Autumn in the City of Lights (10 page)

“Ew,” I heard Rissi say as she finally went back to the table. “So
why
aren’t you here anymore, Grey? Don’t you like us?”

Grey grinned and sat beside her and began to pour a bowl of cereal. “I like you all a lot. I’ve just been really busy at the hospital lately.”

“With sick people?”

“I’m working on keeping people from getting sick,” he said. She nodded and took another big bite of cereal, as if she understood exactly what he meant.

“It is unusual to see you here for breakfast lately, though,” I said.

“I wanted to see you all off... and remind you to try and go easy on Diego.”

“That’ll be the day,” said Ben, not looking up from his plans. Grey turned his head to see what Ben was studying.

“I remember this rig being on the news a lot a few years ago,” Grey said, tapping the blueprints.

“They were trying to shut down the drilling,” Daniel chimed in. “I once joined in a protest myself.”

All eating paused as each of us looked up at Daniel. He gave a sheepish gesture, “What? I care about stuff. Or, I used to... back in college, you know?”

Shad clapped him on the back. “You’re a real saint.”

“You wanna be cleaning the 501’s, while the rest of us are in the flight simulators today?” Daniel warned Shad.

“Couldn’t train with you today if I wanted to. I’m going with the expedition team, remember?”  Shad reminded him. “Gonna be a few of Diego’s boys, Autumn, and me, ‘cause you know, someone’s gotta lead this merry band.”  Shad winked.

“God help them,” Daniel said dryly before downing the last of his coffee.

“You guys be careful out there,” Connie said. “If the seas are too rough, please turn around and go back another day.”

“They’ll be fine, Connie,” Ben said. “They’re just going out a few miles to take a look at it. Odds are, they’ll be back in two or three days. If anything, the trip
to
Malibu will be the tricky part. But Karl’s
promised
,” Ben used air quotes to emphasize the word, “The Front has cleared a path to the ocean for us and will stay back while they’re en route.”

“You’re still taking precautions though?” Daniel asked.

“Of course they are,” Ben said.  “I don’t trust Karl for a second. But for now it seems like it’s in his best interest to keep the peace, so I think they’ll be fine.” Ben paused a moment and looked down at his plans. “God, I wish I could go, too. I really want to see what kind of shape this place is in. Shad, are you sure you remember everything I’ve been telling you about Castor and Pollux?”

“Yeah, yeah. Between you drilling all that stuff in my head, and Daniel making me spend all the rest of my time in the sims, I fall asleep thinking about oil traps and wake up thinking about trimming flaps.”  He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t have this much homework when I was
in
school!”

“Don’t forget to take lots of pictures,” Ben said, handing Shad a digital camera. “I want this thing loaded when you come back.”

“Yes, mother,” Shad muttered, stuffing the camera in his pack. “You guys ready?”

“I’m ready,” I said, standing and giving Grey a firm hug.

“I wish I could go with you,” he said.

“We’ll be fine. I think Ben is right, on all fronts. No pun intended,” I added, rolling my eyes. “We’ll be home as soon as we can. Maybe when I’m back you could come to dinner?”

“If I make enough progress, I’ll come round,” he promised, then gave me a gentle kiss. “Please be careful.” I promised I would, then followed Shad out.

We rode our horses to meet Diego and the rest of the group at the equestrian center at the edge of Griffith Park. I was looking forward to spending a day or two riding Snicket. Everything in New Burbank was so close together that I generally only spent about ten or fifteen minutes a day actually riding. Most of our quality time happened during feeding or when I brushed her down. The thirty-mile ride to Malibu would do her good.

Sixteen of us were making the trip. Ben was the real brains of the operation, despite not being able to come with us, but he’d prepped Shad, and me to some extent, so we could be his eyes and ears. Diego took point, leading our long trail of horses to our destination. Shad and I rode at the back of the pack, keeping an eye out.

In his continued effort of fooling everyone but my friends and me, Karl had arranged for his people to push cars to the sides of the roads on the course we gave him, making our travel easier and faster. We intentionally strayed some, just in case, though we never saw another soul. The alternate streets still had dead cars blocking the way, but it was worth the price of safety.

