State of Nature: Book Three of The Park Service Trilogy (2 page)

I close my eyes and try to think of something good. Junior comes to mind. I see him as a pup, trotting along behind us as we walked that river toward the lake house. I see him growing bigger and following Jimmy everywhere he went, always on his heel. I see him saving us from the pig people. I see him running with deer hounds while Jimmy and I follow on horseback. He’ll forever be in those high, heather-covered hills for me.

Some netherworld nightmare wakes me.

By the pain in my back and the cold metal deck, I assume I must have been sleeping awhile. I sit up and notice that we’re in the last stretch of locks, cruising toward the Foundation cavern bay, and that the familiar red glow is once again illuminating the opening, as if the Foundation was on fire. I get up and walk to the forward deck and watch. The entrance grows and the red light slowly envelops the tunnel and then the submarine. We cruise into the cavern, awash in the red glow of Eden’s dome.

Eden? I don’t understand—Eden was destroyed.

“What’s that thing doing all lit up again?”

I jump at Jimmy’s voice. Then I feel panicked, wondering who’s navigating the submarine.

“You didn’t free the professor, did you?”

“No,” Jimmy says, “but I gave him some tea.”

“Well, who’s piloting the submarine?”

“It’s steerin’ itself,” he says. “Some kinda computer voice came on and said autopilot was takin’ over.”

A clamor echoes across the cavern to us—the clang of metal being hammered, the whine of a drill. I smell iron oxides and some kind of gas. Shadows move on Eden’s roof. We watch from the deck as the submarine approaches the docks.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jimmy asks.

“I have no idea.”

“Well, that ain’t Hannah and Red raisin’ all that ruckus.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head, “it sure isn’t.”

The submarine guides itself deftly into the open slip from which we departed and eases to a stop by reversing the screw. We open the deck hatches that hide the ropes, reel them out, jump onto the dock, and tie them to cleats. And that’s it—we’re back, once again standing on the same dock where we said goodbye to Hannah and Red all those weeks ago.

“Not quite the homecoming I was expecting,” I say.

“Whaddya want?” Jimmy asks. “A hug? She killed Junior.”

“I know, I know. I just thought somebody would be here to greet us. Let’s go see what all this noise is about.”

We walk up the dock, past the sintering plant we broke into to get the chemicals to burn Eden. It seems so long ago already, and I know a lot has changed since then, but I’m not at all prepared for what I see when we round the living quarters and step out onto the walkway that leads to Eden.

Strange men scale Eden’s roof, lurching along the dome’s perimeter, or hunched over halfway up, working. They look like medieval roofers retiling some building down in hell, their odd features appearing in the pulse of red light and then retreating again into shadow. And that’s not all. On the train platform is parked an enormous machine that looks as if it would hardly fit in the tunnel from which the tracks arrive: a long, cylindrical land-borne submarine with a missile-shaped nose made of some fantastic alloy that seems to glow.

“What’s that?” Jimmy asks.

“I think it’s a subterrene.”

“A what?”

“A nuclear boring machine. I’ve only read about them, but it’s what they use to make the train tunnels and how we mine for minerals in the deep south.”

“And what are them there, then?”

He points to a group of strange albino men who emerge from the rear subterrene hatch and go grunting down the path, snorting and snickering and slapping one another on their hunched and hairless backs. They have an air about them of workers taking a break.

“Those must be tunnelrats,” I say.

“Tunnelrats?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen them in person either, but they work the mines.”

“Well, what are they doin’ here?”

“I have no idea. I wonder if Hannah and Red are alright. Let’s go see if we can find them and get some answers.”

“Where should we look?”

“Let’s start with the control room.”

We thread our way along the path, staying as close to the buildings and as far out of sight as possible. When we reach the control room, the Park Service mission statement engraved above its door reminds me of this place and its evil purpose.

MISSION STATEMENT

THE PARK SERVICE THUS ESTABLISHED SHALL PROTECT AND CONSERVE THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE EARTH BY EMPLOYING ALL AVAILABLE MEANS TO ERADICATE FROM THE PLANET THE VIRAL SPECIES KNOWN AS HUMANKIND.

