by Sandy Nathan
Always talk. Why should they stay out in the stables when the house was right there? She had jewels in there, and silver. Gold. More guns, new guns. She gave them her father’s old guns so they could fight the marauders, but the best were in her house. All the best was there. Money. The most beautiful things.
She fed ‘em and gave ‘em all they needed to make a real town. Mostly, she made ‘em get off their asses and learn to farm and grow something. She was working on ‘em for somethin’. Some plan of her own that none could see now.
He knew the lady was lost the first time she came out with the general. He was a hard man, the kind called by her softness. He taught her how to shoot guns that tore up the pastures for miles. Set up a range for her and Jeremy and his soldiers. The hard men that came with the general fanned out in the woods, spying on everything. The lady was lost.
He thought of her at night. More’n once. Weren’t no use to think on: he could see her traipsing around the village in her silks and furs, standing at the well with his other wives. She didn’t fit in his world any more than he could go into the big house. What would he say to the kings and such she had to dinner? “What do ye think of sheep, yer majesty?” He was lost, too.
He waited for his son to return with drawings he could show to Jeremy, of the marks on the thing. Jeremy had built a city under the big house, working on it for years. The village thought he was crazy, but Sam knew the boy better than that. He knew about the things coming up, Sam was sure of that. Were those atomics coming out of the ground? Did Jeremy build something that could save them?
When they were building that thing under the mansion and the fields by it, Sam had watched from start to finish, as much as they’d allowed him to see, anyway.
He knew they were building a shelter against the fire that the snake men said was coming. The killing fire and the waste that would last almost forever. Was that the atomics? If Jeremy was here with strangers, did that mean the fire was really coming?
A terrible thought entered his mind. Had Jeremy made the shelter big enough for the village folk, too? Or was he going to leave them outside, to be roasted like animals? Was that what kind of friend he was?
But he wasn’t a friend, Sam knew that.
31
Charged up by the president’s command that she take down Veronica Edgarton’s terrorist cell in the Hamptons, Val hopped the elevator and went down to the vehicle bay in the basement. She felt weird, seeing it empty of people. No matter, the cars were there and their keys were on the door of the attendant’s booth. She pulled out the biggest SUV, making sure she had a duo—a vehicle that was both a hover car and equipped with off-road wheels. She could take it anywhere.
Val filled both tanks, and then filled the back with five-gallon containers of gas. Getting caught up-country without fuel was dangerous. She had no problem loading the gas cans and strapping them down. Her back might be shrieking, but a combat pack would cover any pain. She checked her bag again, making sure the metal container was there. A smile lit her face. She tore out of the garage.
Driving out of New York City was weird. How long had it been since she’d been out of the city? Years. Voluntary abstinence. If the country needed them to save fuel, she’d save twice as much as anyone. She’d forgotten how high the dams were around the city. It was like driving out of a very large soup bowl.
For some reason, the sea rose after the Second Revolution. They had built the levees to protect New York City. It was a huge population center, and then there was the investment in infrastructure and the historical value of the five boroughs. So the government went the distance and built the dikes.
Why the ocean rose was a mystery. The sea rising was sort of like the forests on the north and south poles. She’d seen photos that were supposed to show Earth with ice caps on the poles. She thought it was trick photography; the north and south poles had been the world’s greatest sources of timber as long as anyone could remember.
She drove up and out of Manhattan, heading north along the Connecticut shore. As a federal agent, she was privy to certain information not available to the public. The fact that something called “Long Island” had once existed and was the site of the original Hamptons, for instance. She understood the need to keep disturbing information from the public. Why stir a pot that was almost boiling? If she hadn’t known the secret, she never would have suspected.
To her right, a few dead tree branches sticking out of the ocean were all that was left of Long Island. The original Hamptons had been there. When the sea rose, the government couldn’t afford to build levees around both Long Island and New York City. So the playground of the rich and famous was underwater. Tough titty. Val had no use for the rich. Her adopted father had been rich. Look what it had done for him.
She drove along the Connecticut shore. The shoreline and hundreds of miles inland were now known as the Hamptons. Made sense. The wealthy were used to vacationing in the Hamptons. They rebuilt their mansions in the new Hamptons and took up where they’d left off.
After driving through fields filled with ruined industrial plants, she passed a number of large concrete bowls sunk into the ground. Rocket-shaped things stuck out of them, pointed skyward. She passed a lot of them. Val felt edgy. She had never seen a missile installation, but if she were going to imagine one, that’s what it would look like. Why were there missiles in the Connecticut countryside? Also, why was this farm country? It was supposed to be pretty developed. She saw bombed-out ruins of houses and shopping malls here and there, with bulldozers standing idle next to them. It looked like the dozers had been plowing the wreckage under, but no one was working now. It was only 4 p.m. The workday didn’t end until 6.
Stranger and stranger. She found herself driving through a forest. Trees flourished on both sides of the road. She didn’t remember trees like this in Connecticut. This close to the city should have been suburbs. She thought. She couldn’t really remember Connecticut much.
