“Hi Kat,” Terry said, “What are you doing here?”
“I had to talk to you.”
“Okay, what’s up?” Terry had a hopeful feeling again that Kat was coming around.
“I’m in,” Kat said. “I’m with you.”
Terry hugged her immediately, picked her up and spun her around.
“I need you to watch Jonathan and Tabby tonight, though. Okay?”
“Sure,” Terry said. “Anything. Why? What’s going on?”
“I just have to take care of something. I’ll talk to you about it later. I’ve got to get back to work.”
“I love you, Sis.”
“I love you, too.”
* * *
Terry left early to beat the kids home but first he went to the commissary to buy a couple of treats. Fruit snacks for Tabitha and saltwater taffy for Jonathan.
He was about to leave when he turned around to buy more. A few for the road. It could offer psychological comfort later, once they got out of here. Something to remind them of normal.
He wanted to talk to the kids about leaving, about the journey ahead. He started scripting it in his head when he realized he had better wait for Kat. They hadn’t talked at all about how to talk to the kids. Her kids, he reminded himself. That didn’t mean he couldn’t cast a line, though. See if he got any nibbles.
Terry wondered what made her change her mind. Was it his words? Was it something else? Either way, he was thankful. It meant he didn’t have to make the tough decision. Should I stay or should I go?
He’d been long convinced that go was the only option but what if Kat hadn’t come around? What if he was faced with the choice between a crack at freedom without his family or staying behind to be near them?
It was a tough one, and he appreciated Alisia’s struggle with her mom. The difference was, Alisia was the lynchpin. Without her help, (the flasher) how would any of them escape? Plus, he wanted Alisia along. Of course, he did.
At home, Jonathan was the first to ask, “Where’s Mom?”
Terry started to answer when he realized—he didn’t actually know. “Uh…I’m not sure, kiddo, but it’s just us tonight.” It wasn’t entirely unusual for Terry to watch the kids so Kat could run an errand or go spend time with Rick, but where was she now? Certainly not with Rick. Was she? That wouldn’t make any sense. She just made up her mind to flee this place. Rick was the embodiment of everything wrong with New Seattle.
“Okay,” Jonathan said, but he looked sad. So did Tabitha. They wanted to see their mother.
“Hey, but guess what I got for you guys?” Terry said, and he produced the candy.
“Yay!” they both cheered.
Yep. Psychological band-aid to the rescue.
While the kids chomped happily, Terry asked, “How was school today?”
“I hate it,” Jonathan said immediately.
“I hate it,” Tabitha mimicked.
“Hey, now,” Terry said to Jonathan. “Let’s not be teaching your little sister bad habits. Okay?
“What was so wrong about school? You wanna be smart, don’tcha? Readin’, Writin’, ‘Rithmetic.”
Jonathan laughed a little at the drawl Terry used. “We’re not even learning any of that stuff….”
“What do you mean?” Terry asked. “Then what are you learning?”
“All we ever talk about is the New Patriots. And how we have to be good citizens…and stuff like that.”
“Really?” Terry said.
Jonathan bobbed his head.
“Oh…well…you won’t have to go to school forever, you know.” Maybe not for very much longer at all…
“I know,” Jonathan said, and Tabitha mimicked him again.
“Now, don’t eat all of that and spoil your dinner,” Terry said. “What should we eat?”
Macaroni and cheese from a box was the consensus.
* * *
Kat went to Rick’s directly after her shift and let herself in with the key he had given her. She made herself busy preparing dinner and tried to push unpleasant thoughts out of her head. Unpleasant thoughts that she knew would now be with her forevermore.
Rick came home and slapped Kat’s ass. “Hey, baby.”
Kat cringed. Everything had changed and she wanted none of this sort of attention from Rick. “Hey, babe,” she said, then wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
“I was beginning to think you didn’t like me anymore,” Rick said.
Kat shushed him. “Take me to bed.”
Rick was all too happy to oblige her.
