by Ike Hamill
“Fuckery abounds,” Leonard said.
“I wish you had requested a little more emphatically,” Patrice said, holding up his arms and then lowering them again. He was wearing gloves and the jacket cuffs were taped around his forearms again. Andrew had told him that he didn’t need it, but Patrice had wanted his skin covered anyway.
“Next time, a simple, ‘Get down!’ would be appreciated,” Patrice said.
“There’s nothing random in pool,” Leonard said. “You related it to pool, but the balls don’t have free will. How did you know that Patrice wasn’t going to heed your warning?”
“We didn’t,” Marie said. “It was merely likely based on our observations of him.”
“You’ve only known him a few hours,” Leonard said.
“Collectively, we have known him his whole life,” she said. It was a stretch, but in some sense it was also completely true.
“Bullshit,” Patrice said. “Next topic—tell us the rest of what happened with Nelson and Tyler.”
They walked north on the narrow dirt road. Marie walked in one rut and Andrew in the other. Patrice and Leonard walked behind. Occasionally, as the flashlight beam swung, Marie saw the woods around them. In the deep shadows, clinging close to the larger trees, she saw patches of snow that wouldn’t thaw until spring.
“I’ve told you everything. I’m not sure…”
“After Tyler ran, you said that you went off after Nelson on foot. If Nelson headed south on the snowmobile and Tyler looped around on foot, something must have happened to slow Nelson down. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have seen him sink into the lake roughly at the same time that Andrew saw Tyler. Those two events should have been hours apart. So what happened? How did you catch Nelson and why is the timing off?”
“Oh,” Marie said. Now that he presented the scenario linearly, Marie realized that she had left a bunch of it out. It had to be some kind of self-defense mechanism. She had blocked off that memory because they weren’t ready to hear it yet. Now that everything was underway, she remembered. The idea was deeply unsettling—what else was she not remembering?
“So?” Leonard asked.
“You’re right,” she said. “There was more. Tyler ran off to the west and I chased Nelson’s tracks. It was very slow going in spots. Sometimes, his tracks only packed down a few inches of snow and my foot would plunge right through until I could wade back up on top. I thought that I would never catch him, but I heard his snowmobile idling and I realized that he was just up ahead.”
She could picture the scene precisely, but there was something odd about the memory. She saw it from over her own shoulder instead of through her eyes. It was more like a movie than a memory.
“He shut off the snowmobile as I approached. I circled wide around him, trying to get a look at his eyes. I knew that if I could see his eyes, I could judge if Nelson was really still in there. He was. He battled to form a smile as he looked at me.”
Marie lost herself to the memory.
* * * * * * *
(Nelson)
“Marie,” Nelson said. “You’re still separate.”
“You didn’t know?” she asked.
“No. I’ve been keeping myself warm intermittently by running the snowmobile. I figured out what I have to do, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“There’s a lake south of here. I’m going to drive this snowmobile to that lake and finish this.”
He gestured down at his own body, encased in the blue snowsuit.
“We can find a cure for this. Can’t we?”
“It’s too dangerous. I won’t be a part of Orion.”
“I don’t know what you mean. Do you intend to drown yourself?”
He shook his head.
“No. I wish I could. This tissue still looks human, but it has been compromised.”
“What are you saying?”
He held up his gloved hand.
“Liquid water will erase me.”
“That’s crazy. People are mostly water.”
“Not for long,” he said.
Marie backed up when Nelson smiled again. The inhuman part of him was just below the surface. She stumbled and landed on her butt in the snow. She pulled herself up with the help of a tree.
“Don’t do it,” she said. “Stay here, if you have to, but don’t do anything stupid. I’ll find help.”
“It wants to go south too, Marie. Don’t trust the thoughts in your head. There are more people to the south—they must be hunting or camping. I’m going to drive this thing into the water before it makes me go after them.”
She backed away from him, slogging through the snow to get to a patch where the sun had skimmed the surface with ice. Once she climbed up on that, she was able to stand up straight.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she said.
Marie ran.
* * * * * * *
(Marie)
“So, I ran south. It got easier as I went because the snow wasn’t as deep. Eventually, I heard the snowmobile behind me. Nelson started it up and drove through the woods. I hid when he passed me, but I don’t think I needed to. He was so wrapped up in his internal battle that I don’t think he even saw my footprints in the snow. After he passed by, I went and joined his tracks. The snowmobile left a scar in the snow that went down to the leaves and dirt when he reached the point when it was no longer deep enough for the treads.”
Marie glanced back at Leonard and Patrice. She looked over to Andrew. The story was probably not giving him any information that he hadn’t already inherited from the infection.
