He had no time to remove it however, because the door suddenly burst open and two men stepped inside the cell and dragged him to his feet. They didn’t speak as they shoved him through the maze of assorted junk that comprised the main foundations of the village, and entered a narrow doorway into an ancient concrete structure.
It was dim inside and cool. An open space in one wall that must have been a window in another era let light in at the far end of the long room. His escorts led him forward, leaving him in the light and retreating into the shadows. Garrett didn’t have long to wait. A priest of some kind, dressed in a long robe covered with cryptic designs, stepped forward and pinned him in his gaze. The markings tattooed on his face in black dramatically emphasized his position.
“We have a problem,” the man stated. His English was formal and uncorrupted. “I don’t know where you came from—you’re obviously not from around here—but your refusal to ... participate last night has created a serious situation.”
Garrett shrugged, waiting to see what would develop.
“The Goddess has been refused.”
“Because I refused to rape the woman?”
“She was an earthly incarnation of the Goddess, and she was there of her own free will. It’s not rape; it’s our contribution to Her fertility.”
The snort that escaped Garrett’s nose was comment enough.
“You also insulted the God by refusing his gift. We must appease them. You must pay the price. This has never happened before, so a suitable ceremony must be devised to undo what you have done, and avert the disaster sure to be brought on us by your grievous error.”
Garrett blanched. “Why are you telling me this?”
The priest sighed. “It’s best if you know. Then you can go before the God and Goddess with your heart cleansed of guilt. In fact, your understanding is necessary. You do see that a sacrifice must be made? How else can we atone for your sin and ensure our own safety? Our crops ... the weather ... these are in Their Hands.”
“Look, I’m a scientist, a New Scientist ... I don’t believe in Gods and Goddesses ... I don’t ... ”
“Silence!” the priest shouted. “How dare you speak of disbelief before me, High Priest of the Drudes? You ... scientist? You are one of them? One of those who destroyed everything?”
Too late, Garrett remembered Eagle’s and Teller’s first reaction to that word. One of the Evildoers, they’d said.
The priest was very agitated. He signaled to his henchmen who grabbed Garrett’s arms, and carried him, struggling all the way, back to his stifling little cell.
Evie had as little idea what to do as Garret had. Her shoulders ached from being pulled behind her back, and her wrists were rubbed raw from the ropes. She groaned as she twisted onto her other side, trying to relieve the strain on her shoulders. She had been lying in the dust of this little cell all day, and she was exhausted in every way: mentally, physically, and emotionally.
She had given up thinking some time ago while watching the sun come up through the cracks in the boards. Her body screamed with pain, her stomach growled with hunger and her heart ached with dread. The packed dirt under her was hard, and offered no relief. When the door opened abruptly, the bright light briefly added to her misery, and she shut her eyes.
After a moment, she opened them and discovered that she was no longer alone in the cell. A woman sat on the ground next to her, watching. Evie struggled to a sitting position.
"I'l un tye yu," she said, motioning with her head at Evie's wrists.
Evie looked at her. She was clean, and unlike the others Evie had seen, very beautiful—tall and delicately muscular with fine smooth skin. How did she figure into this horrible society? Since the woman seemed to want to untie her, Evie turned around and let her do it, shaking her hands free at last and bringing them forward where she could rub the soreness out of her arms.
The woman eased closer and began to slowly massage her neck and shoulders. Evie groaned as pain shot through her tortured muscles. "Who are you?" she winced.
"M'name's L'aural. I'mere t'get yu redy."
"Ready? For what?"
The woman laughed. "Yu d'no noe? Yu'r lukee. Y’ur choez'n."
Evie turned to look into the smiling dark eyes, and the woman nodded solemnly to add emphasis to her words. Knowing she'd been chosen for something important to these people sent chills up Evie's spine. Whatever it was, she didn't think she would have volunteered. "For what?" she ventured.
L'aural laughed. "Yu'l save's."
Had she heard right? Save's? Save is? Save us? "No ... I don't think so. I’m sure I cannot save you."
L'aural smiled and patted her arm reassuringly. "Do nobe u'frade. Yu'l save's."
Northeast USA: 2128
Finding the warheads had been difficult in theory. In reality, it was nearly impossible. Morgan knew the missile silos were close, but the terrain was a mess and landmarks had disappeared. Roads were eroded and overgrown with some kind of black rot that seemed to grow more profusely the farther north they went. He gripped the steering wheel, glad that the walls of the vehicle protected them from the blight outside. Looking at it, he felt not just justified in his purpose, but vindicated. As if the bleak horror of the landscape proved nuclear destruction a laudable solution.
Morgan glanced over at Lipton, who’d been silent ever since he’d learned about the mission. “What do you think? Should I turn or keep going straight?” It was starting to get dark and he didn’t want to be caught outside in this nightmare of a world, not even in the mobile unit. He wanted to get there, do what they’d come to do, and get back to the habitat. This diseased place held no welcome for civilized human beings.
Lipton studied Morgan coldly. He knew that he stood no chance of resisting the man’s relentless determination, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept his role in this. Though he wanted no part of it, he had no idea how to fight.
