Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1) (76 page)

Phoebe asked in surprise, "Pass?"

The mayor chuckled as John exchanged glances
with Jessica and Mrs. Philpott. "That, Phoebe, was a test of sorts. Actually, I
think it was a job interview."

John smiled at the feisty woman. She was going
to be an interesting addition. "Yes, of course, you're right. A test. And a job
interview. You want the job?"

Dusty Dubois' eyes narrowed behind her
steel-framed glasses. "Only if you remain as leader of the community. If you
do, then yeah, I'm up for it. Granted, it's a lot smaller town than Houston
was, but on the other hand I've never been mayor of a town after the end of the
world. Should be a challenge."

Phoebe sagged with relief and leaned back with
her eyes closed. Zack and Maria just looked at each other and grinned as it
sunk in they'd be staying.

Alan Beakman whooped. "All right! Back in
business."

The newly appointed Mayor of Cape Fair said, "I
only need one thing--I want a damn cowboy hat again."

Samantha giggled.

The Rock

The tall trees whispered, leaves softly moving
in the warm breeze. The sun shone down through the branches, shafts of light
that sparkled on the bits of quartz in the large rock in the center of the
circle. Around the rock, a circle of humans and animals was forming. As they
approached, Mrs. Philpott read from Perceval's laptop, while he perched on a
tree stump next to her. She called out the names solemnly.

"John Samuels--The Leader."

The serious mood was lightened momentarily as
they all heard Sam saying, "Hey, Daddy, just like in the movie on the scifi
channel--when the aliens land and say take me to your Leader, we'll know who to
take them to. Cool."

He looked stunned and said, "Aliens?"

His daughter laughed. "Just kidding, Daddy."

Mrs. Philpott continued. "Jessica Samuels--The
Guardian." Jessica walked forward to stand near John, reaching out a hand to
pat the rock in welcome.

"Black--The Protector." Black walked forward with
White perched on his shoulder.

"Alexandra Hobson--The Advisor." Alex stepped
forward, twitching her long braid over her shoulder.

"Dusty Dubois--The Mayor." Dusty straightened her
shoulders and marched up to the rock.

"Rachel Samuels--The Huntress." Everyone stirred
at that unexpected title. Rachel blushed and looked like she felt they had the
wrong person. Perceval meowed commandingly at her and she moved to the rock.

"Mark Shapiro--The Doctor." Mark tiredly brushed
a lock of black hair out of his eyes as he came forward. Exhausted, yet well
content with his patient's recovery, he'd raced over here in Alex's car.

"Gracie Samuels--The Farmer." Gracie was dressed
in her city clothes for the occasion and muttered, "Honestly, this Chanel suit
doesn't really fit with that title."

"Nathan Ames--The Bard." There was a stir as that
announcement was made. Nathan, guitar strapped against his back, just grinned
widely and walked up to the rock.

"Lisanne Locklin--The Mathematician." Lisanne
walked carefully forward, holding Merlin tenderly.

Sam's voice was heard again, asking, "Does this
mean I gotta learn math after all?"

Mrs. Philpott cleared her throat warningly.

"Harmony Gold--The Helper." Harmony practically
skipped up to the rock, dozens of tiny flowers woven through her long curls and
braids that cascaded down her back.

"Janine--The Horsewoman." Janine rode forward on
Feathers, and then jumped lightly off and stood proudly by the horse's side.

"Clayton Ames--The Animal Doctor." Clay walked
with bowed shoulders up to the rock. Jessica reached out a hand to him, and he
grasped it like a lifeline. A hushed kind of quiet fell over the group.

"Maria Santiago and Zack Tyler--The Recorders."
Maria looked startled, and then pleased at her new appellation. Sounded like
some reporting was still going to be necessary after all, she thought. Zack was
busily filming this gathering at the rock with the camera he had lugged all
across the country. It might never be seen, but this should be recorded, Mrs.
Philpott had told him earlier.

"Cap'n Joe--The Fisherman." Mutt followed behind
Cap'n Joe as he stomped up to the circle around the rock. "Dunno why you need
me here for this. The bass are biting something fierce this morning."

