by Shawn Jones
Cort didn’t answer at first. “I have an odd defense mechanism. When I get into situations I don’t have control of, I fall back on my instincts and my training. I was married. Twice to the same woman.” He saw the confused look on Clare’s face. “We were fine until I quit my job for the government. I was a, uh, a troubleshooter. When people did bad things to my country, the United States, I made them pay for it. Then I found out what it cost my family. I wasn’t there when my father died. I wasn’t there when my wife needed me most. But family was all that really mattered to me. Thinking I was protecting them, I was actually losing them slowly.
“So I quit my job. Looking back, that was the real mistake.A character in an old book once said, ‘It is much easier for warriors to fare well under conditions of maximum stress than to be impeccable under normal circumstances.’ That’s what happened to me. My temperament didn’t work in the ‘real world’. I didn’t cope well with problems. So my wife left me. We had a daughter. Diane was all the world to me. Especially after Angela left. Then one day I was shopping when I ran into them in a store. Some men tried to rob the store and a bank that was inside it at the same time. I stopped them.”
Cort’s eyes were red and watery. “Angela saw the version of me that she loved that day. So we ended up back together. One night she had been out with friends and picked Diane up afterwards.” He didn’t say the ‘friends’ had been a lover, or that Angela was drunk at the time she picked Diane up. “They were in an accident and both died.”
“I am sorry, Cort.” Clare said.
“I pulled away from society then. I bought some land and became a hermit. Then I rescuedSköll. He saved me. I probably would have gone insane without him.”
Clare put her hand on his. “I think I understand now. Family was the only thing that was truly important to you, but it was the only thing you could not have. I would not want to live in that world either.”
“Exactly.”
--
Cort was finishing a section of wall in the living quarters when the motion detectors went off. It had been two months since Wills filed the paperwork to have the site declared ‘Of historic and scientific value’. A month and a half since the hearing. Clare had not yet returned, but Wills had left his academic position the day after the declaration was accepted. Cort handed Wills two weapons and donned his own armor. The motion detectors that were beeping were at the main door. It might be Clare. It might also be big cats, which regularly visited the entrance now, probably because of the bounty they had found there just before winter. Regardless, every time the alarms went off, the procedure was the same. Wills was armed with a disruptor and a 9mm Beretta, and while Cort donned his own gear Wills would put the armored pack on Sköll. Once the two fighters headed up the tunnel, Wills retreated into the transport chamber until the all clear. Everyone knew Wills wasn’t a killer, so he got out of the way of the experts.
Cort opened the doors about an inch and snaked the video cable through the space between them. Sköll became very excited. When Cort powered up the camera, he saw that Clare stood outside the blast doors with two cases. One was clearly a suitcase, the other was much larger, nearly the size of an end table. She was still holding it with one hand, though. Cort was immediately relieved to see her, and immediately angry as well. She had brought someone else with her. An older man, Cort suspected he was about to meet his tenth great-grandson. He was not pleased.
Cort opened the doors just enough to allow the two visitors inside. He kept the AR trained on the man beside Clare. “It is okay, Cort. He is my grandfather. He asked to see the site. I couldn’t refuse.” Sköll greeted Clare, but didn’t turn away from the newcomer. Even though he desperately wanted to see what Clare was carrying.
“Does he know who I am?”
In full body armor, Cort had the advantage. The other man could see nothing of him. Clare shook her head.
Dar Sike listened to the conversation. He did not move. Not necessarily out of fear, but rather a deep respect. Or maybe awe. He did not know who ‘Cort’ was. And the wolf was truly terrifying. But the two of them together filled him with peace. He knew who they were, even if he didn’t know who either of them was individually. He was about to meet a fairy tale. A family ghost. There were two great bound volumes in his library about this man and his wolf. This man with the great scar. Books written over two centuries before that told of a great scarred warrior whose only friend was a beast able to kill a man with one crushing bite. About their bond. About the man’s life before and after he found the wolf, about the founding of the family, and about the man’s disappearance into the cavern. When Clare had changed her mind about the annexation, and then had ‘found’ viable wolf cells in the cavern, Dar had known in his heart that the legends were true.
Now, standing in the tunnel with the ancient weapon pointed at him, he felt like weeping. He remembered his father and his grandfather reading to him from the volumes as a child. It was the first story he had ever read from cover to cover. He himself had read them to Clare and her brother. He remembered failing a study course because he did a report on the first volume. The instructor praised his work but failed him because the requirement was for a work of non-fiction. All these years later, he wished he could introduce that teacher to the man standing in front of him. He followed his granddaughter through the doors. She moved through them sideways because of the luggage she was carrying. Behind her, the wolf went through the doors. ‘Cort’ motioned him to follow. The last to pass into the tunnel, the armed man closed the great doors and stood in front of where they sealed.
