“And you think that we will find there what we need to continue our journey south to Kenya?”
He lifted my hand to his lips and whispered. “Sure, why not? To get two cars shouldn’t be that difficult after all. But now to us, my dearest busy-body, may I repeat what I tried to convey before. I do love you Lia. And despite all this mess and uncertainty around us, I feel utter happiness that we are together and that this terrible anxiety for your safety finally vanished. Whatever happens now, at least we are together, Lia.”
“Ditto.” I answered with a huge smile. “I love you, too! With all my heart! You know, it’s hard to explain, but you being here, us being together, our loving each other. It kind of gives me strength. An inner strength, I feel almost invincible. Sounds a bit silly and overdone, I know, but that’s how I feel right now.”
I felt a bit silly, saying this; even though it was true. Ever since Josh had come, had embraced me, had told me, showed me how much he loved me, I had felt as if I could do anything, conquer any obstacle, that I was unstoppable. The enthusiasm of love, probably. But still, it felt real and wonderful. And Josh didn’t seem to mind.
“You are so sweet when you’re trying to be emotional. I adore you, Lia.”
“Hey, I am not trying to be emotional. I am!” I replied, seemingly indignant.
He smiled down at me and the look in his eyes made me shy. This overwhelming, intense love! I lowered my gaze but he was having none of this. He lifted my chin and held my face in his hands, his fingers gently brushing against my cheeks.
“Never feel shy with me, Lia. There is nothing silly or awkward in love. I know what you mean with what you just said. Because I feel the same. As if I was invincible, could achieve anything. It’s a strange but exhilarating feeling. It’s, ah, Lia, I love you so much!”
With that, he bent and kissed me fervently. He had to navigate around Alice who was still sleeping on my lap, but we managed amazingly well. And as I answered his need, my hand knotted in his short curly hair, my body aching for his. When he withdrew, we were both breathless.
“We had better not forget where we are.” He teased, somehow destroying the magic of the moment before.
I sighed and pressed his palm to my lips. “Just enjoy the moment and don’t say too much.”
“Yes madam.” he replied wryly, all the while smouldering me with the look in his eyes. When I replied by beaming at him, he smiled that gorgeous lopsided smile I loved so much. I reached out and touched his lips.
“Forever yours, Josh!”
“Ditto.” he answered with a happy sigh.
Alice chose that moment to stir and find a more comfortable position on my lap and our magic moment was definitely broken. She mumbled something inaudible, then snuggled closer to me and went back to sleep.
We smiled longingly at each other and sat there for a while in silence, holding hands.
Then I cautiously asked. “Say, did you, Winter and Rob find anything useful among those other papers?”
“You could certainly say that.” Josh answered, his voice suddenly tense and angry. “That stack of papers which Winter thought were some kind of statistics, well, they are. Statistics of their killings, the death toll they wreaked. Either through the Pathogen or other means. And it’s utterly and truly horrible.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not quite catching what he’d said.
“They compiled lists of where they deployed the Pathogen and the effects it had.”
Josh took my hand into his and knotted his fingers into mine.
“And it is utterly horrible. Our worst fears came true. That Pathogen killed millions, billions of people. They wiped out entire populations, countries. And when the effect of the Pathogen wore off, they hunted survivors down like they were game, or a kind of pest one had to get rid of. It is simply unimaginable, the horror and the scale of the killing they wreaked.”
“Did those papers reveal which countries or continent were worst hit, or their prime targets?”
My voice sounded shaky; I had trouble taking in what Josh said. It seemed ludicrous, unreal. It mustn’t be like that. Please!
“Always so methodical. Even in the face of utter horror.” Josh looked at me a bit exasperated, but before I could answer in my defence, he went on.
“Yes, it seems that they targeted Europe, North America and the major Middle Eastern and Asian countries first. And now, they are on a mission to wipe out the rest. That’s what Steve was sent to do, you know. And that’s what the bottles with Pathogen were meant for.”
“You mean, he was sent to kill people?” It seemed incredible. “And that he would do it?”
“Why, do you think him incapable of that?” Josh asked; a flare of anger in his voice.
“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just. What I mean. To think that he, this immature self-centred, conceited person, has been given such powers. It’s utterly frightening. That they would do something like that. His superiors, I mean. That he would revel in it and be proud of the job, I am sure of. He is that kind of person.”
Stabbing a finger at Josh I went on. “And you don’t have to be jealous of him in any way. And also not suspicious of me. That’s not fair and entirely uncalled for. As well you know!”
He looked abashed. Good. He’d no right to question me or think that I had ever felt anything but disdain for Steve. I was getting really angry here.
“I am sorry, Lia. I didn’t mean it like that. No, it’s rather, I didn’t think. That’s what it was. I am not doubting you, it’s just. I don’t know what. I am a silly ass. It’s nothing. Sorry.”
“Good. And just for the record. When we get the chance to do him in, I want to have the first go. Understood? I have more than one score to settle with that bastard. The least reason being that he tried to kill us.”
