terrible mistake."
At that moment, everything in and around Sam went intensely still. So, she thought benumbed, we have finally arrived. It was like coming to the end of a very long dance. She shivered uncontrollably and wrapped her arms tightly about her body as if this gesture could somehow protect her from what she was about to hear.
"You know about that." She stated heavily. "I never spoke of it to you."
"Yes," he replied. "I know everything. That’s why I am here."
When she spoke, her voice sounded shrill and oddly unfamiliar to her own ears.
"What do you mean, ‘That’s why I’m here’?" Jesus, she was cold. Nervously she moved to the hearth and touched off the wood and newspaper that were lying in wait in the fireplace. Down on her knees, she poked at the growing fire aggressively with the brass tongs, making sparks fly about wildly. Smoldering pits jumped onto the worn Oriental carpet. Automatically, Sam stamped them out with her hand.
The heat radiating from the small blaze helped mobilize her thinking.
"I’m still waiting for you to tell me who you are."
"Before I can explain who I am," Per replied earnestly, "You need to understand who YOU are."
"This planet that we are on - that you call Earth - has been a participant in an extensive experiment. One that was initiated by my race millions of years ago."
"Your race ........?" Sam felt as if she were in the middle of some sort of horrible sci-fi movie. A grade B sci-fi movie. This couldn’t be happening.
Watching her face drain of all color, Per rapidly moved to Sam, kneeling down beside her on the rug. Putting his strong arms around her inflexible body, he gently stroked her back.
"As you have suspected, Samantha, I am not from this place." He spoke quietly into her hair, tightening his grip to hold her more firmly when she would have pushed him away. "My home is several light years away from here."
Placing her hand against Per’s chest, Sam strained back in order to be able to look him levelly in the eyes with her own. Per’s grasp on her relaxed somewhat, however his hands remained loosely on her waist.
"Are you really expecting me to buy all this horseshit?" she asked with contention. But even as she spoke the words she knew they were nothing more than sheer bravado. He was telling her the truth - at long last. Everything that had happened over the past six months was starting to make a bizarre sort of sense.
Ignoring her comment, Per continued speaking. "It was to be a major experimentation. We wanted to form a new race. A race who would have all the advantages of this new planet we had discovered. Advantages that our race would never have." Per paused for a moment, trying to gage the depth of Sam’s expression, hoping to see some sort of comprehension there. Seeing only confusion and bewilderment, Per resolutely navigated Sam to the sofa situated in front of the fireplace. He sat her down and then went to the kitchen. From the parlor Sam could hear the sound of cupboard doors banging open and shut. Stunned, sinking back against the cushions, she felt as if she were in a stupor. She couldn’t have made a run for it now even if she had wanted to. Gee, hope my life doesn’t depend on it, she thought with a downright hysterical giggle.
Per returned momentarily carrying a glass of amber colored liquid. Seating himself beside Sam on the couch, he closed her trembling hand about the glass.
"Drink this down." he insisted.
Sam complied without any sort of argument. Her hand shaking radically, she drank the entire contents down in one, long swallow. Immediately, she started to cough as her throat reacted to the strong, burning rye whiskey. But almost at once her body was imbued with a glowing warmth that radiated throughout. Gratefully, the constant shivering checked, Sam sat up straighter.
"Please continue." she said to Per.
"Eons ago, my entire race was swept by a catastrophic virus. Because it was airborne it traveled swiftly through our population in epidemic proportions. We could not find a cure. We were desperate. About the same time as the deadly outbreak occurred, the planet Earth had been discovered. After several vanguard expeditions, it was determined to be a completely sterile environment.
Ultimately, the decision was made to attempt an experiment of major proportions.
We would endeavor to construct an entirely new race. Call it a zoo, if you like.
Into this new creation we would add our finest genetic qualities." Here Per halted for a minute, giving all that he had disclosed to Sam a bit of time to sink in.
"You are telling me that we - my civilization - has been nothing more than a .......
fucking zoo!’ She exclaimed in disbelief.
Per said nothing, he simply nodded in agreement. Sam turned to stare out the window as the thoughts tumbled through her mind. She moved her lips as if to say more, but nothing came out. Her face was in shadow from the quickly retreating light. Per slowly got to his feet and went about the room turning on a couple of low table lamps. The glow from them helped push back the developing gloom.
"What happened to your society? Was a cure for the virus found?" She finally queried.
Per rejoined her on the sofa. "No, never." He said heavily. "It’s effects were devastating. By the end it had wiped out one quarter of our population. But the virus eventually slowed down and then, in time, it stopped altogether. However, by the time the deadly virus had ceased, the new race on planet Earth was evolving nicely. So the decision was made to leave it untouched - not to interfere in any way."
"You have been watching us?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Monitoring." Corrected Per, taking hold of both Sam’s shoulders.
"Closely monitoring."
Chapter 33
Happy crept stealthily towards the house. His rheumy old eyes were stinging from the heavy wind, making them squint and water. He paused behind a thick forsythia bush in order to look the house over thoroughly before going on any further.
