Child of Time (23 page)

Scurrying along the roof Fred made his way to the
back of the building and climbed down the trusses that braced the
wall. Making sure that no one had seen him Fred rubbed the last bit
of cold from his finger that the metal had imparted. There were at
least three other orphans living in the shipyard. One of which Fred
was pretty sure would kill for a place like his.

Satisfied that no one had seen him, Fred began his
work. It involved doing any odd jobs that anyone would trade a
dollar or a scrap of food for. Most times it involved running
messages or getting supplies for the workers. Fred had earned a
reputation of being reliable and honest so today he was given the
chore of getting a forgotten lunch from home. Happily the workman
gave Fred a couple dollars and the wife gave him some leftover
breakfast. After the morning run Fred fetched supplies for the
welders for a while.

After that he found there was nothing left to do so
he went exploring. Leaving the shipyard behind Fred climbed the
hill. Overlooking a cliff was an old light house. It no longer
warned ships away from the shores but stood as a sentinel of an
older simpler age. Below the waves crashed on the shores and to the
one side the skeletons of the ships being built gleamed in the
afternoon sun. The other side was as silent as death. The once
bustling port city was a silent lifeless landscape littered with
the broken remains of towering skyscrapers. This had been one of
the cities that had been nuked at the end of the last war. All that
was left was the shipyards that the government still operated. The
last war had crippled the country and plunged its citizens into
poverty and yet the government prepared with bigger better
instruments for the next.

Fred shivered at the sight of the dead city. He had
been warned not to go into the city because of the radiation. There
had been several individuals that had spoken out about the danger
of radiation poisoning in the small settlement that operated the
ship yard. These concerned individuals had one by one disappeared
or had accidents. Now no one was brave enough to speak up. Some
left but just as many came to replace them. In this economy a job
was the difference between starvation and life. If a shortened life
was the price there were many that were willing to take the chance
over the alternative.

-----------

Kiyan trudged down the road without looking more than
a step or two ahead. Gone were the days of mighty deeds in the
woods. Paulson had finally done what everybody had expected these
long years. He had drunk himself to death. It hadn’t come as that
much of a surprise to Kiyan. After the funeral Kiyan had been
informed that the house was the property of the mining corporation
and that it would need to be vacated within the next week.

Too young to work Kiyan joined the homeless masses.
He had been able to find food the last few weeks but with the
winter frosts food had become scarce. This road was going south. He
hoped that there would be food available in a warmer climate.
Hearing noise behind him Kiyan looked back. A black sedan owned by
an obviously affluent person was bearing down at a rapid pace.
After waiting on the side of the road Kiyan sighed deeply and
continued his southward march.

----------

Jeremy had spent the last three years at the boarding
school. It wasn’t so bad comparatively. The rules were strict and
the lessons hard. Each day blended into the monotony of the next.
On the bright side his step mother or her darling son were nowhere
near. That spoiled brat had become the bane of Jeremy’s existence.
Without Jeremy to blame the child’s actions on its mother was
constantly trying to cover up the various crimes that occurred on a
frequent basis. The thought of the woman being driven to
distraction by her child brought a smile to Jeremy’s face.

He stopped for a bite to eat at the cafeteria and
kept a bread stick for the walk to his dorm room. In a week the
finals would be taken. Jeremy felt confident that he would do well.
His teachers had found him to be an apt pupil. It was lost in
thoughts about mathematics that Jeremy found himself when the van
came to a screeching halt beside him. He looked up in surprise as a
couple men in black masks jumped out. His surprise was heightened
when the men tackled him. They jammed a bag over his head and
dragged him kicking and screaming to the van.

Jeremy reeled from an impact to the head as he was
tossed in the back. Stunned he was only able to lay there for a
couple minutes. When he tried moving there was another burst of
stars in Jeremy’s head that led him to believe that the first time
had not been an accident. Taking the hint he lay still. His hands
were tied behind his back after a couple minutes. The ride seemed
to go on for hours without much conversation between Jeremy’s
captors. It was only after he had arrived at a destination that he
found out why he had been kidnapped.

It seemed that Jeremy’s three captors had a brother
that had been arrested and condemned to death in Jeremy’s home
town. The hope was that they could exchange Jeremy, the son of the
chief constable, with their brother. They were now arguing over
what next to do now that they had Jeremy. One wanted to wait for
the parents to make the first move. Another wanted to call them and
inform them of their demands. The third wanted to find some other
means of the giving the demands.

It was finally settled that a phone call would have
to do. To this end Jeremy was forced to read a statement to a
recorder. After making the statement he was locked in a windowless
room.

Jeremy was fairly sure that if his stepmother had
anything to do with it, he would be left to rot. On the other hand
his stepfather felt the need to maintain his reputation. This could
mean that he would make some sort of arrangement in order to make
the situation go away quietly. This could also mean that he would
take the opportunity to enhance his reputation of a ruthless law
keeper. In all Jeremy felt that the chances of his survival were
slim.

----------

Today Fred was employed as a welder. One of the ship
workers had taken the boy under his wing in a way and had been
teaching Fred the art of welding. It had taken some practice but he
now had a steady hand and was able to leave beads as good as many
of the welders. A foreman had noticed and now Fred had a job as a
substitute welder. This meant that if any one didn’t show up for
work then Fred was able to earn some money.

He was no longer starving but he still lived in his
cubby on the roof. Other than the new source of income not much had
changed in his life. Most of the workers knew him and ignored him
unless they wanted to avail themselves of the services he provided.
Only a couple still tried to chase him off at sight. Over the years
the rest had accepted his presence. There was still that one
security guard that made it his mission to rid the premises of
orphans. Fred had memorized the guard’s route and stations so it
was rare the times he was seen let alone caught. Even when he had
been evicted from the fenced compound it hadn’t been a big deal.
Fred knew where the loose spot on the chain link fence was so entry
was once again gained after dark.

