by Dan Glover
The flashlight helped and the rifle slung over her shoulder lent her a bit of security albeit misguided, she knew. A large predator could come upon her in the dark without her knowing it until teeth met bone.
She walked fast but with purpose.
"Come with me, Micah. Gather your men and come with me now."
"We have preparations to make. Stay until morning, Karen, and we'll all go together. The nights here are not for the timid."
"I didn’t live this long by being timid, Micah."
She wasn’t sure he would allow her to go until she was actually out the door. An indescribable freedom washed over her knowing she was no longer confined by metallic monsters bent upon incorporating her into their hellish dominion.
"Leave everything behind, Micah, and come with me now. We have whatever you need."
Thinking he would endeavor to bring along his work—the nanobots—she attempted to dissuade him from bringing any article of clothing, any semblance of that which might be used to secret a horde of invisible robots.
She wondered neither for the first time—nor the last—whether she was a host for the horrid swarm. Witnessing the changes wrought upon Micah and his protégées she gathered the biological influences of the Ladies was far more potent than the inorganic flock of miniscule silicon particles that warped not only Micah's body but his brain. Though his body was recovering she was not so sure about his mind.
She heard the tides whooshing in like old friends alerting her to the presence of the sea. Though she assumed the Nautilus was still there in the bay waiting for her she had no real way of knowing. The night sky was clouded over and though she could see a trace of the moon floating high above, the water and the horizon behind it was too dark to discern a ship.
The glass beach under her feet alerted her to the landing point they had used upon their arrival in old New York City. Though the night was too thick to see the multi-colored pebbles under the soles of her shoes she recognized them by the glassy feel as well as the crunch they made as she walked along the shoreline peering into the murky ocean.
Panic began to grow in the pit of her stomach threatening to erupt into a full-blown attack. She couldn’t go back... she would rather die than become a grotesque monstrosity like Micah. Or would she? If presented with a choice, she wasn’t at all sure what she would decide. She had grown used to the idea of living for a thousand years or more and the thought of giving that up suddenly seemed disquieting in the extreme.
Life was life, after all. Walking along that glassy beach in a ruined city with the howls of creatures unseen yet imagined lent her a whole new appreciation of Micah's accomplishments in the face of certain death.
About the time she was ready to give up, go back to Cornell, and beg Micah's forgiveness, a shout sounded in the dark.
"We know you're out there. We see your flashlight. Who is it?"
Karen heard Lady Lily's voice issue from the surface of the water about the same time a powerful searchlight illuminated her position on shore.
"It's me, sweet Lily. May I have permission to come aboard?"
"Are you alone, darling Karen?"
"Yes, precious Lily. I am all alone."
She watched as the spotlight was trained upon the skiff. Nate climbed down the rope ladder, untied the skiff, pulled the rope on the outboard motor until it sprang to life, and steered toward the shore.
"You don’t know how happy I am to see you all."
Aboard the Nautilus the rest of the crew crowded around Karen welcoming her back.
"Tell us all about what happened, darling Karen. I've been so worried about you."
"You came ashore every single day, didn’t you Lady Lily."
"Of course... I feared you might succumb to the Lake sickness without my presence."
"Thank you, my love. You saved my life once again. You should see the changes in the others. It's amazing how being around you has brought them back to being human again. They were monstrosities, enormous zombies doing Micah's bidding and nothing more."
"What others, Karen? Are you saying there is more than the one strange man I saw talking to you?"
"That must have been Micah. Yes, Nate...there are three others, all men. They couldn’t communicate when I first arrived. Now, they are talking again. I tried to tell them to come with me but they refused. I think they're afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Micah has unleashed his great invention. He calls them Try-Rights. They are miniscule machines so small they can infiltrate the flesh of living creatures. He used them to survive the Great Dying. They changed him into something horrible, however.
"Since we've arrived, he is reverting back to his normal self. I don’t think he likes that. I think it affronts him to believe his Try-Rights are not all he thought they'd be. He has let them loose into the real world instead of keeping them in an isolation booth.
"We are all in danger here."
"We should weigh anchor immediately, Mr. Nate. I have a bad feeling."
"I think Kirk is right. If they kept Karen prisoner they may try to infiltrate the ship while we sleep."
"You have a good point, Delilah. And you're right, Kirk. Let's move down the coast. I'll sleep a lot better when we have a few hundred kilometers between us and this awful place."
"If we leave they'll all revert into what they were before Lady Lily brought them back. That doesn’t seem fair."
"I explained that to Micah. It almost seems as if he prefers that existence, Lady Natalia."
"You said there were three others, darling Karen?"
"Yes, that's right, precious Nate."
"Look toward the shore."
Chapter 54—Alone
He missed the early morning swims with Ena.
Standing upon a rocky knoll overlooking the sea Alpin imagined how his line of sight might bend with the curvature of the earth so he could see all the way to old America. He wondered how their trip was progressing and why Amanda left without a word of goodbye.
