Vicki, Neil, Tammy, Marshall and Pat sat around the big table in the meeting room.
"The food situation is getting pretty desperate," Pat said. "People have mostly used up their own emergency supplies, the ones who still had supplies after the explosion. We're having to stagger meals here at the hotel, and we were wearing out the kitchen people, so when people come in to eat, they have to work in the kitchen for two hours first. Then they can eat."
Vicki nodded. "As I mentioned, I have a few different things which I started this morning, to try to find solutions. They're all more or less long shots, though. Do you think we need to call a meeting?"
Neil shrugged. "Not my area of expertise."
Marshall nodded. "I think maybe call it for tonight, and just hope we have some news by then. And make it clear that it's optional, not mandatory, but I'll bet a lot of people come."
"And people need to see you," Pat said to Vicki. "You need to tell them that this will work out."
"To be frank," Neil said, "it is a problem if we're holed up in here all the time and all they see is Ray, because Ray's not going to fill anybody with confidence about anything, and they all know that when the going gets tough, he crawls into the nearest bottle."
Vicki made a face, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Pat went to answer it.
She looked out, then she said, "It's Pete, and he says it's urgent."
Vicki nodded. "Let him in," she said. Pat opened the door further and Pete came in, followed by Katherine and Perry. There were quite a few empty seats at the big conference table, and Pete hesitated.
Vicki gestured around. "Sit anywhere, please, and give us the very short version first. I don't think I could stand a big build-up."
Pete quickly ticked off the points on his fingers as he sat down. "One, there is food. Two, there is a way out. Three, I, or I should say we, would like you to preside at a wedding, very soon."
Vicki almost laughed, her face lighting up. She turned to Pat. "Nobody gets in," she said.
Marshall looked up. "Jan's on her way,"
Vicki smiled. "Jan gets in, of course. Nobody else."
Pat went outside and closed the door as Vicki turned back to Pete. "Whose wedding might this be?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.
"Mine, with Katherine, the wonderful woman who made the other two things I mentioned possible."
Vicki nodded. "I am at your disposal, of course. Now, please tell us the whole story."
Pete told most of it, with help from Perry and Katherine. As he reached the part where the two men had left the room to confer, the door opened and Jan Sleet came in quietly, going to sit next to Marshall.
Then, as Pete described how people could walk out of U-town through the subway tunnels, the door opened again and SarahBeth burst in, with Daphne barking behind her. As soon as Perry saw her expression, he muttered, "Oh, God, what have I done now?"
Ignoring the others, SarahBeth stormed around the table to Perry's chair. "I need something you have," she said, glaring, "and I don't mean that in a nice way."
"I don't know what you . . . Oh!" he said.
"Yes, 'Oh!'," she said, taking his hand and pulling him toward the door, nearly taking the chair with him. "Come on."
They left, and Pat stuck her head in. "I'm sorry," she said. "I tried–"
Vicki held up a hand. "It's okay, baby. I don't expect miracles."
Pat closed the door again and Daphne barked. Pete snapped his fingers and she trotted over to him, her leash trailing on the floor behind her. He rubbed her head. "We have a lot of news," he told her quietly, "but we'll tell you later." She lay down at his feet as he looked up and finished the story.
SarahBeth dragged Perry across the lobby and into the women's bathroom. As Perry nervously tried to tell if they were alone, she held out her hand. "Give!" she said, and he sheepishly reached into his jacket pocket and handed her one of the tampons she'd given him that morning. She went into one of the stalls, slammed the door, and yelled, "Stay there!"
A woman came out of one of the other stalls, looking completely uninterested in Perry's presence until she started washing her hands and glanced over, recognizing him. She turned and rushed out the door, not even drying her hands.
"I do have news," Perry said after a moment.
"Yeah?" SarahBeth asked suspiciously.
He leaned over far enough to see that there were feet visible in another stall. "Some of it is kind of secret, but this part isn't." He waited until she had flushed. "Pete and Katherine are getting married."
SarahBeth burst out of the stall, pulling up her jeans. "Really?" she demanded. "Pete proposed?"
He nodded. "Yes. I don't think it was planned, but it was–"
"Eeeeeh!" she squealed in excitement, poking him in the stomach. "This is so great! I wish I'd been there. Did he kneel?"
Perry shook his head. "No kneeling." He anticipated her next question. "No ring. Nothing like that, it was really spontaneous. I think–"
"And I get to be maid of honor!" she announced. "I can't wait." She caught his expression. "Yes, 'maid,' shut up. Spontaneous or not, he should have kneeled, though. I mean, come on. He's not just asking her to the drive-in."
She took his hand and pulled him through the door into the lobby. "Come on," she said, "and you can tell me the big secret stuff. I had to flush my underwear, so we need to go back to the room anyway. And the next time I give you something important to carry, you'd damn well better be there when I need it!"
"Yes, dear," he replied, and she poked him again, grinning.
"Pete," Vicki said, "you are, and I mean this with tremendous affection, about the least likely person to be getting married."
"Well, it was kind of an accident."
"Which I'm holding him to."
"But, the fact that you've thought of this, at this time, with the whole situation . . . I guess you really do think we're going to get out of this."
"Or he thinks we're all about to die and it doesn't matter," Neil said, grinning.
"Oh, hush," Katherine said as he got to his feet and came over to them. He held his hand out to Pete, who quickly stood up.
"In all sincerity," Neil said, "congratulations. I wish you both all the happiness in the world."
Pete smiled as he shook his hand. "Thanks."
