Chapter 60

Time: Sunday, March 3, 2019 5 AM

With linear daybreak just moments away on the opposite side of the sky, a dozen people began marching south to what everyone was hoping would be a much better home. The new supplies and especially the new footgear had everyone in very high spirits.

After the first hour of uneventful hiking, Carla looked around her group and noticed the only one who wasn’t smiling was Sandra. She drifted over and asked if Sandra’s injured foot was okay.

Sandra replied that the new boots felt fabulous and were making walking as easy as she had hoped. She then pointed to the end of the eastern sky behind them and projected a thought with their new form of communication. Carla received “What’s up with the sky?” before both of them disengaged with minor hiccups.

Carla turned and saw immediately what Sandra meant. The linear sun had risen on time and was shining with normal brightness, but in the arch of the sky behind them, the northernmost part of the eastern cylindrical sky was slowly losing its blue and turning a dirty gray and yellow. It was a new phenomenon. They had seen many storms in the last two months but nothing like this.

“Think we can out-walk it?” asked Carla.

“Somehow I doubt it,” replied Sandra.

Carla frowned and agreed with Sandra that they would have to keep an eye on the weather.

Time: Sunday, March 3, 2019 7 AM

“Thanks everybody for coming so early,” Fatima said as she looked around the conference table at the Hilton. She waved her hand at a breakfast buffet Aggie and a few friends had set up earlier. ““Feel free to get something more to eat if you’re still hungry. But I’d like to start the meeting now. As you know, yesterday’s events with Black Mall threw off our schedule a bit, and Charles also asked me for extra time to design his rescue mission. Charles, have you finished picking your team?”

“Yes. After discussing this with a number of people, I’d like to propose a minimal two-person effort. I have asked Lynn to accompany me and she has accepted.”

Fatima had to work for a second not to show a negative reaction. She considered Lynn and Akiko priceless assets due to their expertise with telecom technology and so far had kept them off the rosters of the exploration teams. But Fatima decided Charles deserved the right to make his case, and within a micro link she told him her mind was open and to proceed.

“Right. Well, my decision is based on maximizing the chance for mission success while minimizing the risk to our society. That’s why I want to keep this effort as small as possible. Lynn and I both know how to canoe and can look after each other. I think we’ll make a good team. And finally, and this is critical, our problem with Jada’s team started when we lost communications. I’ve listened to the logs. Her team had successfully landed at the island and Jada was describing a peaceful scene outside the boathouse. And then her signal was cut off. I’m betting the problem might be with her Leophone.”

Fatima replied, “But we’re sending a new Leophone. And even assuming you’re right Charles, what could Lynn do with a broken Leophone in a wilderness environment?”

“Fatima, can I answer that?” asked Lynn. “You’re right, I could probably do nothing with a broken Leophone in a wilderness. But Akiko and I are still suspicious of that strange call we got after we lost contact with Jada. It might have come from the underworld, but there’s no way to check that out from this end. Also, last night with Charles’ help, Akiko and I automated the activation of the new Leophones. You’ll get a new active phone about once every two days. Akiko doesn’t need me here for that.”

Fatima turned to Akiko. “Akiko, are you comfortable doing this solo?”

She nodded. “And I hope to have a second activation bench working sometime tomorrow. You should soon be getting a new phone every day. Lynn and I have the problem nailed.”

Fatima thought for a moment and then said, “What about you, Lynn? Do you feel comfortable with going?”

“I do. I’d also like to add that Akiko is easily my equal in troubleshooting the network. I’m the better choice for Charles only because of my canoe experience.”

“Look at it this way,” Charles said finishing his case to Fatima. “If we send a rescue mission without a telecom specialist and then lose contact with it, what are we going to do? Send yet another team? Eventually we’ll have to send either Lynn or Akiko down there to see if the problem is with the network. Why don’t we do this now before we have more people down there? And I should also add”

“Charles,” interrupted Fatima. “It’s okay. I agree.”

Charles shut up immediately. One of his mottos was, when you strike oil, stop the drill.

Fatima asked, “How soon can you leave?”

