The Legend That Was Earth (36 page)

"Er..." Henry waved a hand undecidedly and looked perplexed. He seemed far from happy, as if some explanation were called for, yet at the same time conscious of his station.

"It doesn't
matter
why, Henry," Julia said sharply. "I do not have to justify myself to you. Just kindly do as I ask, please."

"Yes.... Yes, of course." Henry turned and went back into the house.

Julia followed, going to the den, where she retrieved the briefcase and book bag that she had previously filled with documents and files from her own drawers. She took them through to the garage along with her laptop, placing them by the bags that she had left previously just as Henry came back with three from upstairs. He was agitated and unsure, depositing the bags with the others and departing, as if to spend as little time around her as possible. As Henry was about to leave, Warren Edmonds came in through the door from the rear yard. He stopped, seemingly confused.

"Ah... has anyone seen Luke?" he asked. It sounded like an excuse. Evidently, he hadn't expected to find Julia and Henry here.

"He's just gone," Henry said from the doorway. "Picking up Vrel and the rest at the airport, remember?"

"Oh... right." Warren gazed around the garage as if reluctant to leave.

"He'll be back in a few hours. Was there something else?" Julia said impatiently.

"Er, no.... No, I guess not. Okay." Warren turned and went back the way he had come. Henry exited into the house. Julia went through to the front hall to sort coats and jackets from the closet. By the time she returned to the garage, Henry was back and had just lifted the last of the bags into the trunk. Julia opened the driver's door, threw the coats onto the back seat, prepared to get in, then saw that Henry was watching her strangely. Something needed to be said. It didn't matter what. Five minutes more and she would be out of this place permanently. "I told you, something unexpected has come up," Julia told him. "I"ll be back in a day or two." Henry nodded but didn't look as if he believed her. She climbed in, started the motor, and backed the car out.

As she came onto the freeway, Julia called her ISS control unit and left a message that said, "Arcadia checking in. Rooster is on schedule. Gamecock. Surfing." The code words meant that Luke had left on time, the device was planted, and she was on her way out.

A couple of miles farther south, she pulled into a service area to fill up with gas. She decided it would be a good time to eat too, rather than stop again later. On her way into the coffee shop by the gas station, she threw her regular domestic phone into the trash bin by the door. That part of her life was over now.

* * *

Warren found Henry in the kitchen, doing something with the program of the autochef. Henry was looking worried, but Warren was too flustered to notice. "Henry, drop that and come this way. I've got a problem." Warren led the way back through to the garage, then waved a hand around. "There's supposed to be a black suitcase here somewhere. I've looked all over. You were in here a few minutes ago. Have you seen it?"

"I loaded all the bags into the Cadillac," Henry said. "Julia's orders."

Warren looked around, as if noticing for the first time that it was gone. "Where'd she go?"

"I don't know. She didn't say. But she was acting strange. Packed. Gone. I don't know what it's all about."

Impossible thoughts raced through Warren's mind. "
All
the bags?" he repeated.

"That's what she said. The mood she was in, I wasn't asking questions. Why? Is something wrong?"

Warren thought frantically, then went out into the yard and called Luke's number from his pocket phone. "Hello?" Luke's voice answered.

"Luke, it's Warren. We may have trouble. There isn't any black suitcase in the garage. Henry says he put it in the Cadillac with a bunch of other stuff of Julia's that he just loaded. She's gone."

"Gone? Where to?"

"We don't know. She's blown. Taken off. She was set to go right after you left. Henry says she was acting strange." Warren paused, but there was no immediate response. "What does it mean?" he asked finally. The silence persisted for a long time, as if Luke were wrestling with all manner of imponderables. "Luke?" Warren prompted.

"Don't worry about it," Luke's voice said at last. "Just leave everything to me."

IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM the last time he had looked down over Los Angeles from an incoming flight, Vrel reflected. Then, he had been traveling on official business for the Hyadean authorities, returning to their West Coast office of the United States. This time he was a renegade seeking asylum at an unofficial enterprise in a new, rebellious Federation gearing up for war. He really had no comprehension of the political and economic tangles that had led up to it, he realized. Perhaps he was still only at the beginnings of understanding anything about Earth and its squabbling, disorganized, variously colored natives.

