We Had Flags (Toxic World Book 3) (18 page)

“Oh, and Annette reported in. Pablo’s missing.”

“Who?”

“Her son.”

“Oh, right. Damn. So what’s she doing?”

“She’s organized a search party. Looks like he isn’t anywhere in the Burbs so she’s checking the nearby farms. Don’t worry, she left Roy and his posse in charge. Better to have a citizen keeping law in the Burbs anyway.”

Thanks for your ignorant opinion,
The Doctor thought.
Keep it to yourself next time.

Out loud he asked, “How are the Burbs doing?”

“Settled down now that they got some of what they wanted.”

Kent’s words came out smug. The Doctor decided to ignore his tone and the angry look Yu-jin was giving the radio. He had enough to deal with.

“We’re on hold until tomorrow. Tell Clyde my words. We’re on hold until further orders,” he glanced at Yu-jin, grateful she didn’t know about the bomb they’d been planning to set on the ship. “We’re giving dialogue another chance.”

There was a pause before Kent answered.

“I’ll relay the message.”

The Doctor turned away from the radio with a sigh and slumped on the sofa again.

“Now what?” Yu-jin asked.

“Now nothing. The sun will set in an hour or so. We don’t have time to go back to the ship right now and we sure as hell aren’t going at night. Tomorrow the Burbs will have cooled off some and I’ll have had time to think on what we can offer Captain Wang.”

Yu-jin rose. “I should go see the Moon family, I mean the Yaos.”

“I set up Mr. Yao in a house within the gates and one of my assistants is taking care of him. I’ll get a call if I’m needed. Trust me, they always pester me about every little thing. Sit down.”

Yu-jin looked unsure. “Yeah, but I should see Randy.”

“He’s fine, and I can’t guarantee your safety outside this warehouse. The gate is closed. Your people are safe behind it. There’s nothing we can do until tomorrow. Relax, let it go. The only way you can stay sane in this job is to detach on those rare precious moments that you have to yourself. I learned that doing triage in the last of the City-State Wars. You got five hundred men dying outside your tent and you still got to have your six hours of sleep a night. Otherwise it won’t be long until you’re useless to them. All these worriers around me like Marcus always say I don’t get enough rest and maybe they’re right, but I do grab it when I can. I’d have never made it this far if I hadn’t, and if you want to go far you’ll have to learn to do the same.”

The Doctor got up and opened a cabinet, pulling out an old bottle of whiskey. He poured two generous shots and brought one over to Yu-jin before sitting back down.

“The world’s falling apart and we’re going to have a drink?” she asked.

“The world has already fallen apart, and as I told you, there’s nothing we can do about it until morning. Cheers.”

“Um, cheers.”

They drank in silence for a time. The Doctor really wanted to light up, but he couldn’t afford to, not right now. So Old Times whiskey it would have to be. He’d given Roy a hell of a good trade for this bottle. Little Miss Peaches had better appreciate it.

“Feeling more relaxed?” he asked.

Yu-jin let out a little laugh. “I moved to the Burbs to relax. Once…the last of my family died there was no reason to stay in the wildlands. I had a whole life set up here. A job. Friends. I thought everything was going to be easy.”

The Doctor barked out a laugh.

“And then suddenly the ship came,” she went on, “and this whole new world opened up. And they’re so different, so Chinese.”

“I thought you were Chinese.”

“So did I until I met them. Our family has lived in the Anglo world for generations. I guess we kept our traditions for a time but most of that disappeared with civilization. We were too busy trying to survive. I know how to read and write, I know how to honor those who have passed, but beyond that I hardly know anything. Hearing those people talk in the ship I realized I know almost as little about China as any Anglo. I was asking about all the pictures on the walls, of all those famous places I knew almost nothing about. I can’t believe I didn’t know the Great Wall was to keep out the Mongols and not the Russians. I don’t even know what a Mongol is.”

“I’m not sure there are any left.”

“We’ve lost so much. I felt like a child to talking to those people. My parents taught me to read but we didn’t have any books. And there was no one else to teach us.”

“You’re not the only people to forget the past,” The Doctor said. “Those idiots I’m trying to keep in line insist on making the same mistakes our grandparents did.”

“But at least they have their heritage,” Yu-jin said, a pleading tone coming into her voice. “I feel like I don’t know anything. I want to know if we really invented paper. I want to know why red is lucky. I want to know if the taikonauts really built a moon base.”

The Doctor felt the urge to go over and comfort her. Why did he feel so protective of this kid? “Well, I can’t answer most of your questions, but you guys did have a moon base.”