The sun was setting when we spotted the marina in Malibu, where we planned on borrowing two boats belonging to The Front. To everyone’s surprise, Karl was waiting for us.

Diego jumped off his horse and approached him. I moved Snicket closer, so I could hear most of what was said.

“I’m not interfering,” I heard Karl reply. “I promised you our assistance, and you have it. A cleared path between New Burbank and Malibu, two fueled boats and no problems from any of my people.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Diego demanded.

“I want to know what’s out there as much as you do. None of my people have explored that far, and if there’s crude oil, I think both parties should benefit.”

“That wasn’t the bargain,” Diego replied. “Whatever’s out there, New Burbank’s done all of the research and the –”

Karl cut him off. “Whatever’s out there is ours to share. The way I see it, if we go to war over what resources are left, no one wins. If we cooperate and share, we all win. Come on, Diego. Be reasonable. I could have just blocked off the Westside and declared it an independent country and taken the coastline and all of its resources with me. But I’m not doing that. I’m cooperating. So should you.”

Diego pinched his eyes shut in frustration. The sad truth of the matter was that Karl had a point. Even I saw it. And if we declined to let Karl go, the shaky peace we had with them would break down. There weren’t too many Frontmen left but enough to cause major problems, especially with a cunning leader like Karl.

“In the spirit of cooperation, I invite you to stay with us, and go to the oil rig,” Diego said. “But I have a condition.”

“Pray tell,” Karl replied.

“Just you. None of your men.”

“Agreed. However, I warn you, if I am harmed in any way, or don’t come back from this trip, my men have orders to wage all-out war on New Burbank.”  Karl gave a tight smile.

“You won’t be harmed,” was all Diego said in response. Karl looked past him and saw me.

“Miss Winters,” Karl said, noticing me for the first time. He walked toward me and put a hand on Snicket’s reins. She made me proud when she recoiled and snorted at him.
An extra carrot tonight
, I thought.

“Hello, Karl,” I said, trying to sound bored and not frightened. “Fancy seeing you all the way out here. How
ever
did you manage it?”  I wanted to subtly remind him I knew his secret, and he wasn’t the only one holding cards at this poker table.

“Oh, I managed just fine. I’m looking forward to our expedition in the morning. Better get some rest,” he said, giving a sideways grin, then he walked through the rest of our group, greeting everyone and trying to make small talk. I stifled a laugh when he got to Shad, who just ignored him.

Everyone started making camp, including Karl, apparently our new camping buddy. Shad helped me put up my tent, and we sat around a fire he’d made. He’d gotten very good at the art of fire making. He credited it to his love of reality TV and proceeded to list all of the places he thought he could probably survive.

“Drinking my own urine is where I draw the line, though,” he finished.

“Gross, Shad.”

“What? I said I
wouldn’t
do it!”

Across the camp, I saw Karl sitting with Diego. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but saw the big shadow puppets Diego’s hands were casting as he spoke with large gestures. Karl seemed almost as animated, which was odd. Like Grey, most of the time he was very in control of his emotions
. Most
of the time.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” I asked Shad.

“Probably debating the best college football teams of all time,” Shad said. “By the looks of it, I think Karl just said Nebraska circa 1995, while I’m thinking Diego is a Bama fan. He’s probably going with Alabama circa 2012. I tend to agree with Diego.”

“Will you be serious for a second?” I squinted through the darkness at them.

“Cool your jets, Winters. They’re probably talking about how we divide the crude oil if the rigs are still functioning after all this time.”

“And what if they’re not functioning? This might all be a moot point,” I said. At that moment, Karl turned and caught my eye. I was suddenly reminded how Grey could hear better than most people because of the E-Vitamin he’d taken for so long. Karl would be the same way. He’d heard us talking about him. But I didn’t care, and I didn’t deflect my eyes.

Karl ended his conversation with Diego and walked over to us. Shad instantly stood, meeting him with his head held high and shoulders back.

“What do you want?” Shad said in a voice I’d never heard from him before. It was almost frightening. But he didn’t scare Karl.

“I was hoping for a word with Miss Winters here,” he said looking down at me. “In private?”

“I don’t think so,” Shad said, taking a step in front of me, putting himself between Karl and me. Karl’s eyes narrowed.