It seemed absolutely preposterous and utterly hideous that someone as unbalanced and dangerous as Steve should have been given so much power. What kind of people were these nemesis idiots? A bunch of dangerous but crazy knit wits, apparently.
On an afterthought I went on.
“I am happy that we abducted that plane and spoilt at least one of their missions of carnage and terror. Right now, I almost wish for him to come after us. Like that, we could turn the table and hunt him and his lousy friends down.”
I felt so angry right now, that it was hard to get a grip on myself. But when I saw the look of shock and astonishment in Josh’s eyes, I added a bit calmer. “Sorry for that, but I could burst with anger just thinking of what they do. These Nemesis people in general, and Steve in particular. Didn’t mean to scare you by revealing my lower, murderous side.” I tried to joke.
He looked at me a bit helplessly, as if he didn’t quite know what to make of this, and said. “It is, I admit, a bit frightening to hear you talk this belligerently. I never knew you could be like that. And it scares me a bit, I already see you on another hare-brained mission to safe someone.”
“Hey!” I interjected seemingly indignant. “I never went off on any hare-brained missions. As well you know. It was all well planned and thought-through.”
But he wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He pressed my fingers and urged. “Lia. Please. I love you so much it actually hurts. To think that you would risk your safety or your life to get a go at Steve. No! I can’t bear the mere thought of it. Promise me. You won’t do anything, at least not without discussing the matter with us all. You promised you wouldn’t do anything rash anymore.”
Biiih!
In a way it feel good. This concern for my safety. But in another way I felt mightily annoyed by this male protection scheme. I guessed I would have to get used to it. However, he would have to learn that I wasn’t going to back down every time things got a bit difficult or dangerous.
Maybe my anger showed, because Josh looked down on me, utterly helpless, defending his point. “I am sorry, if I behaved like an overprotective idiot just now. Please forgive and bear in mind that it’s entirely due to the
sheer love I feel for you. I didn’t mean to patronize. And it won’t happen again. A small lapse in my otherwise undiminished adoration for you. Okay?”
“Okay, apology accepted. Just never again dare to question my love for you. Okay? And just for the record: I was never in love with Steve; I felt flattered by his attention, sure, why not. The way he was hailed by that professor. But I never felt in anyway romantically inclined toward him. Understood?”
“Point taken.”
We looked at each other carefully, as if we’d have to gauge the other’s feelings, make sure we were still the same after this first little tiff. Then, just as if on cue, Alice moved again and distracted me. When I look up at Josh again, the pensive look in his eyes had disappeared and he smiled at me reassuringly.
I held his gaze for a moment and then said. “I love you, Josh, I truly do. Never doubt that.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
“Crisis over then?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.”
We beamed at each other and sat in silence for a moment.
Then I asked Josh to continue with his report about what they had found out from those papers. “And I promise not to interrupt you this time.”
After a rather sardonic “Oh thanks!” he went on to explain. “As I said when you so rudely interrupted me, Steve was supposed to use those bottles with the Pathogen on pockets of survivors in various places and countries, all the way from the Balkans to Pakistan. Crisscrossing the region east-west as well as north-south. They were to be eleven men on this mission from this major cell Middle Europe. But they were to be joined by members of local cells on the way. We actually have information about some of those other cells now, which will be ever so helpful in the future.”
“When we start fighting back?”
“Why, yes, that day will come, and I hope soon, when we will be able to contact other survivors and start the battle against the Nemesis.” He sounded fierce now.
“The maps? did they contain anything useful?”
“Not for our immediate plans, no. For that future fight, yes. Oh yes! They show some of the bases the Nemesis collective has. But mostly in Europe and Asia. Apparently, there are also two cells in Northern Africa. For the area further south, sub-Saharan Africa I mean, there are no maps among the papers we found. However, from their statistics we saw that Africa was hit hard, too. They went for all the major cities and most populated areas and deployed the Pathogen via air over many less densely populated or less accessible areas. They claim to have wiped out all but a tiny percentage of the entire global human population. 2% survivors in Africa, 1% in Europe and North America, 2% in South America and the Asia-Pacific region. That’s what they claim. But I am very sceptical about these figures. So are Rob and Winter. The Nemesis didn’t have the means or the time to do a thorough assessment of the situation yet. So, these figures can at best be guesswork.”
“Did you ever find out how this Pathogen actually works? I can’t quite understand why it is on the one hand so utterly lethal and on the other hand should become ineffective after about fourteen to twenty days?”
We had all been wondering about this for a long time.
Josh shook his head. “Not really. Papadopoulos and his people tried to find out as much as they could about that Pathogen, but they didn’t succeed. The only glimpse of the mechanism of that Pathogen was gleaned by your Uncle Phil or, rather, his assistant James. Exactly how it works remained unclear, but obviously it has a sort of inbuilt weakening mechanism. The Nemesis apparently didn’t want to face vast contaminated areas, no-go zones because of a still active and raging pathogen. So, they apparently managed to genetically engineer that pathogen in such a way that it self-destroyed after a certain time. Don’t ask me how this might work, I am no microbiologist. But obviously, it worked.”