Yu-jin’s face brightened.

“Really?”

“Really.”

The Doctor motioned her over to the computer. He sat in a creaky wooden chair in front of it and started tapping away as Yu-jin looked curiously over her shoulder.

“I have a bunch of historical files in here. There’s some stuff on the space program. Hm, let’s see.”

He passed through some folders and after a moment found the right one. He opened it up and the screen was filled with thumbnail images. He started clicking through them. An image of a person in a spacesuit standing on a gray plain appeared. In the person’s visor was a curved reflection of the landscape and a tiny astronaut holding what must have been the camera. The main figure stood before a flag that glowed in the harsh sunlight.

“It’s true!” Yu-jin said with glee, clapping her hands. “That’s the moon? It’s the same color as we see in the sky. I’ve never seen that flag before. Was that the old Chinese flag?”

“Um, no. That’s the flag for the Western Alliance. I’m still looking for the Chinese photos.”

“Oh,” Yu-jin said, blushing.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. “Don’t be embarrassed. A lot of people don’t think we’ve been to the moon at all.”

Yu-jin’s brow furrowed. “It’s our greatest accomplishment. Why would anyone disbelieve that?”

The Doctor shrugged and continued clicking through the photos. “People can’t see beyond their own limitations. Ah! Here it is.”

He maximized the photo. A clear black and white shot filled the screen. It showed half a dozen space-suited figures standing in front of a low dome. A sealed door took up part of the wall. Next to it was painted a red emblem. The sunlight caught the visor of the lead astronaut just right and they could see inside the helmet. A young Chinese woman smiled proudly at the camera.

Yu-jin bent closer to the screen, its light shining on her awe-stricken face. She reached out her fingers and touched the woman’s face. The Doctor felt a cozy warmth in his chest.

“If the world was something better, that could have been you,” he said.

“Let’s make it better, then,” Yu-jin said softly.

She gave him a hug. The Doctor tensed. He wasn’t used to being touched. Yu-jin must have sensed that but didn’t let go. At last he relaxed.

“Thank you for showing this to me,” Yu-jin said.

“Want to see more?”

Yu-jin’s face lit up. “Yeah!”

Then she glanced at the door. “But we should really…”

The Doctor held up a hand. “There’s nothing more we can do today.”

She hesitated. Her gaze was drawn back to the photo of the taikonauts.

“I think I have some video on here too,” The Doctor said with a smile. “Let me find it. Relax, your people are safe.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Pablo and Hong-gi didn’t get much sleep that night. It turned cold, a rare winter chill that swept off the sea, sending icy drafts wafting around the dunes. They couldn’t figure out how to set up the canvas as a tent and so huddled together under the blankets, hoping it didn’t rain. The sand made a comfortable bed. As they looked up at the pinpoint-sharp stars they talked.

“So where’s the best place for scavenging?” Hong-gi asked.

“I dunno. The mountains, I suppose. Or we could go over the mountains to the plains where all those farmsteads are. We could trade what we scavenge to the farmers for food. Stay in their barns when it rains.”

“Didn’t they get burnt by the Righteous Horde?”

Pablo bit his lip. “Not all of them maybe.”

“What would we trade?”

“Whatever we find. Old wire and tools and stuff.”

“And we can gather some food too. I’m good at collecting nuts. Mr. Fartbag let me collect them as long as I gave him half.”

“What a cheapass!”

“I used to hide most of them,” Hong-gi laughed. “He always complained I wasn’t good at finding nuts.”

“He’s
totally
a dummy.”

“Big time.”

Pablo thought for a moment. “Hey! We could trade the radio!”

“What radio?”

“Oh wait, I never told you. Jessica and me called the ship. It was some plan of her father’s, but he wanted to bring it to a different place. We brought them here instead.”

“Why?”

“I guess Jessica thought if all the trade was here that The Doctor would be real happy and let her stay. She hates her dad.”

Hong-gi looked surprised. “How can she hate her dad? He’s her dad.”

“He’s mean, like Mr. Fartbag but more strict.”

“Why did he want to bring a Chinese ship here?”

“Dunno. Jessica didn’t know they were Chinese. Maybe he didn’t either.”

They fell silent for a time.

“Look, a satellite,” Hong-gi said.

“Where?”

“Over there.”

A tiny point of white light made its silent way across the sky. They watched it arc over them and sink to the west, fading away before finally disappearing behind the dark bulk of the dunes.

“Cool.”

“Where are we going to go?” Hong-gi asked.

“How about the Southern City?”

“Mr. Fartbag says that’s just a scavenger story.”

