by Steve Shear
“And my grandson.”
“By default, and that’s the truth.”
He turned away hoping she would leave, hoping he could be alone, wishing he was on another planet.
“I knew you were a carrier. Ralph Delahunt told me. So what?”
“So what! So what! First OJ, now Christopher.” Hitch could hardly process those two words. He turned back to his daughter. “You have no idea what it’s like to know.”
“Well, you have the chance to make things right. If not for us, for Mother.” Before that admonition had a chance to cut through him, she was gone.
Hitch turned back to the sink and focused hard on the man in the mirror.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rousseau paced around the hologram projecting from her scud as Rosewall watched from a desk on the deck. Ringthaller stood within the hologram and scanned the area outside the hospital as if to make sure he wasn’t being seen. “If I were that kind of a doctor, maybe I’d know. They need a carrier to make it work. He’s it. That’s all I do know.”
“Just keep low and stay available. I expect you will be earning all that dough you demanded.” Rousseau clicked off as she looked back at Rosewall. “So? Now what?”
“To hell with McGivney and his orders to wait. We have no choice. Eliminate Hitchcock. The United Nations will probably cave even if Wainwright proves nothing. We can’t have that shithole in the jungle succeed. That is not an option. I have a reputation to maintain,” Rosewall shouted, slamming his fist on the desk. “So, you have two choices. You stop them and Janine Rousseau becomes the new Director of VAMA International, or fail and…” He sneered.
“And what?”
“And you’ll be back where I found you, on the streets of Paris. And that money laundering business of yours? It’ll be history. I’m all you and your kid have left, I’m afraid.”
Rousseau stiffened. She could feel her eyes harden.
****
Yennie stood in his office with Dillon Burber and President Wainwright in front of the TV as they watched Meta in the village square. Recorded Earlier flashed at the bottom of the screen.
“Hello. I’m Meta DeCarlo. Welcome to DanSheba. Allow me to give you a walking tour of this not so little village, this crown jewel created by God Almighty.” She strolled through most of the village, pointing out the different landmarks that came into view.
She began at the rose garden cottage where a large group of DanShebans had gathered and then stood by the flagless pole in the town square. She explained how it had been built centuries earlier to receive the First Coming of the Messiah who was to talk to God right there, at that pole. To the present generation of DanShebans, including Yennie, it wasn’t clear whether the Messiah actually came or was still coming. Most, especially the young DanShebans, looked upon the pole as a metaphor; the long arm of the village reaching up to the heavens declaring to God that they are the lost tribe of Israel. Declaring that they are the Chosen People according to the Old Testament, the true survivors according to a reasonable account of history’s toll on human belief systems of the past.
Meta passed the only hotel and slowed down to explain that all those DanShebans who lived abroad had a very nice place to stay when they came back to visit. What she didn’t say, Yennie knew, was that all DanShebans over twenty-one were urged to visit regularly and bring back with them needed supplies and the latest innovations.
By the time she finished the tour and returned to the rose garden cottage and the crowd of DanShebans she had left earlier, Yennie beamed with pride. “My home,” he announced.
President Wainwright smiled and held onto his arm with both her hands.
As the camera panned in on Meta and the group surrounding her, it became apparent that most of them, at least a hundred villagers, were octogenarians—if not in their nineties, or even older. One man stood out. Nagasi who smiled into the camera. Another man stepped forward and Meta introduced him.
“I would like everyone to meet Isaac Gardner. Isaac, please tell the audience how old you are.”
“Today happens to be my birthday.” Everyone applauded. “I am eighty-eight years young.” More applause.
“Isaac, have you ever received the ERAM-V vaccine?”
“God forbid. Never! Or I wouldn’t be here to tell about it.”
Meta then turned to the crowd. “How many of you over seventy-five have not been vaccinated with the ERAM-V vaccine?”
Everyone in the crowd raised his or her hand.
“My Lord!” President Wainwright exclaimed and clapped her hands.
