Neil said, "Okay, so the plan is that we'll get back together tomorrow afternoon. We might as well do it here. We should be able to have more information by then." He smiled. "This will be pretty incredible, if it works."
They all began to stand up and stretch. The stadium group had been surprisingly small, and they had met right on the stage, sitting on uncomfortable wooden folding chairs. Perry had noticed SarahBeth and Sarah Little leaving the boat people group (as it was already becoming known) a few minutes after the meeting began and running across the back of the empty auditorium to the door to the alternatives group. They had seemed to be giggling. SarahBeth had not looked at him, but Sarah Little had glanced in his direction.
Then, much later, a little before the stadium group had broken up for the night, there had been a good deal of noise from the direction of the alternatives group, and a few people had wandered in from that direction, so apparently that group had ended a little bit earlier than his own. He didn't see Sarah and SarahBeth again.
He had managed to avoid thinking about this during the group meeting by concentrating on the plan being put together, which seemed both unworkable and suicidal. This helped to focus his attention, at least.
But after the meeting broke up, he started to feel very bad about how things had gone. He had known that he and SarahBeth would fight eventually. It was, he knew, inevitable in relationships, and probably especially so in this one. But it was one thing to know it and another to experience it.
He noticed that Tammy was walking toward the exit also, and he slowed down. He really didn't want to walk back to the hotel with her, and he knew that was probably where she was going. He glanced back at the stage and saw Vicki and Neil were still talking, so at least he wouldn't be walking back with Vicki.
He had known that he and SarahBeth would fight, but he hadn't imagined that it would happen in front of her ex-lover. Vicki had been very nice about it, but it had still made the whole thing even worse than it would have been otherwise.
If it weren't for the fact that Vicki happened to be unavailable, he thought SarahBeth would probably be back with her, since she was obviously a more congenial and passionate partner. And he also remembered the times he'd been with SarahBeth and Sarah, how inseparable they had been.
So, it was better to try to keep thinking about the impractical and probably suicidal plan. He had been proud of how he'd handled the situation on the bridge that morning, but this was going to be far more dangerous than that had been, and he could tell already that a lot of the plan was going to depend on him.
Out on the street, he zipped up his jacket and turned toward the hotel. He realized that he hadn't needed to worry about walking with Tammy, she was already half a block ahead of him, striding at a pace that he would have had difficulty matching.
When Perry reached the hotel, he was thinking about how lonely their bed was going to be. It was really too small for two people, especially when one sprawled and moved around as much as SarahBeth did, but it was going to seem huge tonight. In the lobby, though, he noticed quite a lot of noise from the hotel dining room, and he saw a handwritten sign next to the doorway, saying, "We figured out how to tap the kegs! Come in and help us celebrate our ingenuity and dedication! Free beer until it runs out!"
Somehow, he had an idea that Fifteen was involved in this in some way, both in tapping the kegs and in writing the sign.
He stepped into the dining room, which was, like everything else, lit by candles, and looked around. If he had seen Sarah and SarahBeth he would have left, but they weren't visible, though the place was nearly full.
He saw Sam and Tammy in a corner booth, and Sam smiled and motioned him over. Perry gestured to indicate that he'd be over as soon as he got himself a beer.
Sam slid over and motioned for Perry to sit beside him.
Perry sat down and put his beer on the table, noticing that Sam
looked rather uncomfortable.
"Perry," Tammy said, "you just missed Nicky and Sarah. They were here for a few minutes."
Perry knew where this was going. Tammy appeared elated, and Sam looked even more uncomfortable than he had before.
"They–" Sam began.
"They just left," Tammy said airily, "which was just as well. They were beginning to become something of a spectacle, even for this place."
"I'm glad Sarah is okay," Perry said, well aware of how lame it sounded.
She smiled solicitously. "Well, you know, Perry, it's probably for the best. In the long run, leopards don't change their spots. It was always just a matter of time."
Perry smiled. "Tammy, I suppose you're right. I remember Terry making that same point to me once."
Tammy nodded. "Exactly." She stood up. "I'll be back in a minute," she said, and she limped off toward Marshall, who had just come into the room.
Katherine came in and got herself a beer, then she went to the booth where Pete and Daphne were sitting. Pete moved over to make room and she sat down next to him.