“That dummy? What does he know?”

“Nobody’s ever seen it.”

“I bet it’s real,” Pablo said, trying to sound confident.

“Do you think we could get there?”

“Maybe.”

Pablo thought how far away it must be and wrapped the blankets more closely around him. He wished he was back home. He wished home was a place he could go back to.

“They probably hate Asians there too,” Hong-gi whispered.

“Maybe not,” Pablo said. He knew his friend was probably right, though.

Suddenly Hong-gi sat up. “Hey! We’ve been totally stupid. We can go to the ship! I’m Chinese, they’ll totally take me.”

“Oh yeah! Of course they would. And you’d get to ride in a ship and everything! But wait, what about me?”

“I’ll talk to them and get them to take you.”

Pablo must have looked doubtful because Hong-gi went on. “You’re the one who brought them here, right? They owe you. And we can trade the radio for a place. We could be sailors together.”

“Don’t you need special underwear to be a sailor?” Pablo asked.

His friend giggled. “What?”

“Oh wait, that’s for cruisers. This ship is a freighter. They probably don’t have a lake.”

“A lake?”

“Cruisers had lakes. I saw it in a movie.”

“So you’re going to join me on the ship?”

“We’ll go together and check it out.”

They fell silent then. Pablo felt relieved that they had thought of something for his friend. Hong-gi would be safe and happy on the ship. It would be a cool place to live.

He wondered about himself, though. Would they accept him? He wouldn’t even be able to talk to anyone.

“Hong-gi?”

“Hm?”

Hong-gi sounded sleepy.

“How do you say hello in Chinese?”

“Ni Hao.”

“Whaaaa?”

“Say it slow.
Ni Hao.”

“Neow.”

“Yeah, sort of.”

OK, Chinese was going to be hard. But there was the radio guy. He spoke English. He’d have at least two people to talk to until he could learn some Chinese.

Pablo watched the sky, hoping to see another satellite. He’d read about them in a book Mom had. Back in the Old Times everyone had a radio in their pocket and the satellites made it so those radios could talk to anyone. Too bad the satellites didn’t work anymore.

Thinking of Mom made him homesick. Why did she have to do that to the Asians? She used to be cool, but then she got to be sheriff and didn’t have any time for him and started killing people and got kind of crazy.

Yeah, they’d probably let him onto the ship if he gave them the radio. The radio guy would love that.

“How do you say radio in Chinese?” Pablo asked.

Hong-gi didn’t answer. From his regular breathing he sounded asleep.

It was nice and warm under the blankets with Hong-gi. It reminded him of sharing a bed with Mom. Sometimes she’d have bad dreams and her whimpering would wake him up, even though she didn’t wake up herself. She’d flop back and forth and say stuff. Sometimes it sounded like she was talking to Dad. Other times she’d just say “no, no, no,” over and over again. He’d get up and tiptoe across the cold floor and get into bed with her and she’d calm down right away. Her arms would go around him and she’d bury her nose in his hair and her muscles all relaxed. Then Pablo would fall asleep and they’d both have sweet dreams until dawn.

“Sweet dreams until dawn” was one of Dad’s sayings. Mom told him that Dad always said that at night when they went to bed. She used to say it to Pablo until he started tucking himself in.

Sadness welled up in him. He never got to know Dad, and now Mom had become bad. Sharing a blanket with Hong-gi wasn’t as good.

“Sweet dreams until dawn,” he whispered to his friend.

Eventually the sound of the surf lulled him to sleep.

The morning sun woke them up early. They got up and after they took a leak in the dunes, they settled down to some breakfast of oat cakes and dried fruit from the emergency bag.

“We should get going,” Hong-gi said. “It’s a long way to Toxic Bay and we’re going to have to make a big circle around the Burbs.”

“Yeah,” Pablo said, a little nervous that they were actually going through with this. Getting there would be easy, but would the Chinese take them after Mom had arrested all the Asians?

Wait, the radio! They could radio ahead and tell them they were coming.

Pablo hurried over to the stone that marked the spot where the radio was buried. He threw the stone aside and dug into the sand, pulling out the bag. As Hong-gi watched, Pablo set up the radio.

“Cool,” Hong-gi said.

“Yep, and I know all about it. This wire is the antenna. Just play it out across that dune there. Once it’s all out, go to the top of the dune and check if anyone’s coming.”

Hongi-gi trailed out the wire and then hurried up to the top of the dune. Looking around, he called out, “Nobody that I can see.”

“Great!” Pablo turned on the radio and heard the familiar crackle of static.