In the window seat next to Vrel in the First Class section, Luodine stared out, looking for signs of the war. After her experiences in Brazil, she hadn't been sure what to expect, but Los Angeles still looked very much the way it had when she last visited. They had been fortunate in getting a flight into the Federation at all. Many airlines had suspended operations because of the military risks. The morning had seen a major attack by air-launched missiles on the naval installations in San Diego, farther south, which the Federation had taken over. Also, Union aircraft had been allowed across Mexican air space to lay mines and other underwater devices at points along the West Coast. The Federation was reinforcing its southern border. Luodine looked to the future with a mixture of excitement that the big story she had been working toward was about to break here, and trepidation as to what it might entail.

In the row in front, Nyarl was despondent that at the end of it all, nothing they did would have any measurable impact on Chryse. The control over what Hyadeans were told was too effective. What had Luodine and he been thinking to imagine they could change it? They had become too distracted by what they had seen on Earth, and then in their minds projected it into Chryse. But Chryse was not Earth. The flyer had given them a direct connection to Chryse before they had to leave it at Quito. The documentary that they made at Tevlak's had not been aired there. The director of the agency that Luodine and Nyarl represented had balked when he saw it and requested guidance from the authorities. That meant it never would get aired. Oh yes, Luodine would get her story here. And nobody would ever get to see it.

Across the aisle, Yassem and Marie sat together, saying little. Each, in her own way and for her own reasons, had imagined that if this journey ever took place it would mark the beginnings of a new life. Hopes for that were now gone, and both of them faced a life that opened up to a long prospect of uncertainty leading nowhere.

The plane landed and taxied to the terminal. Military vehicles and personnel were scattered along the airport perimeter, where work crews were constructing antiaircraft defenses and dispersal bays, and digging slit trenches. There were fewer civil aircraft than had been normal for LAX, although many painted olive drab or camouflage. An official from the newly inaugurated Federation immigration office met them as they deplaned and took them through arrival formalities in a secluded area, away from the public facilities. Wyvex and Dee were already waiting beyond. Police escorted the group out through one end of the regular Baggage Claim level to the pickup zone, where Luke was waiting with Cade's maroon limo. They climbed aboard amid an arriving military unit jostling to sort out packs and kit bags on the sidewalk.

Inside, Vrel and Dee hugged warmly, but then Dee put a restraining hand on his arm and eased him away. Vrel frowned at her, puzzled. She moved her eyes in Marie and Yassem's direction. Vrel returned a faint nod that he understood, at the same time reproaching himself for needing reminding.

Introductions were completed as the limo pulled out into the traffic. Wyvex and Dee already knew Marie's face from the documentary she had made with Cade. Vrel indicated the front, where Luke had left the limo's privacy screen down. "And that's Luke, who was Roland's right-hand man, I think you say." Luke's eyes left the road for a moment to glance into the mirror showing the rear compartment.

"Luke, hello," Yassem said. The eyes found the mirror again, and Luke nodded in acknowledgment.

"Hi, Luke," Marie said. "It's been a long time."

"You're right about that. So how was China?"

"Oh, I didn't know you already knew each other," Vrel said.

"Maybe we never really did," Marie told him. She looked toward the back of Luke's head again. "It feels as if it's all my fault, Luke. I'm sorry I didn't bring him back.... Things could have been so different. One day I'll tell you the whole story."

Luke didn't reply. Marie was hoping to begin building a bridge between them to close a gap that had existed in the past. His failure to respond struck her as strangely insensitive, even for Luke.

* * *

The gray Dodge following several cars behind had pulled out from the sidewalk parking strip opposite as the limo left the baggage claim pickup area. With the intervening traffic and melee of soldiers, Laredo hadn't been able to positively identify all of the expected arrivals. But the importance of carrying through the mission there—before any of them had an opportunity to meet people from the media or Federation government—had been stressed, and in his judgment that didn't constitute sufficient grounds to reconsider. He slid the detonator control out from the map receptacle under the armrest and flipped the primer switch to the ARMED position. An amber light came on to confirm.

