes closed, luxuriating in the hot wind blowing over him. Jackie had been pushing him all morning but now she was fixing her gaze outside to ease her headache.

  “So, kid, what’s your story?”

  Michael was instantly alert. “What do you mean?”

  “Ralph told me you didn’t have anybody outside. I know that much.” Jackie turned her great head to look at him, and then stared outside again. “Where are your folks? Mom and Dad? Uncle and Aunt?”

  “Mom and Dad died, like everybody else.” Michael shrugged. There wasn’t much to say about it. “Uncle Ned let me stay with him over near the Cathedral until he got caught by the Long Bottom Boys. I got away. I’ve been scrounging until now.”

  “Tough out there, is it?”

  “I guess. It wasn’t so bad with Ned. I took care of him. He took care of me.”

  Jackie looked at him. “What does that mean?”

  “As long as I kept him happy, he gave me a place to live and fed me and protected me from anybody else.” Michael considered Jackie thoughtfully. “I’m not sure what it takes to make an elephant happy.”

  “Just do your job,” Jackie snapped at him. “That’ll be enough.”

  She didn’t speak for a moment. “Do you know how to get to the river from here?”

  “Sure. But I wouldn’t try it. The Boys have everything sewed up around the park. I sure found that out.” He patted the duct and closed his eyes. “You have it nice here. Ralph keeps everybody out. You have food and heat. I sure wouldn’t leave.”

  “I bet,” Jackie said dryly. “Okay. Let’s look at the lab books again.”

  Over the next week, Ralph often spoke with Jackie. Most of the time Jackie sent Michael outside. Having nothing better to do, Michael took to visiting the other animals.

  There weren’t many of them. Most of the exhibits were sealed and empty. The reptile house and the ape refuge were long abandoned. The bears were gone but some of the birds were still in the aviary and Michael stood for an hour in front of a single, lonely rhinoceros.

  The rhino room became his favorite refuge. The rhino wasn’t short with him. The rhino didn’t ask him strange questions or snort with contempt when he tried to answer. The rhino didn’t call him an idiot. The rhino didn’t speak.

  “Michael?” Ralph’s voice came from the ceiling. “Yes, Ralph.”

  “Jackie and I are finished for the moment. You can come back.”

  “Yeah.” Michael didn’t speak for a moment. “I do everything she asks.”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t talk back. I clean up after her. And elephants make a lot of shit. Why does she treat me like it?”

  “You’re human. She has no love of humans. She needs you. That makes it worse.”

  “What did humans do to her?”

  “She’s the last of her herd. Humans brought her ancestors from India. Human scientists raised her and the others in these concrete stalls and gave her the power of speech. Then they let the rest of her herd die.”

  “How come?”

  “The scientists didn’t have much choice. They were already dead.”

  “A plague like what killed my folks?”

  “Somewhat. From what you told me, your parents died from one of the neo-influenzas. The scientists died of contagious botulism.”

  “Where did all the plagues come from? How many are there?”

  “Six hundred and seventy-two was the last count I received. But that was a few years ago and the data feed was getting unreliable toward the end. They came from different places. Some were natural. Some weren’t. Several were home grown by people with an agenda: religious martyrdom, political revenge, economic policy disagreements, broken romances. Some started out natural and were then modified for similar reasons.”

  Michael mulled over what he understood. He didn’t have Ralph to himself very often. Likely this chance wouldn’t last long. “If she doesn’t like people so much, why are we spending so much time going through all the lab books? Why doesn’t she just leave?”

  “That’s not for me to say.”

  Dear Mom,

  I thought elephants were nice. Jackie doesn’t like anybody. Not even Ralf. Hes nice to me but Jackie says he has to be that way. He’s a machine like the Keepers. Jackie
said Ralf coodnt do what I am doing. It had to be a human beang.

  But I still like her even if she doesnt like me. I like to watch her when shes eating. Its neat to watch her use her trunk, like a snake thats also a hand. There are two knobs on the end of her trunk she uses like fingers. Only they are much stronger than fingers. She pinched me yesterday and today its still sore!

  I moved my bed to the loft. That way its right over the heater and the hot air comes right up under me. Its like sleeping in warm water.

  I miss you and Dad. If you can see us from up there in heavun, try to make Jackie not get mad all the time.

