“Greetings and for the Greater Good of everyone...” His voice crackled through the speakers, then faded into a loud feedback noise. Van Zandt scrunched up his face and glanced angrily behind him, where a pale-looking man frantically worked the knobs of a decrepit amplifier. A moment later, the jarring noise was gone, and Van Zandt turned back to face his hushed audience.
“It’s this time of year again ...” said Van Zandt, teeth flashing in the light of the setting sun, “...the time, when we get together to say a big thank you to our departing citizens!” He paused to allow the crowd to cheer and clap. “All week we have been celebrating their lives,” he continued, “and the many years of hard work they’ve given us… to make our community a better place! Today, we also celebrate their noble and brave act of selflessness ... the decision to step away and make room for the new workforce, which our Archipelago community so much needs!”
Van Zandt paused again to allow for more cheers and clapping of hands.
“As you all know, fresh water’s been flowing freely and without any restriction since the start of this Departure week! And it’ll continue to do so for another week, as a token of gratitude toward all of you ... and especially to the people we're saying good-bye to today!”
Hearing those words, the crowd erupted in a frenzy of excitement. People began to jump up and down on their rafts, making the water roil underneath. They rattled their empty soda cans, banged on drums and blew their horns, creating a terrible and deafening racket.
Flynn stared blankly at the spectacle playing out around him. He had stationed the Seeker as far away from the stage as possible. Pharrell and Clay’s raft was directly behind him. Flynn felt completely removed from the madness of the crowd and all the jubilation… An extra week without water rations! That was how much it took for all these people to go crazy with joy…to buy their love and absolute loyalty!
But Flynn knew he was once guilty of doing the same…He and his father had also come to watch Departure Ceremonies…same place ... same excitement and euphoria. They had both cheered, they had clapped ... they had played their part… And they had enjoyed their gifts of free water, food and all the little extras that came with such an event… But back then, Flynn had watched strangers being sent away on the Departure raft… Now, it was people that Flynn knew... People he loved and cared about…
Suddenly, Flynn felt someone tap him on his shoulder. Startled, he turned and saw Madison standing next to him. “What are you doing here?” Flynn shouted against the noise of the crowd.
“I’m coming with you,” replied Madison.
“No, you’re not! Stay out of this…”
“It’s my plan… remember?”
“Makes no difference… you can’t come,” Flynn was yelling now.
They would have argued longer if it wasn’t for Pharrell and Clay stepping in. The two boys had jumped onto Flynn’s raft and now stood between Flynn and Madison. “Stop it!” Pharrell growled. “You’re makin’ people stare, you know.”
“Let Madison come,” said Clay. “She’s got a point… it was her plan…”
Flynn was clearly outnumbered. He scowled and said, “Fine…”
But no one heard the rest of Flynn’s words, because the crowd erupted in the loudest of cheers. All eyes were on Van Zandt, who had stepped up to the microphone again.
“And now....,” the man said, “without further ado ... allow me, on behalf of the Government, to welcome those on the Departure List!”
Music blared from the speakers, the curtain flew open. Flynn's stomach turned when he saw his father walk out... Tony was right behind him. They lined up, each of them clutching a bag with their one-week food supply and whatever small personal belongings they had decided to take. Flynn watched the whole group shuffle onto the Departure raft. All of them appeared calm, and some were even waving to the crowd. The total acceptance of their fate seemed so unnatural to Flynn... The group was now shouting, “For the Greater Good!” His father, Tony, everybody…
“They’ve got to act happy,” whispered Madison in Flynn’s ear. “Leo says that if they don’t, their families pay the price… the threats of what they’ll do to them are horrific, Flynn… really horrific!”
Flynn nodded. It all made sense now… Everyone on the Departure List was trying to protect their loved ones. Pretend or be punished… And since no one ever came back, who was to know what these poor people were threatened with… before stepping on that stage…
The crowd exploded again, Van Zandt was still speaking, praising the group ... but Flynn wasn't listening anymore. The sounds around him became muffled as blood rushed to his head… All he could hear was his heart pounding in his chest. He was desperately seeking his father's eyes. Alan Perry was now taking his seat on the Departure raft, and Flynn saw Tony on the row behind his father. Of course, there was no way either of them could see Flynn, but he hoped they felt his presence there… some comfort that they weren’t alone… and that help was on its way… “...and now, let their Departure journey begin!” Flynn caught the last words of Van Zandt's speech.