As if reading his thoughts, Morgan laughed. “Hey Lipton, get over it. All you have to do is make a few adjustments to the machinery so that I can launch the missiles from the habitat. And that’s it. It’s nothing.”
“You call destroying a world nothing?”
“Come on! Look out there! It’s already destroyed. There’s nothing here for us!”
Although he hated to agree with him, Lipton had to admit that the blighted landscape didn’t look worth saving.
Foothills: 2128
Garrett worked feverishly at the wood. He knew how the priesthood had reasoned out his actions of the night before and that time was running out. The day was descending into twilight and it was getting harder to see what he was doing. His hands screamed with the pain of what felt like a thousand splinters. But after ineffectively trying to remove as many of these as possible, he quickly gave up and forced them to continue to scrabble against the wood, peeling it back sliver by tiny sliver.
As the light grew dim and darkness descended on him, he heard the sounds of people moving past his box and gathering nearby. They had to have arrived for the ceremony and as he was the star attraction, their presence meant that he was out of time.
Grimacing, he put his shoulder to the wood and pushed as hard as he could against it. It creaked, but it didn’t break. Garrett tried again, this time bracing his legs against the opposite wall, with his hands on the weakened spot. By straightening his elbows he should be able to apply enough pressure to break through.
His muscles were well trained and though they protested the effort required of them, they didn’t falter, and as he strained the wood began to give, splintering along a crack that gave him further leverage. Outside he heard voices calling, and the orange light from a fire was visible through the small opening he’d just created.
The space had to be widened. Grabbing the edge of a board with his fingers, he pulled with all his strength, breaking it and moving that much closer to freedom. The next board and the next were split and broken in the same way until the opening seemed large enough.
/> Thrusting his leg through, he planted it on the other side of the wall. His other leg followed. Then he slowly wriggled his body past the jagged edges of the wood opening. Something snagged on his shirt and he writhed back and forth as he tried to free it.
Footsteps approached. Garrett wrenched himself free of the snag, leaving a long scratch on his chest as he drew his head out of the hole. Pulling himself from his knees to his feet, he looked up at three armed men who appeared to be waiting for him to complete his escape. They were amused.
Evie looked on as if from a great distance as she was led out of the little room and into the night. It was almost as if she were watching it all happen to someone else. None of it seemed real to her, except the pain of course. Her shoulders still throbbed. Her legs and hands were scratched up. Her bottom felt like one big bruise after riding for so long. And now, who knew what would happen next?
They stood her in the middle of a clearing set up like a stage with robed men forming the back and sides. Behind her was a low table with a sheet over it and in back of that, a higher table, almost like an altar, she thought. She observed the crowd of wretched looking people gathering around. Where is Garret? She thought. The words rolled around her head like a mantra: where’s Garret? Where’s Garret? Where’s Garret?
And then suddenly, he was there. Garret was being pushed through the crowd toward the center where she stood, decked in flowers and beads, wondering what was going on. Evie was so relieved to see him that for a moment, she forgot that they were in desperate trouble.
Suddenly, Garret was pushed forward, and he fell to his knees in front of her. He looked up at her and smiled, but it was a sad smile, a hurt smile. The crowd murmured and then started to chant.
At the back of the crowd, Teller and Eye of Eagle were blending in. They stamped their feet along with the crowd, and slowly moved in time to the beat. Eagle leaned toward Teller and whispered, “The odds stink.”
Teller shook her head and shrugged. Her hand gripped her blade more tightly as she watched nude women step into the clearing and pull the flowers and bits of beaded cloth off Evie’s body. The crowd convulsed with energy and expectation. This is bad, she thought. This is very bad.
She had argued with Eagle, wanting to come in on camelback and grab Evie and Garret before the Drudes even knew what had happened. But Eagle didn’t think they’d make it like that. He wanted to get as close as possible to the two scientists, and wait for an opportunity. It would be much easier to rescue them from a few guards than to take on the whole gathering at once.
Although neither of them knew a great deal about the Drudes, they did know that they were a rigidly controlled group with a strict hierarchy. Their usual ceremony took place once a month at the full moon, but Garret must have made a mistake that changed things, because something new was afoot. Whatever it was, both Teller and Eagle were certain it would end badly.
The crowd was growing restless. “Do it. Do it. Do it.” They chanted over and over, but Evie and Garret did nothing but stand there hand in hand facing them. The priest made a plea to the Goddess and the God for protection and safety, and still nothing happened. The chanting stopped and the mob began to mutter distractedly among themselves.
Teller heard the voices all around them, disgruntled, annoyed, angry .... They were here to be comforted, to be reassured by ritual and symbolism, and nothing was happening. Hadn’t they seen the man with their own eyes just the night before refusing the Goddess? Was it just that there was something wrong with him? Didn’t he mean to save them?
Suddenly, the priest cried out for silence, and the murmuring abruptly ended. A platter bearing tidbits of meat was passed through the crowd and each took a small piece in hand.
