“Bah!” the man yelled from deep inside his office cell.
David seemed unconcerned. He waved her forward, out of the prison area.
Tabby was glad to be out of the cramped quarters and away from the rude guy in the other cell. However, other than location, her situation didn’t improve. David made her uneasy in a way she found hard to put to words. When she’d first met him, she’d found him not the worst-looking guy in the world. He brandished a charming smile and friendly demeanor that made you want to talk to him. He was a little older than her dad, maybe in his late forties, but he had the long white hair of an elderly man, which gave him an unusual, almost elfish quality. In any other situation those unique features might have made him an interesting character. However, once she learned who he was, and what he’d done to her parents, she only saw a monster. A monster with malevolent, dead eyes.
Yet, he talked like a pleasant librarian as they strolled the halls. “I understand your confusion. You dislike I found you attractive enough to save, but you hate yourself for being flattered by it. You’re glad to be alive, while at the same time crushed your family didn’t make it. You feel rebellious and vindictive, yet you hate knowing you lost a war you didn’t even know was coming to your shores.”
She wouldn’t ever give him the satisfaction of knowing her pain. “I’m not confused at all. You killed everyone I loved. What more do I need to know?”
He waved her through another door, guiding her forward as if it were a chivalrous act. “That’s why I set aside some time for you. I know I can’t make you want to be here, but I think I can make the case you should accept this as your destiny. Maybe you’d even see it as an opportunity.”
“You want me as your wife, don’t you?” She’d been fearing this moment since she first saw the other women in the gym-like chamber. If she and the others were to be the mothers of a new generation of Americans, and he’d gone out of his way to capture her after seeing her on the unauthorized broadcast in St. Louis, it stood to reason he’d try to get her to like him.
No freaking way that will ever happen.
He laughed politely and brushed some of his long locks out of his face. “Oh my, you’re a wonderful young lady with a gift for straight talk. However, you’re half my age. Do you believe I’d really do such a horrible thing?”
“Isn’t it why I’m dressed like a prostitute from Star Wars?” She swooshed her hands down her sides, showing off her blue spandex attire, along with the added skirt.
“You don’t like it?” he asked with what seemed like real surprise. “The other girls love their outfits.”
She snorted. “I’m sure they’ll tell a male dictator holding them captive deep inside the earth what they really think about their spandex school uniforms…”
They traveled deeper into the hallways of the underground facility. She knew nothing about NORAD besides it was a military bunker in the mountains. As best she could tell, based on where she’d spent the night, part of the facility was reserved for office space. They walked down another nice hallway but came to a set of double-doors which seemed to hold back darkness on the other side. David leaned against the door as if to open it, but then stopped abruptly, almost making her bump into him.
“Tell me. What would you have done if I’d forced you to be my wife?” His dead brown eyes searched her for the answer before she could voice it. She immediately wondered if the whole thing was a test. Maybe she was supposed to want to be his wife, rather than be forced. He could then feel good about not being an ass, and she could presumably feel her new career path was worthwhile. Mom and Dad might tell her to take the deal, if only to give herself time to figure a way out of it. She however…
“I’d find a way to kill myself,” she said in a I’m-empty-inside tone of voice.
They stood there for a few moments. He watched to see if she’d been serious. She, in turn, searched her feelings to decide if she’d really go through with such a scenario. Seconds later, she thought maybe she could. She’d rather die than have to be a slave to him. Right?
He laughed out loud. “I knew it. You’re truly a wonderful addition to our team.” He held up a finger. “Not as my wife. Goodness, no. I don’t want you to hurt yourself. But I do have some young men I’d like you to meet.”
“Calgon, take me away,” she mumbled. It was a phrase her mom often said when tourists at the mine were being difficult. She had no idea who Calgon was, or where she’d take her mother, but saying it reminded her of the feisty attitude she wanted to emulate.
David threw her a sideways glance, bemused at her word choice, then pushed through the doors. “Follow me.”
The underground facility changed in an instant. They entered a tunnel chiseled from raw stone. It was about ten feet tall and wide, with an organized bundle of wires running along the base of the wall on the right side. A row of bulbs hung in a line about every twenty feet on the ceiling.
“What is this place?” she said in a wonder-filled voice, despite herself.
“Have you ever heard of the word antipode?” he asked mysteriously.
“No,” she barked, anxious to cancel out the sound of being interested.
“Well, you will. Down this hallway is the weapon which has made it so easy for me to be here, deep inside your country, without a scratch on me.”
David walked a few paces ahead, obviously excited to show it to her. She followed at a slower pace, wary of what
