Water Rites

by Mary Rosenblum

  “I’m sorry.” Carter buttoned the shirt, grateful for its warmth. This David was bigger than he. He’d have to use something for a belt. “Is he a civilian?” He tugged the jeans on.

  “Yes.” Her shoulders slumped. “You’re still shivering. You can wrap my sleeping bag around you.”

  He was shivering, although he didn’t feel particularly cold. That was probably bad. Teeth chattering, he zipped the too-large jeans, wondering what they’d used on him. They. The enemy. He wondered if it was Greely.

  Nita draped a patched sleeping bag around his shoulders. “David has to be in The Dalles.” She spoke softly, as if she was talking to herself. “I’m sure he’s there.”

  Carter looked at her more closely, seeing tears in her eyes. She wasn’t sure at all. “Where are you from?” he asked her gently.

  “West of Salem,” she said. She lifted her chin. “We hunted bees in the mountains.”

  A thin cry made Carter jump. A baby? That’s what he’d heard and not a coyote? Incredulous, he watched her lift an infant from the bundled cloth. “You walked all the way from Salem with him?”

  “Her.” Nita sounded amused. “This is Rachel. I hitched a lot and yes, I walked. How do you get around where you come from, anyway? Go back to sleep, sweetheart.” She rocked the baby gently. “You’re not really hungry.”

  She had walked all this way with her child in her arms. Carter felt a small, hot anger for the man who had left her to do that.

  She lifted her head suddenly to look at him, her expression defensive. “The bees were dying,” she said sharply. “We couldn’t make it trading honey any more, and we had to do something. A friend told him about this job with the Corps.”

  “Listen, I’m with the Corps, in The Dalles. I’m the new CO.” Carter watched her face, half expecting hostility. “I can check on David for you. If he ever worked for us, I can find the records.”

  “Could you do that?”

  “Yes.” She was almost beautiful when she smiled like that. “I owe you a lot more than that.”

  “No, you don’t.” She seemed genuinely surprised by his words. “Out here, you don’t just turn away. It could be you, tomorrow. Remember that, okay?” She smiled. “Pay me back that way.”

  “I will.” The sleeping bag seemed to be helping. The shivering wasn’t so bad. “I don’t understand this world,” he said. “And I need to. Fast.”

  “Why?” She tugged at her braid, tossed it back over her shoulder. “Why is it so important?”

  He didn’t have the words to explain. He had a feeling this land had rules that he didn’t know yet, and if he didn’t learn them in time . . . he’d make the wrong decision.

  And end up with another Chicago.

  “You’ll be all right.” She took his hand in hers. Fingers closing firm and cool around his.

  “I hope so.” He looked restlessly northward, into the darkness beyond the lantern’s yellow pool. “People have to be out looking for me. You don’t have a cell, do you?”

  “A phone?” She sounded amused. “You need to rest. We’ll just wait. I don’t have any extra shoes and your feet are a mess. Someone will come by and we’ll get a ride. People still drive on this road. It’s nice and clean. Lots of traffic.”

  As if her words had conjured it, the distant sound of an engine broke the silence. Someone. Carter staggered to his feet, wincing at the pain.

  “Not yet.” Nita clicked off the lantern. “Get down.” She pulled him off the asphalt, into the sparse sage. “Out here, at night, you want to know who is driving before you ask for a ride. Sometimes it matters, Carter.” She tucked her sleeping daughter against her side.

  “How are you going to know who’s driving in the dark?”

  She didn’t answer, but he crouched beside her, nervous now. The engine growled suddenly louder. Twin cones of yellow light splashed across the landscape, picking out rocks and sage, casting stark shadows. Carter blinked, momentarily blinded by the light. The car was a 4x4, going slowly, as if the driver was scanning the sides of the road.

  Nita’s hand closed tight on his arm and Carter pressed himself against the rocky ground, infected by her caution. The car cruised by. The turreted castle gleamed on the door, illuminated by the backsplash of the headlights. With a whoop, Carter starggered to his feet. For an awful moment he thought the car would drive on down the road, disappear into the darkness. “Here,” he yelled. “I’m here!”