Clare squatted down and pet Sköll. He sniffed her all over, then turned his attention to the second package she had been carrying. “Cort, I have something to show you.” she pulled the cover from the kennel. Inside, there were four pups. None of them were larger than the palm of her hand. Their eyes weren’t even open. Sköll nuzzled the cage. He laid flat in front of it and spread his massive paws out. Looking from one to another pup, he let out a sorrowful, quiet howl.
“Open the cage now.” Cort was harsh.
“What? What if Sköll hurts them?”
“He won’t. Open it now. No wolf will be caged here. Open it.” She opened the kennel and Sköll put his head inside. He smelled each pup, then licked them all. Instinctively, he knew they were his.
Sköll was pleased. I cannot teach them to hunt here, but I can teach them to fight for our pack. They will help me help the alpha.
Turning away from the wolves, Cort regarded the other man. What do you say to such a man? What will he say to me? What will say when he sees me? “Leave the wolves. Come with me.” He lowered his weapon and picked up Clare’s other case. “Wills is waiting. And you have some explaining to do, Dr. Gaines.”
Sike spoke, “Now wait! I told her to bring me.” Cort raised his weapon. Sike stopped speaking.
“This can go one of several ways.” Cort said, “I now have control of the facility through Dr. Wills. This is my home. My country. My world. My law. You are here because I haven’t decided to kill you yet. Your granddaughter has seen Sköll and me kill seven of her companions. You may be my descendent, but until you are a part of our pack, you are a threat. Regardless of the blood line, right now you are little more than a target to me. So those several ways, sir. They range from me welcoming you into my world and my family with open arms to me killing your synthetics and then feeding your meat to my wolves. Neither you nor Dr. Gaines has a say in it. I will make that decision based solely on the words you speak. So I would speak very little if I were in your place. And the words you do speak, choose them wisely.”
Gaines felt like she was back on day one. The day she thought Addison was going to mate and kill her. Had something happened since she had been gone? Now that he was safe in his home, did he no longer need her? My Gods. What have I gotten Grandfather into? Sköll trotted by with one of the pups hanging from his mouth by the skin on its neck, paws swatting at the air as its ‘father’ carried it dow
n into the cavern.
--
“You should not have brought him.” Cort said, waving his AR in the direction of Sike.
“He insisted. And his support is valuable to you. He and I can control the trust completely. Regardless of Mother.”
Cort was still wearing his armor, helmet and all. He was not letting his guard down. “Wills gave us all we needed. Your grandfather did not need to be brought here.”
Sike spoke again, “I did not need to be brought here. I wanted to be here. To know finally.”
“The next time you speak without permission, I will kill you.” He turned back to a shocked Clare. “Where the hell have you been? Wills has been here for weeks.” At that moment Wills was nowhere to be seen. When he sensed the tension as Cort opened the chamber to let him out, he handed over his weapons and disappeared around a corner. He was out of sight, but not out of earshot. “Look. You have both fulfilled your family oath, or whatever this was for you. Keep the trust money. You can keep the facility too. I will ask Wills to find someplace I can move my belongings.” Clare wanted to interrupt, but sensed silence was the best course. Just let him vent. Cort turned to Sike again. “But have no doubt, they are my belongings. Not yours. I will die for them. Will you?” He studied the older man.
“What is your name?”
“I am Dar Sike. Your descendant. I believe I would be your tenth great grandson.”
Cort turned to Clare. “You lied to me. You said you didn’t tell him.”
“She did not.” Cort raised the weapon toward Sike again. “Hear me out Mr. Addysun. If you want me to leave afterwards, I will. And I give you my word, I will never interfere with the site again.”
Cort let his AR hang from his chest strap as he walked over to where Sköll had gathered the four pups. Taking his gloves off, he gently picked one of the pups up and cradled it in one hand while stroking it with the other. He took a deep breath and looked at Clare. The simple act of holding Sköll’s pup seemed to calm him. “I’m glad you’re back. Dr. Wills, please give our guest a tour of the facility.”
Wills was shocked by Cort’s order as he peeked around a corner. “Is that wise?”
“Dr. Gaines either brought us a new member of our conspiracy,” Addison stared into Gaines’ eyes, “or another victim of it. Either way, we are safe. Show him around.”
“I would really…” The man stumbled on his own words as Cort shifted his cold gaze from Gaines to her grandfather, “enjoy that, Dr. Wills. If it wouldn’t be a bother to you.”
“Not at all,” Wills said, completely missing the change in Sike’s tone. The two disappeared into the stacks of pallets and crates. “The facility was very well organized and preserved by Miss Hansen. But first, his name is pronounced…”
“You should not have brought him here. You yourself said he only cared about profit. He will not profit from me or Sköll.” Cort took Clare’s arm and led her to the outer wall where he began walking clockwise to the housing area.
