Dystopyum (The D-ot Hexalogy Book 1) (19 page)

wanted to do it, right now.
Lep chimed in, “Hey, I have an idea — let’s get blasted instead.” He
fed Dom one of the sour looks he’d give when Dom was being an idiot, or
otherwise odd.
Dom said to both Jan and Lep, “Here, let me show you guys something, ya got a magazine?” Jan got one for him, and Dom carefully tore a
page out of it. He went over to Jan’s desk, and started folding it in strange
ways. They all stood where they were, watching him. Then Dom asked,
“Is anyone coming downstairs?” Negative. Dom stood up with the folded
metallic page, and lightly threw it like a weightless dart, right in front of
them. It glided as perfectly as a shooting star, point first in the air all the
way to the opposite side of Jan’s large bedroom, where it bounced off the
wall, falling.
They had all been transfixed on it as it traveled so smoothly through
the air.
Buz warned, “You’d better not let any of the adults upstairs see that!”
Any device made to fly was expressly forbidden by the Temple of the
NOV. The air was God’s territory, and had to be honored. Flying was for
God and his angels. Indeed, for millennia, the Aletian religiocracy went
out of its way to exterminate all animals that flew. The earliest temple
priesthood prophesied that they were an abomination, and they were told
by God that they would be blessed if they eliminated them from the
planet. This was is why all animals, excepting a few insects, now simply
crawled, walked, or swam, “as God intended”.
Lep said, “You should see Dom’s apartment, he has all kinds of flying things in there! He has some big ones that can only fly outdoors — we
have to go way up north to fly those.”
Dom beamed at that. Lep had recently included him in on the escape,
but never mentioned that LERN was behind it. Lep trusted Dom
completely and had given him details of the escape, all the way to the
river. Dom was also the mechanic for his uncle who owned an oversized
cargo-stagecoach. It wasn’t utilized much anymore, and he had access to
it at any time, along with six contisses to pull it. They were going to use it
to steal one of the vaccine lab’s modular units, along with all the supplies
needed to build a specially designed one, and operate it in the wildlands.
For weeks now, Dom had been working on the jumbo stagecoach for the
escape.
For the moment, Jan had forgotten Rachel, but when the dilemma
returned to his mind, his face changed, and his posture slumped.
“What
is
it with you tonight?” Buz asked again, looking exasperatedly at Jan.
Jan gave a sorrowful expression towards Buz and said, “I got Rachel
pregnant.”
Lep and Dom looked at each other in disbelief, and Dom blurted out,
“You got a piece of that?”
Lep smacked Dom upside the head and said, “This is serious!” Then
he looked at Jan and grinned, “But it
is
awesome. Every guy I know
wants to be with her.”
It was a little noisy with the rattling sound coming from the vent in
Jan’s room. They were however able to hear someone making choking
sounds in the stairway. Buz peeked around the corner, up the stairs, and
said, “Rebecca!”
Jan’s bowels gave a mini-implosion. He heard rapid footsteps running
upstairs, and took off after her. “Rebecca,
stop
!” he called out but saw the
last of her at the top of the stairs heading into the living room. Jan ran
upstairs, ignoring the guests, and followed her through the house and into
the bathroom, where he saw the tears streaming down her face. He closed
the door behind him.
“Get out!” she shouted, as Jan tried to comfort her. “Don’t you dare
touch me!” She was livid, furious, jealous, and dejected.
“It only happened once, in the hospital, I promise!” Jan pleaded, but
Rebecca heard nothing but her own mind reeling from this unwanted
reality. He tried again, “I was all messed up, they had me drugged, and I
didn’t know what I was doing, you’ve got to believe me, please!”
“I knew I couldn’t trust that red-crested emui!” Rebecca spit out. She
was pacing back and forth now, in the bathroom with Jan. She stopped
and looked at Jan with vengeance, “You son of a bitch! I’m going to
report the
both
of you for unapproved pregnancy!” Then she stopped
pacing and became despondent, and looked at him pleadingly, “What’s
wrong with me? Why not
me
? Why
her
?” looking to Jan for an answer.
He had none. There was no good answer.
I have to get Rachel to
explain things for me.
“Go talk to my mom, she always makes you feel
better.”
What?
“Sure, I’ll go talk to your mom, and tell her what a keesh she has for a
son! Let me out of here!” Rebecca was adamant.