Katherine stood up and there was an awkward moment as she and Neil negotiated whether they would shake hands or embrace, compromising on a quick hug.
"Congratulations, Kat," he said.
"Thank you."
"You want me to come to the ceremony and give you away?"
"You did that years ago, sweetie."
He doubled over in mock pain. "Ouch, Kat, you got me," he said with a laugh as he returned to his seat.
Vicki was there by then, standing on a chair, and she kissed each of them on the cheek.
"You know," she said with a smile, climbing back onto the table and sitting down again, "where I grew up, the next question would have been whether this is . . ." her voice trailed off and she coughed, her eyes twinkling.
Katherine laughed and patted her flat stomach. "No, no children coming," she said. "That's not in our plans."
"Katherine," Tammy asked, as Marshall and Jan came over to offer congratulations as well, "may I be so bold as to offer some advice?" She was sitting, leaning back, with her fingers tented in front of her.
"Of course," Katherine replied, turning to her.
"There is always a reason not to have children. Either the world is in too terrible a state, or we ourselves are not ready in some way, or both. And I'm not suggesting that you should, but I am suggesting that you not rule it out, both of you. The survival of the human race has only been possible to his point because people have persisted in having children despite the deplorable state of the world, and despite their own weaknesses and limitations.
"Even I, believe it or not, have not always been as . . . magnificent as I am today. And, despite a few difficulties I've had to deal with at some points in the past, I managed to produce two daughters who have grown into amazing women, women who make me very proud, most especially in these last few days, when they have been rather magnificent themselves."
"I'm not trying to persuade you to any decision about this. But I would recommend keeping an open mind. Oh, and there is one more thing I'd like to ask you about in private. Perhaps we could have a drink together tonight at some point?"
Katherine shrugged, clearly a little perplexed by Tammy's last comment. "That would be fine."
There was a moment of silence, and Jan said, "Vicki, to get back to business, I agree with Pat. People need to see you, they need to hear from you, about what's going to happen. You have to talk to them before you go."
Katherine went over to Daphne and picked up her leash. "We should go for a walk, Daphne. Come on." Daphne made a humphing sound and leaned against Pete's leg, her eyes squeezed closed.
Tammy pinched the bridge of her nose, as if she had a headache.
"You want to come?" Katherine asked Pete.
He shook his head, standing up with a wince. "But I'll walk out with you. I got so excited down in the tunnels that I overdid it a bit and my ankle is sore. I'm going to lie down."
Katherine tugged on the leash, then she said sharply, "Daphne! Up!"
Daphne made a face. "Feh," she said, getting to her feet.
As they were leaving, Vicki said, "Pete, there is one favor you can do for me . . ."
In their room, SarahBeth kicked off her sneakers and undid her jeans, dropping them to the floor. She crossed the room toward the shopping bag which held the underwear she had bought from T.C., but Perry sat on the bed and caught her hand as she passed. "Sit down for a minute," he said, "this is important."
She plopped herself onto his lap and threw her arm around his shoulders. "I know the mere sight of pubic hair drives you wild," she said, "but no nookie for you. I'm feeling crappy, and I need to get back to the alternatives meeting. So, what?"
He turned her head to him and kissed her. After a second he felt her relax and her tongue started to dart around and play with his. When she pulled her head back her eyes were dreamy. "Maybe just a little fooling around," she said quietly. "Just a tiny bit."
He hugged her. "This is not about sex, you crazy woman. Just listen to me for a minute. Pete and Katherine and I found a supply of food, and a way out of U-town, even with the bridges blocked." He looked in her eyes. "We're not about to die, there is a way out."
She frowned. "If you propose marriage to me right now, I will smack you."
Perry sputtered, trying to form a sentence and trying not to laugh at the same time. He realized that, until he had met SarahBeth, he had never sputtered, but now it was becoming quite a regular occurrence.
SarahBeth pulled down his lower lip and peered into his mouth. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Pussy got your tongue?" She grinned. "As I used to say to Vicki."
She released his lip and hugged him. "To answer your question, I haven't been worrying that much about starving to death, and I'll tell you why. For one thing, you're going to make sure I have enough food, because you're a good boyfriend, and, if you let me get too hungry, I'll start chewing on you again." She took his arm, pulled up his sleeve and bit into the flesh.
"Ow!" he protested, pulling his arm back.
"See," she said, "there's your motivation. Food for your girlfriend." Perry looked in alarm at the deep marks on his skin.
"But there's another reason," she continued, "which is the same thing I've been arguing with Ray about. What makes people think we're going to get to sit around and relax until we starve to death? That takes time, from what I understand, and there's soldiers on the bridge with guns and tanks and stuff. They've already marched right into the office where we all were, for fuck's sake. That's what we need to worry about, not starving to death."
She hopped off his lap. "And I need to get back to the meeting so I can beat some sense into Ray." She stood with her legs apart and her hands on her hips. "I'm thinking of making up recruiting posters with a picture of me on them. What do you think?"
He tried to look judicious as he lightly rubbed his arm. "Pants might be a good idea," he suggested.
She grinned. "Oh, I don't know, there's a girl in the group who I have my eye on. I want her to be my assistant, and she might go for this look." She went to the shopping bag and rummaged around.
"In the meeting, before I got my fucking period, I was trying to talk about how we need an army, some sort of army, but Ray didn't want to hear it. I told him we saw soldiers in trucks going around rounding people up and taking them away. What does he think, they won't come over here and do the same thing? Shit! They don't care that the bridge has holes in it, they'll figure out something if they want to."
"Were there people who agreed with you?"
