“You didn’t press in any more explosives did ya, Handsome?”
“That was only one time. I learned my lesson.”
“You’d think a man who already lost half his body would be more careful,” Stefani said. The way she teased him made him feel at ease. Anyone else who did that usually ended up with a bloody nose, but Stefani was different.
“Looks like there are a few communities out there. They have some energy cells going—must mean they are pretty secure,” he said.
“That’s a relief,” Stefani said. “Sensors are picking up what looks like some leeches in the area. Good thing they are secure.”
“They might be able to repel the leeches,” Carlee said. “If they decide to attack.”
“Don’t leeches always attack?”
“There wouldn’t be many humans left if they did,” Carlee said. “Honestly, most leeches aren’t programmed to target people. Leeches can’t be controlled directly at a distance, so they are programmed with a set of specific directions on what to do and how to react. Mostly what they do is monitor borders and defend territory against threats. The Apostles don’t want another Apostle encroaching on their land or sneaking up on them.”
“Sure didn’t help Petra,” Stefani said.
“Petra was prepared. There is no doubt about that,” Carlee said.
“And she would have won if it weren’t for that white Apostle . . . but leeches have been killing people for a long time. At least that’s what I was taught.”
“Occasionally leeches perceive humans as threats. Maybe they have enough energy or weapons, or maybe there have been some unexplained quantum-state changes from pressing. We don’t know for sure, but the sad fact of the matter is that in most of their calculations, we aren’t worth the energy it would take to kill us.”
“Not us, of course,” Stefani said. “I mean, I’m worth it. But, in general, humans are a pretty pathetic lot.”
“So, the plan is to hope they don’t attack. But, what if they do?” Jeff asked.
He looked to Carlee, as did Stefani.
“What are you looking at me for?” Carlee asked. “I’m not in charge.”
“Come on, now, Carl,” Stefani said. “You’re our leader.”
“No, I’m not.”
“We follow you,” Jeff said. “That makes you our leader.”
“Well said,” Stefani said.
“Jane was our leader.”
“She was never my leader,” Stefani said. “And I know you loved her, but you would have been the better leader. She led us into a slaughter.”
“I didn’t stop her,” Carlee said. She stared at Stefani hotly, but Stefani didn’t shy away.
“Well, Jane is dead. You are not. We might be the only vagrants left alive, and we vote you our leader,” Stefani said.
“I don’t want to lead anyone.”
“You might fail,” Stefani said. “And you might not. What our other leaders did is no reflection on you. You know that more than anyone. The path you lead us on is a new one.”
Carlee shook her head and closed her book before letting out a loud sigh.
“Well, I can’t lead without my trusted council of advisors,” Carlee said. Jeff cracked a smile as Stefani clapped her hands with a distinct lack of sarcasm. “And there will be nothing kept from any of you or our members.”
“I don’t know about being on any sort of council,” Stefani said. “I wanted the Talon position. Just tag along and scare people.”
“You’re twice as intimidating, but I need your input. We’re going to do this together or not at all.”
“Then I say we do what we always do,” Stefani said. “Kill the bad guys and help the good ones.”
Carlee smiled, and Jeff took a deep breath. He didn’t think Carlee would like his idea, but if she wanted him to be an advisor, then he felt compelled to voice his thoughts.
“If we want to really help people, then we’ll stop trying to put a bandage on the gaping wounds. We’ll try to fix the source of the problem.”
Both of the women in the small living room looked at him as if he were crazy. But he didn’t shrink from their gaze. They had told him to find what he wanted from his future, and he had decided.
“We’re not going to attack Apostles,” Carlee said flatly. “And you promised me you were done with that after you left me in Dallas.”
“That’s not what I mean. I know we can’t kill the Apostles, no matter how much I wish we could, but we can still do more for people. Think about that first village we stopped at together. They would have been run through by those raiders if we hadn’t been there because they couldn’t defend themselves.”
He took a deep breath and continued when they didn’t cut him off.
“And those people Jane gave her life to save in Dallas. They were sitting ducks against those leeches. They were completely helpless. Even in Fifth Springs, sure, we didn’t stand a chance against Horus, but I wonder how many of us could have survived if we were able to fight back against his wing-piece leeches.”
“You want to arm people?” Carlee asked.
“Yes, I do! We can bring stability to people by making them strong enough to defend themselves. Not even that, we can give them food, medicine, whatever else. I’ve thought about it a lot. We can press it all in far away, so we don’t bring an Apostle down on them, and then we can just fly it to them. Imagine all these communities of humans no longer being victims of warlords or random leeches. That would be helping them!”
He finished and looked at the two women in front of him, trying to convince them with his eyes that it was a good idea. Carlee looked deep in thought, but Stefani smiled at him.
“I like it . . .” Stefani said. “But I’m worried that the arms might fall into warlords’ hands, or it might encourage people to pick fights they can’t win with a leech.”
“Well, that’s the other side of the coin,” Jeff said. “We can’t kill Apostles, but there is nothing stopping us from fixing the problems of our own race. The warlords who kill, rape, and enslave people should be dealt with. If the Apostles are happy to let us live our lives, we should make the most of that fact.”
“Now, I love it.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about it,” Carlee said.
“I lived in a community my entire life, and that was always our fear. We could hardly farm or defend our cattle from warlords. We could change people’s lives—not just for a few days, but for generations!”
“How will you explain it to them? They’ll know we’re vagrants,” Carlee said. “They might try to kill us or try to burn the stuff we are trying to give them.”
“They won’t like us, at least at first. I know we wouldn’t have wanted you at Fifth Springs. Vagrants are one thing, but starvation and being put on a warlord’s spit are another. Sure, we might have thrown you out of town, but we’d still use weapons and medicine. And maybe the next time you showed up, we might like vagrants a bit more.”
“I think it’s worth a try, Carl,” Stefani said.
“It’s risky . . . And it would require a lot of pressing. Even for a single community, it would be strenuous, let alone repeated over and over.”
“We could do it,” Jeff said.
“No, we couldn’t,” Carlee said. “We press too much as is.”
“We could—”
“Let me finish, Jeff,” Carlee said softly. “We are going to need more vagrants—many more—if we’re going to do this right. We’ll need to recruit . . . But growing our ranks is something I have thought about for years. Perhaps now is the time.”
“There would be no one better to teach them than you,” Stefani said. “I mean, if you can turn Jeff into a vagrant, you can help anyone learn to press.”
“I resent that,” Jeff said with a smile.
“It was a compliment.” Stefani winked at him.
“I’ll accept it, then. So, does that mean we have a plan?”