Jan opened the door, and they walked out of the yellow bathroom
together, raising the eye-ridges of a couple of guests that had now been
waiting for it.
Rebecca went into the kitchen, where Martha was hard at work, preparing more snacks and drinks for the guests. Rebecca had no one to go
to.
Nobody,
and that was the problem. Jan and Martha
were
her family.
All my dreams — gone,
Rebecca despondently thought. Her plans for
herself and Jan, together, with Martha as her surrogate mother, all
shattered. She had not realized how much she had hoped to be a part of
this real family until now, one that supported each other, instead of
tearing each other down.
Rebecca was so, so hungry for that simple goal, and now it was gone
like a breath, because of a baby that was not hers — one that should have
been. She was so terrified of rejection that she did not tell Martha, but sat
there in the kitchen, waiting for something to happen to take her mind off
the heart in her chest, pounding with suppressed rage. It did give her time
to calm down a bit.
I have nowhere else to go,
she kept thinking.
Still, Rebecca was a survivor if nothing else, and there had to be a
way to keep Jan. Because she had never gotten her way in the world, she
was also flexible. Also, considering the winds in her life, it was a wonder
she was not completely broken by now. Perhaps she was.
Jan had gone into the living room, where Rachel was hanging out.
She was chatting with Lep and Dom now, but was keeping watch for Jan.
Their eyes met as he walked into the room. There were twelve people in
the living room now. Ziba had arrived, along with a few “professor”
friends from the local college. She and Jan had become quite close over
the last half-year. She would not have come, if it were not for the fact that
Jan’s parents had a phone there. All LERN committee members were on
high alert.
Ziba diverted Jan’s direction of travel by calling him over to introduce him to her friends. She was always anxious to introduce her new
young “find” to her sphere of influence. After a warm hello, Jan excused
himself, and went over to Rachel.
Come to think of it, Rachel has gained
weight.
“Listen, I need to talk to you,” he said lowly, “but not here.”
Rachel was dying to talk to Jan. “Where should we go?” she asked.
Rebecca was still in the kitchen with Martha, and Jan did not want to
go through there to get to the bathroom or his parent’s bedroom, so the
only option was downstairs in his bedroom. Once there, Jan remembered
Dom’s offer to fix the rattle behind the ventilation duct.
As soon as they were alone, Rachel asked, “What are we going to
do?”
“I have no idea,” said Jan as he paced around the room. “One thing I
know, you have to talk to Rebecca. She heard me telling the guys about it
down here, and she’s pissed.” He stopped pacing, slumped, and held his
face in his hands. “She is so upset — I can’t believe this all just happened!”
Rachel had recently become very familiar with Rebecca. Looking at
Jan, her face showed that she did indeed realize the impact on Rebecca.
She could see the way that Rebecca looked at Jan, as well as Jan’s
connection with Rebecca. Her social acumen also allowed her to predict
that their relationship was one that would hardly become truly romantic.
Jan and Rebecca had been dear friends for too long. She actually pitied
Rebecca, learning of her past and present oppressive history over the last
six months. Rachel’s own mother died during childbirth, so she never had
to go through love-deprogramming school, but like Rebecca, she too grew
up without a mother. Her older sister raised her with her father.
Rachel took a couple of steps closer to Jan, and started rubbing the
top of his shoulder. “I’m truly sorry that Rebecca was hurt. I want to be
friends with her forever, and I don’t know if that will happen now.”
Jan accepted her comforting, and looked at her, concerned.
Rachel moved in front of him, and put her arms up around his neck,
hugging him.
Jan caressed her back, looked lovingly into her eyes and said, “We
can’t do this. I’m sorry, but you have become too special to me.”
Rachel broke her hug, and stepped back, putting her hands on her
hips. “Would you kindly tell me what the hell you are talking about?”
Jan thought to himself,
OK say it right, and don’t mess it up.
“Do you
remember in the hospital? The morning after? Do you remember what I
said about my dream?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rachel responded, tapping her foot. “You had a
dream about me, and it messed you up.” She looked at him with a hurt
expression, “I thought you’d get over it.”
Jan said, “Listen to me, I hear and see things. I never told you about
the Guide. I hear him sometimes, and I believe he is real. I’ve seen him in
my dreams, and he glows. When I look at Rebecca, there’s something
about her that’s glowing, and only I can see it. It’s, it’s — holy.”