Daphne looked accusingly at Katherine.
"Your boyfriend," she said firmly, "is being very mean to me."
Katherine drank some of her beer. "Are you being mean to Daphne?" she asked Pete.
Pete shook his head. "I'm not, really."
"He told me that I can't drink anymore, now that I'm pregnant." She glared at the bowl on the table in front of her, which was filled with soda.
"Well, you do need to take care of yourself," Katherine said. "Remember, it's not like we have a lot of doctors around here. We all have to stay as healthy as we can."
"Speaking of which, I hope there's somebody around who knows how to deliver babies, somebody other than Finch," Pete said, drinking more beer. "We'll have to check with Vic."
"Is the father going to help?" Katherine asked, and Daphne looked even more morose.
"No," she said quietly.
"Is he–" Katherine started, but Pete interrupted.
"Daphne, was he hurt in the explosion? Was he killed?"
Daphne burst into tears, and Pete climbed quickly over the table to squeeze in beside her.
Sam smiled. "That was a pretty good answer."
"Well, Tammy will never see it," Perry replied, "but I thought it made my point pretty clearly."
"Do you think Nicky–" Sam laughed. "I still think of her as Nicky. Do you think she's going to be back with Sarah now? I'm sorry, I know it's kind of an awkward question, but I worry about Sarah. She's so fixed on Nicky, I just hope she doesn't get hurt again."
Perry drank some of his beer and leaned back. "I realize I'm not impartial here, but I don't think this is permanent. Not to say anything about SarahBeth and me, but, from what I know of her, when she leaves someone, she leaves. She doesn't have a single nostalgic bone in her body. I do hope Sarah doesn't get hurt again, because I do think this is a fling. SarahBeth is mad at me, and this is her way of expressing it."
Vicki came in, looked around, and came over to Perry and Sam. "May I join you?" she asked, and Sam quickly made room for her. She sat next to him, looking at Perry.
"I only have a minute, but I wanted to mention one more thing. Do you talk about your books with her?"
He shook his head. "Usually we don't. I think she doesn't want to come across as a fan."
Vicki laughed. "Yes, I heard about your fan-girl the other day. But my advice would be to talk about them, really get into the guts of them with her. Not to put down your manly physique, your square jaw or your vast knowledge of weird sexual techniques, but that's what you have that nobody else can give her. When she first read your books, she wouldn't talk about anything else. Not just teenage girl gushing, though she did a lot of that, too, but real analysis of what you were saying. She's very intelligent, even though she acts like a spoiled baby most of the time, and, if you let her into the process, really share it with her, she may even improve the writing."
She turned to see Pat come in across the room. "Bye," she said quickly. "Good luck."
She climbed up on the bench, shouted, "Incoming!" and leaped across the room, nearly scraping the ceiling, ending up in the arms of her startled lover.
"Bed," she announced, grinning. "Now!"
Pat blushed crimson and carried Vicki out of the room.
Pete put his arms around Daphne as Katherine squeezed her hands across the table.
"He was just a guy," Daphne said finally, her face blotchy and her eyes red. "I wasn't in love with him or anything, but he was okay, he would have helped. But I kept putting off telling him, chickening out, and then he died and I never even had a chance to tell him. Shit!"
"Do you want the baby?" Pete asked quietly. "It's completely your decision. If you want to have it, we will be with you every step of the way. If you don't, we'll figure that out, too." Then he tilted her head up and looked at her. "You haven't been out screwing around at all, have you? You just made that up."
She nodded as Pete held a bandanna up to her nose and she blew. "You're right," she said. "I've just been in a room up on the top floor. I've barely been getting out of bed. Fifteen was bringing me food, and making me eat it. I made him promise not to tell you where I was. But yesterday he said he was going to tell you, that it wasn't fair for you to think I was dead. So, I said I'd do it. Shit."
Katherine stood, picking up the bowl filled with soda. "I think one beer would be okay, don't you, Pete?"
He nodded. "My mother smokes two packs of cigarettes every single day, and I turned out okay."
Daphne regarded him critically as Katherine walked across the room to the bar. "Well, it may have stunted your growth," she said, wiping her eyes.
He laughed. "I've got me a wise-ass dog." He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Have you been worrying about starling?" he asked her quietly.
