by Dan Glover
"Amanda isn't here, Ginger. She went aboard the Liberty."
"Why did she go with them, Alpin?"
She had gone to the apartment where Amanda stayed but only Alpin was there. He was nonchalant, as if he didn’t care whether the girl was with him or not, as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned that Amanda left him to sail across the Atlantic.
"I have no idea. I went to gather some supplies. When I returned, she was gone."
"She didn’t say anything? Did she leave a note?"
"I told her how Ena asked me to sail with the family to America. Amanda said she would like to go with me. When I told her she didn’t know a thing about sailing and would basically be useless, she got angry with me."
"Gee, I wonder why."
"What do you mean by that, Ginger? It's true. What use is someone who can't sail?"
"You should have gone with them too. You could have helped. Why are you still here?"
She felt bad for scolding him. She recalled now how she had sensed a pall of miasma hovering over Alpin. She wondered if he might have been suffering the same detritus of dementia that affected Nate and which led to his departure on this misbegotten trip to America.
"When I went down to the harbor, the ship was gone. I guess they didn’t want me along after all."
He shrugged his shoulders as if affirming at least to himself that he did everything in his power. Looking past him into his room Amanda saw a jumbled mess. Empty food husks were piled in corners, dirty dishes were heaped in stacks, and soiled clothing was thrown everywhere.
It was obvious Lady Lauren was expecting them: the coffee was fresh and omelets were cooking on the stove. The big gourmet kitchen was empty so early this morning... the sun had just raised its golden glory over the horizon and this time of day always seemed ripe with potential.
"Have you noticed anything strange with Alpin, mother Lauren?"
"I have not had the pleasure of seeing the boy of late... other than visiting you and sweet Kāne I'm afraid I've confined myself to my gardens ever since the Nautilus sailed. Is there cause for concern, lovely Ginger?"
"It's me."
Kāne spoke as if he was troubled too. Though Ginger hadn’t told him about her visit to Alpin's apartment, she knew he sensed much more than he let on.
"Do you mean to say Alpin is suffering the same symptoms as our darling Nate?"
"I'm not sure, mother Lauren. He just seems different, somehow. He was always so neat. I didn’t know Amanda sailed with Ena aboard the Liberty. I went to see her and Alpin answered the door. He acted as if he didn’t care that Amanda left him. And their apartment is totally trashed. That isn’t like him at all. I get the feeling he's hiding something."
"Perhaps we should consider moving farther from Orchardton Hall, my lovely Ginger. We do not have to leave the area, but perhaps if we put a bit of distance between Alpin and me, he may recover."
"But what about your work, my sweet Kāne?"
"I can work anywhere, darling Ginger. As long as you are by my side, I'll be happy."
"Castle Edinburgh is not far and yet perhaps it is remote enough. I remember visiting there ages ago. It is a wonder."
"Are you saying we should go to live there, mother Lauren?"
"Oh no, sweet Ginger... never... I am simply saying there are options. I think you should stay here until the little one is born and then make your decision. If you do not wish to leave the estate, perhaps we may talk to Alpin. He might consider it. I dearly hope the ships return soon. I feel so incomplete."
"Perhaps one of these days we could take a drive to Castle Edinburgh. I kind of like the name, my splendid Kāne. How far is it, mother Lauren? Will you accompany us on a day trip?"
Chapter 49—Practicing Patience
It had been two weeks since they fled the Cornell medical building leaving Karen behind.
Each day Lily insisted upon going ashore to spend time near the building. She knew if she was too far from Karen that the Lake sickness would overcome her. Walking amid the ruined city reminded Lily of all that had been lost in the world but more, all that was gained.
Hordes of butterflies with black spots on their white wings flocked about her as she meandered through debris-filled streets. Swarms of birds inhabited countless trees growing out of vast bone yards regaling her with such happy songs that Lily couldn't help but feel uplifted even amid the midst of death.
"What are we going to do, Mr. Nate?"
The sun was setting as they gathered in the galley for a late diner of fried fish and fresh oysters. Since the Great Dying the oceans had replenished the decimated oyster beds and dying schools of fish to give them all the food they desired. Still, she knew the delay here was weighing on all of them. It seemed to trouble Nate and Kirk the most. Lily imagined it was their male penchant for control that drove them.
"I'm not sure there's much more we can do, Kirk. We can't leave Karen here."
"They'll soon be worried about us back at Orchardton Hall."
"You're right, Delilah... but there isn’t much we can do about that either."
The short-wave radio stopped working when they reached the eastern seaboard. Nate said he wasn’t sure if a problem existed in the radio itself or if the transmission was being blocked by energetic flares from the sun creating ionization patterns high the atmosphere.
"They'll send a rescue ship."
Lily knew it viscerally. She wasn’t sure if she was unconsciously streaming thoughts to and from Lauren or if she dreamed it but had no memory, but she was positive Maon and Sileas would not only find another ship but set sail if the Nautilus was not back in another fortnight.
"You know there are no other sea-faring vessels, sweet Lily. We searched for a week before we finally found the Nautilus."
