Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct

by Kathrin Kilambya

  And Alice snuggled up to me, her little body radiating heat. It got almost too warm for comfort, but I didn’t move. It felt too good to have her close, my little darling sister; whom I would protect against anything. For whose safety I would do anything.

  I was glad that we all slept together in the same room. I would have hated to be alone down here in the studio. I could hear Yuki and Nin murmuring to themselves for a while, then they were silent, probably finally asleep.

  But still, sleep kept eluding me.

  I thought about Dad’s strange call and what it could possibly mean, for us, our family, the world. But I gave up quickly. It was too complicated, too strange and surreal. I couldn’t, for the life of me, imagine a plot like the one Dad had mentioned come true. It didn’t bear thinking that some crazy people could and would contemplate and plan the murder – for what else was it but murder – of billions of people. Whatever could their motives be? Hate? Racism? Greed? Concern for the planet? Whatever it was it left me with a spinning feeling, as if the ground had been pulled from under my feet.

  It was dizzying to think about it and instead I turned my thoughts to Mum and Nate. Would we ever see them again? Would they be able to contact Uncle Phil and get to him in time to travel to Kenya with him and Aunt Kamene? This would be such a relief! Because it would mean that they’d be as safe as they could possibly be. Uncle Phil was someone you could trust implicitly and who always had a backup plan, or two or three, up his sleeves. Nothing ever seemed to take him by surprise or unprepared. He was a very, very devious and clever man, was he! If Mum and Nate made it to him with the twins, I could and would be at ease; for they would be very safe with him indeed.

  Then my thoughts drifted to Alice and how she was going to cope. It would take all our combined efforts to get her through this safe and sound. Just the thought of her being harmed in any way, made me want to leap protectively in front of her. But we would not only have to protect her from harm, but get her accustomed to a new situation, a completely new world, granted Dad’s nightmare scenario should turn reality. Yuki certainly had a point. Why should he have frightened Alice in such a cruel way unless he really was onto something, or at least, thought he was? And, he had been right too, neither Nin nor I would ever have listened to him, had he told us directly without involving Alice. I couldn’t really believe it. Probably none of us would until it really happened. Ah heck, it was too daunting to think about it.

  And so, finally, I allowed my thoughts to wander off toward Josh. I remembered the days at Uncle Phil’s last summer, how I had liked Josh, too much for my own good. But I had been too shy to show any of my feelings. Auntie Kamene had commented once or twice, indicating that she might know, but she’d let me be. I mean, how could this wonderful, sparkling, charming person full of humour be meant for me? I had no special abilities to recommend me to anyone, after all, hadn’t I? I might not be stupid, that’s for sure, but other than that … My looks were nothing special: hair the colour of the bark of oak tree, to put it mystically. Or, to put it frank, the colour of a mouse. Eyes grey and nothing very special. Body too thin and lanky; and not really athletic, and certainly not in the modish gym-toned-up fashion. I had always been more of an outdoor person and liked to dress casually rather than smart. Again, nothing to attract anyone. That I was smart, I knew, but had that ever counted? And I didn’t trust that I, by myself, might be attractive enough for anyone. Not after the way I had let myself be bamboozled by Steve the year before. I still smarted and cringed at the way he had used me to ingratiate himself with Nate. He’d only been after a position at the school and had used me to try and get it. And I had been stupid enough to let myself be used. He’d made it painfully clear at our last meeting that I the only reason why he had ever bothered to talk with me had been my connection to Nate. Nin had offered to beat him up, afterwards. But I had known, even then, that I felt ashamed of myself, more than anything, for having deluded myself into thinking that he might actually be a nice person. Anyway, how was I to be confident enough after this stupid episode to trust my assessment of others? And the idea that somebody might pretend to be interested in me, just for the sake of the familial connections I certainly had, left, right and centre, what with Dad, Uncle Phil, their network of buddies, Nate and so, was more than I would or could stomach for now. And so I had said or done nothing last summer at Uncle Phil’s, had ignored the way my heart tended to skip a beat whenever Josh was there or talked to me.