"A few, but he didn't want to hear it. Neil and Vicki would have agreed with me, I bet, but they're in the stadium thing with you. And Katherine, too."
"Well, if there are a few people who agree with you, that's a start. What about weapons?"
"I do have an idea about that. I need to talk to Katherine." Perry looked dubious. "Not to join it, I don't think we're going to recruit very many people if she's with us. They just look at her and think 'starling,' not seeing how she is now."
"People who would join because she's there are probably not people you'd actually want."
She laughed despite herself. "You've got a point there. Hey, you know who did agree with me? Daphne."
"Really?" he asked. "How could you tell?"
"I thought she was asleep, leaning against my leg, but at one point, when I was yelling at Ray, she got up and sat next to me. You know, sat like a person, not like a dog. And, when I was done, she started agreeing with me." She laughed, zipping her jeans. "It was kind of awkward."
"Why? She was on your side."
"But I was still holding her leash. I wasn't sure what was proper in that situation. I mean, when I was in school, they gave us girls a class in Etiquette and Deportment–"
"You know, I could tell–"
"Shut up. Anyway, so I held onto it, but very casually. She really gave Ray what-for, and then, when she was done, she lay down on the floor again and fell asleep."
Katherine and Daphne took a long walk down by the river. The water level seemed unusually high, some streets near the river were under six inches of water, and many of the docks were completely covered, with only the vertical pilings sticking up.
So, they had to follow a very irregular course, frequently walking down a block toward the river only to find that the end of the street was under water and then retracing their steps to try the next block. But, since exercise was the main point anyway, and neither of them had any appointments, they walked up and back without complaints, mostly in companionable silence.
Then, walking down a dark block toward the water, Daphne stopped in her tracks, crouched and growled deep in her throat.
"What is it, girl?" Katherine asked, dropping the leash and drawing her guns.
A familiar voice boomed out ahead of them, "If you shoot us, you'll probably feel bad about it later."
A few minutes after SarahBeth left, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Perry called, and Pete poked his head in.
"It's okay, she's in a meeting," Perry said with a laugh.
Pete laughed, too, as he came in. "She was a little bit on the war path before."
"And, I admit, not without reason. But I told her about the wedding, and that distracted her. By the way, she thinks she's going to be the maid of honor."
"The what?" Pete asked as he sat in the only chair. Perry sat on the bed.
"Maid of honor," Perry repeated.
"I really don't think we're going to do all that traditional stuff," Pete said.
"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to let you break the bad news to SarahBeth. I'm in enough trouble already."
"Can I smoke?" Pete asked.
"Sure, I'm getting used to it."
Pete nodded and took out his cigarettes. "Well, the maid of honor is connected to the bride, right? So maybe I'll see if starling will tell her."
"Katherine," Perry said quietly.
Pete laughed. "Right. I have to try to do better about that. But let me tell you why I'm here. Vicki sent me. She wanted me to make sure you knew that what we found out today is top secret, at least for right now. Nobody should know."
"I gathered that from all the stuff about Pat not letting people into the room. I did mention it to SarahBeth, just that there was food and a way out. I didn't get into details, and she wasn't that interested anyway."
"Not that interested?"
"She said she's not worried about food. If I don't provide enough food, here's her solution." He pulled back his sleeve.
Pete shook his heading, grinning. "She is a pistol, that's for sure."
"Also, and she may well be right about this, she thinks we're a lot more likely to be attacked than we are to have the luxury of starving to death in a leisurely manner. She's arguing with Ray about that right now." He smiled. "So, where's your fiance?"
"She's out walking Daphne."
"I'm hoping that doesn't mean–"
Pete laughed. "No, that's one of her few concessions to humanity. Clothing, and the conventional use of a bathroom. No, for Daphne and Katherine, walking is more therapeutic than anything else. I would have gone with them, but I overdid it down in the tunnels and now my ankle is hurting a bit again." He smiled. "And I would guess we're going to be doing a lot of walking pretty soon, so I need to be in good shape for that."
He puffed on his cigarette. "And today was a lot for Katherine to 'process,' as she puts it. Food, escape, marriage, it's all good things, but I could see her start to get tense. Not violent tense," he added quickly, "but just beginning to be tense, and walking is good for that."
"Plus, she found out she's a local hero at that bar."
"True enough. As I say, it's a lot for one day, and she's very good about knowing when and how she needs to deal with things. She thinks I'm anti-psychology, because I don't want to take part myself, but it's been good for her."
"I appreciate what Ray wants to do," Neil said. "But this is not primarily a psychological problem."
"I agree," Marshall said. "He can counsel all the people he wants, but the problem is that the word is getting out that the bridges are blocked and there's no more food coming in, and people are starting to panic."
"Panic may not be the best response to the situation," Neil added, "but it's not really irrational under the circumstances."
Vicki nodded. "Ray is going to do what he can, because there's not much else he can do, and it certainly can't hurt. In fact, it helps us keep tabs on how people are reacting. I gather the alternatives thing has hit an impasse anyway, which he's going to tell me about later. And we can't start to tell people about the news Pete brought, even though it would calm them down quite a bit. Not until we're ready to go."
Neil nodded. "I agree. Not until the very last minute. But that does bring up the question of where we're going. You can't drag a couple of thousand people all over the landscape without a plan."
"Well, we, the stadium group, will go first, and find out what we can as we go. And Tammy will make sure that people are telling us the truth. Depending on what we find out, I'm thinking we'll have everybody start out the next night."
