We Had Flags (Toxic World Book 3) (20 page)

“You want someone to Blame? Blame yourselves.”

Dissenting voices called out from the crowd. The Doctor held up his hand again and silenced them.

“I know what you’re thinking. ‘I didn’t burn any houses. I didn’t take anything.’ Maybe you didn’t. But except for a few noble exceptions you stood around and didn’t stop the barbarians. If you allow barbarism, you’re just as barbaric as they are. There’s nothing for you here. No shelter for barbarians.”

The Doctor paused. For a brief instant Yu-jin thought she saw hesitation flicker across his features, but an instant later they hardened again.

“Effective immediately, New City is cutting off all trade with the Burbs. No electricity, no food, no work from the machine shops. If there is another attack, the gates will not be opened for you. I’ll still give free medical treatment. I took an oath with the Red Cross, Crescent, and Star long before I founded New City. That oath will never be broken. As for everything else, you’re on your own.”

The Doctor hopped off the parapet and walked away. Marcus tried to get in front of him and say something but The Doctor shouldered past him. Yu-jin followed. To be out of his sight now would be a death sentence.

She glanced around and saw no one else following him. Yu-jin had assumed that Marcus and Clyde and the others would dog his footsteps, begging him to reconsider or giving their own opinions. It seemed to be his daily routine.

Not this time. Everyone looked scared of him. She felt scared of him too, but the option of finding someplace unprotected to sleep tonight was far scarier.

As they hurried up the stairs alone, Yu-jin summoned the courage to speak. “Um, how do you think the Burbs will react to that? They really look up to you. Even love you.”

The Doctor snorted. “They don’t love me, they need me. There’s a difference. And I don’t love them either. I’m not going to sit around pretending to love everybody like some hippie.”

“Hippie? What’s a hippie?” Yu-jin asked.

“A species of weakling. They’re extinct.”

They passed through the medical office and entered The Doctor’s private quarters. He let out a loud sigh and made a beeline for the sofa, and the whiskey bottle sitting on the table in front of it.

“It’s always a wise idea if you get woken up in the middle of the night to have a second nightcap,” he said. His poured one for himself and another for her. As he offered her the glass, Yu-jin could see his hand trembling.

She sat down on her chair and he slumped on the sofa. He took a gulp from his glass and she followed his lead with a polite sip. A drink was the last thing she wanted right now, but he was right, it was probably the only thing that would get her to sleep tonight.

Yu-jin studied The Doctor over the rim of her glass. His whole body trembled and his eyes had a faraway look. Her father had got like that sometimes, when the worries of trying to take care of his family in the wildlands got to be too much. She used to cheer him up by asking about the past. Talking about the past always seemed to cheer old people up. It didn’t make sense, considering what had been lost, but instead of seeing it that way, they treasured the good things even though they were gone. Memories of the past became the crutch that helped them limp through the present.

“So what was your husband’s name?” she asked.

The Doctor smiled. The expression faded quickly. “Lucas. He was a doctor like me, a long time ago.”

The Doctor took another gulp of whiskey and gave her a wry smile. “You seem surprised I’m gay. Haven’t you heard the rumors?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t believe them.”

The Doctor gave her an odd look. “Why not?”

Yu-jin shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Because we’re all too effeminate and weak to take charge,” The Doctor said. He used his fingers to pull at the edges of his eyes, giving them a slant, “And Chinese are all evil plotters trying to destroy the world.”

Yu-jin tossed a pillow at him and it bounced off his head.

“Very funny,” she said.

The Doctor tidied his hair in with an exaggerated female voice said, “Oh, you’ve messed up my hairdo!”

Yu-jin laughed and rubbed her temples. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Yup, the leader of the civilized world is a bitter old queen,” the Doctor said proudly, putting his feet up on the table.

“You’re leader of only part of the civilized world,” Yu-jin corrected.

“True enough, but no talking about work. We’re relaxing.”

