“There it is,” Cammarry said as she pointed at the front of the building with the inscription ‘Crondel’ impressed into the permalloy over the door.
“A mere shell of what it once was, but we do know now not to expect anyone here,” Jerome said.
They walked through the severed buildings and noted again that none had interiors.
“I was thinking about this place,” Jerome said. “I read about the Old World’s preoccupation with entertainment and diversion, before the Great Event. In those ancient times, they had places where store-fronts were located, and they produced dramas, comedies, and recorded performances in those places. Huge amounts of resources were spent on those entertainment features. All at a time when their technology was primitive and people were suffering. I wonder if they had invested those wasted resources on environmental research, or humanitarian concerns, if the Great Event, and the subsequent 90 Hour War could have been prevented?”
“Jerome, you are the expert on the old-time literature and writings. We will never know what if, but it seems that humans on the Conestoga are not so different from those of the era of the Great Event,” Cammarry observed. “Maybe those of us from Dome 17 are really the outliers, and normal humanity is represented by those people we seen here?”
“Oh mercy I hope not!” Jerome exclaimed. “Although we have seen both good and bad here. Hopefully some of the good will be up ahead. If they got our message and understood our cryptic signal. I think I hear the carousel now.”
“Odd that the carousel music is all we do hear. No animal sounds, and that troubles me a lot.” Cammarry looked at Jerome and he smiled back, although he too felt the apprehension. Jerome also wondered how the roustabouts, if they were here, would respond to him. Their parting had not been as pleasant as he would have liked. He remembered Bigelow’s cold glare, but thought fondly of Monika.
They approached the groves of trees which blocked their vision down the slope.
Plink. Bling. Tink. Tink. Bling. Plink.
The music floated up to them as they walked. It was a sort of tinkling, bell ringing, light and airy kind of music. Jerome and Cammarry both nodded their heads and remembered.
“I wonder what Cadet Danny would think of this music? He loves his piano music,” Cammarry commented as they walked downhill.
“It is a rather pretty sound. Music is like morality. It gives soul to the universe, wings to ideas, flight to the imagination, and charm and happiness to life,” Jerome recited. “If music is the food of love, then keep playing! Honestly, for where words fail, music soars.”
They walked around the copse of trees. Those trees were more lush than on their last visit, but with no animals or birds they seemed strangely empty, haunted, hallow. The dirt-covered road up to Crondel was now strewn with growing weeds. As a road, or path, it was barely noticeable now.
“And there it is,” Jerome said as he and Cammarry stared at the familiar sight before them. “The Lark!”
The carousel was turning in the bright yellow light of the sky tube. Its music was playing. Several wagons, the basic utility ones the roustabouts used, were party visible behind it. Also observed were the first animals they had seen lately, the roustabouts’ horses. They were tied on long leads to those wagons. One horse was all black, there were two which were white with big splotchy colors, and several bay colored horses. All the animals were nervous with alert eyes, and twitching ears. The horses were staring at Jerome and Cammarry.
“Yes, the carousel!” Cammarry smiled and clapped her hands.
The colors were vivid and flashing as the carousel’s mechanical contraption rotated around. The top was a pyramid spinning slowly around on a center axis. The stripes were vibrant: red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple. Below was the carousel’s platform, with its myriad of carved statues of animals, both real and imagined. Neither Cammarry nor Jerome were exactly sure which were copied from living animals, and which were pure fantasy.
“Lark. Yes, this has been a lark, being here before, and now coming back here again.” Jerome was looking at the large letters on the pyramid of the carousel. “Lark of amusement, adventure, or even a quest. I guess this time it is a quest. Hopefully a quest to save these people. If the skies fall, one may hope to catch larks.”
“Hello!” Cammarry called out. “Bigelow? Is anyone here?”
A man’s tenor voice came out from somewhere. The words were familiar, but the song was a morose lament.
“Oh, the carousel goes around,
And this one won’t break down.
Each one we build, our pride does glow,
For the carousel will go around.
Oh, the carousel goes around
And it makes the dandiest sound,
If the sky tube’s low, please don’t you fret,
Because the carrousel will go you bet.
Oh what fun, it’s a wonderful sight
Finding joy for you both day and night,
Girls and boys, come ride your toys,
Cause the carousel goes round in flight.
Oh, the carousel goes around,
Don’t let me see you frown,
Come ride a streak though the future’s bleak,
But the carousel goes round and round.
Oh, the carousel won’t break down,
Cause it’s built the best, and stands the test,
Permalloy, and power, for every hour,
Cause this carrousel won’t break down.
Oh, the carousel goes around,
Since the Conestoga hit this ground,
Come whirl for years, and lose your fears,
For the carousel goes round and round.”
“Bigelow? I recognize your voice. Thank you for coming here,” Cammarry called out. “You got our message? Where are you?” She could see no one by the wagons, or by the horses, but the carousel blocked a good part of the view. “Bigelow, it is us! We have returned for you!”