He felt a pang of guilt for not going with his parents and Ena aboard the Liberty. Alpin knew his sailing skills were second to none, other than perhaps Grandfather Nate. Though he wanted to go along, the way Ena approached him about the trip had irritated him. When he refused to board the Liberty, he thought sure that one or all of his family would come and beg him to change his mind.
Maybe they could explain to him the reasoning behind the rescue trip when there was no indication of trouble from the Nautilus. His father had a savior complex which he acquired at an early age and which he kept plying long after there was anyone to save. It was just short of madness to take an old vessel rotting in a warehouse for a hundred years on a trip across the raging ocean.
"You're just scared to go, Alpin."
Ena had used that old psychological ploy with him one too many times. After he told her he was not interested in sailing to old America with her and their parents she had as a last resort accused him of being afraid like she had done while they were growing up. Whenever he didn’t want to do something with her, she accused him of being scared.
Of course he was afraid, but that wasn’t why he rejected her offer to go. Anyone in their right mind would be afraid of a trip like that, even though he knew if the worst happened and the ship sank him and his family could easily swim to the nearest land even if it was a thousand miles away.
He was well aware of how old Scotland had been overrun with large predators. He could well imagine old America was probably the same. Here, at least they had the fence around Orchardton Hall to keep out the most dangerous beasts.
It bothered him too that everyone took it as a matter of course that all the human beings in the world had passed away during the Great Dying, all but the ones that stayed by the Ladies. What if that wasn’t true? Alpin considered it possible that others had survived and what's more, they were more dangerous than any wild animals.
He had begged his father to take along automatic weapons when they made their
forays into old Europe in search of artistic treasures but Maon had only laughed at him. In fact it was rare for anyone to take anything he said seriously... even the girls of the People laughed at him and walked away whenever he attempted to start a conversation.
Amanda had been different. She was the one person in his life who actually listened to his fantasies no matter how outlandish they were and in turn confided her secret desires as well. He paid her back by creating such an air of hostility around him that she obviously could no longer stand it and left. Now, it was his turn to leave.
"You should take a trip up the coast, darling Alpin. Kāne and Ginger will be staying in Orchardton Hall for at least a couple weeks. He loves you so much but if you're anything like your grandfather, Kāne's presence may produce perilous side effects upon your mind."
Alpin understood that was the main reason for Grandfather Nate and Grandmother Lily taking the Nautilus to old America but he never considered he too might be susceptible to the same type of personality-altering consequences.
For the first time he wondered if that was the whole reason behind his tumultuous relationship with Ena. According to her, the day they made love for the first time was coincidentally the same occasion she made initial contact with Kāne. Was it really just a fluke, though?
It was too easy to blame his mood swings on someone else when he knew in his hearts that he alone was responsible for his actions. Both Ena an Amanda had given him their all... their bodies, their love, their respect. And he had paid them back with bitter words and innuendos.
The coastal highways were broken. A century of weathering and salt water mists had rendered them all but impassable. Instead of a car or truck he chose one of Grandfather Nate's motorcycles... a dirt bike made for off-roads and trail riding.
Riding through the old cities Alpin couldn't help but imagine how alive the crumbling streets and fading buildings must once have been with layers of humanity and with the sounds of both the laughter of the adults and the weeping of children.
Gazing over azure waters he felt more alone than ever. When Ena asked him to sail away he wanted to go but the words coming out of his mouth betrayed him. He wanted to be a good father to their baby but his actions were counter to that desire and he didn’t understand why. He longed for Ena yet he pushed her away saying hateful things and treating her unjustly.
Amanda was nothing more than a plaything. Though he detested doing it, Alpin exploited her only to satisfy his carnal urges. He mouthed the words of love yet there was no feeling behind them. He knew she must sense it but there was none of the suffering of empathy on his part like he thought it should be. She was like a pretty bright shiny object to be used and then discarded in case someone else might desire her too.
Kāne frightened him.
There was no logical reason for the fear he felt. Despite his size and strength advantage the man never sought to intimidate him nor did he treat Alpin harshly even when physically threatened by him. It was more a feeling of a dark undercurrent of energy running through Kāne's body that tended to muddle Alpin's mind turning him child-like and pliable.
"Kāne is my father, sweet Alpin. That's why I like to visit with him and Lady Lauren. You have no reason to be jealous of him."
"How can that be though, Ena? Don’t be so stupid. He can't be your father. He wasn’t here before you were born so that's impossible. Don't you realize that you aren’t making sense? Then again, you never were the smartest girl at Orchardton Hall, were you."
It seemed to Alpin that ever since that day on the beach in old France when that feeling of lust overcame him and she satisfied it, he wanted nothing more to do with Ena. He didn’t even remember what actually happened that day. As soon as they walked out of the ocean, a haze seemed to seep over his senses. He reverted to an animalistic temperament desiring only fulfillment of the flesh.
"I have two fathers and two mothers. You know that, Alpin. Why are you calling me stupid? I might not be smart like you but I'm not dumb."
