Gleanings
Page 19
Nick got into the driver’s seat but leaned out one more time to direct his comments to Elaina. “I don’t know if you’re interested, but we’re shifting a lot of clothes right now out of a mall. And we’ve got a sewing room going if you need anything.”
Wisp felt a spike of interest in Elaina. “The kids need everything. What does it cost?”
“You know, this is so new, I’m not sure how this is going to work. We’ve got a sort of mail service going now through the trains. You can send me a list of what you need, and we’ll figure out how much we think that’s worth.”
Nick waved at them, smiling and yelling his goodbyes. Wisp was impressed with his salesmanship.
“They didn’t want us to leave.”
“Yeah. Even I could feel that. Not a very trusting bunch.”
“The ranch is indefensible the way it’s laid out.”
Nick swiveled his head back and forth taking in the long vistas of grazing land. “Nothing to be done about that. From the looks of it, this ranch has been around a long time.” He drove slowly down the driveway but still managed to raise a plume of dust behind them. “I wonder why they never paved this.”
“It’s a warning system,” Wisp said. “No one could come up this way without raising the dust.”
Nick coughed. “Not a good one. Where to now?”
“I felt Ep earlier. He’s very close. We can get to him tonight.” Nick gave him a thumbs-up, but Wisp could sense his reluctance to spend another night in the open. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to take him back to the ranch.”
“No.” Nick agreed grudgingly. “Would have been nice to sleep in a bed, though.”
Wisp didn’t say anything. He didn’t think the ranchers would have offered them beds. The last light was leaving the sky when they turned back east onto a main road.
“Are we backtracking?” Nick asked.
“He’s just a little south of us, but...” Wisp didn’t want to say what he was feeling. There was something wrong with Ep.
“But what?” Nick asked.
Wisp hesitated. He didn’t want to say that it didn’t feel like Ep anymore. This close, he was able to feel him much more strongly, and there was definitely something very wrong.
Chapter 46
Trust is a precious thing and takes a long time to win.
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
TILLY EYED ANGUS’S discussion circle and suppressed a big sigh. She was cranky from the pain in her hand. Angus and Martin were already seated side by side. Across from them sat a pair of scrawny newcomers. They were clutching their packs like they were afraid they would be confiscated. She chose a seat on Angus’s other side. Whatever this was, she didn’t think she needed to be involved. Angus must be expecting a long meeting because he’d gotten a tray of tea and biscuits.
She displayed her injured hand. “Martin, pour me a cup, please.” As he poured, he made introductions. “How nice,” Tilly said after a long needed sip. “You know each other.”
“We trained together,” Martin said leaving out all the particulars that Tilly had been hoping for.
The woman, Bridget, leaned forward. “I want to negotiate a partnership with High Meadow.”
Her companion gave her a shocked look that told Tilly he wasn’t in agreement. “To what purpose?” she asked bluntly. She was too cranky to be delicate.
“We need food, you need trained soldiers,” Bridget said.
Tilly noted that Martin didn’t look surprised at the offer and wondered how much he actually knew. Angus tapped a finger on the arm of his chair. He was off in thinking mode. That left her to ask all the questions. “What kind of soldiers?” Tilly asked. “Martin would have to check them all out.” Although if they were all as skinny as these two, she doubted they’d be good for much.
Bridget sat a little straighter. “Real soldiers. From units all over. We’re h...,” she paused and Tilly wondered what she wasn’t willing to share. “We’re all military.”
“Why don’t you just join us?” Angus asked.
That question made Bridget fidgety.
“Because they can’t leave their posts?” Martin suggested.
Bridget shot him a guilty look.
“What are you guarding?” Tilly asked. “Because if it’s that idiot of a president, we don’t want to get involved.”
“No,” Bridget shook her head, and Tilly was suddenly very aware of how thin and fragile the woman’s neck looked.
Martin leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “You’re guarding something that you don’t think is worth anything anymore, but you aren’t willing to leave your posts.”
Bridget slumped, and Jace hung his head.
“Perhaps it is worth something,” Tilly offered. She felt sorry for these two. They had stayed the course to the point of starvation. They needed to be respected for their perseverance if nothing else.
“I can promise you that your secret will not go beyond those in this room,” Angus said gently.
Tilly could see Bridget losing her battle. Angus was so charming that it was hard to resist him.
“It’s a depository,” Jace blurted. “We’ve been stuck there, guarding it for years.”
Tilly blinked at him. “Money? You think anybody cares about money?”
Bridget leaned forward her body language suddenly ardent. “It’s seeds.”
It took a minute for things to click for Tilly, but Angus jolted to his feet. He did a little jig of indecision before sitting down again. “You’re guarding a seed depository?” he asked in a harsh whisper.
Bridget bobbed her head once. “I think Dunham would have me shot for telling you.”
“Randall Dunham?” Martin leaned forward. “Did they bring him out of retirement?”
“No, his cousin, Clarke.”
“Don’t know him,” Martin said. “But Randall was a damn good soldier.”
“This changes everything,” Angus said.
“So it’s a good thing?” Martin asked.