“Hello rube! Well, well, well,” Bigelow said as he stepped out from behind one of the exquisitely carved statues on the carousel. The statues were turning and rising in rhythm to the music. “I am taking one last ride on the carousel, and here we find the two adventurers from Earth. I see you are together again.” He was not the same jovial self he had been on their first meeting. He was still wearing dark brown clothing, of various shades, and his floppy hat, but he looked especially tired and worn. He took a long drink from a flask he was carrying. Turning his head, he called to someone else, “It looks safe enough to me! It truly is who we thought it would be.”
Monika rushed out from her place of concealment which was behind a carousel statue of some mythical beast. That creature had a long curving snout like another appendage, and two spear-like teeth on each side of its face. She jumped off the carousel. Her dark hair was tied back, and she had a huge bruise on the side of her face. One eye was swollen nearly shut. Nonetheless she smiled when she saw Jerome. “You are alive!” She rushed forward and threw her arms about him and hugged him. She then kissed him fully and passionately on the mouth. Jerome glanced at Cammarry. After the kiss, Monika looked over and she smiled at Cammarry. “And he found you. Excellent! We needed some good news.”
“Ah, well, yes…” Cammarry stammered. “You are injured.”
Monika briefly gestured at her face. “We all have been through a lot. Jenna is quite sick, and I was hoping you have your medical kit. We are desperate.”
“Yes, we have the medical kit,” Jerome said, his face was red from the passionate kiss he had received. “We sent one to the Listening Ear via an automacube, but I have not heard if it arrived. Sandie? What is the status of T-1DT?”
“No time for that rube!” Bigelow snapped with added vulgarities. “Are you deaf now too? Jenna is in great need! Where is your medical kit?”
Cammarry pushed past Jerome. She was pulling out the medical kit. “Bigelow? Where is Jenna?”
“Right this way,” Monika led Cammarry toward one of the wagons.
“She became horrible nauseated, and has been throwing up. We tried what we could, and looked for a medical automacube, but so much has been destroyed so fast.”
Cammarry was confused about how to respond to Monika. Jerome had only briefly spoken about Monika, not much beyond just a few comments about her being part of the roustabouts. Now Cammarry wondered what exactly had happened while she was confined in the Special Care Unit. She shook off those thoughts and followed Monika to the wagon.
The blue colored wagon was covered over by a canvas top. There were round holes ripped in the canvass. As Cammarry looked inside, from the back, she could see a makeshift permalloy lining had been erected inside of the canvass. Jenna was reclining on some cushions, and Siva was kneeling next to her.
“Hello Cammarry,” Jenna said in a weak voice. Her straight, shoulder-length, black hair hung limply around her very pale face. The confidence and self-assuredness Cammarry remembered was gone. Replacing it were sunken eyes, and a slight quiver on her bluish lips.
“Oh, Jenna. Let me hook you up,” Cammarry stepped into the wagon, and set down the medical kit and fusion pack.
“She has been like this since just after we parted from Jerome at the river,” Siva said. His short, black hair, was still as neat as Cammarry remembered, and concern was etched into the deep brown complexion of his face. His eyes were kind and rested upon Jenna even as he spoke. “It is heartening to know you survived. I believe Jenna’s condition stems from her water dowsing ability.”
Cammarry connected the wires from the medical kit. She pressed the button. A small screen read out, ‘Previously unknown adult female. Critically toxic levels of antimony, aluminum, and barium are present. Moderately toxic levels of bismuth, lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium are detected. Biologic electromagnetics out of balance. Prognosis is good if treatment initiated immediately. Ingest two capsules, and inject cleansing agents into any large muscle mass. Heavy metals will be cleaned from the soft tissues of the body within four hours, complete detoxification will take place in six hours. Electromagnetic homeostasis will follow.’
Two blue capsules slipped out of the bottom of the medical kit, as well as a syringe. Cammarry took them, and looked at Jenna. “May I give you these? The medical kit says it will help.” Cammarry had a flash in her mind to the white automacubes, under SB Cotard’s directions, forcing her to take what they called medications. She shuddered inwardly.
Jenna reached a shaking hand out and took the capsules. Siva helped her with a bottle of water. She then nodded at Cammarry who was holding the syringe.
“It will only take a few hours,” Cammarry said as she injected the treatment into Jenna’s thigh right through her pants. “Then you will be feeling better.”
Jenna smiled. “Thank you. I always pray, ‘guide my hands, enhance my sensitivity, and bless my purpose, that I may be an instrument of divine power and glory in locating what is searched for.’ My dowsing requires me to sample the water, and that is how I got sick. The water in Beta is cursed now.”
Cammarry looked at the bottle Siva was holding.
“I have filtered all our drinking water,” he said, understanding Cammarry’s concern. “However, Jenna dips into the waters remotely, and her spirit assesses the auras of fluids.” He patted her arm gently and compassionately. “May I tell our friends all that has happened?”
“If Bigelow has not already done so,” Jenna gave a weak smile. “Thank you again Cammarry. Thank you for calling us. We needed good news in this time of disaster.”
Siva and Cammarry stepped from the wagon, and he pulled the canvass door closed.
