Autumn in the City of Lights (8 page)

“Let’s not talk about this anymore tonight,” I said, finishing the discussion. “We’ve got six months to figure this all out, and right now we could all use some time to rest.”

“I’m going to listen to the radio a while longer,” Ben said. “Might even join the discussion on the open frequency, start taking some notes.”

“Egg head,” Shad said, smiling.

An hour later, Grey and I were in my bedroom alone. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. This is all getting out of hand, and on top of it all, Connie is acting so strange. I want to go tell her we’ll all stay out of it, but… we can’t, can we?”

“No, we can’t,” Grey said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“The Front is in Paris. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. No one else knows what Karl is capable of.”

Grey pulled me down next to him and kissed my cheek gently. His lips were warm on my skin. “How would you feel about me putting my hat into the ring?”

I sighed and leaned against him, my head finding the curve of his neck. “Knowing what I do about you and Karl, I guess you’re the best person to go.”  I paused, unable to hold back the rest. "But I don’t want to be half a world away from you.”

“I know. But it’s not like he can capture me. I can go anywhere I please, at any time.”

“But he can kill you,” I whispered.

“Ben was right. Daniel and Shad will be there. We’ll watch each other’s backs.”

“But they don’t know about you or Karl or how to protect you from him,” I whispered, then allowed myself to voice the concern that had been slithering around in my head like a rattlesnake ever since Karl’s announcement this morning. “What if this is all some grand scheme of his to kill you?”

Grey’s hand closed around mine.  “If Karl wanted to kill me, I’d already be dead.”

I shook my head. “Karl knows too much about us now that the peace talks are happening. We still don’t even know where he lives. Yet he’s learning New Burbank more and more each time he’s here.”

“I’ve often thought the same thing.”

“Do you think there’s even the most remote possibility he’s honestly trying for peace?”

“I suppose it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility,” Grey said, brushing the tip of my ponytail again his palm absently. “But I think it’s unlikely, knowing him the way we do now.”

“What if he’s luring all the leaders there to trap them? Or what if Paris is just some kind of prison state, or worse?”

“Why don’t we go find out?”

I looked up at him, surprised. “You want to go to Paris now?”

“We could.”

“What if we were seen?”

“We’d have to be careful, of course. But perhaps we could learn a little more about all of this if we took a short trip.”

I bit my lip and considered it for a moment. “Where would we even go? Paris is a big city.”

“I can think of only one place in the city where they’d be broadcasting that message. It’s the tallest antennae in the area with the most likelihood of getting a signal out this far, and we’ve been there before.”

“The Eiffel Tower.”

“Seems a likely place for their transmission. What do you say? Are you in the mood for a quick trip?”

I thought about it for a moment, then grinned. “
Oui
.”

Grey took me in his arms and brought his head down to my shoulder. I knew to close my eyes without being told, and seconds later, cool, damp air brushed my cheeks and swirled my hair around us both. I opened my eyes. The Eiffel Tower stood before us, lit up against the predawn sky, letting everyone know why Paris was called “The City of Lights.”

We stood on a rooftop about half a mile from the iconic tower. It was chilly, and I wrapped my arms around myself. A steady breeze rustled a sea of leaves all around us. The roof was mostly covered with vines growing from what I assumed used to be a rooftop garden. Groups of large lumps, like miniature rolling green hills, suggested chairs and tables were nestled beneath the leaves.

“They have power here,” I said, my eyes skating across the flood of lights. “I didn’t think there were any of those hydroelectric dams nearby. Could they really have gotten the whole city up and running since we were last here?”

“They wouldn’t need to. Paris installed hydroelectric turbines under some of the bridges along the Seine River. They could get enough power from those to handle this area. At least... that’d be my guess. They must be maintaining the turbines the way Hoover maintains the dam.”

He paused and squinted at something in the distance. “There are people down there.”  He pointed toward the base of the Eiffel Tower.

“Bit early for a walk.”  I squinted at what looked like a group of tiny matchsticks. “Wonder what they’re doing.”

“Let’s get a little closer and find out.”

“We can’t let them see us.”

“I won’t get us too close.”  He extended a hand.

I couldn’t help myself; I wanted to know more, too.  So I wove my fingers through his.  He wrapped me up in his arms, and I felt another wash of air. I opened my eyes, and we were behind a pre-Plague souvenir shop. I peeked out from the edge of the shop and saw two men and a woman near the elevator at the base of the tower. The woman was slender and curvy with long brunette locks billowing around her shoulders in the early morning breeze. She was dressed exceptionally well for a post-plague society – even one in Paris. Everyone in Hoover and New Burbank wore durable work clothes. I wondered who she was.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” I whispered. Grey nodded and strained to listen closer. I did the same. I could hear the sounds of voices on the wind, and I thought I heard the name Margery spoken, but I couldn’t be sure. Moments later, they all entered the elevator, and the car trundled up the base of the tower.

“Anything useful?” I asked.

