CHAPTER 8
Jamie failed to wake up the next morning until the alarm called him. As usual, the pets were already up and had removed themselves from the bed room. Jeannie blinked her eyes sleepily and inquired silently whether he wanted to make love once more before getting up.
"It's too late," he said, answering her unasked question. "Save it till I get back. In fact, save lots of it. I'll probably need it then." He rolled from the bed and began his morning ablutions. Jeannie waited until he was finished, then took over the bathroom while he went out to start breakfast and feed the three animals. He pulled out a double portion of everything, remembering Whitmire's admonition about a last meal and began warming the animals' food. For he and Jeannie, he selected eggs again, the last of his natural orange juice, the standard butterbread, and four strips of simulated bacon made from his own hambeans. He began cycling the food, then let Jeannie take over the rest of the preparations once she had dressed and come out. While she was finishing, he put on his new coveralls and boots and settled the new weapon and holster about his waist. It seemed heavy at first, compared to his own little gun, but he soon grew used to the extra weight. He got his body computer interfaced with the new coveralls and boots and placed the spare clips and powerpacks for the handgun in pockets of his waist belt, then helped Jeannie with the last of the breakfast.
They ate silently, both of them uneasily reluctant to begin a conversation; everything to be said had already been gone over. The three animals were also unusually silent. They finished their own food quickly, then waited impatiently by the door. They were more than ready to go, not being used to the confinement of the last couple of days.
"Go ahead," Jeannie said, as soon as they were finished. "I'll clean up after you leave. No, forget that; I'll come back after work. I want to go now. There's no point in me waiting to see you off. It would just depress me."
Jamie agreed with her sentiments. Now that the morning of departure had arrived, he was impatient to be off, and he really did dislike good-bys. Jeannie's attitude fitted his own perfectly. He walked her to the door, kissed her long and lovingly, ignoring the contingent of rangers already present, then let her go, doing his best not to notice her gathering tears. He gave her a final hug, then stepped back inside. His pets, and Conan as well, congregated around his feet while he sat down to await the other members of the expedition.
***
At the same time, Don Cadena was winding up a long night of hacking; he had tried for hours to crack Alvarez's entrance code to his personal files before discovering that his last entry was freely available due to Alvarez's oversight. Now he hastily copied the contents. He was amazed at what the file contained, and disbelieved the most part of it, but he took no chances. Later that morning, he surreptitiously melded a coded dispatch to his masters in Moon City in with the normal traffic. He was back at his own station, ostensibly at work, by the time Alvarez and Jeannie arrived, along with the rest of the staff.
Jeannie noticed nothing wrong when she interfaced with the computer that morning, but then, she had no reason to look for anything, especially not in Alvarez's personal files. He was still grumpy and she had no desire to unsettle him any more than he already was.
***
Amazingly, Jamie went back to sleep in the lounger while he was waiting. He was awakened by the simultaneous chime of the door and the plop of Fuzzy Britches landing in his lap.
"Oof! Don't do that, Fuzz!"
"Time to go," Fuzzy Britches said, ignoring the admonition. Both dogs woofed eagerly, glad of an excuse to bark rather than talk.
Jamie made one last check of the apartment, set the homecomp to record, picked up his pack and left his home. Woggly and Conan bounded out ahead of him, eager to meet the other dogs they had sensed. Fuzzy Britches followed at a more sedate pace. Some of his best friends were dogs, but he always tried to uphold the cat reputation for aloofness and superiority in the presence of strange animals.
Each of the twelve rangers was accompanied by a large dog, though it was impossible to sort out which belonged to whom at the moment. Most of them seemed to have at least some German Shepherd in their ancestry, though generations of genetic changes made it hard to tell sometimes.
Fuzzy Britches waited until the orgy of barks, woofs, broken English, and nose and crotch sniffing among the dogs was over, then let the dogs come to him for an introductory nose sniff which he accepted with the calm demeanor he felt was fitting for a single cat among so many dogs. He had groomed himself while Jamie slept until his pelt glowed; the intermingled colors sparkled in the early morning sunlight as if he were covered with fireflies.
While the animals were getting acquainted, Jamie made his way to the other three scientists, still carrying his pack rather than wearing it. They shook hands then stood together in a little isolated group, uncomfortably aware of their neophyte status in the presence of a dozen competent, confident rangers. The rangers were the nearest thing to a military force that the Enclave supported. They began their apprenticeship as perimeter guards and gradually progressed through training and experience to full ranger status, able to travel and survive in the wilds, talents other citizens felt no necessity for and desired even less. Nevertheless, the rangers had such a mystique and reputation for toughness that the romanticism of youth enabled them to keep their ranks full; they were able to recruit from an overabundance of volunteers.
