by Billy Dering
Sara used her finger to point toward Heidi’s room directly across the hall. She also pointed at the room next door, but Kid already knew Maria was there. He acknowledged and again went to write a message, but paused. He realized they needed time to plan an escape, so he spelled out, “R E S C U E T O M O R R O W N I G H T P A S S O N.”
As he went to leave he put his palm on the opaque glass. Sara did the same. He needed to get her out. He was thankful he found her alive, but was worried sick about what they might be doing to her.
He crawled across the hall to Heidi’s room and tapped lightly on the glass. After getting no response, he used his fingertips and tried again. Nothing. She had to be in a sound asleep. He was not about to make any loud noises to wake her. Sara or Maria would have to find a way to tell her about the plan for tomorrow night.
He went back across the hall and spelled out the rescue message on Maria’s window before running up the hall and climbing the staircase to the floor above.
Jess was crouched behind the stairwell. “This is impossible…” he started, but was cut off.
“I found them!”
“What? Seriously?” He jumped to his feet. Kid nodded and his head wobbled as his friend shook his shoulder. “Talk about dumb luck! Where are they?”
“On the floor below, about halfway up the hall,” Kid answered. “A few rooms had frosted glass windows, and looked unusual, so I stopped to check them out.”
Jess exhaled. “Thank God. Are they alright?”
“I think so, but I couldn’t see them that well because of the frosting on the glass.” He then added, “I just hope someone hasn’t spotted us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Although they don’t seem too concerned with security, they must like to keep an eye on their people. You didn’t notice the cameras in the hall?” Kid asked.
“Where?”
Crawling over and opening the door to the hallway, they both glanced up. Sure enough, a small camera was positioned above the door, aiming down the length of the hallway. They gently closed the door and went back behind the staircase. Kid said, “Too late now. If someone’s watching, they would’ve spotted us a long time ago.”
“So you think they aren’t watching?” Jess seemed doubtful.
“They would’ve already come after us. We’ve been combing these halls for some time now,” he replied, trying to convince Jess, as well as himself.
“What time is it?”
“4:00 a.m. We don’t have time to do anything more tonight. Anyway I told them we would rescue them tomorrow night.”
Turning around, Kid realized that there was a door behind the staircase on each level. He had a hunch. “Hold on. I want to check something.” He turned the handle and pulled the door open. He froze as a light automatically turned on inside. The small room was a closet that contained janitorial supplies. In the back right corner, a rounded metal protrusion ran from ceiling to floor. He approached it, and despite it being painted the same gray color as the walls, he could see it was clearly made of metal. He turned to Jess who was in the doorway watching for soldiers. “The ladder shaft we came up through,” he whispered, pointing to the rounded metal protrusion.
Jess gave a thumbs up.
Kid stepped out and said, “Follow me.”
He ran down the steps to the girls’ floor and opened the same door behind the spiral staircase. Stepping inside, as soon as the light turned on he reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a handful of change and his house keys. Taking the keys, he put the tip of the pointiest one against the metal of the shaft. He pushed with all of his might and slammed the key with his palm a couple of times until it made a small indent in the metal. Jess cringed. Although the sound was still reverberating up and down the shaft, Kid said, “Don’t worry. With the emergency doors at the end of the hallway, they can’t hear anything.”
After Kid closed the closet door, they trudged up the spiral staircase for many levels until they reached the engineer’s room. They crawled on the floor to avoid being spotted by the night watchman on the bridge. Silently, they dropped down into the shaft and closed the hatch behind them. Going down the ladder, Kid stopped near the bottom and searched the enclosure wall. It took a few minutes, but he found the indent he had made with his house key. “We have to remember this spot,” he whispered. Figuring it was the easiest way to find it again, he counted the ladder rungs from the indent down to the lower hatch.
Once behind the engines, they took out some food from the backpacks and Kid used a small metal can opener to remove the top from a can of tomato soup. He then took saltines, crushed them up and sprinkled them in the can. This made for a quick but filling meal, which was washed down with a few swigs of bottled water.
Jess said, “Wait, you told them we would rescue them tomorrow night? How are we going to do that?”
“I’m working on it. Just give me a little time.”
“I’ll give some thought as well, but I trust you Kid. We just need to make sure we don’t come up short, like when we were trying to throw the tow hook all the way up to the bulwarks.” Jess patted him on the arm and then laid his head down to get some sleep.
“No, this time we will not have to worry about anything being too far away,” Kid noted. “Just the opposite.”
They lay side by side in the tight space, both covered with a handful of beach towels trying to keep warm. The more Kid thought of the impending rescue, the more nervous he became. He knew there was a very good chance they may not live to see another day. All it would take is one shot from one of the soldier’s weapons, and that would be the end. What if they don’t get the girls out in time? All he wanted to do was get away and spend the rest of his days with his Sara and the other friends. Regardless of the status of the world, if Sara was by his side, he would at least have something, and someone, to live for. He would never feel empty or alone. These thoughts only made him more afraid of losing her, but at the same time they made him more determined to succeed.
