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  “I’ll be heading home early tomorrow. Be ready to leave about daybreak.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  Murdock watched as Annie Cooper returned to the transport pod. He figured that she would be given a very thorough interrogation by the leaders. He caught and cleaned a fish and sat on the ground while it cooked.

  “Rose’s relative was in the pod,” Murdock flashed to Mei Lee.

  “I didn’t know Rose had any relatives,” Mei Lee responded. “She never said anything to me.”

  “She told me once that she had two brothers and a sister, but I think she didn’t want to think about them,” Murdock added.

  “Probably because she resigned herself to never seeing them again,” Mei Lee responded.

  As Murdock watched over the cooking fish, and while he was telepathically communicating with Mei Lee, he saw Declan Griffen making his way to the campfire.

  “Sit, sit,” Murdock said while smiling at the younger man. He was taller than Murdock and, when he filled out again, would probably out-weigh him by quite a bit.

  “What did you want to see me about?” Griffen asked as he sat across the fire from Murdock. “Shouldn’t the other elected delegates be here?”

  “No, this is something personal. I’m not trying to pry, but your last name is familiar to me.”

  Griffen’s eyes narrowed suspiciously: “You don’t look familiar to me, sir. How would my name be familiar?”

  “Did you have a sister?” Murdock asked.

  “Two of them, actually,” Declan responded.

  Murdock could see the man tense and become more suspicious.

  “Was one of them named Rose?” Murdock asked as he adjusted the fish on the fire.

  “Rosa Lea, but she prefers Rose. How do you know all this?”

  “Sorry to say this, but I have some bad news for you. Your sister was on the first transport pod,” Murdock said as quickly and as softly as he could manage. He could feel himself choking up at the thought of her.

  It didn’t take Declan long to add two and two together. He stood when he calculated and then recalculated and still didn’t like the answer. “She’s dead, then?” he asked.

  “Please, sit,” Murdock insisted. “Yes, she is,” he said softly. “She was my wife.”

  Declan sat again. “How did she die?” he managed after some time.

  “Murdered,” Murdock said softly. “She was protecting an innocent.”

  “Sounds like her,” Declan said sadly. Murdock could see tears starting to well in the younger man’s eyes. “Is she buried somewhere that I can visit?” he asked after a long pause.

  “She is entombed, yes, and I will take you to her, if you wish. She and I had a son, your nephew, Andrew.” A tear ran down Murdock’s cheek.

  “Was she happy?” Declan asked after a few seconds.

  “She often said that she was never as happy as she was here,” Murdock said quietly.

  “That’s all anyone can ask. Which one of the people in the first pod murdered her?” Declan asked.

  “A man named Whittier.”

  “He’s dead then?”

  “Very!”

  “Did you kill him?”

  “I wasn’t close enough to do it. I would have without hesitation.”

  “I believe you, Murdock.”

  The two men sat quietly for a few minutes. Each was lost in his own thoughts and memories.

  “Hungry?” Murdock asked finally, offering the younger man some of the fish. Declan took some and was absentmindedly nibbling on it while watching the flames.

  Both men ate in silence. After a while, Murdock offered Declan his water skin.

  “Was that all you wanted?” Declan asked quietly after eating.

  “I don’t know who else might be related to someone on the first pod, so I would suggest keeping the information private.” The younger man nodded that he understood. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take you to see your sister’s tomb.” Again Declan nodded.

  Murdock watched as the younger man walked slowly back to the transport pod.

  #

  “What did he want?” Phylicia Cunningham asked Declan angrily as he slowly walked back under the shadow of the transport pod.

  “It was just some personal information,” Declan responded coldly.

  “It must have been something bad to upset you so visibly. What did he demand of us now?” she pressed.

  “He made no demands. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer not to talk about it.”

  “Need I remind you that all three of us agreed to disclose everything that Murdock has to say, to keep the elected council informed,” Phylicia responded sternly, poking her finger into his chest for emphasis.

  “You don’t need to remind me. I said it was personal, now leave me alone,” Declan snapped back.

  Phylicia stopped and stood there with her mouth open, staring at him in disbelief.

  #

  Phylicia Cunningham, of the Cape Cod Cunninghams, was not used to being put off in any way. Quite the contrary, she was used to constantly getting her way. If someone were reticent to tell her something, she’d always had her ways of getting the information she wanted. Some would have labeled her spoiled, but to Phylicia, she wasn’t; rather, she was justly rewarded. True, she had grown up in luxury and privilege, but she deserved that. Her parents had made no demands on her for anything and never inquired what she was doing, even though they had to bail her out of jail more than a few times. Despite her tender years she had been well-versed in the court and the drug and alcohol rehabilitation systems, but had never seen the inside of a cell, thanks to the best lawyers, and judges, money could buy.

  Even though they had only been revived for a couple of days, Phylicia had wasted no time in cultivating a couple of the other women who were willing to do her bidding for the pleasure of her company. Seeing one of them, she gave a predetermined signal and the young woman joined her.

  “Kimberly, follow that man,” she commanded.

  “Declan?” the black-haired ditz asked.

