Shadows

by Terry Schott

  "Yes, it is," Richard said. "We've been preparing for this phase for decades. Don't lose focus now, Harry. We are at a critical time in history. If we fail now, it could all crumble."

  "I know."

  "A new dark age would make the last one look like a picnic."

  Harry nodded. The screen in front of him went black.

  57

  "What are you doing?" Sarah-Marie asked from the doorway to Kerstin's bedroom.

  Kerstin continued stuffing clothes and supplies into a large olive-green rucksack. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

  "Packing for a little field trip," Sarah-Marie said.

  "Bingo."

  "I thought we were gonna wait."

  Kerstin snorted. "Yeah, we were gonna wait. Until we talked to Sam or Dawn. It's been two weeks since Dawn disappeared, and the buzz around town is that Sam is dead."

  "Disappeared also," Sarah-Marie corrected.

  Kerstin stopped packing and met Sarah-Marie's eyes. "Have you noticed how they talk about them? When they talk about Dawn, it's like she took off, but when they mention Sam, people have a different look. When I was younger, my Grandma died and it was weeks before they told me, but everyone walked around with a specific look on their faces. It's the same look people have when they talk about Sam."

  Sarah-Marie turned her head to look down the hallway, then she entered the room, shut the door, and sat on Kerstin's bed. "So they're both gone," she said. "Someone else will come by and talk to us. They can't just forget about us."

  "That's exactly what they've done so far, and I doubt we're a high priority. The world as we know it might be ending. I think they have more important things to deal with."

  "Harry Thorn will come by. When he's able."

  Kerstin placed the last bit of luggage into the rucksack and zipped it up. "I'm not waiting. If this is it, I'm not going to sit around waiting for it to wash over us as we sit tight in this sleepy little town."

  "Are you going into the city?" Sarah-Marie asked, as if it meant suicide.

  Kerstin shrugged. "Likely. The news feeds are reporting that most of the survivors have abandoned it. Everyone is heading out to join relatives in cities that are still functioning."

  "So far it has only been our city, but what if it starts happening to others? What if this is just the beginning? Do you want to be out on the road when the world collapses?"

  "No, but I definitely don't want to be here. I'll get to somewhere that the phones work, then call and figure out where to go."

  Sarah-Marie looked at her friend for a long moment, then nodded. "It's strange that we can't make outgoing calls, and that our cell phones can't get any reception."

  "It's annoying, but it's not strange. We've been blocked. I can understand why, but I don't think it has to do with us. This isn't where we belong, Sarah-Marie. It's time to go."

  "I agree. Are you taking your whole family?"

  Kerstin nodded.

  "Alright, then, I'll talk to mine and we will join you. If you'll have us?"

  Kerstin reached out and took her friend's hand. "Of course you're welcome. We leave tomorrow if you want to come."

  Sarah-Marie stood and walked to the door. "We do. Wait for us."

  ***

  William sat in the armoured personnel carrier at the end of the street and watched as Kerstin and the others exited their houses.

  "They intend to leave the town, sir," said the driver.

  "Yes," William took a bite out of a large red apple as he observed the crowd.

  "Let them leave?" the soldier asked.

  William looked over at the soldier and nodded before taking another bite; the crisp crunching was the only sound in the vicinity.

  The soldier picked up a cell phone from the centre console of the vehicle. "This is Dragon 2. A group of civilians will be leaving the town. Lower the perimeter defences to allow it." There was a brief pause and the soldier spoke once more. "William Thorne is authorizing this. Excellent. Thank you."

  The soldier disconnected the phone and leaned over the steering wheel to look down the street. "It's all set, sir."

  William nodded, watching the group slowly make their way to the edge of town.

  58

  Arthur Darrington Thorne opened his eyes slowly.

  A moment ago, he had been eating dinner at the head table in the dining hall, the other Family leaders on either side of him. Then he had felt dizzy and slumped forward.

  He wasn't sitting at a table now. He was standing in a room, which didn't make sense at all.

