Lost Past (15 page)

             
There was a doorway in the wall. There was a little purple vegetation on the tiny peninsula, but no visible animals. The land was large enough to build a typical suburban house, complete with a back yard, but not large enough for there to be neighbors. He was able to go a bit away from the city and look it over. The walls around the base of the city were partially native rock and partially built up. There was a doorway built into a cement wall, raised a couple of yards above high tide. He tried it, found it unlocked and cautiously
entered. All the doors he saw in the city were sliding doors, but this was a conventional door. The ceiling was too low for him and the only light came from the doorway. He had to walk crouched to avoid bumping his head as he went through the underbelly of the city.

             
He left the door open, but when night fell, it gave him inadequate light. He considered finding an outer wall and following it to an exit, but decided to stay. It was warmer inside, and the nights were cool. He felt his way past two stairways. He wanted to go up and check on Linda and Cara, but he knew he would be spotted at once, since his clothing was filthy and torn in a few places.
He couldn’t imagine how his presence would help them, and he might get them into more trouble, since the authorities might assume they were helping him, and he was a fugitive.

A light appeared at a third stairway and two people descended. He wondered whether he should run or not, but in the darkness with the low ceiling, running was not an option. He froze in position, not risking moving around because he wasn’t sure he could be silent. It turned out they were repairing some plumbing. They weren’t happy about it, but the job didn’t take long, although it seemed like an eternity to John. They went up, not noticing him. He resolved to stay away from the stairs. 

             
His need for food and water led him to leave the cellar of the city. It was raining and windy. He drank from a small puddle of water near the door. He stood up and there was a
mouthless
Plict
standing nearby. He froze. The
Plict
gestured for him to follow, and he did. The
Plict
led him back inside the city’s cellar, using a flashlight to find his way. He showed him a pipe with a faucet. Turning it on at a drip, John drank his fill. The
Plict
beckoned him to follow and showed him a conveyor belt that came from some outside location. Since John hadn’t circumnavigated the city, he wasn’t surprised there was another entrance he hadn’t found. There were boxes on a conveyer belt, leading into the city. The
Plict
pulled one box off the belt and opened it, and pulled out a food bar, which he handed to John. The
Plict
gestured, “Eat. Take more.” John ate one bar hungrily, and grabbed the box, thanking the
Plict
. He was surprised he knew the gestures, but he obviously did. The
Plict
gestured for him to follow, and John obeyed.

             
The
Plict
took a rock and wrote in the dirt on the beach, “Are you Arthur Saunders?”

             
John moved to take the rock, but the
Plict
put his three-fingered hand to where his mouth should be and with fingers out, mimicked speaking.

             
“I am John Graham. Also known as Zhexp. Do you understand me?” John said.

             
The
Plict
indicated affirmative before giving him the flashlight, and writing, “Shake to recharge.” He then dived into the ocean and disappeared.

             
John crisscrossed the city and found four stairways, which appeared to be all of them, allowing him to avoid them. There was also the base of a water purifying plant attached to an outer wall. He then found a tiny room, which was perfect to hide in. There was a cot, and even plumbing, but there was years of dust in the room. Someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to make the room soundproof, which made him more comfortable about living there, although there was no lock inside the door. He slept there, feeling more secure than he had in the cave. When he rested enough, he looked over the room more carefully. It locked from the outside.

             
He wanted to disable the lock, but didn’t know how. The lock made him want to look more carefully at the room. Bolted to a wall next to the cot was a chain, hidden under the cot. A broken link at the end of the chain told its history. The link hadn’t been cut, but worn, tediously and carefully by rubbing it against something, possibly another link. This was not
a refuge, it was a prison.

             
Natalie’s prison.
The computer hadn’t told him where they kept her, only that she was kept in secret. Where else could one keep a secret in this hive? He was not confined as she was, but he was imprisoned where she was. There was a storm outside, but it didn’t matter. He had nowhere to go.

CHAPTER 11

             
Before Linda could take advantage of the unrestricted computer access allowed by the reboot, a woman they hadn’t met opened the door. “Hello, I am
Judit
,” she said. “We need your help.”

             
“Why should we help you?” asked Cara. “We’re prisoners.”

             
“Because we’re dying and you caused it.”

             
Wilson said, “I think you better explain.”

             
“You brought the flu. We don’t have the immunities, because we’ve lived here for centuries without illness.”

             
“I didn’t exactly come voluntarily,” Cara said. “The responsibility for the flu lies with Hernandez and his clones.”

             
“We know that,”
Judit
said. “They are confined
to their apartments and we can’
t let them out even in this emergency.”

             
“Did you hold a trial?” asked Wilson. “If so, why weren’t we called as witnesses?”

             
“There was no trial,”
Judit
said. “T
he
Plict
told us to confine them.”
And that seemed to trump any
legalities
.

“
John should
help, since he’s a doctor. He
probably is immune to the flu,
”
Linda said. John never got sick.