There was a knock at the door. It opened and Katherine came in, followed by two other women. One was short, with dark hair and a guarded expression. The other was tall and powerfully-built, with long red hair. She grinned at the group around the table.
"They arrived by boat," Katherine said, then she left, closing the door behind her.
"Did you miss us?" the tall woman asked, moving around to where Neil was sitting. She picked him up and squeezed his shoulders together, shaking him from side to side in a friendly fashion.
He wriggled himself out of her grasp. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, but the question was directed at the other woman.
"Dr. Lee," Vicki said, "this is a surprise, I will admit. Would you like to sit down?"
The smaller woman nodded and took a seat opposite Neil. The larger woman came around and sat next to her, still grinning.
"Would it be an imposition to ask what is going on here?" Tammy asked.
"I'm Dr. Lee," the smaller woman said quietly, "the leader of the Jinx. This is CJ. We came here to ask for your help on a project which we all want to see happen."
"Which is?" Vicki asked.
"Freeing the people who are being held in that stadium," she said simply.
There was a moment of silence, then Vicki said, "I think you need to say more than that. You're the guests here."
Dr. Lee nodded. "Fair enough. We left, as you know, but we didn't get very far. The motorcycles mostly stopped running, for no reason we could determine. The batteries went dead, and couldn't be recharged. We've been living in the city, trying to learn what we could, to try to come up with a viable longer-term plan. We've heard about the teams you've sent over, and why that had to stop. You must be getting pretty desperate for food, and I know you want to get into that stadium."
"Why?" Vicki asked.
"Because you're an idealist, and it would bother you that those people are locked up like that."
"Then why does it bother you?"
"Because some of our people were taken by the cops when they were trying to find out more information about what's going on. And we need to get them out."
"Who was taken?" Neil asked, his expression stony.
"Rachel, Little Frank and Phil."
Neil frowned and shook his head.
Dr. Lee nodded. "I know. Little Frank isn't well, and this is going to be bad for him. The others will do what they can, but this will set him back." She turned to Vicki. "So, I'm proposing that we work together."
Vicki frowned. "We need to talk. Please wait outside."
Dr. Lee's lips thinned, but she nodded and stood up. CJ followed her out.
When the door had closed, Vicki said, "Any idea if this is true or not? If it's a coincidence, it's a pretty big one."
"I should recuse myself," Neil said, "but for what it's worth I am absolutely sure that she would never sell us out to the army or anything like that. I'd stake my life on that. But, as to whether there's more going on than they've said, I have no idea."
"Have them come back in," Tammy said, using her cane to get to her feet. "I swear, you people act like we have all the time in the world, and I do intend to eat my dinner at a reasonable hour tonight."
Neil went to the door, and opened it. He motioned the two women back in, and they took their seats again.
"That was faster than I expected," Dr. Lee said. "I'm glad to see–"
"My name is Tammy Everett," Tammy said, and they turned to face her. "Under these circumstances, you can understand that we require some assurance that you are here for the reason you state. In our position, I'm sure you would do the same, though probably using some less civilized methods." Dr. Lee seemed to be straining to speak, but her lips stayed closed. "To begin, why don't you tell us all your real names? The names you were born with."
"Dolores Barrosso," Dr. Lee said, her eyes wide.
"You can see, I'm sure, why we need this type of guarantee of your bona fides. And your thuggish friend?"
"Daisy Cunningham."
"How many members does your gang have?"
"Two hundred and eighty-seven. Counting the children."
"Why are you here?"
"For the reason I stated."
"And are there any other reasons, either personal or organizational, even if secondary to the desire to rescue your cohorts?"
"Yes, to bring back the people who left, that day at the bridge. To put the Jinx back together again."
"Is that it?"
Dr. Lee nodded. "Yes." CJ nodded as well.
Tammy smiled and resumed her seat. "See, wasn't that simple?" she said happily.
Dr. Lee shuddered, and CJ's rakish grin was long gone.
"What the fuck was that?" Dr. Lee asked after a minute.
"Never mind that," Vicki said. "We have a lot of plans to make."
"About the stadium," Neil said. "Not the rest of it."
Dr. Lee turned to Neil. "You think what happened on the bridge split us up? If you have a fight with your brother, does he stop being your brother?" She pulled up her sleeve, showing a small scar with a tattoo around it. "Do you think us having a fight means your blood isn't still in my veins, and mine isn't still in yours? You know better than that."
"Well, that was probably more then we really needed to know," Tammy said. "Though it is always interesting to find out that there are still some corners of the world where civilization has not yet penetrated."
"That fucking Ray Stone is fucking pissing me off!!" SarahBeth announced as she slammed into the room.
Perry sighed. This was not going to go as he'd envisioned it. He was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall with a pillow behind him, with several of his notebooks open around him. He had thought that he'd be writing, or at least going over his notes, she'd come in, ask what he was up to, and then he'd tell her about the ideas he was working on.
"You would think that somebody in charge of alternatives wouldn't have his fucking mind made up about every single thing before he even started!" She sat down heavily on the chair, kicked off her sneakers, then immediately stood up again, pacing around the room.
"But then do you know what he did? While I was gone, he ended the fucking meeting. He said people were freaking out and he needed to go do counseling! And now everybody is scattered all over the fucking place."
"Well, you remember what Vicki said. They don't know everything, and they can't figure everything out. If you're right, and I think you are, you should figure out a way to do it yourself. Ray may disagree, but if you're right and an attack comes, we'll be ready, and that's what counts."
She stopped pacing and looked at him. "Do you really think I'm right, or are you just afraid I'll hit you if you disagree with me?"