Kat was ill. Had it really come to this? Was her role in the apocalypse to be the Chancellor’s whore? She pushed it aside and made quick justification. This is survival. If I don’t do this, Terry’s dead. Maybe I’m dead…my kids….
An agonizing three minutes later and it was over. She fought back a tear. “I’d better go finish dinner for my hungry man.” She crawled out of bed and made sure to offer up a little eye candy. God, how she hated herself….
Rick grinned and squinted his eyes. “That was great, baby.”
It took everything Kat had to return the smile.
While they ate, Kat couldn’t help but ask, “So did I make you forget?”
“Come again?”
“Oh, yes, please,” Kat said.
Rick was baffled momentarily until he caught the innuendo, and then the meaning of the question. “Terry who?” Rick said.
Now Kat smiled for real.
* * *
Terry was helping Tabitha get her shoes on for school when Kat opened the door. “Mommy!” Tabitha said. “Where were you? I missed you, Mommy.”
“I missed you, too, sweetie! Come here and give me a hug,” Kat said, and she bent down to scoop Tabby up.
“Where were you, Mommy?”
“Mommy just had some things she needed to do. Now, hurry up. Get ready for school.”
Terry had figured out where Kat was, what she had been doing. It only took a look into her eyes to confirm it.
“C’mon, Tabitha, it’s time to go,” Jonathan said. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetie. How was your night with Uncle Terry?”
“Mom….” Jonathan thought he was getting a little too old for names like sweetie.
“Sorry—Jonathan, Sir!” Kat said and saluted.
“Mom,” Jonathan said again, then his face cracked into a smile. Kat grabbed him and tickled him until he cried out, “Stop it! You’re gonna make me pee my pants!”
“All right, all right,” Kat said. “You two had better get going. Have a good day, okay? I love you.”
“Will you be at home tonight, Mommy?” Tabitha asked.
“Yes, mommy will be home tonight. I’m all yours.”
“Yay!” Tabitha said.
“Bye, Mom,” Jonathan said.
When the kids were out the door, Terry asked, “So, were you…with Rick last night?”
Kat’s face tightened and her jaw clenched. “Don’t judge me, Terry. Don’t you dare.”
“No, no I wasn’t. I swear it. I mean, oh, God. This is all my fault, isn’t it?”
“You could say that.…”
“I am so sorry, Kat. Really…I am.”
“It’s okay,” Kat said. “It will be. I need to get ready for work.”
“Yeah. Me too. Okay,” Terry said. He felt horrible. Lower than dirt. He had forced his sister, his only sister, his only family…to sleep with the enemy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alisia and Otis were enjoying a brief break from their duties at the clinic when the receptionist, Lizzy came into the break room.
“Hi Guys,” Lizzy said. “There’s someone here to see you, Alisia.”
“We’re taking a break,” Otis said. “They can wait.”
“Umm…actually…probably not. It’s the new Chancellor. Seems like he might not be the waiting type.
“Oh God,” Alisia said. “What does he want?”
“He didn’t say.” Lizzy's
fingers thrummed on her clipboard, and she adjusted her glasses.
“Okay,” Alisia said. “Send him back to my office.” Alisia turned to Otis. “Wish me luck. If you could get the next patient ready…. It should just be a few minutes, I suspect.”
“You got it, Doc.”
Alisia tidied up her office while she awaited her visitor.
A knock at the door.
“Come in,” Alisia said.
“Dr. Casswell, Chancellor Verdin is here to see you now,” Lizzy said as she entered.
“Oh, good. Send him right in.” What a great liar I am, Alisia thought. “Chancellor, it’s nice to see you. Please–sit down.”
Rick sat, and as he did so, he sized Alisia up with his eyes. Or, maybe, ogled her was more apt. She didn’t care for it.
“What brings you here, today?” Alisia said,
Rick crossed his legs and got comfortable. He wore his ever-present smirk. “Well, first off, I wanted to tell you what a fantastic job you’re doing for our little community. We really appreciate it.”
“Oh, thank you, Sir.”