I punch in the code, but I either misremember it or it’s been changed. I’m about to turn to Jimmy and suggest that we return to the submarine and force the professor to retell us the code, when the door opens and a tunnelrat walks right into me. The force of the blow nearly knocks me over, but Jimmy grabs me and stands me back up. My eyes rake up the tunnelrat’s nearly naked body, landing on its albino chest. Its skin is near translucent, and I can see the spidery web of blue veins pulsing with every heartbeat across its flesh. Then I lift my gaze to its face. Reptilian eyes, red and milky, flickering as a membrane closes and opens like a horizontal shutter.

I take this all in in the blink of an eye, and before either of us knows what to make of the other, I hear a female voice moan from inside the room. Without thinking, I shove the tunnelrat hard to the side and force my way past. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the bright LED lights, and then I see Hannah’s red hair draped over the back of a control chair and the outline of another tunnelrat kneeling at her feet. I rush toward her, ready to pull her attacker away, but then I stop myself when she comes fully into view. She’s leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed, enjoying its massage feature while the tunnelrat kneeling at her feet files her toenails.

“Get your hands off me!” Jimmy shouts, appearing beside me, wresting to free himself from the grip of the tunnelrat.

Hannah’s eyes snap open at the sound of his voice, and she slowly turns her head. The tunnelrat kneeling at her feet stops filing and watches us too.

“Look who’s here,” Hannah says.

“Are you surprised?” I ask.

“Of course not,” she says, waving the tunnelrat away from her feet and sitting up. She looks behind me, probably to see if anyone else is with us.

“Are you looking for the professor?” I ask.

“Isn’t he with you?”

“He’s catching up on his rest in the submarine.”

“And is anyone else with you?”

“Who else would be with us?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she says.

The tunnelrat beside me screeches, and I turn just in time to see Jimmy break free of its grip with his knife clenched in his free hand. The tunnelrat looks at the blood running from the cut in its forearm, and the veins in its neck begin to expand. Its red eyes flare and its huge hands ball into fists.

“Stand down,” Hannah says, before it can hit Jimmy.

The tunnelrat reluctantly relaxes its hands.

“Looks like you’ve made yourself right at home while we were away,” I say.

“Made yerself some new friends too,” Jimmy adds.

Hannah rises from her chair and looks us over.

She appears older to me somehow, more devious, even though she’s shorter than I remember her being.

“Are you sure no one else is with you?” she asks.

“I’m sure,” I reply. “What’s going on around here?”

“Nothing much,” she says. “I’ve just been sitting here, worried sick and watching the screens, hoping to catch some glimpse of you all out there. Just to know that you were okay.”

She waves absently to the wall of screens where various scenes from around the world are being broadcast from drones. It makes me sick to think that she’s been sitting here getting massaged and groomed while watching drones look for humans to slaughter. It makes me even sicker to think that she wants the encryption code so that she can keep them on the job.

“I’ve been so worried I’ve hardly slept a wink,” she says. “Didn’t you miss me?”

All the things I had planned to say to her flee from my mind—which is probably best since I hadn’t counted on confronting her with two tunnelrats standing by her side. Think, think, think—I’m lost for anything to say.

“Where’s Red?” I finally ask.

“Oh, he’s around somewhere,” she says. Then she turns to Jimmy and changes the subject. “How are you, Jimmy?”

Jimmy can’t hide his contempt for her. It’s written all over his face. He’s still holding his knife, and I notice that when she addresses him, his hand grips it tighter until his knuckles turn white. For a moment, I’m worried that he might just stab her.

“I’m ’bout as happy to see you as you is to see me.”

Hannah grins at him, appearing to admire for once his witty choice of words.

“Fair enough then,” she says, clapping her hands together. “Shall we get down to it and see about this encryption code? I’m assuming you have it, of course.”

An uncomfortable silence falls between us. I look at the tunnelrats and notice that they’re not looking at Jimmy and me. They’re looking at Hannah, waiting on instructions. The hair on my neck stands up, and my heart rate quickens. A silent threat hangs heavy in the bright room.

“We couldn’t find it,” I say.

“I don’t believe you,” she replies.

“And I don’t believe you either.”

She places her hands on her chest and feigns being hurt.