"Where would they have been in Bellona without the PRM?" he asked quietly, moving over to the edge of the bed.
She came over and squatted next to him, hugging him. He hugged her back, then she pulled back and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing. Overly emotional. Girl stuff. Pay it no mind." She hugged him again, wiping her face on his shirt.
Then she looked at the notebooks open on the bed. "What are you doing?" she asked.
He pulled her up and around so she was sitting in his lap, his arms still around her, and began to show her the notes he was making.
After he was done, she picked up a notebook and a pen. "Here's a few things," she said, writing quickly in a large, clear hand. She put the notebook down and stood up. "We can do more tomorrow, but you can let me know what you think about that when I get back."
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go make an army." She smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "Don't wait up."
As SarahBeth came into the lobby, she spotted Katherine coming out of the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee, Daphne's leash looped around her wrist.
"Kath!" she shouted, running toward them. "Congratulations!" she yelled, embracing the taller woman, who held the cups out to her sides, trying to keep them from spilling.
"Thanks. I–"
"I have to run, but I want to hear all about it later. Was it romantic? Do you have a ring? What about the ceremony? What should I wear? Who's going to marry you? Who's going to give you away? I–"
Katherine smiled. "SarahBeth, my friend, I am over three times your age. When you're as old as I am, nobody gives you away, nobody gives their permission. And I'm not going to throw a bouquet either, and please don't pretend you'd want to be the one to catch it if I did." Daphne barked and pressed her forehead against SarahBeth's thigh.
SarahBeth laughed. "Oh, I definitely don't want to get married. I like going to other peoples' weddings. They're a great place to pick up girls." She rubbed Daphne's head. "But if I got married, I'd have to sneak around all the time to get laid, and where's the fun in that? Anyway, I need to run. We'll talk later." She headed toward the door, then she turned and came back.
"You know this area pretty well, right?"
Katherine nodded. "I grew up around here, as a matter of fact." She sipped some coffee.
"Okay, where's the police station? Or is there more than one?" Katherine looked puzzled, and SarahBeth said, "I'll explain it later. Can you tell me where it is?"
Still looking puzzled, Katherine gestured, "When you're walking to the theater, the block before you turn right, there's a little store. Take a left there, and it's in the middle of the next block."
"Cool. Thanks."
At the door, she turned and yelled, "And that Pat girl better not wear that fucking baseball cap at the wedding!"
In the room, Katherine unhooked Daphne's leash from her collar and started to take off her guns. Daphne went over to her bed in the corner and looked in her water bowl, then she turned and barked.
"Have a nice walk?" Pete asked. He was stretched out on the bed, writing on a pad.
Katherine took her coffee from its precarious perch on the wobbly dresser and put it on the floor. Daphne trotted over and drank some.
"It was full of surprises," Katherine said, coming over to the bed. She lay down next to Pete and he put his arms around her. "But first I have a very important question," she said quietly.
"What's that?"
"I wanted to ask if you've had any second thoughts."
"No," he said squeezing her. "Not a one."
"You didn't give him his coffee," Daphne said. She was standing next to the bed, holding the two mugs.
Pete jumped a little. "You know," he said, "it's always a shock when you–"
"I know," she said, sitting down beside them, "that's why I do it."
Pete took one of the mugs and drank. "I know we have news for you," Daphne continued, "and it sounded like you have some news, too, but we can do that after."
"After?" Pete asked.
"I haven't congratulated you, yet," she said, smiling. She leaned forward and kissed each of them on the cheek.
"I am so happy you two are getting married," she said. "And not just because it makes a nice stable family for me." She patted her belly. "But I spend more time with you two than anybody else does, and I know how good you are for each other. I've known it for a long time, as a matter of fact. It is really obvious, so it's great that you've finally figured it out, too." She grinned at Pete's expression. "You said it yourself, you've got a wiseass dog."
"I do that," he said, squeezing her hand as Katherine sat up and took the other mug of coffee. "And you are very right."
"Plus, I won't have to be embarrassed around the other dogs when they find out my parents aren't married."
"Well, as you know, being respectable is my main priority, always has been."
They all laughed at that. Then Pete and Katherine told Daphne about the food, and the escape route, and Katherine and Daphne told Pete about the return of Dr. Lee and CJ.
Pete leaned back against the wall, lighting a cigarette. "Very interesting," he said. He squeezed Katherine's hand. "We should make our plans. It sounds like things may be about to start moving pretty fast. So, where and when should we get married?"
She frowned. "No place big. Not at the theater, or here. Somewhere small and private, where we can decide who will be there and who won't."
He nodded. "That sounds good." He smiled. "You want to do it at Duffy's?"
She laughed. "That would be perfect."
"We will have to go ask if it's okay." He finished the coffee. "Want to go now and check?"
Katherine nodded. "Let's." She finished her coffee and went to the dresser to re-arm herself. She turned to Daphne, who had dropped to all fours and was going to her bed.
"You want to come with us?" Katherine asked.
Daphne barked and lay down on her bed.
"I'll take that as a no," Pete said, sitting up and pulling on his sneakers.
"Archibald!" Pete called as they entered Duffy's.
"Petronius!" the cry went up. "Katherine the Great!"
Katherine looked a little sheepish at all the attention, but Pete walked up to the bar and took the same stool he had occupied the day before. "Archie, we have a big favor to ask."
Katherine took the other empty stool and brought it over next to Pete's.
Archie brought them mugs of beer, and they drank. "I realize this is a rather unusual request," Pete said, "but we'd like to use this place for an event tomorrow afternoon."