“Somewhat. One of the men said they were able to confirm that at least one of their transmissions made it across the pond, because someone in Niagara made contact. They seem to know about the same settlements as we do, maybe even a few more. It sounds like everyone they’ve contacted so far wants to attend the Summit.”

“But are they with The Front?”

He shook his head. “They didn’t say anything that would indicate either way.”

“There has to be a way to find out.”  I glanced around and found no signs for
Le Front de Reconstruction
. “Looks like they removed all of The Front’s signs that we saw here last year. Let’s see if we can find any others.”

Grey projected us a couple of miles away, and I opened my eyes to a narrow alley. The rising sun turned the eastern sky a delicate blue, which lit the dark streets just enough that the pools of white light cast by the streetlamps were less defined.

“Did you ever live in Paris?” I asked, as we walked down the alley to a larger cobblestone street. “You seem to know just where to project us.”

Grey nodded. “For a few years, in the early 1950’s, when the city was starting to recover from the war. The population was booming and culture returning, but rations were only just ending and living was still rough.”

“What were you doing here? I mean, why come here to live if it was so hard?”

“Because it was still Paris.”  He shrugged and smiled at me. I nodded in agreement, then wondered if the magic of Paris could live through The Plague and a silent invasion by The Reconstruction Front.

We walked the streets, looking for signs of The Front and of Karl. But we found nothing. No signs, no white flags.

Grey took us to three more places before we finally encountered people. The sun was up by now, and we were passing a small bakery. I kept quiet while Grey approached the plump man sweeping the walk in front of his store. The smell of fresh bread wafted from the open door, and I breathed in the delicious, yeasty scent.

“Bonjour, mon ami,”
Grey said, in what sounded like perfect French.
“Où ont-ils décidé de mener le Sommet des nouvelles nations? J'ai manqué l'annonce.”

The baker smiled, his eyes almost disappearing into his cheeks.
“Oú d'autre que Versailles, pourrions-nous l'avoir?!”

Grey gave a good-natured smile and rolled his eyes as if to say,
of course!
  He said,
“Merci, merci!”

“Okay, tell me what you both said,” I whispered when we were far enough away for my English to go unheard.

“We’re going to Versailles. That’s where the meeting will happen.”

Grey pulled me into the next alley, and when we were sure we were alone, he projected us again. When I looked up, we were in the perfectly manicured grounds behind Versailles. The lavish garden setting reminded me of a novel I once read in high school.

“They’re clearly getting this place ready to receive world leaders,” Grey said, picking up a pair of shears in front of a recently trimmed hedge. “You don’t go through all this trouble, unless you’re trying to impress.”

I peeked around the greenery and eyed the palace. Despite the early hour, it was completely lit up with workers moving at a brisk pace into and out of the numerous entrances.

“I don’t see any white flags or signs,” I said.

“Perhaps they’re past that point.”

“What are we looking for then?” I asked. “Beyond seeing Karl himself walking through the doorway?”

Grey thought for a minute. "Maybe we’re over thinking this.  Why don’t we find someone and just ask?”

“Just ask? What are you going to say? ‘Hey, nice weather we’re having this morning, and by the way, are you guys being ruled by a sociopathic alien with plans of world domination?'”

He smiled. “Perhaps not that pointed a question. I was thinking along the lines of, ‘Do you know where I can find Karl?’”

“What happens if they get suspicious?”

“Then we make a hasty retreat.”

“We’ll have to be careful who we ask. It can’t be anyone here. What if you come back with the delegates and get recognized?”

“Very true. Let’s go back to the city and see if we can find someone more innocuous.”

“How about that baker you already talked to?”

He nodded. When we arrived, the baker was gone from the front walk, but the door was still open and a young girl, maybe fourteen years old, was sitting just outside reading a book. She seemed completely engrossed. We hid ourselves at the mouth of an alley a block away.

“Wait here, just in case.”

Grey strode up to the girl, who immediately blushed when she saw him. She grinned and tucked a stray hair behind her ear as he spoke to her.  I wished I could have heard their conversation.  After a few minutes, Grey waved goodbye then continued walking down the cobblestone road away from me.  He went several blocks before turning a corner, and then, a split second later appeared behind me.

“Holy hell, you scared the crap out of me!” I said, trying to lower my voice with every word.

“Sorry,” he said. “She’d never heard of Karl, but says there used to be a Reconstruction Front here, and that its leader was an older man named Claude.”

“Does that mean they’re gone?”

“She said they dissolved The Front. They formed a new republic and elected a woman named Margery Durand as Prime Minister. This was just two months ago. Apparently, she’s the one calling for the Summit –”

“I heard that name at the Eiffel Tower,” I interrupted.

Grey nodded. “I’m certain that was the Margery Durand she spoke of.”

“Wait, I’m confused.  So did they dissolve The Reconstruction Front peacefully? I don’t see any signs of a war here like there was in Hoover and Vegas. Would Karl let that happen?” I ran a variety of scenarios through my head but couldn’t come up with a logical reason why Karl would give away control and just leave.