"A little," she said slowly. "I don't want her to get the wrong idea, about you and me. She said she'd kill me, and I believe her."
He nodded. "I thought something like that had happened. I remember one day you stopped being so friendly. Plus all that fuss about the examination this morning." He ruffled her hair. "She's not kidding, but she's not unfair, and she really cares about you. We both do. We want you to be with us, and we'll take care of you, as I say, whatever you decide to do."
"Shouldn't you check with her before you say that?"
He shook his head as Katherine brought over a tray with three beers and an empty bowl. "The beers were easy," she said, "but it took a minute to find a clean bowl."
She put the bowl in front of Daphne and poured some beer into it. "Don't drink it too fast," she said. "That's all you're going to get tonight."
Daphne made a face and leaned forward, her hands on the tabletop, and started to lap up the beer.
Sam shook his head, trying to hide a smile. "Damn, I guess that's what it's like when you're famous, huh? Vicki's running this whole thing, and she takes time out to coach you on your love life."
Perry laughed, nearly spilling his beer. "That's not it. I think she genuinely wants SarahBeth to be happy, but there's another side to it." He hesitated. "I don't know how much you know about SarahBeth and Vicki . . ."
"Someone said they're cousins. Someone else said they were sisters."
"Cousins yes, and they were lovers, which I gather was a big affair." Sam's eyes widened. "And they had a fling when they were at my house. If you and Alex had arrived a little earlier in the morning, they would have still been in bed together."
"But what about . . ." he gestured toward the door, where Vicki had just leaped into Pat's arms.
"That's the point. Vicki is serious about Pat, from what I can tell, and so the more SarahBeth is occupied elsewhere, the better for Vicki. Not that SarahBeth can make Vicki do anything she doesn't want to do, but–"
"But we both know how much trouble SarahBeth can cause when she feels like it."
"Exactly." He shook his head. "Sometimes it seems like everybody I know has a nice stable relationship except me."
Sam laughed. "But then I hope you think about it and realize how wrong you are. For example, have you ever had sex with a woman who can become a different person while you're making love to her? Right in the middle of it?"
"No," Perry said with a laugh. "I can't say that I have."
"Neither has anybody else, probably, other than me. So, you can't trump that for 'unstable,' I would say."
"True."
"And look at Vicki and Pat. Pat seems fairly normal, but Vicki is a three-foot mini-dyke who can lift the end of a car if she needs to."
"Plus those ears."
"Exactly. Pat has to wear a helmet and pads when they make love, or Vicki could take her head off by mistake. And trust me, they have a very lively sex life. When Vicki comes, everybody on our side of the building knows about it."
Perry nodded. "I've heard it. She shattered a couple of windows in my house. But what about Jan and Marshall? They're pretty stable. They're even married."
Sam nodded. "True. Though he still calls her 'my employer,' which is kind of strange. But do you know what I've heard?" He leaned forward. "I've heard they can communicate when they're not together."
"Oh, come on," Perry said, then he laughed. "Though I don't know why I should balk at believing that."
After a minute, Daphne stopped drinking and belched loudly.
"Wonderful," Pete said, patting her back. "You'll be a terrific influence on your puppies, if you decide to have them." He turned to Katherine. "Daphne wants to be sure you and I are in agreement about going through this with her, no matter what."
Katherine shook her head, taking Daphne's hand in one of hers and Pete's in the other. "Daphne, that's not really the question. Do you want us to be with you? After all, your kid may have a lot better chance to grow up and live a long and healthy life if I'm not around it."
"And the last time someone I cared about was in your situation," Pete added, "I bailed out and hid, and she got killed. We may not be the best people to rely on."
Daphne squeezed their hands and smiled, then she licked Pete's cheek, barked and went back to lapping up her beer.
Pete looked at Katherine. "Why do I have the idea that we're going to have to think of names for a litter of puppies before too long?"
Daphne barked and belched again.
"Also," Katherine said, "regular exercise is good for depression, too. You and I are going to start taking nice long walks together, at least twice a day."
"My ankle is mostly better," Pete said. "If you don't walk too fast, I can go with you."
"I've heard that there was a meeting," Sam said, "when Marshall was down at the bridge, and they decided they needed to include him. Vicki was going to send a runner, but Jan just thought for a moment, and said, 'He'll be here in twenty minutes,' and he was."
