Reconception: The Fall (14 page)

Teller shook her head and shrugged. Her hand gripped
her blade more tightly as she watched nude women step into the
clearing and pull the flowers and bits of beaded cloth off Evie’s
body. The crowd convulsed with energy and expectation. This is bad,
she thought. This is very bad.

She had argued with Eagle, wanting to come in on
camelback and grab Evie and Garret before the Drudes even knew what
had happened. But Eagle didn’t think they’d make it like that. He
wanted to get as close as possible to the two scientists, and wait
for an opportunity. It would be much easier to rescue them from a
few guards than to take on the whole gathering at once.

Although neither of them knew a great deal about the
Drudes, they did know that they were a rigidly controlled group
with a strict hierarchy. Their usual ceremony took place once a
month at the full moon, but Garret must have made a mistake that
changed things, because something new was afoot. Whatever it was,
both Teller and Eagle were certain it would end badly.

The crowd was growing restless. “Do it. Do it. Do
it.” They chanted over and over, but Evie and Garret did nothing
but stand there hand in hand facing them. The priest made a plea to
the Goddess and the God for protection and safety, and still
nothing happened. The chanting stopped and the mob began to mutter
distractedly among themselves.

Teller heard the voices all around them,
disgruntled, annoyed, angry .... They were here to be comforted, to
be reassured by ritual and symbolism, and nothing was happening.
Hadn’t they seen the man with their own eyes just the night before
refusing the Goddess? Was it just that there was something wrong
with him? Didn’t he mean to save them?

Suddenly, the priest cried out for silence, and the
murmuring abruptly ended. A platter bearing tidbits of meat was
passed through the crowd and each took a small piece in hand.

“Great God,” the priest spoke, “Great God and
Goddess, forgive this man for his hesitancy and take it not as
failure. Great God, make him strong that he may fulfill his destiny
and save his people. Great Goddess, succor him that he may do what
must be done.”

Garret looked at Evie. The crowd chanted more loudly
than ever. “We’d better do something now,” Teller muttered to
Eagle, who nodded and motioned with his head for her to follow
him.

Once beyond the reach of the crowd, he shook his
head and sighed. “I still say we wait for an opening.”

“Didn’t you see the altar? It has grooves in it!”

“You think they mean to sacrifice them?”

“I think we won’t get a moment’s notice before it’s
over and done. We have to move now!”

Eagle thought this over and nodded. Moving quickly,
the two Mountain people skirted the crowd and found their camels
where they’d hidden them just outside the village.

“We’ll go in from the back of the stage, then turn
and run,” Eagle said. “It’s our best shot.”

“Good,” Teller grunted, pulling a gun from her
saddlebag. “Let’s go!”

On the stage, Evie held Garret back, moving
seductively just beyond his reach. She thought she knew what was
required of them, but she was also sure that if they did complete
the act, they would regret it. She’d seen the altar with its
grooves and buckets and thought that the best they could do in this
moment was stall until they had a chance to escape.

Each of the priests wore a long knife at his side. If
they could only grab one or two of those, they might stand a
chance. She moved toward the left, shifting her head and eyes just
the slightest bit, enough to indicate to Garret what she wanted to
do. He came after her, pulled her close and kissed her deeply. As
he bent her against him, she sank to her knees and pulled him down
with her.

They faced each other, and Evie moved her body
sensuously. The priests were just out of reach, each staring
straight ahead as if they were not part of the ceremony at all, but
were just what they looked like: the walls of the stage. A long,
sharp knife hung on the belt of a priest just three or four feet
away. Evie slid along the floor sensuously, drawing Garret with her
as if mesmerized. Two feet ... So close ...

Suddenly four of the priests stepped forward. Two of
them grabbed her arms from behind and the other two grabbed
Garrett. Evie looked at him in panic, her heartbeat quickening in
the adrenaline rush as he was pulled to one side of the stage and
she to the other. The high priest stepped forward and stood behind
the small table with the sheet over it. He bent his head and waited
for the crowd to settle down.