“Nelson stopped one more time at the base of the hill where the snow ended. I could see him physically fighting for control of his own body. One hand was trying to turn the snowmobile around while the other was trying to propel it forward. I called to him. I told him to fight. When Oliver, my husband, was sick, some people encouraged him to fight. Other people said that when you try to battle your own body, you lose either way. Nelson knew that. He knew that to fight was to lose. I saw when he gave in. That’s when he opened up the snowmobile and drove over the leaves and rocks. He crested the hill and I ran after. By the time I could see the lake through the trees, the sound of the snowmobile was gone. All I heard was you two shouting to each other.”
“In your own story, you admit that you’re untrustworthy,” Patrice said.
“I’m doing the best that I can, risking my own life, to prevent this thing from spreading.”
“No,” Patrice said, “you’re not. If that were true, you would have sacrificed yourself the same way that Nelson did. Instead, you sought us out, guaranteeing that your half of the infection would persist. I’m assuming that any of this is accurate.”
“Forgive me for having a self-preservation instinct. It has been baked into my genes for millions of years,” she said. Her anger flared at the notion that she should immolate herself without specific knowledge that doing so was necessary for the survival of everyone else.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Patrice said.
Leonard swatted Patrice’s shoulder and then interjected with his own question. “You’ve mentioned this ‘Orion’ thing a couple of times. He never explained what that is?”
“No,” Marie said. “With some things, I just seem to know what they mean. It’s almost like I’m remembering someone else’s memories. But with that, I’m blank.”
“I know what it is,” Andrew said.
“You’re tapped into that collective consciousness?” Marie asked.
“Not about that, no,” Andrew said. “I know about Orion because I worked on it.”
* * * * * * *
(Andrew)
“You’re assuming that it’s the same Orion,” Leonard said. “Could be two things with that same name, right?”
“There are no coincidences,” Marie said.
“It all fits,” Andrew said. “Nobody is serious about that proje
ct though. I only worked on it to stabilize what they had. In fact, it was the reason that I moved to Maine in the first place.”
“What is it?” Leonard asked.
“The part that I worked on was the command center, west of Cornish. There’s an old mill that was converted into Project Orion’s remote base. The real guts of the thing are down in New York, from what I gather. That part of the project had a lot more security. In Maine, from the command center, they would control all the explosions, sending the thing up and away.”
Andrew realized that they weren’t following his explanation. He backed up to the beginning.
“Sometime after the Korean conflict, there was a real sense that our planet was on a path to self-destruction. It was well before my time. Apparently, some faction of the government decided that we needed some sort of Hail Mary to save the human race in the event that everything went to shit. The idea was to turn part of the country into an escape pod that could be launched off to Mars. They made a whole structure that could survive liftoff, and they populated the thing with people who lived there in shifts. In the event of disaster, the button would be hit in the remote base and the thing would launch in New York. Everything was done with dedicated lines that were impervious to interference, either solar or nuclear. That’s why they brought me in. I had to rework the ancient machines because the control systems were all decommissioned at the turn of the century.”
They still looked confused.
“Where did I lose you?”
“There’s an escape pod?” Patrice asked.
“Was. There was an escape pod. It was basically just a whole bunch of nuclear bombs planted under a giant piece of turf somewhere in Upstate New York. The signal goes off, and the thing is launched. It’s like putting a firecracker under the lid of a peanut butter jar. When the nukes go off, the pod gets shot into space. There are all kinds of counter explosions that go off at the same time to reduce the acceleration so the people inside don’t die. It never would have worked, but I guess they figured that a slim chance was better than none. Anyway, once the thing gets away from the planet, another explosion goes off to put it on an intercept course with Mars. Then, the whole thing navigates with a little more precision. When it gets there, it has some sort of inflatable cushion so the people aboard can survive the entry. They don’t need to set up a base there because the whole thing is their base.”
“That’s what it wants to use,” Marie said.
“At the expense of everyone who has the bad taste to stay behind,” Patrice said.
“The thought was that if everyone is already doomed, it doesn’t matter what you leave behind,” Andrew said.
“This is some coincidence,” Leonard said. “Nelson was talking about using Orion to get off of this planet and you happen to have worked at the command center?”
“There is no coincidence,” Marie said. “There is only very good planning.”
* * * * * * *
(Patrice)
Leonard slowed down so he could whisper to Patrice without the others hearing.
“If there’s any truth to this at all…”
“There’s not.”
“…then we shouldn’t be doing what they want. She has already admitted that everything she does is affected by the thing inside her, right? Can we afford to go along with her?”
“We’re not, Len,” Patrice said. “Remember, we have her keys. As soon as we get within sight of her rental vehicle, we’re going to go our own way. You brought the battery booster. We just get her vehicle and we get the hell out of here. When we’re back in contact with civilization, we won’t stop shouting until the cops, National Guard, FBI, and army are all on their way. Let them sort it out. That’s why we pay taxes, right?”
“I guess,” Leonard said. “But Andrew is not acting like Andrew. Let’s say he goes crazy and tries to get to that command center thing.”