“Things have gone very badly for us all,” Siva said. “What you see here is all that remains of the roustabouts.”
Cammarry looked over and saw Jerome standing a distance away, Monika patting down one of the blotchy colored horses, and Bigelow sitting on a small stool next to his wagon.
“Only four of you?” Cammarry asked.
“No, Peter is also here. He is in the mechanic’s wagon monitoring the public address broadcasts, and any other signals. But yes, we are all that remains,” Siva said.
Jerome walked over and Cammarry quickly explained what had happened with Jenna.
“You never found Dewi and Nabila?” Jerome asked.
“No. We tried, diligently. But then at the site for carousel eight, we were attacked,” Siva said.
Monika looked over, and her eyes teared up.
“Attacked?”
“Yes, Cammarry. A group of people came into our camp. They said they had word about the leftovers and the chosen siblings. But when we gathered to listen, two of them set off explosives. One was right next to the wagon with all the children.” Siva reported it all clinically, but his eyes showed how much emotion he was holding back. “If anything good can be said, their deaths were swift. Monika, Peter, and I were on the opposite side of the mechanic’s wagon and that shielded us from the blast. Bigelow was getting some supplies in his troika, and Jenna was just miraculously saved. I know of no other way of expressing it.”
“Those children we saved?” Cammarry dropped to her knees. “The little ones from the road?”
Siva put his hand on her shoulder and knelt beside her. “They are gone.”
“I heard the detonation,” Bigelow said. I had my associates gallop back as fast as possible, but the attackers also started shooting at us. They killed all but Anika.” He gestured toward the black horse.
Peter stepped out of the mechanic’s wagon. The side of that wagon had shrapnel damage all along it. “Your artificial intelligence system has shut down the public address message. I suppose Sandie is monitoring what is happening here?”
“Yes I am,” Sandie said from Jerome’s com-link. “And my condolences on all your losses. Your grief and sorrow and loss are beyond my understanding.”
“There will be more loss if you remain here,” Jerome said. “The habitat is failing, and our only way of finding you was that message. Now we need to get moving. I think all of us can go back in the transport tube’s vehicle.”
“Rube? What are you talking about?” Bigelow said. “I am not leaving Anika here to go on one of your wild-goose chases, or some red-herring adventure.”
“I am not talking about geese or fish, although the fish we saw were all dead in a polluted stream. The habitat is failing!” Jerome insisted. “There are gravity sink holes ripping this place apart, and Crock machines rolling around. Up in the ruins of Crondel is the transport system. We have a vehicle there and all of us can get in that and leave.” He looked at the horses and then back at the roustabouts. “The animals would never fit, but you can be saved.”
“Jerome,” Monika said with compassion. “You are sincere, I can see that, but I am not sure I understand. This place has seen better times, I know that is right, but the Conestoga was built for deep space and to last for multiple generations. The habitat can have problems, like the drought or the toxins, but it will not fail.”
“Monika!” Jerome yelled. “It is failing. You are right it was built for space, not for a poisonous planet. It was not built to survive on Zalia, especially with the Crocks breaking in and causing gravity sink holes.”
“There is no way I am leaving my horses to follow the rube,” Bigelow stated firmly. This was followed by a graphic anatomical suggestion which was both physically impossible, and deeply offensive.
“I know this is hard…” Cammarry started to explain, but was interrupted.
“Attention! I have just lost contact with the automacube, T-1DT,” Sandie stated. “May I show you the last signals received?”
“Is it just a communication link failure?” Jerome asked.
“Sandie, show us what you have,” Cammarry ordered.
A beam of light came from Cammarry’s com-link and projected against the side of the wagon. A two dimensional visual and audio recording was shown there.
“This is from moments ago. The point of view is from T-1DT’s front aperture,” Sandi
e reported. “You cannot see the automacube, but at the bottom I have placed a diagram with the telemetry from the machine.”
“Well, that is the Listening Ear, all right,” Bigelow affirmed. “My sister’s place. That automacube is rolling right up toward it from the bow end. Look at that smoke in the background!”
“And that is a Crock machine!” Jerome cried out.
The lumbering tracked vehicle was just moving out of sight beyond some building in the distance. The noise it made became muffled a bit as it became hidden by the buildings. There was a haze of smoke hovering over the buildings around the Listening Ear. It looked like all of the town of Seron was covered by that hazy smoke. There were screams and cries which had been caught by the audio recordings on the automacube.
“Sandie? How long had you observed that Crock vehicle?” Jerome demanded.
“Just for the brief moment it passed,” Sandie replied. “Please continue watching.”
There was a slight shimmering in the air in the recording, and suddenly all the smoky haze around the Listening Ear, and the buildings to its right just disappeared. Then the permalloy structure with its windows so darkly tinted that nothing was visible inside, shook. The wooden veranda around the front of the building, snapped, splintered, and crashed to the ground. The painted sign with bright letters making, ‘Listening Ear’ exploded, or imploded, or somehow was destroyed. It had not burst in an outward way, but rather the letters swelled and then crumbled downward in a rain of debris and powdered bits.
The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books Page 137