"No rallies!" the Professor insisted.
"No speeches," Carly added. "They give me a headache."
"Nothing like that," Pete said. "It's a wedding."
"Petronius," Archie said, laughing. "Not yours, I assume?"
Pete nodded and took Katherine's hand. "Yes, mine. Ours. And we very much want to have it here."
The Professor came over and stood next to Katherine. "I really hope that this isn't–"
"No," she said, smiling. "I'm not pregnant."
"Because, other than that, I hope you've considered what you're getting yourself into. Our friend here has quite a few disreputable habits, including some he may have succeeded in concealing from you to this point, he has been involved in various disgraceful situations in the past, and not always, as he claims now, merely as an observer, and–"
She laughed. "I think we're pretty well decided, but thanks for thinking of my well-being."
He shrugged and moved back to his stool. "I did my best," he said.
Archie drew a beer for himself and held it up. "Congratulations. We'd be honored to have the wedding here. As long as it's understood that drinks–"
"Usual price, of course," Pete said.
"In that case, when are you planning on having it?"
"Sometime tomorrow afternoon. I think it will depend on the availability of Vicki, who is presiding, because she's quite busy."
"Oh, and I don't suppose it's a wedding gift, but this was left for you," Archie said, fetching an envelope from under the bar.
Pete took it, glanced at Katherine, and opened it. He drew out several folded pieces of paper and then quickly put them back. He picked up his beer and took it over to one of the little tables against the far wall. Katherine followed and they sat down.
He drew out the papers again and they looked them over.
She put her hand on his shoulder and he quickly finished his beer. "We need to get this back to Vicki," he said.
Outside, Katherine stopped to light a cigarette, and Pete lit one, too.
"Pete," she said, blowing out smoke, leaning against the wall of the bar.
He had walked a couple of steps down the block, but he turned and came back. "What is it?" he asked.
"This is really bothering me," she said. "Did you propose to me because of the food and everything?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm not sure–"
"Every time you tell people about it, you say you're marrying me because I got us food and a way out of here. For one thing, I didn't do that, we wouldn't have even been down there if you hadn't thought of it."
"Of course–"
"But that's not the important thing. Even if I did do it, is that why you want to marry me?" She shook her head. "Because then we shouldn't get married. You don't marry somebody because of one thing they do, you marry them for everything, good and bad."
"That's not–"
"Let me finish. Pete. Don't think I'm anything other than what I am. You know what I've done. And there's no guarantees about the future, either, and you shouldn't pretend that there are." She shook her head. "We shouldn't get married."
"Are you done?" he asked quietly.
She nodded, looking down at the pavement.
"I think you're wrong, Katherine, and I'll tell you why. First, and most importantly, I'm marrying you, and I want to marry you, for everything you are and have been and will be. And can be. But there's no conditions, you know that. No matter what, even if the worst should happen, even if you do something awful and Vicki kicks you out, I would go with you. Married or not."
He shrugged. "But I don't think that will happen, because I know how hard you're working to make sure it doesn't. And I admire that, I always have. Because, as I said to you a long time ago, people can change. It's not easy, but they can. And I've learned a lot about that from you."
He took her hand. "That's why I get stupid sometimes, announcing to people that you've done something great, because I want them to see what I see, not just a famous crazy woman who makes them want to walk on the other side of the street. But that doesn't have anything to do with us getting married, and I was wrong to tie them together. I want to marry you because I want to spend my life with you. And do I want people to see what I see, but that's separate, and if you want, I'll stop doing that."
She put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You can keep on doing it if you want," she said, "but don't expect it to work. Most people have made their minds up already. I think you should get used to that."
He nodded. "I'll probably keep trying, though." He gestured at the door of Duffy's. "They all like you."
"Which shows you what happens when you spend your life drinking."
"Well, yes and no. Hang on, I want to make a point about this. Why are you a hero in there? Because Duffy's was closed, and it was going to be a big boost to people's morale if it was open again. And you did it, with a very good possibility that you'd get killed in the process, and even though it didn't benefit you in any way. I think that's pretty great, even though it scared the hell out of me when you did it."
"Or it's possible they just like the fact that I did it naked."
"I think it's a little more than that, though that didn't hurt. But look, if you want me to face up to the bad stuff, you need to admit the good stuff. Fair is fair. Okay?"
She smiled. "Okay."
"Hey, speaking of people who do like you, SarahBeth told Perry that she's going to be the maid of honor."
She drew her head back to look at him. "The what?"
He shrugged. "It's part of the wedding thing."
"What does the maid of honor do?"
"You're asking the wrong guy. I think it's like the equivalent of the best man. She stands next to the bride during the ceremony. Maybe she organizes the bridal shower, I really don't know."
Katherine giggled. "Bridal shower. I had a sudden image of taking a shower with SarahBeth, which is not something I ever want to do." She rested her head on his shoulder again, and he stroked her hair. "If she wants to stand next to me, though, that's okay. I like her, and there's not a lot of people who want to be seen standing next to me." She chuckled. "So, are you going to have a best man?"
He laughed. "I hadn't thought about it."
"Well, why don't you? There's only one choice, you know, and it isn't Perry."
"Very true. I'll check when we get back to the hotel." He pulled back a little so they could look at each other. "So, we're going ahead?"
She nodded. "Yes."
They started to walk back to the hotel. "You know," she said, "if we're doing the best man and all that, we will have to find something for Daphne to do."
Jan frowned. "We need to get over to the theater," she said. "Things are getting out of control."