Charles locked eyes with Lynn for a few seconds and then both rose from their chairs. He said, “We’d like to leave right now. Lynn and I have finished breakfast. It was great, Aggie, thanks a bunch. Fatima, we’ll listen to the rest of the meeting on the phone. All our equipment is already pre-positioned at the bottom of the stairwell. Lynn and I will be traveling light and making good time. We’ll check in right before we go through the elevator. It should be before noontime.”

Fatima nodded her approval, and after briefs goodbye hugs with their friends, Charles and Lynn left the room. They would jump to the library at White Mall, then go up to the lounge and begin their 2.5 kilometer hike around the White Mall diamond array before beginning their descent.

Fatima moved to the next order of business. Yesterday shortly after the end of Black Mall’s strange excursion, Fatima had asked Mark to form a group and discuss the feasibility of turning the tables and having their group bait Ricardo with the goal of trapping his group down in the Mall. Fatima wanted to turn the last five kilometers of the Black Mall spiral into one large prison.

Mark looked around the table and shrugged sheepishly. “Nothing really brilliant came up, but I would like to go over a few things. We came up with four possible routes to interact with his group. The most obvious is the elevator system, but even testing with the trapdoor is not without risk. We know zilch about the underlying technology. What if using the trapdoor enough times activates their lounge elevator? We have no evidence of this but what’s the proof it won’t happen? And that’s assuming Ricardo has the carriage unblocked, in which case we may be playing into his hands. I agree with Amber. Yesterday Ricardo wanted us to use the elevator system to get to his home complex. I’m as certain as Amber he had something cooked for us.”

“Nevertheless, my study group recommends we begin a test program with the other trapdoor, the one to White Mall. Given the behavior of the elevator at the bottom of the great stairwell, we should test whether the trapdoor works with just cargo or needs a person inside to activate it. We should also do a stress test of at least forty jumps and see if there’s any variation in the trapdoor behavior.”

Mark paused for a moment to take a sip of water. “Route number two is the Mall system. What could we do to get their attention? Fire a flare at them? Roll a bowling ball down the corridor? Amber is worried that if we ignore the possible threat of someone hiding in ambush near the edge of the locked stores, Ricardo will realize we know there’s no threat and deduce we can indeed monitor the corridor around his location. And all the scenarios our group considered ran the risk of us being shot at, with almost no possibility of trapping Ricardo in the Mall unless he did something really stupid.”

“Route number three for contact is to use the library network system. Do we have a chance of catching someone at the console who wants to surrender to us? What’s the risk of a double cross, Ricardo turning the tables and baiting us into another trap?”

“And finally, route four is using the flares near the Black Mall surface perimeter as a means of communications. We only fired a few outside so far, three kilometers south of the Blue Mall home complex. Ricardo’s home was thirty kilometers away and it was daylight at the time. I’m not too worried the flares were seen. But potentially we could use the system at night to send signals to his complex.”

Mark finished with a shrug. “And that’s as far as we got. If somebody has a better idea, let us know.”

Fatima agreed to the suggested testing of the trapdoor to White Mall, and Holly and Ann volunteered to do the work. Fatima then got to the last item on the agenda. “As you know, Mark checked the job log very early this morning and linked the new deaths of two women to Party #1. We’ve discussed this scenario before. We will assume all the recent deaths occurred in Red Mall unless the census counter and Mark tell us otherwise. For today, both search parties will target the Red Mall area.”

Fatima glanced at the time, 7:22 AM. “The sun should be rising at this very moment. Team leaders, assemble your groups and depart as you see fit. Good hunting to us all.”

A few minutes later Fatima and Mark were the only ones left in the room except for Kiyoko and Cassidy who were still on monitor duty until 8 AM. The two women sat at the other end of the room watching their displays, purposely giving Mark and Fatima a bit of privacy.

“So,” said Fatima, “do you have your day mapped out?”

Mark nodded and stretched. “The interface offered me another two-hour course on orbital positioning. Of course I accepted. After that I’ll probably work out in the gym for a while.”

“Don’t tell me, are you still practicing with that sword?”