Mrs. Philpott just stared at him and he shrugged
and took the cap off his head.

"Sergeant Milton Wachowski--The Engineer." As he
stumped forward, cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth, the man said gruffly, "There'll
be no calling me by the name of Milton after this or I'll have someone's head.
Just call me Sarge like the damn cat does. And can we hurry this along? Tommy's
got his hands full up at the Power Station."

Mrs. Philpott looked at him and he harrumphed
and moved the unlit cigar to the other side of his mouth.

She closed the laptop and said, "The one who
couldn't be with us today is Andy Jordan--The Weatherman and, of course, Waldo.
That's the end of Perceval's list." She didn't add the words, 'for now' since
she knew that would only bring up questions she didn't want to answer. No need
to discuss Max as the Soldier just yet. Or the future roles of the newcomers,
Emma and Hank. After all, Perceval could only see so far ahead...and they were
only possibilities at this point.

Samantha waved her hand in the air, saying, "Hey!
Mrs. Philpott you didn't tell them who you are."

Mrs. Philpott looked a little flustered for the
first time that day. "All right, all right. I don't agree with the title but
Perceval insists. I'm a scientist...but he says I'm...The Wizard."

Jessica smiled broadly. "I told you so."

Mrs. Philpott said in a low voice, "I blame you
for this, Jessica."

Samantha walked forward to the rock and John
lifted her up to sit in the center of it. Harry jumped up and sat next to the
little girl who sat straight-backed and cross-legged.

John nodded to Black, who pulled out his radio
and said into the microphone, "Okay, bring her in."

They all turned to watch as Max led Margaret
into the circle up to the rock. Hands cuffed in front of her, she still stood
very tall and straight, with tangled hair blowing around her face as the breeze
picked up. Her emerald gaze as it fell on Samantha was venomous.

"What is this?" she demanded. "Some sort of
tribunal? A trial? Am I to be burned at the stake for my beliefs? Or just given
a bullet in the head?"

Harry barked loudly at her.

Mayor Dubois sighed loudly and said, "Shut up,
Margaret, just shut up."

John read from a document hastily drawn up an
hour before. "We, the Council of Cape Fair, have determined that you are a
danger to our community. Therefore, Margaret Larson, you are shunned from this
town, county, and region for all time. You will not be allowed to return here.
If you try to return, you will be executed."

"And just how are you going to stop me from
living nearby?" she asked derisively.

Samantha spoke in a clear voice, "Many will be
watching for you, Margaret. The birds, the trees, the deer, the elk, the bears,
the raccoons, the beavers, the voles, the field mice--the Earth itself,
Margaret, will be watching. Don't try to come back--ever. We know you can still
do some things, talk to some animals, but you can't get into our minds now like
you could before. And just to be certain of that--" Sam motioned to Max, who
pushed Margaret forward until she was standing right up against the rock. He
placed her hands on top of the rough surface as Sam and Perceval had instructed
earlier.

Then the trees felt it begin, a swift braiding
of energy, emanating from the rock, spreading among the circle of people and
animals standing there. Samantha was the link, the conduit, but the rock
controlled what happened next. As the braid of dark light touched Margaret,
they all felt a sharp shearing of connections within the woman, who cried out.
And just that quickly it was over.

Margaret stood shuddering and stared at Samantha
who sat calmly on the rock. A beaming ray of light shone through the trees to
gleam off the child's golden blonde hair.

"What have you done to me?" Margaret gasped.

"Made it so you can't do the mind pressing thing
ever again," Sam replied. "You can't make people do stuff anymore." She paused
and then said earnestly, "It's not too late for you, Margaret. You can change.
The Earth really does love all of us, you know. We're all a part of each other.
You can stop hating and being so mad but," she continued sadly, "I don't think
you will."

Margaret just glared at the little girl, and
then was marched away by Max.

As the circle broke up, Janine said, "Hey, what's
Sam called? Doesn't she have a title or whatever, like the rest of us?"

