Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct

by Kathrin Kilambya

  For the first time Josh sounded a bit like the person I had known last fall; more human, less the supercilious know-it-all he’d displayed so far today.

  Could it be that he was nervous?

  “I will let you know, once we know more. But you can be sure that there is a cell of this unholy brotherhood in Berne, too, and that they will act from there. Will your mother come back from Canada, do you have any news about this?”

  “No, we haven’t spoken with her yet, they only left for Toronto yesterday night, and we haven’t told them about this scare, or rather, that we take it serious this time.” Nin answered. “We’ll talk with her tonight, hopefully. But we don’t expect her and Nate to come back to us anytime soon. After all, they went there because Nate’s father is in a critical condition. He is their first priority now.” Nin looked over to us, bit his lips and added, “Uncle Phil said something about you coming over to us, how about that?”

  “Yes, we discussed this with your Dad and Phil. Once this thing starts, I’ll want to head back home, too. So, we might as well join forces. But I am still stuck here, as we still hope to be able to convince the relevant governments or their agencies to do something in time. However, I will definitely head your way, afterwards. Your Dad sent me all the information I’ll need to get to you and once am there, I’ll just knock on your door and we’ll take it from there.” He laughed out, too loud, nervously, overdoing it.

  “Why don’t we just book a flight to Nairobi now and wait it out there?” Nin demanded. “I mean, it would be ever so much easier than to try to travel there once the airlines are down.”

  “We can’t, we are still trying to prevent the worst from happening. That’s why we have to remain here. Your Dad is trying the same over in Washington. And, in Nairobi we don’t have hideouts, the connections and everything like we do here. It would frankly be too dangerous, especially since we don’t know the timescale they are acting upon.” Josh replied. “But I don’t have high hopes that we’ll be able to do much here. Therefore I really urge you to get all the supplies you’ll need within the next few days. From now onwards, I’ll call you every day at 13:00; is that okay with you? Like this we can exchange whatever news we have and stay in touch.”

  “Yes, that would be great – but I have one more question” Nin was clearly upset and not yet done with the questioning. “How do we know that we are not on some kind of special hit list of these lunatics? Now that they found out who you are, I mean, they know the connections between Dad and Papadopoulos, don’t we have to be afraid that they might target us specifically?”

  This frightening thought had not occurred to me so far. Could Nin be on to something? Were we already being watched?

  “No, I don’t think so.” Josh sounded confident. “Yes, they know our identities and they have been trying to get at us. But I doubt that they have the time and resources to pursue our families. They count on whipping everybody out once they start their purge. I am quite certain that they will not target you specifically. But it won’t hurt to be extra careful nonetheless, okay?”

  “Thanks, we’ll take care. Good-bye until tomorrow then.”

  “Yes, good-bye until tomorrow, kids.”

  With that last supercilious remark Josh cut the connection.

  “Well, what do you make of this all?” Ninian turned to look at us.

  “I think that we did what we could and that we should now go outside a bit to forget this whole issue, like Lia said before. Otherwise I am going to start screaming soon. It’s maddening. All these allegations and hints. And not knowing anything for certain.” Yuki was very upset and even had to wipe some angry tears from her eyes. And this from her, who normally never cried!

  Of course this made Nin rush to her side, anxious to comfort her. Meanwhile Alice started to cry too, it all being too much for her. I gently rocked her and said, “Yes, let’s get out of here for a while.”

  I wanted some time to think this all over; especially this funny telephone with Josh just now. He’d sounded so strange, so distant, so unlike the Josh I had met and developed a crush for.

  We all headed for the door, put on our shoes and jackets and went out.

  It was such a relief to be out of the house, to feel the sun’s warmth, smell the first promise of another glorious spring in the air, and to forget all this gloomy talk of a looming global catastrophe.

  We walked all the way to the neighbouring village.

  As we began our walk, I several times caught myself glancing around, making sure that we were not being followed. I noticed that Yuki and Nin did the same. But after a while, we all relaxed and managed to greet other hikers friendly and openly.