"I'm sure there are still intact ships in ports we never visited, darling Nate. You know how our son is once he gets an idea in his head. He told me before we left that if we lost contact and if we didn’t return within the allotted time, he would come after us."
"Maybe we should go back into the Cornell building and try talking to Karen."
"I'm afraid she might be in danger, lovely Natalia. If we interfere, we may do more harm than good. I think that whoever is holding her hostage will begin to feel the effects of us being close to them. You said you saw him... right, Nate?"
"I saw something... I don’t know if I would call it a human. It looked like one of those aliens we see in those old movies we used to watch... big head, tiny body, and sticks for arms."
"That thing in the room... it looked like a volcano in the floor. I bet that has something to do with the man you saw talking to Karen, Mr. Nate."
"I'm guessing you're right, Kirk. Something obscenely weird is going on in that building."
"What if we just burst into that room with our guns and take Karen back, Mr. Nate. We have the advantage."
"I'm not so sure of that, Kirk."
"We cannot risk harming Karen."
"Natalia is right... we must practice patience, darling Nate. I know it is difficult just sitting here. I think as long as we continue to visit the outer area around the building on a daily basis, Karen will be safe. If we attempt to use force, she may die."
Lily worried the men might take it upon themselves to arrange an assault though Nate was much recovered since the days when he'd act impetuously and without first consulting her. It concerned her too that Maon and Sileas would risk a long sea journey in an effort to affect a rescue though she had confidence in her son.
She remembered the time he saved their lives as if it was yesterday though they hadn’t discussed it in ages. He'd been two years old or thereabouts and she was terrified to lose him in that horrid air shaft that ventilated her prison cell all those years. Over the years she had dreamed about being trapped in a tiny steel space like that tunnel Maon crawled through, unable to move forward or to go back, lying there knowing she would die slowly and in agony.
Begging Nate not to let Maon go
did no good. And of course the others were right. If Maon hadn’t gone through that shaft and freed them, they would all be dead now, suffocated, and the world might well have been a far different place... not that it would have mattered to her.
She still saw the mad look glowing in Marilyn's eyes as she gloated about trapping them in the same cell that Lily had been held prisoner for seven years. It wasn’t a gaze of hate so much as having won an imaginary fight against her own friends.
"My people have done horribly vicious deeds against one another, Lady Lily... they actually fought wars and destroyed the lives of millions of people, all in the name of their gods. Marilyn was no different."
"I do not understand this fixation with a god, my darling Karen. It seems to border upon obsession."
"You're right about that, Lady Lily. It's a sort of sickness, I think... some people feel weak in the face of the struggles they endure on a daily basis so they pretend there is someone or something greater than they are."
"That book that Marilyn always carried with her... was that the source of her discontent, my precious Karen?"
"The bible is a conglomeration of old myths and legends from long ago, Lady Lily. That in itself does no harm. It's only when people begin to take those words literally that they may become agitated and aggressive like Marilyn.
"It also depends on how a person is raised. Marilyn was what we once called a Catholic. Those people were a sort of orthodox sect that maintained strict rules against what they thought of as sin. An entire hierarchy grew up around those old beliefs.
"Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the extent of Marilyn's indoctrination into Catholicism. She hid her beliefs under a veil of science. There were signs, of course, but I failed to recognize them. Had I been more vigilant, she might still be alive. I blame myself, Lady Lily."
Lily wondered if Karen had given herself up as a prisoner in order to save her comrades. It would be just like her to do so, yet she must have known they wouldn’t leave old New York City without her.
They had to warn Maon. If he managed to find another ship and sail to old America, he might well fall into the same trap. She loved her son with all her hearts but she also recognized how alike he was to Nate... headstrong and prone to act before carefully considering the consequences.
"Perhaps we could find a short-wave radio transmitter somewhere in the City, my darling Nate. I would feel much better if we communicated back home and let them know we are safe."
"We'll search for a radio tomorrow, my lovely Lily. I am not very confident we'll find one in good repair, however, and I haven’t access to my workshop. It took me ten years to get the two radios working that we have now. When exposed to the elements the copper wiring inside becomes corroded with patina."
"Is that a light?"
"Where do you see a light, sweet Lily?"
"It looks as if someone is walking along the path to the shore with a flashlight in their hand, lovely Nate. Look... you can see the light bobbing."
Chapter 50—Being Human
He didn’t understand what was happening to him.
In the two weeks since Karen agreed to stay with him—not that he had given her a choice—Micah discovered his body was undergoing profound changes that could not be attributed to his Try-Rights: his skull was returning to its original form, his skin was losing its metallic sheen, his musculature was firming up, and his eyes were again blue with visible whites.
"I cannot be sure, but I think the nanobots are leaving my body, Karen."
"Is that a good thing, Micah?"
"It's too early to tell. You knew this would happen, didn’t you."
"How would I know something like that? Come on, Micah... I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker."
