The Aegis Solution (44 page)

"He did not. I am not aware of the location of that point of ingress and egress."

"I think we need to find it."

"What good will that do? You aren't planning on leaving Aegis, are you?"

"No. But if we want answers, Kreitzmann is probably the only one in this place who has any. And
if we're right and they are getting ready to leave, then covering the exit makes the most sense."

Wilson nodded his understanding. "How do you propose we do that?"

Elias shrugged. "I'm not sure. We all went over the plans for this place yesterday, but we were
looking for a hiding place, not the logical spot for Kreitzmann's private entrance."

"Perhaps a second review, with that in mind, might be helpful."

"As much as I hate to do this, I guess it's time to wake up Tillie."



"Has anyone seen Sweezea and Crabill?" Milton Pierce shouted over the heads of the rapidly
assembling crowd.

He singled out three of his regular Madison security team; each in turn shook his head to indicate
he had not.

Without giving the two men another thought, Pierce continued in a loud voice, "We are all aware
of what has happened at ZooCity. That enclave is no more. We also know that there has been a
catastrophic occurrence which destroyed the solar collector system atop Aegis. This has caused partial
outages throughout the complex. But the long-term…actually, not so long-term…effect of this is that
we are now running on reserve battery power, which will run out in a matter of days, or perhaps weeks."

The gathering had quieted to listen. He went on, "We are fortunate in that we have two men in our
community with training and experience in this area: one, an electrical engineer; the other, a journeyman
electrician. But without help, they cannot begin to address what is required. So I need volunteers to
assist them in their work."

"What can we do?" asked one of the group standing closest to Pierce.

"They have prioritized our efforts. One of the tasks at the top of the list is to redo the circuiting
and redirect the available battery power so that it is only being used by the occupied portions of Aegis.
This should substantially lengthen the reserve life of the batteries. Anyone who has worked as an
electrician or an electrician's helper would be our first choice, followed by auto mechanics, then
tradespeople of all sorts who might be comfortable working with tools, and lastly, those who are capable
of doing the heavy lifting, the grunt work, as it were."

Pierce was gratified to see that several hands were raised in the group.

"Those who are volunteering, thank you. Please move into the anteroom where our two men are
waiting. We must get started immediately on that phase of the work. The second item on the list is the
tedious and dangerous task of picking through the devastation on the roof of Aegis. If there are any
solar panels which are still serviceable, they must be salvaged, and this must be done quickly before they
fall victim to the continuing winds. This is inherently dangerous work because of those constant
gale-force winds, as well as the presence of glass and even steel with a deadly potential."

Again, several hands rose, and Pierce segregated the volunteers from the balance of the gathering,
dispatching them to the foreman who would oversee the work. When they were gone, he looked at the
remaining crowd and, with a more somber tone, resumed, "Finally, I believe it is critical that we deal
with ZooCity."

A few of the men and women around him had quizzical looks which quickly changed to disgust
as he elaborated, "That enclave is littered with corpses. The process of decay has already commenced.
If we do not gather these bodies and bury them, all of Aegis will suffer from a myriad of
problems…disease, infestation by insects and rats, and so on. It is for our own health and safety that
we do this.

"I know that after the riot, we addressed this same issue by unceremoniously dumping the bodies
of the dead into the compactor. I have been sickened by that action ever since and cannot abide
repeating it. I understand the repugnance of this task. I sincerely do. But I believe that, in addition to
the obvious health and safety issues, it is also the civil and the moral thing to do. If you are curious as
to who will be at the front of this detail, the answer is that it is I."

With that final comment, Pierce stopped and turned his gaze from one of his citizens to the next,
shifting his glance through the assemblage, and waiting. Slowly, at first, then gaining in pace, hands went
up until every man and woman in the group had volunteered.

With a smile, he made his final comment. "I can't tell you how gratified I am by your response. I
would like all of you to gather masks, gloves, and any other protective clothing you may have, and meet
here in an hour."

The gathering broke up and the meeting room quickly emptied. It was not until most had gone that
Pierce noticed his sister standing in a corner of the room, waiting.

Their eyes connecting, she took a timid step forward, unsure how she would be received by her
brother. Milton quickly covered the several yards to Mildred and embraced her.

"Mildred, how are you?"

Stepping back, she answered, her voice muted, "I've been better, Milton."

He gestured toward a table and chairs with his arm. "Let's sit down."

She nodded and moved toward the chairs. As they walked, Milton realized that he had never seen
his sister like this. If he had ever been tasked with creating a list of descriptive words for Mildred Pierce,
it would have been populated with bold, assertive, strong, fearless…and many similar adjectives
indicating the level of her confidence and commitment.

Seating himself beside her as she slowly lowered herself down, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Her eyes fluttered uncertainly for a moment before she spoke. "We lost eight more residents."

"Oh, my God!" He instantly regretted his choice in words. Mildred had long ago divorced herself
from the religion of their upbringing and, in fact, any and all belief in God. Even this casual comment
normally would elicit a ten-minute tirade. But this time there was none.

He decided to quickly move the conversation forward. "How? What happened?"

With a dull stare, she replied, "Suicide."

"Suicide? Eight more in how long a period? In the past few weeks?"

"Last night." The two words fell flatly from her.

Milton had no idea what to say.