****
Rousseau stood on the bow of the barge this time, talking to Ringthaller on her scud. She saw a glimpse of him not far up the hill from the wharf. “I don’t care if you have to use a butcher knife or a scalpel, Doctor. You grab the girl and take her to the wharf directly in front of you. And one other thing. I will be watching.
Later that night Rousseau, dressed in a wetsuit, took out the Blue Cube and a short time later she had Ringthaller practically floating within the greenish-blue haze of the HS-Screen. The volume was turned up and the infrared mode was operating. Scuba gear and a waterproof pouch sat on a table close by.
“Dis ting sure comes een andy,” Oedipus said standing a short distance away. “Going to a masquerade ball?” He laughed.
Rousseau didn’t. She remained focused on the doctor, who by now could barely be seen in the shadows of one of the buildings just off the town square. Then suddenly, Kathy Hitchcock came into view walking with someone else in the direction of Ringthaller. Rousseau frowned.
“No. I’m perfectly fine to walk back to the cottage alone. I’d rather you stay and keep an eye on Christopher and my father. Please. I was a bit rough on him I’m afraid.” She took Barnaby by the shoulders and turned him around, then waited as he walked back to the hospital before she headed for the hotel. Rousseau couldn’t help but smile.
As Kathy crossed into the shadows, Rousseau saw Ringthaller jump her from behind. A knife of some sort was at her throat.
A short time later, Rousseau connected up her scuba gear, tied the waterproof pouch to her waist, and moved swiftly through the murky water until she finally surfaced under the wharf. She removed her mask and whispered into a device on her wrist, then listened.
“The air cruiser at the far end. It’s ready,” Ringthaller said. His voice quivered like a child. Rousseau put her mask back on and cruised underneath the hulls of boat after boat until she reached the one she was looking for. She made her way to where its stern was tied to a post at the end of the wharf.
After surfacing, Ringthaller helped her on board. Kathy was already there, hogtied on the recessed hull, her mouth wrapped with medical gauze. Rousseau slipped off her gear, reached into her pouch, and offered Ringthaller a laser gun.
“I brought an extra. You’ll need it,” she told him.
Petrified, he shook her off. “I… No, not me. I don’t…”
“I wasn’t asking. Take it.” Before he had a chance to respond, she shoved it into his ribcage. Rousseau then turned to Kathy and took a long look at her.
“You have your father’s eyes.”
Kathy stiffened and mumbled something inaudible. Rousseau scoffed and released the tether from the mooring. She used one arm as a paddle to maneuver the boat and sneak away from the dock. For a moment, the doctor just sat there until Rousseau demanded he give a hand, quite literally. Once they were far enough from shore, Rousseau moved to the bow and hot-wired the ignition. The boat’s air-prop rotated without much of a sound and the hull elevated just above the surface. They whisked away down the river.
****
Hitchcock sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. He felt Elana staring at him from the chair in the corner.
“I can’t help you, Oliver.”
Hitch knew she couldn’t. There was no decision to be made. There were no options to choose from. He knew that, but his entire adult life had been predicated on a phys
ical advantage he was blessed with. Even as early as junior high the boys his age were either in awe or scared of him, and the older girls flocked to him. How could he throw all that away?
Just then his scud rang. He looked at the clock on his nightstand, then at Elana. “It’s Kathy.” He clicked on.
“Dad, it’s me. I’m…”
“Actually, it’s me, Oliver.”
Hitch punched his scud into visual mode. “Janine. What the…”
“No! I do the talking. You have thirty minutes to get to the VAMA carrier. Come alone and unarmed. And Kathy goes free. Otherwise…”
“You know I can’t do that. I have Christopher…”
“Now, Oliver. Thirty minutes, and the clock is ticking.”
She clicked off and Hitch stared at Elana. “Rousseau’s kidnapped Kathy.”
“What does she want?”
“Me.”
“Oh my God! You can’t go. You have to…”
“You don’t have to tell me what’s at stake.”
“Not just Christopher, Oliver. We need you for the virus to prove…”
“I will be back with Kathy, I promise, and then I’m yours.”
He rummaged through his things for a knife, then started for the door. Elana stepped into his path and they embraced, then kissed.