Rick continued to smile and stare, his eyes moving to her neck and breasts regularly. He cleared his throat. “Secondly, I wanted to talk to you about some medical records. And some of your procedures here.”
“I see,” Alisia said. “I’d be happy to talk about procedures and such in a general sense, but you understand of course, that I can’t discuss any of my patients or their medical records without their consent.”
“Oh, I think you can, Doctor. In fact, it’s your patriotic duty to do so.” Rick pulled a folded paper from his jacket’s inner pocket and flapped it out to open it. “Let’s see here…. Article 7 of the New Patriot Charter: Medical professionals shall share any and all information freely with government officials, when and if asked to do so. Failure to comply shall be grounds for treason charges. Don’t get yourself all tangled up in the old laws,” Rick said.
“That’s not in my copy of the Charter.”
“No. No, I imagine it wouldn’t be…. I just added it this morning,” Rick said. “It’s good, don’t you think?”
“It’s great,” Alisia said in a completely deadpan tone. “So, what do you need?”
“I knew I could count on you, Doctor. Actually, I didn’t know for sure, but I’m glad. It would be a shame to lose such a pretty face.”
The threat was not lost on Alisia. She knew she had to get out, now more than ever.
“What I need,” Rick said, “is your so-called chip flasher that I’ve been hearing about.”
“Excuse me?” Alisia said. “Chancellor, Sir, with all due respect, we really need that here—at the clinic. Why would you want it?”
Rick laughed in that hollow condescending way of his. “I think that should be pretty obvious, don’t you? C’mon, you’re a doctor. Don’t tell me you’re all beauty and no brains.”
Alisia did know why he wanted it, and her mind reeled with what she could do, how she could avoid giving it to him. Without it, there was no escape. Not for her, not for anyone.
“Your Charter mentioned medical records. It didn’t say anything about medical devices,” Alisia said.
“Oh?” Rick said. He pulled out the paper and looked again. “Oh dear. You’re right. Have you got a pen? Never mind. I’ve got one right here.”
Rick took the pen and added a quick revision.
Medical professionals shall share any and all information freely with government officials, AND OBEY ANY REQUEST FROM THE CHANCELLOR, when and if asked to do so. Failure to comply shall be grounds for treason charges.
“And there you have it, Doctor. Now—flasher, please.”
“But Sir, what will I do when someone gets the headaches? You can’t take it away.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Rick said. “You’ll still be able to use it when needed; you’ll just have to bring your patient to Command. We need more supervision with a device like this. Why, if it fell into the wrong hands, we could have a real problem. You understand, don’t you, Doctor?”
Alisia wondered if it was possible to give him a decoy. He wouldn’t know the difference, would he? Her mind raced to think of a suitable standin for the flasher. She remembered her voice recorder. Could that work?
It was small and slim, had one button for record and stop, a pinhole for the mic, and a green LED that lit up when it was on. It could just possibly fool him—for a little while.
If he recognized it for what it was, then she’d probably be locked up—or worse. She couldn’t possibly give up the flasher, though. She wouldn’t.
“Yes,” Alisia said, “I understand. Let me grab it for you. I’ll be right back.”
She went to the exam room where she had left her recorder. Otis had the patient ready.
“Hello,” Alisia said. “I’m Dr. Casswell. I just need to grab something real quick, and I’ll be right back.”
“No problem,” said the patient, a middle-aged man—with headaches. Go figure.
Alisia rushed back to her office and tried to still her heart. No dice there. “Okay, here you go, Chancellor.”
“Thank you,” Rick said. “So the next time you have someone that needs a chip replacement, you just come over and see me at Command. I’ll keep it safe for you.”
Rick marveled at how small the flasher was, turning it over in his hand. “It’s funny…this could be an MP3 player or something.”
Alisia tried to laugh, and she did pretty well. “I know, right? I thought the same thing. Well, I had best get back to work. Thank you for stopping by, Chancellor. Come back anytime.”
