V 14 - The Oregon Invasion

by Jayne Tannehill (UC) (epub)

  “And who are the voices?”

  “The rangers drove the Visitors back to the hover craft. They’re gone now.”

  “The voice that says what to do? That is your friend?”

  “Yes.”

  Hadad watched Ruth’s face for grief, for fear, for anger. He saw only concern. She reached toward him and stroked his face with her fingers, tracing the places where the human covering had ripped.

  “You need your medicine plant.”

  “It will have to heal slowly. Some of the places are badly torn. There is not enough to grow back, to cover the flesh that is mine.”

  He reached a hand toward her, green, traced with lines dark beneath the surface that carried the dark translucent liquid to his fingers.

  She took his hand and ran her hand over it. He could feel her touch. And he looked up to feel the touch of her eyes.

  The door of the camper opened suddenly and the man Hadad had seen at the house stared in at them. His breath snorted out as his face twisted and he looked down at the ground.

  “I might have known.”

  He came into the camper and looked around, brushed aside a shirt that lay on the bench beside the table and sat down across from them. Hadad still lay on the bed. Ruth sat beside him, though she turned her body now to face the man.

  “They were after him, weren’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am wanted by my . . .”

  “Look, mister, I don’t know who you are, but I don’t want to hear it. I’m only interested in what she has to say.”

  “I’m sorry, Ron.”

  “That’s not good enough. You hid him in here while seventy-five people, seventy-five innocent people who don’t even know you, all died. For no reason, they all died. I can’t figure out why they didn’t find you. Didn’t they open the door? Or did you hide in here someplace?”

  “One of them came in. The man ... the man who hid us here had said his wife was sick in here. I guess he convinced them. They were here. They went on.” “That doesn’t make sense. They even killed a baby in a playpen, and they just walked past the two of you.

  I don’t get it. Who is he anyway? What makes him so special?”

  “This is my friend, Ha—David.”

  Hadad knew that the custom of Earth ones was to shake hands. But he did not want to extend his hand to this man. Lying on his leg, behind Ruth’s back, the bare hand would not betray him. His face was cut, but none was torn away. The sleeves of the shirt hid his arms, the pants and boots, his legs. Only his hands were evidence against him. He did not move.

  “Forgive me if I don’t say I’m pleased to meet you. But I’m not. We were doing okay here. We had water. We had places for people to live. We were growing food. We were gonna make it. And here in the mountains they’d never have spotted us. Now we’re a prime target. What do they want him for, anyway?” He directed the question back to Ruth.

  Hadad waited for her answer. He wondered how she would interpret this strange chase. He had not known himself before why the ships pursued him. He had assumed it was because he had angered Diana while he was on the ship. Now he understood it was more than that. Diana had converted him for The Leader. And then she had distrusted the idea of his exercising authority that might rival hers. And so she had taken away first the power, then the authority, finally the desire to live.

  When he had not died, she had ordered him killed. He knew now that the power of Zon within him was stronger than Diana’s influence had been.

  He wondered what Ruth would say.

  “He was to be a king. In another country. He was ousted in a political struggle. The Visitors have converted or deposed all the political leaders they’ve been able to find. They want to use his influence against his own people.”

  Hadad listened as she made up the story out of the bits and pieces of what he had shared with her. She did not lie. And nothing she said betrayed the truth.

  “He can’t stay here. As long as they think he’s here, they’ll be back.”

  “They may come back anyway. Even if we go.”

  “I was hoping that wasn’t obvious except in my mind. Ruth, we can’t hide him here forever. They will kill off all of us to find him. And eventually they will find him. I can only hope they’re following your car. That’s the only hope there is for Detroit, Oregon. If he’s that important to them, our lives here are worthless. They’ll wipe us out one way or the other. They blew up both of the dams. We’re trapped here, Ruth. The Visitors are east of us, and the road down to Salem is under water. Get him out of here. And don’t come back. I don’t want to see you again.”

  “I don’t know where to go, Ron. We’re just as trapped as you are.”

  “You still don’t see it, do you? It’s the same as with the baby. You can’t see the big picture. Ruth, sometimes it’s necessary for one person to die so that others can live. Take him to the Visitors. Let them have him so they’ll leave the rest of us alone. I’ll have Jay take you back to the station. Take the car and get out of here.”

  “I haven’t enough gas.”

  “We’ll fill the tank for you. Just get him out of here.”

  The ranger pushed himself away from the narrow seat, away from the table. He looked at Hadad and then at Ruth. He shook his head and then he left the camper.

  “Jay. Take a car and run these folks back to the station. Ruth’s car is in my driveway. Make sure she’s got a tank of gas. They’re heading east. Make sure they get out of town.”

  The man named Jay stuck his head through the doorway.

  “Okay, folks. It’s safe to come out now. The Visitors have gone. We’ll get you on your way. It’s okay.” Ruth glanced at Hadad and then got up from the bed and moved toward the doorway. Hadad swung his legs to the side of the bed and checked his clothing. The leathers were damp, but not torn. Only his hands were exposed. And he had no pockets. He glanced around the camper. Clothes were tossed everywhere. He rummaged through a drawer, nothing. Then a basket of what had possibly been laundry. There were no gloves there. He was about to give up when he saw the leather work gloves tucked just inside the door. He grabbed them and put them on quickly.