  Brake lights glowed and flashed into white backup lights. With a growl from the transmission, the car backed toward him. It stopped and auniformed man sprange out. “Colonel? Is that you?”

  Delgado’s voice. “Yes! Major.” Carter limped forward. “Am I ever glad to see you.”

  “My God, we all thought you were dead, sir.” Delgado grabbed him by the shoulders, eyebrows rising as he took in Carter’s clothes. “I was expecting to find a body. What happened?”

  “Somebody jumped me on the base.” Carter leaned against the car, his knees shaky again.

  “Are you hurt?” Delgado caught his arm and opened the door. “Sit down, sir. Should I call for an ambulance?”

  “I’m just dehydrated. And sunburned.” Carter sagged gratefully onto the car’s front seat and grimaced. “I don’t do so well, hiking barefoot.”

  “Greely really screwed up this time.” Delgado’s tone had gone cold. “He didn’t figure on us finding you in time. You out there — freeze!” He dropped into a half crouch, yanking his pistol from his unsnapped holster.

  “Don’t,” Carter yelled. “She’s with me.” God. Carter ran a shaky hand across his face as Delgado holstered his weapon. “Nita, it’s okay. She helped me, Delgado. We’ll give you a ride into town.”

  “I don’t mind walking.” Nita stepped cautiously into the light. She was clutching Rachel tightly and her dark eyes were wide. “I expected to walk.”

  “I’m sorry, Nita.” Carter held out a hand. “A ride’s the least I can do. You’re out of water, remember? Because of me. Major, put her stuff in the back.”

  “Civilians don’t ride in Corps rigs,” Delgado said, but he said it under his breath, bending to drop the Chevy’s rear gate as he did.

  Reluctantly, Nita handed him her pack and empty jugs. Rachel had waked and was fussing, waving tiny fists. “I don’t know,” Nita said, and her eyes followed Delgado.

  “Come on.” Carter tried to ease her nervousness. “Get in. I’ll worry about you out here by yourself.”

  “I get along out here a lot better than you do.” But she gave him a faint smile.

  Delgado was calling in to the base to let them know that he’d found Carter. “I want to get you into the infirmary pronto.” He pocketed his cell and put the car into gear.

  “What makes you think Greely was behind this?” Carter clung to the dash, trying to keep his blistered back off the seat.

  “Who else, sir?” Delgado glowered at Nita in the rearview mirror. “There’s a car missing. I figure Greely wanted to make it look like you’d walked away from a breakdown and got lost. Quite a coincidence that she happened to run into you.”

  “I ran into her,” Carter snapped. “I can almost remember one of them. It’ll come to me. Eventually.”

  “It’ll be Greely. I know that guy.”

  In the rear seat, the baby was crying in short, breathy bursts of noise. “Is she all right?” Carter twisted painfully to peer over the back of the seat.

  “She’s just upset.” Nita looked pale and tense in the glow of the panel light.

  “Are you all right?” Poor kid. Delgado had scared the crap out of her.

  “I’m fine.” She shook her head impatiently. “Will you let me out on the edge of town, please?”

  “I owe you more water, at least.” They were speeding down a long hill now, and Carter could see the twinkle of curfew-exempt lights in The Dalles, although the base was still invisible. A few lights had never looked so good. “We can take you to a motel. I’ll pay for a few nights. That’ll give m
e some time to check on your husband.”

  “No.” She held her daughter close, eyes on Delgado’s back. “I appreciate it, but no thank you. You can let me out here,” she said as they reached the bottom of the hill.

  Delgado pulled over to the side of the road with a screech of brakes. He jumped out and went around to the rear of the car, dumping Nita’s pack unceremoniously onto the ground.

  “Wait a minute.” Carter flung the door open and struggled to his feet.

  She had tucked her daughter into a cloth sling across her chest. The baby was quieter now, whimpering softly. With a deft twist she shrugged the pack onto her shoulders.

  “Wait.” He had a feeling she would vanish and he’d never see her again. “How do I get in touch with you? About your husband?” That was the talisman, the magic charm that brought the smile back into her eyes. “I’ve got to give you your clothes back, too,” he said quickly.