----------

Kiyan had hiked for the last week. Living off the
land had become a skill. Quite often a few mushrooms were the main
content on the soup. Other times he had been able to acquire a few
beans. Other times the pot had only contained water. Tonight was
one of those nights. Here all the edible vegetation had been
collected. Kiyan hoped to be past this country soon. The rumor was
that there were fields of produce that farmers were hiring people
to harvest. The young man that had told Kiyan of this had said that
for the whole harvest season one could live off of the fields if
they were discreet.

The sun was sliding behind the tops of the hills and
the hot air was cooling. Without the sun Kiyan was able to remove
the hat that he had constructed. It had pieces of tarp that hung
off of a wide brim. The effect looked ragged at best but it
provided shade. Strapping the hat to his pack Kiyan shaded his eyes
against the last remnants of the sun. He hoped to at least reach
those mountains tonight. There was little directional deviation on
the road and the moon was out tonight. It would not be difficult to
walk. Kiyan had gotten used to covering vast distances on foot.
People marveled at his endurance sometimes. In fact he had been
told that it was impossible to walk the salt flats in the summer
and yet he was in sight of the end even now.

Kiyan began walking again. Whistling a tune to
himself helped pass the time. Seeing a flicker of light at his feet
Kiyan looked up expecting the infrequent car. Instead of the
expected headlights he saw first one then two lights climbing into
the sky. They each left a trail of smoke behind and dwindled into
nothingness above. Wondering at it Kiyan shook his head and
continued.

---------

It had been days since the ransom message had been
sent. Jeremy had received regular meals delivered to his cell
accept for today. Outside he heard a heated argument between his
captors. After hearing that the fourth brother had been executed
his heart sank.

“How was I supposed to know that he was adopted?” It
wasn’t hard to tell that the one that had been delivering the meals
was agitated.

“What do we do now? Should we kill him?” Jeremy’s
heart sank farther.

“I don’t see what good that would do us.”

“It would send a message.”

“Then they would be looking for us harder than they
already are!”

The sound of a door bursting open interrupted the
conversation. At this point Jeremy discovered that the third
brother had arrived. There was some news that he imparted that
almost was able to distract them from their problems. After a few
minutes Jeremy was able to piece the events together. The gist of
what he heard was that America had launched nuclear missiles at
Russia in a first strike.

Jeremy slumped to the floor. It was no longer a
question of whether or not he was going to survive the kidnapping.
Russia was the second largest country on the globe. It was unlikely
that they didn’t have any nuclear weapons of their own. The state
controlled newspaper at school had declared that Russia hadn’t a
single nuke with enough range to reach the Americas. Jeremy had
taken this declaration with a grain of salt. Now the truth of that
statement was all that stood between the lives of hundreds of
millions and vaporization.

The brothers had a hurried argument over Jeremy’s
fate before they came to the same conclusion that he had. The one
brother that delivered the meals yelled that they were leaving and
that Jeremy was free to go. This message was delivered through a
locked door and then they were gone. Jeremy had waited for at least
an hour without hearing a sound before he decided that it wasn’t a
trap.

The door proved to be something of a challenge.
Jeremy’s shoulder was bruised by the time he managed to break the
hinges loose. The lock it turned out had been reinforced with a
metal plate. Jeremy walked through the vacant house and looked out
at the fading day. Horror struck him as he saw the trail of smoke
passing overhead. He wondered briefly if it was American or
enemy.

The question was not left unanswered for long. The
trail dipped sharply after passing over head. Just before it passed
below the trees there was a blinding flash. Jeremy turned and ran
back into the house just as the shockwave hit. Windows shattered
and walls crumbled. Another flash followed by the blast shook what
was left of the house.

After several minutes Jeremy brushed the loose pieces
of sheetrock off and carefully made his way outside. The foliage
had been ripped off trees all around him. The distinctive mushroom
clouds that every American knew and dreaded could be seen in three
directions. Jeremy knew that if so may could be seen from one spot
that hundreds had fallen across the continent.

--------

Fred sat on the deck of the ship staring at the
horizon in a daze. He had seen the fireballs consume several cities
on the horizon. He kept seeing the image of the desolate city next
to the shipyard. If what had been left behind was anything like
that. He tried to purge the images from his mind
unsuccessfully.

This ship had been designed as a troop transport but
now it was crowded with refugees. The shipbuilders had repurposed
after learning how widespread the desolation was. The American
government had taken refuge in bunkers deep underground. Survivors
of the blasts had sought refuge in these bunkers but had been
repulsed. The people had blamed the elite who had brought this
horror on them. They had taken revenge by seeking out every
entrance to the bunkers and sealing them under hundreds of tons of
rubble. The people that truly had destroyed the country were now
sealed inside their fortresses.

The effects of radiation had taken a toll and only a
fraction remained. Survivors had gathered at the shipyard. This
ship had been near completions. Components scavenged from other
ships had finished it and now they were afloat far off the shores
of their once mighty country.

Most of those aboard had lost every one that they had
ever known. A few were with someone they loved and out of the whole
group only one family was still intact. Several had succumbed to
the lingering effects of the radiation and their bodies were now
with the fish. Worse yet was the fact that the ship had broken down
and they were adrift. They didn’t have the parts necessary to
continue their journey. They had not started the journey with a
destination in mind but now they didn’t even have a hope of
reaching any place.

“Ship! There’s a ship!” The frantic call roused all
who were on the deck. They rushed to the side and strained to see
the spec on the horizon. There was mixed jubilation and despair.
Some hoped for rescue and others lamented the sure death that
waited.