As Kid fell asleep, he could still envision Sara’s outline behind the opaque glass. He smiled as he slept. He knew it was her, he’d know her anywhere, with her hands on her hips and that confident stance. As the frosting on the glass faded away, more and more details became clear. He became terrified as he realized that the outline was the same as hers, and the mannerisms were the same, but it was not her. The details of her face came into focus, and the horror made his heart beat rapidly. It was the face of a creature of some kind. It had red eyes and its teeth were long, sharp fangs. The creature was beginning to snarl as it realized Kid was staring at it. Its mouth began to open and it let out a bone-chilling hiss. Blood dripped from the tips of sharp fangs. He was frozen in fear at this bizarre image of Sara’s body with the face of an evil beast. He began to toss and turn, moaning in distress.
Jess shook him. “Hey!”
“Stop! I’m awake.” Kid stared into the darkness, shaken by his nightmare. He figured the anxiety of being on the ship was starting to play tricks with his mind.
Moments later Kid was starting to doze, but his eyes popped open upon hearing the familiar muffled beep. He checked his watch. “6:00 a.m. It goes off at the same time every day, 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. I guess 6:00 a.m. is the wakeup call,” Kid whispered.
“For us, it’s the bedtime call.” Jess grumbled.
A few minutes later, Kid heard the also familiar audible click of a door as two soldiers came down to cycle the generators. Jess didn’t even wake up, but fortunately didn’t start snoring. The soldiers finished their work and exited the bottom of the ship.
Kid stretched out and tried to go back to sleep, but was worried that the awful nightmare would pick up where it left off. Though he tried to snooze lightly, he plummeted through the sleep stages and again found himself staring at Sara’s outline through the opaque glass. This time, he stared in fear as the frosting on the glass faded and her outline filled in. Wincing as he slept, the details were becoming clearer. It w
as like he was looking through an out-of-focus camera lens, and the adjustment knob was slowly being turned. With her face becoming clearer, he started to feel warm inside. As the final focusing adjustment was made, he saw his hands reaching toward the glass. Her smile revealed no fangs and her eyes were a beautiful hazel color. He was sure it was his Sara. She closed her eyes tight, and a teardrop squeezed out and ran down her face. In the strange hazy light emanating from the fringes of his dream world, the saline droplet appeared amber colored. Before she could open her eyes, his dreams took a left turn, and he was captaining the crew of an 18th century pirate ship, cursing the full moon.
Chapter 19
December 29, 2044
Thursday, Early Morning
New Jersey coast, Utopia Project
Ship Number One
Three days after the event
Thursday morning, Sara endured her second conditioning session, which left her trembling. I don’t know how many more sessions I can take, she thought to herself. She tried to push back the conditioning by force of will alone, but resistance was futile, and downright painful. Kid’s rescue plan had to work, and it could not happen soon enough.
In the late morning, she again had to meet with Elder-76 and now four of her staff. She endured another round of psychological tests, even more intensive than the day before.
For lunch, they had to eat in their rooms alone. Sara hoped that she would have the opportunity to eat dinner that night with the other girls and inform them of Kid’s visit, and of his plan to rescue them. With any luck, he got to them last night as well and they already knew.
When it came time for dinner, Sara was distraught that she was again dining alone. As she sat isolated in her room, she picked at her well-prepared meal, never raising her fork to her mouth. Without a knock or any fair warning, her door slid open and Elder-1 yelled, “Ion!”
Sara’s eyes stared straight ahead, and her arms seemed loose and flimsy. She slumped in her chair and her head seemed too heavy for her neck. She had to rest it on the top of the table. A moment later, she sat up, blinked and took rapid shallow breaths, while touching her body to make sure her physical form actually existed. She didn’t hear it, but he must have said the word to bring her back. That word, Ion, and the tone of his voice, gave her chills just thinking about it. She really loathed Elder-1, who seemed to enjoy seeing her struggle.
“We wanted to see the progress of our conditioning program, and it seems to be coming along well,” he started. “We will not be here tomorrow. First thing tomorrow morning, a large group is going ashore, and we will lead them. But your conditioning program will proceed as scheduled with just Elder-76. We…” His words were interrupted by the beep of the walkie-talkie on his belt. Raising it to his lips he said, “Go ahead.”
“Standing by to initiate routine testing and maintenance of all davits and tenders, before the excursion to the mainland tomorrow, Sir. The nylon drop lines have been inspected and seem to be in great shape.”
“Proceed, Elder-110, and report back any problems immediately,” he instructed.
He turned to Sara, so she asked, “You are going ashore?”
“We must. The four members we left on Tuesday when we captured you at the beach, and the two-person pickup team that went to get them that very night, still have not returned and cannot be reached. We sent two battle-tested military elders ashore yesterday to find them all, including Elder-48 who checked in just moments ago. He has eliminated many survivors, including several at a hotel, but they haven’t been able to locate any of our members who we sent ashore. It seems they did not succeed with their mission. We now know our mistake was sending them without elder leadership. The members follow orders to the letter, which is what we want and need here on the ships, but they lack adaptability. They need an elder leader to assess the battlefield and environment, and adjust their orders, which is what we will do when we go with them tomorrow morning. We will not make that mistake again.”