Yu-jin stared. This guy had just put an embargo on the Burbs and here he was talking about relaxing. He must have seen her reaction because he poured her some more whiskey and said,

“Learn to switch off. It’s the only way to stay sane.”

I’m not so sure you are.

Yu-jin looked him in the eye. It was a difficult thing to do.

“OK, let’s not talk about the impending disaster outside,” she said.

“Impending? I see you’re an optimist.”

Yu-jin laughed and shook her head. This guy was a piece of work.

“What’s it like being married?” she asked.

The Doctor cocked his head. “That was a random question. Thinking of getting hitched to that artist?”

Yu-jin looked at her glass. The Doctor went on.

“If you got the right person it’s amazing. All those cheesy songs are actually true.”

“Is that what it was like for you and Lucas?”

The Doctor twiddled his glass. “For a time. Before General Paulson decided to do some spring cleaning.”

Yu-jin’s jaw dropped. The Doctor looked at her.

“That bastard had a big moral crusade,” he went on. “The Chinese weren’t the only target. First he went after anyone from the old regime. General Whatshisname. Roberts, I think. Doesn’t matter. The previous regime were a bunch of bastards so nobody cared much, but purging them wasn’t enough to secure Paulson’s grip on power. So he went after you people. That proved more popular but he was still scared. Things were really falling apart and he knew the populace was ready to take it out on anyone. Soon enough, he went after the gays.”

“I’m sorry.”

The Doctor didn’t seem to have heard. He was staring into the golden liquid in his glass.

“We could have hid, just like we hid when you people were taken away. Oh, we protested, said all the right things when the guards weren’t around, but when the guns pointed in your direction we played the neutrality card. Then the guns pointed in our direction. Those who were out were rounded up first. They overlooked me and Lucas. We had never hid our relationship, but didn’t make a show of it either, and I think a lot of people decided to overlook it since we were doctors. But then the last of our community and a few brave straight friends decided to stage a protest. I didn’t want to go, but Lucas convinced me.”

“What happened then?”

The Doctor looked at her, an old pain burning in his eyes. “Use your imagination.”

Yu-jin rested a hand on his. She could feel him trembling.

“Maybe we could have stopped General Paulson in the early days,” he went on. “There were plenty of people against him, and he was taking them out group by group. We should have unified, but everyone was tired of coups and fighting. We convinced ourselves it would get better. If we had resisted together, right at the start, well…”

They lapsed into silence. The Doctor finished his drink in a single slug.

“Long day tomorrow, get some sleep,” he said, and staggered to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The Burbs Council showed up the next morning, pounding on the gate at the crack of dawn. This time the guards saw fit to wake The Doctor up. He told them not to open the gate until the proper time. Let them wait. In the meantime he had an assistant bring him breakfast. He ate slowly. Once he finished he checked the time, briefly wondering how many functioning clocks there were in the world and why he hadn’t shifted to the basics of sunrise/sunset/season like everyone else, and saw that the gate would be opening.

Yu-jin was still fast asleep on his couch. The Doctor stared at her peaceful face for a moment, wondering how anyone with so many troubles could sleep so well on so little whiskey, squared his shoulders, and went out to meet the council.

They met in Clyde’s operations center. Luckily Clyde was off doing something, so at least he had one less problem to deal with at the moment.

The entire five-person council was there—Ahmed Abd-al-Karim, whom The Doctor had trained up as a nurse; Dante Williams and Stella Van Eyck, both market traders; and Carla Fuller, who managed several of the old shipping containers New City rented out to scavengers as shelter. The fifth person at the table made him do a double take. It was Susanna Waites, the slave from the Righteous Horde, and later Weissberg, who had forced his hand when Weissman had separated to establish his own settlement.

When did she get on the council?

They were all seated around Clyde’s table. The Doctor stood at the head of the table and did not sit down.

“Well?” he demanded.

Ahmed, who sat at the opposite end of the table and was council chairman, spoke first. “First we’d like to lodge a protest against the collective punishment you have inflicted on our people for the actions of a few.”