  “Yes, I want to know everything you can get out of him.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  Kimberly’s questioning was getting on Phylicia’s nerves. “I don’t care. Sleep with him, if you have to,” she said tensely but quietly.

  Ben Palmer, seeing Phylicia whispering intently with Kimberly, came over to Phylicia.

  “What are you cooking up, now?” he whispered while he grabbed her wrist to keep her close.

  “Declan had a meeting with Murdock,” she said tensely, but quietly.

  “Yeah, I knew that, so what?”

  “He just returned and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  Palmer’s left eyebrow raised in interest: “Do you want me to get the information out of him?” Palmer asked with too much enthusiasm.

  “No, you brute, I’ve sent Kimberly to get it from him. If she fails, then I may consider you and your means as necessary. Until then, let go of me,” Palmer quickly released her wrist.

  “People going out to talk to Murdock privately, is going to be a big problem in a hurry,” Palmer said over-loud.

  “Keep your voice down, imbecile. I know. Did you find out what Annie Cooper and Murdock talked about?”

  “No, she said nothing.”

  “Well, it can’t be helped that this place is so open,” Phylicia whispered. “We need a meeting room for the council where we can talk openly. Maybe you could come up with something?”

  “I’ll see what I can come up with,” Palmer said with a grin.

  Don’t strain anything, Phylicia thought. “You do that and let me know.” She continued to look around and found her other confederate, Heather Stevens, with Roy White, the paramedic. She gave a little sign and Heather came over to her.

  “Did you find out anything about the meeting between Murdock and Annie Cooper?” Phylicia asked the other woman conspiratorially.

  “Nothing yet,�
�� Heather said quietly.

  “Well, stay close to the medicos and report to me immediately if you hear anything.” The woman nodded and returned to the side of the young man.

  Phylicia continued to walk around under the transport pod. When she saw Ben Palmer again, she called him over to her.

  “Did you find the storage compartments, yet?” she asked the big man when he was standing beside her.

  “Not yet. They’re hidden pretty good,” the big man responded.

  Phylicia looked to find the ramp, to orient herself, then looked up. There was an obvious panel above them.

  “Is that one?” she asked sarcastically while pointing up at the panel.

  “I dunno. I’ll check,” Palmer said. He called for a few of the smaller men to come over. He indicated the panel that Phylicia had pointed out and the men immediately found the latch and opened the panel.

  “We found one of the storage compartments, sir,” one of the men reported.

  I’m surrounded by geniuses, Phylicia thought to herself, frustrated.

  While a couple of men cleared people out from under the opened panel, others were emptying the contents of the compartment onto the ground. When one was emptied, they found another and began emptying its contents. This process continued until all the storage compartments had been opened and emptied.

  “I want all this stuff inventoried, categorized, and stored in a secure place,” Palmer told his workers.

  They all began sorting and categorizing all the contents by use.

  3

  While Murdock had been making preparations to head home, the sun had gone down. After stoking the fire, Murdock stretched out on the soft grass to sleep a little before the long trek home.

  “Home soon?” Beron flashed.

  “Yes, home tomorrow,” Murdock responded. “We having company.” Murdock pictured the practical nurse in his mind.

  “Why?” responded Beron.

  “Mei Lee soon have cub. Less worried if human healer looks at her.” Murdock often did his best to explain things to Beron, who, in turn, did his best to understand his, often incomprehensible, human friends.

  “Shouldn’t someone ask me if I want to be inspected?” Mei Lee chimed into the telepathic conversation and it made Murdock smile.

  “I would feel better if the practical nurse looked at you,” Murdock explained, trying to smooth any of his wife’s ruffled feathers.

  “I thought you were bringing the doctor?” Mei Lee asked testily.

  “The doctor needs to be re-educated. She brought her modern ideas to our backward world,” Murdock explained.

  “I happen to like our backward world,” Mei Lee added.

  “As do I,” Murdock responded.

  “Show me what has been happening,” Mei Lee requested.

  Murdock relaxed and, with Beron’s help, entered the sharing state with Mei Lee over the distance that separated them. It only took a few seconds to show Mei Lee everything that was said and done over the last couple of days. Beron, who had also been watching, added his perspective to the situation.

  “You certainly have a way with people,” Mei Lee good-naturedly chided her husband.

  “It’s a gift,” he chuckled.

  Murdock broke the telepathic link to his wife, leaving her chuckling, with the promise to re-connect before he went to sleep.

  “Can I telepathically connect with someone specific in the pod?” Murdock asked Beron.

  “Difficult. Much practice,” Beron responded after a small pause.

  “But it can be done?” Murdock asked, but it was more of a statement than a question. He got an affirmative from Beron.

  While Murdock was thinking about the approach to connecting to Annie Cooper, he decided to astrally project himself to look around the underside of pod. It seemed to take no effort and he was able to see and hear everything that was going on. He saw a nice sized pile of supplies, but saw no modern weapons. I’m most worried about firearms, he thought. In my opinion, firearms would destroy all the Oomah.

  The supplies did contain numerous crop seeds and starts. He did see some equipment that caused him some immediate concern. He didn’t identify all the equipment, but he did recognize some metal smelting equipment. He made a vow to himself to do what he could to dissuade the manufacture of firearms.