"Because you are, that's why. You're the biggest idiot I know, Ena."
At the time, he wanted to hurt her, to break her heart... and he had no idea why. Even though he didn’t actually love Ena, he felt possessive of her, like she was a shiny plaything that he didn’t want anyone else to have.
When Grandmother Lauren advised him to leave Orchardton Hall, it began to dawn upon him that he was afflicted with the same disease that caused Grandfather Nate to become forgetful and negligent of others. Alpin thought his grandfather had simply grown tired of the insanity that continually swirled around in the air like the sea mists creeping in during the night.
It wasn’t anything big... something he could name... but rather all the little problems that went along with a community likes theirs began wearing on him like the tides eroding the rocks. Little by little, his patience evaporated until he would explode, and usually at those he loved the most, like Ena.
He did love her. No matter how many times he tried to push her away, to declare his love for someone else, it was Ena that he saw in his dreams. Maybe it was because he knew they were made for one another that caused him to rebel against the idea of ever being anything more than a friend and a brother to her.
When he found a bit of quiet lurking in his mind and thought of the harsh things he had said to Ena, he felt ashamed of himself, embarrassed at his actions, and ready to tell her how sorry he was for the hurts he heaped upon her.
It was too late though. Even if she was standing right in front of him he wouldn’t be able to find the words. Rather, he would no doubt begin berating her again, calling her obscene names and labeling her an imbecile.
The thing was, he was raised in a loving family. There were no better mentors in his life than his mother and his father. They were the perfect couple, always full of praise not only for one another but their children. Maybe that was the real problem... trying to live up to impossible ideals set by those who didn’t understand the tumult raging through his tortured mind.
Even his grandparents displayed nothing but love and adoration for one another. It made him sick just watching them showering affection upon not only each other but everybody around them as well.
Alpin was used to being looked up to by the girls of the People. He felt like a living god capable of bestowing all manner of great things upon his loyal subjects. If not for his presence, they would die slow and agonizing deaths. Everyone knew it. If not for him and his relations from the Lake there wouldn’t be a human being left alive.
On the other hand, if the rumors were to be believed, his people were the cause of the epidemic that swept the world leaving it empty of the wretched and debauched civilization that nearly killed it yet full of potential and ready to blossom anew with the slightest intelligent touch.
He had read hundreds of books and watched dozens of videos detailing the world as it was under the reign of human beings... how the oceans were dying, the icecaps melting, and the land groaning under the torturous pounding it took. Alpin thought how the megalomaniacs that consciously or not sought the ruin of the earth must have been amazed to know it was all coming to an end.
Then again, perhaps they died so quickly they hadn’t the time to understand what was happening not only to them but to the rest of their species... billions of people both guilty and innocent wiped out of existence with a single kiss.
"Did you really cause the Great Dying, Grandmother Lauren?"
Ena must have been three years old and wide-eyed as she asked the question... probably in response to something she might have heard other children talking about. He had heard the rumor too but never had the audacity to actually inquire about it, especially to the Lady who was the subject of the myth.
"No, my sweet Ena... I was only the catalyst."
"What does that mean, grandmother?"
"It means that the human beings were ready to pass away, my darling Ena, and I merely gave them a little bit of a shove. They had ample opportunity to save themsel
ves even then but instead they did what they have always done... they lay down and they died."
"Is it scary to die, grandmother?"
"Well, my precious Ena... I have no way of answering that question. I remember when I was young and still living beneath Lake Baikal at times the old women of our kind would simply drift into the depths and never rise again. They must have become tired of living, I suppose. But I don’t think they were afraid of dying."
Now that Ena was gone and Alpin thought of all the times he mistreated her, he realized they would never be what his father and mother intended: husband and wife. It was his fault. If she was still here he might apologize and explain why he treated her so badly but in his heart he knew it would do no good. His transgressions were too great; his lapses too common.
He wished he could remember more of making love with Ena that one day they had together. For him, it was like something that never occurred: a dream, a mirage. If she hadn’t became pregnant and informed him that he was the father he never would have known anything between them had ever transpired.
A chill breeze washed up from the lowland valleys redolent of rotting leaves and morel mushrooms past their prime. A thin summer rain fell. Licking his lips he tasted an admixture of brine and fresh water reminding him of the days he swam deep under the sea with his sweet Ena.
The rock under his feet was a crumbled ancient volcanic remnant of primordial upheavals that once rocked this Isle. He stood motionless his eyes searching the sea for signs of sails remembering Lady Lauren's final words to him on the day he left.
"The last three days the radio has been crackling as if someone is trying to get through to us. Stay close to the western coast, darling Alpin, and watch. Perhaps our ships are on their way home. It's been too long."
He wondered if Ena would ever forgive him.
Chapter 55—Men of Metal
"Micah refused to leave Cornell."
Three human males had come aboard the Liberty. One of them told the crew tales of privation at the hands of their erstwhile leader, of Micah's grandiose plans to populate the world with his offspring, and how they were tricked into participating in his research.