Mark grinned, “Well, maybe a little. It’s too beautiful a weapon to resist. Hey, do you want to meet later for lunch?”

“Sure, sounds nice. Just be careful with the sword.” Fatima hesitated a moment. “Mark?”

“Hmmm?”

“Are you disappointed with not being allowed to go out on search-and-rescue?”

“Oh, I don’t know. A little maybe. I see your point about pulling me off the exploration teams. And I’m on call if they need any advice. Still...”

“Still?”

“Well, it does feel a bit like fighting a war from behind a desk.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it.”

“You too?”

Fatima nodded. “I think I’m doing a competent job organizing everything, but the experience of being a team leader and leading the expeditions at Yellow Brick...”

“It’s fun!”

“Yeah, it sure is.”

The two lovers took a moment to link and smile at each other and then it was time to go. They shared an affectionate kiss before going their separate ways.

Time: Sunday, March 3, 2019 8 AM

Three hours into their march, Carla called her first major break, a full fifteen minutes of downtime. The troops took off their backpacks and stretched out. Sandra took the opportunity to lie down and stretch out so completely, Carla thought it looked like she wanted to take a nap. Carla walked over and sat down beside her.

“Are we half way their yet?” Sandra asked in a quiet voice.

Carla replied, “Almost. We’re halfway through with the foothills I think, then about another three kilometers to our pickup spot by the riverbank. Sandra, how are you feeling?”

“What’s our pace?” asked Sandra, ignoring Carla’s question.

“As the crow flies, we’ve hiked a little more than eleven kilometers I think, four kilometers an hour for the first two maybe, and a little over three kilometers this last hour. It’s good performance, considering the terrain and the mini-breaks we’re taking.”

Sandra gave a deep sigh and closed her eyes. “Hell, Carla. I’m the only one without a backpack and I’m slowing everybody down.”

“Sandra, how are you feeling?”

She kept her eyes closed as she gave an honest assessment. “Tired but I still have some energy. My problem is my legs. My muscles are so weak. I just haven’t done enough walking this past month.”

“Sandra, I remember how your foot looked after the boar sliced it open. I have nothing but admiration for what you’re doing now.”

“Carla, If I start to slow down too much, I want you to”

“Sandra, if you ever find walking too difficult, just tell us. We’ll carry you. We’ll use the stretcher if we have to. It would be an honor, and I really mean that.”

“Well ... thank you,” Sandra whispered. She took a moment to reflect on all their new abilities from the supplies that had come back with Tom. The new gear included a folding stretcher that had come with the first-aid kit. Sandra opened her eyes and the sight knocked her out of her pleasant thoughts. “Oh hell, Carla. That sky is something out of a horror movie.”

The entire eastern half of the sky, from their position and then back northward was filled with a enormous rotating spiral of gray and dirty yellow bands of clouds. The phenomenon had been growing and becoming more organized over the last two hours, and its counterclockwise rotation was now unmistakable.

And the air! Wobanakik almost always had a fresh and breezy smell to it, both on the stormy days and in the sun. But now the air felt flat and very still. Sandra was beginning to feel a sense of dread. “Do you think we should turn back?” she asked quietly.

Carla thought for a moment and finally shrugged. “I don’t know what this is. I’ve been assuming if a storm breaks, we can bundle together in a gully with our ponchos until the storm blows over, but I don’t know what this is. If it is a storm, it seems the worst part of it might break back north. Assuming three-plus hours to get back, I don’t know if we’d make it.”

“Let’s move on then. My foot feels better. Let’s go now.”

Carla nodded and called out an order, and after a moment for final stretching and putting on backpacks, the group continued its journey to the south.

Time: Sunday, March 3, 2019 9 AM

About eighty minutes after setting off from the Red Mall lounge, the Society’s two combined search parties reached a spot that Emily on a previous expedition had nicknamed Water Hole #1. They were now approximately three kilometers south of the home complex in a triangular wedge of a half-sized hexagon, an isosceles triangle fifty meters for each side. The waterhole was one large open area and offered food, bathroom facilities and sleeping accommodations.