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Scene #34
I began stripping my attacker. Though shorter than I, his
clothes would do. They would have to. One man had entered, one man
would leave. "What are you doing?" Marlena asked. "Taking
his place. It's not like his cohorts will report him missing—he
tried to kill us!" "You're leaving?" She sounded hurt.
"He is me now, do you understand?" In a flash, my salvation
came to me. "He'll take my place; you'll say 'Tarzan' is dead. A
lethal virus." "But... where will you go? You don't know this
world, how will you..." "I'll manage." "Wait. Please." The
first word was the usual command, on the second, her tone softened.
She had hitched Beth higher on her hip, where the child took in the
shift in the balance of power without complaint. Who would
miss me more? I wondered. Would Beth long for her over-large
playmate, or would her mother feel the loss more keenly, her moment
of fame over? "I can't stay, now that you know." "Know
what? I know nothing about you! Now that we can communicate..."
"Exactly." She blinked, rebuffed by my tone. "I think I
understand you less, now." She turned away, and I resumed my task.
I would need to bathe, and shave... trim my hair... Whatever
facilities this lab had, must be better than my twice-weekly
hosing, which cleaned cage and beast in one. "All this time...
Why didn't you ever speak?" "Because..." I sighed, reluctant to
part with my few remaining secrets now. "I have a daughter too. If
your world learns about my world... Mine will be destroyed."
"Sarah is your daughter?" "Yes." Marlena stared until I
averted my gaze. I rolled the assassin over, covered his face with
a towel. "I don't understand. Why do you say your world will be
destroyed? Your family... your people, will finally be reunited
with the rest of humanity." "Haven't you heard of the Tlingit,
the Aztecs, the Cherokee?" She shook her head, lips pursed in
denial. I did not want to get caught up in this; Harlan would
be here soon. "Almost inevitably, when a technologically
stronger culture encounters a weaker..." "The less-advanced
culture... is destroyed? I don't believe that. It wouldn't be like
that. We're not warriors, we... "You don't have to be. The road
to hell is paved with good intentions." Marlena looked puzzled by
the reference. I wrapped my treasure up in a tight bundle. I
hesitated. "Your people... must always see me as the ape-man. Not
the noble savage. The survival of my world depends on that."
"The way we thought of you when you first arrived... We assumed
a small group of humans somehow survived the environmental
collapse... gradually becoming more and more primitive... More
animalistic..." "Yes." "But it's not true! What we can
learn from each other..." "Will be that those who do not learn
the lessons history teaches, are doomed to repeat them." I shook my
head. "The price... is too high to pay." She started to
protest, but I placed my finger over her lips. "Later... we can
argue it, but right now..." Harlan kicked the door open in an
astonishing display of aging machismo. I expected a gun like our
earlier attacker had wielded, or one of the shock prods that had
been ubiquitous during the first six months of my stay in the dome.
I did not recognize the danger inherent in the small white box he
carried, about the size of a pack of playing cards. Harlan
pressed a small button on the box, and I looked down, startled at
the twin pinch of two small darts stuck in my chest. Then it was as
if I was standing at the heart of the sun, or had been hit by
lightning; the world around me went white and hot. Every muscle in
my body spasmed, and I knew no more.
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