  Alice stuck to the three of us at first and wouldn’t venture any further than a few metres from us. But when we met an elderly neighbour with his dogs, she thawed out and went to greet them enthusiastically. After that, she was more relaxed and ran around and explored things like she usually did on hikes.

  “I am so relieved that Alice seems to have calmed down.” Yuki whispered to me, “I am really worried for her.”

  She and Nin walked side-by-side, holding hands; when the path was wide enough, I walked beside them, if not they walked ahead. I had pushed my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket. Here down by the river, a cool wind blew and my hands were cold. But it was good to feel the cold, it made things seem real. Kind of help focus. Or so.

  “So am I, but as long as we are near her, I think she will be okay.” I replied. “Thanks anyway for your help and understanding. I am so glad that you are with us now.”

  At this, Yuki smiled sweetly and gave me a squeeze. “So am I.”

  It was getting dark by the time we finally came home.

  From the village we’d hiked to we’d taken the train to Berne and there we’d gone to eat something in a restaurant, as we were all way too tired to cook. And then we’d still had to take the tramway back home and walk about twenty minutes to our house.

  When we entered the house, I went to the kitchen to put on the kettle for tea. I saw straightaway that someone had tried to call us. It was Mum. I dialled her number. She must have been waiting beside her phone coz she picked it almost immediately.

  “Hello Lia, I am so glad you called me. Where have you been? Enjoying the day?”

  I was so glad to hear her voice. I missed her terribly; but I wasn’t going to let her see that. “Yeah, we’ve been busy. In the afternoon we went walking along the river to Münsingen, and we’ve only just returned, because we had dinner in a restaurant in Berne. Now we’re knackered. But how are you, Nate and the twins? Where are you now? Did you arrive at Nate’s parents?”

  Mum laughed at this and replied cheerfully, “We had a pleasant flight. Everything went well. The twins were doing remarkably well, in fact, they slept most of the way. We arrived at Nate’s parents’ place an hour ago. Nate has already gone with his brother to the hospital to see his dad. But I remained behind with his mother to settle in. It looks like Nate’s father will make a full recovery but it’ll take time. He had a close shave, a very close one, indeed, but he’ll make it. We are all very happy and so relieved.”

  “How wonderful! We were worried for Nate’s dad, too. Please convey our greetings and well-wishes to him, to them all.” It was a relief to hear that at least something positive was happening. “And lots of greetings to Nate’s Mum. We’ve been thinking of you a lot. Do you want to speak with Alice, she is just coming in?”

  I handed the phone to Alice, who’d run to me, eager to talk with Mum. I whispered that she should not talk too much, and she rolled her eyes at me. Just to be sure that she wouldn’t slip, I remained next to her. But I needn’t have worried.

  “Mummy, we went to Münsingen today and we ate dinner in our Indian restaurant in Berne, it was delicious. But I miss you all very much. How’s Nate? How are Ben and David? Did they sleep on the plane or make a lot of noise?” She rattled on and on and it was I now who rolled my eyes. She stuck her tongue out at me
and continued, “Uncle Phil called us today and then we also talked to Josh. But I am not supposed to say anything about it. They talked a lot of things that I didn’t understand, but Lia and Ninian say not to worry. Will you come back here soon? I miss you so much!”

  Here, she finally lost control and started to sob.

  I gathered her up in my arms and grabbed the phone from her, moving over to the stove to retrieve the kettle with the now boiling water from the stove. While I poured the water into the teapot, I assured Mum that everything was alright, “You don’t have to worry, Mum, we are all absolutely okay. Yes, Uncle Phil and Josh called; it was basically about the same thing that Dad talked to us yesterday. But you needn’t worry.”

  She still sounded absolutely cheerful, not at all concerned. Was she putting on a show for Alice’s sake? Or was she really that relaxed?