“And the inactions of the many. Protest noted and ignored. What else you got?”

A flicker of annoyance passed over Ahmed’s face. “We’d like to remind you that the Burbs are an essential part of New City’s economy. You need us for trade, for labor, and, as you saw with the attack from the Righteous Horde, for survival.”

“We would have beaten them without you.”

“Nonsense,” Ahmed scoffed. “If you hadn’t let us inside the gates you would have run out of fighters for the wall.”

“If I hadn’t let you people inside the gate I would have never been shot. Thanks for that.”

Ahmed had been instrumental in helping the protest that got noncitizens inside the gate for the first time. It had been an act of defiance The Doctor could never forgive.

And to think I once had a crush on you.

“We have a proposal for solving this problem,” Susanna said.

“Do you now?” The Doctor asked, cocking his head. “And when did you get on the council?”

“I was voted in a few days ago when Clive Tombaugh had to step down due to his health.”

The Doctor nodded. That old farm worker’s liver was failing him. Probably drank some tainted water. Yet another of the many cases his limited store of medicine couldn’t cure.

And what happens when my AIDS medication runs out? Will Radio Hope send me more? Now that we’ve fucked up their plans with the ship will they even want to?

The Doctor shook that thought away and focused on the problems of today.

“Well, congratulations I guess,” he said. “So what’s this plan of yours?”

“We will rebuild and repair all the damaged houses and stock them with enough provisions to last the winter,” Susanna said. “We’ll also pay compensation to the families of those killed and injured at a rate we can work out between us. Deputies Andrews and Edgerton are punishing those who use hate speech against Asians.”

“Where’s Annette?”

“She’s out in the wildlands looking for her son,” Carla Fuller said.

“Shit. They still haven’t found the kid?”

Great. The Burbs fall apart and the sheriff isn’t in town.

Ahmed shook his head. “She’s beside herself. We have the situation under control, though. The Burbs are calm this morning. We hanged two of the looters last night. That certainly helped.”

“You don’t have authority to execute criminals, only I do!”

Ahmed smiled. “You cut off relations, remember?”

The Doctor glared at him. Ahmed was unphased. “If you want sole authority for capital punishment, you can restart relations between our two settlements.”

Incredible. I educated you. Made you a citizen. Gave you a job. Made you someone important. And this is how you repay me? If you want to be running the Burbs so much I should relinquish your citizenship. Yeah, maybe I’ll bring that up at the next Citizens Council. Nah, they’ll just whine about it. Weaklings.

Susanna spoke before The Doctor could come up with a suitably savage reply. “Tensions have been high and we didn’t impose enough order when we should have. We acknowledge that. But we must move on. Surely you can see that we can’t live side by side and not interact. You cut off the electricity as a wakeup call, as a warning. Fine, the people have woken up and been warned. Let’s get back to business. We have more important problems.”

The Doctor paused. “All right, here’s the deal. If there are no more attacks while the ship is here I’ll turn the juice back on once they’ve left.”

He had to practically force the words out.

He hated caving in so quickly, but what choice did he have? Hopefully the riffraff in the Burbs had learned their lesson. If he were a gambling man he wouldn’t bet much on that, though.

A sigh of relief came from a couple of the council members.

“Don’t get too comfy,” The Doctor warned. “Any more attacks on Asians or their property and I’ll keep the embargo on permanently.”

Clyde coming in the door gave him a reason to cut the meeting short.

“OK, you lot. Out. I have to talk with the Head of the Watch.”

The Burbs Council trailed out, looking peevish. The Doctor snorted. What did they have to be angry about? They got all they asked for, didn’t they? Ahmed paused at the door.

“I need some more bandages and painkillers,” he said.

“You know how to make those yourself.”

“Yes, but I’ve been busy with—”

“You know how to make those yourself,” The Doctor repeated. “Do you have an emergency and need them right away?”