"You never did tell me how it is that you're still alive. Six billion people died overnight. The whole human-centric world ceased to be. Yet here you are a hundred years later looking like you're eighteen years old... even better, for that matter."
Karen just stared at him, as if she had a secret she wanted to share but wasn’t sure of his motives. He couldn't remember why he insisted on her staying with him in the first place. He was lonely, sure. But he'd been lonely his entire life, even as a child. His mother and father were blue collar workers who had no idea how to relate to a genius.
They had done the only thing possible... ship him off to school and promptly forget he ever existed. He didn’t blame them. He might well have done the same thing if he was in their place. To give birth to a child with powers like his must have been traumatizing.
All he ever wanted was to be normal, like everyone else. He yearned to run in the sun, to play games with the other children, and to fall in love and have normal babies with a normal woman. It was all denied him even from the beginning.
His body was too frail to play out of doors. His bones broke easily and he was apt to pass out if he exerted himself in the least. His peers in school sensed his strangeness and berated him for it, playing cruel tricks on him at every opportunity.
He withdrew into his own mind not out of any desire but for sheer survival. He preferred his ivory tower where he couldn’t hear the crowded streets below where all the living and the dying took place... that way he never knew what it was he was missing out on by hiding away.
It wasn’t until he met Karen that he felt he had finally discovered a kindred spirit. That was why he demanded she stay this time when the time before he was left with no choice in the matter.
She had been right to leave. What would any woman possibly see in him? He'd be dead in a few years and no one would even know he had been alive outside of his parents and a few scattered rumors circulating at Cornell about the crazed eccentric on the top floor.
Karen had a ripe future in front of her. What did he have? Nothing but a weird dream of saving himself from an incurable disease by inventing machines so tiny no one could see them to make sure they even existed.
Now, not only was he changing, but his minions were once again talking. They not only regained the use of their voices, but their bodies were shrinking back to normal. No longer grotesque beings capable of lifting ten times their own weight, they were waking up from a century-long intellectual slumber, remembering the things Micah thought was lost forever to them.
During the last hours of the plague when everyone in the city—indeed everyone in the country—was contracting an illness that ended in abrupt death, Micah conferred life upon three of his colleagues whom he deemed worthy.
All three were ardent doctors in the research department which he headed up in a de facto sort of way, geniuses in their own right. Their names long forgotten, he referred to them simply as See, Hear, and Speak. They each knew their monikers but little else. The nanobots kept them alive but the side effects were far worse than Micah expected.
Within a month each of the scrawny middle-aged scientists were transformed into muscle-bound behemoths without any conscience, seemingly incapable of regret or remorse. They lost all mode of rationality instead relying completely upon Micah to guide them. Left to their own devices they would not eat, drink, or sleep. He was quite sure without his instruction they would sit in their own excrement until they died.
Now they were speaking.
Too, it seemed as if he was waking from a long muddled dream. His thinking was clearer than it had been in a hundred years. With the return of intellect came compassion. He regretted the decisions he had made and more, he wondered if it was possible to achieve his long held dream of being just a normal person.
"I'm sorry I made you stay here with me, Karen. I know whatever is happening to me is not on account of my Try-Rights. It's something you've brought. I know when you leave I'll revert to my old ways. I will become a monster once again. But I can't keep you here. Please go back to your friends."
"Come with me, Micah."
He didn’t expect that. He was used to being abandoned. He knew how to deal with loss. He long ago steeled himself to a lifetime of drudgery and lo
neliness. But this offer surprised him.
"I can't just leave my work. And what about See, Hear, and Speak? They're improving so much that they can actually function as human beings again."
"Bring them along too... but you cannot bring those horrid Try-Rights, Micah."
He felt like a swindler who had just been swindled. The Try-Rights were his dream, his glory, his great discovery, his life. To ask him to give them up was tantamount to asking him to dive out the sixth floor window head first into the crumbling concrete below.
"I'll die without them."
"Do you call this living, Micah?"
He admitted Karen was right. He felt more invigorated during the last two weeks than ever in his life. His body was strong. He could sense his mind becoming clear and sharp. It was as if he was emerging from a metallic mist that obscured rather than illuminated the ideas once again raging through his mind.
"I don't understand how this is happening to me, Karen. Have you done something to change my body without my knowing?"
"I've done nothing, Micah. I expect what you're experiencing are the effects from the Lady of the Lake. Her name is Lily. I would have been dead by now if she wasn’t close by. We are all infected with parasites. The presence of the Lake people mitigates that. They put off some kind of invisible energy I've yet to isolate. If not for the Ladies I would have been dead a hundred years ago like everyone else."
"You are not making any sense at all, Karen."
"You have to meet her. Everything I say will sound like an elaborate fantasy. Allow her a visit, Micah."
"Please go and invite her here, Karen. Invite all your friends. Tell them they are in no danger. If things are as you say, perhaps we will consider going with you."
"You don’t have a choice, Micah. Either you come with us or you die."
"I always have a choice. You should know that by now, Karen."
Chapter 51—Mayday
After nothing but silence for so long it hurt the short wave radio crackled with life.