Duncan Roth was ready, the engine of his motor boat running idle. The Departure raft was securely tied behind his boat with a thick towing rope. Security guards were pushing the crowd back, trying to clear a path for the procession. It was a difficult task, because of the large number of vessels, all vying to be in the same spot. There were angry shouts and curses coming from the crowd. Everyone wanted to see the parade, and by now most people were drunk and extremely rowdy. Finally, a few shots were fired in the air, forcing the crowd to part and make way. Duncan Roth raised his hand in a final salute to Van Zandt then gunned his engine. The boat lurched forward, and the Departure raft swiftly followed in its wake.
“Here we go,” cried Flynn, his face a mask of grim determination. He gripped the rudder and placed his feet on the pedals. The Seeker began to move slowly, peeling away from the crowd. Flynn made sure his raft remained close to the walls of the buildings, staying in their shadow. He threw a quick glance to his left and saw Pharrell doing the same… They had gone over the route of the parade a dozen times… until Flynn was satisfied they all knew it by heart… and that there would be no turning back.
“Well, that part’s over!” said Flynn as they watched Duncan Roth's boat tow the Departure raft past the last Lower Side buildings and head out into open waters.
Keeping a safe distance, he and Pharrell had trailed the procession all the way from Midtown bay and through the Lower Side canals. They had managed to remain focused on the task, ignoring all the excitement and commotion going on around them. Both rafts had zigzagged past vessels and avoided numerous collisions along the waterways. They paid no attention to the madness that awaited them on the Lower Side. Here, the residents had also come out onto rooftops, bridges and walkways to cheer on the Departure raft. They blew on horns and banged on drums, drinking and dancing as Duncan’s boat passed beneath them. The “stars” of the parade waved back, with frozen smiles and blank eyes.
Flynn lifted his feet from the pedals and turned to Pharrell and Clay. “Let's hang back for a while… We don't want the Rottweiler to spot us.”
Pharrell nodded, squinting against the setting sun. Duncan's boat and the Departure raft were past the South border now, heading towards the Junk nets. They were making headway fast, becoming smaller and smaller against the darkening horizon.
“I think we shouldn’t let him get away too far…” Madison said, glancing at Flynn. “They'll be out of sight soon.”
“Not yet!” Flynn was looking up at the rooftops behind them. He knew the Watchmen were up in their towers, keeping their sharp eyes on the Departure raft. The same could be said of Van Zandt and his Government with their powerful binoculars… They were bound to be watching, Flynn thought… But it was getting dark, and soon they would all be invisible, swallowed by the night. Then it would be the time to strike… but for now they needed to wait. “Don’t worry, we won't lose them.” Flynn dug under
the seat, took out his dad's old binoculars and glued them to his eyes. Duncan's boat had started to make a wide turn to the east.
“Where do you think he's going to dump them?” asked Madison, shifting nervously on her seat.
“Further east, in the Atlantic,” Flynn replied. “So the current doesn't bring anybody drifting back in!”
As night fell, the pale three-quarter moon was now their only source of light. The Departure raft was just a silhouette, barely visible even through the lenses of the binoculars.
Suddenly, the powerful beam of the boat’s headlight went on.
“Perfect!” Flynn dropped the binoculars on the seat. “We can see them fine now and no one can see us.” He sat back and placed his feet on the pedals. “Ready Pharrell? With Duncan Roth on his own, he shouldn’t be a problem… The three of us will overpower the bastard in no time.”
“You mean the four of us,” Madison said.
“No, you’ll stay out of it.” Flynn glared at her. “And that’s an order, Miss Ray.”
“Not so sure it’ll be that easy, bro” Pharrell shook his head, “He’s armed!”