“Something is going on here,” she said, delighted to see the first checkpoint. She pulled into the central station, wanting some answers before she went on. No one was on the road, and none of the staff was out to check travelers. More weirdness. She parked the SUV where everyone could see the Anti-Terrorism Unit insignia.
Val looked at her face in the rearview mirror before going in, grimacing at what she saw. She pulled the splint off of her nose and arranged her hair to cover what she could of the rest of the damage. That was the best she could do. She hopped out of the SUV and entered the building.
“Lieutenant Valerie Zanner here,” she barked. The reception area and booking desk were vacant. “Federal agent Valerie Zanner here! Anti-Terrorism Unit!” She drew her pistol and began to reconnoiter. The station seemed as empty as the headquarters building in the city had been. She began stalking silently, creeping along close to the wall, peering around corners with a mirror.
They were in the back of the building in the bunkroom/living area, clustered around a table on which their weapons were lying. A screen on the wall shone bright blue, with white static playing across its surface. The troopers spoke in hushed whispers, huddled together. She cleared her throat loudly before stepping around the corner.
The men sprang to their feet and grabbed their weapons. Six guns pointed at her.
“I’m a federal agent!” she shouted. Making a fast scan of the uniforms, she spoke to the officer in command. “My badge is on my holster.” She turned so he could see it.
“Stand down, men,” the captain said. He holstered his gun and the others followed suit.
“Captain, what is going on here?” she said. “There’s no one on duty outside. What are you doing in here?”
“We’ve had a disturbance, Lieutenant. I ordered the men into the headquarters.”
“What disturbance? What about guarding the road?”
“Lieutenant, no one’s on the road. Did you notice that? We don’t have anything to guard.”
“What kind of disturbance?”
She thought it might be related to Mrs. Edgarton’s exodus.
The captain hedged before answering. He cleared his throat a few times, and then coughed. “Uh... it was kind of unusual. We all saw different things. Uh, Jim, you saw it best. Tell her.”
Jim stalled, too. “All I can tell you is: it’s real.”
“What’s real?”
“Uh... we had some traffic a few hours back. A party went through, and up the road into the trees. Then there was a noise.” Jim stopped.
“What kind of noise?” Val was getting irritated.
“It was like a... growl.”
“It was a growl,” another man volunteered. “A really loud growl, like a huge animal.”
“You came in here because you heard a huge growl?” Val kept her disbelief from showing.
“I know it sounds weird. It was weird. And loud.”
“A loud growl. Anything else?”
“Yeah. The canopy over the checkpoints started to shake like something was trying to pull it out of the ground. Parts of it are loose, too. I noticed when I was running for the station.” Jim looked around for support.
“Was it an earthquake?” Which were unknown where they were.
“No. Pete saw it. He was off a ways, taking a walk in the field.”
“Well, what was it?”
“It was in the sky. Pretty hard to see with the sun shining through its hair.”
“It had hair?”
“Long flowing hair, like clouds.”
“I see. What was it?”
“It was a dog. Looked like my auntie’s little dog, with long hair. But it was big.”
“And in the sky?” Fortunately, she was a trained interrogator and knew how to keep her feelings hidden. Val would have guffawed if they hadn’t looked so trigger-happy. All but one kid in the back, with a bruised face.
“OK. I believe you. You saw a giant dog in the sky and came inside after it attacked the guard posts.”
“It’s not just that, Lieutenant,” the captain said. “We just found something out.” He nodded at the screen. “Need-To-Know-Only broadcast. Cops and military. The broadcast said those things that rose up in the fields are nuclear missiles... and they’re fully armed.”
“That’s ridiculous. If there were nuclear warheads all over, the government would tell us about them. What you’re saying is un-American, Captain.”
He looked at her, shaking his head. “They’re right there, Lieutenant. There’s one in the field outside. Go look. That’s what Pete was checking when he went on his walk.”
“I spoke with President Charles today. He didn’t say thing about warheads. He would have told me.”
“Think so?” The captain looked skeptical. So did the rest of the men.
‘Let’s not get distracted. I’m out here on Anti-Terrorism Unit business. Have you had anyone heading to the Piermont mansion recently?”
The captain shook his head. “Not that I remember.”
“Yes, there was. Earlier today, just before the attack,” the bruised kid spoke up. “A big limo came through. The Dog Master was in it. And—”
The other men snarled when he spoke. She got the whole thing. That kid was loyal. He had tried to report the limo, and they had “disciplined” him for it. Hence, his face. She wondered how much that bitch bribed them to look the other way.
“Private, I’d like to speak to you outside,” she said. He jumped up immediately and followed her. She whispered, “Pick up your jacket; it’s cold.”
“Don’t go out there, Lieutenant. It’s dangerous,” the captain called.
They climbed in the SUV and drove away.
32
Jeremy went to his room and put on one of his tuxedos. He made sure he was correctly dressed, down to his cummerbund and patent leather shoes. He returned to his mother’s room to collect Ellie and found her studying the framed photo of his parents.
“Beautiful, Jeremy.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said. She’d used his mother’s photo as a model of how makeup should go on. She looked like a fashion model, teen version. In one of his mother’s drawers, she’d found a tiara—diamonds and sapphires in platinum. Priceless and beautiful.
