Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1) (21 page)

"So where are they? You had me pull in here. I
thought they'd be waiting or something," Lisanne said irritably. Then she
sighed. Raking her hands through her hair, she laughed briefly and said, "Sorry,
Merlin, I'm just tired and hungry, and I don't get what the deal is with this
guy and his dog. Why are we waiting for them? Why do we have to connect with
them? What is their place in all this? Hell, what is
our
place in all
this? I don't even really know where we are going! Do you?"

Merlin tilted his head and looked at her
steadily, trying to decide what she was ready to hear. She'd come a long way on
faith, surprising him a great deal. Lisanne, of late, had not been the poster
child for logic or for faith, so Merlin was stunned they were still alive at
this point. Pulling his thoughts together, he slowly nodded to Lisanne because
he did, in fact, know exactly where they were going to end up.

"What?" Lisanne shouted, sitting up straight and
jostling Merlin out of his perch on the seat. "You know where we're going? Why
didn't you tell me? What's going on? Where are we going? What's--" she was
interrupted by a knock on the window.

Lisanne scowled at Merlin as she leaned down to
grab her purse from the floorboard of the car. "That will be our food, you
scoundrel. But don't think this is over! Not by a long shot. Once I pay for
this I'm going to find out just what's going on..." her voice faded away as
Lisanne turned to the window only to find that it was not her order at all, but
was instead the big black dog and the guy from the store in Hattiesburg.

"Oh, my God," she whispered. "They really did
find us."

Salmon Creek, Idaho

"Well now, sure, before it all started--all the
disasters, there had been some off-the-wall news reports. I remember Miss Maria
doing a story on this gigantic group of ants. I remember it 'cause Gladys was
watching it with me and she kinda freaked out at the thought of all those ants...yep,
it was what they called a super-colony. Under some city in Australia...Sydney?
Melbourne? Anyway, these ants, they weren't acting like regular ants. They didn't
fight each other anymore. They just kept getting together, more and more of 'em,
until this super-colony was sixty miles long! Gladys said she was sure that one
day that city was just going to cave in, but I don't think ants would cause
that much damage...of course, you never know, do you? All I know is, it seemed
kinda...I don't know...spooky that suddenly all these millions of ants were working
together. I remember thinking, why the hell would they be doing that? And
Gladys, she said that if the world ever ended, it would be the bugs--roaches and
ants, stuff like that--that would take over. She had nightmares for a week after
that TV show. No, no...not the dreams...just good old-fashioned nightmares about
ants taking over and ruling the world. Damn glad we didn't live in Australia.
She woulda given me grief every day after that to move. And when the world did
end...well, now, we're still here, aren't we? And no ant problem. Not yet,
anyway."

Atlanta, SNN Headquarters

"I don't care where they want me to go next,"
Maria was saying to Phoebe and Zack as she gathered up cell phone, charger,
batteries and other odds and ends to go into the duffle bag she was packing. "I've
had it with death and destruction. Do they get that all we put on the news
these days is death? Anybody can report that 'X' number of people have died.
They don't need me for that. What they do need me for is to investigate this
woman who seems to know about the disasters before they happen. If we can prove
she is the real thing, maybe we can start to
prevent
some deaths before
they happen. Maybe we could warn people and get them out of harm's way. Now
that would be worth doing."

Phoebe backed up against a wall as Maria
scurried around the office grabbing items willy-nilly, or at least that's how
it seemed to Phoebe. Maybe she shouldn't have passed on the psychic's messages
to Maria. Now she seemed caught up in this woman's messages. Zack watched as
Maria feverishly packed and wondered if she would let him go with her. The
woman Maria had contacted said only for Maria to come to visit her. Zack had a
bad feeling about that plan. Plus, he kept having those dreams....

"Maria," Zack tried tentatively, "how about
calling her back and asking if you can bring me--just one cameraman." Holding
up a hand to forestall her comments, he went on. "Look, I know she said only you,
but if she wants to get her message out, she needs to be on camera, you know
that as well as I do. For the message to seem real, she needs to be interviewed
on camera by you, giving one of her predictions. Then when it comes true, it
will really have an impact. Without the prediction being on camera, it won't
reach the same number of people."