Sam giggled and said, "Haven't you figured that
out yet?" Then she jumped down from the rock and ran back to the house,
laughter floating on the wind, Harry at her side.

Power People's Home, Table Rock Lake

Lisanne looked up from the telescope's eyepiece
and gazed off into the distance.

Merlin meowed.

"What? Oh, sorry. You were right, there is
something. Mars. Mars is...changing. The colors, the contours--I don't think we
will be able to call it the Red Planet for much longer. I swear I'm seeing
green, patches of green. You know what this means?"

Merlin growled at her.

"Okay, okay, I'll get on with it. I think it
means everything that happened here, to us, is bigger than we thought. Like way
bigger. I think maybe it's not just the planet that is conscious. I think maybe
the whole damn cosmos is awake." She laughed. "Oh Merlin, what a time to be
alive!"

Salmon Creek, Idaho

"You want to know how we're doing here? Well,
now, haven't I just been telling you? We're doing fine here. It's a
different kind of life, that's for sure. Lots of hard work, but lots of good
things too. We got them animal talkers here, that's what you called them,
right? Not many, but some. We just usually call 'em cat people or dog people.
Only been cats and dogs that folks here have been talking to. You say you got
horses and other animals that talk where you are? Well, ain't that something.
After the disasters were over--well, as far as we knew they were over--they were
over for us anyway, 'cause we had no more television or radio to tell us if
anything else happened. After that, we got down to the business of growing
food, learning how to survive the cold winters here. Me? Oh, I became a
fisherman. They don't call this Salmon Creek for nothing, you know. The
dreamers--yeah we call 'em dreamers here, too. My Gladys is one, you know. Right
proud of her I am too. And she's darn useful to me, sometimes gettin' dreams
about the best fishing spots. Guess you know they don't have special dreams all
the time, no, siree, they don't. But when they do, we all sit up and take
notice. I figure it's like a trade-off. We lost lots of stuff we used to have,
some of it stuff we wish we still had, some of it, like the government, stuff
we were just as glad to see go. But we got new things, good things--like the
dreamers and animal talkers. And...we got to live. All in all, not a bad life.
I'm sure glad to hear there's others like us out there. Your Cape Fair sounds
like a decent place to live. And you say you're gonna put all this stuff I've
been telling you into a song? To teach history? Well, that's somethin' all
right, it surely is. Right nice talkin' to you, Nathan. And you say they call
you a bard, is it? A bard, don't that beat all. Hey--you just be sure to put my
story in a song with a catchy beat. 'Cause it's not a sad story, not at all. It's
lively, downright lively."

Kalahari Desert, Africa

Tiknay lay stretched out on the dry hot earth,
ear pressed firmly to the ground, sun beating down on her back. She listened to
the song of the Earth, to the pulse of life. A flowing calm rhythm again,
finally. And different than before. The voice of the planet had changed, grown,
become enriched with other voices, she realized in surprise. How fascinating,
she thought. But time later to explore this new thing. For now, she looked for
the information she needed to know. Ah, yes, there, that was where the tribe
needed to go, their new home. Rising up and brushing the sand from her hands
and face, she felt immense relief. The crisis was over and her people survived.
Evidently, others survived as well. Because right there at the end of her
communication with the Earth, there was a small voice, calling to her. A
message. A broad grin spread across her dark face. Who would have believed
Alexandra and Nathan would still be alive? People were one of the planet's
rather amazing creations. She began to chuckle as she headed back to the camp.
Yes, lots of new and different murmurings going on now in the voice of the
world. But for her, time to get on with the business of living.

The End

Look for Book 2 of the Gaiaverse,
Gaia Lives,
coming soon!

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About the Author

Returning to college after several jobs and
having children, Pamela Davis studied human cultures, getting a degree in
Anthropology.
Gaia Dreams
is a direct result of those studies, many
of which looked at the relationship between humans and the
environment. Along the way, the question of 'what if...' arose. After
years of reading disaster novels, Pamela began to wonder if writing one could
be even more fun than reading one.
Gaia Dreams
combined her
love of research and disaster novels into one giant fun project.
She currently resides in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is working on her
next novel.