“How’s the lovely young Connie? I heard she’s expecting. Congratulations.” Karl’s voice sounded sincere, but the meaning landed hard with all of us.

Lightning fast, Shad slugged Karl right on the jaw, knocking him back three steps.

Everyone in the camp reacted. I jumped to my feet as Karl raised both of his hands in a “calm down” gesture and backed away.

“What’s going on over here?” Diego said. Karl moved his hand away from his jaw, and I saw a small trail of blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Just a little misunderstanding. I was trying to apologize to Autumn, and the boy here got in the way. Think maybe he has a crush on the actress’ daughter is all. Trying to show off a little.”

Shad tightened his lips and moved forward to hit Karl again, but Diego interceded.

“That’s enough. I think it’s time for everyone to call it a night. Karl, you’re over here on the other side of the camp. Shad, Autumn, keep your distance. We don’t need to make this situation any worse.”

We were more than glad to stay as far away from Karl as possible.

Early the next morning, we set out for the oil rigs. The two small boats were just big enough for us all to sit down, with not much room for our gear. Diego and eight other volunteers crowded into the front boat. Shad and I, Karl, and seven others made up the last boat.  Shad sat next to me on a bench seat. I wasn’t sure how Karl had talked himself onto our boat after the skirmish last night, but I wasn’t surprised either. I knew more than most how crafty he could be.

“Are these boats big enough to take us all the way out to the rigs?” Shad asked, eyeing the wind stripping white foam from the tips of the large breakers in the gray ocean before us.

Karl chuckled. “Of course they are. Why would I intentionally endanger myself?”

After the boats set off, Karl turned to face me. His hair was getting so long that it whipped around his face in the wind. “I’m sorry about last night, Autumn,” he said, looking like he meant it. “You know, I can be a very reasonable man, if you just let me.”

“Reasonable like intimidating everyone into joining your group and killing off the rest?” Shad barked. I put a hand on his knee to steady him. There was no room on the boat for a fistfight. Karl cut his eyes at Shad, and my heart went cold. Shad only had a fraction of an idea what Karl was capable of, and he was quickly getting on Karl’s bad side.

“Whatever business you think you have with us, it’s not going to happen,” I interrupted. “We want nothing to do with you, ever.”

“We’ll see about that,” Karl said, then turned around.

Within half an hour, Castor and Pollux emerged from the dense ocean mist. In a weird way, the two adjoined oil rigs were beautiful. The metal beams holding them high out of the water were thick and crisscrossed for extra support, creating a stunning geometric pattern against the choppy sea.

Shad pointed. “There’s a ladder on Pollux’s starboard side,” he yelled over the roaring motor and gusting wind. Our boat made a beeline for Pollux, and as we got closer, I noticed something else inside the maze of steel columns. There was some kind of mass hanging into the water near the ladder.

“What is that?” I yelled.

Karl stood up and stared ahead. “Slow down,” he yelled back at the man controlling the throttle.

“What do you see?” someone shouted.

“Looks like some kind of dead sea life,” Karl said. “Maybe a small whale or a sea lion.”

“Are you sure?”

“Let’s creep up on it until we know what we’re dealing with,” Karl said. “I don’t like surprises.”

It was the one time I agreed with him. But the boat in front of us was taking a different approach. They maintained their speed and went straight to the mass. I heard them cut their engines as they closed in on whatever it was, and Diego edged to the side to look at it. By this point, we’d crept up close enough to see for ourselves that it was a dead sea lion, bloated and dripping blood into the ocean beneath it. It appeared to have been caught in some kind of netting.

At the same moment Diego leaned forward to grasp the net, Karl leapt to his feet, setting our boat rocking violently.

“Get them out of there! Diego! Sit down!”  Karl shouted, as we all grabbed for something to steady ourselves. “Cut that blasted motor so they can hear me!” he yelled at the guy in the back of the boat. The guy wasn’t happy to be taking Karl’s orders, but when Shad nodded his head, he did what Karl asked.

“Get out of there!” Karl yelled again. We were all on our feet now, trying to figure out what was going on. This time, Diego heard Karl, and he looked in our direction.