by T M Edwards
Dr. Fredricks clasped his hands together. “Wonderful. Let me show you aboard.”
He took hold of my elbow, but I shrunk back. “Not yet. I’m waiting for Sam to get here.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Let’s get you on the plane out of this wind. You can wait for your friend there, where it’s warm.”
I resisted for a second longer, but I didn’t see any way to refuse without being rude. I allowed him to lead me to the plane. As I stepped onto the first stair, I grasped the railing and turned to look out across the tarmac. No cars approached. Mankato and his men had already returned to their truck and the rumble of the engine drifted toward us across the asphalt. The two men in gray coveralls stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me to ascend. I felt rather trapped as I stood effectively surrounded by strangers.
“I...I think…”
“Come along!” Dr. Fredricks kept his grip on my elbow, trying to guide me upward. “Please, let’s get out of the wind. You’ll feel much better when you get inside.”
Even if I’d tried to resist, I couldn’t get away from all three of them. Deep unease flooded through me as I allowed myself to be guided onto the plane. Come on, Sam. Hurry up.
But as I stepped from bright sunlight to artificially lit interior, there was no sign of any approaching vehicles. I swallowed as I stood in the tiny entryway with Dr. Fredricks at my side and the two other men blocking the exit. My heart pounded harder with every second, until I could feel it in my ears.
“Please, I want to wait for him outside.” My own voice sounded so weak, so timid. “Let me go.”
“It’s all right!” Dr. Fredricks’ voice was cheery as he showed me into a cabin more luxurious than anything I’d ever flown in. Plush couches and armchairs lined the walls, and TVs were bolted at intervals in the spaces between windows. “He’ll be here soon, I’m sure.” He gestured to an armchair and I took a seat--but only because it was right next to a window that looked out over the tarmac. Dr. Fredricks sat in another chair and swiveled it to face me. All that divided us was a little fold-up table with fake wood grain. “Would you like a drink, Deidre?” At my nod, he waved at someone behind me, and a woman in the same gray coveralls soon appeared with a glass of ice water.
I clutched the sweating glass in my hands to hide their clamminess. It made my fingers ache with cold, but holding it and sipping it was something to do as I fought back my rising unease. I watched out the window, waiting, ignoring all Dr. Fredricks’ attempts to engage me in conversation.
From up front, a thud sounded. I jumped at the noise, and focused on the red-haired man sitting across from me. “What was that? Dr. Fredricks?”
Instead of responding, he stood. “It’s all for the best, Deidre.”
Horror ran through me as I watched him walk toward the cockpit and realized there was something different about the plane’s little entryway.
No sunlight. They’ve closed the door.
“Hey!” I jumped up, setting my glass on the table and grabbing my cane. “Wait!” But just as I stepped into the aisle, the plane lurched forward, and I was pitched onto the sofa on the opposite side. “Dr. Fredricks!”
The man returned, one hand in his jacket pocket. He sat next to me as I groaned and pushed myself upright. “It’s all right, Deidre.”
“No. Stop the plane.” I shook my head, fighting the dizziness there. I felt like I was moving through thick mud. Dr. Fredricks’ face had gone blurry in front of me, and no matter how hard I squinted, I couldn’t focus. “What...what’s going on?”
As if seen through frosted glass, I watched as his hand moved from his pocket to my shoulder. I gasped as something pinched me. “Stop. Let go!” I tried to resist, but my limbs had gone numb. My cane fell from my hand to clatter on the floor. “Stop...have to...wait…” Unable to hold myself up, I slumped onto the back of the couch. Hands took hold of my arms and lowered me to lay down.
“It’s all right, Deidre. It’s for the best.” The ginger head swam above me as I fought to keep my eyes open.
“Why?” My lips were so thick, so numb, that I wasn’t sure if the word even made it past them. Darkness filled my vision, and all sensation faded away as the drugs took full hold and pulled me into oblivion.
***
As consciousness returned, so did raging nausea. Before I was awake enough to move my own head, I started gagging, and someone grabbed my shoulders to turn me over.
Though there was nothing to come up, it took several long moments to convince my body of that. I was shaking and panting by the time it stopped and I could open my eyes. The woman who’d handed me the water earlier knelt on the floor next to me. As I blinked at her and tried to focus on her face, she pushed aside the small wastebasket she’d held my head over.
“What happened?”
The woman sat back on her heels, then stood and walked over to sit in the armchair across the aisle. “What do you remember?”
“Um…” I glanced around. “I remember getting on the plane. Did I fall asleep? Where’s Sam and Honey Badger?” The cabin was empty except for the furniture, the TVs and the two of us. I gaped at the nearest TV when I realized it was on. Gentle music issued from it as photos of calming nature scenes showed on the screen. The music was just barely audible over the roar of the plane’s engines. I pushed myself into a sitting position, clutching my throbbing head.
“They’re not here, hun.”