****
After she clicked off, Rousseau stuck her head out and found Oedipus standing outside her cabin. She ordered him in to keep watch on Kathy and on Ringthaller while she conducted a quick inspection. She found two VAMA guards pacing along the low-lying gunwales, port and starboard. Another stood ready at the stern near the helipad and Rousseau’s helicopter. A female guard covered the bow. She warned each guard to be on the lookout for Hitchcock and bring him to her cabin unharmed.
Four were enough she thought. If they ran into a problem, which she doubted, there were many more troops asleep in their quarters.
She returned and ordered Oedipus to stand guard outside her door.
After making sure Kathy was tied to her chair, she wrapped the medical gauze around her mouth once again and tried to calm down the jittery doctor who mumbled under his breath in one corner. She then went back out and looked for Rosewall to settle him down. The general was heading her way.
“For your sake, this better work,” he called out.
“My dear general, I know Oliver Hitchcock. He relishes any chance to be the hero. He’ll show up.” She then returned to her cabin, leaving both Rosewall and Oedipus just outside.
Rosewall approached Oedipus. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re satisfied working for that bitch.”
Oedipus said nothing.
“Didn’t think so,” the general said and walked away. “Stay with me and I’ll make it worth your while.”
Rousseau shook her head as she listened with her ear cupped to the other side of the door.
****
It didn’t take long for Hitch to find scuba gear. They had enough in DanSheba to outfit a swimming team. In no time, he was in the water heading for the carrier. Fifteen minutes later he found its submerged hull, portside. He removed his scuba gear, let it drop, then slid out a knife from a sheath on his belt and rose to the surface. He could hear two people above him talking.
“But, general, she told us to take Hitchcock to her cabin.”
“To hell with Rousseau, private. Your orders are shoot to kill if you see him. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And nobody in that cabin comes out alive, including Rousseau if need be. You have a problem with that, private?”
“No. I mean no, sir.”
“Do this right, son, and you will be promoted. That’s a promise.”
Hitch heard enough. He headed aft along the gunwale. After reaching the stern he peeked up, looking for a guard. After several moves to the right and left, he was successful. Directly above him the barrel of a laser rifle came into view. Hitch made a small splash and quickly submerged. The guard above leaned over the edge, ready to fire. By that time, Hitch had jumped aboard and wrapped his arm around the guard’s throat. In a single, swift motion, he hammered his free thumb into the young man’s vagus nerve. The guard was rendered unconscious and lowered to the deck quietly. After taking the guard’s handgun from his holster, he pulled his own knife from its sheath and headed starboard looking for another guard but kept a careful eye out for the general.
On his way, he heard the general’s voice. Rosewall was telling a female guard to position herself in front of Rousseau’s cabin and shoot to kill on sight. It seems I’m a popular guy, Hitch thought.
At first, Hitch couldn’t find another guard. But suddenly there he was, a fat kid, sitting down as if he had nowhere else to be, nothing else to do. He leaned his rifle against the gunwale and as best as Hitch could tell began dozing. But then the fat kid pulled out a candy bar.
Hitch, now behind him, whispered, “That shit can kill you,” then looked at his knife. Christ! I can’t do that. As he made that decision, the guard turned toward him. Two quick raps to the temples just above the outer edges of the eyebrows, and the kid went quickly back to sleep.
Now he had to find the guard he first heard talking to the general. Just then came the rustle of foot steps behind him. With a quick turnaround, he let the knife fly. It cut through the belly of the first guard before the poor kid had time to pull the trigger. Hitch wasn’t happy about killing someone so young. That wasn’t his plan.
****
Rousseau sat directly in front of Kathy and looked her up and down. Kathy’s glare as she was unable to respond made Rousseau laugh. “Not only do you have your father’s eyes, I believe you have his defiant disposition.”
Thump, thump, thump, rattled across the top of the cabin. Rousseau pulled out her gun. She stepped to one side of Kathy and shoved the barrel against her temple. Oedipus, now in the room, stood behind the door with his gun raised upward.
