Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1) (50 page)

"Lisanne?" Andy asked.

John nodded before Lisanne could retort. "Yes.
Lisanne is going to be a part of the Power Station crew. Which means she'll be
living over there for the foreseeable future."

"What?" Andy asked. "Lisanne is working at the
Power Station?"

John continued. "Some of you are aware the farm
and land across the road belong to us now. It's quite a spread and we need
someone to live there and run the place, someone who'll be in charge of our
planting and agricultural needs. Obviously we need the most qualified person
for the job, which is why Gracie will be taking on that challenge."

"Mother!" Rachel moaned loudly. "You are not
qualified--"

"Yes," John told her definitely, "she is. It
turns out Gracie knows quite a bit about farming since she grew up on a farm in
Indiana. Rachel and I never even knew about it, but I'm sure we're all very
glad about it now." He ended by staring sternly at Rachel.

Mrs. Philpott was beaming. "That's fantastic
news! And it explains a lot," she added cryptically.

Everyone was congratulating Gracie as Rachel sat
stunned, a forkful of potatoes still poised in the air.

John rapped on the table for quiet. "Another job
assignment is more in the way of recruitment, or maybe conscription," John
said, grinning at Black. Black nodded. "Black has chosen the person who will be
his second-in-command, someone he will train and who he expects will do a great
job on security detail." He paused and then said simply, "Rachel."

"What?" screeched Gracie.

Rachel slowly put her fork down and looked
across the table to Black. The surprise on her face was gradually fading away
into a look of utter delight. "You mean it?" she asked Black.

"Yep," he replied. "I have it on good authority
that you are an expert marksma--er--markswoman."

"But how did you know?"

Gracie stopped Black from answering. "An expert
marksman? You know how to shoot, Rachel? But how, after your Daddy refused to
teach you?"

Rachel frowned. "That's how. He would take John
out hunting and never take me because I was a girl. But I learned. You'd better
believe I learned! I still go out to the range every other weekend to shoot."
She paused remembering, then shook it off and smiled at everyone. "I accept! I'll
do the job, train with Black, be drafted into the Cape Fair army or whatever
you want to call it--Yes!"

Samantha had been sitting quietly through
dinner, barely touching her food. Now she watched Rachel and laughed. "I knew
it," she said happily. "And you're gonna be a great soldier lady!"

Rachel looked startled and laughed with Sam. "I
don't think I'll be called a soldier lady, Sam, but thanks. Thanks for knowing
and for telling Black."

Sam sat back in her chair and felt good again
for the first time since her talk with her parents. Maybe I'm not really so
bad, she thought. Even if she couldn't ride the horses and had done something
wrong, she did a good thing, too, with Rachel. Suddenly hungry, she dug into
her broccoli casserole.

John watched the byplay between Rachel and Sam
and realized he'd been holding his breath waiting for Sam to speak up all
through dinner. He hadn't been positive she was going to accept their
punishment, and he had dreaded her realizing how little control her parents had
over this new skill of hers. Of course, no parent ever controls a child, not
really, he reminded himself. But then no parent until now ever had this 'knowing'
of hers to deal with, let alone mind pressing.

Dr. Shapiro spoke up. "If we're making
announcements, then I have a couple. First, for Clay, there's a vet office
right down from me on Hickory Street, and I learned today the town's vet has
already cleared out." Clay beamed.

"Second," the doctor continued, "I've only had a
few minutes with Andy and Nathan to discuss the water situation, but it looks
good. If we can avoid contaminated water, we'll be in great shape."

Everyone applauded while Nathan grinned and Andy
blushed.

"Third, I've brought immunizations with me
tonight for all of you."

Everyone groaned. Sam wailed, "A shot?"

"Yes, Sam, a shot," Dr. Shapiro told her, "but
it will keep you well, so you need it."

Jessica watched as Sam and Dr. Shapiro
negotiated with him, agreeing to bring her peanut M and Ms in exchange for the
shot. Looking at her little girl, remembering the illness--the illness that
started this, she thought, and then sat very still thinking about what was
going through her head. The illness! The dreams and the special knowledge she
had, the communication with Harry--it all started after Sam was so sick. Could
it be related in some way?

