Abduction

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“I’m sure you are all a bit overwhelmed,” Arak said. “I can see it in your faces.”

Arak and Sufa had brought the group back to the circular conference room for a debriefing late in the afternoon. The Interterrans were standing in the central area, looking up at their charges whose moods differed drastically and not from what Arak assumed.

Perry was irritated with Richard. Just when he had gotten cozy with Luna, Meeta and the others had appeared in a panic, saying that Richard had gone berserk. Worried that Richard’s violent behavior might ruin it for all of them, Perry had run back and spent an hour trying to calm the diver down-with little success.

Richard sat sullen and silent. He glowered at Arak and Sufa as if his problems were their personal fault.

Suzanne was sitting next to Perry, reviewing her own emotional wounds. She was also feeling responsible for their predicament. As soon as she’d gotten back, she’d explained how she was the reason behind their abduction. She’d apologized, and everyone had assured her that they didn’t hold her responsible, but still she felt bad.

Only Donald and Michael seemed unphased. Arak interpreted this as a reflection of their particularly successful visit to Central Information. Engaging Donald with eye contact, Arak addressed him directly: “Before we close for the day, are there any questions or comments about what you have seen during your excursions? Perhaps it might be helpful for each to share with the others your experiences.”

“I have a question that I’m sure all of us are interested in,” Donald said.

“Then by all means ask it,” Arak said.

“Are we prisoners here for life?”

Everyone was taken aback, especially Suzanne and Perry who were jolted from their inward preoccupation. The question surprised them because it was just the previous night that Donald had urged the issue not be broached for fear of having their freedoms curtailed.

Arak was more disappointed than shocked. It took a moment for him to gather his thoughts. “ Prisoners is not the right word,” he said finally. “We’d rather emphasize that you will not be forced to leave Interterra. Instead, we welcome you to our world with full rights to enjoy the panoply of advances to which you have just begun to be exposed.”

“But we weren’t asked-” Perry began.

“Hold up!” Donald ordered, interrupting Perry. “Let me finish! Arak, just to make this crystal clear, you’re saying that we will not be able to leave Interterra, even if we want to.”

Arak squirmed uncomfortably.

Sufa interceded. “Generally, we eschew discussing such an emotional subject so early in your introduction to Interterra. It’s our experience that visitors are better equipped to deal with this topic after they have been acclimated to the benefits of life here.”

“Please, just answer the question,” Donald said bluntly.

“A simple yes or no will do,” Michael added.

Arak and Sufa conferred in whispered tones. Donald leaned back and haughtily crossed his arms while the other visitors watched in stunned, nervous silence. Their fate hung in the balance.

Finally Arak nodded. He and Sufa had come to an agreement. He looked up at the group and eventually fixed his gaze on Donald. “All right” he said. “We shall be honest. The answer to your question is, no. You will not be able to leave Interterra.”

“Never?” Perry gasped.

“What about communicating with our families?” Suzanne asked. “We need to let them know we are alive.”

“To what end?” Arak questioned. “Such a message would be cruel to people destined never to see you again and who are already adapting to your loss.”

“But we have children,” Perry cried. “How do you expect us not to contact them?”

“It’s out of the question,” Arak said firmly. “I’m sorry, but the security of Interterra supersedes personal interests.”

“But we didn’t ask to come here,” Perry exclaimed, close to tears. “You brought us here to help you, and Suzanne did. I’ve got a family!”

“We can’t stay here,” Richard sputtered.

“No way,” Michael seconded.

“We all have emotional ties to our world,” Suzanne added. “As sensitive fellow humans you can’t think that we can just forget them.”

“We understand it is difficult,” Arak said. “We empathize with you, but remember the rewards are infinite. Frankly I’m surprised none of you is tempted at this early juncture. But it will change. It always does. Remember we have had thousands of years of experience with earth surface visitors.”

“Temptation is not the point,” Donald said haughtily. “In our ethical value system, ends do not justify means. The problem is, we’re being forced, and particularly because of our heritage as Americans, we find that a difficult cross to bear.”

“Oh please!” Perry shouted angrily at Donald. “Cut the patriot nonsense. This is not about being American. This is about being human.”

“Calm down!” Arak ordered. He took a breath then added: “It is true you are in a sense being forced due to the security needs of Interterra, but a better term would be directed because in this instance the analogy of parent to child is apropos. Due to your primitive innocence you are confusing short term interests with long term benefit. We who have lived for lifetime after lifetime know better and are more capable of making a more rational decision. Try to keep in mind what we are directing you to: namely the goal of all your religions. You have been brought into a very real heaven.”