"With these latest losses, Walden is down to less than forty people."

So immersed in the day-to-day challenges of managing Madison, he had not followed the progress
of Walden. "I had no idea."

His words caused her eyes to pivot, connecting with his, and he saw a brief flash of the former fire
which had been her hallmark. "That's garbage, Milton, and you know it."

"What do you mean, Mildred?"

"You have always competed with me. You've always wanted to prove that you were right and I was
wrong."

"Mildred, that's not true."

"Yes, it is!" she snapped back at him.

Tentatively, he reached out and gently placed his hand on hers. "We've always had our differences;
that's true. And, as you know, those differences have been quite extreme…even to the point of
alienating us from each other. But, in all of our discussions, arguments, and verbal battles, there's one
thing I've never shared with you."

Suspiciously, she asked, "What is that?"

"There has always been a part of me that hoped you were right."

A breath caught in her throat as she absorbed his words. "What…what are you…do you mean
that?"

Attempting a weak smile, he answered, "I do."

"But you have always fought so hard. You've been so certain in your convictions."

"I still am. But that isn't the point. My world view is missing one element your philosophy has."

She was analyzing his every word, looking for a trace of insincerity. "What do you mean? What one
element?"

"Beauty."

"Beauty?"

He nodded. "Your view, your image of the world...and, specifically, people...is gilded with a
loveliness, a hopefulness. It is an essence my vision sorely lacks."

She stared deeply into her brother's eyes, searching for duplicity and finding only candor. "If that's
true, then why…?"

He interrupted, "We have fought over this issue because I am convinced that your belief, your
philosophy, is grounded in wishful thinking instead of reality. The fundamental cornerstone upon which
your paradigm is built is an illusion. But that, also, is not the point. Out there" – he gestured vaguely
with his arm to indicate the world outside Aegis – "the most hawkish, militaristic politician, as he works
incessantly to strengthen our defenses, even at the expense of social programs, wishes, deep within his
soul, that the flower-child mantra of ‘give peace a chance' would work. He really, truly desires a world
where no one wants to conquer us or kill us.

"The store owner, who spends huge sums installing surveillance cameras and staffing his business
with loss-prevention people, intensely yearns for a world where his employees wouldn't dream of
stealing from him. The owner of the manufacturing plant would be ecstatic if he could run his plant
without needing foremen to make certain that every employee does his or her job and does it well. And
every parent or every competent teacher longs for the day when students want to learn, need to learn,
and testing and grading would not be necessary.

"Sadly, Mildred, the reality is that if we were to disband our military tomorrow, our country would
be overrun within days. The pathetic truth about the retail industry is that more than seventy percent
of the theft of merchandise and cash is caused, not by the customers and shoplifting, but by the very
employees who are already provided a job. If workers are left unsupervised in a manufacturing plant,
production drops to less than half and the quality of the output falls to an abysmal level. And students
who are not tested…who are not evaluated in their progress…leave the institution illiterate."

Mildred took in his words without comment.

Milton's voice lowered and softened. "All of this is not an indictment against men and women or
our children. It is simply the way it is. It is human nature. It is who we are. The reality of the human
animal is that if we are not watched, policed, graded, tested, and evaluated, we will not do well."

"That isn't true of everyone."

"No. You're right. It isn't. There are exceptions in each of the situations I described above and
countless others. There are some people who are not aggressive, who will not take advantage of an
undefended nation. There are honest employees, men and women who won't steal from their bosses
whether they are watched or not. There are workers who push themselves far harder than any foreman
would ever dream of pushing. And there are students who do come to learn and will do so voraciously,
taking advantage of every opportunity provided. The mistake is when you attribute the traits of these
individuals to all others."

Her tone neutral, rather than accusatory, Mildred stated, "Then you're a cynic."

Milton allowed himself a wan smile. "Someone who is a ‘Pollyanna' sees things more positively than
they are. A cynic is at the other end of the spectrum. Neither bias produces an accurate read on what
is seen. I try…I hope that I am a realist. I recognize everything that I've described to you as being a fact
of human nature. But I also see the good within humanity, the potential to rise above, to be heroic,
noble, honest, fair, decent, and kind. In other words, to be exceptional."

"So do I."

"That is where we differ. You believe that all people are born that way and will inherently live their
lives that way, unless they are thwarted by some outside force. For you, Mildred, all people are
exceptional until they encounter an oppressive leader or a greedy boss. At that point, you believe they
become victims. And because they started out as exceptional and only became bad children, bad parents,
bad employees, or bad citizens as a result of their victimization and oppression, they cannot be blamed.
You believe that if we could only remove the malignant influences on people from the moment they
are born, they would all be exceptional."

"There are nasty and ugly people out there! They do victimize. Don't try to tell me that the wealthy
businessman isn't trying to hold on to his wealth and keep the others down."

"He is trying to hold on to his wealth. In fact, he is trying to increase it."

"Because a billion dollars isn't enough for those people. They need two billion…three…ten
billion." As she spoke, her former feistiness crept back into her voice, and Milton became concerned
that this was going to degenerate into another in a long line of screaming conflicts between them.

Trying to shift the direction of the conversation slightly to mollify her, he asked, "What's the
alternative?"

He watched as she calmed somewhat. "We need to remove the incentive to make egregious profits."