Reconception: The Fall

by Deborah Greenspan

  The camels were fast, much faster than men on foot no matter how rage spurred them on. Despite the full moon that made them so easy to track, their speed was enough to put a great distance between them and their pursuers. And after a wild half hour of screaming flight, they finally slowed and came to a halt.

  For a few moments the only sound was of the four men and women and two camels gulping air. “Teller’s hurt,” Garret finally managed. Sliding off the camel, he stepped to the side and examined her leg. Long black ropes of blood encircled it, spilling down and around and onto the camel’s heaving flank.

  Garret reached for his shirt, for anything to bind the wound, and realized that he was naked. His cheeks warmed and he almost laughed at the sorry mess they were in, but it wasn’t really funny.

  Then Eagle was beside him, removing his shirt and handing it over to Garret to cover himself with. He also tore a strip of cloth off the lower end of his undershirt and used it to wrap the gaping cut in Teller’s thigh. She’d lost a lot of blood.

  Evie opened the saddlebag and found a blanket, which she wrapped around herself. She shivered in the cold desert night. For the first time, even though they were all together, she felt truly lost.

  CHAPTER 12

  Northeast USA: 2128

  It had taken some doing, but Jersey had done what had to be done, transferring control of the missiles to Morgan’s computers at the habitat. Morgan thought he might have been better off to bring his computer expert, Ripley, with him, but then Jersey had been so much more fun.

  There were several warheads available for him to use. And his plan was very simple. He would use all of them, most of them aimed at New Mexico, where all that nuclear waste had been buried within granite several thousand feet down. Morgan believed that one bomb might not have the desired effect, but two or three, one on top of the other, would certainly crack that rock and open Pandora’s Box to the wind, carrying on its back all the evil that men had ever dreamt of to every corner of the earth.

  And then ... well, then he would be free to remake the world as he desired it to be. There’d be no earth restoration project, and no reason for anyone to oppose him.

  Yes, he sat back in the land vehicle, watching Jersey at work and smiled contentedly. They were almost done. Almost ready to return to the habitat and let loose the whirlwind.

  Southeast USA Habitat: 2128

  Garret took the lead and hurried through the dark tunnel toward the lock. The corridor was dim, and Eagle held up the flashlight while Garret spun the wheel that would open the door. As he pulled it back a flood of light pierced the darkness. The men, women and beasts entered a huge cavern strung with catwalks. Three levels of corridors led off the cavern. A terrible smell hung in the air.

  It had been a long treacherous trip to Southeast. They knew their only chance to evade the “searchas” come the light of day was to be gone, so after resting a bit, they’d gotten back on the camels and traveled through the long night, stopping only to reclaim the pack animals carrying the producers and food concentrates. Although it had seemed like forever to Garret, he had in fact been imprisoned for only a day, and the six camels were none the worse for having been left on their own.

  Teller’s leg became infected while they traveled, swelling up and getting worse and worse as the days wore on. Although they’d been cheerful and optimistic for her sake, they all knew that their only chance of saving her leg, and possibly her life, was to get her to Southeast quickly. Even though they’d planned to travel only at night, they pushed on as fast and as hard as the camels could go, sleeping in the saddle and stopping only to eat and allow the animals to feed.

  The second day they’d created a litter for Teller that dragged her over the uneven ground, slowing them even more, but allowing her to stretch out. She was feverish and sometimes delirious. Evie dribbled water into her mouth and learned to pray. God, Goddess, whoever you are, she thought, don’t let this woman die.

  She was so grateful to Eagle and Teller for saving them, and it broke her heart to see this brave woman in such pain. “Don’t die,” she whispered as she held her. “Don’t die.”

  Teller mumbled in her fever dreams of children and illness and terrible loss, and even Garret’s comforting shoulder and gentle words could not assuage Evie’s sense of guilt. She knew with her mind that she was not at fault, but in her heart, she just couldn’t accept her role in Teller’s injuries.

  Now that they were at Southeast, they would be able to use advanced medical treatments to save her. While Garret got the producers on line and made sure that the survivors were fed, she would find the medical wing. Evie figured it all out as her eyes adjusted to the brightness inside the Habitat.

  “Who the hell are you?” A voice called out. The group turned and faced a skinny little man holding a metal bat.

  “Hey,” Garret’s voice was calm. “We’re from East USA. We brought you producers and concentrates.”

  The man looked a little dazed, but he’d never seen a stranger in his entire life and now there were four of them in his living space. It took him a moment to understand. “Producers? You have producers?”

  “And food concentrates.”

  “Food! You have food!” The bat dropped from his hand, and he ran across the cavernous room. “Sybil! They brought food!”

  Evie took Garret’s hand. The voice echoed in the space. A haggard looking couple stepped out of the shadows and inched their way toward the small group of intruders. At last, they were close enough, and the elder of the two women spoke. “If only you’d come sooner. So many ... we lost so many ….”

  Tears welled up in Evie’s eyes. They’d done what they could. They’d gotten here as fast as was possible. “How many?”