When the silence was complete, he began. “Oh Great
God and Goddess, we beseech thee to look kindly upon us, your
children.”

“Um en.”

“In your name, we offer our praise and bow our heads
in the sight of your glory. In your name, we offer our blood and
our sacrifice.” With this he whipped the sheet off the table
revealing Paren’s dirty face, now looking rather gray and
bloodless. Garrett moaned and would have fallen to his knees had he
not been held up by his arms. His eyes met Evie’s across the
stage.

The priest continued. “He was a lone man, a
friendless man, a man who had nothing to give but his life. And now
as we partake of that life, we give thanks unto the God and Goddess
for this gift of blood and flesh.”

Garrett watched in the firelight as those in the
audience ate the piece of meat they’d taken from the trays. Across
the stage, tears slipped from the corners of Evie’s eyes, slowly
following the curve of her cheeks. The two men holding him now
moved him toward the altar at the back of the stage. From the
corner of his eye, as he struggled to get free, he saw the gleam of
a long knife.

“Hurry, Eagle!” Teller urged. “Hurry!” They had
recovered the camels and were now trying to stay in the shadows as
they drove the great beasts forward. Teller could feel time
slipping out of their hands. To herself, she repeated the words
like a litany: Hurry ... hurry ... hurry ... hurry ...

Evie now understood that her purpose in this ceremony
was to take Garrett’s life. She stood behind the altar, a knife in
hand, waiting for the power to be taken from her. Garret struggled
as four priests held him down. The two men who held her now placed
their hands on her hands and arms and aimed the knife at Garrett’s
chest. Her muscles shook with her effort to resist them. Garrett’s
eyes were huge with sorrow.

Suddenly, there was a great howling noise, just like
Cries at the Moon, Evie thought, and two huge camels broke through
the line of men at the back of the stage. Evie took advantage of
the distraction and whipped the knife around, sticking it into the
gut of the nearest man. She had barely had time to yank it out when
Eagle hoisted her onto the back of his camel.

A shot rang out as Teller put a bullet in the robed
man who had grabbed her camel’s reins. The other priests backed off
momentarily, but the angry crowd surged forward. Garret struggled
free of his captors, and jumped on the camel behind Teller, kicking
and beating at the men who were trying to pull him off.

Evie used her knife to hack at another priest. He
grabbed her foot and yanked her toward him. If not for Eagle’s
strong arm, she would have been lost. Instead, she held onto the
camel with her thighs and onto Eagle with her left arm, as she used
her right to stab at the man’s hands.

The deafening boom of the gun in Teller’s hand drove
their attackers back for a fraction of second and in that space,
the two camels, wild with fright, cleared the mob and headed out
for the open spaces.

But they weren’t safe yet. A spear came out of the
darkness, striking Teller in the leg. She pulled it out without
slowing down, screaming as she did so. Garret held her from behind,
trying to give his strength to her. Although it did occur to him
that she didn’t need it. If ever there were a warrior queen, Teller
was it.

The camels were fast, much faster than men on foot no
matter how rage spurred them on. Despite the full moon that made
them so easy to track, their speed was enough to put a great
distance between them and their pursuers. And after a wild half
hour of screaming flight, they finally slowed and came to a
halt.

For a few moments the only sound was of the four men
and women and two camels gulping air. “Teller’s hurt,” Garret
finally managed. Sliding off the camel, he stepped to the side and
examined her leg. Long black ropes of blood encircled it, spilling
down and around and onto the camel’s heaving flank.

Garret reached for his shirt, for anything to bind
the wound, and realized that he was naked. His cheeks warmed and he
almost laughed at the sorry mess they were in, but it wasn’t really
funny.

Then Eagle was beside him, removing his shirt and
handing it over to Garret to cover himself with. He also tore a
strip of cloth off the lower end of his undershirt and used it to
wrap the gaping cut in Teller’s thigh. She’d lost a lot of
blood.