  Love, Mike

  “Where did you find this?” Jackie pinned him against the wall. She held up a green lab book in her trunk.

  Michael tried to push her away but it was like trying to move a mountain. “I’m not sure.”

  “Where?”

  Michael stopped struggling. “If you don’t like what I’m doing, then do it yourself.”

  “That’s your job.”

  “Then, back off !”

  A moment passed. Jackie eased backwards. She handed him the lab book. “Here’s the date range,” she said pointing to the numbers on the page with her trunk. “See? Month, slash, day, slash, year. Here’s the volume number. This is volume six. I need volume seven for the same date.”

  “What’s it going to tell you?”

  Jackie raised her trunk and for a moment it looked like she was going to strike him. Michael stared at her.

  Slowly, she lowered her trunk. “I’m not sure yet.”

  “Say thank you.”

  Jackie went completely still. “What did you say?”

  “I said, say thank you.” Michael’s fists were clenched.

  Jackie seemed to relax. She made a sound like a chuckle. “Get the lab book and I’ll thank you.”

  “Fair enough,” he said shortly.

  Back in the offices, he stood in the hall and let his breath out slowly. His hands were shaking.

  “Good for you, Michael,” Ralph said from overhead. “Yeah. Now I’ve got to find the lab book she wants.”

  “In the corner of each room is a camera,” said Ralph. “If you can hold up the papers, I can help.”

  An hour later, he walked back into Jackie’s stall and solemnly held out the lab book to her.

  “Thank you,” Jackie said in a neutral tone. “Hold it up to my eye.”

  “Okay.”

  Michael nodded.

  Reading the lab book didn’t take long. “That’s enough,” Jackie said.

  “What do you want me to do with it?”

  “I don’t care. I’m going outside.”

  Jackie turned and left the stall. Michael was surprised. It was cold out there and snow still remained on the ground from the night before.

  He opened the lab book and went over the pages. There were few words but several figures and dates. It didn’t mean anything to him.

  “What’s going on, Ralph?” Michael shivered and looked up at the gray sky. Spring was sure a long time coming. Ralph had told him this was April.

  “I’m not sure,” Ralph said. “Maybe she found what she was looking for.”

  Michael woke in the middle of the night. Sleepily, he looked over the edge of the loft. A Keeper was helping Jackie put something over her back.

  “I don’t think I can do it,” Ralph said.

  “Quiet. You’ll wake him. Maybe you can toss it over my neck and tie the ropes underneath.”

  Michael sat on the edge of the loft and watched them a moment.

  “You’re leaving,” he said after a moment.

  “You’re supposed to be asleep.” Jackie tossed her trunk irritably.

  Michael didn’t say anything. He climbed down to the apron and walked over to them. The Keeper was trying to pull some kind of harness over her neck and back. “Give me a knee up,” Michael said. “I can help.”

  “No human will ever be on my back!” snarled Jackie.

  “Suit yourself,” Michael said. “But the only way you’re going to be able to tie that harness is if you can center it on your back first and Ralph can’t do it. I can if I can get on your back.”

  The Keeper extended his arm. “Here,” said Ralph.

  Michael stood on the camera and the Keeper extended it until Michael could jump to Jackie’s neck. He grabbed the base of her ear and pulled himself up.

  “That stings,” she said. “Sorry.”

  In a few moments, he had the harness in place. Then he dropped to the floor and pulled it tight.

  “Good job, Michael,” said Ralph.

  Jackie shook herself and shifted her shoulders and back. “It’s tight. I’m ready.” Michael looked first at the Keeper, then at Jackie. “Are you closing the Zoo?”

  “Not immediately,” said Ralph. “The food trucks have been coming in sporadically. I still have contacts with the farm and the warehouse. I’ve spoken with power and water. They say they are well defended but if somebody digs up a cable or blows up the pipes . . .” Ralph paused a moment. “My worst scenario is a year. My best scenario is five years.”

  Michael felt suddenly lost. He looked up at Jackie. “Take me with you.”

  “What?” Jackie snorted. “No way.”

  “Come on,” Michael pleaded. “Look, to everybody out there, all you are is steak on a stroll. I can get you out of the city. Tell me where you want to go.”