* * *

Luke put the phone back in the holder on the limo's dash panel. Still no answer. He wasn't sure why, since there was hardly any reason to feel sentimental, but he had been trying to raise Julia ever since Warren's call. It hadn't required an effort of genius to fit the pieces together. If Julia had played her hand and gone, then nothing Luke said could make any difference now. He chewed on his lip as he drove, trying to decide if he should tell them.

"... the Midwest states might be about to come over," Wyvex was saying behind. "But the East is pushing solidly into Texas. Everything's confused."

"Might Hyadeans be getting ready to play a bigger part?" Luodine asked in a worried voice.

"Nobody knows."

"We heard there's been a lot of air fighting," Nyarl said.

"Especially in the center, yes," Wyvex confirmed. "We've had raids here too. NATO is mobilizing in Europe."

Marie was being very quiet. Luke glanced in the mirror again. She was still watching him, her face showing hurt and confusion, on the verge of fighting back tears. Drawing a long breath, he turned his head to call over his shoulder. "Hey, everyone back there..." His tone brought immediate quiet. "There's something you all ought to know." They waited. "Roland and Hudro are both okay. They made it through the crash. The MOPAN got them to Bolivia. Roland called me from there a couple of days ago. There were reasons to keep it quiet. He was talking about trying to get back via New Zealand. I thought he might have changed his plans and met up with you people somehow."

* * *

The traffic on I-405 south was noticeably thinner due to the gasoline restrictions. Laredo moved out a lane and accelerated gently past the limo. He watched in his mirror as it fell back a comfortable distance behind, then released the safety latch over the FIRE button. A red warning light confirmed that the circuit was active. He kept the Dodge well ahead and waited for a clear stretch in the traffic pattern.

* * *

Marie and Yassem were hugging each other in delight, Yassem smiling and trying to suppress a compulsion to laugh at the same time, Marie openly weeping. Vrel was speechless; Dee flung her arms around his neck. Luodine and Nyarl were grinning and smacking palms together in the way they had picked up from Terrans.

"You mean we can call them?" Marie said, finally managing to speak coherently.

"I don't have the number here," Luke answered from the front. "But sure, as soon as we get back to the house."

"But... why couldn't you have told us?" Wyvex stammered.

"I said, there were reasons," Luke replied. "But they don't matter anymore."

* * *

Laredo pressed the FIRE button. A green light indicated positive function. Yet nothing had happened. The limo was still there in his mirror, a couple of hundred yards back in a gap behind a truck and a Chevrolet sitting close together. He shook his head bemusedly and pressed the button again.

Nothing happened.

* * *

Thirty miles farther south, traffic braked and swerved wildly to avoid the remains and falling debris of what, a few seconds before, had been a cream Cadillac moving fast in the direction of San Diego and the border.

* * *

In the trash bin outside the coffee shop by the gas station, the phone rang again for a while, then fell silent.

Back in the limo, Luke replaced the phone for what he decided was the last time. He had done all anybody could do, he told himself.

AFTER A SCHEDULED STOP in Tahiti, Cade and Hudro arrived in Auckland without further incident. Neville Baxter, jovial as ever, met them personally with several other people from his company to make sure there was no hitch with the arrangement for them to enter the country as political refugees. They were granted temporary visas, and then Baxter took them to an apartment in Auckland that he had procured and placed at their disposal, recommending that they rest, relax for a few days, and adjust to the world as seen from the other side. After that, they could consider their options.

The first thing Cade did was call Luke in California to let him know that he and Hudro were safe. It turned out that Luke had some news for him too. "Vrel and those two Hyadeans that made the movie, they're here. They arrived yesterday on a regular flight from Ecuador."

"Hey, that's great!" Cade exclaimed. He looked up. Hudro was staring at him from the far side of the room. "Vrel and Luodine and Nyarl are okay. They're in California."