  “Oh, I don’t. You know what I have been thinking of Ethan’s paranoid notions these last few years. And I don’t see any reason why I should change my mind now. But it’s the outside of enough that he is frightening Alice with his crazy talk! Really! I’ll certainly get in touch with him and let him know what I think about all this nonsense! But don’t you worry, Lia, we are fine here. And it looks like we’ll be able to come home in about two weeks. I’ll stay in touch. Say hello to Nin and Yuki and now let me speak with Alice again”.

  I told her good-bye and greetings to everyone and handed Alice the phone. She chatted with Mum some more, this time about Piglet and the cold she thought he might have caught; about our sleeping arrangements; and how much she missed Mum. I had sat her down on a chair by the table and she sat there, her feet tucked under her, gesturing wildly as she explained Mum this and that. Meanwhile I prepared the tea tray, found some cookies and carried everything over to the living room where Nin and Yuki had settled down in front of the TV.

  “Mum?” Nin asked.

  “Yes, and Alice blurted out the whole boiling mess straight away. But we needn’t worry. Mum doesn’t believe a word of it. All that will happen is that she will give Dad a piece of her mind. She was really angry that he talked to Alice about this.”

  “Ah well, as long as it’s only this, we really shouldn’t worry.” Ninian replied absentmindedly as he was sorting through the collection of films to find something to watch.

  Yuki looked less convinced. “What if she calls him now and he tells her about all of it again. She might get really worried.”

  “I don’t think that she will call Dad tonight. They only just arrived at Nate’s parents’ place after all. Nate has gone to the hospital to see his dad and they are busy settling in. She has too much on her mind to call Dad now.”

  I hovered by the door to the kitchen, so that Alice could see me and needn’t worry. Yuki handed me a mug of tea and settled back on the sofa in Nin’s arms.

  I didn’t feel like worrying any more. I was tired and I wanted to relax, spent the evening watching some harmless movie and forget about reality for a while

  “Mum says to tell you all that she loves you.” Alice came in from the kitchen, “What kind of movie are we going to watch? Can I have a cola instead of tea? Where is Piglet? Lia, I think we forgot him downstairs.” She rattled on and on as we, too, settled on the big u-shaped sofa.

  I cuddled her close; she tried to wriggle away, but I playfully wrestled with her and she squealed with delight. Then Ninian came over, lifted her up in the air and wrestled with her some more. She was delighted and forgot about Piglet.

  We chose a truly harmless children’s movie and spent a pleasant evening in each other’s company.

  When bed time came, Ninian and Yuki went upstairs to their own room and Alice and I went down to the studio. Alice had tried to get us all to sleep in the studio again, but we’d refused. We would have to spend more than enough time close together should this super-toxin thing come true. For now, we would go about everything as normally as possible.

  But I allowed Alice to sleep in my bed. I tucked her and Piglet in; then I read her a story from her favourite book of bedtime stories. She wanted to hear the one about why the Zebra has stripes. Half way through the story she fell asleep.

  And now, I finally had some time for myself.

  First, I had a shower and then tried to read a bit. But I found that I couldn’t concentrate on the text. Too many things swirling about in my mind.

  I remembered that we’d never compiled the lists of what to buy tomorrow, so I got up again, sat down at my desk and made some.

  Then I lay down next to Alice, put off the light and tried to sleep. But sleep eluded me.

  Instead my thoughts drifted to Josh and how different he’d sounded today. Strangely, I felt kind of relieved. Maybe I had imagined things, imagined how he was and glorified him in a way that he wasn’t. Maybe he was just another ambitious know-it-all, and I wouldn’t have to worry about my feelings for him. Because if he was like that, this would change everything for me. I wouldn’t possibly be able to feel anything for him anymore. The way he had talked, had made me cringe within. This wasn’t a person I wanted to be with, leave alone fall in love with.

  Or, could it be that he was so different because he was worried? About us? I remembered one afternoon at Auntie Kamene’s last summer. How he had been with her, with us; so open, caring, nice and full of humour. His humour, his willingness to laugh and smile a lot had been what had attracted me to him in the first place.

  His whole face lit up when he smiled. And his eyes, those wonderful dark eyes glowed with genuine feeling when he laughed. Not like some people whose laughter never reaches their eyes.