Before she could think further, John said, "Black
has also asked for one other person for his...well, I don't know what to call it--Cape
Fair Army sounds a bit extreme--which reminds me, Lisanne and Merlin are
supposed to give us some options tonight of names for our little group here."
Heads turned to Lisanne who pointed to Merlin sitting on the floor at his
computer.

"He's typing them up now," she told them. "And
he didn't like any of my name ideas!"

John smiled at her. That unexpected cash of hers
had been a great help in buying a large supply of coins today. He'd made sure
she got to the store for her telescope, so they were both happy with the
exchange.

"Black wants Max to train with him," John
reported.

"Max?" Janine said, surprised. She hadn't said a
word through dinner, overwhelmed by a day full of shopping, revealing secrets,
and now a dinner with a lot of people she didn't know well yet.

"Max?" Abby said. "Why he's just a boy!"

Max's head went down at that comment, and Black
spoke up. "Well now, Abby, he may be young, but he's not a boy. I think he has
what it takes and I want him on my team."

Max looked up at him, a smile spreading across
his face. "I'll do a good job for you, Black," he said proudly.

John watched as Clay talked quietly to his wife,
who seemed more and more upset.

Suddenly Abby stood up, her chair falling
backwards behind her. "You're all crazy!" she cried. "Talking about giving
children guns--and, and, growing our own food, and floods and earthquakes and
never going home--" She sobbed and ran from the room. Clay hurried after her.

Jessica began to get up to follow her mother,
but Mrs. Philpott waved her back down. She rose and said, "I'll go look after
her with Clay. We both noticed she was having trouble dealing with all this.
Dr. Shapiro, do you have any tranquilizers in your bag there?"

"Is that necessary?" Jessica asked, concern in
her voice.

Dr. Shapiro nodded as he stepped away from the
table, medical bag in hand. "It might be a good idea. I know it was a shock to
me hearing about it today. At least one reaction like this is to be expected in
a group this size." He left with Mrs. Philpott.

The group left at the table was quiet. Then
Jessica said, "I should have noticed. She said some funny things while we were
cooking dinner, but it just didn't register until now."

John murmured, "You've had a lot on your mind
today."

"Well," Gracie said uncertainly, "should we go
on with this meeting or--"

"Yes," John said, sitting straighter in his
chair. "I'm sure, in time, Abby will be okay." He shot a quick glance at his
daughter, but Sam's face was not reassuring, looking instead suspiciously
blank. He continued, "Alex has told me that the Library is ours now--she even
has the keys."

There were chuckles around the table at that
while Alex held the keys aloft in her hand, waving them. She told them, "We
have a great collection of books available, and the library is on our side of
town, not too far away. So we'll have electricity there. Oh, and that little
red sports car outside is mine! I bought it today."

Nathan observed, "You don't have any money,
Alex, or did you forget that little fact? How did they ever let you buy it?"

"What does it matter that I'm broke," Alex
asked. Nathan frowned at her. "Come on, we all know money won't mean anything
soon, and by the time they figure out my check has bounced repeatedly, it will
be too late. Besides, I saw the car dealership owner packing up and leaving
town later on after I got the car." She stuck out her tongue at Nathan. "So
there!"

John laughed, saying, "Hey, I'm glad someone's
found a way to have fun during all this."

"You'll be sorry once you see how she drives,"
Nathan predicted.

John shrugged and said, "Okay, one last
announcement and then I think we'll be ready to vote on a name. This concerns
the farm. Gracie will be living there, of course, and since the horses are on
that land, I thought it would be a good idea for Janine to live there too. It's
a big farmhouse with plenty of room, all furnished and ready to move in. But I
hadn't had chance to talk to Janine yet, so what do you say?" He looked toward
the teenager.

"I get to live with Rachel's mom?" she asked,
wonderingly.

Rachel said, "Yeah, kid, it's a bummer, I know.
Think you can stand it? She can be a real pain."

Janine said staunchly, "I think she's a really
nice lady, and you should be nice to her 'cause she's your mom, Rachel."

"Thank you, Janine," Gracie replied, ignoring
Rachel's giggles. "I'd love to have you there with me. So you accept?"

"Yes!"