  The woman sank to the floor, and the younger one, unable to hold her up, slowly sat down with her. “We’ve lost hundreds ... I don’t know how many ....”

  “We’re so sorry. We tried ....”

  The older woman looked up and smiled brightly, despite her tears. “Thank you. Thank you for coming.”

  Others had come out of the shadows, out of their rooms and lost little corners, and joined the group forming in the center of the great hall. Evie could almost feel the lassitude lift as food was handed out.

  The producers were taken in great ceremony to the food vats and carefully set in place. A great sigh went up from the crowd as the little bacteria were input into the system and got to work.

  Through it all Eagle watched, saying little, interacting not at all. This was an evil place, he felt, a place where dying people didn’t even have the sense to open the doors and go look for food. Although it wasn’t plentiful, it was still growing outside. The hills surrounding the entryway to this place were home to wild berries, root vegetables and greens. Lizards, snakes, and the occasional rat could have provided for them. What was wrong with such people that they hadn’t even considered looking to the earth for their sustenance? Instead, they’d simply died. It was beyond his knowing.

  Later, when he spoke to Evie about it, she tried to explain that they didn’t really understand that there was anything outside. They’d been born inside, been locked up in here all their lives, and the earth was more like a theory than a reality.

  “Before I go back, I’ll show it to them,” Eagle said.

  Evie smiled, but she was too worried about Teller to concern herself too deeply with the people of Southeast. The tragedy was too much for her anyway. Since they’d gotten there, Eagle and Garret had helped to cremate almost a thousand people. It was a horror beyond comprehension, and Evie had no desire to face it. She held one woman’s life in her hands and would not rest until she’d found a way to save it.

  The problem was that Teller’s injury didn’t respond to the antibiotics that were available. Evie had cleaned the wound and done everything that she could think to do. Although Southeast had had several doctors, two had died and the others were still too weak to be of much use. Anyway, she thought, what do they know that I don
’t?

  She checked the IV in Teller’s arm and made sure she was getting enough fluid, but it wasn’t enough. Evie wished she were home in her own lab where there were things she could try. She could even try that engineered berry they’d created—that superfood. And they had other alternatives—drugs that Southeast had never heard of—drugs that her own people had developed over the years.

  On the bed, Teller moaned. “My baby! No! Don’t take my baby!”

  Evie lifted the damp cloth from Teller’s forehead and dipped it in the bowl of water beside her. Once again, she held the coolness against Teller’s burning face, and while she did it, she prayed.

  CHAPTER 13

  Northeast USA: 2128

  Jersey turned the screwdriver a final time and closed the metal door of the cabinet. His job was done, and all he knew is that he wanted to get home. Whatever Morgan did with these nuclear weapons, he no longer had the strength or the desire to care.

  After traveling for days through that blighted landscape, he had few illusions about the world anyway. There would be no restoration, no matter what the others thought. The deed begun by their ancestors was already finished. Those living underground simply didn’t know it yet.

  But Morgan would show them. He would make it abundantly clear to every single one that they were wasting their time if they thought that they could change what had already been done. Billions of people had already died; and it was obvious that no one could be living on the surface. So what difference?

  His research hadn’t been in biological restoration anyway. He was on the verge of a discovery that could change the world in a different way. Within his grasp was a way to cross the boundaries of time that would perhaps one day allow them to return to the world before ecological disaster had overtaken it. Now that was a dream worth working on, and as it always did it filled Jersey with a sense of elation. Because he knew it was possible.

  Now, if only he could get out of this godforsaken place and get back to his laboratory safely. What a waste of time to be handling weapons for Morgan when he had so many more important things to do.

  Southeast USA Habitat: 2128

  The helicopter was a surprise. In her wildest imaginings, Evie had never dreamt of such a thing. Oh she knew of them in theory; she could probably design one if she had to. But when she learned that Southeast had one, and that they might be able to get it off the ground, she was absolutely shocked. How amazing that they’d chosen to keep such a thing in their habitat, that they hadn’t melted it down and used the metal for other things. It boggled the mind.

  Because this helicopter was the chance that Teller needed. With it they could return to East USA in just a few hours and be in her lab in time to save her friend. She just wished that Garret would hurry up with those operation manuals and get them out of here.

  He and Eagle were like a pair of kids playing with a new toy. Although she knew that Eagle disapproved in principle with things like helicopters and land vehicles, she could still see how the newness of it, the daring and adventure captured his spirit, especially if it meant they might save Teller. He was just as anxious as she to get in the air.

  He’d tried earlier to get her to accept the possibility of Teller’s dying, but she would not. Although the mountain people had learned to be fatalistic in the face of death, Evie came from a different branch of humanity, and she would never give up without a fight.

  She smiled at the irony of that because, after all, it had been her people who had starved to death and hadn’t done anything about it. So maybe it wasn’t a matter of fatalism after all. Maybe it just had to do with who you were and how much you knew. If there were any hope at all within sight, she believed that all humans would reach out to it.