After feeling an initial surge of panic about survivors being killed, Sara knew Kid wasn’t one of them since he was stowed away somewhere on the ship. “Maybe your people are just lost,” she said.
“That… we doubt. They would never disobey an order. Based on their conditioning the anxiety would be overwhelming. Again we will ask, are you aware of any survivors on the mainland?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if there were survivors, but none that we are specifically aware of,” Sara replied, with more assurance than the first time he had asked that same question. Again, she was not lying. Kid and hopefully Jess, were not on the mainland.
He studied her for a moment.
She did not flinch.
“Some of our weapons and walkie-talkies were discovered in the back of a supermarket, so we are beyond suspicious, especially since your dead comrade’s body also seems to have vanished from the beach. We suspect there may be a more organized opposition lurking in the shadows, so we will have to step up our efforts to snuff them out, once and for all.” Elder-1 turned and walked out of the room.
Sara gazed straight ahead and did not move. But inside, she felt her blood pumping faster and faster. The elders knew something was amiss.
Kid and Jess sat up, hearing the same mechanical hum from outside the ship that they had heard the day before, but this time it was louder and they were encircled by it.
“That’s more than one davit they are activating,” Jess noted.
The rumbling of boat motors soon surrounded them.
“They must have lowered a bunch of boats,” Kid said.
The lights hanging over the center walkway started to flicker and then dimmed a few notches. The nearby generators seemed to be straining, as their typical peaceful hum was replaced by a collective labored whine. “Do you hear those generators?” Jess asked. “Something’s not right with them.”
“Just keep your eyes and ears open for someone coming down here to check them out.”
They sat still for a few minutes and listened. The sound of the boat motors did not fade or dissipate, but abruptly ended. Jess turned. “The boats didn’t leave.”
As Elder-1 walked up the hallway, his walkie-talkie again came to life. “Go ahead.”
“Sir, we have a problem.”
He stopped in his tracks. “Elder-110, advise!”
“The activation of all the davits at one time has drained the generators to dangerous levels on all ships. If we activate all davits now to bring the tenders back up to the deck, we may kill the first set of generators.”
“Then why don’t we just switch to the second set of generators?” Elder-1 sounded impatient.
“They are not recharged yet, and are at maybe 60 percent. But they cannot be fully recharged if the first set of generators dies on us now. And if the second set is not charged enough, we may lose power and heat on the ships before morning,” said Elder-110.
“Why have we never had this problem before during this routine testing?”
“Well, Sir, for all of those years in Greenland, our ships were moored and used supplemental electric power from the mainland, so power wasn’t an issue. That is what made it an easy choice to go with electric davits to begin with. Our problem now is this set up with generators, which was not an issue until…”
“What is your recommendation?” Elder-1 cut in. Given that Elder-110 was a master electrician in the United States Navy prior to the world’s rebirth, Elder-1 trusted his judgement in this regard.
“Operate at absolute minimum power for the rest of the day to let the second set of generators fully recharge, which means that we should not activate the davits at this time and retrieve the tenders. Activating the davits again now will kill what little power is left. If we modify the generator changeover schedules and adjust some settings, by morning the situation should be corrected.”
“Is there any risk to the boats by leaving them in the water?”
“No, Sir. We checked the radar, and although there are some light snow sh
owers coming through, the seas are not expected to be rolling.”
Elder-1’s lips were pursed. “Proceed as you have outlined. Tomorrow’s search and rescue operation must go forth as planned.”
“Yes, Sir. We will use rope ladders to retrieve the mechanics from the boats…”
Although Elder-110 was still talking, Elder-1 snapped his walkie-talkie to his belt and resumed walking.
“Strange,” Jess observed. “It sounds like they lowered the boats, turned on the motors for a few minutes and then shut them off. They didn’t leave the ships, but I didn’t hear them being hoisted back up to the deck either. Did you?”
“No. I just wonder if they’ll pull them up tonight or not.” Kid stared down as he processed the implications. “I’m just glad they didn’t take all of the boats ashore. One of those boats is our ride out of here later.”
“I know, the rest can sink into the sea for all we care,” Jess said off the cuff and took a sip of water.
After thinking a moment, Kid concluded, “That would be good.”
“What? I see your wheels turning.”
“Just more pieces of the plan coming together,” he said with a faraway look in his eyes. As he sat, he rolled up his pant leg and gently rubbed a large purple bruise on his shin.
“That has to hurt.” Jess had a grimace on his face.
“Yeah, and it’s raw. I need to avoid bumping into things.”
After spending some more time thinking, Kid laid out some rescue plan options. He knew they had all the tools they would need in the storage cabinets on the bottom of the ship.
A little before 9:00 p.m., on schedule, soldiers came down and cycled the generators and adjusted some settings. Kid and Jess waited in their hiding space for the soldiers to conclude their work.
“Why were you looking behind the generators?” Kid could faintly hear one of them ask.
“We have not.”
“There is a clear handprint on the side of generator number ten.”