“No, but—”

“Then make them yourself.”

Ahmed glared at him. “I also need some antivirals. That flu we had a couple of months back is making the rounds again. Can you spare some from your kit?”

“I’ll have someone bring some out. Get going.”

Ahmed nodded and left.

Clyde watched him go.

“You hear what that mob did to their prayer room? I’m surprised the Muslims haven’t cut someone’s head off,” Clyde said.

“Shut up and give me your report,” The Doctor snapped.

Clyde frowned. “You need to remember you aren’t running this show alone.”

“Give me your report.”

“I took a vehicle out to meet The Giver, that’s how I got back so fast.”

“You’re supposed to ask my permission to use the motor pool.”

Clyde narrowed his eyes. “City emergency.”

Everyone’s got authority these days, don’t they?

When The Doctor didn’t respond, the Head of the Watch went on. “He was concerned about Jessica, of course. When I told him she was in custody he seemed satisfied with that.”

“What, he doesn’t want her back?”

“Didn’t ask, no.”

“Surely he realizes she can’t spy for him anymore, even if she wanted to.”

Clyde shrugged.

The Doctor bit his lip and remembered Jessica’s words.

The only reason he left her with us was because the wildlands had become too dangerous. Her being a spy and radio operator only came out of opportunity. So if she can’t do either of those things, does that mean he wants her to stay here because there’s some other danger out there?

“Where is he now?”

“Where we found him. He said he wouldn’t budge until we got back to him. I have him under guard but not under detention.”

The Doctor walked out of the operations center, hoping Clyde wouldn’t follow. He did.

“So we going to blow the ship?” he asked.

“I told you we’re still negotiating. You got the charge ready?”

The Head of the Watch nodded, “We got it stored in a safe place near the shore. We can set it tonight if you want.”

“No, we’re going out in a bit. They’re expecting us. We’ll see how it goes.”

Clyde said nothing. The Doctor had been expecting an argument. They stood at the parapet, looking out at the Burbs. The shantytown looked strangely subdued, the market almost empty. Few people moved about.

“Too quiet for my liking,” Clyde said. “Oh, and Roy called a Citizens Council meeting for tonight.”

The Doctor turned in surprise. “Roy? He never gets involved in politics.”

Clyde shrugged. “Maybe cutting the power to his business changed that.”

The Doctor was about to say something about the stupidity of putting a business in the Burbs when there was a strange whirring overhead.

Insects in winter?

Before he could look up, Clyde snapped the safety off his M16 and let off a burst in full auto right next to The Doctor’s head.

“What the hell?” he shouted, crouching.

Clyde swept the gun in an arc, firing into the air. The Doctor caught a blur of movement. Something the size of a large insect and very fast shot by. As Clyde reloaded, he heard the whirring sound again.

“What are you firing at?” The Doctor yelled.

“It’s a drone!” Clyde said, fixing a second magazine into his assault rifle. A couple of the guards fired at the object too.

“A drone? Can’t be!”

But it was. The Doctor hadn’t seen one in years. Back in the early days of New City they’d had one they’d scavenged from the ruins of Southaven, but the circuit board had fried decades ago and no one in the world could fix it.

“The Chinks are spying on us,” Clyde said.

The drone hovered over New City, taking an evasive pattern.

“Cease fire!” The Doctor shouted. “Cease fire you idiots! You’ll hit someone.”

The fire tapered off. The drone buzzed away unharmed. They watched helplessly as it made a slow circle of New City and paused above the camp of Asians inside.

Suddenly The Doctor saw how this looked. All the Asians in town, many of them visibly beaten up, under guard and surrounded by a high wall and barbed wire.

“Wait! No!” The Doctor shouted, knowing it was useless. He waved his hands over his head trying to get the drone’s attention. It lowered down until it was only a few meters above the Asians, who looked up at it in wonder, then it shot up into the air and zipped off in the direction of the ship.

The Doctor watched it go.

Uh-oh.