Perry nodded. "Okay, I accept your argument, though I don't know if I believe that last part. Plus there's Pete and Katherine. AKA starling."
"I've met Pete a few times, at movie night, but I've never met her, though I've seen her around here. She scares the piss out of me."
"She's quite nice," Perry said. "She's gone out with us on a medical team a couple of times, and we had dinner with them last night."
"I really don't see how Pete can go with her. Doesn't he get bothered by what she's done?"
Perry shrugged. "Apparently not. But it does bolster your argument about other people's relationships being weird, too, only in different ways."
Sam reached forward and clapped Perry on the shoulder. "My friend, everybody's relationships are weird. Some people just hide it, and some don't. But they are all pretty damn peculiar." He smiled as he finished his beer. "Oh, and talking about Pete, he came in before, leading a woman on a leash." He raised one eyebrow.
Perry nodded, trying to keep a straight face. "Oh, yes, that's Daphne. She's his dog."
"I rest my case." He put his empty mug down on the table. "I think I'll go and find my lady. Have a good night."
"Does it bother you that you were with Alex for quite a while, and now Tammy is back?"
Sam leaned forward. "I know Alex is the 'real' personality, but she's a dead fish in bed. Remember, most of her sexual experience was awkward teenage stuff. But Terry, and especially Tammy, they're like tigers." He grinned. "I am never sorry to see Tammy Nelson's head on my pillow, you can believe that." He strolled across the room, whistling as he went.
Perry finished his beer and stood up, feeling a bit better about the empty bed he was presumably headed toward. As he moved toward the door, though, he heard someone call his name. He looked and saw Katherine waving him over. She was sitting in a booth with Pete and Daphne. Daphne was lapping beer out of a bowl on the table.
Katherine moved over to make room for Perry, and asked, "Where's SarahBeth?"
Perry saw Pete wince, and he remembered that Pete had been in the alternatives group.
Perry smiled, happily aware of the beer in him, and thinking how nice it was going to be to have another one. "She is otherwise occupied," he said, standing up again, "and I feel like another beer. Can I get one for anybody else?"
Daphne barked, but Pete said, "No more for her."
Katherine laughed. "No, we're fine, thanks." Perry walked across the room to the bar, reflecting how clever he was being. This way, Pete would explain to Katherine about SarahBeth, and he wouldn't have to talk about it.
"So, Pete, how was the alternatives group?" Perry asked as he sat down next to Katherine.
"Interesting," Pete said, lighting a cigarette. "Katherine and I were talking a little bit about it, and it's very interesting how different it was from the group you two are in."
"I felt in the stadium group that the whole thing was already in motion before we came on board," Perry said.
Katherine nodded. "That was what I was saying. Neil and Vicki already had the beginnings of a plan before this started." She smiled. "I know how Neil is when he has a plan cooking in his brain." She took a cigarette from Pete's pack and lit it.
Pete nodded. "That's the priority right now, that's obvious. Vicki really wants to get into that stadium. The other groups, the farming and the boat people, that's for later."
Perry smiled and drank some of his beer. "I am curious about alternatives. I was going to go to that one, until I was drafted."
"It was the opposite of what you're describing. It was huge, several hundred people at least, and very chaotic. Ray would just stir things up, and then he'd take notes on whatever bubbled to the surface, that's how it looked."
"I was wondering what they could possibly do with that many people," Perry said. "Is that what it was supposed to be, or did it get out of control?"
"I think that's what it was supposed to be. To harvest the best ideas, and to keep people busy, and to get them used to the idea that they all need to be working on this, not waiting for it to be solved, as Vicki said. A few times, with specific ideas, Ray would see that some people moved into a smaller group to really work on it." He glanced up. "He nearly got into a fight with SarahBeth one time. She was saying that we need an army, she told the story of the soldiers coming in when you got here and what would have happened if Katherine hadn't come in. She got quite insistent–"
"As she can, I know," Perry added, and they laughed.
"–but it didn't make a difference with Ray. I think she was hoping she'd get sent off to run a smaller group about forming an army, but Ray wasn't going for it."
"That's not the sort of thing he'd be into," Katherine said. "We argue about things like that all the time."