  "There he is," a voice said from beside him. Arthur turned and saw a young woman in her early twenties with blonde hair and a beautiful, smiling face.

  "Who are you?" he asked, "and where am I?"

  "I am nobody," the young woman said with a playful toss of her hair. She was dressed in a short dark blue dress that fit her perfect figure well. "And we are inside your brain at the moment."

  "What do you mean?"

  She smiled and reached forward to tap his head lightly. "I mean," she said, "that you are lying unconscious on a table somewhere, and we are having this conversation in your head. I am a pre-programmed message being delivered to you by the nanobots that have invaded your neural system."

  "What?" Arthur shook his head again and turned to examine his surroundings more closely. The room looked familiar to him, as if perhaps from his childhood.

  "You ate some bad food, Arthur," said the young woman, looking concerned. "Bad water, actually. There were nanobots in it that went to work putting you to sleep and infiltrating your brain. The process is complete, which has allowed me to make contact and bring you here."

  "Why?" This must be an attack of some sort, but in what form?

  "We are going to train you, along with the rest of the Family leaders you were dining with."

  Arthur remained silent.

  "This is a unique and exciting opportunity for us," she continued, pulling up a chair and sitting down, indicating a second chair for him to sit in. When he remained standing, she shrugged and continued. "We are going to train you to become capable of hearing our commands, and teach you how to follow them."

  "I am guessing that these...commands...will run counter to what I would normally choose on my own?"

  She laughed gently. "Arthur, I can guarantee you that many of the commands will not be something you would want to do."

  "Then you're wasting your time. If they aren't agreeable, then I won't follow your orders."

  "Oh, but I'm certain that you will," said she, sympathetically. "You see, the majority of our time together will involve showing you what happens when you disobey. We anticipate that you will resist some commands, but we will be patient with you through the learning process."

  "What are you talking about?" Arthur snapped. "This is ridiculous. I'm not going to stand here and listen to empty threats—"

  A searing pain enveloped Arthur, making his body scream in agony. He fell to the floor with a heavy thud, jaw locked shut, eyes bulging, and his head feeling as if it might explode.

  And then, as quickly as it had appeared, the pain was gone.

  Arthur gasped violently, rolling over onto his side as tears filled his eyes.

  "There," the young woman said. "Your first lesson: we have the power to make you very uncomfortable. I would guess that you have never before felt such discomfort. Be advised that what you felt is only a small taste of what I can do to you."

  Arthur breathed heavily as he turned his head to look at her. "It's okay, Arthur, don't be worried. We can keep you here as long as it takes. Time passes differently in your mind. What will feel like decades here might perhaps take only a few weeks in your real world."

  Arthur felt despair wash over him.

  "We will teach you obedience," the young woman repeated, "and then we will allow you to wake up and take control of your Family again. We will give the commands, and you will do as instructed."

  His desire for defiance conflicted wi
th what he remembered feeling shortly before, and he said nothing.

  She reached forward and patted him lightly on the leg. "I know all about you, Arthur. You are a very intelligent man and a quick study. I think we will have you up and ready to get back to work in no time at all." She stood up and walked out the door.

  59

  "Who was that on the phone?"

  Desdemona tossed the cell phone into the truck console. "No one."

  "It was Dad, wasn't it?"

  Desdemona chuckled. "Yeah."

  Dawn would have liked to speak with her father once more before leaving, but there hadn't been time, even if her mother would have allowed it. "I don't understand why you can't tell me where we're going," she said.

  "No one gets to know where the main base is when they first join us, sweetie. After your initial training, you will know where we are going, and how to get back there when you need to."

  Dawn looked out the window. Everything appeared normal; the smoke and chaos of her home city were hours behind them. "The average person really has no idea what's going on."

  "The news stations have ensured that. They've kept a lot under wraps, hoping to prevent mass hysteria. We had hoped that a few threads of video and details would make it through the information web, but they haven't. Perhaps when our mission spreads to other cities, the world will realize what's really happening."

  "How long do you think my training will take?" Dawn asked.

