The Aegis Solution (63 page)

We figured out last night that we have enough food for about two more months. Wilson, according to Elias, who
checked in on him recently, has no idea or theory or even a guess as to when we'll be able to leave. Elias said that our pal
looked a little haggard. We think he needs a break. At this point I suppose it's anybody's guess when we can leave.

But what we talked about next made me feel a little uneasy. Leah asked Elias how we could know for sure that it
would be safe to go out, even if the wind just stopped all of a sudden. There isn't anyone broadcasting over the satellite
stations anymore. Hasn't been for a long time. I had wondered if the satellites were still working, but one of the techie guys
we have here told me that they were self-sufficient up there in space, and unless something happened to take them out, they
would keep orbiting, waiting for someone to bounce a signal off them. I guess nobody is.

The techie also said that, as long as some of the servers on the Internet were still running, there would be an Internet,
even if no one was on it. The problem is that we never did have access to the Internet at Aegis. The phones that Faulk and
his men brought in had access to the Web for a little while. We were able to get some news that way, but only for a few days.
They think that the power to the cell tower closest to Aegis probably went out, because on about the third or fourth day,
we couldn't get a signal. And then the batteries went dead on the phones and Faulk's team hadn't thought to bring their
chargers in here with them. We could probably rig up a charger, but what's the point with no signal?

 We went through all of this again last night and still didn't have an answer to Leah's question. Guess we'll just have
to trust in the fact that the wind wouldn't be switched off unless it was safe to leave. And, of course, the next question was,
what if the wind doesn't switch off and we run out of food? That was when the evening ended.

Day 75

Hello, future folks. I really wish I could be with you and know how this all turns out. It's about eleven o'clock at
night. We just finished having an open board meeting, and people are getting a little edgy. I suppose that I can't blame them.
I got up and spoke to the crowd – funny, I never would have been caught dead doing something like that a few months ago
– and I talked about how it was before the event. Most of the people here now have been here for some time, but more than
two hundred of our residents are last-day newbies. That's why I thought I should talk, since I was a first-dayer.

I tried to explain that everything is still the way it was, that we had been able to get along for years without any real
problems, except for the riot and ZooCity, of course. So there wasn't any reason to start getting all itchy now. Someone stood
up and said it was different, because we all had known there was a civilization out there. I didn't know what to say to that.

One man, one of the newbies, I think his name is Trent, wanted us to open the back door. He said he was convinced,
I don't know how, that the bug was dead and that it would be okay to leave. I started to argue with him and then I
stopped. His question made me ask myself a different one. Is Aegis a refuge or a prison? One of the things Milton Pierce
talks about all the time is personal responsibility. Wouldn't that apply to this situation? Wouldn't Trent have a right to
leave if he wants to go? He knows the facts. He knows that there's plenty of room here, and still plenty of food.

Those were all only my thoughts. Then I said them out loud. I asked the board and the people in the audience what
they thought. Man, did we have a discussion! There were some in the group who believed that we had to stick together, that
we had to make sure everybody stayed inside until we all left together, when we were certain it was safe to go. I didn't ask
them how they would make sure nobody left. Did they want to lock people up? I also didn't bring up my discussion with
Elias and Leah about exactly how we would be certain, even after the wind stopped. I thought that would be too much for
one night.

There were others who believed that it was Trent's choice. We never did take a vote. I'm beginning to understand much
of what Milton carries on about. After all the folks had a chance to state their opinions on the subject, he got up and said
the board would discuss the matter further and we would reconvene to share our consensus with the residents. I expected the
people in the audience to get ticked off when he said it, but they didn't! I was watching their faces and they were glad. I don't
know if it was because they all had a chance to be heard. I don't know if it was because they were glad not to be the ones
making the decision. I don't know if it was because they wanted to be led, and trusted us to come to the right decision. If
that's the case, then this whole governing thing just got a lot heavier on my shoulders.

Anyway, the meeting finally broke up and the board is meeting tomorrow to talk about it. I already know which way
it's going to go. The board is going to decide to open the back door. That decision is the only one we can come to and remain
consistent with everything else we've said and done so far.

I'm exhausted. Good night, future folks.

Day 76

We met. We voted. We open the back door in three days. We want to give Trent a chance to change his mind.

Day 79

Four people left today – Trent, his girlfriend, and another couple I don't really know all that well. They promised
that they would come back in a few days and let us know it was all clear to leave. This probably isn't consistent with being
a good governor, but I couldn't make myself see them off at the back door.

Day 83

Still no sign of Trent. People are taking turns up on the roof, in the cold, watching for them.

Day 89

None of us think they'll be coming back. They would have by now. The people who were going up to the roof to watch
have stopped. No one else is talking about leaving. Jay welded the back door again.

Fewer and fewer people are showing up for the cross-training classes. I think that they don't believe we're going to get
out of here.

I quit playing chess with Keith. I just couldn't concentrate on the game anymore.

Day 101

Milton took the board of governors on a tour of the food lockers today. It isn't looking good. At the current rate of
consumption, we are going to run out in less than two weeks. After we looked at the small amounts left, we had a meeting
in private, supposedly to discuss a contingency plan. But none of us had anything to suggest, not even Wilson. Seriously,
what kind of a contingency plan can we come up with? It isn't as if we have any options. Milton had one of the medical
staff join us and talk about how long people can last with no food. It was depressing.