“Cort, it is okay. All the way here from our mountains, he talked about the legend. He knew you were here when I cloned the blood from Sköll. That was my mistake if I made one. I forgot that he had access to all my records.” she looked down at the puppies as they passed them. Two were asleep. One was trying to crawl over his father’s foreleg, and the last was being assaulted by Sköll’s tongue. “I have since locked everyone out of the lab and its files. The flight we came in is in the same place as before, and it has all the cloning chambers in it. We need to bring them back here.” she looked at Cort, still in full gear, even now. “After dark, of course. But the equipment would be safer here. The first four pups did not survive. I did not think about cloning an extinct species. They need to be loved. I did not know how to. So I brought this group to you and Sköll. You know how to love them. No one else does. They need you. I need your help.”
“What have you been feeding them?”
“Fresh goat milk. From a dropper.”
“That is good, I also gave Sköll blood. Usually I mixed them half and half. Once his eyes opened, I mixed in ground meat. I can use the cat meat for that. But I will need more soon.”
“I brought fresh food for you. Lots of fresh meat. There is lamb and beef, as well as chicken and pork.”
“Please tell me you brought bacon.”
When Cort and Clare returned to the living area, Cort had his helmet and balaclava off. Sike and Wills were watching the five wolves, four of them sleeping in the curl of their sire’s body. Sköll looked up at Cort and then laid his head back down. Sike was struck by the amount of hair the man had. And the long scar down the side of his face. It really is him. All these years. All these centuries. I was about to sign him away. He looked very much like the Boogeyman.
“Wills, you get your exercise today. Take Clare around and show her what we’ve accomplished while she’s been playing with her chemistry set.” Gaines and Wills walked away leaving the other two men alone with the wolves.
“Dar Sike. I have a question. So far, every person I’ve met from this time has had single syllable first and last names. Why is that?”
It was not the first thing Dar expected to be asked, and it showed on his face. “I... I am not sure. I suspect it is related to the Cull. I have only read multi syllabic names in old texts. Nothing from after the Cull.”
“Okay. Where do you stand on my claim to the family trust?”
“It is all yours, of course. You are the purpose of the trust.”
“Clare didn’t seem to think you would feel that way,” Cort said. “She thought you would fight me for it. Why is that?”
“I have protected the trust, and the family, since my grandfather died and left me in the position of senior trustee. I have been very active in that protection. More than once, I have been accused of being greedy.”
“Why don’t people use contractions in their speech?” was Cort’s next question.
Again, it caught Dar off guard. “Contractions? You mean like apostrophes and such? I cannot answer that question either. Many old books have them, and they are considered grammatically correct in writing, but not in common speech.”
“I thought Clare was the senior trustee.”
“She is. Now. Until her father died, I was. After his death, I turned the reins over to her.” Why does he keep changing the direction of his questions?
“Then why were you willing to let the government take over this site?” This doesn’t add up, Cort thought.
“I wasn’t until the emergent date passed and there was no sign of you. Remember, I have known that date since I became senior trustee. Clare knew it as well. I do not think she ever really believed the legend though. As for me, I did not even consider that you might stay in the cavern. I assumed you would pop up somewhere, at which point I would bend the entire might of the trust to protecting you. So I thought the experiment had failed. When the team was sent here to investigate the higher electromagnetic and thermal readings, I knew what you had done. Really, I should have known before. I should have considered that you would study your situation for a while. It fits your profile. So I pulled some strings and made sure Clare was on the team investigating.”
“I almost didn’t. If the Formvar-M barrier hadn’t been there, I would have at least checked out the top side. Go on.” Cort was beginning to understand. From the trust’s standpoint, it was quite simple: Stay wealthy until the emergent date. If Cort emerged, protect him. If he didn’t, the trust could be used in any way the trustees deemed fit. But until then, it could only be used to further its influence and ability to protect Cort and the family.
“When Clare was gone for so long I knew. I knew in my heart the legend was true. But I was afraid she was dead. Especially when we found the remains of the security people. Then when she showed up with the wolf DNA, I confronted her about it. That leads to today.”
“Not quite. What would you have done if Clare hadn’t shown up?”
Dar was uneasy. “What would you h
ave done? She is my granddaughter, Mr. Addison. Weigh that against a family legend. I probably would have let you fend for yourself.”
“I’ve heard about your two old family books. I want you to bring them next time. After I’ve read them, you will get them back. In the mean time we have some problems I want your input on.” Dar nodded as his tenth great grandfather continued, “While I’m perfectly willing to live here indefinitely, and in fact it’s ideal for me in many ways, I intend to see the top side.”
“The top side? That is the second time you have used that term. Oh, you mean above ground.”
“Yes. I’ve come to think of you all as ‘top-siders’. I intend to see that world though, and not through a vid screen. So I need you to think about how to make that happen. I prefer openly, but I suspect that isn’t reasonable. Especially with Sköll. If we can pull off some sort of legal recognition I’m all for it. But there are two caveats: I will not take synthetics, and I will not give up Sköll. In addition, there are two specific places I want to see; my old place in California, and there was once a little town in Oklahoma called ‘Washunga’. It’s not even on my old maps, but I can give you the coordinates. Can you make that happen?”