Civilization

by Stephen Drake

  #

  When Declan was unconscious, he seemed to be able to see his older sister in his mind. He could hear her talking to him as well. He also knew that someone, probably Phylicia, was holding his hand, but he could do nothing to acknowledge or pull away from it. He couldn’t hear Phylicia, because he was concentrating on what his sister was saying. She told him how happy she had been with Murdock. Repeatedly, she told him about the troubles caused by Whittier. It was sweet, in his opinion, to hear his sister’s voice, even if it was repetitive.

  #

  It was late in the day, the same day that Declan entered the camp at the transport pod, when Murdock reached his cabin. As he entered, he noticed that the children were already sleeping and Annie was looking at Mei Lee, concern plastered on her face.

  “Are you okay, Mei?” he asked as he closed to door.

  “I think she will deliver soon,” Annie said, her voice composed and soothing.

  “Is there anything you need?” Murdock asked, his tone showing his deep concern.

  “Not right now,” Annie answered.

  “Did Declan get back to the transport pod okay?” Mei Lee asked.

  “I got him close enough for him to make it on his own,” Murdock said. “You don’t need to worry about that, right now. He can take care of himself.”

  Mei Lee smiled at him and he smiled as he squeezed her hand lovingly.

  A few hours later, a new baby boy, Huo Jin James Murdock, had arrived. Mei Lee named him after her father and Murdock, wishing to keep his wife happy, went along with her decision, but gave him his father’s middle name. After mother and son were sleeping peacefully and Murdock and Annie had cleaned up the table they had used for the delivery, they went outside the cabin and sat on the deck.

  “How are you holding up?” Murdock asked Annie.

  “I’m really tired,” Annie responded, “also, very satisfied! That is the part of my profession that makes it all worthwhile.”

  “When did you want to head back?” Murdock asked.

  “In a couple of days, if you don’t mind,” Annie said. “If it wasn’t for the lack of those with my skills, I wouldn’t go back. It seems that I am far more relaxed here than at the transport pod. The political maneuvering gets tiresome after a while.”

  “You never said where you wanted your cabin,” Murdock said.

  “At this point, I have no idea where I want it. If I knew how to fend for myself in the wild, I’d stay away from the transport pod and most of the people there. It’s becoming oppressive there and you never know who you can trust.”

  Murdock chuckled and nodded his head. “I know what you mean,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons why I live away from the rest.”

  “You certainly have made a good life for yourself and your family here,” Annie said as she looked around at the trees and the river. “You co-exist with this environment and you train your children to do the same. The others only wish to exploit it.”

  “There are things that would make it a little easier,” Murdock stated. “Paper, fresh vegetables, glass, and some steel smelting would make things better.”

  “Yes, they probably would,” Annie said as she nodded, “but with those also comes firearms, clear-cutting forests, planetary pollution, and a host of other consequences. Even though I couldn’t consciously access my memories of you and your family while I waited to be returned here, I was still able to think and to see what was transpiring. Phylicia and Palmer are trying to set up a dictatorship, you know.”

  “I know,” Murdock responded quietly. “I saw it with the first transport pod. Everyone insisted on electing someone to lead them and tell them what to do. I guess they thought it would give them a sense of normality here. I tried to tell them that they would be better off without the political machinations.”

  “What happened with Declan?” Annie asked.

  “I took him to his sister’s tomb,” Murdock said. “He was given some idea of what her life here was like.”

  “Did that help him?” Annie asked.

  “It might, someday,” Murdock said. “As a favor, that he requested, Declan was allowed to remember what he learned here. It can’t hurt us and it may comfort him. I don’t think Phylicia and company will let him enjoy his memories, though.”

  #

  As Murdock was holding his son, a few hours after his birth, Beron was giving him an update on Declan’s condition and treatment at the transport pod. Bridget, who had developed a very close relationship with Rose, was doing what she could to comfort him in the mental image of Rose. She had argued that if she didn’t try to help, Declan would quickly succumb to the torture. Beron, knowing Declan’s weakness of will, had agreed to the attempt to give him emotional support. Murdock was not overly concerned with Declan’s predicament.

  “Why not concerned about Dee Clan?” flashed to Murdock’s mind. “Situation dire.”

  “You and Bridget showed him what happened with first ship,” Murdock responded while he cuddled his newborn son. “He chose to return. He could have stayed.”

  “You made him welcome?” flashed to Murdock’s mind and he had picked up on Beron’s thoughts betraying his skepticism.

  Murdock didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reflected, with contrition, on what little interaction he did have with Declan. “Maybe not as well as I should have,” he finally replied. No one else said anything further, however Murdock’s mind couldn’t leave it alone. It wasn’t long before he returned Huo Jin to Mei Lee and went outside the cabin to think and to plan. When a plan, of sorts, had formed, Murdock discussed it telepathically with Beron and Mei Lee. After the deliberations, Murdock had resolved to rescue his brother-in-law.

  “I need you to stay with Mei Lee,” Murdock said to Annie after he had made his decision. “The older kids will help as best they can. They know the daily routine.”

  “Where are you going?” Annie asked.