Maria leaned against the filing cabinet and
thought about what Zack was saying. She knew he was right, that nothing made an
impact like an on-camera interview with the subject. And she would feel better
having him with her. "Okay, let me try to reach her and convince her. But I'm
still going, even if she says no to you coming with me. That's final."

Maria shooed them out of her office and then
called them back in after finishing her call with Margaret Larson. Zack looked
at the dark circles under her eyes and her ashen face and wondered what new
horror had taken the light from her eyes this time. Taking a deep breath, Zack
commanded, "I don't care what she said, Maria, you need me with you and I'm
going!"

Maria smiled weakly at him and nodded saying, "Yes,
yes you are coming with me--and so are you, Phoebe."

The young woman started shaking, first in her
hands and then gradually throughout her entire body, just slightly but enough
to be visible. "What?" she whispered. "I--I can't go with you--I--I--I--"

"Now, Phoebe," Maria said soothingly, almost as
if she were talking to a wounded animal. "I know you don't like to travel. I
know that you
never
travel. But you have to go this time. It's life and
death, and I want you to live. So you have to come with me. Besides, you don't
want to stay here--it's going to be very, very messy here very soon. We're going
to go someplace nice and clean--the desert."

Phoebe's eyes were locked onto Maria's and
speaking seemed to take all of her effort. "But--but the desert has all that
sand
--you
can't keep it out of your things--sand everywhere--"

"No," said Maria sharply. "No, the sand is good.
It's clean and dry, and the sand keeps everything clean. Now don't worry about
the sand. Don't think about it. What you have to do is go home right now and
pack a bag with whatever you want to save because you are never coming back
here. Atlanta is about to be destroyed. So, go fill a suitcase with some
clothes and mementos--but, Phoebe, remember this--we have to leave in two hours.
That's all the time we have. So you have to act quickly. No matter how hard it
is."

Phoebe just shook her head. She heard Maria, but
she couldn't imagine how she could pack, leaving her safe home behind forever,
and get it done in such a short span of time. Just the planning alone for what
to take could take weeks!

Maria sighed, knowing that her assistant, who
could normally work wonders, was probably headed for a breakdown. She had
watched Phoebe through the years and knew what made her so good at her job was
probably a symptom of more severe problem. She had even talked it over with a
counselor in personnel who said that since Phoebe seemed to have adapted so
well in her life, it might be best to leave things alone, so Maria had done
just that. Now she was wishing she had inquired further and tried to help
Phoebe deal with her problems.

Zack stood watching all this in some confusion,
not really sure what was going on. Maria pulled him out the door so they could
talk privately. "Okay," she said. "Here's what's going on. Margaret says that
the hurricane in the Gulf is about to move inland a bit, and the effects will
be felt here in Atlanta. This city won't be safe for us. We have to get out of
here. There's a plane waiting for us, taking off in two hours. Here." She
reached in her pocket, pulling out a pad and writing down the information. "Here's
where you need to be and when. You need to bring as much equipment as you can,
don't requisition it, just take what you can get your hands on. We may not be
able to transmit, I just don't know about that yet, but I'd still like to
record whatever we see when we get out there."

Zack broke in, "But what is all this with
Phoebe? Why is she so nervous?"

"That's the reason I brought you out here.
Phoebe has some kind of problem--I think its obsessive compulsive disorder or
something like that. It makes her a great assistant, but she can't handle
change very well. This is too big a leap for her to make, but I can't leave her
here to die! As it is, I feel like I will never be able to deal with the guilt
I'm going to have leaving behind all the people here--and that's the other
thing I wanted to ask you--to try and tell as many people as you can, if they
will believe you. I know they probably won't and don't let it keep you from
making the plane on time." She paused, eyes faraway for a moment. Then coming
back to the present, she said briskly, "Anyway, I am going to have to go with
Phoebe and get her things together. We'll swing by my place too. There's a
photo album of my parents that I want. Then we'll meet you. I think I may be
the only person who can get Phoebe to do this. Plus I think I have an old
bottle of valium in my medicine cabinet which may be needed to deal with
Phoebe."