“It might be the key to our survival,” Angus said with such relief that Tilly knew things had gotten worse than she’d realized. “Does that include animals?” he asked.
Tilly frowned at his question. It didn’t make sense.
“I think so.”
“And the building hasn’t been compromised?”
“The last storm hit us hard. We lost power.”
Angus was on his feet again. “We need to check that the storage isn’t at risk.”
“Dunham won’t let any strangers in,” Jace warned.
“We have a good repair team,” Bridget snapped. “We’ve been there a long time. We know how to take care of that place.”
Tilly saw that her indignation calmed Angus. “Sit old man, we need to sort this out. What did you mean about animals?”
“Frozen sperm, eggs, maybe embryos. This is the solution to inbreeding. If we could impregnate our existing stock with totally unrelated sperm, we’d be in a much better state. And if they have seed for the vegetables that we’ve already lost? We still have enough growing season left to distribute it.”
Bridget was watching Angus with a mixture of relief and confusion on her face. “I don’t know if he’d let you take anything away.”
Angus patted the air as if to soothe her. “How about an exchange? For everything we remove, we replace with new?”
“How can you do that if you don’t have the seed, to begin with?” Jace demanded.
“We’ll give you what we have for access to what we don’t have.”
“I can’t agree to anything,” Bridget said. “It’s all got to go through General Dunham.”
“Excellent!” Angus crowed. “We leave tomorrow.”
Chapter 47
As the populations of animals slowly rebound, we must be careful not to derail them in our greed. We began a careful survey of the local wildlife and only took what the population could bear.
History of a Changed World, Angu
s T. Moss
NICK DETOURED AROUND a section of highway that had been undermined by runoff and had broken into rubble. He liked the narrower wheelbase of the jeep versus the big vans. From the look of the crushed weeds on the shoulder, he wasn’t the only one using this road, and that made him nervous. As soon as he got back on the road, he stopped for Wisp to do a check, but he didn’t get out.
“He’s very close. We should keep going,” Wisp said.
“Anybody else around?” Nick asked. He didn’t like seeing Wisp nervous. He hadn’t been this way about Kyle or Ted. Worried about them, but not nervous.
Wisp got out and started walking away. Nick wondered if he’d annoyed him with the question. Wisp was very hard to read sometimes.
The moon wasn’t up yet, and the night was pitch dark. Nick didn’t look forward to searching for a campsite. He wasn’t sure whose territory they were in. He thought that Ark Farm had been outside the raider’s territory. They’d headed southeast from there, so they should still be safe. But since the raiders had attacked Ark Farm, they could have shifted their border. Although, most of them were lying in the dust back at the farm now.
Wisp got back into the jeep. “Someone’s been using this road regularly, but they aren’t around now.”
“Don’t like the sound of that,” Nick grumbled.
“We’re not too far from Grandview Station. Might be train people.”
That was the first good news Nick had heard. “That would be a good place to spend the night.”
Wisp just nodded. Nick got the feeling that he didn’t want to make any decisions until he found his brother. He pulled back onto the road driving slowly around the frost-heaves and pot-holes. They rode in silence for close to an hour before the headlights picked out a figure in the distance.
“That’s him,” Wisp said, and he was out of the vehicle before Nick had come to a full stop.
Curious, Nick got out to follow. Epsilon was hunched and leaning to one side. He had a limp, or a wobble, Nick couldn’t say what was causing his lurching gait. He was mumbling something as he stumbled along. Wisp had to stand in front of him to make him stop. That didn’t look good.
“Ep, it’s me, Tau,” Wisp said. He shifted to stay in front of Epsilon, who tried feebly to pass.
“Yes, yes, of course. Tau, yes. I knew you’d come. I can see the future.”
Nick looked at the hunched figure but couldn’t make much out in the darkness. “Need help?” he asked Wisp.
“He’s ill,” Wisp said softly. “I can’t touch him.”
“Can I?” Nick asked. He wasn’t sure whether Wisp meant mentally ill because he wasn’t totally convinced that a biobot couldn’t see the future.
“He’s not contagious,” Wisp said, clarifying his problem.
“I can see the future. I knew you’d come,” Ep said in a gravelly voice.
Nick grabbed Epsilon’s arm. “Come on back to the jeep.” It took a little maneuvering to get him turned around and headed in the right direction. Nick worried that he had broken bones that he was trying to get around on. Wisp opened the door to the back seat. Nick managed to get Epsilon in.
They drove in silence to Grandview. Wisp pointed, and Nick found a road. Epsilon murmured in the back seat. Nick saw the lights from the train station long before he found the driveway. It was a good feeling to know that he had a safe, clean place to spend the night.
“Stop. Cut the lights,” Wisp said abruptly.
Nick pulled the jeep into the deeper shadow under a tree after turning off the headlights. “Problem?” he asked in a whisper.
“There are people at the station.”
Nick waited for further explanation because he didn’t think that too odd.
“I’ll scout,” Wisp said.
Nick didn’t like the idea of sitting here with the crazy brother who was still going on about seeing the future, but they couldn’t leave him on his own. “Okay.”