  “Hey, fella, c’mon.” Jay came back to the doorway. “I am coming.”

  The man nodded, and Hadad finished putting on the other glove and followed.

  The rangers had pulled the bodies to the edge of the campground. There they lay in a stack, Visitors and Earth ones thrown together by chance, indistinguishable except for the color of their clothes.

  The bulldozer passed them on the boat ramp as they went back up the highway in the ranger’s car.

  “You sure you folks have to leave Detroit? Seems you’d be a lot safer sticking around here than driving off into those mountains. You’re gonna encounter an armed roadblock out on twenty-two.”

  “We have to go, Jay. It’s best.”

  “Whatever you say. Ruth, I don’t know what happened with you and Ron. He was real upset when you left.”

  “It’s okay, Jay. It’s over, that’s all.”

  “I’m real sorry about that.”

  “Thanks. You’ve been a good friend.”

  They rode in silence the rest of the way back to the station.

  Hadad watched the trees as they flicked past the car.

  Ruth pulled the car over to the driveway by the shed that sheltered the forestry vehicles. Jay pumped the gas into the car for her and then waved as they drove down the driveway to the highway and turned east. “Good, he isn’t going to escort us out of town.” “Why is that good?”

  “Because we’re not going east. We’re going north. There’s a resort up in the mountains. We’re going there.”

  “No, Ruth. More people will be killed. Ron is right. Take me back to the desert.”

  “No, Hadad. He’s not right. I saw what they did to Prineville. They’ll do that to Detroit whether they find you or not.”

  “But the place in the mountains. The people there. I cannot run f
orever.”

  “There aren’t any people there. We were talking about it this morning. All the people came down to Detroit. They’re helping to organize the village, make it self-sufficient. They were some of the people who taught me healing. Now they’re teaching the folks how to raise the right kind of food.”

  “And you. You cannot live without food.”

  “Hadad, the mountains feed you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then they will feed me too.”

  Chapter 17

  Paul lay in the tub surrounded by bubbles.

  He expected Patricia.

  He had been at the console all afternoon examining contour maps, comparing population-density maps with his terrain analysis. The populations of the Central Oregon towns were almost all stored aboard. The antitoxin was adequate for his purposes and the purgatives seemed to detoxify the food specimens adequately so that they did not poison the diners at his table.

  The Oregon project was just about complete. Now the rest of the Earth’s population, that beyond reach before, would be fair game. He had spent the afternoon plotting the most advantageous move in his struggle for power.

  He needed a major victory, a strategic masterpiece, one that would rival Diana’s negotiation of the open city, best her in manipulation of Earth’s leaders, demonstrate that victory was possible even without the conversion techniques, challenge her influence at the council, reveal the weaknesses that he had studied so carefully from her bed.

  The work on the antitoxin had been his idea. The limit in its development had been his too. Full access to the planet without restraint for the entire fleet did not serve him. There were other commanders whose loyalties to Diana were stronger. He did not want to share his territory, his access to power, with them.

  He calculated carefully his next move. He needed to pick a key position, one that would give him

  leverage in the political maneuverings that would come, even if he had to engineer them himself. He calculated a year. In a year his voice would frighten Diana as hers had intimidated him so many times. His voice would lead the rest of the ships, complete the transformation of Earth to the puppet state The Leader had so neatly designed. His choices would stay to govern Earth as he led home the victorious fleet. And his decision would make or break the careers and lives of those who saw him now as merely an extension of Diana’s power.

  His shoulders ached. He turned on the jets and sank down into the water to let the pulsing water ease the tensions of his concentration.

  Water.

  He had learned to enjoy the luxury of having it in plentiful supply. He reminded himself to check the ship’s storage tanks in the morning. There were lakes in the mountains that would serve to replenish the supply if need be. He did not ever want to be again without water to spare.

  He closed his eyes and let the rhythm of the pulsing jets soothe away the concerns of the day.

  Images of Diana danced in front of him. Diana enticing him with a succulent mouse. Diana watching him at the console. Diana inviting him with a look. And Diana pulling him to her bed. Diana lying beneath him, waiting. He would keep her waiting.

  This time it was Patricia who waited.

  The water had cooled, and he was bored with the bubbles.

  He stepped from the bath and wrapped himself in a robe of terry cloth that draped him and hung from his shoulders clear to the floor. He pulled up the hood and dried his head and then, comfortably dry, he dropped the robe and took a lighter garment that hung loosely from his shoulders.

  Patricia stood by the door of his bedroom as he emerged.

  “The craft has returned, sir.”

  “Good. What did they find?”

  “They found the car where you said it would be.” “And the passengers?”

  “The priest was there, sir. In Detroit, as you predicted.”

  “Good. I want Justine to contact him. He is obviously part of the resistance. We need to know how they are organized here in Oregon. They need our help. The processing operations have gone too smoothly. I expected more disruptions than the crews have experienced.”