“Heaven or no heaven,” Richard sputtered. “We ain’t staying here.”

“I’m sorry,” Arak said quite sincerely. “You are here and here you will stay.”

Suzanne, Perry, Richard, and Michael looked at each other with varying mixtures of agitation, dismay, and resentment. Donald, on the other hand still had his arms folded in an attitude of priggish self-satisfaction.

“Well,” Arak said with a sigh, “this has not gone as planned. I regret that you have insisted on talking about this so early in your orientation. But please trust me; you will all change your minds as time goes on.”

“What is the general plan for us?” Suzanne asked.

“The orientation period usually lasts one month,” Arak said, “depending on each visitor’s individual needs. During that time you will have the opportunity to travel to other cities. After the completion of orientation, you will be relocated to a city of your choice.”

“Can you tell us where these cities are located?” Donald asked.

“Of course,” Arak said. He was glad to move the conversation away from the emotional issue of their custody. Swinging up into his seat with the console, Arak dimmed the lights and turned on the floor screen. A moment later an enormous map of the Atlantic portion of Interterra appeared, including overlying oceans and continental margins. The cities were either orange, blue, or green. Sufa stepped to the side to avoid blocking anyone’s view.

“I’m sure you all recognize Saranta,” Arak said. He touched his console and its name blinked in orange. Then the entire image switched to the Pacific part of Interterra. “Here you see the older cities beneath the Pacific Ocean. You’ll be visiting many of them. All have their own, individual characters, and you will be able to live in any one you choose.”

“Does the orange type signify anything?” Donald asked.

“They are cities with the interplanetary exit ports,” Arak said. “Like the port you entered through. But most of these have become obsolete and are not used. Here you see Calistral in the southern Indian Ocean. That’s probably the only one still in operation, although it’s used rarely. Nowadays we rely almost exclusively on the intergalactic ports under the South Pole.”

“Could we see the other map again?” Donald asked. He leaned forward.

“Certainly,” Arak said. The image of the Atlantic portion of Interterra reappeared.

“So the city of Barsama due east of Boston has an interplanetary port?” Donald said.

“It does,” Arak said. “But it has not been used for hundreds of years. The city of Barsama is very pleasant, however, although it is quite small.”

“When you say unused,” Donald continued, “does that mean it has been sealed like the port here in Saranta?”

“Not yet,” Arak said. “But it will be soon. The shafts of those outmoded ports were all supposed to have been sealed ages ago, as I said yesterday. Just today the Council of Elders issued a new decree to speed up the process.”

Donald nodded. He eased back in his chair and recrossed his arms.

“Any other questions?” Arak asked.

No one moved.

“I think we are too stunned for more questions,” Perry said.

“You need to spend time together to help each other adapt,” Sufa said. “And we encourage you to seek the counsel of Ismael and Mary. I’m sure you can benefit from their wisdom and experience.”

No one responded.

“Well then,” Arak said. “We’ll resume your orientation in the morning after you’ve had a deserved rest. Remember, in addition to everything else, you are all still recovering from the decon process. We know that the stress of that ordeal heightens emotional volatility.”

A quarter hour later the group found themselves walking back toward the dining hall after Arak and Sufa’s departure. Evening was beginning to fall. Trudging through the thick grass no one spoke. Each was absorbed in his own thoughts.

“We have to talk,” Donald said, suddenly breaking the silence.

“I agree,” Perry said. “Where?”

“I think it best if we do it outside,” Donald said. “But let’s wait until we get to the dining hall so we can leave our wrist communicators inside. I wouldn’t be surprised if they serve as a surveillance device along with their other functions.”

“Good idea,” Perry said. He had recovered enough to be angry.

“I want to apologize again to everyone,” Suzanne said. “I just feel terrible that I’m responsible for everyone being here.”

“You’re not responsible,” Perry said irritably.

“We don’t blame you,” Michael said. “It’s these goddamn Interterrans.”

“Let’s keep the talk to a minimum until we get rid of our communicators,” Donald suggested.

The group walked the rest of the way in silence. Inside the dining hall they stripped off the wrist units, then filed back outside.

“How far do you think we should go?” Perry asked. He glanced over his shoulder. They were already about a hundred feet from the tip of the dining room pool. Light from the interior spilled out into a puddle on the lawn.