“Wait just a second.” He ran back to his room, all the way across the mansion’s second floor. He carried the photo of his parents and stuck it on top of his chest of drawers, then dropped to the lowest drawer in the chest. He searched way in the back for something he’d hidden there.
Years ago, he’d gone into his mother’s room when she wasn’t there. He’d looked through her jewels, not knowing why he was doing it. In the back of her bottom drawer—where you’d hide something you hated but didn’t want to give up, or something you loved but that belonged to a part of you that was dead—he’d found a velvet case.
In it were a few pieces of inexpensive jewelry. His father had bought these things for her in the beginning, with his own money. The baubles were paltry and small compared to what his mother bought herself, or inherited. A thin piece of white gold, probably ten karat, was studded with low-quality sapphires set in a flower design. Chains had been attached to each end of the gold piece, making a necklace. It had earrings to match, little flower dangles for pierced ears. The ensemble also included a slender bracelet with sapphires. And a tiny matching ring. A pinkie ring? He had taken the jewelry case from his mother’s room, not really knowing why. She’d never noticed it was gone. He’d hidden it in the recesses of his lowest drawer and never touched it again.
Now, when he opened the velvet box, it was like opening the past. Poof! His parents’ love for each other burst out like it was a living thing that had been kept in chains. Every one of those baubles shouted that his father had loved his mother. Jeremy pulled out the bracelet and necklace and shoved the case back. He dashed back to Ellie.
“For you,” he said, fastening the sapphire necklace around her neck. “And there’s a bracelet.” He put that on, noticing he’d been right when trying to remember whether to bring the earrings. She didn’t have pierced ears. He would never pierce those beautiful lobes.
“We’d better go.”
She stood up. He knew that they’d walked through a door. What he had given her was important. Her mouth was a bit open and eyes wide, but she didn’t say anything for a moment.
“We married, Jeremy?” she asked.
“No, Eliana. We’re just good friends.”
She nodded. “My people say if we married, Jeremy come home with Eliana.”
“We’re not married, Ellie,” he said quickly. “Though if I was going to get married, it would be to you.”
“Jeremy come with Eliana tomorrow? Before fry?”
That set him back. “I don’t know, Ellie. I’ve worked on the shelter as long as I can remember. I don’t know about leaving it, even for you.”
“If Jeremy love me, come my world? Is nice. We get married and you come.”
“Hey, let’s think about that. I mean, we just met each other.” Part of him wanted to say yes so much. What difference did it make? The aliens’ coming wasn’t a certainty and she was the most beautiful girl—or something—he’d ever seen. Plus, it was the end of the world. “Can the others come, too?”
“If my people say OK.”
“Look, let’s just see what happens tonight. You can keep my mom’s jewels,” he said, terrified at the thought of a bond to anyone. Will you love me? he thought. Will you love me forever and make me right? Can you make me right when everyone I’ve loved has made me feel so wrong? Will you love me if you see my darkness?
“Thank you, Jeremy.” She touched the necklace and smiled.
He put her velvet cape over her shoulders, draping the hood so the tiara showed. She took his arm and they walked down the stairs.
Everyone applauded when Jeremy and Eliana walked down the stairs. “Wow! Look at them!” Mel clapped and James whistled. “Movie stars!”
Henry beamed and Lena looked at them as though they were her children. Only Ar
thur looked lonely, standing off to the side. He wore austere black clothes; he was still on duty.
“You guys look like you had some fun!” Jeremy said to the people below.
The attics contained clothing and costumes from hundreds of years of parties. Lena looked like an African queen, with plumes and feathers and a gold-and-silver lamé gown. Henry wore a robe fit for an ancient emperor. James and Mel were dressed in tails—James in ivory that must have belonged to Chaz Edgarton, Mel in black from the same provenance.
“Oh, wow! Who did all this?” Jeremy looked around the dining room in wonder. The table was overflowing, as though it were Thanksgiving and Christmas. Blazing candelabras were spaced down its length. A carved turkey sat in the middle, with that gorgeous eightrib roast on one side and a ham on the other. Side dishes in silver bowls and on platters filled in.
“We did this. Why not?” Henry said. “It was hard enough to get it here; why not eat it? Let’s celebrate. Here, Jeremy, you’re at the head of the table.”
They sat down. Champagne was poured. Plates were filled.
“Well, I can’t say I’m thankful that what’s gonna happen is happening,” Henry said. “But I am grateful to be here with you all. My favorite people on earth. And I am thankful to your mother, Jeremy, for keeping this place safe. And for makin’ sure our daughters got to a good shelter.” He turned to Jeremy. “She got our girls a place in a bomb shelter she’s runnin’. They’ll be safe as anyone.”
“My mother did that?”
“Your mother does all sorts of things, Jeremy. And she’s working to help people.”
Jeremy glared. “She’s helping people?”
“More than you know, son. You don’t know all about her. She’s been fightin’ to stop it, with the general. Even he don’t want this to happen.”
“My mother?”
“Yes, Jeremy.”
33
“I’ve got to do something.” Jeremy jumped up from the table. He dashed through the mansion’s entrance hall and down the stairs to the lower floor.