Chapter 15 -- FTTVRQHUDHODT
Carter awoke to a brief moment of panic as he realized something was different.
It subsided as he remembered he wasn't in his bed. He looked over at
Jessica, still sleeping quietly.
When they returned to the cabin the evening before, he took a shower and
dressed in his usual manner, to find Jessica sitting in one of the chairs,
also as usual in pajamas. She turned off the television and stood up, moving
toward him.
"Screw the news," she said, putting her arms around his neck, then she let
go and took his hand and led him towards her room.
He supposed it had been inevitable and they had been avoiding dealing with it
for a while. So much of his life had been been controlled by others for a
long time. He was put in prison by a corrupt political system, then recruited
by a organization he would have never believed existed, and had generally not
taken much time to analyze any of it. She had dedicated her life to an organization
that must remain secret and thus limiting contact with the outside world. Looking into her eyes he thought he saw
a reflection of his own isolation.
He wondered what time it was but did not have his phone and there was no clock,
Jessica's was on the nightstand on the other
side of the bed, so he closed his eyes and lay quietly, as he had done so many
times when he awoke in his prison cell in the early hours, waiting for the
noise of the day to begin. After a while her phone screen illuminated as the
alarm sounded. She turned to face him, smiling almost shyly, it seemed.
"Big day," she said. "Graduation."
"Did I pass?" he asked.
"Of course, silly. You wouldn't be here if you hadn't passed the test a long
time ago. These sessions are just opportunities to stay in shape, sharpen our
tools, so to speak. And meet some of our comrades-in-arms. Today we'll spend
some time just socializing, mostly a day with no shop talk, although for most
of us that's not easy to do."
Getting out of bed, he collected his clothes and went over to his room to get
ready. Jessica wasn't yet ready when he emerged, and he sat down to check the
news. As expected, the event in Little Rock was well underway. Someone representing the oppressed-
peoples-of-the-moment was ranting into the newsperson's microphone, and the
mob had grown, with more and larger signs. And more cops, now forming a dense
line in front of them, just a few feet apart. They looked uneasy, and with
good reason. They knew what was coming as well as anyone.
He didn't know who the representative of the aggrieved was, there were so many
of them these days and they all looked pretty much alike. The screen split,
leaving the mob on one side and introducing some sort of local official, from
the looks of it. It was soon identified as a spokesperson for the mayor's office, with the
usual verbiage. Urge the citizens to remain calm, let justice take its course.
See, we're trying to keep this calm. When the place starts to burn it's not
our fault.
Jessica had come out and was watching. She didn't say anything, watching
until a commercial break.
"Anything on the cop?" she asked.
"Nothing. Probably be a while. The riots are more fun for them."
They went over the building with the dining facility. Most of the attendees
were already, partaking of a continental breakfast and talking in pairs or
small groups. Others walked around outside, enjoying the pleasant weather.
By time for dinner, a little earlier than usual, perhaps to allow a few more
adult beverages afterward, Carter had met most, if not all, of the others.
Afterwards, he and Jessica went back to prepare for an early departure.
Before going to bed they watched the news again for a while before going to bed.
After a while, they lay quietly with mostly their own thoughts and little talk.
It seemed to Carter that he would never fall asleep, but eventually he did.
The next morning they left early, before most of the others. Jessica told him
the departures would be staggered so there would not be a large number of
vehicles leaving together. There was no sign that the area was under
surveillance, and it most likely was not, but extra caution, sometimes
approaching paranoia, was standard procedure.
He noticed it, as he had before, just after they were back on a paved road for
the first time. They passed a small community, no more than a handful of
houses but large enough to have a small store and gas station. As they
approached, a highway patrol car was parked in front of the store, and as soon
as they passed it turned out of the parking area onto the highway behind them.
He noticed Jessica kept her eyes on the mirror as it came up behind them. He
did not look back, knowing that if the cop wasn't already suspicious he would
be. The car approached slowly, and for a while it seemed he was going to
follow them, but after a couple of minutes he passed and soon left them behind.