  “I need to rescue Declan,” Murdock replied. “I believe he is being tortured by Phylicia and Palmer.” As an afterthought, he thought, I need to do it for Rose.

  “I don’t know how you would know that,” Annie stated, “but if it’s true, then you’re going to need me along to tend him.”

  “I need you to look after Mei Lee,” Murdock insisted strongly.

  “I need to go where I’m needed —” Annie responded adamantly.

  “— and that is here,” Murdock said, interrupting her with his insistence.

  “I’m going,” Annie insisted loudly.

  “Why can’t she go?” Mei Lee flashed.

  “I need to travel quickly, and she doesn’t need to know how that’s done,” Murdock replied to his wife. “Besides, I worry about you and the kids.”

  “Oh, pooh, I’ve had kids before. We’ll be fine. Transport her the way you transported Declan,” Mei Lee suggested. “She needs to see the condition Declan is in, once he has been delivered into your hands.”

  “If you go, you have to agree to be transported the same way you were transported here and you have to agree to do as I say!” Murdock said emphatically to Annie.

  “Done,” Annie answered quickly, almost too quickly for Murdock’s liking.

  Under Beron’s assurances that no one could get more than a few feet on the cabin side of the ridge, Murdock decided against having Annie unconscious. He knew it would take a whole day just to get into the area, but they would be better prepared when they were closer to the transport pod. His plan was to spend the night on top of the ridge, where they were protected and had nothing to worry about from the humans. Early the next morning, after packing the cart and outfitting Annie, in a minor fashion, they left the cabin for the second pod.

  #

  Early in the morning, on the day that Murdock and Annie left Murdock’s cabin, Phylicia and Palmer were having a private meeting.

  “You’re an imbecile,” Phylicia yelled at Palmer. “You almost killed Declan!”

  “All he had to do was to answer the question
s asked,” Palmer replied calmly, arms crossed across his large chest. “Besides, why do we need a Doctor who is out of practice? I just gave Harris someone to hone her skills on,” he said with a sadistic smile.

  “Since Declan and that Annie woman are the only ones to have seen Murdock’s cabin and family, they have become of some worth to my plan,” Phylicia said aloud, more to herself than to Palmer.

  “What plan?” Palmer asked, “You have my attention.”

  “We have to stop people from having contact with Murdock,” she tried to explain. “They need to stop relying on him for anything and to rely on us for everything. As soon as Declan is able, I’m planning to try Murdock for murder, in absentia.”

  “Don’t you need to hold him first?” Palmer asked with a blank look.

  “You really are a moron,” she said calmly. “What did you do before coming here?”

  “Head Guard at F.E.M.A. camp region six, Amarillo. Why?” he asked somewhat defensively.

  “So, that’s where you learned your interrogation techniques! I thought I recognized them. They had the flavor of government goon. We don’t need to have him in custody to try him for murder. In fact, it would be less complicated if he wasn’t in custody,” Phylicia said more to herself than Palmer.

  “You know, they say you’re crazy when you talk to yourself,” Palmer said while he observed her pacing, another habit she’d picked up.

  “I’m not talking to myself, just ordering my thoughts,” Phylicia responded without looking at Palmer. “You should try it sometime, but then I guess you’d have to have more than one thought, at any given time, to sort them, wouldn’t you?”

  Palmer’s anger was growing and Phylicia could see it as plain as day.

  “You have no reason to talk to me that way,” he said sternly.

  “Oh, calm down,” Phylicia exclaimed haughtily. “You do have your uses, limited though they may be, and you will remain where you are as long as you are of use. Harm me in any way, however, and you will find yourself in a very different . . . position. If you’re more than a one trick pony, prove it to me!”

  “What’s that supposed to mean,” Palmer raged.

  Phylicia, shaking her head in disbelief, left Palmer to go check on Declan. She saw Doctor Harris upon entering the small room she had set up as a recovery room.

  “How is he today?” Phylicia asked as she entered the room.

  “He is improving and will continue to improve, as long as he’s not subjected to any more brutality any time soon,” Doctor Harris warned. Phylicia took it that she was referring to what she witnessed at Declan’s interrogation.

  “Not to worry, Doctor. We have decided on a different tack. We need Declan up and about, somewhat. He needs to give testimony so he at least needs to be ambulatory,” Phylicia instructed as she walked past her to Declan’s side.

  Declan flinched a little when he saw it was Phylicia and began looking for Palmer.

  “Relax, Declan,” Phylicia said in a hypnotic, soothing tone. “Palmer isn’t here and won’t come here. I have guards to ensure that you’ll remain safe from him. Have you given any thought to what I was saying about Murdock?”

  “Yes, and I don’t agree,” Declan responded heatedly. “Murdock is quite capable of killing, he is a hunter after all, but I refuse to believe he would murder someone!”

  “And what makes you think he isn’t?” Phylicia asked coyly. “Did he leave you in the middle of nowhere to fend for yourself without a means of defending yourself?”

  “He left me in walking distance of the pod and I did have a knife.”

