Autumn in the City of Lights (18 page)

Quiet murmurs drifted around the hall as translators leaned in close to whisper explanations of what was being said to those who didn’t speak English.

“That’s fine if you got a few generations to figure it out, sweetheart,” Franklin said.  “But unless you wanna be the last generation of humans to inhabit the planet, I think we gotta go at this balls out.”  Franklin paused to tip his cowboy hat to a few delegates who were sending irritated glares his way.

I stood up, joining the crowd. Warmth flooded my cheeks as eyes turned to me. “I agree with Franklin,” I said, thinking of Connie. “The Crimson Fever is still killing people, bottom line. Until we find a cure, there’s no way to fully move on. My best friend is pregnant.” I paused for dramatic effect. “She already lost three children during the initial outbreak, and she might lose another child soon. I’m willing to bet almost everyone here knows someone just like her. And they’re depending on all of us here to figure this out and guarantee the safety of future generations. Why else are we here, if not for that?”  The delegates quieted for a few moments, and I thought I’d gotten through.

Franklin nodded his head sharply. “Autumn’s right. I know we gotta take a census and figure out who’s left now that the dust has settled, but I’m telling you, life is short. Maybe shorter now than before. The Plague taught me that. If we want to repopulate this planet, every scrap of resources we have left has to go into solving this problem right now.”

“But that’s impossible,” Vincent, the New Yorker, chimed in. “It’s not like you and I can help figure this out. We’re not doctors or scientists. Our efforts would be in vain! So while we gather up the right guys for the job, we can help in other ways, and rebuilding communications is key.”

“But we can enable our scientists and doctors,” I said. “By pooling our resources to make sure their facilities are fully powered and their machines are online. And any tests they dream up will need manpower and technicians to pull off. We can be those people with the right training.”

One of the delegates from Brazil stood suddenly and began speaking in rapid Portuguese, gesturing at Vincent and then myself. I couldn’t tell if he was supporting Vincent’s opinion or my own. His translator stood, waiting anxiously for a pause so he could repeat the barrage of sentences to his delegate.

“Why bother to send a delegate who doesn’t even speak English?” Franklin muttered.

I thought that was unfair. This was a world summit. There was no need for everyone to speak English.  And he’d brought his own translator. I leaned forward to tell Franklin just that when someone behind me shouted, “We can’t understand you! Let your translator speak!”

The Brazilian looked furious at being interrupted and turned toward the back of the room, launching into a new tirade. I looked at Grey, unsure if he understood Portuguese. His eyebrows were raised in mild shock. The man’s translator sat down, his face blushing to a bright crimson. I guess he didn’t want to translate what was being said.

The Brazilian delegate finished suddenly and sat back down in his seat, sweat shining on his brow. Silence followed and everyone looked around, unsure of what to do next.

“Let’s all sit down again,” Margery said in a calm voice, trying to pull everyone back. “We will talk this out, and then we will vote.”

“What would you do, Margery?” asked Cheri, the woman from Washington with a high threat rating. “You must already have some kind of a plan, seeing that you gathered us all here. I want to hear the pitch for the newborns.”  Her companion Joe sat beside her, nodding his head.

“Well, I do have some thoughts on the matter,” Margery said, “but I think we’d better —”

“Why wait?” Cheri pressed. “We’re talking about it now. Let’s hear it.”

“Okay...” Margery hesitated, her professional demeanor rattled by the unsteady start to the morning’s carefully planned proceedings. I felt a stab of pity for her.

She pulled on the bottom of her tailored jacket and straightened her shoulders before speaking. “Switzerland, London, and New Burbank have a few doctors between them already working on the problem. I believe we should focus all of that brainpower. They should work together, perhaps at one of our hospitals here in Paris, or a University, or another agreeable location.”

A rumble broke out. A woman with a British accent shouted, “You’re mad if you think we’re giving up our doctors!”

The delegate from Germany stood and said in English, “We don’t have any doctors to contribute. How do we know you’ll share the cure when it’s discovered?”

Margery raised her hands to calm everyone, but it was useless. Everyone was shouting to be heard, and nothing was being accomplished.

An anonymous voice yelled, “Who elected you queen of the world?”  Several jeers followed from around the room.

Margery opened her mouth and began arguing, but her words couldn’t be heard over the noise. I found Grey’s hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back and looked down at me. He looked just as concerned as I did. This was not going well at all.