"Definitely checking on us," Jessica said. "He was on the radio."
"You get that much?" he asked.
"Not a lot," she replied. "Of course I don't make a lot of long
trips. Mostly over to Saint Joe now and then, once in a
while down to the KC and Springfield areas. I would guess he was interested in the vehicle - it's
pretty old but a cop would pick up on the fact that it's in new-looking,
even when it's dirty. The downside to using these old vehicles."
"What happens when they get rid of gas-burners?" he asked. "They would do it
today if they could."
"Yeah, they would. It's a question of whether everything goes to hell and we
have the big one before then. I suspect it'll be close."
They stopped south of Springfield and refueled, then resumed the drive home.
As always, Jessica kept her eyes on the road and the mirror. Carter thought
about the situation in Little Rock.
"I guess we're looking at more of the same down in Little Rock," he said. "There's
not much we can do about it, except maybe save the cop. I hate to see that
happen even one more time."
"I can only guess at how you feel," said Jessica. "You're one of the few who
can understand it. That's why it may be hard to get any kind of operation for
that. The Council is looking at the big picture. Still, it would be fairly
easy to do, and with little exposure for us. Maybe they'll go for it. Got any
ideas on how it would get done?"
"Sure," he said, grinning. "It could be a piece of cake if done right. And I
have no doubt we can do it right."
"Dad's going to the Council meeting week after next. We'll have time to
discuss it with him."
They were still some distance from when they decided to stop for lunch. It
was the first time in a while they had eaten together without anyone else around, and
Jessica seemed to enjoy it, almost like they were on a date. He wondered if
she was thinking about their relationship and what it portended. She
apparently was, or was reading his thoughts.
"Are you good with everything?" she asked.
"If you are," he said.
"What I said about not being the boss's daughter. Whatever sort of
relationship I have is fine with Dad. We all trust each other completely."
"That's good," he said. "I have no reservations. When I signed
on this became my life, and I don't see it changing."
"I know quite a bit about you, your life before," she said. "Tommy had to
tell us everything he knew before we could decide whether to invite you. So I
know you never married, you have a brother and a sister, and your parents are
still living"
"Yeah," he said. "I guess that may be the hardest part. They were proudest
of me - my brother banged around from job to job, my sister got married and
moved to Colorado, we rarely heard from her. I asked Mom and Dad not to visit
me, I didn't want anyone... anyone I cared for to see me like that. I told
them it would only be a few years. Which I guess has turned out to not be true.
They have no idea what happened to me, and I don't know if they ever will."
"Maybe someday you can get a message to them, let them know you're around. I
don't know. And I don't know how you deal with knowing they're getting old
and need their children. It's a tough deal."
"Well, anyway," he grinned. "I dropped a few hints about what would happen
when I got out, to certain people. Maybe they're wondering, now that I'm out
and no one has any idea where I went."
"If you're wondering what happened to my marriage," she said, "I was a dumb
young kid once, the kind that wanted to be a cheerleader and date the
quarterback. Which I did, and it took a lot less than the almost three years
we were married to figure what a jerk he was."
"You ever see him after the divorce?" asked Carter.
"No, he moved to Saint Joe right after. I guess some of the problem was that
I didn't want to leave and he didn't want to stay around a small town. We
were both kids, got married right after school. Should have waited. Anyway,
I got involved with Dad's political activities, and lost my brother just after
that. So the freehold became my life."
They left the restaurant and resumed their trip. A short time later they left
the highway for the road to the farm. Jessica drove up to the main house,
where another Trailblazer was parked.
"Looks like Tommy's here," Jessica said. "Let's go in and say hello."
Tommy was indeed there, chatting with Donald and Gordon. Jessica gave each a
quick hug, and they all greeted Carter.
"Welcome home," said Tommy. "Have a good time?"
"Very," Carter replied. "Quite impressive."
"Dinner is at the usual time," Donald said. "Plenty of time to get unloaded
and cleaned up. I think Tommy is the only one who enjoys long trips."
"OK," Jessica said. "We'll see you in a while."