Willie and Sarah strained to carry the limp corpse up the ramp. Lungs heaving with their exertions, they finally got Ronald inside.
Willie placed the body at the control console. He
chanted for a few seconds and then made a sign in the air
over Ronald’s head. He turned on the engines.
“Now we must go,” he said.
He grabbed Sarah’s hand, and they ran out into the street.
“Why are we running?” Sarah asked.
“Just before we debarked, I set the engines to
overload to destroy the ship. That way, Ronald could not have taken the toxin back to my people, even if he had succeeded.”
“I’m glad you made that decision, Willie, but doesn’t it go against your principles?”
“Better one soldier die than an entire planet,” Willie replied.
They hid behind a huge oak tree, watching the skyfighter as they caught their breath.
“He would be over the ocean now, had he won,” Willie said. “The end would come now.”
A bright orange light emerged from the hatch, a tongue of flame licking out toward the Foley house. The skyfighter’s shape changed quickly, and then flew apart, scattering debris in all directions, some of it thudding against the houses along the street. A few windows were shattered, the houses illuminated by the blaze, but no real damage was done.
Sarah and Willie watched the wreckage of the skyfighter bum until they were joined by Pythias Day and the resistance fighters.
Chapter 49
“It looks as if you’ve got a clean bill of health, Willie,” Sarah said, removing the stethoscope from his chest. “The residual effects of the antitoxin were sufficient to combat the virus even when you came into contact with Ronald’s body hours after you swallowed the antitoxin.”
Willie climbed off the table where Sarah had been examining him. “Thank you,” he said. “Though one does one’s best not to fear death, at the same time one must relish life.”
“The way you put it is a little confusing, Willie,” said Pythias Day, “but I think I agree with that sentiment.” “That goes for me too,” Jane said, hugging Willie. “Let me have a squeeze.” Sarah hugged him too. As much as he liked and admired Willie, Pythias couldn’t see embracing him. He extended a hand, and Willie shook it vigorously.
“Thank you, Willie,” he said. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I will kiss you all very much,” Willie said.
“You mean you’ll miss us,” Sarah laughed.
“Yes, but I wonder about one thing?”
“What’s that, Willie?”
“How will I go back to Los Angeles? I have no pseudo skin to wear.”
Everyone laughed. “Don’t worry about that, Willie. A special limousine is coming to take you back. Jake and
Charlie offered to give you a lift as far as New York, but we’ve got something even better.”
“Oh?”
“Come on outside and take a look.”
The four of them went out into the parking lot. It was a sunny day, and the cliff on which Brunk Laboratories sat showed a clear view of the Atlantic sparkling in the morning light.
“It’s still beautiful,” Jane said. “And it’s still ours.” “The fight will continue,” Willie cautioned. “My people do not give up so easily.”
“I think Ronald was living proof of that,” Sarah said. “For a while there, I was beginning to wonder if we were going to make it.”
A low hum announced the arrival of Willie’s “limousine.” They looked up to see a skyfighter descending into the lab parking lot.
“Ah, one of the highjacked craft the resistance maintains,” Willie said. “Very good.”
As the ramp extended to the asphalt, Willie turned and held out his fingers in a splayed farewell gesture.
“Willie,” Sarah said, “I have to know one thing. Why did you destroy Ronald’s body and the skyfighter?” “The skyfighter’s destruction was irreversible,” Willie replied. “Once the engines were turned on again, the passenger was doomed. As for Ronald, I did it in honor of the ninj-ki-ra, which was his religion, just as the preta-na-ma is mine.”
Though they could have used the body for research, they all understood why Willie had acted as he had. His convictions were very strong.
“Do what you must to end the fighting,” Willie said, “so that your world may live in peace.”
“I’m looking forward to that day, Willie,” said Pythias. “I’m going to retire and write a cookbook.” They all smiled and waved good-bye.
Willie entered the skyfighter, the hatch closed behind him, and the craft lifted off the asphalt.
Caught in sharp relief against a cloud, the skyfighter turned and headed southwest.
Pythias, Jane, and Sarah watched it until it disappeared over the horizon, and then they walked back to Pythias’ jeep for the ride down the cliff to their home.
V 09 - The New England Resistance Page 14