Just as the noise rose to a crescendo, Karl appeared next to her. He placed both hands on the podium and shoved it to the ground with a loud bang that silenced everyone. Margery stepped back, frightened, as her notes fluttered to the ground around the fashionable heels that perfectly matched her suit.

“Enough!” Karl yelled, his voice echoing around the room. “This bickering is pointless. We
all
want the same thing here. We want to rebuild. We want newborns. We want safety and security. But this isn’t the way to get it. Margery is trying to facilitate this, and all you want to do is chide her for power grabbing. Well, there’s a way to assuage your fears. You have doubts about the French keeping a cure they haven’t even found yet? You question her motives? Fine. Let’s elect a president pro-tem. Someone who had no idea they were going to be asked to lead, and therefore couldn’t have come here with an agenda.”

The quiet murmurs of translators followed, and then the Russians began to applaud. Others joined in. Margery seemed to shrink inside her power suit, then stooped and began collecting her notes, trying to put them back into order. She touched the corner of her eye briefly, and I wondered if she was upset at Karl’s takeover.

Karl’s takeover
, I repeated mentally, a hollow space forming in the pit of my stomach.
This
is what he wanted.
This
was his plan all along. He was going to get himself elected.

Karl would be the king of the entire world if we didn’t stop him.

We filed out of the Hall of Mirrors after the first session’s shouting match ended. Nominations and voting would take place tomorrow to elect a new leader. And as Grey and I walked through the sea of people, I heard more than one person commenting on how Karl was a natural choice.

“What are we going to do?” I whispered to Grey.

“Not now,” he said, ushering me away from the crowd and waving for Daniel and Shad to follow us. We made our way back to my room and closed the door securely behind us.

“What just happened?” I said, dropping onto the bed and resting my forehead on my hands.

“I second that and raise you a ‘the hell’,” Shad said. “Is president pro-tem even a real title?”

“Yes,” Grey answered, staring out the window at the gardens below. “President pro tempore. It’s Latin for ‘the time being.’” He sighed. “And that’s all the time he needs. You saw how quickly everyone warmed to him, and he was only in front of the crowd for a minute or two.”

“He knew talks would break down eventually.  How could they not? And as soon as he saw his window to take control, he jumped.”  I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling through the gauzy canopy.

“We’ll have to make sure he loses the vote,” Daniel reasoned. “Let’s think. He doesn’t have our votes, or Franklin’s, or Hoover’s new mayor, what’s his name again?”

“Eric, I think,” I said, remembering him from our brief layover in Las Vegas. “He doesn’t talk much, but I think he was one of the original founders of Hoover, and I remember him speaking at Mayor Westland’s funeral, so I’m sure he can’t be under Karl’s spell.”

“I don’t think Cheri is in Karl’s corner, but Ben seemed to think she was suspicious,” Grey said.

“But the rest of the world,” I said, sighing deeply.  “There are a lot more delegates than the ones from our neck of the woods. Karl is charming and confident. He easily manipulated people into joining The Front after The Plague,” I reminded.  “It’s the same thing here.”

“I disagree,” said Daniel. “Those people weren’t leaders.  They were scared and looking for order after the most horrendous tragedy any of them had ever experienced. The people here are all heads of state. There may be a lot of people looking for this title, not just Karl.”

“True, but Karl is the only one we absolutely
have
to stop from getting elected,” I said.

“Then our campaign to sway votes to our side begins now,” Daniel replied, standing up. “We need to get us as many votes as possible. Shad, you’re with me. We’ll start with the people we didn’t meet on the plane. Hopefully, Autumn’s story has traveled farther than just North America. That will make things a little easier. We’ll also tell them about Karl, and The Front.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, sitting up so suddenly my head spun. “You aren’t suggesting me for this position?”

“Daniel’s right,” Grey said from the window. “You’re the only delegate here who stands a chance against him. Your story has elevated you from local hero to global legend, I hope.”

“Grey, it’s
our
story, not just mine. And everyone here has a similar one, I’m sure. I’m no different from anyone else.”

“And that’s why you’re going to make a good leader, Autumn,” Daniel said. “You don’t want power, and you care about those around you. I don’t think I’d trust anyone who nominates themselves for this position.”

“Word,” Shad added, thumping me on the back.

“It was a fluke I was elected in New Burbank to come to the Summit. No one here is going to elect a kid.”

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Daniel said. “It’s certainly not time to give up before we’ve even tried.”