“Yeah, but he’s not expecting company,” Flynn argued. “His motor’s loud… we sneak from behind, get my dad, Tony and your parents… then we disappear and…”
“What about the others?” Madison interrupted.
Flynn shook his head. “We can’t save everybody…”
“Yes, we can!”
“Are you crazy?” Flynn snapped. “I can’t find a place to hide all of these people…that’s impossible!”
“We can try.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“Hey!” Pharrell interrupted, sensing another fight boiling up between the two. “Enough! Flynn’s right… and if we don’t wanna lose them, we better get goin!”
“What happened?” Madison stood up on her seat, her voice full of alarm.
“He cut his lights off, that’s what happened!” Flynn had stopped pedaling and grabbed for his binoculars. They had been following Duncan Roth for more than an hour now. The man had abruptly changed direction twice, heading first west, then south. They had just cleared Hudson Bay and were going across the Jersey Bay, when Duncan’s headlights had suddenly gone out, as if swallowed by the ocean. They could hear the sound of his engine, though… Clearly, he was still on the move, thought Flynn, puzzled by Duncan’s new maneuver.
“Do you think he’s seen us, bro?” Pharrell whispered from his raft.
“Doubt it… We’re close, but not that close.”
“Maybe…,” said Madison, turning to look back at the Archipelago, “…he doesn’t want the Watchers to see where he’s going? Without the lights, they’ve lost him too!”
“Doesn’t make sense… Why would he hide from them?” Flynn was looking through his binoculars, searching the horizon. “Hah! There he is! He’s changed direction again…going west, now.”
“What do we do?” Pharrell strained his eyes. “I can’t see a thing!”
“We follow the sound of his engine!” Flynn lowered his binoculars and sat back behind the pedals. “C’mon!”
He began to pedal hard and steered to the left, trailing after the roar of Duncan’s motor boat. Pharrell and Clay followed. Flynn tried to keep to the same speed as before, not too fast and not too slow. Without seeing Duncan’s boat, and only using their ears, it was hard to guess how close they were to the boat ahead. They pedaled in silence for a while, when suddenly Duncan’s engine died! Flynn instantly lifted his feet off the pedals to cut out the splashing noise of the Seeker.
“What the hell…” Pharrell muttered under his breath, as he tried to kill the speed of his own raft.
Flynn stood up and listened for a moment. Nothing! No other sound, apart from that of water lapping against their two vessels. He raised the binoculars and pointed the lenses in the direction where he had last heard the motor. It was a blind search, but there was nothing else he could do.
“See anything?” Madison whispered.
“No!” he answered after a while, and lowered his binoculars.
“They can’t just disappear into thin air!” Madison hopelessly scanned the darkness ahead. She wasn’t going to give up so easily… “There!” said Madison, pointing her hand to the left.
“Where?” Flynn jerked his head, peering into the darkness … And then he saw them… the black outlines of four huge smokestacks, rising out of the water no more than a hundred feet ahead. He had missed seeing them because he was using the binoculars… and they were too close… Flynn had been looking for something much farther away. The smokestacks were so dark they had merged with the black sky. And grimy enough, for the moonlight not to bounce off them… making them virtually invisible. Duncan’s boat and the Departure raft had stopped by the fence that encircled the old Power Plant.
“Don’t make a sound!” Flynn hissed. “We’re right behind them now!” He raised his binoculars again and adjusted the focus. There was enough moonlight now for him to clearly see Duncan Roth standing up in his boat.…What the hell was he doing, Flynn wondered and then he saw the man unbuckle his gun belt and drop it inside the boat… Unarmed, the man was taking his jacket off, undressing himself in a great hurry… Duncan Roth was also saying something to the people on the Departure raft… The Seeker was now close enough for Flynn to hear the Rottweiler’s voice. He strained his ears and caught the words “get in the water!”
“Shit!” Flynn dropped his binoculars. “He’s going to drown them, right here, right now!”
“What?” Pharrell jumped up, his eyes full of horror.
“You heard me!” Flynn’s hand was clasping the hilt of his diving knife.