A familiar figure broke from the ranks of the rangers and came towards them. Kristi seemed to have regained a couple of sizes in her more familiar gear. She carried a small bundle in her arms. Jamie noticed then that Fuzzy Britches was tagging at her heels.
Kristi stroked the bundle, which proved to be a beautiful gray Persian cat. "I wanted you to meet Princess. When she heard that another cat was coming with us, she insisted on going, too.
"Hello, Princess," Jamie said, admiring the chest the cat was cuddled against. He picked up Fuzzy Britches and let the cats sniff noses.
"This is Fuzzy Britches," he said to Kristi's pet, noting with amusement that Fuzzy Britches had already begun purring. He always did prefer Persians.
Kristi deposited Princess on the ground and Fuzzy Britches squirmed out of Jamie's embrace and hopped down to join her. His purring changed to a low rumble as he preened and displayed his multi-hued coat. Princess seemed to approve and they padded off side by side.
"Are you all set?" Kristi spoke to Jamie but included the other scientists with a glance. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes."
"I guess we are," Jamie said, speaking for all of them.
"Good. Jamie, I'll see you later." Kristi rejoined the other rangers and spoke briefly to a small, lean darkly tanned man with completely white hair. He separated himself from the other rangers and came over to where the scientists were standing.
He spoke in a pleasant, baritone voice while his startling ocean blue eyes roved over the group like a mother hen counting her chicks. "I am Captain Troy Masters, commander of this expedition. If you're ready now, we will march from here to the Agsection gate and pass through it. We'll stop a moment there for you to make any necessary adjustments to your packs and footgear. Also, each of you will be inspected there by Lieutenant Carson or Sergeants Mathews and Costa." He pointed to Kristi and the two sergeants. Each of the sergeants was as deeply tanned as their captain, with weathered faces and crinkled eyes. Jamie was surprised to hear Kristi named as a Lieutenant; he didn't think she was that old. On the other hand, he admitted to himself that he knew nothing of the promotional criteria within the ranger force.
Captain Masters continued, "While your gear is being looked over and for a short while after that, I will have some other information to pass on to you, and you will have a chance then to get acquainted with the rest of our force. For now, though, let's get started."
They moved out in a column of twos, a ranger unobtrusively edging in to walk beside each scientist. Jamie found himself moving along with a female ranger almost as tall as himself. She had short brown hair and a face that would never be called pretty, even after all the years of genetic selection, but she did have long lashed dark brown eyes that gave her face character, and her slim form was curved enough in the right places, as near as he could tell under all her gear. She introduced herself as Corporal Judy Neilson. Jamie told her his name.
"I thought that must be who you were. You have a beautiful cat. I've never seen one quite like it. We've never gone out with cats before, and here we have two of them with us. Isn't Lt. Carson nice? She said she had already met you. She's real good in the wilds, too. Of course, no one is better than Captain Masters. He's been going out for years, and he always comes back. He said we would all get a chance to meet that dog with the strange message. Is he the large one or the small one that came out with you?" Judy chatted on, not seeming to notice that she hardly ever gave him a chance to answer her questions or enter into the conversation. After a few minutes, Jamie only half listened while he concentrated on settling his pack into a comfortable position and adjusting his pace to that of the rest of the column. Directly in front of him, Donald Martinez seemed to be struggling with a larger than normal load, constantly running his hands under the straps and even stumbling once or twice. He maintained the pace, however, and they soon arrived at the barrier gate.
As they passed through, some of the rangers moved out in a protective semi-circle while others held back, then brought up the rear after the gate closed. Masters led the column over some rough ground, then up onto a stretch of old concrete highway slabs, tilted into odd positions by weather and time. Only when they were out of both sight and hearing of the gate guards did he call a halt for the promised inspection. Jamie looked around curiously, but there really wasn't much to see; a morning fog limited visibility to no more than a few score yards.
Captain Masters propped himself on the rust-streaked hood of an old abandoned ground vehicle while Kristi and the two sergeants began the promised inspection of the scientists' packs and boots. Kristi helped Jamie make some minor adjustments to his shoulder straps and waist belt and inspected his laser gun. She admonished him for not having a round chambered and fixed it for him while he blushed, then reset the safety and let him re-holster it. Donald was made to open his bulking pack. He displayed some instruments which he had obviously felt were necessary but had not been authorized. They caused Sgt. Costa to frown and run over to consult with Masters, causing some of the load to be redistributed between two of the huskier rangers. Jamie was glad that his own small collection vials hadn't caused the same problem; he noted that the rangers assigned to carry the instruments didn't appear to be very happy about it.