  Maybe I should talk to Auntie Kamene. Not just about Josh, but about everything. I trusted her advice and guidance implicitly. She would know, she always had.

  And then we could call Josh and find out what he and Papadopoulos had learnt. I was very curious about that. But would they be able to talk about it on the phone? Were they being watched by this group? I mean, if Papadopoulos had been found out when he had tried to infiltrate them, those people would have to be pretty stupid not to have him watched thereafter, wouldn’t they? At least I would, if I were them. But then again, I wasn’t, and how was I to know how such people thought and reasoned. Better to wonder about tomorrow and what we’d do…

  And then sleep finally found me and I drifted off.

  Chapter 2 – more information

  Sunday, 6th March 2072

  When Alice and I woke up, Yuki and Nin were gone. Upstairs probably. To prepare breakfast hopefully. Alice woke me up by tweaking my nose, claiming that I had been snoring. But her eyes twinkled with mischief, so it was probably not true.

  While I lay in bed, trying to wake up properly, I wondered about yesterday’s events. Had it really all happened – Dad’s message, his call and all this? It seemed surreal and strange, like from another world or a scary movie. Now, in broad daylight, or at least at the beginning of what promised to be another wonderful early spring day, I felt almost stupid for the things I’d said yesterday. Almost.

  Alice was all cheery and seemed not at all affected by yesterday. So much the better. I was not going to bring it all back by talking about it, no way. Rather, I joined into her cheerfulness and when we’d dressed, I agreed to her suggestion that we brush each other’s hair. I did her hair every day, but that she wanted to brush mine was not an everyday experience. She’d insisted to wear a dress. She had been in that dress-phase girls go through for several months now and had quite a selection of cute dresses. The one she chose today was blue with white daisies. She looked gorgeous; what with her blue eyes and red hair. A neat pale-blue cardigan and white leggings completed her Sunday-like outfit. I, on the other hand, just wore a pair of old comfy jeans and a green sweater. We’d be rummaging through piles of probably dusty things today. So, no need to wear beautiful things.

  Of course, Piglet needed to be dressed too. And finally, Alice was ready to have her hair brushed. She sat down in front of me and I brushed her hair, her wonderful russet-coloured thick hair. She wasn’t too tall for her age, but she certainly had an absolutely gorgeous mane of red hair. Together with her blue eyes and fair and freckled complexion you might have taken her for an Irish girl. We didn’t resemble each other much, we three – and she definitely was the beauty of the family. It wasn’t just her wonderful hair in combination with her brilliant blue eyes, but her whole being usually sparkling with energy and happiness. One couldn’t help adore her.

  “A braid, a pony tail or how do you want it done today?” I inquired.

  “Two braids, please”, she answered sweetly.

  When I was done with her braids, we switched positions and she began brushing my hair. It tugged a bit, because she wasn’t used to it, but it felt nice all the same.

  “Yours is longer than mine, but mine is thicker.” She commented. “But I like the colour of your hair better. Brown is better than red. People don’t always comment on your hair if it is brown. Yours is reaching almost down to your waist, I like it, it’s beautiful.” She measured the lengths with her finger, poking me in the back, which tickled me. I squirmed away, giggling.

  “
I would like it in a ponytail, please.” I replied, smiling at her. “And, people are commenting on your hair because it is beautiful, little tiger,. Not just a dull, boring brown like mine, you know.”

  She wrinkled her nose at that and tried to tie my hair in a ponytail. When she was done, I kissed her on her nose, she picked up Piglet and we went upstairs, in search of Yuki and Nin, and breakfast.

  They were in the kitchen and breakfast was ready. Yuki sat at the table reading a book. She wore jeans and a white shirt – simple but gorgeous. Her jet-black long hair was open safe for a little clasp to hold back the heavy strands of hair from her face. She smiled at us sweetly, wishing us a good morning, but Nin shot me an unhappy glance. He was over at the stove, preparing coffee and tea. He, too, wore black jeans and a black shirt, all in all a slightly gothic look; what with him being so tall and lanky. I strode over to his side to get the teapot and poked him in the side. But he wasn’t ready to cheer up.

  “Dad says to compliment you on your character analysis,” he growled.