Wilson suggested that we keep the status of the food a secret from everyone else. He couldn't see any benefit in telling.
We voted on it and his suggestion won. I voted with him, but wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.

Day 102

I had a horrible nightmare last night, after our meeting about the food. In the nightmare, Milton suggested that we
needed to prioritize the value of the residents at Aegis, in terms of how much they will contribute to the new society when
we get out, with the most valuable at the top of the list, down to the least valuable at the bottom. Then we would kill the
last one on the list and eat him. We would work our way up the list until the wind stopped. He was so cold, so pragmatic,
in the dream, with flow charts and everything, showing us how much longer we would live under this system. I woke up right
after I punched him in the face.

Day 111

Down to the last few days of food. The word got out. I don't know who talked, but everyone in Aegis knows that it's
almost gone. Sweezea had the security team ready for something to happen. He put extra guards on the food around the
clock. People freaked out at first. There were quite a few angry confrontations between the residents and the board. But all
of the anger was because we didn't let them know before. To our surprise, after the initial blowup, everyone settled down
and, I think, is handling it fairly well. No screaming mobs made a move on the food. Nothing like that. Guess we were
wrong about not telling them sooner.

Day 112

The board is having daily meetings now. I'm not really sure why. We don't have anything new to say, but we all feel
that we should be doing it. At today's, Elias and Leah dropped a bombshell on all of us. They want to pull a Trent and
leave Aegis. I'm afraid I lost it when they told us. But I managed to calm down and listen to what they had to say. Elias
said that maybe he and Leah could make a run to the closest place, maybe Yuma or even Tacna, and find some food to
bring back.

I said that the wind hadn't stopped. We didn't have any reason to believe that the bug was gone from out there. He
just looked at me and smiled that smile of his and said that if we didn't try something, we'd all be dead soon, anyway.

That's when I said I'd go. Sweezea said the same thing, at the same time. Wilson insisted that he should go since he
was the oldest and didn't have as much life to live as Elias and Leah. By the time everyone was done shouting, every single
person on the board had offered to go instead of Elias and Leah.

After we were all quiet, all of us staring at the two of them, Leah thanked us. I could swear that I saw a tear coming
out of her eye. She said that they had made up their minds. They were going whether any of the rest of us went or not, so
there was no reason for anyone else to go, since it wouldn't keep them here.

Nobody knew what to say for the longest time. I wanted to think of something…anything which would change their
minds, but I couldn't. And even if I did, what difference would it make? Elias was right. If we didn't try something, we
would all be dead soon, anyway.

If there are any future folks…and if you are reading this…I want all of you to know that each and every one of you
is alive because of Elias and Leah Charon. Please don't ever forget that…ever. And, if no one ever reads this, then I guess
what I'm saying doesn't matter.

    
Mathilda Tulley

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Tillie and Wilson were standing at the corridor intersection near the exit door. There was no longer
any sign of the damage from the exploded grenade. Clements, and the crew he had assembled from
Aegis, had repaired the walls and repainted.

Tillie, her eyes fixed on the hallway in the direction Elias and Leah would soon appear, said quietly
to Wilson, "This isn't right."

Wilson, much thinner than he had been a mere four months ago, gently placed his hand on her
shoulder. "Elias is correct. We need to do something before we all starve."

"That's not what I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"Every step of the way things happened…things all designed to get us here, keep us here, save us
from the bug. You've talked about all of the incredible coincidences which had to happen in precisely
the right sequence, just to ensure that Aegis survived while the rest of the world died. After all of those,
and I don't care if you want to call them coincidences or miracles, where is our rainbow…where is our
dove with the olive branch? Why is it…after everything else has been so carefully orchestrated, that we
are now out of food…that the damn wind hasn't stopped? Why haven't we gotten a signal, a message,
that it is safe to leave? Why do Elias and Leah have to go out there, the way Trent and the others did,
when we don't know if they'll come back?"

In a soft voice, Wilson answered, "I don't know."

She whirled around to face him, her face flush. "You can't say ‘I don't know'! You never say ‘I don't
know'! Why don't you know?"

The moment the words left her lips, she wished she could take them back. She knew that Wilson
had taken this question more seriously than any other he had ever tackled in his life. For weeks he had
forsaken needed sleep and countless meals, as well as any casual interactions with his friends, to devote
himself obsessively to finding the answer. She knew him better than anyone in Aegis…anyone alive, in
fact…and she knew how hard it must have been for him to admit that he did not know the answer. His
face, already worn and haggard, his eyes sunken, seemed to slump even further.

"Wilson, I'm sorry. I am. It's just that I can't stand to see the two of them walk out that door."

He stepped forward and held her. "I know, Tillie. I know." She allowed him to hold her for a
moment, then backed away, too anxious to be confined.

More people began to arrive. She saw Sweezea, Matt, Lisa, Sam, Hutson, and even Kreitzmann
come in with the others. The intersection was filling rapidly, backing up into the hallways in all
directions. The mood was somber and subdued.