The young woman awoke—came to—as the boat churned to life the next morning. Luckily, she still had some money in her pocket from her previous night’s adventure. She paid the tug captain to take her alongside a cargo ship scheduled to leave the harbor that day. He did, and she talked her way aboard with a story about running away from a rapist in Durban. Two days later, she disembarked in Madagascar, a mysterious, even mythical place that she had never planned to visit—let alone to live in as a fugitive from the law in South Africa.
Anne Marie sought out the neo-hippie community on the southwestern beaches of Madagascar; there, within several months, she learned Malagasy and, again, blended into the scenery. She was spent, exhausted physically and mentally, tired of running, and for the first time in years she felt homesick for New Jersey and her family. She contemplated writing a letter to her parents, asking for their help. She thought about this for days, for weeks on end. Several times she started the letter, then tore it up. As time passed, she began to feel that, without help from her family or anyone else, she was “coming back,” climbing out of the dark pit into which she had descended. She cut down on her drug usage, remaining dependent but feeling “under control.” She congratulated herself for getting “mellow” at last.
She started living with a Malagasy sailor—a fisherman really, who rarely worked but had lived on the beaches all his adult life. He was a native, and he taught her the culture and religion of his people, and helped her hone her language skills. A year passed, then two. Whether she had regained her mental stability or slipped into a new state of derangement, quiet and aloof, it would take a host of specialists to divine. In any case, the Event changed everything…
It is our destiny now, she thought, to explore the seas and seek out others who may have survived the fire and flood. If most of the island nation of Madagascar has been destroyed, and the world beyond as well, then what a magnificent opportunity for these people to become a mighty power in a world remade, and for her to be their leader. How to convey such a lofty ambition to these rough and ready pirates and petty criminals whom she now commanded?
“You men,” she said aloud, “have been chosen by the Creator of the universe, Zanahary. The ancestors, the Razana, are calling us to do His will and bring others into his dominion. For too long, the evil Christians and Muslims have tried to destroy our gods and our ancestors. Ever since the Portuguese first landed here five hundred years ago, our people have been oppressed by European influences. Only under the Merina dynasty and our greatest sovereigns, King Andrianamapoinimerina and Queen Ranavolana, did the Malagasy people rise to greatness. That was a long time ago. Since then, mostly it has been a struggle against the foreigners and the oligarchs for control of the means of production…” Anne Marie Appleton paused, having forgotten that she was no longer Anne Marie Appleton, and having forgotten for a moment who her audience was.
“We know that our traditional capital, Antananarivo, has been destroyed, as have the wealthy landowners and politicians who kept our people poor and oppressed. Many of you were fortunate to dwell far from the evil influences of the capital city, living on the sea as our ancestors once did. Now the world is reborn, and we are remade. We have created a new clan and a new nation.”
Upon assuming the role of queen and commander in chief, she had renounced all sexual relations and declared herself celibate. There was no looking back, from this point, no time for regret or second thoughts.
“The world has trembled at the hand of the Almighty Zanahary, the God of our sacred ancestors. We are a people of many races who have come from far places all over the world. Just as I have come from a distant place to be here with you—and I believe it is no accident that this is the case. I was destined from the beginning of time to be here as your leader.”
Her body had nearly betrayed her when she had gone through a withdrawal and detoxification process in the days immediately following the Event. But she felt reborn now, empowered, capable of great deeds—godlike. These men did not need to know anything about her other than that she was their queen, their general, and she would lead them to glory.
“Tomorrow, we will sail in search of others who have survived the catastrophe. Some will gladly look to us for leadership. Others we will destroy or force to accept our rule. We will search for food, for guns and other weapons, and for treasure. And what we seek, we shall find! We will take what is rightfully ours by virtue of our strength. We will conquer or eliminate the weak, who do not deserve to stand in our way or to consume resources that we need.”
Her former common-law husband, a sun-darkened fisherman with hazel eyes, nut brown hair, and a several- days beard spoke up. “You should stay here to keep order among the people and let us do this dangerous work. If you get hurt or killed, we will be lost.” He wiped his cracked lips with a callused brown hand. “You are our queen and our leader, so you cannot risk this. Think of your people.”
Grunts and murmurs greeted his words. The men of her council agreed: it was just too dangerous a mission for a woman—and especially for their supreme leader.
She raised her hand. She was no longer Anne Marie Appleton. Cherry Hill was ancient history, and her family… gone. Everything she had known in her previous life was gone. She had nothing to lose. “I understand your concern,” she said mildly. “I am thankful that you think of me in this way. But you must stop thinking of me as a woman.”
Her eyes blazed now, and her tone changed dramatically. “I am the messenger of Zanahary! He and the sacred ancestors speak through me. You will listen and obey, and after this day you shall not question a single order or any statement that comes from my mouth. I speak the words of our Creator, who made heaven and earth and everything in it. It was he who destroyed the earth but left us here to inherit what is left. We are the chosen ones, and I am the undisputed leader of the people.” Her hand grazed the pistol in her belt. A bolt-action rifle stood within easy reach.
“I have put aside womanly thoughts and feelings for now. Perhaps I will never take them up again. I have no fears, nothing that holds me back from doing the will of our God. I expect you to do the same, to have no reservations or doubts of any kind. Do you understand me?” The assembly nodded and muttered their assent. She looked directly at her former lover. “You have been my partner and friend. Now you are my comrade and soldier. I love you as I do these others under my command. And I expect complete obedience. My life is protected by Zanahary and the Razana, the ancestors. Your life and all of theirs,” she declaimed, her hand sweeping through the air to indicate the other men present and those who waited outside the council, everyone within her sway, “are worth less than nothing except that you serve the Queen and her people in the quest to build a new empire, the greatest in the new world. I have been spared to rule. You will lay down your life for the same purpose.
“You will know me as Queen Ranavolana, the greatest ruler of the Malagasy nation. I have come back to my people. They will rejoice when they hear of this. For theirs is a special destiny. Because of me, they will have an honored place in history.”
By the time the Joint Planning Subcommittee held its first meeting in Engineering Village, the queen, with a band of her pirates, was already sailing the seas in search of conquest.
7
Wil Hardy and his girlfriend, Sarah, sat apart from everyone else on the beach looking at the still unfamiliar constellations of the Southern sky. He reviewed with her the day’s proceedings of the Joint Planning Subcommittee—and she listened, as attentively as she could, considering the late hour and the brilliance of the stars.
“Are you sure you’re not being too ambitious?” she asked tentatively.
“Well, there are problems, plenty of them. But they seem like nothing compared to the determination of these people to overcome them. We may be biting off more than we can chew, but that’s what the human spirit is all about, isn’t it? We’ve survived the worst—the very worst that anyone could imagine—and we’re pulling ourselves together. We’re on our way!”
“So much optimism, so much self-confidence. It’s amazing.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
There was no wind. The night was totally still, eerily calm. Suddenly, Hardy heard his name. Someone was calling for him. It was Herb, breathless as he approached the isolated couple:
“Wil! Wil, where the hell are you?”