"Valium?" asked Zack, looking surprised.

"Frankly, these days I could use a few myself!"
Maria said. "About a year ago, a doctor prescribed it when I was getting
tension headaches. I took one and hated how it made me feel and that was the
end of that. But I kept them, thank goodness, because I'd bet money we'll need
them."

Maria walked back into her office to find Phoebe
still standing in the same place, twisting and turning a pencil in her hands.
She walked up to Phoebe and gently took the pencil away, setting it on the
desk. Firmly, Maria said, "Phoebe, you are the best assistant in the world. And
I need you with me. You have to come with me. So you and I are going to your
house to pack your suitcase. This is the right thing to do. You have to trust
me."

Tensely, Phoebe gripped Maria's hands and spoke,
"You--you're coming with me? To help?"

"Yes, of course, yes, I'll be with you to help."

"And you need me--need me to go--to go with you
to the--the--the..."

"--desert," Maria said. "That's right. I need
you to be my assistant there. Because this office will be too messy to work in.
So you need to be with me. Now get your purse and your keys and let's go."

Phoebe slowly started walking out of the office,
and as Maria watched her, she seemed to move with more purpose, as if she had
made up her mind. Zack moved closer to Maria with raised eyebrows. She said, "I
know, I know. It's hard to tell how it will go. But like I said, I can't let
her stay here and die. Now you go, and don't forget to take whatever you need
from your place--because from the sound of it, according to Margaret, the
Disaster Maven, Atlanta isn't long for this world."

Zack threw an arm around her shoulders and gave
her a quick squeeze, and then, turning, he saluted her and took off at a jog
from her office. Maria slowly gazed over the walls of awards and certificates
plastered everywhere. She would take none of it with her; none of it really
meant anything, anyway. For a moment, her eyes welled up with tears and a
racking sob shook her body. Then, with steely determination, she shoved the
emotions down, saying in a tightly controlled voice, "No time for tears now.
There'll be time to cry for all of them later...if we are very, very lucky."

Jackson, Mississippi, 5:45 p.m.

Lisanne rolled down the window, looking up at
Andy's face in stupefaction. "You found us," she finally said.

Andy stared back at her. He couldn't really
believe he was looking at the same woman, and, yes, there was the black cat
too. It just didn't seem possible. He realized he was standing there like an
idiot. "Oh," he said, as if waking up from a dream. "Yeah, we did. Found you,
that is. We. Waldo...my dog. And me. Found you." He stopped, realizing speaking
wasn't going so well.

Waldo saved them both from further embarrassment
by putting his paws up on the door, leaning his head in and licking Lisanne's
face. "Oh--Oh," she started.

"Waldo!" Andy said sternly.

Lisanne laughed and reached out to Waldo and
gave him a hug. "No, no, it's okay," she said, laughing even more. "He's a
great dog. I can tell that already and I hardly know him."

As she saw their food orders coming out to the
cars, Lisanne suggested they all move to his larger Range Rover and share the
space to eat and talk together. With the back seats collapsed, Waldo happily
munched on several burgers and Merlin was ensconced with a bowl of milk and
fish with the breading scraped off. He wondered how Lisanne could have
forgotten to buy any of his regular cat food, and then remembered...it was
Lisanne he was referring to. Nothing she did should surprise him anymore.

Lisanne and Andy settled into the front seats
and were suddenly uncomfortably quiet.

"Well," said Andy. "I guess I should introduce
myself..." which set Lisanne to laughing again, this time with a touch of
hysteria to it.

"Sorry, sorry," she gasped for breath. "It's
just that this is all so totally insane!"

Andy blinked and then let out a big sigh of
relief. "I'm so glad to hear you think so too! I thought you were thinking this
was all just normal."

He stopped as Lisanne blurted out "Normal?" and
watched as she started laughing again, only to burst into tears.