  As she reached out now, climbing into the cockpit of the eighty-year-old relic of a helicopter. “It’s in perfect condition,” the Southeasters had told them. “Every couple of months, we start the engines. It’s kind of a ritual, a way to remember what might have been, you know?”

  Evie and Garret looked at each other and nodded. They did know. They knew a lot more now than they had when they’d started out on this unlikely journey, and now in an even more unlikely fashion, they were going home.

  Northeast USA: 2128

  Morgan too was going home. The habitat couldn’t be more than a day or two away. At least the air is cleaner, he thought. The blight hasn’t traveled this far south.

  What an adventure! And soon they’d be home and the real adventure would begin. Too bad there would be no one to share it with until after the deed was done. He supposed he could invite Jersey to be with him when he fired the missiles, but from the way the physicist was acting lately, he doubted he would be very good company. The man really was a terrible bore. All he wanted to talk about was his own research, and Morgan was not the least bit interested in the past. His mission was to remake the future.

  Airborne: 2128

  The helicopter rose swiftly into the air. Too swiftly, Evie thought, hoping she wouldn’t get sick. It took a while for Garret and Eagle to get the bird under control, but they did, and had since then maintained a steady northward course.

  The headsets weren’t working, so when Garret yelled out to her to look down, she could barely hear him. He pointed and she looked out the window. Down below was the small village where they’d almost been killed. Little people raced across the brown landscape following the shadow of the copter on the ground.

  Teller lay stretched out on the floor of the helicopter, breathing a little easier than she had been. Evie checked her once again, and found that her temperature was down. Even the wound looked a little better. She’s passed the crisis, Evie thought gratefully. “Hold on, Teller,” she murmured. “We’re almost there.”

  When they finally put down in the meadow outside the habitat, Evie could hardly believe that she was home. She reached for Garret’s hand and found it in hers. Looking up, she saw he was smiling at her, as relieved as she to be in this familiar place where they had some kind of power, however illusory, over their world.

  Evie led the way, followed by Garret and Eagle carrying Teller’s litter. She turned the wheel that would open the outer door of the lock and proceeded into the dark cavern that was the foyer of their underground habitat, thinking how different it was from the home of the Mountain people.

  This was, by comparison, an unwholesome place, a place of stale, recirculated air and carefully constructed foods; a place of great intellect but little feeling, of stunning accomplishment and no meaning. When Teller was healed, Evie resolved that she and Garret would go back and live with the Mountain people. And if their lives were a little shorter, so be it. At least they wouldn’t be buried alive.

  She glanced behind her at Garret, wondering if he felt the same way. One look at his face, the expression so reminiscent of that first day Outside, told her that he was with her all the way.

  CHAPTER 14

  East USA Habitat: 2128

  The habitat was different, Evie thought. No, she and Garret were different, that was all. Although everyone had been friendly and pleased to see them, thrilled that they’d actually made it to Southeast and saved their counterparts, Evie was surprised to discover that most of her friends and neighbors didn’t want to hear about it.

  They’d held a discussion group the second night after their return and barely a hundred people had attended. Evie was shocked at the numbers. Didn’t they want to know about Outside? Didn’t they want to know about Eagle and Teller? Weren’t they thrilled and excited to learn that people were surviving out there? Didn’t they want to learn more?

  When she spoke with Garret about it, he wasn’t surprised. “Evie, they’ve always been like that. They’ve always been insular, limited people. Why are you surprised?”

  “But they’re not, Garret. They’re scientists; some of them are New Scientists. How can they not want to know what’s out there?”

  Garret stretched his legs and made himself more comfortable, the fam
iliar lab surroundings a comfort. “They never wanted to know some things. Don’t you remember when we were kids, and I’d ask about the water wars and the holocaust in the mid 21st century, how they’d change the subject? No one wanted to talk about what happened out there. Oh yes, they’ve made restoring the earth their mission, just like we did, but they never wanted it to be real. Just an abstract, intellectual problem to be solved. You know what I’m saying is true.”

  Evie sat down on a stool at her bench and put her head in her hands. He was right. She’d never realized it before, but it was so. Outside had never been real to any of them. And now, bringing Eagle and Teller in here just made them want to run and hide because they didn’t know what to make of a tribe of people who weren’t like them, who didn’t live underground, who weren’t scientists. Most of them treated Eagle like some kind of aborigine. “We have to get them to open their eyes. Did you see how Carl Frobish talked to Eagle last night? Like he was stupid or something?”

  Garret sighed. “He wasn’t the only one.”

  “Garret, when Teller is better, we’re leaving, aren’t we?”

  “Do you have to ask?”

  Evie smiled. “It’s dangerous out there.”

  Garret ruffled her hair playfully. “I’ve developed a taste for it.”

  Morgan and Jersey returned to the habitat three days later, claiming to have made a wrong turn and gotten lost. After answering as few questions as he could manage, Morgan retired to his office to complete his calculations before pushing the button. The trip had been a huge success. Not only had he gotten Jersey to prepare the warheads for launch, he’d also discovered a cache of automatic weapons that might prove useful in the coming days.