****
Hitch rolled across the roof of Rousseau’s cabin and spied the female guard standing firm, armed and ready, in front of her door. He threw a stone over her head. Clink. She turned. He lunged for her. She reacted in time to dodge his grasp. They hit the deck together. He jumped up ready to lunge again. She was out cold. He was relieved.
****
Rousseau recoiled when the commotion outside the cabin suddenly stopped, but she held steady with her gun aimed at Kathy’s temple. Her eyes focused on the closed door. The doctor cowered in the corner. Oedipus took a position where he could see the door and Rousseau.
The door opened. No one entered.
Rousseau heard Hitch’s voice. “Let her go.”
“We need to talk. Come inside,” she demanded.
“Suicide’s not my thing, Janine.”
Rousseau ripped off the gauze from Kathy’s mouth, pressed the gun barrel hard against her temple, and suggested she call out to her father.
“Dad.”
“See, Oliver. She’s fine. I gave strict orders. Neither of you are to be harmed.”
“Got news for you. Rosewall has other ideas.”
“Dad, please.”
With his laser gun in one hand and the knife in the other, Hitch stepped inside and swung his laser gun at Oedipus’s head. Oedipus returned the favor. Each stared at the other, both ready to shoot.
“Oedipus! Back off,” Rousseau shouted.
Oedipus hesitated, but she knew him well. She watched his gaze dart back and forth between her and Hitchcock. Oedipus lowered his gun a bit. Oliver stepped toward her and Kathy. Rousseau caught Oedipus’s eye and knew. As he raised his gun, she jumped in front of Oliver. Zing. She took the hit and fired back before she fell. Zing. Zing. Oedipus fell to the floor. Rousseau fell into Hitch’s arms.
****
Rosewall was at the stern looking across the river at DanSheba, anxious to invade. Fuck McGivney and those meddlesome Ecclesians. Now was the time, he was sure. As Rosewall was about to make the final decision, he heard foot steps behind
him and turned quickly. It was his female guard holding her head.
“The others are dead or unconscious, I’m not sure which,” she yelled. “Hitchcock is in Rousseau’s cabin. There was shooting inside.”
“Sound the alarm, for Christ’s sake,” he yelled back and raced to the weapons room.
****
Hitch laid Rousseau down. Her eyes opened. For him it was as if they were alone, if only for a minute. All the good times raced through his thoughts, including the time he thought he would leave Edna for her. She coaxed him to reach in her pocket and pull out a set of keys.
“Take them,” Rousseau whispered. “In my safe, a letter.” Her eyes closed.
Ringthaller, who had remained in the corner the entire time, jumped up and untied Kathy. All the time, Hitch merely stared at the keys in his hand. Suddenly he heard an alarm on deck.
Hitch grabbed Kathy and Rousseau’s rifle. They started for the door as Ringthaller slinked back into the corner. Once outside the cabin, he looked for Rousseau’s helicopter. He pointed to it, making sure Kathy knew where they were going. While Rosewall’s troops stormed onto the deck, they raced for the helipad. All the time Hitch had the rifle on automatic mode. Zing, zing, zing. By the time the troops knew what was happening, Htich and Kathy were at the helicopter. Hitch pushed Kathy up. Just as he began hearing return fire, he had the bird well above the carrier. He glanced back down and caught Rosewall racing toward him with rifles in both hands. Zing, zing.
Hitch wound around and swooped back down, took aim and zing, he caught the general between the eyes. Whoosh, the helicopter shot away like a rocket toward DanSheba.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Before the helicopter blades stopped rotating, Kathy and Hitch reached Christopher’s room. Except for Elana and Nigel Quicksilver, one of the DanSheban doctors who had been watching over him since the early hours, the village was still asleep. Elana looked up as Kathy and Hitch raced in.
Hitch could see from Elana’s forced smile that things were not good. Before he could say anything, he heard Kathy scream out.
“How is…”
Hitch knew without her asking. Christopher’s breathing was shallow, his face pale blue, his V-Mark… Hitch could hardly look at it.