“This is fine,” Donald said. He stopped and the others huddled around him. “So now we know,” he said. “I don’t like to say that I told you so.”

“Then don’t say it,” Perry grumbled.

“At least we know where we stand,” Donald said.

“That’s a lot of comfort,” Perry said sarcastically.

“I was surprised you posed the question,” Suzanne said. “Why did you change your mind about not being direct?”

“Because we needed to know sooner rather than later,” Donald said. “If we’ve got to break out of here, which we now know is the case, then we’ve got to do it soon.”

“Do you think there is a way?” Suzanne asked.

“I think it is possible,” Donald said. “The most promising piece of news is your having seen the Oceanus and it being intact. If we could get it to that exit port in Barsama and figure out how to flood the chamber and open the shaft, we’d have enough power and life support to get us to Boston.”

“That’s not going to work,” Suzanne said. “As paranoid as the Interterrans are, the exit ports have to be heavily guarded and monitored. Even if we knew how it worked, we wouldn’t be able to get away with it.”

“Suzanne’s right,” Richard said. “They’d have a bunch of those worker clones hanging around for sure.”

“I agree,” Donald said. “We can’t sneak out or even break out. We have to be let out.”

“Cripes!” Perry complained. “They’re not going to let us out. Arak made that perfectly clear.”

“Not willingly,” Donald said. “We have to force them.”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Suzanne asked. “We’re talking about an extremely advanced civilization here, with powers and technology that we can’t even anticipate.”

“Blackmail,” Donald said. “We have to convince them it would be safer to let us out than detain us.”

“Keep talking,” Perry said dubiously.

“They are terrified of exposure,” Donald said. “My idea is to threaten to transmit to surface TV and expose this place.”

“Do you think people on the surface would believe it?” Suzanne asked.

“All that matters is that the Interterrans believe it,” Donald said.

“Do they have facilities to transmit TV signals?” Perry asked.

“No, but they receive. Michael and I found a man who will help us.”

“It’s true,” Michael said. “He’s an old bird from New York City named Harvey Goldfarb. He’s been here for years but spends his days hidden in Central Information watching TV reruns. He wants out, too, big time.”

“The important thing is that he’s familiar with their TV equipment,” Donald said. “We’ve got two camcorders on the Oceanus that could be jury-rigged to transmit. Goldfarb says there’s plenty of power.”

“Hmmm. You know,” Perry said, “it sounds promising.”

“Not to me,” Suzanne said with a shake of her head. “I don’t see how it is going to work. I get the threat idea, but how do we use it to pressure the Interterrans into doing something they obviously do not want to do?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Donald admitted. “We’ve got to put our heads together and work it out. I envisioned having Goldfarb with his finger on the switch ready to transmit.”

“Is that all?” Perry questioned with dismay. “If that’s all you’ve got, then Suzanne’s right. It wouldn’t work. I mean, they could just send a worker clone in to clobber Goldfarb or, simpler still, they could just shut the power off. If blackmail is going to work, it’s got to be more involved to be a credible threat.”

“It’s a start,” Donald said. “Like I said, we’ve got to brainstorm on this.”

Suzanne looked at Perry. “What do you mean, ‘more involved’?” she asked.

“Something like having two coexisting threats,” Perry said. “That way if they block one, the other does the job. You know what I mean? In order to neutralize the threat they’d have to address both flanks.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Donald said. “Can anybody think of another threat?”

No one volunteered anything.

“I can’t think of anything on the spur of the moment,” Perry said.

“Nor can I,” Suzanne said.

“We’ll start off with the camcorder idea,” Donald said. “While we’re getting that set up, something else will occur to us.”

“What about the weapons in the museum?” Michael asked.

“You found some weapons?” Perry asked.

“A whole room full,” Donald said. “But unfortunately they’re mostly old, outdated, damaged ordnance scavenged off the ocean floor from ancient Grecian times to World War Two. The most promising piece we saw was a German Luger.”

“Do you think it would fire?” Perry asked.

“It might,” Donald said. “The clip is full. Mechanically it seemed clean.”

“Well, that’s something,” Perry said. “Especially if it works.”

“One thing we know for sure,” Donald said, “we’re not going to be able to pull this off once we get separated into different cities.”

“That’s right,” Perry said. “So we’ve got less than a month.”

“We might have a lot less time than a month,” Richard said.

“Why do you say that?” Suzanne asked.