“You don’t believe me?” she asks. “Now, what would I lie to you about?”

“I don’t believe that you’ve been sitting here doing nothing and waiting on us, for one thing. Why are the lights back on in Eden? And why are all these tunnelrats here?”

“Geez, you just arrived and you can’t even hardly say hello before you start hammering me with questions.”

“Apparently, I didn’t ask enough questions before we left.”

“And what’s that mean?”

“It means you’re a traitor and a liar.”

It feels good to say it, but Hannah sucks any pleasure from my accusation by smiling at me as if she were proud of it.

“So, I guess you know then,” she says.

“Hannah, how could you? You killed them.”

“I think I’d like to talk with the professor now.”

“I’m not done—”

I grab her shoulder to stop her from passing me, but she casts a glance at one of the tunnelrats, and it yanks me away with such force that I’m thrown halfway across the room. Jimmy looks at me, a question on his face:
Should I fight?
I shake my head. We’re no match for these two. Jimmy stands down, and the other tunnelrat pries the knife from his hand. The opportunity is gone. It grunts something to its fellow, and they push us after Hannah and then follow us out the door. She leads us down to the docks. I feel stupid for having walked in like this without a plan. But how was I supposed to know?

When we reach the submarine, she turns to us and says, “You four keep each other company out here while I go and wake the professor.” Then she stops halfway up the ladder and turns back, catching me eyeing the small boat on its lift. “You know what? Just the four of you might get a little lonely.” She puts her fingers in her mouth and whistles. The sound carries over the din of the work being done around the Foundation, and soon everything falls quiet. A few moments later other tunnelrats begin to appear on the path, heading for the dock. Hannah smiles down on us and then continues her climb toward the hatch.

By the time Hannah reappears a few minutes later, carrying Finn’s plaster-encased hand cradled in her palms, a mass of tunnelrats stands between us and the shore, cutting off any hope of escape. The professor follows her onto the submarine deck, rubbing his unbound hands. Jimmy casts me a look that says:
Don’t you wish we’d thrown him overboard now?

The professor descends the ladder to the dock and then reaches up and takes Finn’s hand from Hannah so she can climb down. I assume she’ll confront us about having tied the professor up, but instead she takes her brother’s amputated hand back from the professor and marches off the dock with it.

I start after her, but strong hands grips my shoulder and pull me back. I smell the tunnelrat’s musty mouth breathing on my neck as I watch Hannah disappear toward her lab. I look at Jimmy with an apology in my eyes, but he only sighs.

“Take these two and stick them in a hole somewhere.”

Having given the order, the professor walks off too. But as the tunnelrats seize us, he seems to have second thoughts and turns and walks back to stand in front of me.

“I never was a fan of Dr. Radcliffe, but I did respect his mind. And you, young man, are a disgrace to his legacy.” Then he turns to face Jimmy and says, “And I want you to know that I’m glad I killed that stupid fox of yours.”

Jimmy struggles against the tunnelrat’s grip on him, a new look of murder burning in his eyes. The professor smiles at him with a coward’s courage.

“Let me see your teeth, you little savage.”

Jimmy spits on him. “Go to hell, old man.”

The professor balls his hand into a fist and smashes it into Jimmy’s mouth. Jimmy takes the blow without flinching, but the professor leaps back and yelps in pain, cradling his hurt hand and whimpering. Jimmy spits blood at him, then laughs after him as the professor storms off up the dock mumbling profanities.

The victory is short lived, however, as the tunnelrats drag us off the dock. Now that they’re alone, they speak to one another in a kind of pidgin language that is nearly impossible for me to decipher. It sounds like English mixed with squeals and grunts and accented with clicks of their tongues.

My heart begins to race when I see that they’re dragging us toward Eden. There’s no way Hannah would let them do that. Would she? Is she that far gone? They take us inside, using the same door Jimmy and I did when we broke in and burned it, and they lead us down the hall to a flight of stairs. I remember the killing chair, and fearing that they’re taking us there, I begin to struggle and kick. But a second tunnelrat grabs my legs and lifts them off the ground, and they carry me down. I hear Jimmy yelling and fighting as they drag him down after me.