I knew I wasn’t ready to be thrust into a role of such responsibility. At least people like Margery had some formal training, and she was used to being in a position of leadership. I just wanted to be with my family in New Burbank. I wanted to spend time with Grey, tend my garden, ride Snicket in the hills, and watch Rissi grow into a woman.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Grey,” I whispered, but it might as well have been a shout. The room was silent, and everyone stared at me.

Grey turned from the window to Daniel and Shad. “You guys go on. Talk to people and rally all the support you can. I’m going to spend some time with Autumn.”

“If I were cut out to be some great leader, you wouldn’t have to treat me like a child in need of a pep talk before the big game now,” I said, as Daniel and Shad slipped from the room.

“I’m not going to give you a pep talk,” Grey said, crossing the room and kneeling in front of me. “You’re under an undue amount of stress, and we both know this is what has to be done. In the end, I know you’ll make the right decision, because you are the bravest woman I’ve ever known. But that doesn’t mean the burden isn’t a heavy one.”

I sniffed gently, trying not to let him notice just how on the edge of a tearful mental breakdown I really was.

“I’m here with you; so are your friends,” he continued. “You’ll have all the council you want if you win this. And if you have to stay here in Paris to preside, I’ll stay with you. I can work on the newborn crisis in any number of labs here.”

I knew he was trying to reassure me, but it wasn’t helping the drowning sensation inside me. “I don’t want to stay here,” I argued, my voice wobbling. A tear finally broke through and slipped from beneath one closed eyelid.

“I know,
Fòmhair
. I know.”  He brushed away the wetness on my cheek.

“I just want to be Autumn, in charge of no one but myself.”  I didn’t bother stifling a bitter laugh. “Hell, when The Plague hit, I was seventeen. I wasn’t even old enough to be responsible for myself. And now, now you guys want me to take responsibility for everyone left.”

“I know what we’re asking. It’s no small task. But surely you see, there’s no other... ”

“Yes, I know. I have to do this. I have to beat Karl, and it’s my obligation,” I said, letting it all roll together. “But when does it all stop? When can it just be me? When can it just be us, without the weight of the world suffocating us?” I opened my eyes and looked down at him. He was still kneeling in front of me and had both of his hands covering mine.

“I promise you the day will come.”  He paused for a moment and looked away, thinking.

“What?” I questioned. “What is it?”

“How about we steal the rest of the day, for just you and me? Today, there is no plague, no Karl, no world summit, no newborn crisis. It’s just you and me. Together.”

I stared up at him, and for the first time today, smiled through the tears streaking down my face. “Can we do that?”

“Of course we can. And I know the perfect place.”  He grinned.

He stood and pulled me to my feet. I wrapped my arms around him. I felt the tears drying on my face, and the heaviness in my heart began to subside.

“Where are we going?” I asked, burying my face in his shoulder. “Somewhere far away? Or maybe back home?”

“We’re going somewhere very special to me. Close your eyes and trust me.”

I did as he asked and, in a moment, felt a warm breeze gust through my hair. I opened my eyes and looked around. We were under a bridge, standing on a cement path right next to a river. We were definitely in a city. I walked out from under the cover of the bridge’s shade and shielded my eyes. When I looked up at the city, I saw the telltale signs of Paris.

“Come with me; I want to show you something.” Grey held out a hand, and I let him lead the way. We found a path that took us up one level, and I saw a beautiful domed building. Its exterior walls were a soft yellow with columns proudly standing in front like sentry soldiers.

“What is this?” I asked. “It’s stunning.”

“This is the Institut de France,” he said. “But this isn’t why we’re here. Turn around.”

I did, and I saw a long pedestrian bridge stretching over the River Seine. It was metal and studded with lampposts.

Grey took my hand and led me up onto the bridge. Benches peppered the center of the bridge like the dividing line on a road. Grey selected one for us toward the middle of the bridge, and I joined him.

“See over there—” he pointed to the opposite end of the bridge. “That’s the Louvre. I bet you’ve been there.” I smiled. He was right. “This bridge connects the Institut de France and the Louvre. It’s called Pont des Arts. Napoleon himself ordered the construction of this bridge in the early 1800’s, though it’s been updated some since then, obviously.”

“Wow, this is a really old bridge,” I said, thinking about how old everything in Europe was compared to the United States. But I couldn’t muster my usual reverence. The weight on my shoulders was too distracting.

“Sometime over the last few decades, this place has become important for lovers,” Grey said.

“Why?” I asked, suddenly a bit more interested.

“The crisscrossing metal fencing is ideal for locks, see?” He pointed to the railing and for the first time, I noticed thousands of small padlocks strewn across the metal work on the bridge.