"How did SarahBeth react to being shot down?" Perry asked.
Pete looked sheepish. "She consoled herself by going back to making out with Sarah Little. Right in the middle of the meeting."
He looked apologetic, but Perry shrugged. "I already heard about that." He chuckled. "As I referred to her recently, my non-monogamous, underage, incestuous, lesbian girlfriend."
"There is one more thing," Pete said, and he leaned forward. Katherine and Perry leaned forward as well, though the noise of the conversations around them would have made it hard for anybody to overhear. "We know that the bridges are blocked. No one can get out of U-town. Why wasn't there a group to figure that out? It wasn't even mentioned, and I'm sure most people have no idea. How can we do the boat thing or the farming thing, or the stadium thing, if we can't get off this concrete island?" He smiled.
"So, you think they have an idea already?" Perry asked. "Vicki and Neil?"
Pete frowned. "I don't know. I have a hunch not, but I don't know for sure. But I do know one thing, which is why they're not having a group to figure it out."
Katherine smiled. "Pete," she asked in a slightly sing-song voice, "will you please tell us why you think this?"
He laughed. "Fair enough." He leaned forward again, and they followed his example. "Because the army is blocking the bridges, and, if a couple of hundred people were coming up with a way to get past them, would you want to guarantee that not one of those people would fink us out, once there was a plan?"
Perry sighed. "That makes sense. But I'd feel a lot better if you were more sure they have a plan already. When I was over at the bar, I joked that we'd run out of candles pretty soon, the way we're going through them. They told me that the candles will last longer than the food."
Daphne whined nervously and leaned against Pete. He rubbed her head. "We'll figure it out," he said to her.
"We have to make sure her puppies can be born and be fed and grow up healthy," Perry said, smiling.
Katherine nodded. "We were just talking about that."
"So, we're going to do everything we can for her," Katherine said, "except quit smoking, I guess. Vic said we should try not to smoke around her, but we don't seem to be doing very well about that." She shrugged. "Well, my position is that smoking helps me stay calm, which is a good thing."
"I used to try to keep SarahBeth from smoking," Perry said, "but then I thought, 'Do I really want her to be even more cantankerous than she is already?' And, besides, it was one thing when we were at my house, but this place isn't mine, I can't set rules. Or at least I can't get her to follow them."
Katherine laughed. "One thing I forgot to tell you about the meeting. At one point I was about to light up a cigarette. Tammy was sitting next to me, and she leaned over and whispered something, I have no idea what, and the next thing I knew I had put the cigarette away. I didn't even want to smoke." She waved her cigarette. "The effect was temporary, obviously."
Pete stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back, absently rubbing Daphne's head. "That makes me think of what you were telling us last night, that Jan's mother . . . what is her real name, by the way?"
"That's a tricky question, with her," he said, "but these days mostly she's Tammy. It's probably easier if you call her that."
"You were saying that she can become other people, change not only her personality but her clothes and hair and skin."
Perry nodded. "It's not like she can become anybody, she can't become you or me or something, she just has multiple personalities, three different people. But yes, the change is instantaneous, or at least it can be."
"Well, I've been thinking about that, and I'm wondering if she's actually changing, which would seem to violate the laws of nature, as we understand them, or is she controlling what we see?" He shrugged. "It's just an abstract question, I'm just curious. If you took a picture of her, would it show what we see, or would it show what she actually looks like?"
Katherine laughed. "You can see that our pillow talk is probably a little unusual."
Perry laughed. "I see what you mean." He looked at Pete. "I have no idea. Do you have a camera?"
"Nope, and even if I did, no way to process film. Oh, well, I guess I'll live not knowing."
Perry woke up when SarahBeth came in and sat heavily on the bed next to him. There was silence for a moment, then he said, "We need to–"
"No," she said, "not a talk about our fucking relationship. I saw what I wanted, and I took it. Now I'm going to go to sleep. If you don't want me to sleep here, I'll go sleep somewhere else." She looked at him. "Here, or somewhere else? There are a lot of rooms in this place."
"Are you–"
"Don't fucking ask me what I'm going to do." She started to untie her sneakers. "I'm going to do what I feel like doing. I would have stayed with her, except that she's too fucking nice."