Most of the house, which stood silent and dark, was rapidly disappearing into the gathering dusk. Cautiously, he scuttled over the lawn and around the porch to the front of the house. Happy braced himself against the driving wind, leaning into it, all the while keeping a tight grasp on his Winchester.
When he reached the shelter of the house Happy crept around the corner of the porch, crouched way down low, until he was beneath the only room that had a yellow light spilling out of it’s windows.
Ever so slowly and biting down sharply on his lower lip so as not to groan out loud, he stood up.
Jesus Jumping Up, I’m too old for this shit, he decided.
Trying not to make any noise, Happy stepped over the low lying Juniper bushes and carefully peered through the bottom left hand pane of the window. Slowly, he straightened up until he could see well into the room.
Sammy was sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace down at the other end of the parlor. That Per fellow was close beside her. Happy strained to see what was going on. As he watched, he could see Per’s hands holding tightly onto Sammy’s shoulders. Son of a bitch, he mumbled.
Once again, down as low to the ground as his old, arthritic body could get, Happy moved silently to the window closer to the couple, the one just behind them. From this new vantage point Happy had a clear view of Per. Not to mention a clear shot.
A true son of Maine, Happy had been handling guns all of his life. He’d hunted moose; deer; rabbit; the occasional bear, and plenty of Japs during W.W.II. But never before had he taken such careful aim with more purpose.
Hell, he was pretty sure he’d never hunted alien before.
Chapter 34
"Closely monitoring?" Sam echoed his words in a parrot-like fashion.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means just what it says." Per said shortly. "We have been here since the very beginning of the evolution of the human race. As your creators it was our job to observe the experiment first hand."
"How have we been monitored?" Sam asked.
"By various means." Per replied plai
nly.
Sam stood and poked a moment at the fire, tossing another log on. The fire crackled loudly. Then she went purposefully to her bag and rummaged around inside. Turning toward Per, she held out her hand.
"What is this?" She asked, indicating the miniature disc that had fallen out of Happy’s eye.
Per was taken by surprise. He took it out of Sam’s hand and held it up to a light to peer through it. "This is a contact lens camera. It was implanted into a human retina. With the help of this device, we have been able to literally see what the human is looking at. Where did you get it?"
Sam ignored his question. "So, it is a type of monitoring tool." She said slowly.
"Do we all have these implants?"
"No, only the people who have been picked up and examined were given these." He paused for a moment, "You have one, Samantha."
Sam instinctively probed both of her eyes with her fingertips. "But I can’t feel anything."
"You wouldn’t." Said Per frankly.
She started to pace back and forth. Her mind was churning.
"Let me see if I’ve got this all straight." She fumbled on top of the desk for her Marlboros and lighter. Her hand was shaking so much she could barely light the damn thing. "Okay now," she continued, blowing out a gray plume of smoke, "you are telling me that the entire human race has been nothing more than an experiment? An experiment that has been taking place for these past millions of years on a planet that has been nothing more than, essentially, a gigantic zoo?"
Sam stopped pacing, whirled around and stared hard at Per. "Guess that sort of makes you the zoo keeper, doesn’t it?" This was all so ludicrous that she grinned despite herself.
The incoming shotgun blast blew a hole the approximate size of a Susan B.
Anthony silver dollar right through the back of Per’s head. The bullet kept right on coming out the front, eventually lodging itself into the knotty pine of the mantle piece a few feet away.
Screaming, her ears still ringing from the deafening blast, Sam lunged forward to seize Per as he slumped forward and started to slip to the floor. She collapsed onto the floor under his weight and frantically struggled to get out from under him. She heard the crunch of glass and looked up to see Happy climbing through the shattered window. It took her a moment longer to register the sight of the gun in his right hand.
"You okay, Sammy?" Anxiously, Happy pulled her onto her feet and tried to steer her towards a chair. But Sam violently shook his hand from her and rushed back to sink to the floor beside an inert Per.
"My God, Happy," she groaned, "what have you done? Jesus, help me roll him over."
Happy scurried to help her, all the while trying to explain, "I was saving you, Sammy. Saving you from that ........ thing there." He pointed to Per. "No telling what he would have done to you if I hadn’t been here." He finished lamely. This sure wasn’t going the way he’d planned.
Sam opened her mouth to respond but it was then that she noticed something truly extraordinary. There was no blood. Not anywhere. How could that be? Not only was there no blood, but what had just moments before been a gapping hole in Per’s head was now a small hole ........ and getting smaller all the time.
Amazed, Sam moved closer to him in order to better examine his skull. Even as she watched, his tissue was somehow rapidly repairing itself. Atom by atom.
Molecule by molecule. Cell by cell. She blinked her eyes disbelievingly. This couldn’t really be happening. But it was. Somehow, what had only moments ago been a jagged, gapping hole was now filled in with healthy skin and hair. What should have been a lethal wound - certainly would have been to anyone else - had miraculously and completely healed itself.
Per stared to stir. Sam glanced over her shoulder at Happy and said bluntly, "I think you’d better get out of here."