  “I’ll come to the base, okay?” She touched his hand lightly. “I’ll ask for you.”

  He watched her walk away into the dark, light-headed and dizzy with exhaustion and dehydration. He wondered who the hell David Ascher was, and why he had left her. And he found himself hoping he didn’t find that name in the Corps personnel files.

  “Come on, Colonel.” Delgado put a firm hand under his elbow. “You got a date with the infirmary, sir. You look like you’re gonna pass out.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  You’re damn lucky Delgado found you in time.” General Hastings’ face filled the screen on Carter’s desk. “I’d file charges against Greely’s bunch tomorrow, but that damned judge Lindstrom won’t issue a warrant. He’s been on the side of the Coalition since day one.”

  “There’s no hard evidence that the Coalition was behind it.” Carter kept his tone as neutral as possible. “Someone got onto the base with a forged pass. The guard went through our file of local troublemakers, but he couldn’t make a positive ID. It wasn’t Greely. Believe me, I stuck the photo right under his nose.”

  “He wouldn’t be at the wheel.” Hastings’ snort was contemptuous. “He’s not stupid.”

  Carter shut up. No point in continuing this discussion. It might well have been some stooge of Greely’s. But Greely had called Carter the day after Delgado had brought him in. He’d been upset — worried that Carter would blame the Coalition. And he’d been ignorant of the circumstances of the kidnap incident . . . or a damn good actor. Another player here? Who? Carter sighed. “I saw one of ’em. I wish I could remember him clearly enough for an ID.”

  “Me, too.” Hastings’ face enlarged, as if he had leaned closer to his terminal pickup. “I wish I knew what they were after. It’d give me a better idea of what we can expect around here.”

  Carter had a feeling that Hastings wouldn’t have grieved much if they’d ODed him in the process. Tough luck, getting stuck with this bastard, but he’d survived Hastings’ type before. Do your job well, keep a low profile, and pray you got transferred out before you collected too many poor evaluations.

  “I assume you’ve dealt with your security problem.”

  “Yes, sir.” Which was a flat lie. Arris still couldn’t find Greely’s goddamned hole. Carter’s back was itching again and the need to scratch made him sweat. His skin was peeling off in sheets and the bloody itching never stopped. “That kidnap bothers me,” he said slowly. “They must have guessed that the broken down car would put someone on my track the minute you put a chopper into the air.” Delgado had been right about that stunt. Carter shook his head. “They also had to figure that I’d walk north, heading for the riverbed. If I did, I was bound to cross that road. People use it all the time. It was a better than even chance that someone would find me.” Carter scowled at the fading bruise of the injection site. “I don’t think they meant to kill me.”

  Hastings grunted.

  “We had another sabotage attempt last night,” Carter continued doggedly. He reached for the hardcopy report of last night’s incident. The skin between his shoulder blades itched and he willed it to stop. It didn’t stop. “One of the patrols scared them off. The shaped charge they left behind would have punched a pretty good hole in the Pipe. Quite professional. I need more people,” he said bluntly. “I’ve got everyone putting in extra duty hours already. We can’t keep this up.”

  “I can’t give you any more.” Hastings looked down at his desk. “Anything else to report, Colonel?”

  “General, morale is going downhill fast. These doubled patrols might stop the sabotage, but I’m running everyone ragged.” He had hired civilians to help with the mess and housekeeping, but attrition was high. Working for the uniforms didn’t make you very popular in town.

  Hastings was scowling. “I sent in a request for more troops and got turned down. Water Policy is soft-pedaling. Probably because of Chicago.” His stare was accusing. “A lot of people thought we overreacted there —thanks to the damn media.” His lips twitched as if he wanted to spit. “If you start a war in The Dalles, Colonel, you’re on your own.”

  Thanks for nothing. Carter clenched his teeth against the need to scratch. Johnny was going to be in town tomorrow. He’d ask him if this Water Policy line was on the level. The same ugly darkness of Chicago was starting to seep in here. Us and Them. Carter realized he was scratching his shoulder, yanked his hand away. “Sir?” He drew a deep breath. “I’ve talked to Greely,” he said. “I’m going to meet with the Coalition leaders this afternoon.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Hastings wasn’t reacting any better than Delgado had. “No, sir. If we’re going to keep a lid on things, we have to do some talking. Or we will have a war on our hands.” He hesitated, gauging Hastings’ frown. “I might pick up some critical details, sir.”