Masters waited patiently until the inspection was complete and the gear was as comfortably arranged as it ever would be, then spoke to the group as a whole. "I want each of us who has not yet had an opportunity to experience the message which you've all heard of to do so now. It is the only reason for this expedition, so we may as well begin with it. Conan, come!"
Conan trotted up to the captain and sat back on his haunches. Masters sprang lightly from the hood of the old vehicle and grasped Conan's neck disk tentatively in his hand. The familiar surprised look flickered across the lines of his face, but like Kristi, he didn't flinch, nor did he speak again until the rest of the rangers and scientists had repeated the process, ignoring the bursts of excited exclamations. He reseated himself on his perch and scanned the open area around them. He moved a couple of rangers with his eyes into more protective positions until he was satisfied with the security, then began addressing them in a conversational, yet commanding voice. Jamie couldn't place his accent and finally decided that it must be simply a result of his age. His white hair certainly indicated that he must be older than anyone else present.
"I am told that Conan, the dog, traveled about two weeks in order to arrive here. If we include his hunting time, and the fact that he was traveling through unknown territory, I think we can expect to take approximately the same amount of time on the return journey. Wolfgang --" he pointed to a large black German shepherd "-- has already talked with Conan. He says we will be traveling in a generally northeasterly direction, along the route of what used to be old highway 59. This route will involve several river crossings, according to him, although no large ones, and some of the bridges are still intact.
"We rangers and dogs are present solely to provide security for you scientists, and Conan in particular. The order of march will reflect that. Conan, you will always travel at the center of the column, as will you scientists. We are expendable; you aren't. Sergeants Matthews and Costa will arrange the forward and rear guard, and of course, the dogs will be ranging out on all sides as well as ahead and behind. Wolfgang will coordinate their duties.
"Now, as to conditions; we are more or less familiar with the area within a radius of twenty or thirty miles of the Enclave, and we don't expect any real surprises the first couple of days. After that, though, it's anybody's guess. Let me warn you, though: even this close, always be wary of the unexpected -- this is not our territory."
Speaking now to the scientists, he continued. "I know that you've heard all kinds of stories about conditions on the outside, so let me disillusion you on a couple of them: there are not wild packs of ravening dogs just itching to tear you apart beyond every bend of the trail. You needn't expect to be eaten alive by swarms of rats, either, at least so long as you obey instructions and don't aggravate them or get separated from the group. You may see packs of dogs and you may see gangs of rats out hunting, but for the most part, these will be territorial groups; so long as they know we're only passing through, they will generally let us alone. It's only when humans try to settle down or start hunting out here that the animals get agitated. There are big cats in the area and they may attack, especially if you let yourselves get separated from the group and vulnerable. They might attack anyway if they are new to the area and have never run across armed humans in their lifetimes. Even though they pass word among themselves about how dangerous humans can be, some of the young ones don't always believe it, and some of the old ones might attack, regardless, if they get hungry enough.
"The feral animals will range in intelligence from near human to that of the original stock, and you can expect to see that range in almost any species you can name, especially the larger ones." He gestured toward the dogs and the two cats. "What I'm saying is that dogs and cats and rats aren't the only enhanced animals out here, and the further we get away from the Enclave, the less likely we are to know what to expect. In the direction we're heading, it's a long, long way to the next Enclave, and the territory hasn't been explored for years.
"One more note, and I'll repeat: don't let yourselves get separated from the group for any reason, not even to relieve yourself. If you have to go, let one of the rangers know, but try to do it in groups so we don't waste time. We'll have a morning meal starting tomorrow, a mid-day break if possible, and an evening meal. Guard duty at night will be in four shifts of three rangers and one scientist. Lt. Carson will arrange your shifts. We don't expect people new to the outside to be effective guards, but we want you to get familiar with the duties in case we lose someone and you have to fill in. Keep your weapons by you when you sleep, and we prefer that you not sleep alone. You can make your own arrangements, or we'll do it for you."
For the first time, Jamie noticed that the contingent of rangers was almost equally divided between males and females. He wondered if that were a standard practice, or whether Whitnmire and Masters had arranged it that way. He suspected it was probably a little of both. He wondered who he would be sleeping with, but left the question for later.
"Any questions?" Masters asked. There were none.
"OK, let's move out."