Authors: S D Taylor
Erin looked around the lobby but she didn’t see anyone in the distinctive blue uniforms of the Ponder staff. “Come with me. We will think of something.”
Doug was impatiently waiting to leave when Erin arrived with the dog and the girl. “Who is she?”
“She lost her mother and asked me for my help.”
Doug quickly considered his options. He didn’t have high hopes, but he decided to check. What is your name little girl?”
In a quiet voice the girl said “Julti.”
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“Her name is Bealma. She is tall and has long blond hair.
“Is your aunt named Dara?”
Julti looked surprised. “Yes. How did you know?”
Doug smiled at the surprise on the faces of Erin and Julti. “Dara is an old friend of mine. She asked me to come here and get you and your mom, and rescue the dog. I am just somewhat shocked that you found us. Now we just need your mom.”
The girl turned to Erin. “I thought your dog looked a lot like Balla. Well that explains it.” Julti smiled and nodded her head.
Erin looked at Doug and shook her head. “And I thought I had the luck of the Irish. So what is your revised plan? Where do we look for her?”
“Very few people here have blond hair. I am going to look for her mother. In the meantime, you guys need to get to higher ground. I will catch up with you.”
“Doug, please. Don’t do this. Come with us. The tsunami could be here any minute.”
“I’ll be ok. We have a little while longer unless I miss my bet. I have to find her mom. Get going. I’ll be careful.”
“I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you like this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” He kissed her quickly. Patted the girl and the dog on their heads and was gone.
Erin felt an empty pit in her stomach as they turned and drove away in the borrowed bus with Julti sitting on the middle row of seats, holding the pup. “Doug will look for your mother and make sure she is safe. We will go to a safe place and wait for them.”
“Thanks for helping me. Will we go see my aunt now? Is she here?”
“Yes, we will go see Dara. But Doug wants to be sure that a big wave doesn’t get your mom.”
“Oh, she won’t die from a wave now that you are helping us.”
Erin smiled that the girl had so much confidence in them. “I hope you are right”
But Erin’s confidence took a turn for the worse as she rounded a corner and saw the flashing lights of a Yir-Lak police vehicle that was blocking the road ahead of the shuttle.
Chapter 42
Erin followed the police vehicle back to the Ponder resort. Two Yir-Lak soldiers in brown camouflage uniforms drove what appeared to a racing minivan. It was low and wide, very aerodynamic and it had three wheels on each side. They stopped at the entrance to the resort and motioned Erin to go around them. She pulled the shuttle bus into the circular drive and parked it to one side. She took little Balla and set her on the ground and then took Julti’s hand and led the dog and the little girl into the lobby.
Doug was standing there with a tall blond woman and two additional Yir-Lak policemen who wore the same brown uniforms. Erin let the little girl’s hand go and she ran to the tall woman and hugged her. Bealma looked sternly at Erin and said, “Thanks for returning my daughter. The two of you are a bad example for the people here in Transarctica. Now we need to get going. These men will take us all to see one of their commanders who will decide what to do with you. And we need to get out of here before any big waves hit.”
Doug had an intense and frustrated look on his face, but he appeared resigned to his fate. Erin wondered if there had been any stunpulses in the past few minutes. He did manage a brief wink when he saw her and he put his arm around her as they walked to the shuttle. The thoughtlink still worked. “Not everything is as it appears to be. Bealma came up with this story to cover the stolen shuttle and get us back to Dara. Try to play along. We would have been arrested anyway and she is trying to get Dara to help us out of this mess.”
“So you think things are ok? That Dara can fix this?” Erin tried not to register any emotion as they exchanged thoughts. She was still worried about being discovered. But since it appeared that they were already in police custody it may not matter anymore. She wondered why there were no handcuffs for either of them. If they knew Doug better, they would have restrained him a bit more. But then she realized that with the stunpulses, handcuffs were probably not needed.
One of the policemen drove the bus while the other one kept an eye on the prisoners. Erin sat about halfway back, next to Doug. Little Balla curled up on her lap for the ride back to the tram station. Bealma and Julti sat in the back. The tsunami sirens were blaring loudly and it appeared that everyone was taking them seriously. A steady stream of people was moving quickly up into the hills above the town.
Doug took her hand.
Erin turned to look at him but he quickly said, “I just wanted to hold your hand.” Erin thought they had come to the end of whatever charade was going on. Her caution began to erode as she thought about what came next. She used the thoughtlink. “Are you sure this isn’t real? Looks pretty real to me. Is this where it ends for us? This could all be a set up.”
“Don’t be so sure. They didn’t fake the earthquake. What do you think is going on? That this is all being staged? For what reason?”
“I don’t know but after what I have seen from Dara before, it wouldn’t be beyond their technology to make us believe anything they wanted us to. I can’t even be sure you are real. Or that the older Doug is really here. His Erin told me that he had died. They could be supplying us with all this stimulus just to see how we react.”
“Well the girls said they never found the body. Dara may be playing some kind of game, but I can’t believe this whole episode is taking place in my head. And when I looked her in the eye before we went down the mountain, I thought I saw genuine concern for her family. I can’t believe she is faking all this.”
“I guess we’ll find out shortly. Thanks for holding my hand.”
“Any time.”
“Well go ahead.”
Doug looked puzzled. “Go ahead?”
“You thought about kissing me. Go ahead.”
He smiled. He wondered if the thoughtlink was a permanent thing between them as he kissed her gently on the lips. She didn’t think or say anything at that moment, but he felt her love.