“Shore to Admiral, Shore to Admiral, come in please, over.”

Silence.

Pablo repeated the transmission. This time a strange voice came over the airwaves, speaking in Chinese. He sounded confused. When he stopped talking, Pablo took over.

“Um, Shore to Admiral, speak in English please, over.”

There was the sound of conversation on the other end, and what sounded like the squeal of a metal chair. A familiar voice came on the air. “Admiral to Shore, hello again. I did not expecting your radio.”

“Huh?” Pablo remembered to press the transmission key. “Look, you got to help us. They’ve arrested all the Chinese and all the other Asians too and it’s a big mess and Hong-gi is in trouble and we want to become sailors. Is that OK?”

“Admiral to Shore. No understand.”

“We’re in trouble! A Chinese boy is coming to your ship. You have to pick us up.”

“Admiral to Shore. Yes, Chinese ship. We come take goods. Peace. No fight.”

“Aaargh! Why don’t you understand? We’re in trouble, listen!”

“What?”

Hong-gi came running down the dune. “Let me talk to him.”

Pablo handed over the microphone and showed him the transmission key. Hong-gi pressed the key and started speaking in Chinese. The radio man replied, sounding like he was worried. Pablo sat on his haunches, fidgeting as the conversation went on.

Hong-gi cut off and turned to Pablo. “Wait, so they arrested everybody?”

“All the Asians, yeah,”

“Did they kill anyone?”

Pablo hadn’t told him about the body. He didn’t want to scare him any more than he already was. He didn’t want to lie to his friend, though. “Yeah, they killed one guy, and stole stuff from all the houses.”

Hong-gi spoke into the microphone again. After a minute he turned back to Pablo. “Where did they take the prisoners?”

“Into New City.”

After a long conversation with the radio man, Hong-gi switched off and said, “It’s all set. They said we can come over anytime and they’d love to have the radio.”

“Cool! Everything’s set then. Let’s get going.”

Hong-gi packed up the emergency bag while Pablo put away the radio and wrapped it with blankets to make sure it was well padded for the long walk. Jessica had said it was fragile and he didn’t want to break it.

Just as he was finishing up he heard a distant call from the south.

“Paaaaablo!”

Mom.

“Paaaaablo!”

Hong-gi and Pablo looked at each other.

“They’re coming to arrest me!” Hong-gi said.

“Me too, for helping you. Let’s get out of here!”

“Which way? We need to head east and cut around the Burbs, but your Mom might see us crossing the fields.”

Pablo thought for a moment. What would his father do if he was being chased by bandits or something?

“I know! We’ll go further north, and then east. They won’t see us then.”

They ran, Mom’s calls growing ever fainter behind them. After about a kilometer, they slowed and headed east, coming out beyond the last of the fields. Pablo felt excited. That meant they were in the wildlands. Now he was a scavenger just like Dad!

They hurried along, afraid of getting spotted. It was easy to tell where east was because that’s where the mountains were. He could see the tops all white from snow. It sure had been cold last night and he bet it was even colder up there. That’s why so many scavengers came down for the winter. That and Uncle Roy’s beer.

He was going to miss Uncle Roy. He was going to miss Uncle Marcus and Aunt Rosie too. And he was never going to get Kevin and Rachel to turn the wood Mitch had carved on their lathe to make it into a real bat.

The bat! He’d forgotten all about it. It was still under his bed at home.

Pablo slowed almost to a stop. This was dumb. He didn’t want to leave the Burbs and New City. Maybe he could live with someone? No, they’d just send him back to Mom, and now Mom wanted to arrest him for helping his Chinese friend.

Why couldn’t everything be like it was before?

“Hey look,” Hong-gi said.

They’d come across the main path leading from the north to the Burbs. Pablo could see a lot of footprints, like a big group of people had passed this way recently. Mom had taught him a bit about tracking, showing him how to tell if a footprint was old or not and which way the person was walking and whether they were wearing boots or shoes.

These were mostly boots, and a lot of them. They’d been heading south, towards the Burbs.

Who could they be? It didn’t matter. He had to get his friend to the ship and then figure out what to do about himself.

“This path comes out right in the middle of the Burbs,” Hong-gi said. “That means we only have to go about a kilometer or so and then we can turn south.”

They continued on. A few farmhouses were visible in the distance, looking abandoned. After heading towards the mountains for what they guessed to be another two kilometers, they turned south towards Toxic Bay.

Pablo wondered what part of the bay they’d come out on. He’d never been allowed to go down there. The first and only time had been with Jessica. Would they come out near that stinky old chemical factory, or the rusty old port?