But Happy had decided to get stubborn. "Nope. I’m not leaving you alone with him, Sammy. Why, he’s just not .......... human!"
"No, Hap, he sure isn’t." Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the gross understatement of Happy’s remark. Should I try to explain this to him? She wondered. How the hell can I do that ......... I can’t even explain this to myself.
"Happy," she hauled herself to her feet, " you’re just going to have to trust me on this one. I will be fine ...... Per will not hurt me."
Sam continued at the look of confusion in Happy’s eyes, "I want you to take your gun and go on home now. I promise I will explain everything to you latter."
She put her arm affectionately about Happy and moved him to the front door as she spoke.
"Shit," groused Happy as the door closed on him, "no one appreciates a hero anymore."
Chapter 35
"That’s another problematic area with your human race," muttered Per behind her,
"if they don’t understand you, they are inclined to blow you away."
Sam wondered what to say. Christ, did she have to apologize for her entire race now?
"He thought you were going to hurt me. He was trying to be my hero." she explained inadequately, walking over to his side.
"What about you, Samantha," Per asked as he got to his feet. "Do you think I am going to harm you?"
Sam didn’t need time to think about the correct answer. She knew it instinctively. "No," she said simply.
"Good." said Per as he stood in front of a mirror looking his head over.
"How’d you do that?" Sam, still having a difficult time assimilating everything, couldn’t stand it. She had to ask.
"What can I say? It’s a knack - you either have it or you don’t," joked Per. But when he caught sight of Sam’s solemn expression reflected over his shoulder in the mirror, he became serious.
"Our molecular makeup is different than yours," he explained. "We have always had a moderately limited ability to self - repair some forms of damaged tissues."
"Some knack," mumbled Sam It took a bit of effort, but she finally managed to do a makeshift repair job on the broken parlor window by tacking up a trash bag on the inside. Not very attractive, but it kept the rain out.
er, claiming to have a small headache (no shit, thought Sam), had gone out to the porch for a few minutes to take some fresh air. The elements, such as rain, didn’t seem to bother him at all.
Having done all she could with the damaged window for now, Sam made for the kitchen, deciding she needed a strong cup of tea.
She was just marveling at how steady the full mug was in her hands, when she felt him standing in the doorway. Turning slowly, she looked into his grave face.
"Why do I have the feeling you haven’t told me everything yet?" she asked with dread in her voice.
"Have a seat, Samantha," Per said emphatically, pointing to the kitchen table.
Almost against her will, Sam obeyed. Instinctively, she knew she didn’t want to hear what was coming next.
Minutes later, Sam huddled in the kitchen chair, gripping her drawn up knees for comfort. She was having a difficult time comprehending what Per was saying. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, trying to pay better attention. What was he talking about now? Extermination?
"So you see, Samantha," Per was saying, " in the end, there is nothing any of you can do to alter what will happen. It is inevitable."
It was impossible for her to stay still any longer. She got to her feet and wandered out of the kitchen, down the foyer and back into the parlor. Silently, Per followed close behind. Sam stopped at a low mahogany table picking up a silver framed photograph of her parents. The picture had been taken years ago on one of their holidays to the Caribbean. They were both wearing large, ridiculous straw hats which cast half their faces in shadow. Despite that, though, the happy smiles on both of their faces couldn’t be hidden. They looked so naive.
"I’m sorry ......., " Sam stammered, "I am having a very hard time understanding all of this."
Per sighed heavily. Once again, he regretted Sam having discovered who he was.
If she hadn’t, it would have made e
verything much more simplistic for him.
Patiently, he tried to find the words that would help her to understand what was about to happen.
"The decision has been made to close the Zoo down," he said bluntly. "The human experiment has been determined a miserable failure. I am to witness the final Event. After it is done, I am to report back to the Assembly."
"Why?" was all that Sam could get out.
"The human race has not turned out as we had wished. It has evolved into a warrior breed who systematically tortures, kills and murders one another." Per paused than continued, "The horror has gone on for far too long, Sam. Human kind is incapable of changing. The decision has been made and there is nothing to be done that will alter that judgment."
Feeling as if she were in a daze, Sam looked down at the photo of her parents still in her hand. How pleased and contented they looked in it. Could they have possibly ever imagined such a day as this happening in the almost perfect world they had created together so filled with family love and happiness? Her parents were good people. Why is it, she thought suddenly angry, that people like my parents are to be punished?
She looked at Per and asked him that very question. "Why do the good people in the world have to suffer for what they are not responsible for? I have to believe that this planet is filled more with caring, humane people than the kind you are talking about." When Per didn’t immediately respond, she finished plaintively, "You average global citizen doesn’t climb onto his roof and snipe at the neighbors, for Christ’s sake."
"No, they don’t," Per willingly agreed. "However Samantha, what they do is just as obscene ....... perhaps even more so."
At Sam’s puzzled expression he continued speaking. "For they do nothing.
Absolutely nothing at all. You’re so called average global citizen, Samantha, stands complacently by while all of this ongoing carnage takes place ..........
THE ZOO Page 9