  Ah, I must have been right with my assessment about his motives. But it didn’t give me any satisfaction, just made me feel sad. I set the teapot on the table and poured a cup for Yuki and me. Nin would take coffee and Alice probably a chocolate milk.

  “Anything else he mentioned?” I asked distractedly.

  “Yes, he explained at length whom he is trying to contact and to get them to listen to him. He must feel really guilty about us, coz he mentioned this several times. Then he reminded me urgently to get ready. When I asked him to clarify this whole thing a bit, he got vague and just insisted that we get ready to go underground, as he put it, for two to three months. And then to be prepared to basically be on our own.”

  While he told us this, Nin was preparing some fried eggs. When he was done, he gestured to Alice, “some hot chocolate for you, tiger?”

  She nodded and he got busy with this task.

  Meanwhile we three sat down around the spacious table in the far corner of the kitchen. Yuki sipped her tea and ruffled Alice’s hair while I smeared some bread rolls for Alice with chocolate spread, of course, the way she liked it. While I sipped my tea, enjoying the ingenious beverage, I wondered what to say. I mean, how were we to proceed now after yesterday’s events? Did Nin or Yuki feel as unsettled as I? Yuki sure looked totally at ease and untroubled. Should I ask them? Or should I just pretend everything was normal? For Alice’s sake? Or not?

  I needn’t have worried, Yuki bluntly asked what I was afraid to voice.

  “Do you feel as silly as I do, Lia? I mean, is this all real or just a stupid nightmare? And what are we going to do now? Pretend everything is normal? Or do as your Dad said?”

  Alice stopped munching her bread and glanced at me, obviously anxious to know what I would answer.

  It was a spontaneous decision. But sometimes these spontaneous ideas weren’t bad, were they?

  “Let’s move whatever we think necessary down to the sub-basement after breakfast. Then we call Uncle Phil, then Mum and Nate and finally Josh. And let’s also make some lists of what to organize tomorrow. But afterwards we’ll go out for a walk to enjoy the day and clear our heads. It’s going to be another warm spring day. Does this programme appeal to you?”

  I was going to leave it at that, but then I turned to Yuki, took her hand and added, “I know how you feel, by the way, I do too. It’s totally unreal and it feels like I have lost touch with reality and am floating somewhere in space, my head dizzy and spinning. I feel tense and uneasy, and I wish with all my heart that I could undo yesterday’s events and we could just go back to our normal lives. But I think we ought to prepare. I feel that Dad was up to something real, something we better don’t ignore. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Otherwise, as you so rightly put it yesterday, his behaviour would be tantamount to cruelty. I think that he is honestly convinced that something terrible will happen soon. Maybe it’ll turn out to be a false alarm. But if not, I want us to be prepared as best as we can. So, let’s just tag along with Dad’s suggestions for now and worry about the rest later. Shall we?”

  Yuki smiled at me, relieved, and whispered, “Thanks!”

  Alice smiled, too. Nin narrowed his eyes briefly, but then relaxed or decided to let go whatever he had wanted to reply.

  “I think it will be fun to live in the sub-basement a bit, don’t you?” Alice chipped in, wriggling about on her chair until she almost fell. “I’ll just want to share the bed with you, Lia; I don’t want to be alone. And we’ll also have to move Piglet’s things down there, we can’t leave him up here, he’d be scared. You know. He is still so little. And I just wish, Mum and Nate were here,” she added wistfully

  She looked lost, but just as I wanted to reach out to her, she glanced up at me, “You don’t’ have to worry about me, Lia. I am going to be alright. It’ll be like an adventure, won’t it? Like in that film we watched the other week, about these children who had to find their way home after they had gotten lost in the mountains. It’ll be a bit like that, and I won’t be too scared, as long as we all stay together…,” her voice trailed off, but she looked utterly confident and at ease. Munching on her toast, she grinned at Yuki and winked at Nin.

  I was totally fazed. Never would I have expected her to say anything like that.

  Before I could react in any way, Nin hugged her tight, “You are such a right one! A real tiger kitten, you know! I am so proud of you, tiger!”