"Out of control?" Vicki asked, jumping down from the table and moving toward the door. She turned to Dr. Lee and said, "We'll be back."
Dr. Lee nodded. Neither she nor CJ moved.
"Ray is talking to people," Jan said. "It started out as counseling, but it's getting away from him."
"Should I run on ahead?" Vicki asked as they moved quickly through the lobby, causing somewhat of a stir among the people sitting around.
Jan shook her head. "No, we should all get there together."
"It sounds like calling a meeting for tonight may be redundant," Neil said. "We may be getting one now. How many people are there?"
Jan laughed. "I'm not a television broadcast. We'll find out soon enough."
As they turned the final corner to the theater, they nearly ran into Pete and Katherine going in the other direction.
"We were just coming to see you," Pete said. "We–"
"Can it wait?" Vicki asked. "We're in kind of a hurry."
He held out the envelope and squatted down so he could whisper in her ear, putting his hand on her shoulder. "A complete map of the tunnels," he said quickly, "marked to show which ones are collapsed or flooded, all the entrances, the food storage areas, and a room marked 'medicine.' Also a subway map, including which tunnels to the city are intact after the explosion. And a commuter rail map, which shows the line that goes to the stadium."
Vicki laughed. "Come with us," she said. "We're saving Ray from a riot, then we'll go back and talk about this. Katherine, will you make sure that envelope stays safe?"
She nodded and put it carefully in the inside pocket of her coat. Then she helped Pete back to his feet and they followed the others to the theater.
They entered the building through a side door and walked to the entrance to the backstage area. They could hear a lot of yelling from the auditorium, and they quickly moved to the stage.
Ray was standing helplessly at the lectern, trying to be heard over the noise from the crowd. The auditorium was about three-quarters full, and many of the people there were standing up, most of them apparently arguing with each other and ignoring Ray completely.
He turned as they came onto the stage. Vicki waved at him, then quickly turned to Pete and Katherine, who were a few steps behind. "Just wait here," she said, and they nodded.
Tammy regarded the increasing chaos and said, "This is outrageous." She strode across the stage. "Vicki," she said over her shoulder, "get their attention for me."
Vicki jumped up on the lectern as Ray moved aside and wiped his face. She yelled, "Everybody Be Quiet!"
There was a momentary pause as her voice shook the walls. In that pause, Vicki jumped down and Tammy stood at the lectern. "This behavior is disgraceful," she said firmly. "Everybody sit down and behave."
Starting with the people in front, and moving through the crowd like a wave, people stopped talking and sat down and folded their hands in their laps.
Within moments, the entire place was silent, and Tammy regarded them. "This is not going to solve anything," she said. "Vicki told you that we needed everybody's help to figure this out, and is this an example of giving her that help? I should say not. I would say you're behaving like children, but that would be an insult to the young people, including Vicki, who are far more mature than any of you.
"If those barbarians on the bridge do decide to march in here, to 'restore order,' you've just provided ample evidence that restoration of order is what we need.
"First of all, there is a new supply of food, no thanks to any of you, and we will start to make it available this evening. There will be new supplies of medicine as well, so please let people know what you need. Now, everybody who has a real and useful suggestion, or a piece of information that we don't know, or anything else which might be helpful in a practical way, please come to the edge of the stage. Anybody who is in urgent need of medical assistance, please also come to the edge of the stage.
"Everybody who has a complaint or an opinion or a thought or an idea, please go home immediately, and take time to think of something which might actually help." People were moving to comply with this. "And the people who are coming to the stage, unless you are in extreme pain or in immediate danger of losing consciousness, please wait patiently, for as long as it takes."
Vicki came up, and Tammy said, "Everybody stop and listen to Vicki."
People stopped in their tracks and Vicki hopped up to the lectern again, "I just wanted to explain," she said, "that I am always interested in people's opinions, thoughts, ideas, and even complaints. We wouldn't have the new food supply that Tammy mentioned if somebody, not any of us up here, hadn't had an idea, and then if somebody else hadn't made it happen. So, yes, we need everybody's help, as I said yesterday. But we're still in an emergency situation, a couple of days more food doesn't change that, so people need to be pulling together to save us all, not pulling apart to focus on their own needs, unless those needs are actually urgent. Thank you."
People started moving again, and Vicki and Tammy headed toward where the others were standing. "It occurred to me," Tammy said very quietly, "that there was no reason we needed to keep the food and medicine a secret."
Vicki nodded. "I agree. That was good thinking."
Ray nodded. "I'm glad you got here when you did. Is it true about the food?"
Vicki motioned and he leaned over so she could whisper in his ear. She motioned toward Pete and Katherine, visible smoking in the wings, and his eyes widened as she spoke, and then he smiled. He stood up. "Let me talk to these people," he said, gesturing at the crowd of about twenty who were standing patiently waiting by the edge of the stage. "Then I'll join you back at the hotel to make some plans." He shook his head. "I wonder if there's any more beer."
Neil chuckled as Ray walked away, and he was about to speak when Tammy snapped, "Sit down." Her voice was firm, and he sat down hard on one of the folding chairs. "I didn't get a chance to mention this before," she said. She leaned over to talk to him, her voice low. "But I don't want to ever hear you belittle Ray or anybody else ever again for having an illness. Would you mock a man for having cancer? For having a heart attack? I'm an attorney and you're a thug, so neither one of us is qualified to make a medical diagnosis, but if Ray Stone is an alcoholic, he needs our help, not our disdain and snide jokes. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, his neck muscles rigid.