“Great God,” the priest spoke, “Great God and Goddess, forgive this man for his hesitancy and take it not as failure. Great God, make him strong that he may fulfill his destiny and save his people. Great Goddess, succor him that he may do what must be done.”
Garret looked at Evie. The crowd chanted more loudly than ever. “We’d better do something now,” Teller muttered to Eagle, who nodded and motioned with his head for her to follow him.
Once beyond the reach of the crowd, he shook his head and sighed. “I still say we wait for an opening.”
“Didn’t you see the altar? It has grooves in it!”
“You think they mean to sacrifice them?”
“I think we won’t get a moment’s notice before it’s over and done. We have to move now!”
Eagle thought this over and nodded. Moving quickly, the two Mountain people skirted the crowd and found their camels where they’d hidden them just outside the village.
“We’ll go in from the back of the stage, then turn and run,” Eagle said. “It’s our best shot.”
“Good,” Teller grunted, pulling a gun from her saddlebag. “Let’s go!”
On the stage, Evie held Garret back, moving seductively just beyond his reach. She thought she knew what was required of them, but she was also sure that if they did complete the act, they would regret it. She’d seen the altar with its grooves and buckets and thought that the best they could do in this moment was stall until they had a chance to escape.
Each of the priests wore a long knife at his side. If they could only grab one or two of those, they might stand a chance. She moved toward the left, shifting her head and eyes just the slightest bit, enough to indicate to Garret what she wanted to do. He came after her, pulled her close and kissed her deeply. As he bent her against him, she sank to her knees and pulled him down with her.
They faced each other, and Evie moved her body sensuously. The priests were just out of reach, each staring straight ahead as if they were not part of the ceremony at all, but were just what they looked like: the walls of the stage. A long, sharp knife hung on the belt of a priest just three or four feet away. Evie slid along the floor sensuously, drawing Garret with her as if mesmerized. Two feet ... So close ...
Suddenly four of the priests stepped forward. Two of them grabbed her arms from behind and the other two grabbed Garrett. Evie looked at him in panic, her heartbeat quickening in the adrenaline rush as he was pulled to one side of the stage and she to the other. The high priest stepped forward and stood behind the small table with the sheet over it. He bent his head and waited for the crowd to settle down.
When the silence was complete, he began. “Oh Great God and Goddess, we beseech thee to look kindly upon us, your children.”
“Um en.”
“In your name, we offer our praise and bow our heads in the sight of your glory. In your name, we offer our blood and our sacrifice.” With this he whipped the sheet off the table revealing Paren’s dirty face, now looking rather gray and bloodless. Garrett moaned and would have fallen to his knees had he not been held up by his arms. His eyes met Evie’s across the stage.
The priest continued. “He was a lone man, a friendless man, a man who had nothing to give but his life. And now as we partake of that life, we give thanks unto the God and Goddess for this gift of blood and flesh.”
Garrett watched in the firelight as those in the audience ate the piece of meat they’d taken from the trays. Across the stage, tears slipped from the corners of Evie’s eyes, slowly following the curve of her cheeks. The two men holding him now moved him toward the altar at the back of the stage. From the corner of his eye, as he struggled to get free, he saw the gleam of a long knife.
“Hurry, Eagle!” Teller urged. “Hurry!” They had recovered the camels and were now trying to stay in the shadows as they drove the great beasts forward. Teller could feel time slipping out of their hands. To herself, she repeated the words like a litany: Hurry ... hurry ... hurry ... hurry ...
Evie now understood that her purpose in this ceremony was to take Garrett’s life. She stood behind the altar, a knife in hand, waiting for the power to be taken from her. Garret struggled as four priests held him down. The two men who held her now placed their hands on her hands and arms and ai
med the knife at Garrett’s chest. Her muscles shook with her effort to resist them. Garrett’s eyes were huge with sorrow.
Suddenly, there was a great howling noise, just like Cries at the Moon, Evie thought, and two huge camels broke through the line of men at the back of the stage. Evie took advantage of the distraction and whipped the knife around, sticking it into the gut of the nearest man. She had barely had time to yank it out when Eagle hoisted her onto the back of his camel.
A shot rang out as Teller put a bullet in the robed man who had grabbed her camel’s reins. The other priests backed off momentarily, but the angry crowd surged forward. Garret struggled free of his captors, and jumped on the camel behind Teller, kicking and beating at the men who were trying to pull him off.
Evie used her knife to hack at another priest. He grabbed her foot and yanked her toward him. If not for Eagle’s strong arm, she would have been lost. Instead, she held onto the camel with her thighs and onto Eagle with her left arm, as she used her right to stab at the man’s hands.
The deafening boom of the gun in Teller’s hand drove their attackers back for a fraction of second and in that space, the two camels, wild with fright, cleared the mob and headed out for the open spaces.
But they weren’t safe yet. A spear came out of the darkness, striking Teller in the leg. She pulled it out without slowing down, screaming as she did so. Garret held her from behind, trying to give his strength to her. Although it did occur to him that she didn’t need it. If ever there were a warrior queen, Teller was it.
Reconception: The Fall Page 10