“So many,” I said. “But why?”

“Lovers would come here, and as a testament to their love, they would carve their initials on a lock, and together, they would secure it to the bridge, then throw the key into the river, never to be found again. It was a symbol of enduring love. That’s how this bridge got its nickname, the Love Locks Bridge.”

“That’s beautiful,” I said, meaning it. “But why is this place so special to you?”

“Well, I visited Paris a couple years before The Plague appeared. I was so overwhelmed by all of the people here, declaring their endless love for one another, that I vowed to myself to find my humanity again. And, over time, I did.”

I looked up at Grey, shocked. This really
was
an important place to him. I was suddenly very pleased with the location he’d chosen for our date.

“In fact, I want to show you something.”  He got up and walked forward, studying the locks for a moment, then waved me over. When I reached him, I found what he was holding, a brass lock with two letters carved into it.

“G.A.,” I said. “Grey Alexander.”  I smiled. “Does this mean you’re in love with yourself?”

He laughed. “Not exactly. But it was a sign that I allowed myself to love again.”  His smile died, and he looked at me in earnest. “This was the turning point for me, Autumn. If I hadn’t made this decision, right here, I might not have been the man you met and fell in love with in Los Angeles. This paved the path for me to find you.”

My heart became suddenly full. I reached forward and grasped him in a long hug, overcome with my own emotion. After a moment, I pulled back. “Do you know how much I love you?”

“I do,” he said.

“Do you have a knife?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “We’re not about to make a blood oath. But I
was
thinking maybe... I could carve my initials on that lock next to yours.”

He smiled warmly, and suddenly his eyes sparkled even brighter than before. “I think that’s a marvelous idea.” He pulled out a pocketknife. “Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?”

I took the small knife from his hands and carefully carved the letters A and W under his. And when it was done, I knew this was a perfect moment. I wanted to live in it as long as I could.

Grey moved behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Thank you for being patient with me,” he murmured into my hair. “And thank you for loving me.”

I tilted my head to look at him in surprise. “You make it easy to love you,” I said, shrugging. “It’s not really something you need to thank me for. It just sort of happens on its own.”

He laughed, and I smiled, feeling light and relieved from the mounting pressure of what lay ahead of me. I felt that, if I allowed them to, my feet would float up off the ground, and the wind would take me down the wide river as it wound its way through the City of Lights to where it emptied into the English Channel, then into the Celtic Sea.

I smiled, thinking of the Celtic Sea’s steel gray waters foaming along the beach below my grandparents’ cottage outside Dublin.

“Will you take me to my grandparents’ house?” I asked suddenly, turning around in Grey’s arms to face him. He looked down at me, concern in his eyes.

“Are you sure you want to go there?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I know what we might find, but this is the closest I’ve been to them in a while, and I feel like I should go. I want to go,” I amended. “And I know you can take me there anytime, actually, but being here, physically this close... I... I want to see their house.”

He stroked some of my hair behind my ear. “Of course I’ll take you there. When would you like to go?”

“Can we go now?”

His blue eyes searched my face, thinking, then he nodded. “Okay. What town did you say they lived in?”

“Howth. Northeast of Dublin.”

He nodded. “I’ve been to the castle before. I can project us there.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You’ve been to Howth Castle?”

“I went to school with a couple of St. Lawrences. Neither were heirs, but they invited me to the castle a few times for events.”

“When was this?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

He thought for a moment, then guessed, “Mid-1880s? It was during my time at Cambridge.”

I nodded, biting back a million questions that suddenly occurred to me. “My grandparents live just west of the harbor. You can see Howth Lighthouse from where they live.”

He drew me close to him, and I tucked my face into the folds of his jacket. For a moment, it seemed like we hadn’t gone anywhere, but when I opened my eyes, the Seine and the Love Locks Bridge were gone, replaced by a wide lawn grown wild with time. A gray stone castle stood some distance away, its jutting peaks and dark, arching windows familiar to a younger version of myself. I recalled coming here to tour the castle and picnicking in the sunshine on the green grounds surrounding it.

“Can we walk from here?” Grey asked.

“Sure. It’s a little over two miles.”

“Do you remember the way?”

I smiled. “Of course I do. I spent lots of summers here.” I took his hand, and we walked up the lane leading to the main road that looped around the peninsula. As we neared the harbor, we passed some shops, shuttered and closed. One block of stores had burned entirely, the blackened timbers lying crisscrossed like Pick-Up Sticks. We passed an empty playground, quietly rusting in the tall grass.