“I’m sure there’s more to it than just that, but at least for now, it seems the people of Paris have an elected leader and are reaching out to other nations for altruistic reasons. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be cautious, but it would seem we’re not walking directly into a trap.”

I stood, considering what Grey had discovered.  It was a lot to take in.

“We should get back home,” he said. “We’ve gotten what we came here for.”

I sighed and nodded, reluctant to leave.

Less than a minute later, I was kissing him goodnight at our back door in New Burbank. I watched him disappear into the guesthouse and then said goodnight to Daniel as I passed him in his usual chair in the hallway.

Late the next day I went to find Grey in his lab on the top floor of the hospital. With no other doctors left in this part of the world who were knowledgeable enough to conduct medical research, he had the lab to himself.  As I approached, I heard the tinkle of broken glass and a low curse come from behind his door. I pushed it open and saw him crouched on the floor, sweeping small shards of glass into a dustpan.

“Hey,” I said, startling him. It was a rare thing to catch Grey off guard, and I was almost more surprised than he was. He recovered after a split second, then smiled warmly at me and motioned to the mess.

“You’re not finding me in my best hour, I’m afraid.”

“Can I help?”

He shook his head. “No. I just need to make this again and get it into the centrifuge.”  He sighed deeply, and I noticed how exhausted he was.

“Is everything okay?”

“No. Not really.”  He snapped off his white latex gloves and ran a hand through his hair.  “I’m no closer to finding a cure for The Plague than I was back in Hoover. I keep thinking I’ve made a breakthrough, only to run tests and see all of my solutions break down after exposure. I just don’t know what to do.”

“You’ll figure it out,” I said. “You just need more time.”

He tightened his lips and closed his eyes. “I’m sure I will figure it out... I just don’t know how long it will take me to do it.”

“You’ve got time, Grey. It’s okay if it’s not this week, or even this year.”

He shot a glance at me, almost panicked.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“I need to figure this out
now
. The world can’t move on until The Plague is truly behind us and can’t cause any more deaths.” I knew he was talking about the newborn crisis.  So far, we’d only heard about one newborn living. The rest had succumbed within hours to the Crimson Fever that still poisoned the air around us. It was a sobering thought that this generation of children could very well be the last... but I knew Grey would eventually find a cure. I had to believe it.

“Why don’t you take a break? Connie sent this over for you.” I held up a bag of leftovers. “Ben and I already ate downstairs in his room.”  I smiled, and the hard lines in Grey’s tense face quickly softened.

“Let’s go somewhere,” he said, shedding his lab coat and grabbing his navy sweater. He moved to wrap his arms around me. I smiled, knowing he was about to take me somewhere wonderful.

In the blink of a moment, I felt the evening sunlight warm my cheeks. I opened my eyes and looked up to a cloudless sky, stained red by the setting sun. We were on a very high ridge, and I recognized Hollywood below us. I turned and saw New Burbank below us on the other side. The crest of the mountain that divided the two areas was just wide enough for a park bench resting under the shade of a single tree. I smiled, recognizing it.

“I’ve seen this tree up here a thousand times over the years,” I said. “But now that I’m standing here, it seems odd that it’s all alone.”

“It’s called the Wisdom Tree,” Grey said, leading me to it. “This mountain and all of the Hollywood Hills around us regularly burn during fire season.  You remember seeing coverage on the news over the years, right?”  I nodded. “This mountain has had at least three sizable fires since I moved to Los Angeles just a few years ago, not including the fires last fall. Somehow, this one tree manages to survive. But everything else around it is burned away.”

“What an amazing little tree,” I said, resting my hand against its unmarked bark.

“In some ways, it reminds me of you,” Grey said, pulling me down next to him on the bench. I settled into the crook of his arm.

He leaned toward me and touched my lips with his. His dinner lay forgotten as we watched the sun disappear and the sky’s colors deepen.

“Do you mind if we talk more about what I brought up the other night?”

I immediately thought about his suggestion to live like Connie and Daniel one day – married and in a house of our own. But so much had happened recently that he could mean something else, so I just nodded.

Grey leaned away and dug into his pocket, then took my hand and pressed something small into my palm.

“I’ve wanted to give this to you for a while.”

I looked down. An antique gold ring lay in the middle of my palm. It had an intricate design on one side, and the cluster of diamonds on top was milky with age. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen.

“I came into possession of this over a hundred years ago. I don’t know why I kept it, other than I thought it was important to preserve it. I think now I must have known that someday, I’d want to give it to you.” He paused, and I saw a shred of insecurity in his eyes. It made me smile.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

I nodded, unable to speak.  He slipped it on my finger.  “For now, it’s a symbol of my love for you. It can mean more later on, when we want it to.”

He never got around to eating his dinner. We sat on the bench under the tree for hours, discussing what we hoped our future would bring. Once the sky had faded to a dark blue, stars began to appear and the moon rose. I watched the diamonds glint in the white glow and leaned against him, staring out at the few lights left in Hollywood.