  And suddenly I knew that the Josh of last summer must be the real Josh. Whoever he was now over there in London, at Papadopoulos’, was someone he had to be for whatever reasons. But that it wasn’t really him. He was kind, caring and good; not conceited or superior.

  And finally I could relax. I felt sorry now that I hadn’t said much to Josh this afternoon. That I hadn’t seen through his disguise then, if that’s what it was. I would wait and see. No judgements now.

  As if on cue, Alice turned around and snuggled up to me at that moment. Here little body radiating heat. I pressed her close, feeling again this overwhelming urge to protect her.

  And slowly, I, too, managed to fall asleep.

  Chapter 3 – preparing ourselves

  7th to 13th March 2072

  The next morning, we set about getting everything we deemed necessary for a three-months-stay indoors.

  We’d divided the task. Nin and Yuki went to get bottled water, soft drinks, juices and all the heavy equipment, while Alice and I went to get all the other food items.

  We tried to think of everything. It helped that we’d regularly gone on hiking and camping trips throughout our childhood. We were used to pack gear for expeditions, but this time we knew, that whatever we’d forget, we wouldn’t be able to go get somewhere. And the quantities! How did one calculate the quantities of food, drink and everything needed for three months? That seemed the hardest part and we discussed to and fro quite a bit, before deciding that we’d better just get heaps and heaps of everything. Better to be overstocked than run out of something.

  Yuki, Nin and I were nervous and, as a consequence, a bit short tempered. Every one tried to think of everything, from food and water, to candles, torches, clothes, shoes, toiletries, solar panels for all sort of electric and electronic equipment, to gasoline and white fuel; from bed sheets, blankets, to cutlery, cooking pots, and so on and on. The more we piled up, the more things we thought necessary.

  Alice wanted to know whether there would be any fresh bread or whether she would have to go without her favourite bread rolls for breakfast. This made us remember Mum’s old bread baking machine and we spent some hours rummaging through the basement until we found it. Yuki had some experience with baking bread and she set to the task immediately.

  When Alice and I went to the supermarket the fourth time within two days, always loading the shopping carts to th
e very top, I expected some comments by the lady at the cashier. After all, who did buy forty kilos of assorted pasta and rice, tons of canned tomatoes and other vegis, breakfast cereals and cookies in massive quantities; oil by the litres, sugar, salt and everything as if a war was imminent?

  But the cashier apparently thought we’d do the shopping for the school where Mum and Nate worked, because she made some comments about how nice it was of us to help our mother with her chores for work. I was anxious for a moment that Alice would blab to her, but she just smiled sweetly and winked at me. Amazing how grown-up and deceptive she could be, if she just chose to.

  By Wednesday evening we had everything we needed, or thought we needed, ready. The sub-basement looked a mess but we knew that we had all the essentials now. Whatever we had forgotten we could well do without.

  Where to store the fuel for the car posed a problem at first. Josh had advised Nin on Monday evening to get 500 litres. Then Yuki remembered that the elderly neighbour, who owned the house behind our plot, had a garden shed. It stood halfway hidden between bushes and shrubs, and very close to the boundary with our garden. He never used the shed, let alone ever entered it. This had been like that for years. So, when we saw him leave the house on Thursday morning for his usual walk to the local Café, we took the opportunity to store twenty of our twenty-five canisters of fuel in his garden shed. Alice stood guard and hugely enjoyed the whole affair.

  It all was still just one big adventure to her. She was excited, and I was glad about it. As long as she thought what we did was fun, she’d have no time to get scared.

  Every afternoon we talked with Josh. He gave us some instructions, but mostly he talked equipment with Nin. Nin installed some solar panels on the roof to get power for electronic equipment in the sub-basement; and hid the cables running down along the wall through the airshafts into the sub-basement. He checked and rechecked his installations and gadgets, especially the satellite phone, to the point where we had to intervene and tear him away to do something else and take his mind off his worries over what might happen should the solar panels fails.