Wisp slipped out of the jeep and pressed the door shut quietly. He was invisible in the darkness. Nick listened for footsteps but didn’t hear any. In the silence of the dark vehicle, he was very aware that Epsilon needed a bath.
“I can see the future.”
“How nice for you,” Nick murmured.
“She waits for you.”
Nick was glad for a change of topic but wasn’t happy the direction it was taking. “That’s nice.”
“But not for long. If you don’t give her what she needs, she’ll find another who can.”
The advice was generic enough that it could have been a horoscope or a fortune cookie, but there was enough truth to it that Nick felt a sliver of unease. With all that had been happening lately, he hadn’t had time to spend with Jean. He wanted to. At least most of his brain wanted to. Memories and loss kept him from committing. But Angus was right about needing everyone to reproduce.
“They won. It’s okay now,” Epsilon announced.
“That’s good,” Nick said soothingly.
“Tau will be back soon.”
“Yes, he will,” Nick agreed.
A staccato noise sounding like gunfire had Nick reaching for his weapon, but Epsilon pushed his hand away. “Sometimes I lose track of time. Sometimes it isn’t time yet. Now they win.”
Nick shook his arm free and pocketed his gun. He peered into the darkness wishing Wisp to return. He was concentrating so hard that he jumped when Wisp opened the door.
“All clear. Martin’s Ready Team is here.”
“What happened?” Nick asked.
“A couple of raiders tried to take over the station,” Wisp recounted impassively. “The station master called for backup from High Meadow. They’re just cleaning up now.”
Nick grinned. It was working. Angus had promised to support the trains with armed response. They had just had their first incident, and it sounded successful. “Good.” He started up the jeep.
“They won,” Epsilon mumbled.
Nick pulled up in front of the station. A pair of armed men waved. He didn’t recognize either of them, but luckily they knew Wisp. He opened the back door and got his first good look at Epsilon. Matted hair hung in his eyes. An equally matted beard hung down to the middle of his chest. His clothes were in rags, worn and filthy. Matching the foul conditions of his clothing, his skin was dark with embedded dirt. His whole body seemed twisted as if he’d been broken and reassembled askew.
“I’m sorry,” Wisp said softly but kept his distance.
“I can see the future.”
Nick took an elbow and tried to get Epsilon down the stairs. He grunted and lurched a leg at a time. One of the Rovers shouldered his weapon and came to help. Together they managed to get him into the station. Nick noticed a couple dark stains on the floor and a few dents in the walls. The station master was a nervous woman who Nick had seen a few times.
“Nick!” she yelped.
He searched his brain for her name, but couldn’t come up with it. “Are you okay?”
“I called for help, and it came!” She sounded like she wasn’t sure about the result.
“We promised your bosses that we’d answer any call,” Nick said proudly.
“Will you...will someone be staying?”
Nick couldn’t tell if she was asking or dreading. “Wisp and I will be here tonight.” He turned to the Rover who was helping with Epsilon. “What are your orders?”
“We’re supposed to do a patrol of the surrounding area before leaving. Figured we’d wait until daylight.”
Nick pointed to a bench where they could deposit Epsilon. He did not look forward to inspecting the filthy man’s injuries. “Thanks,” he said as the Rover helped get him seated. “We should compare notes. There was an incursion at Ark Farm. Seems like an awfully big coincidence.”
The Rover gave him a sharp nod. “We’ll talk after you get settled.”
Nick took a step back to stand with Wisp. “What now?”
“I have no idea.”
Chapter 48
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
BRIDGET TRAILED BEHIND Martin back to his office. Jace was right behind her, and she could tell he was stewing over the decisions she’d made without consulting him. She wanted to get a few more impressions of the place before she was ready to argue him around.
They had just gotten to the office, and she was racking her brain for a reason to be there when a scream ripped through the hallway raising the hair on her neck. It was followed by another and what sounded like a whole crowd of people shouting. She put her back to a wall. “Have you got spare weapons?”
Martin winked at her. “I expect that’s Ted coming back. He finds kids.”
She took his cue of calmness and listened to the yelling. It wasn’t an attack, they were cheering. “What does that mean?”
Martin gestured for her to sit at the work table. Just as Jace was grumbling, a short, stocky man with dark hair and beard lumbered into the room.
“I did it, Martin!” He grinned at Asbury, then looked curiously at Jace and Bridget.
Asbury didn’t introduce them. He pointed to the table. “Give me a report.”
“It went very well. We got there at dusk. No one was around. I explained the plan to Helen, and she was amenable. She is a wonderful woman. I can see why James loves her. So we loaded the children into the van and came back.”
Bridget shook her head. That was the worst report she’d ever heard. “Where were the children?”
“At the orphanage.”
That answer didn’t explain anything to Bridget. She frowned at him and back to Asbury, or Martin as he seemed to prefer.
“Pretend she doesn’t know anything,” Martin said gesturing at Bridget.
“Oh.” Ted shifted to face her. “General Washburn was holding the children hostage to my brother’s good behavior.”