Jessica smiled at the two of them, thinking that
Gracie would be wonderful for Janine. A few months with Gracie and her self-confidence
would skyrocket. It's funny, she thought, how this meeting had moments that
reminded her of a conversation with Mrs. Philpott a while back. These moments
of a kind of formal acceptance of a new way of life. She also noticed that Sam
didn't seem surprised by anything--except Abby's outburst. And even then, it
hadn't been surprise on Sam's face, more like worry. Jessica was worried too.

John asked, "So, Merlin, do you have the names?"

Mrs. Philpott and Dr. Shapiro walked back in the
room. Everyone stopped to look at them.

"She's going to be fine, for now," Dr. Shapiro
reported. "I've given her a tranquilizer that should help her to fall asleep.
Clay says that she didn't sleep well last night, so perhaps in the morning,
after a good night's sleep, the problem will be solved."

"Clay is staying with her until she falls
asleep," Mrs. Philpott said, sitting back down.

Jessica mouthed the word, "Thanks," to Mrs.
Philpott, who nodded in reply.

Lisanne was setting the laptop on the table,
holding Merlin in her arms. "Okay, here they are," she said.

"Go for it," John offered.

"Well, this first one is one of mine, after all--'The
Safe Zoners.' John and I agree it would inevitably be shortened to 'Zoners,'
but I still like it. Then we have some, well, silly ones--Merlin what were you
thinking? Okay," she continued as Merlin growled at her, "remember these are
from him! 'Cape-ettes' 'Cape Fairies'--oh, my God, were you on catnip at the time?
Then we have 'Group One'--I don't really get that one. There's only one group
here that I can see. And that 'Group One' is from Perceval. Anyway, then there's
'EcoSurvivors' and 'Dreamers'--oh that last one was one of mine too! Merlin,
you did listen to me! 'The Connectors'--okay, I think that only applies to
Andy and Nathan and their plumbing efforts." Everyone laughed, and then Lisanne
said, "Oh I get it, connecting to animals, duh. Okay, how about 'The New People'--I don't know if that would work since we'll be getting a lot of new people
over the next few weeks."

Alexandra listened as the names were discussed.
She remembered Africa and other places and groups of people who saw themselves
as the only true people. Even as she laughed at some of the names Merlin came
up with, she also knew how important this naming of the group was, to give them
solidarity and identity in a rapidly-changing world. She smiled as she realized
her fieldwork in cultural anthropology had just shifted to a new location--to
the tribe of Cape Fair.

"Hey," she spoke up, "how about the Cape Fair
Tribe?"

Nathan grinned at her even as he shook his head.
He knew where her thoughts were coming from. He'd been a little quicker than
her this time to see some of the implications of the new culture being built
before their very eyes. Well, he thought, at least about a half a day quicker.

Sam raised her hand. John looked at her
approvingly and said, "Yes, Sam?"

"I have a name too. How 'bout 'The Gaians'?"

Lisanne said, "The Guyans? We're not all guys
here, Sam."

"No, no," Sam started giggling. "Gaia...the earth...you
know...the planet."

Jessica peered at her daughter in puzzlement. "Now
just how did you know the term 'Gaia,' sweetie?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, you know, it's not really
the name. It's a--what was it, Perceval? A human--oh, yeah, a human translation
of the word 'planet.' There's not really a way to say the real name." She
shrugged again, "Anyways, if that's the word for the planet, then couldn't we
be The Gaians? Since we live here?"

Silence spread around the room as they all
thought about it. The Gaians. One by one, they raised their hands, until all of
them had shown their support for the name.

John announced, "All right, people. From now on,
our group will be known as The Gaians."

San Juan Islands, on board the Rhondavous
yacht

Maria felt the boat rocking gently as she
stretched out on the bed, waiting for Zack to finish his shower. How on earth,
she wondered, did I end up on a boat waiting for whales? She did feel excited
by the prospect of seeing the huge animals. If only the network would listen to
her! She had the story of a lifetime--of all time--and nobody to tell it to. And
now Margaret was saying they'd have to wait for the flood here on the yacht.
Something about a problem with the airplane. Although how Margaret knew there
was a problem, that was not clear to Maria at all. How did she just know
things?