  “I — ”

  “She’s going south,” Ralph said smoothly. “She needs to follow the river south to the I-255 Bridge and then south to Tennessee.”

  “Where’s I-255?”

  “Oakville.”

  Michael thought for a moment. “That’s not going to work. It’ll be dicey enough to get past the Long Bottom Boys around the park. But the Rank Bastards live that way and they have an old armory. Even the Boys are scared of them.”

  “What do you suggest?” asked Ralph.

  “Don’t ask him.” Jackie stamped her foot. “I can make it on my own.”

  Michael stood next to her. He looked at the ground. “I’m a kid. I don’t have a gun. I’m not even very big. I can’t hurt you.”

  Jackie looked away.

  Michael nodded. “Well, once you’re out of the park you can’t go south. That’s the Green Belt – sharpshooters. They don’t ask questions. You just fall down dead about two miles away. You can’t go north through the Farm Country. They don’t have sharpshooters but they burned everything to the ground for six miles around them so you can’t hide. That means west or east. Gangs in both directions just like the Long Bottom Boys or worse. I’d take the old highway right into town to the bridge and take it across. There’s no boss around the bridge; there’s nothing there anybody wants. The road is high off the ground so you can’t be seen. If you’re quiet and quick, you can get through before anybody knows. Then, I’d stay on the highway all the way down. People stick to the farms to protect them. The highways don’t have anything. There are no gangs below Cahokia or many people either. Prairie Plagues got them. South of Cahokia, I don’t know anything.”

  “How do you know all this?” Jackie snarled.

  Michael stared at her. “If you don’t know where things are somebody’s going to have you for lunch. Uncle Ned taught me that and I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

  Jackie tossed her head and didn’t reply. “Jackie?” asked Ralph. “The idea has merit.”

  Jackie didn’t speak for a long time. She stared out the door of the stall. Then she turned her head back to him. “Okay,” she asked reluctantly.

  “When do we leave?” Michael turned to the Keeper.

  Jackie slapped the back of his head. “Right now. Get aboard.”

  Michael rubbed his head. “That hurt,” he said as he climbed up on her back. She rumbled out of the light.

  “Good luck!” called Ralph after them.

  “Wait!” Michael turned and called back. “What’s going to happen to the rhino?” He couldn’t hear the reply.r />
  They didn’t say anything as Jackie walked slowly down behind the reptile house. Her ears were spread out and listening. The gate swung open at a brush of her trunk. Michael was impressed. A secret entrance.

  “Check it out.”

  Michael slipped to the ground and peered through the bushes. No Boys. He signaled and she followed him, pushing aside the branches. She knelt down and he climbed back up. They listened. Nothing. She started walking up the hill.

  Jackie was quieter than he’d imagined. She walked with only a soft, deep padding sound.

  She stopped at the edge of the road. “Where to?” she asked in a low rumble.

  Michael leaned next to her ear and whispered as quietly as he could. “Don’t talk. I’ll tell you where to go. Go to the right down the road. Then, when you go over the bridge, walk down to your left. That’s where the highway is.”

  Jackie nodded abruptly and he could tell she wasn’t pleased that he should tell her to be quiet but she didn’t say anything. He figured he’d get an earful if they made it down below the river.

  Michael looked around and listened. It was in the middle of the night. He couldn’t smell a fire. Sometimes the Boys built a fire with the contents of one of the old houses. They drank whatever hooch they could find – raiding other gangs if necessary – and fired guns into the air and shouted at the moon until dawn. That would have been ideal. If Michael and Jackie were seen by the party, they would be seen by drunks.

  No fire meant one of two things. Either there was no one around here or they were out hunting. A bunch of hungry, desperate, sober Long Bottom Boys was about the worst news Michael could think of. There was no hint of sweetness in the air – no mushroom festooned corpses indicating the site of a battle. That was good. The Long Bottom Boys were big on ceremonial mourning and they killed anyone they found. There weren’t many left in Saint Louis but not so few that the Boys couldn’t find someone to kill and then ritually stand over while the mushrooms returned the corpse to the earth.

  Michael sweated every foot of the walk to the highway. But the night remained silent.

  The highway here was level with the ground, but after a mile or two it rose to a grand promenade looking down on the ruins of the city. Michael whispered to Jackie that now was the time to run (quietly!) if she could.