  As he continued to look around, he over-heard Palmer giving orders to an underling. The man appeared to be guarding the supplies.

  “We have reason to believe that Annie Cooper is planning on leaving the pod soon for an extended period of time. We don’t want that to happen. We don’t want her hurt, but we don’t want her to leave either,” Palmer was whispering to his confederate. The man was nodding that he understood the instructions. “If these instructions aren’t followed, you will be held responsible.” Palmer gripped the man’s trapezius muscle in the hollow between muscle and collar bone. The man’s knees buckled in pain.

  “Okay, I’ll do it,” the man said quietly through clenched teeth, in obvious pain.

  “Glad we understand each other,” Palmer said clapping the man’s shoulder as he walked away.

  As Murdock pulled back his astral self, he was trying to figure a way out for Annie that would afford her the most leeway.

  “Before I met you, I had disturbing dreams,” Murdock asked Beron telepathically. “Were they from you?”

  “You unknown element, most apologies,” the large bear responded.

  “It’s okay, I just want to know if it was you,” Murdock pressed and received an affirmative from Beron.

  “Plan?” Beron asked telepathically.

  Murdock quickly showed Beron the conversation he had over-heard. “Human healer needs go where needed when needed without restriction. Can Palmer be made fear restricting her?”

  “May not. Did not for you,” Beron responded. “Will take many participating.”

  #

  As Ben Palmer was getting ready to sleep, Phylicia Cunningham came to see him. Everyone slept in the pod, in various corners and wherever they could. By setting several guards around the supplies, he did manage to get a little privacy, but it amounted to no more than just a few feet of separation from the others.

  “Haven’t found out anything on the Griffen issue,” Phylicia whispered close to his ear. “Not yet, anyway.” Palmer nodded. “Did you tell the guards to prevent Annie Cooper from leaving?” Phylicia asked, still whispering in his ear. Again, Palmer nodded. “Keep doing a good job and I might keep you around,” Phylicia whispered as she got up to leave.

  Palmer watched Phylicia leave to find her own sleeping spot. He made a mental note, as he was waiting for sleep, to see what would be involved in building houses. He needed his own private housing. He deserved it, he was an elected delegate. All the delegates needed their own offices and their own houses. He felt himself drifting off to sleep thinking of Palmerville and all the buildings.

  He knew he was asleep and walking dirt streets lined with log cabins. All the cabins were similar and he could see some of the people entering them. He could see the transport pod close by, as he walked. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe and he tried to call out for help, but his voice was silent. He could see Annie Cooper trying to get to him, but she was being held under the transport pod by several guards. It didn’t take long before he was lying face down on the ground looking at Annie, who was desperately trying to get to him, but still being restrained. He saw others walk by without helping him, but he couldn’t see who they were. Just when he felt that he was about to die, he woke up with a start gasping for air.

  Ben Palmer was used to nightmares and knew he had just been wakened by one. What he couldn’t get over was how real it felt. His chest still hurt from not breathing. That had to be from him actually holding his breath while in the dream. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but fear of the dream wouldn’t let him. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get back to sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning, Palmer got up and went down to
where the supplies were stored and guarded.

  “Has Annie Cooper tried to leave?” he quietly asked the first guard he came to.

  “No, sir!” the guard responded quietly.

  Palmer paced the immediate area before going for a walk around the perimeter of the transport pod. As he walked, he could see the glow of Murdock’s fire and could see what he thought was an outline of a man; he assumed it was Murdock. As he walked on the opposite side, he had a sudden image from his dream of the cabins and the dirt street. The shock of the flashback was enough to drop Palmer to one knee and cause his chest to ache again. When he had recovered sufficiently, he went to the guards.

  “You’re not to restrict any of the medicos travels,” he said to the guard captain.

  “But your orders were —,” the guard captain argued.

  “I said no restrictions on any of the medicos,” Palmer said forcefully while grabbing a fistful of the man’s shirt. “Understand?”

  “Um . . . yes, sir,” the guard captain responded clearly out of fear.

  “See that my orders are followed or I’ll replace you with someone who can,” Palmer bellowed as he headed back inside the transport pod.

  #

  When daybreak came, Murdock had already been awake for an hour. He had built up his fire to get the morning chill off, eaten some of his smoked venison, drank plenty of water, and let the fire burn down to just smoldering coals. When he glanced over toward the transport pod, he saw Annie Cooper talking to one of the guards and then walk over to his campsite.

  “Is everything okay?” Murdock asked with a slight smile when she arrived.

  “Sure. The guard just wanted to know if I knew when I’d be back,” she responded. “I told him I didn’t know how long I would be gone and that was that. How far are we going?”

  “It will take us many hours to get there,” Murdock said as he dumped the remaining water of his water skin onto the hot coals, causing a loud hissing sound and lots of steam. The steam drifted toward the transport pod obscuring the guards’ view. “Close your eyes, please, and keep them closed.” When he saw that she was complying, he levitated himself and Annie straight up the cliff face and a little distance back from the edge so no one could see what happened. “You can open your eyes, now.”