             
Ever since John left, Linda had a constant awareness of
him. She knew he was unhappy but didn’t know the details.
She didn’t want to tell Wilson or Cara about it, because she doubted they would believe her. Wilson wasn’t even sure John was on their side, but Linda knew John cared about them. Well, he cared about her and Cara. She doubted he cared about Wilson.

             
“J
ohn Graham disappeared days ago,
” said
Judit
. “His t
ransponder stopped working. We assume he drowned.
”

             
First my father and then John, Linda thought. They really can’t keep track of the people they kidnap. John’s movements showed varying distances
,
inconsistent with his being confined
or dead
.
Once he seemed quite close, and Linda got a fleeting thought of green tomatoes, which wasn’t very enlightening, but she assumed he was somewhere above them near the strawberries.
Wilson appeared indifferent to the claim of John’s death, but Cara was clearly upset. Linda wanted to
reassure
her, but couldn’t without endangering John.

             
Wilson asked Cara, “What should they be doing
to fight the flu
?”

Cara appeared to pull herself together in spite of the report of John’s death
.
Linda wasn’t sure if she put it aside, or
didn’t believe John was dead
.
“Go to Earth and buy Tamiflu,” Cara said. Tamiflu was in English. W
hen
Judit
looked confused, Cara explained, “It’s a medicine that helps cure the flu.”

             
“The
Plict
told us we
can’t
go to Earth. We wanted to get drugs and vaccine, but they said we behaved irresponsibly and have recalled the ship. Hernandez and hi
s clones are
n’t allowed to leave their apartment
, and they’re the only ones with
immune systems that can fight the flu. We’ve shut down everything and have a complete quarantine. No one is allowed to do anything or go anywhere. Yet some things must be done.”

             
“It’s only been a couple of days. How many people are sick? How many died?” Linda asked.

             
“Baldur died. You’ve met him. He’s the only one who’s dead, but
Katrine
,
Reidar
, and
three others
are probably not going to make it. The trouble is they’ve probably each exposed dozens of people each. We’re on a complete lockdown. We have over sixty people with symptoms and who knows how many have been exposed.”

             
“Of course we’ll help,” said Cara. Linda wasn’t sure that “of course” applied.

             
“I think we need some reassurances first,” Wilson said. Wilson’s thoughts came clearly to Linda:
They’ll let us help them, but they’ll never let us go back. They think we’re animals with no rights, and they’ll treat us that way.

             
So this is what it’s like, Linda thought. Mom warned me. Damn! Damn! Damn! Why did he have to be so sexy? It’s propinquity, not love. I didn’t want this to happen. I haven’t avoided men all my life for this to happen now.

             
Linda didn’t pay attention to
Wilson’s
and Cara’s brief argument, with
Judit
supporting Cara, but she trusted Wilson’s judgment enough to side with him. Besides, she knew she loved him. Hormones over logic!

             
“Cara is too weak to do much,” said Linda, supporting Wilson. “Wilson and I disagree with Cara and won’t do anything. I want formal recognition that we have the same rights as any citizen. Also, I want us sent back at the first opportunity.” She added after a thought from Wilson, with hardly a pause, “I want us treated at an ambassador level, with no right to do us any harm, except to return us to home.”

             
She glanced at Wilson, and felt a brief satisfaction at his startle
d look. The headache came then, not quite incapacitating her, but bad enough. She did manage to add, “If John turns up,
I
want him allowed to return to Earth with us if that is what he wants.” This was enough for Cara to change sides in the argument.
Linda went back to her cot and lay there
, confi
dent that Cara would support
John’s cause
.
Judit
agreed, although Linda wasn’t sure an agreement would be honored.

             
Linda was surprised she fell asleep, but awakened when
Judit
came back with a contract, meeting their t
erms, one of which was a formal
broadcast signing ceremony. There was a religious ceremony first, with the head of state presiding. At least it felt like a religious ceremony, with music and responses from the miniscule audience. Wilson, Linda, and Cara were prompted on the proper responses and assured that they would not be taken seriously if they didn’t participate. Only
Ju
dit
, the head of state, and two other people
were there. The corridors were eerily empty.

             
“What do you need us to do?” Wilson asked
Judit
after the ceremony.

             
“The food delivery is jammed. The workers who clear the jam are all sick. We can’t get the jam clear and keep the quarantine.”

             
The four of them went down a stairway into the basement level. All of them had to walk partially bent over because of the low ceilings, but Wilson had more height to erase.
Judit
grabbed a box on the conveyor belt, pulled it open, grabbed a bar of food, and ate it. Cara sat by a computer terminal and relayed instructions while Linda and Wilson cleared the jam.

             
“How often does this have to be done?” Wilson asked.

             
“Maybe every
ten
day
s
. I’m not sure.”
Judit
coughed into the box of food bars, not covering her mouth. Wilson and Linda exchanged a glance.