  Alice looked both embarrassed and pleased. “I am not a baby anymore, I can help and I’ll behave like a grown-up!”

  “Oh, Alice”, Yuki gave her a hug, too, “You are such a sweet one. We’ll take care of you and there won’t be any reason to be scared. And we’ll all be in this together.”

  I held out my arms to Alice and she climbed from Nin to me. We held each other tight, I kissed her head and murmured into her hair, “Thank you, Alice, you are such a great help! I promise that nothing will happen to you, I’ll see to it, I promise. I love you so much.”

  “I know”, she whispered back.

  And I meant it. Here and there I swore to myself, that I’d do anything, whatever it would take, to make her, as well as Yuki and Nin, safe. I would not treat this all lightly, but prepare as best as possible and then, should this catastrophe really happen, I would make sure that we’d get through it safe and sound. Whatever it would take!

  Before the atmosphere got any gloomier, the telephone rang and Nin went over to take it.

  “Oh, it’s you, Uncle Phil, great, we were going to call you today anyway. But we had planned it for later, when it’s daylight over at your place. Dad gave us quite a scare yesterday and we would like to hear your opinion on this.” He pressed the loudspeaker-button and we could all hear Uncle Phil’s reassuring voice.

  “Nin, I wanted to talk to you while you still have all the entire day ahead of you and can do things, not in the evening. Listen, I don’t want to scare you unduly, but you all must understand that we are talking about something really serious this time. I know that Ethan has over the last couple of years raised the alarm a few times, always in vain, but this time it is real. Believe me. I don’t like the idea that you four are all on your own over there in Switzerland, what with Ethan refusing to join you and your Mum and Nate being on their way to Canada. Yes I have heard of that. In fact, I had quite a quarrel with Ethan, over this, but he won’t budge and take the next plane to Switzerland.” Unusually for him, Uncle Phil sounded really upset.

  “Therefore you must weather this storm on your own, children! And I want you to begin the preparations straight away! There is no time to loose! Get all the equipment down to the sub-basement today, and organize the rest and all the food and drinks tomorrow! Be prepared to stay down there for two maybe three months. I know, this sounds like an incredibly long time, but better be prepared for a longer stay. If it’ll be shorter – so much the better. To run out of supplies halfway through would be a stupid and very dangerous thing to happen in
deed.”

  He paused briefly before adding, “I talked with Josh and Papadopoulos yesterday. Josh will head your way as soon as he’ll be able to. Which comes as a tremendous relief to me and Kamene you know. At least someone to take care of you all! Even though I am absolutely certain that you will be able to look after yourselves perfectly well.”

  “Uncle Phil, what do you know about this virus or pathogen and these people? What exactly are they planning to do? Dad didn’t tell us all that much. Please, tell us everything you know,” I quickly chipped in before he could continue.

  “Lia, we know through Papadopoulos, Josh and his friends that these people are a world-wide organization by now, a collective of sorts; they have cells in basically every major city the world over.” Uncle Phil’s voice sounded grim, “Their ideology is extreme, to say the least. On the one hand they claim to be the guardians of mankind, on the other hand they think for humankind to live in sustainable ways our numbers must be drastically reduced. And they are ready and willing to act on this. Absolutely horrible, but true it seems! We have alerted the American and British governments to the danger these people pose a long time ago. I am sure that they have already been on the general radar of National Security Organizations, but not until Josh and Papadopoulos managed to infiltrate this collective did anybody realize how big an organization they’d become and what they were willing and ready to carry out. They are way passed the stage where a concerted action by some national secret service could harm them in any way. They’d just regroup, reorganize and continue. They are a world-wide net by now and they are determined to go ahead with the release of that superbug they’ve got. They number several ten thousands, maybe hundred thousands, maybe more, but not much – from all we know and could deduce.

  “As to their pathogen – I don’t really know what this bug is. I have no real expertise in this field. All we know is that it can be spread both by air and by water. And that it is highly contagious with a potential for spreading fast and wide that is, quite frankly, scaring. It seems to be some sort of virus, but what exactly it is I don’t know as of yet. We are working hard to find out more, also to alert the government, but so far that is all I can tell you.”