“Then we’re too late,” Clay moaned.
“No, we’re not!” Flynn shook his head… If ever there was an opportunity to strike down Duncan Roth, it was now… He sprang into action, slipping quietly into the water. “Pharrell, you ready?”
“Let’s do it, bro!”
Pharrell was next to Flynn in a flash. Both of them took a deep breath and dived silently in the direction of Duncan’s boat. Moments later, they found themselves underneath the hull and parted ways. Pharrell swam toward the stern. Flynn surfaced just under the bow, fighting the urge to gasp for air.
“So, this is how it ends, Mr. Roth? You're going to drown us here, like rats?”
Flynn heard a familiar voice ring out from the Departure raft. Craning his neck out of the water, he saw that it belonged to his father... Alan Perry was the only one standing up on the raft. The rest of the group was huddled together in their seats. Although the man was just an outline in the dark, Flynn could see the defiance in his father’s pose.
“You won't even give us the chance to die with dignity?” Alan Perry’s voice was getting louder, angrier.
“Hey, Roth, you sick bastard!” Another shadow rose next to Alan Perry. “Is that how you killed all the others before us, eh?”
“Quiet!” Duncan Roth said. “Keep your voices down!”
There was a low rumble on the raft now, as more people began to stand up.
Flynn wasn’t going to wait any longer! He grasped the side of the boat with one hand, knife in the other, and swung himself over. He landed with a thud and sprang on his feet. Pharrell was at the other end of the deck, already lunging at Duncan Roth. Flynn watched as the man moved swiftly, his foot connecting with Pharrell's head, sending the boy back in the water.
In a flash, the Rottweiler had turned to face Flynn, his eyes narrowing on the knife in Flynn’s hand. Flynn saw a blur of rapid movement, and then Duncan Roth was on top of him. He felt the bones in his wrist shift, as the man squeezed and twisted his arm behind his back! The knife fell out of Flynn’s hand, and Duncan Roth punched him once, hard in the stomach. Flynn doubled over and dropped to his knees, gasping for air…
The sound of splashing water made Duncan Roth turn. He saw a raft coming at him, and before he knew it, it had rammed itself into the side of his boa
t. The jolt of the impact sent the Rottweiler sprawling across the deck. A second later, Madison had clambered on board and had thrown herself on top of Duncan Roth, sinking her teeth into his neck, with both hands clawing at his eyes. The man cursed loudly. Grabbing the girl round the waist, he flung her away from him like a rag doll. She landed with a cry, rolled up next to Flynn and sprang back up on her feet. Madison crouched and was ready to pounce again when she spotted the gun belt. It was just a few feet from where she was standing. Madison threw a quick glance back at Duncan Roth. He was coming toward her, blood running down his neck… Without thinking, she reached for the gun.
“Be still!” Duncan Roth roared. He was pointing a small revolver at her head.
Madison froze, her hand inches from the gun’s holster.
“No one’s going to die here tonight!” the man said and kicked the gun away from Madison. He turned his head and looked at the Departure raft. Everyone had gone quiet. “Listen carefully you lot!” Duncan Roth spoke in a low voice. “Do as I say. Get in the water like I told you, and it'll be all over soon! No one’s going to get hurt… I'll explain later…”
A few gasps came from the group and then there was silence. Madison and Flynn looked at each other, not sure if they had heard the man right.
TWENTY THREE
No one moved on the Departure raft. Everyone was staring at Duncan Roth, some with fear, others with defiance and suspicion.
“I repeat…,” the man said quietly, “… I’ve no intention of killing anyone! All of you’ll be safe soon, but we need to get going!” He glanced at the lights of the Archipelago, flickering in the far distance and scowled. Then he turned to Flynn and Madison with great urgency. “Flynn, can you stand up?”
Flynn? Duncan Roth had never called Flynn by his first name before… What was wrong with the Rottweiler, wondered Flynn, rubbing his sore wrist. He managed to get up on his feet, but felt dizzy. Madison sprang up and grabbed his elbow to keep him steady.
Archipelago N.Y.: Flynn Page 19