“Of course they’re here. Mankato said…”
“I know what he said.” The woman leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. A thick braid of black hair fell forward over her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
My foggy brain struggled to understand. “Sorry? Sorry for what? Where’s Sam?” My heart thudded a little faster as I kept looking around without seeing any sign of him. “Where is he?” I demanded.
“He isn’t here.” her repetition enraged me and I launched myself up.
“Where?”
“Hun, sit down before you make yourself sick again. He didn’t come. We did what we had to do to get you to come with us. But we had to leave Sam behind.”
“No.” I sank back onto the couch, clutching the cushions in my fists. “You’re wrong. They said he was coming. They said he’d be right here. They said…” I trailed off in despair as her words sank in. “What have you done?”
“Hun, it’s all for the best. I know you’re angry now, but you’ll understand.”
Hopelessness overwhelmed me as I thought of going on this journey without Sam. Sam, who loved me and held me in my worst moments. The man who I’d comforted through countless nightmares. The father of my child. “No...no, no, no!” Each word came out as a sob. “You can’t do this!” I pushed myself up again, and after a quick and futile search for my cane, limped toward the front of the plane. “We have to go back. We have to stop.” I swung around the cabin doorway and searched the space around the exit stairs for a lever. Spotting it, I reached out.
The woman’s hands closed over mine and pulled me back. “I can’t let you do that.” She was stronger than she looked. I spun around, rage suffusing my horror. “Stop the plane!” My spit landed on her face as I screamed, but I didn’t care. “Take me back! Now!” I tried to wrestle out of her grip, but she was too strong. She maintained her hold on my wrists, probably afraid I’d hit her if I got the chance. She was right.
“No. We’re almost there. Even if we wanted to, we don’t have enough fuel to turn back.”
“Then land! Let me out!”
It only deepened my rage when she laughed. She released my hands and stepped back. “You’re crazy if you think you’re going to walk through hundreds of miles of Canadian wilderness in the middle of winter to find some guy.”
“He’s not just some guy!” Then another part of her sentence hit me and I went cold. “Canadian? Mankato said we were going to Atlanta. Why are we over Canada?”
She shook her head. “Not Atlanta. Atlantis Projects.”
“What?�
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The woman sighed. “Come on. Come sit down.” Just then, the door to the cockpit opened and Dr. Fredricks stepped out.
“Sondra, that dose was supposed to knock her out for another hour.” He glared at me as if it was my fault I was awake.”
“I know.” Sondra spread her hands. “What do you want me to do?”
The two looked at me as I tried to catch my breath and fight through the maelstrom of emotions. My head spun, my stomach cramped, and all I wanted to do was crawl into a corner and cry. “Don’t you touch me!” I pulled back as Dr. Fredricks reached for me, and slapped his hand away.
“Calm down, or I’ll be forced to drug you again.” His intensity was still there, but now it was frightening rather than vaguely disturbing. “I’m sorry for all this, but it’s for the best.”
“Would you stop saying that? You don’t know me. You don’t know what’s best for me.”
Dr. Fredricks reached toward me again, but I glared at him so hard he retreated. “Please, Deidre, come sit down.”
Without waiting for him to try and guide me, I brushed past him to limp back to the couch. When I sat and crossed my legs, I worked hard to project rage rather than the terror I felt over going on this journey alone. I wouldn’t let him see me vulnerable. Anyone who did this kind of thing didn’t deserve that trust.
Dr. Fredricks and Sondra sat in the two armchairs across the little table, both swiveling their chairs to face me. The doctor watched me for a moment before speaking. “Look, Deidre, we need you. I won’t deny that. We need every pregnant woman available. It’s of vital importance to the survival of our species.”
“I’m surprised you don’t just forcibly impregnate them yourselves, at this point.” I could have laughed when Dr. Fredricks actually looked taken aback for a moment.
“Of course not. That would be inhumane.”
“And this,” I gestured around the airplane, “isn’t?”
“You said you would come. We may have what seems like abundant resources, but they are not limitless. We can’t bring more people in, if those people won’t help further our cause. If we’d told you that, you likely wouldn’t have come.”
“You’re damn right.”
“But,” Dr. Franks held up one finger. “I think, once we get there and you see what we have in the works, you’ll understand. You’re here because you want to save people. That’s what we’re going to do.” There it was again, that strange glint in his eye.
I had no words. I had no response. All I had was a brain so full of anger, fear, and even hate, that it had no room left for rational thought. My heart pounded in my ears, tears burned behind my eyes, and my hands shook as I tried to process it all.
All I could do was turn away from them and gaze out my window at the thick snow-blanketed forest below. A voice crackled over the PA system, announcing a landing in twenty minutes. I could hear Dr. Fredricks and Sharon moving, but I pretended not to.
Oh, Sam. I will come back for you, Sam. I won’t ever forgive them for this. I don’t care if I have to walk across Canada to find you. I’ll do it. Me and my baby, because there’s no way I’m leaving my child in the hands of these people. I’ll find a way.
The journey continues in Book 3: Firstborn.
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