  “You might get yourself killed this time. You’re underestimating Greely. He is the Coalition.”

  “Believe me, I’m not underestimating him.”

  “Aren’t you?” Hastings’ expression was hard. “He worked for the Corps as a civilian employee, back when he was a scruffy kid. It was my first year here in Bonneville. He’s bright, all right. He worked up to surveyor’s assistant, then he ran off with some pretty expensive equipment. He played a scam all over the eastern half of Washington and Oregon, pretending to be a Corps surveyor. He took what he wanted and paid people off in fake Corps scrip. This is the con man you’re dealing with, Voltaire. Don’t get too wowed by that golden tongue. He’s had a lot of practice.”

  Huh. Carter frowned down at the hardcopy scattered across his desk. That might put a new twist on things. “I still need to go.”

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Are you ordering me not to attend this meeting, sir?” Their eyes locked.

  “Hell, no.” Hastings’ face receded, as if he had leaned back in his chair. “It’s your sector. You’re the CO. You get to screw up on your own, but you’d better keep Watanabe in mind. He got soft on the Coalition, too.”

  “So I hear.” Carter saluted crisply. “Thank you, sir.” And go to hell.

  The screen blanked, and Carter leaned back in his chair, sweating in spite of the air-conditioning. Hastings had made it clear. Fuck up and it was Carter’s ass on the line, not his. He picked up the report of last night’s sabotage attempt, tossed it back onto the desk. It wasn’t that hard to punch a hole in the Pipe, and the local pumping stations were easy targets. These bastards could wear them out playing hide and seek. Things were tense between Corps and locals, but not impossible. Not yet. But it was only a matter of time before some tired, edgy trooper shot an innocent local by mistake. That could blow it, good.

  His back was driving him nuts. Carter unzipped his coverall and reached for the analgesic cream the doc had given him. It didn’t work as well as Nita’s salve had, he thought sourly. She had never come to the base, but no David Ascher had ever worked for the Corps. Maybe she found him somewhere else, or maybe she just moved on. Carter tossed the tube back into his drawer and slammed it shut. He’d m
eant to ask around for her in town to return the clothes, but he hadn’t had the time. No, he hadn’t made the time. He hadn’t wanted to hear that she’d found her husband. It was almost time to leave for the Coalition meeting. Carter pushed her face out of his mind and put in a call for Delgado. It would be good to see Johnny tomorrow. Maybe he could put this mess into some kind of perspective.

  *

  The meeting was held in a house. It stood back from the two lane highway that wound up the side of the Gorge on its way toward Dufur and on southward, and had once been one of several suburban residences built close together on the steep hillside. A satellite dish gleamed on the roof. The houses on either side were dark, although Carter thought he caught the glimmer of a dim light in one upstairs room. Candle or lantern? It was half an hour past the power curfew. As they drove up, Carter made out the remains of a flagstone patio beside the house. Skeletons of yard furniture rusted beneath the eaves, their plastic webbing shredded to colorless fringe.

  “I don’t like this place, sir.” Delgado set the brake hard.

  “You’d rather we were meeting in a church?” Carter said easily. “If they’re going to shoot us, they could do it there just as easily.”

  “Not funny, sir.” Delgado frowned. “I know this crowd, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember.” He rubbed his shoulder blades against the seat back. “I think we’re safe enough. If the Coalition is behind the sabotage, they’re being too careful about covering their tracks to blow it so openly. It’s on the record where we are and who we’re meeting.” Neither of them was armed. Delgado hadn’t liked that at all, and he’d thought about coming alone. But Delgado, with all his hostility, was a different perspective. He wanted that perspective.

  “Wait a minute.” He put a hand on Delgado’s arm as he started to get out. “My job is to keep the water running, and I don’t want to spill any more Army blood to do it. The Coalition may not like us and vice versa, but if they’re not behind the sabotage, we need them. You will keep your opinions to yourself, tonight. Am I understood?”