There, I
said it.
Jan continued, “I have this ‘thing’ holding me back. I know that if
Rebecca and I become romantic, we’ll lose what we have now, become
ordinary or worse, and I don’t want that to happen.”
He looked at Rachel, and asked, “Do you understand?”
Rachel said, “Yes, I can understand.” She managed a smile, and shaking her head, said, “It sounds reasonable, but what does that have to do
with us? I didn’t grow up with you.”
Jan was relieved that Rachel got it. “I didn’t tell you about my vision
that night.”
Rachel tilted her head to the left and asked, “What, when you saw me
in your dream?” She crossed her arms because she sensed something hard
to handle was coming.
“It was a dream that led to a vision. When I saw you, you were the
bridge from my dream to the vision I had afterwards.” Jan paused,
remembering. He looked up, “You were an angel, glowing, floating, and
you pointed the way to the one-way door. Then I had the most wonderful
vision of love and light!” He smiled broadly thinking about it, and stared
off a million miles. “It was the brightest light you could imagine.” He
looked at her, “And you were part of the whole thing — you sent me to
it.”
“The holy light?” Rachel was intrigued now — it was legendary in
LERN tradition. “The love light! You saw the love light?” she asked, and
now she was staring into his eyes, trying to imagine it through his. Her
posture relaxed.
“Yes! I was in it, it was all around me,” Jan said. Then he redirected
his focus. “The thing is, your part in the beginning of the vision has
become part of the whole experience now. I can see your angel-self when
I look at you — just like Rebecca.” He was looking at Rachel with
pleading eyes, hoping for any chance she may understand.
Rachel crossed her arms again, shaking her head, tapping her foot
again, and looking at Jan with confusion, “You are so fucked up.”
“Tell me about it!” they both heard from the stairway.
Rebecca came strolling in, much calmer now. She had been listening
to the whole thing from the stairs, just like before. She knew Jan, and also
knew that Rachel was just as fucked as she was regarding this dude. He
would never abandon his child, though. Rebecca had to accept this new
understanding if she was to stay close to him — and she had to stay close
to him.
Rebecca had a smirk on her face, and she looked at Rachel. “You’re
finding out how impossible this guy is,” and now
she
was shaking her
head, looking at Jan as if he was some pitiful thing.
Rachel said, “Oh Rebecca, I am so sorry for all this! I didn’t know
Jan had a girlfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Rebecca said indignantly, “He is my
best
friend!” She slithered up next to Jan and took his arm.
“Yeah, right.” said Rachel, tilting her head to the side again, testing
Rebecca.
“No,” said Rebecca. “I heard what he said to you — he says the same
thing to me, ‘you glow as brightly as the brightest star,’” Rebecca was
now dramatically waving her hands, mockingly imitating Jan.
They both looked at each other and started laughing. “He
is
so odd,”
Rachel said, shaking her head as they both analyzed him. “Most guys
come up with that crap to get into our pants, and he uses it to stay out of
them!”
Rebecca busted out laughing at that one, because it was the ridiculous
truth.
Jan had enough of this and said, “Hey, I’m standing here, you know.”
Actually, he was just happy that they weren’t at each other’s throats.
Rebecca got a look of inspiration, and said to Rachel, “Hey, whatayasay that the two of us go out tonight after the party? You can watch me
get drunk, and we’ll talk about this guy all night long!”
Jan was aghast. Now
his
mouth fell open.
“Excellent idea,” said Rachel, happy that the both of them had obvious power over Jan for a change. She patted her belly and said, “No
tuba for you, though!”
All of a sudden, they heard someone tearing down the stairs. It was
Lep. He shouted in a panic, “There you are! It’s happening!” He looked
wide-eyed and terrified.
“What? What’s happening?” asked Rachel.
“The escape! It’s on! Tonight —
Now!
” Lep was hyperventilating.
They all looked at each other and ran upstairs. Ziba had already departed
with her friends immediately after the phone call. The only ones left
besides Jan’s mother were Rebecca, Rachel, Buz, Lep and Dom. Jan did a
quick take on Buz. He didn’t know anything. Jan knew that they had to
get Buz out of there. Martha was back in the bedroom.
Looking at Buz, Jan realized he would not see him again.