"If you must maintain your immature and unscientific prejudices," she continued, "kindly do not mention them again around me. It is no wonder that Katherine, who I know is struggling with issues of her own, decided to leave you and find a partner who would assist her in that process. It's quite obvious that would not have been your approach."
She turned and walked to the wings, where she spoke to Pete and Katherine. "I hope you will both forgive us for not mentioning your role in quite possibly saving all of our lives."
Pete smiled. "That's fine. We like to keep out of the spotlight as much as possible, for a variety of reasons. That's why we're having our wedding at Duffy's, rather than here or the hotel or someplace like that."
Tammy nodded. Neil got slowly to his feet and came over to them, followed by the others. He attempted a jaunty smile. "At least Dr. Lee didn't see that," he said. "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't do that to me again."
"And I would really appreciate it if you were less of a horse's ass." She turned back to Katherine and Pete. "Are you walking back to the hotel?" she asked. They nodded. "Then, Katherine, perhaps we could have that drink I mentioned earlier. Would this be a good time?"
Katherine nodded, still obviously puzzled. "That would be fine. What about–"
"This is sort of private. I'm sure Pete won't mind."
Pete nodded. "Absolutely not. Are we ready to go?"
"You guys walk on ahead," Vicki said when they were outside. "I need to talk to Jan and Marshall for a moment."
Tammy nodded and turned to Katherine and Pete. "Katherine, I'll see you in the bar in a few minutes?"
Katherine nodded and Tammy set off, walking quickly with her long legs, barely using her cane.
"I guess she doesn't want to be seen walking with us," Pete said as they started off. "Maybe we need to start dressing better."
Katherine laughed, and Vicki turned to Jan and Marshall. "This is not at all important," she said quietly, "but it will bug me if I don't try to find out the answer before I go to sleep tonight."
Jan lit a cigarette. "Well, I hope it's something we know the answer to."
"I have no idea, but I don't know who else to ask, if you don't know." The others were out of sight, so they started strolling toward the hotel. "When Tammy was talking to Dr. Lee and CJ, she introduced herself as 'Tammy Everett.' I thought her name was Nelson these days, and I know it was originally Ross. So, where did 'Everett' come from? Anyway, I'm definitely not going to ask her, so I'm hoping you know."
"And we do, more or less," Jan said. "Everett is the name she was born with. It's a long story, but her father was a dangerous man, and her stepmother hid her with the Ross family to get her away from him."
"She just found this out last night," Marshall added. "She wanted to live under her real name, and I happened to know the story, which she didn't know, or didn't remember. I understand her memories are not entirely reliable. But Everett is her real name, and her real family."
Katherine sat at a table in the hotel bar, sipping her beer. She was starting to wonder again what this was about.
Then a woman came into the room, and Katherine thought she looked vaguely familiar. She was tall and thin, at least Katherine's age, with pale, lined skin and short black hair going gray. She wore a black trenchcoat over a white shirt and black jeans. She got a beer at the bar and then came over to Katherine's table. She hesitated for a moment, then she sat down.
She sipped her beer, and Katherine leaned back, waiting, wondering if Tammy had arranged this, or if she would come in and wonder who this woman was at Katherine's table.
"My name is Alexandra Ross," the woman said after a moment, and Katherine frowned. "I grew up in a town named Ross, which was founded by my ancestors, or at least the ancestors of the family–"
"Alex!" Katherine said, leaning forward. "I thought you looked familiar. Alex, I remember you. What are you doing here?" She laughed. "I haven't seen you in years and years."
Alex smiled. "That was going to be my question. I . . . my memories are sometimes . . . unreliable. I remembered you, from when I was young, but I didn't know if you were really there, or if I heard about you later, in some newspaper story, perhaps, and inserted you into my memories from when I was a teenager."
Katherine laughed. "No, I was there. I was managing a band, I remember, and I was trying to get them booked into a club there in Ross. But what are you doing here?"
"I've been here all along. I'm here partly by accident and partly because my daughters are here." Katherine jumped a little as Alex became Tammy. "So, you see–"
"Hang on," Katherine said. She drank more of her beer. "That was kind of weird, if you don't mind my saying so."
Tammy shook her head. "I don't mind. I'm just glad that, at least in this case, my memories are accurate." She smiled and stood up. "Good night, and thank you."
Katherine came into the room and stopped for a moment. There was one candle, on the windowsill (the dresser was far too unstable) and it showed Pete, asleep, lying on top of the covers, a pencil dangling from his limp fingers.
Daphne was lying on her bed, but she opened her eyes when Katherine came in. She mouthed a silent bark and padded over as Katherine sat on the edge of the bed and carefully slipped Pete's glasses off. He opened his eyes and smiled as Katherine rubbed Daphne's head.
"I was going to stay awake until you got here," he said, "but I guess I didn't make it." He yawned and put his glasses back on as Daphne got up on the bed and curled up next to him. "So, what was the big mystery?"
"I'm surprised you had time to fall asleep, it was very fast." She described her brief conversation with Tammy.
Pete frowned. "That was it? She just got up and walked away?"
Katherine nodded. "That was it." She poked Daphne. "Dogs off the bed."
Daphne made a face and jumped down to the floor, padding back to her corner.
Katherine went to the dresser and started to take off her guns as Pete got undressed. She turned and smiled as she kicked off her sneakers.
"You know what's really funny?" she asked. "When I knew her, many years ago, she was exactly the same. She would just get up in the middle of a conversation and walk away." She laughed and came over to the bed, pulling off her T-shirt. "So, everything else has changed, but it's still her."
Next Chapter: Absolute Beginners