“Where's my Blue.” The blonde woman demanded.
She looked like Blue Bell, beautiful and tortured, but a fire behind her eyes made me wary of standing too close to her. I stuck out my gloved hand and felt the shock of an open-palmed slap across my face.
“You evil, old, bitch!” I exclaimed. It wasn't a painful slap, but I was suddenly livid.
“She told me she wanted to stay with the Red's to get away from you. Now I understand why.” I spit the words at her one syllable at a time.
Mr. Tilley made his way through the shocked and gasping crowd. He motioned for two of the staff to follow him.
I could feel my father's hand grab my shoulder. “This may be our cue to leave, Doodle.”
“No,” I walked towards the overly dressed woman and quickly unzipped the top half of my antique day suit, revealing my sweat-soaked shirt.
“This is where I tapped the zip drive with your daughter's message.” I yanked my shirt from under my waistband, exposing my stomach. I showed the short length of industrial taped over my kidney next to the ink marker scrawled words 'for the Tilley Family'.
There were more gasps and a few low shrieks as I ripped the tape off my stomach. The sound it made was as painful as it was satisfying, but the look on Mrs. Tilley's face was priceless. My one regret was that Blue wasn't there to see it.
As if they had done it many times before, the two staff grabbed Mrs. Tilley under the arms and moved her to a door at the far side of the entry room.
“I am appalled at my wife's regretful actions Karine, please follow me into the study?” Blue's father smiled apologetically to my noticeably angry father and shook his hand vigorously.
“Jim, I'm so very sorry.”
“It's a very troubling time for us all, Richard.” My father patted the older man on the arm and nodded silently.
“Would you stay here by the door and corral the press? I hear they are on their way. We don't want them to ...”
“No, we don't,” My father interrupted.
Anger was still flickering in the pit of my stomach, but I followed Mr. Tilley into his study. I was curious about what he would ask me. This was the part of my promise to Blue that would sting the most.
SHOOTING GALLERIES
I was invited to sit on a beautiful antique, red silk-covered chair. My old leather day suit was dirty at best. I tucked my shirt away and zipped the front together, slowly composing myself.
Mr. Tilley poured me a tall glass of iced water from a decorated decanter displayed on the far side of his impressive-looking study. The walls were lined with clear temperature-controlled bookshelves, packed to overflowing with fragile-looking antique volumes. An old record player sat prominently displayed next to an ancient mechanical black typewriter. It was an assault on the eyes, every spot I looked held a new item I wanted to ask questions about.
The swishing noise of a clock across the room reminded me why I was there.
“I know all about the comet or the asteroid or whatever rock is coming to remake the globe. You don't need to pretend with me.” I took the glass in my hand and sipped the pristine water. I quickly noticed the dirt from my hand mix with the condensation off the glass. “We have little time left to waste with pleasantries. Please, ask me anything you like.”
“Were you wasting your time?” he asked, leaning on the edge of his leather-topped desk.
“Yes, every day. At school and goofing off all over town, with dances and useless selection testing.” I confessed.
“These are exactly the things we wanted to preserve. Your childhood ended when those gunshots rang out, but many still have a chance to live a lie for now. For one, I am astonished the Red's allowed you to leave. You are beautiful and intelligent. These are qualities in a young woman that never disappoint—in any modern culture.”
“Many women wouldn't want to leave. Most would not. They didn't hurt me. They offered me a simple, full life. But I couldn't ever accept the myths and the folklore.” I explained.
“Hmm, I see. You know the hobbies I keep bore my wife to tears. Psychology is one of my favorites. You have a classic tell in the corner of your brow when you lie, Karine. It's endearing. Those ridiculous people almost had you too, didn't they?”
“I shouldn't say anything. I'm sure it's forbidden to discuss the Reds this way, but I did see a beautiful simplicity in their lives. They let the idea of fate and divine intervention rule them.
“Their God guides them, but where they saw divine intervention, I saw mathematical probability. They saw hope where I saw the well-adjusted mind of a human being rising to meet a challenge. I didn't see scripture and verse or prayer as the cause of anything. I know Blue didn't either. She wanted to stay and help them navigate away from danger with science and facts.”
“You know I have a confession too,” he said, removing his glasses. “I was elated when I found out my Blue Bell chose to stay. Happy, she was alive, of course, such a dangerous task, such a huge variance in our cultures. We have little time left to forge a new human experience. Soon we will be rebuilding or removing the population to a different spinning ball of matter. The chore of a hundred years of acclimation will begin.”
“Do you think the universe ships are the answer.” My voice cracked, and I could feel the heat rising around my eyes.
“Well, to the immediate issue, yes. Something will remain