“Michael and I had a little problem,” Richard said. “And I imagine all hell is going to break loose around here one of these days when it’s discovered.”

“Richard, no, don’t say anything!” Michael cried.

“What is it?” Perry questioned. “What have you done now?”

“There was an accident,” Richard said.

“What kind of accident?” Donald demanded.

“Maybe it would be better if I showed you,” Richard said. “You might have an idea of what to do in the interim.”

“Where?” Donald barked.

“My room or Mikey’s room,” Richard said. “It’s the same difference.”

“Lead the way, sailor,” Donald growled.

No one spoke as the group hiked across the expanse of lawn to the open end of Richard’s cottage. They filed in around the edge of the pool. Richard went to the cabinet containing the refrigerator and commanded it to open. Once it had, he bent down and yanked on several of the tightly packed containers, which then tumbled out onto the marble floor. Framed by the remaining haphazardly stacked containers was the frozen, pallid face of Mura. Her hair was matted against her forehead, and the bloody froth had collapsed onto her cheek in a brownish smudge.

Suzanne immediately covered her eyes.

“Now, you got to understand, it was an accident,” Richard explained. “Michael didn’t really mean to kill her. He was just trying to get her to shut up from screaming by holding her head under water.”

“She went crazy,” Michael blurted. “She saw the body of the guy Richard killed.”

“What guy?” Perry demanded.

“It was a little squirt from the gala,” Michael said. “The one who hung around Mura.”

“Where’s his body?” Donald demanded.

“He’s jammed into my refrigerator,” Michael said.

“You idiots!” Perry snapped. “How did the boy die?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Donald muttered. “What’s done is done, and Richard is right: the moment these bodies are discovered all hell could break loose.”

“Of course it matters,” Suzanne snapped as she took her hands away from her face to glare at the divers. “I cannot believe this! You men killed two of these peace-loving, gentle people and for what?”

“He made a pass at me,” Richard explained. “I punched him and he fell and hit his head. I was stoned. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

“You narrow-minded, bigoted bastards,” Suzanne sneered.

“Okay, okay,” Perry intoned. “Let’s ratchet it down a notch. We’ve still got to work together if there’s any hope of getting out of here.”

“Perry’s right,” Donald said. “If we’re going to make a break it has to be soon. In fact, we’d better start tonight.”

“I’m with you,” Richard said as he squatted down to jam the packages back into the refrigerator to re-cover Mura’s lifeless face.

“What can we do tonight?” Perry asked.

“A lot, I’d suspect,” Donald said.

“Well, you’re the military man,” Perry said. “Why don’t you take command?”

“How does that set with everyone else?” Donald asked.

Richard stood up and managed to get the refrigerator door closed with the help of his hip. “Fine by me,” he said. “The sooner we’re out of here the better.”

“Me, too,” Michael said.

“What about you, Suzanne?” Donald asked.

“I can’t believe this has happened,” Suzanne muttered. She was staring into the middle distance. “They spent a month decontaminating us but we managed to bring disease in anyway.”

“What the hell are you mumbling about?” Perry asked.

Suzanne sighed sadly. “It’s like we’re Satan’s minions invading heaven.”

“Suzanne, are you all right?” Perry asked. He grasped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. They were brimming with tears.

“I’m just sick at heart,” she said.

“I’ll take three out of four to be a reasonable mandate,” Donald said, ignoring Suzanne. “Here’s what I propose. We’ll get our wrist communicators, call an air taxi, and get ourselves over to the Earth Surface Museum. Richard and I will visit the submersible to check it out. He’ll help me salvage one of the TV cameras. Perry, you and Michael will go into the museum and get weapons. Michael can show you where they are. Take anything you think might be appropriate but be sure you get the Luger.”

“Sounds good,” Perry said. “What about you, Suzanne? Do you want to come along?”

Suzanne didn’t answer. Instead, she lifted her hands back to her face and massaged her watery eyes. She could not get over the fact that they were responsible for the death of two Interterrans. She wondered what kind of grief such a crime was likely to evoke in Saranta. Two essences who’d survived for eons had been lost forever.

“Okay,” Perry said soothingly. “You stay here. We shouldn’t be long.”

Suzanne nodded but didn’t even watch as the group filed out of the room through the open end of the cottage. Instead, she looked at the cabinetry that hid the refrigerator and allowed herself to cry. The violent and ugly confrontation she feared was already coming to pass.