  “Sir. It won’t be as simple as that.”

  “And why not, my dear?”

  “Sir. The craft was followed.”

  “Followed? By whom?”

  “By another craft, sir.”

  “Jeffrey again?”

  “No, sir. He is still under medical surveillance. But it would seem that the orders were his. The craft you sent was not aware it was being followed until after it had spotted the car. They followed the path we had taken, crossed the mountains, and then followed the road past the lake.”

  “Lake?”

  “Yes, sir. There was a big lake on the other side of the ridge, beyond where we encountered the storm.” “Good. That will serve well. We can use more water aboard, I’m sure.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.”

  “What about?”

  “It’s not there.”

  “I beg your pardon.”

  “The lake is not there, sir.”

  “I think I’m a bit confused. Suppose you just come over here with me and tell me the whole story. My questions don’t seem to be clarifying anything.”

  He took Patricia’s hand and led her to the bed. He dropped the tunic he had put on and spread out on the sheepskin.

  “The shoulders, Patricia. Be a dear.”

  Fully uniformed, Patricia knelt onto the bed and straddled his body. Her hands worked the muscles of his back as she talked.

  “The scouts went out this morning. They headed south toward Bend, as you had suggested, to avert suspicion. And then they turned up into the mountains. They didn’t bother to follow the gorge. I had given them the exact location of where the lightning had struck us.”

  “Of course. Down a little lower.”

  “Sir?”

  “A little lower on the left.”

  “Yes, sir. Anyway, they followed the road down toward the village and started looking for the car. And they found it. They were turning back when they spotted the other craft, sir.”

  “The one that had followed them.”

  “Yes, sir. No one in the other craft would have recognized the car, sir. I had told only Justine what it looked like. It would have been easy to explain the venture as a search for water. There was a lake.” “Yes, you said that.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to repeat myself.” “You said ‘it would have been easy to explain.’ That suggests that it no longer is.”

  “No, sir. I mean, yes, sir. I mean . . . the priest was standing in the parking lot near the car, sir. The other craft spotted him and recognized him and opened fire, sir. They chased him back into the hills, where he disappeared, sir.”

  “Then we’ll search for him there.”

  “That isn’t all, sir.”

  “Patricia, just tell me what happened.”

  “Justine turned back then. She was hoping the other craft would follow her, but it didn’t. They circled, apparently looking for him, but they didn’t find him, at least not right away, sir. It’s not real clear why they destroyed the dam, sir.”

  “They destroyed a dam?”

  “The one that held the lake, sir. For that matter, they destroyed two dams, sir.”

  “Two dams?”

  “The one that held the lake, and the lower one as well.”

  “And no one knows why?”

  “No, sir. According to Justine, it seemed more like a prank, sir.”

  “And so the priest is in the hills and a lake has been drained as a prank.”

  “Not quite, sir.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Yes, sir. After the dams had been destroyed, the craft went back past the town and they spotted the priest and a girl running along the shore. They opened fire, sir. But they missed him. And so they landed, sir.”

  “They what?”

  “They landed, sir. And searched the campground where he was hiding.”

  �
��And they found him?”

  “No, sir. But according to the stories the survivors are telling, they killed a hundred or more people while they were searching for him.”

  “The survivors?”

  “Yes, sir. There were four survivors.”

  “Dare I ask how many casualties?”

  “Six, sir.”

  “Ten soldiers just happened to be following the scout ship in a ship of their own, blew up two dams for a prank, and managed with only six casualties to wipe out a population of over a hundred Earthlings. And miss the target they were aiming for.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I hope you’re going to tell me they were a motley crew thrown together from Jeffrey’s friends, and not my best soldiers.”

  “No, sir.”

  “Does that mean ‘No, they were not his friends,’ or ‘No, they were not my best soldiers’?”

  “No, they were not all his friends, sir.”

  “I see.”

  “That’s not all, sir.”

  “There’s more?”

  “Park rangers opened fire on the landing crew. The casualties, sir. That’s why. The rest got back to the craft and came back to the ship, sir. That’s how we found out they hadn’t found the priest and the girl.” “So he’s somewhere in the campground or the forests or Detroit.”

  “No, sir. Justine and the other crew were still in the air when the other craft came back. She had decided to circle, to make sure they got away. She knew better than to leave a craft on the ground if they’d all been killed, sir. She would have gone back to blow it up.” “Yes, of course.”

  “That’s how she happened to be there when the car left Detroit, sir.”

  “The car left Detroit?”

  “Yes, sir. It went north. Up to some cabins in the hills. The girl and the priest are there. In the hills, sir.”

  “Then we know where they are?”

  . “Yes, sir.”

  “And Justine can contact him.”

  “If you wish, sir.”

  “Good.”

  He raised up on one elbow and Patricia moved back to sit on her heels at the foot of the bed. He stretched.

  “That feels real good. Now to get you out of that uniform.”

  “Not yet, sir. You’re expected on the bridge in ten minutes, sir.”