Evie opened the saddlebag and found a blanket, which
she wrapped around herself. She shivered in the cold desert night.
For the first time, even though they were all together, she felt
truly lost.

CHAPTER 12

Northeast USA: 2128

It had taken some doing, but Jersey had done what
had to be done, transferring control of the missiles to Morgan’s
computers at the habitat. Morgan thought he might have been better
off to bring his computer expert, Ripley, with him, but then Jersey
had been so much more fun.

There were several warheads available for him to
use. And his plan was very simple. He would use all of them, most
of them aimed at New Mexico, where all that nuclear waste had been
buried within granite several thousand feet down. Morgan believed
that one bomb might not have the desired effect, but two or three,
one on top of the other, would certainly crack that rock and open
Pandora’s Box to the wind, carrying on its back all the evil that
men had ever dreamt of to every corner of the earth.

And then ... well, then he would be free to remake
the world as he desired it to be. There’d be no earth restoration
project, and no reason for anyone to oppose him.

Yes, he sat back in the land vehicle, watching
Jersey at work and smiled contentedly. They were almost done.
Almost ready to return to the habitat and let loose the
whirlwind.

Southeast USA Habitat: 2128

Garret took the lead and hurried through the dark
tunnel toward the lock. The corridor was dim, and Eagle held up the
flashlight while Garret spun the wheel that would open the door. As
he pulled it back a flood of light pierced the darkness. The men,
women and beasts entered a huge cavern strung with catwalks. Three
levels of corridors led off the cavern. A terrible smell hung in
the air.

It had been a long treacherous trip to Southeast.
They knew their only chance to evade the “searchas” come the light
of day was to be gone, so after resting a bit, they’d gotten back
on the camels and traveled through the long night, stopping only to
reclaim the pack animals carrying the producers and food
concentrates. Although it had seemed like forever to Garret, he had
in fact been imprisoned for only a day, and the six camels were
none the worse for having been left on their own.

Teller’s leg became infected while they traveled,
swelling up and getting worse and worse as the days wore on.
Although they’d been cheerful and optimistic for her sake, they all
knew that their only chance of saving her leg, and possibly her
life, was to get her to Southeast quickly. Even though they’d
planned to travel only at night, they pushed on as fast and as hard
as the camels could go, sleeping in the saddle and stopping only to
eat and allow the animals to feed.

The second day they’d created a litter for Teller
that dragged her over the uneven ground, slowing them even more,
but allowing her to stretch out. She was feverish and sometimes
delirious. Evie dribbled water into her mouth and learned to pray.
God, Goddess, whoever you are, she thought, don’t let this woman
die.

She was so grateful to Eagle and Teller for saving
them, and it broke her heart to see this brave woman in such pain.
“Don’t die,” she whispered as she held her. “Don’t die.”

Teller mumbled in her fever dreams of children and
illness and terrible loss, and even Garret’s comforting shoulder
and gentle words could not assuage Evie’s sense of guilt. She knew
with her mind that she was not at fault, but in her heart, she just
couldn’t accept her role in Teller’s injuries.

Now that they were at Southeast, they would be able
to use advanced medical treatments to save her. While Garret got
the producers on line and made sure that the survivors were fed,
she would find the medical wing. Evie figured it all out as her
eyes adjusted to the brightness inside the Habitat.

“Who the hell are you?” A voice called out. The
group turned and faced a skinny little man holding a metal bat.

“Hey,” Garret’s voice was calm. “We’re from East
USA. We brought you producers and concentrates.”

The man looked a little dazed, but he’d never seen a
stranger in his entire life and now there were four of them in his
living space. It took him a moment to understand. “Producers? You
have producers?”

“And food concentrates.”

“Food! You have food!” The bat dropped from his
hand, and he ran across the cavernous room. “Sybil! They brought
food!”

Evie took Garret’s hand. The voice echoed in the
space. A haggard looking couple stepped out of the shadows and
inched their way toward the small group of intruders. At last, they
were close enough, and the elder of the two women spoke. “If only
you’d come sooner. So many ... we lost so many ….”