He put his hand around her wrist. "I know–"
She yanked her arm away from him. She was silent for a moment, rubbing her wrist, then she said, "I don't like it when men grab me."
"Fair enough," he said, sitting up. "But let's tell the truth here. I wasn't hurting you, you're probably stronger than I am. And if I did really hurt you, you'd just leave. Whenever anybody's hurt you, you've always hurt them right back, or walked out, or both."
"You don't know me" she said. "How do you know what's happened to me?"
"Because I do know you," he said quietly. "People who've really been hurt, people who've been abused, any kind of abuse, you can always tell if you really get to know them. You're not like Vicki–"
She quickly clamped her hand over his mouth, pushing him back down on the bed. She was shaking her head, her eyes closing, and then she turned her face away from him, her lips pressed together.
They stayed like that for a minute, then he reached up to cup her cheek and gently turn her head back to face him. She opened her eyes slightly and he met them.
They looked at each other for a few moments, then she relaxed and lay down next to him, resting her head on his chest, taking her hand from his mouth. He put his arms around her.
After a few minutes, she pulled away from him and sat up, leaning over to finish untying her sneakers.
"I was right about you," she said. "When I said how nice Sarah is, why I couldn't stay with her, I thought you were going to get all innocent about how nice you are, so how can I stay with you if I can't stay with her?"
She stood up and skinned off her jeans. "But you're a bastard, Perry Nelson," she said. Her underwear had apparently gone missing during her adventures. "You just hide it more than I do."
She stripped off her T-shirt, and he was glad to see that her fancy new bra hadn't been misplaced as well. She leaned forward as she took it off, kissing him on the cheek.
"That's how come I can stay with you," she said, sitting down beside him and taking his hand, her hip pressing against his.
Then she looked at him, very directly. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked softly. "Well, moping and having long talks about 'us' and worrying about when I'm going to chase off after some cute girl and if I'm going to come back to you afterward, that won't cut it. Make it worth my while to stay, and I'll stay." He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "And I'll try to do the same," she added quietly.
He sniffed. "I should make you take a shower."
She laughed and shoved him down on the bed. "You don't like that smell?" she said, climbing on top of him and nibbling on his nose. "I smeared it all over me just for you."
Later, some time after they were asleep, there was a strange scratching at the door.
"What the hell is that?" Perry demanded, looking around blearily.
SarahBeth laughed, "What do you think it is?" She climbed over him and looked around. "Where's my T-shirt?" she demanded.
"You threw it over there," he answered, gesturing in the direction of the window.
She went over and picked it up, then she pulled it on as she went to the door.
There was a bark and Daphne came in.
They came over to the bed, Daphne continuing to bark, then SarahBeth sat on the bed and said, "You just decided to come visit us? Is that it?"
Daphne barked again.
SarahBeth laughed. "I'll bet I know what happened. They kicked you out so they could fuck, huh?" She nudged Perry. "I told her that new underwear would rev up Pete's motor."
Daphne barked, sitting down on her haunches.
SarahBeth poked Perry. "Come on, let's go watch. Maybe we can peek in the keyhole or something."
"What?" he demanded, scratching Daphne's head. "Watch them have sex?"
"You don't like to watch? Damn, what fun are you?"
He yawned. "Not much, at least right now. Are you two going to sleep, or–"
He was interrupted as Daphne jumped up on the bed, climbed over him, and lay down.
"I don't think there's enough room–" he began as SarahBeth climbed over the two of them and lay down between Daphne and the wall, nearly squeezing Perry off the bed and onto the floor.
There was a few moments of tugging at the blankets to try to cover both SarahBeth and Perry, which was difficult since Daphne was lying on top of the covers in between them.
When they were finally, precariously, covered, Perry was starting to fall back asleep when he felt something on his cheek. It was Daphne, sniffing his face.
"What–" he started, but then she licked his face and nuzzled into his neck, still licking.
Perry looked nervously at SarahBeth, but she was snuggling against Daphne's back, and he saw her hand come around and slide up under Daphne's sweatshirt to softly stroke her belly.
"Don't be rude," SarahBeth whispered, her eyes closed. "She is our guest. We don't have to kick her out just because they do." She made a little happy sound. "And pregnant women are so fucking sexy."
* * * * *
Next Chapter:
Undertown