“You mentioned before that between 1 to 5% of the global population might still alive. How many people would that be; approximately I mean?” I asked pensively.
“Somewhere between 90 and 450 million people world-wide, and about 180 million people on the African continent. But that’s just guesswork and I am sure there are more survivors than that.” Josh replied cautiously.
“And you said that there’s no information among these papers about where in Africa they might have cells?”
Josh silently shook his head, looking very troubled.
After a slight pause I added. “What I don’t understand is how they work?”
When I saw Josh’s inquiring look, I added. “I mean, who do they accept as members and who not? I had gotten the impression that their movement contained a strong racial argument. That they were for white supremacy, or something the like. If that were so, why do they have cells in Africa, or Asia for that matter?”
“Good question. It doesn’t seem to be that simple, though. We found instructions among their other papers, the manual pile, how to recruit and brainwash new members. They don’t postulate the Nemesis collective as a white only organisation. Neither do they exclude people with strong religious beliefs, whatever they might be. It rather looks as so they were and are recruiting their followers from among groups, sects or other clandestinely organized associations that go for a very strong in-group versus out-group view and have anti-government, separatist if not to say terrorist tendencies. Basically anyone with a rather orthodox black-and-white worldview.”
“Honestly, this sounds like a lot of crap. There can’t be that many people subscribing to the crazy ideas of the Nemesis collective. And it seems a silly idea to try to unite groups with totally different goals or views under the Nemesis banner.”
“This may be as you think, but, apparently, it worked.” Josh answered with a sad smile. “Though, I understand your scepticism. Rob thinks that in this inbuilt diversification, as he puts it, lies the very key to their undoing. That they won’t be able to hold things together once their first and initial objectives have been accomplished. Whether it will be that simple remains to be seen.”
“It might kind of fit, you know.” I mused. “And history would repeat itself with a vengeance once more.”
“What do you mean by this?”
“I mean, just have a look at what happened time and again. For example the many so called “liberation fronts” of old. You had them in many, many countries around the globe in the last century. Or, more recently, the different religious extremist groups. They propagated ideals like freedom, equality, brotherhood and the like. They fought for an initial cause such as liberation from an oppressive colonial regime or oppressive government. And once they had achieved that, they squabbled over minor, even petty differences about party ideology or some such issue. Former brothers now fighting each other and declaring the others the worst possible enemy ever. Bitter wars ensuing. Eventually all of them defeated by their own narrow-minded world-view. Just think back how it was hundred years ago in many places where post-cold-war fights over territorial supremacy and influence were fought. And how it was fifty years ago in the Middle East.”
Josh pensively stroked his chin. “You might have a point here. At least I hope so. And I would like to hear Rob’s view on it. He’s our philosopher or historian who always puts things in perspectives. Do you mind if I go and get him?”
He got up, then turned to face me and looked down on the still sleeping Alice. “Or do you think that this might disturb Alice’s sleep?”
“She will be okay. Either she’s slept enough and will wake up or else our talking won’t disturb her. That’s how it works with Alice. And, I also would like to hear what Rob’s got to say. But can you bring us something to drink, I am thirsty.”
“Of course, will do.” With a smile Josh got up and headed to front of the plane where the others were.
I sat there, holding Alice and digesting what he’d just told me. I still couldn’t fathom how the Nemesis collective might have succeeded in killing so many people in such a short time. And mostly: why? Why on e
arth had they done this?
Holding Alice in my arms, feeling her soft, regular breathing I once again felt an overwhelming need to protect her. What would happen once we landed? Where would that be? How quickly would we find adequate means of transport? I felt panic rising within and had to force myself to focus, breath steadily and calm down.
We would find a way. After all, we weren’t stupid.
And we were a tight knit group. We would support each other.
And we had so many people with special knowhow. That is, apart from Alice and me, everyone had some extraordinary skills. Yuki with her skill for languages and archery. Nin, our technical freak. Plus, he was a really good shot and accomplished hunter. I didn’t yet know whether the other four were as accomplished shots as he was, but they certainly had other extremely useful skills and knowhow. Without Paul we would never have been able to get toward Kenya so quickly. But it wasn’t just the fact that he knew how to fly this plane, he was an asset in many other ways. What with his cool and daring approach to anything and all. Rob was the considerate one. Where he would tread, I felt, we could safely follow. He would never take an unnecessary risk and always see the overall picture. I felt that I could trust him implicitly. Winter hadn’t yet revealed much about herself. But she had shown that she was good with people, smart as a whip and courageous. About the rest, we would soon learn. And Josh. Well, to me he was as close to perfect as it possibly gets! Of course!
And here he was, back with Rob, Yuki and Winter in tow.
He handed me a bottle of mineral water and I drank eagerly, I hadn’t noticed how thirsty I was.
“I hear that you have a nice little theory as to what might prove to be the demise of the Nemesis?” Rob teasingly inquired.
Yuki looked a bit scandalized at so much flippancy, but Winter just grinned appreciatively.
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