Chapter 36

On the morning of the third day, my sleep was shattered by three sharp raps, which crashed through my slumber like gunshots in a nightmare.

“What the hell!” I hurled myself from my bed, stomped across the floor, and jerked the door open. “Do you have any idea of the time?”

My growl faded to a reluctant sigh as Sheila pushed past me into the quarters Darlene and I called home.

“Good morning, Sky, time for coffee,” she said with a slight smile.

“It’s not morning.” I looked out the window at a black sky filled with stars shining through the fading glow of Northern Lights. I rubbed grains of sleep from my eyes and complained, “It’s the middle of the effn’ night. I only got three hours of shuteye.”

“Hour more than me. Your day begins with mine; you’ve got ten minutes to shit, shave, and shower, and by the way, change your nasty underwear. You stink.” She wrinkled her nose. “Meet me on the southwest deck. I’ll be waiting.”

The chief turned on her heel and walked out the door without another word. Her invitation was not open to debate. I was at her beck and call. I rubbed the stubble on my chin as I looked down at my dingy-gray whitey-tighties and sniffed my armpit. She might have a point.

My hair was still damp as I took a seat across from Sheila at the cafe style table and awaited her instructions. I sipped from my cup and gazed at the strange yet familiar sky around us. The thin sliver of the crescent moon lingering just above the western horizon had an eerie feel about it as we drifted in a twilight zone between our worst nightmares and our worst fears. Yesterday was history and tomorrow hadn’t arrived yet.

The sky no longer belonged to man. Scattered clouds and the slowly fading displays of the Northern Lights had replaced the ubiquitous contrails crisscrossing the heavens. The commercial airways which a few days ago had sounded the news of the world now serenaded us with hissing static.

Sheila glanced at her wristwatch. “You’re two minutes early.”

“Yeah, I skipped the shave,” I grumbled as I finished tucking my clean shirt into my cargo pants. I rubbed the stubble on my chin and brushed a few thin damp strands of runaway hair from my face.

“Have a seat,” the commander nodded as she pointed to the vacant chair in front of me.

With a smile, she tilted her body forward and filled my empty cup with a cloud of steaming brew and slid the crystal sugar bowl across the tiny table.

My smile froze as I sat down and adjusted my chair’s position to face the Chief. The growing knot of dread within me was made no easier by the leader’s demand I join her for coffee at this ungodly hour.

“Why so early? What’s up?” I bit my lower lip and looked at my timepiece.

“Nothing. I want to know what you think.” Sheila tilted her head to one side and locked her eyes to mine.

“About what, er, what do you mean?”

I blanched at the intensity of her gaze. It was as if she stood at the gates of my mind. Could she read my thoughts? I shivered and averted my eyes.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” Sheila commanded. I squirmed in my seat and returned her gaze. “You did a fantastic job when the shit hit the fan. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.” Sheila’s eyes softened as she smiled at my puzzled expression.

“Why am I getting praise for doing my job?” I frowned and waited for her answer.

“No praise. Only the truth.” My boss leaned forward; the irises of her eyes widened and focused on mine. “However, from that night forward? Not so much.” Her eyes narrowed as she continued to search my face for unspoken thoughts.

“What are you talking about?” I scanned my memory for guilt. What the hell had I done wrong?

“At least a hundred times since the event, you started to say something, and you checked yourself and said nothing each time,” she sighed.

“Okay. Yes?” I blinked as I acknowledged the truth and wondered why it mattered. I like to keep my thoughts to myself until I decide what I want to say.

“What,” she paused, took a deep breath, and leaned closer to me, “are you thinking?”

Sheila’s voice lowered to a whispering question as she moved her nose inches from mine and delivered each syllable as a complete sentence. I opened my mouth to speak, but silence consumed my words.

“You are my assistant and part of my team.” She held her cup in both hands and studied me as she took another sip. “What’s going on in there? What are your thoughts?”

She tilted her head to one side and raised her eyebrows in inquiry as she tapped her finger against my forehead.

“Do you honestly want to know?” I blinked and leaned back in my chair, wiping the palms of my hands on my pants as I put space between her and myself.

“Yes, Sky, please tell me.” She nodded and leaned back in her chair and gave me a thin smile. “Speak your mind.”

“You ain’t gonna like this, Boss, but I think we’re screwed. “I don’t know what’s out there,” I pointed to the southwestern horizon, “but whatever it is ain’t good.”

“We survived without a scratch.” Sheila frowned as she sat upright. “What more can we ask?”

“Yes, we survived, but our technology didn’t.” I turned and pointed at the cabin behind us. “Everything with a chip is dead. We lost it all.” I struggled to keep fear from my face. “The only shit still working is the gizmos in the cavern.”

My heart raced as a surge of adrenaline flooded through my body. “We were decimated!” I slammed my fist on the table and jumped back as our coffee cups sloshed and danced with the sugar bowl and leaping spoons. “Oh, Shit! I’m sorry,” I apologized as coffee raindrops fell over us.

“Yeah, we survived. We’re a hell of a lot better off than the poor bastards out there.”

I nodded my head in the direction of the night sky. “Therein lies the problem. We’re better off than them, and there is a shitload more thems out there then there is us.”

“We’ve got guns,” Sheila said as she used her napkin to mop up the ring of spilled coffee around her cup.

“So did General Custer. How’d it work for him?” I brushed my hair back with my hand and inhaled deeply. “Relax, dude, you’re blowing it,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m sorry for the theatrics, Boss.”

I used my napkin to wipe the table and continued. “We’re going to look like the lost city of Eldorado to the folks out. We’ve got a treasure of computers, power, and food instead of a fortune in gold. Whatta’ ya think will happen when they come for us?” I paused. “We’ll be screwed figuratively, if not literally, screwed. Remember the convicts?”

Sheila’s face hardened as she clenched her jaw. “They’re dead,” the commander answered in a low, harsh whisper.

“Yes, that they are. How do you think the story would’ve ended if they had been a few hundred with more guns than God?” I looked over my shoulder and shivered. “Diplomacy is the sharpest sword of war. We need to figure out how to win without conflict.” I took a sip of the now tepid coffee.

“What? Surrender?” Sheila’s eyes widened.

“Surrender? Shit no. We win by turning adversaries into allies. We share the wealth. The Sisterhood’s survival depends upon us becoming merchants of knowledge.”