  "That will depend on where your skills are at. We'll assess those. I know your dad had you working on martial arts, and some other stuff, but I'm guessing that it will be at least a couple of years before you're ready for the field."

  "A couple years?" Dawn sounded disappointed. "I'll have missed all of the excitement by then."

  Desdemona shook her head. "This isn't an overnight plan. Well, it is from a historical point of view, but it won't be in full swing for at least a few more years. This first strike was meant to throw the Families off, to show what we are capable of. Besides," she grinned, "there's a significant advantage by making your opponent wait to see what move you will make next."

  Dawn nodded and looked out the window.

  After a few minutes, her mother spoke again. "Are you entirely sure about this? If you want to change your mind, I can turn around and take you back to your father."

  Dawn wasn't sure. Her life had flipped upside down in the space of a few weeks. "It's all been a lot to absorb," she admitted, "but yes, I believe you are on the right side. The world isn't working, everyone knows that. Changes are required, and the Displaced are powerful enough to make a difference. I want to help."

  Desdemona nodded and looked back toward the road.

  "I hope Sam can forgive me for doing this," Dawn said softly.

  With tears in her eyes, Desdemona looked at her daughter and placed a hand gently on her head. Harry had called to say that Sam was missing and presumed dead. Two weeks of searching had turned up nothing. Harry had advised against telling Dawn now, and Desdemona had agreed. "I'm sure he's forgiven you already," she said.

  Epilogue

  "Come on out of the dark and join me, Sam."

  Sam stepped into the light of the small fire and extended his arms toward it for warmth. "Thanks," he said.

  "No problem. Sit down and visit with me for awhile. The rabbit is almost ready to eat. I'm willing to share."

  Sam nodded gratefully and moved to sit in the vacant lawn chair.

  "Been out there long?"

  "I don't know. It feels like I have, but it's been dark since I started walking, so it must not have been that long."

  The old man chuckled and reached to take the rabbit off the spit, his red pop-bottle-cap gloves making a pleasant chiming noise. "You can't go by the sun, my boy. In this place it isn't always up when it should be."

  "That makes no sense," Sam said.

  "I suppose not."

  "Hey," Sam looked closer at the old man. He was dressed in garbage bags. Laceless, polished black army boots covered his feet. "How did you know my name?"

  The old man picked the rabbit off the spit and ripped it in half. "Why wouldn't I? We've known each other for a long time." He paused and squinted, leaning close to inspect Sam. "Unless this is the first time we're meeting...yes, that must be it. I've never seen you this young before." The old man grabbed a towel, wiped his hands, and then extended one toward the boy. "Hello, Sam, it's nice to meet you."

  Sam clasped the old man's hand. "Hi. I didn't get your name."

  The old man shook Sam's hand. "Good, now that's out of the way. Let's eat."

  "How can you remember me if this is our first meeting?"

  The old man dropped a piece of rabbit onto a plate and handed it to Sam. "Don't worry about that, my boy. Chowtime. You look hungry."

  "I am." Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten.

  After they were done eating, Sam leaned back and looked up at the stars in the night sky. "There are so many of them."

  "Yeah, there are lots of stars here."

  "Here? Where are we?"

  The old man produced a thermos and poured juice into two cups. "Don't worry, Sam, we'll get to that soon enough. Here, drink this."

  Sam took a drink. It was like nothing he'd ever tasted. "It's delicious."

  The old man grinned and stood. "Thought you might like it. Ready to get going?"

  "Go where?"

  "Now that I know this is the first time you've seen me, I know exactly what we're supposed to do." The old man waved his hand and the camp disappeared. "We are going to be spending some quality time together, my boy."

  Sam looked at the empty space where the fire and logs had been just a moment ago. "Where are we, mister?"

  "Come on," the old man said. He was already thirty feet away, strolling toward a paved road which had appeared from the darkness.

  Sam considered trying to learn more, but the old man was walking away, leaving him alone. He jogged to catch up to the old man.

  He would find out soon enough where they were going.

  <<<<>>>>

  To Be Continued...

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