Rick gave her that ridiculous salute, and he was off. Alisia wasn’t sure if she was supposed to return it or what, so she just smiled and gave him a slight bow with her head.
* * *
After work, Alisia walked to Terry’s. Kat answered the door. “Dr. Casswell, hi,” Kat said. They had met a few weeks prior when Kat had taken Jonathan and Tabitha in for a routine checkup. “What brings you here?”
“Hi, Katherine. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by like this. I looked up Terry’s address…. Normally, I wouldn’t just drop in—is Terry here?”
“Kat, call me Kat. And Terry should be here any minute. Come in.” Kat showed Alisia to the living room and offered her a seat. “Could I get you anything? Coffee, water?”
“No, but thank you,” Alisia said.
“What’s going on, Doctor, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Alisia. Just call me Alisia.”
“Are you and my brother, are you guys like….”
“No,” Alisia said.
She blushed a little and Kat caught it. “Nothing like that. I just need to talk to him.”
“Okay,” Kat said. “Is everything all right?”
Alisia paused for a moment too long before she said, “Yes, fine. Say, how are your children?”
“Oh, they’re doing well. Adjusting, you know.”
“Oh, good,” Alisia said. She was fumbling for her next piece of idle chitter chatter when Terry walked in.
“Alisia. Nice to see you. What are you doing here?” Terry said.
“I need to talk to you,” Alisia said. “Could we go for a walk?”
“Yeah, sure.” Terry put his coat back on that he’d begun to peel off. “I’m ready.”
“Kat, thank you for your hospitality,” Alisia said. “It was nice to see you again.”
“Anytime,” Kat said, and she stood to see them off. What was that all about? she wondered.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Terry said, once they were out the door, “but what’s happening?”
“Sorry. I wasn’t sure if we could talk in front of your sister or not.”
“Up until a couple of days ago, I would’ve said you couldn’t. But now—she’s on board.”
“Oh, good,” Alisia said. “So, something’s happened. I had a visit from Rick today.”
“Oh? And what did he want?”
Alisia
stopped walking. “He wanted the chip flasher.”
“What? Oh shit,” Terry said. “Did you give it to him?”
“Not exactly. He thinks I did, but I gave him a decoy. I don’t know how long that will hold up, though. I’m worried that if he figures it out, well…that would be bad.”
“Yeah,” Terry said. “That would be bad. Good thinking, though. Without that flasher, we’re sunk.”
“We need to hurry, Terry. If he finds out…. I’m scared. Not just for me, but for my mom. He’s a monster.”
Terry put his arm around her and somewhat to his surprise, she hugged him back. “I’m scared too. We’re getting out of here, though. Okay? Don’t worry.” They embraced for a moment longer, then Alisia pulled away to blow her nose. God, even that was cute. “We need to go and tell Duncan about this.”
When they got to Duncan’s, Terry knocked. He knocked again. And then again. On the last knock, the door popped opened. Apparently it was only loosely latched. “Hello? Duncan?”
No answer. He turned to Alisia. “Should we just go in?”
Duncan answered in his bathrobe.
“Are we interrupting?” Terry asked.
“No, not at all,” Duncan said, “Come in.” He closed the door behind them. “What’s going on? I can only assume this is more than a social visit.”
“Well,” Terry said, “We might have a problem…. Rick came by the clinic this afternoon and paid Alisia a visit.”
“Oh?” Duncan said.
“That’s right,” Alisia said. “He came to take the chip flasher.”
“Oh dear,” Duncan said. “Did you give it to him?”
“No—God, no. I gave him a decoy, but I don’t know how much time that’s going to buy us. If he figures it out.…”
“That would never do,” Duncan said. “What do we do now? Are we ready?”
“I suggest we accelerate our timeline,” Terry said. “We may not have much time left.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Duncan said. “Let’s get everyone together. Everyone who’s left anyway.”
Most had fallen away since the refugee slaughter and impromptu museum of horrors had been set up in their old meeting spot.
Solaris Mortem: The New Patriots Page 14