The bus continued past the tram station where the youth group and their driver were still standing and waving for assistance. It turned out there was a narrow road with a number of hairpin curves that climbed the back side of the mountain all the way to the restaurant. They shouldn’t be surprised there was a road up the mountain since the material to build the tram and the restaurant didn’t ride up on the tram. The whole ride took about thirty five minutes and they were soon pulling into a parking lot that was just below the restaurant. One of the soldiers motioned to Doug and Erin to follow him as he stepped off the shuttle. Doug squeezed Erin’s hand one more time but didn’t say anything as they fell in behind him, Erin holding the little dog in her arms. Bealma and Julti followed.
They walked in single file towards the trees on the far side of the parking lot, with the soldier who drove the bus brining up the rear and keeping watch on the prisoners. As they neared the trees, they could see Jelk and Dara standing there with the older Doug, Peter and Gaby sitting on the ground with their hands behind their backs as if they were handcuffed. Dara’s children and Jelk’s wife and children were nowhere to be seen. Erin felt her spirits sinking as rapidly as her pulse rate was increasing. She could sense Doug’s tension as he prepared to do something before they tried to handcuff him. This wasn’t what they expected to find and Doug was starting to believe Erin was right to question what was going on. Even the Balla seemed to be on guard and she started to growl softly and shake.
Dara stepped forward from the trees and the lead soldier stopped. “Greetings, Commander. These two people stole a shuttle bus and were trying to abduct this young girl. What do you wish to do with them? Should we form an execution detachment?”
“No, thank you lieutenant. My guard is here with me. You may leave them with me. They are misguided and need to be sanctioned, but I believe they were trying to rescue the girl and the dog. We can take it from here.” Jelk heard his cue and stepped forward. He walked past the soldier and grasped Doug on the arm. The immediate thoughtlink was established. “Count to three and start to struggle. I will hit you and you will pretend to be unconscious. Try to sell it to these guys.”
“What crap are you trying to sell me? Do you really have to hit me?” Doug thought back with defiance as he awaited the blow.
“Trust me. Start counting.”
Doug glanced at Erin. She had a look of fear and anger on her face and was focused on Dara. She jumped slightly when Doug suddenly yelled, “It is wrong to punish us! We were trying to help.” He pulled so hard he nearly threw Jelk off balance for a second, but the Hybroman was able to instantly rebalance and keep from falling. He pulled Doug forward with his powerful metal arm and struck him with a glancing blow across the face and shoulder that sent him tumbling into a pile near the sitting group of prisoners. He hit the ground and held perfectly still.
Erin started to react but realized that when you are holding a puppy it is difficult to mount a credible martial arts offensive. She just looked at Dara and said emphatically, “You bitch.”
Dara smiled as she reached out and took little Balla from Erin. “I will assume you meant the dog. Just don’t push me too far.” She grabbed Erin’s arm and thought to her, “Play along with this. We need the cover story. Run over to Doug and help him. He’s ok.” Despite her small, soft hands, Dara had a vice grip and Erin could feel her strength as the Commander pushed her towards Doug and released her. “Go see if he needs a hug, or if Jelk finally killed him.”
Erin couldn’t believe what her thoughts were telling her. She couldn’t believe this whole scene. Was Dara playing yet another stupid trick on them? And what for? Was this part of some escape plan? Why couldn’t they just tell her about it? She didn’t want to be the person who doesn’t find out what’s going on until the last possible second. She ran over to where Doug lay on the ground apparently unconscious. She turned to Jelk. “Haven’t we suffered enough from you people? Do you have to find new ways to torment us every day?”
“I told you Erin. It is only my job. And I try to do a good job.”
Dara dismissed the two soldiers with a wave of her hand. They returned to the shuttle bus and drove away. The young girl and her mother had walked over and joined Dara, both of them exchanging kisses on the cheek with her. Dara addressed the group. “This is my sister and her daughter. Thanks for helping save them from the tsunami along with Balla. Whatever you think was happening here, it was all for dramatic effect. I hope Jelk didn’t hurt you, Doug. But your anger helped convince the soldiers. If they thought for a minute that we were working together, they would have shot all of us. Please trust me.”
“Why are you speaking to us like this?”
Dara smiled. “Because for the first time in my lifetime, the Yir-Lak monitoring systems have gone off-line. This earthquake could be a turning point for Transarctica. The Yir-Lak Command has been so confident in their ability to electronically monitor and control the people that they have greatly reduced their boots on the ground. If enough people had a change of heart about the termination policies right now today, they couldn’t contain the rebellion and they would have to change the policy or face annihilation. But that assumes the people are ready and recognize the chance that is before them. They need someone to lead them.”
Doug sat up and rubbed his jaw while looking at Jelk. “Is that someone you, Dara? Will you lead the rebellion?”
Dara stood there, casually stroking Balla and turned towards Doug. “It could be, but I can’t do it without your help. I will need help from all of you.”
Erin stood next to her, looking intently at this woman of contradictions. “We just want to go home. What can we do to help your rebellion? It appears that the earthquake has done far more for your cause than anything else that could be imagined.”
“The earthquake is just a random event that now makes other events possible. But we have a very short window of opportunity. Power will be restored within a day or two and our chance will have passed. We need to organize and strike in the next twenty-four hours. To make that happen, I need you to take the children to a safe place where they can’t be harmed by the Yir-Lak, regardless of the outcome here. And I need the people of Transarctica to join us along with people like you who have not lived their whole lives being monitored. People who know how to take action to achieve their goals. We need your help.”
Doug could see where this was going. “Dara, just come with us. Your children need a mother more than this society needs a messiah.”
Dara smiled a sad smile. “Actually, the children were about to lose me to termination in two months had nothing happened. Bealma would have to raise them until her time was up. She is five years younger than I am. As it is, there is now hope for something else. But even if that hope disappears, they will have the possibility of a far happier life with you and Erin and your friends than they would have ever had here. Your life may be tougher in some ways, but at least you can live past your mid-thirties. I don’t want them to live with that hanging over their heads like it has been for me.”