  “Ah, but do you know how to use it?” she asked sweetly. “What good is it if you don’t know how to use it? What would you call someone who knew someone needed help and refused to help and that someone died from that need?” she continued with her siren’s song. She waited for Declan to think of an answer. “I’m sure my poor cousin begged for Murdock’s help and yet it was refused,” she continued when no answer came, “for if Murdock hadn’t refused, my cousin would still be here,” she said with a touch of false sadness, “as would the rest of the occupants of the first pod.”

  Declan heard Phylicia’s words, but he also heard his sister’s voice inside his head, Be strong! Help is on the way! He much preferred his sister’s voice to Phylicia’s prattle. “How do you know your cousin asked for help?” he finally asked weakly. “You weren’t there. Maybe Murdock offered his help and it was refused? That wouldn’t make Murdock a murderer. Undesirable, maybe, but not a murderer!”

  “Let me see your proof of that and I’ll believe it. Do you have any proof?” Phylicia asked.

  “I have about as much proof as you to make your points.” Declan responded with some vigor. “All we have is speculation, speculation and hatred!”

  “What hatred are you talking about?” Phylicia looked shocked. “Sure, this little colony has its minor disagreements, but we all get along and most of the time, people are nice to one another.”

  Declan touched his badly bruised and swollen face gingerly. “Yeah, I see kindness just flowing in rivers around here,” he responded sarcastically.

  “You have to allow for some differences in a group this large, but the majority are nice and get along just fine,” Phylicia defended. “You said that Murdock helped you get down from the cliff?” Declan nodded. “He never said what happened to the others after you left him on the cliff?”

  “He said they were fine,” Declan responded warily, “when I asked him later.”

  “Have you seen any of those workmen or the contractor since?” she asked innocently.

  “No, I haven’t. Why do you ask?” Declan asked with skepticism.

  “No one has seen them since. It’s been only four days, but I’m not hopeful,” she said with a touch of sadness. “You get better and do as Doctor Harris says and you’ll be up and about in no time,” Phylicia said as she left.

  #

  Since the recovery room was at the end of the passageway, the guards were stationed in the passageway to stop anyone that didn’t belong before they got to the room. She left instructions that they were to assist Doctor Harris and prevent Palmer from entering. She also instructed them that they were not to mention the workmen or the guards that followed them and they were not to allow Declan out of the recovery room without getting her permission, only her permission.

  #

  The trip from the cabin to the transport pod was uneventful. Annie would walk as much as she could and ride, on the cart, when she found she could no longer keep up.

  “Are you expecting trouble at the transport pod?” Annie asked quietly during one of the many rest stops they took on the trip.

  “I always expect trouble,” Murdock responded flatly as he drank and had a few bits of smoked venison.

  “That seems to be a rather negative attitude,” she quietly chided as she had some of her own venison.

  “If I expect trouble and there is none, I get to be pleasantly surprised,” Murdock responded. “That outcome is far better than the reverse. Expecting trouble has kept me alive more times than you can imagine, but the important part is that I’m ready for it.”

  Once they were on their way again, Annie had plenty to think about. She, like Murdock, was also expecting trouble when they got to the transport pod. She knew them far better than Murdock did and she had to agree that trouble was most likely. She wasn’t used to trouble, at least not the kind that was coming. She had never considered her life as sheltered, but she had never seen violence first hand. She always had to deal with the aftermath and, to her, that was bad enough. She wasn’t sure what her reactions would be. Would she turn and run when it all started or would she stand beside Murdock come what may? As the miles clicked by, since their last stop, she was no closer to an answer than she was when she first started her introspection. She found herself hoping against hope that violence wouldn’t be necessary so she wouldn’t find out that when the chips were down, she ran.

  Murdoc
k stopped again at the point where he was going to levitate the cart, himself, and Annie over the river. With her along and conscious, he was unable to use his speed capabilities. He wasn’t to the point of trusting her enough with that information about himself.

  “Have you come to any conclusions?” he asked as he drank deeply.

  “What do you mean?” Annie asked. She was more than a little shocked that her cogitations were so obvious.

  “Well, you have been thinking on something pretty hard. I could almost hear the gears grinding in your head.”

  “I don’t know how I’ll react to the violence,” she said quietly as she hung her head. “I don’t want to disappoint you or desert you when you need me. I’ve never seen the type of violence I think is coming.”

  Murdock stood in front of her and used his finger to raise her face to look at his eyes directly. “You’ll respond the way you’ll respond, according to your strengths. I said I expect trouble, but I don’t fret over it. Fretting over it all day will ruin a nice day for yourself and you’ll be no closer to the answer than you would by not fretting. As far as disappointing me, I doubt you could. You did an excellent job helping Mei Lee deliver my son and for that I’ll be forever grateful. You’re old enough to know that there is a first time for everything, for everyone.”

  8

  It was close to midday when the relief guard found Phylicia doing her daily rounds under the transport pod. She was told that Doctor Harris had requested that Declan be allowed to get to his feet and go outside the pod for a short time.

  “Find out where the twelve workmen are and the two guards that failed me. Tell them to make themselves scarce while Declan is outside,” she instructed the guard.

  “What are you up to now?” Palmer asked quietly almost in her ear.

  “What are you doing?” Phylicia asked gruffly, somewhat startled. “Stalking me?”