“You think he’s just going to be able to simply walk in there? He worked there at the turn of the century. That was forever ago. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to get near the place. If they’re really guarding a secret like that, they’ll have people in place to stop saboteurs.”
“Yeah, but microscopic ones?”
“If you believe that people were competent enough to build a crazy thing like an escape pod for the human race, then you should also believe in their ability to protect it. Whatever vulnerability you think the place might have, you better believe that someone already thought of it and addressed it before they built the place.”
“I guess,” Leonard said, frowning.
“But the real answer is to forget about it,” Patrice said. “We’re going to get her vehicle started and get out of here with whatever is left of me. You’re going to have to do most of the work. I can feel my hands moving around inside my gloves, but I think they’re still mostly useless. I hope they don’t have to cut off my arms at the elbows. I’ve grown quite attached to the lower halves of my arms.”
“Maybe they can fix your sense of humor at the same time.”
“It’s not much farther,” Marie called from up ahead.
“You ready for this?” Patrice asked Leonard.
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Leonard said.
Chapter Eighteen - Escaping
(Leonard)
THE SNOW CAME OUT of nowhere. When they climbed the hill, there was just a dusting here and there in the woods. Anywhere the sun hit, it had melted away. Then, on the other side of the hill, it was deeper with every step they took. Leonard’s toes were frozen in his boots. He stayed in the tracks left, presumably, by Jake’s truck.
Marie pointed and Leonard directed his flashlight. Up ahead, where their dirt road joined another at an intersection, there was another set of tracks. The details of those older tracks had melted away. Jake’s tracks swung to the right and joined the older ones.
“It’s not much farther now,” Marie said.
She had already said that several times, but now it seemed like it might be true.
The whole group picked up their pace. Leonard caught a glimpse of a distant light through the trees. Directing his flashlight, he realized that it was only a reflection.
“The cabin,” Patrice said. “I’ll be damned.”
“He’s not there,” Marie said. “We have to follow the snowmobile tracks from before—the ones that go north to the site of the experiment.”
“Sure thing,” Patrice said. He whispered to Leonard, “Swing your light to the left. I think the vehicle is there.”
Leonard followed the instruction and then he saw it too. The tracks through the snow led down and around. They ended at a big SUV that was parked away from the cabin. It was still hooked up to the trailer that hauled the snowmobiles there. Alongside it, nose-first into a snowbank, Jake’s truck was abandoned.
“The snowmobile trail begins beyond the cabin,” Marie said. “We can stop inside for water if you’d like, but we can’t waste too much time.”
“You guys go inside and get some water for us,” Patrice said. “Me and Len are going to check out Jake’s truck.”
Marie nodded and continued on with Andrew.
“You want to leave them here?” Leonard said as soon as the others were around the corner.
“Yeah,” Patrice said with a sad nod. “Can’t risk it.”
Together, they headed for the big SUV that was hooked up to the trailer. Leonard went to the passenger’s side first and opened the door for Patrice. Circling around, he tossed the rifle and bag inside and then climbed in. The first order of business was leaning over and stretching to the back so he could lock all the doors manually. Once they were locked inside, he dug in the bag.
“It might not work from here,” Patrice said. “Some cars don’t have a direct connection between the accessory jack and the battery unless the car’s running.”
“Relax. I got this,” Leonard said. He pulled out the battery booster that he had lugged in the bag all the way from Patrice’s truck
. He plugged the heavy cable into the jack below the radio and flipped the switch. It was almost fully charged. The device was a testament to Patrice’s frugality. When he had found the perfectly good booster at the dump, Patrice had put off replacing his truck’s battery indefinitely. Whenever he came out to find his truck dead, he simply plugged in the booster to get the extra juice he needed to start her up.
Leonard found the keys they had confiscated from Marie.
“Cross your fingers.”
They heard the muffled voice from outside.
“Leonard? Patrice? What are you doing?” Marie called.
Leonard turned the key.
Lights struggled to life on the dashboard. Leonard gave it a second before he tried to crank the engine. While he waited, he turned off the blower, the radio, and the headlights. As he did, the dashboard lights gained strength.
In the mirror, Marie ran up the path from the cabin. She began to slap her hand on the side of the SUV as Leonard took a breath and tried to start the engine. The engine groaned for a few turns. Leonard let off the key before the booster drained completely.
“Go again,” Patrice said.
“Give it a second,” Leonard said.
Marie made her way down to Leonard’s window. She slapped against it with her bare hand.
“You can’t go,” she called through the window. “We need you.”
Leonard glanced over at Patrice.
“Go again,” Patrice said.
Leonard was looking past him. Outside Patrice’s window, Andrew was silently standing. His eyes were locked on Leonard.
He cranked again. After one lethargic groan, the starter picked up speed and the engine caught. The lights on the dashboard swelled to full strength and the booster flipped itself over to charging.